Zato vs Ky

[Antihero11]

Discuss the Zato vs Ky matchup here. I was wondering how you guys approach Ky in neutral game. Since he seems to be able to outzone you with all of his projectiles.

[Shin Masta Lv1]

I fight this mu often but I dont really have alot of problems. Zatos reflect works well against poor zoning tactics. You also if you have meter can puddle yrc to move around projectiles.

If your opponent becomes predictable, you can counter his zoning with drills as well.

[president]

One of Zato's easier matchups overall I'd say. The mid-range game where Ky excels at is the range Zato usually wants to keep his neutral at anyway. 214S reflector (it's short whiff animation combined with Stunedge covering Zato afterwards) makes him highly resistant even to Stunedge YRC punishes. Getting out of Ky's corner lockdown game can take an eternity but he's unable to really force damage. Our unblockables safejump all his stuff automatically and due to his angles Ky really has to commit or spend meter to kill off Eddie. I can't really think of anything that's giving Zato trouble, just don't commit to unsafe drills or challenge him in the air I guess. Also don't airtech on him.

[Antihero11]

Thanks for the advice, I think my friend is just a strong Ky player, and my Zato needs some work. How do you beat his Glyphs and stun edge lasers? Just by pushing Eddie forward and harassing him with pokes?

Is it better to use flight to evade his projectiles, or break the law? Obviously, if it's regular stun edge, just drunkard shade it.

 

[Bossguy]

If you get predictable with your summons, Ky can destroy you in a heartbeat with his CSE. Try to fake a summon and then IAD twoards him to punish an attempted SE if he gets predictable. A safer option is to use dash jump flight to close the distance between you and Ky while he's firing projectiles, or hovering in place with instant flight. You generally don't use the traditional advancing method with the drills against Ky. Either take to the air, or if you have the time, go underground. Even if it's a regular SE, you generally want to just maneuver around the projectiles, because Ky can YRC and use his Stun Dipper (236K) to either hit you for a CH or kill the shadow. You have to always be mindful of his 236K at all times in neutral. Flight is a very good tool against Ky. Use it often, but don't abuse it.

[Antihero11]

I abuse flight way too much. Haha. So many I learned that from the Ky MU, since I primarily play Ky. The problem is, even if I can close the gap with flight, he can easily anti-air me. So maybe I need to be less predictable, or use IAD. And his glyphs seem to function as anti-airs in and of themselves, so it seems like he's well protected.

Thanks for the advice though. How are drills in neutral  this MU?

 

[Bossguy]

Yes, approaching Ky blatantly from the air without the shadow is a very bad idea. I would recommend to avoid challenging Ky shadowless from the air most of the time. Always keep the IAD over his SE a threat, though. Keep him on his toes.

Drills don't get used much aside from block strings compared to other MUs. His air SE poses a big problem because the trajectory of the projectile is awkward and can't be easily blocked by drills. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't use them solo, but I generally neglect them shadowless. With the shadow out, it's still not a very good to use drills. It's much better to approach Ky with the dash jump flight method and right before you attack from the air having the shadow poke the opponent with -p-. This is extremely strong against characters such as Ky, less so Axl, and sometimes Faust, because it renders their ground anti-airs pretty useless and you can also avoid most projectiles. If they try to challenge you in the air and you anticipate it, you can always Nobiru. Zato has much better options in neutral against Ky, so I honestly don't see much use for drills besides protecting against 236K, which you can always just avoid with instant flight.

[Antihero11]

Or to protect Eddie from 236K of course. Thanks for the advice. I finally managed to do better today. Went 7 - 6 in Ky's favor. But before I would lose about 90% of the matches. From my experience, Zato is the type of character you just need to keep playing to get used to his neutral. Obviously this is true of any character, but especially true of Zato. I'm no expert, but I finally am used to negative edging in neutral and predicting the opponent. As a result, Nobiru is godlike in most online MU since people like to jump all the time in netplay.

Anyways, thanks very much for the advice. I seem to have a decent handle on the MU now.