Zappa Vs. Anji

[asoral]

I didnt see this matchup anywhere here so I geuss I'll start it. I've been playing a anji player all the time since I first picked up the game and i have to say I just can't beat him, well I can but its a real bitch to do it. does anyone have any advice that can help me? also on a side note what type of ghost (if i was able to get it out) would help me the most because the sword and the 3x ghost seem to work the best next to roah

[Phrekwenci]

I used to play Zidanel33t's Anji constantly and I usually came out on top (but this is back in #R). One of the best things to do is the little moves with lots of invul. frames (especially the 6P). I haven't played a good Anji in a while but if it was anything like #R, the 6P after an attack will make Anji whiff an autoguard counter. I haven't done it in a while so, there's a good chance this is different in AC (like the Ky match up... even more in Ky's favor).

[B.L. Pancho]

Which move should I use to option select his Fuujin mixups? Most characters who have a throw invulnerable 2K can wait to see if he's going for the Fuujin step into obvious throw attempt and stop it with a 2K, and block the low fuujin followup otherwise. Is Zappa's 2k good for this purpose?

[Zoogstin]

While I don't know this matchup very well, I can tell you that 2K is not throw invincible.

[B.L. Pancho]

Which move CAN I use for this purpose? Anything with throw invincibility that's fast and comes out from crouch should be good enough to nullify this mixup just as everyone else with a Throw Invincible 2K does.

[Oiboi]

5K goes right through Fuujin. It's really funny. I've seen 6P go through it too, in the right situation. I've fought a lot of anji's. I'll post a more in depth strategy against him later, sorry for the delay :< Edit: Oh, and zappa has pretty much no grab invincible moves, save for his sword DP (and even then, it's very limited). I think he 'might' have one more, but the sword DP is the most effective (which is really sad). Get used to throwbreak attempts/backdashing or just being grabbed. Edit edit: Throwing in my strats here. Anji can be a terrifying matchup if the player knows his frames and how to get the autoguard combos for the win. A good Anji will stuff any predictable rushdown; Thankfully, Zappa has some of the sickest mixups to throw him off. Naked/Unsummon: -f.S IS LOVE. Spam this. It's crazy. Learn the ranges to play with his autoguard attempts and get hit confirm into combos. -Don't summon randomly. Anji will hit through it like nothing else and punish. -Watch for his pressure and mixup. It's quite popular for anji players to do taunt to mix up with 6P; Don't fall for this stuff. Get your reaction time on and you can beat it, as soon as you see the taunt do 2K into summon combo (I suppose 6P will work too, but 2K is faster, which is necessary to beat the inevitable 2D mixup that he's going to try to do). -When you see him do the stomp, don't get hasty. I got messed up by the K Stomp when I was expecting the P Stomp. Get the summon in deep, the closer to you can get to pulling it out before he hits, the better. Ghosts: -Anji can't do much here, but don't get cocky. He may try to attack throw a ghost toss to hit you on rushdown. -Nothing too special. If you get the triplets while being pressured, your not going to be able to do much until his string ends. Sword: -Crazy pokes. It's hard for Anji to counter through this stuff. 5HS punishes for free. -DP and swipe are good. Slide hits through Fuujin, but don't get overzealous or they'll mix you up and cancel early. -I love this summon in this matchup, definitely beats the ghosts in my opinion. Just don't get cocky. Dog: -This is rape. Seriously, Unblockable. It's free; Set it up when he goes for Fuujin and it's yours. -f.S + 5D stuffs everything. Dog is no contest in this match, so long as you don't let him kill it for free. Raou: -Fuujin goes through P Darkness Anthem. Watch out for that. Insane clash and gaurd counter stuff going on here, so don't think it's over just because he gets a counter (Throw out edguy to clash/stuff it). -Fuujin will NOT go through K DA toss. S too, I believe, but S will stuff the stomps anyways. -Don't throw out random meaties. Start with K toss and hope for hit confirm from there, Otherwise he'll get counter and hit you before your edguy comes out. All in all, this is a strange matchup. Anji players can have some major differences in playstyle, which makes a 'standard' strategy difficult to comprehend. Anji can dish out pressure with the butterfly and Taunt fakeouts, or ruin pressure with autoguard. You'll have to work out a method within the first few seconds of the match. Learn what beats what and you can stand a chance. Bottom line, I'd say 6-4 in zappa's favor (But perhaps only slightly, it's hard to say exactly).

[RisingStars]

with enough practice you can react to the fuujin-step followup, otherwise just block low. It's super easy to poke out rin and fb rin follow up on reaction.

[Tiamat]

B.L. Pancho: no 2K in the game is throw invincible it's just a spacing thing, if you use a 2K outside their throw range you'll beat their throw attempt, that's all there is to it. zappa's overdrive is throw invincible as is good old backdash and jump, and his DP moves with sword and raoh anji can't do any good mixups after blocked fujin without ah RC or something. other than his low move, which can be delayed, zappa's 2K would beat anything he does but if you want to be greedy go for a counterhit 6P for way better combo potential actually if he throws the fans 2K won't work cause he jumps, but to deal with that you can try to run at him and airthrow, or just backdash away or something. if he does the fans his pressure is done

[Oiboi]

Posted my take on the match. As usual, tips/comments/questions/shenanigans welcome.

[Tiamat]

"Naked/Unsummon: -Don't summon randomly. Anji will hit through it like nothing else and punish. -Watch for his pressure and mixup. It's quite popular for anji players to do taunt to mix up with 6P; Don't fall for this stuff. Get your reaction time on and you can beat it, as soon as you see the taunt do 2K into summon combo (I suppose 6P will work too, but 2K is faster, which is necessary to beat the inevitable 2D mixup that he's going to try to do). -When you see him do the stomp, don't get hasty. I got messed up by the K Stomp when I was expecting the P Stomp. Get the summon in deep, the closer to you can get to pulling it out before he hits, the better." errors with this section: - what moves of anji go through the summon? cause I honestly don't know lol, he can't punish it on block reliably either - you mean anji's 3P not 6P, his 3P is his overhead. also for interrupt 6P isn't the best idea, if he's going to go low 5K would be the best option. you got it reversed heh -for the stomps, the easiest thing to do is IB the K stomp and take a free throw usually. the P one will put you neutral when IBed so you just need to know you close range options for that

[Oiboi]

"Naked/Unsummon:

-Don't summon randomly. Anji will hit through it like nothing else and punish.

-Watch for his pressure and mixup. It's quite popular for anji players to do taunt to mix up with 6P; Don't fall for this stuff. Get your reaction time on and you can beat it, as soon as you see the taunt do 2K into summon combo (I suppose 6P will work too, but 2K is faster, which is necessary to beat the inevitable 2D mixup that he's going to try to do).

-When you see him do the stomp, don't get hasty. I got messed up by the K Stomp when I was expecting the P Stomp. Get the summon in deep, the closer to you can get to pulling it out before he hits, the better."

errors with this section:

- what moves of anji go through the summon? cause I honestly don't know lol, he can't punish it on block reliably either

- you mean anji's 3P not 6P, his 3P is his overhead. also for interrupt 6P isn't the best idea, if he's going to go low 5K would be the best option. you got it reversed heh

-for the stomps, the easiest thing to do is IB the K stomp and take a free throw usually. the P one will put you neutral when IBed so you just need to know you close range options for that

I was referring to gaurd point moves. Gaurd, counter, rape

My bad, meant 3P. And I said 2K because it's fast and has the range to hit while he's doing the fake taunt; You have to alot time to realize it's not 3P, you see, or else it's just free combos for anji all day. Besides, 5K won't counter Anji's 2D, it'll just whiff and Anji'll keep going like nothing happened.

And That's probably a better tactic, but I got in the habit of summoning into it a while back, and it worked, so I didn't bother learning anything else. Still, IB is probably better/safer.

[Tiamat]

forgot about guard points, I'm guessing the summon is getting autoguarded by his 6S. I didn't know that happened with 5K vs his 2D. In that case I agree go for 2K if you can react to his K stomp and summon (or air throw) that would be best, but IB into throw is easier. also if he crosses you up you're more liable to mess up a summon than a throw, not to mention if it crosses up and you block it, it's probably an IB anyway, so take your free throw as long as not too far (which you probably wont be)

[Oiboi]

forgot about guard points, I'm guessing the summon is getting autoguarded by his 6S.

I didn't know that happened with 5K vs his 2D. In that case I agree go for 2K

if you can react to his K stomp and summon (or air throw) that would be best, but IB into throw is easier. also if he crosses you up you're more liable to mess up a summon than a throw, not to mention if it crosses up and you block it, it's probably an IB anyway, so take your free throw as long as not too far (which you probably wont be)

Yeah, gotta watch out for the crossups (If you keep moving a lot, the momentum will help throw him off), but during pressure strings, generally not even the k Stomp will crossover. So unless it's obvious, you don't generally have to worry about crossovers mid pressure string.

[Kyoku]

From what I've been able to do with Zappas, if I see a random summon I'll just throw out a 6S to autoguard and get some free damage. Not much of a punish unless I time a 5HS to hit right after the attack frames are done, where I think Zappa is wide opened. In that case, yeah, you're going to eat damage. I wouldn't try to bring out anything at all honestly unless you have an opening or you get it without summoning. Just throw out the little puke puddles until said Anji gets hit and staggers, where you run in with the combo into summon. You may also be able to find an opening to beat him out as well during his attacks with the summon. I haven't played as Zappa much in AC to really say =/

[Chippy]

This match is funny.

Zone him with every summon, no point in trying to rush, he'll eventually fuujin though your pressure, or guard point if you're being predictable.

I try to force him to fuujin and reaction the follow-ups with every summon.

Fuujin lulz

-5k will CH the D and HS follow ups for an air combo. You'll have to place it later for the HS follow up.

-Air grab the P follow up, this may take some time to get your eyes up to speed.

-2k the k follow up into summon.

Things that don't work.

-Wake up super. They will just hop over you on wakeup, and it will miss, even in the corner.

-Rushing. Its a waste of time when you can get more damage off of his rush.

Things that do work

-5s and 236s from far afar, and bait that fuujin with the ghosts.

-2HS and 6HS are spammable shields, most of his guard points still wont hit you.

[Zoogstin]

Thanks for the tips. I've only played a good Anji once and his pokes were really beast.