[Xrd] Zato - General discussion and changes list

[Kyosuke Kagami]

ZATO SAMA~!

 

Other than Invite to Hell, which other special moves can be YRCed? I wanted to imagine Damned Fang (AKA special throw) could be one case, but since it hits the rival, probably not lol.

[Teyah]

Zato has a lot of uses for YRC:

Break the Law YRC to escape bad situations - this should be 100% safe as hehe's invincible while underground during YRC startup.

Shadow Gallery FRC before it hits - would put him on the ground right away from the air. But not sure if this would work as a YRC since the move is active soon after he reappears.

Drunkard Shade YRC could work to reflect projectiles and give you a time slow for a summon. The reflect happens starting from frame 3 and the move is active on 9, so if you YRC between this point, this might work.

Amorphous YRC looks like an amazing (but expensive) wakeup option. You keep your invincibility to dodge their meaty attack, then YRC to create time to punish their meaty or summon, depending on the situation.

[Mr.Biscuits]

Ogawa was using Fly YRC during Drill special unblockable setup. Messes up reversal timing with Dps, Blitz Shield and also allows you to bait burst.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Wait, Fly can be YRCed?!

 

Holy shit, a lot of good things to experiment with.

 

For some reason I imagine Shadow Gallery being more like a PRC, unless you cancel that shit right at the moment Zato appears on the ground and before the hitbox even appears.

[Mr.Biscuits]

You can yrc anything as long as the opponent is in neutral (no block or hit stun) . You can YRC a dash if you want. You YRC fly during the unblockable setup to mess up reversal timing with the slow down.

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Now I see why Zato YRCs a lot in the air in those a-cho videos lmao.

 

BTW, maybe you already answered this, but can you connect a 2S right after Damned Fang on the corner, like in #Reload, or not anymore? Also, I imagine that if you try using Invite to Hell after that 2S and RC it, it'll be red and not yellow.

[Mr.Biscuits]

I have only seen 5P after command throw..

Rc will always be a red if they are in block/hit stun. For example Counter Hit 2S > 22S/H will be a red RC

[Kyosuke Kagami]

Wait, I thought all RCs would be red if you're in the mid of a combo, no matter if the enemy is on hit / block stun or not.

[4thChamber]

Well if they aren't in hit stun, then it isn't a combo anyways.

 

What is the deal with Deadman's Hand? I haven't even seen what the move looks like, is it really terrible?

[Kyosuke Kagami]

ohwait lol now i get it

 

Deadman's Hand looks like his old IK, but so far I don't get how it works. I thought it was similar to old Megalith Head.

[Mr.Biscuits]

Xrd Character rank according to Machabou (Hands down the best KY) @matyabou

S: ED, MI, SO, FA

A: KY, CH, AX, MA

B: SL, BE, IN, VE

C: PO

#GGXrd

Credit goes to @Mynusdono for the translation. Said that this is just based off month one or so. A lot of characters are under represented and still need time to develop. I think Zato will stay at the top or near it.

Dead Man's hand is the command throw with little Eddie? I think its useless seeing as its really slow and damned fang still exist.

[Jocelot]

There was one vid I saw off Deadman's Hand, and from what I saw I didn't really get the point. Eddie transforms into a hand and slowly and awkward flops onto the ground, it really looks way to easy to avoid unless it's like, invicible or something. 

[4r5]

Sometimes you gotta tick throw them while you're tick throwing them.

[Mr.Biscuits]

Combo I saw on stream last night.

Corner. 6K > RC > 5D(6) > 6P (2) > 2H > 236K > Combo into 5D(6) > unblockable.

Combo is also possible after unblockable.

J.H + Drill special > Shadow Gallery > RC > TK SG > 5D(6) > 6P(2) > 2H > 236K > ...

[Coffeeling]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szgewhe6BY

 

Arc Revo Qualifiers footage. Starts with Zato stuff from the get go. Recently watched the Ogawa-Machabo(Sol) set again and couldn't help but notice how heavily Ogawa leans on little Eddie for his neutral game. There were many moments where he just used Zato's abilities instead and had a bit more control for a while. Watching these lesser Zatos that aren't complete monsters I really like how they build their neutral game around Zato and complement it with Eddie some instead of relying on Eddie and complementing it with Zato, which is how Ogawa often feels like. They feel more solid for it in some way for some reason.

[Mr.Biscuits]

Some players aren't comfortable with Little Eddie in Neutral so they only summon after knock down or block string. In Some matchups Zato's normals and neutral game just get destroyed so he needs Little Eddie out to stand a chance. Millia, Chipp, Sol for example just walk all over Zato if he doesn't have Little Eddie out or available to summon.

 

It takes time to gain a comfortable feel with summoning in neutral and approaching safely in all the different matchups. Ogawa is a master of this so he feels comfortable in all the different situations. The other thing is how much knowledge does the opposing player have vs Eddie. Machaboo is a God and knows the matchup inside and out, also backed by a really strong rush down character (Sol).

 

I think Ogawa will play the matchup differently after that set. I can't wait to see him try and qualify for Arc revo.  

[Coffeeling]

It's not so much that they don't use Eddie (they do, and they should), it's that their game feels like Eddie complementing a Zato base, Ogawa's often feels like Zato complementing an Eddie base, which just feels really fragile for some reason.

[JCraile]

Check this out guys, this is worth your time I swear.

[Teyah]

So just a quick update on my Evo experience with Zato.  I only got to play one game with him (lines were 1 to 1.5 hours per play) but here's what I noticed from my game and watching AKA play some Zato:

 

• The 1-2 pixel white outline on Zato on the PS4 looks really crisp and amazing in 1080p.
• Flight mode - I thought something was wrong when I first tried to fly.  Zato can hardly fly forwards at all, his forward flight speed is so slow that it feels like he's in YRC slowdown state the whole time while moving forwards.  Flying backwards isn't as bad though.
• The new j.D is great.  Much faster than the old one and combos more consistently from basic air combos.
• 2K and 2S are still really good pokes, and they work well since it seems harder for people to move out of their range since movement speed is slower in Xrd.
• 6P and 2H are still the primary AAs and work the same, though shark didn't feel as dominant as before.
• The shadow walks... really fast.  Felt like it moved faster than Zato himself.
• Since Zato moves a lot slower in the air and on the ground than before, you really have to pick and choose your normals more carefully.  Though I guess this goes for most of the other cast members too.

[freelander]

I want to play him in Xrd. Which is better, learning the basics of Eddie-ism in #R or in Ac+R ?

[Coffeeling]

#R Eddie and Xrd Eddie are mostly the same character. There are changes to how you use the shadow and how movement feels and such, but they're far closer to each other than +R Eddie is to either one.

[Mr.Biscuits]

I can never recommend anyone to play an outdated version of the game even if it's the closest version of the character. 

Just play AC+R. You will learn the basics of Negative Edge and Eddie neutral.

 

There's some things that are XRD exclusive anyway, so just play AC+R and get used to summoning in neutral and negative edging.

[Coffeeling]

I don't understand that mentality myself. If I have local players who like playing #R, where's the harm? Especially if the purpose of playing is to prep for Xrd. It's like #R is judged by different standards than AC+R. Feels like #R could be near identical to Xrd and people would still be told to play AC+R.

Now, if your local scene plays AC+R predominantly? Yes, play AC+R. But I just don't get wtf people have to boo #R as a method of Xrd prep specifically.

[Teyah]

I want to play him in Xrd. Which is better, learning the basics of Eddie-ism in #R or in Ac+R ?

#R Eddie is much closer to Xrd Zato. AC and +R Eddie play very differently, they rely on using the shadow for controlling horizontal space while Zato safely approaches with normals.  While #R Eddie has to use the shadow more defensively (eg. right under or right in front of him) and take more risks when throwing out normals (this is offset by how much better his normals were back in #R compared to later games).  Learning #R shadow P links into drill or shadow S combo is something that will come in handy in Xrd, so might as well learn it now rather than later.

 

The tough part is finding others to play an older version of the game, since most GG players will be playing +R.  If you can though, go for it.  Learning +R Eddie and becoming used to the strong AC shadow zoning tools won't help if you're only going to be playing Xrd in the future.

[Leopold]

The new shadow grab move's properties are really weird, Does it has any use?

 

I'm not sure if there a possibility to combo from it.