Axl v. Zappa

[Digital Watches]

Zappa

General strategy:

This match varies a lot from summon to summon, obviously, so you're going to have a different gameplan for each of the five different "faces" of Zappa.

Naked Zappa:

Offense:

Zappa can have a hard time dealing with zoning when naked, but don't get too hasty. Remember that lows are your best tool against him, and that 5P is now strictly anti-air, since it's really just a free opportunity for Zappa to run in (He can hit your chain with summon, and can cover almost max range distance by running before 5P recovers). When trying to get in, remember that summon is strike invincible, but not throw invincible, and takes 10 frames to start up. It is dangerous to leave gaps in blockstrings, but other than that, this move shouldn't give you any trouble. FD break your run or do safe air normal to get in on summon if the Zappa is trying to bait you into getting hit by it, or Rensen for knockdown if it's far away. If you block it and aren't FDing, you can punish with sweep-->Rensen (FRC)-->Combo very easily. A less safe way to beat it out is to try to housoubako it on reaction, which can net you more damage in certain circumstances but generally is just to be flashy.

Defense:

While Zappa shouldn't be able to rush in on standard mid-range zoning tools (f.S, 3P, 2H) that well, if he does get in, just IB most of his strings and if you can, housou or backdash to beat summon when it comes. Remember that Zappa's 6P is low and very invincible, and both 5K and 5D are lower-body invincible. Zappa's offense isn't that dangerous without summons, the only thing to worry about is if he has full meter, and thus can go for 3-summon into Raoh combo for quite a bit of damage.

Dog:

Offense:

A common mistake made by every character is to try to kill the dog while it's not moving, which you can't do. If you're far away from Zappa and aren't too far behind, there's no reason not to just sit there, keeping a rensen charged, possibly throwing out fast normals (2K, 3P, 5K) to avoid negative penalty. Wait for either the dog or Zappa to move and poke him out with something appropriate. You can get the dog dead with either 2K, 2P, or Rensen, or by AAing Zappa or the dog if either tries to jump in.

Defense:

Don't be too impatient while blocking, Zappa has some pretty solid blockstrings and combos with the dog, so just FD him out, IB the dog stuff, kind of like a weaker version of Eddie. The main thing to watch out for is the meaty unblockable nonsense if you get knocked down. This is one circumstance in which light benten is a good reversal, as unless you can reversal 1FJ consistently, it and super (Don't do super) are the only easy ways out of it if the meaty is properly timed. You'll probably get hit for doing a Benten unless you can FRC it, but the tiny naked Zappa combo you'll eat is generally worth not losing a bunch of life until Zappa messes up the meaty (or you die).

Sword:The sword is almost laughably easy to zone out. Rensen is good, a lot of things are punishable, you can even use Tenhouseki to catch 63214H if you're feeling playful. What you definitely don't want to do is try to get in. With a very good DP, and a lot of high-priority normals, the Sword gives Axl a lot of problems up close, since he doesn't have anything comparable. Just zone, and wait for an opportunity to combo. Remember that after a blocked sword rush (236S), Zappa will often try to delay instead of doing the followup, which may give you time to hit him. One thing to remember is that Zappa's main sword overhead, 6H, hits high once, then low once.

Triplets:

"Offense"/Poking:

This is the only summon that really gives Axl significant problems. It's like a weaker Venom combined with the equivalent of a Testament marking. Projectiles are flying all over the screen, and chances are, if you're throwing things out randomly, your chains will get beaten, and you'll probably get possessed. Remember that when Zappa throws out a ghost, he stands up high enough to get hit by 5P, so try to stuff the startup of his projectiles whenever you can, and much like Ky's stun edges, the straight ghost (236S) can be beaten fairly easily with rensen. Some Zappas also have a weird habit of hanging around in the air, using failed ghost summoning. Be careful AAing them unless they don't have any ghosts coming back. If they're out of your poking range (very possible), you can go for H Raeisageki as long as you do it quickly, to get that extra reach.

Defense:

Especially if the Zappa knows his FRCs, the triplets are easily his most solid ghost for sheer lockdown. You just have to block a lot, watching out for the same lows Zappa always has, and for 6H (16F overhead, 3 hits, startup looks a lot like his normal H), and j.H (exploding ghost, can be a very ambiguous crossup). Wait for Zappa to run out of ghosts to try anything, but remember that an FRC'd ghost projectile doesn't count toward his limit of three.

When possessed:

If you're possessed and locked down at the same time, Zappa's blockstrings are even more dangerous, as he has you in blockstun more and has the occasional opportunity to set up unblockables with the banana peel (hits low). Like a Testament marking, poke him out if you get a chance, but usually you just want to wait it out.

Raou:

Unlike most characters, Axl actually has an easier time with Raou than any other summon. 5P can stuff DA's startup, or you can just rensen through it. Raou has a hard time getting in, and when he is in, his mixup isn't very ambiguous. Just block low and watch for tickthrows (the only genuinely scary thing) and dust (slow and obvious). FD him out if you can, and don't let him do DA summon on you over and over, as there are gaps in it, it does 4x chip damage, and it doesn't have any pushback. Bellow's Malice (Super) can be stuffed by 5P as well, which is easy to do if you're watching for it or DA. Just keep him out and only try to do damage if you get a combo from your AA. Keep away game is easy, getting in is hard, and getting hit can mean your whole lifebar, so don't bother with anything but the keepaway.

Pros:

-Most summons can be zoned out without extreme difficulty.

-Lots of long-reaching lows make it hard for Zappa to run in.

-Raou isn't very powerful in this match.

-No real answer to Axl's AA, and therefore very limited aerial approach.

Cons:

-Strong lockdown ability with sword and ghosts

-Ghosts give Zappa projectiles, which counter Axl

-Lots of low hits and low stance make a lot of Axl's moves less useful

-With no invincible moves, Axl will usually take damage when getting out of Dog meaty unblockables

My opinion:

Sword: 5.5-4.5, Axl's advantage

Dog: 6-4, Axl's advantage

Triplets: 4-6, Zappa's advantage

Raou: 7-3, Axl's advantage

Overall: 5.5-4.5, Axl's advantage. It would be probably be 6-4 if all the summons were out equally often, but Raou tends to be out less than the others, and Zappa now has a few ways to pick and choose his summons (the 2, 1, 0 timing stuff and the unsummon FB)

[Digital Watches]

Initial writeup: Done

[Shoto]

Raoh has good range, sick priority does insane damage and raises the guard bar like no other character. He is not meant to be fair. I agree that Axl does slightly better against him than maybe the whole rest of the cast but that doesn’t mean he in any way owns Raoh . Once Zappa gets to Raoh it’s playinu as safe as possible while not handing the momentom of the match to the Zappa player. Actually you should try to avoid letting Zappa get to Raoh, so don’t slowplay this matchup too much but don’t be too agressive to get hit by stuff that gives Zappa souls.

[Digital Watches]

Okay, I'll give you that Raoh rapes anyone once he gets in... but he has no real approach that Axl shouldn't be abrle to beat. Stay at max Rensen range, and you can kill projectile and super with 5P on reaction, and even have time to try to rensen if you fuck up and he gets his projectile rolling, leaving no way to come in on the ground. And of course AA is easy too, because it's Axl, come on. Yes, one mistake and you lose, and of course you're going to be stuck blocking if Zappa gets Raoh when you're knocked down, but other than that, I'm not convinced he has much he can do to force your hand into MAKING that mistake if you're playing your zoning game conservatively (IE reactively).