Zappa Vs. A.B.A.

[Oiboi]

ABA is normally a terrifying monster of pure rushdown and pressure tactics. Most characters can't do very much to counter her, making her a horrifying fight for many people. However, with patience and persistence, you can beat her. Naked/Unsummon: -This is a pretty even matchup all around. Aba and Zappa have very similar play styles; Both have to get something that they don't have from the start of the match to do much. At the start of the match, both of you are going to try to get summon/keygrab. Keygrab will own Zappa, so backdash and throw out f.S to set up for pressure. (BTW, I realize most ABA's aren't stupid enough to try to get keygrab at the start of a match, but believe me, this works on Zappa. If they get wise to that, you can have trouble) -At a strange range, f.S can be keygrabbed. Aba has to be between the midpoint and the floor hit of the move for her to do it (When the spit is about to hit the ground). This is a strange hitbox size increase for zappa, and it only happens on wakeup (since she'd just get hit/block the spit otherwise). Oddly, After she gets the grab, the spit splash animation appears on her for a moment. My best guess is a strange glitch is happening here, and it only happened to me once, but watch out nonetheless. -Get a summon ASAP. Pressure her so she doesn't get a chance to get into Mohora mode. Ghosts: -Nasty pressure, But ABA can get through like it's nothing. -Space ghost tosses out to make sure she can't take them out with Danzai (Danzig? Can't remember what's 'correct'). -Eh, nothing fancy. Combos help, of course, but don't think she won't try to get through. Sword: -Hard to say if this is good or bad. I always dig the sword, but in certain points in this fight, it's useless. Still, the pokes and combos can really help (Swordswipe/DP the down part of her Danzai to counter her). -Her pokes can generally beat the swords. 5HS stuffs her f.S, but her HS beats everything flat out. 2HS is nasty, but DP will help. -Don't underestimate the sword, still. It can rape here if your careful. Anti-airing her will really help. Dog: -Don't get stupid. REALLY, DO NOT GET STUPID. She will power through the dog like it's nothing if you attack blindly. -Don't give her the dog, period. Danzai will punish any attack setups as soon as the dogs dead. -Other than this, the dog is nice stuff. Raou: -Oh my god, I love this fight when Raou comes out. It's seriously fun. Edguy RC Edguy will beast regular Danzai, but FB danzai will hurt you. But if she's low on HP, Do it anyways; she still takes 50% damage. -She can slide/FB slide through Darkness anthem in normal mode, obviously, but in Mohora, DA will mess her up. Toss DA and follow up with something, but watch out for FB Danzai. -Raou is huge, so watch out for aerial rushdown. At the right distance/height, her air move can hit hard. Obviously, Edguy/DA S toss, but it's a bit difficult if she gets in pressure. Miscellaneous: -If you see the unblockable kick coming, jump and block. It's only unblockable on the ground. If your having trouble getting it to come out, practice your timing; I get this regularly. -Have fun with this fight. I fight this all the time, and it never gets boring. ABA is such a fun fight. I can't stress this enough; It's too flashy and too amazing. Raou is a great summon for this fight in particular as well. Don't expect to outpoke her too much, though; she's got some really nice ones herself. As usual, tips/comments/questions/etc. are welcome.

[DonPatch]

I'll try to throw my 2 cents in from what I can remember about this matchup. mind you some of this info may not be as effective as I'm thinking it is, so any and all tips regarding this are more than welcome. please, correct me if I say something stupid, it'll just benefit zappa players more. naked/unsummon: at the start of the match, you may be tempted to try and lock aba down while she's in normal mode, and keep her from getting mohora. to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't reccomend this. I would suggest getting backdashing and summoning off the bat, while she can't reach you. normal mode aba's pokes really aren't completely awful, just kinda awful. if you try to run in without a summon and attack, she has plenty to punish you with. bloodballs can delay pressure strings enough for her to start pressure of her own (wether she connects or gets blocked, she'll more than likely end up in mohora, since a 5HS connected or blocked gives her enough time to bloodpack, and she can easily combo into 5HS from almost any poke). f.S hits low and comes out faster than your 6P. I can't remember if this can actually hit you out of 6P's invincibility or not, but I'm fairly sure it does, at least if timed right. her 5K comes out faster than yours, so if she decides to use that then she can beat that out if timed right. trying to lock her down with spit won't keep her out of mohora well either. spit doesn't knockdown, and the stagger is minute at best, so assuming she doesn't backdash out, she could simply use a bloodpack and take the short stagger. now she's in mohora and you're sans-summon. not a good position to be in. also, from what oiboi tells me, aba can keygrab zappa out of his spit animation at the very beginning of a match, so that's out as well. should you find yourself naked vs a mohora aba at any other time in the fight, don't spit very much. she can IAD over and pressure you easily. you're gonna obviously want to get a summon as fast as possible, and the best way to do that is to get a knockdown in one way or another, since none of your moves put her in blockstun long enough to get a summon off before she can repressure, nor do any of them push her far enough away from you to summon before she can cross the screen to get back to you. you'll almost certainly end up defending a blockstring of some kind in this situation, so stay focused, watch for high-low mixups, the unblockable kick, and throws. wait until she does something you can either summon through, or 6P through and go for that knockdown/summon. that's the best I can think to do, since naked zappa vs mohora aba is such a horrible spot to be in. triplets: the triplets aren't exactly known for their damage, and aba has I believe the 2nd highest amount of hp in the game next to potemkin. obviously, you're not gonna want to focus on damage with this, rather you'll want to go for those knockdowns. any damage is just a bonus. smart triplet management can really limit aba's options from a distance, just try not to be without one for too long at any time (duh). don't go into the air very much if you can help it. her anti air is insane, and if she gets in it's not hard for her to punish an aerial zappa K tossing ghosts at all. keep the pressure on. don't worry if she's blocking everything you throw. not only are you doing chipp damage/draining her tension if she's FDing, but also her mohora meter is slowly depleting itself. time is on your side here. just stay back and launch those ghosts all day long if you need to. when a ghost finally lands, you have more freedom to move inwards and force some knockdowns on her. ghost toss FRC tick throws are a semi-okay option, however be careful she doesn't just danzai the ghost and knock you out of it. watch what items you get and try to capitalize on them. banana peels are okay for forcing her in the air if she's trying to get in close to you, however if you're keeping that epic triplet pressure on with haunting on her, there's a good chance she'll be turtling at this point waiting for you to do something stupid. keep any and all rushdowns as safe as possible, try for low blockstrings, dust or throw if she starts expecting your low attacks. this is all about patience for you. lower her guard bar as much as you possibly can, either through knockdowns or through zoning. if she's in normal mode, just keep the pressure on her heavy enough that she can't transform. again, don't get too close unless you get haunting on her or have ghost tosses keeping you covered. dog: this isn't the prime ghost for this fight. aba can definitely powerhouse right through the dog. she can also get past it pretty quickly and be right on you. don't have the dog attack her until she does something with a large amount of delay, or until she's just in front of it, where she can't attack it. that's when you'll want to start poking with it. if you get any dog attack to make contact with her at all, blocked or not, start putting down some pressure. try to catch her with some unblockables, and watch out for ex danzai. aba has a ton of attacks that hit multiple times, so if you're gonna try to use the dog to eat an attack then counter summon, it may be tough. it's absolutely doable, however, and has great rewards if you pull it off. especially useful against regular danzai, since you can easily punish her out of it before her 2nd attack hits. normal mode aba is kinda the same situation, however no danzai to worry about, and her limited mobility makes bite traps easier. just watch out for her FB slide, since she'll definitely try that if she gets caught in a bite loop, or in the corner whatsoever. sword: first things first, if you ever decide to do the slide, do NOT do the follow up. aba absolutely has the range to punish you on block for doing the follow up, assuming she doesn't just danzai the move in the first place. if she tries to punish after the slide, she'll more than likely either use f.S or 5HS. I believe a backdash as soon as possible will get you away from it. not sure what the uppercut would do vs them at that range, but it's not too safe of an option without the tension to FRC it anyway. assuming it gets you away from any kind of punish, backdash would work best. 6P may beat out a punish if they get close enough after the initial sword slide before they attack. all in all, I would avoid this move unless comboing it. this summon is probably worse than the dog in the matchup. the swords normals have good range, but aba can beat it out without much effort. she has more range, and since the sword has very few multi hit moves she can danzai most of them pretty easily. the sword has decent enough damage once you get a hit in, but getting that hit in in the first place can pose a problem. generally, unless you'll get game winning damage from a combo, just go for knockdowns. early sword swipes may be able to counter some of her moves and knock her down, just make sure you can FRC it in case she blocks or danzais it. as for normal mode, the swords pokes beat out the majority of hers in range, but she can still punish you for being reckless. keep your pokes safe, try to get a hit through, and combo her life away. raou: don't even bother trying to get a poke in with this guy. she can easily danzai or FB danzai most of what you throw at her. instead, just keep your distance and chipp her to death with DA's and bellows malice, and possibly the occasional 5/6HS. as long as you keep the pressure heavy, she'll be hard pressed to get in close enough to punish you for anything. pay attention to her tension as well. if she gets more than 25% and tries to rush in, assume she's going for a FB danzai. 5S can possibly stuff this before she gets in close enough to use it, not sure of 5S's exact range. bottom line, keep ranged pressure on her, chip her, drain her tension and mohora meter, and keep an eye on any counter offensives she launches. as a side note, if she's in normal mode and you have raou, she can and will FB slide through your super, so avoid doing that if she has over 25% tension. that's all I can really think to add. been a while since I've played a zappa, so as I said before some of this may be a little shakey. at least this thread has more than 1 post now lol

[Zoogstin]

We appreciate it Don.

[GhostSummoner]

All I Can Say Is, This Match Is Not Fun At All...

[kanom]

i second that 1.she makes a mistake,you punish her taking like 20% of her hp 2.you make a mistake you die!!

[GhostSummoner]

Yeah.. i went to a tournament yesterday and A.B.A. exorcised me quickly and easily like he was Constantine or something... I was just dumbfounded how fast he beat me...

[kanom]

i feel bad when a "zappa" loses from my personal experience,what i do is make my enemy fear me --with no summon,i use Fs, if he jumps,i air grab or block with 4+s+hs then air grab. --with the dog,i poke with fs,and wait his "danzai" then i hit him in the second part of danzai which gives me a counter! --with the sword i try to play perfect,i don't miss frc of 623Hs,if i hit him with 2hs i don't miss the combo --with ghosts i give him headaches,also try to never miss frc!! --with raoh i try to miss nothing cause if you leave an opening he's gonna use it,and since aba combos are long and raoh is only 13 seconds i think.......that's bad!! in general i just try to keep safe,while phishing for an opening,and never give aba a chance like that your opponent will fear you and hopefully lose to you

[GhostSummoner]

The only thing about Zappa is he has a massive weakness to rushdown characters like A.B.A., Chipp, Jam, and Millia. So i guess you have to consider your moves and what works really. This A.B.A. bloodpacked and rushed straight for me. He pulled a c. move and then continued from there. Her air combos are something to be feared. They do massive damage and it dont matter if she is in Moroha or not. They hurt just the same. Basically in this fight, you have to poke her and wait for an opening of which i didnt follow at all cuz the guy homed in on me quick.

[Oiboi]

That's what we call 'mental toughness'. To know when to block and not to be scared while blocking is a feat in and of itself. Zappa is actually excellent at handling pressure because of his summon move, his sword DP, the way the dog can attack independent of zappa, and Raou's edguy. The ghosts can't handle pressure but that is because they were designed to dish out the pressure. If you're afraid of ABA's rushdown, watch for f.S/2HS. Those two moves can be punishable if you time you're counters right (summon/dp). They are very good pokes too, which is why they use them alot, so if you can punish those regularly it can terrify an opponent who can't think on their feet or don't understand the matchup well. If you get predictable though, they'll rush in with Danzai and show you whose boss; again, this is about mental toughness, outwitting your opponent with whatever tools you have at your disposal.

[Moroha]

watch for f.S/2HS. Those two moves can be punishable if you time you're counters right (summon/dp)

they'll rush in with Danzai

If ABA is rushing in with Danzai, you've probably already won. Block first hit, summon/dp before the second hit, knockdown, gg. If you can't punish Danzai, you will not beat generic ABA scrubs who use Danzai as an offensive tool.

Here's my Zappa experience from fighting a lot of Kenji and a small amount of Rudy. Throwing out SRKs to deal with ABA's f.S or (I assume you meant 5HS, not 2HS) is an extremely risky move. If you whiff either your summon or DP, you are most likely going to eat at LEAST 40%, lose your summon, and deal with potentially lethal oki. (Which is not to say don't use your counters, but it's certainly not the "answer" to f.S and 5H.) Zappa can deal with f.S and 5HS with sword and ghosts with strong zoning play. ABAs can 6H vs the Sword's long range swipe, clash and get an IAD out of it, so be wary of that. Ghosts vs ABA can be extremely effective and abuseable. You can really lock down ABA's avenues of movement and potentially force her into a guessing situation. If you land a ghost on her then you've got the momentum for a long time.

This is not an easy fight for either player; it is largely based on momentum. Zappa has the tools to lock ABA down with Ghosts, and can get in good damage and knockdowns with Dog. Sword is probably the summon I want to see most as an ABA player..possibly even Raoh over Ghosts, depending on how much life I have left to risk. Be wary of Danzai/EX Danzai when you've got the Dog and Raoh, because she has the ability to plow through any non-super hit/string. If Zappa can establish himself with a summon, preferrably ghosts or dog imo, he has the upper hand. You need to play safe and at your own pace, and it WILL take a lot longer for Zappa to kill ABA than vice versa. For me, the fight is about keeping Zappa off his summons. Zappa might have the fight under control, but ABA can take back the momentum in a moment and be immediately on the verge of winning the match.

[Zoogstin]

Good stuff Moroha. We should be keep this in mind. Thanks a bunch.

[Oiboi]

Yes! Constructive conversation! In my matchups! (it's more likely than you think) To clarify, I was simply giving examples of how to deal with the issue he was having (in regards to f.S and such). I actually was referring to 2HS, because against Zappa it's actually pretty good move since Zappa can't get away from it without a summon if he lacks one. This is largely because he doesn't have any long-range pokes besides f.S in naked mode; I know it's not normally done but it's long hit stun and multi hit is annoying to deal with (particularly on wakeup). But yes, 5HS would have been a more proper poke to discuss since that's much more commonly used. I'm not saying Summon/DP is the best option against it, but I'm saying that if he needs it, he has it as an option. I was warning against trying to reactively summon against ABA's attack because if it's a danzai, it's already over. I agree, it's not an easy fight for either player, but for me, that's half the fun. ABA has the damage and pokes to shut Zappa out, but Zappa has his awkward pokes and moves to turn the tide in his favor. I feel it's a largely even matchup because of this, and the match will always go to the better player who has the more experience with the fight. As a side note, I like to think about what I CAN do with summons that are generally thought to be bad for a matchup, instead of thinking they just won't help. Most players sword summons aren't very good, but it is an amazingly effective tool when used properly, even when it's considered a 'bad' matchup for it. The Same goes for raou, though he's a little more difficult to use as effectively because of the lack of mixup. Still, the damage, priority, and chip damage is too useful to think of it as a bad match (Especially against ABA, who is a very aggressive character). Oh, and the dog can be used to beat out EX Danzai. Essentially using the dog to absorb the first hit while you just hit as much as you please and hit as it comes down into a free summon combo is how I do it. Technically risky, but great rewards.