When you deal with opponents who are below your level of play, you are always at an advantage.
In V.Sion's case, there are a few elements that new or inexperienced opponents have misconceptions about.
V.Sion has multiple meaties that all can lead into strings that are even or advantage on block. She also has a damaging throw in the corner, an overhead with lower body invincibility that defeats common panic moves, and the unusual looking 236C combo set, which most new or learning players do not understand. She also features the 'scrub killer' Akiha summon, which leads to easy, repeated 4500+ damage combos on opponents who do not understand how to tackle it.
However, as you get better and better and face up against opponents who are at your level or above, things change. Not only does a good person know not to take any risks against blocked 236A xx 236C, he may even be bold enough or prepared enough to bara it.
A good opponent will take no unnecessary risks on wakeup other than activation, their wakeup ex of choice, and block, knowing full well V.Sion's meaties and tricks will destroy any further options. They also will block 6B at increasingly higher ratios, nullifying it's usefulness.
How do we combat these increased efficiencies of defense? It's time for Random
The most important point abut V.Sion and random:
The end goal is to land 236C in a situation where you can get the full followup combo. Landing these random tactics net you nothing if you cannot hit confirm to the big damage when you finally score a hit on an unexpected or punishable situation. Even landing your throw setups merely opens them up to convince them to not block, so that you can score 236C the next time.
So how do we go about setting up Random? The idea is we are going to exploit the opponent's intelligence. Your opponent wants to be as slick as you are. He thinks he knows your options and what you will do. He's waiting for you to go for something he has a counter for. He knows your normals, your specials, the common uses for them, all of your common bnbs, and if he landed on your character on random select he could probably mimic 70% of your own play successfully. Now it's time to shake him up.
1) Nullifying the opponent's defensive options instead of attacking outright on their wakeup.
This is the first step. Your opponent will only ever shield, ex, or heat activate on wakeup if given a choice, as these 3 are the only options that will defeat you in close with a high probability. His other choices such as wakeup backdash are calculated risks that are difficult for you to predict or bait. What can we do about this?
-- Meaty 236B from near max range. This cleanly beats many many wakeup EXes. You recover in time to keep them cornered if they activate. It's deep enough to stop wakeup jump. It's way out of range of way too many opposing pokes. And it's +4 on block, an extremely
advantageous situation in which you can dash back in and continue your pressure even if they did nothing.
-- Meaty 214A. When your opponent is used to seeing you in close, this one takes them for a ride. It's defeatable by a lot of wakeup EXes but beats wakeup activation, wakeup jump, and many other options. And throwing it out puts the fear of the move into them, letting you get off 214C instead for a great mixup opportunity.
-- Backdash. Who the hell expects this from V.Sion? Her backdash sucks.
-- IAD xx double jump at the last possible moment. If you don't see an ex flash, divekick immediately.
The idea here is that the chances of your opponent using an ex are MUCH lower when they aren't waking up anymore. This allows you to put them into patterns where they become frustrated because they feel that are perpetually on defense.
2) Prey on their intelligence on defense.
-- Feign a disadvantageous situation. Whiff a throw point blank and then immediately 2A. Pretend to mistime a meaty, then 2A right away. Purposely dash too long, making it look like you are going for a throw setup, then 5B them in the face. Whiff some 2As as they wake up,. then throw them.
-- End strings in places that normally are not a string ender. 5C xx nothing defeats people preparing to bara your 236A xx 236C. It's also unexpected because its one of the few disadvantageous situations for you. Boldly summoning in their face will catch them off guard for being too defensive.
-- IAD when they expect dash xx throw. Extremely dangerous situation for the opponent, because most ways to defeat tick throw lose very badly to IAD.
-- Set up an advantageous situation and do nothing. You'd be surprised at the random shit that suddenly gets thrown at you that you can easily block and punish.
3) Prey on their Instinct.
-- Use 6B in situations where there 'should' be a 2A. The most common example is jump C (blocked) 6B. Attacking after blocking a jump in is a nono in most situations, and you can exploit this in this manner.
-- Come down from a tech without pressing an attack when the opponent is positioned to antiair with EX shield. You can easily punish his shield when landing.
Many of these situations can be turned around by the opponent. In fact sometimes you will be punished for a good attempt at being random because the opponent's own response is equally random. Learn to create situations the opponent has not seen or does not understand, and punish him for responding with the wrong choices.
Topic: Secret weapons and tactics -- how to be random. (Read 5203 times)