CvS2: Turtle/zoning help (yes, I'm serious)

[Gen-An]

These seem to be a lost art these days, at least from my perspective. Everyone seems to be focused on rushdown in these new games. What I want to know is are there any effective zoning/turtling characters and their strategies in CVS2. People say CvS2 IS turtle friendly, mentioning Sagat and c fierce ,but that never got the job done when I played ppl in CvS2 (I haven't played it in months); they'd roll thru the fierce or somesuch and I don't have the reactions to hit a roll at the end (especially short ones like Terry's and Athena's) and my throws often whiffed (either that or I kept hitting strong trying to throw, ugh why did they have to make throws on the hard buttons only). Plus, with parries and JD and the weakening of AA specials in general it seems nigh impossible in CvS2 to zone people...

[Eternal Blue]

Turtling and zoning is very easy in CVS2. I will give you a few characters and their respective zoning/turtle strategies.

Vega: Keep doing c. strong to hit with the tip. If they jump, c. fierce, if they put too much pressure on you and you feel you're going to break, then sj. out to the other side, and start the c. strong poking again. When they get up close, mash on c. forward, or do strings like c. jab x 2, c. forward xx flip back. If you are dancing around your c. strong range, and they are dancing too, do the occasional c. rh to hit with very tip because then it is unpunishable.

Yamazaki: Keep them away with his s. rh and c. rh. If they jump do c. fierce and kick them again with s. rh as they are landing. If they get in close, mash on c. forward. You may get a counter hit, so then you can follow up with another c. forward, and if you have good reactions, follow up with a fierce slash. Speaking of slashes, you MAY zone with them, but it is much more risky. If you wanna play with their head, do jab slash and hold, and if they jump release, then taunt.

Sagat: Poke with his s. forward and s. fierce from afar, anti-air with his fierce Tiger Uppercut. If they manage to get close, keep mashing on c. fierce or do poke strings such as c. short, s. jab, s. short, c. fierce. If you feel threatened, jump back with rh. If you feel threatened up close, retaliate with a Tiger Raid which is safe when blocked and carries you away from them if it whiffs.


Blanka: Keep poking them with c. fierce from afar, and dash back continuously while charging down in order to anti-air them with a flash kick when they jump. If they manage to get upclose, then mash on c. forward, and finish with a c. fierce. If you want to buy some time, do c. short x 3, c. forward, c. fierce, or slide OR c. short x 3, s. strong, dash back. If they jump at you and you don't have the priority to anti-air them, then do a fierce Roll to the other side of the screen.

Honda: Keep in the corner. If they jump, do a jab Headbutt as anti-air. If they stand far away waiting for you, do nothing. If they're at a close distance and do nothing, do a fierce Headbutt. When close, mash on c. strong or do c. short, c. strong, then fierce Headbutt. If you're feeling pressured, bust out a LVL3 Headbutt Super. It is safe (not from counter rolling), and it chips.

Hibiki: Keep poking with c. strong, c. jab, and s. strong. Use jab Slash when you know they can't retaliate. Use s. fierce as anti-air and anti-crossup when they jump. If you're feeling pressured up close, do c. short x 3, c. jab, or just hit c. strong.

[Gen-An]

Thanks for the post, I didn't think anyone would reply. It seems that my man Ryu just ain't the zoning master he used to be since you didn't mention any turtle tactics with him; on the other hand rushdown Ryu seems to be all the rage. I tried that once but rushdown just ain't my thing; I can't pull it off.

[50mOrEcEnTz]

Originally posted by Gen-An
Thanks for the post, I didn't think anyone would reply. It seems that my man Ryu just ain't the zoning master he used to be since you didn't mention any turtle tactics with him; on the other hand rushdown Ryu seems to be all the rage. I tried that once but rushdown just ain't my thing; I can't pull it off.

come to southlake mall one day; im sure you will some stuff there w/ryu, and how to turtle

[basic]

For rushdown Ryu in SNK grooves I usually tap forward and then hold down back and press jab. I would mix it up with shorts and mediums into fireballs.

Ryu is a great zoners he's my main guy in C groove. When people roll you just mash on LK it'll get them everytime and soon they won't roll into you if they know what's good for them. His C+FP is great as anti-air, as well as standing RH, and of course his shoryuken.

His standing FP is decent but I wouldn't really rely on it much against people like M.bsion, Sagat, generally people with reach and priority. I just use his crouch medium a lot into fireball.

If I ever trap someone in the corner with lp, lp, lk, mk, i'd go into a stnading over head mp or his hop kick, it gets people usually everytime cause they expect the fireball.

For JD guys, I do lp, lp, pause and throw them hehe

Hopefully that helped.

[Eternal Blue]

Turtle Ryu is quite good imo...especially in C-groove.

First of all, there is NO jumping at Ryu, unless you are P groove. His c. fierce beats K-groove jumpins because they just bounce off of his c. fierce, and then Ryu can follow up with a super fireball as they come down.

His fierce SRK beats EVERYTHING. It has quite a few frames of full body invincibility. His s. rh is also very good AA, especially against low jumps.

His s. fierce has huge priority, so when people try to get in on you, bust out his s. fierce (the far one, not close). His c. strong also has a great priority. Using strings like c. strong, c. forward keeps them out quite well. Against characters that have a shitty roll, c. short, c. strong, c. forward xx fierce fireball or anything similar is a very good string to keep characters out and make them eager to jumpin on you. If that happens, fierce SRK their ass. His fireballs play an important part in his turtle game. Against characters like Honda or Blanka who may goto the other side of the screen and turtle, throw out a jab FB. If they roll through it, jump in on them with a rh and follow up. If they just stand their, throw a fierce FB. Remember, in CE, Ryu IIRC had a fireball trap. It went like this: jab FB, fierce FB, jab FB, fierce FB, continue this pattern. You can still use this sequence against characters that can't punish and sometimes even against those who can just to get their juices flowing and to make them want to attack. Another thing that makes Ryu a good turtle is his jab SRK. It has below the waist invincibility so its an anti-poke. Its perfect for baiting. Example: Characters like Guile like to take advantage of turtlers and break their guard using strings such as jab Sonic Boom, j. rh, c. strong, s. strong, c. forward, SB, s. short, SB, etc. So, if you're good at reading opponents, let them do the first few hits of their string, then bust out a jab SRK to hit their next limb. The good part is that it has very little recovery, so you can bust out another one after and it may hit. Even better is that because the jab SRK puts you in the air, many supers and specials wont hit Ryu for full hits. Example, Sonic Hurricane will jugle Ryu if the Guile player did the SH too early. Another good thing that makes Ryu a good turtler is the fact that 2 of his supers are safe. So, if you're getting pressured and feel that you are about to get a big combo done on you, you can bust out his lvl2 or higher Shinku Hadoken, or his lvl1 or higher Super Hurricane. Both supers are safe, and both have invincibility frames. Finally, if you're feeling pressured and need some room to breathe to rethink your turtle strategy, sj. air hurricane is a very good escape from the corner to the other corner.

[BusterWolf]

Zoning is easy depending on your groove and character....Yama...Vega..Honda...Athena...Cammy.. .Sagat..Bison..MaI..etc. are great for turtling....All u have to do is know your combos and what you want your opponent to "fall" into...It's about playing stupid to bait them into pure punishment...

-Dr.B:cool: