VS. Claw ( US Vega, JP Balrog) Thread

dhalsim
#1

Also I know there is a matchup thread, but I am trying to do what they are doing in the Abel thread, have dedicated threads for specific matchups rather than a single thread that jumps back and fourth between many characters and makes focused character specific information hard to find.

I am having trouble with Claw. I always have had problems with Claw with his wall jump shenanigans. From getting crossed up and thrown or hit with the straight horzontal dive. I’ve heard the matchup was in favor of Dhalsim, but would like to know any pointers on what works against Claw and what to look out for.

#2

HP and mk counters a lot of what he’s gonna do at long to mid range and if you keep throwing it out there right before he does a wall dive or aerial it’ll counter it and keep him on the ground. If he’s out of range of the HP, lp fireballs stuff the wall dive and give you enough time to react to aerial claw attack. Be very careful at long range though if he has an ultra , you’ll eat it if you are throwing out random HP and fireballs. If he does manage to get an aerial claw off you can jump+mp to stop him in air or IAT before he lands or slide. Close range it seems most of his pokes have priority over sim, so I try get away or FA. I’ve also heard that his overheads beat out b.HK, b.HP, and b.MP so if I really need to anti-air I’ll ex yoga blast or slide. The main thing IMO is stay zoned and keep the pressure on him with HP and mk and the occasional fireball while he’s charging/crouching.

#3

Surprisingly, I think this match is in Claw’s favor according to most everything I’ve read here. 6-4.

Not quite sure why really. Once you become efficient at dealing with and punishing his wall dives, you have essentially shut down half his game. His only real option is to rush you down and get in your face. Even then, his pokes and such are really easy to block because they’re all low, so just turtle up and wait for an opportunity to get a slide in or some cr.B.LKs, st.B.LKs, and st.B.MKs to start pushing him back. You also have a lot of options on his jump inrefer to the anti-air thread.

This seems like it’s in Sim’s favor if you know what you’re doing. Either that, or I just haven’t played any really good Claws since I’ve become aware of what to do against him. Most people in my experience rely on his wall shenanigans way too much, then just don’t know what to do once they realize it’s fairly useless against Sim.

#4

The match is in Sims favor IMO, it’s just a slow match. Both people are going to escape and poke. I like to neutral jump HK of just IAT right after they bounce off the wall.

#5

If you shut down his air game with neutral jump b.mp, slide, or teleport it becomes really hard for him. It’s a weird fight that requires a lot of patience and different kinds of zoning to win. It’s kind of like the dictator/elf fights… at least I sort of find them similiar in that you have to shut down the air option to win.

Good idea to make specific threads about each match up. The match up thread is annoying to sift through and bounces back and forth way too much, lets get some other match ups going.

#6

MK slide under all walldives for free. Just wait until he’s a little ways off the wall, press mk slide, and there’s nothing he can do to hit you regardless of whether he’s doing kick dive or punch dive. When you recover, he’ll still be recovering, so punish him with standing fierce from afar or something better if closer.

Your regular antiairs lose to his regular jump ins, but jump back strong beats his jump attacks, and in any case it’s not a huge deal if he gets in close to you. What does he have to make you scared? Not very much.

This is in Sim’s favor like 6-4, imo.

#7

Didn’t know that MK slide counters wall dive. I’ve been trying to IAT his wall jumps, but if he chooses to stay back from the wall jump I teleport into his air throw. And b.HK and b.MP have been getting stuffed on a wake up jump in.

I’ve only fought maybe 5 Vega’s online as Dhalsim, unlike the countless Ryus, Kens and Sagats, so experience is a factor.

My biggest problem is that my natural reaction time is not good against a fast character like Vega.

#8

fuck sliding under wall dives. IAT on reaction and punish with BnB
[media=youtube]o3V-qGW7UWk[/media]

#9

Imo its 6-4 for claw. It’s a patience game; he can’t randomly walldive and you can’t instant overhead due to ex FBA. He can easily turtle the game with one bar and whatever special move you throw out will get punished. Mid range its a mix up of cosmic heel/slide/jump. At claw range he’ll be doing blockstrings along with kara throws. Very quick walking speed, a really good jump in, and his kara throw makes him have the advantage imo. People are still sleeping on claw

#10

That’s damn nice. I don’t think I’ll ever be skilled enough to pull that off consistently, but it’s an awesome way to punish those wall-dives. Sure beats sliding under them and fishing for st. fierce punishes (which is how I beat shitty online Vegas.)

#11

Always use U2!
If he wall dives, simply IAT and do U2 on reaction.

#12

Great tactic! Thanks for posting… about that video, I only have a few comments…

a.) I love SSF4
b.) I like Michael Jackson
c.) a + b = horrific combination. I’m extremely glad that SF4 doesn’t have a licensed soundtrack ala the Tony Hawk series or whatnot. That would be the worst ever.

#13

Good stuff Yagami.

#14

You see it in yagami’s vid but you should never, ever snipe when vega has ex or U1.

#15

when do you find it easier to hit im during block strings. or shouldent i be hitting at all. crouch cjab cjab roll s.k

ive thrown him out of a roll one time and also sometimes after the roll i have hit b.lk also i posted [media=youtube]ksApoLhbZEc"[/media] in the video thread