Match-up Discussion My Cyrax Matchup Chart, I expect a lot of criticism =)

Cyrax is one of the best characters in the game if used at max potential no doubt about it but other characters are way better than him against the whole cast.
People say that one mistake could cost them the game, this is no true, sometimes cyrax can't get a high damage combo in a whole set, only if his user is dominating the match and his opponent meter he will get to combo, this is nothing against Pig of the hut but he based his top tier list on the kenshi matchup at most, If you guys see how my matches were against 16 bit at mlg dallas you could notice how i couldn't land a single high damage combo on him, due to his experience and skills fighting against the character, we even had a match where time ran out.
I have never post a matchup chart for this character and if anyone disagree i need their experience and credentials fighting the character, i don't care if you are a top player, if oyu don't know how to fight cyrax at the highest level don't try to change the matchup chart, i will take suggestions from people who plays this character on a daily basis and know his weaknesses, i hope this doesn't bring much drama =/

vs Baraka i have this one on 7-3 but can't really say i havent fought a Baraka at the highest possible level any gdlk baraka with extensive cyrax knowledge can correct this match.

vs Cyber Zubzero 6-4 credentials: josh 360 he can change this matchup if he wants.

vs Cyrax 5-5

vs Ermac 5-5 possibly 4-6 ermac, jr basic ermac and extensive cyrax knowledge beat me on this
one, vyrax can't deploy bombs or nets at mid or long range and its hard to get in or build meter

vs Freddy 6-4 freddy credentials CD Prime, he has forced me to pick human sektor on this matchup, still i beat other freddies in tournament due to their lack of cyrax experience at the highest level

vs Jade 6-4

vs Jax 4-6 he abuses cyrax big hitbox with f413 and outzones him, credentials CD Jr

vs Johnny Cage 4-6 johnny only needs to be patient and get that knee in his block strings gives him too much meter while cyrax don't build much, he abuses cyrax high hitbox a lot.

vs Kabal 3-7 possibly 4-6 with cyblax

vs Kano 6-4 cyrax, josh 360 take matches from me with kano and he is not even a mainer

vs Kenshi 6-4 possibly 5-5 the way pig fights this match force cyrax to change his pattern
every 5 secs, Denzell , krazie, Han what do you think? it's pig to godlike or the match is 5-5?

vs kitana 5-5 with cyblax 4-6 robot, LBSH 16 bit agrees with me on that matchup

vs Kung Lao 5-5 don't ask PL about this one he would say 8-2 cyrax =) winterwarz can say how CD jr approach the matchup, its all about knowing cyrax at the highest level

vs Liu Kang 6-4 LK, i Jr makes this match to difficult with Kang, kang needs to be a good zoner with those air fbs hitting on the head really to beat cyrax, and upclose Kang also rapes cyrax with his block string shenanigans, i take opinions form Krayzie, shoryuken, mit denzel on this match.

vs Mileena 5-5, pig of the hut lacks skills fighting cyrax with mileena, no offense pig but you are no that good on instant air sais on the head like Reo is, when reo used mileena he made my life very hard, one simple move can change the outcome of a match, this match is even

vs Nightwolf 6-4 i put this on cyrax favor but i can't really tell since haven't fought a good nightwolf with vast cyrax experience.

vs Noob Saibot 6-4 cyrax shutdown noob zoning but cyrax can't throw nets on this matchup if the Noob teleports to it on reaction, if cyrax respect this too much noob can outzone him with clones

vs Quan Chi 6-4 both have good kombat factors but cyrax wins if the Quan expend his meters on unblocckables and cyrax stays alive Quan will be in trouble, is better for cyrax to take hits on this matchup than only blocking the rune traps.

vs Rain 6-4

Reptile 6-4 cyrax wins this match but smart reptiles who know when to zone after blocking a net can put several forceballs and shut down cyrax offensive at full range.

vs Scorpion 6-4, still the random and comeback factor on scorpion 50/50s rule on any matchup.

vs Sektor 4-6 Sektor shuts down cyrax abilities with instant TU and his footsie gam eis way better than cyrax at mid range, cyrax can do Nets on this matchups for sure and sektor low hitbox make the command grab whiff on duck block most of the time.

vs Sheeva 7-3 cyrax it's Sheeva no much to say on this

vs Shang Tsung 6-4 possibly 7-3 cyrax shuts down his zoning but i haven't play this match much, i just believe Detroit that its on cyrax favor potentially

vs Sindel 6-4 her zoning can make it hard for cyrax but i can't really tell for lack of playing a good Sindel who knows cyrax at his best.

Skarlet 5-5 possibly 6-4 cyrax, skarlet pressure and zoning is a bitch on this matchup

vs Smoke 4-6 smoke possibly 3-7 smoke shuts down cyrax abilities with deflect on nets and smoke bombs to counter cyrax bombs, smoke away makes this fight tedious for cyrax only smoke i've seen fighting this match right is CD Jr.

vs Sonya 4-6 even tho i have vast knowledge on this matchup thanks to Riu48, he made me see how bad this matchup can be, i adapt pretty well on this match but sonya's pressure on cyrax big hitbox giving her meter plus her fast recovery projectile at long range force cyrax to play her game, its hard to land a jumping punch on her with d4 low hitbox to do some descent damage, Riu 48 knows cyrax too much and thanks to him i don't get raped on this matchup, but the fact is that this is on sonya's favor, 6-4 or worse.

vs Stryker 6-4, still need experience on this match can't really tell but i give it to cyrax

vs Sub Zero 6-4 i fight all cyrax pretty good with sub and lock them down in the corner, i don't believe this is 7-3 like Brady says at all.

vs Raiden 6-4 cyrax can pressure raiden with bombs all over the screen and bait teleports easily he can punish raiden strings on whiffs with a net or just going in with his strings, this matchup is difficult for raiden imo.

Hope i'm not missing and matchups, Cyrax is indeed a very solid character but he can't be top 5 because of the damage because meter mitigate that, also other characters have more resources to start kombos from anywhere on the screen, For cyrax being succesfull he can't rely only on a net and a dream, not always a net will give you the dream really, gotta dominate the meter department first, trading nets with projectiles is not a smart choice unless you know how to anticipate the projectile and catch them with it. Don't listen to those that say that cyrax touch you once and win, it's all about the meter and the matchup domination, Cyrax doesn'y have many 7-3 8-2 matchups like, Kabal, Kenshi, freddy, Kung lao, Smoke, johnny cage, Sonya, also kitana and Sektor are more solid than him to fight against the whole cast, Ki only bad matchup is kenshi really kabal and freddy are in advantage against her but its fightable Dallas was full of good cyraxes and all of them were beaten by top tier characters or matchups that are even or against him, Please just post your opinions if you know cyrax at the highest level no just because you are a top player, the best of the best will fall to cyrax if they don't know the matchup and the cyrax is pretty good.
BTW pig of the hut no hard feelings but your matchup chart is mostly based on the Kenshi matchup, Kitana,Cage and others are no so lower on the tier list just because Kenshi rapes them, Cage might have couple of bad matchups, like kenshi, freddy and Kabal but he is a rapist against most of the cast. I was examining your tier list and you mostly have characters on top of the list cause they fight or can beat Kenshi, but LBSH Kenshi is a rapist against characters who he beats even more destructive than Kabal, Kabal is #1 on the tier list but Kenshi is #1 on the 7-3s and 8-2 department.
BTW i'm no throwing stones to Pig he is the best Kenshi out there and the most succesful, Kenshi needs skills to be used is not as easy as people think, i started using him and CD prime is raping me with freddy, i know for a fact that is 6-4 freddy and i'm not good enough yet, But props to Pig his Kenshi is the best out there.

For what it's worth, I agree with Cyrax/Kenshi being 6-4.

What do you think of Sonya/Cyrax?I dont think you posted that MU

I think Cyrax goes even with Johnny at the very least. I can't see Cage winning this. Cyrax can control space with bombs and Cage will struggle to get in if you are smart enough. Even up close Cyrax is competent enough to give Cage problems. I personally think it's 5-5. I agree with the Sub Zero and Sektor numbers though.

Maxter, I feel kenshi-cyrax is even. I could see arguments for it being slightly in cyrax favor, but let's not get crazy here.

I'll reedit death, i know that matchps a lot but its really on sonya's favor, sometimes is unbearable, if i beat any sonya's its because of the experience but i know all the cyraxes out there lose this matchup or complaint about it, hight hitbox, she can outbuild meter on cyrax on block and zoning, you and I fought this match and were going back and forth at ttt13 but thrust me you will rape any other cyrax easily with your skills, gamerblake was beating the crap out of me, i hadn't slept for 2 days and had like 7 drinks, it was hard to read him, i'll blame the alcohol and lack of sleep, but if it wasn't that, blake is just too good, i know he didn't rest much either so i can't blame lack of concentration, I need to fight his Sonya once again this kid is very underrated, he might possibly be the best sonya out there.

I 100% agree that Cyrax- Sektor is 4-6. Cyrax can't zone in this match. He has to play honest footsies.

@Maxter no feelings hurt


Good honest post
I can actually do iaS better than 98% of the players buy my problem is I've never implemented it to my game

I need to do this and I completely agree with you on that

I can do them well but I need to add it quickly to my game

I feel that the Sektor matchup is even. One missile at the wrong time and i'm eating up a shit ton of damage.

i agree with the freddy match up

Tombstone
NW cyrax is 6-4 cyrax favor. From full screen cyrax cant really damage nw. NW usually gets the first hit by using ex shoulder, builds meter off of reflecting nets. in this MU NW should only use meter for breaker (if needed) but mainly for absorb. Absorb makes cyrax come to him because NW can maintain life lead. he gets damage off of well placed arrows during bomb deployments (avoiding net trades), and the same goes for lightning.
But cyrax can pressure well and a cyrax that plays footsies is very good against nw. wiff punishing with nets an 12 net is godlike. his comand grab game is great and his pressure is beter than nw.
NW can turtle his way to victory but thats the only way he wins matches. Cyrax does have an advantage though.

Skarlet
I'd say 5-5. She can take off just as much damage as cyrax my linking into blockstrings. His large hitbox makes her f212 string very good and she can create frame traps that he cant escape due to him not having any armor.

-No armor
-Large hitbox
-instant air daggers
-55% BnB into reset and frametraps

If he had a small hitbox or armor moves I'd say 6-4 him but without I have to say 5-5...maybe even her favor. @Maxter. I'm pissed we have not really played ever. I'd give you that NW exp too. At Final round this year, your brothers and you are first on my list.

im the other 2% then (joke)
there is tourny footage of me doing back to back iasai for 10 seconds straight against a cage floating around,my fav 10 seconds of any footage of me,i have no shame lol

yea you rarely do iasai, when ever im watching your vids and i see a air sai im like "shit pig did a air sai,he never does those,go piggy go "
saying that i could never do iasai as fast on pad as i can do on stick but they really do help vs cyrax

@Maxter any tips on the Jade match-up?

Mileena!!!
Aww I was hoping you were gonna say something and comment on about the Baraka MU for this!!
Please tell me it's not 7-3!! lol

This is the problem on this matchup, you don't do projectiles ramdonly here, you must wait a bomb to come out first, you have time to throw a projectile maybe 2 before the bomb detonates, for Nets you wait to block the first net so cyrax cant do another one, there is like a 1.5 seconds restriction for cyraxx to throw nets after one is block, as i said before the player gotta know cyrax weaknesses to beat him, once you block a net at full screen sektor takes the lead on any trading, being able to block any net while his projectiles hit cyrax, also instant tu on any net on reaction for 44% damage.

Wish i had kept using jade Pinz, i quit her because of the negative edge and easy inputs on qfs and qbs when i wanted to poke getting random special moves, jade got good tools against cyrax really but her lack of damage and a faster startup on projectile have cyrax getting in easily, once cyrax gets at mid range he mindsfuck and projectile thrower, for fact cyrax gotta get in to fight her and his pressure outplays jade much, specially with his d3s and d4s range suppressing her shadow kicks, i would like to have more experience on this matchup, once of these day i'll pick jade again and play against j360 or winterwarz and see what tech i can find to fight cyrax with her.

Not only help, they really good to build meter, avoid cyrax movement and abilities, and also they can be hit confirmable into combos, they are a pretty good tool against cyrax really.

@Maxter personally i feel the vs baraka MU is 4-6 (adv cyrax)
after usedforglue bodied me at a tourny with him when i was using baraka i spent weeks and weeks breaking the MU down,
playing any and all cyraxs i could.
even with cyrax's damage i dont think its 3-7,could be but not covinced yet

@Tan you really have to be on point and focused, you cannot whiff a d4 or charge for fear of eating a net.
charge is great tool for getting cyrax to think about opening his chest,
net can be ex charged on reaction just under full screen and if cyrax wants to stand in corner popping out bombs/nets if ex charge hits him hes back against the corner which is a problem against baraka.
baraka has good meter building tools to try make sure hes a breaker in stock as much as possible.
neither chars can jump because both have good aa/crossup tools.
cyrax ex armor (ex anti air) is very poor answer for barakas frametrap/reset game,so if cyrax has to made a read to use 3 bars or not
teleport is spined on reaction and barakas backdash gets him out of harms way of the far bomb to tele to try make teles safe.

honestly i do prefer playing the MU with mileena over baraka as i can keep the yellow death machine away while building meter easier than i can playing keep away with baraka but if someone wants to try counter pick my baraka with there cyrax id welcome them to try

I agree with the freddy match up, as long as freddy can keep cyrax out he's good, you just have to watch out for bad trades and not let the cyrax player force you to make mistakes. I have noticed that meter for freddy in this match isn't as important in this match up as sime of his others as the cyrax player can negate a combo breaker with unbreakerable combos. The main things are dont get caught in a net and keep him off you. Cyraxs teleport isnt to scary because you can usually full combo punish it into a full screen zoning reset. So i would say yes, slightly in freddys favor at 6-4.

So does cyrax beat smoke or does smoke beat cyrax? Your description is confusing.

I havent fought Maxters Cyrax or any Cyrax at my current level of Sub. it is possibly 6-4. however, Sub has ZERO margin of error and Cyrax has a big one.

maybe if cyrax command grab was 0 and didnt loop, the resets wouldnt seem so bad by themselves.

sorry playpal, my bad i crossed the numbers i'll reedit

95% of the players dont know how to fight cyrax including most of the top players.

Once you come to NYC i'll show you how good cyrax can do against a patient cage, remember i used both chars and fight both matchups constantly, once cage is in cyrax may die, it takes only one knee and a drem of block strings.