Match-up Discussion Sektor Matchup Discussion Thread

[Robotic]

** UPDATE 10/27 ** Please see post 1 for the original matchups.

5-5 vs Baraka <--Adjusted with my own experience and blade charge buff.
5-5 vs Cyber Sub-Zero
5-5 vs Cyrax <-- I still believe this to be 6-4 Sektor, but Mustard and Ketchup both agree this is even, so it's changed back for now.
5-5 vs Ermac
xxx vs Freddy Krueger
6-4 vs Jade <-- adjusted with Krayzie Bone's input.
6-4 vs Jax
5-5 vs Johnny Cage <-- adjusted with Ketchup's observations and my own experience in this matchup.
5-5 vs Kabal
5-5 vs Kano
xxx vs Kenshi
5-5 vs Kitana <--adjusted by the folks in the Kitana matchup thread.
4-6 vs Kung Lao
6-4 vs Liu Kang <-- Adjusted from 4-6 all the way to adv Sektor with Ketchup's input on interrupting block strings and Altaire enlightening us with the uppercut.
4-6 vs Mileena <-- Swifty said it best and I totally agree, but I can't for the life of me remember what he said..
6-4 vs Nightwolf <--my own input.
5-5 vs Noob Saibot
6-4 vs Quan Chi <--my own input.
4-6 vs Raiden
xxx vs Rain
5-5 vs Reptile <-- my own input combined with Ketchup's observations and discussions in the Reptile matchup thread.
5-5 vs Scorpion <-- Still don't know about this one.
5-5 vs Shang Tsung
7-3 vs Sheeva
5-5 vs Sindel <-- staying 5-5, highlighted because of DanCock's input and Konqrr disagreeing. Discuss anyone??
xxx vs Skarlet
4-6 vs Smoke
5-5 vs Sonya Blade <-- Adjusted with Morty's input and my own experience in this matchup.
5-5 vs Stryker <-- adjustment with Vulcan Hades' input.
6-4 vs Sub-Zero <-- I really hope we discuss the shit out of this one. I've already tried on the Sub-Zero thread with few takers. Ketchup believes this is 7-3, and he IS the "ranking officer" in here so far...I can't justify changing it so drastically until we run this particular discussion into the ground. My own experience tells me 6-4.

Changes for this go round are Baraka and Mileena. I think we all know Mileena needed to be adjusted, and Baraka, well, I think we need to talk about this one!

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

T
This will almost for sure cause square boosts and advancing forward. Kitana will not want to stay 3/4 screen from you and she will not want to step back to full screen, so flame thrower is your buddy here as she tries to advance. Back to back flame throwers are a good idea against Kitana. Homing missiles are also very good for a Kitana constantly wanting to close distance so you can turn the tables and get your offense going instead.

At 3/4, I find the best way to deal with Square Wave is to back up. Of you back up while she's in the air, she should land right in front of you. On the way down, you can hit her with 11>TU>12>Up Missile/Flame Burner. Between that and iaTU's, she's be afraid to leave the ground.

5-5 vs Sindel <-- staying 5-5, highlighted because of DanCock's input and Konqrr disagreeing. Discuss anyone??

I can't say that I agree with Sindel being an even match-up. iaTUs shutdown Sindel's fireball game which forces her to go toe-to-toe, and Sektor's 6 frame 1 and superior damage output, both with and without meter, give him the advantage in that category.

 

[OGM Madness]

5-5 vs Sindel <-- staying 5-5, highlighted because of DanCock's input and Konqrr disagreeing. Discuss anyone??
6-4 vs Sub-Zero <-- I really hope we discuss the shit out of this one. I've already tried on the Sub-Zero thread with few takers. Ketchup believes this is 7-3, and he IS the "ranking officer" in here so far...I can't justify changing it so drastically until we run this particular discussion into the ground. My own experience tells me 6-4.

I agree RomeoBravoDelta and believe that this match is in Sektor favors. I think this might be a 6-4 in Sektor's favors.

Sub-Zero is manageable as long as you DON't JUMP! Also, U3,4 is your best friend in this fight. Make sure you don't get iced and taunt him with U3 in case he thinks of sliding. The moment he slides, U3, 4, tu, combo. Don't trade missiles with Sub-Zero, because it ends with SZ's advantage. I see this being a 7-3, but the Sektor has to be really discipline on this fight. Beware of jumping and taunt him with U3.

 

[Robotic]

Regarding the Mileena matchup, I would like help from the community to test something:

Can her Telekick into sai be punished by an immediate jump kick? There's no way for me to test this.

Also, quick tidbits:

1. I use standing 4 into TU, f43, extu, b2 flame to punish a blocked roll for, umm, 35% I believe? I'm at work. I find this combo to be the easiest to perform as the standing 4 does not require a strict window in the least - very user friendly.

2. Her Ex kick is virtually unpunishable unless you block low and go for the uppercut. I found you can also block high and quickly input 11b1 for 13%. I will test to see if I have enough time to cancel the standing 1 into TU.

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

So apparently we should be having no issues with Mileena. The community match-up thread puts that match soundly in Sektor's favor.

Either we need to seriously reexamine this match-up or they are our of their minds.

 

[ZeroEffect]

So apparently we should be having no issues with Mileena. The community match-up thread puts that match soundly in Sektor's favor.

Either we need to seriously reexamine this match-up or they are our of their minds.

Um, It was only rated a 6/4... I wouldn't call that a guaranteed free win.

No need for the sarcasm, really.

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

Um, It was only rated a 6/4... I wouldn't say that's a free win, exactly. No need for the sarcasm, really.

I'm not being sarcastic. That is the inverse of what we have come up with. One of us is wrong, and with so many people also claiming that it's in Sektor's favor, I think we should re-evaluate the matchup.

 

[ZeroEffect]

I'm not being sarcastic. That is the inverse of what we have come up with. One of us is wrong, and with so many people also claiming that it's in Sektor's favor, I think we should re-evaluate the matchup.

Well, in that case, I apologize for the assumption.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Little bored tonight; thought I would share some new opinions on a few match ups and why I should be a reliable source.

Sektor has been my main since I have entered the offline tournament scene a few months ago and I have had great success with his thus far. Out of the last 4 tournaments I have been to, I have made at least top 5; competing against some of the highest ranked players like CDjr,REO,Warda,Maxter,Riu48,ect. I have incredible training partners and a wide variety of character match up experience. I would think it is safe to say I am one of the more experienced Sektor players there is in the competitive scene. I am not doing a .5 scale on my ratings.

That said, here are my up to date opinions and players that I have played against:

Baraka: 5/5 JamesMK
- I have little experience against Baraka players, however on paper I see no glaring issues on other side that would turn the balance. Sektor has a zoning advantage, however with Baraka's armor and anti cross up specials, Sektor has to use caution on both his range and up close games.

Cyber Sub Zero: 5/5
- Similar to Baraka, Sektor has the zoning advantage; however with every missile you must take into consideration the position of CSZ due to dive kicks and bomb placements. Sektor's block strings are at a disadvantage against any character with a parry since a good player can easily take advantage of this situation. Sektor will in result be using his low starter which will not be parried by a non-EX, leaving CSZ blocking low and waiting to punish once the b3,4 wiffs. This match is a game of pokes and punishes.

Cyrax: 5/5 Maxter
-Sektor must take advantage of his zone game and keep away from Cyrax at all cost. One hit and it could be over. That said, Sektor can not use his meter for homing missiles or EXtu since it is vital to breaking Cyrax's huge reset damage. The even match up comes from Cyrax's difficulty in opening Sektor up, who can stay at safe ranges and poke/zone.

Ermac: 5/5 Myself, Josh99

Jade not sure yet, leaning towards 6/4

Jax: 4/6 CDjr
- While people may think that Jax would have a hard time getting in on Sektor it is actually very easy. Jax has a very solid zoning game by mixing up ground slams and his projectile which will stop Sektor's missile bombardment dead in it's tracks. Sektor also has to worry about Jax's armor while firing any projectile as well as his armor when trying to preforming any block strings. Jax also has great anti air 1 and d1 conversions to prevent cross up issues. The only aspect of Sektor that isn't counted by Jax is his poke game. This is a slow fight, however unlike matches like Cyrax; mistakes are allowed outside the corner.

Johnny Cage: 5/5 Riu48

Kabal: 5/5 AC1984
- AC1984 is one of my primary training buddies; thus Kabal is a match up I know just as well as anyone else. Sektor has the ability to iTU while Kabal is spamming his instant air gas blast as well as a ground saw. However the ground saw moves Kabal foward so Sektor will not hit him; though Sektor is not punished either. Kabal's block strings can be hindered by well placed d1 or uppercuts. Crossing Kabal up while he has meter is extremely dangerous due to the armor on EX dash. Same goes for using a missile that isn't full screen. However when Kabal has no meter, the match up is largely in Sektor's favor, opening up tons of options in both up close and far away games.

Kano 5/5 Grr, Funkdoc

Kenshi: 7/3 xxTeefxx
- Teef is another one of my regular training buds. While he will continue to disagree with me, Kenshi is without a doubt a bottom tier character. Sektor can easily get on top of Kenshi and never allow him to get off simply by jumping over him and doing 1,2. There is a dead zone in Kenshi's rising karma that Sektor is in while crossing Kenshi up; so even if he has armor on EX, it doesn't matter. Sektor can also out zone him by using up missiles since he can not reflect them back AND his punching man will wiff since Sektor leans back while he fires. Sektor can not iTU a sword overhead man however.

Kitana: 4/6 down1
- Characters with low hit boxes AND a good poke game are going to really give Sektor a hard time. By simply never blocking and using d1 when Sektor comes close will disable him to perform any block strings or combo starters. Sektor must poke his way out of this match or zone from full screen, never jumping. Sektor can iTU a fan from full screen which is his saving grace in this rather difficult match up.

Kung Lao: 5/5 AC1984, Eazail, Tom Brady
- There is "nothing" in this match up that gives Kung Lao an advantage despite what everyone seems to think. Sektor has a fast uppercut which gives him even more time to react to a teleport in order to punish. Sektor can out-zone him and force him to make stupid moves such as teleports and dive kicks. Sektor can also bait spins with his block strings and land his hardest punish starting with b2. That said, Kung Lao is still a great character despite running the risk of being punished every time me makes a move. Sektor can not cross him up, must use all pokes with caution as well as fire missile from within half screen due to dive kick.

----

I will post more later.

 

[SLy]

Jade v sek 6-4?

Can you elaborate on this matchup more..I quite believe it just about breaks even..5.5-4.5 at best in sek favor..but before I give my input on this I want an understanding on how sektor has the upper hand?

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Jade v sek 6-4?

Can you elaborate on this matchup more..I quite believe it just about breaks even..5.5-4.5 at best in sek favor..but before I give my input on this I want an understanding on how sektor has the upper hand?

For me at least, I'm still not super confident on 6/4. Regardless the reason I feel like it is in Sektor's favor due to Jade's inability to handle Sektor up close and/or keep Sektor away. On reaction to any projectile she throws Sektor can iTU. If she EX's the projectile will not hit him since he is on the other side of Jade. Just because she has projectile immunity sadly doesn't allow for her to zone someone out.

Jade is extremely slow and falls victim to block strings that other characters do not. Sektor can continue to 1,2 and jump over with free will. He can also b3,4 into a standing 1 with only fearing a d1 from Jade.

Lastly Jade can be baited into using her projectile immunity through using missiles in block strings. She can then be punished for using it at the wrong time.

Before I define my score I want to play against a top level Jade (offline).

 

[SLy]

What you mention about punishing her projectiles is definitley valid however her zoning dosent only consist of full screen projectiles...I Feel mid range is her comfort zone in this matchup..Why?

She Can Zone and keep sektor in check with Flash Shadow kicks..Missles dosent help much in scenarios such as this..Yes Flash can be baited but a Jade of patience who can flash and still be cautious instead of flash and rush without thought can put sek in tight situations. Yes she is slow on normals but I dont think jumping over jade gives you that great of advantage..She can N.J1 or EN Flash if patterns are obvious..Jade is capable of stuffing all of ur wake up TU with rangs..flame trades however..Momemtum from jade can easily tilt her way in this MU..I Believe what makes this 5/5 is a Jade that can good reads of When to Flash..Mix that with her slow but good pokes..U3 got nerfed yea but its still very useful..i feel her good frame traps and under the radar resets make up for her somewhat slow normals.

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

For me, the Jade v Sektor match-up comes down to numbers; Sektor can do more damage with less meter and has faster normals.

Of all those metrics, I feel speed hurts Jade the most in this match-up. Boomerangs are slow enough to be iaTU-ed at pretty much any range you can reasonably expect to see them and Sektor's fast enough to counter most of Jade's string with his 6 frame 1, which leads to a 45%+ combo.

Jade doesn't have the speed or damage to fight Sektor up close, can't win a projectile war, and b1 and Flameburner give Sektor safer screen control than Jade has.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

I'm a firm beliver that the best way to look at a match up is who has the most changes to open the opponent up? Due to Jade's terrible pokes and non-existant pressure she stands a lot harder time landing something on Sektor. What she has to look for are opprotunities to use flash kick and rangs... making it a very slow race. Sektor on the other hand can open her up extremly fast from anywhere on the screen. Flame is the key to the mid screen battle as well as b1. From full distance, I feel that once Jade makes a move, Sektor can punish it. Sure Jade can negate missiles, but Sektor isn't taking damage from it.

Don't get me wrong, Jade has much worse match ups I'm sure. Though I don't like saying it (since I wanted to play Jade from the start) I've always thought her to be the single worst character in the game from day 1 until now.

 

[Robotic]

Swift, that concise matchup post you made a few posts ago is probably the most informative thing in here - very cool. Maybe PM Ketchup and have an in depth, once-and-for-all discussion about every one of these and post them; I think if that's done, this matchup chart will be as complete as it can get and the Sektor community can move forward with the "Sektor Manual".

 

[dangerous Dave]

Smoke v Sektor matchup is even. Sektor can keep him out all day, if you get caught though say goodbye to 60+. Spark, b3, and flamethower beat en shake.

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

Smoke v Sektor matchup is even. Sektor can keep him out all day, if you get caught though say goodbye to 60+. Spark, b3, and flamethower beat en shake.

I don't see how Sektor can keep Smoke out at all. The hitbox on Smoke Bombs is so large that I don't think they can be TU'ed on reaction, so that means tou have to anticipate them, which makes it a guessing game between Smoke Bombs and Shake. And while b1, b3, and flameburner may beat EX shake, they do nothing against Smoke Towards or Away.

 

[Crathen]

[MENTION=7890]Stream Worthy[/MENTION]

Fullscreen buzzsaw cannot be Iatu as you said but this really doesn't change much of the fullscreen situation , you can just jump forward or neutral jump them and problem solved , at jumping distance buzzsaw isn't a great idea , COULD be jumped and you will regret it , also when Sektor has meter he can always check Kabal with a safe Ex Tu ( of course this puts Sektor at big disadvantage but as i said Ndc pressure doesn't really scare Sektor fast normals ) , and about uppercut...b34 ( 12 frames ) has to be respected and Kabals uppercut isn't a 7 frame ( 11 frames ) and factor that b34 has better range than kabals uppercut so...if you make a good read with the uppercut it's a good read but it's not gonna win you the match when you can be b34 into combo for that decision.

As for Raiden & Mileena i'll make it short ( gonna try to go deeper in the future ) , Raiden i don't feel it's a really mindfuck match but he can really shut down ANY zoning attempt with Tele and get a lifelead with EX electric fly in case he needs it , upclose i don't think it's that bad , Sektor has standing 1 to outspeed him but his b3 if properly spaced it's damn good against him , also he has armor moves with his Ex electric Fly and Ex shocker to blast through sektors frametraps / spacing game.
Mileena is just bad , shuts down zoning with either advantage ( Tk ) or combo ( roll ) , because of that you can't zone her either with upmissiles or straight missiles , upclose her footsies with d4 dominate Sektors best offensive strings ( 12 , b34 ) so your only option to get in is f2 in case she wiffs a d4 and even with that her low hitbox will stop the 12 pressure , her d4 is 12 frames on par with b34 but with a lot better range stopping sektors special mids/lows and that's his main weakness , Mileena has just the best answers to stop sektor both fullscreen / upclose , for now i say this is a 4-6 but i wouldn't completely disagree with a slight 3-7

 

[dangerous Dave]

I don't have much to say about Mileena and Kabal (I've only fought few serious ones), but I have loads of Smoke experience. Mileena and Raiden seemed fair to me on paper and the ones I've fought didn't shock me. Do you know if b1 will hit a Mileena down 4ing? As for Smoke dash block in and play footsies with the tools I mentioned. Smoke bomb doesn't do any chip damage and back 1 will beat everthing except a jump in punch. Flamethrower pulls smoke out of the drift. If Smoke puts himself into a corner he's taking a ton of damage and/or blowing meter to get out. Smoke's pokes are fantastic and ducking will get you murdered, stay just outside that range and Smoke will have to try to get in to do anything. Don't try to beat smoke bomb with teleport, you'll get pulled out everytime.

I found against Raiden that if I turtle he can be nickel and dimed to death with Sektor's sexy upper cut n stuff.

also iatu beats all flavors of shake, but smoke can cancel it so be cautious.

 

[Crathen]

no b1 will whiff or get interrupted by d4 , of course you can try to get in in case she misses a d4 with a max range b1 in case she's mashing d4 but even on hit it doesnt get better at all for Sektor since she goes back at fullscreen where she wins , f2 is a much better offensive normal but sadly it whiffs / interrupted by d4 , the only way to get her is by either flamethrower or risk a jumpin , FT nets you just 8% and creates distance ( wich isn't good because you want to stay on mileena ) and jumpins are punishable with roll.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

I can say for sure that Smoke/Sektor is a 5/5. I used to think it was Sektor's single worst match up. What Streamworthy said is true, however you can still pressure smoke from up close as well. I personally don't like to keep Smoke away since I fear smoke bomb more than anything else he can do. While pressuring him you can throw up missiles that are going to whiff him and bait shakes for full combos. Once Smoke respects this option you can start pressuring him with missiles that you would hit him. You can still NEVER file a strait missile from full screen, but up close it will catch him off guard and allow you to continue or gain pressure advantage.

This all said, Smoke's damage and opportunity to land said damage are intense and deserving of respect. Every move you make as Sektor needs to be intelligent and with reason, otherwise... you done goofed.

 

[Crathen]

I can agree on the vs Smoke 5-5 but Upmissiles bait doesn't scare smoke at all , all he has to do is just telepunch and you can do that on reaction , plus random smokebomb trades are bad , straight missile from jump distance is not that good , what saves sektor is f2 wich is actually good vs smoke , his d4 is a decent keepaway but a whiffed one means sektor is in , on block you still beat 90% of smokes normals with 12 leaving him with his lowpokes ( jumpable or you can bait a d1 backdash and get in with b34 /b21/d4 and whatever ) , on hit you have a good advantage and b34 is guaranteed ( smoke has no armor moves too ) so you can pressure with all you want 12 , tickthrows and so on.
Wakeups are almost even to me Smoke will d4 on your WA and you will on his and in case you bait a smokeaway you can punish it with 12 if he goes behind you or you can f2 if he tries to go away.

It is 5-5 but i feel smoke has a tiny advantage .

Also i think sonya is a bad MU ( 4-6 ) , zoning her is usefull but you won't win rounds with that since she can close the distance pretty well , her projectile is really good and hard to punish on reaction even from 3/4 screen , plus no armored moves , her EX cartweel kills any footsies / keepaway and being -3 on block Sektor has to d1 to close all of her options but even if he hits her , he's left at -7 wich means he doesn't get anything going for making respect her disadvantage and if she still tries to jump after a cartweel getting hit by d1 Sektor can't combo off it. ( there's more to it , generally Sektor guessing game doesn't lead to big damage with Sonya where she can get decent damage and her 50/50 wich is still risky to stop after blocking MS f1 )

Thoughts?

 

[Crathen]

We need more discussion here , how do you guys feel about the Kenshi MU?

 

[NKZero]

Kenshi is still a tough match for Sektor until you get in. Then he has a bit of trouble. In past matches I tried to throw a straight missile and then knowing he would reflect it, I would follow up with a teleport but Kenshi can block it in time and punish. I don't know if the instant air teleport will bring about better success but if it does then thats huge. Anyways as far as I know, Sektor can only win up close (nobody really out zones Kenshi). I think its a 5.5-4.5 or 6-4 Kenshi but a smart Sektor player can certainly pull it off.

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

I've been playing against a lot of Jax recently so I thought I would give my input on that matchup.

4-6/3.5-6.5

Spacing is absolutely vital for this matchup. In some ways, Jax should be treated like Reptile. Just like with Elbow Dash, there's a dead zone for Dash Punch that you should try and stay in. Unlike Reptile, you aren't going to out zone Jax, though. Try to stay just outside of Dash Punch's range and use Missile, fire, and b1 to keep Jax out. Of course you can't, because of all the armor, but you still try. Once Jex gets in, stay low and poke and watch out for (armored) overheads. At a certain distance, Flame Burner can't be punished by Dash Punch. Sektor's uppercut is a vital tool once Jax get's in, as it can be used as a garuntee punish for Dash Punch (if it's ducked) and to escape pressure.

Besides armor, the thing you need to watch out for with Jax is his sweep. It's stupid fast, has a crazy reach, and lowers his hitbox tremendously. So much that he can go under Missiles and even stuff Flame Burner. It can really kill any precious momentum you may have and it doesn't even cost meter.

Jax still has the clear advantage over Sektor, but he's not as insurmountable as I initially thought.