List of the best zoners in the game?

[Sage Leviathan]

keep quite

Sowwy, i only five yeah old

Anyway, from my Saibot experience, Kenshi can prove difficult to play against.
Its almost as if its a mirror match, but Kenshi has better normals/range. Plus, he can actually combo off his "upknee" equivalent, Rising Karma.

 

[Under_The_Mayo]

Sowwy, i only five yeah old

Anyway, from my Saibot experience, Kenshi can prove difficult to play against.
Its almost as if its a mirror match, but Kenshi has better normals/range. Plus, he can actually combo off his "upknee" equivalent, Rising Karma.

Noob is actually a bit difficult for kenshi. The projectiles are very fast and makes reaction reflecting difficult. And they dont even reflect back at him. Getting in to use a Spirit Charge is problematic because it sends him back to zoning range. Frustrating. A match very focused on punishes, good reads, and smart uses of meter to get in for combos.

 

[Sage Leviathan]

Noob is actually a bit difficult for kenshi. The projectiles are very fast and makes reaction reflecting difficult. And they dont even reflect back at him. Getting in to use a Spirit Charge is problematic because it sends him back to zoning range. Frustrating. A match very focused on punishes, good reads, and smart uses of meter to get in for combos.

Damn. But i like jumping in on Kenshi :/

 

[M2Dave]

I'm not so sure about this but I may be mistaken. Since Kenshi is a strong zoner, and he has one of the best "get off me" moves in the game, wouldn't it make it easy for Kenshi to get a significant life lead, if Liu Kang is trying to maneuver the wall of projectiles?

I'm not familiar with the details because I don't know the match up well. My argument is that Kenshi isn't a strong full screen zoning character. Tele-fury is kind of slow, has no pushback on block, and doesn't even hit some crouch-blocking characters. The overheads are also slow and highly punishable on whiff. Kenshi is most effective at mid range because the spirit charge is one the very best footsie tools in the game.

When you say "one of the best get off me moves", I assume you mean EX spirit charge, which is very good, indeed. The move doesn't solve Kenshi's weakness to cross ups, though.

 

[Sasuga]

How about Reptile? Sure he's not the best zoner but his acid spit is fast and with his force balls he controls space, he can close in really fast after a slow ball and can combo for 40% on hit.

 

[xenogorgeous]

How about Reptile? Sure he's not the best zoner but his acid spit is fast and with his force balls he controls space, he can close in really fast after a slow ball and can combo for 40% on hit.

He is a good zoner, he can put 2 force balls on screen , and his acid spit is among the fastest projectiles, and you can mix a slow force ball + acid spit to keep some distance pressure on adversary .... he is not the best, but he is pretty decent, very respectable character in this game.

 

[HANZO HASA5HI]

Kitana, Nightwolf, Reptile and Cyrax. I would say Kabal but Im usually able to outzone him.

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Having good counter-zoning tools doesn't necessarily make a character good at zoning. You don't really control space with counter moves. Counter moves are only effective vs projectiles but you can't keep rushdown characters away with reflects.

tbh I don't think Freddy is that great at zoning. I mean, he can't even iaFB. So to me he's really just a watered down version of Kabal. I've personally never had trouble getting around his projectile game.

Sektor has better counter zoning tools than Stryker, but Stryker's projectiles are more effective for keep away and air control.

Top is probably Kabal, Kenshi and Noob.

 

[DanCock]

Having good counter-zoning tools doesn't necessarily make a character good at zoning. You don't really control space with counter moves. Counter moves are only effective vs projectiles but you can't keep rushdown characters away with reflects.

tbh I don't think Freddy is that great at zoning. I mean, he can't even iaFB. So to me he's really just a watered down version of Kabal. I've personally never had trouble getting around his projectile game.

Sektor has better counter zoning tools than Stryker, but Stryker's projectiles are more effective for keep away and air control.

Top is probably Kabal, Kenshi and Noob.

just an fyi once you play the best freddys in the game like [MENTION=27]m2dave[/MENTION] you will then know that freddy is probably one of the best zoners in the game.

 

[Flagg]

Beginning to think Kenshi is the best zoner in the game now..

 

[xenogorgeous]

Freddy is a zoner character, there is no doubt about that .... in fact, he is underexplored.

And Kenshi, sure is one of the best, and I hope to see in Evo, now that is allowed to use DLC, some sick Kenshi players there, exploring the character to "maximum carnage" level , hehe

 

[M2Dave]

Having good counter-zoning tools doesn't necessarily make a character good at zoning. You don't really control space with counter moves. Counter moves are only effective vs projectiles but you can't keep rushdown characters away with reflects.

tbh I don't think Freddy is that great at zoning. I mean, he can't even iaFB. So to me he's really just a watered down version of Kabal. I've personally never had trouble getting around his projectile game.

Sektor has better counter zoning tools than Stryker, but Stryker's projectiles are more effective for keep away and air control.

Top is probably Kabal, Kenshi and Noob.

A lot of the zoning characters in this game (i.e., Noob, Kenshi, Stryker) lose 7:3 to Kabal. I think Sindel does a little bit better. I hold Freddy in high regard because he does very well against Kabal. Kabal has a partial block infinite combo vs Freddy, and the match up is still even. Freddy's zoning game is just that good. Besides, if you are talking about sitting full screen away chunking fireballs, no zoning character will beat Freddy in such a game.

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Yeah, it's possible. I haven't really played a lot of high level Freddys tbh. Do you have any videos of you (or another top player) playing as Freddy?

I hope we see more of them in upcoming tournaments.

 

[Faded Dreams V]

Yeah, it's possible. I haven't really played a lot of high level Freddys tbh. Do you have any videos of you (or another top player) playing as Freddy?

I hope we see more of them in upcoming tournaments.

Add me. =D

 

[Ashenar]

Imo Freddy is the best pure zoner in this game hands down. As a kenshi player I can't even hold a lighter to the amount of garbage I have to face when I see freddy full screen.

 

[M2Dave]

Yeah, it's possible. I haven't really played a lot of high level Freddys tbh. Do you have any videos of you (or another top player) playing as Freddy?

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Oh yeah, totally forgot about that ground claw thing lol. I never see anyone use it outside of combos.

Usually I just get the low and high projectiles which aren't dangerous by themselves. But mixed up with the ground claw it can get tricky..

Thanks for the vids.


EDIT: Interesting how Freddy seems to have "ground control" as opposed to air control. He kinda forces you to jump around and that's when you fall into AA ground claw combo that sends you full screen again. Seems like a bitch to play against.

 

[M2Dave]

EDIT: Interesting how Freddy seems to have "ground control" as opposed to air control. He kinda forces you to jump around and that's when you fall into AA ground claw combo that sends you full screen again. Seems like a bitch to play against.

Good analysis.

Freddy can zone anybody unless you are fighting characters who are inherently designed to counter projectiles (i.e., Smoke, Raiden, Mileena).

 

[IIAvirus]

alot of people focus too much on kabal and kitana that they forget about liu and mileena their instant airs are so fast that if going against a kitana if you can instant air every time she cant even get a fan out if done at the lowest possible level so my list of zoners from top to bottom would be. kabal, liu, mileena, kitana, excluding ken cause he can reflect, then sindel.

 

[THTB]

Freddy is pretty much the best zoning character. He has fullscreen frame traps that keep you fullscreen lol. Even with armor, getting in on this character is ridiculous. And he counters zoning attempts well, himself.

 

[RTM2004]

The best zoners to me are Kenshi, Sindel and Kabal (projectiles at all angles, high and low). Kenshi is the top one, given his overhead one which stops players who jump and duck. Kabal is second based on his recovery on his instant air gasballs. Sindel being the third which she can angle her fireballs from full screen and short range - also at full levitation she can double fireballs.

 

[SHAOLIN]

Zoning

Zoning is a tactic in 2D fighters usually used at mid-range or far mid-range, the purpose of which is to out-prioritize your enemy's moves. The idea is to space yourself so that you are in a position to respond to or punish any entry angle or attack of your opponent's. Ideally, you can use certain pokes and attacks to beat your opponent's attacks, punish his advances or jumps, and hopefully shut down his offensive options, while landing hits. In attempting to zone, it is important to know the properties of your own attacks as well as the attacks of your opponent, in order to find the best move to use in countering your opponent's move. The ability to predict your opponent's next move, and having good reflexes to react to that move, are also important.


Just for people who don't what zoning is