TheChad_87
Bad Reputation
And what, exactly, is Smoke zoning with?
I'm actually inclined to think that Baraka's Blade Rush gives him an edge OVER Smoke if we're talking in terms on specials only. Not to say that Smoke isn't a perfectly capable character. He is very solid, but if you want to see a Smoke character fall apart, just go online and when someone picks Smoke, block high. Nothing else. Just block high.
I understand that this doesn't work at the highest level of play, but it does point out one of his major weaknesses: A lack of solid lows.
As Konqrr is saying, you can't just take specials into consideration. Baraka has many other things going for him in the match-up. For one, Smoke's shake will get almost no utility this match. 'Raka isn't going to be throwing too many Blade Sparks, amirite? The aforementioned Bade Rush is very good against Smoke and can be done in reaction to Smoke Bombs. A well-timed Chop Chop punishes tele for decent damage since it can be followed up with Blade Rush.
Also, a good Smoke relies HEAVILY on reads and a good Baraka is extremely difficult to read as he can pretty much cancel into a special off of any normal (Including a D+4). I'm inclined to say this one is in Baraka's favor when considering everything; but not enough to make it a 6-4.
EDIT:
Sheeva Numbers:
v Scorpion: 4-6 His teleport keeps her from safely following up Jump Stomp with her BnB like she can against other members of the cast. His mix-up options also make it harder for her to block and punish like she can against other members of the cast. This is not as hard as the Mileena match-up, but it's an uphill battle.
v Sektor: 3-7 Up-Missile makes Jump Stomp a non-option in this match-up. His flamethrower negates the reach she can get from using her 3, 3 combo starter. And all of his attacks are faster (We don't have Sektor frame data yet, so I can't say how much faster, but he always seems to beat her out up close). He can also pretty much lock her down on the other side of the screen with Missile. *Obv she can dash block in, but he can also step back and keep doing it). It's not impossible if she does get in, though. Obviously, she hits hard up close, but getting there is about as hard with Sektor as it is with Shang Tsung.
v Sonya: 3-7. Sonya's frickin fast and Air Drop shenanigans into the reset are brutal. The only thing that makes it not so bad is that Sonya lacks a low combo starter. But she can always Military Stance, F+1 to hit low. Now, Sheeva has to respect that as well as an overhead from Military Stance, Throw. This works against everyone, obviously, but Sheeva feels the repercussions of it harder as she's so much slower than the rest of the cast, she can;t really stop Sonya from keeping pressure up even after one of the Military Stance mix-ups like many others can. Sonya's D+4 also trumps Sheeva's D+3, which she can spam against many characters to get them to crouch for a Low Grab. I'd say this match is just as hard as the Mileena one.
