Espio
Kokomo
Blue Beetle
Mix ups/pressure: 3/5
He has a balanced risk/reward where on offense he can do safe unreactable mix ups for low damage on the ground or he can do riskier things that lead to bigger combo damage. He also has air mix ups and jump 3 among others lead to safe cross up mixing and openers that lead to respectable damage. He also has fast mids up close and a safe chip special alongside stagger pressure off of reasonably fast mids and highs.
Zoning: 4/5
His projectile speed and recovery is great and he can execute his projectile while airborne to prevent people from turtling/ducking full screen. His projectiles have good push back on block AND MB only increases that. Air projectile becomes a really safe overhead when MB'd as well. When he can zone a character, fly/jump back is extremely effective.
He can also counter zone some of the zoning specialist characters like Dr. Fate who do not have an air projectile and even those that do he can check them and make them think more about how to deal with his air/ground approach.
Neutral/Footsies: 4/5
Trait helps push this up from three to four because of the insane range of Forward 2, down 1, Back 2 as a result of trait. Even outside of trait, he has an advancing 14 frame mid that hits at round start that he can cancel into shield bash. His sweep has amazing range and can many times go under attacks and is extremely safe. Shield bash allows him the ability to blow up any read back dash in the game and at 11 frames is one of his fastest and safest (on block) advancing options.
His down 2 is pretty good against most jump ins including Batman's jump 2 among others.
Defensive Options: 4/5
He has a safe, invincible wake up that allows him to set up a decent wake up meta. He has a very solid back dash to get out of dodge. His sweep is a good check due to superior range and safety. He has a 7 frame down 1 that is great for poking out of pressure and hie can mix in down 1 bash or down 1 MB blast to create distance from the opponent.
His down 2 is good against most jump in attacks so he can send people away and do modest damage while encouraging them to approach him on the ground instead of abusing jump ins.
Damage output: 3/5
Not bad by any means, but not great either. There's not too much to say about this section honestly. He can punish hard if he wants to invest the meter. Even a meterless punish like 1,1,1, shield bash yields a modest 200 range of damage.
Overall: 18/25- Balanced with versatility for a lot of difference situations but doesn't really excel at any one particular thing.
Cheetah/Vixen
Mix ups/Pressure: 5/5
Cheetah has overhead and high command grabs, a low that she can use to tick off of for a command grab 50/50. She has a forward 3 that FORCES you to not use one of your defensive options as much because she wins essentially any armor trade in the game bar a few very situational exceptions. Air command grab, lots of natural delay on strings sets up tick scenarios as well.
She also breaks armor pretty easily with her primal rage+ 1,1,2 + Back 1,1, among others. Her sweep is good to set up oki and low profiles many mids in the game allowing her to punish hard.
Her trait allows her to open you up with mix ups and take half your life bar in one touch. Forward 2,3 is a mid, low, mid, grab string that is also great for armor breaking and grants her an over plus 30 restand that guarantees a forward 3 on hit into more potential pressure especially in the corner.
Zoning/Anti-Zoning: 3/5
Cheetah has zero full screen presence, but she makes up for it with her ability to counter zone opponents. Lunge allows her to low profile many mid projectiles like Blue Beetle's ground MB blast or Dr. Fate's projectile for example and it also allows her on good reads to get in on the opponent at a risk to start her offense. She builds meter off of this as well. Her dive bomb can be used to help her open the opponent up, but it's death on whiff AND block so it's not as potent as say a dive kick.
The no full screen presence and the risks involved with her mobility keep this category from being higher.
Neutral/Footsies: 2/5
Sweep is one of her best ranged buttons, but is -8 and punishable unless spaced well. Her forward 3 also is a good ranged button, but the speed holds it back from being a huge deal. Back 1 is a solid low option, but lacks the advancing range that many others have for similar speed or faster buttons.
Her strings in general lack the range to check people thus hindering her pressure and also her defense.
Her down 2 is decent, but nothing crazy. She can anti-air some of the best jump ins, but she also many times trades as well.
Defensive Options: 4/5
She has one of the best back dashes in the game so she can move around the screen and run away pretty well. She also can go under pressure, zoning and strings that are considered "mids" with sweep, down 1, down 3 and her lunge, allowing her to escape or avoid scenarios that others just have to hold.
Her wake up primal rage is unsafe on block or whiff, but it has some invincibility and allows her to shred MB back/forward 3 armor making the opponent have to be very cautious about how to approach her and of course combined with her back dash allows her to have a deeply layered wake up game.
After she conditions you to block the primal rage, she can then sneak in a command grab if you respect the wake up to keep you on your toes even more.
She can cancel pretty much any string into lunge so if she wants to stay safe and run away she can do a string and get out of dodge then continue walking back or back dashing to safety.
Damage output: 3/5
Cheetah is a character that kind of chips away at you over time, her damage is of the burst variety as opposed to insane combos, but her trait gives her combos that are fast, quick and easy to execute that can drain a life bar in seconds. The only thing holding this back from being higher is getting trait, getting in to use it and capitalizing on the damage buff as well as the fact that she normally does relatively low to average damage without it.
Overall: 17/25- Cheetah has good tools, but has notable flaws that keep her from being insanely strong. She is a character that is never out of a fight because of her trait, command grabs, and other mix ups that can see a life deficit melt away. She has to earn her offense, but if she gets started, she can bring even a bleak match up home.
Mix ups/pressure: 3/5
He has a balanced risk/reward where on offense he can do safe unreactable mix ups for low damage on the ground or he can do riskier things that lead to bigger combo damage. He also has air mix ups and jump 3 among others lead to safe cross up mixing and openers that lead to respectable damage. He also has fast mids up close and a safe chip special alongside stagger pressure off of reasonably fast mids and highs.
Zoning: 4/5
His projectile speed and recovery is great and he can execute his projectile while airborne to prevent people from turtling/ducking full screen. His projectiles have good push back on block AND MB only increases that. Air projectile becomes a really safe overhead when MB'd as well. When he can zone a character, fly/jump back is extremely effective.
He can also counter zone some of the zoning specialist characters like Dr. Fate who do not have an air projectile and even those that do he can check them and make them think more about how to deal with his air/ground approach.
Neutral/Footsies: 4/5
Trait helps push this up from three to four because of the insane range of Forward 2, down 1, Back 2 as a result of trait. Even outside of trait, he has an advancing 14 frame mid that hits at round start that he can cancel into shield bash. His sweep has amazing range and can many times go under attacks and is extremely safe. Shield bash allows him the ability to blow up any read back dash in the game and at 11 frames is one of his fastest and safest (on block) advancing options.
His down 2 is pretty good against most jump ins including Batman's jump 2 among others.
Defensive Options: 4/5
He has a safe, invincible wake up that allows him to set up a decent wake up meta. He has a very solid back dash to get out of dodge. His sweep is a good check due to superior range and safety. He has a 7 frame down 1 that is great for poking out of pressure and hie can mix in down 1 bash or down 1 MB blast to create distance from the opponent.
His down 2 is good against most jump in attacks so he can send people away and do modest damage while encouraging them to approach him on the ground instead of abusing jump ins.
Damage output: 3/5
Not bad by any means, but not great either. There's not too much to say about this section honestly. He can punish hard if he wants to invest the meter. Even a meterless punish like 1,1,1, shield bash yields a modest 200 range of damage.
Overall: 18/25- Balanced with versatility for a lot of difference situations but doesn't really excel at any one particular thing.
Cheetah/Vixen
Mix ups/Pressure: 5/5
Cheetah has overhead and high command grabs, a low that she can use to tick off of for a command grab 50/50. She has a forward 3 that FORCES you to not use one of your defensive options as much because she wins essentially any armor trade in the game bar a few very situational exceptions. Air command grab, lots of natural delay on strings sets up tick scenarios as well.
She also breaks armor pretty easily with her primal rage+ 1,1,2 + Back 1,1, among others. Her sweep is good to set up oki and low profiles many mids in the game allowing her to punish hard.
Her trait allows her to open you up with mix ups and take half your life bar in one touch. Forward 2,3 is a mid, low, mid, grab string that is also great for armor breaking and grants her an over plus 30 restand that guarantees a forward 3 on hit into more potential pressure especially in the corner.
Zoning/Anti-Zoning: 3/5
Cheetah has zero full screen presence, but she makes up for it with her ability to counter zone opponents. Lunge allows her to low profile many mid projectiles like Blue Beetle's ground MB blast or Dr. Fate's projectile for example and it also allows her on good reads to get in on the opponent at a risk to start her offense. She builds meter off of this as well. Her dive bomb can be used to help her open the opponent up, but it's death on whiff AND block so it's not as potent as say a dive kick.
The no full screen presence and the risks involved with her mobility keep this category from being higher.
Neutral/Footsies: 2/5
Sweep is one of her best ranged buttons, but is -8 and punishable unless spaced well. Her forward 3 also is a good ranged button, but the speed holds it back from being a huge deal. Back 1 is a solid low option, but lacks the advancing range that many others have for similar speed or faster buttons.
Her strings in general lack the range to check people thus hindering her pressure and also her defense.
Her down 2 is decent, but nothing crazy. She can anti-air some of the best jump ins, but she also many times trades as well.
Defensive Options: 4/5
She has one of the best back dashes in the game so she can move around the screen and run away pretty well. She also can go under pressure, zoning and strings that are considered "mids" with sweep, down 1, down 3 and her lunge, allowing her to escape or avoid scenarios that others just have to hold.
Her wake up primal rage is unsafe on block or whiff, but it has some invincibility and allows her to shred MB back/forward 3 armor making the opponent have to be very cautious about how to approach her and of course combined with her back dash allows her to have a deeply layered wake up game.
After she conditions you to block the primal rage, she can then sneak in a command grab if you respect the wake up to keep you on your toes even more.
She can cancel pretty much any string into lunge so if she wants to stay safe and run away she can do a string and get out of dodge then continue walking back or back dashing to safety.
Damage output: 3/5
Cheetah is a character that kind of chips away at you over time, her damage is of the burst variety as opposed to insane combos, but her trait gives her combos that are fast, quick and easy to execute that can drain a life bar in seconds. The only thing holding this back from being higher is getting trait, getting in to use it and capitalizing on the damage buff as well as the fact that she normally does relatively low to average damage without it.
Overall: 17/25- Cheetah has good tools, but has notable flaws that keep her from being insanely strong. She is a character that is never out of a fight because of her trait, command grabs, and other mix ups that can see a life deficit melt away. She has to earn her offense, but if she gets started, she can bring even a bleak match up home.
gets 3/5 for having a very invincible wake-up and a 7f low hitting poke, maybe its generous but eh he's got enough.
