any tips on fighting against johnny cage

[blues686]

the cage match up is really annoying, his rush down seems to beat all of cyrax movies, any tips guys?

 

[MattNasty]

Good question. Good jc players are tricky.

 

[NariTuba]

You need Mustard in here to give you serious advice since he plays against FoxyG beast cage regularly. But i´ll humbly give you what I got since I main Cyrax and sub Cage.

d1 and d4 are precious in this matchup for Cyrax. Use them wisely to gain distance, but have a plan for those prescious seconds gained. You have to use Cage´s nature against him, he WILL rush you down and you know this so use it.

d1 is great! if Cage is carelessly pressuring even after being hit with it cancel it into ragdoll... if you send him flying fullscreen with this he will begin to respect your counter pokes. If you connect a d4 dash in with pressure string, dont be afraid of the character. 1,2 string has a great forward motion and its fast, you can also catch a dashing Cage with it... hit confirm it into full combo. Dont be afraid to jump in on him or crossover jump to mix things up.

I find that I connect more random nets in this matchup than usual, its a risk but you have to be ballsy against Cage, I dont think theres a safe way to play this one.

I also usually drop a close bomb first when at a distance to see how they react, it can buy you some time to play your bomb and net game (ie. CB, FB, CB, net, MB, net, etc...) Hope this helps.

 

[Mt. Mutombo]

Difficult matchup really...best bet is to try and zone him with bombs to control pace and make him make mistakes, but if he's smart and uses ex kicks and times those bombs correctly to get in, its a pain in the ass.

Once he gets in, go for d1 and d4 to contain his silly pressure. And if you're lucky and hit an ex rag doll don't do the throw afterwards just back up and start with the bombing barrage.

Im speaking hypothetically here, most of the JC players i've played haven't been top notch players.

Edit: Heh said basically the same thing ^^^he said lol...

 

[PND_Mustard]

well in all honesty id say if the cage is actually using his EH shadow kick at any point other than to finish you off he's making a mistake, it just pushes you away which is where you actually want to be, avoid the corner at all costs, even if it means teleporting and eating about 15%, i wouldnt use the d4 TOO much, as it has a fair bit of recovery on whiff which he can use to get in your face and start the frametraps, use your short bombs here too, essentially gives you the sort of space control sub zero gets off his clone but with half the time, when cage starts the frametraps you just have to learn which ones you can d1 out of and which ones you cant, also, if he throws the EH greenballs, block the first, then interupt the second, you have to do it VERY quick, but it works.

 

[blues686]

thanks guys, i used some of your pointers to use. more so in the third round of the following video

but still need some more practice against jc, plus online lag makes it more difficult to learn properly. i was dropping some combos...but the input has helped greatly, thanks again


if anyone can post videos of cyrax vs jc for reference please, do

 

[Hellbringer]

i tend to throw alot of close/medium bombs and try to keep him away from me. and also try to bait him to use his ex shadowkick and punish.

 

[Lt. Boxy Angelman]

I am all about this. Cage's rushdown is an intense beast to battle. I always stay as far away as possible.
I'd rather play it safe with the Noob-Saibot-ish mindgames and wait him out then risk swinging at him and walking into a nutpunch clinic.

Like the man above me said, if he doesn't have the meter for an EX Kick, just torment him with zoning shenanigans and try and get him to misstep.
The one reason Cage doesn't thoroughly terrify me is because of his ehh-ness at fullscreen. If you can take the kick out of the picture, just keep your eyes on his feet and you can lay traps like landmines.

 

[NRF CharlieMurphy]

well in all honesty id say if the cage is actually using his EH shadow kick at any point other than to finish you off he's making a mistake, it just pushes you away which is where you actually want to be, avoid the corner at all costs, even if it means teleporting and eating about 15%, i wouldnt use the d4 TOO much, as it has a fair bit of recovery on whiff which he can use to get in your face and start the frametraps, use your short bombs here too, essentially gives you the sort of space control sub zero gets off his clone but with half the time, when cage starts the frametraps you just have to learn which ones you can d1 out of and which ones you cant, also, if he throws the EH greenballs, block the first, then interupt the second, you have to do it VERY quick, but it works.

Is Cyrax one of those characters that the exForeball trap doesn't work on? Like reptile?

 

[blues686]

Is Cyrax one of those characters that the exForeball trap doesn't work on? Like reptile?

explain please, whats the ex forceball trap?

 

[NariTuba]

explain please, whats the ex forceball trap?

Cage can do f3,3xExFB, f3,3ExFB, f3,3xExFB, f3,3 and because of frame advantage the opponent has no choice but to block the entire thing or take a hit to interrupt pressure. This can be done on almost the entire roster except for a few characters that have a lower hitbox that will cause the second fireball to whiff. I think Reptile and Ermac are two of these, I dont think Cyrax is one of them.

 

[PND_Mustard]

thanks guys, i used some of your pointers to use. more so in the third round of the following video

but still need some more practice against jc, plus online lag makes it more difficult to learn properly. i was dropping some combos...but the input has helped greatly, thanks again


if anyone can post videos of cyrax vs jc for reference please, do

TOO MANY TELEPORTS.

 

[PND_Mustard]

Cage can do f3,3xExFB, f3,3ExFB, f3,3xExFB, f3,3 and because of frame advantage the opponent has no choice but to block the entire thing or take a hit to interrupt pressure. This can be done on almost the entire roster except for a few characters that have a lower hitbox that will cause the second fireball to whiff. I think Reptile and Ermac are two of these, I dont think Cyrax is one of them.

he doesnt avoid it completely, you juswt have to time your standing 1, sektor can do it too.

 

[NariTuba]

he doesnt avoid it completely, you juswt have to time your standing 1, sektor can do it too.

I´m saying Cyrax doesnt have the low hitbox Reptile has, meaning that on stand block, both of JCs fireballs will hit.

Are you referring to interrupting f3,3xExfb f3,3xExfb with Cyrax standing 1? (or Sektor) that´s cool! Could you do 1,1xnet into full combo?

 

[PND_Mustard]

I´m saying Cyrax doesnt have the low hitbox Reptile has, meaning that on stand block, both of JCs fireballs will hit.

Are you referring to interrupting f3,3xExfb f3,3xExfb with Cyrax standing 1? (or Sektor) that´s cool! Could you do 1,1xnet into full combo?

if you see the 1,1/1,2 land then sure, i like to play it safe and just go 1,2,1 to get him the hell away form me but it works.

blcok the first force ball, let go of block, and stand, the second should miss

 

[NariTuba]

oooooh standing 1 in between forceballs... solid stuff there man!

if only I could make the dummy in practice mode just shoot forceballs at me ant3:

 

[GGA HAN]

I'm starting to understand this match-up better, but how the hell does Cyrax punish JC for flash-kick(d,b+3?) on block? Any input is appreciated!

-Pete aka HAN

 

[scarsunseen]

Against Cage, i try to ALWAYS launch close bombs. Or if a Cage player wants to spam fireballs, I'll sometimes launch far bombs and teleport behind. Also, D1 is good at interrupting Cage's pressure. I often use his wakeup-sawblade to keep him off me when I get knocked down, although sometimes it's better to use the wakeup/air-grab and jump away. Cage is def a tough match for Cyrax, but he is manageable.

 

[GoodLifeGodLike]

I never really have trouble with Cage. He doesn't scare me at all. I have more trouble with Smoke, Scorpion, Kabal and Raiden. You just need to catch Cage in one net and it's pretty much over. Drop bombs close and then anti-air works well for me. I noticed in your video you a clear path for damaging combos, but whiffed on them. Like you had him in the corner in the net did a b2, but then did a medium bomb. Go for a b2, njp, 12, 33, saw...close bomb.

 

[Eddy Wang]

If you Get Caged then you're Gonna get Caged

Fighting Cage is a bit like Fighting Kung Lao, do not Rushdown into him and pull out everything you've, got, DO NOT Get Caged( Cornered)

 

[DarthArma]

I'm starting to understand this match-up better, but how the hell does Cyrax punish JC for flash-kick(d,b+3?) on block? Any input is appreciated!

-Pete aka HAN

His flash kick is safe on block BUT...if it whiffs you can punish it with 1-2 net. I like to do D4 on cage's wake up cause if he does shadow kick or flash kick i can punish it. If you have a buddy or a little brother try it out in training room. Knock him down and do d4 on his wake up, have him flash kick and you can work on punishing him.