Hawkgirl vs Sinestro
3-7 (Sinestro advantage)
This matchup is very very hard on HG. She can't play lame at all. It's as if Sinestro was created just to crush her.
Starting with Impact Event, these are the boulders that fly from the sky (and track) and land on you. This single move crushes everything she does in flight and her jump because she jumps so slowly and so high. When it connects, you get slammed to the ground for an untechable knockdown which usually gives him time to dash back or god forbid build up his trait a bit. He can meter burn it on reaction and if meter burned you bounce up and back away from Sinestro. Most Sinestros take this time to blast you with his Fear Blast to push you even farther away. Some Sinestro jerks can even combo his shackles off of the Impact Event MB and either blast you with a fear blast or just let you sit there and build up his trait. Another thing about Impact Event, is because HG's dash is so slow and the meteor tracks so well, one dash isn't gonna cut it or a dash into an MC or WE3 isn't gonna cut it either. You have to anticipate the boulder and then dash past it.
Ok, so jumping and flying is out. So let's dash. Well, that's where his Fear Blast comes in. It's quick and annoying as crap. Because HG's dash is so slow and seems to recover from it slow, this palm blast can tag her right in the face. When meter burned, Sinestro shoots about 5 blasts that are hard to get around. And they're at the perfect height to hit HG while she tries to MB or WE to try to get closer. Dashing and blocking is the slow, painful, and safest way to only get in unless you jump....... and if Sinestro calls a meteor while you jump, you get comboed and pushed back to full screen again. Fear Blast is high so you can duck all of it but only on anticipation. And if you get caught ducking that stupid meteor.... oh the frustration.
And then there's most frustrating thing of all and that's his trait. Once this thing is out, you're basically screwed and really the only thing you can do is go for a hail mary MC or clash to end it. This stupid satellite thing shoots tiny "pew-pew" lasers on command. These things are insanely fast and make everything of his safe. It can hit HG out of everything and pretty much makes it impossible to get in. And even if you get in, he can use trait to get you away and punish things he normally can't punish.
With all this before you the tactic vs Sinestro is clear. Find a way in and DONT' LET HIM OUT. Do NOT end combos with flight 3. Only end combos with MC MB if you get him into the corner. Try to end combos with air D3 so you can do the 3~WE tech because it's pretty good against him. Many Sinestros like to bait you into a range where they can B13 you. Getting hit with this starts a pretty damaging combo that will push you back to full screen again. You can punish B13 but I think there's some new thing going around where Sinestro can cancel the B1 into a trait charge and into something else. It sounds scary as hell and I hope we can d1/d2 out of it on reaction. Another thing to watch out for is the Arachnid Sting (which you can't duck anymore. Thanks NRS) This is most Sinestro's last resort to push you out and a good wakeup attack. If you get hit with this, they can meter burn and ....... you guessed it!..... push you back to full screen. You can punish the the first hit of the Sting but if you're late, you'll get hit by the MB and pushed back full screen. And if you block the MB, you get pushed back far enough for him to get out of dodge.
Basically, find a way in and stay there. Don't let him push you out. Try to keep him guessing with your approach and make him feel like he can either palm blast or meteor you to keep you out. If a Sinestro player knows the matchup he'll start walking backwards and refuse to block low because he knows only our sweep can knock us down. Adding more to this frustrating matchup is that Sinestro has a fast backwalk and he can literally moonwalk his way out of sweep range. Stay in. Keep him from pushing you out. Use your D1 a lot to keep him still. And don't let him get that damn trait charged.
.
