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Guide How to Fight Lobo

Captain Oxygen

The end of one combo is the beginning of another
A lot of people don't understand how to fight against Lobo, a lot of the time they fall for simple frame traps like B12, D1 or tick throws like 21, command grab. Most people don't understand the matchup very well. So here a guide on how to fight against Lobo, Blue text for important notes

Honestly, Lobo loses to every top tier character (except probably Aqua and maybe Batgirl) and a lot of "irrelevant" characters like Lex and Grundy.

And another thing is that, because of the lack of Lobo players most people don't understand what to do in the matchup

I'm not gonna claim Lobo is bottom 10, but he's only around mid/low mid tier

His big issues are that
- His Mixups are Unsafe without Meter/Trait
- His Defensive tools aren't very good.
- His Wakeup is poor
- He gets out footsied by a lot of the cast
- He needs Meter to do damage/pressure people


Lobo's mixup game is good in the sense that he has a lot of options on his mixups, however they are unsafe, and without meter/trait the options are unsafe and have very poor risk/reward. Lobo can cancel any string/normal into a 50/50 or 33/33/33 with Low Hook/Shot, Hook Charge, Grab.

For the most part against Lobo you just block low unless you see the overhead.
Lobo's 21 string is his best mixup string in that he has 5 options off of it; he can go

21 hook charge
21 low hook/shot
21 grab
2 grab
2 low shot/hook

Hook Charge is only an option I'd do on a read. It's unsafe if i don't have meter, and even when I do meter burn it, it only does 15%

Low Hook is punishable up close by everyone (and 1/5 of the cast at any range) and Lowshot is unsafe by everyone (except Grundy) unless i have trait. Low shot/hook is a terrible option because on hit I get a measly 10% and on block I get full combo punished

Grab is an option that only works in a high pressure situation. While it seems hard to react to a 19 frame move. The way you should go about blocking Lobo's mixups is to Always look for grab and react with a raw B3 when you see it coming while you block either high/low. Unless you are in a high pressure situation where you don't think of grab, you should always be ready for the grab with a raw B3 punish while covering either Low/Overhead. If you read a tick throw, DO NOT JUMP. Every character in the game universally punish grab ticks with a Raw B3 and get a full combo.

To which if your blocking Low/Overhead pay attention to whether I have trait or meter
If I don't have trait I'm less inclined to go for the low option, If I don't have meter I'm less inclined to go for the overhead option, If I have neither chances are I want the grab.

And another big thing is Lobo seriously needs to save his bar
his combos do Nothing without meter. And the risk reward for most of Lobo's mixups are awful. On hit I'll end up getting less than 12% and on block I get combo punished
Without Meter, I can't combo off the Low starter, the only way I get big damage without meter is from the 25f overhead B2U1.

People get really scared of the pressure Lobo has. Lobo's main sources of pressure aren't that great.
Lobo's main pressure tools are his MB hook charge, B12 and 113 strings. Lobo's J1 has great blockstun and you can't d1 out of J1,B12. You can backdash it though.

MB Hook Charge is +3
B12 is +4
113 is +6

90% of the Time Hook Charge has enough pushback to where Lobo can't get a d1, meaning your free to game ham on him or backdash.
B12 and 113 are backdashable on the last hit (depends on the distance from Lobo)
This means if your backdashing all of Lobo's pressure he has to commit to a backdash punish which means your free to poke back. Lobo has trouble dealing with people backdashing his pressure
If I have to commit to a backdash punish, not only do I have to use meter to keep it safe, you can D1 me back if you know I'm gonna go for one.

Since lobo's options on his mixups usually don't lead into any big damage. Most of the time Lobo is simply setting up the MB grab, which is his main source of big damage. The main way of getting it reliably is from a knockdown. If you know Lobo's going for the grab and not a less scary option you can wakeup with almost anything

For example, if I knock down Martian Manhunter and the MMH player is expecting the grab, DONT wakeup with psychic push. Wakeup with Martian Grab and punish me with a full combo.

Lobo has to deal with a lot of casts great wakeups while Lobo's wakeup is not fully invincible
Hook Charge has a good amount of invincibility. But every character can stuff it with a well timed normal, or even just jumping. Hook Charge doesn't have a hitbox right above him so simply jump and avoid the first hit. Airborne F3's work really well for this too.

Lastly Lobo's footsies and movement are sub par. Yes, Lobo has an amazing forward dash, but thats it. Lobo's jump is very floaty, his backdash is garbage and his walkspeed in nonexistent. It means he has to either Dash in or go for Low Hooks/Hook Charges. Which he doesn't wanna do because Hook Charge wastes meter and Low hook is jumpable and combo'd.

Lobo's J1 can be hard to antiair/air to air for a lot of character. But because of his jump, Lobo gets trip guarded easily

Lobo's footsies with standing 3 are good, but a lot of character out range Standing 3 with faster footsie tools that go farther. The only good thing about standing 3 is that it antiairs and catches dashes at the same time. Unless it's a really bad jump, people shouldn't be scared of Standing 3. Standing 3 as an antiair is overrated. It does 7% when I antiair you with it. From a lot of heights it won't combo into hook charge.

Lobo WANTS to antiair you with his D2 so he can get a combo, but Lobo's D2 is mediorce. It doesn't low his hitbox and the area it covers is very small. Standing 3 is good for footsies and J1 is hard to antiair/air to air, but because of his walkspeed, jump, and only okay antiairs Lobo gets outfootsied pretty easily.

Lobo loses to characters who heavily outzone him, he has trouble establishing pressure on. Characters with amazing wakeup movement like Batman,Superman. And anyone who heavily rushes him down (especially with armor) like Grundy and Doomsday.

Here is my current MU chart (as of the making of this thread) with Lobo and I won't put any numbers, only who has the
advantage/neutral.

Lobo
/Aquaman
Lobo/Ares
Lobo/Bane
Lobo/Batgirl
Lobo/Batman
Lobo/Black Adam
Lobo
/Catwoman
Lobo/Cyborg
Lobo/Doomsday
Lobo/Deathstroke
Lobo/Flash
Lobo
/Green Arrow
Lobo/Green Lantern
Lobo/Grundy
Lobo/Harley Quinn
Lobo/Hawkgirl

Lobo/Joker
Lobo/Killer Frost
Lobo/Lex Luthor
Lobo/MMH
Lobo
/Raven
Lobo/Scorpion
Lobo/Shazam
Lobo/Sinestro
Lobo/Superman
Lobo/Wonder Woman
Lobo/Zatanna
Lobo/Zod

So with only 7 winning matchups, most of them on shitters, and 12 losing matchups. Lobo has trouble with a lot of the cast. He loses to every top tier (with the exception of possibly having a slight edge over Aquaman) so in tournament Lobo has trouble. Even in the winning/even matchups Lobo takes a lot of work/execution.
 
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REO

Undead
I remember at one time I got flamed and ridiculed for saying Lobo was a bad character when he got released. Now normally I enjoy playing your typical high tier characters when it comes to actually having a shot at winning tournaments, but there was something special about Lobo back then when he was revealed in a trailer. He just looked so BAD ASS and like a character you really want to main and kick people's stool in with. But of course when he came out, every one and their mother was using Superman, Black Adam, Aquaman, Batman, Killer Frost, DoomsDay, etc. etc. and it was just hell to get anywins off with Lobo to the point where it made me almost hate the character. It sucks cause I know the character is a lot better now but man... I will never get that bad impression I had with him first out of my head.

Please forgive me Lobo, you are the main man. But why the hell are dull characters like salon Aquaman and wannabe Batman (Babs) top tier and not an incredibly cool character like Lobo? Such an Injustice...
 
I count 8 winning match ups. IMO a giant part of indicating whether or not lobo has trouble winning is if the opponents wake up is one dimensional or multi-dimensional.

I don't think batman beats lobo, his wake up game is awful and once lobo gets that combo, its bad news fucking bears for the dark knight.

Here's the situation when batman gets knocked down by lobo with a combo ending in hook charge. batman can either slide or do nothing (block) . Lobo can either command grab, or do nothing (Block)

so there are 4 situations that can come out of this, lets average them out and see what happens

Scenario 1, lobo command grabs, but batman slides = lobo takes 10% damage and batman is negative 10 (yes on hit!)

Scenario 2, lobo command grabs, but batman does NOT slide = Lobo without meter gets just a command grab, but with meter, lobo does a shit load of damage! 40-70 depending on BB available and meter used, This can also end in a scenario where lobo can do an overhead chain again.

scenario 3, Lobo does nothing, and batman slides = Holy shit batman is going to get fucked! again! dpending on BB available and meter available, but holy shit it hurts!!! and combo ends with overhead hook charge? so I have to guess again!!??

Scenario 4, Both characters do nothing. Nothing really there to report, but keep in mind that doing nothing and you opponent doing nothing puts you in perfect range to do stand 3 low chain at a safe distance, or over head (which is unsafe without meter)


Look at all 4 of those situations? which one is the best for batman? how good is it ? 10 percent and I put myself at negative if I don't spend the meter to meterburn my slide? What's at risk here?

Just something you might wanna consider next time you fight a batman, look evidence here.


I'll make an excel chart for lobo vs wake ups later.

This has been injustice econ 101 with professor arma
 

Captain Oxygen

The end of one combo is the beginning of another
I count 8 winning match ups. IMO a giant part of indicating whether or not lobo has trouble winning is if the opponents wake up is one dimensional or multi-dimensional.

I don't think batman beats lobo, his wake up game is awful and once lobo gets that combo, its bad news fucking bears for the dark knight.

Here's the situation when batman gets knocked down by lobo with a combo ending in hook charge. batman can either slide or do nothing (block) . Lobo can either command grab, or do nothing (Block)

so there are 4 situations that can come out of this, lets average them out and see what happens

Scenario 1, lobo command grabs, but batman slides = lobo takes 10% damage and batman is negative 10 (yes on hit!)

Scenario 2, lobo command grabs, but batman does NOT slide = Lobo without meter gets just a command grab, but with meter, lobo does a shit load of damage! 40-70 depending on BB available and meter used, This can also end in a scenario where lobo can do an overhead chain again.

scenario 3, Lobo does nothing, and batman slides = Holy shit batman is going to get fucked! again! dpending on BB available and meter available, but holy shit it hurts!!! and combo ends with overhead hook charge? so I have to guess again!!??

Scenario 4, Both characters do nothing. Nothing really there to report, but keep in mind that doing nothing and you opponent doing nothing puts you in perfect range to do stand 3 low chain at a safe distance, or over head (which is unsafe without meter)


Look at all 4 of those situations? which one is the best for batman? how good is it ? 10 percent and I put myself at negative if I don't spend the meter to meterburn my slide? What's at risk here?

Just something you might wanna consider next time you fight a batman, look evidence here.


I'll make an excel chart for lobo vs wake ups later.

This has been injustice econ 101 with professor arma
But what happens when I try to bait your wakeup and you backdash? If it's as simple as Pressure Batman/Don't Pressure Batman. Your put at the situation where Lobo has the most trouble. When Batman and Lobo are a moderate distance away from each other, and if you have trait its horribly tough. When you have trait out in the neutral game your pretty set. Low hook is unsafe, Hook Charge needs meter and if you block I'm only +3 which means nothing on batman. Jumping and dashing means death.

Like, I understand If Lobo gets knockdowns early and has a life lead it's tougher for Batman. But it's more likely the tide will turn in Batmans favor early on. Lobo kills Batman on knockdown, but in a match you shouldn't be put in that knockdown situation more than 3 or 4 times if you keep me out well enough.

(Also people like to argue with me about the Aqua MU so I'm just w/e about it.)
 
But what happens when I try to bait your wakeup and you backdash? If it's as simple as Pressure Batman/Don't Pressure Batman. Your put at the situation where Lobo has the most trouble. When Batman and Lobo are a moderate distance away from each other, and if you have trait its horribly tough. When you have trait out in the neutral game your pretty set. Low hook is unsafe, Hook Charge needs meter and if you block I'm only +3 which means nothing on batman. Jumping and dashing means death.

Like, I understand If Lobo gets knockdowns early and has a life lead it's tougher for Batman. But it's more likely the tide will turn in Batmans favor early on. Lobo kills Batman on knockdown, but in a match you shouldn't be put in that knockdown situation more than 3 or 4 times if you keep me out well enough.

(Also people like to argue with me about the Aqua MU so I'm just w/e about it.)
why would I back dash? It doesnt save me from command grab, you're making it more complicated than it needs to be. And if i DID back dash and you didnt command grab, how is that so bad for you? think about what I'm risking by doing that, its suicidal! You're right, the nuetral game with batmans zoning probably favors batman, but I think it becomes balanced out if you consider what an edge lobo has over batman on batmans knock down.
 
@FOREVER KING How did you feel playing decay's lobo? I know you also dabble in lobo, what do you think about the knockdown chart outcomes? whos in favor for those scenarios and how heavily ?

Is this ANOTHER winning match up for batman??
 

Decay

King of the Bill
I like the write up and I do agree with lobos problems, but I guarantee I'll try to bring the best of lobo out for the entire injustice community. Yes he is unsafe and yes I'll probably never win against certain matchups but I know for a fact I can give one Hell of a performance.

Also, if you drop lobo for cyborg, I'll do the same. Cyborg mirror matches all day brah