1. learn to dash duck well if you don't already
2. you have to be patient once you get into kabals f32 / your f3 range... you need to backdash sometimes bait and whiff punish depending on how they play otherwise you will run right into them... but you also have to no when you can jump buzzsaws or just to bulldog in with a well spaced f3
3. Once you get into stay in, and be wary and bait ex dash and pokes... you have to slowly force him to the corner and sometimes even take damage to keep him there, its the only way you will beat him.. sometimes staggers can be better than frame traps because frame traps put you into a very reactable reading situation in which he has hte option to ex dash... then again you have to make reads... if hes good at flash parry then it makes it really hard... you have to stop pressuring randomly or at convenient times but also not be afraid to keep going
4. flashkick on occasion if you can squeeze it in (to make him respect it) but this a very rare thing, dont burn meter on read kicks you need it to for ex nut punches, frame traps, and breakers so you can maintain corner game, saving your meter is huge
Dealing with kabals pressure
1. Duck, so he cannot do 111 and standing 2 because you either have to ex nut punch or respect the follow up completely
2. after f32 and b12 he plus 2, you have to read whether he is going to poke or not or cancel into buzzsaws, if he likes to down 3 you can counter-poke(with d3 or f3) and on occasion crossover... dont become patternized because kabals will start blowing you up
3. after f4 dash cancel he is negative 5 so your best option is a f3 because it anti-airs and starts pressure
the main thing is not to be predictable but to know when to throw out pokes, if hes not making you respect pokes then either 11 or down poke to start pressure(if hes not doing a heavy frame trap)... poking is easier but dont get habitual...
its a good thing to read and use ex nut punch, and then bait him into ex dashes... once hes meterless hes your fucking mouse if you are on him
Synopsis: Cage is a really good character , maybe the 5th or 6th best character to pick against kabal (sadly), but its atleast a 6.5-3.5 matchup in kabals favor, more likely 7-3... but he is a viable strategy because with a couple great reads cage can blow anyone up... its not nearly as bad as kenshi because you can feasibly outfootsie a kabal and then outread him... patience and making great reads with your pressure is the only way to win