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Guide Magic is Not easy as 123...Zatanna Guide!

Laos_boy

Meow Hoes

Zatanna, a character with many ways to reset you

Pros and Cons
+ many gimmicks and resets
+ great Zoning and keep away
+ good mobility
+ 5 frame jab
+ low hitbox

- Bad walk speed
- poor reach on normals aside from s3
- below average dashes

~ THINGS TO KNOW ~
• Zatanna has a high learning curve
• very strong zoning game
• Martian and Aquaman are her worst match ups
• she has many set ups
• Very meter dependent
• damage doesn't come easy for her without meter


~ MOVES ~
• 1, 112, 11u3: Best punisher at 5 frames. Use 11u3 for meterless combo start

• 2, 223: 10f mid that has very little range. I recommend using this only in combos and even that isnt reliable

• 3: her best normal. Long range mid. At 13f this can be used as an anti air farther distances. Can not be hit comfirmed into a special

• b1u3: 20 frame low starter, mainly used in resets

• b23, b21: 23 frame overhead launcher, b21 is an overhead low string. Mainly used in resets

• f2, f21: f2 ends in a standing reset.

•d1, 7f mid that's +2

• d3: lowers her hotbox tremendously but kind of slow

• f3: decent in footsies, and it lowers her hitbox +9 on block

• B3: generic b3

> Special Moves

• ring toss: 30f, her best best zoning tool. It can be maneuvered during its duration. If you anti air someone with this you get to convert into puppet master for a full combo. The MB version is overhead and more advantage of blocked

• Puppet master (trance): 25f ground tracking, this move leaves your opponent standing and reverses their control inputs( u is d, d is u, l is r, r is l) when MB this moves sets zatanna apart from all the other vortex character. She has so many variables coming out of this move. (Damage, 50/50, set ups, free interactables)

• Cards: an okay footsie tool. Leads to a HKD in -15 on block has push back.

• Teleport: this move is her go to wake up. But be careful jump pack neutral jumps and baiting will beat it out. When MB she recovers immediately. Mb teleport is used for anti zoning. Normal teleport is used for mobility and running away

• Levitate: hovers zatanna in the air, she can cancel into teleport, dicekick, and jump attacks.

• Flame Kiss: Hits hit has decent range but is slow. It also leaves the opponent in a standing reset. Move is mainly useless. When MB you get a dhalsim esque fireball which speed can be controlled. Fast medium and slow. The fast one travels full screen, Medium travels ¾ screen and the slow travels ⅓

• Smoke and Mirrors : this move makes clones of zatanna, and you can choose which clone you are. You can't block in this state. This is mostly used for mix ups

• Dive Kick: generic divekick. Its fast at 6f but has no range. When MB you get a juggle and is +8 on block


~ BREAKDOWN ~

> FULL SCREEN/ZONING
- zatannas main game is teleporting away, throwing rings and hitting puppet master.
- her rings can be maneuvered and if you hit and air bourne opponent you can connect a trance after, this is distance Dependant.

• Frame Traps
-most people don't know but full screen rings into puppet IS NOT a frame trap on block. You can jump out. But this also sets up a mix up. You can jump out of it but you can't dash. So this opens you up for to get hit by an upward ring into Trance.
- on the ther hand MB rings into puppet master is a frame trap.
- if you hit a ring full screen you get a free teleport in. And a free mb teleport~d1

• MB Flame kiss
- I use this mainly for space control or getting trait out.
- very good at setting up interactables

> UP CLOSE
- zatannas upclose game isn't great. Her d1 is +2 but that's about it. Her strings are either slow or has no range. Her main mix up is d1~multi kick or d1 iaDivekick and thats about it.
- most zatannas, if they can't open you up, they cancel into teleport away.
- she does have mb teleport gimmicks. Where she cancels into mb teleport behind into a d1 or dive kick.
- use multi kicks. She has Aquaman syndrome, where they don't have traditional ways to open you up in close range, therefore you can chip them out

> FOOTSIES
- her footsies, outside of s3 and cards, are none existent.
- her walk speed is atrocious
- f3 can be used as a poor mans death stroke f3
- one thing I like to do is use 3~multikick in footsies like how Aquaman used b2 trident rush.

> RESETS, VORTEXES, AND PUPPET MASTER
- zatanna has no doubt one of the best mix ups/Set ups in the game. (right behind batgirl)

• Traditional OH/Low
- end a combo in MB trance j2 Levi j2 into b1 or b2, this is the least technical of all her vortexes.

• Teleport behind Ambiguous Cross up
- end a combo in MB trance, whiff a d1 and teleport behind and go for a cross up, if slightly delayed it'll cross up. Best vortex damage wise.

• Smoke and Mirrors 1
- end a combo in MB trance, whiff a d1 go into smoke and mirrors, dash and jump over and levitate over them and depending on which mirror you picked it will cross up or not.

• Smoke and Mirrors 2
- end a combo in 223 MB trance, whiff d1, go into smoke and mirrors walk forward a bit and go for a cross up and depending on which mirror you pick itll cross up or not.

• Ghetto 67/33 (33/33/33)
- end a combo in mb trance whiff d1 and dash up close. From there you can b1, b2, or instant cross up j1 Levi j1.

• The CEO 2014 mix up. ( CROSS UP F2)
- for this to work trance has to bet hit in 3 air hits or less. ( lower the easier )
- after the mb trance you dash up close and b3, then you dash f2, opponent lands on the other side
- from there you can instant cross up j1 or 112/u3

• of course there are many more resets she has,( see the gimmicks section ) but these are just the main ones


~ OTHER THINGS ~

> GIMMICKS

• Cross Up f3
- after BGB you can walk forward and the f3 will cross up
- after a sting cancels into teleport behind f3 will cross up. But can be tech rolled
- after 11d3 you get a f3 cross up

• Levitate on Knockdown
- in the corner you get a KD and just levitate above them

• Multikick pseudo OTG
- after a grounded mb multikick you can dash under and b1/b2 if they don't wake up it looks like it otgs
- you can also step foward and you cross up j1

• f21 MB teleport behind
* any mix up after mb teleport is not guaranteed
- after you can neutral jump 2 depending on the timing you can cross up or not cross up
- b1/b2
- just frame instant cross up j1. If landed incorrectly the j1 will miss or combo

• Quick stands
- zatanna has no hit recovery on her d2. But for this to work you need to hold down after uppercut.
- use your imagination in the corner

> WAKING UP
- a common misconception is that zatanna gets up for free. While this is true midscreen, it is to an extent.
• Jump back
- they do this to catch teleport behind
- you do wake up cards

• Jump forward
- they do this to reverse your input and you end up doing teleport behind instead of away and you get hit.
- this is hard to counter, I usually just try to change you input to teleport behind. Or you can block

• Holding back
- I don't know why they do this. But use wake up multikick
- if the hold down you get to chip them

• Neutral Jump
- This beats wake up Kicks, cards, and sometimes teleport behind
- wake up d2 will help, but its not super reliable

> LEVITATE
- Levi is an okay tool
- you can teleport behind and go into a cross up.
- IMO this move in MU specific.( KF, NW and GL) mostly against characters that have no air control or heavily rely on diagonal air projectiles

> CORNER GAME
- zatannas corner game is pretty scary due her gimmicks involving 50/50s, cross ups, damage, reversals, card jail and trait jail
• Meterless Vortex
- of off f21 zatanna is at +18 you get a free b1( 2 frame gap ), theres a 5 frame gap if you use b2.
- a better mix up you can in ij1 into Levi. or you can multikick. but this makes it metered
• Wake Up reversals
-most KDs in the corner followed by a levitate over them results a wake up reversal
- the can be teched, but after a dick kick you can dash up f3. it hits it crosses, if not you get a reversal


> TRAIT
- Her trait is a timed stance trait. Similar to raven
- but trait is mostly MU specific ( batman, Shazam, lex, Bane, Catwoman, lobo, etc.)

• Chip
- while in trait zatanna gains large amount of chip damage. All her moves in trait do 4 or more % chip
• Meter Build
- Zatanna buld insane amounts of meter
- she gets on bar from 3 block trait shots

• Lightning Cage
- this move has armor
- its a great anti air
- its Real good in the corner. Some character have absolutely no tool to fight this in the corner.

• Pillar
- this Move OTGs
- a main set up into trait is d2~trait pillar. Depending on the height of the d2 the opponent can't wake up
- after a bgb she she gets a free OTG

> STAGE AND INTERACTABLES

• Damage
- Due to MB puppet master you get free guarunteed damage. just a normal and throw
- Stages include:
Mess Hall, asylum, atlantis, thymescira, Alley, Gotham Roof, Metropilis, Watchtower, Lex Lab, Batcave, etc

> LOW PROFILING
- her d3, f3, dicekick and b1 lower her hurtbox tremendously
- against some jump attacks she can anti air with d3 and trip guard with f3

~ MATCH UPS ~
- zatanna gets bodied pretty bad against the top 2
- she's does body characters though. Like bane and green lantern
- and she does well/okay against the other tops like sinestro, zod, superman, flash etc.

> MARTIAN 3-7
- you can't really zone. Outside of trance or perfectly places mb rings
- my advice is to save meter for MB teleport. Which is hard since she's needs meter to anti zone and to combo
- your only hope is too catch him and vortex him for days
- your divekick goes under push and over martian grab. But timing is different

> AQUAMAN 3-7 POSSIBLE 2-8
- she cant really approach him due to his ridiculous normals
- and once you open him up he has trait. The only fast launcher she has is d2
- IF HE HAS TRAIT DONT USE MB PUPPET MASTER. HE CAN TRAIT IN BETWEEN AND REVERSAL FTD YOU
- zoning him is hard to.

> BATGIRL 4-6
- Though its not a terrible match, zatanna has to be very careful, I have not fully explored this match. But seeing Deg avoid this MU I can believe its bad.

~ COMBOS ~
* for b3/f3 from d2 you have to hold down after d2
- can end in anything but these are the most common
- WHEN ZATANNA STARTS HER COMBOS WITH TRANCE SHE GAINS MORE METER. SO HER COMBOS ONLY BECOME HALF A BAR
- Adding BGB give her combos way more damage and even more devastating mix ups

> Mid screen
• (b1u3/b23) j2 d2 b3 dash (3~ trance/f21/j2 112~cards)
• starter~ MB multikick b3 dash (j3 112~trance/j3 112 cards/ j2 f21)
• starter~ MB trance teleport teleport b3 j2 j2 (f21/223~cards/112~trance)
• 11u3 d2 f3 3 trance
• 11u3 223 (trance/cards)
•11u3 d2 j1 (112trance/223cards)
• f3 j2 j1 112 (cards/trance)
• AA d2 b3...
• AA d2 3~trance...
• a2a j1/2 d2 b3...
• j3 112 trance...

> Corner Combos
• b1u3 j3 Levi j3 (112 (trance/multikick)/ d2 f21)
• b23 j2 Levi j3 (112 (trance/multi kick)/d2 d21)
• starter mb multikick f3 j2 Levi j3 (112 (trance/multi kick)/d2 f21)
• 11u3 d2 j3 Levi j3 112 multi kick
• 11u3 11 223 trance
• F3 ( see first combo )
• Starter MB trance ( see f3 combo )
• Starter MB trance trait 2 upshot 2 up shot 2 up shot 1 lightning cage
 
Last edited:

Phosferrax

Original Liu Kang cop.
Mind if I send you a write up about her jump-in mixups and you can stick in to the OP? I'll send it to you tomorrow.
 
For one of her gimmicks after kicks if you walk forward a little not a lot like maybe a micro walk, and then do a delayed j1 it crosses up and I think dodges some wakeups if they do wakup.
 

EMPRESS_SunFire

Regina George of discord
I agree with everything! I think the missing parts have already been pointed out by the other guys.
*You don't always have to do puppet master B3 forward dash F2 for that set-up. The easiest way to get it for me is MB multikicks B3 dash forward D2~teleport behind F2.
*She has an OTG midscreen set up with pilar in BGB stages, do BGB then activate trait and cancel it into pilar, it's a legit OTG, can't be tech rolled, on block it gives you a free 3~low spark, 3~pilar or 3~teleport and on hit you get a combo.
*She also has a great corner game, meterless vortexes (F12 into mix up), wake up reversals and cross-ups, if you hit a dive kick in the corner dash forward into F3, it crosses up and reverses wake-ups, after regular puppet master INJ1~dive kick is a earthshake-like move but easier to block, she can go for F3, D1~multikicks or D2 and you have to block all that with reversed inputs, she opens her oponent up a lot and pretty much say bye to your life bar.
 

Phosferrax

Original Liu Kang cop.
I think you should put something in the OP about predominately hit-confirming into mb trance instead of kicks, as it grants you more meter back which is important for extending vortex opportunities. A Zatanna bnb costs only about half a bar of meter with trance.
 

KillaGthug4Life

Believe in Magic yet? Let us Dance
Awe Laos no tag! You goon. Looks good, I'd say you should add in how much her damage increases exponentially with back round bounce. 34ish%-45% with a meterless reset is a huge difference. Also some notes on intractable resets. Primarily on Lex Luther's lab and the Watchtower. Good stuff though!
 
You forgot to mention how sassy her walk animation is.

I walk like that when I enter a classroom late and everyone is watching me.

But, good guide <3
 

Shaazzyam

undefeated online evo champion
Laos Bae forgot to mention that the Zatanna-Batman MU is 3-7 my favor if I pick Red Son Batman.
 

bishbash

Magic as easy as 1 2 standing3
She gets another cross up f3 midscreen after MB kicks f3 dash under

If you want a mid screen OTG from trait that your opponent can't tech end combo MB puppet du 4-pillar then just imput pillar again

Cancelling block strings into smoke and mirrors and choosing the furthest clone from your opponent is a good alternative to teleporting away in some MUs as it allows to to counter poke attempts at punishing

End trait corner combos with pillar for OTG rather than cage, more damage in total plus the possible reset.

From a cross up j3 you'll find 223 connects much easier than 112

From the right height in the corner d2-firekiss will jail your opponent standing and they have to block your s1 which leads to mix ups via kicks or MB rings.

Max damage midscreen with bgb j2-levi-d2 b21-bgb cross up j3-levi-d2 3-MB trance du du b3 j3-divekick 50%

Max damage corner no meter b1u3 j2-levi-d2 j2-levi-d2 j1-levi-d3-divekick is around 44%