NW matchup discussion

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

What makes nightwolf so good is that he does not have ANY lopsided match ups. He can compete with any and every character at their best. He not only has ways to get out of any situation, but he can pressure from ranges just outside of ermacs force push and with meter can pressure from full screen.

NW worst match ups come from a smart teleport character.

1)raiden
NW worst matchup by far. A good raiden can play keep away enou to make any nw player frustrated and slightly careless. Raiden can bait a lightning or an arrow and instantlypunish with a teleport into combo. Super man gets him full screen and his keep away game is fierce. Nw best option is too keep rai on his backs he either has to wake up superman or teleport. When baited, nw can punish accordingly.

Other characters that are tougher for nw are kabal, reptile, and reg sub zero, and kang

Any character with a low starter will beat out A reg shoulder wakeup and a simple back dash b312 from kang(as atl red showed) can really give nw trouble.

Kabals saw can't be reflected but it can be absorbed. It can keep any nw at bay. Reptile can give trouble as stated above, sub can keep shoulder out of picture with clones and punish after a wiffed lightning with a full combo or slide.

His reflect defiantly is a game changer so characters who rely on projectiles are usually at a disadvantage. Some characters can still put up a good fight like kitana, reptile, kabal, Sub, mileena, even with out projectiles. The benefit is that their offense usually relies on projectiles and is not uncomfortable which gives nw the edge.

NW's worst matchup is by far going to be kenshi. His moves aren't projectiles and then cant be reflected or absorbed, he has full screen fast pressure and high damaging combos. Pig calls him noob 2.0! Lol he is gonna give nw fits at future tourneys.

But all of these characters are beatable with the right mentality and mastery of nw arsenal.

On jumpers use axe if they jump from a max range or ex choke for crossovers. When they stop jumping use shoulder and dash in f3 or dash in grab...or my favorite tactic...

All of his combos end in zero frame advantage so either the opponent will try and attack, retreat, or wait after your block string ends. Learn what they do. If they jump in, axe or uppercut. If they jump back, shoulder. If they block, ex lightning or grab or continue pressure...it's a great mind game.

If there are any specific match ups anyone would like to discuss, please let me know.

PS

This is my opinion and is open to change.

 

[Fresh T]

What makes nightwolf so good is that he does not have ANY lopsided match ups. He can compete with any and every character at their best. He not only has ways to get out of any situation, but he can pressure from ranges just outside of ermacs force push and with meter can pressure from full screen.

NW worst match ups come from a smart teleport character.

1)raiden
NW worst matchup by far. A good raiden can play keep away enou to make any nw player frustrated and slightly careless. Raiden can bait a lightning or an arrow and instantlypunish with a teleport into combo. Super man gets him full screen and his keep away game is fierce. Nw best option is too keep rai on his backs he either has to wake up superman or teleport. When baited, nw can punish accordingly.

Other characters that are tougher for nw are kabal, reptile, and reg sub zero, and kang

Any character with a low starter will beat out A reg shoulder wakeup and a simple back dash b312 from kang(as atl red showed) can really give nw trouble.

Kabals saw can't be reflected but it can be absorbed. It can keep any nw at bay. Reptile can give trouble as stated above, sub can keep shoulder out of picture with clones and punish after a wiffed lightning with a full combo or slide.

His reflect defiantly is a game changer so characters who rely on projectiles are usually at a disadvantage. Some characters can still put up a good fight like kitana, reptile, kabal, Sub, mileena, even with out projectiles. The benefit is that their offense usually relies on projectiles and is not uncomfortable which gives nw the edge.

NW's worst matchup is by far going to be kenshi. His moves aren't projectiles and then cant be reflected or absorbed, he has full screen fast pressure and high damaging combos. Pig calls him noob 2.0! Lol he is gonna give nw fits at future tourneys.

But all of these characters are beatable with the right mentality and mastery of nw arsenal.

On jumpers use axe if they jump from a max range or ex choke for crossovers. When they stop jumping use shoulder and dash in f3 or dash in grab...or my favorite tactic...

All of his combos end in zero frame advantage so either the opponent will try and attack, retreat, or wait after your block string ends. Learn what they do. If they jump in, axe or uppercut. If they jump back, shoulder. If they block, ex lightning or grab or continue pressure...it's a great mind game.

If there are any specific match ups anyone would like to discuss, please let me know.

PS

This is my opinion and is open to change.

I need help on the kung lao matchup.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

The best Kung Laos will end just about all combos in the low hat because it stuns and allows them to add more pressure. The best thing to do is look for windows to poke your way out and set up the f3.

The strings are interuptable with a d3 which can leave them open fir a fast f3 mix up...once you have the edge with f3, keep mixing them up and look for a window to land a 40% bnb. Other than that look out for random low hats and use reflect or absorb if it's a close one. Punish his teleport every time with an uppercut! And never jump on him. You will eat a spin. On a missed spin punish him with a dash in f3 combo. With a blocked dive kick punish with axe dash 1 1 12 choke. But do it while he is still in the air.

You must be quick and not make mistakes...and BLOCK LOW! And DON'T JUMP

 

[Espionage]

Lord Of The Fly I'm really struggling against Mileena and Liu Kang. I am not the greatest player, but I want to know how I can avoid Liu Kang's combo pressure. I think I may need to learn the fuzzy guard but Liu is really fast and I struggle to get him to stand still for Lightning. I find it hard to jump in on him and start my f3 1, hatchet combos. Mileena is a problem for me too. I just get rushed down and made to block low in which I get caught in her overhead and comboed to death. I tend to not be able to bait sai's like I can bait say a Sub-Zero Ice Blat so I can reflect. Please teach me some tactics to use, what pokes I need to learn. Also I find 3 by itself not very useful, is there a way I can use this move. I'am strictly learning this character only and have not much offline experience currently but hope I can gain some in the future. I want my Nightwolf to be beasty because I know he has super potential so please can you help me? THANKS!!

 

[Espionage]

Also I want to know how to zone better from a distance and master both the rushdown, putting pressure on and zoning. Please tell me what is the best way to zone? Is it wise to zone with Nightwolf? Please anything you can tell me I will be grateful because I want to be able to compete and I think i'm on Mid level roughly now but want to get better with Nightwolf and have an answer for all match ups. So matchups I wanna know the most would be Mileena and Liu Kang right now!!

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

3 really serves no purpose and neither does 4. so dont use them on purpose.

kang is a tough match for nw. his b312 is fast and has great range. to avoid pressure you need to be able to get out of it. online it is a joke and almost impossible so my advice is based off of offline play. after all of his blocked strings he is at 0 frame advantage so you can instantly punish with nw 7 frame uppercut. or poke with d3. if y ou want to make a statement, use eh choke.

other than that use reflect but be careful he doesn't just go over your head to bait the reflect and punish. dont use lightning too much at all untill you tech him how to block...maybe by using shoulder on knockdown. remember he can hit you out of a shoulder by using any low attack so be very careful about when you use shoulder.

Mileena.
almost the same as kang but you cant pressure her on wakeup due to roll going under shoulder and teleport being so fast. you need to be patient and punish every missed opportunity. punish teleports with an axe to combo in the air(once she lands you missed your oportunity). and make her respect eh shoulder. no one should ever be able to jump in on you. her over head is very slow so watch and be ready to block it on reaction. and most important...read your opponent and learn what they do and the sequence they do it. if after every teleport she does an air sai, followed by an instant roll, punish the roll, not the air sai. you need to be patient.

 

[Espionage]

Yeh I figured because I was playing online against Liu Kang that his b312 was gonna be a problem cause I keep gettin looped but thank you for your advice. I live in the UK and looking for offline play right now as the friend that I have doesn't play often offline so its really hard to get any matches offline right now. Thanks for the advice on Mileena, it would seem I need to block alot more her Teleport and Roll and punish but I need to be patient. Thank you very much!!

 

[Lyuben]

I play against Nightwolf and if the match is not laggy and you know you are playing a person with a brain: Do not use shoulder charge as a wake up attack unless ex. If I face the guy, and he gets knocked down I just stand low. If he does a shoulder charge I uppercut. If he does an arrow, it misses. If he does lightning I react and punish. Only ex version of shoulder charge can threaten but it will cost nightwolf meter and only rewards with a few %.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

a smart nw wont always do a shoulder...they will dash in and f3 you just standing there...and if you try to poke me out of it...f3 will stuff most all low pokes

 

[Espionage]

LordoftheFLY do you have any videos I could watch off your Nightwolf or you using him in either Casuals or Tournament play. Would like to learn a lot. Interesting that f3 stuff most low pokes, I never knew that so thanks!!

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

not a ton of footage but i'll try to get some for you. i posted some a while back against an ermac but i lost that series and i learned so much since then. I think its in the xbox forum. most of my info I get from tom brady and his living guide though so buy it and learn!!

great guy who is always sharing info.

I'll update with videos of footage as i get it. Make sure to watch any streams of evo you can. I'll be on there

 

[MK_Anonymous]

i am looking for a post with nightwolfs match ups, like the numbers out of 10 games at top level play and his strats against them, i would get the living guide but my pockets are empty.

 

[M2Dave]

I am familiar with some of Nightwolf's match ups. Of course, the numbers represent match ups in a best of ten series. Unknown match ups are represented by question marks. The numbers below are not set in stone and they change as I keep playing the game.

Nightwolf

? vs Baraka
5 vs Cyber Sub Zero
5 vs Cyrax
7 vs Ermac
? vs Jade
? vs Jax
5 vs Johnny Cage
5 vs Kabal
6 vs Kano
5 vs Kenshi
? vs Kitana
4 vs Kung Lao
4 vs Liu Kang
? vs Mileena
5 vs Nightwolf
? vs Noob
7 vs Quan Chi
5 vs Raiden
? vs Reptile
6 vs Scorpion
? vs Sektor
6 vs Shang Tsung
6 vs Sheeva
6 vs Sindel
? vs Skarlet
? vs Smoke
? vs Sonya
? vs Stryker
5 vs Subzero

 

[salvificblood]

I think Nightwolf is 6-4 against Sub-Zero because he can shut down most of Sub's zoning tools in this matchup. It's really hard for me to get in against a good Nightwolf. Ex shoulder is ridiculous in this matchup. Sub just has to hope you don't ex shoulder his clone on reaction.

 

[funkdoc]

I don't see how NW goes worse than even against Lao, unless he can punish some strings with spin and I just don't know it.

You do quite a bit more damage than KL overall and also beat him in the poke game - just stay outside his jab range and you should be fine. I think learning to hit-confirm hatchet from 122 and b+22, instead of just automatically buffering it, is especially important in this matchup since ending those strings with 1 on block still leaves you in a good position and keeps him from starting his jab pressure.

I also second the 6-4 over Sub. I wonder if he can punish Kano upball with f+3...

 

[DOWNLOADED]

I don't see how NW goes worse than even against Lao, unless he can punish some strings with spin and I just don't know it.

You do quite a bit more damage than KL overall and also beat him in the poke game - just stay outside his jab range and you should be fine. I think learning to hit-confirm hatchet from 122 and b+22, instead of just automatically buffering it, is especially important in this matchup since ending those strings with 1 on block still leaves you in a good position and keeps him from starting his jab pressure.

I also second the 6-4 over Sub. I wonder if he can punish Kano upball with f+3...

Upball is punished by full combo on block with its recently added recovery frames.

 

[M2Dave]

I don't see how NW goes worse than even against Lao, unless he can punish some strings with spin and I just don't know it.

You do quite a bit more damage than KL overall and also beat him in the poke game - just stay outside his jab range and you should be fine. I think learning to hit-confirm hatchet from 122 and b+22, instead of just automatically buffering it, is especially important in this matchup since ending those strings with 1 on block still leaves you in a good position and keeps him from starting his jab pressure.

The difference in the match up is Kung Lao's spin. I think it's as simple as that. The spin is a 6 frame launching anti air attack that beats cross ups too. It's difficult for Nightwolf, or any other character for that matter, to rush down Kung Lao and build meter because of this special move. Nightwolf can't threaten Kung Lao's offense in the same manner. Kung Lao's b'n'b combo after the spin does about 37% of damage which is roughly the same damage Nightwolf gets after blocking the spin. Kung Lao's combo does require meter, but Kung Lao will always have meter because it's difficult for Nightwolf to prevent him from building meter.

At larger distances, Kung Lao is no threat to Nightwolf, but Nightwolf is no threat to Kung Lao either. The moment Nightwolf shoots an arrow or a lightning, Kung Lao jumps and dive kicks and he's already in Nightwolf's face. There's really no way to zone him, and shoulders are risky because Kung Lao punishes them easily on whiff with 1,1,2~spin.

This is definitely a 6:4 match up favoring Kung Lao at the moment. Nightwolf has to take chances and block a few spins to win.

 

[funkdoc]

Forgot to say what's up m2dave, I remember you from the Seth forum on SRK. And then I saw you posting about Kano, and now you're here. Why do we always play the same characters? lol

Anyway, that's a really good point about punishing shoulders. The people I've played always just uppercut them, wasn't aware you could do stuff like that.

I'm still not sure whether to go with NW or Kano for Lao...

Speaking of which, fwiw I've mostly figured out the matchups I'll use each character on. Maybe that could generate some discussion here!

I use Kano against: Reptile (one of NW's worst matches IMO, I'd put it about the same as Kang), Kabal, Cyrax, Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, Baraka, Sheeva (and Kenshi when he becomes tourney legal)

Undecided against: Kung Lao, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Quan Chi

And I like Nightwolf for the rest.

 

[M2Dave]

Forgot to say what's up m2dave, I remember you from the Seth forum on SRK. And then I saw you posting about Kano, and now you're here. Why do we always play the same characters? lol

Anyway, that's a really good point about punishing shoulders. The people I've played always just uppercut them, wasn't aware you could do stuff like that.

I'm still not sure whether to go with NW or Kano for Lao...

Speaking of which, fwiw I've mostly figured out the matchups I'll use each character on. Maybe that could generate some discussion here!

I use Kano against: Reptile (one of NW's worst matches IMO, I'd put it about the same as Kang), Kabal, Cyrax, Liu Kang, Sonya, Jax, Baraka, Sheeva (and Kenshi when he becomes tourney legal)

Undecided against: Kung Lao, Raiden, Johnny Cage, Quan Chi

And I like Nightwolf for the rest.

What's up, man?

I would drop Kano for Skarlet. Unfortunately, Kano isn't as good as he used to be while Skarlet is a natural counter pick for many characters. Skarlet does very well against Reptile and Sub Zero. She may also do better than Nightwolf against Kung Lao and Liu Kang. I've written a guide for her, so check her out.

You can use Nightwolf against many of the characters you would use Kano. Nightwolf vs. Cyrax, Johnny Cage, Kabal, Kenshi, and Raiden should all be 5:5, or very close to it. You can use anybody you want against Quan Chi. He sucks.

 

[funkdoc]

I think you have a very good point in the long run (I really like both Skarlet and Kenshi), but this strategy is specifically for Evo.

With Kano I can lame out Cyrax and I'm less vulnerable to random 2,1/command grab, I can play the game more like Street Fighter with him in that match and obviously I'm more comfortable with that. I think I like NW better against Cage if the player knows how to punish upball with him, but I'm not sure how many Cages at Evo will be up on that. Kabal and Raiden could definitely go either way...Tom Brady always swears Kano is the Kabal counter, but I'm not so sure about that after the knife nerf (though it's still one of Kabal's tougher matches for sure).

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

Y isn't this thread stickied and y was another created?

 

[DRCMessiah]

I am familiar with some of Nightwolf's match ups. Of course, the numbers represent match ups in a best of ten series. Unknown match ups are represented by question marks. The numbers below are not set in stone and they change as I keep playing the game.

Nightwolf

? vs Baraka
5 vs Cyber Sub Zero
5 vs Cyrax
6 vs Ermac
? vs Jade
7 vs Jax
5 vs Johnny Cage
5 vs Kabal
6 vs Kano
5 vs Kenshi
? vs Kitana
4 vs Kung Lao
4 vs Liu Kang
? vs Mileena
5 vs Nightwolf
5 vs Noob
7 vs Quan Chi
5 vs Raiden
4 vs Reptile
6 vs Scorpion
? vs Sektor
6 vs Shang Tsung
6 vs Sheeva
6 vs Sindel
? vs Skarlet
6 vs Smoke
? vs Sonya
6 vs Stryker
6 vs Subzero

I added and made changes in red, based on my experience. I think you under estimated ermac, I dont think 7 of 10 in NW favor is accuate. Ermac is a good zoning character and can keep NW out real easy if played right. I think a 6 in more appropriate. Noob, although a zoner, doesnt have a good of an close up fight like ermac. Yes, Noob can also keep you out, but I find getting in on a noob pretty easy and easy to beat once in.