Question Sektor's viability and general outlook

[NKZero]

This is stemming from Pig of the Hut's thread on character viability in a tournament setting on their own. Now this is personally how I see it, if you don't have many 3-7's (maybe two at most), you should be viable.

The problem is obviously not enough people are available to represent each and every character and showcase them in tournaments.

Anyways focusing on Sektor, where do you guys see him? Is he viable or not? What problems does he come up against? What do you see in the future of this character, tool wise, MU wise or optimal play style etc.

I personally think there are a lot of things we need to refine and discover with this character and he is more dangerous than we have shown or given him credit for. I believe once we fully utilise iaTU correctly in all appropriate situations, learn to use the 50/50 mix-up better and more often, abuse homing missile in the right circumstances among other things....we'll see just how good he really is.

Let's get some discussion going...

 

[Vagrant]

Pimpimjim just got top 8 with him at FF in december. A sektor won another tournie recently and he did well at WB

He's one 6 frame jab away from 40-50%, he has a strong mix up game, a strong tele, a standing reset ender, up missile set ups, and an insanely fast dash. He's very viable.

 

[LEGEND]

Viable can have a very broad definition. Do you want to win a major or do you want to put up a fight and barely make top 8 in a local?

In a stage in the game where .0001% of players actually know how to abuse Sektor's holes, his viability can't serious be discussed imo

inb4hyperbolegetsattacked

 

[NKZero]

Viable can have a very broad definition. Do you want to win a major or do you want to put up a fight and barely make top 8 in a local?

In a stage in the game where .0001% of players actually know how to abuse Sektor's holes, his viability can't serious be discussed imo

inb4hyperbolegetsattacked

.0001%....really? (SUCCESSFUL HYPERBOLE ATTACK )

I mean Sektor making top 8 in a major consistently. More so than anything it's a lack of representatives not the quality of people playing. Plus as I've said earlier, I still think he has more potential and a lot of untapped stuff that can elevate his potency.

I agree in that we can't discuss much because we still don't know enough. Just want to see what your gut feeling is and how you think we can expand on this character. He has holes but they can be covered.

 

[9_Lives]

Sektor kicks ass. Although he does have a few weaknesses that can easily be exploited by players that know how to fight against him.

His awesome jabs and punches hit high, so they can be poked, armored, uppercutted, ducked, and sometimes even comboed (rare occurrence.) So characters with small hitboxes can get really annoying, like Mileena or Sonya. And they aren't the most reliable form of punish since the later part of the 1, 2, b1 string whiffs like a boss.

His zoning is freakin' awesome, but it can be beaten by characters with really fast instant air projectiles like Mileena or Kabal, since they recover. I'd consider his zoning just about even with Kitana (just off of my experience, that last is subject to change.) Normally these would not be a problem, but these characters show up frequently enough that one should learn to adjust their playstyle. (Which is no big deal or anything, since Sektor can do that. But any matchup where all tools cannot be used freely is inevitably going to be a little more difficult.)

Sometimes meter management can be a problem since a lot of his higher damage stems from the ex tup. But if you manage meter properly and build it up without having to break, then it isn't usually an issue.

Those are about the only bad things about him that I've had problems with. Apart from that, he is a really well rounded and fantastic character. I run him at tournaments with a backup Kabal (my Kabal is freeeeee). His insane corner pressure, the speed that he can get out of whiffed and blocked strings, the fear of getting tagged by an iatup while zoning or attempting to antiair, and the aforementioned 50/50's put him right at the bottom of my personal top ten (like 8-10 or something), but I don't know where he actually ranks (probably lower). I'd consider him very viable.

For the future, I'm not sure where Sektor is going. I only just picked him up a month or two ago. I bet that he doesn't have too much new tech to discover so much as familiarity with the mu becoming more solidified. More people will be 1, 1/1, 2~flamethrowing out of a lot of pressure, which will make him a lot harder to stay in on. Apart from that, I'm just going to watch the current Sektors and hope that I can apply what they are doing to my own game.

 

[9_Lives]

Viable can have a very broad definition. Do you want to win a major or do you want to put up a fight and barely make top 8 in a local?

In a stage in the game where .0001% of players actually know how to abuse Sektor's holes, his viability can't serious be discussed imo

inb4hyperbolegetsattacked

I do agree with that, actually. Not many people fight him correctly at a close range yet. However, I currently believe he's well rounded enough to win a major. Just needs someone to take him there. But I am a scrub, and I've seen you play, so I imagine you're opinion is probably more valid than mine since you have more high level players in your area.

I'm hoping to get out soon, but I have only been able to make it to the local in my area.

 

[LEGEND]

.0001%....really? (SUCCESSFUL HYPERBOLE ATTACK )

I mean Sektor making top 8 in a major consistently. More so than anything it's a lack of representatives not the quality of people playing. Plus as I've said earlier, I still think he has more potential and a lot of untapped stuff that can elevate his potency.

I agree in that we can't discuss much because we still don't know enough. Just want to see what your gut feeling is and how you think we can expand on this character. He has holes but they can be covered.

i think he is just on the outside of being a top contender, if i played this game offline consistently than i would have no problem maining him 100%

 

[NKZero]

Sektor kicks ass. Although he does have a few weaknesses that can easily be exploited by players that know how to fight against him.

His awesome jabs and punches hit high, so they can be poked, armored, uppercutted, ducked, and sometimes even comboed (rare occurrence.) So characters with small hitboxes can get really annoying, like Mileena or Sonya. And they aren't the most reliable form of punish since the later part of the 1, 2, b1 string whiffs like a boss.

His zoning is freakin' awesome, but it can be beaten by characters with really fast instant air projectiles like Mileena or Kabal, since they recover. I'd consider his zoning just about even with Kitana (just off of my experience, that last is subject to change.) Normally these would not be a problem, but these characters show up frequently enough that one should learn to adjust their playstyle. (Which is no big deal or anything, since Sektor can do that. But any matchup where all tools cannot be used freely is inevitably going to be a little more difficult.)

Sometimes meter management can be a problem since a lot of his higher damage stems from the ex tup. But if you manage meter properly and build it up without having to break, then it isn't usually an issue.

Those are about the only bad things about him that I've had problems with. Apart from that, he is a really well rounded and fantastic character. I run him at tournaments with a backup Kabal (my Kabal is freeeeee). His insane corner pressure, the speed that he can get out of whiffed and blocked strings, the fear of getting tagged by an iatup while zoning or attempting to antiair, and the aforementioned 50/50's put him right at the bottom of my personal top ten (like 8-10 or something), but I don't know where he actually ranks (probably lower). I'd consider him very viable.

For the future, I'm not sure where Sektor is going. I only just picked him up a month or two ago. I bet that he doesn't have too much new tech to discover so much as familiarity with the mu becoming more solidified. More people will be 1, 1/1, 2~flamethrowing out of a lot of pressure, which will make him a lot harder to stay in on. Apart from that, I'm just going to watch the current Sektors and hope that I can apply what they are doing to my own game.

Thank you for a very precise and informative answer.

This is where I believe using up missiles/homing missile as an assist will cover up his offensive holes. We all know it, nobody does it. When people are pre-occupied/forced to block these missiles Sektor gets free pressure and the freedom to throw out these high-hitting strings with absolute minimal fear of punishment. But as I'll get onto, he's not one to be in your face and rushing down anyways. Not to mention whenever he can get a safe jump (off missiles or whatever the circumstance) the strings obviously won't whiff. Against large crouch hit-box characters, Sektor's a real problem up close because he can mix things up, stutter strings safely and you don't know when to poke out.

Anyways I think Sektor is best played as a defensive footsie character i.e. a character that abuses F2 and B1, encourages baits to punish with big damage, anti-zones opportunistically, and unleashes some decent zoning of his own whether it's using missiles or flame burner to create space or whatever the case may be. When he needs to get in, "call the assist" i.e. homing missile (so to speak) and get in and do your thing.

Now meter management is a problem for a few reasons. As you correctly said, he needs meter for combos. He also needs to to escape the corner/strong oki set-ups. He also needs to use homing missile when he can so he's often burning meter. Anyways I feel the more lame he's played the tougher he is to beat. Throwing out high strings, doing random TU's and trying silly up missile gimmicks etc. is a surefire way to fuck yourself up in a match.

But I still think we can improve with this character even though we know what to do. We could be less predictable with our offense, use homing missiles more and more effectively at that, really abuse F2 and B1 and know why they're so good in addition to other things like sharpening up our iaTU execution and using it for more than anti-zoning. He's got some nasty shit but it's still in progress.

 

[bipolar_shango]

Viable can have a very broad definition. Do you want to win a major or do you want to put up a fight and barely make top 8 in a local?

In a stage in the game where .0001% of players actually know how to abuse Sektor's holes, his viability can't serious be discussed imo

inb4hyperbolegetsattacked

The "Abuse of holes" angle be used to refute Sonya and Jax viability. How many people have ever punished Jax or Sonyas strings outside of training mode Lol. Just sayin'... I think he is viable but just doesn't dominate any relevant character

 

[LEGEND]

The "Abuse of holes" angle be used to refute Sonya and Jax viability. How many people have ever punished Jax or Sonyas strings outside of training mode

every top player in the world. . .

 

[EGP Wonder_Chef]

The "Abuse of holes" angle be used to refute Sonya and Jax viability. How many people have ever punished Jax or Sonyas strings outside of training mode Lol. Just sayin'... I think he is viable but just doesn't dominate any relevant character

fucking everybody

 

[bipolar_shango]

every top player in the world. . .

Never seen it on stream link brah(No casual matches pls)? I've watched virtually every major.

EDIT: No one has ever punished Sonyas strings. I'm like 95% positive... Sektor maybe twicw

 

[PPJ]

I don't have enough tourney placings to prove myself, but that will soon be fixed as I am trying to make FR, Toruyken, and EVO. UFGT is a given for me though. My only "major" placings were top 16 at CEO 2012 and 4th at FF two months ago.

Do not worry, as much as I shit on my rusty red android, you can expect to see alot more of LK-9T9 in top 8 in a theater near you

 

[Death]

Not viable at all. If you do well with Sektor that just means your doing well and overcoming terrible MUs.

 

[Perfect Legend]

Not viable at all. If you do well with Sektor that just means your doing well and overcoming terrible MUs.

or it just means people don't know the match up

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

He looses Match-Ups that matter and wins ones that don't. So long as Kenshi's in the game he's not going to be winning any tournaments by himself.

 

[DuBBer Kiir]

I think he's pretty bad ass, he's got the U3 mixup, strings that can link into homing missiles almost guaranteeing a free throw attempt or blockstring, good advancing normals (F2 and B1), decent zoning, semi-safe wakeups, a good anti-crossup (up-missile), super fast instant air teleport, etc etc...

I think more people should give him an honest try, because I'd rather see a good Sektor in top 8 instead of the same few characters it's been since 2012.

 

[RYX]

Needs buffs. Lack of a fast mid really hurts him, no armor is a problem too.

 

[Rampage254]

I think Sektor is just outside of being tournament viable. Us Sektor players need to use all of his tools but we need to know when to use them and how to manage our meter cuz he doesn't build meter as fast as other characters. I don't think my Sektor is very good, but I think I'm one of the very few who utilizes all of his mix-ups. Homing Missile is good, but overusing it will just drain your meter all for just a little pressure and Sektor's pressure isn't that good IMO and you also risk yourself getting armored cuz some characters like Sonya can just armor safely through your missile. Also IMO throw and up close missile should be used more. The only thing keeping him back is having crappy wake-up attacks.

 

[STRYKIE]

The "Abuse of holes" angle be used to refute Sonya and Jax viability. How many people have ever punished Jax or Sonyas strings outside of training mode Lol. Just sayin'..

I see what you're saying but this probably ain't the best forum to bring this up considering:

1) The age old "Sektor community blowup" stemmed from players having a kneejerk reaction to things Sektor will never do.
2) Jax is one of the very few matchups where Sektor's "super low hitbox" actually does come in handy.

But even that's subjective because imo Sektor doesn't need to be anywhere near Jax to beat him unless the Jax player is making really bad reads.

I think Sektor is just outside of being tournament viable. Us Sektor players need to use all of his tools but we need to know when to use them and how to manage our meter cuz he doesn't build meter as fast as other characters. I don't think my Sektor is very good, but I think I'm one of the very few who utilizes all of his mix-ups. Homing Missile is good, but overusing it will just drain your meter all for just a little pressure and Sektor's pressure isn't that good IMO and you also risk yourself getting armored cuz some characters like Sonya can just armor safely through your missile. Also IMO throw and up close missile should be used more. The only thing keeping him back is having crappy wake-up attacks.

I'm confused, is this your opinion Ramp or did Red tell you to copypasta this?

 

[MKF30]

Sektor kicks ass, just a shame his ex teleport has no armor

I love his "dog leg lift" cancels, they make for awesome head games lol.

I believe he can potentially beat anyone, but with effort being a mid tier obviously makes that more difficult. That being said, the lack of match up thing can be said about anyone really and I'll always give a Sektor player far more props then someone just sticking with "the top tier" guys all the time.

 

[ryublaze]

I think Sektor is just outside of being tournament viable. Us Sektor players need to use all of his tools but we need to know when to use them and how to manage our meter cuz he doesn't build meter as fast as other characters. I don't think my Sektor is very good, but I think I'm one of the very few who utilizes all of his mix-ups. Homing Missile is good, but overusing it will just drain your meter all for just a little pressure and Sektor's pressure isn't that good IMO and you also risk yourself getting armored cuz some characters like Sonya can just armor safely through your missile. Also IMO throw and up close missile should be used more. The only thing keeping him back is having crappy wake-up attacks.

Shutup Red

 

[Axel_Redd]

i have a question....whats the difference between an IATU and a regular ground one?

 

[Rampage254]

i have a question....whats the difference between an IATU and a regular ground one?

IATU is much faster.

 

[Rampage254]

Shutup Red

Make me