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Match-up Discussion Smoke's Matchups

cabibi

Noob
Cyrax cannot teleport without putting himself in a bad position unless he does it at the right time. He is always at a disadvantage unless he teleports while the opponent is doing something like attacking.
yea you can punish the hell out of his teleport with a 214 on reaction.
 

G4S KT

Gaming4Satan Founder
Any advice vs. Reptile? I was knocked out of ECT by a sick reptile and it wasn't pretty lol; I don't think I've ever been handed an ass whooping that hard in any game by anyone ever my whole life. It's partly because I have zero experience against a good reptile and had no idea how to handle his pressure. Tips?
 

cabibi

Noob
Any advice vs. Reptile? I was knocked out of ECT by a sick reptile and it wasn't pretty lol; I don't think I've ever been handed an ass whooping that hard in any game by anyone ever my whole life. It's partly because I have zero experience against a good reptile and had no idea how to handle his pressure. Tips?
I get man handled by reptiles and mileenas all the time. 2 of my worst matchups.

It's possible to punish a dash with a quick 214, or 21 smoke bomb, after a block, but you have to be quick. what usually gets me is when people jump right after the dash. it happens so fast that you almost have to start the combo right when you see the dash come in, so when you try to punish and they jump, you eat a cross over combo.

I really don't have any answer for it.
 

PeeJaeys

Sabi
I dont do GREAT against Reps, but I don't do bad against them either. I just stay away, use smoke's teleport to my advantage. They have to chase or force ball, expect the elbow dash when they get close and punsh them for it, bait them into ducking so that you can get your combo off. The whole point is to annoy the living hell out of the reptile player and cause him to make mistakes. Distance yourself as much as possible, and smoke ball him to annoyance, eventually he'll rush in and playing under your rules.
- Shake whenever possible at distance. and expect the dash on wakeup, and punish again, and if not low fp then grab. It's all a mind game.
 

G4S KT

Gaming4Satan Founder
I think I just need more experience against skilled reptiles. Probably going to venture into the reptile forum and see if anyone wants to spar online.
 
Good reptiles will always be hard. Reptile is a versatile character who can adapt to this matchup. It's going to be more playing the opponent than the character.

I can only reiterate the obvious advantages smoke has in this matchup. Reptile gets no full screen pressure at all in this match, and he also doesn't get his force ball as you're waking up either (although he can easily replace that with a whiffed dash to a 50/50). Whiffed dashes make getting in brainless for them, although if they do it too close a decent strategy is to blockdash forward into it and punish.
 

cabibi

Noob
Good reptiles will always be hard. Reptile is a versatile character who can adapt to this matchup. It's going to be more playing the opponent than the character.

I can only reiterate the obvious advantages smoke has in this matchup. Reptile gets no full screen pressure at all in this match, and he also doesn't get his force ball as you're waking up either (although he can easily replace that with a whiffed dash to a 50/50). Whiffed dashes make getting in brainless for them, although if they do it too close a decent strategy is to blockdash forward into it and punish.
block dashing forward into the dashes is actually a great idea. I'm going to give that a shot my next rep matchup.
 
Gracias. It's worked fairly well for me so far if I'm sharp. You can employ a similar concept vs kung lao if that helps.

Credit goes to all of the players who would run back to block TP escapes in UMK3.
 
Wanted to help with the Sub match-up a bit, as I am a Sub mainer.

Sub isn't actually a zoning character, at least not in the same way that characters with strong projectiles are. He won't be throwing out his Ice Ball in the open (except maybe once or twice to test your reactions and see if you'll actually Shake). At ranges 4 and down (roughly), don't throw out random Smoke Bombs, because Sub can Slide them on reaction. And definitely don't when he has XR.
Sub likes to cancel into Ice Clone after block-strings, which is usually great for him, but Smoke is one of the few characters that can punish it (and with full combo, too). Watch out for the Ice Clone, and Smoke Bomb it. When you're stuck behind an Ice Clone in the corner, you have some options. If the Sub likes to just rush in and start chipping away at you, mash d+3. You won't get frozen, and you'll be able to hit Sub, destroying the Clone and giving yourself the advantage. You can also jump over the Clone, and then cancel into Teleport, depending on how the Sub reacts. If they like to jump up to kick you back down into the Clone, obviously use your air-throw. If the Sub is dumb, and thinks they can do whatever they like while you're "trapped" there, and they forget about block, obviously just teleport out of there. I can't really think of any all-in-one ways for Smoke to get out, it's just a big mixup, but that's true for most (if not all) of the cast.

In my opinion, the match-up is 5-5. Both characters cut off the use of strong tools that the other one has. Sub's rushdown and pressure is better, but the fact that Smoke can punish him so hard for using one of his best tools, and something which helps his pressure greatly makes that somewhat null. After that, I feel they're equal.
 
why is it that i can no longer catch the over head in 3,d1,2 string? it NEVER hits on crouching opponent anymore...the smoke bomb otg was fine to get rid of but THIS is becoming quite aggravating. sat with a friend ducking and blocking and for some damn reason. it never hit him out of the 100+ times i threw the string out at point blank range...and in the past, it would not hit a crouching opponent if i was a step or two too far back.
 

fleshmasher

i got the poison
When he duck-blocks the first (non overhead) attack, he can get up on reaction to stand-block the second (overhead) attack, but visually it looks like he's duck-blocking the whole combo.
If he's always duck blocking b2... is your friend.
 

Jamison

Noob
Cyrax and Sektor are my kryptonite. Shake does nothing to bomb happy Cyrax and his anti air overpowers yours. Smoke bomb the heck out of them and wait for the teleport seems to be the only way I get inside and hope for a corner trap. Sektor flamethrower and TU what a pain. I can punish TU but never jump in on a good Sektor player, that flamethrower is ridiculous. Is it just me or do you have to continually rush a Sektor player? REAL good Reptile's also sometimes a problem, but zoners not too much a problem if they don't have unblockables or SHAKE counters. Also just throwing this out there, Scarlet is new and haven't played hardly any, but last night I played one that kept doing the pounce on your back. How do you block that?
 
Sektor's enhanced TU is safe too. That matchup is kinda rough, but you have the right idea. Don't shake unless you see a missile already coming. From full screen you should be able to shake on reaction. Then just lob smoke bombs until he approaches. It won't get you the match, and you'll have to outplay him, but hey, not everything should have a magic answer.

Skarlet's pounce can be blocked high, and it can be punished with things similar to what punish reptiles dash.
 

G4S KT

Gaming4Satan Founder
Where exactly are the holes in Johnny Cage's in your face pressure? Can you naked duck and uppercut or something somewhere? It seems like online I have to take a hit to get out of block strings
 

cabibi

Noob
Where exactly are the holes in Johnny Cage's in your face pressure? Can you naked duck and uppercut or something somewhere? It seems like online I have to take a hit to get out of block strings
Where exactly are the holes in Johnny Cage's in your face pressure? Can you naked duck and uppercut or something somewhere? It seems like online I have to take a hit to get out of block strings
you can poke out of block strings at the right time with a d1 or d3. A competent cage is difficult for smoke. Stay away from him with teleports and harass him with smoke bombs. on occassion, you can mix up your teleports and smoke bombs with applying pressure... for example, ex teleport to get in, or wiffing an air teleport to get in. do not abuse anything, however, except teleports and smoke bombs, because they are safe... tp punching in, or teleporting in are not safe. Cage's uppercut is the fastest in the game, but what you really want to watch out for is his pop up kick.... it's just as fast and really punishes wiffed air tp punches with some extremely damaging combos.... If you're going to use one... make sure it's an ex one so it comes in on the other side and has a quicker drop down than the normal one.. in order to pad your chances of surviving. once you drop down... cage players know they have much better normals than you, so they're going to try and use them 9 times out of 10. EX shaking after you drop down is a great tricky move to use... Bottom line is, don't get close to cage until you have meter.

When cage doesn't have meter, don't be afraid to naked duck to try and bait the shadow kick, from there you can upper cut or d1 into smoke bomb. don't do this too often though, if he starts coming in without the kick, get the hell out...When he has EX meter.. .watch out... if you're playing keep away he WILL use the EX shadow kick to get in. It's fast, won't get hit by a smoke bomb, and you can't duck it. When this happens, you'll most likely be in the corner, and most cages will not want to waste the opportunity they now have since they are close to you, and will almost always go for the block strings, hoping you'll slip up so they can nail you with a combo. Take advantage of this...after you block the EX shadow kick... EX shake is a good move to do. Next time they do that, they're going to hesitate which will allow you to apply some pressure and then get the hell out again. you don't want to play footsies with Cage... it's HIGHLY in his favor.

Once you land a smoke bomb or end up knocking cage down... Abuse OKI. Try to read how the cage is playing. Most cages will wake up shadow kick or wake up flip kick, so when I get oki on cage, the first thing I do is sweep... why? Because sweep lowers your hit box so the shadow kicks wiff if they wake up... if they start thinking they have to block low in order to deal with your OKI options, then you can start mixing in overhead b2 - 3 into smoke bomb for huge damage. Just be aware of of the cross over jump punch on your first OKI, you're going to want to sweep EARLY so you have time to block... the goal of the first OKI is to test your opponent. He doesn't know what you're planning unless he reads this thread lol.

Fighting Cage is all about staying away as a base game plan... mixing in baits for shadow kick, EX shaking, and taking advantage of OKI. It's a hard match up for smoke, because 1 mistake and you're eating it.... but if you play it right.. you're going to get the cage player thinking... "I need to get in and not mess up once I do get in"
 

PeeJaeys

Sabi
So I noticed something. Mileena has a vulnerabilty period when she does her regular teleport, but online it's almost impossible to react to it. Well for me atleast, some times she drops to fast (as if the net is trying to catch up to the actual frames) or she'll drop slower. Her ex is faster and better recovery. So it's a pain. Basically, online you wont be able to beat mileena unless you you get lucky. Also, when I teloport foward I get hit whil invisable(most probaly due to connection, because I tested this offline and it's impossible to hit)
 

Lyuben

Sinestro's might!
The Sub-Zero guide says 'sub zero players who use 222'. I think there are none left now. All use strings into clone.

Other Sub-Zero stuff: Don't ex shake against a good one. Slide does 9% and is not countered by it. Not worth the risk.

Bait ice clones by jumping/dashing towards subzero while he is standing there blocking, they usually do that to bait you jumping into one. After it comes out there are a few dozen frames where sub cannot block. Thats when you immediately smoke bomb and you can do a juggle.
 

cabibi

Noob
So I noticed something. Mileena has a vulnerabilty period when she does her regular teleport, but online it's almost impossible to react to it. Well for me atleast, some times she drops to fast (as if the net is trying to catch up to the actual frames) or she'll drop slower. Her ex is faster and better recovery. So it's a pain. Basically, online you wont be able to beat mileena unless you you get lucky. Also, when I teloport foward I get hit whil invisable(most probaly due to connection, because I tested this offline and it's impossible to hit)
I actually tested mileena's teleport kicks with konqrr @ summer slam last saturday. You're right, it's soooo much easier to punish offline than it is online.

When she teleport kicks, it's not hard at all off line to time a 321 string to punish... the 2nd hit wiffs, but the 3rd hit always connects... You just have to adjust when she uses the sais... I've realized that adjusting online is impossible due to input delay.

her EX kick is a bit more tricky... here's how it works...

Block high then upper cut... the 2nd kick on her ex drop kick... although registers as a high hit... hits extremely low... sort of like smoke's smoke bomb. now a good mileena will throw a sai right after the 2nd hit.... so this is what you do...

as soon as the 2nd hit hits... you MUST block high (if you block low, you'll be in jail) after the 2nd hit hits... DUCK... don't block, the sia will sail right over your head and you can send that butter face of hers straight to God with an upper cut before she hits the ground. If you block the sai hit, you'll again be in jail, so it's important not to block, and just duck right after the 2nd hit.
 

SZSR

Noob
Bump for members looking for a comprehensive matchup thread, we should try to update this collectively.
 

G4S KT

Gaming4Satan Founder
Cyrax: 4:6

Best tournament player I have experience against: Darth Arma

In my opinion, Cyrax is the strongest character in the game (bordering on broken) and totally shits on Kung Lao big time. Here's why.

Cyrax has absurdly threatening zoning. He can pepper the screen with bombs (which are unblockable) and lead to his 60-80% juggles, and has the best capture projectile in the game (net) which also leads to his 60-80% juggles (lol). Cyrax can turn a full screen game into a death trap maze where if you don't read the bombs right you're fucked. And that's only half his game.

Luckily for us, Smoke completely shuts down bomb/net shenanigans; if cyrax ever throws a bomb outside of a combo it's a free Tpunch punish, or smoke bomb if you're quick, so you don't have to worry about that.

Watch out for naked net from about half screen. Cyrax players have a tendency to do this and jumping over it is out of the question. Net has a higher hit box than the empire state building. If you're quick you can shake it, but if it catches you off guard just block. Be extra safe. You don't want to get hit with net ever.

BUT, Cyrax is incredibly powerful up close as well. And, to be perfectly honest, you're going to want to spend most of your time running away waiting for an opening.

Even if you block, cyrax is ridiculously dangerous. if cyrax forces you to block an attack you get sucked into his command grab 50/50; you have to guess whether he's going to command grab or keep throwing strings. If you guess wrong you eat 60-80% or get reset into the same situation. If you guess right, all you get is a relief from pressure (with a sweep or poke or tech). Biggest bullshit risk/reward scenario in the game. It's best to avoid this at all costs.

You want to approach Cyrax similarly to Kung Lao, but with obvious differences. Cyrax doesn't have the outright rushdown pressure that KL has, so he's vulnerable to poke pressure (d+1, d+4 > b+2) if you're ballsy enough to get in his face. He's just as vulnerable from sweep distance as KL but don't hang out there too long or you risk getting netted. Check Cyrax with b2,3s from sweep and hit confirm into smoke bomb or drift away.

Teleport is punishable as hell, but don't wait too long. You want to be throwing attacks at the sparkly shit that appears beside you before his limbs even come onto the screen. Otherwise, it will be too late and he can block it.

The real silver lining in this fight is the wake-up game. Cyrax's is balls. The only even remotely threatening thing he can wake up with is EX ragdoll which is no big deal. This means that you can really hammer away at him after a knockdown. Pressure the shit out of him with meaty 3d12s and b23s every time.

Because of this you want to fish for a knock down with sweep more against cyrax than any other character.

Also, be careful on jump ins. He's got his goofy air throw that can pull you down, but it ain't no hat spin.



Reptile: 4.5:5.5

Best tournament player I have experience against: Chris G

Reptile can be rough but it's doable.

First, reptile has a nasty zoning game with force balls and spit. This is hard for every character except Smoke to overcome (hooray). Outside elbow dash range reptile has NO options against Smoke. None. All he can do is dash up to you. This is where the crux of the match up is, how you respond to dash.

Reptile has a few options after a whiffed dash up: instant cross up, instant poke, throw a string or dash again. Depending on how well you read an incoming dash, you can actually beat out these options by just throwing a 3d12 or b23 in anticipation of dash (use 3d12 if you're right at the edge of dash range and b23 if you're further outside). You can't do this on reaction. If you see the dash, it's already too late. You can, however, neutral jump on reaction to a DASH if you EXPECT a CROSS UP. by the time you see the cross up, it's too late to neutral jump, however.

When you're inside dash range you must respect dash at all times. Block ALOT, but also be evasive. You don't want reptile to build a shit ton of meter because you just keep blocking his strings. A blocked dash is a full combo punish with 21 xx smoke bomb > (combo of your choice). Smoke's normals are all slow enough that dash will cut right through them so being aggressive is risky. The exception to this is D+1 and D+3, which seems to knock reptile out of dash on the regular. So, poke away

Reptile can be vulnerable to jump ins (kicks especially) and cross ups. His uppercut sucks and he has no real AA options. If the Reptile is good, he will dash away from jump ins/cross ups, but they're still safe for you.

Another thing to think about is when you're at sweep distance you can jump backwards in anticipation of a dash. Dash will only hit grounded opponents so the instant you leave the ground you're safe, and you will be coming down in the perfect position to throw a jump in punch and continue into 3d12 pressure. Jumping in general is a good strategy against Reptile, just don't get carried away.

Reptile doesn't have very good wake ups, either. Keep the pressure on with meaty 3d12 and b23.

The secret about Reptile is that, besides elbow dash, he's slow. Like, really fucking slow. His regular dash is a joke and none of his normals are very fast. Elbow dash is what makes Reptile good. Beat the dash and you beat Reptile.



Kabal: 5:5

Best tournament player I have experience against: AC1984

Kabal gets his zoning game busted the worst of all the top tier characters; shake actually increases the size of Smoke's hit boxes so Kabal can't even shoot fireballs above your head to keep you from jumping. (unless they're at the top of the screen, in which case you can Tpunch punish the jump.) And, the only time you will get hit with ground saw is out of a dash cancel.

Because he can't zone you Kabal will be doing more dash cancels than you can count. Kabal is a guessing game, straight up, and his mixups are intense.

When he dashes you have to respect the dash by blocking which allows him to cancel into ground saw/overhead swords/sweep/throw/cross up/another string. That's a lot of shit. A good Kabal's game is constantly changing and it can be tough to keep up. Every string has the potential to be a 50/50 because they can all be cancelled into overhead swords or ground saw at any time. Your best bet is to block low and then fuzzy guard the overhead swords (they're not that hard to see coming).

This match is more about knowing what Kabal's options are and then pinning down your opponent's tendencies.

I made up a cute little flow chart for Kabal's NDC mix ups:



Secret Tip: Don't fear the Nomad Dash. At least not right away.

the reason that Kabal's f3,2 > Nomad Dash is a good mix up is because of the THREAT of a dash. In reality, Kabal players rarely let the dash follow through after a blocked string; it's super risky and a full combo punish. Use this to your advantage. If you block f+3,2 you can safely assume that he will cancel the dash. So, as soon as the string is over let go of block and begin retaliating (sweep, d4 - b23, whatever). Don't be afraid of the dash winding up after you block a string. At least not until he catches on and lets the dash happen.

From half screen and farther Kabal players will try and check you with dash only to cancel it at the last second and follow up with a mix up. Again, they will rarely let the dash happen (full combo punish on block). So be one step ahead of them and instead of blocking, anticipate their assumption you will remain blocking and attack them as the dash gets close (with sweep, or 3d12. b2 will step forward into the dash and often get hit because you're closer than they were expecting you to be and don't cancel the dash in time). That way, your attack will hit them as they attempt a mix up, or at the very least, force them to block.

Also, respect EX nomad dash on wake up and as jump in/cross up defense. Play Smoke's oki game against Kabal the same way you do against other characters that can wake up with a launcher that you can block punish for a full combo.

Block > punish > rinse > repeat.


Nightwolf: 4:6

Best tournament player I have experience against: Jim Coastin. **He doesn't have much of a presence on TYM but, in my opinion, he's just as good as Lord of the Fly, the best known Nightwolf player who got top 16 (I think) at EVO.

Nightwolf is a bitch of a match for several reasons.

First, Nightwolf is stacked. Brutal specials, high damage juggles, 7 frame uppercut, nasty f+3 mix up, and a 7 (8?) frame combo starting jab with long reach make him tough for anyone.

Second, Smoke falls victim to the shoulder charge/lightning shenanigans just like everyone else.

Third, Nightwolf's most common/useful moves all beat EX shake.

And fourth (most importantly), Nightwolf escapes Smoke's wake up vortex.

Never ever jump at nightwolf. He has tons of AA: hatchet, uppercut, dash, and EX choke. you can CROSS HIM UP, but never jump at him. If you're right in Nightwolf's face it's not a bad idea to cross up punch, but be wary of EX choke. it has armor which will eat the punch and then connect. He won't be able to uppercut or hatchet on reaction, though.

The best punish for a shoulder charge is d4. The d4 > b2 trap is great against Nightwolf because most Nightwolf players tend to be very aggressive and don't often block after d4 which guarantees a b23 (it will even pull them out of shoulder charge every time). At worst they block b23 and you can drift away/past them. Uppercut should be a secondary punish; only used if they consistently block b23.

The shoulder charge is what makes Nightwolf immune to Smoke's vortex. Here's why.

Shoulder is a wake up and is safe on block. This is bad. That means if the Nightwolf player is savvy, he will throw it on wake up every time, regardless of what he thinks you will do. This is in his favor, because it hits you if you try for meaty pressure, and even if you make a correct read on the shoulder, the worst you can do is d4 > b2 (and he will block the b2, because he's savvy). This is a get-out-of-jail free card. If they begin doing this, jump backwards as they wake up. It's risky, but if timed right the shoulder will go under you and you can hit them with a jump punch on the way down, granting a full combo.

The upside: Shoulder makes NW susceptible to poke pressure, because all crouching attacks are safe from it. Just watch out for f+3.

Nightwolf also has a ton of moves that beat EX Shake. shoulder beats it, hatchet beats it, and (worst of all) fucking f+3 beats it. Stupid, I know, but true. So the moral of the story is don't EX shake Nightwolf unless it's as cross up defense.

A good strategy is to go for sweeps, and then cross up while he's on the ground. If he constantly should charges on wakeup, use the jump backwards strategy.


Mileena: 5:5

Best tournament player I have experience against: It was at ECT but I forget his handle…

Mileena is an interesting match up because her move set is a bit all over the place. It's hard to tell exactly what normals are coming until they're already on screen. The normals you want to be careful of are her overhead kick (easy to fuzzy guard if need be), her 2 hit low poking string, and her d+4. Not too much to worry about.

Mileena relies very heavily on her specials, specifically ball roll and teleport kick.

A teleport kick standing hit grants enough stagger state that mileena can safe jump into a free mix up and you have to block. Don't let that happen. Many Mileenas like to throw random teleport kicks because on block, she will often throw sais which, if positioned correctly, will connect. This makes the kick safe if you block the sais and can hit if you try to punish too early. Therefore, the best way to punish a blocked dive kick is with d1 > d1 xx smoke bomb so you can duck the sais but still get a good punish.

Whiffed ball roll can get Mileena in but is not very common. It actually has a deceptively long range and unless you're near full screen it will probably connect. If they do whiff a ball roll you can react to it the same way you do to reptile's dash, except you have a lot more time to do it in. So get ready to block ball roll. You can punish this with d1 > d1 xx smoke bomb as well.

REMEMBER: Mileena's "cannonball" after a blocked special is different from every character in the game; she can block the instant she touches the ground. This means you have to hit her in the air which messes up Smoke's big bnb's, so it's best to just use d1 > d1 xx smoke bomb.

Ball roll and teleport kick can both bust up wake up pressure too, so it's best to block > punish mileena on wake up until you teach her to not use wake up specials, then bust her ass with meaty 3d12s.

The bottom line is you want to do a little bit of turtling and be defensive against mileena while maintaining some of the standard hit and fade Smoke strategy.
 
you can poke out of block strings at the right time with a d1 or d3. A competent cage is difficult for smoke. Stay away from him with teleports and harass him with smoke bombs. on occassion, you can mix up your teleports and smoke bombs with applying pressure... for example, ex teleport to get in, or wiffing an air teleport to get in. do not abuse anything, however, except teleports and smoke bombs, because they are safe... tp punching in, or teleporting in are not safe. Cage's uppercut is the fastest in the game, but what you really want to watch out for is his pop up kick.... it's just as fast and really punishes wiffed air tp punches with some extremely damaging combos.... If you're going to use one... make sure it's an ex one so it comes in on the other side and has a quicker drop down than the normal one.. in order to pad your chances of surviving. once you drop down... cage players know they have much better normals than you, so they're going to try and use them 9 times out of 10. EX shaking after you drop down is a great tricky move to use... Bottom line is, don't get close to cage until you have meter.

When cage doesn't have meter, don't be afraid to naked duck to try and bait the shadow kick, from there you can upper cut or d1 into smoke bomb. don't do this too often though, if he starts coming in without the kick, get the hell out...When he has EX meter.. .watch out... if you're playing keep away he WILL use the EX shadow kick to get in. It's fast, won't get hit by a smoke bomb, and you can't duck it. When this happens, you'll most likely be in the corner, and most cages will not want to waste the opportunity they now have since they are close to you, and will almost always go for the block strings, hoping you'll slip up so they can nail you with a combo. Take advantage of this...after you block the EX shadow kick... EX shake is a good move to do. Next time they do that, they're going to hesitate which will allow you to apply some pressure and then get the hell out again. you don't want to play footsies with Cage... it's HIGHLY in his favor.

Once you land a smoke bomb or end up knocking cage down... Abuse OKI. Try to read how the cage is playing. Most cages will wake up shadow kick or wake up flip kick, so when I get oki on cage, the first thing I do is sweep... why? Because sweep lowers your hit box so the shadow kicks wiff if they wake up... if they start thinking they have to block low in order to deal with your OKI options, then you can start mixing in overhead b2 - 3 into smoke bomb for huge damage. Just be aware of of the cross over jump punch on your first OKI, you're going to want to sweep EARLY so you have time to block... the goal of the first OKI is to test your opponent. He doesn't know what you're planning unless he reads this thread lol.

Fighting Cage is all about staying away as a base game plan... mixing in baits for shadow kick, EX shaking, and taking advantage of OKI. It's a hard match up for smoke, because 1 mistake and you're eating it.... but if you play it right.. you're going to get the cage player thinking... "I need to get in and not mess up once I do get in"
I like what you have to say about the Cage matchup. A couple of things I will add that I have found that have really helped me out recently against Cage. Cage players know that they have faster and better normals so once they get within range they start letting them fly. This is useful because a lot of Cages offense starts out before they are actually within range to hit you, since he moves forward during the anamiation. This opens the door for some teleport aways once they start up those kicks. You will be well outside of range and throwing a Smoke bomb before they hit you. If you can successfully do this a couple of times it makes all the difference. Also Cage players never expect a Smoke player to actually get aggressive in the midscreen. So take advantage of that and throw out some B2,3 into Smoke Bomb or Teleport away (if blocked). I can usually land 2-3 a match because of the long range of B2. I think the most important thing you can do against Cage as Smoke is get out of the corner before you are put there. Lets face it your going to be picking your spots and moving away from the Cage rushdown. Once your in the corner it is too late and Cage will work hard to keep you there. Once you start to get close work your way out of the corner. It is much better to whiff a teleport punch and get uppercutted than get stuck in the corner. If you space it right you can also smoke towards once and get Cage to start up his normals and then EX Teleport through Cage and bomb him while his animation is still going. Hope this helps.
 

arydious

Noob
KT Smith NYC you are the man! Always hooking up the smoke community, ill have to work on leveling up here real soon. Got a ton of homework this weekends then the grind will start as soon as the home work is done! Look for me in a tournament soon.