Match-Up Discussion - Sonya Blade Sonya Blade Matchup Thread

[HugeMcBigLarge]

Not sure if this is sacrosanct, but who else do you guys play to get around Sonya's bad match ups? I play pretty much exclusively CO, and as much as I've thought about the other variations, I don't think they solve Sonya's weaknesses as well as another character would. The raw guesses and mix up potential CO has is fantastic, but leaves you totally vulnerable to things like: GM Sub, Shinnok, Kitana zoning, etc. There are a lot of things that are just bad match ups.

Has anyone found a character that they feel is a really strong compliment to Sonya? I tried Cassie, but my instant air gun-fu is really weak and I have the same zoning problems as other characters. My thinking so far has been maybe reptile, kitana, or quan.

Quan is just too strong right now to not consider picking up, and his zoning threat is pretty unparalleled.

Kitana (probably mournful) zoning is ridiculous, but I feel the match up is simply novel at the moment and is going to be just basic zoning patterns and once people learn it, will just be a cheese options.

Reptile has good enough zoning he can get some forceball threat and more importantly can slide under high fireballs and close distance immediately.

I know a lot of getting around this is changing my mind set, being more patient, and thinking about how I approach more carefully (JI1 for days lololol), but has anyone found significant success complimenting Sonya in another char?

 

[Dedlock]

Not sure if this is sacrosanct, but who else do you guys play to get around Sonya's bad match ups? I play pretty much exclusively CO, and as much as I've thought about the other variations, I don't think they solve Sonya's weaknesses as well as another character would. The raw guesses and mix up potential CO has is fantastic, but leaves you totally vulnerable to things like: GM Sub, Shinnok, Kitana zoning, etc. There are a lot of things that are just bad match ups.

Has anyone found a character that they feel is a really strong compliment to Sonya? I tried Cassie, but my instant air gun-fu is really weak and I have the same zoning problems as other characters. My thinking so far has been maybe reptile, kitana, or quan.

Quan is just too strong right now to not consider picking up, and his zoning threat is pretty unparalleled.

Kitana (probably mournful) zoning is ridiculous, but I feel the match up is simply novel at the moment and is going to be just basic zoning patterns and once people learn it, will just be a cheese options.

Reptile has good enough zoning he can get some forceball threat and more importantly can slide under high fireballs and close distance immediately.

I know a lot of getting around this is changing my mind set, being more patient, and thinking about how I approach more carefully (JI1 for days lololol), but has anyone found significant success complimenting Sonya in another char?

I play Mileena cause I literally go brain dead and play anti Sonya, spam sais from a distance, teleport drop if they dare jump or zone me out, mash rolls for easy uppercut punish, I literally switch off my brain and play brain dead. You'd be suprised at the results I get, maybe the lag helps online.

Also I love Kano, I'm trying to get better with Cyber Kano. I will never pick Kitana, I'd rather die than pick Kitana.

 

[HugeMcBigLarge]

Hahaha no shame in characters I choose, just want the ones that people have found to be competitive =)

Online the offense is what it's all about. I'll check out Kano; I think mileena is a little too unsafe and relies on just overwhelming opponents, which is an inconsistent thing to depend on. I've seen some interesting things come out of cybernetics as well, and those knives are just ridiculous.

 

[Dedlock]

I think mileena is a little too unsafe

She is unsafe just like Sonya, she's not as fast in movement but her tele kick and rolls help with placement.

Placement, timing and spacing is key with Mileena, everything works fine if you just know where you are, she's also easier to get hang of And is not as technical as Sonya. Catching people with Her Xray is wicked fun.

In general she's just very different to Sonya so in some rare cases in bad covert ops Sonya matchups I go to Mileena.

 

[jmt]

Kung Lao and Mileena are my 2 worst match ups by far for some reason. Not sure why they give me so much headache?

 

[Tony at Home]

Johnny Cage is quite a flexible character. I have a pocket A-List for matches I don't quite do well in.

As for Lao, the best thing I've learned against him is to anti air with EX Leg Grab. It's not ideal to pay a bar of meter just to do the job that D2 should do, but Lao's J2 is crazy. It's a serious drain on meter, but I do my best to have at least one stick of butter so I can AA him and play footsies.

 

[jmt]

Ok. I'll try that ex leg grab out. Thanks.

 

[Dedlock]

Kung Lao and Mileena are my 2 worst match ups by far for some reason. Not sure why they give me so much headache?

Kung Lao used to be a headache but post the recent patch I find his matches much better (still tough though), believe it or not I can effectively zone him with the energy rings and it throws them off their game. I normally create space with energy rings and force a teleport and punish. I never, I repeat never approach kung lao after a knockdown, because of you know "mr best wake up in the game", instead I bait out his spins and punish. with Demo it should be easier to stun grenade combo punish him. In covert ops I usually Garrote his pressure game cause they're hella predictable. basically watch your distance throw your projectiles and punish.

Mileena I also surprisingly find tough depending on the level of the Mileena opponent, good Mileenas know their timing and spacing and can effectivley lock you out. To beat good Mileena's you have to full combo punish after a roll or tele kick, cause they will be more than happy to stay back and throw sais therefore chances re few and far between.

 

[Tony at Home]

Also for Lao, when playing CO, EX Parry his teleport on reaction. All his attacks on tele are parryable. Including his grab option.

Regular Parry works too, but depending on lag conditions you may want the faster startup of EX, especially since a miss on this could hurt.

 

[Tony at Home]

I'm finding a very funny trend of people attempting to counterpick Droneya with teleporters. I swear 90% of the time they switch to Ermac after the first match.

The irony of it is, Ermac is not a counter to Droneya. She handles him just fine. I guess people are used to the whole "Rock Paper Scissors" of Teleporter > Zoner.

Heat seekers are awesome.

 

[Tony at Home]

As a heads up, Mileena vs Special Forces feels really bad. Roll whiff punishes alot of mid screen reloads, but the bigger issue is she's so nimble in her combos, that she can avoid those heat seeker-"gotcha bitch!"-aftershocks.

Definitely a better match for Demo. Not sure about CO in this matchup but I definitely think Demo would do better since CO generally doesn't do well against opponents who can launch you for a combo with wakeups.

Demo appears to fare quite well since she wins the damage war, and Mileena has to use up her meter pretty fast to deal with nade pressure.

 

[skater11]

Want to know how you guys feel about the shinnok matchup sorry if it's been discussed. Mostly impostor and boneshaper

 

[Tony at Home]

Want to know how you guys feel about the shinnok matchup sorry if it's been discussed. Mostly impostor and boneshaper

@Scar (can't remember full tag... Someone tag plz) mentioned it FeelsBadMan for Sonya.

Not sure what that translates to per variation vs variation though.

I've had the most difficulty with imposter. I mean, his tele can be easily countered, but if I'm waiting to counter that, I'm not chucking grenades, i'm not firing homing missiles, I'm not playing my game.

 

[FCP/EMP SCAR]

@Scar (can't remember full tag... Someone tag plz) mentioned it FeelsBadMan for Sonya.

Not sure what that translates to per variation vs variation though.

I've had the most difficulty with imposter. I mean, his tele can be easily countered, but if I'm waiting to counter that, I'm not chucking grenades, i'm not firing homing missiles, I'm not playing my game.

I am currently back n forth with this MU, at times I think its 6-4 shinnok, at times its 5-5, I grinded out a long set with wound last night, coming out on top by only like 3 games, I asked him what he thinks of the MU, even he doesn't know, but he did mention he thinks the risk reward is in her favor, I will tell u this tho, you shouldn't be using any other variation other then demo when it comes to Shinnok, she absolutely needs it to trade with hellsparks..

 

[Dedlock]

Against covert ops Sonya.

I find Shinnok imposter to be OK but Bone shaper I have the most trouble with.

 

[skater11]

How to beat Liu Kang(DF) guys help me...Would like to hear opinions on the best variation to use against him. I don't mind switching.

 

[Dedlock]

How to beat Liu Kang(DF) guys help me...Would like to hear opinions on the best variation to use against him. I don't mind switching.

Liu Kang I don't have Alot of trouble with him. you can easily avoid his fireballs with Sonya jumps as they're pretty agile and his attacks are so predictable and punishable that he should be much of an issue.

The only potential trouble he can give is if he opts to zone from afar but even then ex arc kick helps to get in.

Could you mention what is he doing that's giving you trouble?

 

[skater11]

Liu Kang I don't have Alot of trouble with him. you can easily avoid his fireballs with Sonya jumps as they're pretty agile and his attacks are so predictable and punishable that he should be much of an issue.

The only potential trouble he can give is if he opts to zone from afar but even then ex arc kick helps to get in.

Could you mention what is he doing that's giving you trouble?

My problems against him is mostly because of unfamiliarity against the character, with that said I have trouble with the most simple stuff. His zoning can be a pain if the Liu is really good at being unpredictable. Sometimes I find myself lost on where I can poke out. I've heard there's ways out most of his wakeups, I haven't looked into it though. I guess i'm being a bit lazy not wanting to lab him, but any help would be appreciated. Also, things like his bicycle kick to get in, am I suppose to respect it if he has an extra bar of meter to EX the second part of it?

 

[HugeMcBigLarge]

Things that normally catch me against liu kang is his back walk. I have real problems when they just back walk through the neutral because it puts me in an awkward spot. I either jump in and telegraph that and start getting d2'd, run in and get caught by a poke/dragon punch, or he can start to run in and catch me in just pressure again. Not being able to sit on him makes this what's really awkward for me

 

[Dedlock]

The real time timer has made a vast improvement to fights against zoners, now patiently dodging their attacks has become a viable strategy.

Or maybe playing with better lag has made Sonya better.

 

[Dedlock]

God guys, my Covert Ops is being ripped to shreds by the

Borgs, smoke being the least trouble but still a handful, Sektor the most painful, and cyber sub just plain broken.

I literally have opted to zone full screen against cyber sub with CO Sonya not a base zoning character.

What I find bothersome is how the Borgs put every Sonya variation to shame, Covert Ops is actually the most viable variation against them.lol.

Leatherface I still have to practice to reveal his weaknesses but he's scary upfront and I end up being bullied like hell.

 

[Tinkerbell]

Okay, I know I'm still a noob and that's 90% of the problem. I also know it's still very soon after the update and it takes time for things shake out, but I really feel that Sonya is effectively much weaker because of the addition of all the strong new characters.

Because this is the Matchup Discussion thread, anyone want to discuss strat for fighting Triborg, any variation? The only thing I've noticed so far is his ex wakeup attacks are either not armored or very weak, so after a hkd I run over to him a lot and break his wakeup. I also try to stay out of the air as much as I can because his divekick seems to win over Sonya's every time.

For Cyrax, if I have the meter, I try always break once he starts with his net combo. Otherwise it's like I might as well put down the controller.
EDIT: I meant Cyrax instead of Sektor.

 

[Dedlock]

Okay, I know I'm still a noob and that's 90% of the problem. I also know it's still very soon after the update and it takes time for things shake out, but I really feel that Sonya is effectively much weaker because of the addition of all the strong new characters.

Because this is the Matchup Discussion thread, anyone want to discuss strat for fighting Triborg, any variation? The only thing I've noticed so far is his ex wakeup attacks are either not armored or very weak, so after a hkd I run over to him a lot and break his wakeup. I also try to stay out of the air as much as I can because his divekick seems to win over Sonya's every time.

For Sektor, if I have the meter, I try always break once he starts with his net combo. Otherwise it's like I might as well put down the controller.

Our air game is gone because Sub-zero, smoke and Cyrax all have superior air specials capable of causing immense damage.

So one thing I've learned the hardway is to stay grounded, and take the air only if an opening materializes.

Next make them pay for blocked/ mis read teleports,

Smoke is the easiest to punish, followed by Sektor and Cyrax.cyber Sub Zero seems to be safe on everything.

Save meter cause you're going to need to break at some point.

They also have very annoying jump toward punches which is too quick and gives them free cheap openings when they keep abusing it, I really wish Sonya had her aerial bicycle kick to trash them or if MS3 could execute fully without having to hit people.

Parries/ex are is a must they'll break their flow.

 

[Dedlock]

Defeated my first Grandmaster sub by timing him out, I was dodging everything he had full screen distance and trading energy rings for his freeze.

Once he noticed time was almost done he ran in like some sort of madman and took advantage of a mistake and clock hit 0 and I won.

Ofcourse he could have corner trapped me but I kept making sure there was space.

 

[Kris.Hornett]

Hey people I've been getting beat by Sun God Kotal Kahn and Crytsal Tremor a lot lately. I was wondering what approach you all take in those match ups. I play Demo Sonya for the most part. I considered picking up a secondary but I've yet to find one...