Target Acquired: Elimination of Bad Match-Ups

[NKZero]

Alright guys well before I start I just wanna give some credit to Zoidberg747 indirectly for giving me this idea. He has started a thread like this in the Baraka forums and it looks very useful as he and other Baraka players have gone through each bad match-up in great detail. I thought that if we can get that going here, Sektor players can feel comfortable grinding out the disadvantage match-ups.

The good thing about Sektor is that he doesn't really have a match worth counter-picking i.e. 3-7 or worse (at least from my match-up chart). So if we can nail down those 4-6's then we can all improve with the character we love.

Now I will list the bad match-ups that Sektor has (from my chart) and hopefully later today I can run through at least one of them in detail. I will only do ones that I feel qualified to contribute in. Hopefully the following people can add to this: SwiftTomHanks, Ketchup-LK9T9, IKizzLE, J360, Maxter.

Anybody can feel free to do their own version of this. But remember this is only bad match-ups so if you have queries about other match-ups (i.e. 5-5 or Sektor's favour), then just ask in the thread I made (my match-up chart) or Konqrr's match-up discussion thread or whatever.

Alright well here's the list:
Kabal: 4-6
Kenshi: 4-6
Mileena: 4-6
Skarlet: 4-6
Smoke: 4-6
Sonya: 4-6

That's 6 bad match-ups. So guys I want you to take a match-up that you feel you know enough about and tell us the problems in this match-up and what we can do to overcome them. I really want to emulate what is already present in the Baraka forums so if you need to know how to set it up, refer to that thread (it's pretty amazing).

 

[RomeoBravoDelta]

I have precious little Freddy experience, but to me that MU seems like a slightly less bad version of the Smoke MU. And is Mileena really still a bad MU even after she's been dissected to death?

 

[NKZero]

I have precious little Freddy experience, but to me that MU seems like a slightly less bad version of the Smoke MU. And is Mileena really still a bad MU even after she's been dissected to death?

To me Freddy is a 5-5 but I don't have very much experience either. Hopefully someone else who knows this match-up well can elaborate.

Mileena is still a bad match-up. Low hit-box (too low for even the 'magic' B34), long ranged D4, telekick on reaction to up missiles and trigger happy straight missiles. Can build meter while avoiding Sektor's zoning. The only saving grace for Sektor is the fact that he can heavily punish much of what Mileena does and since she has to take risks, she could lose 40% at any given moment. Sektor cannot anti-zone either unless Mileena is too predictable.

 

[NYCj360]

i will update later tonight, stuck at work

 

[Death]

Mileena only beats Sektor if your trying to zone her. Played correctly its an even MU.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

i think sektor fredy is in sektors favor...out our nms doesnt sektor get a free tele uppercut every time?

 

[NKZero]

Mileena only beats Sektor if your trying to zone her. Played correctly its an even MU.

Well what can Sektor do? He's a zoning character and anti-zoning. He cannot do either liberally. Add that to Mileena's low ass hit-box in the footsies game and it becomes real difficult for Sektor to get anything going.

i think sektor fredy is in sektors favor...out our nms doesnt sektor get a free tele uppercut every time?

It's not easy to see it coming all the time but it can be done. Good Freddy's won't use it as often but yeah good observation. Freddy's spikes however really prevent Sektor from teleporting in the first place. Sektor has the better footsies though and punishes NMS as well as anyone so it evens itself out. But Freddy out zoning Sektor is the reason it isn't advantage Sektor.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Out of these I actually think Kabal and Kenshi are 5/5.

Kabal can never become predicable in projectile usage; limiting his zoning game more than any other character in the game. Up close Kabal can not continue NDC pressure for very long for two reasons: the low hit box limits the amount of strings that connect and if Kabal attempts two strings in a row and Sektor reads it he wins with a 40%+ combo. What Kabal does that his advantageous over Sektor is that when Sektor beats Kabal it is mainly due to fantastic reads. You have to guess when to leave pressure and when to attempt anti-zoning strategies. Other characters like Sub Zero can never throw a ice ball out unless you are already shooting a projectile. Also, Kabal's b4 stuffs all Sektor's advancing normals, making it very difficult for him to get in. Once in however I would argue that the Sektor player is in the more advantageous position however.

One of Kenshi's best tools his is broken corner game. His EX-shoulder charge stuffs every wake up (armor or not) in the game that doesn't teleport behind him. If Kenshi does this to Sektor and the Sektor player does an EXtu, Kenshi will get blown up. The major reason this match is a huge pain for Sektor is how the shoulder charge stuffs all options when trying to advance on Kenshi. What Sektor must do is rely on up missiles to win this match. By firing an up missile that will not land on Kenshi, the player trying to reflect them will eat a TU. Once the Kenshi player respects this you may fire up missiles on top of him. On block they are +40 something, use this tactic to make your move. Kenshi also has a giant hit box, so never fear b34 or 12 whiffing issues; this also allows for very unique pressure options that only work on Kenshi, Freddy, Sheeva, and Raiden. When jumping at Kenshi the player may try to AA with a rising karma or standing 2/1; you can make the Kenshi player fear doing so by using an EXtu here while jumping in. Once the player respects this you have more leg room to jump around and more importantly over the shoulder charge rather than trying to b3 or f2 your way in like most matches.

--

After months and months of the Mileena match up I will confirm with 100% that this is a 4/6; yet still very winnable. @Phase3 is the only player in the states that I know of who is taking full advantage of not only Mileena, but more specifically the Mileena/Sektor match up. What he does that gives me worlds of problems compared to everyone else:

No pattern on sais, also changes between instant air and ground projectiles.
d4 as a tool to stuff advancing normals.
d3 or uppercuts everytime he sees a b3 since the 4 will always whiff on Mileena no matter what.
Does an anti air roll everytime anyone leaves the ground to jump kick him while doing d4.
Willing to do tons of low/low set ups that while do not cause as much damage as low into EX roll are safe and consistent.
On reactiont to any missile or flamethrower does a telekick

--

The reason why I think Sonya should be Sektor's second worst match up (but isn't) is because outside the AA roll, she has everything Mileena has plus a dive kick that goes into huge combo and reset pressure and the best EX move in the game... EX cartwheel! Sonya can easily interrupt a b34 or even a 122 with an EX cartwheel. The only big difference is you can full screen zone her. With that said, for whatever reason she doesn't seem as bad as Mileena while fighting her. And I've played a ton of great Sonya players!

--

Smoke is still his worst match up in my opinion; the only one I won't fuck around with in a tournament right now. I'll counterpick any Smoke players after I punch them in the dick for playing the character. I'm currently learning the match up more than any other one at the moment, seeing what I can do to make this not a 7/3 or 6/4. I have the utmost respect for any Sektor player than can beat a high level Smoke in tournament play.

 

[RTM2004]

Well what can Sektor do? He's a zoning character and anti-zoning. He cannot do either liberally. Add that to Mileena's low ass hit-box in the footsies game and it becomes real difficult for Sektor to get anything going.

Mileena's D4 = Sektor better use his Flamethrower and B1.

Also he can Teleport Uppercut when he see her Teleport Kick, typically grants him the combo over Mileena.

Ex Tracking Missile comes in handy fighting her up close, AA opportunity if it hits her up in the air or blockstring pressure for him.

 

[Altaire]

I'm slightly insulted that I wasn't tagged in this.

Regardless, why is Skarlet listed as a bad matchup for Sektor? That make zero sense to me. Hell, I'd say Cyber Sub is a bad matchup, if anything. He can stuff all of Sektor's wakeups, and Sektor has no way to punish the divekick on block. It may just be even, but it seems like 6-4 in Cyber Sub's favor to me.

 

[NKZero]

I'm slightly insulted that I wasn't tagged in this.

Regardless, why is Skarlet listed as a bad matchup for Sektor? That make zero sense to me. Hell, I'd say Cyber Sub is a bad matchup, if anything. He can stuff all of Sektor's wakeups, and Sektor has no way to punish the divekick on block. It may just be even, but it seems like 6-4 in Cyber Sub's favor to me.

Altaire I never knew you played Sektor mate...apologies. I don't think Cyber Sub is a big problem because Sektor can limit his mobility somewhat and can outzone him. Problem is the consistent punish to the dive kick. Any character that cannot fully punish the dive kick for big damage will struggle vs Cyber Sub....

Also I dunno how Sektor gets Skarlet off him. Can't really zone her for too long either no?

 

[NKZero]

Mileena's D4 = Sektor better use his Flamethrower and B1.

Also he can Teleport Uppercut when he see her Teleport Kick, typically grants him the combo over Mileena.

Ex Tracking Missile comes in handy fighting her up close, AA opportunity if it hits her up in the air or blockstring pressure for him.

Well Mileena's D4 can avoid B1 but flamethrower is always a good footsies tool. Still, that low to ground D4 is very annoying in this match. Plus you cannot on reaction teleport the tele-kick. Not if she is unpredictable. The tele-kick should just be used to punish mindless zoning by Sektor players. Also you have to realise that homing missile is good in this match up (as you said) but Sektor's up close game is really not that strong. Add that to her low hit-box and it becomes a bigger problem.

But yeah you make some good points. Just not sure about the uppercut to punish tele-kick.

 

[Altaire]

Altaire I never knew you played Sektor mate...apologies. I don't think Cyber Sub is a big problem because Sektor can limit his mobility somewhat and can outzone him. Problem is the consistent punish to the dive kick. Any character that cannot fully punish the dive kick for big damage will struggle vs Cyber Sub....

Also I dunno how Sektor gets Skarlet off him. Can't really zone her for too long either no?

I don't see how Sektor can limit his mobility at all. Straight and up missiles aren't going to do much of anything, and neither will any of his poke tools. At best, he can spam flamethrower to beat the divekick, but he can easily just do an empty jump to bait the flamethrower, and then EX freeze upon landing. It's no different than how he can do an empty jump to bait Lao into trying to spin a divekick, then slide him as you land. Cyber Sub does a really good job of limiting Sektor's options, whereas all Sektor has going for him in the matchup is that Cyber Sub's parry isn't very effective against him.

I really don't see how he has any trouble getting Skarlet off him, any more than anyone else. Her blockstring pressure ends when she has to go into a red slide, and puts herself at disadvantage. I don't see how her ability to stay on an opponent is that great. It's far from what gives her a foothold in most matchups.

 

[ryublaze]

NKZero As someone who mains both Sektor and Skarlet, I can probably give a little info but I haven't played this matchup very much since I don't know/play many good Sektors/Skarlets. I think the matchup can be 5-5. I'll just list a few stuff but this is all theory.

- Obviously Skarlet can EX Red Dash through Sektor's missiles which means Sektor has to play it up close (unless he's fullscreen or tries to counter daggers with an iaT). Zoning fullscreen can still be countered with Skarlet's iaT.
- After a knockdown, Skarlet can eliminate all of Sektor's wake-ups including tech rolled wake-ups with a delayed Red Slide.
- Although Skarlet can't punish a max ranged blocked Flame Burner, she does get a free mix-up by doing Red Dash.
- Daggers can be difficult to react to with Sektor's iaT depending on how close you are. Sektor can't iaT Skarlet's iaD though.
- Sektor can punish Skarlet hard with his 6 frame starter if Skarlet tries to stop Red Dashes. It's also faster than any of Skarlet's strings besides D1. The same applies to her Red Dash wake-up attack.
- As with all characters, Sektor's standing 1 whiffs on crouch so that leads to footsies. Skarlet has pretty good footsies. What's special about Skarlet's footsies is that anytime she connects with a D4 she gets a mix-up with Red Slide. Not only that, but her D3 lowers her hitbox by a lot (which I don't think matters much here).
- Sektor's a lowhitbox character, which means some of Skarlet's strings will whiff on crouch/crouch block.

So I guess from this Skarlet limits a few of Sektor's options while also giving her mix-ups, but a good Sektor player can punish her hard with iaT or standing 1.

 

[NKZero]

I don't see how Sektor can limit his mobility at all. Straight and up missiles aren't going to do much of anything, and neither will any of his poke tools. At best, he can spam flamethrower to beat the divekick, but he can easily just do an empty jump to bait the flamethrower, and then EX freeze upon landing. It's no different than how he can do an empty jump to bait Lao into trying to spin a divekick, then slide him as you land. Cyber Sub does a really good job of limiting Sektor's options, whereas all Sektor has going for him in the matchup is that Cyber Sub's parry isn't very effective against him.

I really don't see how he has any trouble getting Skarlet off him, any more than anyone else. Her blockstring pressure ends when she has to go into a red slide, and puts herself at disadvantage. I don't see how her ability to stay on an opponent is that great. It's far from what gives her a foothold in most matchups.

About the Skarlet MU, yes it applies to all but he has trouble not only defensively but also on knockdown he has a tough ass time waking up. Plus as I said Sektor cannot zone her that easily. After all Sektor is more zoning than rushdown (he isn't really rushdown anyways).

Yes, Cyber Sub can bait out a lot of things from Sektor and I like the point you made about empty jumps. But nonetheless, Sektor can cover horizontal and vertical space with missiles and can somewhat limit Cyber Sub's movement. You cannot question that Sektor outzones him. Cyber Sub also limits Sektor's options as well. He can also rush him down fairly effectively. Slide is big in this match-up too. I don't see how either character is at advantage tbh.

 

[NKZero]

NKZero As someone who mains both Sektor and Skarlet, I can probably give a little info but I haven't played this matchup very much since I don't know/play many good Sektors/Skarlets. I think the matchup can be 5-5. I'll just list a few stuff but this is all theory.

- Obviously Skarlet can EX Red Dash through Sektor's missiles which means Sektor has to play it up close (unless he's fullscreen or tries to counter daggers with an iaT). Zoning fullscreen can still be countered with Skarlet's iaT.
- After a knockdown, Skarlet can eliminate all of Sektor's wake-ups including tech rolled wake-ups with a delayed Red Slide.
- Although Skarlet can't punish a max ranged blocked Flame Burner, she does get a free mix-up by doing Red Dash.
- Daggers can be difficult to react to with Sektor's iaT depending on how close you are. Sektor can't iaT Skarlet's iaD though.
- Sektor can punish Skarlet hard with his 6 frame starter if Skarlet tries to stop Red Dashes. It's also faster than any of Skarlet's strings besides D1. The same applies to her Red Dash wake-up attack.
- As with all characters, Sektor's standing 1 whiffs on crouch so that leads to footsies. Skarlet has pretty good footsies. What's special about Skarlet's footsies is that anytime she connects with a D4 she gets a mix-up with Red Slide. Not only that, but her D3 lowers her hitbox by a lot (which I don't think matters much here).
- Sektor's a lowhitbox character, which means some of Skarlet's strings will whiff on crouch/crouch block.

So I guess from this Skarlet limits a few of Sektor's options while also giving her mix-ups, but a good Sektor player can punish her hard with iaT or standing 1.

Yeah man but what you're saying makes it seem advantage Skarlet. Sektor has to find the right punish opportunity. I think Skarlet has more going for her tbh. Nice analysis man .

 

[NKZero]

Out of these I actually think Kabal and Kenshi are 5/5.

Kabal can never become predicable in projectile usage; limiting his zoning game more than any other character in the game. Up close Kabal can not continue NDC pressure for very long for two reasons: the low hit box limits the amount of strings that connect and if Kabal attempts two strings in a row and Sektor reads it he wins with a 40%+ combo. What Kabal does that his advantageous over Sektor is that when Sektor beats Kabal it is mainly due to fantastic reads. You have to guess when to leave pressure and when to attempt anti-zoning strategies. Other characters like Sub Zero can never throw a ice ball out unless you are already shooting a projectile. Also, Kabal's b4 stuffs all Sektor's advancing normals, making it very difficult for him to get in. Once in however I would argue that the Sektor player is in the more advantageous position however.

One of Kenshi's best tools his is broken corner game. His EX-shoulder charge stuffs every wake up (armor or not) in the game that doesn't teleport behind him. If Kenshi does this to Sektor and the Sektor player does an EXtu, Kenshi will get blown up. The major reason this match is a huge pain for Sektor is how the shoulder charge stuffs all options when trying to advance on Kenshi. What Sektor must do is rely on up missiles to win this match. By firing an up missile that will not land on Kenshi, the player trying to reflect them will eat a TU. Once the Kenshi player respects this you may fire up missiles on top of him. On block they are +40 something, use this tactic to make your move. Kenshi also has a giant hit box, so never fear b34 or 12 whiffing issues; this also allows for very unique pressure options that only work on Kenshi, Freddy, Sheeva, and Raiden. When jumping at Kenshi the player may try to AA with a rising karma or standing 2/1; you can make the Kenshi player fear doing so by using an EXtu here while jumping in. Once the player respects this you have more leg room to jump around and more importantly over the shoulder charge rather than trying to b3 or f2 your way in like most matches.

--

After months and months of the Mileena match up I will confirm with 100% that this is a 4/6; yet still very winnable. @Phase3 is the only player in the states that I know of who is taking full advantage of not only Mileena, but more specifically the Mileena/Sektor match up. What he does that gives me worlds of problems compared to everyone else:

No pattern on sais, also changes between instant air and ground projectiles.
d4 as a tool to stuff advancing normals.
d3 or uppercuts everytime he sees a b3 since the 4 will always whiff on Mileena no matter what.
Does an anti air roll everytime anyone leaves the ground to jump kick him while doing d4.
Willing to do tons of low/low set ups that while do not cause as much damage as low into EX roll are safe and consistent.
On reactiont to any missile or flamethrower does a telekick

--

The reason why I think Sonya should be Sektor's second worst match up (but isn't) is because outside the AA roll, she has everything Mileena has plus a dive kick that goes into huge combo and reset pressure and the best EX move in the game... EX cartwheel! Sonya can easily interrupt a b34 or even a 122 with an EX cartwheel. The only big difference is you can full screen zone her. With that said, for whatever reason she doesn't seem as bad as Mileena while fighting her. And I've played a ton of great Sonya players!

--

Smoke is still his worst match up in my opinion; the only one I won't fuck around with in a tournament right now. I'll counterpick any Smoke players after I punch them in the dick for playing the character. I'm currently learning the match up more than any other one at the moment, seeing what I can do to make this not a 7/3 or 6/4. I have the utmost respect for any Sektor player than can beat a high level Smoke in tournament play.

Great analysis man.

Have to disagree on the Kabal match up. I still think 4-6. Kabal can punish any missile on reaction from about 2/3 of the screen away with EX dash or normal dash on the up missiles. He can dash cancel to bait something like a flamethrower and then punish or at least dash up close and start NDC pressure. Yes Sektor can threaten with standing 1 and that's what saves him tbh. I think Kabal still has it better up close. Even though Sektor outzones Kabal to an extent he still cannot zone comfortably. Sektor has problems getting up as well and Kabal can be a real asshole with characters that struggle on wake-up. Saw blade is annoying in this match up as well. Stuffs out a lot of Sektor's options. Imo 4-6 still but thanks for your insight.

Kenshi you have made me a believer man! Sektor has good enough mobility with various set-ups and shenanigans to get in on Kenshi. I still worry about the corner though. But you made a good point about the EX TU. So yeah maybe this is a 5-5.

I agreed on Mileena and Sonya. Could you break down Smoke a little? I have an idea on why it is so damn difficult but I don't have enough match-up experience.

In fact since Sektor isn't my main I don't use him for any of these match-ups but the Kabal one. So I would be happy to break that one down in detail. I think others are more fit to analyse the rest...

 

[Red Reaper]

I agreed on Mileena and Sonya. Could you break down Smoke a little? I have an idea on why it is so damn difficult but I don't have enough match-up experience.

Smoke shuts down Sektor's zoning with Shake for straight missiles and teleport for up missiles.

He kan effectively smoke bomb all day since you kan't teleport against those. If you try to footsie your way in and he moves back he kan punish you with a Smoke Bomb. Sektor loses a lot of trades with Smoke Bomb.

I don't find him as much of a problem as Sonya because even though he builds meter for free in this match up, you kan still play patiently against him. Inch your way toward him, slowly pushing him to the corner. He doesn't do damage with those smoke bombs on block so if you have the lead you kan wait around a bit with a calm offensive plan depending on their playstyle. For Sonya, there is no "playstyle" you kan adapt. You just have to make better reads than your opponent and overall you'll be taking more risks than them.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Outside never being able to throw a projectile you pay with a 60+ reset combo if you ever miss judge anyone of your advancing strings since Smoke is always going to be running away from you. When Smoke backs himself into a corner, unlike Kabal he has a much easier time getting out and starting the chase all over again.

Sektor can't use meter in combos or for set ups since you're going to want to save it for breaker; limiting a lot of options. iTU'ing smoke bomb is really odd and different depending on where you are on the screen. Most projectiles you just want to iTU as soon as possible. With Smoke if you have a very fast iTU from 3/4 to full screen the smoke bomb will pick you up from under the ground. If closer you almost have no time, but want to get it off with lightspeed.

You can't bait Smoke with up missiles since instead of doing shake he should just to a teleport punch on reaction.

When trying to get in on him with advancing strings won't work, jumping is NEVER an option. Smokes standing AA will also stuff Sektor's jump kicks most of the time. It's also just as risky since any hit from Smoke can lead to huge reset damage. You'll also lose almost every air to air trade due to his air grab.

Sektor really hurts when a character can lame him out. Smoke is the best lame out character in the game. You will be chasing him all day, make one mistake and you're dead.

 

[Critical-Limit]

What do you sektors do for a punishment when Mileena tele kicks, and EX tele kicks?

 

[xInfra Deadx]

What do you sektors do for a punishment when Mileena tele kicks, and EX tele kicks?

Uppercut.

 

[NKZero]

What do you sektors do for a punishment when Mileena tele kicks, and EX tele kicks?

For EX telekick if my D1 hits high enough I can often follow up with 12-TU-11B1. Otherwise uppercut I guess.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

What do you sektors do for a punishment when Mileena tele kicks, and EX tele kicks?

A lot of people are going to say uppercut or d1, which you can.

I would suggest playing human Sektor against Mileena for this punish specifically:

Standing 1, 122, tu, 11b1 - 28%
--
You can't do that against the EX telekick, so for that I would say wait for the sai and uppercut for guaranteed damage. But against a normal telekick she should be eating almost 30% every time.

Hope this helps.

 

[NKZero]

SwiftTomHanks I've noticed you've used a lot more robot Sektor recently is there a reason for that?

Also would you mind covering the Smoke match-up like fully? I feel you know it better than anyone. I'm willing to dive in to the Kabal match-up and hopefully later tonight I will have that match-up done and dusted.

 

[Temjiin]

SwiftTomHanks I've noticed you've used a lot more robot Sektor recently is there a reason for that?

Also would you mind covering the Smoke match-up like fully? I feel you know it better than anyone. I'm willing to dive in to the Kabal match-up and hopefully later tonight I will have that match-up done and dusted.

I think I read that SwiftTomHanks is so against the Smoke MU that he's learning another character.

....or maybe that was IKizzLE?

I think it might be his worst MU......