I've a question for Raynex. How do you open good players with superman? I mean most good players only block low against superman because his overheads are so slow that they can change the block mid animation. So how do you open good players with good characters like batman, aquaman and so on if they only block low? what would be the fastes overhead? because 223 and f3 doesn't seem to work and if i jump they usually catch me with a regular string without even jumping. I found that with d1 throw or d1 scoop sometimes i can get in, but i want to hit confirm f23 or 223 in order to do my best combos. What can i do? If they only keep blocking low? @
Raynex
As one of the best characters in the game, Superman isn't one with too many weaknesses. You have to first come to terms with the only real downside to playing him: he doesn't have tricky ways of landing hits at neutral during the stand up / footsies game. His only stand-alone overhead is a sluggish 30 frames, so you must understand then that Superman really has no good overhead. Do NOT focus on using overheads when they block low, it doesn't work because its too easy to react to. Superman needs to utilize some pretty unconventional methods to open up skilled players. Alright, here we go.
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xQUANTUMx hit it on the head. GRAB GRAB GRAB. Why is grab so important, even when they're low blocking and doing nothing? Because it is one of the only ways, in ANY fighting game, to elicit a response by forcing your opponent to press buttons to break the throw. Throws force action, which means if you condition them to expect it by having a healthy throw game and peppering it in unexpectedly, they will naturally have to open their defenses more to deal with it. Once your throw game evolves you'll find 10+ more holes to F23 / punish because you've established the threat of throw. In my experience, I think it's best to create your own throw setups so you have a whole slew of situations you can use it in. Don't always set it up with D1~throw. Dash in and do it, B3 then do it while they're in blockstun. Heat zap then throw. F2~trait~throw. F3 / B3 charge dash cancel throw. Superman has to use his throw more than most characters in Injustice (yet no one does and I don't know why) because his mix-up is sub-par. It's simple, effective, and gets you hits once you learn to manipulate throw break situations!
- Opening them up isn't always necessary. If their life bar is low and you only need about 20-30%, activate trait and start doing heat zaps / [MB] heat visions. It increases chip damage: Heat zap does 6+% if its blocked, [MB] heat vision does either 3 or 4%. A few of those and your opponent will come towards you on your own accord, annoyed by your high chip zoning. Getting clipped is bad for them, I think trait powered Heat zap does more than 10%! If they cross the screen with jumps or forward dashes, you can AA or punish the dashes with F23.
- Opening them up isn't always necessary, part 2. Any string into breath or heat zap effectively pushes your opponent to the corner. I remember posting something about this the other day. Think about it like you're two boxers in a boxing ring. All of you must have seen this scenario before: boxer A bullies boxer B with a flurry of punches and corners them. Boxer B puts his hands up in defense but continues to get hammered by a rain of punches, ref goes in to split them up and stop the massacre. Pushing your opponent to the corner is a huge advantage for you, and whether you're opening them up or not you are still doing chip damage plus gaining positional advantage all the while. Once the corner comes into play they have to get out immediately otherwise they risk getting tagged by "a flurry of punches" aka 50%-72% combos. That's why people pushblock (they blow a meter, win for you), jump (AA them, win for you), start trying to interrupt pressure (whiff punish with F23, win for you), do nothing (keep going ham / throw / B1~[MB] Breath / etc). Accept that people like to block alot sometimes, but do not mistake that for NEGATIVE. With Superman it can be a good thing, even with his shitty mix-up. It all depends on where you are on the stage!
- Don't bounce cancel for mix-ups. Wasting two bars for a reactable 30 frame overhead makes no sense, there are better uses for meter.
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This is by far the most important thing to remember. Superman has the easiest time opening up opponents when he creates hard knockdown situations. Okay, so his stand up game is bland...but his oki game is great. Cross-up overhead dives, safe B1 combo starters, air dash mix-ups, solid grab range, and I haven't even gotten into the corner shenanigans with cross-up F3s, cross up dashes and the like. Your aim with Superman is to hit them once, make them either hit the floor (hard knockdown) or corner them (flying punch if close) and mix them up on wake-up until they die. This is where Superman shines! I could go on and on about hard knockdowns but I'm sure you get the idea. Practice your setups so that every knockdown gives you the opportunity to run a tricky mix-up and land a hit for 40+%. Superman doesn't win matches by hitting you many times, his mix-up is too shit for that to happen. He wins by being patient, hitting you once or twice then UNLOADING damage. His big damage is the reward you get for patience and a well rehearsed and varied knockdown game, complete with tricky setups.
I'll be adding more points to this when my hands recover from all this typing. There is more I want to share about opening up opponents and general Superman theory.
Getting More Mileage out of F23
Whiff punishing with F23 is fantastic, but everyone and their mother knows its coming so as time goes on and players improve it will be less and less effective. It is still the crutch of his mid-range game, so regardless of how often it comes up you must always be ready. My first point is likely one you already know, if they press anything in F23 range, whiff punish.
To expand on this and make F23 more effective, I've had to change my thinking a bit. Some players will F23 at their opponent regardless of what they are doing. If they get in range, they do it because they either get a combo or start a blockstring. No risk right? Every single decision you make affects the outcome of later situations. If you F23 like an idiot and throw it out and literally EVERY opportunity possible, your hit ratio won't be too high. Sure you might hit their block, but then we get stuck in the scenario you hate so much
M-Aran-X, how do we open them up from here? The answer is to save your F23 and not use it as often. stop forcing yourself to hit their block, because once you do its hard to open them up. It has INSANE range, is very quick and leads to a full combo. It will connect twice as much if your opponent is focusing on other things and not expecting it.
Keeping your opponents mind off F23 to make it more effective:
- Do more heat zap more, especially at mid-range. It is +19 on block which means it has virtually no recovery. If they avoid it by crouching you can still F23 and beat out anything they press. Some opponents might feel the need to dash forward after blocking one from farther away. You can punish all dash in attempts With F23 on a read; this will come up more often than you think.
- Walk in close, then walk back. Don't hit a single button and DON'T F23 just to hit their block. Remember once they block F23, Superman's mix-up is ass. Ease in slowly and be patient, then float back like a boss. Float in REALLY close if you're brave enough. Most people cannot handle Superman coming in close, they panic and do something. Watch for jumps (dash under F23), and watch for limbs they stick out (whiff punish F23). Because every Superman on the planet does F23, they will expect it and act sporadically in fear of it. They might backdash or jump or [MB] something, and THAT'S when you strike. Use F23 reactively, adopt a samurai mindset and break your opponent with the fear of F23 without actually using it! (If they have the composure to do nothing when you're that close, then congratulations you've gotten into close range spacing for absolutely zero cost because of solid mindgames)
- Refrain from starting all blockstrings with F23. Use B23~breath, 3~breath, 3~zap B2~zap, 22~breath, etc. Keeping it varied, visually, is always a good thing. By giving them a pattern to recognize (F23~breath) you are preparing them for pressure and they will be more comfortable while you do it. Don't let them get comfortable. Especially with the zap strings (they are interruptable obviously) which play on your opponents fear and passiveness: if you do zap in a string and they block low (zap whiffs) you can still F23 and beat out a ton of shit because of its non-existant recovery. If it gets blocked you're +19, so you can grab / [MB] B3 or F3 for more block advantage / B1~[MB] Breath SAFE LOW combo starter / another zap / B23~zap or breath. You get the picture!
