RM Ree
Shiba Tamer
Inspired in part by the recent Tom Brady (Grandmaster Sub-Zero) vs REO (Tigrawr Fury Goro) set (I liked the video even), I took to the lab to look at some mechanics of the match up. I found a few interesting special move interactions and strategies which I'll outline below.
Exhibit A - Goro's Stomp/ ex Krush aka "tele-stomp." If Goro uses this in the neutral, Sub is left with 2 basic options; 1. move out da way > whiff punish (or reset the neutral). This can work well enough, but the Goro player can read this movement and aim tele-stomp accordingly, or 2. anti-air the stomp. Sub-Zero DOES NOT need meter to anti air stomp. Although ex frost bomb is an excellent counter option to stomp (sometimes X-ray too), there will be times where a meterless answer is all you've got. Here's how to do it...
That sounds weird right? But when timed correctly, Goro's punch walk auto corrects into the corner while Sub-Zero lands outside of it allowing for a heavy whiff punish. We're talking ~50% meterless, all because Goro wanted SZ to catch those hands. The down side to this is that it works best off a b12/ 123 xx slide ender. This could work for or against us as our better opponents know slide =/= safe clone. Anyway, here's what it looks like.
The initial corner combo will do 34%, ji2 and d4 deal an unscaled 8%, and the punish does 38%, all meterless. I'm not a wizard, but I know a guy and he says that sequence deals a total 80% and costs Goro a bar. If you don't think that's the dopest shit ever, you can get out of my face.
Limitations and Issues with ji2: Sometimes punch walk will hit behind Goro. Sometimes punch walk will not come out because you've crossed your opponent up too many times. Test for yourself and see what you find works for you. I'll tag SZ mains from best to last best.
@zoofs
@Tom Brady
@Madzin
Exhibit A - Goro's Stomp/ ex Krush aka "tele-stomp." If Goro uses this in the neutral, Sub is left with 2 basic options; 1. move out da way > whiff punish (or reset the neutral). This can work well enough, but the Goro player can read this movement and aim tele-stomp accordingly, or 2. anti-air the stomp. Sub-Zero DOES NOT need meter to anti air stomp. Although ex frost bomb is an excellent counter option to stomp (sometimes X-ray too), there will be times where a meterless answer is all you've got. Here's how to do it...
- Method 1: Clone. If input the moment Goro leaves the top of the screen, he'll fall right on top of it, whether he uses meter or naw. Roughly 17% punish.
- Method 2: Ice burst (not ex frost bomb, meterless ice burst) will anti-air stomp when done on reaction. Timing is similar to clone. Meterless stomp or not, this will either trade (late reaction) or send Goro flying (early reaction). 9% punish here.
- Method 3: Slide. It is possible to time slide such that it's ridiculously high hit box (around the back of Sub's head) will strike Goro before stomp hits Sub-Zero. This method is pretty inconsistent, can trade, lose clean, or more often than not whiff and reset neutral/ switch sides. Only an 8% gain on this guy.
That sounds weird right? But when timed correctly, Goro's punch walk auto corrects into the corner while Sub-Zero lands outside of it allowing for a heavy whiff punish. We're talking ~50% meterless, all because Goro wanted SZ to catch those hands. The down side to this is that it works best off a b12/ 123 xx slide ender. This could work for or against us as our better opponents know slide =/= safe clone. Anyway, here's what it looks like.
The initial corner combo will do 34%, ji2 and d4 deal an unscaled 8%, and the punish does 38%, all meterless. I'm not a wizard, but I know a guy and he says that sequence deals a total 80% and costs Goro a bar. If you don't think that's the dopest shit ever, you can get out of my face.
Limitations and Issues with ji2: Sometimes punch walk will hit behind Goro. Sometimes punch walk will not come out because you've crossed your opponent up too many times. Test for yourself and see what you find works for you. I'll tag SZ mains from best to last best.
@zoofs
@Tom Brady
@Madzin
