General/Other - Sonya Blade XL Sonya General Discussion

[Jer]

(Cause someone's gotta do it).
Discuss tech, lore, strategy and all things Sonya!

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Post from @Dedlock from the beta discussion thread

"Tested Covert Ops out they've added a frame to her leg grab and standing 4 were they always 11?

Her sweep seems faster, air throw in air combos seems harder to connect.

Damage scales the same in Covert Ops nothing notably different.

MS1 is still the same it hasn't been buffed to grab on cancel hit, it's still whiffs when utilized as a mix up.

Parries feel smoother.

Overall, in Covert Ops Sonya has not been changed.

Her stage fatality matches her MK9 version B,F,D 2

Haven't discovered ant new brutalities as of yet."

 

[Dedlock]

I can't find the Beta thread it disappeared?

Officially from patch notes

• Sonya - Away+BK has increased pushback and is now -10 on block (up from -14)
• Sonya (Demolition) - Grenades no longer bounce when they hit the ground
• Sonya (Demolition) - Drone Drop now reloads 5 frames faster and recovers 3 frames faster
• Sonya (Demolition) - Increased combo damage scaling on Stun Grenade
• Sonya (Demolition) - Drone Drop now adds combo damage scaling

In comparison Kitana has the best sweep in the gamewhich is safe at -2 on block, along with other buffs to her Assassin variation, it's so funny she keeps getting buffslike she needs them.

 

[skater11]

Cyber sub completely nullifys demo sonya. lol

 

[Tinkerbell]

So CO Sonya and SF Sonya got nothing? Awesome... I really need to start using the Demo variation instead of CO.

 

[ESP-_BLACK]

demo by far sonya best variation

 

[ShadyHeart]

CO Sonya seems to struggle against Sektor. Once she gets knocked away, she has no good way back in without EX arc kick unless you guess everything Sektor does correctly. I'm very disappointed in the lack of changes for CO.

 

[br8kz]

I tend to play Sonya the most so i figured this should go here lol if anyone is interested in watching CO Sonya make people rage online be sure to check out my channel.. it'll bring a smile to your face

 

[skater11]

So how many of you think Sonya can go even or win against the entire cast within her 3 variations.?

 

[Jer]

So how many of you think Sonya can go even or win against the entire cast within her 3 variations.?

Sonya is probably still top 5 in the game, she's insane. Not too sure what Special Forces can do though

 

[Dedlock]

So how many of you think Sonya can go even or win against the entire cast within her 3 variations.?

Demo is viable against entire cast

Covert Ops is match up dependent but XL has exposed this variation and makes it seem tame in comparison to many other characters. I've seen a great Impprovement with previous and new characters but Covert Ops remains the same albeit weaker.

Special forces after the recent update has become obsolete, if you want to play special forces, I suggest picking up Triborg.

 

[colby4898]

Demolition is definitely top 5 imo.
I don't think theres any matchups where special forces is better than covert ops or demo even before patch.

 

[JerQ_Q]

Can you guys open up what makes Demo sonya so powerfull in this patch? ex reload thingy?´

E: If you guys have secret sonya thread please add me there

 

[colby4898]

Can you guys open up what makes Demo sonya so powerfull in this patch? ex reload thingy?´

E: If you guys have secret sonya thread please add me there

I think she was poweful and definitely top 10 before mkxl patch.
Im not a demo player so I can't go into detail about what makes her so good as other people can but I'll try.
Her safe 50/50s into grenade to control spece.
Ability to convert any hit into a full combo in the 30% range (depending on number of grenades)
Little reliance on meter meaning she aways has access to reversals, breakers and x-rays.
Invincible wake up which I think leads to a combo (maybe thats only in the corner)
Setups using ex reload using a throw which can lead to like 20+% from a throw.
Throwng grenades to stop the opponent approaching or to make it easier for you to approach zoners.
Her jump ins and dive kicks for whiff punishing.
Great pokes in d1, d3 and d4.

all of this and probably more as well as nerfs that quan chi, kung lao, tremor and lui kang got really put her up there in the tier list in my opinion.

 

[Jer]

I think she was poweful and definitely top 10 before mkxl patch.
Im not a demo player so I can't go into detail about what makes her so good as other people can but I'll try.
Her safe 50/50s into grenade to control spece.
Ability to convert any hit into a full combo in the 30% range (depending on number of grenades)
Little reliance on meter meaning she aways has access to reversals, breakers and x-rays.
Invincible wake up which I think leads to a combo (maybe thats only in the corner)
Setups using ex reload using a throw which can lead to like 20+% from a throw.
Throwng grenades to stop the opponent approaching or to make it easier for you to approach zoners.
Her jump ins and dive kicks for whiff punishing.
Great pokes in d1, d3 and d4.

all of this and probably more as well as nerfs that quan chi, kung lao, tremor and lui kang got really put her up there in the tier list in my opinion.

All of this. Grenades control the pace of the game, her armor moves are good and only really needed to be used when necessary. She literally always has meter since she gets gigantic damage meterless. Pokes into grenade is a legit threat. New EX Grenade arc makes zoning full screen with it good, and gives more potential mixups and ways to get a reload when full screen. She's top 5 in the game for sure.

 

[ShadyHeart]

I have like 500 CO Sonya games but still don't know how to do her CO specific brutality lmao. Also I've noticed getting to people who spam backwards jump is REALLY annoying. Afraid to use her slow as molasses projectile on someone like Ermac while they're jumping backwards because they could teleport at any moment. That skill is so slow you can teleport on reaction and she can't even block.

 

[colby4898]

She does probably have the worst projectile in the game. Slow start up, hits high and only does 5%. Ex hits mid, only does 8% (most normal projectiles to about 7 or 8%) and only leaves you at -5 (a lot of ex projectiles often leave you at plus) only time to use it is in corner really, at least you can get a combo from it. However, it works well in conjunction with the homing missile in special forces though.

 

[Dedlock]

Agreed about her Energy rings, I only zone against non teleporters and at full screen distance away from my opponent because I know using this within medium range is suicide.

Her 13 frame recovery on whiffed dive kicks is getting punished like hell after they implemented the new net code, I swear to God it's become completely useless the lag used to help before but now it's like she doesn't have a dive kick altogether, and what kills me is seeing cyber sub with that cheap freebie dive kick of his and the jin/Lao who atleast can ex the move to get them out of trouble.

But Sonya no no no... Let her have cake.

 

[colby4898]

Agreed about her Energy rings, I only zone against non teleporters and at full screen distance away from my opponent because I know using this within medium range is suicide.

Her 13 frame recovery on whiffed dive kicks is getting punished like hell after they implemented the new net code, I swear to God it's become completely useless the lag used to help before but now it's like she doesn't have a dive kick altogether, and what kills me is seeing cyber sub with that cheap freebie dive kick of his and the jin/Lao who atleast can ex the move to get them out of trouble.

But Sonya no no no... Let her have cake.

I think that's fair though. It should be used to whiff punish or a read over a projectile. If it hits you can get 36% in special forces into a drone activation, probably about the same in covert and likely even more damage in demo. It only seems fair to me that if it's whiffed you should get punished.

 

[errormacro7]

So after the top tiers got nerfed, where do you guys think Sonya stands tier-wise? I'm feeling that she's definitely top 5 or top 10 at the very least.

 

[ShadyHeart]

I don't know about her other variations but I don't think CO could be considered top tier. I'm not the best player, but I do have around 500 games with her online and she seems to struggle too much against zoners on top of having certain weaknesses specific to the variation.
- She has a nasty gap between her strings and military stance follow ups.
- She's vulnerable to delayed wakeups.
- Military stance grab whiffs on crouch blocking opponents sometimes when they aren't in block stun and I don't know why.
- She has no way of getting in against zoners without taking a risk with a read or being VERY patient slowly backing them into the corner, but even then it's not like they can't just run up and do something when you try to crouch a projectile or jump over one. If their projectile can't be ducked, she absolutely has to take risks.

Basically she's very unsafe and gets pooped on by good zoning characters that don't let her in. She's a great character, but she has significant flaws that top players will abuse unlike some others that mostly cover all the bases.

 

[errormacro7]

I don't know about her other variations but I don't think CO could be considered top tier. I'm not the best player, but I do have around 500 games with her online and she seems to struggle too much against zoners on top of having certain weaknesses specific to the variation.
- She has a nasty gap between her strings and military stance follow ups.
- She's vulnerable to delayed wakeups.
- Military stance grab whiffs on crouch blocking opponents sometimes when they aren't in block stun and I don't know why.
- She has no way of getting in against zoners without taking a risk with a read or being VERY patient slowly backing them into the corner, but even then it's not like they can't just run up and do something when you try to crouch a projectile or jump over one. If their projectile can't be ducked, she absolutely has to take risks.

Basically she's very unsafe and gets pooped on by good zoning characters that don't let her in. She's a great character, but she has significant flaws that top players will abuse unlike some others that mostly cover all the bases.

I agree 100%.

But I should've clarified that I was talking about Demolition since it's basically the go-to Sonya variation now.

 

[Jer]

Agreed about her Energy rings, I only zone against non teleporters and at full screen distance away from my opponent because I know using this within medium range is suicide.

Her 13 frame recovery on whiffed dive kicks is getting punished like hell after they implemented the new net code, I swear to God it's become completely useless the lag used to help before but now it's like she doesn't have a dive kick altogether, and what kills me is seeing cyber sub with that cheap freebie dive kick of his and the jin/Lao who atleast can ex the move to get them out of trouble.

But Sonya no no no... Let her have cake.

Just learn to not spam divekicks and walk in. You should always be punished for a whiffed divekick.

 

[colby4898]

I would definitely put demo top 5.

 

[Monster Planet]

I would definitely put demo top 5.

Demo's strong for obvious reasons, but you can bet your whole sleeve of Keebler cookies that the skilled opponent isn't going to just let you nade call outside a mid-range HKD.

CO and demo. do feel cleaner now that the ceiling's lower. What you have to do to sway leverage on a smart CO Sonya who's on top of you is fat, tough nuts.

 

[Monster Planet]

What's ya'lls' BnB for d1, low-float anti-air combos? I always react with f2~leg grab, but I'd like a bigger combo, and to not lose position.