KillaGthug4Life
Believe in Magic yet? Let us Dance
Hey guys! I wrote up a quick guide for how to best fight against these characters. If you have any suggestions or advice for matches against the characters I left blank (Ares, Cyborg, Doomsday, Hawkgirl, Lex Luther, Scorpion, and Zod) I would greatly appreciate it. Also for Zatanna, if you land a mb Rings you can safely go into trait without being punished I believe. I'll test more of this out later, but characters without teleports or fast projectiles definitely can't punish. Also, if they opponent is respecting the PuppetMaster after getting hit by a normal ring on the ground, mix it up with MB teleport for free d1 vortex. Very tricky!
Aquaman
Bane
Batgirl
Batman
Black Adam
Catwoman
Deathstroke
Flash
GreenArrow
GreenLantern
Harley Quinn
Joker
Killer Frost
Nightwing
Raven
Shazam
Sinestro
Solomon Grundy
Superman
WonderWoman
@deg222
@Pan1cMode
@DinoPizzaria
@EMPEROR_SunFire
@Laos_boy
- One of Zatanna's worst matchup. Aquaman's trait blows up nearly all of Zatanna's combos, she has to take several risks just to get a solid combo on him, her poor normals can't punish most of Aquaman's unsafe normals, and projectile trade is greatly in favor of Aquaman. Probably 3-7, maybe 6-4 if you play very smart.
- Try to keep distance and zone carefully, if Aquaman gets into that sweep distance he'll go to town on Zatanna. Try to smartly time PuppetMaster MB because it can interrupt Aquaman's from the deep trident. Only teleport behind if you read a trident, punish with d2 because any other starter can be blocked or negated with trait.
- Probably one of Zatanna's top three best matchups, Bane's lack of projectile and Zatanna's abuility to teleport away from pressure really makes this a solid 3-7 matchup for Bane. If he charges then Zatanna can teleport behind and Puppet Master MB into a full combo punish.
- Run and zone, sounds lame but it mops Bane pretty hard. At fullscreen if Bane tries to dash heavily just Ringtoss MB for a knockdown, if he jumps up ring to Puppet Master MB for full combo punish, and if he charges just teleport behind for full combo punish. To start off the match just teleport away, he can't really do anything about it and starts off the zoning early. If he does manage to knock you down and dashes in for a follow up, teleport away and escape pressure. Careful with becoming predictable with teleporting away or behind, because he can jump in or jump back and punish the teleport.
- A difficult matchup, a good batgirl player will be able to read the start up of throwing a ring and can teleport for a punish into vortex. Her irritating hop dash also jumps over a Puppet Master MB. Fortunately if she throws a bola or a bat then Zatanna can teleport behind for a 112 punish.
- Don't spam rings and don't spam teleports. The most useful things in this matchup is: MB rings (difficult for her to read and deal a meaty 13%), standing 3 (Batgirl players love to just dash dash dash and then go for their low starter into combo, when they get into dash distance standing three into kicks or puppet master depending on the distance), d1... d1 d1 d1 (Zatanna has a d1 vortex, abuse it in this matchup. Not to say spam d1, but spam d1 kicks, teleport d1 kick, d1 zatara dive). Side note: if batgirl gets knocked down Zatanna can safely throw one ring and have enough time to block the wake up teleport for a full combo.
- I'd argue for this matchup to be probably 6-4, one could say 5-5 slight advantage for Zatanna. Trait helps a lot in this matchup as well as fireball MB, very difficult for Batman to get around it. Batman's bats, MB b3, and yolo grapple are the main things that he can do to give her trouble.
- Starting off the match just teleport away and start the zoning, Batman's high jump makes it difficult to hit the up ring sometimes, but once you nail that into Puppet Master things should be pretty successful. Because Batman has one of the best dashes once he gets into that dash distance DO NOT throw a ring, it can be jumped and punished or MB b3 into combo. Either teleport away, try to go in for standing 3 into pressure (ie multi kicks, d1 vortex, ect), or instant air Zatara dive. Very effective for countering his jumpin, but punishable on block so don't spam it. To get around his bats pressure either have trait and absorb bats, or time an instant air zatara dive as he's dashing it. She jumps over bats and hits him dashing in. Very difficult to time but once done consistently it's very successful.
- Definitely in Zatanna's top three worst matchups. His dive kick hops over her up ring half screen and closer, so careful with spamming rings unless you're almost full screen away. Tips from Deg, master the art of levitating and then teleporting and then levitating. It bates his dive kick, which can be punished with a d3. Up close, just know the frame data and when to poke out.
- Punish any non mb divekick with standing 3. Difficult to time in online, but still possible. Don't spam rings because he can black magic on her startup for a full combo. If you block black magic I believe you can punish with a Puppet Master MB, block low (against his lightning) unless he jumps because dive kick is overhead. Divekick MB is plus on block so he still can dash in for a free d1 into pressure. After Black Adam hits the d1, just block and counter with another d1 into vortex. Very difficult to time but still doable.
- Once Catwoman gets in there are so many shenanigans she can pull off with her pressure, have to respect the d1 cat claws, but try and d1 after she d1's so that she can't go into f1 or b1 gimmicks. Be aware of the catdash mb, goes through rings.
- Catwoman has I believe the highest jump without an air dash and that isn't a double jump in the game. Judging when she'll jump is difficult and the timing of the upring. Try to lock down with the rings zoning because she only has armor on the mb second part of cat dash. Once she does dash she's about -2 at full screen, so try and hit a d1 into vortex. The matchup is probably 5-5 slight disadvantage for Zatanna in my opinion, but the teleport into d1 vortex is again very useful in this matchup. If Catwoman lands the standing one, fuzzy guard into low to block the b1,2. If you land a normal ring while she's standing, very important to mix it up with puppet master frame trap, or teleport mb into d1 vortex.
- Irritating, but Zatanna advantage matchup. Deathstroke is essentially a mix of annoying fast guns, j3, and a huge jump arc. If he gets in close typically block low to guard against his low startup combos, I'm not quite positive if he has any obvious overhead starters other than f3, on knock down if you see him going into f3 it will almost always crossover.
- Deathstroke's zoning is annoying.... but Zatanna's is more annoying! She wins the fullscreen game, firstly she can teleport and full punish any guns that Deathstroke uses. Basically Zone sparingly because he can shoot guns to interrupt her normal ring, and if you're hit by his guns just block! Then either throw a ring or teleport, if he jumps then you know the drill. Most Deathstroke players won't use guns often because they know we can teleport behind for full punish. On wakeup watch out for his sword flip, on block we can punish with standing three into combo.
- On paper this matchup is 6-4 Zatanna, but very few things make me rage more then when Flash gets in with his pressure and combos. On the contrary Flash actually getting in on Zatanna is not at all easy, his effective tools are his enhanced MB torpedo charge running man to close the gap, and then his crazy guessing pressure.
- To start Zatanna should probably just teleport away and get that zoning game going, don't let flash get in for any reason. When he's a little closer than half screen in be sparring with the rings because Flash can do his torpedo charge and go into pressure. Fire ball MB and trait are your best friends in this matchup, with the fireball he can only slide under the Fire ball in running man, which can be punished by low spark in trait or down ring. After knocking Flash down with MB rings Zatanna can unpunishably go into trait, and that's when she destroys flash.
- Pretty much the only thing GreenArrow has against Zatanna is his d1 ice arrow mixups and j3. Zatanna outzones GreenArrow rather easily so just keeping the distance is the key for this matchup.
- Zatanna can PuppetMaster if Green Arrow randomly loads an arrow, if he shoots an arrow, and his jump is relatively easy to hit with a up ring. Trait is also very useful in this matchup as Zatanna can absorb all of GreenArrow's arrows and can counter with all her sparks. Basically try to keep him fullscreen and lock down with rings, throwing in puppetmaster's from time to time. Zatanna gets in trouble when GreenArrow gets his mixups going up close with his fuzzy guard strings.
- Another solid 6-4 matchup for Zatanna, mainly because it's incredibly difficult for him to get in. All of his projectiles can be punished by teleport 112. Also all his projectiles along with his hammer charge move can be interrupted by PuppetMaster MB. He's most susceptible to getting hit by the up ring into combo. Basically when he gets in just block low then high against his strings and then look to teleport away. GreenLantern can do a lot of work up close with his machine gun pressure and ridiculous distance on his normals. Trait is also very useful here as well.
- Because there is such a wide range of Harley players and their playing style this match can be more or less difficult . Her irritating tools is full combo off of d1, a well timed gun shot can while we throw MB rings can make us waste the bar before throwing the ring, her down gun in mid air makes it very difficult to hit her with an upring from time to time.
- The essential part of this matchup is wisely picking when to teleport behind while Harley is zoning. If she's just spamming guns (like a smart Harley would) one can either teleport behind in-between shots or throw a MB ring. The issue with teleport is if they expect it then Harley players can easily d1 into full combo. If she's spamming guns also and you teleport behind after she shoots a gun they still have enough time to d1 into full combo punish. Mb teleport is useful but burns loads of meter. You can PuppetMaster as she tries to counter with a gun if they've been blocking rings, but it's difficult to guess right and on block Harley can whip out her full screen gun pressure. Trait is very useful in this matchup as well as levi cancel pressure.
- Honestly people say this is an un-winable matchup for the joker. He has absolutely no tools to give Zatanna problems. His gun can be puppetmastered or teleport behind for full punish or mb rings. All his teeth traps can be escaped on knockdown with teleport away, and Joker as per usual is incredibly easy to out zone.
- Basically don't give Joker the chance to get in close at all. Run and zone and there is really nothing he can do. Start off the round with teleport away and keep it going.
- Classic back and forth 5-5 maybe 4-6 matchup. Killer Frost players say 5-5, we typically say 4-6. Killer Frost's vortex, her black ice slide, d1 punish, and iceberg. Iceberg can be used to hit Zatanna mid ring toss, she can punish teleport with d1.
- Levitate teleporting is very useful in this matchup, KF literately can't do anything except attempt to time a very strict uppercut if Zatanna teleports behind and tries to d1 into pressure/combo. Blocked PuppetMaster can be punished with iceberg as well, and up close KF utilizes her slide effectively. Try to punish with either a throw or b2,1 if she's just stand/low blocking after a blocked slide. Just try to zone sparingly and keep some distance.
- In my opinion, this is the easiest matchup for Zatanna. I have never yet lost to a Lobo player because they have such an incredibly hard time to get in against Zatanna. His only tools is yolo MB chain charge or low chain if they even manage to get into less than half screen distance. His gun does do a large number on Zatanna, but loading it can be interrupted with Puppet Master, and he has to be about half screen at least for it to hit.
- Just zone, no shame abuse mb rings, and if they hit go into trait which Lobo can't really get around either. His very poor jump arc makes it very difficult for lobo to dodge mb rings, his jump is incredibly easy to hit into Puppet Master. Try not to let Lobo get in because he can deal large percentages of damage.
- I honestly don't have much winning positive experience in this matchup, only relaying what deg suggests. It's important to try and learn this matchup because Martian is S+ tier.
- In a decent connection you can walk forward to block the overhead teleport as a crossup to where he bounces back on top of you and you can punish with d1, d2, jij1/jij3, 112 xx bf3MB. However even with this blocking technique, he'll still sometimes bounce away from you because of our horrible walkspeed. But as far as the neutral game goes, you don't really wanna be at fullscreen, can't really do much from here except sometimes puppet master. Midscreen is a good place to be where you can sometimes get away with MB ring tosses. And lastly, our trait is great in this MU. He pretty much has to respect it. If he overhead teleports, you can AA it with db3, then follow up with an OTG df3. Then when they respect the OTG, you can shoot a meaty df2 (does more chip). If they're abusing teleport that much, you can always mbb3 it too.
- At a distance Nightwing really doesn't have any tools against Zatanna. His ground spark can be read and PuppetMaster punished, his staff ground pound can be PuppetMastered if read correctly, but the timing is definitely stricter. His air daggers Zatanna can teleport behind and d2, b3 into full punish. Things get very messy when Nightwing gets in close for that d1 +frames pressure.
- Zoning with well timed teleports is very useful in this matchup, especially levi jump in cancels pressure while he's in staff mode, difficult for him to anti air while Zatanna is up close. But when Nightwing starts up his pressure and throwing his flying grayons at you I really don't know what to say, Try and duck the flying grayson and standing 3 into punish. Timing is very difficult though.
- On paper this is a 4-6 losing matchup because Zatanna has to work extra hard to fight against Raven. Raven outzones Zatanna rather successfully with her soulcrush, she can catch her in a teleport away, she can catch her mid puppet master or ring toss. Raven's b23 string pressure also presents a huge issues for Zatanna because she doesn't really have many tools to counter it. Zatanna does excel against Raven's trait and at a full screen distance.
- Zatanna needs to keep outside of soulcrush range, at fullscreen she can outzone raven with rings and punish whiff soulcrush with a Puppet Master MB. If Raven MB absorbs a ring then Zatanna can Puppet Master while her counter projectile is flying out and punish without getting hit (it's odd I know). All of Raven's projectiles can be punished by teleport into combo as well. But if she reads a teleport then Raven can d1 into full combo. In trait Zatanna can teleport behind and punish any of Raven's moves, also Raven's d1 into lift doesn't work so feel free to abuse teleporting and pressure.
- I have some difficulties with this matchup because of Shazam's teleport and I'm not too familiar with his setups. Shazam's tools is his teleport, uppercut, and his lunging overhead string that goes into large damage combos. Avoid obvious jumpins because his uppercut is a great anti air, also in that dash and jump distance try not to throw rings because it can easily be teleported through and jumped over for a combo punish.
- Trait is incredibly useful in this matchup. Yes he can teleport through a few sparks, but Shazam will inevitably be hit by several. He doesn't have any tools full distance to knock you out of his trait besides his lightning toss, which has a huge start up and is easily absorbed. As far as his teleport spamming goes, if he teleports and doesn't block you can do a puppetmaster MB immediately after he teleports for a combo, but it is blockable. Be careful of obviously spamming rings because they can be easily avoided with a teleport, if he comes into a jump distance try to do a jump in 1 after a teleport into pressure. Again abuse the d1 vortex shenanigans. If you're spacing is correct and Shazam spams the overhead f2 I believe, then you can whif punish with standing 3, but that's difficult to time often. In the corner his teleport can be stuffed by lightning rod if you wait just a moment before wakeup.
- Another 6-4 matchup for Zatanna. This one is a little closer to the 5-5, but it's 6-4 on paper because all of Sinestro's zoning can be full combo punished by characters. Therefore it gives Zatanna a free ticket to zone out Sinestro and just judge when to teleport behind sparingly. Sinestro's biggest tool is his meterless vortex and obviously his trait.
- Basically Sinestro will try (or should try) to either bait the teleport by charging trait or turtling, or go for some rushdown, which with Cowboy's late new tech can be very effective. But try to zone and DO NOT spam the teleport behind. That's asking for a punish, only do it if you read his zoning attempts. Also if he starts loading trait just go for PuppetMaster to attempt to punish. Careful with spamming Puppetmaster because it can be punished with shackles (almost impossible to time in online lag though). Basically with the vortex it's a guess or blocking left or right. So best of luck!
- The simplicity of Grundy's combos irritate me, but honestly if you just zone and look for the armor swamp arms. You can either block or teleport behind for full combo. Large startup and very easy to see coming. Grundy's tools are his Corpse walk and swamp arms.
- Trait very useful when Grundy has no meter because the start up of swamp arms is so much that a normal spark will knock him out of the move, and without any meter Grundy really can't do much of anything except just take the damage. Trying to teleport to catch Grundy off guard will almost never work because it is so easily punished with d2. Basically don't try and jump in at all with Grundy because he has one of the best d2's in the game. Just focus on rings and well timed teleports because PuppetMaster can be punished with a swamp arms I believe. If he jams out all the corpse walks just keep tossing rings and teleporting away. In the corner either teleport mb, d1, teleport away to midscreen, or standing 3 into mb kicks.
- Classic 5-5 advantage Zatanna matchup. If Zatanna's zoning is playing on point then this matchup should be relatively dominant, but once Superman gets in the matchup is difficult for Zatanna. Superman's tools: Yolo lasers, air dashes, f21 breath pressure. Zatanna is very dominant in zoning him out and interrupting his counter zoning.
- Starting off the match, Zatanna's standing 3 wins against Superman's F2, which can go into full combo. Basically try and keep the distance and bait Superman into dashing and jumping in. Fullscreen if Superman jumps for air laser, Zatanna can teleport behind and d2, b3 into Puppetmaster into vortex which is typically the death of Superman players. If they're spamming straight laser Zatanna can punish with Puppet Master MB on startup. Don't teleport behind and attempt to punish because he can dash and whiff punish any move you attempt to do. What makes this so difficult is firstly guessing when to hit Superman with the up ring, secondly timing the arc (because Superman jumps so frekan high) and wait just a second longer to hit the puppet master into combo. Remember that off of a up ring into puppet master you can still f3, b3 quickly for un clashable damage after PuppetMaster.
- Possibly one of my favorite matchups because I'd say it's the most even 5-5 that Zatanna has. If WW is not familiar with the matchup and how to get in, they're most likely going to lose. WW's tools are her insane pressure, her air dash, and especially her corner game. Zatanna rocks this matchup at fullscreen though.
- Most useful for Zatanna here is lots and lots of running and gunning, teleport and throwing rings is very useful. Fire Ball MB does a large number on WW cause she has to jump her highest and do her american flag rocket air dash move to just get around the ball, and that can be punished with upring or block and d2. It is absolutely essential to get WonderWoman into the fullscreen ring toss lockdown. Only throw rings, don't use the random PuppetMaster cause WonderWoman can jump or dash over it easily. Trait is also very useful in this matchup. A good trap to do after landing MB rings is either go into trait pressure or throw a fireball MB. Once Fireball is out (depending on what WW does) either go into trait if she just turtles, or look for the up ring to knock her out of the air if she attempts to jump over the fireball. If WonderWoman is half screen away, TELEPORT AWAY! You can't hit her jump with a ring and once she gets in it's over. Have to try and time a very difficult d1 in-between her pressure.
@deg222
@Pan1cMode
@DinoPizzaria
@EMPEROR_SunFire
@Laos_boy
. I'll post merge in detail when I get home later tonight but from a quick glance over you've covered the basic strats against most characters.
