*_{I thought about making separate threads for the summons but decided it would just add clutter. I can be talked out of this in private messages of logical reasoning.}

I'll start with a match from Eki-Chan.

GGXX:AC - 070814 G3 Exhibition - Shuuto(AX) vs. eki-chan(ZA)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41sW02bhErs

He loses, but 2:00 and his general style are kinda nice.

Anyway, back to Zappa. I kinda understand how to poke and stuff with him, but I can't even begin to comprehend pressuring with him. I'll start learning combos today, but that's probably as far as I'd be able to take him by myself. Would anybody be willing to help me learn the character? If not, how would I go about beginning to learn him? Thanks in advance!

1) His overdrive gives him an orb for each hit that connects.

2) Raoh has air fireballs. <- this just looks silly

Maybe they'll answer my prayers and make the 236S with the sword have some sort of advantage for once.

EDIT: I missed the thread in the Guilty Room that listed the rest of the changes from the new site (currently not working).

- 236H (sword mode) : FRC now possible right after landing <-this is probably the air move, this may be sort of useful to make it safer

- 236S (Raoh mode) : now possible airborne

- 214S (Raoh mode) : now possible airborne <-now that SOUNDS silly

- Icons added for each summon <-that's cute

- 632146H gives one orb per hit

http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii266/Mechaleviathan_album/?action=view&current=ZappaMapcopy.jpg

Well boys and ghouls, here it is.

Introduction: Zappa Love!

The very first thing you need to know about Zappa is that he is WEIRD. Becoming familiar with his oddities is first priority. How he moves, what he runs over, how much momentum you get from certain actions-- everything is very specific to Zappa. However, perhaps even more important is to learn how to be as random as Zappa himself, and to out-shenanigans anyone you meet.

The Moves: Zappa Loves Bullshit

No, really. A lot of Zappa's moves are absolute bullshit for some reason or another. Some may sound amazing on paper, and some may sound absolutely terrible on paper. But in actual play, it doesn't tend to really work out that way.

I will be referring to the frame data throughout this guide so make sure you familiarize yourself with it: http://dustloop.com/guides/ggac/data/ac/zappa.html

Naked Zappa

5P -- Looks like your basic jab, right? Wrong. In all modes except for Dog and Naked, Zappa can chain this move into itself like most characters. You mash it, it hits a couple times. But if you have the dog or no summon, you can only cancel it into another move. Keep this in mind when doing pressure/combos, or else you'll fuck yourself up. Not much here except for stuffing meaty's or the like.

2P -- The brother of 5P. Same thing as above. Best for getting those quick anti-tick throw jabs.

j.P -- The aerial sibling of his other P's. Great when mixed with random ghost combos! But utterly useless when he's Naked.

6P -- The GOD of anti-airs. This move is incredibly deceptive. It's also one of his few moves that you can call a "shenanigan move." If you're ballsy enough, you can use this as a great rushdown and anti-rushdown tool, you can stuff nearly EVERY air attack in the game, and if you're being pressured, wait for a predictable move you know you can get under and bam, instantly got a combo. The way 6P works is a little tricky: As soon as you activate it, from frame 1 to 13, you are 'above knees' invulnerable. Normally this means about 3/4's of a characters body is invulnerable-- similar to Sol's 6P. But not for Zappa. Zappa's animation is weird-- his knee gets -very- close to the ground, and thus 'above knees' is almost ALL of his body. This move is your go-to for close range. Throw it out and hope for the best.

5K -- Another "Shenanigan Move." This is like the opposite of 6P, it gives lower body invincibility. A great tool if you know their going to try to sweep you. 6P and 5K together are powerful tools-- use either one randomly and the opponent will have to guess which move they have to do in order to stop it. They can just block, which is certainly the better option-- but a lot of people get antsy when they see Zappa rushing, especially if you're pressuring with the dog or the ghosts.

2K -- A nice little 'slide' poke. Good vs. Throws in certain situations, but I most often use it for dog combos and trying to create some distance.

j.K -- A quick little kick that's almost completely horizontal. Nothing notable about it other than it's good combo stuffer.

c.S -- A quick little swipe. VERY short ranged, but is actually a pretty great move. Has very little pushback (you can seamlessly go from c.S to f.S and still have room to continue a pressure string with the dog), and can even serve as an awkward anti-air in certain situations. Definitely useful vs. crossup attempts, such as after a blocked TK Badlands from Testament.

f.S -- This move is almost a shenanigan move, but not quite. This is Naked Zappa's and Dog Zappa's solid move. Many people use this mostly to apply pressure and as a poke to get pressure for a combo. The way the move works is that it comes out rather quickly (quick enough, mind you-- it's not a freebie), and the spit launches a good distance before splatting on the ground, causing a short 'slip' state on hit. However, when it's on the ground, it does NO damage, but still prorates. So combos starting from this won't deal quite as much damage, but it doesn't matter-- Naked Zappa will always go into a summon combo, and Dog Zappa... Let's just say, Dog Zappa is notorious with this move. This move also has another specific use that I really like using it for: Distance measurement. That's right. At max range, this move will keep you absolutely safe from any Potemkin buster attempts, while keeping you in range for you to deal damage no matter which character you're fighting. As naked Zappa, f.S range is exactly where you want to be. It's rather weak on it's own, however, and actually hitting with the spit while it's in the air is sometimes less advantageous than you'd want.

2S -- I hardly ever use this move, honestly. And I don't see a lot of Zappa's using it either. Best use you can have for it is to chain into after 2K to create some distance, but it's debatable whether 2D is better for that: 2D is only 1 frame more of startup and they have the same recoveries, and it's hitbox is more reliable. 2S has some freaky 'low stance' data going on in it, and it staggers on ground CH... which honestly, how often is that ever going to happen? Not very often.

j.S -- Similar to j.K but has a bigger hitbox, both attacking and defensively (hittable). You can do j.K j.S jc j.K j.S pretty easily if you suck at air combos, or j.K j.S jc j.S j.D if you think you're fancy (yes that's really the extent of Zappa's air combos while naked. Anything else is -seriously- just useless combo video stuff).

5HS -- I call this move "THE ULTIMATE BULLSHIT MOVE". Why? Well, a couple reasons. 1: It's absolutely useless without tension. You can be GRABBED ON HIT if you do not FRC or RC. 2: It has TWO FRC'S (seriously). You can do some weird, very fine frame trap shenanigans if you choose one FRC or the other. It also makes it easier to FRC. 3: If you space it just right, this move can sort of mess with people who try to throw you, and they'll think they can't do it until they realize they can, and they try it, only to get poked with 2K. 5HS is one of Zappa's weirdest move, and becomes a great shenanigans move because of it's overhead properties if you randomly toss it out among odd 5D's and 6HS's. My favorite thing to do is to spam one of the overheads constantly until they finally start blocking it, then toss out another-- which is what this move is perfect at. With it's FRC's, you can get a good combo off of it's hit, which is rare for an overhead. When I first started with Zappa, this move seemed absolutely useless, but it's found a specific niche in my gameplay.

6HS -- The chest toss. A great move in and of itself simply for the sheer fact of how often it actually hits. It's very slow and very easy to see coming, yet the amount of times it hits is amazing. People will often try to counter it, and sometimes, if they do a DP, they do hit you. But other times you just get a free counter hit. And other times they just don't block right. This move IS very risky, however, and on block, it's a completely free combo for the opponent if you don't RC. But here's a catch: If you land a normal hit in the corner, and they wall bounce, the ONLY WAY for them to tech out is if they back tech. If they don't know this, you can get a free summon off of it. If it's a corner counter hit, it's a free summon either way, so enjoy.

2HS -- THE BITE (Zappa version). God I love this move. Looks pretty weird, right? This is Zappa's meaty. You set this up right and you can crank guard meter (especially with the dog), Land counter hits, and in a combo, you can dizzy an opponent in very short order. Comboing with it is tricky but if you figure it out, it's just one hell of a sick move that makes people absolutely fear it. Abuse it. Love it.

j.HS -- A GREAT crossup move. Has almost only backwards range on it. On counterhit, you can land and do c.S off of it. On normal hits, it's not a guaranteed combo, but sometimes you'll land it anyways. Great vs any character who thinks they can zone you except Dizzy. Dizzy's just too strong son.

5D -- A strange dust. Zappa gets lower invul during the middle of it, and he also gets grab invul, making this move perfect for unsuspecting suckers waking up. Just stand on top of them and use it, and laugh as they try to throw you, only to be hit. Slow, of course, but you can get a summon off of it on anyone EXCEPT ABA or Venom. It's a strange dust in that it's the only dust that can be gatling cancelled into special moves. This is different from Faust's Dust Cancelling, where he kara cancels his dust to get invul frames on other moves-- this is AFTER the move hits, you can perform a special move. It's really only useful for the summon, though.

2D -- Normal sweep. Zappa gets pretty small, but it won't go under stuff like 6P or Sol's 2D. Staple for good damaging summon combos: 6P/5K 2D Summon (short and sweet), or if you're fancy, 5K c.S 2D Summon (but won't hit on smaller characters). I almost always summon after I land this move, whether I think it'll hit or not. Keeps you safe from bursts and they'll be OTG long enough for you to recover and apply Oki as needed.

j.D -- A weird aerial launcher. Good for ending combos, and can sort of cross up in just the right situations. Pretty ok damage for what it is. Nothing too special here.

Specials

236P -- The Summon. This is sort of a tricky move. Most newbies will ADORE using this to counter hit random pokes and stuff, but it's best to get rid of that habit before it's too late. I have crazy fast reaction speed (5-8 frames generally) and even I can get baited into using this move and getting punished.

Rule #1 of using the Summon: NEVER use it outside of a combo.

You may be asking yourself, "But Oiboi, what if they're doing blahblah" No. Just trust me on this. You will survive much longer if you do not use this outside of combos. The ONLY exceptions are when you know it's guaranteed, like punishing ABA's Danzai or a DP or other high-recovery/long startup moves. And you have to really be confident for it too. You can try it, but 9 times out of 10, you will get beat out, especially against characters like Slayer who also have weird invulnerable moves. Of course, that one time of 10 is all you need sometimes-- none of this is set in stone, but this is definitely great advice you should be looking to put into your game. Play safe with the summon. Zappa does not have a lot of health, and he's pretty easy to combo for most of the cast.

Rule #2 -- If you got tension, RC it!

That's right. Blow it like you're a millionaire. You see that tension? USE IT. USE IT AS SOON AS IT HITS. If you're risking it and they block it, you can still be safe. If you're in a combo?

6P/5K 2D Summon RC 66 2HS Summon RC 66 2HS Summon 214S(Edguy) = BEST FUCKING COMBO ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET.

You will be flashy as fuck AND pissing your opponent off AND being a crazy shenanigans asshole AND still be playing completely safely and properly. Zappa is a beast once he gets a hit in-- make sure everyone you fight knows this. The only way Zappa can deal comparative damage to the rest of the cast is with the Dog or Raou. You need to know this and you need to make sure you're opponent doesn't realize how dangerously close you are to getting a game winning combo. This is why you play it safe with the summon. It can be devastating how powerful a nasty instant Raou combo is to an opponents psyche in a heated match. The good players will shake it off, but most people will be overwhelmed and try something stupid, giving you the match on a silver platter.

FYI, that combo really only works on heavyweights like Pot/HOS and people with big hitboxes like POT/Dizzy. You need to substitute 5P for 2HS usually. On Ky you need to do 5P summon rc 66 c.S-- I know, wtf, but that's how it works.

Rule #3 -- Know your chances.

Knowing what you can beat and when with the summon is a powerful weapon. I know I said never to try it-- but if you know you can do it, do it. You can get the instant raou combo from a random stationary summon if you're fast enough, and that can really turn the match around.

Zappa Loves THE TRIPLETS

Ok these guys are crazy assholes. If you need to be a complete jackass for about three minutes, this is the summon for you.

Normals (Changes)

5P, 2P, j.P -- These all chain into themselves now. Very handy for extending a combo while waiting for ghosts to catch up/return, and in general, air combos. Also great for pressure for the same reasons.

c.S -- Ok now this is where the moneymaker is. c.S is just a short, quick smack with one of the ghosts at very short range, but it's real danger lies in when and where you use it. You can cancel the move into itself up to three times (or however many ghosts you have at the moment), but then you're stuck in recovery unless you cancel into another move that ISN'T f.S. That's right. It can't cancel into f.S unless you push the opponent really far away first. So be wary of what you do with it.

f.S -- Similar to above, except that it has HUGE RANGE now. Almost a real poke, but the ghost can still be 'hit'. It can be used as frame traps or counterhitting certain moves if you time it right.

2S -- Similar to c.S, but lower! Same properties as well, except it can cancel into f.S.

j.S -- A slow and awkward head smack that looks like 5HS. Good for landing some strange jump ins sometimes.

5HS -- A big, slow 'whack' with the head of one of the ghosts. Has a certain property I'll get to below.

2HS -- Ground ghost explosion. Subpar in comparison to the air version, but still has some valid uses (distance/area denial)

6HS -- PAINFULLY slow overhead, but the highest damage single move in the game. That is, if all three ghosts are present. Great if RC'd into 2D or something.

j.HS -- Aerial ghost explosion. GREAT for weird crossups and generally nice damage all around. Knocks down. Crossup suggestions: Jump over, jump back j.HS, run up point blank on oki then super jump forward just as they get up and j.HS in their face, simply jump over while j.HSing, etc. Get creative.

Now you may be wonder what's so special about these normals? Well, first of all, they chain A LOT. With all your P's cancelling into themselves, and the S's chaining into themselves, and the nice damage of HS's, your opponent has something to be scared of.

6P 2S 2S f.S 5HS Ghost Toss. That's it. Vary as you wish-- 5K c.S 2S 5HS Ghost Toss. The weird thing about this is, the ghosts move around depending on what move you use and which ones you cancel-- for instance, 2S 5HS will put 5HS lower than normal. If you then toss after that, the toss starts exactly where the ghost was, and thus is also lower-- so you can hit Zappa's who're trying to be sneaky and run under your 5HS, or Mays spamming 3K in hopes of actually hitting you. Another odd thing is that you can extend their range slightly, for instance 2S 2S f.S/5HS will end up using the second ghost for f.S/5HS, which means it'll be pushed out slightly further than usual, depending on how quickly you cancelled 2S.

Specials

These are pretty damn simple: Ghost toss! 236 any button.

P -- Straight up, and falls down where the opponent is. Great to toss out when an opponent is trying to put pressure on you or going for a counter ( i.e. you think someone's gonna jump in with a big move, you 236P FRC Block LOL as they get hit and get a free combo). Also a nasty oki setup.

K -- Tosses it down and it bounces three times on the ground before stopping. The higher up you are, the higher the bounces are. Using this, if you super jump/double jump and then toss it, it covers a ridiculous amount of screen space pretty effectively.

S -- Tosses it straight. Back in the day, this and HS was all Zappa had for his ghost tosses. Good to use in the aforementioned combo.

HS -- Tosses it in a simple arc. Is good for faking people out who think they can jump over the S. Also amazing for tossing into combos and pressures when you need to delay the hit just a bit to keep them from moving or losing the combo.

D -- Tosses all available ghosts at once. First ghost goes straight, second goes down (k toss), and third goes up (HS toss). If you only have one or two, it will only fire those ones, and you'll still be in recovery for as long as normal. Also another thing to keep in mind, if you're against a wall and fire it, the third ghost will NOT fire. It's too far beyond the boundaries of the wall and will simply 'launch then return' to you immediately, appearing as if it never moved at all. Which it didn't. Can be used effectively if you want to keep a ghost on you.

The items have been covered many times elsewhere, so I won't discuss them unless people ask. The main thing you want to learn is the timing-- while their all random, they all come at an exact interval (about 4 seconds apart) and knowing that can save you from having to FRC a toss, or give you better opportunities to time context sensitive combos/punishes.

The FRC's for these are all simple enough, until you start putting them in combos. The timing suddenly 'feels' much faster, but in actuality, you just have to ignore all visual cues of the ghosts moving at all and simply learn the FRC by muscle memory. If you focus on what's happening too much, you'll never get the combo to work and it'll just slow you down. Definitely practice comboing with the ghosts-- Positioning and area control are definitely their strong points, but the ghosts are nearly as effective as keeping an opponent locked in pressure and combos as the dog is, even if they can't even get close to the same amount of damage.

Zappa loves THE SWORD

The sword is one of the most difficult summons for Zappa to use. Why? Because it's easily his worst summon.

Normals (Changes)

As above, 5P, 2P, and j.P all chain into themselves. But, it's much less useful than with the ghosts. The proration actually hurts the sword, as it needs all it can get just to deal any damage as it is-- and it CAN deal sizeable amounts of damage, but nowhere near what is standard for most other characters.

c.S -- A quick little poke. Good for stuffing throws or other close ranged attacks.

f.S -- A bit more range, but hardly enough to really justify it. Good for combo stuffer, mostly. A little slower than c.S.

2S -- Again, same as the other Slash moves-- short range, fast, but hardly any damage and is best used as combo stuffer.

j.S -- Nice little aerial move. One of the air combo staples for the sword-- j.K j.S jc j.S j.D Sword spin is generally the basic air combo for this.

5HS -- A two hit, long ranged jab. Stabs once, then a second time before returning. Great for pressure and making distance-- two things you don't really need with the sword. You want to actually HIT with the sword, not have it be blocked, and distance just hurts your chances. However, it is spectacular for straight out poking people for pushing buttons.

6HS -- His only overhead other than 5D. Two hits-- First hit is overhead, second is low. If you time it right, you can space it so that it hits the overhead very close to the last active frames for it before switching to low, and hitting the low very shortly after that. Hardly any sort of Eddie unblockable or whatever, and is actually very easily blocked, but chances are you'll get a few people with it. Cancel into sword swipe on block or hit to keep yourself relatively safe/combo.

2HS -- Great GREAT anti-air. The one thing the sword excels at above all other is absolutely punishing anyone who dares get into the air against it. This hits twice and can be utilized effectively on grounded and aerial opponents. After you land a hit or block, always swordswipe, except for the super rare scenarios where their close enough for the DP to hit, or when going into an air combo-- 2HS 9 j.k j.S etc.

j.HS -- A weird little stab. Good for punishing air throw attempts (Jump back and j.HS) but not foolproof. Has an FRC on it for some weird shenanigans if you're ballsy enough. Not really worth the damage for how much tension becomes necessary to do anything substantial with it.

Specials

236S - HS -- The sword slide. This move is very nearly useless on any but the most inexperienced of players. It's a two part move. You do 236S, and if it hits or it's blocked, the sword goes behind them and you can follow up with HS to fish for a counter hit if you think they're going for one-- Except that, for almost every character in the game, there is a method for them to punish you before the HS followup comes out, or even as it's coming out. So doing the followup is almost never necessary. Instead, most people just go for a 2S/6HS/tick throw mindgame setup that's not particularly strong. You can also do j.HS for another overhead option. Again, however, most characters can just hit you before any of these become an option, or through them, or etc. 236S DOES have an FRC, but it's after it connects, which makes the timing near impossible to really nail down. Not even japanese players use it because it's so ridiculous to hit, and the gain you get from it is hardly worth the effort and tension expended. The followup IS guaranteed on counterhit, but that doesn't happen often with this moves hitbox...

63214HS -- One of your main sword moves. Great in combos and out of them, this move takes up a ton of space and nets some pretty sweet rewards-- wallbounce on hit means you can almost always get a combo in the corner, the FRC means following up is easy (and the FRC itself is super easy too, the only sword FRC that is), and the damage is very nice. This move alone nearly makes the sword valuable. Love it.

623HS -- The uppercut/DP. Very nice little move, and one of the only DP's (if not the only one) to have an FRC on it. The FRC is a little tricky-- it changes depending whether you miss, get blocked, hit, or counter hit due to the hitstop-- The FRC is actually just at the end of the active frames. So if you hit earlier, the FRC is pretty much right after it hits. If you landed a counter hit, the FRC isn't there until the enemy starts to move, and if you hit near the end on any hit, it'll be almost immediately after it hits. Learn the FRC, it will save your life. It has a HUGE reach, almost anything above him will be hit for free for a very high distance (no, really, even double jumps won't get over it most of the time). You can also net some good combos off of it, and because of it's FRC, it can fit in specific combos too.

j.236HS -- Sword spin! A fun little move. Has some very select uses-- can sometimes land really weird hits with it if you do 2369HS RC one of the hits j.S/j.HS land -> combo. It hits up to 3 times, but has up to 5 hits/spins (So, after the third hit, you can't hit anymore usually). On block, you always want to RC it. Can be a really strange move to use, but you almost never want to jump in from neutral with it. DP's galore. Best used to end combos.

The sword lags whenever Zappa moves-- not as much as the ghosts, but enough to cause some strange issues if your not used to it.

That's all I've got so far. I'll add Dog stuff later (That'll be a huge section) as well as Raou stuff. Hope you all enjoy!

Red are crouch only.

Blue is anti-air

Unsummon

2P/5P(5p version will be less damage)

2p,2k,2s,2d,236p(70)

2p,5k,2s,2d,236p(75)

2p,c.S,2s,2d,236p(78)

2p,c.s,2hs,2d,(105)

2p,c.s,2HS,2k,2d,236p(110)<Wide hitboxes, or CH 2p for normals

2p,c.s,j.p-s,dj.s-d(99)

2K

2k,c.s,2s,2d,236p(66)

2k,c.s,2hs,2k,2d(96) summon will connect on wide hitboxes

5K

5k,2s,2d,236p(83)

5k,f.s,2HS,2d(120)

c.S

c.s,6p,2d(86)

c.s,f.s,2d(91)

c.s,2HS,2k,2d,236p(129)

c.s,j.k-s,dj.s-d

2HS

2hs,c.s,2d,236p(123)

2hs,c.s,2hs,2k(146)

2D

2D, RC 2hs,c.S j.ks,dj.sd(183)50% tension<--Blipples

Jump In

j.p-s \/,2k,2s,2d,236p

j.d \/ j.k-s,dj.s-d (141)<extra punch will lower damage

IAD,j.s-k-s \/ 2k,2d,236p(119)

IAD j.p/k-s-d \/ j.p-k-s, dj.s-d(148/161)

Crossover

j.hs,2k,2s,2d,236p(98)

j.hs,c.s,2s,2d,236p(107)

To do:

tension combos

Jump install combos

more anti airs

Normals(unsummon)-

6HS- Knocksdown on counterhit and vs. crouching opponents.

f.S - landing spit hits and allows good pressure. Causes stagger on normal hit during the second stage of the attack. (ie. when the spit blob lands on the ground, an attack occurs where it hits. Hits low)

2D - Longer Reach

2K - Longer Reach

-stooges -

-vertical ghost toss that lands on your opponent. The ghost appears immediately above the opponent at the level's 'ceiling' when it reaches the 'ceiling' above zappa.

-sword -

-spinning aerial sword attack Hits multiple times. Causes knockdown. Gains no orbs.

-63214HS - hits once, causes wallbounce can be followed up with aircombos, can combo from 5HS.

-Dog - Can follow up 8D, 6D, 2D and 4D with additional attacks. (?:}) untechable time may have increased on 2D. (perhaps 2D is untechable if not part of a combo or guardstring set up?)

New corner loop (p,2k,6p,c.S,[f.S/6p,f.S],6D->D loop)

Force Break - Unsummons current ghost - Creates a heart shaped pink explosion above zappa that is an overhead. Connecting the move earns one orb. Comes out very quickly and causes slight groundslide which can be followed up for more orbs. On counterhit causes bounce which can be comboed afterward with Raoh.

Raoh -

-6H - causes groundslide instead of wallbounce. Old raoh combo gone.

-Darkness Anthem - two new darkness anthems. One moves up at an angle and the other down at an angle. The downward moving one cancels the OTG state and launches. No idea about proration (which normally accompanies this sort of thing).

-Aerial H - causes floorbounce, can be comboed. (memo: This is Raoh's new combo of death)

I'll get the ball rolling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JtTcud6Z2Y

This was at the North Ranking Battle Manchester England. I was facing off against Dustloops very own Baiken Mod Zakuta Asura.

P.S. I changed to Sol but you can ignore that.