From the gameplay discussion thread:

any tips against Zato, I get wrecked by any decent Zato who can pressure well.

is his drill mine + j.5k unblockable? I can't do nothing blocking low will get me hit from high.

Having difficulties getting close to him and from far away drill + mawaru keep me grounded, it's only the matter of time until I blocked wrong then I eat some nasty dmg.

The mine hits low and the j.K hits high, so yeah it's an "unblockable", but actually the way it works in GG is that two things can't hit on the same frame, so if they're both meaty, the "oldest" object will hit first, which would be Zato, so the j.K. Then the other hit comes on the next frame. It's technically possible to switch your guard on the 1f between the two but it's so difficult and Zato can just vary the timing to make the mine hit first that it's considered "unblockable."

 

The big thing you CAN do though, is that because it doesn't actually hit high and low on the same frame, you can blitz shield the j.K (since it comes first), then use the invuln of the blitz shield success to give you enough time to switch your block to low to block the mine. Eddie reels from the BS long enough that you can safely block the mine without worrying about him.

 

It's not fool-proof, since Zato can just vary the timing on the j.K and you'll get rocked, but it's an out.

Didn't the Japanese consider Ramlethal vs Zato match up to be slighty in Ramlethal's favor? I remember hearing that Karinchu or Batako was making Ogawa look free initially but Ogawa's got a good grasp on the match up now. 

 

Anyways, this type of question should probably go into the match up thread. I find that playing a more zoning game against Zato is effective as deployed 6S and 2S controls Eddie while 6HS or 2HS controls Zato when he's flying around. If you get Zato to respect one of the swords that's when you can start applying pressure on him and try to run your game. Other wise just continue to play the neutral game and keep an eye out for Eddie and then Zato's relative position to avoid being put into his pressure situations. If Zato is flying around you it's really hard to react with 6P anti-air as he can alter his timing and his j.K has a good hit box on it. If the swords are equipped you can use 2S, 2HS, or 5HS as an alternative anti-air option and even though they are slower on start up their large hit box works really well.

 

The bad Zato players will try to get Eddie to do the work for them which leaves Eddie vulnerable to your swords or 2K/2P. The good Zato players know they need to protect Eddie with out over committing themselves but this leaves them susceptible to deployed swords. One of the things I see with Zato players is that if you're over deploying your swords they'll shrink into the puddle and move towards you to cause the swords to whiff. If they get under neath you they'll YRC the recovery of the puddle and then go for a command grab or try to apply pressure. Sticking to the air will avoid this situation but depending on the position the YRC slow down might open you up to Eddie anti-air or an air throw from Zato.

 

If you find yourself caught in Zato's pressure it's best to block low and react to his 6K over head since it's slower in Xrd and not commonly used anymore. The major thing you have to keep an eye out is the command grab which you can either up back, throw, or interrupt with 2P but there's associated risks with this.

From the gameplay discussion thread:

Sorry if this isn't the right place to ask, but the matchup sections are like..empty.

 

I'm really scrubby at the game and at the level I play, you see Sin, Sin and more Sin.

 

Any tips on how to deal with him? I'm bad so I'm not able to see what the gaps are on his gameplay to try and take advantage of them. His normals are either faster than mine, have more range than mine or both at the same time. Any random hit he gets, he can convert to a 10+ combo for massive damage...It feels like an uphill battle every time. He's better in the air, he's better on the ground, he does more damage than me and more easily...

 

So that, any tips?

 

Thanks and sorry again if this is not the right place.

I haven't played a whole lot of sin but j.P beats literally everything in the air. If you aren't in range for j.P you can use j.S like Faust and fish for counterhits. Ramlethals nuetral is kinda bad, you literally have to fairy around for knockdowns then run setups. If someone is jumping that is when it is easiest to land hits j.P and 6P are both really good. On the ground it is really just sword summons and f.S. Learn to summon a sword then use 3K to get in, 2KPP if they haven't trained themselves to block it, and so on. Also once you get a knockdown you have so many safe mixup options that are hard to block. End combos into 2D or crumple then put toranshi on them or do a 2HS into mixup. She isn't a very easy character imo, very setup oriented. A bit auto-pilot once you get stuff going though.

Sin j.S can beat it, it's pretty obnoxious.

 

Vs Sin I practiced instant blocking his slide in training mode and that helps a bit. His 214S (full screen overhead) can be BSed on reaction so I practiced that a bit too. I'm still not very familiar with the matchup though.

Lol yea, netplay is a sinfestation
And a sol breeding ground. As for the sin match its pretty hard imo, good sin players will use f.s to control neutral and use slide to low profile your f.s. if he is ever in the air though, you'll most likely beat him out. So if he stays grounded and has stellar spacing, you are going to have to 3k to get in and use the swords to get him to jump.