[VS] Zabel: Night of the Living Dead

[haketh]

Pros:

One of the better IADs in the game

Amazing normals

Great damage off of lights due to Renda Bonus

Some of the best anti airs around

Great damage

Great mix up with High/Low/CMD grab

Unblockable Setups

Full Guard after J. LP and J. MP *Allows him to block anything including Air Unblockable moves*

Cons:

High execution requirements

Low stamina

Wiki: http://vsav.mizuumi.net/wiki/Zabel

Notable Normals:

Cr. LP- Special cancelable, extremely +on block, when chained into another Cr. LP it's + enough to cancel into Evil Scream or Death Voltage

Cr. HP- Amazing Anti-Air, not much use outside of that

Cr. LK- Low hit and frame advantage hits low and can chain into St. LK which can be cancedled into Evil Scream or Death Voltage

J. MP & J.D. MP- Both are great depending on the situation. J. MP is great air to air; if it connects against an opponent above you it can set up an unblockable J. LK. J.D.MP is great Air to Ground and sets up an unblockable J. LK, J.D. MP is great Air to Ground off of an IAD and a major part of Zabel's rushdown.

- c.lk s.lk xx hell scream or death voltage: his basic damaging combo. from now on i'll just

put death voltage since it hits Q-bee low, but both can be used otherwise.

- c.lk, +c.lk, +c.lp, +f+lp xx death voltage: this is his far damaging combo. does not work

on short crouchers.

- c.lk c.mp c.mk c.hk: basic chain combo to hit with up close. coming from an IAD hp, use

c.lk c.mk c.hk instead.

- f+lk f+mp f+mk f+hp OR f+hk: basic far chain combo, not to be used too often though, there

are better things to do

- c.mk xx hell scream: hell scream is better to do here in case you miss.

- dash lk, c.lp, c.lp, +c.mp xx death voltage: a good damaging dash combo.

- jump in starters: down+mp, neutral mk; down+hp; down+mp from IAD; hk from IAD; lk meaty

from reset or wakeup for unblockable; j. lk mk

Raptor's Unblockable Jumping LK revolves around knocking your opponent down so they can't roll, and landing a meaty jumping LK ->c.MK XX Evil Scream

*want specifics? I really dont have the answers for zabel just yet... :-\ hopefully liquited or b-izm will enlighten us.

-J.d+hp, s.lk, +s.lkXXdeathvoltage/evil scream

-Iad.hk, +s.mkXXevilscream

-J.d+mp, +d.lp, +s.lp, +s.lp, deathvoltage/evil scream

-J.d+mp, j.mk, s.mkXXevil scream

-J.d+mp, j.d+mk

-c.mkXXstab super

-s.F+lp, s.F+lpXXEX electric hurricane

-ES-Hellsting, c.lp, +c.lp,

iad.d+hp, [d.lp, +c.lp, +c.lp]x3, finisher?

*I?ve tested this out in parts, should work w/ proper tools(i.e. a stick, not keyboard :-\)

-Iad.mp(or hp), \/, ES skull punish

*note* this is a throw setup, the air dashing medium punch or hard punch are suppose to whiff.

DF: [s.lk, +d.rk]xN

Edited March 12, 2013 by Kyle

[Kyle]

Zabel's j.lk has 6-active frames. For whatever reason the 7-8-9th frames are unblockable.

This is why you always see zabel player doing these akwards IAD j.lk's.

Another unblockable set-up he has is to airdash in with j.hk. If the opponent air block low to the ground: Zabel has enough time to land and do unblockable 6lp. This forces an air reset and leads into unblockable IAD j.lk, cr.lk, LINK, cr.lk, SUPER.

This guys space control and frame advantage is insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J88bA1xb6PI

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kyle

[haketh]

Another unblockable set-up he has is to airdash in with j.hk. If the opponent air block low to the ground: Zabel has enough time to land and do unblockable lp. This forces an air reset and leads into unblockable IAD j.lk, cr.lk, LINK, cr.lk, SUPER.

Knew I was forgetting ones more.

Man, wish I could find footage of me playing Zabel after the VS tournament at BFS, rusty as fuck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm8m1SqDo8U

Edited June 29, 2011 by Kyle

[Kyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_L6KmcMPfY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWDJIrUWLx0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5jSBnf0-68

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTbH2Yt4kJE

By Gouki10:

Something that i've come across for all those Zabel players out there

If you do an air dash, and then hold Down-back, or back, zabel will stop the airdash and begin descending quicker than if you would just let the airdash continue.

The reason this is interesting is because i've found that when applyed to doing an IAD, you'll almost always be able to combo after w/e attack you press while IAD. When you force zabel to descend from the airdash early you can still attack. Because of the Descending attack, Zabel will always do the move low to the floor even if you did the IAD higher than you would normally want. It also insures a descending flow to the attack(which is actually what lets you combo immediately as you hit the floor.

the method I'm experimenting with at this poing is, up/foward, hcf back. Now one thing that i've noticed is that you can get a hurricane kick if you cancel the dash with a kick BEFORE zabel begins to descend. Zabel can IAD xx hurricane if you want him to, but what i want is IAD, forcabely stop him by pressing either down/back or back, then press a button.

Doing the motion too quick will cause a hurricane kick to come out if you press a kick, With a punch it doesn't matter. Meaning you can always get low IAD hp which is the best combo starter in the IAD options, but not the fastest. What would be best is a IAD lk since it becomes unblockable on it's last frames, and can still be comboed on the floor.

I'm still experimenting on all this, but the basic reason why this might be important is that because once mastered, it will insure that your IAD attacks will always be comboable.

, , the descend occurs, (i cut the HCB to only down/back so that i get +) or (unblockable, and i hold the + so that i don't get a dive kick instead.)

By MagnetoManiac:

What's Zabel's best anti air? I have a lot of trouble dealing with jumpy Gallons. i always get beaten in air to air. T_T

the best way to punish him for jumping is j.lp mp mk hk (string in the air) land s.lp, IAD lk (unblockable) c.lk s.lk hell scream or death voltage. if you're too far for the starting j.lp start with j.mp and string from there. he can't chicken guard it during your string and s.lp becomes unblockable. since it's a ground move and he's jumping.

s.hp has a good angle but it's slow, so only use it for early anti airs.

c.hp is an anti air you can use on time, since it doesn't need to be all the way out to use it as an anti air.

those should be enough to stop him but if he's still holding up, you can dash under, s.lp early anti air, and then IAD lk unblockable (which is a bit harder but good to know).

s.hk can anti air and it isn't slow. but the range is a bit lacking.

IAD mp can poke him if he's doing j.mk -> hk. because he now can't block after he's done a jumping normal. just hit him in between the j.mk -> hk after the mk.

oh and the last one is dashing command grab option select. if you dash command grab, you either get the command grab or dashing hp, which dashing hp is his c.hp in dash mode, so it anti airs him early or if he lands on it, usually early though.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kyle

[PsychoShot]

So, I try to do c.lk st.MP xx Hell Scream, but it doesn't work, but I see that c.lk x2 c.lp f+lp xx Hell Scream works. It's because of Renda Bonus, I take it?

[snuggleguns]

chained normals aren't special cancelable

[Kyle]

I just realized:

After an attack which hits opponents out of the air, they are forced in a standing position as they reset on the ground. meaning, Zabel's UB IAD J.lk's are actually fuzzy-guards, and always hit the opponent standing = more damaging combos with Renda link into jab, jab, far jab, far jab, Super.

This POSSIBLY does not work against Bulleta. B/c she is the shortest standing opponent. Someone confirm plz.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Kyle

[Kyle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmdfoMjOGDY

[groovyness]

while in darkforce, zombie can't normal throw or perform any specials except for his guard cancel which has fewer startup frames and different properties from his regular guard cancel. he can still es guard cancel in darkforce. someone confirm plz.

[Daddyneptune]

No es gc in df but after a gc you get safe deactivation.

[Kyle]

A good technique I have noticed some strong zabel's doing is pressuring with a staggered st.hp in the corner. This will tag jumpers and gurantees an UB IAD J.lk on the reset.

[Kyle]

Jump over your opponent, airdash back & lk-Bee drill down. super ambiguous 50-50 which is pretty safe on block & forces reset= UB on hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J88bA1xb6PI#t=11m7s

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kyle

[RandomALT]

Some questions about "full guard", it's mentioned in the Wiki , but I can only seem to get it to occur after an airdash, not on a jump. It also seems that it isn't a "permanent" state until you land, you only get the full guard for a small amount of time before you can be hit again (prior to landing)

I tested this in slow motion with several retries: a high air dash LP, when falling, had Sasquatch do LP (blocked), LK (blocked), MP (hit), MK (hit), HP and HK were too slow for the heights I did it at and I landed first. At a different height/distance, it seemed the mediums could be airblocked afterwards as well.

[Kyle]

Some questions about "full guard", it's mentioned in the Wiki , but I can only seem to get it to occur after an airdash, not on a jump. It also seems that it isn't a "permanent" state until you land, you only get the full guard for a small amount of time before you can be hit again (prior to landing)

I tested this in slow motion with several retries: a high air dash LP, when falling, had Sasquatch do LP (blocked), LK (blocked), MP (hit), MK (hit), HP and HK were too slow for the heights I did it at and I landed first. At a different height/distance, it seemed the mediums could be airblocked afterwards as well.

Many thanks for the experiment. Be nice to know the exact windows of frames proceeding the whiffed normal. Maybe someone else could pick up where ya left off?

I feel this zabel thread needs a concise list of UB J.lk setups sorted by Character, knockdown & Ground roll. (Easier said than done).

I've seen:

ES GuardCancel: 8-jump descending UB J.lk,

... cr.hk for KD. Dashing.cr.mp, IAD UB J.lk on back roll

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_L6KmcMPfY#t=2m1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J88bA1xb6PI#t=12m22s

Many many more.

Any Zabel players have staple setups they can contribute?

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kyle

[Prophet]

Many thanks for the experiment. Be nice to know the exact windows of frames proceeding the whiffed normal. Maybe someone else could pick up where ya left off?

I feel this zabel thread needs a concise list of UB J.lk setups sorted by Character, knockdown & Ground roll. (Easier said than done).

I've seen:

ES GuardCancel: 8-jump descending UB J.lk,

... cr.hk for KD. Dashing.cr.mp, IAD UB J.lk on back roll

Many many more.

Any Zabel players have staple setups they can contribute?

I was under the impression that the ES GC was the only garunteed setup for the UB j.LK, and the others were avoidable. Can anyone confirm/deny?

[Kyle]

I am under the impression that j.lk setups are legit. To clarif: If you get a knockdown, make a commitment to a setup based upon which roll they choose & they choose the roll you committed to, the UB j.lk goes into a super and resets the scenario.

You have to guess the correct ground roll. meaning each knockdown has 3 follow thru's depending on which ground roll you wanna punish.

Oh wow, these setups also change depending on positioning of the knockdown. Midscreen vs corner. A lot of variables huh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZEyzsJz1zM#t=1h17m42s

Edited February 28, 2013 by Kyle

[Ciccio]

Today i started learning zabel's iad with the shortcut, is increadibly hard and most of the times i think i'm jumping but i'm just crouch walking

after an hour of training a i was able to land an iad hit + ground combo but only a few times so i have to ask: is there a little trick for learn this iad correcly (a specific hand grip,eccetera) or do i just need to build muscle memory?

[Kyle]

^

Be sure to press 4. You will descend just before you attack w/ j.lk.

input = 99~4~j.lk,LAND cr.lk, RENDA.6.lk xx 4PP.

[Kyle]

can play like Q-bee. insane dmg and high low game.

Fish for reset, get UB into KD, guess roll and repeat UB-roll guessing until you win,

[Flipitaru]

So I have a question,

I've been trying to do Zabel's empty cross up (if that's what it's called) HP on crouching characters but I never get it to work. Is it character specific?

http://youtu.be/2cXiCzVv6h4?t=3m8s

Here's a video to explain what I'm talking about. You can see Sakai do it on this Bishamon, which to my knowledge is a tall character when crouched.

[Kyle]

What I typically see Bell do as a mixup is a fake-overhead. This is the second stage of the mixup, in which the opponent respects zabel's IAD approaches and he is free to fake it by inputting:

IAD, J9.HP, Land, cr.lk, RENDA st.lk xx Evil-Scream.

I believe, in your video example, the cross-up was unintentional and Bell just went w/ it.

Zabel-

Emphasize how much control he has at ¾ screen. Bell’s ability to close the gap and use limb extension creates very efficient footsies outside of the opponents optimum offensive range.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Kyle

[Apollo_]

Its not character specific, just got to know when to IAD and apply the 9HP since can do it to both standing and crouching characters.

Komemaru does it a lot in his matches.

Edited January 7, 2014 by Apollo_

[Coffeeling]

Could someone give some tips for a VSav noob who wants to learn to play Zabel? Combos/pressure strings mainly, but also engine quirks to keep in mind. I'm coming from a KOF13 background mostly.