[CS2] Hazama vs. Bang

[Dusty]

Matchup Ranking: 5.5 in Hazama's favor, could even be considered even.

Recommended Playstyle: Play Offense whenever you can. It's literally impossible to zone against a good Bang, he will catch you eventually no matter what you do. Bang does not have very good defensive options so keep the pressure on him and don't let him out.

General Strategy: Keep Bang pressured, chains are not very effective as poking tools in this match as Bang has the ability to fly around almost as fast as Hazama can. Bangs damage is not very good so you don't have to be scared of taking many risks and the most you will get punished for will be around 3K. Bang has to spend meter and nails to do good damage, while Hazama just has to touch Bang to do big damage, this is about the only thing Hazama has going for him in this match.

Your Best Tools (For This Matchup): 3C and 2B these are your best poking tools as most of Bangs normals have alot more range than Hazama.

5A anti air shits all over Bangs jump ins unless he does them really early. Be careful 5A can be baited out though.

Has A DP?: No , but has wake up super. If bang does asura and you're not doing anything you can jayoku or command grab during superflash and they will both catch him out of it.

Things To Look Out For:

Bumpers, this makes the Bang match up even imo. Bumpers give bang the ability to fly across the screen like superman. With bumpers Bang can easily get past your zoning, I wouldn't even attempt to throw chains, other than to run away, if bang has bumpers out and he can fly around the chains and punish you. If you're standing with a bunch of bumpers above your head GTFO ASAP.

A nail is STRONG in this match he can bait out your anti air attempts with it, or he can use it as cover to deflect or get past chains and glide behind it. Luckily he only has a set amount and has a hard time getting in after his nails are gone. (Unless your in a bumper minefield)

If you IB Bang's 2C you can Jayoku and get a free punish. FREE PUNISH.

Supercrash (firepunch) is also -7 so you can get a free jayoku punish if you block this move as well.

[Dacidbro]

Neutral;

-Chains can keep Bang from airdashing and setting bumpers. If you don't use your zoning tools, Bang will have an incredibly easy time approaching.

-Stay out of poison nail airdash range, which is 45 degrees from where Bang is airdashing. If you're blocking or getting hit by the poison nail, try to adjust accordingly. It's Bang's strongest tool, so try to pre-empt it.

-Staying above Bang is pretty good. You can use downward and forward chains to control his space, and he doesn't have a true anti air. Just be careful to respect his extra air dash.

Offense;

-Run constant 2A pressure, as it beats every option he has except for backdash. It's very safe. If he presses 6D, jump straight up and j2C, that way you don't have to guess. RESPECT the 6D, it's one of Bang's highest damage starters, so you want to make him scared to use it.

-Use 2B and 3C or tight gatlings if your opponent Bang is using 5D and 2D a lot. Remember, guardpoint for 5D starts on 4th frame, 2D on 7th; they aren't particularly strong on defense.

-If you ever see a guard point early enough, you can 214D~B for a free fatal.

-Once you've conditioned him to fear your options which beat his guard points, it becomes much easier to establish and continue your pressure, especially when utilizing your command grab (He has no reversals that beat your command grab without heat, so make sure you use it).

-Try to keep your pressure safe, even if you don't open him up just building meter means you're winning.

Defense;

-Without meter, this is extremely dangerous. Use your backdash and try to be patient. Watch out for 5A/2A 2B frame traps. Mashing out highly unrecommended at most points, but do so if you have a strong read or your opponent patterns some key string.

-With meter, it gets much easier. Hold onto your meter (The implication of Jayakou is often stronger than actually using it, against a good opponent) to prevent him from committing to most of his frame traps or mix up, and backdash or jump out often. Once he gets frustrated with the ease at which you are getting out of his pressure, punish him for trying to re-establish the previous rhythm. Basically, defense can center around abusing the risk-reward of Jayakou since Bang can't throw any of his important normals (Punish chart below).

Normals to look for when holding Jayakou;

Punish on gatling;

Anything gatling'd from 2A is punishable with Jayakou. If you have quick fingers, make it hurt.

Same deal if you manage to IB 5A. While that's significantly more difficult, it's very useful because Bang needs to rely on the quick 5A stagger now.

Punish on whiff;

These are a bit more intricate, but easy to notice. If your barrier guard causes any of the following to whiff, you can Jayakou the whiff with good reflexes. NOTE: This takes a strong understanding of your opponent's usual routines and spacing.

Non-dash jayakou;

2A

Dash jayakou;

5B, 2B

So given intelligent play, you just need to survive to 50 meter. If you get the first hit, it becomes much easier, because Bang's defensive options don't work particularly well against Hazama. Remove his guard points from the equation with intelligent pressure, and build up your meter. If you get hit first, you will need to play very smart on defense, and you may have to burst if he opens you up in the corner, but his mid screen pressure is relatively low risk. If you can keep yourself from getting corner combo'd, you can usually make it to 50 meter, which is where Hazama starts to convincingly win the matchup. Being very slick with the mobility will be important to keep it difficult for Bang to approach, because that is of course one thing he does EXTREMELY well. If Bang does manage to get bumpers out, be sure to control the space around them intelligently.

Also, pokes against grounded Bang may not be a bad idea. He's one of few characters that has very bad risk reward on grounded footsies, even with hard callouts, so if you feel like he's moving along the ground a little too much try to call him out with a 3C or at least feint a chain to see how he reacts.

[Dusty]

We forgot that Bang's 3C goes under Hazama's 5D. lol

[Zeron_X25]

Very nice info. I would like to mention that Hazamas should avoid doing Jayoku as punish to whiffs as the proration on first hit is very terrible. Best punish can be a 5C or a 5B into Houtenjin. If you don't get a FC from your Jayoku, you've wasted a chance to get insane damage because non-FC Jayoku cannot be used for the relaunch combo.

[Dusty]

Non FC Jayoku does about 3.5-4k and nets you back about 30 meter, which is about the same that NORMAL characters get lol. So imo it's not a bad option.

[Zeron_X25]

Non FC Jayoku does about 3.5-4k and nets you back about 30 meter, which is about the same that NORMAL characters get lol. So imo it's not a bad option.

It's not bad but if you can get a 5B which is much more safe than throwing out a Jayoku, you can potentially change the tides of the match as his combo will take more than half of any character's health. I realize it's still a very good option. I'm just saying there are better ways to punish.

[Dusty]

Dacidbro how do you feel about the match up in the beginning of the round, and the middle or end of the round where your nail stock is close to depleted and you may have a few bumpers out?

(I would like another good Bang players opinion other than huey253's, you could also say I'm looking for the Pro's opinion, lol :3)

Edited July 24, 2011 by Dusty

[ZeroRaider]

Nice. I could use this, given I have NO bangs to play or practice the matchup.

They all kinda went poof on me.

[Zeron_X25]

Nice. I could use this, given I have NO bangs to play the matchup against>

They all kinda went poof for me.

Play zeth.

[Dacidbro]

Bang's 3C is extremely high risk. Jumping chains beat it effortlessly, free punish, and just blocking it is a free CH 3C at most ranges, at the very least a knockdown. I did not forget anything, as I suggested primarily to remain airborne with chains, and to just consider 3C as an option against grounded Bang. If Bang connects a 3C, he has read you very hard, whereas Hazama 3C can be thrown generally safer with higher reward. The range on Bang's 3C is very nice though, so certainly respect it.

It's much much riskier to punish whiffs with anything else, as you will likely just get caught by the active frames. Shutting down his offense and getting most of the meter back is more important than getting another 2k damage, especially since most of the whiff punishes will Fatal anyway. When you say a "5B is safer", I don't think you understand the context I am talking about, because a 5B will not perform the function required; it's not invulnerable and it's not far enough range.

The matchup at the beginning seems quite even. If Bang is allowed to get a bumper or two, he has a slight advantage. When Hazama gets 50 meter, it's very very hard for Bang. Without nails, it becomes even worse.

So, Bang needs to make every moment count, or he will lose convincingly. The longer you make the matchup take, the stronger Hazama becomes and the weaker Bang becomes.

[McArthur]

5D chains=free fatal or free hit at least