[CSE] Hazama vs. Lambda

[Dusty]

Discuss Extend match up here.

[Guymam]

Matchup Ranking: I believe it's 6-4 Hazama's favor.

Recommended Playstyle: Zone her. You zone better than she does, and by forcing her to make a wrong guess with her D button, you've opened yourself up to hit her with your chain and fly in for a free punish. You can also pressure her too, but her backdash can be used to take advantage of any gap you leave. If they are backdash happy, mix up a IAD blockstring by IAD'ing after either 5B, 5C, or 2C. If you guess right, you can j.2C her as she tries to run away, and if she stays put, you can j.B her for the crossup dash back into pressure. Any end to pressure though will allow her to escape, so ending with jabaki doesn't really do much for you in this match.

General Strategy: Control the space outside of her 5D, 6D, and 4D range. By controlling this space, you can make her hitting her D button a very risky and costly thing if she does it wrong. You should also watch out for 2D, dash past it and smack her with a chain. The recovery on a whiffed sword is atrocious, so take advantage of that. Note that while your chain is a better zoning tool, using it wrong will result in death. Her swords will usually hit you before your chain hits her, so you still have to respect them. Lambda doesn't have a real reversal on wakeup outside of Calamity Sword, (can buffer Hotenjin during the super flash for a trade and combo according to Japanese Hazama videos), so she will probably abuse wakeup backdash. Should this be the case, dash 2B 3C Hotenjin or 214D~A to begin to train her to wake up and block. If you're feeling particularly god like, you can yomi the shit out of her neutral tech backdash by going into stance and hitting C as she wakes up and backdashes. It works, and they will begin to respect you on wakeup. However, if you try to do this often you leave yourself open for her to just roll away.

Bonus Character Specific Things: Mizuchi da gawd. If she gets a combo with knockdown and attempts to use wheel on you to control your wake-up, loudly yell "OH YEAH? WELL FUCK YOUR SHIT I'M HAZAMA" and wake up Mizuchi. You invince right through the wheel and smack her shit. If she attempts to Legacy Edge randomly, or after a 2DD, or any other time where it isn't air tight, Mizuchi that bitch by buffering during the superflash. If she is doing j.D's fake Crescent Loop into more D's, you can use it here as well. You will win every time. You can even RC Mizuchi after she is dragged in for a 214D~C combo.

Her Gravity Well isn't what it used to be, but it is throw invulnerable, and god help you if they FC you with it. So be wary of any obvious throw attempts on your part or any baits on hers. Empty tackle delay gravity well can blow you up hard if you try to grab her to tech.

Also, be wary of bursting. Lambda is a character that can lock you down and rape your primers if you're not careful. If you have to burst, do it towards the end, and if you save a burst, you can only use one defensively. If you do two in one round, one has to be gold, otherwise you automatically lose because you now only have one primer and she has quite a few moves that can take it from you. There are also a lot of places that will automatically burst bait you. If you must burst, burst 5C or most of the other C's or after big tackle. Be careful, if she use low tackle instead, she will recover and punish your burst.

One last bit is the fact that she has a 17-frame overhead. If spaced correctly, her 4B overhead can have the first part of it whiff and only the actual overhead part to hit. Keep an eye out for it.

Final Thoughts: This matchup isn't a walk in the park, because if she gets wheel on you and you have no meter, you will have to block correctly and wait for the opportunity to get back out. Not respecting her D's will also get you blown up. However, once you start to understand it you can make her life way more hell than she can make yours. People have told me that our dear and loving mod can make Lambda look free. Another thing to note is that 3C can be a pretty useful tool as well. This may just be a habit of the Lambda I fight frequently, but if not spaced correctly during a blockstring and they try to end it with wheel for a free dash in and pressure reset, you can 3C her before the wheel hits and do 214D~C combo. So far I know it works perfectly after her 5C into wheel. You can also 3C tackle, if your 3C is done early. She will dash right into your fine, classy hands for one of your best combo starters.

Ending Statements: I have provided knowledge to the best of my ability and understanding of this matchup. I fight this one fairly often and with a Lambda who fights extremely well, as my Lambda user friend is Severin. I have provided the information we have discussed and the tactics he has offered to help me win. I lose this matchup fairly often, mainly due to poor habits and the fact that we have played each other so much that half of our battles are playing the matchup and the other half playing the player. If I have missed anything or left anything out, please let me know. If I have given false information I apologize and I will fix it immediately.

Just don't sig me. I'm sensitive as shit.

Not too much changed. Refer to this, in the meantime I will think about this matchup more.