wirestyle22

P=Thumb K=Index Finger S=Middle Finger H=Ring Finger D=Pinky I think this is naturally what you would do with the way the standard button layout is made.

The later you release it the less recovery Zato has, so the more frame advantage you have.

You hold down the buttons that you use to combo with Zato, but let go of the button that you want Eddie to attack with. When Eddie goes into the start-up of that move you can let go of all of the other buttons.

Whoever has the momentum usually wins in my experience/from what I've seen. Side note: I've been studying Ogawa's playstyle like a scientist in the 1960's studying a moon rock. I have really extensive notes, but I want to make sure that I'm understanding the WHY aspect of his play. I might create a YouTube video kind of like what Arturo did for the Daigo vs. Infiltration match at the 50th anniversary tournament. Anyway, if any of you have seen a specific match of Ogawa's that was incredible, link me in a message. I think I'm going to do 3 matches. 1 where he can play completely offensive (not hard to find lol.), one where he was forced to play completely defensively (winning or losing doesn't necessarily matter as long as good decisions were made), and the last one being just a really good, even match.

I use -P- to stagger pressure (this is probably 75% of the damage I deal outside of corner shenanigans) and to set-up damned fang mix-up. Match-up plays an important role in deciding which combos to use--like you want Potemkin away from you for instance. I find neutral to be much harder than figuring out which blockstrings to use. Ultimately you just want to make sure you can end your pressure into drill and that opens up so many options: RC to maintain momentum > Eddie summon on drill puddle into whatever > Safe unsummon to conserve meter > etc. Zato is one of the most free form characters I've ever played. Once you figure out his spacing you can really go with the flow of the match and just abuse people when you force them to be defensive. His neutral is hard, but the more time I have to grind it out the better I'll be. If anyone wants to play some matches I'm in NJ. I have 120 down 35 up and tri-state is pretty much 2 frame delay across the board from what I've seen. I'd appreciate any help the more advanced players in this forum could offer. PSN is wirestyle22

I lol'd. I'm starting to wonder why they even rendered this character. They spent so much time and money to do this. Daisuke is sitting in a chair somewhere with lipstick all over his mouth all joker-esq.

Are all of Eddie's attacks considered projectiles as far as blitz shield is concerned?

@Renly This is a terrible outlook. Tier lists are stupid, but if you want an easy "high tier" character pick Faust and be done with it. There are very few players in the world that play their character to the absolute highest skill level to where what is possible with the character matters. For the other 99.99999% of players it comes down to what you are capable of doing as a player. It's my opinion that Ogawa is the best player period and he's playing an extremely strong character. FAB also is one of the best players and Zato (from what I've seen) seems to be a bad match-up for Potemkin. Theoretically, if the stupid tiers were actually accurate FAB would never beat Ogawa, because Ogawa's character is SO much better than FAB's, but that isn't what happens. Tiers are on paper and even then, they're an opinion. If you're playing to win, then pick a character that plays to your individual strengths the most. Then you can narrow down who you should be playing instead of what a tier list tells you.

Looks good.

The better you get with Zato, the more Eddie will be out doing stuff in neutral. In pressure, you can do a basic string into drill and then 214H (summons to the puddle created by the drill) > -K- > Drill > -S- or Unsummon, you're pretty much in depending on how far away you are from your opponent. Zato covers Eddie and Eddie covers Zato, thats the strength of the character--limited by Eddie meter. Keep in mind you can unsummon Eddie in the same situations you can summon him, so that saves you meter. Usually if you're winning the ground game they will attempt different angles of approach, like the air. Also, keep in mind netplay isn't really great for Zato. Even 2-3 frames of delay can really screw him up in my experience. I also want to say that you aren't the only one struggling. Just because I understand a portion of what the character is capable of, doesn't mean he's not hard for me to learn. tl;dr I'm not trying to be captain hindsight. I'm having trouble with inputs of course and there is a part of Zato that seems to be based on intuition. He's hard but really good. Hang in there

I can only really comment on what I've seen from advanced Zato players--mainly Ogawa, but I wouldn't classify Zato without Eddie meter a keep away character necessarily. If you look at the pace of a match in any fighting game both characters are constantly fighting for the advantage and that advantage typically leads to them winning the round. Zato's advantage is both his offense and his strong neutral game, both of which revolve around Eddie. When you don't have Eddie and can't freely summon him, you become a much weaker character. That doesn't mean that you can't get effective damage and mixup with just Zato though, it just won't be as effective and damaging. It sounds like your pressure probably isn't completely concrete and they can escape you. Nobiru is one of the powerful tools in Zato's arsenal. That covers a really big vertical space and is +15 on block, meaning even if they don't do anything and block it your pressure doesn't end. You don't need to wait for them to jump into it, just make them block it. If they get hit then convert, but regardless of what happens outside of whiffing it entirely it's going to be good for you.

Watch this video. Against Sol you will see Ogawa do: Block string > Drill (Blocked) > 236H Summon > Drill (Eat projectile/Protect Eddie from normals) > RC > Eddie Pressure/Zato Mixup. After you start your pressure/mixup the game is immediately heavily in your favor. You will also notice a lot of the time Ogawa is just putting hitboxes on the screen expecting Sol to come from the air, even if it means he whiffs -S- 3 times in a row, not much can really happen to him. Anytime you play against a momentum heavy character (rushdown), you have to never give up momentum. I honestly look at Ogawa's play a desperate sometimes. He will literally pay any cost to maintain momentum in some matchups and if that happens to him, rest assured it happens to every Zato player. When you're attacking, every matchup is in your favor. I've realized that learning Zato is literally just learning how to minimize the amount of time you spend on defense and maximizing the amount of time you are on offense..

I probably won't practice that. I have so much to learn that something that specific doesn't really help me right now. Good to know though. FYI: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm24874468 <-- some of the best neutral game Zato I've seen

The reward is just an air combo right? What else can you really get out of it?

From what I've been studying from Ogawa: 99% of the time I see Ogawa either backdash or backwards IAD at the start of a round. Just noticed it, idk if that's a thing or he's just being respected. I also noticed that anytime he does a shadow special he behaves as if it will get hit every time he summons it, following up with things like c.S to counter-hit into damage. Everything seems to start with a blocked drill. I don't ever see him use Shadow Gallery just as an fyi--probably because its gimmicky. Block Drill (Puddle) > 214H to -S- (+15 and covers more vertical space) or 214H to -K- (+26 if you're further away) depending on how far away you are from them > Pressure/Command Grab Note: I also see Ogawa specifically get a knockdown and not always go into Drill. Sometimes he likes to 236P > Drill > -S- etc. Anti Airs: When Eddie is out you can cover 6H with -S- to make it safe(?). Seems to be the case. Eddie has godlike anti-airs anyway.

Awhile ago I played you in BB as a new player and you were a pretty stand-up guy. Thanks for helping the community. Is there any chance we can get a Combo/Setup thread for Zato-1? I know he is not a combo character really, but if I'm going to learn him I might as well be practicing the most damaging combo's possible (that we know of). I'd also appreciate any tips anyone has for using Eddie in neutral which is my biggest challenge right now. I literally sit and study Ogawa's play writing notes but I just need a ton of play time. Even Ogawa seems to have a formula that he sticks to. I see a lot of Drill to cover space for Eddie to approach, Break the law to focus on Eddie movement > YRC Zato > Combo/Pressure, or Pressure > Buzzsaw > Pressure > Buzzsaw/Throw Mixup. Learning the characters spacing is challenging as well as forcing the inputs into my muscle memory. I'll get there though. It's nice to not really need to worry about backdashing. Zato has some seriously active normals/specials.

Thanks for all of the info. I thought that since 2P is +0 and I'm cancelling it into HFB I could make it plus, but I see on the wiki that HFB's startup is at minimum 18 frames. I completely forgot about attack levels, but even so there is no way any version of P would cover 18 frames of startup. I see FAB trade with Ogawa a lot using 2P to kill Eddie. I need to work on my loops and hit confirming into damage.

So, this is my basic game plan. Movement Options (Viable): Slide Head: Basically 1/2 screen to full screen punishes or out of a block string when your opponent isn't expecting it (gimmicky and seems to suck against Faust). Gets you in for free. Hammerfall: Can be a risky way in. Can be used in block strings with 2P to stagger pressure and maintain momentum. Walk: Grappler intimidation factor. Good when your opponent is trying to get away--you can walk them right into the corner. Extremely low risk provided you have functioning synapses and can block. Jump/Double-Jump: Typically used after knock downs for some-what safe pressure. Different angle of approach. etc. Once I get in: Mixup: 5P/2P > Potemkin Buster Blockstrings > Hammerfall Break > Pressure/PB/Heat Knuckle (anti-jump) etc. This is like, omega basic. The only real thing I do is stagger 2P using HFB which makes it +frames into whatever. I'm practicing 6P > HFB loop. Outside of me maximizing my damage through combo optimization, what am I supposed to be doing? I'm kind of playing defensive footsies right now and counter play. If I play against a character that has overwhelming pressure, like eddie, I'm pretty much locked into blocking. I can IB but I have to know exactly what to IB. Another question I have is what makes something good burst bait? I assume it should be at least +0 (so you can block) and lead to good damage, making them want to burst it. I can't really tell when someone is trying to bait me into bursting.

Why would you play Potemkin if you can't PB?

Anyone here have the PS4 version of XRD? What arcade stick are you using if so? I just bought a Hori HRAP v4 w/ Hayabusa stick + Kuro buttons. I have a feeling I'm going to be replacing the buttons with Seimitsu buttons though.

Is there frame data listed anywhere? IDK what rejected means in terms of the opponent. Obviously it forces recovery frames, but I don't know what the number is.

Blitz Shield: Standing: 1F-12F 38F Low: 1F-10F 46F Air: 1F-8F Until Landing + 12F Guards all strikes/projectiles If your opponent jabs and you successfully Blitz shield it, does that mean you're going to be at disadvantage because you still have over 20 frames of recovery left? If that's the case, the only stuff you can really punish would be extremely active (or a lot of frames overall) single hitting moves?

Thanks for the response. Dark Angel seems to allow for almost invisible mixup? (I think it overlaps venoms model right? maybe I'm forgetting I'm at work).

In every fighting game I have ever played I run into a character identity crisis (except vsav). I analyzed as much information as I could get my hands on as to how the entire cast played--and here we are. I have never cared about tier lists and i'm not about to start now. I watch a ton of N-O videos (is he still playing?) and I've simultaneously learned and become confused. Venom seems like his game plan at neutral is to force blocking and abuse frame advantage to set up his offense. If he can't do this he has to stay mobile and cover different areas of the screen until he can get his offense going. Now, Once he uses his pressure to get a hit--typically high low out of frame advantage, he chains into knockdown to set up balls for more pressure and more Mixup/Possible damage. Am I understanding this character correctly? you guys have anything to add? Here's what I'm confused about. Outside of Throw/2k/Mad Struggle what real threat does he pose? I read on the wiki that dark angel doesn't raise guard meter? So what, its only useful for chip damage I guess or does it lock them in block long enough for your to get multiple mix-up attempts? Also whats the deal with ball formations? I feel like I'm missing something important. I'm sure that the different formations are used for specific reasons, but I also think there are uses for this stuff outside of the cookie cutter options I've seen listed. Thanks in advance. Venom seems like a very daunting character to pick up, but I'm motivated.

I was an advanced Makoto player with a few notable wins under my belt. Nothing crazy but good enough to work around her weaknesses and use frame data knowledge to my advantage. Thanks very much for the info.