The game is heavily based on "rock paper scissors" thing, attacks beat throws, throws beat block and reversals, reversals and block beats attack. It's more complex really, there are different sabakis, guardbreak moves and others, but the main idea is it. And you have to guess alot what move your opponent will do next, so the game requires a lot of knowledge about your opponent. If, for example, in gg you play mostly against a character, then in vf you play mostly against a human.
There's not a lot of "poking" going on really, because almost all pokes give you disadvantage and bring you to another guess.
One of the best sarah players to my knowledge is F.P - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJrhp74aCro , his playstyle is crazy, the most pleasant sarah player to watch.
