Antihero11

I have the same experience with Faust. I usually tried to far drill behind him, then puddle Summon Eddie into Nobiru for a punish, or apply sandwich pressure with Shadow P. Like almost every one of the Zato's MUs... It feels very momentum based. If you can lockdown Faust early, bait a burst, and continue applying pressure, there's not much he can do, and you can take the round.

I abuse flight way too much. Haha. So many I learned that from the Ky MU, since I primarily play Ky. The problem is, even if I can close the gap with flight, he can easily anti-air me. So maybe I need to be less predictable, or use IAD. And his glyphs seem to function as anti-airs in and of themselves, so it seems like he's well protected. Thanks for the advice though. How are drills in neutral this MU?

I share the same sentiments President mentioned. Millia's fall speed and extreme horizontal mobility makes it really difficult to land a Nobiru on her. But if you do manage to land it and go into something like j.K > j.H > -S- > j>D, you have successfully taken out half of her life. She's an extreme glass cannon and relies a lot on knockdown and momentum. So do your best to play keepaway. How do you guys feel BTL is in this MU? It seems better than using flight to avoid her.

Thanks for the advice, I think my friend is just a strong Ky player, and my Zato needs some work. How do you beat his Glyphs and stun edge lasers? Just by pushing Eddie forward and harassing him with pokes? Is it better to use flight to evade his projectiles, or break the law? Obviously, if it's regular stun edge, just drunkard shade it.

Hello all, I have finally begun to get used to Zato's neutral game. Far from mastering it, but finding safe times to summon Eddie and defend with nobiru. I have an extremely difficult time safely summoning against Faust, unless it's in a blockstring, any advice? I also have a hard time advancing with Eddie if my opponent stays back and plays campy, or attempts to outzone me, so any tips on that would be much appreciated too.

Thank you president. I agree 100%. One simple strategy that has worked for me when you push someone to the corner is to: 1) Setup medium drill. 2) 2S or Anti-air depending on what they do. 3) Summon Eddie or heavy drill if they keep blocking. It can create some mind games and keep people in the corner if you're good with prediction.

I'm having trouble summoning Eddie in neutral. It's relatively easy to summon him during a blockstring. But I want to learn when to summon in neutral so I can improve my neutral game. People say you need to summon him before drills since drills aren't safe without Eddie out. So when should I summon him? Only fullscreen? After knockdown and blockstrings go without saying. I feel it's heavily dependent on MU.

I just wanted to point out that Zato's mawaru mixups are much easier to perform than they seem. For example, let's look at this one: -K-, dash jump j.K JC, j.S (breaks guard), j.H > -K- > 5D > 6P > -D- > 2H > 22S > Unblockable From intuitively looking at the combo, it would seem you need to hold K + S + H at the same time, then release K for the follow-up Mawaru. I had difficulty negative edging three buttons at once. But every single one of Zato's combos can be done by simply negative edging with two buttons. Because little Eddie's animation times last so long, it gives you more time to push buttons and release without worrying about him performing an unwanted attack. (I know most Zato mains are aware of this, I just wanted to point it out for new players and specifically mention the Mawaru mixup.) So in this combo, you can j.K JC > j.S > j.H, then quickly press and release K. So you only need to hold H and K at the same time. As opposed to all three. This makes it much easier to hit confirm. Sorry if this is extremely unclear, I find it difficult to talk about negative edging via dialogue. Let me know what you guys think.

^ Excellent advice above. How long have you been playing Zato/Eddie for felirx? Even though it wasn't my video, I found it helpful. Definitely integrate "proper shadow pressure". One thing Ogawa does which I copied is: knockdown > -K- > 2P > 2K > 2S > -K- > Dash 2P > 2D > Unsummon. Doesn't mix them up at all, but it's good for getting used to shadow pressure and corner carry. Once you can do that, start incorporating J.k and empty jumps. And eventually Damned Fang. Be careful with DF though. My pressure needs a lot of work, so I keep getting thrown out of DF. In order to prevent that, you need to use Shadow P pressure for frame traps. Or simply use DF on the first active frame after Mawaru (Shadow K). Hope that makes sense. Personally, Zato is much harder to learn in neutral than he is with Oki/pressure. His Oki/pressure game will get you far, but you need to become an expert at neutral to really take Zato to the next level. From what I've observed, You need to master both drills, controlling Eddie and abusing Nobiru, and finally flight and break the law to keep Zato from blocking so Eddie stays alive. Once Eddie gets close enough, make sure you get in and drill or hit them with an aerial attack. That way he won't get killed by a low attack. Or... if he does, at least you get a knockdown to capitalize on. Finally, the most useful and somewhat "cheap" way to summon Eddie safely is by simply going into drill from a pressure string, then YRC the drill, and puddle summon into Nobiru. If done correctly, I believe they can't attack Eddie due to YRC, and it gives you free pressure. Very cheap, but costs 25 tension.

I understand exactly what you're saying Felirx. In theory, it all makes sense. In practice, I find it extremely difficult. The second mixup you mentioned with j.K and j.HS is easy because you just release a button mid combo. But how do you push a button when two other ones are held? I'm finding this to be the most difficult aspect of negative edging. Do you turn your wrist sidewards awkwardly? Or use your thumb to hit the button? Or do you use your pinkey? It feels extremely awkward to me. But I am also new to arcade stick (past two months), so it has been a living hell trying to hit three buttons at once and hold them. Two is fine and easy to manage, but once it hits three, I find it very difficult. I feel people talk a lot about negative edging, but not proper hand positioning. I'd like to see more said on this. Any advice?

The thing I love about this character is that if they dead angle or reversal. You can punish them hard with more Oki. Eddie will take the attack for you, and you can continue your pressure. This forces them to respect your options. I have friends who love to mash out, and this will condition them to play like a real person. Meaty drills and mawaru for life.

Yes and no. I can combo three different Eddie attacks pretty easily, but it depends on the combo. I do have an extremely hard time with hand positioning. And I wanted to ask how other Zato players manage. I have been using all of the fingers of my right hand except my thumb and pinky. I was wondering if it was common to use your thumb, since I just can't get used to it. It makes negative edging easier. But I'd rather deal with the awkward bent wrist from using the other three fingers. Also, thanks for the advice on 2S > -P- > 22H. Doing 22H+P makes it much easier. I was able to get that after five minutes of practice. So hearing someone couldn't get it for two weeks straight makes me feel a little better as a Zato main, haha.

Great guide thus far. Very helpful for a beginner like me. Would you recommend practicing those negative edge combos religiously? I find the one that uses all three Eddie attacks to be extremely difficult to be honest. Even the unblockables are easier than that. At least for me. But if you think practicing it a lot would help, I will. Also, I'm looking forward to the Eddie in Neutral section because that is where I struggle most.

Thanks a bunch, I will try this and practice religiously since people like to jump out of Zato's pressure. Do you recommend the 2K -P- Gatling or Mawaru on knockdown. I feel Mawaru is usually more useful, but people do try to jump out. And frame traps preserve Eddie meter.

I had a question regarding the guide. You mention the 2K into ~P~ Gatling and state it can range from +0 to +20 depending on time of release. When should I release ~P~ to get the maximum frame advantage off of it. Allowing continued combos and fluid pressure my opponent can't jump out of.

Can't believe no one has posted these yet: (Amazing play by MarlinPie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR7c0qgmTKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5tpbNL5QGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWeXMpHTdrc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ_HJy-aOOs

Did anyone catch MarlinPie at Winter Brawl 15? I attended in person, he's really polished up his Zato-1 play. Currently, he's looking like the "Ogawa" of the states. Honestly, he's not as good as Ogawa, but some of his frame traps and safe playstyle are great to observe. Watching his has helped me improve very much. He doesn't take many risks, and seems pretty good at managing the Eddie Gauge unlike many players.

Discuss the Zato vs Ky matchup here. I was wondering how you guys approach Ky in neutral game. Since he seems to be able to outzone you with all of his projectiles.

I'm having a lot of trouble picking up Zato as a character, but determined to keep practicing. I lose all the time. I did things in opposite order I think. I managed to learn all of the unblockables and some of the advanced combos. But my neutral game is awful, so I have a hard time pressuring people to the corner where I can shine. I was looking for tips against Ky, and maybe Slayer. All I can really think of to do is summon Eddie, then setup medium or heavy drills. But they can still poke him when the drills vanish, or just air dash over. Ky can stay behind the drill and shoot lasers diagonally which will kill little Eddie. I just have a really tough time in neutral game and wanted to know how you guys approach it. Do you avoid summoning Eddie until you go for knockdown. Because Zato has a really hard time getting in all by himself.

Just wanted to comment and say great guide guys. Very well done. The Mawaru mixups are incredibly helpful as well. This is very helpful for new players, and helps me create a better gameplan with Zato.

Thank you for the input/advice and options. I find your posts very informative and you explain yourself very well. Meaty shadow attacks are even better than I thought. I love the mixups and potential this character has on offense.

Yeah, I was going to say that your mixup with this character is limited only by your imagination. It'll reward your hard work if you keep practicing with him. Like any character, avoid auto-pilot strings. I usually like to corner carry with Mawaru, then go for mixups. Just be careful with corner carry since it wastes a lot of the Eddie meter. So you can unsummon him by the corner, setup a drill, then resummon to maintain your pressure. Anyways, I've never used negative edge characters before, but I'm absolutely loving the pressure and mixups that you have when using two characters. It makes people so afraid to mash out of pressure. As long as you aren't predictable I feel you can get away with a lot, like summons/unsummons. You just need to condition your opponent first with drills. Also meaty drills are pretty amazing, I've seen Ogawa use them before, and they're great. Lastly, got the unblockable SG loop down today. Only did it twice, but it's not too difficult when you get used to it. (After my first time, only took me one fail till I had it again, then had to stop.) It turns out my dust was timed fine, but I was allowing SG to hit twice. As long as you go for j.HS, and space well, it's not too bad. Just need it consistently now. I wanted to know if -P- still has invincibility (intangibility) on it like it did AC+R. I know the animation is much different, but I wondered if it can beat reversals. If not, what would you guys recommend to beat people who like to mash out? -k-?

That makes sense, I'll practice hitting with SG lower than I was before. I don't know if it's GG, Zato, or being new to an arcade stick... Or all three, but these execution barrier are hard to break through.

Thank you, the combo Ogawa does in that match is much more simple. I had a question about it. I can get every part of the combo to connect besides the Dash into 5D. Is the link from SG to 5D tight, or am I missing something? Other than that, the rest of the combo seems relatively easy to link. And Damned Fang is a pretty easy setup into unblockable. I just think you need to get your opponent's to respect your pressure first before going for the command throw.

I just wanted to say I love this combo and setup for it's flashiness. How difficult is it execution-wise? Do you feel it's as practical as the standard dust wall stick entry to unblockable. Also, can somebody please link the standard wall stick entry unblockable. I've seen all the videos, but I'm not aware which one it is. Thanks guys, I need to start practicing it. EDIT: Is this the standard (optimal) unblockable root as of now?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgftTpT43aE