Ryd'

Following arcade layout makes it pretty easy: K S HS P _ D Thumb on P, next three fingers cover the top row. D can be taken care of with either the pinky or ring finger depending on what's more comfortable/convenient at the time. If you've ever played a stringed instrument, it's pretty similar.

You're better off learning the timing on the delay since that string is her critical for her midscreen crouch and CH confirms.

Ease of 2C after [8]2A depends on how much hitstun decay you've built up. Doing 2C 5C jB [8]2A 2C etc. gives you a lot more leeway than, say, doing 2A 2A 2B 2C 5C as your starter. The air sequence that you use also changes it up, but that part is spacing dependent; 2C 5C jB [8]2A is fine for point-blank, but if you have some distance between you, then you might need to do jA jB [8]2A or even something like jB jC land~rejump jA [8]2A. Also worth noting that the follow up you get after [8]2A 2C can vary depending on your combo routes as well. Note that if you're unsure of your ability to pick up with 2C, it's better to cut your losses and release a crystal instead. Also consider sticking with easier combo routes until you're consistent enough in training; Vatista's not an easy one to pick up, and it's better to do less damaging combos that are easy to finish than dropping every other combo because you're not able to optimize her stuff yet. 5C jB [8]2A is fairly lenient in the amount of time you have between inputs before the opponent can tech. What's going to screw you up at first is either failing to start charging ASAP or trying to cancel into the dive too early. I wouldn't recommend getting too hung up on that particular combo route early on due to spacing requirements. It's a good one to know, but you'll definitely want to pick up the alternatives. Ground moves have a 53f charge time. Dives are 43f. Crystals are 61f.

EX characters have modified move sets, some that change the characters on fundamental levels. Shadow characters have infinite tension. Gold characters can be thought of as "boss mode" characters. Faust, for example, has infinite tension and always throws meteors for his item toss. Sol has permanent Dragon Install, infinite tension, and health regen. Testament gains the ability to curse with several attacks. Johnny's dash becomes a full screen teleport and his Mist Finers are pretty much instant kills.

You can use RCs to clear buttons being held so long as you have enough buttons left to RC; there's a window during the RC freeze where you can release buttons without triggering Eddie.

Aiming to be there around 3-4ish.

I'll swing by tomorrow. Been mostly grinding Persona, but will play my usual spread, which I suppose includes UNIEL - apparently making it to 2nd last month means I actually play it or something, so I'll beat you up if you want, Ruben.

How long will everyone be there? I might stop by if there's anything happening later in the afternoon (5-6ish); down for GG/Persona/UNIEL/MB.

Extra recovery on -D- should mean no more unblockable loops, which is a plus in the grand scheme of things. Slightly hurts unblockables in general, but it shouldn't really come into play more than once a round anyway unless you screw up, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Command throw YRC getting axed was expected, but Zato still has Nobiru as an OS, so he's in better shape than others. They're really hating on Break the Law

Let's make it happen.

I was commenting on using -P- in strings as opposed to defaulting Mawaru, as was asked: If variety couldn't open people up with any kind of regularity, characters that primarily rely on heavy pressure and frame traps would never be viable. Utilizing -P- gives you a lot more control over your strings and more opportunities to open someone up per Eddie summon. Mawaru makes you pay a fat chunk of Eddie's meter in exchange for (typically) a single mixup attempt and a good bit of corner carry while your opponent is completely locked down for its duration. This is good in some situations, but less desirable in others. People don't like being made to hold still and everyone will eventually try to escape from pressure unless they have reason to not care (massive life lead and 3 seconds on the clock, etc). Especially in GG, where it won't end unless you take action and dying from chip is a thing. Zato in particular makes people really antsy to escape because getting opened up can lead to very bad things™, and the payoff for a random poke (Eddie unsummoned or killed) can be a lot more substantial than it is against any other character. No player is perfect, and even those at the top (just from the last few videos I've watched: Ogawa, Sanma, Koichi, Sharon, etc...) will still make bad calls and get hit for doing something they shouldn't have attempted. For Zato, the flexibility of -P- (and Nobiru) lets you create more opportunities for the opponent to drop their defense and try something, which you can typically capitalize on. The threat of Zato's mixup already gives people incentive to try to escape; you don't have to do much to make them not want to sit in his pressure. At the same time, being predictable with your strings makes you easier to IB and lets your opponent know when they should DAA/backdash/reversal/poke/burst/etc., and you really don't want that. Just as an example, look at the 2P 2K -P- string. Do it once and dash up (as is listed in the quote), and your opponent will probably block under the threat of getting tagged by a poke unless you get into throw range. If someone gets too patient in dealing with that because, as you say, they have no reason to risk getting hit, then they might block 2P 2K and let you slip Eddie behind them and -P- or -S- in their complacency; suddenly they're in a much worse position. Next time 2P 2K happens you could start to move Eddie forward and then let Nobiru rip. This is all theorycrafting, but it's the kind of thing that can happen in a match. Mixups aren't the only way to open someone up; letting them think they know what's going to come next and then doing something else can be just as effective as a high/low/throw situation, and Zato is fairly unique in the extent to which he can get inside the opponent's head like that.

The main advantage I see in -p- strings that don't sandwich is that you can create small gaps that your opponent may try to escape/tag Eddie, potentially netting you a knockdown - basically giving them enough rope to hang themselves with. Mawaru pressure gives you fewer gaps and burns through Eddie faster, so you don't get as many opportunities to open them up through frame traps. Variety in general makes your pressure harder to deal with since your opponent will have to guess the best way to deal with what might come next. If you always do Mawaru, it gives them that much less to think about.

I can't speak for Ogawa, but just looking at videos, he tends to burn a lot of meter in neutral and on defensive options, which is understandable since Zato really wants to be on offense. For most of his command throws in the corner, Eddie is either already out and it goes straight into the unblockable, or Eddie is on cooldown and Damned Fang's lengthy animation is used to buy time. The damage on the setup is nice, but the meter cost is not insignificant, and given the nature of Zato's flow over the course of a match, it isn't likely to be too often that you manage to get everything to line up for that (meter, Eddie, corner).

Should be, as the shield doesn't do anything other than refund meter on successful shield of Eddie's attacks. Low projectiles still have to be shielded low, so the unblockables will require that initial read if anyone tries it in the update - assuming the opponent finds it worth it to gamble meter on a coin toss. However, the drill doesn't go away when stuff happens to Zato, and shielding the first hit early still leaves enough active frames in the drill for the last two hits. I'm not completely sure how it'll all play out, but Zato may not be punishable on a successful reject anyway.

Blitz Shield is currently reported to only throw you into reject status if you're at range 0 when the projectile gets shielded. I-No's vCL gets wrecked, but Ky can 2D > CSE without getting blown up. I dare say most of Zato's stuff will be unaffected. Millia will suffer more from this because a lot of her setups place her really close to the opponent while they're blocking a disc; it's probably things like her roll, fast fall, and IAD crossups that are getting her blown up by shields. Venom might suffer from a couple of his setups where he similarly is right behind a ball. The spacing that Mawaru is typically used in should make it safe against shielding. Unblockables are risky to shield because a successful shield requires the correct initial high/low read, and guessing wrong means you pay meter to get hit. A safer option against unblockables for about the same base meter cost should be backdash~YRC~FD.

Uh...unless I've missed something, Zato only has to spend extra Eddie meter on a summon from a puddle; I haven't seen anything about increasing Eddie's meter costs on anything else. Increased recovery time should only be applicable if Eddie is killed, not if you burn through his meter; even then, 1 extra second shouldn't be too bad. His present combos should be intact, as there's been no mention of any nerfs that would impact them unless you routinely only just manage to squeeze an unblockable in after summoning from a puddle. The unblockables needed some adjusting because 170~180 base is a bit much for what is essentially free damage, and the potential in loops is ridiculous. For what it's worth, he's not the only one losing damage, so it should be fine as long as they don't overlook anything. The shield buff shouldn't really affect Zato much since reject on projectiles only triggers at point-blank, and you usually send Eddie in with Mawaru from outside of throw range to pin them down for your mixup; you can't shield while in block stun, so as long as you aren't riding Eddie's ass, it shouldn't be a problem in oki situations. Opponent should still have to guess high/low first if they're going to try to shield unblockables, so it's not a guaranteed solution like it is with I-No's vCL YRC bullshit. Zato's taking some hits, yes, but they're warranted, and nothing thus far seems like it'll be enough to make Zato garbage. Also keep in mind that this is only the first test, and there are generally several before changes are finalized; no need to cry about the sky falling yet.

Eddie's recovery after being killed doesn't seem that bad. BtL YRC kind of hurts, but being able to duck under and get up elsewhere with 25 meter as the only cost and no real downsides was a little silly anyway. Having the option to wait out Eddie's recovery in an untouchable state kind of breaks the balance philosophy of being weaker when solo; can't fall back on 25 meter to essentially cover up screw ups or flat out ignore portions of someone's game, so mistakes and sloppy play get penalized harder. Need to see how bad unblockables got hit by the proration nerf, though they were a little too damaging (170~180ish?) for what they are.

Elphelt cranks that bar pretty quickly, and her corner pressure is tight enough to make it possible. It is a little impractical though, as it requires her to score a hit midscreen after cranking the bar that high; it's a lot more likely that you'd be dead before that can happen.

Just looking at the apparent design philosophy behind Zato compared to previous iterations, he's likely to see some adjustments, though they probably won't be severe nerfs; not enough that should dissuade anyone from playing him, anyway. I would be surprised if they didn't address this, as the removal of Eddie's overhead points to a desire to make the unblockables more of a situational thing for Zato rather than the "get a knockdown with Eddie available and move on to the next round" feeling he was previously known for. It could be as simple as removing the wall splat on Shadow Gallery, which would hurt a couple of corner combo options, but it isn't something he really needs. He's less outright bullshit while still being really solid by virtue of his character design, and a lot of the general bullshit from older games is gone, which helps him out since his defensive options are lacking and he's missing a chunk of his former bullshit as well. As long as they don't do anything silly like making fly a CH state again, he should be fine. But if all you're interested in is playing a top tier character, you might as well not play for a couple months and wait for them to finalize the update (just looking at the tests isn't enough since they don't always keep the changes). Or you could pick a character that suits your preferred playstyle roll with it. Picking the best character in a game doesn't mean crap unless you can make them work for you, and when it comes down to it, Zato's placement is based purely on Ogawa's overall performance - he owns the character, and I haven't seen anyone else handle Zato anywhere near as well in Xrd. If you aren't on that level, then where he stands in the rankings really doesn't mean anything.

GGs. Nice to be able to take wins off Luke again; still need a lot of work though. Lol@UNIEL; why am I placing in that? Shoutouts to F/UC. Always warms my heart to have someone to play with.

I would recommend playing around in training mode for however long it takes to get the hang of manipulating both at once; get used to holding down multiple buttons, moving Eddie while Zato's occupied, etc. Playing matches won't do you much good if you're still struggling with Zato's basics; you don't really get to learn much if you're fighting the controls and an opponent. He's not an easy character, so expect to put in a lot more work than you would with most; he's the type that you're probably going to lose a lot with before you start to win with any kind of regularity, but the payoff is huge if you stick with it.

Combo into Executor for a knockdown, and if Eddie has sufficient meter after the throw while close to the corner, it sets up an unblockable. Crap for damage on its own though, and no knockdown without meter.

Speculation, go! Elphelt will probably take a hit on some combination of grenade, the bullshit frames on shotgun, looping unblockables, and her ability to crank guardbar in the corner/shotgun loop damage. She seems like a simple case of having too much all-around. Zato might take a hit somewhere as this doesn't really match up with what seems like a decision to make unblockables a smaller facet of his play. Removing Shadow Gallery wallsplat would be the easiest fix since it's the source of most of his real bullshit. I-No's CL YRCs might take a hit just because vCL YRC shits on like...everything. Easy fix would be making so that YRCing before it's active stops it from coming out. I can see Ramlethal losing some damage. Seems okay otherwise. YRCs losing their slowdown would be really nice. They're too potent for a mere 25%. Slayer/Pot/Bedman could probably use a bit of love. Slayer could stand to get Mappa Feint back and being able to combo off 6K again, as quality of life if nothing else; he looks a little too honest now. Not sure what can be done for Pot and Bedman, but they don't really seem far off the mark.

Barring a couple of combo options over the many iterations, executing with Venom has never really been an issue, and execution for just about any character becomes a non-issue with enough mindless repetition. Utilizing formations in neutral against an opponent who doesn't hold still and being able to improvise in the many situations that can arise in a match are what take work, moreso for Venom than any other character because of the way his ball placements work. He can be reasonably effective on a basic level, but making the most of what he has to offer demands a lot more of the player than pretty much any other character.

Zato only has one unblockable now; Eddie drill + Zato overhead (generally jS or jHS). You have some variety in setting it up: corner 5D, low wallsplat Shadow Gallery, and Damned Fang being the more common ones. What you should learn is how to manipulate Zato and Eddie in tandem against moving targets, covering each other's attacks, and stalling to recharge Eddie. Unblockable setups don't carry you very far if you never get the chance to use them, and Zato's neutral takes a good bit of work to reach the level that other characters get for less effort, though his long-term payoff is generally a lot higher.