Street Fighter II

[jms]

Well I was bored and was playing single player tonight. How the heck do you beat that bastard Vega with the shotos? I can do it with Guile fairly easily (on my first try :)) but then I have no clue how to do it with the shotos? His legs are so freaking long!!

Other random questions
As Guile (or really anyone) I really hate people coming in with a jumping roundhouse. I block that and then they hit me with a bunch of low short kicks. With Ken or Ryu, they can probaly get 3-4 quickly. I hate dizzying! You get dizzied so fast.

Blanka seems to be hard to defeat  when he's in the hands of a good player. Any suggestions?

For some reason I am crap at dodging fireballs. I have no clue why. Especially if people vary the speeds.

Vega's got speed and range, but he doesn't have damage and priority. The key is punishing as many of his pokes as you can, and hopefully discouraging him from using his ground game. Best way to do this is by sticking out crouching strong when you expect a claw poke (best case scenario you win cleanly, worst case you trade--and since vega's dmg is low, the trade will likely be in your favor), or better, throwing out jab dragon punches sparingly if you anticpate any attacks. Fbs are risky at close range. Vega can quickly jump over them and combo you, and often he can hit you with a normal before you even throw it. However, at long range, throwing out a jab fb and following it in is a basic but effective way of getting in on vega (this works well with guile too if vega gives you some space :P). If you discourage him from poking, then all you have to worry about are jump ins, his wall dive, and his throw. The former two you can deal with with dp, or in a pinch, c.fierce, s.forward or s.roundhouse against a jump in depending on the angle, or a simple jump back roundhouse against wall dive. His throw otoh is very difficult to stop; either throw him first if he's already in range, or hit him very fast with a dp when he's trying to close distance. If you're just practicing against the cpu, most of this still applies, but you can be a little reckless with fierce dragon punch :) if you're playing against one of your buddies, watch for poking patterns and try to bait them into situations where after you do something seemingly dangerous, you have just enough time to nail them with a jab dp if they get jumpy (ex short hurricane kick following by dp after you land--mess them up by hesitating with the timing!).

Stopping jump ins with guile can be tricky if you don't have your charge ready for flash kick. He's got some niche yet also dangerous normals you can use to stop them, like c.strong if they jump in with a high hit (you duck their jump in, hit strong right when they're landing), but typically, his best normal anti air is c.fierce. The trick with c.fierce is getting as close to underneath your opponent as you can, and hitting them with full extension. If you're a bit too far away from them when they jump at you, or you time the c.fierce a little late, most likely you'll trade with them. If you're quick or you anticipate their jump, the best thing to do is actually walk *towards* them, and then when they're almost directly overhead, hit them with the c.fierce. Done properly, it'll hit them every time.

If you're forced into blocking their jump in, pay attention to how they hit you. Did they hit you a little high with the jump in? If so, you can throw them right when they land. Did they hit you pretty deep with the jump in? If so, continue to block, and next time you see them jump in, remember that if they plan to hit you deeply again, you likely have plenty of time to c.fierce them this time around. If you're playing World Warrior, you're right on about the dizzies. They're crazy fast in that game, and they're turned down slightly in later versions ;)

Blanka has a good matchup vs shotos and guile. Part of the reason is that, like vega, he's got a few very fast normals with great range, and he's got a fast jump. Unlike vega, his normals do more damage, and his jump covers more ground. Basically, this makes it almost impossible to throw fbs against blanka, and makes it hard to zone him. With the exception of his vertical ball, blanka lacks a solid aa. So, if you don't see blanka hunkered down charging, or getting up from a knockdown, he's helpless against a jump in! B) Use this to your advantage by playing aggressively until he starts to sit down and play defensively. When in defensive crouch, blanka has no means of forward mobility, so you can start throwing fbs and playing your zoning game. Also, if blanka ever launches a horizontal ball at you, just block it and throw a projectile at him the second you get out of block stun. Obviously, he either must block it (allowing you to reposition/gain some ground) or jump it (aa him!).

As for avoiding fireballs, the only thing that comes to mind is that with shotos, thin projectiles like guile's sb and even dhalsim's yoga fire can be hurricane kicked through. Use this to your advantage.