SAGAT - MATCH UPS - SUPER STREET FIGHTER 4

vs Sagat (Mirror Match)

• Prepare to throw a lot of Tiger Shots in this match up. About the first half of each round is typically dominated by Tiger Shots. This is not by any means "fun" but is essential to win this match.
• The key to winning the Tiger Shot war is knowing when to throw a High FP Tiger Shot. Typically when you are meeting their Low Tiger Shots with yours, and your Tiger Shots are closing in on them (past the timer) you can follow up with a High Tiger and if they throw a low one, you will recover in time to block it but your high Tiger will hit them.
• Although somewhat difficult to time and set up, you can also Kara low Tiger Shot to crouch under their High Tiger Shot and hit them on their recovery.
• If you are at disadvantage in the Tiger Shot war, where their Tiger Shots are closing in on you, vertical jump over their Tiger Shot and reset the timing.
• If you can predict when they will throw a low Tiger Shot, you can Kara RH Tiger Knee to fly over it and land right in front of them.
• Once they start jumping over Tiger Shots, S. RH and Kara Tiger Uppercuts are very useful.
• When applying Tiger Knee pressure, dashing back after a blocked Tiger Knee is generally a good idea, especially if they have two stocks of EX meter.
• If they end up blocking Tiger Shots, follow up with Kara Tiger Shots to slowly push them into a corner.

• Around mid range, you can Focus through a Tiger Shot and Tiger Uppercut through any follow up Tiger shot. Usually only a good idea if you have two stocks of EX meter. You can also Ultra through their follow up Tiger Shot, although its a risky move.
• Outside of hitting with a Level 3 Focus attack, it generally a bad idea to Ultra another Sagat near the corner. In many cases the last part of the Ultra will wiff completely and the opponent can counter with an Ultra of their own.
• After jumping over a Tiger Shot, you can Ultra through their follow up Tiger Shot.

vs. Dictator (Bison)

• S. HK and S. MK are very useful when Bison is in poking range. Both moves will stop many of his pokes and scissor kick when timed right.
• Whenver you see Bison leave the ground, do F+RH. If he happens to be performing a Headstomp, Sagat will pass right under him and Bison will end up on the other side. In some cases if he ends up doing a Devils Reverse, it will hit Bison out of the Devils Reverse.
• Jump Forward/Vertical FP is also good for stopping stomp attempts,
• Punish Devil Reverse as Bison lands on other side of the screen with anticipatory low EX Tiger Shot.
• S. HK will trade in many instances with Devil's Reverse.
• Focus Attack Devils Reverse and follow up with combo if you land the crumple.
• From close range, use c.lp into Low Tiger Shot to keep Bison off of you.
• Cross up with LK into throw/combo/block string so he will continue to lose his charge.
• Try to stay out of the corner and out of cross up situations in this match up in that you will be at a serious disadvantage.

vs. Blanka

• After blocking EX Rolling Attack high, punish with low EX Tiger Shot
• While he is advancing with out a charge, try to land a Focus Attack on any of his normals. Works well against his slide.
• With no EX meter, throw a lot of Tiger Shots until he gets close.
• Blocked slides can be punished with Tiger Uppercut.
• Block his Ultra low and then high at the apex of the "hop", punish with F+RH x2 into Ultra [strategy submitted by tharimrattler]
• After a blocked Rolling Attack, perform F + LK Kara Tiger Knee to land ontop of him as he recovers.

vs. Abel

• Pressure with Tiger Shots to bait rolls. You can throw him out of his roll on the recovery.
• A well timed C.MK xx Low Tiger  shot will hit Abel out of his roll as well.
• Vertical jump medium kick to avoid command throws.
• F + LK works suprisingly well in this match.

vs. Ryu

• You must play the "fireball game" in this match, as boring as it may be. Work in as many Tiger Shots as possible and let Ryu take damage trying to get close you.
• High Tiger Shots are faster than fireballs so you will always win fireball fights.
• Punish Jump ins with Tiger Uppercut or S. RH. Uppercut will trade in some cases so follow up with F + RH.
• When he has two stocks and Ultra, bait Dragon Punch into FADC but watch for follow up throw.
• FA through fireballs to gain ground. In some cases when you have them lulled into a fireball fight, you can FA through the first fireball and Uppercut through the second Fireball.
• You can counter C.MK xx Fireball pressure by performing an Ultra after blocking the C.MK. You will pass right through the follow up fireball and connect with the full Ultra.

vs. Ken

• Play this match at a distance. Throw a lot of Tiger Shots and punish jump ins accordingly and back off. Rinse and repeat. Once Ken gets in close, you are at a disadvantage since his close range game is pretty solid.
• Punish Jump ins with S. RH or Tiger Uppercut.
• Ken has a Kara throw which he will use within his c.lp block strings. Watch for the throw tech, but be careful of him mixing up with a c.mk into EX Hurricane kick.
• With full meter he can EX Hurricane Kick over your Tiger Shots. If it hits, he can combo into Ultra so try to bait the EX Hurricane Kick when this time comes.

vs. Chun Li

• Focus Attack LVL 2 her Hazanshou Flip Kick and follow up with combo.
• Focus Attack her pokes as she pressures you.
• Pressure with Tiger Shots until she has Ultra in that she can Ultra through Tiger Shots from anywhere on the screen.
• She has few reliable, damaging anti air options, so once she has full Ultra and you cannot pressure with Tiger Shots any longer, use jump in attacks.
• C.LP/S. LK into Low Tiger Shot is good for getting space when she gets too close.

vs. Dhalsim

• Typically it's best to sit back and throw a lot of Tiger Shots and let 'Sim come to you. Do this until you have about 2 1/2 stocks of EX Meter. At this point, try to rush in by FAing through his long reaching limbs and push him into a corner. Once he is in the corner the match should be yours if your corner game is on point.
• When Sim Jumps, prepare an FA. If he does Jump Back HP, you can FA through it, follow up with F+RH into Ultra.
• Do not jump in at Sim in most instances in that B + RH and B + MP will stop any jump in attack you have.
• Do not Focus Absorb Yoga Fire in that he can follow up with FP or MP to negate your Focus.
• Use S. MP to hit him out of his Teleport.

vs. Zangief

• S. RH will punish virtually everything Zangief has so use this to keep him at bay and punish Lariats and stop Banishing Fist.
• 'Gief can be thrown if you block a Banishing Fist and you can also reversal with an Uppercut.
• Mix up low and high Tiger Shots to punish Lariats.
• Try to stay out of the corner and cross up situations if possible in this match up in that you'll be at a serious disadvantage.

vs. Balrog (Boxer)

• Tiger Knee will stop a lot of Dash Straight nonsense cold. Will crush EX Dash Straight etc so bait this by throwing a lot of tiger shots.
• Focus Attack Dash Straight and throw him out of EX Rushes.
• Do not start off matches with Tiger Shots in that Balrog can Headbutt right through them from the start and punish you.
• Use slow High Tiger Shots to punish Balrog as he tries to pass through them with his Headbutt.
• Watch for throw mix ups after his c.lp.
• Use standing RH and Tiger Uppercut to punish jump ins.
• Use Level 2/3 focus attack to punish Blarogs who are too "sweep happy", but don't do this within their jab range or you may eat a combo.
• Standing RH is a solid move to punish TAP and EX Rushes.
• When Balrog has no Ultra and is mostly full screen away, throw low RH Tiger Shots and follow up with Kara High FP Tiger Shots. In many instances you will hit Balrog after he jumps over the initial low tiger shot. This is also a good strategy to use to bait TAP, so keep an eye out for it.

vs. Rose

• Mix up the speed of your Tiger shots to punish her Soul Reflect.

vs. C. Viper

• Try not to get thrown to stay out of 50/50 mix up situations.
• FADC Burning Kicks.
• After a blocked Burning Kick many Viper players will dash back to avoid throws. Use Tiger Knee to punish this strategy.
• Kara Tiger Knee is very useful in this match up in hitting viper out of the start up of many of her moves.
• Jump forward FP is great for hitting her anytime she Super Jumps.
• She can low Thunder Kunckle under your Tiger Knee and can also Ultra on reaction if you're not careful.

vs. El Fuerte

• FADC and dash backwards to get out of his splash mix up. Beware: he can air throw you out of your back dash.
• You can duck his grabs out of his Run.
• Tiger Knee to stop running shenanigans.
• Kara Tiger Knee is very useful in this match to hit him out of the startup of his Run from a distance.

vs. Akuma

• Do not try to FA Akuma's pokes in that his Standing Roundhouse is two hits and leads to damage combos.
• Vertical jump over 3 hit fireballs to avoid chip damage.
• EX Tiger Shot 3 hit fireballs, FA through last fireball to gain ground.
• Jump Hard Punch will stop Demon Flips.
• S. MK is useful from midrange to stop his Far S. RH.

vs Cammy

• Block low and look for throws and the match should be yours.

vs E. Honda

• This match is seriously in Sagats favor.
• Throw a ton of Tiger Shots and keep your distance. Honda will take a lot of damage just trying to get close to you.
• Punish jumps with S. HK.
• Blocked Fierce Headbutt can be punished with F+RH Kara Tiger Uppercut.
• Punish the second part of a blocked Body Splash with a Tiger Uppercut as he comes down.

vs Guile

• Throw a lot of Tiger Shots and try to work him into a corner as quick as possible.
• Guile has an odd jump that is hard to punish with Tiger Uppercut at some ranges, so using Tiger Knee can be a better option as anti-air.
• Jumping over Sonic Booms is a bad idea in some cases since he has some solid anti air options.
• Sonic Booms do very little damage, so don't panic if you eat a few.

vs Rufus

• This is a very bad match up for Rufus since it is very difficult for him to get around your Tiger Shots and many other anti air options.
• Throw a ton of Tiger Shots and keep your distance. Let him come to you.
• Mix in some Kara Tiger Knees to hit him out of his jump attempts.
• If Rufus happens to get in close pressuring with Dive Kick, its best to go for a Tiger Uppercut after a blocked Dive Kick. This will severly limit his options.

vs Gouken

[match up notes submitted by LottaMercy]

• punish palm with upper when it hits deep (like blanka slide)

• during full screen fireball wars anticipate ex demon flip when he has meter and jump to avoid or hit him with jumping f or rh

• against normal demon flip focus is a preety good option unless he use that counter.

• stay out of corner against him all his big combos are there.

• when he has ultra be careful when applying tiger knee pressure (or just don't do it) because he can easily catch it with his ultra.

•  doesn't really have any poke strings into specials but with his counter and demon flip set ups its probably best to keep distance and punish when he tries to come in.

Comments

[poop]

you might wanna add that honda's headbutt can go thru low tiger shots if timed correctly. i used to think this match up sucked for sagat until a honda player told me that.