Capcom vs SNK 2/Sakura

Introduction

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Matchups

Story

Sakura Kasugano is a Japanese high-school student with a fixation on her favorite fighter, Ryu. She lived a fairly normal high-school life, hanging out with her friends Hinata Wakaba and Natsu Ayuhara, until she saw Ryu fighting one day on the way home from school. She immediately became fascinated, and began training to fight like he does, emulating many of his techniques. She used her newfound skill to beat up the older kids who bully her and her friends, but eventually sets her sights on becoming Ryu's student. She frequently skips class to try and hunt him down, and on the way, has her own journey where she makes friends and enemies from around the world. Namely, she makes a rival in Karin Kanzuki. As she grows up from her childhood fixation on fighting and her idolization turned crush on Ryu, she often finds herself asking if fighting forever is truly a worthwhile use of ones life.

Gameplay

Sakura is part of the big top tiers of CvS2, usually placed somewhere in the top 5 or right outside it at 6th. Like many of the CvS2 top tiers, her ability to control neutral is amazing, with her strong buttons both on the ground and in the air. 5LK, 5MP, 5HK, 2MK, and all of her jump kicks are stellar and versatile buttons that allow her to poke safely at the enemy and get them where she wants them. After she wins neutral, Sakura has very high natural damage, ending combos in her 623P Shouoken uppercuts. She also notably has some of the most annoying roll cancels in the game to fight, with her RC 214K Shunpukyaku tatsus acting as incredibly hard to contest fireball callouts with great reward and her RC 236P Hadosho energy waves being invincible and safe pokes.

Her air mobility is no joke either, sporting the classic shoto air tatsu in j.214K, but also having a powerful divekick in j.236K Oukakyaku. Mixed with her amazing buttons in the air, this makes anti-airing her properly almost as hard as whiff punishing her properly, and when mixed with her amazing RC specials, makes Sakura a neutral nightmare. She also has one of the most powerful Custom Combos in the game, her infamous Shoshosho combo. This is very hard to properly execute, but when done right, makes A-Sakura a terrifying beast of a punish character who can eat your fireball or whiffed poke and spit out 9k or more damage from it. As if contesting her properly wasn't hard enough, the threat of a CC Shoshosho makes it nearly impossible, and Sakura gets to run her game for as long as she wants to.

Groove Selection

Best - A: While Sakura is fairly strong overall, A-Sakura gives her everything she wants to win and more. Having a roll gives her access to RC Tatsu and RC Fireball, making her neutral much more annoying. The real attractive factor is her Custom Combo, Shoshosho. By simply doing repeated 623HP's, Sakura can dish out massive damage and melt through guard bars. The stellar range on this allows her to activate from ridiculously far away and punish whatever the opponent did, whether that was whiff a button or throw a projectile. While her anti-air CC isn't quite as strong, it's still plenty good. A-Sakura is often seen as a point character on plenty of A-Groove teams, thanks to her amazing matchup spread vs other point characters, her strong meter build, and her ability to play without relying on meter while still excelling at using it.

Useful - C/N/K: C-Sakura is likely the second best way to play her. Her level 2 combos, especially using her 214HK Tatsu links, do massive damage and are very flashy to pull off. They are quite difficult however, and in general, C-Sakura is going to be forced to learn Sakura's more difficult links and master the 1 frame link from her 214HK into her 2LP to make her level 2's hurt. C-Sakura plays overall similar enough to A-Sakura, with a different way to use meter. N-Sakura changes the formula a bit, getting much more aggressive potential with run and hop. While she can still roll cancel specials for maximum neutral annoyance, she can also run in or hop over lows, making it even more difficult to directly contest her. She still plays her normal game, similar to A-Sakura, but gets more access to scary mixups with hop crossups and empty hop low/throw, allowing her to vortex opponents very effectively. K-Sakura plays much like N-Sakura, but without rolls. Off of her high damage combos, she often gets enough time to mix the opponent between a hop HK on the same side and a crossup hop MK, or she can always empty hop and go low or throw. Rage gives her a great damage buff, and her level 3 236236K Midare Zakura lets her end Rage combos with huge damage. K-Sakura has to sacrifice rolls however, but she can still play a solid offensive neutral, and her mixups are no joke.

Worst - S/P: While listed here as worst, neither of these Grooves are necessarily bad for her, and Sakura can still shine in them. They just fit her the least. S-Sakura is one of the better S-Groove characters, mostly thanks to her ability to play without meter available. She can still do her normal and solid neutral gameplan, and even gets a run and hop to solidify her offense more. Charging is a pain, but since Sakura is hard to contest, she can charge a bit more safely after instilling the fear of her buttons into the opponent. However, this is much less effective without rolls, and while Sakura doesn't require meter at all times, it does make her quite a lot scarier when she has it. Infinite level 1's do allow her to use her level 1 236236P Shinku Hadouken to zone a bit more effectively however. P-Sakura is a fairly solid P-Groove character, especially because Sakura can punish pretty reliably off of a good parry. Lack of rolls hurts a lot, and having only hop to make up for it instead of both hop and run is a hard trade-off. P-Sakura relies on you having solid parry ability, converting those parries into a knockdown and a blender of hop mixups, and cashing out on the one or maybe even two level 3 supers you get a round.

Sakura is a top-tier powerhouse of a shoto, with some of the best neutral control in the game. She can control space with big buttons, great air mobility with her divekick and air Tatsus, and her incredible roll cancels. Once she gets meter, she can cash it out into big damage. Sakura is best in A-Groove. Difficulty: Hard (A-Groove), Medium (Any other Groove) Tier: S
Pros	Cons
Neutral: Sakura has incredibly powerful neutral options, from a suite of great buttons and pokes to useful mobility for repositioning and damaging anti-air ability Damage: Her 623HP is a stellar combo ender that connects from very far out, allowing her high and consistent meterless damage. With meter, her punishes skyrocket into being some of the highest damage in the game, especially with Custom Combo Roll Cancel: Roll Cancel Tatsus are safe or even plus on block neutral skips that allow Sakura to get in immediately against players who won't try to avoid them. Roll Cancel Fireballs are fast and safe on block pokes that can't be contested with buttons and must be jumped over, and even then all your opponent can punish with is a throw, assuming they can even get there in time Mixups: With a good overhead, a very strong throw, a great crossup and multiple good jump-ins, and one of the better low confirms in the game, Sakura can vortex opponents very easily into death with just a few good guesses Shoshosho: Sakura's infamous CC, the Shoshosho combo, does massive damage and works from anywhere on the screen against a grounded opponent. It also guard crushes, meaning even if they block, they still get hit. This is a very strong tool, and the reason A-Sakura is such a great top tier. The execution is difficult, but eventually mastering this is key to playing Sakura to her highest potential	Zoning: Without a true fireball or invincible reversal, Sakura struggles to zone opponents out without maintaining the range to utilize her powerful buttons, which is only about midrange Execution: Between her Shoshosho being fast repetitive 623 motions, her 1 frame links from 214HK, fast cancels from her lights, and multiple specials that need roll cancelling, Sakura has to master some difficult execution to really shine Low Health: Very low health and stun means a few good hits can knock out her.

Players to Watch

Name	Country	Groove	Accounts	Notes
YSK	Japan	A-Groove	Twitter: @yosuke0815	The point character of YSK's dominant A-Yare (Sakura Bison Blanka) team. Plays with a decent amount of movement and tries to meter build. Sample Match
Uma	Japan	A-Groove	Twitter: @umaare	An OG player and an A-Yare team user. Sample Match
Yane	Japan	S-Groove	Twitter: @yanechudan	Being a skilled S-Groover, Yane is very well versed with making S-Sakura dominate neutral and is especially threatening with desperation mode. Sample Match

Normal Moves

Far Standing Normals

5LP

Stand Jab

5LP

Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
200	2	RF,SP,SU	mid	mid	2	4	5	11	+8	+8	none
One of the best jabs in the game with a 2 frame start up and a massive +8 on contact. Characters who can't duck Sakura's jab have a very hard time dealing with walk fwd jab similarly to Sagat, however the list of characters who can't crouch Sakura's jab is much shorter. Can also be used as a quick emergency anti-air.

5MP

Stand Strong

5MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
800	8	SP,SU	mid	mid	5	5	12	22	+3	+3	none
One of your main meterbuild tools. Works as an anti-air in a similar vein to 5LP. One of your main links from 5LP from farther away when cl.HP is out of reach.

5HP

Stand Fierce

5HP

File:.png

Heavy Punch

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1200	12	SU	mid	mid	5	3(2)5	23	-	+1	+1	none
Not super useful in any particular way. Can be used as an anti air similarly to her other stand punches but it does not do much as a poke or anything else.

5LK

Stand Short

5LK

Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
300	3	SP, SU	mid	mid	3	5	13	21	-3	-3	-
Your main cancel into DP in combos. The effectiveness of 5LK as a poke is slightly reduced as this is actually her close LK in Alpha 2, her far LK went much farther and acted as a better poke. Here, you can use it to throw out with little risk but the gimped range limits it to up-close interactions.

5MK

Stand Forward

5MK

Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
800	8	SU	mid	mid	7	7	21	35	-8	-8	none
Useless normal.

5HK

Stand Roundhouse

5HK

Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	10	none	mid	mid	8	5	17	30	+2	+2	none
Infamous button. This is your main poke in neutral for any given matchup. It has a ton of range and is safe on block, but more importantly is also safe on JD (it is around -2) so in most cases you're safe from punishment when using this move. It is most effectively used at around max range. This way you can check any oncoming pokes without getting outsped by quicker shorter ranged pokes.

Close Standing Normals

cl5MP

Close Stand Strong
Close
cl5MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
700	7	SP,SU	mid	mid	4	5	11	20	+4	+4	none
Mainly a meaty tool, does not do much outside of that.

cl5HP

Close Stand Fierce
Close
cl5HP

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1100, 900	11, 9	SP,SU; SU	mid	mid	3	8	27	38	-11	-11	none
Your much higher damage cancel into DP/super. 5LK is more common to see but cl.HP is the go-to for optimal damage. Links from 2LP/5LP easily. Also a great anti-crossup move as it hits above and slightly behind, so you can use it later than some other cl.HP anti-crossup type normals.

cl5HK

Close Stand Roundhouse
Close
cl5HK

Heavy Kick

Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1200, 1000	12, 10	SP, SU; SU	mid	mid	4	7	23	34	-6	-6	N/A
Deals more damage than cl.HP at the cost of an extra startup frame. Has a lot shorter range than cl.HP, so cl.HP is generally used for combos over this. Can be used as an early up-close anti-air. It can't hit very anti-crossup like cl.HP can but it hits at an angle slightly in front.

Crouching Normals

2LP

Crouching Jab

2LP

Crouching Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
200	2	RF, SP, SU	mid	mid	3	4	6	13	+7	+7	none
Great 2LP, it isn't 2-frame like 5LP but is still +7 on contact. You can link into many optimal cancel options easily. Outside of its great frame advantage, 2LK is generally the preferred low button.

2MP

Crouching Strong

2MP

Medium Punch

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
800	8	SP,SU	mid	mid	4	4	21	29	-5	-5	N/A
Decent low-crush normal, but can be tricky to actually stuff low pokes with it at times. Sometimes used as a cancel on block into Hadoken or Tatsu.

2HP

Crouching Fierce

2HP

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1100, 800	11, 8	SP,SU; SU	mid	mid	3	11	26	40	-13	-13	N/A
Also used as a cancel into DP/super if you are not sure if proximity distance is close enough. Mainly used as one of your go-to anti-airs, similarly to other shoto 2HPs.

2LK

Crouching Short

2LK

Crouching Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
200	2	RF, SP, SU	low	low	3	4	8	+3	+3	-	N/A
Your go-to combo starter and pressure tool. It is +3 which is not nearly as much as 2LK but it hits low. Chains into itself and 5LK for a very easy BnB.

2MK

Crouching Forward

2MK

Crouching Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
700	7	SU	low	low	4	4	24	32	-8	-8	N/A
A pretty decent poke in the vein of Ryu's iconic 2MK, but it's subtely worse. -8 on contact and no special cancel makes its utility much more limited At max range is where this poke is best used, as the pushback makes the fact that it is -8 a nonfactor. 4 frame startup and a lot of range is still very valuable in CvS2 even if the poke is unsafe.

2HK

Crouching Roundhouse

2HK

Crouching Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	10	SU	low	low	6	3	35	44	KND	-14	-
A basic sweep, but has no special cancel so it is limited to long range punishes.

Air Normals

8LP

Jumping Jab
,,or +
8LP

Jumping Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
500	5	-	-	-	3	22	-	-	-	-	-
Decent air-to-air, but is outclassed by j.LK.

8MP

Jumping Strong
,,or +
8MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
800	8	-	-	-	4	8	-	-	-	-	-
Good to use as an instant jump anti-air.

8HP

Jumping Fierce
,,or +
8HP

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1100	11	-	-	-	7	5	-	-	-	-	-
One of your main jump-ins.

8LK

Jumping Short
,,or +
8LK

Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
400	4	-	-	-	4	26	-	-	-	-	-
The hitbox doesn't do the incredible range of this move justice. this move gives sakura phenominal air to air and as a jump in, as it can let her jump in from 2/3 distance for no good reason.

8MK

Jumping Forward
,,or +
8MK

Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
700	7	-	-	-	5	8	-	-	-	-	-
Amazing cross-up normal, can hit extremely deep. Your go-to for left-right mixups.

8HK

Jumping Roundhouse
,,or +
8HK

Jumping Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	10	-	-	-	8	12	-	-	-	-	-
Your other go-to jump-in from close range, at the cost of 100 damage and an extra startup frame. Also your go-to shorthop normal.

command normals

8HK

Sakura kick
+
6 mk

File:.png

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
700	7	none	H	H	23	3	16	42	+1	+1	-
Decent overhead, usually used for round closing situations or for resets during a CC.

Special Moves

Fireball

Hadoken
Fireball
236+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	1200	12	-	mid	mid	16	-	37	-	KND	-3	-
MP +	700+700	7+7	-	mid	mid	19	-	24	-	KND	0	-
HP +	500x3	5x3	-	mid	mid	22	-	31	-	KND	+3	-

DP

Shuoken
Combo ender.
623+P

Light

Medium

Heavy

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	1100	11	-	mid	mid	4	6	36	46	down	-26	-
MP +	900+300x2	9+3x2	-	mid	mid	6	3,3,10	35	-	Down	-30	-
HP +	500+300X4	5+3x4	-	mid	mid	9	3,3,2,2,12	41	-	Down	-30	-

tatsu

Tatsumaki Shunpukyaku
214+K

Light

Heavy

Air

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	700	7	-	mid	mid	16	10	19	-	-5	-5	-
MP +	400+500	4+5	-	mid	mid	16	3 (9) 6	19	-	-1	-1	-
HP +	300+300+400	3+3+4	-	mid	mid	16	3 (9) 3 (9) 2	19	-	+3	+3	-

tatsu follow up

Tatsu follow up
hard knockdown tool
after Tatsu, 214+k

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
All versions +	500	5	-	mid	mid	10	8	27	-	Down	-13	-

otoishi

Sakura Otoishi
623+K, Then P or K

Start up

Hit

Disengage

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LK +	600	6	-	mid	mid	50+41	-	15	-	Down	-30	-
MK +	600	6	-	mid	mid	50+41	-	15	-	Down	-31	-
HK +	600	6	-	mid	mid	50+41	-	15	-	Down	-24	-
punches	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
stop	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Dive kick

Ouka Kyaku
Dive Kick
In air, 236 K

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
all versions +	800	8	-	mid	mid	12	until landing	4	-	+10	+15	-
all button strengths are the same.

Super Moves

Fireball

Shinku hadoken
Fireball super
236236+P

File:.png

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	1900	-	-	Mid	Mid	9	-	50	59	HKND	-11	8 (Full)
MP +	2800	-	-	Mid	Mid	9	-	50	59	HKND	-8	13 (Full)
HP +	4400	-	-	Mid	Mid	9	-	50	59	HKND	-5	20 (Full)

dps

Midare Sakura
DP super
236236+K

File:.png

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LK +	2500	-	-	Mid	Mid	8	4+4 (15) 5+16	38	-	HKND	-30	8 (Full)
MK +	3600	-	-	Mid	Mid	10	4+4 (12) 3+5+20	38	-	HKND	-34	14 (Full)
HK +	5400	-	-	Mid	Mid	6	1+1+4 (11) 1+1+4 (12) 3+5+26	35	-	HKND	-37	22 (Full)

tatsu s

Haruissen
Tatsu super
214214+K

File:.png

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LK +	2300	-	-	Low	Low	8	2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (11) 5	23	-	HKND	-4	8 (Full)
MK +	3300	-	-	Low	Low	8	2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (11) 5	21	-	HKND	-2	14 (Full)
HK +	5000	-	-	Low	Low	8	2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (6) 2 (11) 5	19	-	HKND	0	22 (Full)

Colors