Capcom vs SNK 2/Vega

Introduction

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Matchups

Story

Vega, called Balrog in Japan, called Claw worldwide, is a noble-born Spanish man. Raised in a wealthy home, Vega lived a privileged upper-class life, until his family's status one day began to dwindle. For financial reasons, his mother remarried to a very ugly and rude man in order to continue to care for Vega. Vega wanted nothing to do with his home life around the man, and instead delved into the local art of bullfighting. He had hunted much in his youth, but found that hunting was boring in comparison to the close range thrill of a bullfight. He became quite skilled at it as well, being very nimble and able to move around quickly. At one point, he traveled to Japan and studied Ninjutsu, believing it to fit him well thanks to his agility and lithe build. Combining his odd set of skills from bullfighting and ninjutsu, Vega learned cage fighting styles as well, and became a feared cage fighter in Spain.

Vega's life collapsed when his stepfather murdered his mother. He claimed it was because she didn't respect him enough. In a rage, Vega brutally murdered his stepfather, and found he enjoyed it a bit. This caused Vega to develop two distinct personalities from the trauma: one, a dignified cage fighter and bullfighter, and the other, a brutal and sadistic serial killer. It also gave him his obsession with beauty as a whole, feeling that things as ugly as his stepfather were truly evil and needed to be killed. His skilled fighting abilities, high speed, and penchant for murder brought him into the eyes of M. Bison very early on, and he joined Shadaloo well before the events of any Street Fighter, becoming the head of their assassination division and working closely with Cammy White and the other Dolls.

Gameplay

Vega is a high tier poking and zoning character, able to fly around the screen with his ridiculous mobility and threaten a whiff punish or poke safely with his claw. His claw in general is one of his most defining characteristics, giving him his unique reach, disjointed normals, and powerful whiff punish ability. While Vega in games like Street Fighter II: Super Turbo is infamous for his walldive mixups, those just aren't as strong in CvS2, forcing Vega to more rely on his ridiculous normals. This makes him admittedly quite simple: use your strong, disjointed normals to control space, while moving around the screen and evading your opponents attempts to hit you back. While this sounds like a gameplan lacking depth, CvS2 is a neutral focused game, so a character with incredible neutral like Vega is more than equipped to excel in this game.

Vega does have a few weaknesses holding him back from being a true top tier. Most likely the biggest is his defense. He has low health overall, but Vega has a unique system present. If you hit him enough, he first drops his claw, horribly nerfing the reach of all of his normals. If you hit him a bit more, he loses his mask, which sets his health value to the lowest in the game, tied with Akuma. This means that a few good hits turns Vega from a solid high tier to a fragile and weak character. His lack of a reversal without roll cancel can exacerbate this weakness, meaning that if you catch Vega one good time, it may be over for him. If you want a simple character who just presses his big and powerful buttons while running fast around the screen, and don't mind occasionally being killed in two or three hits, Vega is for you.

Groove Selection

Best - A: A-Vega is a notorious character in A-Groove, and is present on what is considered likely the second strongest A-Groove team (A-Vega/Bison/Blanka). Vega doesn't rely on meter to sustain him, but in a similar sense to the top tier Sakura, he excels with meter using Custom Combo. While his CC isn't the most damaging one ever, like Sakura or Bison, his amazing neutral and mobility makes it a much more threatening tool. Think of it like this: Vega gets to play neutral and win it every time, and then the one time you win it, he has CC and can punish what you do or reversal through it and safely reset to neutral. Things like roll and Alpha Counter also help him a bit, but Vega gets to play his game of poking and prodding with or without roll.

Useful - K/C/N: K-Vega is a bit different than his A-Groove counterpart. While he still plays his safe neutral, he gets to play a lot more aggressive thanks to his run and hop. Vega's run especially is great, being the fastest run in CvS2. Thanks to this, his already great mobility gets another buff, and hop lets him move in even more dynamic ways. JD gives him a needed defensive mechanic, and thanks to his 2HK slide and his great reach on all his claw normals, you can usually punish after a good JD. Rage makes his pokes do more damage, and allows him to combo into a level 3 for great damage overall. C-Vega gets to play like a lesser A-Vega. Airblock is actually quite helpful, as Vega's already amazing jump becomes even safer. Having cheaper access to Alpha Counters is also very strong, and more access to supers to buff his damage helps with the loss of his Custom Combo ability overall. N-Vega has similar strengths to K-Vega, but sacrifices the potential damage of a level 3 in Rage for access to rolls. Rolls are fairly useful for Vega, as they give him a true reversal, something he wants a lot on defense.

Worst - S/P: S-Vega is a lot more gimmicky. Vega's supers are decent combo enders, but don't have any overwhelming neutral capabilities or give him some amazing vortex like the better S-Groove characters do. While he does have run and hop, K-Vega also has those, and dodge doesn't give him much that a good RC wouldn't do. P-Vega, while he does get to at least poke the opponent, has to sacrifice charge to get a parry. Since all of Vega's specials and supers are charge based, this means P-Vega never really gets a good chance to punish after a parry, even when he does have meter.

Vega (Claw) is a mobile and long ranged neutral monster who whiff punishes any button you press within his area. He can easily escape your preferred range and reposition into his own, and punish your attempts at offense with a good Custom Combo. Just be careful not to get caught on defense. Vega is best in A-Groove. Difficulty: Pretty Easy Tier: A
Pros	Cons
Normals: It's hard to list all of Vega's best normals while he has his claw, but some standout ones are 2MP, 5HP, 2HP, j.MP, and j.HP. Even his kicks are strong, with 2MK, 5HK, and 2HK Mobility: Vega is one of the fastest characters in the game, and is actually the fastest with his run. With a great jump, fast walkspeed, far backdash, two backwards command jumps, and a walljump, Vega comes equipped with many of the escape and runaway tools a fragile character wants Damage: When Vega does get a clean hit, it can often hurt a lot surprisingly, though he requires charge for it to be truly damaging Simple: While he does have some good combos, Vega just doesn't need them, and can win on just runaway and poking alone a majority of the time	Fragile: Vega already has low health and a bad reversal, but the real icing on top is that if you hit him enough, Vega can lose his claw and his mask. Losing his claw greatly lowers his threat in neutral, and losing his mask gives him the same health value as Akuma, meaning one more good hit will likely kill him. Vega can pick his claw and mask back up, but this isn't a great situation, as now your opponent knows where you want to go and can more easily intercept you Defense: Without a roll, Vega's only reversals are his somewhat slow command hops. Roll does give him some strong reversal tools, but if you plan on playing Vega without rolls, you'll be holding pressure much more often Charge: All of Vega's specials and supers rely on having charge built, limiting how much he can threaten them on offense. He can link normals to build charge and mitigate this a bit, but it is still very noticable as a weakness

Players to Watch

Name	Country	Groove	Accounts	Notes
Makoto	Japan	P-Groove	N/A	A great player overall, and always lands Red Impact from a parry. Sample Match
D44 BAS	Japan	A-Groove	Twitter: @ryo151 Youtube: D44Bas Discord: Bas#4095	Though he swapped out Claw for Yamazaki, he was the best Claw user in the world when he used him. Sample Match
Hizumi	Japan	A-Groove	N/A	A solid player overall with a textbook lame play-style. Uses him very similarly to Bas. Sample Match
Laugh	Korea	A-Groove	N/A	Recently returned to the scene and is already taking names. Makes great use of Claw's more overlooked offensive tools, but still can play defense just as well. Sample Match
Justin Wong	USA	C-Groove	Twitter: @JWonggg Youtube: Justin Wong Discord: JWonggg#7143	Infamously plays Claw extremely defensively to annoy opponents, and uses Claw's good buttons extremely efficiently. Sample Match

!!!THIS PAGE IS STILL A WIP. IF YOU NEED FRAME DATA NOW, REFER TO THE CVS2 BIBLE OR LOOK THROUGH EDIT HISTORY TO FIND THE LAST EDIT CONTAINING FRAME DATA IF THERE WAS ONE!!!

Normal Moves

Standing Normals

5LP

Stand Jab
Stand Light Punch
5LP / Far LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	400 (300)	4 (3)	SP/SU	Mid	High	3	4	6	13	+5	+5	-
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5MP

Stand Strong
Stand Medium Punch
5MP / Far MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	800 (600)	8 (6)	None	Mid	High	8	4	19	31	-3	-3	-
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5HP

Stand Fierce
Stand Heavy Punch
5HP / Far HP

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1100, 1200 (900, 1000)	11, 12 (9, 10)	None	Mid	High	9	11	21	41	-8	-8	-
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5LK

Stand Short
Stand Light Kick
5LK / Far LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	400	4	SP/SU	Mid	-	3	4	7	14	+4	+4	-
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5MK

Stand Forward
Stand Medium Kick
5MK / Far MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	800	8	SU	Mid	-	6	9	15	30	-4	-4	-
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5HK

Stand Roundhouse
Stand Heavy Kick
5HK / Far HK

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1100, 100	11, 1	SP/SU	Mid	-	4	10	23	37	-3	-3	-
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2LP

Crouch Jab
Crouching Light Punch
2LP / cr.LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	400 (300)	-	SP/SU	Mid	-	4	4	6	14	+5	+5	-
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2MP

Crouch Strong
Crouching Medium Punch
2MP / cr.MP

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	-	700, 700 (700, 600)	7, 7 (7, 6)	Mid	-	4	8	21	33	-9	-9	-
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2HP

Crouch Fierce
Crouching Heavy Punch
2HP / cr.HP

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1100, 1200 (900, 1000)	11, 12 (9, 10)	SU	Mid	-	5	12	27	44	-15	-15	-
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2LK

Crouch Short
Crouching Light Kick
2LK / cr.LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	300	3	SP/SU	Low	Low	4	4	6	14	+5	+5	-
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2MK

Crouch Forward
Crouching Medium Kick
2MK / cr.MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	700	7	SP/SU	Low	Low	5	6	13	24	+1	+1	-
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2HK

Crouch Roundhouse
Crouching Heavy Kick
2HK / cr.HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1000	10	None	Low	Low	8	9	29	46	DWN	-14	-

j.LP

Jump Jab
Jumping Light Punch
j.LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	500 (400)	5 (4)	-	High	High	3	22	-	25	-	-	-
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j.MP

Jump Strong
Jumping Medium Punch
j.MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	700 (600)	7 (6)	-	High	High	4	10	-	14	-	-	-
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j.HP

Jump Fierce
Jumping Heavy Punch
j.HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	1100 (800)	11 (8)	-	High	High	4	8	-	12	-	-	-
Placeholder

j.LK

Jump Short
Jumping Light Kick
j.LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	500	5	-	High	High	4	22	-	26	-	-	-
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j.MK

Jump Forward
Jumping Medium Kick
j.MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	800	8	-	High	High	5	11	-	16	-	-	-
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j.HK

Jump Roundhouse
Jumping Heavy Kick
j.HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	1000	10	-	High	High	6	8	-	14	-	-	-
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Command Normals

Pierce of Mercury

Pierce of Mercury
Hopkick
6MK

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	900, 700	9, 7	None	Mid	-	24	6	20	50	-6	-6	-
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Cosmic Heel

Cosmic Heel
6HK

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1200, 1100	12, 11	None	Mid	-	15	8	21	45	DWN	-5	-
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Throws

Punch Throw

Rainbow Suplex
Punch Throw
Near Opponent, 4/6HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close /+	1600	0	None	Grab	-	3	1	13	17	DWN	-	-
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Kick Throw

Carmine Flip
Kick Throw
Near Opponent, 4/6HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close /+	1600 (1700)	0	None	Grab	-	5	1	13	19	DWN	-	-
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Air Punch Throw

Stardust Drop
Air Punch Throw
In Air Near Opponent, 4/6HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Air Close /+	1800	0	-	Grab	-	0	1	-	1	DWN	-	-
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Air Kick Throw

Crescent Line
Air Kick Throw
In Air Near Opponent, 4/6HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Air Close /+	1800	0	-	Grab	-	0	1	-	1	DWN	-	-
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Special Moves

Sankakutobi

Sankakutobi
Wall Jump
In Air Near Wall, 9

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
In Air,	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Backslash

Backslash
Backflip
PPP/KKK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	66	-	-	56 (Full)
	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	43	-	-	33 (Full)
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Rolling Crystal Flash

Rolling Crystal Flash
Roll
[4]6P

First Hitbox

Final Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	200+100+1300(1000)	2+1+13(10)	None	Mid	-	6	9(6)3(4)11	13	52	0	0	-
Charge , +	200+100x2+1300(1000)	2+1x2+13(10)	None	Mid	-	6	9(6)3(7)6(4)11	13	65	0	0	-
Charge , +	200+100x3+1300(1000)	2+1x3+13(10)	None	Mid	-	6	9(6)3(7)6(7)6(4)11	13	78	0	0	-
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Scarlet Terror

Scarlet Terror
[1]6K

First Hitbox

Second Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	1100	11	None	Mid	-	5	11	26	42	DWN	-13	5 (Full)
Charge , +	800+500	8+5	None	Mid	-	4	12	28	44	DWN	-14	4 (Full)
Charge , +	900+600	9+6	None	Mid	-	4	10	28	42	DWN	-14	4 (Full)
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Sky High Claw

Sky High Claw
[2]8P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	1200 (1000)	12 (10)	None	High	High	Varies	24	31	Varies	-	-	-
Charge , +	1200 (1000)	12 (10)	None	High	High	Varies	24	31	Varies	-40	-40	-
Charge , +	1200 (1000)	12 (10)	None	High	High	Varies	24	31	Varies	-38	-38	-
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Flying Barcelona

Flying Barcelona
Walldive
[2]8K

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Flying Barcelona Attack

Flying Barcelona Attack
P after Flying Barcelona

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , + ,	1100 (900)	11 (9)	None	High	High	Varies	3	6	Varies	DWN	-10	-
Charge , + ,	1200 (1000)	12 (10)	None	High	High	Varies	3	6	Varies	DWN	-10	-
Charge , + ,	1300 (1100)	13 (11)	None	High	High	Varies	3	6	Varies	DWN	-10	-
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Izuna Drop

Izuna Drop
Close 4/6P after Flying Barcelona

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , + , Close / +	1900 (2000)	0	None	Grab	-	Varies	1	-	-	DWN	-	-
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Super Moves

Flying Barcelona Special

Flying Barcelona Special
[1]319K

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Flying Barcelona Special Attack

Flying Barcelona Special Attack
P after Flying Barcelona Special

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , + ,	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Charge , + ,	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Charge , + ,	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Rolling Izuna Drop

Rolling Izuna Drop
Close 4/6P after Flying Barcelona Special

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , + , Close / +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Charge , + , Close / +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Charge , + , Close / +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Scarlet Mirage

Scarlet Mirage
[4]646K

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Charge , +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Charge , +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Red Impact

Red Impact
[4]646P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Charge , +	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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Colors