Marvel vs Capcom 2/SonSon/Strategy

Overview

SonSon's six special moves and three Hyper Combos give her a longer movelist than most characters, and her staff gives her pretty great range and she attacks quickly even without it. Her normals make it easy to cancel into specials and supers as some are multi-hits. For starters, I want to break down her moves and their main use cases, to help build a rough gameplan draft you can use. I'll be using less objective wording here, and with as many options as SonSon has, knowing when to use each one can make or break a match.

Assist Choice

Heal

SonSon's Heal assist spawns a tangible peach that the point character needs to touch in order to restore some of their red health. The collision for the peach is accurate to the sprite (which means it isn't very big), so it can easily be low profiled by crouches or dashes, so be careful. She comes out behind the point character, so by default they're protecting her, but if they jump then she becomes an easy target for long ranged attacks. Always try to call this assist when you have more than enough time to grab the peach and go back to your gameplan. Depending on the point character, they may have special moves that can make grabbing the peach easy or simply faster than backdashing, such as Strider's LP Wall Cling~Kick (use that move with caution, as always) or Marrow's Ricochet Slash. Since SonSon is still treated like a character, she can be dragged around by the screen's corners moving. What this means is that certain attacks like Captain Commando's Corridor or Gambit's Cajun Explosion can also 'bring' her to you (by sending your opponent away, making the camera pull her to you) if you're midscreen, so in theory you could call her during a combo and get red health back uncontested! What might be the worst aspect of this assist is that its Alpha Counter is Fuusetsu Zan, which doesn't give her much to work with after spending the bar to switch in. The range on it is still nice, so it can reach from distances where Alpha Counters may usually whiff, but you don't exactly benefit on hit.

Projectile

SonSon's Projectile assist is HP Shienbu. She starts behind you, so the monkeys will need a bit of time to get in front of you if you want to use them as makeshift shields against other projectiles or extended hurtboxes. Despite that, their travel speed isn't especially fast, so you have ample time to dash behind them, similar to slow Sonic Booms, which can give you a chance to get in. The damage isn't bad, and each monkey deals a hit of chip, so this assist can be used for a little bit of lockdown on block as well as giving you a chance to go high/low. With the angles that the monkeys travel at, there's a variety of uses for this assist: first, it's a fine combo extension assist for getting more damage out of grounded combos. Second, as the monkeys spread apart vertically, you get a constant hitbox travelling at a 45 degree upwards that will continue until it reaches the end of the screen (so if they're up-backing and you approach, it'll stay on screen as the screen end moves). If they jump forwards into it, the pushback can bump them into the forwards monkey on their way down too. Third, it can be a tool for OTGs or guaranteed Juggles thanks to the forwards monkey being low to the ground and the other two going downwards (one before going upwards instead, and the other before continuing into the floor). The Alpha Counter for this assist is actually LP Shienbu, where the monkeys travel slower, which can give her a little more breathing room on her way in from their screen presence lasting longer.

Anti-air

SonSon's Anti-air assist is HP Seiten Rengeki, and it's her popular assist for good reason. It's fast, big, disjointed, and covers a great range in front of you on the ground and pretty high into the air too. The damage is good on hit and it sets them up around super jump height, which can work great for combo extensions or character-specific setups like infinites or supers. The active frames last for a while, up to the very top of the move's height. The hitboxes start while she's still grounded, so this assist can also OTG if you need it to. This assist is what SonSon might be most known for, as its short total duration makes it spammable and the knockback it provides puts people high in the air which isn't a great spot to be in for most characters. With HP Seiten as its Alpha Counter, you can cancel straight into Tenchi like you would on point, and you still have no landing recovery.

People tend to pick Y, as its great traits are more immediately useful. Team Hyper Combos with her A and B assists have the THC-exclusive and automatic version of En'Ou, so depending on the team setup that can be a stronger asset to have for damage output, chip potential, as well as and screen clearing.

Normals

Lights

5LP, 2LP, and 5LK all have the same speed at 5 frames, so which one you'll use basically depends on where you need the hitbox to be. Since 2LP reaches a bit further and has a shorter hurtbox than both, it'll be the most useful when you're close but not next to your opponent. Since 2LP has more reach, it also has a wider hurtbox than the others, so in a pinch you may prefer her other lights.

2LK is her first low, and while it has shorter reach than 2LP, that's a fine trade-off if it means you get the hit if they weren't blocking low.

While j.LP and j.LK can both instant overhead, j.LP's lower-placed and farther-reaching hitbox makes it your go-to for IOHs as well as potential air-to-airing. j.LK's higher hitbox placement and longer active frames can benefit you in air scrambles where j.LP would whiff, and it can also be used to shrink her air hurtbox upwards a tiny bit.

Mediums

Since all four of SonSon's grounded lights combo directly into 5HP, 2HP, and 6HP, she doesn't need to use her mediums in grounded Magic Series chains. That said, they still have uses!

5MP and 5MK are both two-hit normals that can give you ample time to hitconfirm into heavies, or even straight to Seiten Rengeki. They can also see use in combos for buying time for slower assists to connect before you cancel into a special or super. Due to pushback on hit/block, comboing both hits of 5MP into both hits of 5MK is a little tricky. If you need to use her MPs, she's better off doing one hit of 5MP into both hits of 5MK or both hits of 5MP into one hit of 5HK.

2MP has great reach, but hits mid. Can be nice when delayed after 2LP (or quickly after a spaced 2LP while you're still in range) to keep them in blockstun for a bit longer.

2MK is her second low, and makes up for its short horizontal reach by having a pretty tall hitbox. On hit, 2MK actually pops the opponent up for a hit, which lets her do some neat tricks. With her normals, 5HP, 2HP, 6HP, and 5HK don't combo, so 2MK may seem like it isn't very useful... but she can cancel it into 2HK and put the opponent a bit higher up than its normal launch height, which can make certain air combo routes easier. The real reward of 2MK on hit actually comes from certain special cancels*:

• 2MK > Seiten works similarly to 2MP > 2HK in that they end up a bit higher, which can be useful for combos.
• 2MK > Kingin can be a gimmicky frametrap if your opponent tends to press out of hitstun. Not really advisable, but one of the easier solo set ups into it.
• 2MK > Wall Walk is great if you need to quickly get away. The pop up 2MK has on hit basically prevents them from doing anything until they land (at which point SonSon's much closer to reaching the wall than if she cancelled from anything else).
• *While 2MK > 5HK doesn't combo, 5HK moves her collision forwards a few frames before it becomes active. It's possible to use 2LK > 2MK > 5HK and kara-cancel the 5HK into a cross-up Seiten, Tenchi Tsuukan, or anything else if you're feeling silly enough. This is best done after a dash, so your momentum can carry you under them and give you more time to cross under.

j.MP and j.MK are standard air combo filler. j.MP's hitbox is higher and reaches farther out. For jump-ins, both are outclassed by j.HK's higher damage and lower hitbox.

Heavies

5HP is one of her key normals. It's fast, hits hard, and has a bit of disjoint at the end. The hitbox is great, as it covers a square of space in front of her and is a key OTG tool since the hitbox hits the ground.

2HP is her third low as well as her sweep. Nice range for how fast it is, and she has a few decent OTG options if they don't roll it. Seiten Rengeki can OTG into Tenchi Tsuukan, while Shienbu is best used as an OTG exclusively to combo into POW if you have the meter, or assists that won't connect if you use Seiten. You can also OTG with Snap.

5HK has great damage like 5HP, but the startup makes it riskier to throw out than her other heavies. While she's swinging around the Ruji Jingu Bang, she has a high-profile hurtbox, so a fair number of moves will go clean under her. As mentioned earlier, 5HK after 2MK can let SonSon actually cross under her opponent if she kara-cancels into a special or super, so 2MK > 5HK can be a tricky tool if you're close enough when you go for it.

2HK is SonSon's launcher. The horizontal range is very short: it won't combo off of 5HP nor 6HP (even in the corner) so try using it after 2MP or 2MK instead. It launches at a diagonal angle, but her air lights are plenty capable of connecting if you Super Jump forwards, so it's not a problem. The diagonal launch angle actually sets up perfectly into HP Seiten, so it benefits her. An important quirk of 2HK is that it's actually Super Jump Cancellable during startup. As an advanced (it's hard and not necessary to learn!) technique, if you're fast enough (very fast) you can cancel other normals into 2HK and immediately Super Jump Cancel it for a pinch of extra meter on your way up. If you'd rather stay close to the floor, you can airdash once you're airborne (or cancel the Super Jump's startup into moves on the ground if you're crazy).

j.HP's hitboxes aren't as big as the animation might suggest, and its three hits can lead to combo scaling that would make j.HK a better choice. Where j.HP shines is as an air to air and in specific sequences to allow SonSon to perform FSD combos. When she's in Super Jump state, j.HP can meet all the necessary conditions to trigger Flying Screen, and if done close enough to the floor, she can OTG off of the knockdown provided.

j.HK is your main air combo ender and jump-in tool. It deals less total damage than j.HP when done raw, but during combos it's single hit can deal more damage than j.HP's three. If you're close enough to the opponent or simply in the corner, you can end air combos with j.HP > j.HK for a bit of extra damage. Normal Jumping with j.HK can hit lots of characters standing as well.

Command Normals

6HP knocks opponents back on hit. Does less damage than 5HP and 5HK, but its range makes it easier to use as a giant stop sign of a counterpoke or whiff punish tool thanks to its half-screen hitbox. The hitbox also reaches low enough to OTG, and thanks to its longer active frames, 6HP can be a fine choice if timing 5HP for OTGs is difficult for you. The pushback on hit also lets SonSon cancel into specials like Shienbu and Wall Walk pretty safely.

3HP shares sprites with the second hit of 5MK, and it uses its hitbox to great effect as SonSon's second launcher. Faster than raw 2HK, and has more horizontal but less vertical range. As a universal launcher, it can only be done raw and can't cancel into, nor be cancelled into from other normals. (Inputting 5LK > 3HP will give you 5LK > 2HP. Inputting 3HP > 5HK will only give you 3HP.)

Throws

SonSon's throws are pretty decent. Her HP throw will either put her point-blank behind her opponent if you do a forward throw, or about a character length away on the original side if you do a backward throw. For whatever reason, this throw actually carries her horizontal momentum into the falling animation afterwards: if you're frame perfect, she'll fall back down where she started the throw. The grounded version keeps the opponent where they were, as it puts them in knockdown. Her air HP throw sends them down and slightly forwards, and works similarly to its grounded counterpart when it comes to her falling trajectory afterwards. It's easier to see that quirk there if you jump straight up. Her HP throws, both grounded and airborne, leave her at a frame disadvantage unless the opponent Tech Rolls.

Her HK throw gives her considerable frame advantage at the cost of 1 less point of damage. It also actually moves the opponent depending on the direction used, unlike her HP throws, and its longer total duration lets it combo into directly assists hitting normally or as an OTG if they hit late enough.

Specials

Shienbu

Shienbu is SonSon's main projectile tool, both on offense and defense. With LP Shienbu's slower monkeys, you have ample time to approach behind them as if you were using a Sonic Boom, and even with the faster monkeys in the HP version you can still get a combo off of them fullscreen. The monkeys each have a hitbox and a hurtbox, so while they primarily do damage, they can also stop projectiles for you or otherwise cause trades with extended hurtboxes. You can also use the monkeys to remotely protect an assist that's on their way to the opponent from harm, or prevent the assist from getting punished after their assist attack ends. One monkey will always travel forwards, while the other two will go diagonally upwards and downwards at 45 degree angles for a bit before swapping directions (the one that went up will arc downwards, and the one that started downwards will go upwards.) You'll want to keep in mind that the monkeys only despawn if they make contact with something or touch the screen's left or right edges. Since the LP version has the monkeys travel slower than the HP version, in some scenarios it can be preferred as they'll last longer, and if you're able to make your opponent retreat, they get to continue on their paths and end up in positions they may not expect, especially with the air version of Shienbu allowing you to put monkeys at whatever positions you please if you can time the input right. The chip on block isn't much, but it's still there. If you opponent forward jumps into one monkey, the pushback can bump them into the other monkey(s) on their way down, which can be used as an anti-jump lockdown tactic, especially with assists that keep the ground in your control. Shienbu is also SonSon's only (realistic) way to combo into POW solo: 2HP > 236P > delay 236KK. You have to delay the 236KK input because the monkeys need a little bit to actually spawn in - if you super cancel too quickly they'll be able to block POW and punish with ease. While 2HP makes this a rollable setup, POW is SonSon's highest damage super and since you can get a guaranteed OTG (Juggle) off of the knockdown at the end with a well-timed dashing 5HP, it's vital to her damage output.

Seiten Rengeki

Seiten Rengeki is SonSon's main combo tool and one of her few air options for stalling, getting over stuff, or being otherwise unpredictable. LP Seiten has a short travel height, while HP Seiten is gonna be used more often with its slightly higher damage and much higher reach. Seiten Rengeki's lack of landing recovery makes it pretty low-risk to throw out, and the huge hitboxes make it a threat to anyone above you. On hit, you can only cancel into Tenchi Tsuukan if you have meter, but the position Seiten puts them in is nice even if you can't super cancel. The first hitbox starts while she's still close to the ground, so it can also be used as an OTG. Seiten is just a really good tool and there isn't much to note other than it doing what it does really well.

Kingin no Hisago

Kingin no Hisago is a hitgrab, which means it can be blocked. You won't really be using this move much, since she has better moves to combo her heavies into (Seiten > Tenchi). The range on it is shorter than 5HP, but the hitbox for it is completely disjointed, so your best use for it will probably be as a hard read whiff punish / meaty on wakeups, or frame trap into it out of blockstrings if you think they'll press. The endlag on whiff (and block, and if it hits an assist or OTGs) is punishable, so try to only use Kingin when it'll hit, which most of the time is after an assist hits. Kingin's one hit of damage is solid and can close out combos in situations where Seiten might be scaled too much or if you don't have the meter to super cancel. Keep in mind that if Kingin is used 'too close' to the corner, she'll turn around so that the rest of the move can play out on-screen. Since that takes the opponent out of the corner, if they Tech Roll, they'll actually go back into the corner, which can be useful.

Fuusetsu Zan

Fuusetsu Zan is a weird case, as it's outclassed by her other long-ranged buttons that all have greater reward. On hit it doesn't really provide much utility as it has the same short hitstun that lights have. While the range on it is nice, you have to mash to even get it to come out, at which point you could just use 5HP, 6HP, or 5HK if you need a ranged button. It can be done in the air as well, but it's just as not-really-useful there too.

Wall Walk

Wall Walk is the secret to SonSon's potential. SonSon walks backwards, and when she reaches the screen-wall behind her, she walks up it. Once she reaches the screen's ceiling, she walks across it, and then she'll walk down the other wall. Cancelling strings like 5HP > 5HK or even max range 6HP on block into Wall Walk can quickly get you out of harm's way on the ground. After SonSon transitions to being on the wall (specifically after she's fully rotated 90 degrees), she can press either P button or either K button to use one of it's followups:

• Pressing P will cause SonSon to drop and fall in Super Jump state which gives her access to the full air Magic Series chain and she can cancel air specials into supers, but can't call assists. Dropping from Wall Walk by pressing P also lets her air dash, which can get her across the screen even faster than walking across the ceiling. This P followup can also serve as a feint for the equally important K followup overhead.
• That's right, SonSon has access to a potentially full-screen overhead by pressing a K button during Wall Walk. The K followup will send SonSon towards the opposite corner quickly at a shallow angle diagonally forwards and downwards, with an active overhead hitbox until she lands that knocks back on hit. Since she will always kick in the direction of the opposite corner, once SonSon walks past the in-game timer at the top of the screen, pressing K will have her kick in the direction she came from, effectively retreating back to the corner she originally walked up from at a very quick speed, faster than pressing P and airdashing backwards.

Both followups can be done very quickly into her walking up the first wall, and with the right sequence you can use Wall Walk > P followup > air heavy on the way down as a simple loop for quick fullscreen meter building. Just keep in mind that SonSon cannot block unless she uses the P followup to be actionable in the air. Similar to Strider, using the wall can be a death sentence if done on accident, poorly timed, or predicted by your opponent (don't be surprised if Cable air Hyper Viper Beams you for trying to be tricky!) so it can be best to use Wall Walk under the protection of assists. On the topic of assists, they can also help her combo into the K followup overhead. And since the P followup leaves her actionable, she can use Wall Walk to get to specific heights for air Shienbu monkeys for stronger screen presence more easily than from Normal or Super Jumping. You can also use Wall Walk to lock the camera onto SonSon and potentially disorient your opponents for example, crossing under them while they're above you offscreen, or using the camera lock to keep them from flying fullscreen from assist hits) or manipulate your positioning on the stage.

Hofuku Zenshin

Hofuku Zenshin is a very special tool in SonSon's kit. She crawls along the floor with an incredibly short (but accurate!) hurtbox. LK crawling goes about 1/3rd screen while HK version goes about 1/2. You can't cancel any normals into it, but you can cancel Hofoku into any normal at any point (which you can then kara-cancel into specials or supers) before she hops to get back up. During that little hop, she has a high profile hurtbox, for what extremely niche use that may have. If she starts Hofoku close enough to her opponent, she can pass through them, but that doesn't work if they're already in the corner. If you ever need to get under something and her dashes leave her too tall, crawling with Hofoku will be your best bet. In combination with Wall Walk, SonSon has unique high profile and low profile answers to attacks like beams that hit the middle portion of the screen.

Hypers

Tenchi Tsuukan

SonSon's go-to Hyper Combo and Seiten Rengeki's best friend. You'll be using this move a lot, as it's her easiest source of damage for a bar and its huge hitboxes and their high placements make it great in air combos but especially great after comboing into HP Seiten. The hitboxes on the Ruji Jingu Bang coming back down cause until-landing hitstun into a knockdown, which makes it great for DHCs into supers that the opponent can fall into, like Proton Cannon or Arctic Attack, as well as supers used for whiff-DHC routes like Darkness Illusion or Oroboros. With the right setups, you can even combo after Tenchi by relaunching and looping the sequence.

En'Ou

En'Ou is a very sharp double-edged sword of a super. On one hand, you get a nice handful of invincibility frames as SonSon channels her inner Monkey King, and for about four seconds your punch buttons turn into tall, strong swings downwards and upwards (for LP and HP respectively) and your kick buttons change to angle-able fire breath that reaches fullscreen and can combo into itself on hit for upwards of dealing half-health level damage (even on Sentinel!) with the right sweeping patterns. On the other hand (or maybe, on the monkey's paw...) SonSon moves incredibly slowly during En'Ou, and her turning around animation if she gets super jumped over eats up valuable time she'd rather spend spitting fire. The punches deal solid damage, but since they don't combo (and since people will usually just block when you use this super) you're usually better off only using the fire breath for its higher damage potential (even on block, as it deals great chip damage). Another problem En'Ou has is that it gives her super armor. While it is great that super armor means SonSon can press buttons as she pleases during this super, it also means her (now gigantic) hurtboxes are prime targets for beams and projectiles to deal big damage since they won't scale as part of a combo. From just one Hyper Sentinel Force, she can easily lose 60% of her health during En'Ou. On top of the fact that getting hit during En'Ou completely pauses the timer, getting hit basically extends how long she's a giant sitting duck for, making this super a high risk, inconsistent reward option. As far as DHCs go, the until-landing hitstun the fire breath provides can set up well into other supers, and you could also use En'Ou to bait your opponent to swing and then DHC into something to punish them. DHCing into En'Ou is probably best done in scenarios where the chip from fire breath can close out a character, and not much else. Tenchi Tsuukan and POW are much more consistent damage-wise and combo-wise. Use En'Ou with caution.

POW

POW is SonSon's highest consistent-damage super, and extends her combo game in ways that Tenchi Tsuukan can't. The startup is on the longer side, and the POW projectile itself moves slowly and SonSon is completely vulnerable while it's on screen, so if they block the POW, you're in trouble. Because of that, POW is best used during combos where the startup isn't an issue and the punishable window isn't as long. Most of the time, you'll be comboing into POW with an assist, but SonSon can actually combo into POW solo as well by doing 2HP > 236P > delay 236KK (the delay is so Shienbu's monkeys have enough time to spawn and combo OTG). While 2HP's sweep is rollable, if they aren't expecting to get OTGd, this setup can prove handy. While the end of POW puts SonSon more than half-screen away, the knockdown it grants can be OTGd (which also means it can be rolled) and combod out of with a dash > HP > either HK or Seiten. If your timing is good enough, you can actually hit the one-frame Juggle window with a well timed 5HP for a higher damage combo. With assists, you can Juggle or OTG into the assist's attack, and get even more damage by dashing to get in range of HP Seiten > Tenchi. POW can also be used as a silly answer to projectiles and projectile supers, as it'll basically eat everything with its hitbox until it despawns or hits a character.

Strategies

*Offensive and Defensive Balance is key! - It's good to lay on the pressure, but if you openly attack at every chance you get, your opponent will read for holes in your defense. What you want to do is be inconsistent to throw your opponent off their game so they can't predict your movements and options. It's an easy pitfall to get stuck in since SonSon can attack so fast and so often, but if your opponent is blocking all your attacks and making you bleed when it's their turn, what's the point? On the other hand, blocking too much will get you killed for sure. [?Once you're in the corner you will get assist spammed to hell and back since SonSon cannot get out of the corner easily nor does she have a wide radial attack for clearing space as other characters do.?] Kingin could be a saving grace, but that move is Very conditional since it can be blocked.

There really isn't much of a specific "advanced" strategy that is only for SonSon, it's applicable to all characters: play smart, capitalize on openings and human error, and anticipate.

Matchups

Against Storm? You're going to die. BUT if you are trying to do something, tiger knee (SJ) Shienbu can be okay if she's far away, since you can block on the way down. If you do normal jump monkeys, you are helpless afterwards. Wall Walk is also a good tool. If you predict a ground typhoon correctly, you can kick her out of it into Seiten -> Tenchi. If she's flying and typhooning in the air, you can try anti-airing with Tenchi. Also remember that you can use En'Ou's invincible startup to get through her hailstorm. Even at top level play, don't expect this matchup to be fair.

Against Cable? You are REALLY going to die. If you try ANYTHING, you are getting shot. You have to be patient and navigate the minefield to get close to him. If he does a normal shot near you, you can sweep him with down fierce. But yeah, anything you do is very punishable by Cable. You can fake a Wall kick by doing the Wall Walk~P to cancel it, in order to bait out an AHVB (if you're insane to even risk this). But that's pretty much all you have :( If you have enough energy, you could monkey-up and take an AHVB, but you can punish him after the first one and then DHC.

Final Thoughts

SonSon can be quite versatile if used correctly. There are few weaknesses she has[?, namely her assists aren't that strong?]. I've been able to rival some very very skilled Magnetos because SonSon's 2LK is almost as quick as his LK. If you like her, then use her, because the tier guides don't mean anything if the players aren't skilled.

--Yeyzor 05:57, 9 July 2010 (UTC)yeyzor