Capcom vs SNK 2/Sagat

Introduction

Sagat (サガット Sagatto) is a Muai Thai practitioner from Thailand. He is considered the "Emperor of Muai Thai" because of how unstoppable he was when he fought. Nobody could defeat him, and soon became one of the strongest fighters in the world. He uses typical Muai Thai moves like fierce kicks, stiff knees and devastating punches, however he also has the ability to shoot projectiles (Tiger Shot), and uses a variation of Ryu's Shoryuken (Tiger Blow / Tiger Uppercut) as payback for Ryu scarring him. He dedicates his life to the martial arts, and works hard every day to make sure he retains his status as the best Muai Thai fighter to ever live, and that hard work payed off well as when he is at full strength, nothing can stop him. He is a proud and humble individual who knows and appreciates the work he and his opponents work into every fight.

Sagat used to be one of the key antagonists of Street Fighter, first starting out as the final boss of the first Street Fighter. Once he lost to Ryu, he let his hate and anger lead him down to dark paths. He became one of the main members of the crime syndicate Shadaloo, becoming one of the 4 Heavenly Kings and Dictator's personal bodyguard. After Dictator brainwashed Ryu during the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3, he realized the moral wrongdoings of Shadaloo, so he left, and soon became one of the protagonists of the game.

In a majority of Street Fighter games Sagat has made an appearance in, he was usually an incredibly strong character and remained near or at the very top of the tier lists. Old Sagat from Super Turbo and SFIV Vanilla Sagat are notable examples of really strong variants of Sagat. In each game he appears in, he's very strong for a different reason. O. Sagat was strong because of his zoning, SFIV Vanilla Sagat is strong because of his insane damage output, and you'll see why CvS2 Sagat is the strongest version of himself compared to all his other game appearances.

Overview

Sagat is generally regarded as the king of CvS2. He is at the very, very top of every tierlist, usually listed as the best character in the whole game in multiple grooves. He's a great character in any groove you throw him on. He is all about playing neutral and using his big buttons to confirm into big damage. He has it all: high health, high damage output, good defensive options, great pressure, the best buttons in the game, you can't ask for anything more in a character. He's relatively easy to play if you know when to use each of his buttons, since they serve a variety of uses.

Unfortunately, while a majority of this cast becomes incredibly better thanks to RCs (Roll Cancels), Sagat doesn't get too much from it, outside of RC Tiger Knee, there's no need to RC any of his specials. They won't offer much in the long run as they serve only a couple uses, but overall in neutral these specials don't serve much purpose at all.

Most if not all top CvS2 players have Sagat on their main C and K groove team, usually as their R2 guy in the back. He should be there, since he is just too strong to be passed up on, and as said before, he's not that hard of a character to learn in any groove, outside of his own core gameplay design, he doesn't change much at all from the groove you have him in, so you're still getting relatively the same character no matter your preferred groove. Even in grooves like S and P, he's the best character available for those grooves.

Generally the best spot you want to be in is either in neutral or pressuring up close. While Sagat's defensive options are great, it might get difficult to deal with rushdown heavy characters due to Sagat's sluggish speed, so it's best he's in a position where his speed isn't a part of the equation. You'll chip away at the opponent's health in neutral, but your main source of damage is from a confirm into super. It bags massive damage, as Sagat has the most reliable supers to give him that burst damage.

Pros	Cons
+ Best set of normals in the game	- Sluggish movement
+ Really good supers	- Big hurtboxes, vulnerable to a lot of high placed normals
+ Extremely high damage output and health	- Can't pressure well against short characters
+ Viable in every groove	- Doesn't benefit much from roll cancel

Palettes

Groove Overviews

Sagat is an incredible character no matter what groove he's in. Of course some grooves are far better than others, and Sagat is only considered the best character in the game in 2 different grooves, but people have different tastes. Here are the pros and cons with each groove Sagat can be in, ranked from best to worst.

The strongest CvS2 character. K-Sagat is the scariest man in the whole game. He has access to a short hop, already making his pressure insanely good, and benefits the most from K-Groove's Rage and Just Defense. Once Sagat is raged, once good super turns the round in his favor, and thanks to the extremely convenient Just Defense (JD) it makes getting rage far easier that you think.

Pros	Cons
+ Rage Mode can easily deny the opponent the win	- No Alpha Counter, hard to escape good pressure
+ Just Defense gives you a good amount of meter	- No control over your supers due to the nature of K-Groove's meterbuild
+ Short hop makes your pressure very scary	- No air block forces you to make smart jumps

C-Groove Sagat is scary. He almost always has at least half a bar of meter that confirms into fat damage, and the system mechanics in place really compliment the type of character he is, like air blocking, rolling, and the unique level 2 super cancel that gives him access to one of the most damaging optimal combos in the whole game.

Pros	Cons
+ Level 2 Super Cancel deals insane damage	- No short hop
+ Air Blocking makes being in the air safer	- Somewhat difficult since you can't pressure

N-Groove Sagat may be far less threatening compared to his optimal grooves but don't get it twisted. He's still very strong. He still has access supers frequently, and can "pop" to bag in some really big damage. Not to mention he still has a short hop. He's like a fusion of C and K but with the core parts of each groove taken out, you still end up with a very strong character.

Pros	Cons
+ Easy control of supers with traditional meter	- Needs to spend extra and "pop" for level 3 supers
+ Short hop makes pressure scary	- No air blocking makes jumps less safe
+ Retains a roll and a counter roll to escape pressure	- Fairly slow building meter, supers are not as frequent

You might come to believe this variation of Sagat would be very strong. CCs in general do get big damage, however this version of Sagat is just redundant. In practice, he's merely a worse version of C Sagat. His CC also has little practicality, only working as either an anti air or up-close punish, however the CC itself is quite difficult to perform. Overall, there's way better A-groove characters out there and C Sagat is far stronger than this version.

Pros	Cons
+ Air blocking makes jumping safer	- No level 2 or 3 supers
+ Fairly simple and linear meter to work with	- No short hop to make his pressure scary
+ Has both a roll and alpha counter to get out of pressure	- CC is situational

S Sagat is the best character you can possibly use in S-Groove. That's not saying much, since S-Groove in general sucks, but Sagat has some niche tools in S-Groove like using his dodge attack in neutral, or replacing his tigershot for his tiger cannon once he reaches low health. His damage output only really gets high when he gets those infinite level 1 supers, but again he can only get them if he's about to die, making it a very risky situation to be in.

Pros	Cons
+ Infinite supers make his damage good at low health	- Supers are scarce until you reach low health
+ Short hop makes pressure scary	- No reliable source of meter outside power charge

P-Groove sucks. Common knowledge, but even with P-Groove you can make Sagat work. This groove turns Sagat from a fairly simple character to learn to a hard challenge. He's still strong, but it's really hard to deal with good grooves as P Sagat. You need to make good use of parries and the rare times you can use a level 3 super.

Pros	Cons
+ Parrying gives free openings and approaches	- At most you'll get to use one super per round
+ Short hop makes pressure scary	- Weak defensive options: No roll, alpha counter or air block

Moveset

Normal Moves

5LP

Stand Jab

5LP

Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
500	5	SP/SU	H/L	H/L	2	3	6	11	+6	+6	-
Solid jab. While it may have fairly short range, it can be used in guard crush strings and jail the opponent in the corner with repeated use of it. It can link into cr.MK and st.MP for some good block strings and set ups, and is a usable anti air as well, however note it's a pretty slow jab at that and it can't be rapid fired.

5MP

Stand Strong

5MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1100	16	SP/SU	H/L	H/L	4	3	24	31	-7	-7	-
Fairly quick startup with a lot of recovery. Unfortunately you can't kara cancel this move so don't use it in neutral too much, or at all really. He has way better buttons out there. Outside of being used as block string filler from st.LP this normal is just outclassed by other better buttons.

5HP

Stand Fierce

5HP

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1600	16	SU	H/L	H/L	6	8	20	34	-4	-4	-
Amazing button. It has insane priority, making it able to beat out almost every poke in the game. It's also a really good anti air, as it has a lot of active frames and it can beat a fair amount of jump-in attacks, especially short hop jump-ins, making dealing with N and K groove characters far easier for Sagat. Mainly use this button as a whiff punish, button stuff and anti air. The only problem with this move is that it can easily get crouched under, however there's another poke Sagat has that fixes this issue.

cl5HP

Close Stand Fierce
Close
cl5HP

Close Heavy Punch 1st Hitbox

Close Heavy Punch 2nd Hitbox

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1300 / 1100	13/11	SP/SU (1st Hit Only)	H/L	H	3	8	27	38	-13	-13	-
You might misinput this button while going for tick throws, but it has a practical use. It's good for shutting down any cross-ups, as the second hitbox has a high vertical range. If you hit the first part of this normal cancel into a safe special since on it's own it's a fairly unsafe button up close.

5LK

Stand Short

5LK

Light Kick 1st Hitbox

Light Kick 2nd Hitbox

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
200/400	2/4	SP/SU (1st Hit Only)	H/L	H/L	5	8	10	23	-1	-1	-
Two hit short kick. Unfortunately doesn't have the same practicality as the jab but if hit at close to max range it's a fairly safe frame trap tool.

5MK

Stand Forward

5MK

Medium Kick 1st Hitbox

Medium Kick 2nd Hitbox

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
400/900	4/9	SP/SU (1st Hit Only)	H/L	H/L	5	11	24	40	-12	-12	-
Decent long ranged kick. It's only effective if used at it's max range, since it's fairly unsafe. It can also be used as a late anti-air if you don't want to use st.HP.

5LP

Stand Roundhouse

5HK

Heavy Kick 1st Hitbox

Heavy Kick 2nd Hitbox

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
500/1300	5/13	SP/SU (1st Hit Only)	H/L	H/L	6	10	24	40	-7	-7	-
Very high kick. By design this button is your go-to anti air, however st.HP is more practical for short hops. When it comes to basic anti airs outside of short hop rushdown, use this button instead, since it also has high priority and even higher vertical range to boot.

2LP

Crouch Jab

2LP

Crouch Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
400	4	SP/SU	H/L	H/L	5	4	8	17	+3	+3	-
Just a far more gimped version of st.LP. Not only is it a very slow jab, it does not even hit low, so there's no real situations where this move warrants use over st.LP.

2MP

Crouch Strong

2MP

Crouch Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	14	SP/SU	H/L	H/L	6	4	12	22	+4	+4	-
Another overlooked button. It can work as a good melee poke but nothing more. It's actually pretty safe on block, however it's just overshadowed by other better buttons.

2HP

Crouch Fierce

2HP

Crouch Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1500	15	SU	H/L	H/L	7	8	14	17	+2	+2	-
By far Sagat's best button. It's literally st.HP but he is lower to the ground. It still retains the same functionality, and it will be your go-to confirm into super (mainly Low Tiger Cannon) and it bags massive damage. While it may be harder to anti air with cr.HP as opposed to st.HP, it can still do so much. Just don't get too trigger happy with this button as it is weak to short hops if it whiffs.

2LK

Crouch Short

2LK

Crouch Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
400	4	SP/SU	L	L	3	4	6	13	+5	+5	-
Decent low kick. It comes out very fast, and it can link into itself. This is going to be your main combo starter, as it confirms into Tiger Knee fairly easily. It also works as a frame trap normal and a tool for guard crush strings, as it can link into st.LP and frame trap into cr.MK.

2MK

Crouch Forward

2MK

Crouch Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	14	SP/SU	L	L	4	5	17	24	-2	-2	-
Really fast long ranged poke. Really good in situations where cr.HP is too slow up close. It can link from st.LP for combo purposes.

2HK

Crouch Roundhouse

2HK

Crouch Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1500	15	SU	L	L	7	8	27	44	KND	-7	-
Very slow sweep. Not exactly the best one out there since it has mere pixels longer range than cr.MK, and there's better options out there if you want a quick knockdown.6

8LP

Jump Jab
//
8LP

Jump Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
600	11	-	H	H	4	22	-	-	-	-	-
Quick air-to-air. Has low priority so it will lose to good air to airs, however due to it's extremely high active frames it can still work if timed right.

8MP

Jump Strong
//
8MP

Jump Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1100	16	-	H	H	4	10	-	-	-	-	-
Odd air attack. The hitbox is extremely small but it does have high priority. It might be able to beat out some air attacks but most times it loses.

8HP

Jump Fierce
//
8HP

Jump Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1600	13	-	H	H	6	8	-	-	-	-	-
Very high priority air to air. Works against most air attacks in the game, however it has a fairly slow startup and isn't active for long so it needs to be timed well to work.

8LK

Stand Short
//
8LK

Jump Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
600	6	-	H	H	5	22	-	-	-	-	-
Very useful button, works primarily as your cross-up button. It can cross-up everyone in the game, however it's weak to anti cross-up buttons. Use it wisely.

8MK

Jump Forward

8MK

Jump Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	10	-	H	H	6	8	-	-	-	-	-
Overlooked button. Has a big hitbox below Sagat's body that makes it very weak to anti airs, even bad ones. Ignore in favor of j.HP.

7/9MK

Jump Diag. Forward
/
7/9MK

Jump Diag. Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	14	-	H	H	6	8	-	-	-	-	-
Exactly the same as j.MK except now the hitbox covering Sagat's leg is shifted downwards. Again, ignore in favor of j.HP.

8HK

Jump Roundhouse
//
8HK

Jump Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1400	14	-	H	H	5	8	-	-	-	-	-
Scary button. This is your go-to jump in button. It has very high priority and starts up fast. It's also your primary short hop jump in button. You can confirm into just about anything after hitting j.HK, since it has a lot of hit stun.

Throws

4/6HP

Tiger Carry
(Up Close) /
cl 4/6HP

Throw Hitbox

Tiger Carry

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1600	-	-	H	H	2	1	11	14	KND	-	-
Go-to throw off of a throw setup. Deals great damage.

4/6HK

King's Clutch
(Up Close) /
cl 4/6HK

Throw Hitbox

King's Clutch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Up to 2000	-	-	H	H	2	1	11	14	KND	-	-
While admittedly way cooler than the Tiger Carry, the fact that this move is mashable makes this throw less worth it than Tiger Carry, as you might lose out on the good damage if the opponent mashes fast enough.

Special Moves

Tiger Shot

Tiger Shot
236P
+

Sagat hitbox

Projectile 1st Hitbox

Projetile 2nd Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	800	4	None	Mid	Mid	10	-	44	54	-11	-11	-
Zoning fireball Fairly slow projectile, usually used as a stalling move for zoning. Up close this move is not that useful, but it is great from fullscreen as you can set up easy anti airs if they choose to hop over the fireball.
MP +	900	7	None	Mid	Mid	10	-	45	55	-12	-12	-
A little bit of both The most versatile of the three. You can use it from a majority of ranges safely. It can work as a stalling move but also a quick anti air or for fireball wars.
HP +	1000	10	None	Mid	Mid	10	-	46	56	-13	-13	-
Anti-air fireball Very fast. It usually works as a quick anti air or for fireball wars.

Tiger Shot

Low Tiger Shot
236K
+

Sagat hitbox

Projectile 1st Hitbox

Projetile 2nd Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LK +	700	4	None	Mid	Mid	10	-	45	55	-12	-12	-
Another zoning fireball Same speed, pretty much the same applicability, however it's far easier to avoid.
MK +	800	7	None	Mid	Mid	10	-	46	56	-13	-13	-
No real reason to use this one.
HK +	900	10	None	Mid	Mid	10	-	47	57	-14	-14	-
String ender Another very fast fireball. Works as your usual combo or blockstring ender and as a fireball war tool.

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Tiger Uppercut

• Forward, Down, Down-Forward + Punch
  • LP 1800,900 down/-35 3/15/35
    • 3 frames full body, 4 frames lower body
  • MP 1900,900 down/-43 3/19/39
    • 3 frames full body, 4 frames lower body
  • HP 700+500+400+200x2 down/-35 3/[4]/[5]/[5]/[5]/[5]/42
    • 7 frames full body

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Tiger Crush

• Forward, Down, Down-Forward + Kick
  • LK 400+1100 down/-10 6/[6]/[5]/23
  • MK 500+1200 down/-12 5/[6]/[6]/24
  • HK 600+1300 down/-15 4/[6]/[7]/26

Super Moves

High Tiger Cannon

• Double Quarter Circle Forward + Punch
  • High Tiger Cannon super has one frame less startup before the super flash than Ground Tiger Cannon super. It makes a difference when punishing another Sagat's whiffed far s.HP with far s.HP xx High Tiger Cannon as opposed to far s.HP xx Ground Tiger Cannon.

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Ground Tiger Cannon

• Double Quarter Circle Back + Punch
  • LP down/-2
  • MP down/+1
  • HP down/+4

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Tiger Raid

• Double Quarter Circle Back + Kick

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Tiger Genocide

• Double Quarter Circle Forward + Kick

Combos

Sagat doesn't have that much of a combo game. It's mainly built of linking 2-3 normals into a special/super, with the latter being crucial in Sagat's damage output. Most of his combos feature 2f links, while that seems daunting it's way easier than you think. The good thing is you aren't required to learn all of Sagat's combos to play him properly, however it's good to know them anyways. Here are the best ones out there:

Meterless

st.LP, st.LP, st.MK xx Tiger Knee

, , xx +

cr.LK, cr.LK xx Tiger Knee

, xx +

cr.LK, st.LP, cr.MK xx Low Tiger Shot

, , xx +

crossup j.LK, cl.st.HP xx Tiger Uppercut

, (close) xx +

cr.LK, cl.st.HP xx Tiger Uppercut

, (close) xx +

Super Combos

cr.LK, cl.st.HP xx Tiger Genocide

, (close) xx +

st.LP, st.LP, st.MK xx Tiger Raid

, , xx +

cr.HP xx Low Tiger Cannon

xx +

Strategy

Sagat in practice is not that complicated of a character. He has two real main playstyles: a neutral heavy Sagat that focuses on using his pokes to confirm into damage, and a pressure heavy Sagat that uses his short hops to kill the opponent slowly. As you would expect, the Capcom grooves are where you'd play the neutral Sagat, and the SNK grooves are the ones where you'd play pressure Sagat.

Neutral

WIP

Pressure

WIP

Mixups

WIP

Okizeme

WIP

Groove Strategy

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Wiki Edited By JtheSaltyy