Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo/Vega

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The Characters

Introduction

Vega is the self-proclaimed most handsome fighter in the world. He wears a mask in his fights to help protect his beautiful face and a claw on his hand to slash down opponents with ease. He also features a nifty snake tattoo that covers much of his torso and one arm.

Vega, from Spain, is sometimes known as the Spanish Ninja because of his blending of the matador and ninjitsu styles.

--Vega 15:54, 6 February 2006 (CST)

Color Options

Jab	Strong	Fierce	Start	Old
Short	Forward	RoundHouse	Hold	Old Alternative

--Born2SPD

Move Analysis

Normal Moves

(S = standing, CS = close standing, C = crouching, J = jumping)

S.Jab - Very short range, misses crouching opponents. Sometimes useful as quick anti-air against late crossups.

S.Strong - Lunges forward with good range. Hitbox has a little more height than S.Fierce, but less horizontal reach.

S.Fierce - This is Vega's longest range move, and does good damage. You can press it early from 1/2 screen and catch people walking in or trying to fireball.

S.Short - A very quick knee attack. Useful for tick throwing.

S.Medium - A straight kick with decent range. This beats attacks that stuff your low claws, like Balrog's C.Medium.

S.Roundhouse - High anti-air kick with great range. Hits many air moves including T.Hawk's dive.

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CS.Jab - Same as S.Jab

CS.Strong - A high claw that misses crouching characters. Unlike a normal Strong, you can combo after it.

CS.Fierce - Same as CS.Strong

CS.Short - A quick knee. Different animation than S.Short, but works the same.

CS.Medium - Vega does a slightly different looking kick, but it works the same.

CS.Roundhouse - Animates the same as a normal S.Medium.

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C.Jab - Very quick and long range. These do not combo, but the window to counter is very narrow. This move goes past the opponent and whiffs at point blank range.

C.Strong - Same as C.Jab, but slightly slower & more damaging. Also misses at point blank range.

C.Fierce - A crouching upwards-angled claw. This is decent anti-air against people with low jumps like Zangief or Balrog, and you keep your charges too.

C.Short - OK to push away someone that's too close.

C.Medium - A very useful low kick. You can always link a 2nd C.Medium or C.Strong after this to keep opponents at your preferred distance. You can whiff these on purpose if they like to Psychic DP your claw pokes.

C.Roundhouse - A Slide. This can be punished up close, but is safe at long distance. Often trades hits with fireballs.

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J.Jab - High claw attack. Not useful.

J.Strong - Same animation as J.Jab. This has some use in air-to-air vs. high jumpers like Chun Li or M.Bison.

J.Fierce - Good combo opener, and hits low to the ground, making it excellent for safe jumps.

J.Short - Low range, low damage, not very useful.

J.Medium - Regular J.Medium is pointless. Neutral J.Medium counters a lot of special moves like Honda's Torpedo or Blanka's Horizontal Ball.

J.Roundhouse - Best jumping attack with decent range.

Throws

Suplex - B/F + Strong or Fierce

Air Throw - B/F + Strong or Fierce in mid-air

Special Moves

--Triangle Jump - Jump back against the wall, then in the air, jump again

Not really a special move, but has a few limited uses. You can save yourself if you're about to land on a Torpedo/Psycho Crusher.

--Backflip - 3P or 3K (HDRemix Change: alternate input - Jab+Short for 3K flip, Strong+Medium or Fierce+Roundhouse for 3P flip) 3P is a double flip which lasts longer. Both moves are completely invincible, but have a brief vulnerable period at the end. 3P is handy for getting out of tick situations, but if you over-use it, the opponent will catch on and sweep you as it's ending. 3K is great at the last second as your opponent is rising; you can bait them into missing a reversal or throw attempt. Repeated 3K at max range will charge your Super Meter quickly.

--Rolling Crystal Flash - Charge B,F+P Fierce roll is 4 hits of chip damage and good for finishing off a low-life opponent (note pun). Fierce & Strong rolls are not reliable and will often not combo all the hits even at close range. Jab roll should be your only one used, and is nice at pressuring from long range. All rolls can be followed up with C.Jab or C.Strong which will combo.

Rolls have curious priority that is not common knowledge. When done from close, priority is bad and rolls can be easily countered with most normals & special moves. However, when done from maximum range so that just the tip of the extended claw hits, the priority is excellent and will stuff nearly anything, including a wakeup Dragon Punch. It's very important to learn the range and timing so you can Jab Roll a knocked down opponent and have your claw extended as his wake-up invincibility ends.

--Flying Barcelona Attack - Charge D,U+K then P for claw or F/B+Strong/Fierce to throw (HDRemix change: you can press K in the air to drop straight down) By pressing UF or UB, you control which wall Vega will jump to. Once airbourne, you have control over your speed by holding F or B. Vega is slow when jumping towards the wall, then faster when he flies off it. You can minimize the delay by being at maximum range from your opponent and touching a side of the screen. (HDRemix change: the claw no longer knocks down, but you can combo from it with good timing)

This move is useless against some characters, and dominates others. Every character has basic standing & jumping normals that will counter the wall dive, so use it on wakeup, against fireballs, to run away when you're leading in health, and to bait counter-attacks.

Ryu - at full screen, you can Wall Dive in anticipation, and safely hold back if he does nothing, or catch him with the throw if he does a fireball.
Ken - Ken's Fierce DP will hit you even if you're holding back, so limit to ambiguous crossups.
Honda - if he's being a defensive turtle, you can crossup dive to cancel his headbutt charge, then come in from straight above to avoid the butt slam.
Chun - J.Short easily stuffs dives from any range. Get her with fakes or on wake-up only.
Blanka - Vertical Ball destroys the dive in every possible situation.
Zangief - His 3P Lariat beats most attacks, but you can hit his head cleanly with the tip of your claw while flying over him.
Guile - Flash kick still hits you even when he's facing the wrong direction, so use fakes from max range and Slide him if he falls for it.
Dhalsim - His normals hit you out of dives easily, but he has no wakeup options besides teleporting away.
Fei Long - Like Guile, limit yourself to fakes to bait a Flame Kick.
Cammy - Roundhouse Cannon Spike will get you from very long range, but if you cross up and attack from on top, you can make it miss.
T. Hawk - Same as Cammy - angle your dive high and fast to get behind his long range Rising Hawk.
Dee Jay - His Triple Kick is weak if you're right on top of him, so try to get him in a corner then go off that corner wall, to fall right on his head.
Balrog - Headbutts and C.Fierce beat dives every time, and fakes are easy for him to dash punch. Use very sparingly.
Vega - Vega can Flipkick a dive, or 3K backflip through one if he's crossed up or on wakeup. As long as you crossup, it's pretty safe to use.
Sagat - High fireballs tend to hit you if you're trying to UF cross him up. Stay on the ground against him.
Bison - He has no reversal and his air moves lose if you do the claw high and early. Dive on him all day long.

--Wall Spring - Charge D,U+P By pressing UF or UB, you control which wall Vega will jump to.

Vega goes off the wall and shoots directly at the opponent with a claw. You do not have any control once in the air. Doing this with Jab will make him fly higher- this will hit jumpers, but completely miss someone on the ground. The Wall Spring has a small chance of catching someone by suprise, but leaves you vulnerable if blocked. The best use of this move is against people who jump up to counter your Wall Dive, like Chun Li or M.Bison often do.

--Flipkick - Charge DB,F+K Vega's reversal/counter move. The Roundhouse version hits twice, and another RH Backflip can be combo'd immediately after to juggle (unless your opponent is in the corner). Use Roundhouse as anti-air to juggle for big damage, and Short to counter ground moves - it's quick recovery gives you a chance to throw if you miss.

Super Move

--Rolling Izuna Drop - Charge DB,DF,DB,U+K. Hitting any punch when next to the opponent performs the super. Otherwise, he will just do the Claw Dive. By pressing UF or UB, you control which wall Vega will jump to.

This move behaves exactly like Flying Barcelona Attack. Unlike future Capcom games, the super is not activated until the throw connects. You can still press P to claw attack normally (HDRemix change: and K to cancel and drop down).

Vega can charge his super meter in a couple seconds with 3K flips. Although the super isn't easy to connect with, it is still a very threatening option: Opponents have to assume every Wall Dive is real, or risk losing half their health in one shot. This makes it much easier to bait Dragon Punches and punish their mistakes.

Combos

• cr.Forward, cr.Forward, C.Strong: link combo that is easier on wakeup, but still works normally from point-blank range.

• j.Fierce or j.Roundhouse, cr.Forward, cr.Strong: simple combo off an aerial attack. You may cancel the cr.Strong into a special for meter or pressure.

• cr.Forward xx RH Flipkick, RH Flipkick: punish combo from point-blank range. This doesn't juggle in the corners.

• cr.Jab, Jab Roll, cr.Strong: another punish combo from point-blank range.

• cl.Fierce or cl.Roundhouse, cr.Strong: not a practical combo, but sometimes you get a cl.Fierce when you're trying to throw, and you can link the strong on reaction.

Match-ups

Blanka

This matchup gave me trouble too for a while. Once you learn it though you'll get better at it.

Charge back/Walk backward the whole round. If he balls, you can either flip kick through it, try one of the other counters suggested, or block, take a small step forward, standing fierce. Sounds basic, but this one strategy of stting there with Vega is good enough. Eventually, especially if you have a lead, he has to try something to come to you.Funny, cause doing anything else can be trouble with Blanka. Wake up balls or electricity can stop cross over wall dives. If the Blanka is good at wake up balls, it can stop doing meaty Claw Rolls on top of him. Just keep him out and wear him down. Don't go into his meathouse.

In the original everything ST thread DSP broke this match down pretty good [1] and it helped me out. See if you can find it somewhere. (CapMaster)
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Claw VS Blanka is a funny match. Most struggle with it at first, but once you learn it it can become a free win for you.

Sit back. Any blocked rolling attack is a free standing fierce for you. You catch them with this a few times, they may try to do a jab or strong ball into throw/hop/whatever. Watch for this, then sweep it. You can flipkick balls too of course. Use crouching strong to keep him away. be careful going for wall dives, as both rolling attacks and electricity can beat it. Sit back, and by never let him get into his cross up short range. That's where this match is lost. Keep him out of that range and you will whittle him down. (CapMaster again)

Chun-Li

Chun has one zone where she can jump in at you, thats when she is near you and you're not charged, too close to jump straight up and fierce and if you're not charged you cant flip kick which is the only counter at this range. What does this mean? dont let her get you in that range. Stay close and charged, if she fireballs, jump at her. poke with low strongs. Slide to move in on her and sometimes hit her as she tries to fireball. Basically you play close turtle style if possible. Imo its advantage vega that matchup. (Graham)
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I like to be ready to pounce on any kikoken she throws. I go for wall dives from across the screen when I see one, or if in close if she throws one hop it and go for a combo. Without a\ having her upkicks charged, chun li has trouble stopping a jumping Claw with her ground moves. I play this match by being aggressive and just going at Chun. Her air moves beat yours, even though jump strong sometimes is effective. She also has some trouble stopping wall dives shenanigans, her upkick has to be perfect. Stay on offense. You lose this match if Chun can press you. (CapMaster)

E. Honda

When I play this match, I usually go either one or two ways. One is to get a lead, and run away/turtle. The second is if you get a knockdown, go for cross up wall dives until he stops it. By cross up, I mean change his direction that he's facing so he loses the charge for his headbutt, which will very much stop your wall dives. It's not inflailable, he can sumo smash out of it (you won't always get hit though) but it's in your favor going for this.

For the turtle method, a well timed jump back fierce will stuff a headbutt if he trys it. Otherwise, try to keep your flick kick charged to get fierce headbutts. You do this a few times, sometimes Honda may try to a jab headbutt to make you flip kick on reaction, then punish you as you recover. Learn to recognize this, and slide him as he's landing from the jab headbutt. When you get the lead, Honda eventually is gonna HAVE to come at you in some way or form. Just be ready to counter his offensive options. If Honda gets you in the corner and he's close, you're probably gonna lose. Try to stay a little outside of the range of his fierce hands. Vega (Claw) can win this fight. The challenge is that Honda just has many more ways to do so.

-CapMaster

Don't poke. Trading hits with Honda is always a losing game. Don't even risk it. The best place to stay is just outside his roundhouse Sumo Splash. From there, you can just hold neutral jump and hop forever. Neutral Jump MK beats headbutt, pushes away splash, and beats all air-to-air, and can kick him out of hands. Just do this forever and mix in cross-up wall dives and fake-out wall dives to keep him guessing. Be careful about wall diving if you're midscreen - if he headbutts, the screen will scroll, you will miss the wall and land on him.

-MDV

M. Bison (Dictator)

I still am struggling with this match, but here's what I can tell you. Bison has no reversal outside of super. So everytime you get him knocked down, that's a free claw roll or wall dive attempt for you. Bison's kicks (scissors, standing forward, crouching forward) will give you major trouble, and his jump strong will neutralize your air attacks. Have your eyes ready to try to flip kick any scissor kick or psycho crusher so you can get that all important knockdown.To me, this match goes the first one to get a knockdown wins. Keep Dictator on the floor. (CapMaster)

Ryu/Ken

Because of Vega's foot speed and narrow jump, he can get through fireballs easier than most. Use that mobility to control the distance. Hold defensive crouch at max cr.strong range. You can jump a fireball and combo on reaction. You can Flip Kick a jump or a hurricane on reaction (watch out for short hurricanes which are bait). Poke c.jab and c.strong to hit normals and interrupt fireballs, but do so rarely and carefully to avoid DPs. Hold your zone and you're fine. If the shotos are playing annoying Air Hurricane games, you can hit 3K early and throw while they land. When you knockdown, do a meaty claw roll that hits with the tip on wakeup, this will stop a DP.

Once you learn wall dive momentum well enough, you can connect with a super through anything. If you knockdown from far away - wall dive and hold towards the opponent when you hit the wall to speed up, then hold back at the last moment. You will sort of hover just in front them and can grab their DP right out of the air after its invincibility frames. Against Ken's wider range DPs, you can steer yourself above him then curve around and grab him from behind. -MDV

Guile

Flash kick manages to hit wall dives at just about any angle. You can safely angle away and punish his missed Flash Kick with a slide. His turtle game doesn't work well against Vega, just push him into the corner and pin him down with c.jab, s.medium, s.fierce, and slide. He has normals that can beat each of these, but you have a major speed and range advantage on normals and usually win anyways. -MDV

Zangief

Keep away all day. Wall dive and press punch very early. Angle it so your claw lands on top of his head, and you'll beat out cyclones clean. Jab roll > c.strong from max range to chip a little and push him away. Reversal wall dive isn't going to hit him, but can get you out of some tight situations. -MDV

T.Hawk

I stay standing the entire game. S.Fierce pushes him away from half screen. S.Medium is good and fast if he gets closer and is looking to tick. S.Roundhouse hits jump ins and dives. (do it early) -MDV

Dhalsim

Dhalsim is better at fullscreen and better at close range. Vega wants to be just outside sweep range. Spam him with c.strong to interrupt Fires & Flames and slow normals. Learn the different angles of Yoga Drill and when you can or can't counter/jump away. If you're stuck at far range, you can hit some limbs with S.Medium or J.Fierce. You can also provoke him by repeat 3K handspring to charge your super. Once you knockdown, you can fierce roll, c.jab, jab roll for large chip pressure. Against wall dives, Dhalsim can Yoga Blast, j.roundhouse, Yoga Mummy or teleport. They're all effective but they all have openings. If your opponent always counters the same way, you can change your angle of approach and get in on him. -MDV

Cammy

First learn her safety zones. If you block a max range short drill or thrust kick (DP), you cannot punish and usually eat another short DP. Once you've got that, sit back, block her specials, c.strong poke if she comes in, and flip kick away jumps. All she has left is Hooligan throws which grab from farther away then it looks. Be watching for them and flip kick those too. -MDV

Dee Jay

DJ's Up-Kicks is terrible against Vega. Jump in from close with early j.roundhouse to stuff it. Wall dive directly on top of him and you can claw stuff him or connect with the grab from behind. And wake up kicks whiff against c.medium, c.roundhouse, and rolls. Just abuse him with dives and put heavy wakeup pressure on him once he's down. -MDV

Fei Long

Avoid being in the corner since it's very hard to get out. Get him at sweep range and throw out a lot of c.medium which will stuff rekkas. If you're knocked down, always low block the meaty, it's not worth 40% + possible dizzy if you screw up against his powerful meaty game. Max range jab roll with stuff flame kicks with the tip of the claw. -MDV

Vega (Claw)

Major pain in the ass fight. Neutral J.Medium is good air-to-air, as is J.Strong. If you're getting wall dived on, do an early 3K handspring to go through the claw and throw as they land. -MDV

Sagat

Slide under high tigers or c.strong if you're close enough. You don't want to wall dive fireballs even in anticipation since he can always recover in time and DP. -MDV

Balrog (Boxer)

His normals are overpowering up close and his grab & followups are too good. Slide, C.strong, and occasional jab roll to hit him out of dash punches. Once he's down, you can safe jump against headbutts. Keep it simple and stick to your zone game. Getting fancy doesn't help when one grab can cost you the round. -MDV

Serious Advantage Match-ups

Guile, N.T. Hawk, N.Sagat

Advantage Match-ups

Ryu, Ken, O.Ken, E. Honda, Chun Li, Blanka, Zangief, O.T. Hawk, Dhalsim, Cammy, Fei Long, Dee Jay.

Fair Match-ups

Boxer, Dictator

Disadvantage Match-ups

Claw has no disadvantageous match-ups, but a minor one (4.5-5.5) against Boxer.

Serious Disadvantage Match-ups

Akuma (banned in tournaments).