Matchups
Capcom Characters
Akuma
Balrog (Boxer)
Blanka
Cammy
Chun-Li
Dan
Dhalsim
Eagle
E. Honda
Guile
Ken
Kyosuke
M. Bison (Dictator)
Maki
Morrigan
Rolento
Ryu
Sagat
One of Eagle's worst matchups. Sagat basically does what Eagle does but way better. Since Eagle is a character who almost always uses his buttons, you'd imagine that it would kinda suck if you fought a guy who had buttons leagues better.
Firstly, in order to play neutral with Sagat, you have to be weary of the dreaded crouch fierce. Almost all of your good pokes lose to it. The only way to really stop it is to interrupt it before it happens, either with a button like cr.MK, or st.HP. This requires a lot of reads, which is precisely what trying to beat Sagat in neutral is like. It's all reads. Because if he sticks his button out first you really don't have any option but to block it. Your main pokes vs. Sagat will be the usual ones, but lean in towards Eagle's more "unsafe" ones. They're the only buttons that can interrupt Sagat from farther ranges, as your other quicker buttons don't have the priority to win. st.MK is decent for the mid range game, however, so you can use that to stuff out pokes like st.LK.
But, even though you have to use very risky buttons to stand a chance, the two most common grooves Sagat is seen in (C/K) both have options to completely nullify them. C has rolls, K has Just Defends. Both essentially render your risky attack useless. That's why I say this is all reads. You have to read that Sagat won't do those things and instead press something, or is caught lacking in a slow paced neutral game. If the Sagat reads you, he's getting a fat punish.
Although Eagle's air buttons are fantastic, Sagat has an invincible DP so he can anti air you pretty easily, even if he can stuff out Sagat's regular anti airs. In the air Eagle should be able to beat any Sagat air button.
Since Sagat is fat, he will eat pressure a little more than others, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the tools to easily escape. His 2f jab hits Eagle, crouching or not. He also has a lot of blockstrings that create separation, which makes it hard for you to continue pressure. Usually you just want to either end with an instant overhead, or throw, since either beats the usual down-backing strategy.
When you are being pressured, it's basically the same thing. Sagat's 2f jab can jail you and he has a decent strike throw mix with it. However, you also have blockstrings that create a decent amount of separation. The information is present in the Strategy section, but to add some examples of blockstrings you can do to create space, there's things like:
- cr.LP cr.LP cr.MP
- cr.LP cr.LP st.HP
But just don't do it predictably otherwise that's getting blown up. Just throw it out there randomly. Sometimes Sagat intentionally might leave a gap to bait out something like this.
Overall, this matchup sucks just because of the overlapping strengths, and how Sagat basically has all of Eagle's strengths with basically none of his weaknesses. It will be a tough matchup to win.
Sakura
Vega (Claw)
Yun
Zangief
SNK Characters
Athena
Benimaru
Chang
Geese
Haohmaru
Hibiki
Iori
Joe
Kim
King
Kyo
Mai
Nakoruru
Raiden
Rock
Rugal
Ryo
Todo
Yamazaki
Terry
Vice
Yuri
