Abel and fireballs
I recently started playing Abel, but I'm having trouble with shooting characters like Ryu and Sagat. What is the best way to get closer? Is there any way to punish them for shooting?
Responses (3 total)
Focus-Dash Canceling, rolling, and patience are vital in a match up against fireballers. If you're within jumping distance and can predict a fireball then go for it and start your mix up. If you have meter, his EX-Marseilles Roll is also a solid option, since it's so quick.
The trick with Abel is to bait them into doing something that you can punish, such as a Dragon Punch, getting that knock down, and using his block strings to keep pressure and getting them to whiff even more moves. You can really mess up someone's game plan by rushing them down and keeping pressure on them. This leads to them reacting wildly and doing random moves that you (if you see it coming) can capitalize on.
Abel also has one of the biggest punishments in the game for chucking random fireballs and that's his Ultra. Once you have it available, try to train yourself into doing it on reaction. Staying about mid-range, you can try and bait a fireball and nail them with the Ultra for big damage.
Unfortunately, seasoned players know how to keep Abel out and it's up to you to be patient enough to find a way in and capitalizing accordingly. If you can, look up videos of players such as Rico Suave and ComboFiend to see the options Abel has and pick up things that you can do to stay in your opponents face. Hope this helps.
Once you have ultra you should punish every fireball with it. It's guaranteed. YOu just have to work on your reaction to the fireball :) Any good player will fear fireballing an able player that has an ultra. If you don't have an ultra you can always use the reliable ground roll: d, df, f + k
Remember that lk, mk, and hk all travel different distances accordingly. The ex roll has invulnerabilty start up and rolls faster. You gotta work on the timing of the regular rolls so you dont get hit in the face as you start your roll to avoid the fireball and also to not roll so far that you end up in a bad position depending on which fighter you are facing. For example if you roll to close to guile after he sonic booms you he has almost instant recovery from the boom and can throw you before you get up. AGains players like ryu or ken is much easier since they have a longer recovery after a fireball.
