The Zato Matchup is a Knowledge Check | Guilty Gear Strive Tutorial

[@DuwoYGO]

"No matter how much of a better player you are in strive, it doesnt matter unfortunately. I dont care what anybody says or think, i am the best at this game by FAR. No one comes even close. Screw the mirror match and rps and gl to everyone in top 8." - Zato Player (2022)

[@Halaa_]

As a Zato main I get away with a lot of things that really shouldn't work because most people have no idea. Honestly though it builds some really bad habits and facing somebody who actually knows how to defend against Zato makes him much harder.

[@DuwoYGO]

my mind was blown when i started researching. its crazy how much stuff isnt known even a year after release

[@facchini]

@@DuwoYGO bro i just played someone like this and he locked my zato up. running full screen and grabbing my opposes, killing eddie betweein pierce hits, i just hit him up to play more sets cuz he keeps me honest. thanks for the vid (:

[@Drawfill]

same with millia. So much of her pressure is fake but people respect her too much and eat all the mixups.

[@FloatingActor]

Some other useful info. -Zato can burst bait better than anyone thanks to break the law (the move where he goes underground) so be extra mindful of your burst timings against him and remember that he can't bait after 5D so you can always burst if you get hit by it. -His command grab is only has 1 active frame and only 5 frames of throw invul so reversal grab/delay grab will often beat it if you think they're gonna go for it. -YRC is very good as it will kill eddie if it hits Zato. It's especially good when Zato has positive bonus. Be mindful that he can bait it however. -Zato can ONLY summon on block from 5H into Pierce which is a frame trap so if you see him summon a lot from 2S, 5P etc. It's mashable. -If you block 2K > 2D know that he has no good cancel options so you can often 2K him back. -Zato's 6P has a slower than average start up. This combined with his 5P being a bad ani-air make his AA weak when he doesn't have oppose out so moves like goldlewis j.D, Baiken j.S/j.H and other fast jump ins strong against him. -A lot of Zatos will stall with flight to throw off AA timings. Use air to airs to beat this tactic. -Some set ups are either gapless or at least very difficult to escape. Out of the corner his gapless set ups only give him a 5D mix which CAN be reacted to with training. In the corner He get's to actually mix your ass for real IAD high/low/double high being the main ones. Be patient and don't give up on blocking. At least try to guess. Hope this helps someone.

[@sylascole5254]

Most of this is good, a few points of contention though: -Zato's AA's are actually quite solid without Eddie, as his 5p has so little whiff recovery that he can freely whiff it against a large portion of the cast and still have time to block. Additionally, its rather tall, and even if it's air blocked he can go directly into mix via pierce since often the first hit of pierce will be air blocked, leaving it more plus, while it also drags back down. Additionally, Zato can preemptively A2A well with either j.p early, or j.k if more speed is needed. -His 2k2d does actually have strong cancel options and existing RPS around it. Depending on screen positioning and spacing, he has a few tools to condition opponents to respect this string unless they have 50 and can afford to reversal super (Ram and Nago tend to have rangy enough reversal supers for this to come up regularly). In the corner, drunkard shade becomes a counterhit launcher into either wall break or ideal oki, and 2d is delay cancelable, creating a mind game over whether he will and what timing the drunkard will come. Additionally, drunkard recovers VERY quickly on whiff at only 12f of whiff recovery, making reacting to it quite difficult. FD will make it whiff, but immediate button will lose to invite hell, which in turn loses to early IAD. If they're FDing Zato has tools to rotate stagger 2k, or can simply introduce BTL out to exit the exchange. He does take risk with nearly all of these options, but getting hit by or simply failing to call them out leaves him either with a full combo, or time to get Eddie back. -Challenging Eddie post 2s/f.s summon is GENERALLY a good idea, but different mash options will lose at different spacings, and he can force RPS with frog to go over most mashes, which in turn loses to 6ps, which in turn loses again to pierce (though some characters have quite low hitting 6ps like Ram and Test, who can generally ignore/dismiss a lot of these shenanigans). Take time to lab your character's tools, as some buttons which beat pierce at some spacings might not be as reliable at others. Additionally, try to avoid YRCing post drills, as he can easily dash up BTL to blow this up, without giving up his turn. This is a VERY common YRC spot, particularly when cornered, and being incorrect can cost you the round. That being said, unless he's shown empty land low post drills, YRCing after drills if he goes for flight mix is actually alright assuming he's still airborne. While you won't get the benefit of being +10 in his face, he will have a more difficult time calling this option out, and you'll have killed Eddie.

[@sylascole5254]

A few points to bring up: Pierce is complicated, like Zato's kit. While you can backdash the gap, most mid screen pressure is designed to float the backdash and still award Zato a pickup. Additionally, current strong Zato's will actually void plugging the pierce gap post 5h, and instead do delay 5h. This will blow through your counterpoke and net a passable knockdown, and with meter can lead into full combo. Alternatively, it can also lead to counterhit 5h if you mistime your poke, and this nets a massive combo and unsummon, letting him work with a full Eddie bar again. Additionally, he can call out backdash via a clap pierce to float you, or double down with clap drills to force you to hold a harder to deal with mixup as well. The 2D->Oppose-DF setup is pretty bad for the aforementioned reasons, but he can actually make this a lot better with raw summon, single hit drill into clap oppose. Timed correctly, the single hit drill will actually meaty and drag back down fuzzy jump setups, and since the clap eddie changes, Eddie will still have enough gauge for 1 more mixup AFTER oppose expires, allowing Zato to wall splat and unsummon on hit, or go for another high/low while still being able to wall splat. I seen so many mid level Zato's go for the shown setup, and its generally quite fake, as 2D on normal hit with full Eddie gauge is one of Zato's most rewarding situations, and he should look to confirm it with either clap drills, single hit drill oppose, or single hit drill into sandwich pressure, barring specific circumstances or habits. Damned Fang is a little more complicated than you make it out to be, as it is both screen positioning and spacing dependent. Midscreen he generally doesn't get much, but in the corner the RPS becomes MUCH stronger, as 2d will beat immediate mashes and launch on counterhit, 5h blows up all but 3 and 4f buttons (and launches on CH), and f.s drags back down if they attempt fuzzy jumps (5h will generally catch this as well, but f.s is better in niche cases like wakeup back megafist due to its speed). While all of these options DO lose to DP, walk back frog or backdash frog blows up DP. Astute readers might also catch that there is a large enough gap to gold burst on wakeup, but backdash frog does cover this and actually launches for a full combo. Otherwise, this is all spot on! Zato is a complicated character, but the reason why we still see him at top level is because functionally, he ISN'T a knowledge check, since the vast majority of the stuff you cite here is just layer 1. He just necessitates specific and nuanced matchup knowledge moreso than other characters, as he can address and call out this counterplay fairly well.

[@DuwoYGO]

nice essay, amigo!

[@DragynFyre12]

Top tier content, wish more ppl broke down stuff like this for every character haha. Maybe I'll make one for Chipp.

[@erichbauer3991]

Jumping can be super useful against zato in general. For example jumping after blocking the first hit of pierce lets you avoid some of zatos attacks like 2S. He can cover jumps by canceling into leap but that can be 6p'd.

[@TheCodingGamer]

Really helpful video here! Would love to see this for other matchups too!

[@DuwoYGO]

Thanks! I always appreciate the positive feedback!

[@murillobruhbruh]

this is so helpful! please make more guides

[@noahwoods9871]

This was really helpful, I’d love it if you could do a chipp breakdown next!

[@DuwoYGO]

I actually main Chipp but I don’t really see anything that sets him apart from the rest of the cast so it’s hard to make a vid on him :(

[@noahwoods9871]

@@DuwoYGO yeah that’s understandable, as a Potemkin main I just find it hard to combat his high mobility and whiff punish potential. Also reacting to the mix ups is an issue too with just how much I have to look out for

[@PanacheDota]

Please do these for every character. Some good stuff here.

[@DuwoYGO]

thanks! yeah i plan on continuing strive guides

[@nixedification]

Thanks for the video!

[@DuwoYGO]

Thanks for watching!

[@inuarcer]

Thanks for the great vid. Now if i only connect to any opponent i could also try it. 😂 any suggestions on that?

[@TisThePanda]

Great vid!

[@DuwoYGO]

Thank you!

[@Gonzakoable]

the pierce gap is actually 6f but at that spacing is 4f

[@aprilgwynn]

A big help I found from trying out zato myself, is that raw summon attacks doesn't get that much direct reward - that finger snap animation is super long and barely gives zato time to combo or follow up if Eddie hits, so he has to take a risk to get much. Tho if he has enough time to get Eddie on the screen, just summon in neutral or Oki, yeah you're outta luck he can do literally anything off Negative Edge Eddie :v

[@MessengerOfEntertainment]

Really good and super informative. I hope this works!

[@feryparera6748]

Seems like my man here have never deal with sandwich pressure before 😉

[@DuwoYGO]

i dont know what sandwich pressure is but it sounds delicious

[@Dhamphyre]

Any tips for dealing with Drill?

[@DuwoYGO]

Eddie Drill? That move is unbeatable. I got nothing for ya, chief.

[@zaktak4380]

@@DuwoYGO It's not like the other one isn't unbeatable 😂

[@zipst6054]

you can also jump in between the hits of pierce!

[@DuwoYGO]

Yeah in some cases. Depending on positioning and jump angle sometimes you end up still getting hit.

[@zipst6054]

@@DuwoYGO oh oh, i forgot to say, when in neutral, if your getting pressured it doesnt work as well lol

[@eddysarcastic8599]

Any chance of showing a Kai matchup vid? I always have trouble with his corner pressure

[@DuwoYGO]

Im running out of ideas so maybe lol.

[@adre2194]

Pierce loses to 5f's, it's even in mission mode. That said it's tough to react to and he can bait it.

[@austinwilcox9290]

Me as a nago player hearing you talk about “running” and “double jumps” or “air dashing”

[@razorback3358]

If you're in the corner against the oppose command grap setup you can also try to command grap your way through damned fang. That being if you're a complete jackass. Timing has to be perfect and its really inconsistent but sometimes it works and its funny as shit if it does.

[@DuwoYGO]

That is such an evil idea LOL.

[@razorback3358]

@@DuwoYGO I've done it quite a few times and it has been done to me a few times as well haha

[@ryanflipski3297]

@@DuwoYGO coming from a zato main i guarantee run up command grab or run up throw after oppose will shut it down fang loops quick. Also forward airdash into a air to ground move works wonders if you get a cross up from it