Meteor Punch

Lion has one of the most useful sabakis in the game in the Meteor Punch (MP), QCB+P, and it even has a canned poke follow-up after (QCB+P,P). The MP will sabaki high punches, high kicks, middle kicks, knees and sidekicks. Both attacks will cause a stomach kuzure down, giving way to a combo opportunity and decent damage.

Why bother?

Sabakis are fantastic tools because they cut down on the options that your opponent has to inflict damage. For example, let's say Jeffry has just blocked Lion's sidekick, leaving Lion at a severe -6 disadvantage. This is an opportunity for Jeffry to force the guessing game. To keep things simple, let's say the Jeffry player will choose to attack or throw. If the Lion player guesses a throw attempt and attacks, the player risks getting MCed by Jeffry.

At this point, the Lion player should consider using MP. The MP will sabaki Jeffry's f+K; b+K,P; K,K,P; and f,b+P; all common methods for Jeffry players to inflict high damage. Should the Jeffry player decide to throw, Lion's MP will still hit. Even if the Jeffry player was to get cute and anticipate a dodge throw escape, the MP denies the Jeffry player the easy damage opportunity available from punishing an unsuccessful dodge. Moreover, the MP denies the Jeffry player the option of CDing close to Lion.

Given the amount of damage that an MP combo takes (50 points on normal), the okizeme opportunities available to Lion after, and the minimal risk of the move itself, the MP becomes a powerful weapon that a Lion player can use when disadvantaged. However, it is a move that has to be prudently used.

Note: In the example used above, if Jeffry decides to attack Lion after guarding the sidekick, he should choose d/f,d/f+P, which the MP will not sabaki. Jeffry can also use b,f+P, which will execute outside of the MP's sabaki window.

Frame Statistics

While the Meteor Punch takes 27 frames to execute, its sabaki window begins immediately at the 1st frame and ends on the 14th frame. These are numbers that I derived through testing--if anyone has statistics that are of a more "official" nature, please let me know.

This has several important implications. Let's take the example we've been using above. When Jeffry blocks Lion's sidekick, Lion is at -6. Let's assume that Jeffry executes a knee as soon as he blocks the sidekick, and Lion executes an MP as soon as he finishes recovering. Thus Jeffry's knee effectively executes at 11 frames (17 frames execution minus 6 frames advantage) from the moment that Lion exits from recovery. Since Lion's sabaki window is good up to 14 frames, Lion will sabaki Jeffry's knee.

However, let's say that instead of the knee, Jeffry goes for the b,f+P instead, which executes at 21 frames. Effectively, from a -6 advantage, the hook executes at 15 frames from the time that Lion recovers and can begin to execute his MP. Since the 15 frames effective execution time is beyond Lion's MP sabaki window, Lion fails to sabaki the b,f+P, even though it is technically a move that the MP can sabaki. And because Lion's MP itself won't hit until the 27th frame, Jeffry's b,f+P will interrupt Lion for an MC.

Take a look at the below chart for a graphical representation of what happens:

Of course, one should not over-emphasize frame statistics in real gameplay. The above analysis, for example, assumes that Jeffry begins the attack immediately after blocking Lion's sidekick, and that Lion begins the MP immediately after recovery. If the Jeffry player delayed his knee by 4 frames or more, the knee would execute outside of the sabaki window at +15, and Lion will be countered. Likewise, had Lion delayed the execution of his MP by more than 1 frame after recovery, his MP will sabaki Jeffry's b,f+P. Thus it is a matter of timing and a guessing game as to what your opponent will do.

Rules of thumb?

The fact of the matter is that at the Step 2 and 3 level, opponents are unlikely to participate in the delayed guessing game analyzed above, as it is quite sophisticated. Most opponents, in anticipating Lion's sabaki, will often choose to 1) dodge and punish, or 2) use a non-sabakiable attack to interrupt. Delaying to interrupt a sabaki attack with a sabakiable move is a precise and thus risky proposition; moreoever, the attacker gives up some of his advantage in delaying the attack.

Thus Lion players can still more or less use the MP as a defensive technique. Just keep in mind to use it when at a disadvantage! For example, if Lion and Jeffry are even at +0, and they execute an MP and knee at the same time, Jeffry's knee will actually win since it will execute past the MP's sabaki window (+17 versus +14). Since Lion's MP is especially useful against attacks like Jeffry's knee and Sarah's d/b+K, I recommend using the MP primarily between -4 to -7 frames of disadvantage.

Common moves that leave Lion in this disadvantage after being blocked include:
f+P
f,f+P
f+K
d/f+K
u+K,K
d+K,K+G
d+P+K
Many of his rising kicks

At below the -8 frame disadvantage, prepare to use your throw escape techniques. You can still attempt an MP throw escape (for example, against Jeffry, you can try QCB+P, f+P+G, d/f+P+G) but you must input the commands quickly and you will probably have to buffer the QCB motion ahead of time. Don't bother with MP throw escape if you recover worse than -16 frames.

Also, Lion's MP is a splendid move to use as you are coming out of a TR.

MP Recovery

At times, Lion's MP will sabaki but will not actually hit the opponent as the opponent gets pushed out of range from the sabaki. What happens then? First, the canned lunge P after the QCB+P will not hit. Second, who has the advantage depends on what move is sabakied. For example, if Lion sabakied a standing punch, the opponent will recover before Lion does.

When fighting against really good opponents, be aware that Lion's canned P follow-up is throw interruptable in parallel stance. Since QCB+P is itself throw counterable (-10 frames) and the second canned P is also throw counterable (-14 frames), in parallel stance the opponent can mash on P+G and throw Lion no matter what you do once the MP is blocked. Thus you must be prepared to buffer in the throw escape if you choose to try the canned follow-up anyway.

However, this applies only in parallel stance. In eight stance, the canned follow-up will interrupt an opponent's throw attempt for a SKD. If you don't watch stance and you're playing against an opponent who does (bravo to your opponent, boo-hoo to you), just buffer the throw escape after the canned follow-up anyway, since you will have time to recognize the SKD and input your combo if the canned poke connects. It's more important for the opponent to recognize what stance it is and decide how to punish Lion after blocking the MP.

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ice-9; published June 16, 2002; last updated June 16, 2002