General/Other - Sonya Blade Sonya General Discussion Thread

[Tony at Home]

Did some testing. B14 to homing missile will always come out on hit. Awesome. B14 to the "shotgun" blast is interruptible though. You'll hear the blast but it won't come out if Sonya is hit with at least a 13 frame move. That was my confusion as I didn't think the "shotgun" blast had a slower startup than the homing missile..

I'll use homing missile for my post reload now as it's definitely better protection.

 

[Tony at Home]

Wouldn't say "slept on", but despite everyone knowing how dirty she is, they've still not decided to learn the matchup, at least judging by SCR.

We're here stressing out about having no safe reload in the corner, but when actually playing everyone will do delayed wakeup and give us that free reload anyway

 

[Compbros]

Wouldn't say "slept on", but despite everyone knowing how dirty she is, they've still not decided to learn the matchup, at least judging by SCR.

We're here stressing out about having no safe reload in the corner, but when actually playing everyone will do delayed wakeup and give us that free reload anyway

People still don't know the Kobu Jutsu matchup or Tremor matchup because there's bigger threats out there, at least I think that's the thinking. There are people that don't know how a Cassie string hits, not a variation specific thing but that the second hit of B212D1+2 is a low. That's a very basic and constantly utilized string and people don't know it.

 

[errormacro7]

Wouldn't say "slept on", but despite everyone knowing how dirty she is, they've still not decided to learn the matchup, at least judging by SCR.

We're here stressing out about having no safe reload in the corner, but when actually playing everyone will do delayed wakeup and give us that free reload anyway

Interesting, isn't it?

She gets away with murder with those unsafe reloads, while we're over here discussing it and if it's unsafe against only ONE character (Reptile), then we should NOT use it. lol

 

[jmt]

Yup, I saw your post. And also, once they're conditioned to wait for the missile, you don't have to call it anymore so everyone wins. I occasionally summon drone into kamikaze (which completely defeats the purpose of calling the drone) just so they know that there are multiple offensive options that could (and will!) follow. Only thing I don't like to follow with is the shotgun because it goes away if Sonya gets hit, even blocking!

Yes. I love the mindgame with the drone. Very nice.

 

[Youphemism]

Are we really surprised noone in this community has bothered to lab shit? This isn't the first game it's happened for

 

[Ninequads93]

If they tech roll you can still block in time but not call the homing missile without trading if they delay wakeup well tats awesome lol

 

[Jolt]

If they tech roll you can still block in time but not call the homing missile without trading if they delay wakeup well tats awesome lol

What's the damage without jip + divekick? I personally just use the 112 ender. Same rules, but using that setup will definitely count as a bait.

Using 112 (or 2134 as others seem to prefer), you can call the drone out and shoot a homing missile if they don't have a quick wakeup. If they have a fast wakeup, you can call the drone and block. If they tech roll, you can summon drone, shoot missile, AND block but you shouldn't have to because the missile will cover you.

I like 112 vs Cassie in particular because you can knockdown, backdash, call drone and then block. If she decides to glow kick wakeup then it's a punish opportunity for Sonya.

Excellent video, I'm glad to see more people work with Special Forces. Not saying anything is wrong with what you do btw, just having some discussion since it seems so few people use the variation

 

[Ninequads93]

It's all gud man id love to discuss I've brought up 112 before I think it's amazing too

The combo does 37% without jip dk

 

[Jolt]

It's all gud man id love to discuss I've brought up 112 before I think it's amazing too

The combo does 37% without jip dk

Appreciate it. Mine are only doing 35% so I'll have to check this out. Special Forces is really good IMO offline. It's online that it becomes unreliable. Drone attacks just don't come out when they're supposed to and that makes you take some unnecessary risks. I think it's perfectly realistic to keep the drone out 90% of the match or more.

With good execution, SF becomes pretty killer but people are ignoring it because Demo and Covert require less work for different types of reward. Admittedly, the reward is just about equal though.

 

[Skedar70]

Appreciate it. Mine are only doing 35% so I'll have to check this out. Special Forces is really good IMO offline. It's online that it becomes unreliable. Drone attacks just don't come out when they're supposed to and that makes you take some unnecessary risks. I think it's perfectly realistic to keep the drone out 90% of the match or more.

With good execution, SF becomes pretty killer but people are ignoring it because Demo and Covert require less work for different types of reward. Admittedly, the reward is just about equal though.

Yes. I use all three variations and the hardest one to use is SF and that is because the drone commands don't buffer on your inputs so you have to have a precise timing which changes on hit and on block. Sometimes it's annoying to get punished because of a missed drone attack.

 

[Tony at Home]

I've found something that works for me that allows me to get drone cancels with near 100% consistency, at least offline. Not that they were overly difficult offline, but even without lag I would drop them every now and then.

Timing against Sonya's grunt noises is what works for me. I've started practicing by closing my eyes, just listening and doing my cancels.

As soon as you hear the grunt from whatever move you wish to drone-cancel, do your drone input. It's very important that you REACT to the grunt, and do not allow yourself to get a feel for the actual time the grunt noise occours. If you do that, you'll press the drone button at the same time rather than slightly after and it won't come out.

This seems to be consistent across the board for all moves. I just went into practice, closed my eyes and mashed strings randomly and could get drone cancels with near perfect consistency if I only allowed myself to time the

Once again, REACT to the grunt, do not try to memorize when it will happen. Sonya grunts just as she's hitting the opponent, and the drone cancel needs to come slightly after contact.

I think the reason this works is the "block" visual cue is super small in MKX. It's not sparks flying everywhere like in other games. The sound is also quite muted unlike the block sounds in most other fighting games (Tekken is like banging on a trashcan lid).

Of course, this doesn't work for online, but doing this in practice mode for 5 minutes or so before you jump online is just a great way to get the "rythym" down and you'll end up dropping it less anyway.

 

[ArmedCalf]

What's the game plan supposed to be with Dronya? I don't really have a good handle on what I'm supposed to be doing with her. Also, I find myself sacrifice damage for a drone call a lot, is that a good thing? For example if I connect a low kamikaze around midscreen, instead of doing

b2, 12, RC f2xxbf4 I may do b2, 12, f2xxdd1. Should I be going for damage or is it safer to get the drone out. Also, can this character be zoned out or do I still suck? It feels like even with the homing missile, people can just throw projectiles and win trades if she tries to approach. I need to put a lot more work in but I do enjoy this character.

 

[Youphemism]

Sonya has got safe demolition reload setups in the corner. For example my b&b is b33212 grenade / 4 grenade / njp / ji1 / 4 grenade / b14 reload.

Aslong as you hit the final b14 high enough even reptile exslide reversal is blockable

That is incorrect. Make sure you test these things on tech rolling opponents before posting please.

 

[Youphemism]

What's the game plan supposed to be with Dronya? I don't really have a good handle on what I'm supposed to be doing with her. Also, I find myself sacrifice damage for a drone call a lot, is that a good thing? For example if I connect a low kamikaze around midscreen, instead of doing

b2, 12, RC f2xxbf4 I may do b2, 12, f2xxdd1. Should I be going for damage or is it safer to get the drone out. Also, can this character be zoned out or do I still suck? It feels like even with the homing missile, people can just throw projectiles and win trades if she tries to approach. I need to put a lot more work in but I do enjoy this character.

I just spam BLK+2 most of the time You don't really have to sacrifice damage for drone call if you land a B33212 on the ground or 2134 at the end of a juggle as it gives enough advantage for a safe call.

 

[Tony at Home]

213~Drone pressure is really good.

It's kind of a super convoluted flow chart of "what can my opponent do to get out" and "how do I counter that attempt"

Will make a thread about it tonight.

 

[jmt]

Sonya has got safe demolition reload setups in the corner. For example my b&b is b33212 grenade / 4 grenade / njp / ji1 / 4 grenade / b14 reload.

Aslong as you hit the final b14 high enough even reptile exslide reversal is blockable

False

 

[Jolt]

While we're talking about Special Forces, I got a friend that can do frame by frame capture and scrub through to double check the frame data on the drone attacks. All 5 of them have a 28 frame animation (wrist dial), but differ from one another in the time it takes for the attack to make impact. That's also dependent on drone distance.

On hit, after b14~ANY drone attack, Sonya should be about +10 to either continue combo or attempt a mixup/d4 . Unfortunately, because of pushback, options CAN be armored or dashed out of. In the corner, a frame perfect d4 is guaranteed which leaves you still at advantage and in range to mixup. One tactic I was toying with in training yesterday was b14 ~homing missile d4. If timed properly, the d4 and missile hit at the same time for a juggle combo. You could also stagger this in different ways for mixup pressure.

I am in no way saying it is the most effective option, just spreading information for people who might be able to apply new ideas and theory to it. I understand in many instances, pure damage is just the way to go.

I don't know the exact frame advantage of b332 cancel (because I didn't ask for that), but I know midscreen it links with the 1 series (1, 11, 121, etc.)

The implication here is:

Even if the drone is on the complete opposite end of the screen (from a park), you could do b332~ANY drone attack (not shotgun because of range) and cancel into a string of the 1 series and continue combo. The drone will then come and either cause a reset or continue the combo depending on the situation (and if they remember to block it).

Sorry if this is obvious information from everyone, but I thought it was important that we knew FOR SURE that all drone attacks shared the EXACT same 28f wrist dial animation since the in game frame data seems to tell frames before the attack will impact at default range.

As far as staggering and mixing up pressure goes, it's pretty nice. We just need to find optimal ON BLOCK situations and which drone attacks are best to call after which string to continue pressure without interruption. Even better if it can be safe on block and can convert into a safe drone recall (even if low damage) on hit.

Pretty sure 11~Drone has the most advantage by the way, I just don't know the exact number.

As always, thinking aloud and hoping one of you geniuses will offer up some good stuff

 

[Ninequads93]

What's the game plan supposed to be with Dronya? I don't really have a good handle on what I'm supposed to be doing with her. Also, I find myself sacrifice damage for a drone call a lot, is that a good thing? For example if I connect a low kamikaze around midscreen, instead of doing

b2, 12, RC f2xxbf4 I may do b2, 12, f2xxdd1. Should I be going for damage or is it safer to get the drone out. Also, can this character be zoned out or do I still suck? It feels like even with the homing missile, people can just throw projectiles and win trades if she tries to approach. I need to put a lot more work in but I do enjoy this character.

Like youph said you can end in 2134 call out drone and homing missile before a lot of characters can do anything about it

Combo
Starter ,low kami,(run a tiny bit) b2,b2,2134

If online I prefer to only use one b2 bcuz of lag. With this variation you pretty much give up damage for potential damage since you can't get much damage without drone out. Once you have drone out you just have to try to get the ball rolling and always leave yourself at a situation where you can get your drone out again. This is much easier said than done but once you play her more you'll get more of a hang for it.

About the zoning part if your thinking they're going to try to anti zone after homing missile you can always run in and block,divekick, mb arch kick ,use your low kamikaze to get them to respect you in projectile wars. Since it does good damage and knocks down ,after you can throw out a mb pink projectile thing(-5 I believe) I forget the name lol and should have enough cool down to call drone again.

Things I do are like homing missile , projectile (missile hits) projectile , low kami, mb projectile , call drone again

This is just one example of a sequence you can do if your opponent just wants to sit there and block build lots of meter , good chip and you get to call drone again

In terms of offense you have to make everything count, not dropping combos is super important since you want tat flow of drone to keep going.

Ways to get out drone:

Zone until you see an opening (as mentioned mb projectile good on block or hit for calling drone)

Open someone up b14,dd1 ( this one is really good, you get out drone safely but can even get out a homing missile before they can hit you(not 100% on the last part but it seems to have been working for me worst case scenario you trade)

B33212 into dd1 sends them full screen

F2 ,dd1

B14,f2 into dd1 can b risky bcuz if they block it they can punish ,it's all up to you to make the read.

Punishes 112,121 etc into dd1

I can add more info later I'm not the best with guides but if you have any more questions or concerns let me know.

 

[Ninequads93]

Just thought I'd share this, quick note tested with Kung Lao reversal on block 121,b332,b14 are safe canceled into drone attacks drone attack comes out and u can block in time to punish, this is really good in my opinion

 

[Dedlock]

Just thought I'd share this, quick note tested with Kung Lao reversal on block 121,b332,b14 are safe canceled into drone attacks drone attack comes out and u can block in time to punish, this is really good in my opinion

woah that does look beastly but I'm sure will drop online.

 

[Ninequads93]

Oh yeah bro online is a diff story for sure lol

 

[Youphemism]

Alright a few things:

1. Did you guys know you can convert off of F4 and non-SF B2 in the corner with a D3? If you didn't then you do now
2. Did you guys know B332 has a gap in it from max range? Wtf!?!?!?
3. I'm currently testing all the Special Forces cancel data on hit and block for call drone and park drone which will take me a while but I'll tag most of you. If any of you definitely want to be tagged then let me know just in case I don't get you.

 

[Jolt]

Alright a few things:

1. Did you guys know you can convert off of F4 and non-SF B2 in the corner with a D3? If you didn't then you do now
2. Did you guys know B332 has a gap in it from max range? Wtf!?!?!?
3. I'm currently testing all the Special Forces cancel data on hit and block for call drone and park drone which will take me a while but I'll tag most of you. If any of you definitely want to be tagged then let me know just in case I don't get you.

Please tag me. Don't forget me or I will cry.

 

[jmt]

Yea, I do the d3 conversion off of a f4 in the corner a lot. Feels good getting it too!

F4,d3,12,12,124!!!!!!!