A Dummy's Guide to Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Version 0.02 By: Iceman rocksolid44@hotmail.com, Iceman@tekken.cc January 1, 2001 [hey, that's about when the idea for this hit me :)] Outline: I. Opening A. Legal Business B. Why are you reading this? C. Legend II. Introduction/Basics A. Dashing B. Air Combos C. Double/Triple Team Supers D. Delayed Hyper Combos E. Pushblocking F. Variable (Alpha) Counters G. Guard Breaking H. Common Terms for Characters 1. Point Character 2. Assist Character 3. Battery Character 4. AAA 5. Pixies I. The lifebar 1. Red Health 2. Stamina Tiers 3. Assist's Health III. The characters A. Top Tier 1. Blackheart 2. Cable 3. Cyclops 4. Dr. Doom 5. Magneto 6. Sentinel 7. Spiral 8. Storm 9. Strider V. Closing/Credits A. Revision History B. Closing C. Credits **** I. Introduction **** Let's kick things off with some small talk. ** A. Legal Business ** This guide is MINE! I'm very possessive. It is for use only by websites I give/ask permission to post it. It strictly for FREE use. This guide is not meant for profit in any manner. I will not hesitate to seek legal action within my rights as an author if this guide is used by any website w/o my permission. In no way is this guide to be used in a magazine for sale without my permission and compensation. This means no magazine shall print any portion of this guide, without my explicit written permission. If anyone copies this guide and claims it as their own, I will not hesitate to seek legal action within my rights as an author under international plagiarism laws. If anyone sees a magazine that they believe has ripped off parts or all of this guide, please e-mail me. If I see it's true, who knows, there may be a little cash reward appearing in your mailbox. Now enough Legal crap, on to the good stuff. ** B. Why Are You Reading This? ** This guide is here because I realized a lot of people didn't know how to play MvC2. I remember when I first started learning the game. I had stopped playing Capcom fighters for a while and was playing games of other genres and companies. When MvC2 came out, and when I saw the large crowds for it, I decided I would learn it, because hey, fighting games with lots of competition are fun! I realize how hard it is for a newbie to find solid information. I looked around various websites for guides and FAQs such as this one. I stumbled upon a useful website. Finally, after reading lots of strategies, experimenting with lots of characters, playing lots of people and playing in a few tournaments, I feel I'm at a respectable skill level. Why did I write this? Because I realize there are MANY guides other authors have written dedicated to MvC2. The problem is, 90% of them are CRAP! Either they are outdated, or they were horrible to begin with. I won't BS you. My favorite Marvel Character is Gambit, and he is not very good in this game. Dhalsim and Akuma are two of my favorite Capcom characters. Akuma sucks, and Dhalsim is barely one of the top 20 in MvC2. Really, most of the characters I like suck. I've grown attached to many new characters, who I started using because I was sick of losing, and realized my favorites were getting me nowhere. Why are you reading this? Because you want to learn to play MvC2. Hopefully, you will find some bit of information that you will find useful. I'll admit, I'm writing for the beginner and intermediate player. I live in Virginia, a state that has good MvC2 competition, but I admit I'm probably not one of the 10 best MvC2 players in the state (kind of sucks living in an area with a low density of good comp). I'm not an expert, but I'm no scrub either. I wouldn't be writing this guide if I wasn't confident that I knew what I was talking about. If you have anything you'd like to add to this, and opinion about what I may say, or any questions, my e-mail is at the top, feel free to e-mail me. ** C. Legend ** Hey, you have to understand my language. I will warn you, I'm not printing a movelist. There are several great movelists at most FAQ sites, such as www.gamefaqs.com. Joystick and Button Layout -------------------------- (when character is facing right) U U/B | U/F \|/ (LP) (HP) (A1) B -- o -- F /|\ (LK) (HK) (A2) D/B | D/F D F - Forward U/F - Up/forward B - Backward U/B - Up/backward U - Up D/F - Down/forward D - Down D/B - Down/back LP - Light Punch / Jab HP - Hard Punch / Fierce LK - Light Kick / Short HK - Hard Kick / Roundhouse A1 - Assist 1 A2 - Assist 2 Abbreviations/Conventions ------------------------- P - Hit either punch PP - Hit both punches K - Hit either kick KK - Hit both kicks + - Input commands on either side of the sign simultaneously. QCF - Quarter Circle Forward; D,DF,F QCB - Quarter Circle Back; D,DB,B HCF - Half Circle Forward; B,DB,D,DF,F HCB - Half Circle Back; F,DF,D,DB,B DP - Dragon Punch (Shoryuken) motion; F,D,DF RDP - Reverse Dragon Punch motion; B,D,DB 360 - A 360-degree motion, starting anywhere; e.g. U,UF,F,DF,D,DB,B, etc. [NOTE: You really only have to do a 270, hit 6 consecutive directions, to register a 360 motion]. OTG - Off The Ground DHC - Delayed Hyper Combo, also known as an EX Cancel Universal Moves --------------- F,F or PP - Dash forward B,B or B+PP - Dash backward D,U - Super Jump (after blocking) PP - Push block / Advancing Guard (after blocking) B,DB,D+A1 – Variable (or Alpha) Counter (to your A1, Level 1) (after blocking) B,DB,D+A2 – Variable (or Alpha) Counter (to your A2, Level 1) QCF+A1 - Snapback (to opponent's A1, Level 1) QCF+A2 - Snapback (to opponent's A2, Level 1) Combo Prefixes/Conventions -------------------------- MP - Medium punch / strong. LP button in combos MK - Medium kick / forward. LK button in combos d - Dash. Dash forwards before executing the following command s - Standing. e.g.- s.LK means a light kick while standing j - Jumping. e.g.- j.LP means a light punch while jumping c - Crouching. e.g.- c.HP means a hard punch while crouching sj - Super Jumping. e.g.- sj.HK means a hard kick while super-jumping XX - Cancel into. e.g.- s.LK XX QCF+P means a standing light kick cancelled into a QCF+P motion. /\ - Jump (usually after a launcher, to follow your opponent) \/ - Land **** II. Introduction/Basics **** You need to learn the fundamentals before you try to tackle the advanced strategy. ** A. Dashing/Jumping/Flying/etc. ** There are two main types of dashes, ground dashes, and air dashes. Everybody has a ground dash. Only a lucky few have air dashes. First off all, I'll begin talking about ground dashes. As I've already said, every one has them. Tap the joystick f,f or press PP to dash. Press b+PP, or b,b to dash backwards. You may attack out of a dash, but you can't throw from a dash, you can command throw from a dash though. You may cancel dashes by attacking, ducking, or jumping. You can also dash forwards and cancel out of your dash pressing u/f and get extra distance with your jump. There is a large difference with some characters, less with others. Thanos can dash forwards for an extended period (way longer then you'll need to) by dashing then holding forward. Zangief and Blackheart have unique dashes. I'll start with Zangief. You cannot press PP to dash with Zangief, as you'll do his Spinning Lariat. If you allow Zangief to complete his dash, he will end it in a whiffed throw animation. If Zangief comes in contact with a point character (more on terms later), he will grab them. After grabbing, press forwards, backwards, or neutral plus punch for a suplex, or kick for a bite hold. Blackheart's dash is very unique. Only low attacks (attacks that would OTG), or throws will hit him, since he basically teleports to where he's going. You cannot cancel Blackheart's dash. You have a level of control of the distance Blackheart dashes. By pressing PP, b+PP, f,f, or b,b, Blackheart will dash about a half screen distance. But, pressing and holding f,f or b,b, Blackheart will double Blackheart's dashing distance, and his dashing speed increases. Blackheart can also dash "though" (or really under) an opponent. In essence crossing his opponent up. Air Dashes vary depending on who has them. There are mainly 3-types, 8-way dashes, forward only dashes, forward/backward air dashes. To do an 8-way dash, Hold the direction of your choice and press PP to dash in that direction, pressing PP alone will result in a forward dash. For a forward only dash, press PP to dash, holding directions will not matter. For a forward/backward dash, press PP, f+PP to dash forward and b+PP to dash backward. Canceling dashes depends on the character. Those with 8-way dashes are: Dhalsim, Dr. Doom, Magneto, Iron Man, Storm, and War Machine. Those with Forward only dashes are: Anakaris, Chun-Li, Morrigan* Omega Red, Rogue, Spider-Man, Tron Bonne and Venom * You can control the arc of Morrigan's dash with up or down. Those with Forward/Backward dashes are: Blackheart and Sonson. Certain characters have double, triple, and/or triangle jumps. To double, or triple jump, simply (super) jump and press U/B, U, or U/F. To Triangle jump, press away from the wall you are touching. Strider and Felicia can hang on to the wall for a limited time. Strider by pressing QCB+P, Felicia by holding f, or b when touching a wall. Characters with Double Jumps are: B.B. Hood, Cammy, Captain America, Cyclops, Marrow, Roll, and Strider. Characters with Triple Jumps are: Chun-Li and Psylocke. Characters with Triangle Jumps are: Chun-Li, Marrow, Mega Man, Sabretooth, Spider-Man, Strider, and both Wolverines. Some characters have flight. You can fly by pressing QCB+KK. When in flight, you cannot block, but you may use any move that applies while in mid-air. You can de-activate flight by pressing QCB+KK. Characters with Flight are: Dhalsim, Dr. Doom, Iron Man, Magneto, M. Bison, Sentinel, Storm, and War Machine. B.B. Hood, Captain America, Ken and Sonson have moves that will allow them to pass through characters, potentially crossing them up. Captain America has a cartwheel, B.B. Hood and Sonson crawl, and Ken has his roll. Captain America, B.B. Hood, and Sonson are invincible to attack, but vulnerable to throws. Ken's roll has no invincibility. ** B. Air Combos ** I know, I may be insulting some people's intelligence here, but this is necessary. I have played some players that really didn't know how to do air combos. This isn't rocket science. I'm not going to teach you these wild combos that do 130-hits using an assist and 4 supers. I'll let you figure those out :o) All I'm going to do is give you the basics for Air Comboing. Combos start with launchers. Every character has a launcher; you only need to learn what that move is. It could be any of your characters 6 standing, or 6 crouching moves. But they are not hard to figure out. Any move that knocks the opponent high into the air is probably a launcher. Ryu's crouching HP, Cable's standing MP, and Omega Red's standing MP are all examples of launchers. After you connect with a launch, hold U, U/B, or U/F and you will automatically super jump straight up, backwards, or forwards respectively. Of course, if you go backwards you won't be able to land and AC, so hold U or U/F. Some characters have several launchers. Storm for example, has three launchers, her crouching HP, crouching HK, and standing HK. Spider-Man's standing HK is a unique launcher. If the opponent is on the ground, it will not launch; it will only launch airborne opponents. Fortunately, Spidey's crouching MK knocks them a little ways into the air, so you can follow it with a standing HK to launch. Now that you have them launched, what are you going to do with them? Each character has what's called the "Magic Series", or chain combos. You have 2, 3, 5, or 6 hit chains depending on whom you are playing with. A 2-hit series of attacks can be started with a light attack, and can be finished with either medium or hard attacks. A 3-hit series allows either light attack to chain to either strong attack, then to a hard attack. 5-hit chains are as follows: light punch, light kick, medium punch, medium kick, ending with either hard attack. 6-hit chains are as follows: light punch, light kick, medium punch, medium kick, hard punch, hard kick. 5 and 6 hit chains must go in the order listed above. You can skip attacks. For example, Strider, who has a 6-hit series at all times can chain the following: light punch, medium punch, medium kick, hard kick, for a 4 hit chain. But, Strider (nor anyone else) can chain a punch from a kick of the same strength. You must also chain from light to medium to hard, not backwards. Some characters (like Cyclops and Cammy) can combo light attacks after medium attacks in air combos, but this is not part of the magic series. This happens because of their exceptional speed. Some characters have different series depending on whether they are on the ground, jumping, or super jumping. Anakaris has a 5-hit chain on the ground, 3-hit when jumping, and 6-hit when super jumping. Hulk has a 2-hit on the ground, 3-hit when jumping, and 6-hit when super jumping. Some characters though, like Strider, have the same series no matter where they are. Air Combos will end after most hard attacks, because the victim will be sent flying, and you will dash back in. For future reference, this is called the flying screen effect Now, you've launched them, you've hit them a little, now you want to do the real damage? Ok, the beauty of the combo system in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (and all the "Vs." series) is that it is wide open. Nearly every attack can be cancelled into another one. For example, if you are playing as Cable, who has a 3-hit ground chain, you can press LK, MK, HK xx QCF+P. What will happen, Cable will throw a weak kick, a medium kick, then a hard kick. The hard kick will cancel in mid animation into a viper beam. You can also cancel into supers (LK, MK, HK, QCF+PP with Cable), or you can cancel special moves into supers (LK, MK, HK xx QCF+P xx QCF+PP with Cable). This applies to ground combos, as well as air combos. ** C. Double/Triple Team Supers ** There isn't really much to cover in this section. To do a double or triple team super, press A1+A2. If you only have one level of super meter, your point character will do a super alone. If you have two supers, then your first partner will join your point character and they will do supers together. If you have three or more supers, then all three of your characters will do their respective supers at the same time. Of course, this is all taking for granted all of your characters are alive. If you only have one character and you press A1+A2, no matter how many supers you have built up, he/she/it will do his/her/its super alone. If you have three or more supers, but only two characters alive, the two remaining characters will super alone. Simply, a dead character isn't coming back from the dead just to join in a double/triple team super. What move each character does in a double/triple team super is determined by which assist you choose: alpha, beta or gamma (for the rest of the guide I will refer to these as super A, B, and C). ** D. Delayed Hyper Combos ** You can do kick ass damage with Delayed Hyper Combos. To do a DHC, simply do a super. When your character is in the middle of his/her/its super, do the motion for one of the supers for your next character. Your first character will stop his/her/its super, and your next character will immediately finish the job with his/her/its super. You can DHC one time through your line up, for a total of 3 supers. For example, let's say you are playing with Dr. Doom, Storm, and Sentinel. If you land Doom's Air Photon Array super, you can cancel it into Storm's Hail Storm super. You can then cancel that into Sentinel's Hyper Sentinel Force. In this case you cannot cancel Sentinel's HSF into any of Doom's Supers. One word of advice, I used this team as an example for a reason. Sentinel is a great character to DHC with. You can do this combo taking for granted you have five supers built up [and taking for granted your opponent isn't dead by the time you are halfway through this ;o)]. Hit your opponent with Dr. Doom's Photon Array super, then cancel into Hail Storm, then cancel into HSF. Sentinel can combo after HSF with a standing fierce into another HSF. You may then cancel the second HSF into Dr. Doom's Photon Array. If you have characters who can combo into multiple supers (Thanos, Sentinel, Guile or Charlie in the corner, etc.) you can DHC to them, let them combo into their second super, then DHC out of that super for massive combos. Just a word of advice :o) ** E. Pushblocking ** This is a technique that many beginning and intermediate players forget to use. I didn't use pushblocking for a long time. Once I learned to pushblock I saw a lot more wins come my way. Pushblocking is easy. When you block an attack, and are in blockstun, press PP. What pushblocking does is it throws your opponent across the screen. I think the distance your opponent is pushed is determined by the strength of the move pushblocked (can someone verify this 100%). If someone likes to jump in a lot or dash in a lot and try to combo, block then pushblock them. This will give you a little bit of breathing room to plan your next attack. You can also use pushblocking to disrupt the timing and/or escape some traps. The downside to pushblocking is that you are kept in a slightly longer blockstun. ** F. Variable (Alpha) Counters ** Variable Counters, or Alpha Counters as I'll refer to them, are very much like their counter parts in the Street Fighter Alpha series. When you use an Alpha Counter, your point character will leave the screen, and one of your partners will jump onto the screen and attack. The attack used is determined by which assist you chose for that character. To do an Alpha counter, as you block an attack roll the joystick B, D/B, D and press either of the assist buttons. Which character does the attack is determined by which assist button you use. One level of super is used for an Alpha Counter. ** G. Guard Breaking ** This is not to be confused with the guard breaking (or guard crushing) methods in Street Fighter Alpha 3 or Capcom vs. SNK. Guard breaking in MvC2 is really more of an exploited glitch in the game engine then anything else. First, before you can understand how guard breaking works, you must understand the following. When you do a normal jump, you are allowed one action. Be it an attack, a block, whatever, you get one action. Basically, you can't block twice, that's what you need to remember. To guard break, you must catch your opponent jumping, not super jumping. First you must make them block an attack. From the time they get out of blockstun to the time they touch the ground, they are vulnerable. Here are three examples of guard breaking. Cable has the easiest guard break, since he can do his from anywhere on the screen. Get your opponent to block a jumping HP, then when they release out of blockstun hit them with and Air Hyper Viper Beam (AHVB). Many characters, if not all the characters, can use their jab to guard break. Or characters like Strider, Jill (IIRC), and Captain Commando can use their helpers to guard break. The easiest scenario to apply guard breaking is after you have killed one of your opponent's characters. The "fall in" counts as a jump, not a super jump. Once you kill a character, time an attack (jumping jab, Strider/Jill/Captain Commando helper, Cable jumping HP, etc.) to hit your opponent just as or slightly before they enter the screen. Then hit them with the attack of your choice (a big super, or a launcher into a nice combo, whatever). ** H. Common Terms for Characters ** This probably belongs in the legend, but I thought I'd address it now. I've already been using some of these terms, and if they've confused you, now is the time for you to learn these terms. 1. Point Character: Simply put the character you are controlling on the screen. If you are playing a team of Venom/Dhalsim/Shuma-Gorath, Venom will start the match as your point character. 2. Assist Character: The character you call in as an assist. You have no control of this character other then when he/she/it is called out. Assist Characters can't/won't block, and they take more damage then point characters. Of course all of their damage can be healed. 3. Battery Character: A character who can charge a lot of super meter quickly. Omega Red, Storm, Spiral, Dr. Doom, and Blackheart are all examples of great battery characters. Cable and Silver Samurai would not be good battery characters because they use a lot more super meter then they can quickly build. 4. Anti-Air Assists (AAA): AAAs are characters that have an assist designed to be used to stop jumping opponents. Ken is the archetypal AAA. His Dragon Punch comes out with good range, quickness, and invincibility. Most teams do not function well unless they include a solid AAA, though there are exceptions. 5. Pixies: Pixies are characters who rely on combos. Wolverine is prime example of a pixie. Wolverine's best offense is to dash in, land a low short and either combo into a super, or launch for an air combo (for other pixies that may include an air combo as well). Pixies are called so because most pixies are small and annoying (Wolverine and Spider-Man for example are small and annoying). ** I. The Lifebar ** Let's face it, what's more important then the lifebar? You goal is to empty your opponent's lifebar faster then he can empty yours. Or just to have more lifebar remaining after 99 seconds. Either way, you need to understand the lifebar, so you'll know if you are in danger and need a tag, or need to do some last minute damage to win by time. 1. Red Health: After getting hit by a move, there will be some red health remaining. This health is important. You still have a chance to recover red health. You can only recover red health, nothing more. There are a few ways to recover red health, the easiest being tag that character out. Some characters have moves that recover red health, such as Omega Red. Some characters have assists, like Jill and Sonson that will allow you to recover red health. 2. Stamina Tiers: Not all characters have the same stamina. In MvC2, the life bar is 143 points longs. The average jab does about 4-5 damage, and the average fierce does about 12-16. Dan's suicide move (Otoko Michi) takes off 100 points of damage. So if you have questions about any of these damage numbers, you Dreamcast owners can test them for yourself. From highest to lowest, the stamina tiers run: 75%: (highest) Sentinel 81%: Colossus 87%: Blackheart, Hulk, Juggernaut, Zangief 93%: Captain America, Dr. Doom, Omega Red, Rogue*, Silver Samurai**, Thanos, Tron Bonne 100% (average stamina) Amingo, Cable, Captain Commando, Charlie, Cyclops, Gambit, Guile, Iron Man, Jin, M. Bison, Ruby Heart, Ryu, Sakura, Venom, War Machine 106%: B.B. Hood, Chun-Li, Hayato, Jill, Ken, Magneto, Megaman, Sabretooth, Spiral, Storm 112%: Cammy, Dan, Dhalsim, Felicia, Iceman, Pyslocke, Shuma Gorath 118%: Marrow, Morrigan, Sonson 125%: Anakaris, Spider-Man, Strider, Wolverine 137%: Akuma, Roll, Servbot, "Bone" Wolverine (aka Bonerine) * Rogue takes 46% damage upon receiving "Defense Up" from her Power Drain. ** Silver Samurai takes 117% damage if he uses his lightning power-up once or twice. Should he use his lightning power-up three times in a row, his stamina will return to 93%. Silver Samurai takes 46% damage if he uses his ice power-up once, twice, or three times in a row. Silver Samurai takes 140%! upon using his fire power-up once, 117% after using it twice in a row, and after using it three times in a row, his stamina returns to 93%. Summarizing this, Sentinel takes 75 points of damage from Dan's suicide, Akuma takes 137, and so on. These percentages don't mean so much, until you start getting into the big combos. Let's compare two of the better characters on the game, Dr. Doom and Strider. A 50 point combo will only do 45 to Dr. Doom, but it will do 62 to Strider. Yes, a big difference and this can mean the match. Of course, don't think that better stamina makes a better character. Strider takes hits horribly, but he's one of the 3 best on the game. He'd probably be #1 if he didn't take damage so bad. Zangief has great stamina, but he's one of the worst 5 on this game. Stamina doesn't help him out much. **** III. The Characters **** Hopefully, you now have the basics down. It's time to learn about your characters of choice. I'm not getting into too much detail, since there are 56 characters, but I'll try to have a little something for every character. I'm listing the characters by their respective "tiers." Tiers are simply groupings for the characters. The top tier is the top group of characters that stand out above the rest. The second tier characters are all relatively even in ability, and so on. I'm listing the characters in alphabetical order after that so there isn't too much confusion and so I don't get too many flame e-mails cause I rate someone's character too low. As far as rankings, these are my opinions, based on what I've seen, heard, read, played against, and experimented with myself. As far as strategies, well, the same as above applies. I welcome you to e-mail with strategies, and if you disagree with my rankings. I'm just trying to remember what I've seen and what I use myself. I'll list some strategies for each character, and then I will list what assists work well with them, as well as what characters to watch out for. ** A. Top Tier: The Dominators ** These characters are you main tournament winners. They are the ones that dominate Marvel vs. Capcom 2. These characters have fewer bad match-ups then the other characters in the game. By no means are these characters unbeatable. Simply put these characters win more often in EVERY situation then those below them. 1. Blackheart: Blackheart is primarily a keep-away character. You should super jump backward, use Roundhouse while you are in the air. After dropping the demons, air dash, after your dash has ended press Fierce and some demons will cover your landing. This alone is difficult for many characters to beat. When you have meter, try to drive your opponent a full screen distance away from you. Then use the Inferno (HCB+P) canceled into the Heart of Darkness super (QCF+KK). This does very nice chip damage; about 5-8% depending on who well the super connects. You can go offensive with Blackheart. When he's backed up by Cyclops AAA Blackheart is a dangerous rushdown character. Take advantage of Cyclops AAA to set up Blackheart's infinite combo (Air Roundhouse hitting in the air, repeat with more air Roundhouses). One of Blackheart's greatest assets is his anti-air assist, which tracks the opponent and reaches the full height of the screen. Blackheart works best with Dr. Doom Rocks or Cyclops AAA. The characters that will give him the most trouble are Cable, and Iceman. Cable can AHVB Blackheart after being hit by a Heart of Darkness (unless in the corner), and can punish many blocked moves. Iceman can simply out turtle Blackheart, since he has no way to chip Iceman. 2. Cable: This is the character more people bitch about then any other. Rightfully so, a good Cable can be a pain to deal with. First off, learn the "Tiger Knee" Air Hyper Viper Beam (AHVB). AHVB is the fastest super in the game, and you can link at least 3 with relative ease. For those familiar with the older Street Fighter 2 series, you'll remember Sagat's Tiger Knee was D, D/F, F, U/F+K. If you do the same motion then press both punches, Cable barely hop off the ground into an AHVB. To link 3 AHVB, use the Tiger Knee motion for the first two AHVB. For the third, jump straight up, and do the motion at the peak of your jump. This super is fast enough to punish any unprotected assist, nearly all whiffed moves and supers, and MANY blocked moves or supers. Cable's strengths are as a keepaway character. Generally, you will want to have a good battery character build supers for Cable, then bring him in with 3-5 supers ready. Of course, you can start Cable; you just have to build those supers your self. Jump back Fierce can be Cable's best friend. That gives your opponent two options, dash in, or super jump. You can cancel jump back fierce into jab viper beams, or grenades. You can also simple hop around and toss grenades, hoping to control as much space as possible. If an opponent gets close, or tries to dash in, call Cyclops (or whatever AAA you have). If Cyclops AAA hits, you get a free AHVB. If you decide you want to go on the offensive with Cable, have a good assist ready to back you up, such as Cyclops AAA, or Sentinel's drones. Try to connect this combo up close, c. LK, s. MK, s. HK xx AHVB x 3. You can cancel out of the s.HK into a super jump, so if you do the "Tiger Knee" motion quickly, in the later frames of the kick, you'll cancel out into AHVB. As far as which assist to use, really, all 3 of them have their uses. The Grenade is probably the worst of the 3. As far as projectile or anti-air, it's a matter of personal preference, and what better benefits your team. Cable works great with Cyclops AAA. Other Dragon Punch-Style AAA's work well with Cable. Cable beats Sentinel and Blackheart with ease. He also beats many both beamers or people with long recovery on their moves. Cable loses to Spiral and Storm. Spiral's Wall of Swords can leave Cable unable to AHVB out of it, plus Spiral can easily teleport away from AHVB. Storm can runaway to the top of the screen, above the reach of Cable and the AHVB. If played correctly, Storm can also rush Cable down. Magneto and Strider, using the Strider/Doom trap, will also give Cable troubles because of rush down. If Iceman has a significant lead on Cable, he can out turtle Cable and win by time. If Cable has the lead, and Iceman is forced to attack, Iceman should lose. One thing to remember about Cable, the slightest opening, and Cable will KILL that character. Combine this with Cable's Guard Break, and you can kill one character, and put half-life away on the next one. 3. Cyclops: The first thing Cyclops has going his way is his Anti-Air Assist. His Anti-Air assist has invincibility, though not as much as Psylocke or Ken. It also has good range, and sets air combos up nicely. As a point, Cyclops is not completely useless. He can quickly build meter by super jumping and whiffing Roundhouses. Once he has meter charged, he can chip away with his supers. Mega Optic Blast (the big one) does more chip damage, while you can aim Super Optic Blast, which is also faster then MOB. If Cyclops can manage to get close he can do nice combos with his Cyclone Kick and his supers. Cyclops works well with Dr. Doom's Rocks, and any good beam assist (such as Cable or Storm). Usually Cyclops is picked as an assist and not as a point character so he usually has to make due with what assists he has. Fortunately, he works well when backed up by Cable, who Cyclops is most often picked to back up. Cyclops has lots of trouble with Cable and Iceman. Other then that, I don't think Cyclops has few of very bad fights, but he only has few very good fights. 4. Dr. Doom: Doom is Arguably the best character on the game. He possesses the most versatile assist on the game, his "Anti-Air" assist, the Molecular Shield. It is great because it locks the opponent down, and does amazing chip damage. Interesting enough, it is not good as anti-air. Dr. Doom can also dominate as a point character. His air Fierce is a great move. Doom can simply use jump back Fierce and often this will dictate the pace of the game against taller characters. Doom can also super jump backwards, firing fierce, then shoot off two sets of air Photons (HCB+P) before landing. Doom can air dash upwards at the peak of his super jump to fire more then two sets of photons before landing, but you risk your opponent dashing under you and waiting on you to land. With Blackheart AAA backing him up, Dr. Doom can form traps that are very difficult to fight through. Doom can also go on the offense if needed. If ground dash is very quick, and his crouching jab is a nice lead in. C. LP, c. MP, c. HP into air combos finishing with the air Photon Array super (HCB+PP) do great damage, plus his Photon Array super sets up DHCs well, even if it's the first, second or third super involved. Dr. Doom works best with Blackheart, and he works well with any projectile assist, most AAA, and Sentinel's Drones. Dr. Doom has no really bad matches. Cammy and Ken can annoy Doom with their Anti-airs breaking traps. Dr. Doom can beat tall characters (Zangief and taller) relatively easy, thanks to his jump back Fierce. 5. Magneto: Magneto is the best Pixie in the game, hands down. He is the fastest character in the game. Use this speed to rush your opponent down. He can super jump, quickly air dash down-forward, and cross-up opponents easily. You need to learn to combo the Hyper Grav (HCB+K) and Magnetic Tempest (QCF+KK) in air combos. This can be done by quickly canceling an air chain into the Hyper Grav, then quickly canceling into the Magnetic Tempest. You may notice these two moves won't combo alone in air combos, but together they will. This is because when you activate the Magnetic Tempest, the action stops, but the Hyper Grav will not stop, giving you the few extra frames you need to combo the Hyper Grav into your air combo, likewise allowing the Magnetic Tempest to hit. If your opponent is quick, he can mash and break the Hyper Grav, only taking block damage from the Tempest, but this is difficult to do correctly. You can combo two or three Magnetic Tempests in the same combo with Practice. After the Tempest is finished, try to hit your opponent with a d+WK, MK, then air dash up- forwards and do a 4-hit chain into a second Hyper Grav/Magnetic Tempest cancel. You strategy really isn't that complicated, attack, attack, attack!! Use you fast dash to close the distance. If you get close, try a low Short into low Fierce. Beware of AAAs. They can be a nuisance when you try to dash in. Your air-dash is fast enough that not even AAAs can save your opponent if you dash properly. Super Jump up-forward, then quickly air-dash down-forward. Be sure to lead in with your fierce or roundhouse (I prefer fierce, but I don't play enough Mags to know which is truly better). This can be an effective cross-up depending on where you start your jump. Magneto is one character that really works well alone IMO. He's at his best with Psylocke AAA. Mags also works good with Cyclops AAA, Tron Bonne Projectile assist, or any good beam assist to cover him when he dashes, such as Storm. Dr. Doom's Rocks is also a great for Magneto. Magneto is one character that can take it to Cable. Cable's main weakness is being rushed down, and Magneto can do that better then anyone else. Magneto and Sentinel is an interesting match-up. If Sentinel leaves himself the slightest bit open, Magneto will hit him with a big combo (possibly an infinite). Magneto wins the fight, but Sentinel won't go down easily. Magneto does well against Spiral, because he is fast enough to get out of her traps and chase her. IMO, Magneto's worst fight is against Strider. Magneto lives by rushing people down, but the Strider/Doom trap turns the tide on him. Magneto can only super jump to escape Strider/Doom, but even then, he must land sometime. Other then this, Magneto has no other bad fights. Dr. Doom can be annoying, if backed up by Blackheart. Dr. Doom can use the super jumping variety of his trap with Blackheart and make it difficult for Magneto to fight through. 6. Sentinel: The big robot may appear slow and useless at first, but don't be fooled. There's really two distinct ways to play Sentinel. You can play him as a keep-away character, setting up traps with his standing fierce beam, drones, and calling assists. There are actually some very nice traps I'll discuss later using this same idea. Sentinel also functions well as a rush down character. Flight is the key to a great Sentinel. Sentinel becomes a fast character in flight mode. Sentinel's flight is as fast as his dash (and his dash is not slow). Once in flight there are two things to remember. One, cancel flight if you are ever too far away so you aren't punished for flying. Secondly, STOMP! When you get above your opponent, stomp on their head. I like this combo myself, j. WK, j. HK, WP Rocket Punch. This is a solid three his combo that you can use in flight mode. If you are close enough you can also jump up and throw this combo out. Sentinel has one of the best supers in the game in the Hyper Sentinel Force (HSF). If your opponent leave himself or herself open, throw a Rocket Punch and cancel it into HSF. You can easily combo HSFs as follows, HSF, Fierce xx HSF. You can use this method as well, HSF, Fierce xx Fierce Rocket Punch xx HSF. This is more difficult to do then the first method. I only use the second method if I am about half screen from my opponent. Experiment and you can find other ways to combo into HSF. Sentinel's Ground assist (the Drones) is the way to go. This assist sets up combos well, and does a good job of controlling the ground, forcing your opponent to take to the air. Also, Sentinel can punish assists well. If your opponent calls an assist, hit that assist with the following; Rocket Punch xx HSF, s. fierce xx Rocket Punch, HSF, repeat from s. Fierce as needed. Sentinel works great with Blackheart AAA. These two form a nice trap. Sentinel also works well with Dr. Doom's Rocks, Juggernaut Punch (he's my favorite to use Glitched Juggy with), and Spiral projectile assist. I guess beam projectile assists are good, but I don't see where they do anything abnormally unusual for Sentinel, same with DP-Style AAAs. With Doom, Juggy, Spiral, or even Storm, try this: get airborne, use the 3-hit air combo I listed above, while calling the assist to cover up Sentinel's recovery on the Rocket Punch, does nice damage, and good Chip Damage depending on which assist. Sentinel generally beats who he is supposed to. Anyone in the lower tiers, Sentinel beats. As far as top tier, Sentinel plays well against Blackheart, Spiral and Cyclops. Sentinel has several bad fights in the top tier. Cable kills Sentinel. Cable can block almost all of Sentinel's moves and punish him with AHVB. Sentinel's only chance is to find an opening and fly right above Cable, stomping away at him. AAAs are all that can save Cable in this situation, but at least you don't have to fear eating multiple AHVBs. Magneto, Strider, and Storm can all three destroy Sentinel quick because they can easily land big combos and/or infinite combos on him. Strider is also a threat because of the Strider/Doom trap. 7. Spiral: The Dancing Swords are the key to Spiral's success. Mastering the Wall of Swords (WoS) is your first order of business with Spiral. This is done by calling your dancing swords (HCB+P). You then throw a sword with jab. The safest time to activate your swords is to super jump straight up, maybe even call an assist before you jump, then if your opponent doesn't follow you activate the swords. To achieve the WoS, you'll want to begin throwing swords in the air. Jump and throw 2 swords as you all, or if you super jumped to activate, throw 2 or 3 as you land, throw 2 (or 1 if you threw 3 on the way down), jump throw 2 more and call more swords. After calling swords, throw two as you fall, 2 on the ground, and two as you jump back up and call more swords at the peak of your jump. So, basically, it's get in the air, call swords, throw 2 as you land, 2 on the ground, 2 as you jump up, call swords at the peak of your jump, repeat. This is a solid trap alone. The only way most characters can escape is to super jump up during the gap that occurs after you call swords. Should someone super jump out of the trap, you have several options. You can simply call swords, jump up and do her QCF+LK sword circle, teleport away and try again, try her DP+P anti-air grab if you are brave and don't think your opponent will try to attack you, or call an assist to aid you. Spiral's teleport (QCB+LK) is extremely useful. It if fast enough that you can see Cable begin an AHVB, and teleport on reaction to escape. You can control where Spiral appears by pressing and holding a button after you input the command. Holding LK will make Spiral appear in the bottom left corner, LP in the top left, HP in the top right, and HK in the bottom right. Holding down on the joystick along with the button will make Spiral appear closer to your opponent, in whatever part of the screen you want her to appear. Inputting the command, and holding no buttons will result in Spiral appearing directly above her opponent. The Wall of Swords, combined with this tricky teleport makes Spiral a dangerous fight for anyone. Spiral works best with Cable Projectile or Blackheart Anti-Air assist. Both work well for different reasons. Cable helps keep them locked down in the WoS trap, and Blackheart is good should they super jump out of the WoS trap. Spiral also works well with any quick beam assist. Most AAA with range will work well with Spiral. Spiral fights very well against Cable. Cable can't AHVB his way out of the WoS if it's used right, and even if he gets and AHVB off, Spiral can teleport out of it's way easily. Sentinel gives Spiral fits. His Super Armor allows him to take the swords and not budge, while beaming and calling drones to disrupt the trap. Magneto and Storm give Spiral trouble because they are fast enough to get away from the swords. Storm's horizontal tornado will go through the swords as well if she can get it off. She will still take the hit, but they should trade. Spiral has a rough time against the Strider/Doom trap. Really, Spiral vs. Strider comes down to who can out teleport who. If Strider activates Outboros and Spiral can super jump, then she can teleport around, and stay in the air hopefully long enough to let the Outboros end. If Strider manages to get close and activate the trap, Spiral will lose. Spiral's teleport is faster, so that is to her advantage. Ruby Heart is also VERY good against Spiral. Sublimation will eat up the WoS, and then Ruby will win up close. 8. Storm: Earlier I said Dr. Doom was arguably the best character in MvC2. Storm is the reason I said "arguably." Storm is the queen of the skies. In Storm, you have one of the best, and most annoying, runaway games in MvC2. Storm can super jump, air dash upwards out of the screen, repeatedly call typhoons (HCB+K), when she gets too low Lightning Attack (HP+LK, press joystick in the direction you want to travel, no joystick press results in a forward attack) back up out of the screen, and call more typhoons. Storm can whiff fierces to build meter. This is difficult for many characters to stop. Storm doesn't have to runaway though. She is equally dangerous as a rushdown character. She has one of the fastest dashes in the game, and the second fastest air dash (behind Magneto). With Storm, good offense is to super jump up-forward, immediately air dash down-forward and attack with a fierce, canceled into a roundhouse. There are several good combos Storm can land when she gets close. One is c.LK, c.MK, pause, s.HK (OTG) xx Lightning Attack forward xx Lightning Storm (HCF+PP). Another is c.LK, s.HK (launch) sj.LP, sj.LK, sj.MP, sj.MK, xx Lightning Attack (forward or up forward) xx Lightning Storm. Storm has a great Assist punisher in her HailStorm. If you need to, throw a tornado (qcf+K) then cancel it into HailStorm. One final not about HailStorm, it is mashable. That means if you are going to hit it, mash on those buttons for extra damage! I really don't know who to say Storm's best assist is. She works great with Psylocke AAA when you play an offensive Storm. She also works well with Doom, as you can drop Doom, then begin your runaway pattern. Blackheart works well with runaway Storm, allowing you to super jump from most characters without being followed. Storm kills Cable. Storm can runaway, and easily stay above the range of the AHVB. Storm is also fast enough to rush Cable down, avoiding his AAA. Storm will also give Sentinel fits if she gets close. She has an advantage on Strider, ONLY if she stays airborne. If grounded, Strider puts her away. Her speed also makes her a good choice against Spiral. Storm's hardest fights are Strider (if he can keep her grounded) Dr. Doom, and Magneto. Dr. Doom and Storm are an even match. Storm can beat Doom's traps, and Doom can usually fill the screen with enough crap to make it difficult (but not impossible) for Storm to runaway. Magneto can beat Storm, if the match becomes a pixie contest. Strider can beat Storm, only if he can keep her grounded. Dhalsim plays Storm very tough. Dhalsim is the one character that can stay in the air longer then Storm. This means Storm can't runaway. Dhalsim also fights well up close against Storm. 9. Strider: First off, let's make one thing clear. If you are picking Strider, pick Dr. Doom! Strider is an entirely different character with Doom backing him up, a more dangerous character. Many believe Strider is the best character in the game. With the power of the Strider/Doom trap, it's hard to argue that he isn't. Since the majority of Strider's offense comes from the Strider/Doom trap, I won't be discussing much about Strider here. I'll say this much for now, every time you get a chance to do the trap, take it. That's about 20% of your opponent's health you can take away instantly. And try to build as much meter as possible while the trap is going on. I'll be talking more about the trap in a later section, dedicated to traps. For now, one thing you need to remember about Strider is his Stamina. Strider takes 125% damage from every hit. This means if a hit does 12 points of damage, it will do 15 to Strider. One mistake can easily mean death for Strider. Personally, I look at Strider like this: I know unless I play a perfect match, Strider is going to die, it's just a matter of how many of my opponent's characters I take with me. If you find yourself without any meter, start building it. Strider can call birds and kitties (QCF+HK and QCF+LK respectively) rather safely against most characters. This builds meter fast. Strider's teleport and double jump are his best weapons to get close. Strider's teleport is RDP+any button. LK puts you on the ground, on the left side of the screen, LP puts you on the left about a character height high (Cable height), HK puts you right, on the ground, and HP puts you right, in the air. Strider works best with Dr. Doom, no questions asked. He is a totally different character without Dr. Doom. He wouldn't even be top tier if not for Doom. Aside from Doom, Strider works best with Sentinel ground assist (controls the ground, sets up combos and the trap), Blackheart AAA (they can't runaway in the air) and especially well with Captain Commando AAA (covers the ground and the air). I also like Juggernaut Dash assist with Strider. But it's a difficult Challenge to glitch Juggernaut (see Juggy's section for the glitch) w/o getting Strider or Doom killed. Strider eats Magneto for breakfast. Magneto wants to get in to do damage, and does it very well. That's a problem because Strider also wants to get in to do damage, and he does about 20% block- damage a shot if he has the chance. Strider also does great against Sentinel. Once Sentinel falls victim to the trap, it is hard for his big @$$ to get out. Strider also does very well against Cable. Cable's AAA is his only chance to beat Strider. Of course, you Cable hit Strider with anything; he has the chance to kill Strider. Storm owns Strider if, and only if, Strider lacks an assist to bring her down. Once grounded, Strider kills Storm much like Magneto. Spiral puts up a decent fight against Strider, as it becomes a teleport vs. teleport match. A match that Strider can win if he plays his cards correctly. Felicia give Strider a hard time, because her "Sand Sweeper" super is a pain in the @$$ for the Strider/Doom trap. **** V. Closing Credits **** Yes, you are reading this right. I skipped III and IV and went straight to V. That means III and IV are coming soon ;o) Watch out for revisions. ** A. Revision History ** 1/9 This is the first version :o) So there is no history! 1/11 Added sections 2,H,4&5, 2,I, 3,A, and 5,B. Made some corrections in section 2,A (Oooops, Servbot can't Double Jump! :p) ** B. Closing ** This is coming, whenever I think of something to type. ** C. Credits ** Yes, I have people to thank. $ Ug the Caveman: For all those philosophical talks about MvC2 ;o) And for helping to edit this guide. Also for letting me rip-off your legend. $ Mom: For buying me video games, and for the spending money to play in the arcade. $ The boys at the Bluefield, WV and Roanoke, VA (before it closed) Mindboggles: Thanks for the competition, and having someone to test out my strats against. $ Masaka: Good MvC2 comp (even if you HATE the game), and for letting me test Spiral/Sabretooth on ya ;o) $ Shoryuken.com: For the great articles about MvC2 (go check them out!!). Also for releasing, and doing nice job on the B4 tape. $ Those on the forums at Shoryuken.com: You may or may not know who you are. If you want to learn the intricate details of your characters and of good strategy, go to the forums and search for the knowledge you seek. $ Kao Megura: For an excellent movelist, which I have used as a reference several times in this guide. $ Sweets: For the love, support, and putting up with my never-ending desire to go to an arcade and play some fighting game against human competition. I love you.