Street Fighter IV/Vega

Introduction

Basic Stats
Health: 1000 (With Mask), 750 (Without Mask)
Stun: 900
Forward Dash Speed: 20f
Back Dash Speed: 22f
Jump Speed: 4+35

Vega is a bottom tier character for a reason. The first thing to know about Vega is that of all the characters in the cast, every single one of them has a move that grants invincibility frames except Vega. This means by principal that Vega is the worst character when it comes to getting out of a sticky situation. To accomodate for Vega's lack of defensive moves, his back dash grants him invincibility and Vega has a long-range focus attack coupled with a long back dash to act as a reversal. However, since the use of the backdash is situational, as well as the use of a focus back dash, this basically means that under most circumstances Vega can not escape. A tight player who knows the matchup will ensure that he has you under his thumb for as long as he can pin you down. Some matchups, like against Balrog, Rufus, and Abel, will at times have you extremely frustrated, mainly because you're pinned down and constantly getting thrown when you're blocking, meaty'd when you're trying to scarlet terror, and other such stuff.

Because of Vega's disadvantageous position being at the receiving end of a rushdown, Vega has abilities that help him avoid these situations altogether. As a Vega player, if you find yourself in matches constantly getting corner-raped and beatdown hard, you need to rethink your strategy. Coupled with the claw and mask losses, it's simply dangerous to be careless. The tools that help Vega avoid getting beatdown are:

• Long-Range Ground Pokes : Vega's crouching strong, standing roundhouse, standing fierce, standing forward, and crouching forward kick are all top of the line pokes. Standing Roundhouse hits twice so as to defend against armored attacks like an EX Dash punch, while crouching strong is simply a move Vega could not go without. When it comes to keeping opponents out with a strong ground game, Vega is one of the best. Poke strings also help an offensive Vega safely return to max poke range. Vega's sweep also has considerable range, though it is ineffective at close range.

• Aerial Dominance: Vega has many formidable attacks in the air. Most notably are the Air Grab, triangle jump fierce, and roundhouse for jump ins, and triangle jump strong for powerful air-to-air. Vega's jump straight up moves are strong as well: roundhouse keeps many jump-happy opponents at bay with a strong defensive hitbox, and fierce has spectacular reach, though an odd hitbox. Forward kick can be used for neutral jump offense. If used correctly, Vega can dominate just about any other character in the air-to-air department.

• Agility: Vega is very quick on his feet. His walk speed is above average, and while his forward dash is mediocre, his backdash ranks highly among the best. His jumps are quick, and coupled with the timely use of Flying Barcelona, Vega can avoid many hostile situations by jumping out. As Vega you should always be moving on your feet. Not enough to expose yourself: jumping in and random barcelonas are very dangerous. In a matchup like Zangief, Vega can strike him once and avoid him for the rest of the match for a Time Over victory.

These three attributes are key to succesful Vega play. Vega's footsies are very solid: crouching strong is unrivaled in speed and range. The main thing bogging Vega down is his situational ultra, and inability to escape rushdowns. If you can create a gameplan that helps you avoid being rushed, and with solid footsies and aerial prowess, you can win. The gap between Sagat and Vega may be immense, but enough of Vega's matchups are 5-5 to be OK, and the ones that are 6-4 are tricky, but do-able. The 7-3's are disheartening, however.

Hopefully with the knowledge you gain from this wiki we can make Vega a serious contender; I'm convinced he has the potential but it's tough to see.

Move Analysis

Normal Moves

Ground Pokes

• Standing Roundhouse: Great move for a couple of reasons. At medium range, about the point where Vega's knee bends, this move hits twice. This is very, very key in the Balrog matchup, which is pretty bleak. It also works great against Abel's EX CoD. It's rather situational, because although it comes out in the same time as c. strong and jab, it has a very long recovery and whiffing it often means you're going to get hit. It's also -7 on block so try to avoid throwing this move out at bad times.

Combos into Nothing

Combos out of c. jab, st. light, cl. fierce, c. forward.

Super Move

Flying Barcelona Special: charge db,df,db,uf+P
Rolling Izuna Drop: press P close to opponent after FBS startup

Ultra Move

Bloody High Claw: charge db,df,db,uf+PPP

Notes:

• Beginning leap to wall is invulnerable to fireballs?
  
• Only comboable off of crumple (Focus Attack)
  

Matchups

Matchup Videos

Find a great collection of matchup specific videos from top players at streetfighterdojo.com
Contributor: zaspacer

Frame Data

							Frames	Frames	Frames of	Frames of	Super Meter	Block	Cancel	Ability
Move Name	Damage	Stun	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Block	On Hit	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Gain	HL	Chain	Special	Super	Notes
Close LP	30[20]	50	4	2	10	15	-1	+2	10	13	20	HL	X	O	O	-
Close MP	70[60]	100	7	2	13	21	-1	+2	13	16	40	HL	X	O	O	-
Close HP	50[40]x2	50*50	9	3(7)3	14	35	+1	+5	17	24*21	60*20	HL	X	O	O	1st hit cancellable, Forces stand
Close LK	30	50	4	2	10	15	-1	+2	10	13	20	HL	X	X	X	-
Close MK	70	100	6	2	13	20	-1	+2	13	16	40	HL	X	O	O	-
Close HK	40*70	125*75	4	2*2	23	30	-7	-2	17	22	60*20	HL	X	X	O	1st hit cancellable, Forces stand
Far LP	30[20]	50	4	2	10	15	-1	+2	10	13	20	HL	X	O	O	-
Far MP	90[80]	100	7	2	14	22	-2	+1	13	16	40	HL	X	X	O	-
Far HP	120[110]	200	8	3	23	33	-8	-4	17	21	60	HL	X	X	X	-
Far LK	40	50	5	2	7	13	+2	+5	10	13	20	HL	X	X	X	-
Far MK	70	100	8	2	15	24	-3	0	13	16	40	HL	X	X	X	-
Far HK	40*70	125*75	4	2*2	23	30	-7	-2	17	22	60*20	HL	X	X	O	1st hit cancellable, Forces stand
crouch LP	30[20]	50	4	2	8	13	+1	+4	10	13	20	HL	X	O	O	-
crouch MP	70[60]	100	4	2	16	21	-4	-1	13	16	40	HL	X	O	O	-
crouch HP	110[100]	200	5	2	27	33	-11	-6	17	22	60	HL	X	X	X	Forces stand on hit
crouch LK	20	50	4	2	9	14	0	+3	10	13	20	L	X	O	O	Low attack
crouch MK	70	100	8	3	9	19	+2	+5	13	16	40	L	X	O	O	Low attack
crouch HK	110	200	8	13	17	37	-12	D	17	-	60	L	X	X	X	Low attack, cannot fast recover
Jump up LP	50[40]	50	6	5	-	-	-	-	8	11	20	H	-	-	-	-
Jump up MP	80[70]	100	5	3	-	-	-	-	11	15	40	H	-	-	-	-
Jump up HP	100[90]	200	6	2	-	-	-	-	15	18	60	H	-	-	-	-
Jump up LK	40	50	6	9	-	-	-	-	8	11	20	H	-	-	-	-
Jump up MK	80	100	6	7	-	-	-	-	11	15	40	H	-	-	-	-
Jump up HK	100	200	4	5	-	-	-	-	15	18	60	H	-	-	-	-
Jump forward LP	50[40]	50	5	5	-	-	-	-	8	11	20	H	-	-	-	-
Jump forward MP	80[70]	100	5	5	-	-	-	-	11	15	40	H	-	-	-	-
Jump forward HP	100[90]	200	5	4	-	-	-	-	15	18	60	H	-	-	-	-
Jump forward LK	40	50	6	7	-	-	-	-	8	11	20	H	-	-	-	-
Jump forward MK	70	100	6	6	-	-	-	-	11	15	40	H	-	-	-	-
Jump forward HK	100	200	6	6	-	-	-	-	15	18	60	H	-	-	-	-
DF+MK	60	100	19	4	13	35	-5	-1	11	15	40	HL	X	X	X	-
DF+HK	80	100	14	5	10+4	32	-1	D	17	-	60	HL	X	X	X	(translate)
Triangle Jump	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Backflip PPP	-	-	-	-	65	65	-	-	-	-	-	-	X	X	X	1~57f invincible, (translate)
Backflip KKK	-	-	-	-	42	42	-	-	-	-	-	-	X	X	X	1~32f invincible, (translate)
Focus Attack LVL 1	60[50]	100	21	2	35	57	-21	-21	15	15	20	HL	-	-	-	-
Focus attack LVL 2	80[70]	150	18+11	2	35	65	-15	D	21	-	40	HL	-	-	-	-
Focus attack LVL 3	140[120]	200	65	2	35	101	D	D	-	-	60	-	-	-	-	-
Forward Throw	120	120	3	2	20	24	-	D	-	-	40	1.05	-	-	-	Throw range 1.05
Back Throw	120	120	3	2	20	24	-	D	-	-	40	1.05	-	-	-	Throw range 1.05
Air Throw	150	130	3	2	-	-	-	D	-	-	40	1.2				1~4 (translate), Throw range 1.2
Rolling Crystal Flash LP	20*90[80]	20*100	9	9(7)4	22	50	-2	+2	14*23	17*27	20/10*30	HL	X	X	O	charge 60f
Rolling Crystal Flash MP	20x3*90[80]	20x3*100	16	9(5)8(5)9(6)4	22	83	-2	+2	14x3*23	17x3*27	20/10x3*30	HL	X	X	O	charge 60f
Rolling Crystal Flash HP	20x4*90[80]	20x4*100	20	9(5)8(5)9(5)8(6)4	22	100	-2	+2	14x4*23	17x4*27	20/10x3*30	HL	X	X	O	charge 60f
Rolling Crystal Flash EX	20x4*90[80]	20x4*100	20	9(5)8(5)9(5)8(6)4	22	100	-2	+2	14x4*23	17x4*27	0/0	HL	X	X	O	1~78f (translate), charge 60f
Scarlet Terror LK	100	150	7	10	15+8	39	-12	D	20	-	30/30	HL	X	X	X	Armor break, charge 42f
Scarlet Terror MK	80*60	100*100	7	5*5	14+9	39	-12	D	20	-	30/20*20	HL	X	X	X	2nd hit Pursuit property, Armor break, (translate), charge 42f
Scarlet Terror HK	100*60	100*100	4	8*5	14+9	39	-15	D	20	-	30/20*20	HL	X	X	X	2nd hit Pursuit property, Armor break, (translate), charge 42f
Scarlet Terror EX	110*70	150*100	4	8*5	14+9	39	-15	D	20	-	0/0	HL	X	X	X	1~4 (translate), 2nd hit Pursuit property, Armor break, (translate), charge 42f
Sky High Claw	110[100]	200	???15	???	???17	-	-20	-16	17	21	30/40	HL	X	-	-	(translate), charge 42f
Sky High Claw EX	60[50]x2	100	???10	???	???17	-	-18	D	17	-	0/0	HL	-	-	-	(translate), 2nd hit Pursuit property, Armor break, charge 42f
Flying Barcelona Attack	-	-	-	-	31	-	-	-	-	-	20/-	-	-	-	-	(translate)
Flying Barcelona Attack EX	50	50	8	???	31	-	-	D	20	-	0/0	HL	-	-	-	(translate)
Flying Barcelona Strike LP	70[60]	100	3	11	31	-	-	D	20	-	-/40	H	-	-	-	Mid attack
Flying Barcelona Strike MP	80[70]	100	3	11	31	-	-	D	20	-	-/40	H	X	-	-	Mid attack
Flying Barcelona Strike HP	90[80]	100	3	11	31	-	-	D	20	-	-/40	H	-	-	-	Mid attack
Flying Barcelona Strike EX	50*90[40*80]	50*100	2	1(1)11	31	-	-	D	20	-	0/0	H	-	X	-	2nd hit Pursuit property, Mid attack
Izuna Drop	150	150	2	1(1)11	31	-	D	D	-	-	-/80	0.6	-	-	-	-
Claw Throw	-	-	-	-	40	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	X	X	X	(translate)
Mask Throw	-	-	-	-	40	40	-	-	-	-	-	-	X	X	X	10%(translate), 25%(translate)
Flying Barcelona Special	60[50]x3*100[90]	0	???6	10(2)10	31	-	-	D	17x3*20	-	0/0	H	-	-	-	(translate), Pursuit property, Mid attack, (translate), charge 42f
Rolling Izuna Drop	100*100*130	0	2	11(2)10	31	-	D	D	-	-	0/0	0.8	-	-	-	-
Bloody High Claw	450[375]	0	???1	9	31	-	-39	D	17	-	0/0	HL	-	-	-	(translate), (translate), Armor break, charge 42f
							Frames	Frames	Frames of	Frames of	Super Meter	Block	Cancel	Ability
Move Name	Damage	Stun	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	On Block	On Hit	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Gain	HL	Chain	Special	Super	Notes

The 1 frame discrepancy you see between Startup+Active+Recovery and Total is because when it says a move has 4 frames startup, it really has 3 frames startup and hits on frame 4. It was written this way so you don't have to do any math to figure out what frame a move first hits on.

Street Fighter IV