Capcom vs SNK 2/Geese/Matchups

Matchups

Capcom Characters
Akuma	Balrog (Boxer)	Blanka	Cammy	Chun-Li	Dan	Dhalsim	Eagle
E.Honda	Guile	Ken	Kyosuke	M.Bison (Dictator)	Maki	Morrigan	Rolento
Ryu	Sagat	Sakura	Vega (Claw)	Yun	Zangief

SNK Characters
Athena	Benimaru	Chang	Geese	Haohmaru	Hibiki	Iori	Joe
Kim	King	Kyo	Mai	Nakoruru	Raiden	Rock	Rugal
Ryo	Todo	Yamazaki	Terry	Vice	Yuri

Capcom Characters

Akuma

Balrog (Boxer)

Blanka This is one of Geese's hardest fights. One of the first things that you'll learn is you can never throw a fireball at Blanka when he has a charge unless it is in a combo. So that means no two in one off of your sweep or low forward at anything other than point blank range. If you want to end your ground blocked combos with a fireball to add more guard bar damage, you will have to buffer it off of a low fierce, close fierce, or towards+fierce to make it safe, otherwise he can easily pass over it with his ball attack or ball super.

One very important thing is you have to force the Blanka player to play defensively. It is important that you don't let him cross you up repeatedly or dash towards you recklessly. If the Blanka player likes to cross you up a lot, you can walk back and low fierce him, or intercept him with jumping roundhouse or strong. Another more difficult but more damaging way to stop crossups is to use Geese's very skinny standing hitbox to your advantage. If you walk forward just a bit and remain standing, Blanka's crossup can't hit you, and if he presses the button in the air you can get a free low fierce xx super or jaienken on the frame when he lands. This is difficult but it can be done and it will definitely make the other player think twice about using his crossup on you often. If you don't think the Blanka player will press a button, then just start your normal pressure games after he lands.

Blanka's dash puts him in the air and when he touches the ground he has totally recovered, so in order to punish the dash you must hit him while he is still in the air. This is bad news, since it means you cannot do a combo on him if you anticipate it and must simply accept one hit. It is important not to let Blanka dash at you as this sets up a powerful mixup from him of either RC electricity, throw, or low short combo to super. Another way to counter a dash in is with a vertical jump so that you come down on him with your forward kick, he will either be hit or at least forced to block it. If he continues to mash electricity your jumping forward will usually beat it regardless.

Blanka's crouching fierce is longer in range than any move that you have, so its power against you on the ground is obvious. Geese has several moves that actually beat it cleanly if you do them at the same time, including low forward, stand forward, and standing fierce, however the danger is since his move's range is longer, if you press these attacks attempting to stuff his fierce and he does not press fierce, you will often find yourself whiffing an attack and then eating a sweep or slide afterwards, or worse, low strong -> super. So use these moves to make the Blanka player think about sticking out his fierce, but don't try to punch/kick his limbs too much because you will be killed for it. The safest ways to punish this move are to try to make it whiff you and sweep him, or to JD it which will yield you either a free sweep or a free low fwd xx super if you are close enough. Your standing roundhouse will also get you past this move, but only if you distance it properly so that the Blanka player cannot hit you out of the startup. Or if you anticipate this move and jump forward you can attack him with your crossup. Remember to do the 70 stun combo in this situation if you have meter since you will hit him crouching.

Blanka's low forward kick is very annoying also, as it recovers very fast making punishing whiffed ones very hard. Your best normal to fight this with is standing roundhouse, since it has longer range and will always at least trade with the low forward from blanka as long as the hitting frames are out. Properly ranged standing roundhouses will keep Blanka from pressing this button, as counterhit roundhouses both hurt a lot and give you a pretty good position afterwards to rush him more. You can see from these 2 paragraphs that Geese's standing roundhouse is very useful in this fight against Blanka's ground game. In fact your standing roundhouse would be a move that could really shut Blanka down if not for his back hop. Just press roundhouse from just inside the roundhouse's range, which is just outside of the range of all of blanka's attacks. By the time you get into the range where he can hit you, your roundhouse will have its active frames out and it will beat all of his attacks except the slide, which is a dangerous move for Blanka to be sticking out.

Blanka's slide bears mentioning as it is his only move that will beat the standing roundhouse when the roundhouse is fully extended. If you block this move up close you can punish it very easily, from long range you must JD it to punish it on block. You can also hurt this move badly by jumping over it, as it is laggy enough to give you a free crossup combo. If you get this on Blanka, you will hit him crouching, so do the 70 stun combo and take him out. Remember that if you see Blanka slide, that means he just lost his charge, you have a second or two where you dont have to worry about him anti airing you with his super or performing a vertical ball.

Blanka's back hop is one of the things that makes this fight difficult. If not for this move Geese could use his standing roundhouse from the right ranges to really give Blanka a hard time, however all the Blanka player has to do is hop back when you press roundhouse and you'll whiff, giving him a free hit. I've eaten low strong -> super many times because of this. You will have to mix up your standing roundhouse approach with a running in approach in order to counter it. If you run at him when you predict a back hop, then you can punish the hop's recovery with a move of your choice, like low fwd xx super, a sweep, or a low fierce xx Jaienken. Another counter that Blanka players use against the roundhouse is to jump straight up on reaction and land with a combo, and if you run forward you can counter this also by running under and pressing low fierce. So running in when he is looking for a stand roundhouse is usually a good idea, and vice versa. If you don't want to or can't run to punish this move, you will have to simply let him escape and keep moving forward until you can take him to the corner, and then don't let him get past you. Back hops near the corner are much easier to punish. One of the things that makes Blanka such a good character to stop rush characters like Geese in this game is that this move forces you to run into him preemptively to really be able to punish it, so if you guess wrong you will find yourself running into his hits and taking alot of damage. All you can do here is learn the opponent's patterns, and if you want to be totally safe about it just keep moving forward slowly until you corner him and then do everything in your power not to let him jump or hop past you.

Blanka has 2 very strong non meter anti airs against Geese, his vertical ball and his vertical jumping fierce. If you jump in and Just Defend either of these 2 attacks, then you can immediately hit Blanka with a free air roundhouse or air fireball(for knockdown), so that is one good weapon you have against this, however these moves are very hard to JD as the Blanka player can vary the timing of his antiairs very freely. One good thing is that he has no instant anti air except for his super, so if he has no meter you should be able to jump at him occasionally as long as you aren't obvious. As for grounded anti airs, his best 2 in this matchup are standing fierce and the slide. Unless perfectly ranged and timed, your jump forward will beat his standing fierce, and the slide will only work if you attack very early in your jump. A deep jumpin or jumping in and blocking will both punish the slide very easily. As for anti air supers, it is in your best interests to learn to JD his supers in the air. The one hit super is pretty easy to JD but the rolling super is what most Blankas will antiair you with in K Groove instead. Smart ones may try the shouting super also. If you jump at a bad time you might need to JD at least a few hits of these to save yourself alot of damage.

Blanka's horizontal RC ball attack can actually give Geese some problems depending on your Groove. If you don't have run, then you can't punish the ball if you block crouching without a level 3 super. If you block standing then you can hit him with your standing roundhouse. If you can run, then then best counter is usually to block then run forward and sweep, which will hit if you blocked low or high. If Just Defended then you can hit Blanka with a combo after the ball. A smart Blanka however will use the RC ball against Geese when they see you run forward or on reaction to your standing roundhouses, and in K Groove you have no way to stop your run and block the RC ball attack. You can cancel your run into a high counter or a jab then block, but the ball is too fast to be able to depend on this to save you, especially if you dont expect it. So this makes running toward Blanka difficult and dangerous. If you fight a player that does this then your best bet is to fake offense from time to time to bait the ball, then JD it and take your free combo. For example, run forward then cancel your run immediately with jab and get ready to JD the ball attack.

Low jump roundhouse is very fast and if ranged correctly very hard to anti air. Geese has it easier than most characters as your low fierce will beat the low jump roundhouse every time, no matter the range. So if the Blanka player is abusing this move, you can stop it. The danger in this is that if the Blanka player sees you doing this, all he has to do is jump in with no attack and your low fierce will whiff, leaving you wide open for whatever he wants to do to you. This is a guessing game that is not in your favor. The safest way to anti air it depends on your range, at long range you can back up so it whiffs and then sweep Blanka when he lands. Don't buffer that sweep into a fireball, as if you do that and Blanka empty jumped and blocked your sweep, he will have time to super or ball you. If you just sweep alone then at that range he can't really do anything to punish it since he lost his charge jumping forward. At close range(close enough that you will hit him even if he does not attack in the air) low fierce or Just Defense are the best options. What you should really be trying to do is pressure him enough that he isnt able to jump towards you with this move at will, as if you spend the whole fight trying to react to him, you are destined to lose. Another way to handle this attack is to jump to avoid it and come down with a crossup, since he will lose his charge and not really be able to antiair you in time. This wont get you any free hits but it is probably the safest way to handle the situation.

RC electricity is safe when blocked and even gives Blanka a good frame advantage. Try to JD this if you are forced to block it, as you can get a lot of rage meter that way, however if you are already raged DON'T JD it, as you are just wasting your rage time. He can keep mashing it and youll be stuck there JDing forever. The best way is to never get caught blocking this move if you can help it. Your counter depends on the situation that Blanka is using it in.

If he is using it on you as you are getting up, there isnt much you can do except JD it and go for some meter, high counter, or level 3 super. The first time you do it, the high counter will most likely work, but if the Blanka catches on he can fake the button presses and make your counter miss, causing you to take a lot of damage. So use this sparingly. More often than not you are just better off JDing in this situation. The super can be baited in much the same way, but depending on how much rage you have left and other factors it might not be a bad idea to try from time to time also.

If Blanka is using it on his wakeup, or off of a dash in, then you have several options to punish this. High counter of course, but this is very risky. You can also throw him out of his RC electricity every time easily with your Kick throw, and this is the most common counter to electricity. If you can space yourself so that the electricity whiffs you, then you can punish a whiffed electricity with anything you want. Your timing on this will have to be very good to catch him in the few frames after his invincibility wears off, but before he can block, so practice it. If Blanka whiffs the electricity close to you and you don't feel comfortable timing the punishing attack, then you can usually get a throw on him after the electricity wears off if your timing is good. And of course your level 3 supers will beat it. You can also jump up or do a crossup when you anticipate the electricity, and by the time you come down the invincibility will be gone and blanka will have to deal with your jump attack. Against most characters Blanka can just keep mashing electricity to beat this but Geese's jumping forward can cleanly hit him out of electricity with proper timing, and will always at least trade.

If your opponent is using A-Groove Blanka, be very careful once his meter is charged. His custom can hit you from very far away and does good damage. If you block the custom he really isnt going to hurt you very badly, but if he has meter you have to attack more carefully so that makes things more difficult.

One weakness Blanka has is his very weak Counter Attack. If you are about to guard break him and think that he will try to use this, you can just press repeated jabs and his slow counter will be counterhit by them if he tries to counter one of the jabs. He cannot Counter Attack your Jaienken to avoid a guard break because he will start getting hit by it if he tries.

Always buffer blocked fireballs off of fierce hits to avoid ball attacks

Use standing roundhouse liberally from the proper range to get past Blanka's pokes, but be aware of the danger of the back hop

If Blanka is looking for your roundhouse so he can back hop it or jump vertically, then you have an opportunity to run forward

Punish blocked balls by running forward with a sweep or a standing roundhouse. Fake runs in order to bait the ball attack if the opponent uses it to counter your run

If you jump over Blanka's slide or low fierce and land a crossup, it is possible to perform the 70 stun combo on him easily

Be alert for patterns and punish predictable back hops by running forward

Blanka's main antiairs can be punished with immediate jumping roundhouse if Just Defended

Low fierce will cleanly stop Blanka's low jump roundhouse but is dangerous if he does not attack and you miss. Sweep the whiff of the low jump roundhouse at long range and at close range use your low fierce, or just jump to avoid it and force Blanka to block your jumpin

JD RC electricity to gain meter, but do not bother to if you are raged already as it wastes time

RC electricity can be punished if whiffed and thrown before it comes out

Common moves that yield a free fierce xx jaienken combo, low fwd xx super or sweep if Just Defended within range: low fierce, low roundhouse, low strong, stand fierce, stand roundhouse, slide

Cammy Cammy is the easiest top tier matchup that Geese has, but it is still Cammy so you must use caution and be on point. The main reason you have an easier time with this fight is that unlike Sagat and Blanka, you can pressure Cammy at any range. Her roll is very slow and her jump attacks are not overpowering, which gives you the upperhand in this fight with your projectile. Unlike many other characters a blocked sweep into a medium reppuken is safe against cammy generally unless she has a level 3 ready. If she jumps forward over the fireball in this case you will have time to antiair her attack easily.

The basic gameplan here is going to be to use your fireball very liberally. Reppukens control the ground very effectively against Cammy and force her to jump, and Geese's attacks can easily anti air her at any angle. If cammy jumps, then you can standing fierce her if she is in front of you and low fierce her when she is above you. These moves will stop her low jump, normal jumpins, and dive kick as long as you time them properly. Hold her back using these tactics and rush her only on your terms. If you are close to Cammy you have to make sure you have the initiative, because a Cammy standing over you as you are getting up or running at you in fierce range is a very scary character.

If the Cammy player gets within her standing roundhouse range, then you can stop this move several ways. You can stuff it with your low forward, Just Defend it and hit her with a sweep or low forward xx super combo, or punish a whiffed roundhouse with your own sweep.

If Cammy does get the initiative on you then you are going to be in trouble for a little while, as her rushdown with her incredibly fast fierces is probably the best in the game. If any fierce hits she has plenty of time to confirm the hit and link a super, and if you whiff a move on her in an attempt to stop her from advancing stand roundhouse xx super is an easy and powerful whiff punisher. It is important that you dont get flustered by her and maintain control of the match, you do have the advantage here but you can lose it quickly if you let her get in on you on her terms. Make sure that any time you are in close range, that you are in control. Cammy's close fierce is so fast, that even if you JD it, she can simply press it again and you can do nothing but block or JD again. Her far fierce is very nearly just as fast. Don't try to retaliate after JDing these moves, especially if her super is charged. It only takes one mistake to lose a lot of life. JD when you can to build some meter, and be on the lookout for throw attempts. If you predict a throw then quickly use your close short and start a combo. Close short is your fastest move and is the most reliable in stopping throw attempts. The best counter to Cammy's fierces is just to never put yourself in that position by using your projectiles to set up your own rushdown opportunities and keeping control.

The way that a Cammy will beat you in this fight is if she can score a random knockdown, or if she forces you to block a jump in, usually a dive kick. This will give her the initiative that she needs to start her rush on you and once Cammy has initiative up close every character in the game fears her. Be on the lookout for these things. Avoiding the dive kick will require you to think fast, but it isnt terribly difficult. You have to anti air Cammy early in her jump, as once the dive kick is fully extended it can beat your anti airs. Just press low fierce if she dives above your head and standing fierce if she dives out in front of you(if she is aiming at your feet) and you will always at least trade, as long as you are fast enough. Be alert.

Cammy's fast walking speed can sometimes catch you napping and allow her to perform walk up throws on you to score her knockdown, so keep her under control and don't let her advance on you too easily. DO NOT jump at Cammy unless you are prepared to Just Defend her uppercut. There is no move in Cammy's arsenal that is laggy enough that you can jump over it and get an advantage, she will always recover in time to uppercut you, and to make it worse her uppercut has huge horizontal range so if you jump anywhere near her she can usually tag you. If you are hit by Cammy's uppercut or her throws, it is usually ok to safe fall as long as you arent near the corner. Her level 3 super can punish it, but it wont be for full damage and very hard to do on reaction. It is recommended that you safe fall if you arent cornered since giving her a knockdown is very dangerous. If you are hit with a Spiral Arrow or a punch air throw away from the corner then you still may want to safe fall unless she has a level 3 charged. If she has a level 3 then she can roundhouse xx super your safe fall, so dont risk it, but she has no meter, I personally would rather eat the roundhouse in some cases than to let her knock me down and walk on top of me, depending on how the fight is going. You can see from this that it is important not to let yourself get cornered, as this takes away your option to safe fall and makes her job alot easier.

If you just defend Cammy's uppercut in the air, then you have 2 options. You can either immediately press roundhouse, or immediately hit her with an air fireball. If Cammy is in a safe fall groove(which is usually the case as she is preferred in K) then take the roundhouse, but if not, or if she is near the corner, then sometimes the air fireball is better as that will knock her down, but do a little less damage. Dont jump in with JD's too often, because Cammy does have an air throw and she can vary the timing of her uppercut quite a bit.

Spiral Arrow is a tricky move since at the perfect range, even if it is JD'ed it is safe. However at the wrong ranges you can easily punish it. Learn when you can and when you cannot punish this move. You can also stop it cold with your fireball and standing forward kick.

Punish blocked Cannon Spikes by running forward and low fierce xx Jaienken or your sweep, depending on range. Or of course if you have super ready, low fwd xx super. Due to the bounceback of this move when blocked you have to run forward a bit to get a full combo on Cammy after you block it.

Be patient and keep Cammy out using your projectiles and anti airs, and attacking when you get clear opportunities

Safe fall is generally safe to use when not cornered or facing her level 3 super

After air Just Defending a Cannon Spike you can score a knockdown by using your air fireball or connect a jump roundhouse

React quickly to dive kick attempts and jumpins with standing or crouching fierce depending on range

If being pressured with fierces, Just Defend as much as you can and keep an eye out for throw attempts to punish with your stand short combos. If her super is ready then don't use your short unless you are absolutely sure

Moves that can be punished if Just Defended: Stand roundhouse, low roundhouse. She keeps frame advantage even if you Just Defend her close or far fierce, so do not try to retaliate after Just Defending these in most cases

Your low forward can stuff Cammy's standing roundhouse if they are done at the same time

Chun-Li

Dan

Dhalsim

Eagle

E. Honda

Guile

Ken

Kyosuke

M. Bison (Dictator)

Bison is a pretty straightforward opponent but also one of the most dangerous, because when he has meter he has many ways to set up and combo into his Custom Combo, and it does a ton of damage. His footspeed is very fast and allows him to get many throws, especially when his custom is charged and the opponent is reluctant to stick out buttons.

Remember that Bison has 2 moves that can go over your fireball, so don't throw fireballs at him unless he has lost his charge by moving forward.

When Bison is meterless the threat is much less but he is still capable of putting up a good fight. He has a good set of normal moves against Geese, the most annoying being his jabs, low forward, and standing strong, but fortunately for you his attacks have shorter range than yours so as long as you don't let him get on the offense easily you can handle them. Bison's standing jabs cannot be ducked by Geese, and they give him huge frame advantage. While they dont do a lot of damage, Bison can virtually lock you down with these for an uncomfortable amount of time, during which he can mix up throws. When Bison is close to you, his walking jabs, if done correctly, will counterhit anything you attempt to stick out and are not hindered by Just Defense. There are a few ways to handle this. If Bison has no meter charged, one way is to block and wait for the opponent to be pushed out to max range, while watching for throws. Bison cannot jab you forever, once he is pushed out far enough that his far jab is coming out he has to walk forward a bit too far in between and you can sneak your own low jab to stop him. Of course doing this puts you at the mercy of his throws, which are not easy to react to, however if he does fool you and gets a counterhit jab when you tried to hit him out of a throw the consolation is that it is only a jab with maybe another normal linked off it at most, so it is recommended that you don't just sit there and instead press your own low jab(or close short, if he is close enough) just to make sure he cannot throw you. If you eat a few jabs then it is no big deal. The second way to handle it is more risky but much more rewarding, you can use your HCB+Strong to counter his jab and put him on the floor at your feet. It is not hard to fit this move in between the jabs and since he will not have his charge, if you guess wrong Bison can't really do much to you without a meter except a 2 hit link or a throw. The reward is pretty great if you land this counter so it is not an entirely bad idea to try, even if you just do it once it will make the Bison player think about what he is doing instead of just pressing jab with no fear of retribution. And another option is to simply JD his jabs and take the free meter for as long as he will give it to you, but you make yourself totally vulnerable to his throws in this case.

Bison's low forward and standing strong both have excellent speed and they give him frame advantage during which he can throw you, or press one of them again and combo you. Bison walks much faster than you do and he is hard to jump towards with his many solid anti airs, but it is important to keep the momentum and dont let him be the aggressor because it is very easy for him to build meter from blocked hits and then become very dangerous.

His low roundhouse also deserves mentioning as it is one of the best whiff punishing moves in the game, so if your opponent is a good player this will be a move you should be careful of. Do not whiff laggy moves in front of Bison, and try to fake him by whiffing fast moves like low forward or short, since if you block his low roundhouse you can do alot of damage to him generally(although if meatied or distanced perfectly, Bison can actually get frame advantage with this move, so be aware of this).

His head stomp and psycho dive can be stopped with your jumping strong or roundhouse. If you do block a head stomp, you can anti air his 2nd hit with a low fierce if you run under him, or if he just floats away from you you can run up to him and attack him when he lands.

Bison has strong jumpins that will often trade with your low fierce unless you do it at the proper angle. It is best to anti air him directly over your head with low fierce and stop Bison's jumps from out in front of you by low jumping vertically or back with Strong. His jump is slow and floaty, so not hard to react to this way and your jumping strong doesnt trade with his jump attacks, it will beat anything he throws at you in the air as long as you get it out fast enough. Bison's jump is quite easy to hit with your Raging Storm due to its speed, if you get a chance.

As for Bison's anti airs, he will not have any problem stopping jumps from Geese if you are predictable. Bison's standing fierce done early will stop your jumpins, as will clearly his RC psycho crusher if he has a charge. He also has his jumping strong which will beat most of your jump in attacks easily and juggle you. Jumping at Bison is possible and rewarding if you can get him to block or take your attack, but you must mix up your approach always as Bison can control both the ground and the air very well if he reads your actions.

Many players will react to any attempt on your part to run towards them with a RC scissors or psycho crusher, if you are lucky then your Bison opponent will play like this as these are easier to bait and punish. If you fake runs toward him quickly cancelled with low jab(your fastest whiffing move) then you can often bait one of these 2 moves, as long as you mix it up with real attack attempts and attacks like your standing roundhouse. The psycho crusher can be punished after a block by using your fierce punch from behind. The scissor kick is harder to punish depending on range, if it is done from the very tip of its range then you really can't do anything unless you Just Defend, in which case a low roundhouse or anything faster is free. If you are close enough so that it hits you twice, then you can usually get a free low jab or forward if you block or jaienken combo if you JD, and if you are close enough that it hits you somewhat early then you can do a full combo even if you just block. Try to JD this move when you can, it helps with deterring Bison from using it recklessly, and even if you only JD one hit it makes punishing it easier because you will be pushed back less. Unless it is spaced absolutely perfectly, you will always get frame advantage after blocking a scissor kick using your low jab, but you have to time your press correctly.

Once Bison gets meter the game will completely change. A custom as damaging as his can quickly kill a character and he has many ways to both set it up and combo into it. When Bison has a meter ready I do not reccommend jumping at all, his jumping strongs will mean the end of your character if they hit you and juggle you into his custom activation. You also must be very careful of running towards him recklessly as he can combo his custom off of a connected scissor kick as well, and finally he can jump at you much more recklessly since his jump in activation will make you reluctant to anti air him. You must make him realize that you wont jump into his strong punches or run into a scissor kick, and then he will be forced to blind activate at some point, giving you a chance to bait him into wasting the meter.

Always antiair a metered Bison with your jumping strong or with an instant air JD into your roundhouse. Do not press low fierce as it is very dangerous. Do not try to punish scissor kicks unless you are very sure, and if you block a psycho crusher with your back in the corner do not try to punish it as the corner can make the move safe. Both of these are common activation setup gimmicks. If you read the opponent's custom activation, then you can counter it with your super using the delayed button press method just like Sakura(they will usually activate while you are raged to run down the clock). It can be very hard to tell whether Bison is going mid or low for the first hit of his custom, as he can do either, so trying to use your counter is not advised, especially since it is not too bad to simply block this custom.

By far the most dangerous custom setup is when he locks you down with a few jabs or dashes toward you, mixing up throws with his activation. In high level matches you will often see metered Bisons get 3 or 4 throws in a row on an opponent because they refuse to press buttons. In general eating a throw is better than eating a custom, so you should block more often than not, however if the opponent thinks you are frightened he will not hesitate to throw you to death and save the meter for your next character. You must press your own jab or close short to counter his throw occasionally and keep him honest, it is a risk but you have to make him believe he can custom you and bait him to waste it next time he gets close and expects you to jab again. You basically must use short bursts of offense in order to look vulnerable and make him want to activate but you must spend the majority of the time defending against his activation.

Maintain offense when Bison has no meter, using cancelled runs to bait RC's and punish them

Scissor kick is easily punished if Just Defended, and punishable if blocked from anywhere but max range using your low jab or low forward

Anti air over your head with low fierce and at angles with low jump Strong

Always make an effort to jab out or even use mid counters when being locked down by standing jabs, do not let Bison get initiative and build meter freely

If you block a psycho crusher with your back to the corner it becomes safe, if he has meter be aware of this custom set up

When he has meter be very careful not to jump into his jump strongs or run into his scissor kick, giving him free customs

Bait his activate with short bursts of offense but majority defensive play, keeping an eye out for common setups like roll, dash, jump in, or blocked properly ranged scissor kicks or corner psycho crushers

Bison can activate and catch you from anywhere in his low roundhouse range(virtually the whole screen) so be careful whiffing moves against him no matter the range

Maki

Morrigan

Rolento Rolento is very mobile and is a difficult opponent to pin down, so he can give Geese a hard time. He can force a lot of mistakes by running around and frustrating you, then landing a simple combo to super or a custom. You'll know if you are playing a good Rolento because even if you are winning you'll be really annoyed. In my opinion a well played Rolento is one of Geese's hardest matchups, so never underestimate this character. Geese is all about pressure and this is the best character in the game at escaping pressure and resetting the match, he is very difficult to guard break, has a nearly abuseable Counter Attack, and can escape the corner better than any other character.

Rolento has a few moves to give you problems on the ground. His low fierce and low strong are both pretty long range moves, and the low strong is pretty difficult and impractical to JD. If you JD low fierce, then you can not hit him with low roundhouse(it is too slow), but you can hit him with low forward. Unfortunately from the range Rolento will use low fierce usually the low forward won't reach, so you won't get to punish this move too often. He also has a pretty good low roundhouse that is great for punishing whiffs. If the Rolento player likes to use this move then try to bait it by whiffing something fast and JDing it, if you JD his slide then you can usually get a free low forward or low jab -> low roundhouse combo. Don't let him get too many knockdowns on you as he can be pretty dangerous if you give him free offense. His standing forward is also a very good whiff punishing move and can be buffered to his super easily. So you can see that Rolento is very good at punishing whiffed moves and small mistakes, the killer part of that is that he is also very good at forcing those mistakes from his opponent.

If Rolento knocks you down or gets inside on offense, then he has a very strong counterhit/throw mixup. He will use his standing jab, followed by a throw or a 2nd standing jab, low forward link. If you press a button then you will be counterhit, and then he can confirm the 2 hit link and finish with patriot circles or his wire super. This is a strong mixup and there is no easy defense against it so the moral is, don't let him get on offense too many times as each time you are taking a risk with your life. His threat is not as big as yours when it comes to combo damage, but it is still very significant. Some Rolentos will use his standing strong as a meaty, then do the counterhit/throw off of that, and it works the same so be aware of that also.

If Rolento presses his jumping strong early, you cannot reliably low fierce it. It is also very hard to JD, so he can use this to jump at you alot more than most characters can. It is better to anti air him by going air to air with your jumping strong or roundhouse, however C-Groove is a very popular groove for Rolento so he will often have airblock. Anti airing him consistently will require a bit of prediction, unless you have a super in which case make sure you don't let him get away with it. He also has a very good crossup so be ready for it.

On defense Rolento doesn't really do a lot of damage but he can escape your attack patterns easily and safely, and even when he is cornered he is difficult to jump towards or rush. He really doesnt have an extremely damaging option for antiair that is fast and reliable but that doesn't make him helpless, this is part of where the frustration factor of this fight comes in. He can pretty easily react to jumps with RC scouter jumping jab, RC wall jump, or simply RC scouter jump away. If he is near the corner, he can RC scouter jump away from your attack and then come down with strong and instantly reverse the momentum, which is very frustrating. If he antiairs you with RC scouter jump jab, you can punish it after the JD with an air attack, so try to do this if he relies on it too much, but if he just decides to run away from you every time you jump in you really can't do much but just let him. If he does RC wall jump when you jump in, then keep an eye out for how he controls it off the wall. If he tries to use it to come back towards you and attack, be prepared for this and anti air it, but if he just bounces off the wall across the screen you'll have to just keep moving forward and trying to attack him when he recovers. If you are totally sure that he will retreat off of the wall jump then it is not a bad time to throw a projectile and follow it in to give yourself a bit of offense.

Rolento will use his jab back roll from time to time to trick you into whiffing ground moves, giving him a free slide or sometimes stand forward xx super. If you see him do this move, don't be tricked by it, he will be out of range of all your attacks afterwards.

Once you get Rolento in the corner, he has the easiest time of any character escaping it. The most dangerous option that he has is to react to your offense with a RC scouter jump back(into the corner) then coming down on you with his jump strong. You have to predict this or take a risk to counter it easily, because it is fairly fast and your low fierce won't work unless you react very quickly. If you predict it, then you can low fierce it very very early in the jump and it will hit him right as the invulnerability wears, so keep your eyes open and be aware that he can do this once you corner him. If you have a super ready always be ready to Raging Storm him quickly if he leaves the ground. He can also escape the corner and reset the match with RC wall jump or RC scouter jump jab towards you(past your head). Make sure not to let him gain offense off of an RC wall jump by flying over your head and crossing you up into the corner, anti air him if he tries to attack out of this jump. In general, it is best to treat a cornered Rolento differently than any other character.

Rolento's knives are a bit easier to deal with, but will require a bit of guesswork. If he releases the knife high in his jump and at a high angle, it will stop jumps, if he releases it low in his jump and/or at a lower angle then it will stop ground attacks. If you think he will try a higher throw then you can use Geese's low run to pretty easily run underneath it, and if you think he will throw quickly then jump towards him. This is not in his favor for the most part, since his knife versus your full combo is not a good risk/reward for him, but if you just sit and block the knife then he just got control of the match back so try not to let him get away with this move so much. A quick knife throw can be hard to react to but try to watch for patterns when you can.

Rolento's wire super hits low and crosses the screen very quickly. If he is close and you are standing when the super flash comes out, you cannot block it in time at any level. Be aware that if you block this it is not safe as it appears, you can punish it with your close short or low jab when blocked, but you must retaliate very quickly(this super creates almost no block stun so you counterattack much faster than you think). Do not ever safe fall against a Rolento with a charged level 3, this super can punish them on reaction fairly easily.

Possibly most annoying is that once you do manage to get ahold of Rolento and attack him for a moment, he has the best Counter Attack in the game which will frustrate your attack patterns greatly. In order to punish his Counter Attack you will have to predict it, but if you can predict it you can hurt him for abusing this move, possibly very badly. Bait his Counter Attack using low jabs or close shorts, then low jump vertically immediately afterwards. If he does the Counter Attack, then you can hit his recovery with your low jump forward then do a combo. This is a fairly safe option since if he doesn't take the bait, then you aren't opening yourself up too much by just jumping up. You can also bait it with a jab or short then just hit him with a super or a HCB+Jab, but in these cases if he doesn't Counter Attack when you think he will you might be opening yourself up for punishment or wasting meter. The really good thing about this is after you punish his Counter Attack, he will have not only taken damage but also lost alot of his guard meter. If you block this Counter Attack, he gets +10 frames which is enough for him to set up pretty much whatever he wants, be it a mixup or time to escape you and let his guard meter refill.

If Rolento likes to wake up with RC scouter jumps, be aware that they are vulnerable to punch throws before he leaves the ground. Kick throws are often too slow, so to be safe just throw him quickly with Punch. Always press QCF+Strong right after your punch throw input, because if he just blocks you might get a close fierce instead of a throw which is unsafe when blocked. You buffer the fireball as an option select so that if he just blocks, you'll protect the recovery of your fierce. The reason that you might get a fierce and not a throw is because when an opponent first gets up there are frames where they cannot be thrown, but if they roll or RC then they lose that and can be thrown immediately. If they don't roll, though, then they may not be throwable since you have to throw RC scouter jumps quickly.

From what is written here you can see that a skilled Rolento can really make you play differently. This is one match where you are better off being defensive and playing very patiently. Rolento can run away from you and frustrate your attack attempts better than anyone but he still has to hit you to beat you. Make sure and stop his jumpins and not to whiff moves on the ground giving him slides or supers, and do your best to get a lead on him and keep it. If you can force him to go on the offense then you have a much easier time with the fight, so play carefully and don't take unnecessary damage. If Rolento gets a sizable lead on you coming back on him will be very difficult. You can also use your Reppuken in this match in order to try to get him thinking about countering it, which will make baiting his jumps a bit easier. If you do get a big lead on Rolento, unlike most characters you really are usually better off just sitting on it and reacting to his attempts to attack you.

Play patiently and use your higher damage to your advantage, trying to get a lead from the start and keep it so as to force him to be offensive

Used wisely, Reppukens can also help bait him into making offensive mistakes

Don't get too eager when Rolento is cornered, as he can reverse the momentum or escape in cornered situations very quickly

If Rolento anti airs you with RC scouter jump attacks, try to JD in the air and punish

Rolento's jumping strong can often give your low fierce problems, try to anti air with air to air attacks

Wire super is punishable but must be punished quickly

Wake up RC scouter jumps are punishable with your Punch throw, make sure to always option select a medium Reppuken in case he simply blocks

Always be ready to bait and punish his Counter Attack whenever possible by low jumping up, using your counter, or a super

Don't be baited by his Jab back roll, he can use this to create whiffed moves on your part

Try to punish knife throws whenever you catch them, as this is an opportunity to do alot of damage if you react properly

If you get a lead, don't rush yourself to drive the nail in the coffin, be patient and keep him away

Ryu

Sagat Sagat's not easy. Mainly because at mid range every form of offense that you can start up requires a small mistake from him to get started. Up close your games are pretty much equal with Geese having a slight advantage due to his more damaging combos, but at mid range Sagat is still top tier whereas midrange/longrange Geese has no move that you can really challenge Sagat with. Just like all of the top tier matchups except Cammy, Geese has to be very aggressive to win. Use his fierces against him whenever you can and once you get him to hesitate on fiercing you in the grill you have to run right at him and put yourself in your sweet spot.

You really dont have any move that cleanly beats stand short, but that doesnt hurt badly and a little known fact about Sagat's short is it actually leaves him at -1 on hit or block. So if you can actually run into it so that after the hit you are in your attack range, you can counterhit anything he does after with the proper timing. If you JD stand short it is even possible, although difficult, to get a free jab, the move is alot laggier than it looks. The reason people think Sagat has frame advantage after it is because it usually pushes the opponent back into the range where sagat's fierces or 2nd short will stuff whatever you do anyway. Your own fierce will trade with his short too pretty often if you are in your fierce range. If he really just spams the short kick then remember that if you can take the hit from it up close you get frame advantage, if you can JD it then you get huge advantage, and your own fierce can trade with it if you can get it out there in time. Also if sagat has no super, dont be afraid to mid counter from time to time just to keep him thinking. Risk/reward isnt so bad if he doesnt have meter, youll probably eat a fierce if you miss but if you hit youll do the damage of a fierce and put him on the floor next to you.

By use his fierce against him I mean you just have to be strong on the ground and a strong JDer. If you JD stand forward or fierce then thats free sweep every time or low fwd -> super if you are in range, if you JD a low fierce or a low jump roundhouse then you can get frame advantage even though you get no free hits. Be aware that although it requires nuts of steel you can run directly through his standing fierce and get a free combo. If you can get him to stop using stand fierce recklessly then its a pretty fair fight, low fierce isnt so bad cause you can punish whiffed ones alot easier with your fierce or sweep and low fierce isnt that long of a range compared to your attacks, and up close sagat can die to geese just like anyone else. Your standing fierce and low roundhouse are both longer range than his low fierce so if he whiffs one be quick about it and knock him down. Your standing strong(far) will also cleanly beat the low fierce if you are at the tip of his fierce range. You can do this buffered into a jab fireball for more pressure. Be aware though that if he presses standing fierce instead when you do this youll get punched in the face.

Only other things are never ever hang out at the range where a jump roundhouse will hit you with the tip, move up closer so that if he jumps you can actually antiair him. At tip of his foot range you have no antiair except a balls out high counter which you will find yourself getting supered for doing half the time. If you can predict it or are fast enough your standing fierce will stop his low jump, but just take care cause if you are too slow reacting you will get kicked then supered.

Low roundhouse xx Reppuken: safe at max range vs. non roll sagat without meter. Vulnerable to low jumpins or tiger knee if too close and punishable by roll or super at any range.

Moves that if just defended yield free jaienken combo, sweep, or low fwd-> super if in range: standing or close fierce, standing forward, standing strong, low or standing roundhouse.

low fierce can be just defended giving you frame advantage, is outranged by both standing fierce and low roundhouse to easily punish whiffs, and can be stuffed by an well ranged standing strong which can then be buffered into a fireball for more pressure.

low jump roundhouse can be just defended for free hits or frame advantage depending on depth of kick. Low jumps can be stuffed with standing fierce if done quickly.

Sakura

This match is hard, probably the hardest one in the game for me at least if it is A-Sakura(which it usually is). K-Groove already has problems with A-Sakura and Geese has an even harder time than most because even without meter Sakura has the tools to keep Geese out better than even some of the top tier characters. Her stamina and damage output are low compared to yours, but you are going to have to rush her down mercilessly when her meter is empty and then be very careful not to get caught blocking her custom.

The first thing you'll run into fighting her is her roundhouse. Geese does not have an easy answer for this. All the moves you have that can counter it require you to whiff the move in front of her and try to hit her limbs, because her range is much longer than yours, and even if she whiffs this kick right in front of you punishing it with anything is pretty difficult. It is also totally safe if Just Defended. The one thing that helps though is that this move does the same damage as one of your mediums...but it is her roundhouse. So it is recommended that you rush her and force her to react to you with this move, then you will get chances to trade with her using one of your knockdown moves and take control. There are 2 moves that you'll use often in order to punish her standing roundhouse, and that will be low forward and towards+fierce. Your low forward beats this move cold, but you have to press it at a range where the low forward wont actually contact Sakura's body(i.e. hitting her limbs). So if you guess wrong and she doesn't press the button when you think, then you may get kicked in your recovery. Use this from time to time to get her thinking about punishing whiffs, and then you can run in closer since they wont just be pressing roundhouse every time you walk towards them. Your low fierce and standing strong and forward will also stuff her roundhouse if you put the hitting frames right in front of her sprite, and there is nothing that will get in her head more than hitting her limb with low fierce from a character width away and cancelling to super. Don't be afraid to put those moves out there, it is ok to eat a few roundhouses because you whiff but just don't get dizzy and keep the pressure on. As long as you mix up the timing of the attacks on your approach, she will have to think about when to press her button as every trade is in your favor, even when you trade a medium for her roundhouse because of your higher base damage. You really have to kill her or wound her severely before she gets her meter, that is priority #1.

Another good move for this is towards and fierce. Against top tier characters who can all poke -> super you and who all do comparable damage to you, this move really isn't that good to abuse except to crush guard, but against weaker damage characters like Sakura it is very helpful because even if you get poked for it a couple times, all you gotta do is trade with it once and you can make all that damage back and get a knockdown. As long as the hitting frames of this move are out(14 frame startup) it will at least trade with anything that Sakura does. It is also very meaty and will sometimes stay out so long it'll still hit the person after they think it has already whiffed. If you trade with her using this move, it is heavily in your favor as this is one of the most damaging normal moves in the game, and it will knock her down. Throwing this move out at just outside her roundhouse range and trading with her a couple times will also make her think about just sticking it out whenever you get close, and once you have her hesitating to press the button then you will get more chances to move in for the kill.

Properly ranged standing roundhouses will beat or trade in your favor with her roundhouse pretty convincingly, but be careful spamming this as her roll is very fast and you could eat a combo.

And the final approach is the most obvious but must be done sparingly or else you will really hurt yourself, jump. If you jump right when she throws out this move, she won't have time to get her normal move anti airs out and she will be forced to block it, and then you are in your good zone.

Whatever you do don't let A-Sakura sit and throw roundhouses and dive kicks while you watch, always pressure her when she has no meter. If you let Sakura charge her custom without challenging her, then you are giving the match away completely.

You cannot do low roundhouse xx Reppuken safely on Sakura unless she blocks it from the very tip. She can always RC medium hurricane you in the face every time you do this any closer. However since she knows this you may be able to do a blocked low roundhouse to bait her into the kick and then use your counter, as long as you do it sparingly.

Jumping in on Sakura is difficult at almost any angle. Her low fierce and close fierce stop pretty much all of Geese's jumpins cold, her close fierce even hits behind her head and hits crossups. Add that to her very short character sprite giving her plenty of time to react to jumps, and it makes jumping on her without a knockdown setup very difficult. So unless you are jumping over a roundhouse or a RC fireball, jumping toward her is generally not advised. Note you can often punish her anti airs after you air Just Defend, but be aware of her airthrow. Her RC Jab uppercut can also be a problem, the only way to beat that antiair is to Just Defend, but this will only work if you jump out in front of her. If the opponent doesn't use rc jab uppercut, then it is somewhat safe to jump out in front of Sakura as long as it is far enough away that low fierce won't reach you. You may be able to get her to whiff a low fierce and take some free hits.

The next thing to be aware of are her RC's. She has a good set of RCable moves, like her fireball and her hurricane kick. The fireball will have to be contended with by jumping or throwing the startup, but if you guess right and jump as she does this move you can get a free combo.

Her RC hurricane can really give Geese a headache. The roundhouse one connects on a crouching Geese for all the hits, and it is safe even if fully Just Defended. In order to punish this move you are going to have to anticipate it a bit, but there are several ways to punish it depending on range.

If she uses it at point blank(as a wake up, to break out of your pressure strings)then you have 2 things you can do. The most obvious is a high counter, but that will be total guesswork. The other more rewarding thing to do is to randomly jump straight up during your pressure. If you jump up when she does it, then you can come down and punish her with a combo, and if she does not do it when you think, then just come down with your forward kick and keep attacking.

If she uses it from roundhouse range as a poke, then both the above options work and also you can hit her out of it at long range. Her invincibility runs out after her first kick, so if you are far enough away that that whiffs you you can just press low fierce and hit her out of the 2nd kick. It is alot easier to reactively counter this move at poking range, also.

Her dive kick can make her somewhat hard to antiair. If she dive kicks quickly, it is very hard to get your low fierce out there in time. If you Just Defend a divekick from anywhere other than right at your feet, you can get a free punch throw or you can counterhit anything she might do after with your close short. However be aware that this is a common setup for a custom combo.

Sakura's roll is very fast. Be careful overusing fireballs or your laggier normals like standing roundhouse or low roundhouse from too close, and always be ready to punish her roll.

Sakura's custom combo is going to be what kills you in this fight. If you even get caught blocking it, then you will take 60-70% damage, so in order to fight her custom you are going to have to totally avoid it.

Once Sakura gets her custom you will have to go into defensive mode. Rushing and looking for counterhits is very dangerous when this custom is there, you can rush but then after one or two blocked hits jump away and try to bait the custom. If you can make her waste her meter, then you can finish her off usually before she can get another. The safest way to avoid a custom that you think is coming is to jump back, as she can't do anything to you if you do this. Another riskier but more rewarding thing to do is to jump up, and try to hit her with a jumpin while she cannot block, but be aware that she can just switch to her anti air custom if she sees you do this. Her anti air custom is alot less damaging, though, so this may be wise. You can also HCB counter the first hit of the custom by inputting the HCB motion when you think she will do it, then if you see the flash just press your button immediately after it and you should counter her move(she usually starts her custom with her standing roundhouse, but some Sakuras start it low). This same thing can be done with either of your supers, also. Finally if you Just Defend the first hit of her custom, you will be able to HCB counter the 2nd hit or use a super before the 2nd hit, so if you must block then at least try to JD and give yourself a chance. Don't anti air her with low fierce predictably, because she can jump in and activate through it. Use jump back roundhouse to anti air more. If you block/Just Defend a dive kick, be ready for a custom activation right afterwards. It is best to jump away or up after blocking the dive kick so after she activates you are safely in the air, but you can also super or counter her if you are sure.

Be especially ready for the custom if you are raged, Sakura players will often wait till you are raged to use it as it wastes all your rage time. Try to counter the custom with your super if you predict it.

Don't let her charge meter, be very aggressive against a meterless Sakura

Poke with her limbs occasionally with your towards+fierce, low forward, stand roundhouse, and low fierce, trading hits with her is in your favor and will help you get in closer by making her hesitant

Jump over her standing roundhouse and RC fireball in order to get inside easily. Jump vertically or counter in order to stop her RC hurricane, or low fierce it after the first kick misses

Be aware of her fast roll and be on the lookout for it, especially if her meter is charged

Antiairing dive kicks can be difficult with your low fierce depending on the range, try jumping back with roundhouse or Just Defending then throwing with punch or pressing close short for a counterhit

When Sakura has meter, play defensively and bait her custom whenever you think it is likely. Be on the lookout for common custom setup gimmicks, like roll, empty jump, dash, or blocked dive kick/hurricane kick followed by activation

Be especially ready for a custom activation when your rage meter is active, as many A Groove players prefer to activate then so as to waste your raged time

Customs can be countered most easily by jumping back or up right before they activate, or for more risk but greater reward you can super or HCB counter the first hit of the custom by inputting the motion before the custom flash, then just pressing the button afterwards

Be aware of jump in customs, don't always antiair with low fierce when custom is charged

If absolutely necessary it is possible to JD the first hit of the custom the counter or super her out of the 2nd hit

Vega (Claw) A lot of people have problems with this match, but it really isnt that bad for K-Geese. I feel like Geese is a counter character for defensive Vega and that he just has way more options than an offensive Vega does. Looking at Vega's game plan, he wants to keep you out with long range pokes, jumping up and down, and rc claw rolls. His damage comes from nickel and dime hits like strongs, slides, and anti air roundhouses. He can combo his super off of low short and he has an okay custom but its nothing compared to the hurt Geese can cause off of one jab. The big difference, though, is that the Vega player has less execution required of him, and therefore if you don't execute properly you can lose. But Vega is weak to K-Groove in general(can't match the damage output and almost none of his attacks are safe when JD'ed), and Geese especially can give him a hard time.

One thing you don't want to do is throw fireballs too much or do low roundhouse xx fireball. Vega jumps fast, and those are all free jump kicks for him. You really dont need your projectile in this fight. Any wall flying nonsense he does loses to jump strong or roundhouse, but a good Vega will barely use this move.

The first thing to deal with is Vega's pokes. Common attacks youll see are low strong, stand strong, low roundhouse, and low forward. All of those yield a free sweep or low forward xx super when JDed except low forward, and low forward gives frame advantage to you when JDed, not to mention that it is similar in range to many of your own pokes so it shouldnt be too abusable at all. If you can't/dont want to JD then these will give you a harder time, but you can still fight with them. His standing and crouching strong are both fast but if Geese is poking with him then you can beat them clean with like every button on the cabinet if the moves are done simultaneously. Both those attacks are completely stuffed by your standing fierce, strong, low forward, and standing forward. You can also trade with them with your sweep for a knockdown in your favor. As for his crouching roundhouse, it is a laggy move but it does beat most of your common pokes. It loses to pokes that Geese doesnt usually use, for example you can stuff it with low strong or more safely/usefully with your stand short. Stand short stuffs the slide every time easily. It will also usually trade with your standing roundhouse heavily in your favor. You could also jump over it and land free combos or JD it as said before. His low forward is the only move that is safe if JDed but you can outrange that with your standing roundhouse and sweep pretty easily, and this move is stuffed completely by stand short also. The reason people get out poked by Vega is because they whiff moves out in front of him and he reacts with his attacks. The moral of the story here is "don't kill yourself, make him kill you". Just attack him. Take a few hits, but get inside and work your counterhits and throws on him. Feel him out, see how he reacts when you just walk up to him or run at him and dont be afraid to eat a couple hits here and there. You know how to beat his pokes, and if he doesnt poke and instead walks back and forth trying to make you whiff him, dont fall for it, run right up to him and force him to poke with you. If you can get him to trade hits with you and stop dancing around, you will win the ground game.

The next tactic that you'll have to deal with are his jumps. Vega jumps very fast, and they like to jump up and down to waste time and force you to make more mistakes. Luckily Geese doesnt care about that because you can stop every move that he has in the air with your jumping strong, so if the Vega is jumping up you have to react quickly with this move. Low jump strong usually works best as it puts you in a better position afterwards. Also you can jump in on him as he jumps up and time your crossup to force him to block it when he lands. If he has air block, do the jumping strong anyway, even though he may air block it you will take off a good bit of guard bar damage that way since airblocks take more guard damage. If you are sure he will airblock then use jumping fierce for 2 hits and tons of guard bar damage. A raged Geese does 33% guard damage if the opponent airblocks a fierce.

As for his offensive jumps, this is probably actually the hardest thing you'll have to deal with. At the right ranges Vega's jump roundhouse will stop your antiair fierce and his low jump is very fast. If he jumps over your head your fierce will work wonders but if he jumps out in front of you, it will be often stuffed or at best trade. The best tactic is, dont be at that range. You have to be pretty far from Vega for him to get a clean jump in like this on you using a normal jump, so don't be so far out. You should be in his grill at virtually all times. His low jump is a different story, that is really the hardest thing for Geese to deal with in the matchup. Low jump roundhouse mixed up with empty low jump low short -> combo to super is very very hard to block. Fortunately most people don't play Vega in a low jump groove, but if they do, you'll have to be crafty to counter it effectively. Your low fierce wont work, it gets hammered by his low jump attacks, so dont try it, you are just kicking yourself in the face. The best answer is to JD and then retaliate with your standing close short, if he pressed his roundhouse too early then that is a free hit and if he didnt then you'll still probably counterhit whatever he does afterwards. Make sure and do something nasty if it hits him. Another way to deal with this low jump is to jump up and down yourself from time to time, if you jump up as he does it then you can come down on him and make him block or get hit by your jumpin. If Vega cancels his low jump recovery into a backflip, thats a free hit for you, take it. But really the only easy way to deal with his low jumps is with JD, other than that it will require some guessing. If he has a super ready be aware of the threat of empty jump low short. Most importantly rush him hard enough that he doesnt have opportunities to jump towards you.

The next thing to be aware of are Vega's anti airs. Usually Vega players like to press Roundhouse which works like a charm against most opponents. Geese however can beat or trade with this move almost every time with an early jumping forward kick. So Vega can't rely on this move to antiair you. Also, if you JD this move close to him, you get a free roundhouse kick to his face. Be aware of Vega anti airing you with his air throw, and make sure to kick a little early if you think he will try this. Vega's low fierce doesnt work any better than his standing roundhouse. If he is charged, he may go for a flipkick, and this is the only thing that will really work well. However this isnt SF2 and this kick doesnt have invincibility frames, so if he doesnt do it fast enough it will lose also. If he does do this quickly it will anti air you, so be wary of jumping too predictably when he has a charge. If you JD both hits of this, then you can force him to block your jumpin afterwards. The only thing he has left to try on you is his RC roll claw. JD this and you can do a whole combo on him when you come down, not to mention getting hit by this out of the air barely even moves your life bar, so don't worry about it too much. Basically the only way Vega can stop your jumpins reliably is by jumping up and down himself and air to airing you, if you can make him stay grounded then you can jump at him pretty liberally with Geese. His Red Impact can be JD'ed pretty easily also if you can bait it on a jump, and his flipkick super does weak damage as an antiair.

The thorn in a lot of players' sides in this matchup is Vega's RC roll claw, and it is somewhat annoying to deal with but it can be handled and punished very severely if you predict it. Your counter depends on the situation. Wake up RC roll claws are very easy to seriously hurt with Geese, just hover around the opponent while he is down and jump vertically at the last moment. If he does the RC, he will either recover right under you and get hit by a whole crossup combo if he does the Jab version, or if he does any other version he will be totally vulnerable to any run up combo you want to do to him from behind. This is the most damaging and easiest way to counter this. You can also use your HCB+Jab to counter it at close range or throw it during startup.

Roll claws from around low forward range can be handled the same way, the last upward hit of the roll claw totally fails to anti air Geese's jumping up forward kick. It is also easier to react with a HCB+Jab at this range. The only difference is you can't throw it from this far.

Roll claws from around the tip of Vega's low strong range are even easier to deal with, all of the above tactics work and also the invincibility of the move will have actually run out before it reaches you in this case. The invinciblity of a RC rolling claw lasts until he finishes his first "bounce" on the floor. After that, he is hittable, and Geese's stand fierce punches the rolling claw cleanly. No matter what version he does, if you are at a long enough range that the first bounce of the rolling claw does not reach you, just press a well timed fierce for a free counterhit.

If Vega loses his mask, he becomes the weakest character in the game defensively. To put in in perspective, an equal ratio Vega with no mask takes 100% damage from Geese's crossup 60 stun combo and dizzy followup. Not many characters can say they have a touch of death in CVS2. So if he loses his mask, that's even more reason to get in there and trade hits with him. If you are raged, then fierce punch counterhits against him when he has no mask take off over 20% of his health.

Basically in this match, you have much better offense and you have the tools to penetrate all of Vega's best defense. If you play his game and fear him, letting him dance out of your range and punish your mistakes, then you will lose, but if you get in there and trade hits with him, forcing him to press buttons without waiting for you to press them first, you can beat any similarly skilled Vega with Geese very handily. Vega just can't take off 80% off of one jab the way that Geese can and he can't compete with your ability to guard crush and counterhit.

your fierce, low forward, and stand forward all stuff Vega's strong punches, but be careful not to whiff moves in front of him recklessly

you can stuff his slides with stand short or jump them and do a combo

all his medium and heavy ranged normals except low forward are punishable when JD'ed

if the opponent dances in and out of range, don't play along, walk or run up to him and make him fight you and don't fear eating a few pokes in the process, especially when raged

Geese can stuff cleanly all of Vega's normal move anti-airs with jumping forward

punish RC roll claws by countering, jumping vertically and landing with a combo, or pressing standing fierce after the first "bounce"

if Vega jumps vertically react with your jumping strong, unless you know he will airblock in which case use jumping fierce

low fierce will only antiair Vega if you are under him in a normal jump, if he is out in front you should JD or move out of the way. Don't hang out this far from Vega often

JD then press close short to counter low jumps, or try to jump to avoid them and retake momentum

Yun

Zangief

SNK Characters

Athena

Benimaru

Chang

Geese

Haohmaru

Hibiki

Iori

Joe

Kim

King

Kyo

Mai

Nakoruru

Raiden

Rock

Rugal

Ryo

Todo

Yamazaki

Terry

Vice

Yuri

CvS2 Wiki Navigation

Capcom vs. SNK 2 (CvS2 Wiki)
General
Controls Notation HUD Glossary System Roll Cancel Combo CvS2 Versions Netplay/ Training FAQ

Grooves
Groove Overview Groove Subsystems C-Groove A-Groove P-Groove S-Groove N-Groove K-Groove

Capcom Characters
Akuma (Gouki) Balrog (Boxer) Blanka Cammy Chun-Li Dan Dhalsim Eagle E.Honda Guile Ken Kyosuke Maki M. Bison (Dictator) Morrigan Rolento Ryu Sagat Sakura Vega (Claw) Yun Zangief

SNK Characters
Athena Benimaru Chang Geese Haohmaru Hibiki Iori Joe Kim King Kyo Mai Nakoruru Raiden Rock Rugal Ryo Terry Todo Vice Yamazaki Yuri

Boss Characters
Shin Akuma Ultimate Rugal Evil Ryu Orochi Iori