Match-ups
Alessi
He should have difficulty opening you up, so use that to your advantage and keep a smart but oppressive defense up against him. His gun is punishable at about 99% screen and lower by tandem if he uses 41236+B/C (if you use tandem at fullscreen without walking one step, the super flash will screenpull the crosshair and allow him to shoot your tandem,) just remember to super jump or something after your tandem is over so he cant shoot you before Cream reaches him. All of his stand on normals are punishable by tandem, so feel free to let 'em loose any time you think hes going to use one. Just watch out for his 236AA, which if used against your tandem can punish it.
Avdol
You'll have to get a feel for this MU yourself because its kind of a tricky one. Your S.6c will beat his j.S.c with proper spacing, and if hes too high to be hit by S.6c, try using S.5c instead. If he gets predictable with S.236a in a blockstring, you can tandem out of it and punish him with 6b. Be careful when you oki him or even avoid doing it if you aren't so confident because the stakes are very high, just one frame off and you'll eat a 236aa. His pokes are very good at stuffing out your IADs, so dont use them too much if at all.
Black Polnareff
He cant do much else than 662b or hyperhop j.C, so its good to keep that in mind. Your s2b s2c recovery is shorter than the startup 214AA, so you can actually block that on reaction. Im decently sure his 662b will beat out your S.2b S.2c if spaced correctly, so if he gets a little carried away with that, you can just IAD to punish it. Your S.6c will beat his j.C.
Chaka
Your S.6c will beat out his hops You should be able to react to whether or not he's going for a 665b or hyperhop, which S.6c and S.2b S.2c will take care of If he does a hyperhop that you didnt react to in time to be able to counterpoke it, you can activate tandem, input nothing, and then immediately out of tandem use the i-frames to anti-air him with S.5b S.5c S.623AA, which does a ton of damage. His pokes are good at stuffing out your IADs, so be careful of that
Devo
If youre in the corner and the doll is under you, youll want to watch out for: S.2b, and stand activation into grab, 236AA can also punish your S.2b S.2c If youre in the corner and the doll is out infront of you, youll want to watch out for: S.(8)6b (which is an unreactable instant overhead that can lead into a ToD), and S.662b (which leads into ToD but is decently reactable, just block high most of the time.) Neutral/backward jump into j.S.236C is not a bad way to close distance, which will easily condition him to fear the approach and watch out for it more Sometimes, if youre cornered by Devo, it can be a decent idea to dookie drop infront of the doll, so that youre inbetween the doll and him. This will probably make him a bit fearful, just watch out for the doll that is now behind you and thus almost unpunishable. From there he does have the ability to: S.665a and S.5a to pressure you, he can also IOH and S.2b you which he can do after S.665a. So going infront of the doll opens up more options for him and more options for you Because you can actually dash up and S.2b S.2c him, which would stand crash him if he has it on, or if youre scared the doll might do something that will open you up, you could hyperhop/superjump and turn your stand on for a poke in order to stand crash him, which is one of the only options that wont put you at risk of an IOH or something. 5c and 665c will completely whiff Devo if hes controlling the doll, so dont use 5c to poke or use 665c to approach at all in this matchup S.623AA can easily take care of Devos j.C, so you shouldnt be pressured by that very much Devo j.C can be grabbed once he lands if he threw it out too early, just be careful since this is one of his main options for tic grabbing Always keep in mind that when hes approaching by jumping or something, he can always use 214AA for i-frames and punish you for trying to anti-air him Lastly, youll always want to punish his dodge, so make it a priority to do so Just generally try to think of ALL of his options (dont let anything sneak up on you) and !@#$ up all of his plans
DIO
He cant grab you out of your dodges or he'll be punished by tandem. Both of your guard cancels are punishable by DIO so you will not be gc'ing his 214x in pressure. Pushblock and then use your strong buttons or tandem/s623aa to punish him for going for fake pressure, then oki into the kill. You will need to pay attention to how the DIO is attempting to open you up for a round or two before you can get the most out of this. Your s2b s2c cannot be out-prioritized by his 66c, but DIO can punish s2c's recovery with it, although he will have to time it very well to beat it and wont get much. Plus if you block 66c, you can pb it then smash s623aa after, which will catch 214c and give you a turn. DIO will try to TOD you since your options are superior, so keep a tight defense. if DIO plays lame, be patient, be careful, let him corner himself, and then use your overwhelming stand buttons like s6c s2b s2c to punish him for his playstyle. Stand on ball is particularly effective in this mu for how you can catch DIO's back jumps with it for game-ending punishes, and DIOs optimal punish on block is 16 damage lol. Both offense and defense are exceedingly risky for DIO and inferior to what ice can do himself, so most DIOs play hyper-offense since it is the most fun. If you just block correctly, play patiently, and pay attention, you should be able to punish him in an opening he gives you and take the round. Don't feel ashamed of TODding DIO, he will do it to you and then call u bad.
Hol Horse
He cant grab you out of your dodges or he'll be punished by tandem, meaning you can just dodge to him for free pressure If he has more than one meter you should ALWAYS be next to him, do not let him go too far or youll need to dodge his slow bullets If you have lifelead you can actually time out his bitch ass, just keep in mind all the options he has to mix you up: dodge, 623c, 236c, slow bullet Usually when you have lifelead Hol will either try to stay in 623c distance trying to mix you up or start building meter for a bunch of slow bullets If hes in your face trying to do stuff like 623c or 236c, you might be able to tandem and gauge from there whether or not its a good idea to let go of your tandem or not If your tandem looks like it will hit, then just let it go and capitalize on it If your tandem looks like it will hit but hes using 236c you can use 6b. For some reason tandem just runs into him and doesnt attack when hol uses 236c, so you need to 6b him out of it in order to actually combo him If your tandem doesnt look like it will hit, you can hold tandem and see what hes gonna use, if he uses 236AA you can release tandem and super jump over it/duck under it OR 6b him and punish him with your full tandem if youre close enough. If he doesnt want to approach and stays fullscreen gaining meter, dodge toward him and after your dodge is finished turn stand back on to avoid taking chip, once youre in range you can tandem to gauge him again and another thing... I'm pretty sure you can actually tandem out of 2a 2a 5b 214b on block and hit by tandeming inbetween 5b and 214b, may be fast enough to punish it with full combo if you use 6b out of tandem too
Hol & Boingo
This should be like Hols matchup but obviously with more S bullets S bullets can cross up so its not a good idea to just start blocking S bullets Tandem can work against S bullet startup, but you need to predict when he'll do it Hoingo has no real good low normals that he can just throw out compared to Reg Hol Ontop of that, try pushblocking him as fast as you can if he does 5a/66a, he might try to cancel it into his command grab (if you pushblocked it basically at superflash, you'll still be grabbed.) Keep an eye out for glass, that's one of hoingo's main command grab setups
Iggy
Mostly a Stand On matchup for Ice since his normal pokes aren't very good compared to yours in close neutral. You should always stand on guard cancel his 236AA if possible or you'll need to block a 50/50. Aside from all that, 9J.b is a good air-to-air in this MU if he tries spamming sandballs, force him to block 9J.B and if you can, dash up and S.2c him before/after he lands from the blockstun.
Avoid being too defensive against Iggy because he's known for his hit and run playstyle in high level matches. Iggy can gain a lifelead by poking you with his sandballs, his far 5C or even tackle if you ever decide to stay on the other side of the screen. Be sure to follow the first half of this guide and avoid blocking for too long since Iggy can also abuse IADs, sandballs, and IOH during s.On. It's an overall time consuming match-up, and requires discipline to not get time-scammed or KO'd.
Jotaro
He cant properly do his star finger oki on Ice if he knocks you down with S.214a+S.214a, so you can use 236AA as a reversal if he tries to The main thing about this MU is his 214AA and 5b (i think,) you need to watch out for them Aside from that, his raw jump-ins can be stuffed out and so can his 66c, which are usually his main approach tools A good jotaro will be playing patiently and not just ramming into you retardedly with his normals, so if theyre being patient, dont be predictable and switch up your gameplay alot while still countering everything you can foresee him doing. You can punish 214AA with tandem by holding down S until they release it.
Kakyoin
IADs will break his nets, so IADs and S.6c are not a terrible way to approach and break his nets He can cancel S.2b into tandem, but his other long range pokes like S.6b and S.2c can't, so he can be punished by tandem when he uses them so he should be somewhat scared of using them as pokes against you
Khan
He basically just can't get in against Ice, so try to just zone him out with your normals and avoid his mix-ups with ease. s.2B > s.2C makes it near impossible for him to approach, and his pressure hits with the force of a paper bag.
Mariah
Make an effort to not get hit by her outlets and this should just be an effortless win for Ice. S.6c will easily cut wires, tandem will easily punish her 236A regardless of her level (startup is always shit), and her dodge is easily grab-able too.
Midler
Overall alot of her pokes just lose to yours Some air pressure can be dealt with by S.623AA, you might want to use S.2b before cancelling into S.623AA in order to shrink your hurtbox to make sure you dont get hit by her poke. Her harpoons can be punished by tandem at around midscreen if you can predict it.
New Kak
Your main goal is to not let Nkak lame you out or chew you up throughout the entire fight, requiring you to play smart and aggressive while switching between s.off and s.on at appropriate times. Try to stay near him if Nkak attempts to keep you far away with IADs, double jumps, pokes, dash cancels and nets. Your height and mobility as Cream is able to stop Nkak's Hierophant from escaping. Nkak is even easier to deal with if he's in s.off, since you're able to shoo him away with the same s.on normals while being able to catch him with your 2a 2a 6c•214s bnb, just be careful and not get captured by his rope setups if Nkak gets up in your face. Nkak's largest pokes like s6b and s2c can be punished with your own pokes at close range since Nkak has pretty bad hurtboxes for them, be sure to react with s2b, s6c and s2c before his pokes fully come out. Nkak's S2b can also be punishable, but make sure to be very close to poke it out (at least at a single person distance with something like s2b and s2c). You must always respect Nkak's s4c, the punish for that move is too precise and not worth doing, and nkak already has other pokes that are way more punishable than this one. Nkak can also cancel some of his stand on normals into tandem (s4c, s2b, and s5b particularly), so be reserved with your meter and use it for better opportunities like bnb combos into tandem/super instead of reversal tandem against those three moves. Make sure to interrupt Nkak from creating nets since that will be his biggest source of defense. If he has them setup already, then you can delete them with s2b or IAD6c or simply avoid them if you know Nkak can punish you for destroying them. Another important thing to note is his grab since you'll be forced to roll under his pressure, resulting in getting grabbed by Nkak. If he throws you in the corner, then be prepared for any "net > high/low mixup" he throws at you. The fastest way to deal with it is by GC'ing when the net comes out, though you're better off standing your ground by pushblocking and rolling away than timing a tight reversal. Now if you're already in the life lead, try to keep playing smart because the last thing you wanna be doing is turtling, and Nkak's s665b IOH can rip you apart if you're crouching a lot. You can poke his s665b with s2c, though you better see that move coming because it eats a lot of your stand gauge, especially on block.
Old Joseph
Ices pokes can really mess with him because he cant get away from you very well, so sometimes he'll just be forced to be next to you. None of his normals are very good against IADs so he'll need to use something like 236A or 236AA or a dash normal (which wont be that detrimental to you because he wont be able to turn his dash normal into a full combo cuz youre already in the air.) His S.236+A/B/C can be punished by tandem at fullscreen on reaction.
Petshop
Petshop can't do whatever he wants here,he needs to respect your moves and be careful to not get hit by any confirms since you can kill him in a single combo.You will also play mostly in Stand On,as your stand off can't do a lot.
Ice's 2A and 2C whiff on standing Petshop so you don't have your main combo confirm and will not be able to do your Unblockable Okizeme properly,furthermore your normal combos will not work.
The combos ice can do on petshop are different than the usual since your 2A and 2C won't hit,so your optimal ender will change.But don't worry,even without 2a ice can start combos with IAD,s2B s2C,s6C,s6A s6B s6C,6C 214C and any tandem confirm.
Your tandem still works perfectly so don't worry about that,the only thing you will have to change is your ender.You will have to do either 66A s+5B s6C s+6C 214C 66A s+5B s5C s236aa, 6C 214C 66A s+6A s6B s6C s+6C 236aa or improvise one without 2a.You can also replace the super for pressure if you prefer.
In this fight you will have to play aggressively since petshop can easily beat your laming and ToD you.You need to be always near him abusing your Stand On pressure and being careful with icicles,also being aware he will mostly block high.You can abuse that to surprise him with fast lows like s2C/s663C and s2A/s663A.You can also try dash cancel s6A if he's near enough,that will give you a deadly combo.
You also have to abuse your punishes since you can kill him from it.Tandem and s623aa are great ones.
Grabs are also really welcome since petshop has a slow tech which does not allow him to use any move.Pressure him once he lands and do not give him any room to breath.
Your conventional UB Oki will not work here but you can replace it with 214A 5B.Even being a unblockable,214C 5B will not reward you a lot and you will not be able to use it without 66a 2b after a at least 6 hits combo.On the other hand you have the crossup oki (dashing at petshop while he wakes up will switch your sides) that can give you a ToD,it's hard to react and can be used more often.
Avoid being on the air if you're not using IAD,your air game is NOT good and will get you killed.Staying on the ground can make it harder for him to pressure you and it forces petshop to respect ice.
If he tries to pressure you,pushblock everything and punish any dashing moves.His 3c is not a 100% safe option since you can grab him both in Start Up and after he teleports,but be aware because he will get heavily rewarded if he lands the hit.Also don't forget petshop's double 214aa stand crushes you.
Pretty sure he doesn't do any chip without using meter so that can be kind of helpful to keep in mind.
Polnareff
You can use j.S.236a ontop of where his shooting star will be if you anticipate that he will shoot it out. Otherwise, during his typical shooting star block pressure, he can leave himself open if hes not careful so you can actually capitalize that and use 6b to confirm into tandem. IAD should mess with him a bit, it might even go under his S.4b.
Rubber Soul
Above all, keep your ass out of the corner. Capitalize on his mistakes. If he tries using 236AA you can either choose to block it (should only be done with stand meter at full) or dodge through it and turn stand back on after to avoid taking chip, or turn stand on super jump then double jump and then just airdash backward once If he gets a successful 236AA on you he'll probably try to end it with either 2a 2a 214a or try and use 5a (which will stand you back up) and try to tick throw you, so hold 1 and try to keep an eye out for his grabs in order to tech them.
Shadow Dio
He's probably gonna try to start combos with his 5s or j.5s. If he hits you with 5s in stand on, he can follow up with 662c into 4s which actually does pretty decent damage. Don't let him cross you up with j.5s (if he actually does get in position to do it, you can just dash out of it and usually you will want to cuz you dont wanna eat a 50% bnb + whatever the hell comes after that.) Ontop of that, his projectiles are both punishable by tandem (laser fullscreen, knives about 75% of the screen away.)
Vanilla Ice
Watch out for IADs. Punish stand on ball on block by not pushblocking and following up with S.2b S.5c S.623AA (Sometimes youll be in too much blockstun to do this so youll need to play the matchup a bit to get a feel for it. If you are in too much blockstun to do it then pushblock right at the last moment so that if he cancels into S.623AA it won't hit you and you'll be able to punish him) You can grab him out of his 662a.
Young Joseph
Most of YJ's main approaches can be snuffed out by S.2b S.2c/S.6c. Ontop of that, practically everything else he does can be countered by tandem if you stay at a quarter-screen to half-screen distance from him. You can also punish specials like Clacker Volley and Overdrive with 2C, giving you a guaranteed oki.
Don't stay defensive if he starts running away from you, it gives him time to set up spam and even keep you out. Appropriate counters against this are IAD, rolling, and Ball; s.On Ball can be particularly useful as it leads into some gnarly damage if YJ gets hit by (s.236C 3C)×2 into s.623aa, though don't abuse Ball a lot since you can be punishable.
YJ's neutral mainly consists of running back and forth, hyper hops, and staying at a far distance to keep you out. So in summary, take advantage of YJ's slowness, always stay close to him, and punish his slow recovery.
