Movement and Neutral Options
Sentinel has several long-range normals for controlling space and fishing for hits in neutral. All of Sentinel's L and M buttons can destroy projectiles on contact. 5M, 2M and 5S have armored frames for blowing through other attacks, and j.5M has absurd range, reaching nearly fullscreen and slightly upward. Sentinel's normals have long recovery, but it can circumvent this disadvantage by utilizing its very strong Flight Cancels. Sentinel's flight has 17f startup, and its Unfly is instant. A basic strategy for Sentinel is to throw out any of his powerful normals and buffer a 214S to cancel the move's recovery into Flight, reposition with Sentinel's excellent Flight Mode speed, throw out another normal, Unfly-cancel that attack with another 214S before following up with yet another normal. A sequence like that allow Sentinel to quickly put out three different attacks to cover a variety of angles while also giving him the flexibility to confirm those attacks if any of them happen to connect.
When Unfly-Canceling a normal, you can perform the input for the next attack at the same time as the 214S. For example, j.L > 214SL will cause Sentinel to essentially "cancel" his initial j.L into a second attack for two quick overheads.
Sentinel's unique 5H and 2H beam normals mean give it an edge in long-range battles because it can throw out a projectile and call an assist at the same time. This is something very few other characters can do, since most projectiles are special moves, and assists can not be called during them. In assist wars, Sentinel can use 5H to protect its own assist while simultaneously sniping the opponent's assist. Once this advantage has been established, Sentinel can advance forward, either by plink dashing up after recovering, or by Flight-canceling his 5H and flying forward, and attempt to run an offense.
Mixup Theory
Sentinel's offensive game is primarily Strike/Throw based, where opponents who are forced to respect Sentinel's powerful armored normals leave themselves vulnerable to being grabbed by a ground throw, airthrow, or 623X command grab. Sentinel's regular throws are notably powerful because it can buffer a 214S during any throw attempt to fly-cancel a failed throw, without interfering with a successful throw. 623X Catapult has a few unique applications based on its ability to be special-canceled into. 5L > 623H is a basic tick-throw that starts an easy combo against opponents holding down-back. As a more advanced option, Sentinel can kara-cancel its 5H Beam into a command grab to surprise opponents. 5L 5H ~ 623L tick-throws with similar timing but looks more intimidating.
Dealing with Pushblock
- Sentinel can pressure opponents with high-blockstun air normals (mainly j.M and j.H), ideally tagging the opponent just before Sentinel reaches the ground. Even if these attacks are pushblocked, Sentinel can plink dash forward to cover the entire lost distance - and then some - before the opponent's Advancing Guard Delay finishes.
- Both Sentinel's Fly and Unfly, if timed properly, will negate the pushback effect of Advancing Guard on Sentinel's attacks. Sentinel usually likes to Fly-cancel its normals anyway, and so slightly delaying these cancels gives Sentinel a chance to remain surprisingly close to a pushblocking opponent and continue to pressure them.
- Several of Sentinel's options have long enough range that they can still connect even after a pushblock. Normals like 2M and j.M can clip an opponent who tries to escape immediately after pushblocking.
Oncoming Mixups
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Counterplay
Sentinel is one of very few characters with an invincible, air-OK hyper in Hard Drive (j.236XX). This means the vast majority of standard Oncoming Mixups do not work reliably on Sentinel, and are dangerous to attempt versus it. Additionally, even if Hard Drive is successfully baited out, Sentinel quickly flying to the opposite end of the stage makes it difficult to properly punish. There are a few possible ways to attempt to punish Hard Drive, depending on the situation:
- Characters with sufficiently fast grounded plink dashed can chase down Sentinel and punish it in the opposite corner.
- Characters with fullscreen projectile options, like Beam hypers, can throw them out during Hard Drive, and Sentinel will fall helplessly into the projectile while recovering.
- By intentionally jumping into Hard Drive and rhythmically tapping pushblock, you can "ride" Sentinel across the screen, and then airthrow him out of the recovery.
Video Timestamp: SpartanThrone discusses how to punish Hard Drive
As a big-body character, Sentinel is vulnerable to Instant Overheads that either whiff or can not be comboed on normal-sized characters. Additionally, while Sentinel's armored attacks can be scary when it has momentum, its normals are slow, and none of its attacks have frame 1 armor. Sentinel is very vulnerable to being pressured by repeated jumping attacks.
