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This is a work in progress page — I’ll reformat it and add more basic information (as well as more details) … at some point
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Deflect Shield lasts for 29 frames, and has 19 frames of recovery on whiff. It will not push Eddie away. There are two main uses for Deflect Shield against Zato; blocking ambiguous mix reliably and pushing Zato away so that he can’t mix you or can’t cover Eddie’s gaps. Expecting it to get Eddie off you directly is a great way to make Deflect Shield a complete waste of your Burst gauge. That being said,
There are a few significant spots where Deflect Shield is a strong option against Zato. It is important to note that aside from a few exceptions, you are guessing rather than reacting with Deflect Shield. It is a consistently strong option because Zato’s counterplay to it is often limited (for instance, if you are blocking drills, the only thing I can do to stop Deflect Shield activation is unsummon mid-drills, which is otherwise a hard read), not because you can reactively use it to escape his offense.
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Zato’s main wallbreak okizeme setup (-P- 2S 22H …) relies on connecting with 2S in between the hits of Pierce to cover the gap. If you DS on wakeup, Zato cannot cover this gap with a normal, and you will be free to mash and kill Eddie.
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Safejump setups using Eddie will generally beat DS. However, if Zato is using drills or Pierce to meaty (especially if Eddie is sandwiching you), you can DS and push Zato far enough away from you that he can no longer mix you — if you catch Pierce, you can mash and kill Eddie with little recourse.
To use DS properly here, you need to recognize when Zato is going to meaty with drills or Pierce rather than with a normal.
When Zato is doing meaty Pierce (1) into BTL okizeme (usually after a Leap HKD), he can’t realistically come up quickly enough to unsummon, so DSOS here will guarantee an Eddie kill.
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One of Zato’s most common setups is IAD j. S for high/low (j. D vs 2K). If you expect him to go for j. S into j. D, using DS as j. S connects will push Zato far enough that j. D will have extra travel time, creating a gap through which you can 6P.
This is probably the best DS spot in the matchup, as if Zato is using drills to force you to hold j. S j. D, he also can’t do anything to prevent DS from activating. However, it is spacing-dependent, as if he does IAD j. S extremely close j. D will still connect as normal.
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Much of Zato’s pressure involves starting a blockstring with drills, then negative edging into Pierce and covering the gap with a normal. If you DS the first hit of Pierce, Zato will usually be pushed too far away to cover the gap, and won’t be able to save Eddie if he whiffs a move in an attempt to cover it.
This overlaps with other categories: you might notice that DS on wallbreak or sandwich Pierce is in fact, a subcategory of DS on Pierce (1).
Any time that you are being pressured by Zato and expecting Pierce to come out (including sandwich setups), you can use DS to at the very least stop his pressure, and in the best case scenario, kill Eddie outright.
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j. D is a common fixture of Zato’s offense, as it lets him go into gapless multi-overhead setups as long as Eddie is out. However, its range, while good, does not generally exceed the range of DS’ pushback, meaning that using it can cause j. D to whiff or add travel time to it.
Even if it doesn’t result in a whiff, using DS will usually result in Zato being too far to do a low, meaning that you can safely block high or possibly whiff punish a low attempt.
While j. D isn’t always telegraphed, it will often be used after a j. P framekill or after flying down. While jumping forward with j. P can counteract DS pushback, jumping neutrally or back is one of the aforementioned exceptions where you can reactively DS and consistently make j. D whiff.
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Because Unsummon occurs on frame 1, it’s often possible for Zato to react to Deflect Shield with it. This isn’t something people are actually doing right now, but it is a consideration to have in mind: since you are pushing me away, it’s less likely that you’ll be able to punish me for unsummoning. Trading 50% Burst for a complete return to neutral, though, is often a beneficial trade for Zato’s opponent, which is what makes Deflect Shield still very good in the matchup. It’s also worth noting, of course, that if Zato is airborne or in the middle of whiffing something, he can’t unsummon. There are essentially two kinds of Deflect Shield counterplay for Zato; that which makes Deflect Shield whiff (usually being a hard callout), thus punishing it, and that which counteracts the pushback, continuing pressure while expending the opponent’s resources. The counterplay here will be divided into these categories — keep in mind that what I call “counters” don’t actually punish the DS, but simply let you continue pressure in spite of it.
By the way, I think that reacting to Deflect Shield with clap into Oppose or drills is impractical, but it may be possible: for now, I’ll refer to these actions as reads rather than reactions.
Anyway, let’s revisit these strong Deflect Shield spots.
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Punishes
On a read, you can Drunkard Shade before they wake up, making it so that there’s nothing for the shield to deflect — this lets you get a full combo with Leap.
Counters
On a read, you can cancel Pierce (1) into drills, which will beat post-DS mash at most ranges.
On reaction, you can unsummon as long as you haven’t used 2S or f. S to cover the Pierce gap.
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Punishes
On a read, you can Drunkard Shade before they wake up, making it so that there’s nothing for the shield to deflect — this lets you get a full combo with Leap. This only works if you were going for meaty Pierce and not meaty drills.
Counters
On a read, you can cancel meaty Pierce (1) into drills, which will beat post-DS mash at most ranges.
On reaction, you can unsummon on either meaty Pierce or meaty drills.
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Punishes
On a read and as long as Eddie isn’t active when they DS, land and connect with 5H or f. S into a full combo.
Counters
On a read, cancel into Pierce early (after j. S rather than after j. D) to force them to continue blocking.
On a read, go into Oppose instead of Pierce to punish a potential mash.
On reaction and as long as you didn’t go for 2K or j. D, you can unsummon safely.
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Punishes
On a read, go into Oppose / don’t do any move when you would normally use Pierce and then punish.
Counters
On a read, you can cancel Pierce (1) into drills, which will beat post-DS mash at most ranges.
On reaction, you can unsummon as long as you didn’t try to cover the Pierce gap.
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Punishes
On a read and as long as they DS after drills end, you can simply land and get a full combo with 5H or another starter.
Counters
You can jump forward with j. P, which makes you more vulnerable to reversals but means that j. D will connect even if they DS.
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A final note on a Deflect Shield OS that is not “DSOS”.
A strong-ish Deflect Shield spot that I didn’t include is right before IAD j. S, forcing it to whiff. The reason I didn’t include it is that Zato does technically have strong counterplay to this. Normally, forcing j. S to whiff will result in Zato landing and then doing something like 5[D] or throw (if he buffered j. D), which can be very beneficial and net you a punish. However, Zato can press S or H at a timing where f. S or 5H will come out if j. S whiffs but he’ll still get j. D if it connects on an opponent’s block. This OS is why I think it’s stronger to Deflect Shield on j. S itself rather than right before it — if j. S is blocked and Zato buffered j. D, there is nothing he can do to stop it from coming out, which means that you can exploit the distance you created with a 6P or DP mash.