Hi! This page will cover Zato’s various high-low setups and the ways that you can and should fuzzy block against them. This is a rework of an older page (Fuzziability) that was previously on this site but is slightly outdated and far too complicated.
If you just want to understand how to fuzzy block Zato, read this. I will go into the frame data and minutia of specific setups later in this page, but feel free to stop here.
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In any situation where Zato can get the lowest possible j. D, it will either hit on the same frame or one frame before 2K (depending on the setup). This means the lowest possible j. D is impossible to fuzzy block against.
⇒ However, Zato can only framekill for the lowest possible j. D on a full jump while also making himself vulnerable to YRC and other defensive options. The majority of j. D mix is manually timed (usually depending on the height of the preceding air normal), and it’s very likely that j. D will be done before the last possible frame. In this situation, j. D will hit before 2K and you can fuzzy block by blocking high-then-low.
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Zato’s non-j. D air normals will generally hit at least 5 frames before the low option, and often more, so you can fuzzy high-low-high to deal with both them and j. D
⇒ Zato can connect with lower air normals after an airdash, but this has the same execution requirements as hitting a “perfect” j. D, so it’ll still usually hit a few frames before the low option.
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Zato’s metered or character-specific high-low options are usually extremely difficult or impossible to fuzzy.
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While reacting to flight angles is very difficult (although still possible), reacting to any flight cancel with a high-low fuzzy block or just a high block can be effective to deal with flight cancel mix.
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In essence, you can always fuzzy block j. K/S/H v. 2K, and can usually fuzzy block j. D v. 2K in non-framekill setups by blocking high-low-high. The framekill j. P setup, 6H 66 j. K, and the rising j. K Fshiki are unfuzziable. If Zato is spending meter on mix (with BRC fuzzies or FRRC), you are forced to guess.
If you want to know the specific numbers behind this and/or learn more about Zato’s high/low setups, go ahead and read on.
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I will be using the number of frames after a reference point (which will be specified in each section) to show the difference in timing between various high and low options.
I will use dashes to show j. D hitting on its later active frames only when this is a common or realistic occurrence.
I will use arrows (→) to indicate follow-ups; for instance, the information for j. S into j. D will be nested under j. S, with a header of “→ j. D.” Things on the same level will be options in the same setup — for instance, j. S (single overhead) and 2K (single low) will be grouped together, with j. S → j. D (double overhead) and j. S → 2K (overhead into low) being nested underneath j. S.
I will use orange text to indicate overheads, and red text to indicate lows.
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