Overview - Who is Vega?

Vega is a really unique character in the Street Fighter series, his fighting style has no match in the
AE roster. His normals are exceptionally long and can be cancelled into specials to punish whiffed
moves from long range, while trying to keep away yourself from your opponent - but do not turtle!
Vega lacks defensive and reversal options even with EX moves his priority is very low on close
range. His strenght comes from precise zoning from where you can hit your opponent but it's unlikely
for him to reach you without taking risks. Strong mixups and reset game is vital for Vega players,
since his damage output is a bit below average compared to other characters. Vega is one of the
most, if not the most confusing character excellent for manipulating the other player, guiding him or
her to your claws and slowly bleeding him to death, but he isn't lost at all against the strong minded
either.

PRO
Much higher than average range on almost all normals, exceptionally fast pokes
Fast and cancelable normal moves with high priority if used well
Multiple ways to punish any whiffed move even from fullscreen
Ultra moves deal high damage
Very fast walkpeed with dodgy and fast moving specials.
Builds meter fast if played well, but also relies on it.
Fast mixups from high range with EX moves
Overall strong offense mixups

CONTRA
Lacks antiair against crossups and well timed short angle jumpins
Lockdown frame-trapper rushing characters with strong mixup (Dudley, Abel) can force you to the
corner easily where you're gonna have a bad time.
Below average stun rating
Has no reliable wakeup reversal option due to strange hit and hurtboxes
Useless super move
Ultras are both used only for a reaction to your opponent and (almost) impossible to combo to.
Specials and even their EX versions can trade in some unlucky situations and you get usually get
back twice the damage you dealt on trade.

Now that we are done with the overview, let's make the next step: know your tools - later, you'll learn
how to use them.
(NOTE: You can click on the images below to see them in high resolution).
Special Moves - Dancing in the Skies


Below you can read detailed info about all of Vega's special moves and practical ways to use them.
Let's start with a quick overall view. Just as Vega's normals, his specials also have incredible range
and can be used for multiple purposes. You have 2 walljumps you can use for quick repositioning or
starting mixups with hitting from forward or backwards, and you have 2 other specials: a rolling
attack, mainly used for chip damage or short meterless combos, and an antiair flip you can also use
for ground combos. Now that you know what to expect, can we begin?
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Sky High Claw [SHC]
d (charge), u + P
Vega jumps back to the wall, and launches himself forward in a staight line. Depending on which P
you used, he jumps to a higher or lower point, and if you press up+forward at the same time Vega
jumps to the wall in front of you. This move can't be used in a combo, it's easy to counter because
it's terribly slow and not even breaking armor. However, it knocks down on hit since v2012 update.

The EX version is much faster, breaks armor, totally projectile invincible after leaving the wall and of
course knocks down. It is an excellent move not only for punishing fireball zoners, but on startup it
looks like EX Barcelona. This can be really confusing for your opponent and this makes EX Sky High
Claw an excellent mixup tool if you jump to the wall behind your opponent. EX FBA hits from forward
and can be comboed, while EX SHC (forward) won't combo to other moves, instead it turns the
defense axis of your opponent and hits from behind doing full damage because it's a reset. Don't
overuse this trick, because if EX SHC gets blocked it can be punished many ways because it leaves
you vulnerable for a long time.


Flying Barcelona Attack / Izuna Drop [FBA]
d (charge), u + K
Vega's best special move. K / direction works the same as Sky High Claw. Vega jumps to the wall,
then jumps even higher and is controllable in the air. Pressing hit again resaults in a wide range hit
knocking down your opponent - you can position yourself closer to grab your opponent from the air
(air-to-ground grab!) performing an Izuna Drop for a knockdown with higher damage. All this works
with your opponent in the air, but always get Izuna Drop on contact. However you can press attack
early if you think your opponent will jump after you, this way you can prevent him from doing his air-
to-air counters because he will get hit instantly, thanks to the long active time of your hit. But be
careful! After you do this, you lose control and will slowly fall down to the ground on the very spot
where you pressed hit, while your opponent has quite some time to prepare for a huge punish.

EX Flying Barcelona launches your opponent to the air while traveling to the wall, and you are free to
do an Izuna Drop on him. There is no reason to do EX Barc. backwards, and it also can be comboed
by any cancelable normals. If the launching part is blocked you can land on your opponent with two
claw slashes instead of one, breaking focus armor for a knockdown or simply get a knockdown due
to the unexpected second hit.

Some setups you should learn:
c.MP > (cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop
c.MK > (cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop
c.LK > (cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop

c.LP > (link) c.MP > (cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop
c.MK > (link) c.MP > cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop
st.HP > (link) c.MP > cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop
jumpin HP > st. HP > (link) c.MP > (cancel) EX Barc > Izuna Drop
On knockdown: df.HK (Cosmic Heel*) to cross up your opponent before he gets back on his feet,
immediately c.LK > (cancel) EX Barc. If you timed the crossup well, your opponent's defense axis
is turned around and your c.LK will propably hit them. If your opponent figured out you want to do
this, you can still safely arrive somewhere else.
*Cosmic Heel: one of your main tools, check the normal moves section for more info.

EX FBC also can be used as a crossup attack against fat characters on their wakeup (Sagat, T.
Hawk, Oni, Zangief) just like Bison's Psycho Crusher, but the timing is very strict and difficult
because the hitbox window is very very short.


Scarlet Terror
db (charge), f + K
Vega's antiair special which also can be used as a combo ender. While it can hit ground opponents,
the hitbox isn't made for this purpose, and may whiff on shorter characters like Blanka. As an antiair
move you must be precise with timing because if you don't catch your opponent at the top point of
his jump, his air normal CAN trade with your Scarlet Terror, even if you do the EX version. Don't try
to use this move against crossups because your hurtbox is quite large and it's beind your hitbox, not
below as the animation may makes you think. Deep hitting high priority jump in normals can also
cause trouble, for example Chun Li's double HP, just as Guy's Elbow Drop. It's rare to see but if a
trade happens and the opponent gets a juggle state, you are able to combo a single Scarlet Terror if
you react fast enough - charge takes some time.

Combos you should remember:
Cosmic Heel > (juggle) Scarlet Terror
Cosmic Heel > (juggle) L. Scarlet Terror > (juggle) EX Scarlet Terror
(antiair hit) L. Scarlet Terror > H. Scarlet Terror (or EX for higher damage)


Rolling Crystal Flash [RCF]
b (charge), f + P
This move is mainly used for dealing chip damage to finish a round, but it's also an "okay" move to
deal meterless damage from a c.LP. You can also cancel into this from c.MK / c.MP, but even the
light version of RCF won't combo if you get a far-hit with c.MK / c.MP. You can still do it, but you get
only chip damage and there is a window between c.MK / c.MP and your RCF where you can be
interrupted by a shoryuken / ultra / command grab. Yes, sadly your roll can be catched by command
grabs anytime exept the long range hit at the end. Medium / heavy roll starts up incredibly slowly and
can be interrupted with almost everything except normals with a hitbox detached from hurtbox.

EX RCF is fully invincible to any projectiles and can be a nice punishing tool for mid / close range
projectile throwers. You can also link a c.LP after an EX roll, that can you cancel to EX FBC to deal
nice damage.
L.RCF as I mentioned above, is a good way to deal meterless damage from a close range c.LP hit.
The interesting part is: every version of Rolling Crystal Flash can be FADC-ed out from both on hit
and on block. You can FADC backwards, and if your opponent tries to catch you with a normal, you'll
be far enough to make his move whiff and punish it with a Cosmic Heel. Or you may FADC forward
and continue your mixup or just do a throw.
Normal Move - Bricks you build your house with

Normal moves
Light punch (LP)
A fast move which is a good tool on close range. Sadly it's not a chain jab, but you can link max 4 of
them together - it's difficult and not even worth it, but you can. You can link a c.MP after a c.LP which
is a great setup for EX Barcelona or EX Sky High Claw reset crossup. Also can be cancelled to any
of your specials. Everything above is for crouching light punch, jumping and standing LP is kind of
worthless.

Medium punch (MP)
Vega's most used normal is c.MP. It's range is very very long compared to other characters,does
good damage compared to other moves with this much range and utility, and you can cancel to all
of your specials from it. With a good zoning mind, this tool is excellent for poking and punishing
whiffed moves from a range your opponent propably cannot reach you from, and just to punish
him even more, you can cancel to EX Barcelona - it will combo to your c.MP no matter how far you
were when you got the hitconfirm.
As an air-to-air move it's something you want to use for enemies jumping from far-range.
Sadly it's just a normal air-to-air, and has no juggle or knockdown effects - non of Vega's air normals
has.
Since air MP reaches far (with your claws on) you can surprise your opponent with jump in from far
away, doing an MP, c.MP > (cancel) something special. It isn't recommended to do this by the way,
because characters with good antiairs can easily catch you after a forward dash, force you to juggle
and deal massive damage.

Heavy punch (HP)
An interesting normal move offering something different each time depending on your distance from
your opponent and your status (air / crouching). As a standing normal from far away, it's a HUGE
damage poke with incredibly long hitbox (a bit shorter than Rufus's c.HP). Don't let the animation
fool you, your claws make the hitbox extend quite far. This isn't really useful however, because it
starts up very slowly, the cooldown frames are long too, this means it leaves you vulnerable for
a long time and you also lose a lot mobility which you cannot afford as Vega, and sadly you cannot
cancel anything from it.
As a close range normal, it's a totally different story. Close range HP is a 2 hitting slash with
good damage and armor break - it's not armor breaking on it's own of course, but since it hits twice,
it can be used for that too. You can cancel this move after the first hit to Rolling Crystal Flash which
isn't that easy to do, but you deal good damage in exchange. A more expensive but easier to do
option you have is linking a c.MP after the second hit of your st.HP, and you can cancel that to EX
Barcelona. If you are not sure about your link timing and don't want to risk getting juggled in the air
after a blocked EX FBC. you can go for crossup EX Sky High Claw. Sure this can be blocked aswell
since it's a reset, but it deals good damage (that's what the reset is there for) and if you don't
overuse this mixup, it's really hard to react fast enough to defend it, especially if you use it to reset a
combo that you started with a succesful jump in attack followed by st.HP, because they won't expect
you to drop your combo on purpose.
The crouching heavy punch can be used as a long-range antiair but st.HK is much better for this
purpose. It also can be used as a combo ender after a close range st.HP. Of course there are better
options I mentioned (or will mention later) but if you think about it, jumpin HP, st.HP (2 hit) and then
c.HP is the most simple combo you can imagine and it does really high damage for a combo simple
like this.
Jump in HP has pretty long range below you that allows you to reach your opponent just a few
frames after you left the top point of your jump. If you use it this early, you won't be able to continue
your combo on the ground. Think backwards! Back jump HP is a very tricky instant overhead like
Adon's nj.HK (instant).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Light kick (LK)
Standing LK is an incredibly fast move, one of the fastest normals in the entire game. It's hitbox
reaches very far and can interrupt a lot moves including some specials too. It can be used as a fast
reset after a succesful Cosmic Heel, and even if you backdash after it (that can protect you from DP
mashers) your overhead attack (see at Command Normals: Mercury Kick) will STILL reach your
opponent with a hit very close to the ground, but it still needs to be blocked high. Or if you do your
overhead without a backdash, you are already halfway done with the animation while your opponent
is still in the air recovery animation - this means he'll get hit the moment he recovers, if he blocks low
or tries any crouching or slow startup normal. Remember, this is still a reset and you can be catched
by a DP. Fancy, but after a succesful hit with Cosmic Heel it's better worth to do Scarlet Terror(s). It's
garanteed damage, but not as tricky and confusing as a reset than you can use a bait (you are at
safe distance from DPs after the st.LK reset) and do the cosmic heel punish after a mashed DP your
opponent expected to reach you with, and FADC if it gets blocked.
The more important thing about LK is the c.LK. It comes out slower than the standing version but still
has the lightspeed recovery. Crouching LK is a very important part of Vega's Cosmic Heel
crossup game because you don't lose your down charge after you do the crossup, and you can
simply do a c.LK > (cancel) EX Barc for good damage. This is also possible with a meaty timed
c.MK, but the recovery on that isn't that fast and it's more likely to get hitted by wakeup Ultras - most
of which you can simply block if you use c.LK, because it recovers that fast.

Medium kick (MK)
A far reaching standing poke with good speed. The close range version is useless and can't be
cancelled into anything.
The c.MK is almost the same as Vega's c.MP: good range, fast speed, fast recovery, can be
cancelled to Vega's specials, but obviously must be blocked low. It's a nice tool for combos.
c.MK > (link) c.MP > (cancel) EX FBC
c.MK > (link) c.LP > (link) c.MP > (cancel) EX FBC
Those EX FBCs can be EX SHCs aswell, for a reset-crossup knockdown, but if you are sure about
yourself and your links just go for EX Barcelona.

Heavy kick (HK)
A far reaching antiair attack, use this against jump ins and to keep out grapplers. It has various
uses. Standing HK hits twice so it breaks armor on the second hit.
Neutral jump instant HK is your only tool against close range jump ins and crossups if you
want to prevent your opponent from doing so. Sweep is also an option to get out from crossup
pressure: you'll simply slide away from your opponent. But if your reactions are slow and you do the
sweep after your defense axis is turned around. you'll slide to your opponent's feets. Rarely this gets
you a knockdown but in this case it's NOT an antiair, you propably cought a ground normal. This is
very unreliable, use it only to sweep away. If you are fast enough, you'll recover just in time to block
an instant ultra done by your opponent the moment he lands.
Jump in HK is almost the same as HP without instant overhead option.
Command Normals - Keep them afraid, keep them confused

Piece of Mercury (overhead)
down + forward + MK
Vega's only ground overhead
move. This move wasn't an overhead in vanilla SFIV (while it looked like one), so this is a nice
addition to Vega's tools. Just a note for those who know Vega from before SSFIVAE. It has some air
frames, reaches much futher than most overhead command normals thanks to the small forward
jump on startup. You cannot combo from or to it, but you can still try to do a Light Kick after a
Mercury, due to LK's speed you may interrupt something and there it is, your opponent's defense is
cracked up for a moment, it's up to you to grab the opportunity - with a linked c.MK from st.LK for
example. Create pressure combos, mix up your game and do resets. Thanks to Mercury's far reach,
if you stand right next to your opponent you can do it after a backdash to hit your him at the very
bottom hurtbox he has above the ground - while it still must be blocked high. To do this, experiment
with your options and ranges. Getting a knockdown, backdash and then Mercury is just one way, not
the only.

Cosmic Heel (launcher)
down + forward + HK
Vega's best command normal. It's
a ground move with air frames (rarely but it's possible to get crossed under by Dudley's Duck or fast
and low forward dashes like Makoto's or Juri's). Reaches incredibly far, and on hit launches your
opponent to juggle, offering you do deal damage any way you want, do reset mixups or whatever
you like.

Followups to remember:
Cosmic Heel > (juggle) H. Scarlet Terror
Cosmic Heel > (juggle) L. Scarlet Terror > (juggle) H or EX Scarlet Terror
Cosmic Heel > (juggle) EX Flying Barcelona Attack (forward)
Cosmic Heel (high antiair hit) > (juggle) Ultra 2 or Ultra 1 (U1 is EXTREMELY difficult to connect)
Cosmic Heel (high antiair hit) > (juggle) Cosmic Heel > anything above except Ultras
Cosmic Heel (tip hit from the longest possible range) > (juggle) Cosmic Heel > Both ultras (also
extremely difficult)
Cosmic Heel > (juggle) Sliding Sweep.
Cosmic Heel > (whiff, gap closer) throw.

All of the combos above leads to knockdown which is essential for Vega's game. For resets, you
have everything else.

Slide Sweep (For hitbox, check HK).
down + HK
As it's name says, this is a sliding sweep. Surprising I know. It knocks down as all sweeps, has
pretty long range because of the sliding on startup, but is VERY unsafe on block unless you zone it
perfectly and the very tip of Vega's feet hits.
Air Throw
A normal throw but in the air. Just as most tools of Vega, this has exceptionally far reach, making it a
very strong air-to-air option. If you do it as an istant after leaving the ground, you can even grab
players out from their Tatsu moves without taking any damage. You'll need some luck to do this
because it has very strict timing and the mentioned situation is quite rare (expecting a jump in you
want to counter with instant air grab, but instead your opponent does a ground Tatsu), but still, you
have the tools to counter.
Backflips
PPP / KKK
Vega has a unique backflip no other character can do. This backflip looks like a short / long
backdash, depending on which buttons you use: 3 punches for a slow and long range double
backflip, or 3 kicks for a very short but fast backflip. During both, Vega is completely invincible to
everything - no hits, throws or projectiles can damage him. But when the flip ends and Vega lands,
there is a window (shorter than a blocked FBA / SKH cooldown) where you cannot do anything, and
you are left open for your opponent to do whatever he wants to you.

This makes backflips extremly risky if you don't know what to do. If you are under high pressure by
lockdown and frametraps, don't ever panic and use these: this is what your opponent is waiting for
and he'll punish you bad for doing so. Don't let your mind be broken, stand strong and defend. This
move is made for trapping your opponents, making them to do what you want them to, make that
whiff by a backflip, and punish them. However this is still extremly risky, use this move only when
you really need to.
Super and Ultra moves, Focus - Nothing is out of range

Super: Flying Barcelona Special & Rolling Izuna Drop
(Hitbox: check FBA)
It's a pretty much the same as Barcelona, but with 3 Izuna Drops at the end and huge damage. What
makes this move the worst super in the game? Unlike forward EX Barc / Ultra 1, this move has no
launcher hit. All you can do is jumping to a wall and aiming for jump to fall on your opponent - who
can easily counter hit you with long range air-to-air moves or any ground antiair with a hitbox directly
above himself. No futher information is needed here - Vega's super is horrible, don't ever use it - you
can spend that meter much much better and do that 4 times. Strange, but pressing hit in the air too
early resaults in a lot normal FBA wide range hits following each other insanely fast, but the overall
damage is still hilariously low (around the same as single FBA's Izuna Drop), definitly not worth to
spend 4 bars on this.
Ultra I : Bloody High Claw
Vega's U1 is an excellent ultra. Vega jumps to the wall behind / in front of him, and launches himself
insanely fast to the opposite bottom corner. After he left the ground he is totally projectile invincible
from here to the very end of his animation. Thanks to the incredible speed of this move, you can
punish any projectile throwing zoners from full screen distance, and this works for almost any whiffed
normal and special moves, except moves with very fast recovery, for example, a light punch. But
even those can be punished with Ultra 1 if you guess your opponent's move well.

The forward jumping version offers the exact same properties with a bonus launcher, same as EX
Barcelona. Unlike EX Barcelona, sadly this move cannot be used a reliable combo ender after a
Cosmic Heel (okay it IS possible if you hit with the last pixels of Cosmic Heel's hitbox and you don't
lose any timeframe you can use for charging, which takes more time than a regular Barcelona, but
it's really unlikely to connect).

Use this Ultra if you are going to fight against heavy zoners like Sagat, Dee Jay, Guile (etc.) or any
player focusing on keeping you away from him with projectiles. Against Dhalsim it is excellent
counter because it forces him to use his air teleport crossup often, and with this information you can
predict him.
If you know you will get crossed up after a close range head-to-head pressure, feel free to use
forward Ultra 1. With the right timing you can catch your opponent with it, as he tries to jump behind
you, you can evade this by flying forward (the launcher will whiff) and catching him in the air from
behind before he lands as you launch yourself from the wall. It's also possible to catch your
opponent in the air if you jump to the wall behind you, but your ultra CAN be interrupted (making you
lose all your meter and getting a reset) if Vega didn't completely left the ground. This also makes
Bloody High Claw unreliable as a wakeup ultra move - the good news is, it's hard to punish it if you
land in the opposite corner from where your opponent stands (still, Seth U1 is easy punish). If your
opponent has no meter to do EX moves with invincibilty frames, you have a free chip damage win
from full screen distance, but only if the other player has the minimal possible health left which is still
visible on the healthbar.
Ultra II : Splendid Claw
This a full screen sliding sweep must be locked low. It has projectile invincibily frames but not for the
whole duration - it's still enough with the right timing to catch the other guy from mid-screen distance,
and of course just as most ultra moves, you can punish whiffed stuffs too. This isn't the way Splendid
Claw should be used however - this is an excellent protecton for you as an antiair ultra. You can also
combo into this ultra, but the only way to do this is getting an antiair hit with Cosmic Heel with your
opponent high enough, and then use Splendid Claw. You don't have much time to charge up, if your
opponent falls below your shoulder's height when the screen is frozen, your ultra will propably whiff.
Chip damage is ~same as Bloody High Claw (minimal difference, but higher), and the same free win
option goes for this ultra aswell. If your opponent has minimal or empty health bar after you got him
knocked down, with the right timing you can do free safe chip damage in him with Splendid Claw,
finishing the round (assuming they have no meter or ultra). If he has meter to do get invincibilty by
an EX DP for example, you still won if you started your U2 from far distance - Splendid Claw has a
fast recovery, making it a good escape tool if you can't get rid of your opponent as he constantly
locks you down, just do an Ultra 2 whenever he jumps / tries to cross you up. You'll end up in the
opposite corner of the screen, propably totally safe from any punishment. There are exceptions like
the mentioned Seth U1, but Ryu's super can also catch you if your opponent reacts fast enough to
your U2 used too late giving him more time due to earlier landing. Fast moving far range moves and
projectiles WILL catch you, so think if you want to risk this or use a simple Sliding Sweep instead
which is still not totally safe, but offers a faster recovery as an exchance for the shorter distance you
get (Ryu's super still can punish).
Tips and Tricks you won't find above
EX FBA is not worth using without a setup / hitconfirm, especially against projectile characters at
~max distance from you. A randomly thrown fireball will stop you in the air, gets you knocked down
and with fast recovery movement specials or simply good forward dashes your opponent can catch
up easily, starting a mixup on you, which is EXTREMLY dangerous for Vega since he has no reliable
wakeup reversal moves.

Use EX Scarlet Terror as a wakeup "reversal" if you really think there is no other option the get out
from the blockstring pressure, because it gets you back on your foot (able to defense) really fast, but
it leaves you vulnerable more than enough to get punished if your opponent isn't a newbie. Also it
often gets interrupted by c.LK-s on startup, giving your opponent a ground reset on you (easy
combos, possibly huge damage) and you also lose the meter. Sadly, this is your only "reversal"
move. If your opponent gets you knocked down and starts a delayed (deep) jump in , try to use this
move as it starts up faster compared to the non-EX versions. If he is still high enough in the air you
can also try LK Scarlet Terror, so you can juggle another M / H / EX Scarlet Terror after. Even if you
trade hits, you can still charge, don't you? Situations like this are almost always end up with trades
and even if your Scarlet Terror gets interrupted and you dealt no damage, you'll gain distance for
the health you lost, giving you another chance to quickly fall back with a dash, and decide what to do
next. It's your call, but this sacrifice sometimes worth it compared to the possible outcomes staying
under endless pressure.

Use EX Sky High Claw from full range if you see your opponent throwing a projectile, but be
extremly careful with characters like Guile or Dee Jay, even Gouken can cause some trouble - their
recovery is really really fast and kinda forces you to guess when will they throw out a projectile. This
is where mindgame comes in but experiment carefully, it's not working against everybody: this really
depends on the other player, but not his character. Manipulation is the key, to make them throwing
these projectiles, making them belive they do pressure on us with them, forcing to jumpins or back-
wall Barcelonas. They just open up themselves for you, and you MUST be ready to grab the
opportunity with EX Sky High Claw or Bloody High Claw.

Crossup EX Sky High Claw from full range is also great, but recommended only after getting a
knockdown (by double anti-air scarlet terrors, or another EX Sky High Claw). Forward EX Sky High
Claw IS NOT projectile invincilbe until it reaches the wall, and can be interrupted just like EX Barc
with any projectiles - that's why you use it after a knockdown, with a good timing a moment after he
woke up. Sure you can do it earlier and it will also work, but an early start clearly means EX Sky
High Claw for those who know Vega at least a lil bit. However if you delay it just a moment to make it
look like a well timed forward hitting EX Barcelona, it's much more difficult for your opponent to
guess what you want to do, since the starting animations (jumping to the wall) are the same for both
moves. You can also mix up these and do surprising EX Barcelona launchers and land in the other
corner if it gets blocked. But this is risky, because you can get air-to-air hitted after you jump off from
the wall, and these hits often lead to juggle combos or ultras. Pressing hit earlier (just a moment
after you reached the wall) can prevent a lot characters from this because the hitbox is really wide
below you (not to mention if they are close enough in the air you get an Izuna Drop instantly), but at
this moment you still can't know for sure if they'll jump to stop you - if they don't, you'll just hit the air
and fall back right at their feet, totally vulnerable for a second.

After getting a succesful knockdown by Scarlet Terror, start charging up your focus. If your opponent
decides to tech recover by (just an example with Abel) EX Rekkas, they'll get a fully charged level 3
Focus Attack in response which is unblockable! But beware, armor breakers WILL still hit you, hard.
Vega's focus has the longest range of all focus attacks (Seth is really close however). Don't try to
focus attack fast Rekka moves like Fei's one, the second Rekka will hit you when your FA's
counterattack animation / hitbox travels forward! Characters with mid-to-high range ultras, fast armor
breaking specials like Seth's Legs or EX Legs / Ryu's Super can easily break you landing tons of
damage and stun even if you backdash. Your backdash's range is shorter than what would be ideal,
and not even close to really good backdashes like Rose or Makoto.

Your forward dash covers insane distance, use this for surprise throws. Sadly it's not that fast as it
looks like, because there are a bit more than ideal cooldown frames at the end. Ideally, you never
want to be face-to-face close to your opponent if he isn't knocked down, but your forward dash is
good enough to make something out of it, so this is an option you have - it's just not recommended
when you have any alternative.
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By: SaltyDave HUNTING PARTY!
How to play with keyboard fast and smooth, how to do incredible shortcuts aviable only with keyboard. You got any
problems with SSFIVAE / SFxT controls, but you don't want to buy an Arcade Stick?
Upcoming Ultra SFIV changes
Mask pick up: Mask must be picked up with 2+PP
This is a welcome change. In the current AEv2012 build, mask can be picked up by simply walking
over it. Losing / Removing (hidden special not listed, forward DP motion + 2 punches, 1 punch
removes the claw and is pointless, however without the mask you deal 10% more damage, but also
take 10% more damage) it was always a tactical decision for Vega and if you didn't wanted to pick it
up, you had to avoid it on the ground. Now you can clearly decide. Sadly, mask throw still costs 2
meters, I was hoping for a reduction to 1 here.

Crouching heavy punch: Attack is active longer (2F->4F)
This move is now more reliable as an antiair, sadly it's angle, speed, and hurtbox remains the same,
so propably still nobody wants to use this move after the changes. It's useful only against very long
range jumpins, which is quite unlikely to happen, ever, since it's pointless to do and only puts you at
danger.

EX Rolling Crystal Flash: Advantage on hit reduced (4F->2F)
You could link a standing HK after the final hit of EX RCF before, now that seems to be removed.
Honestly, I'm not sure about it, since I never really used it.

Bloody High Claw: Hitbox extended on the top of the attack
Another pointless change. After the 2nd (or 3rd?) "fix" for this ultra, it always hits people when it
should, so this isn't a buff at all. If you fly below people in the current build, they are high enough in
the air to be caught in the second part of U1 animation (before they land), so this change simply can
be ignored, as it does nothing to our gameplay.

Splendid Claw: Starts up faster (8F->7F)
Hopefully we can combo to it now? I wish we could... a previous change made it start up in 5 frames,
the latest nerfed it back to 7.

Super Barcelona Drop: Hits on the way up
Super Barcelona Drop: Damage has been reduced (100*100*200->100*100*100)
Super Barcelona Drop: Gauge is lost when the super is inputted
This is the interesting part for us (after CAPCOM removed a previous change that FINALLY gave us
some invincibility frames on EX. Scarlet Terror, Ultra update literally changes nothing but this super
which is very rarely used anyway). So, our Super now works the same way as our Ultra 1 does. That
is a nice buff, since you can cancel to it, obviously! I always liked to play around with cancelling to
this from a heavy rolling crystal flash (just for fun, not because it's a good decision or something...
not yet), but you can cancel to super from every special cancellable move, so this is a new option
opened up here. It's damage sadly took a huge nerf, going from 400 to 300, but now that you can
combo into it, I think we'll be fine. The last change, I'm the most worried about. I think I'm not the
only one who lost a full U1 meter because it got interrupted on startup. UltraSFIV doesn't cares to fix
that by giving us the invincibility frames on startup, but makes our Super working the same way,
which is lame. There are no words to describe how lame and pointless this change is. I can see why
CAPCOM wanted to do this (to prevent people from doing random supers, better to say make them
think about it twice before they do), but there was no need for it at all, knowing how small the serious
Vega playerbase is.
[Biography and Interesting Facts]

---------------------------------------"My blades will make you beautiful..."----------------------------------------

Vega was born as a spanish noble. Agile and talented, he became a bullfighter as it was his family's
tradition and a dangerous national sport aswell. At age 18, he went to Japan to learn ninjitsu, and he
forged his own acrobatic, fast and evasive fighting style by the mix of these two.
Returning from Japan he found his beautiful mother dead, killed by his own stepfather, an ugly,
agressive man. Vega murdered him with sadistic, bloody instinct, and from that point, his mind was
broken. While he is known by public as an elegant aristocrat, his identity now is a psychotic
narcisistic murderer who belives nothing ugly deserves to live, and all beauty belongs to him,
including the last breathe of his victims, while he licks their blood off of his metal claws he always
uses in combat to slowly bleed his victims to death. It's an art, for him. He belives nothing is more
beautiful than himself, and to protect his flawless face he always wears a mask with a "J" on it.
Origin of this mark is unknown, some theories say it's the first character of his dead mother's name.

Vega's actions drawn Bison's attention, who is the leader of the SF Universe's worldwide criminal
network named Shadowlaw, commonly known as Shadaloo. Vega quicky became Bison's best
assassin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vega is known as Balrog in Japan - when the Street Fighter Universe hitted the western market,
some names has been changed becaue the USA said "this name would fit for him better than him,
and that would be better for the other guy". In Japan, [J]Vega is [US]Bison, [J]Bison is [US]Balrog,
and [J]Balrog is [US]Vega. To avoid confusion, the community often calls them as the Claw, the
Boxer and the Dictator. This is why you may see Vega named as Balrog on some screenshots /
video footage.

Vega first appeared with a blonde hair in Street Fighter II (1991), but CAPCOM changed that in SFIV
to brown for some reason - still, fans usually use blonde hair for him because it's always aviable as
an alternative color for every costume, traditionally with the red color mixed with some yellow which
is related to the spanish flag, and red fits him well anyway :).

Public Author Notes
The guide you can see above is not yet complete. I will add frame data, claw and mask throws,
damage and side-effects (like Armor Breaker etc.) to descriptions as well as I'm planning to make an
entire chapter for mindgame. Please note that I worked on everthing you can see above for a very
long time and I just finally wanted to publish it, getting some feedback. You may find gramatical
mistakes, forgive me for those as english isn't my main language. All will be fixed in time, and you
are welcome to help with nothing more than just simply telling your opionion about my work. In a
word: feedback. Keep in mind that off-topic arguments and flames will be moderated.

Feel free to add me on Steam if you want to discuss something about the guide or the character
itself, or just want to do some training with me.

Have a nice day, see you in the arena,
SaltyDave IV

Update Notes
2014.03.08. Added the upcoming Ultra Street Fighter IV balance changes as short notes near the
end of the guide. This will be removed shortly after the PC relase of USFIV and the changes will get
built into the core guide.

2013.11.14. 21:48 UPDATE A small fix for EX Rolling Crystal Flash (removed section: not invincible
against Sagat's low tiger shot. Well it is, I have no idea why I wrote that, truly sorry about that). Also
made some clarification about all RCF moves at interrupting / punishing.

2013.07.21. 14:41 UPDATE: Moved backflips from specials to command normals, various tips and
tricks added to almost all sections (normals, command normals, specials, ultras). Created a new
section to separate Update Notes from Public Author Notes to prevent the breaking of overall image
of the guide.

2013.05.21 17:30 UPDATE: Added Tips and Tricks sections with some more advices that are not
included with the specific discussed moves. This section will propably get updates later. Thanks for
the all-time last comment on the guide for giving me strenght and inspiration to continue updating the
guide.