hi!!
Dizzy is a complicated and unpopular character, and a lot of people make some pretty basic mistakes when fighting her. In the interest of spreading matchup knowledge, here are some of the most common pain points I’ve found people struggle with when they’re fighting Dizzy for the first time!
- Not respecting ice spike YRC
This is one of the fundamental layers of the Dizzy matchup for every character, but one that a surprising amount of players – even ones who are otherwise quite strong – consistently fail to respect. Ice spike YRC is an extremely fast tool for controlling the space at around round start distance, and a huge amount of our round wins come from people carelessly entering its range, particularly against characters like Johnny or Ky who can get complacent with their dominant long-range pokes. If you’re in ice spike distance when Dizzy has meter, don’t linger in that space any longer than you have to!
- Bursting airdash strings
While there are times when you can do this and not get punished, this is one of the most common mistakes people make against Dizzy, and it’s one of the chief ways we steal rounds. Dizzy’s burst punishes are very strong and it can be difficult to gauge if your burst will hit or not based on her airdash momentum, so in general you should save your burst for safer points like 6H and ice spike.
- Not representing defensive options against weak midscreen knockdowns
In contrast to her corner setplay, which is typically safe against most reversals, most of Dizzy’s midscreen okizeme is vulnerable to defensive counterplay. Before establishing what choices you have to disrespect her pressure, however, it’s important to first understand that not all of Dizzy’s knockdowns are created equal – importantly, ice spike gives Dizzy significantly less frame advantage than her other knockdown options, and okizeme performed after a midscreen ice spike knockdown is almost universally vulnerable to practically any defensive option you choose. The other situation I wanted to cover is 2D into laser fish, which many seem content to downback and hold the subsequent airdash mixup. Almost every character in the game can superjump while holding FD and escape this setup without much risk, and even if they can’t, most of these mixups are highly susceptible to basic defensive options like blitz, IB -> airthrow, and even simply pressing 6P. Experiment with your options, and please, do not let Dizzy players get away with lazy setplay!
- Dead angling fish
Do not do this.
- Respecting 2D on block too often
This situation is why I wrote this post, because so many players at all levels are far too respectful of Dizzy’s options after she does 2D on block. Don’t be so afraid! Dizzy is actually playing a very dangerous game of RPS after you block her 2D. Her safest option, and one you’ll see most often, is a cancel into fire pillar. This generally covers people running forward or mashing, and although it appears to be a dangerous frametrap, there is actually a significant gap between 2D and fire pillar that can be exploited. This depends heavily on your character, but possible options include backdashing, jumping and IBing, using a move that can beat the projectile properties of fire pillar like Mist Finer or S Graviert Wurde, or (range permitting) using a fast forward-moving attack like Dauro or K Mappa Hunch to evade it entirely. If that wasn’t enough, fire pillar is a whopping -11, which makes it punishable at certain ranges by moves like Elphelt’s 5H. Remember, this is her safest cancel option, and it still loses to lots of options! Once you show Dizzy that she can’t force your respect with fire pillar, and once you punish her for summoning fish, you can start forcing her to give up on using 2D cancel options entirely, or force her to start spending meter or calling out your defensive options with ice spike. It’s a nuanced situation with options on both sides, but don’t let her get away with those fire pillars and fish summons without a fight!
- Bursting air combos
Dizzy is unable to score a knockdown from her air combos, and although she gets some good damage off her air strings, she has a hard time maintaining offensive momentum after ending a combo high. Unless she’s about to combo you into a bubble, which both drastically increases her damage and can lead to a knockdown at lower heights, it’s usually best to take the damage and hold your burst to escape corner setplay or a damaging RRC combo.
- Using single-hit reversals against fish
Do not do this.
- Failing to handle TK H fish in the zoning game
One of the most meaningful buffs Dizzy received in Rev2, Dizzy’s air H fish is exceptionally fast and is now one of the premiere zoning tools in the game. While it’s difficult to challenge directly at long range, Dizzy has a significant cooldown after she summons a fish before she’s able to summon another. If you’re a zoning character feeling frustrated, try to weave your zoning in during this downtime instead of trying to fight it head-on, or start zoning her in the air where H fish is less of an issue.
There’s a lot more I could write, but these are most of the main points I wanted to cover. If there’s any questions you have about fighting Dizzy, feel free to contact me on Twitter and I can put them in my next writeup.
thanks!!
the gensokyo the gods loved 