Demo of https://www.dustloop.com/w/GGST/Zato-1/Strategy#236P_%22Pierce%22_RPS without the use of a tabber.
Note that the use of tabber masks the verbosity of the text, whereas this clearly indicates that some revision is necessary.
Demo
The situation after an opponent blocks the first hit of "Pierce" is complicated and nuanced, but also very favorable for Zato. Keep in mind that the option set you will use is different midscreen vs in the corner. Also note that we are strictly speaking about 236P and not ]P[, as the frame advantage on the latter is much higher allowing for more freedom in pressuring with it.
First we will go over Zato's RPS options midscreen. The primary options to think about are:
- Let 236P finish.
- The default option, but also generally the easiest to counter-play. There is a 6f gap in between the two hits of "Pierce" meaning that any <6f button that hits sufficiently low to the ground (doesn't have to be particularly low)> can hit Eddie and kill him before the second hit is able to connect. After killing Eddie the opponent is able to gatling or special cancel to attempt to hit Zato. Zato can block these, but if you've gone for a normal assuming they blocked both hits of "Pierce" you may end up getting hit. Additionally, jumping out of the gap is a strong option and characters with powerful air tools such as Baiken's j.S or Faust's j.2K can pose a real threat afterwards.
This option is strong in that it is relatively low committal while being very high reward if the opponent respects the gap. If your opponent is new to fighting Zato or too scared to challenge the gap this is the least costly way to gain plus frames.
If both hits are blocked this results in around 30 frames of advantage for Zato, enough time to dash forward and true string a 2S or 5H to allow time for Eddie to recover and setup the next action.
- 236P(1) > 214S
- Cancel the first hit of "Pierce" to send Eddie past the opponent, sandwiching them between a Spaniard and Shadow. A common but relatively easy to counterplay option. The strength of this option is that it will allow Eddie to invul through a mashed poke that would otherwise kill him in the "Pierce" gap, while putting him behind the opponent in a position that is hard to attack. The downside is that there is a significant gap in your pressure between when "Pierce" is cancelled and when he can next attack. Drunkard Shade has lower total recovery than a cancel into another Eddie move, but Eddie is not covering any space with attacks so there is a large amount of time for the opponent to react to the Drunkard Shade cancel and punish Zato or escape pressure.
Defensive options like jumping or dashblocking are very strong against this RPS option and are hard to counterplay. Additionally, there is a simple defensive OS to deal with both this and the previous Full "Pierce" option. <6f poke, backdash> will kill Eddie if "Pierce" is not cancelled and will backdash through Eddie if 214S > ]P[ is chosen. You can counterplay this by using ]K[ after 214S but it leaves a very large gap.
Mix this in if your opponent hasn't shown a willingness to dashblock or jump in the "Pierce" gap, if their Eddie killing poke is beating other cancel options, or if you see they are not able to react to Drunkard Shade.
The resulting sandwich pressure is strong, if a little hard to make tight. Remember that the longer you delay ]P[ the larger the gap they have to act in, but the more frame advantage you have as Zato is recovering from Drunkard Shade.
- 236P(1) > 236K
- Clap cancel the first hit of "Pierce" into Drills. The primary usage for this sequence is to beat attempts to mash the "Pierce" gap. During the startup of Drills, Eddie's hurtbox is shifted backwards which can cause most characters' P and K normals to whiff. The consistency of this depends on how spaced out the first hit of "Pierce" was when it connected and the size of the normal the opponent mashed with; the further Eddie was and the smaller the opponents normal is the more likely it is that this option works. Often Drills will punish their mashed button and you can pick up with 2S for a combo.
- 236P(1) > 236S
- This option is primarily used to catch attempts at escaping pressure by jumping, dashing, or backdashing (from closer ranges.) If the opponent blocks "Leap", Zato is usually very plus and can dash up and true string another button. If Eddie gauge is low, unsummoning while Eddie is airborne will also delay the unsummon until Eddie hits the ground, meaning Zato can safely unsummon on block and remain slightly plus, although at most ranges this effectively resets the situation to neutral. On hit, (specifically the second hit of "Leap",) the opponent will be knocked down long enough to unsummon and still attempt a meaty with a longer-ranged button. If you don't want to summon, you can try to continue the combo by dashing up and picking the opponent off the ground with a c.S or 2S.
Attempts to mash "Pierce" at closer ranges can also often hit "Leap" during its startup or recover fast enough to avoid being punished. Opponents who are crouching or using low-profiling buttons often have Leap go over them, which can leave a punishable gap to take advantage of. Opponents can call out "Leap" with 6P to kill Eddie, but this can be a pretty committal option.
- 236P(1) > 236H
- Protects Eddie from any kind of strike, with the situation being better for Zato the more committal the opponents' strike is. Generally there is an RPS on whether Zato will cancel "Oppose" into something else or use the opportunity to approach. Cancelling into other Eddie moves will often lose to gatlings, but further mashing will leave Zato more plus if "Oppose" is left uncancelled. Cancelling into 214S is also an option, but the situation for that is generally the same as in the case for "Pierce".
On lighter normals, opponents can often recover in time to block any further Eddie moves or use low-risk gatlings to discourage cancelling Eddie into another move. If the opponent does not mash further and Zato leaves "Oppose" uncancelled, Zato will recover at roughly the same time as the opponent. On attacks with high attack levels, the situation tips much more in Zato's favor because the opponent's recovery is far longer and gatlings are usually more committal/limited. Whether the opponent cancels or not, Zato is much more advantaged and can threaten a punish with either a Eddie cancel or with a Zato button. On very high recovery buttons the opponent may not be able to do anything to prevent a Zato punish, but otherwise they can guess between a committal gatling to stop an Eddie cancel or they can wait to recover before Zato punishes them. In either case, guessing wrong can mean eating a full combo (either from moves like "Leap" or 5H.
Most movement options or blocking will "beat" this option because Zato will be quite minus, but punishing Zato can be difficult because "Oppose" protects him from strikes if he is close enough. Running up and throwing can punish Zato depending on distance, but otherwise you need to determine whether you should cancel Eddie to try to re-establish your turn or if Zato needs to recover in order to defend. You also need to consider that Eddie will likely die if you leave "Oppose" uncancelled, which means that your opponent can try to punish you on an unsummon or wait for Eddie to die to put pressure on you.
Notice that all of these options revolve around cancelling (or not) Eddie's action. This is due to 236P(1) only being +4 on block, making covering the gap in between the two hits with Zato more or less impossible midscreen. Each option has strengths and weaknesses, and can be used to target different defensive options your opponent might pick.