Sagat's Footsies

Common misconceptions and goals

Ok, so now you have a good idea of what footsies are all about. Basically it's zoning at mid range to control space and your opponent's options with a very specific goal in mind. Now the general idea among the SFIV community is that Sagat has poor footsies, But I'm here to tell that is just a flat out lie. He DOES have poor walk speed which limits how his footsies are applied, but that doesn't make them bad. Just different. He can't do some common footsie tricks like walk in and out of someone's zone to bait something and being very aggressive with his footsies is a bit tougher. Instead his footsies tend to be a little more reactive and based more around counter poking and whiff punishing.

During footsies the primary goal is usually to score a knockdown, but there can be other goals as well and Sagat excels at these other goals. They are as follows.

1) Get an opponent to do something easily punishable, like whiff a move or try to jump in because they aren't gaining any ground in the footsie war or they are being outpoked. This way you can nail an easy whiff punish or land an easy TU if they decide to jump.

2) Make an opponent turtle up so you can start close range pressure/mix-ups. By going on the defensive they give you momentum and then you can start to put the pressure on them.

3) Create space or get them to back off so you can zone. This is Sagat's main game and what he excels at. If you don't wanna play footsies for long you can just focus on poking them back out so you can zone.


So as you can see although Sagat isn't an ace at nailing knockdowns due to average sweep range he is still really good at the other goals of footsies which still gives him a strong footsie game. This is mainly because he is great at counter poking and alot of his pokes have great range which helps mitigate the fact that his walk speed is slow. Also his great FA is awesome for punishing randomly thrown out sweeps. Let me delve in further will all of Sagat's footsie options and give a rundown of them.

Stand short - Hits on frame 6. Only -1 on blocking making it very safe. This poke has the best range out of Sagat's normals. As much range as Boxer's sweep. This is your main poking tool when your opponent's aren't that close to you. This move is a great whiff punisher vs shoto low forward, other low forwards, Rose's/Vega's slide and sweeps. It can be cancelled into a low tiger shot for added pressure/damage or a TK to begin close range pressure. Be aware that at close to max range opponents can jump out of stand short to TS pressure before the shot connects and the same with a cancel into TK so don't always cancel into a special at that range. Sometimes just let the stand short hit then do nothing and wait. If your opponent jumped then free TU for you. This move is one of your main pokes for footsies.

Stand jab - Slightly more range then low short and slightly less range then stand forward. Hits on frame 5. This move has a total frames of 12 and it's recovery is only 5 frames making it a good move to just whiff during footsies to bait something then punish. Also good for faking Tiger Shots. This is +3 on block as well making it good for when you want to push your momentum with a frame trap and your opponent was turtling.

Stand Roundhouse - This move was very overrated back in the beginnings of SFIV, but it still has it's place. It's not nearly as spammable as it was originally made out to be since Sagat is very unsafe on block if only the close hit is blocked and the second whiffs, but when used intelligently it's still a threat. It can mainly be used as a whiff punisher against moves with longer duration like a roundhouse from Gouki or a step kick from Ken. You can also do a psychic roundhouse to stuff your opponent if you were close and you really feel like they were going to hit a button. It's great when you have your opponent cornered as it can stuff a jump in very early and make them think twice before taking to the air to escape. It's also great for punishing FA attempts.

Stand forward - This is the new low fierce and should be one of your main footsie tools. This move stuffs so much shit for free and it's just hard for alot of pokes to actually hit Sagat when he does this move. Only a few pokes can reliably strike Sagat out of this like Dictator's stand roundhouse/forward or Cammy's stand roundhouse or low fierce. But most other pokes in this game just get eaten alive. Boxer's sweep, Chun's sweep, Rose's stand roundhouse/forward and her low strong, Fei's low fierce, etc. It will even beat Claw's low strong while he STILL has his Claw on. Insanity. If you get a counter hit you can link into a TU for good damage or if you aren't close enough for that you can link into Stand short xx LTS. That's a one frame link, but definitely worth mastering to maximize your damage potential. This hits on frame 9. It's +3 on hit and 0 on block. It sets up for TK spacing really well and generally gives you quite a bit of breathing room.

Low jab - Main close range poke. Cancel into TS for pressure if you want. Keep in mind low jab to TS isn't tight. There is a small gap where an opponent can mash out a dp move so be aware of this and don't always cancel into a TS after a blocked low jab. Hits on frame 3 and is safe on block making it good for when your opponent is past the optimal spacing for stand
forward/short.

Low short - A little slow at frame 5, but recovers fast so it's good for whiffing in someone's zone to draw out a reaction. This also has decent priority for some reason and can even stuff shoto low forward pretty consistently. +3 on block as well so that's great.

Low roundhouse - Sagat's sweep. Pretty average actually, but it has one good use. Vs characters with good standing pokes like Dictator a sweep can be used to counter poke them when they try to attack. After you have netted a knockdown momentum is yours and then you can safe jump, OS them on wake-up, frame trap, cross-up etc. This move hits on frame 8.

Low fierce - This isn't CvS2 unfortunately, but this move is still solid. It's similar to stand forward in that it's good for stuffing things, but Stand forward is generally a bit better at it plus it's a little safer on whiff because it recovers 4 frames faster. But this move is 1 frame faster, hitting on frame 8 and gives 1 more frame of advantage on hit. The range is nice though and so is the block push back. This is 0 on block so it can't be punished on block.

F+hp - Sagat's overhead. This has very deceptive range and it's quite good. A bit more then Sagat's low jab actually. For some reason this move has extremely high priority and beats out alot of moves. So even if your opponent tries to poke you when they see this you will often times beat them out unless the poke was low to the ground. When blocked this gives you good block push back and sets up well for zoning or a TK. Use this when your opponent is sitting on block and they are a little close and you want to make them think twice about being really defensive.

Tiger Shot - Really fucking good. Ever seen Mago or Daigo play and sort of walk up a bit then throw out a seemingly random fireball? Sure you have. Why? Think about it. Safe on block, does chip, pushes the opponent back, and eats every poke for free. What's not to love? TS makes opponents think twice before just walking into Sagat's space and throwing out a poke or even whiffing a poke on purpose to bait something. TS eats whiffed pokes for dinner. Also Sagat leans back before launching the shot which helps him avoid pokes. For footsies Tiger Shots should be viewed as longer ranged pokes with slightly longer start-up time.

Tiger Knee - Alot of the time just the threat of a TK is enough to keep opponents in check. TK has good start-up time, alot of priority and eats alot of moves. It's also armor breaking. If your opponent is hanging out around low short range you can do a seemingly random mk TK and if they hit a button they will more then likely eat the TK and get blown clear across the stage. More then likely though they will just block and now you have momentum. One thing that sucks is sometimes you end up hitting a stray limb of theirs on the way up and you don't hit them on the way down then they get a free punish. So use this cautiously. Also Sagat's legs are very vulnerable during the start-up of this move.

Focus attack - Easily one of the best FAs in the game. It has even more range then Sagat's stand short. This move really helps Sagat make up for his weakness in his walk speed. Opponents may be fearful to throw anything out because a FA CH will lead to a crumple and free damage and then they will be on the ground as well. This move is great for dealing with the pokes that give Sagat more trouble and that are tougher to stuff. So vs chars like Dic you may find yourself using FA a bit more.


So we can see that Sagat has some great tools for every situation when dealing with footsies. He can push people out, try to bait them, counter poke, or whiff punish. He has all the tools to do this. But he still does have 2 weaknesses that must be looked over.

1) His slow walk speed.

2) His best pokes are standing pokes, making his legs vulnerable to low pokes and especially sweeps.

Masking these weaknesses and making up for them takes skill but it is doable. To make up for walk speed it's just a matter of knowing your spacing and your ranges on your normals really well so that you know what to poke with and when. You also need to become comfortable with counter poking since your opponent will try to aggressively use their superior walk speed to dance in and out of your zone to try to get you to commit to something so they can capitalize. This just means you need to be ok with being on the defensive most of the time in regards to footsies and relying more on your range during footsies and not on mobility.

The second weakness is alleviated with more usage of FA and limiting the amount of time you actually spend standing. Try to only stand when you are adjusting your spacing or when you are poking. FA is good because it makes your opponent think twice before throwing out a sweep to catch your legs. If you absorb the hit you can dash and attempt a grab or release the FA and get a hit. If it was lvl 2 you can dash in for a combo. If you showed your FA and they didn't take the bait, just backdash and you will be safe the majority of the time.


Basic tactics/tips

1) Try whiffing some stand jabs in your opponents face then doing a stand forward. If they hit a button, then more then likely you will stuff them. If it was a CH try for a CH combo. If they blocked then you will have some good space to work with and you can try for some TK pressure or zone. If you want even more space you can jump back. Replace stand forward with FA if you think your opponent will sweep and adjust your options after that accordingly.

2) If you have an opponent that likes to dance in and out of your range and you have meter try throwing out an Ex TK. It's fast and very safe. If they tried something you will more then likely blow through them. If they blocked, you are safe. If they blocked crouching then you have frame advantage and can continue pressure. You can do the same thing with Ex tiger shot and it will be safer but you have less offensive options then you would have off a blocked Ex TK.

3) If you want to get your opponent to turtle up try to feel them out and go for CH stand froward or stand short xx LTS. Even if they don't CH, eating one or two will make your opponent want to block and then momentum is yours.

4) Master whiff punishing certain normals. Things like whiffed shoto low forward should be punished every time with stand short.

5) If your opponent is sitting on crouch block after eating a bit of damage you can get a little bold. Try something like dash throw or dash low short pressure. Risky, yes but if the opportunity is there sometimes you must take it.

6) Baiting your opponent into jumping at you takes alot of skill and patience. There are some basic things you can do. You have to make it seem like your defense is impenetrable. Punish whiffed pokes and keep your opponent out with stand forward/short. Don't constantly attack because you need to be able to react to anything random your opponent does. Sit on block for a bit then poke and mix in tiger shots to shut down their own pokes. Sooner or later they will risk the jump in hoping to catch you as you throw out a LTS or during the recovery of a poke. Shut down their hopes with an AA fierce TU.

The backbone of your footsie game is stand short, stand forward, Low Tiger Shot, low jab and FA. As you get better you will add more stuff to your repertoire but these 5 moves should be the core of your footsie game and they are generally your most reliable as well as universally useful pokes in every match.

9) When you are sitting on 2 bars you can get a little stupid if you want. Try a random kara TU. Even if it's blocked you are safe thanks to FADC. This random factor can be very scary for your opponent to deal with, so when you have 2 bars don't be surprised if you notice your opponent turtling a bit more during footsies.

10) Smart opponents know that crouching increases your hitbox size. So many times opponents may try to stand just outside your range. Try mixing in some low step kicks to throw them off their game. If it hits you can link combo into low jab xx TU/TS depending on the spacing. Low step kick is also safe on block leaving Sagat at -1.