Sadira versus Gargos

A few days ago I played Dav0’s Gargos in Ranked, and while I was able to get in a few times, I was completely destroyed. This happens with just about every Gargos fight I encounter. I find the Gargos match up even harder than S2 Kan Ra, of which was also an uphill battle.

During an interview with Kalypso, he stated that the match up was almost a joke in how bad it is for Sadira.

Gargos has all the right tools to keep Sadira away from him. From a distance, Gargos can zone Sadira via his Portal Punches. As a Sadira you can dodge most of these with a well timed Blade Demon…

Only problem with this though is that Gargos still has time to either sweep you with his wing or jump wing flap you back to where you were.

You can take baby steps towards him and use light Blade Demon, but once you are a few feet away from him, he can dash grab you with his command grab.

If you manage to get in close enough to him to start Sadira’s areal shenanigans, he can simply anti air her and start over again.

This is all before the minions come out…

So fellow Sadira mains, any tips on how to defeat Gargos, or is this something IG really needs to rethink?

Personally, and in my humble opinion, I think Gargos’ close anti air (I believe it is down HK) should be removed or nerfed. I don’t mind the work getting in, but once I’m in, I should be rewarded, much like Kan Ra.

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I agree 100% with this sentiment. This is definitely worse than S2 Kan-Ra. Unfortunately, I cannot offer any advice as I think this MU is just insanely difficult for Sadira and there is not really much we can do. :frowning: Once the minions come out it is nearly impossible to move without having to take a risk. If anyone else has an idea of what to do other than try to get it and stay in I would love to hear it. Maybe just use a different character vs Gargos?


J. HK is his win button against Sadira. Throws her fullscreen, so she has to start over and over again. It’s his better tool against Sadira IMO.

The button you are mentioning is Standing HK, which only use is that: clear anyone above Gargos head.

The key factor for this MU, from Sadira’s perspective, is NOT jumping.

Actually, Sadira has decent tools to keep Gargos grounded if up close. Since Gargos has no real reversal, you should always use a meaty against him, and only after this, you could try to go for a left/right mixup. NEVER jump in against him. J.HK, HK, c.HP, M. Reckoning, H. Devil divide… too much tools to deal with the space above him.

Play neutral, do not jump happily, go for throws, and never let him go from a wake up.

There are more variables, of course, but I would start from here


Oh c’mon, man. While it’s true that this matchup is singularly brutal for Sadira, I think we should accept that sometimes matchups are going to be brutal.

RAAM says hi, and he’s just fine.

You’ll either have to significantly outplay your Gargos opponent, or counterpick, but how many of these MU’s does Sadira have? How dominant has she been for how many years now (well, maybe not dominant, but she makes a good showing at every tournament, period). Moreover, she’s a very similar kind of annoying.

I’m just saying the devs ought not rethink one trouble MU for one of the games perennially strong AND annoying characters. Trouble MU’s are okay once in a while. I feel for you Sadira mains, but be realistic.

Also, there’s gotta be some less-obvious maneuvering that can help this MU out for the spider queen, even just a little. Having zero Sadira experience (except bodying her free w/ Gargos XD) I’m not quite sure what this could be, but I will think hard on it, and get back in here if I come up with anything.

**no confrontation was intended by this post
EDIT: OMG I misread that as “this is something…” as opposed to the question “is this something…” - to which I don’t think they should. Soz if I had an attitude.

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I knew I was forgetting a letter! I knew it! :stuck_out_tongue: Sorry Dayv0! :stuck_out_tongue:

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Not jumping is easier said that done. Much of her fun stuff happens in the air, but I understand where you are coming from. Just going to have to go boring grounded. No fancy stuff unless its off a throw. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I play Sadira also, it’s not the end of the world. I mean Sadira has how many advantageous match ups in this game? Just pick someone else, I know Aganos is damn good against Gargos.

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Aganos? ugh… He’s too slow and big for my books. If I was to counter pick, I would choose Hisako and or Spinal. I have more experience with Spinal than Hisako though, but I do like her game play. Plus I can command grab. :smiley:

However, I would assume Sadira has some tech that can help out in this match up. I don’t mind difficult MU’s as long as I know how to get in.

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Yeah, all I can say is stay on the ground and you’ll do a lot better.

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Kim Wu, Aganos, Hisako, Eyedol, Rash

This characters have tools to take advantage of Gargos’ weakness. I would suggest any of them. There are more, but these ones have ways to totally nuliffy some of his strenghts

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I actually think this could be one of the things that makes the MU so much harder for Sadira than it has to be - resisting that muscle memory. Of course you know she’s solid on the ground, and she can “out-footsie” Gargos if you can get him in the right range. But not being a jumping-bean right out of the gate is probably difficult, and I imagine a lot of Sadira’s just sort of maneuver in the air almost automatically, out of habit.

Her aerial maneuverability and juggle capacity can actually be a huge boon here, I think, if the Gargos makes the right kind of wrong decisions. Specifically, if you block a j.HP (the swoop) or a Reckoning (the tackle/dive) that causes a bounce-off, jump after him and punish air-to-air into a juggle/air combo. As Jago v Gargos, that works out for me so often, and Sadira is just better at such things. It’s just sorta non-obvious, ya know? As others have said, try to stay on the ground. You should only take to the air if it will result in HIM getting KD’d, preferably with you cashing out.

As far as counterpicking, you mentioned Spinal and Hisako, whom I think both do pretty well against Gargos. With Spinal, you’ll need skulls to really shut him down, but Absorb and Teleports can be super useful. As Spinal, if you can knock him down while you’ve got skulls, it’s pretty much GGs. When I play the Gargos v Hisako MU (as Gargos), Hisako often makes me feel dumb and ineffectual at pretty much every range.

I can’t think of anything else right now, so I’ll shush it. Hope any of that is helpful.

@SoSRaGnArOk Playing Kim Wu should help you break that jumping habit :slight_smile:


I like Hisako better than Kim. :smiley:


TK H.ORZ let’s you jump and not really fear the j.HK. The hitbox on it is just too damn good. Hisako eats him alive, almost as bad as he eats Sadira, in my experience.

I also really enjoy using Hisako. I played my first Ranked match with her as a lowly level 7 and completely destroyed a level 50 Orchid. I just kept doing resets. They guy raged quit after the first life bar evaporated. :smiley:

I’m… following… Storm! :smiley: Technically I do follow his Youtube channel. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Hisako is a really cool character, and @Storm179 is freaky-stoopid-good, and a treat to watch. So even if you just need a counterpick for this one match, that’s plenty reason to pick up Hisako.

My wife plays Hisako and follows Storm, and I still try to play Gargos against her… she’s like “honey, I thought you wanted to PLAY KI tonight, not just watch me practice KD setups on you” XD

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Not saying you gotta main her, just giving you a training tip :slight_smile:

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Mmm, not as much as that. Hisako really owns Gargos once he is knocked down, and Hisako doens’t have so much problems about getting in compared to Sadira, but IMO Gargos beats Sadira with more brutality. Hisako could have advantage over Gargos, but not as much Gargos against Sadira

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That is actually a good training tip - Kim’s ground game is so good, and so fun, a week or so will really help break the “jump forever” habits of the spider queen.

@Dayv0 It’s definitely not as bad Gargos v Sadira, but in my experience it still really sucks for Gargos. The trouble is you don’t want her within half-screen of you, but it’s nigh-impossible to keep her that far out, and despite people talking about Gargos being a zoner, he doesn’t have definitively good zoning tools. You gotta be a little creative and use several tools to effectively keep anyone out. I did say “almost” after all. My comparison is largely:
TK H.ORZ is to Hisako v Gargos what j.HK is to Gargos v Sadira.