Sazabi is one of the most tricky characters in the game. Aside from being one of the most popular Gundams and another one of Char Aznable's many iconic suits, Sazabi comes packed with an increased focus on well-ranged air moves, funnels, tanky health, and a super for high-damaging punishes. Sazabi has an arsenal of normals with above average reach and health to claw his way into neutral. Despite having an okay gun, unblockable, super, and a great health pool to draw from, Sazabi struggles immensely on the ground due to being a big character with otherwise bad frame data on his normals. And because of this he will oftentimes struggle to find moments to be plus on block aside from 5WP, as many characters will have no problem locking down Sazabi's options on the ground. Historically Sazabi has always had a mixed reputation, however the character manages to thrive with a read and pressure heavy gameplan that can be unlocked further with cross-ups and by whiffing the first hit of his j.SK. Although recent opinions have subsided as his high-damage output and a ready heavy gameplay, funnels to reset neutral, and air game has allowed him to keep pace and win trades. With a patient gameplan and keen understanding his range, he can thrive in a mix-up air environment and land attacks that can force his opponents to respect his play, with extended potential and punish play once he throws out funnels, allowing even the most potent of Sazabis to remain competitive at high-level play and match-ups.
Archetype: Mix Up and Footsies
Strengths
Weaknesses
Great Health: One of the Sazabi's most imminent strengths is his armor values that puts him on par with Hydra and Quin Mantha. Because of this you will be able to take more risks throughout your gameplan and force opponents to waste approaches trying to take away your lifebar.
Unblockable j.SK Set-Ups: If the first hit of Sazabi's j.SK whiffs, the 2nd hit automatically becomes an unblockable, meaning the opponent has to dodge. Sazabi in particular is rewarded by dodging up or creating sweet spot distance to ensure the first hit whiffs, forcing opponents to extensively change up how they block and reposition. Combine his j.SK with his funnels to unlock powerful Sazabi synergy.
Tricky Mix-Ups: Sazabi's j.5SK move alone can deal nearly 50% damage if both hits connect, he also has the option to perform a dive kick with his lone command normal j.2SK which can connect into j.5SK, or be used to extensively knowledge-check cross-ups. This makes Sazabi particularly tricky to deal with in the air. Furthermore many of Sazabi's moves retract or lurch his hitbox forward, making him unorthodox and hard to contest.
Lingering Funnels: Sazabi's funnel attack can hit up to 8 times with 2 volleys of hits. Sazabi's funnels help drastically expand his neutral and combo game when utilized accordingly, and he can usually deploy them safely when boosting in the air, especially when above his opponent to mix up and set up for his air and cross-up gameplan.
Big Hitbox: Sazabi's hitbox makes his moves less safe than they otherwise would be. Because of this many characters will be able to lock down Sazabi until you eventually have a moment to dodge or boost.
Bad Frame Data: The most deceptive weakness of the character is his lack of clearly good (and safe) frame normals with this being further exacerbated by his hitbox issue forcing him to space around his opponents more to get attacks out. Sazabi's average frame data is a contender for among the worst out of all the non-Boss suits in the game.
Limited Ground Game: Sazabi has difficulty playing aggressively without 5WP or jump-in normals. This is evident by his frame data and hitbox issues, and because of this Sazabi will be attempting to punish opponents out from mid range and baiting out to get opponents leading towards a telegraphed play style.
Low Ammo: While his gun can be good for out-prioritizing other characters, using the strong version of this move will create more scatter, although this version is particularly good for links. Your gun can only be fired anywhere from 4-6 times during battle, a problem that is similarly shared with Qubeley.
All damage values were tested on characters with 100% damage taken
Character Summary
Move list
Special Moves
XX - Special name: Quick description of a special move.
Super
26X+X - Super name: Quick description of their super.
Command Normals
6X - Command normal name: Quick description of the command normal.
Any additional information that doesn't fit with the main description, such as it whiffing on certain characters.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Strategy
Neutral
Sazabi's neutral will initially start off by gauging your opponent's options, and what moves you can throw out and contest. Because of Sazabi's frame data, you will likely want to spend your time with jumping normals such as j.SK, j.SP, or j.WK. Spacing out your opponents is possible with SP/c.SP and SK/c.SK, but it should be noted that they take a while to come out. If you run out of ammo, it is possible opponents will likely try to repeatedly camp you out, therefore it is wise to conserve it for high-damage or opportunities for gunfights where you can flush out your opponent with super, but it's possible that this will not punish in time. Many of Sazabi's normals don't have too much links, and because of this he will spend a good deal of his time poking opponents out at mid range unless he has funnels.
Sazabi capitalizes well on his opponents mistakes, so it isn't unwise to try to look for opportunities to jump in, taking him onto his next critical aspect of neutral - the air game. Sazabi traditionally will want to keep out active hitboxes when landing or set up for dodge-up, as many of his normals aren't great for close range and his hitbox is too oftentimes too large to hide conveniently. If you can land a j.SK you will likely immediately take off 40-50% of your opponent's health which could be further expanded upon with his gun, or even more if you land a rare super conversion from the air. While Sazabi may have sluggish frame performance on the ground, he can cancel much of his lag by landing and throwing out active aerial hitboxes in his opponent's blindspots giving him a much safer opening that allows Sazabi to throw off his opponents neutral gameplan with an overrarching likelihood that he will spend his time in the air playing a bait and punish style with frequent jump ins or dodges.
Offense
Sazabi has means to approach his opponent on the ground and air, while attempting to play high-low against the opponent once he uses WP and c.WP/WK. Sazabi's standing 5WP is one of his safest close-range normals and can lead into super if you catch your opponent. There are other ways to throw your opponent off once you are in such as by using 24K (which functions as an overhead), by pressuring with normals until your opponent is forced to eventually dodge, although if they are crouching they will almost certainly be able to hold their ground as standing 5WP does not easily cover this. Sazabi's offensive and combo options expand drastically once he throws out funnels, as this will allow him more room for mix-ups, and trades that will let you gain ground and add further pressure to your opponent allowing you to effectively get in more. Sazabi also has an unblockable that is decently fast enough to be thrown out and this serves as a good mix-up, although it is likely your opponent will adapt to it after you've thrown it out enough due to its slow startup.
Defense
Sazabi's defense will almost certainly lie in distancing from your opponent when need be, usually through jumping normals to cover the aforementioned lag. While he does have some safe moves, if your opponent out ranges sazabi or has quick frame normals, many of your moves will be contested, and oftentimes your super won't be fast enough to punish this out. Sazabi's defensive style typically has him going back into a state of dodge-up or boost as this gives him more mix-up opportunities, and allows him to land with an air move, which is particularly important if he is cornered, as many characters will typically have no problem trapping Sazabi down on the ground once they close in on his mid range distance. When on the way down, or if you jump you can microspace with his j.2SK to change up your momentum. Sazabi's defense is aided greatly by the use of funnels as this allows him to punish out his opponents if they are trying to corner him, and effectively allows him to single-handily change the momentum of the battle into his offensive strategy.
Additional Resources
Links to any additional resources, delete category if there are none.
Additional Categories
Add any further categories as needed, just make sure they're worth a whole section.
Combos
Midscreen
Commbo Example (5WP > 2WP > 2SK)
Damage. Describe when to use the combo and how hard it is.
Corner
Combo Example
Combo desc
Matchups
Overall
Their general matchup spread, how good are they across the board. Do they have weaknesses against an archetype? Does they do especially well against a certain group?
Overview: Describe overall the flow of the matchup.
Neutral: How does neutral work in the matchup? Do any tools in particular affect it?
Offense: When you're on offense do they have tools to counter you? How does it flow, can you mix them?
Defense: When you're on defense do you have tools to counter them? How does it flow, how do they mix you?
Frame Data
Fill in frame data here, if it has an additional property that lasts for certain frames list it in Notes (i.e. XF~XF Invincible, XF~XF Armor). Delete this line when it's done.
KD - Knockdown
VA - Variable
*UV - value(s) marked with "?" in the table is/are unverified
x~yF - a period from frame "x" till frame "y"
Fill in the character's chain options, similar to a Guilty Gear wiki Gattling Table. Make sure you get everything. Delete the specials section if the character has no cancelable specials. If a character has a whiff/block cancelable special, add [+] after it (i.e. 5WP[+], 2WP[+]). If a move is only cancelable on a specific hit, specify it (i.e. 5SP (First Hit Only) or 5SP (Second Hit Only)). Delete this line when it's finished.
Chains
WP
WK
SP
SK
Special Cancel
5WP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2WP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
5WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
5SP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2SP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
5SK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2SK
-
-
-
-
No
Air Chains
WP
WK
SP
SK
Special Cancel
j.WP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.2WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.SP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.SK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.2SK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
Specials
Cancel Options
XP
XP, XK
XP
XP, XK
Special Name (Input), Special Name (Input), and Special Name(Input) cannot be special canceled into.
X = X is available on hit
X[+] = X is available on hit, block, or whiff
Trivia
Add any fun facts about the character worth noting.