Tough Love Arena/Pork/Matchups
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Noodle
Overview
Both of you will want the same goal, getting the corner, and both of you have obnoxious tools against each other in neutral to help you get there. Getting steamrolled in this matchup will be rough, and it’s up to you to make the opposing Noodle honest and to win neutral past the poking game.
Dealing with Soup
- Soup in Neutral: Typically, Noodle will have a very hard time setting this up as Soup serve has a very long duration and can be challenged with 5H or your jump ins. However, if there happens to be one on the screen, some of your ways of getting around it are:
- Waiting it out until it goes away
- Destroying it with a normal
- Jumping over it/Chopping past it
- Mixing up your options in how you decide to counterplay will make Soup less effective in neutral.
- Midscreen Soup Pressure: If Noodle gets a knockdown, prepare to experience some godly oki. Some of Noodle’s setups involve placing a soup right on top of you into an option, or Noodle can set down an instant soup and track a soup on top of you. Holding the pressure is reliable, but this is where Chops projectile armor can come in handy. Although it doesn’t fully punish the setups Noodle will go for, swinging at Noodle makes them think twice about their spacings and fake setups.
- Corner Soup Pressure: Allow me to get one thing straight, this will suck. Noodle can stack plenty of chip on you and one clean hit can do some damage. But if Noodle needs to delay the soup serve to get it on you or Noodle goes for a throw mixup, don’t be too afraid to swing at it. Corner pressure is why the matchup can suck if you get hit, but don’t lose sight of your win condition.
- Soupmate: Soupmate is where Noodle can place two soups on you in the corner, with the second soup being a frametrap, and meaty throw you out of blockstun. This is an option select in the corner for 200 damage, but if you have Reject here, please use it.
Neutral
- The big objective to overcoming neutral is getting past Carb 5H. Walking and blocking will be your friend here, and getting into Meat 5H range helps you challenge Noodle and/or push them into a corner. Whiff punishing Carb 5H is a very hard task but can also be applicable.
- Reads will also make Noodle less 5H-happy, you can jump past them preemptively, or you can Chop your way through and convert off it with meter.
- Chop as a proactive poke is good in this matchup, Carbs have trouble punishing it and it makes them scared to 5H at effective ranges.
Offense
- 5HSS can be a good confirm for keeping the carbs close to you for mixups, they get uncomfortable at close range.
- Meaty 5L can recover in time to block a Frenzy on wakeup.
- Push Noodle to the corner and keep them trapped there under the mercy of your mixups.
Defense
- Hold some of Noodles soup setups on a knockdown, but keep Chop in your back pocket.
- Stay away from getting cornered at all costs.
Beef
Overview
This matchup is probably as even as it gets in the whole game. Both of you being Meats you’re going to be playing a big 5H war in neutral, Beef will outclass you in defensive options but you outclass them in offensive options. May the best meat win.
Dealing with Lemon
- Lemon in Neutral: Pay attention to Beefs meter, if they’re meterlessly chucking it at you it’s very prone to Jump Ins or Chop as your fireball answers. Walking and blocking is also a safe option for closing distance, limiting Beef’s effective range of throwing more Lemons.
- Lemfake: If Beef is trying to bait out your fireball answers with Lemfake, like if you’re only reacting to Lemon startup, sniff it out and close in more distance/challenge it with 5H.
- Lemon RC: Beef can remove the commitment from Lemon and can bait your committal anti-fireball options, in which case most of the time you have to hold the pressure. Chop can be used to beat certain timings of Lemon RC Jump, but Beef can delay the jump in to not be antiaired, or Beef can bait it out and whiff punish. Whatever the case, make sure Beef’s meter gets effectively burned.
- Meaty Lemon: Respecting Beef’s pressure a lot makes you prone to them pulling this trick on you. If you find them sneaking the chip on you with this, you can represent wakeup Chop to beat this option. If they Lemfake to try and bait it out, don’t commit and just hold the mixup.
Neutral
- Practice your 5H footsies. As much a good poke as it is for them, it is for you, so keep within midrange and play the poking game.
- Limit Beef from effectively chucking Lemons, whether it be closing distance via walk and block or finding a dedicated answer.
Offense
- Against Flex: Flex is a great defensive option for Beef, as it dissuades meaties, antiairs, and gets out of pressure nicely.
- Out of Pressure: Stagger pressure is useful for baiting it off your 5L blockstrings, or Caber reads naturally work against it.
- On Safejump: Take the - frames and chip, Beef has a mixup but you can still establish your turn.
Defense
- Defensive mixups are good for contesting how Beef pressures you. You can represent reversal chop or fuzzy mash 5L, or reject to avoid the pressure altogether.
- Beef 5LS is a fake blockstring, it can be mashed out of at close range, or jumped/chopped through when Beef doesnt RC the Lemon.
Onion
Overview
Onion’s stubby range in neutral means walling them out with 5H will be your savior. It has to be, because Onion takes risks to get what they want, and misplacing your pokes means you’ll eat some good damage. To sum up this matchup, patience is key.
Neutral
- The big objective is to keep out Onion with 5H. At long range you can mix in Palm frametraps to clip their walk ins.
- If Onion whiffs a 5H, an easy counterpoke is 5L, it knicks the extended hurtbox and you get a conversion anywhere.
- Save your jumps, Onion has the best antiair in the game and it gives them a huge neutral win. Controlling the ground is your strong suit.
- On the flipside, keep your antiairs in mind when poking with 5H. One of Onion’s main anti-5H answers are jump ins, as well as counterpoking with Sweep or Roundhouse.
Offense
- Against Parry: Parry is a great defensive option and mixup for Onion. It does everything Beef’s parry does on defense with its use of being a useful mixup tool in conjunction with Hopkick.
- RPS Mixups: Stay still to bait it out, or Throw/Caber reads work against it.
- On Safejump: Take the - frames and chip, Onion has a mixup but you can still establish your turn.
Defense
- Onion makes Pork struggle on a knockdown. Hold the trip pressure, Meaty 5L 4L or Meaty 4L 4L 5L are good blockstrings on Pork.
- Reject helps to avoid the + frame pressure and gives you favorable positioning.
Rice
Overview
This is your typical zoner vs. grappler matchup, Rice will want to create a lot of distance, and your job is to close in that distance to stop Rice from chipping away at you. Calculated risks are key, and once you’re in, make it count.
Neutral
- Make your way in past Carb 5H. Walking and blocking is helpful for closing in distance, but be mindful Rice can still clip you with 5HL. Push Rice to the corner and limit their effective range.
- Use Chop as a poke/counterpoke if Rice gets too poke-happy 5Hing or 5HLing you, same can be said with Jump Ins.
Offense
- 5HSS can be a good confirm for keeping the carbs close to you for mixups, they get uncomfortable at close range.
- If Rice tends to challenge your 5H pressure, mix in your frametrap options.
- Keep Teleport in mind in your mixups. Preemptive walk backs or spacing your 5Ls helps with catching Rice after they Teleport.
Defense
- Check Rice’s habits on 5L blockstrings, respecting them can get you tick thrown, mashing/chopping out of tick throws gets you knicked with DAC 5LH.
Pork
Overview
This is the Pork ditto, arguably the most fun ditto in the game. Both of you will want a found opening and gain favorable corner positioning, and the corner is how you turn equal mixups into favorable mixups. This isn’t a very volatile ditto, but when you lose neutral, keep your head in the game.
Dealing with Caber
Using Caber is one thing, having to face it is another. Pay attention to where Pork will try and utilize a Caber mixup, they’ll naturally happen in:
- Okizeme
- Tick Throws
- Air Resets
Utilize your fuzzy 5Ls if you expect a Caber where Pork will give up the + frame pressure or the damage off juggles, or even a cheeky reversal throw if you want to swap corner positioning. Reject will also shut down tick throws if you really want to spend the meter.
Neutral
- Stay within midrange at arms length. 5H wars will be necessary here, but Jump Ins on good reads can also work.
- Chop as a poke is very risky on Pork, avoid recklessly throwing it out and punish any that get in range.
Offense
- DAC 5LH can stuff out a Chop read and gives you a CH conversion. If Pork disrespects your 5L blockstrings this can give you good routes.
- Keep Pork locked in the corner and abuse your + frames/great Caber routes.
Defense
- Defensive mixups are key to escaping Pork’s dangerous setplay. Mix up your blocks, fuzzies, and more rarely Chops whenever possible.
- Walking forward on 5H is prone to getting clipped by a Palm frametrap, but Palm isn’t a guaranteed punish on block, be careful about getting mixed with a Chop.
- If you want to stay safe against a Pork who's in on you, reject out to reset to neutral.
Garlic
Overview
Garlic and you are very similar in this matchup, both of you can give the other a hard time on defense, and your mix is far from limited. The main difference is neutral, where you’ll be again relying on 5H to wall and push Garlic to the corner, where their defense is significantly limited.
Dealing With Dash Mixups
- Off Sweep: Catching onto these mixup habits will result in how you time your button presses.
- Buffering your 5L can beat out the instant dash options after Sweep, like Dash Trip or Sneak from max range.
- Delaying your 5L beats out the delayed dashes, and it’s also useful against max range sweep double dashes.
- Garlic can also try a backdash Roundhouse mixup to beat your fuzzy 5Ls, but if you’re in range to punish, just block it.
- Knockdown Mixups: Garlic has a multitude of options for how they can run oki. Catch onto the throw habits of Garlic to know when to safely escape pressure.
- Throw Oki: Walk backs are useful here for preventing crossups, and off a single dash it’s a regular strike/throw mix. However, if the Garlic starts to Dash more than once, blocking is preferred.
Dealing With Sneak
Sneak is a move that can give newer players a bit of trouble as it’s a neutral skip move to make Garlic close to you. However, the counterplay can be fairly simple.
- Antiairing Sneak: If you react to any Sneak the Garlic does, Sneak actually has a taller hurtbox than regular Jump ins, which allows you to antiair with your 5L as a quicker option than 5H or Chop. Antairing Sneak also grants you a counterhit.
- Blocking Sneak: Even if you don’t get the antiair on Sneak, blocking it is also reliable. Sneak is -5 and Garlic doesn’t have any offensive reversal, take your turn and pressure Garlic.
Neutral
- Abuse the poking power of 5H to poke at Garlic and to stuff their approaches. You can also mix in your palms to prevent walk ins or desperation jumps.
- If Garlic has a habit of trying to shimmy your 5H and counterpoke it with Roundhouse, counterpoke it back or close in distance to the corner to shut down Garlic’s effective whiff punish range.
Offense
- Stagger pressure is useful for baiting out Garlic’s attempts of backflipping your mixups.
- If you can opt for corner carry with confirms or safejumps, utilize it.
Defense
- If necessary, hold the Safejump, meaty Trip, and meaty Flick blockstrings. Reject also helps stop the + frame pressure and mixups.
- Fuzzy mash timing mixups will be important, on top of whether you do it or not.
Resources
The Lean Cut - Pork Comprehensive Guide
