DBFZ/Android 21/Strategy

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 Android 21


General Tactics

Android 21 is excellent at around midscreen. From here, she can use her excellent 2M, 5H, Ki Blasts, and 236L/M to keep the opponent where she wants them. Using assists she can then rush in and start her pressure. Her stagger pressure is complimented by her ranged tools, as she can safely end her pressure in 236L and check the opponent with 2M. If you happen to land a 2H after the opponent gets antsy, you can usually convert it into a kill with a Sparking Blast combo. Android 21's damage in general is very high, and it is boosted even higher with assists. One of her best traits is how easy it is for her to convert into a snap with an assist. 214L/M bring both you and the opponent to the ground, making the assist extension simple.

Neutral

Android 21 excels at neutral with long normals and strong projectiles.

  • 5S is a very strong neutral tool as it destroys most other ki blasts and clashes with one of Z Broly's.
  • 2S is your main neutral tool having very little recovery and covering almost the entire screen.
  • j.S should be used a lot more rarely than 2S due to the long recovery on the move, and if you lack 3 bars or Sticky Blast it is harder to properly punish the opponent when they SD and you will most likely get punished for throwing this move out.
  • 236M as of 1.28 they reduced the recovery on the move and made it possible to Super Dash cancel even on whiff. Doing 236M plus assist with a beam or something that can cover the ground can guarantee neutral if you made them block this move.
  • Midrange is another part of neutral she excels in as she has very big M buttons with j.M and 5M along with her 2M/3M not extending her hurt box at all giving her a few normals to force the opponent to block with little to no risk to herself.
  • 2S is also strong in midrange as doing 2S into airdash allows her to generate plus frames, and with the jump back it will allow her to dodge many things the opponent may try in this range.
  • Ex Ball is very strong in neutral with 4 steals, if they block it fullscreen it leaves her even more plus than when they block it point blank so you can dash up fullscreen and continue pressure.

Team positioning

Point

As a point character, 21 misses out on many different aspects of her optimal gameplan. She loses the ability, to secure knockdowns without spending an assist unless you have meter, and spending meter to get a knockdown typically means that you won't be able to access her level 3 that often. It is also a strange posistion to put 21 in, as you lose access to her assist which is beneficial to every member of the cast due to it's large amount of hitstun. This is by far her worst position, and there is little reason to run her hee.

Mid

As a mid, this is by far 21s favorite position to be in as it grants her 1 assist and most likely meter when she comes in after your point character dies or tags out. However this position should typically only be run if you have a very strong anchor with her such as Broly, or Baseku. This position allows the point character on your team to have access to a very powerful assist, and with characters like, Tohan or Blue Goku, they can give her very easy access to her level 3, allowing her to come into the game already with 4 steals, and a little bit of meter to play with along with the level 3 left right.

Anchor

This is typically the most common position you will see 21 run in, as her comeback potential is one of the best in the game due to all the tools at her disposal. Every steal from each character is a large addition to her gameplan, and having access to her level 3 midscreen in limit break means it will almost always 2 touch even if 21 lacks the assists to do so. This also lets your characters use her A assist a lot longer and puts that threat into the opponents mind even more. This is definitely her best position on most teams unless your team can allow you to run her mid.

Picking Teammates

21 due to her function being played typically in the anchor or mid position, and how easily she can combo with most assists, is one of the most versatile characters in the game as she is able to support the majority of the cast. With the new Active Tag system as well, now you can almost always get 21 level 3 midscreen as long as the character does a special move and tags into 21 for her super, so just put her on any team as anchor and you will instantly feel the effects.

Blockstrings

  • 2LL/5LL > 2M > 5M > 5H > 214L

Basic assisted blockstring. Useful with low blockstun assists like tackles.

  • ... > 5H > 214S

Without a steal, 214S sets up a left/right and a high/low with higher blockstun assist.

  • ... > 5H > 236L

Blockstring ender, or extender with vanish. Leaves 21 at the prime distance to start zoning with Ki Blasts or press 2M.

Anytime 21 reaches 5M in a string, you can stagger another 5M due to how low the pushback is. 5S is also a good stagger point due to it's relatively low recovery, but it's more telegraphed as you get farther in a string. 2S allows for an airdash pressure reset attempt, but that also carries the risk of getting 2H'd. Without steals, she can also use 236S once she conditions the opponent to block.

Okizeme

Level 3 Okizeme

Android 21 gets Base Vegeta-level okizeme off either of her level 3 supers. She can get same side high/low and crossup high, as well as mixing in a Dragon Rush or 214S. Ending with ground Level 3 also lets her extend her pressure with full stocked 236H or cash out on damage with steals.

  1. 214L+M > SJ IAD [8] j.M/H (same side high)
  2. 214L+M > SJ delay airdash j.H (crossup high)
  3. 214L+M > SJ IAD [2] > 2L/DR/214S (same side low/throw)

This lets her carry momentum really easily, and combined with her incredible neutral control makes her a great anchor.

https://youtu.be/SqwgBjTA0dw This is a very good guide on her level 3 oki at the very beginning of the video, if you are having trouble with her mix.

Tips and Tricks

Her Neutral game plan is extremely simple to execute, as long as you are able to 2h superdash or have 3 bars, everything should be very easy. You want to use a mix of 2s and 5s to discourage the opponent from both shooting ki blasts and to keep them locked down on the ground. With assists that are beam like you can typically do, 2s call Broly A, then moon jump in and continue pressure if they did not reflect your assist, and if they did reflect you are typically safe and in a position to take your turn if you play it right. Her neutral only gets enhanced by having access to steals, such as Sticky Energy Blast as these can lock a character out from fighting 21. Typically you want to make a decision to either shoot her steals into an EX Total Detonation Ball, or use them in neutral or block strings.


Blue Steals

Kamehameha and Solar Flare are the steals taken when fighting an earthling classified character. These steals are particularly useful for neutral, with solar flare having Frame 4 head invulnerability in the air and on the ground. Kamehameha is a fast easily confirmable beam with 214X steals available, that can be cancelled even on whiff into these steals. Outside of this it also jails into vanish like any regular beam so that is really all there is to this move. Solar flare however has its true shine in blockstrings. It can be used as a very powerful same side option when coupled with assists to confirm or just a vanish confirm, it true strings into vanish so if there is no risk at vanishing to auto confirm, and it can be used to set up a 50/50 with some assists due to the extremely low recovery on this move. Jump Solar flare call assist and airdash into high or just going low is a very potent mix that should be used if available.

Yellow Steals

Consecutive Energy Blast and Sticky Energy Blast are the steals that are taken when fighting a Saiyan classified character. These steals are extremely useful in neutral as consecutive blast allows you to get a full punish on many characters beams or ki blasts whiffing that most other characters wouldn't be able to hit, and it allows her to autoconfirm if she has access to aerial 214X steals at all. In combos as well it is a great way to tag a character out as, active tag lets you DR after doing this move, and get an exceptional amount of meter gain that would not be normally available. Sticky Energy Blast however is the move that will be the most oppressive move for many characters to have to deal with as the Frame 1 invul on air moves is too insane to be overlooked. This means your opponent cannot air to air, superdash, or use some special moves without a large amount of risk being associated. These are the most straightforward steals to use in neutral.

Green Steals

Explosive Blast and Barrier Sphere are the steals taken when fighting an android classified character. These are the steals that are the least straightforward in their use if you don't know their frame data and their other uses. Barrier Sphere gives 21 who typically has weaker defense, a frame 4 reversal, which allows her after a +2 situation from the opponent such as after vanish to barrier sphere and call an assist to steal your turn back, or to do this on a delay tech wakeup. It's a very powerful tool in this regard and buffs the weakest aspect of the character. This is also the one steal that should never be cancelled into from a 236X steal unless you want to free this slot up, or are converting from Kamehameha as the move itself does no damage and will just teleport near the opponent. Explosive Energy Blast, is a ki blast property steal that is +11 on block, and auto cancelling into l m or h dive will beat superdash and discourage the opponent from doing so. This can be quite the potent mixup tool due to how plus it is, so you can do energy blast into an assist, and typically get a left right or high low with some assists. It is also not that bad in neutral as in the air it comes straight diagonally down but be careful as it is weird to convert off of in those situations.

Purple Steals

Homing Blast and Sonic Warp are the the steals obtained from Alien classified characters. These 2 steals see the majority of their use in neutral as they both can control it entirely. Homing blast is quite literally just the Piccolo homing blast with the ground version being slower and the air version being the fast version of it. This is especially strong on oki as they are just forced to block the orb and blocking 21 when she has the first slot open is typically the scariest due to a threat of command grab. Sonic Warp is a teleport that activates on frame 8 for invincibility, with the air version teleporting to the ground behind them and the ground version teleporting behind them and spawning aerial. This is a very useful tool in neutral when coupled with a defensive assist like a dp or barrier, as you can see your opponent whiff a ki blast or beam, teleport behind them and get your turn started. There is also the application of the ground version in blockstrings as with higher pushback on assists, its possible to setup a left right mix due to the buff to superjump float on special moves. There is also a mixup that can be done on her level 3 if you just performed it on an alien character. You do ground teleport then teleport behind and airdash over their head before they recover. This is very potent for a left right but the crossup is not real so if the opponent knows about this, they can 2h. However that requires great awareness on both sides.

Fighting Android 21

  • When pressuring her, abuse the fact her light normals are not particularly effective at mashing out of pressure, nor does she have a dp outside level 3.
  • Outside of universal 50/50's like SD + assist in the corner, A21 does not have any ways to set up unreactable 50/50's in a blockstring without extremely high blockstun assists like Bardock B or Kid Buu A, so all of her options can be reacted to. However, she does gain a few extra ways to open people up with certain steals such as j.214B fake cross-up same side and superjump install 214P left rights.
  • When blocking 21 the threat of command grab is only available if her first slot does not have a steal inside of it, if there is a steal all you have to do is just block system mechanic mix which is usually possible.
  • J.s is a very big commitment from 21 when she does not have meter, as she cannot cancel into anything if done higher up due to the landing lag if she lacks 3 bars and a steal that has air invul. So if you see a 21 using J.s that is typically the best time to approach her or Super Dash if she lacks the resources to respond.

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