DBFZ/Videl/Strategy

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 Videl


General Tactics

Videl is a rushdown character that can switch between being evasive and aggressive depending on the situation. Equiped with strong pressure, a high number of mixup options and extremely strong lvl 3 okizeme, she can become a nightmare to block while her defensive tools make her a threat even when she's blocking. Her combo structure is unorthodox but she can do some serious damage - in combos she rarely needs assists and boasts strong corner carry and meter gain. She also has multiple ways to stop the opponent from zoning her with 5S and 6H going through ki blast property moves while jS can stop most approaches and snipe Superdash. On top of that, her j22X series, 236H and j.236H give her great mobility both offensively and defensively to approach and evade an opponent. These tools make her a difficult character to approach in neutral but also very difficult to keep away. With meter and assists, she's nigh untouchable and will eat her opponents alive.

Team positioning

Point

A good point character will have 4 things: good roundstart, good pressure with assists, great damage, and great meter gain. Videl has 2 of these things, which means that putting her on point can work, but it won't be as effective as other characters.

Videl's biggest weakness on point is her meter needs. Roundstart 6H-assist can pose somewhat of a threat being 11 frames and ki-blast immune, but if the opponent jumps and you don't have meter / didn't specifically cover that, you're just going to flail around into your own death. Videl loves having both meter and assists to really get the jobs she wants done, as her more complicated routes will require j236H for knockdown and her greatest approach options usually require meter. More often that not those things end up defeating the point of putting her ON point - as you'd want characters with better tools out the gate that could make more resources for your team - not SPEND them.

That said, if you manage to win the point war with Videl, your opponent is at an extreme disadvantage. You have two assists and one of the strongest mix-up characters in this game, with great oki setups and a two-touch guaranteed to boot. They are either sparking immediately or they are going to die, both of which result in you winning a character's worth of value anyway.

She's far from the best point, but if you're confident in your assist choices and decision making, go for it.

Mid

Often treated as a "second point" for when your actual point gets their face kicked in, you want three things in a stand-out Mid: Good usage of meter, good usage of an assist, and a good offensive toolkit overall. Videl has these qualities in spades.

Her usage of meter lets her fly across the screen while keeping her extremely safe, and her usage of assists lets her easily keep her turn for nearly the rest of the match - or just up and 50/50 if you get bored of making them block. j.236H gives her great knockdown and screen carry, and 22H is an amazing mobility tool for getting in your opponent's face (while also being an emergency "bail" button against air-to-air approaches). And with access to an assist, her level 3 oki goes from one 50/50 to absurdity - with her opponents now having no way out even after blocking the first 50/50.

Simply put, Videl has an amazing offensive toolkit, only held back by its need for assists and meter. Thus, Mid is her best position on a team, and for GOOD reason - the field is her canvas with meter and an assist, allowing her to do what she does best. Arguably one of the strongest Mids in the game when played correctly.

Anchor

Typically, your anchor should offer strong solo capabilities with limit break and sparking, while also serving as your most valuable assist (using them early in the match would mean sacrificing that assist).

Her damage goes extremely high with limit break, and with her tick throw trick and obscene buttons she can hold her own solo.

However, her greatest strengths are brought out when she has access to assists - being able to call an assist to help cover you against reflects and random mashing your opponent may do. She does not have this luxury as an anchor, having no one to discourage her opponent from doing attacks such as counters, DPs, raw level 3s, etc.

Additionally, Videl's assists are simply not that valuable, none of them doing anything special.

Anchor is her worst position. Even so, by using Saiyaman as an "assist" and cheesing with her tick throw mix, she can still function if she finds herself there... atleast until her opponent mashes on her tick throw mix.

Picking Teammates

---GENERAL OVERVIEW (Teammates to Her)---

Videl can work with pretty much every assist in the game but she still has a few preferences. Pop-up assists could be considered "slightly suboptimal" because it forces them into an air combo which doesn't deal a lot of damage with her without extremely complicated and specific Superjump routes. That said, a DP assist is never a bad pick - while she is already extremely safe, the ability to force the opponent to block when she tries to approach is very VERY strong when used as such.

Barriers however actually don't do much for her as she's usually very safe and they don't stop her from getting hit during her riskier setups - a DP assist at least will stop her from getting hit during these. In general, more blockstun / hitstun = better provided blockstun is not all the assist does - as at that point you should just trade that extra blockstun for something else it could do.

One of the best things you can do for Videl is give her a genuine beam assist (multi-hitting beam, not Tien A or Roshi A). The blockstun on those provides her enough for mix, the large beam acts as a smokescreen to hide what she's going for, and in Neutral they help force the opponent in the air where Videl has the safer toolkit (as they either block the beam and lose neutral or jump and try to challenge Videl's options). Single hitting beams and beam-balls like Kefla or Broly can work and are still strong picks, but she loses a lot of neutral and mix benefit that a genuine beam assist would provide.

In general, you want at least one usable neutral assist for her; DP, beam or otherwise, and something you can use for her mix / extending combos (even if she doesn't need combo extension assists, if they can help her mix too they never hurt - especially in the corner when it's just free damage and bar).

---GENERAL OVERVIEW (Her assist to Teammates)---

Her B assist is pretty good, but both her A and B assists are just variations of Bardock A and A. Gohan B - a "lariat" assist and a "blockstun" assist so when building a team if you aren't careful you might end up with multiple copies of a similar assist. In addition, one of the most important thing to remember when picking teammates for Videl is that her super damage is actually quite low and she likes characters that can make up for that over characters with "stronger" assists a good 75% of the time.

Pairing her with characters that also have low super damage will result in a team that struggles to finish of its opponents, and pairing her with characters that don't quite offer different assists will usually result in you losing neutral situations that you otherwise would have been able to win. It's on you to learn Videl and find that balance within your team.

In general with Videl (assuming you play Mid), you want your point to have good resource gain and the ability to win neutral on their own (as her assists won't really do that for you), and you want your anchor to have some high super damage and provide a great assist for both Videl and your point. If you're playing Videl in other positions... adjust accordingly but most of the examples provided will still apply (just in a different way).

---GOOD TEAMMATE EXAMPLES---

  • Teen Gohan (Point) - Extremely high super damage, amazing meter gain, gets very high value from her B assist and his DP assist can help her with neutral. While it's very unconventional and harder to play than other combinations, Teen Gohan + Videl when used properly is a match made in heaven - right down to the lore, too.
  • Goku Black (Point) - Gets value out of her B assist for mix and provides a valuable A assist for Videl. Goku Black while not the strongest point can definitely work - as two assists for midscreen 50/50s and some relatively strong meterless neutral tools can only be so bad.
  • SSGSS Goku (Point) - Everyone's favorite top tier. A assist is VERY helpful for Videl in all aspects and Videl's high blockstun assist gives him access to mixups he could only dream of before, plus his high damage and meter gain goes without saying.
  • Goku [GT] (Point or Anchor) - With his recent buffs Goku GT just does whatever he wants. His beam assist is obscenely good for Videl - being good for mix, neutral, and even her combos when used properly since it doesn't pop them up that much. In addition, her blockstun assist + GT = some of the stupidest mixups in the game. He's definitely more of a point than an anchor but considering the mindgames around his Reverse Kamehameha and his damage buff on teammate death he can easily do both.
  • Base Goku (Anchor) - Super Spirit Bomb and Kaioken alone can carry TODs for Videl. Add to that his A assist still being highly obnoxious for blockstun, combos, and neutral, and you've got a strong anchor pick. Won't be as easy as other anchors, but doesn't really need to be.
  • Tien (Anchor) - While his A assist isn't the strongest pick for Videl outside of maybe cheeky neutral wins, his B assist can really carry her in all aspects when properly studied. That, and his high super damage + meter burn potential make scoring the kill a joke.

Blockstrings

A lot of players read "mixup character" in this guide and immediately spam 50/50s and mix as if it's how a mixup character works. That's simply not the case - using her tools with universal options will get you far more mileage than just her "mix".

She has L buttons with reach, a tick throw that beats crouching and great cancel windows on every single one of her normals (especially 2m), pseudo reverse-beat with 6H-6M and then as icing on the cake 5S makes for a tasty reset point as it's good for RPS games and after a 5H can even be made plus on block. That's not even mentioning her special moves - but you shouldn't be touching her specials until all other tools fail.

Overall her pressure might look like it's full of gaps but just like she did with Gohan she thrives on making her opponent interact with her and punishing them heavily for it. Her frame traps make her incredibly difficult to mash on while she has a large portion of her toolkit capable of nuking reflect and reversals - a command grab that grabs standing, numerous double-reflect or worse strings, and her defensive kit then swings back as offensive tools against specific reversals and even level 3s.

Okizeme

It's tempting to look at videl's j.2S and use it to cover sliding knockdown okizeme, but the truth is it's usually better to simply use j.H as a safe jump instead. Her j.H is big enough to cover up tech and normal tech and lets you be ready for a delay tech. It also leads into a full combo on hit unlike j.2S. j.2H can be used instead of j.H but isn't an overhead, however it will convert into a combo if the opponent doesn't block after up teching while j.H would simply send them on the ground with a soft knockdown. Meanwhile j.2S can be inconsistent if mistimed, doesn't give you more + frames that j.H and technically can even lose to a well timed delay take mash.

On level 3 okizeme she is almost evil in the corner with multiple 50/50s, and a vast array of options using both universal tools and her unique ones like her command grab. She also has access to the super jump IAD 50/50 where you float jL for a high option and fast fall 2L for the low, both of these hit meaty and the j.L is a safe jump.

Tips and Tricks

  • There's a nice little anagram that goes for computer science and Videl - KISS: Keep It Simple, Student. Her "mix" isn't end-all-be-all free 50/50 win land, and her damaging and complicated routes will not always be the ones to go for. In reality, when kept bare-bones Videl is way more effective than you'd believe: the best combos will be the ones that killed, and the best "mixups" are the pressure tools you know they won't think to block yet, even if they are just 6M-assist with extra Videl flair.
  • Her flips are extremely overrated as a mixup tool. The flip themselves aren't that difficult to block, offer low reward on hit and worst of all put YOU in the corner if they're blocked. Being +5 on block is nice but except with some specific setups the post flip situation is actually not very interesting.
  • Mentioned in the movelist however, her flips are extremely UNDERRATED as a movement tool. Getting sick of Vegito and Broly snatching you out of the air? Sick of dumb superdashes just catching you out the sky or jailing you to the floor? Just flip out of em! (T&C may apply see local videl main for details. Use as directed on all targets not with two feet on the ground, we at Dustloop Wiki are not responsible for any TODs you suffer as a result of getting 2H'd for improper use).

Fighting Videl

  • Her pressure naturally invites interaction but if the Videl player isn't paying attention they will leave themselves open to being disrespected.
  • Videl's autocombo tick throw mix can be 2L'd out of by most the cast. Thanks for that find Torgue. That said, 2M will discourage mashing and make the move nearly a 50/50 between the low-hitting 2M and the low-grabbing 5LLL - so if you're blocking low and not sure they're going for it this is the best time to just throw a reversal out.
  • Her flips might have invulnerability on startup and act as a reversal but you can still 2H them during the second half of the move.
  • For some reason her wake up level 3 with Saiyaman's Kamehameha is actually safe on block, be careful.
  • Her j.S and j.2S have a good amount of landing recovery, you can punish her landing if she whiffs these buttons.
  • Her 6H actually reverse beats into 6M for no explained reason, block it high until you see a mixup inbound.
  • Only challenge her in the air if you think it'll surprise her, otherwise a good Videl will just flip away and leave you looking stupid.
  • DO NOT STAGGER THE VIDEL. DO NOT STAGGER THE VIDEL. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT STAGGER PRESSURE THE VIDEL. You will just get dodged and you will immediately lose all sense of reason and patience, as is the nature of getting dodged on - and that's all the mental opening the Videl needs to kill you.

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