001. SAGAT - INTRO & STRATEGY - STREET FIGHTER 4

NORMAL MOVES | SPECIAL MOVES | COMBOS | MATCH UP NOTES & VIDEOS

OVERVIEW

• Tremendous power output and no bad match ups makes Sagat a "S" class character in Street Fighter 4.

• Somewhat limited by his walking speed, but makes up for it with his wide array of long reaching normal moves, some of which allow him to kara cancel his special moves, giving them extended range.

• The ability to to deal out serious damage off of any one mistake makes Sagat a serious threat whether on the offensive or defensive.

• Tiger Knee is arguably the best special move in the game with its ability to armor break and also due to the fact that in many instances it is very difficult to punish when blocked.

RESOURCES

1UP.COM MY CHEATS SAGAT SUPER GUIDE

SHORYUKEN.COM SAGAT FORUM

SHORYUKEN.COM SAGAT FRAME DATA

002. SAGAT - NORMAL MOVES - STREET FIGHTER 4

JAB (LIGHT) PUNCH

• Crouching light punch is Sagat's fastest normal (3 frame start-up) and is also special cancelable, making it one of his best normal moves. Use this to counter throw attempts.

STRONG (MEDIUM) PUNCH

• Crouching medium punch has fair range, speed and is special cancelable which makes it a solid poke. You can follow up with crouching jab for a combo.

• Jumping medium punch is one of Sagat's best jump in attacks due to its priority and the fact that it stays active for a very long time, enabling it to beat out or trade with many anti air attacks.

FIERCE (HARD) PUNCH

• Crouching fierce punch has similar range to crouching medium kick making it ideal for punishing the opponents wiffed moves.
• Jump forward fierce punch is another great jump in for Sagat, and works very well as an air-to-air move. It will beat moves such as M. Bisons head stomp and Akuma's demon flips.

SHORT (LIGHT) KICK

• Standing light kick is a great poke in that is is very quick, has a lot of range and is special cancelable. Canceling into either low Tiger Shot or Tiger Knee from standing light kick while on the offensive is a great way to apply pressure with Sagat.

• Crouching light kick has fair range and leaves Sagat at frame advantage on block (+3) or hit (+6), making it ideal to set up tick throws. You can also mix it up by follow up with crouching medium punch which creates a frame trap, allowing a counter hit if the opponent tries to throw or do any non-invincble move.

FORWARD (MEDIUM) KICK

• Far standing medium kick is a good poke that goes over many low attacks.
  

• Crouching Medium Kick moves Sagat forward slightly, allowing him to intercept pokes. C. MK is also special cancelable, making it useful in many combos.

• Vertical jump medium kick acts as an overhead and is very useful once you have the opponent cornered. Performing vertical jump MK just as you leave the ground will act as instant overhead.

ROUNDHOUSE (HARD) KICK

• Standing hard kick is an amazing anti air and is also two hits, making it ideal for quickly armor breaking certain moves and punishing Focus Attacks.

• Towards + Roundhouse Kick (F+RH) is an excellent move to catch jumping opponents. Landing an anti-air F+RH can inflict an insane amount of damage, because you can follow up with another and finish with an Ultra. You can also cancel F+RH in its first few frames to kara certain special moves such as his Tiger Uppercut and Knee giving both moves extended range.

COMMAND NORMALS

TOWARDS + SHORT (LIGHT) KICK

• Stepping light kick that hits low.
• Used for kara cancel special moves. Goes farther than karaing with F+RH but is a bit slower. Easiest normal to kara special moves with.
  
• Follow up with crouching jab for a combo. 1 Frame link, 2 Frame link on Counter hit.
  

TOWARDS + ROUNDHOUSE (HARD) KICK

• Stepping roundhouse kick that hits opponents out of air. (follow up with another F+RH  or a Tiger Knee for a combo)
• Used to kara cancel special moves. Although the range when karaing special moves with F+RH is shorter than F+LK, it is faster.

TOWARDS + FIERCE (HARD) PUNCH

• Overhead attack.

003. SAGAT - SPECIAL MOVES - STREET FIGHTER 4

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TIGER UPPERCUT

FORWARD, DOWN, DOWN-FORWARD + PUNCH

• Great anti-air in that when you FADC out of it or even when it trades you can follow up with Forward and Hard Kick into Tiger Knee or Ultra.

KARA TIGER UPPERCUT

• By canceling the first few frames of start up from either F+RH or F+LK with a Tiger Uppercut, Sagat will move forward and gain extended range on the Uppercut. Typically only do this if they are airborne or you have two stocks to EX meter to FADC.
• F+ RH Kara Uppercut will counter certain moves such as E. Honda's Fierce Headbutt when blocked.

TIGER KNEE

FORWARD, DOWN, DOWN-FORWARD + KICK

• Good for gaining ground, intercepting pokes and armor breaking EX special moves.
• Can be used as anti-air in some situations.
• When spaced correctly, Tiger Knee is very hard to counter when blocked. This spacing requires the first hit to wiff and the second hit to come down and land on the opponent. From here you have many options such as following up with a crouching light punch (some characters cant do anything about this) or backdashing.
• Keep in mind this isn't something you can completely abuse against a good player. There are ways around safe Tiger Knees such as some crouching moves like a Shoto low forward just as Sagat leaves the ground. The low forward will wiff and Sagat will be left open to be thrown or even worse.
• Beyond that, when the opponent blocks the Tiger Knee high you do not have as much of an advantage so be aware of what they tend to do in that situation.

• Certain block strings allow you to set up safe Tiger Knees such as (may vary from character to character):

KARA TIGER KNEE

• Kara Tiger Knee is one of Sagat's most useful special moves. By Karaing the Tiger Knee with F+RH, not only does the move get extended range, but also comes out very fast. You can Kara with F+LK which goes a little further, but is a bit slower than the F+RH version.

• Kara Tiger Knee is useful for hitting opponents out of the air, setting up Tiger Knee block strings from a distance, and generally catching your opponent off guard with its extended range. 

• You can use Kara Roundhouse Tiger Knee to go over fireballs if you do it just as they throw out the projectile.

CROSS UP TIGER KNEE

• This is an advanced tactic that is not exactly easy to do. By using MK Tiger Knee, you can cross up many opponents on wake up. This is typically done after a close range combo that ends in Tiger Uppercut.

• If the Tiger Knee crosses up, you can combo into another Tiger Knee and even into Ultra.

• In many cases, it's good to always go for a cross up Tiger Knee. Even if it does not actually cross up, a lot of times it is hard for the opponent to tell otherwise and will end up blocking the wrong way. Beyond that, even if they block it, when timed right, the Tiger Knee will end up being meaty and they will be unable to punish you.
  

TIGER SHOT (HIGH)

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + PUNCH

• Faster than the other Shoto fireballs so good in fireball fights.
• Hurricane Kicks are unable to pass through Sagat's High Tiger Shot.

KARA TIGER SHOT

• Kara Tiger Shots are absolutley essential for high level Sagat play. Not only does this essentialy speed up Sagats Tiger Shots, it also moves him forward, pushing the opponent into the corner.

• Performing a Kara Tiger Shot is different than performing other kara moves. Instead of doing a F+RH or F+LK then a Tiger Shot (which will result in a Tiger Knee or Uppercut in most cases), you will do QCF + HK ~ Any kick or punch just as your previous Tiger Shot is blocked or goes off the screen.

• The easiest way to understand how this works is go to training mode and set the dummy to crouch block. Throw out a LK Low Tiger Shot. Just as the LK Low Tiger Shot is about to hit, do QCF + HK or LK, then any other button immediatley. Since you can't have two Tiger Shots on the screen at the same time, when you do the QCF + HK or LK, you will get a F + HK/LK, but just as soon as you press a button after that, the game will auto correct by kara canceling into a Tiger Shot.

TIGER SHOT (LOW)

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD + KICK

• Low fireball, good for zoning.
• EX Version great for stopping dashes.
• Follow up with Ultra after EX version in corner, or FADC mid-screen.

SUPER MOVE

TIGER GENOCIDE

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD X2 + KICK

ULTRA

TIGER DESTRUCTION

QUARTER CIRCLE FORWARD X2 + THREE KICKS

004. STREET FIGHTER 4 - SAGAT - COMBOS

C. LK x2, C. LP xx Tiger Uppercut

One of Sagat's best close range combos. The first two crouching light kicks will allow you to hit confirm the rest of the combo.

C. LK, C. MP, C. LP xx Tiger Shot or Tiger Uppercut

Another great close range combo. Even if the C.LK is blocked, and the opponent tries to do anything after it, the crouching MP will counter hit most moves.

S. LK xx Low Tiger Shot

Great series to use to end your poke strings with. LK comes out quickly and has good range so use this often when you're about a character or two length away from the opponent.

F + LK, C. LP xx Tiger Shot or Tiger Uppercut.

A lesser known combo but still very useful. The F + LK to C. LP is a one frame link on normal hit, and a 2 frame link on counter hit. If the F+LK is blocked you are at a disadvantage so just block or dash back.

Jump Forward HP, S. LK xx EX Low Tiger Shot

This is a great long reaching combo. Works well when jumping over projectiles.

Jump Forward HP, Kara Tiger Uppercut

Although somewhat difficult, this allow you to combo into an Uppercut off of the jumping HP from almost max range.

Crouching FP (COUNTER HIT), Tiger Uppercut

You can combo from a crouching HP into a Tiger Uppercut ONLY on counter hit. This does massive damage and is useful when baiting throws.

MASTER GUIDE COMBOS

• hp tiger uppercut, FADC into fwd + hk, ultra
• jump in hk, cr.mp, cancel into hp tiger uppercut (can be continued into combo 1)
• cr.mk, cancel into ground tiger shot, Focus Attack Level 2, dash foward after hit, cr.mp, cancel into hk tiger knee
• (corner) cr.lp, cancel into ex ground tiger shot, ultra
• (anti-air)[hp tiger uppercut, fadc] or [hp tiger uppercut trades, fwd + hk], ultra
• cr.lk, cr.mp, cancel into ex tiger uppercut, ultra (only works on: Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, Boxer, Sagat, Dictator, El.Fuerte, Rufus, Akuma)
• cr.lk, mp or hp, super

005. STREET FIGHTER 4 - SAGAT - MATCH UPS

Choose a character to view match up notes and videos.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

VS.VS.VS.VS.VS.

ABEL | AKUMA | BALROG | BLANKA | C. VIPER | CAMMY | CHUN-LI | DAN | DHALSIM | FEI-LONG |  E.HONDA | EL FUERTE | GEN | GOUKEN | GUILE | KEN | M. BISON | ROSE | RUFUS | RYU | SAGAT | SAKURA |  SETH | VEGA | ZANGIEF

vs Sagat (Mirror Match)

• Prepare to throw a lot of Tiger Shots in this match up. About the first half of each round is typically dominated by Tiger Shots. This is not by any means "fun" but is essential to win this match.
• The key to winning the Tiger Shot war is knowing when to throw a High FP Tiger Shot. Typically when you are meeting their Low Tiger Shots with yours, and your Tiger Shots are closing in on them (past the timer) you can follow up with a High Tiger and if they throw a low one, you will recover in time to block it but your high Tiger will hit them.
• Although somewhat difficult to time and set up, you can also Kara low Tiger Shot to crouch under their High Tiger Shot and hit them on their recovery.
• If you are at disadvantage in the Tiger Shot war, where their Tiger Shots are closing in on you, vertical jump over their Tiger Shot and reset the timing.
• If you can predict when they will throw a low Tiger Shot, you can Kara RH Tiger Knee to fly over it and land right in front of them.
• Once they start jumping over Tiger Shots, S. RH and Kara Tiger Uppercuts are very useful.
• When applying Tiger Knee pressure, dashing back after a blocked Tiger Knee is generally a good idea, especially if they have two stocks of EX meter.
• If they end up blocking Tiger Shots, follow up with Kara Tiger Shots to slowly push them into a corner.

• Around mid range, you can Focus through a Tiger Shot and Tiger Uppercut through any follow up Tiger shot. Usually only a good idea if you have two stocks of EX meter. You can also Ultra through their follow up Tiger Shot, although its a risky move.
• Outside of hitting with a Level 3 Focus attack, it generally a bad idea to Ultra another Sagat near the corner. In many cases the last part of the Ultra will wiff completely and the opponent can counter with an Ultra of their own.
• After jumping over a Tiger Shot, you can Ultra through their follow up Tiger Shot.

vs. Dictator (Bison)

• S. HK and S. MK are very useful when Bison is in poking range. Both moves will stop many of his pokes and scissor kick when timed right.
• Whenver you see Bison leave the ground, do F+RH. If he happens to be performing a Headstomp, Sagat will pass right under him and Bison will end up on the other side. In some cases if he ends up doing a Devils Reverse, it will hit Bison out of the Devils Reverse.
• Jump Forward/Vertical FP is also good for stopping stomp attempts,
• Punish Devil Reverse as Bison lands on other side of the screen with anticipatory low EX Tiger Shot.
• S. HK will trade in many instances with Devil's Reverse.
• Focus Attack Devils Reverse and follow up with combo if you land the crumple.
• From close range, use c.lp into Low Tiger Shot to keep Bison off of you.
• Cross up with LK into throw/combo/block string so he will continue to lose his charge.
• Try to stay out of the corner and out of cross up situations in this match up in that you will be at a serious disadvantage.

vs. Blanka

• After blocking EX Rolling Attack high, punish with low EX Tiger Shot
• While he is advancing with out a charge, try to land a Focus Attack on any of his normals. Works well against his slide.
• With no EX meter, throw a lot of Tiger Shots until he gets close.
• Blocked slides can be punished with Tiger Uppercut.
• Block his Ultra low and then high at the apex of the "hop", punish with F+RH x2 into Ultra [strategy submitted by tharimrattler]
• After a blocked Rolling Attack, perform F + LK Kara Tiger Knee to land ontop of him as he recovers.

vs. Abel

• Pressure with Tiger Shots to bait rolls. You can throw him out of his roll on the recovery.
• A well timed C.MK xx Low Tiger  shot will hit Abel out of his roll as well.
• Punish any blocked portion of his Change of Direction with Tiger Uppercut.
• Vertical jump medium kick to avoid command throws.
• F + LK works suprisingly well in this match.

vs. Ryu

• You must play the "fireball game" in this match, as boring as it may be. Work in as many Tiger Shots as possible and let Ryu take damage trying to get close you.
• High Tiger Shots are faster than fireballs so you will always win fireball fights.
• Punish Jump ins with Tiger Uppercut or S. RH. Uppercut will trade in some cases so follow up with F + RH.
• When he has two stocks and Ultra, bait Dragon Punch into FADC but watch for follow up throw.
• FA through fireballs to gain ground. In some cases when you have them lulled into a fireball fight, you can FA through the first fireball and Uppercut through the second Fireball.
• You can counter C.MK xx Fireball pressure by performing an Ultra after blocking the C.MK. You will pass right through the follow up fireball and connect with the full Ultra.

vs. Ken

• Play this match at a distance. Throw a lot of Tiger Shots and punish jump ins accordingly and back off. Rinse and repeat. Once Ken gets in close, you are at a disadvantage since his close range game is pretty solid.
• Punish Jump ins with S. RH or Tiger Uppercut.
• Ken has a Kara throw which he will use within his c.lp block strings. Watch for the throw tech, but be careful of him mixing up with a c.mk into EX Hurricane kick.
• With full meter he can EX Hurricane Kick over your Tiger Shots. If it hits, he can combo into Ultra so try to bait the EX Hurricane Kick when this time comes.

vs. Chun Li

• Focus Attack LVL 2 her Hazanshou Flip Kick and follow up with combo.
• Focus Attack her pokes as she pressures you.
• Pressure with Tiger Shots until she has Ultra in that she can Ultra through Tiger Shots from anywhere on the screen.
• She has few reliable, damaging anti air options, so once she has full Ultra and you cannot pressure with Tiger Shots any longer, use jump in attacks.
• C.LP/S. LK into Low Tiger Shot is good for getting space when she gets too close.

vs. Dhalsim

• Typically it's best to sit back and throw a lot of Tiger Shots and let 'Sim come to you. Do this until you have about 2 1/2 stocks of EX Meter. At this point, try to rush in by FAing through his long reaching limbs and push him into a corner. Once he is in the corner the match should be yours if your corner game is on point.
• When Sim Jumps, prepare an FA. If he does Jump Back HP, you can FA through it, follow up with F+RH into Ultra.
• Do not jump in at Sim in most instances in that B + RH and B + MP will stop any jump in attack you have.
• Do not Focus Absorb Yoga Fire in that he can follow up with FP or MP to negate your Focus.
• Use S. MP to hit him out of his Teleport.

vs. Zangief

• S. RH will punish virtually everything Zangief has so use this to keep him at bay and punish Lariats and stop Banishing Fist.
• 'Gief can be thrown if you block a Banishing Fist and you can also reversal with an Uppercut.
• Mix up low and high Tiger Shots to punish Lariats.
• Try to stay out of the corner and cross up situations if possible in this match up in that you'll be at a serious disadvantage.

vs. Balrog (Boxer)

• Tiger Knee will stop a lot of Dash Straight nonsense cold. Will crush EX Dash Straight etc so bait this by throwing a lot of tiger shots.
• Focus Attack Dash Straight and throw him out of EX Rushes.
• Do not start off matches with Tiger Shots in that Balrog can Headbutt right through them from the start and punish you.
• Use slow High Tiger Shots to punish Balrog as he tries to pass through them with his Headbutt.
• Watch for throw mix ups after his c.lp.
• Use standing RH and Tiger Uppercut to punish jump ins.
• Use Level 2/3 focus attack to punish Blarogs who are too "sweep happy", but don't do this within their jab range or you may eat a combo.
• Standing RH is a solid move to punish TAP and EX Rushes.
• When Balrog has no Ultra and is mostly full screen away, throw low RH Tiger Shots and follow up with Kara High FP Tiger Shots. In many instances you will hit Balrog after he jumps over the initial low tiger shot. This is also a good strategy to use to bait TAP, so keep an eye out for it.

vs. Rose

• Mix up the speed of your Tiger shots to punish her Soul Reflect.

vs. C. Viper

• Try not to get thrown to stay out of 50/50 mix up situations.
• FADC Burning Kicks.
• After a blocked Burning Kick many Viper players will dash back to avoid throws. Use Tiger Knee to punish this strategy.
• Kara Tiger Knee is very useful in this match up in hitting viper out of the start up of many of her moves.
• Jump forward FP is great for hitting her anytime she Super Jumps.
• She can low Thunder Kunckle under your Tiger Knee and can also Ultra on reaction if you're not careful.

vs. El Fuerte

• FADC and dash backwards to get out of his splash mix up. Beware: he can air throw you out of your back dash.
• You can duck his grabs out of his Run.
• Tiger Knee to stop running shenanigans.
• Kara Tiger Knee is very useful in this match to hit him out of the startup of his Run from a distance.

vs. Akuma

• Do not try to FA Akuma's pokes in that his Standing Roundhouse is two hits and leads to damage combos.
• Vertical jump over 3 hit fireballs to avoid chip damage.
• EX Tiger Shot 3 hit fireballs, FA through last fireball to gain ground.
• Jump Hard Punch will stop Demon Flips.
• S. MK is useful from midrange to stop his Far S. RH.

vs Cammy

• Block low and look for throws and the match should be yours.

vs E. Honda

• This match is seriously in Sagats favor.
• Throw a ton of Tiger Shots and keep your distance. Honda will take a lot of damage just trying to get close to you.
• Punish jumps with S. HK.
• Blocked Fierce Headbutt can be punished with F+RH Kara Tiger Uppercut.
• Punish the second part of a blocked Body Splash with a Tiger Uppercut as he comes down.

vs Guile

• Throw a lot of Tiger Shots and try to work him into a corner as quick as possible.
• Guile has an odd jump that is hard to punish with Tiger Uppercut at some ranges, so using Tiger Knee can be a better option as anti-air.
• Jumping over Sonic Booms is a bad idea in some cases since he has some solid anti air options.
• Sonic Booms do very little damage, so don't panic if you eat a few.

vs Rufus

• This is a very bad match up for Rufus since it is very difficult for him to get around your Tiger Shots and many other anti air options.
• Throw a ton of Tiger Shots and keep your distance. Let him come to you.
• Mix in some Kara Tiger Knees to hit him out of his jump attempts.
• If Rufus happens to get in close pressuring with Dive Kick, its best to go for a Tiger Uppercut after a blocked Dive Kick. This will severly limit his options.

vs Gouken

[match up notes submitted by LottaMercy]

• punish palm with upper when it hits deep (like blanka slide)

• during full screen fireball wars anticipate ex demon flip when he has meter and jump to avoid or hit him with jumping f or rh

• against normal demon flip focus is a preety good option unless he use that counter.

• stay out of corner against him all his big combos are there.

• when he has ultra be careful when applying tiger knee pressure (or just don't do it) because he can easily catch it with his ultra.

•  doesn't really have any poke strings into specials but with his counter and demon flip set ups its probably best to keep distance and punish when he tries to come in.