By Jay Snyder, Derek Daniels, and John Choi

October 16, 2000 - Marvel versus Capcom 2 is notorious for repeatable patterns and traps that render opponents helpless. This article will feature some of the more common and popular traps used by tournament players and various ways of countering them.

Doom/Blackheart is a very common trap that some of you may have already seen. For a safety pattern, Doom/Blackheart is probably the best combination you could pick. They work well with other top tier characters and the trap works well from both sides with Doom or Blackheart as the point character. The following is with Doom as point: Doom has one of the best normal moves in the game, the jumping Fierce. The laser ends as soon as your jump is over so be sure to press Fierce as soon as you jump from the ground so that the laser will get the full extension across the screen. Doom can jump Fierce over and over as a basic stalling pattern. This makes it difficult for the opponent to advance on the ground. The lasers will consistently be in the opponent's face, preventing advancement. Also, the laser makes it difficult to do any moves in between since it's so fast and it dishes out considerable block stun. Since this move takes away your options on the ground, the way to get around this with most characters is to do a super jump in between the lasers. This is where Blackheart comes in. Blackheart's Beta assist (Inferno) tracks the opponent anywhere on the screen and will bring them down back to the ground. Doom can call Blackheart at any point while he's doing jump back Fierce when he notices that the opponent super jumped. Then, when Blackheart's assist connects, Doom can super jump back and toss down some Photon Arrays, before finally landing and resuming jump back Fierce. You can also do air photon array supers for block damage and/or to punish your opponent's assists. This trap builds lots of super meter, does fair amounts of block damage, and keeps you relatively safe. There is an alternate version of this trap, which is to call out Blackheart assist even when opponent is on the ground, then to super jump up and throw out Photon Arrays till you are grounded. At this point, Blackheart will be ready to be called out again and you simply repeat the process. (Quick tip: to build even more meter, do a very quick Fierce before canceling it into Photon Array.

This trap, much like other traps in MvC2, might sound "cheap" with no ways to counter. But at the time of writing, there is no such thing as the perfect trap in MvC2. Even the tightest traps have at least some kind of counter and Doom/Blackheart is no different. Let's look at some of the counter characters and their respective strategies now.

Counters to Doom/Blackheart

Cammy-A: Cammy is probably one of the most effective characters to use versus Doom as a point character or as an assist. Her counter to the Doom/Blackheart trap is a good old-fashioned rush down (aggressiveness) as a point character or by using her anti air assist (Cannon Spike). As point, she's short enough so that she can effectively advance on the ground below the laser. Also, she has complete invincibility on some of her moves. The Cannon Spike can pass through both the normal and super Photon Arrays. Her Killer Bee Assault super also passes through photons and other projectiles. This means that Doom can't use his Fierce laser or his Photons repeatedly because Cammy has easy options of going through them.

Ken-A: Ken is one of the more underused characters in the game. He probably has the best anti-air assist in the game, being invincible all the way to the top (basically as long as there is fire on Ken's fist, he's completely invincible, to physical and beam attacks). Ken can advance along the ground via his dash or his roll, similar to Cammy, and he can go through photons or Blackheart assist, similar to Cammy's assist. Versus Doom, they utilize virtually the same strategy, but Ken has the extra option of using his roll for confusion tactics when he gets in close. The roll will help him cross up without jumping, and this sets up his damaging air combo (launcher, super jumping Jab, Roundhouse Hurricane Kick), which is arguably his best weapon. You can even try to go for his kick throw (the knee bash), which can be mashed for considerable damage.

Storm: Storm's best weapon when it comes to breaking traps is her air dash. She can break this trap by poking a hole in the safety of the Blackheart assist. When she super jumps and Doom calls Blackheart, she can watch for the icon to pop up below, then quickly air dash toward, causing the inferno to whiff. Then she can use flight to call an assist, or if Doom super jumped, she can use either lightning attack, vertical tornados, or even lightning super to either punish him or to seize control.

Magneto: Doom in general is too slow to deal with Magneto's speed so use this advantage to keep the pressure on Doom and keep him from starting up the trap. If Doom does manage to get the trap going, you can use the same method Storm does of super jumping and air dashing out of the way of Blackheart assist. Also, because of Magneto's dash (the fastest in the game), he can see Doom do an air Photon Array super from full screen, then dash under him, super jump, and do a combo of choice; preferably, one that involves Hyper Grav cancel into Magnetic Tempest. If Doom does a normal Photon Array while super jumping, you still can dash under him on reaction to keep up the pressure.

This is the flip side to the more common Doom/Blackheart trap, and this is usually where Doom and Blackheart get their damage from if you let Doom build up super meter earlier with Doom/Blackheart trap. Blackheart's main weapon is safe block damage. He can perform Fierce Inferno, cancel into Heart of Darkness super, and depending on the position of the opponent over the super, they can take as much as 10% block damage. Factor in the fact that you now have the Doom-B (Molecular Shield) assist at your disposal, which itself can do as much as 10% block damage, and now you can feel a sense of urgency to kill these characters. The more meter Blackheart has or gains for himself, you can count on virtually free damage, whether it is blocked or not. Blackheart is very good at gaining meter safely. Blackheart was born to turtle, and the proof is in the demons. Blackheart's jumping Fierce has always been a great move throughout the Marvel series, and it's even better in this game because of assists. It's great if you jump back while doing it, using it as a stalling move versus the faster characters. The move flies around all over and place and usually ends up connecting versus an opponent trying to get close to you. And Blackheart's jumping Roundhouse is basically a projectile and you can use to rain down demons from above. He also has an air dash, which allows him to reposition himself giving him even more control in the air.

Should the opponent choose to attack you along the ground, you can call out Doom's beta assist with the jumping Fierce demons to protect you. They'll either block it or get hit with something. Now is your chance to go to the air and waste even more time and/or build more meter. Do one or two jumping Fierces while Doom's rocks are circling around them, then super jump with roundhouse, air dash back, then Fierce again to cover your descent. As they block the demons that are tracking back to you...you guessed it, call Doom-B again and repeat this until you either :

1. Get bored
2. Run out of space behind you, or
3. Decide to cash in on some of your free block damage.

Should they choose to attack you in the air, you have the advantage here too, mainly because of his demons. (Jumping towards Roundhouse, air dash back, repeat) When they attack you air to air, they know that getting hit by even one of your Roundhouse demons can lead to upwards of 50% damage and will fill your meter freely. Also, if they're in the air and you're on the ground, remember that whenever you get in trouble, you can burn a meter of super and do Inferno cancel into Heart of Darkness, and force them to land and block, so you can regain control over the match.

Counter characters:

Ken-A: Ken works here whereas Cammy will not. Demons count as a physical attack (which means that Cammy's assist and/or Cannon Spike will bounce off harmlessly) and so do Doom's rocks. Ken is more useful here as an assist. Whenever Blackheart tries to throw demons on you, you can simply call Ken, and Ken will cut through both Doom's rocks and the demons and hit Blackheart. Also, even if Blackheart blocks, it's very difficult for him to punish Ken since Ken travels really far during his assist and often lands behind the opponent. Overall, Ken is an outstanding choice versus Doom/Blackheart.

Iceman: Iceman is good versus this end of the trap because blocking the Inferno cancel into Heart of Darkness does no block damage at all. He is one of the characters who can out-turtle Blackheart. Iceman's Icebeam easily cuts through Doom's rocks, and if they're both in the same area, his beam will hit both of them. Also, by a lucky coincidence, his Fierce Icebeam on the ground will move on the same trajectory as Blackheart's Roundhouse demons. So when Blackheart starts doing Roundhouse demons from the air, just do a grounded Fierce Icebeam. You will cut through the demons if they're going to hit you (if you miss, they won't hit you anyways, so it's safe), and you can basically control that airspace. Also, he has a safe way to hit Blackheart and hurt his helper with Ice Rock cancel into Arctic Attack super.

Cable: This is pretty straightforward. Make sure you stay on the same level as Blackheart. If he flinches to send out demons or to air dash, do an Air Hyper Viper Beam (AHVB). If he calls out Doom on the ground, AHVB Doom. Blackheart can't attack Cable with Inferno cancel into Heart of Darkness safely because Cable can take the hit and super Blackheart back during his forced dash after the flying screen (anywhere outside of the corner). And although difficult to execute, you can also AHVB him just in between the Inferno and the initial rise of the Heart of Darkness.

Storm/Magneto: These two can use the same strategy versus Doom as point. They can air dash out of the way of an Inferno, should they see/hear it coming, and can avoid taking chip damage from the Inferno cancel into Heart of Darkness. They can super jump after the Inferno and air dash out of the way. This sets up whatever combo they choose. Combining either of them with Ken's assist means a quick shutdown for the trappers. Storm also has the added option of ground tornado cancel into Hailstorm super. The tornado will clear out Doom's assist on the ground and the hail storm will nail Blackheart in the air.

Spiral: Spiral can be a nightmare for Blackheart/Doom to deal with. Resist the temptation to overuse knives and instead concentrate on using the teleport to avoid block damage and to stay on top of your opponent. If you can bait Blackheart into committing to an attack on your helper, you can virtually guarantee yourself a free air combo.

This trap works the same way as the 1st form of the Doom/Blackheart trap, forcing them to super jump with ground control then let Blackheart take care of the rest. The specifics are: Fierce laser, high or low will do, call Blackheart, Sentinel Force with Short (manually guide them to their targets), stall for a second, then repeat. If a character manages to get away from Blackheart and gets close to Sentinel, he can simply jump back and Fierce punch, which has high priority to get the opponent off him and repeat the trap. Whenever you get into any trouble, stick out a Hyper Sentinel Force (HSF) super. Remember that helpers are put completely out of play here. Sentinel can punish your helper easily with his HSF super and rocket punch combinations. Fierce Rocket Punch, hyper sentinel force (pause so that it doesn't count as a combo so that damage scaling doesn't kick in), low Fierce, Rocket Punch, HSF (pause), Rocket Punch. This usually means death for most helpers. This trap is incredibly dangerous, just because it supplements Sentinel's strong close up offense. Sentinel is an outstanding character, combining all the advantages of an MvC2 beam character (ability to kill helpers, quick beam moves, block damage) and all the traditional advantages of a giant character (power combos, super armor, can keep rush characters out). In the right hands, Sentinel can be pretty hard to stop. But of course, he too has counter characters.

Counter characters:

Cable: What can't Cable stop? =) When you're playing against Cable, forget everything above because it will get you killed quickly. AHVB is just too quick and too good versus Sentinel. His moves are slow to execute, slow to recover, and just plain large targets.

Doom/Blackheart-B: With Sentinel being a large target and all, you can rain photons down on him from most places and be pretty sure that he's going to have to block or get hit. He is pretty slow so he will have a hard time trying to get away from the Doom/Blackheart trap. Once he blocks one photon, you can keep control over a large area and block damage him to death. Just remember to stay away from jump Fierce since his super armor will allow him to take the hit and HSF you in retaliation. And be sure to protect Blackheart against HSF/Rocket Punch retaliation by constantly raining down Photons and supering whenever needed. If Sentinel tries to fly in order to maneuver around the Photons and get on top of Doom, simply land and call out Blackheart.