Sagat

In a reversal of his usual style, Sagat is a projectile zoner second and a brawler first with an emphasis on scary, safe pressure moves that make him a true titan up close. With excellent offensive and defensive tools, Sagat controls the screen with his superior battle prowess while giving up nothing when up close.

What you'll likely notice first about Sagat is his enormous frame. Easily the largest character on the roster, Sagat stands tall above his foes. This frame gives Sagat excellent poking normals, such as his 5HP, 5MK, and 2MK, all of which have ludicrous reach. Once Sagat has claimed the space in front of him as his own, he can begin layering in his strong zoning game. Sagat's signature move is his infamous Tiger Shot, fast projectiles that can be fired from either chest or knee height. Each version of Tiger Shot has its own purpose; the LP version forces opponents to block and prevents low-profile evasion, the MP version travels slower for lockdown zoning and midscreen juggle extensions, and the HP version is ludicrously fast and stuffs any opponent that tries to jump on reaction. Of course, tigers love to pounce on their prey, and Sagat is no different. Once the opponent is conditioned to sit still and duck under MP/HP Tiger Shot, Sagat can leap forward with Tiger Knee, an advancing knee strike that's plus against crouch block.

If allowed to close the distance, Sagat has a number of excellent pressure options to rip his opponent to shreds. His 5MP is +2, MP Tiger Shot is plus if stand blocked, 6HK leaves him at +4 on stand block, and Tiger Knee can be spaced for frame advantage as well. Most terrifying of all is Sagat's new special Tiger Nexus, a Rekka-like move similar to Ken's Jinrai Kick. Upon hitting the opponent, Sagat can follow up with three options. The 6LK ender is an overhead that frame traps on block and knocks down on Counter-hit, the 6MK ender knocks down and give amazing block advantage but whiffs on crouchers, and the 6HK ender gives a full juggle launch anywhere on-screen while remaining plus on block, but has slow interruptible startup. Mixing between the various follow-ups forces opponents to decide whether they want to mitigate any potential damage, or prevent Sagat from scoring endless plus frames to drain their Drive gauge.

Speaking of juggles, Sagat has some of the best corner carry in the game, with 6HK, Tiger Knee, and Tiger Uppercut all functioning as extremely far traveling combo extenders/enders, allowing Sagat to quickly corner and pressure opponents. Another one of his most important combo moves is Tiger Monolith (4HP), a reliable anti air normal that also grants extremely high damage combos and gives him some big launches from Nova. This move also lets Sagat reliably combo into charged hp uppercut, which can quickly obliterate enemy health at the cost of worse okizeme.

Sagat boasts high damage whenever he lands a clean hit. He can spend Drive meter in a plethora of ways, including OD High Tiger Shot which juggles into Level 1 Super anywhere on screen. He has two meterless launchers in 4HP and Nova Tiger, both of which grant amazing corner carry with as little as 1 additional Drive bar. Sagat's Level 2 Super has four different follow-ups based on the direction held, giving him the option to pursue damage/corner carry, oki, a side swap, or a juggle launcher that lets Sagat dump additional resources to get the best of all worlds. All of this leads to an offense truly fit for a king, with exceptional reward once Sagat finds a hit.

However, as implied before, Sagat is sorely lacking in threatening lows for offense. While his 2LK can begin a light chain as is the standard, his movement speed and relatively poor midscreen oki makes it difficult to convert properly, it also makes neutral difficult if solely relying on buttons since most opponents will be faster than him which can lead to whiff punishers having a field day with Sagat if poorly conditioned. 2MK is not special cancelable, and does a poor job of maintaining Drive Rush momentum to initiate pressure, and while 6LK is a good standing low, it is fairly reactable and only grants links with Counter-hit, Drive Rush, or meaty timing. Crouching opponents can avoid many of Sagat's strongest tools, including MP/HP Tiger Shot, 6HK, and Greedy Tiger. Sagat must encourage opponents to stand by poking with lows to the best of his ability, and by threatening from a distance with Tiger Knee. Sagat is generally very committal, with slow movement, expensive throw loops, slow reversals, and slow Super Arts, with plenty of ways to punish him if he isn't cautious. Sagat's strong offense requires equally strong foresight from the player. If you like big normals, calculated zoning, excellent pressure, and Muay Thai in general, Sagat will show you how to become a true king.