The Logic

In the video game Marvel vs Capcom 3, Thor is a powerful force. In general, Thor is meant to be up close, in your face and always ready to dish out the pain with his 3-way guessing game (High, low or command grab). One thing that's difficult to grasp for those who are actually getting into the game now is that, first and foremost, the goal of the game IS to outsmart the opponent. Since you're playing a character who happens to hit like a truck, when you guess right, it means alot more than when your opponent guesses right usually. So how can you make the most of this? Well it's pretty simple. Don't autopilot. Before I get into what that means completely, I don't want to get off track. Today's message is about playing Thor. We know he has a high priority approach move. We know he has sick damage off an aerial or crouching hit. We know his command grab'll do 50%+ on anyone in the cast at least if you land your combos.

But what we have to remember is that Thor isn't just a damage box who rushes you down with triangle jumps and command grabs. He's a character with a reasonable number of options that people don't give him enough credit for. For example, Wesker is a character who stereotypically gives Thor the business. It's a hard matchup for you. He'll gun you in the face all day and if he hits you out of the air, he gets a free combo. If you close the gap enough, he can teleport away or just reverse the pressure onto you. It's tough. So how can we deal with something like this? Simply put, don't play a grappler. Play Thor.

You have a projectile that can stand up to Wesker's gun. Light Mighty Spark is a really fast move with super fast startup, recovery and priority. You can stand up to Wesker and make it harder for him to continue the fight on his own terms. If he's getting blasted by lightning in his face every 0.5 seconds, he's not gonna be able to shoot you or chip you with assists. This will put a bit of fear into him. Instead of mindlessly rushing him down and getting tagged in the face all game with bullets, you effectively limit his options and force him to stop mashing out his f+H. This'll open an opportunity for you to approach. Against other characters, the options might have to be reversed. Magneto can shamelessly outcamp you but he can't combo off his projectiles from mid to fullscreen. This means there's less risk with barreling him down with Mighty Strikes especially since he's made of paper and a misplaced anti-air can get him killed very easily.

We'll talk more about this in a later post and hopefully can start talking about the dangers of autopiloting.