Hello again
Today i'm here to talk about one of my favourite characters to play: Dr Strange
By The Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!
As a change of pace i've decided to start making these detailed threads on why I feel X character is best with *insert certain load out here.
Dr Strange is often suggested to be played on point for people starting out learning him. The reason is it's best to get down how his neutral works before he's banished to the middle position and used for Palm Loops for the rest of eternity, due to his poor round start. Well until his Point character dies and he has to eat an incoming mix up where he most likely gets pringles-ed on incoming.
To start i'd actually like to reveal some fun little facts about Dr Strange in UMVC3. The first fact is I calced his whole matchup chart and found that on average against the entire cast (using my own personal matchup chart) Dr Strange has a 5.71 matchup average (Mode) and a 6 (Median). This is good news as it means Point Dr Strange is theoretically viable and his most common matchup value is 6/4 (slight advantage in his favour), however as many of us know he's a character with extremely lob sided matchups.
He'll go from being Amaterasu's worst nightmare, grief-ing Sentinel and being able to use zone Haggar and Spencer to death...
To getting absolutely massacred by Wolverine, Zero and Vergil because they rush him down..... Ouch.
The reason for this is whilst Dr Strange's special moves are absolutely amazing, his normal are Rougher than a Garfield camping trip. That being said the developers originally 'INTENDED' for Dr Strange to be a point character that you build a team around.... I'll give the readers a minute to stop chuckling at this statement.
Now Strange's obvious weaknesses are as follows again AWFUL Normals Stand light will sometimes whiff on shorter opponents and his best Normal is Impact Palm (forward H). He also lacks mobility. The reason he lacks mobility is I heard a long time ago, don't know if this is real or not so take it with a grain of salt. I heard that originally Capcom wanted to give Dr Strange air dashes, but Marvel were being very protective of their characters at the time and wanted them to be presented in the game they way wanted the general public to view their characters. Soooooo Despite being capable of travelling far faster than light in his own comics via flight. Marvel didn't want Dr Strange to be a speedster like everybody's favourite curly Moustache man. In fact Capcom had to fight marvel just so DR Strange could have a flight mode and even then they made it slow... Yeah I know.
Due to Strange's bad normal moves and low mobility, 2 characters in particular became the Meta for Dr Strange. So our first team today is an obvious one to go with for point Dr Strange, it's one of my favourite teams to run. I nickname it 'The Sidekick squad' The reason I nickname it the sidekick squad is My Dr Strange a lot of the time is My Modok's sidekick. Dante is my Crimson Viper's Sidekick and Rocket Racoon is my most common pick for a support character on my teams.
The return of the Dynamic Duo!
Now let's get to the meat and potatoes.. Unless your vegan and it's let's get to the Tofu and the vegetables.
Jam session and log Trap (Pendulum) are the two best assists for Dr Strange in the entire game. Amaterasu is up there with these as a team mate for him as well and Strange heavily appreciates the Character cold star is attached too (She's coming up later in the thread btw).
To focus on Dante and Rocket now the reason why these two characters are on so many Strange teams is quite simple. Strange has no GTFO options of his own so Putting Jam session or Log Trap behind him gives him chance to set up his zoning.
His zoning is his primary game plan when he's in neutral. Strange is primarily a keep away character so if he's being played on point you HAVE TO PROTECT HIM AT ALL COSTS. Especially given how big of a target his massive hurtbox makes him.
Most tournament players i'm sad to say really just play Strange as a Palm Loop bot and don't really get the most out of him. To truly get the most out of Strange aside from 'Pick The trench coat Guitar Player, The guardian of the Galaxy or the Sun Goddess' is to understand what his zoning tools do and how to approach the neutral with Strange. I'm sick of watching people not know how to play him so you can get a tutorial on how Strange works while I explain the teams today.
I'll start with the most basic thing about Strange's neutral and that's Impact Palm. Impact Palm causes a crumple state allowing you to set up grace's of Hoggoths (Quarter Circle Back Light or Quarter Circle Back Medium) I prefer to do the Medium versions as it makes Jump loops easier. Due to Strange's awkward mobility a lot of the time we do a technique called 'Fadeaway Impact Palms' We jump Backwards and try to time an Impact Palm at the very end of our jumps.... It's not much but it's something, reason we do this is his Backwards dash is quite slow. AGAIN you need assists to stop people just running at you and getting your zoning set up. I'm saying it again because it's that important.
Do DO DO DO DO DOO DOO DOO DANAK DANAK!
^ This is Daggers of Dannak, done by pressing Quarter circle forward and Light you get one Daggar. With Quarter Circle Forward and Medium you get 3 Daggars. Daggars of Dannak track the opponent. They can be evaded with someone fast enough at moving around but in general they're solid for ending combos. A basic mix up for Dr Strange is to put a Dagger of Dannak on Screen and then teleport behind the opponent with his Teleport moves. His Light teleport puts him in front of the opponent, his Medium Teleport puts him behind his opponent and the Heavy one is up and Behind his opponent. This works Full Screen however be wary that if your opponent is in the corner your teleports DO NOT CROSS UP IN THE CORNER. Which can be a bit of a problem, but thankfully we can just chuck a ton of high chip damage projectiles at our opponents. Projectiles such as Mystic Sword M which is basically a faster and better version of Guile or Nash's sonic Boom. Fun fact my Dr Strange's colour is Colour 4 because it reminds me of Alpha 3 Nash's costume when he's on the player 2 side :D.
The Light Version of Mystic Sword is a solid Neutral tool for when Strange is on the Ground when Spaced properly it tends to be safe but don't be too reckless with it other wise you can occasionally get caught for doing it. I recommend going in training mode and Practicing Forward Down, Down Forward, Light. For Light Mystic Sword it's an important neutral tool and can combo into itself and Impact Palm when spaced properly. I also find that Mystic Sword + Jam session or Log Trap assist call can be a useful, Easy and consistent combo starter. You also don't have to worry as much about Hit stun deterioration because Impact Palm has a set number it does so it deals consistent damage when looped into itself.
Eye of Agamotto is the most common thing you'll see Strange players do. It's there to stop opponents rushing at us. The best way to use Eye of Agamotto is to place one down after we call Jam session or Log Trap. When you get into a certain rhythm with the Sidekick Squad You can all assist get the Agamotto set up. As it's about to vanish call the assist you didn't use last time and put another Eye up. Certain teams surprisingly have very poor options against Log Trap call to Eye of Agamotto, to Jam session Call to Eye of Agamotto. To make matters better for us. Eye of Agamotto is a good tool for protecting assists a bit like how Modok's Barrier or Nova's Gravimetric Pulse works. it can be pushed forward with an impact Palm, most of the time I don't Push it forward unless it's nearing the end of it's durability frames and my opponent is in the air. outside of that I just chill behind the good ol' Beach Ball and throw Daggars of Dannak or Set up grace's of Hoggoth.
Now we get to the most almost nobody uses correctly when I see Dr Strange played in tournament.
Yes I am getting the Images off the Supercombo Wiki They're great images
When you see Strange played most of the time The Strange player doesn't place these down as a neutral tool. Ideally these aren't just for combos but they can be used for important utility in Neutral. 3 light Grace's of Hoggoth make a lazer that tracks full screen. This is AMAZING for anybody trying to run away from us and combined with Rocket Racoon's Log Trap assist can give us easy Full Screen super Jump Hit confirms, whilst still staying on the ground. 3 Reds will cause an explosion. The Explosion is normally used to OTG for combos into Dr Strange's Level 3 but in neutral if you set reds down and plan your escapes in advance you can use the reds to keep your opponent out if used correctly.
This is the part of the thread where I make every Dr Strange player on the planet better. There's a very simple trick to placing Grace of hoggoths in neutral and i'm going to reveal that secret for you today. You know what that secret is?... TRIANGLES!
Yes the key to getting the most out of your grace's is to simplify things by thinking in Triangles. Whenever you place 3 grace's you want to make a triangle shape on screen. This particular technique is why Log Trap and Jam Session took over as support for Strange it's because they give Dr Strange time to set his Grace of Hoggoth traps down and make opponents attempting to approach you. Question their life choices. One very easy pattern to make as your running away is place a Grace on the ground, Run back, Place a grace in the air and Then Place another one on the ground. The Flames of the Faltine follow the Grace of Hoggoth patterns so you can use the Triangle shape you've set up to force your opponent into a lot of bad situations you can exploit with your teleport mix ups. Another Triangle i'm a fan of is 2 on the ground in quick succession and then another one up and behind a grace. I place it primarily to punish my opponents for jumping. The first pattern works great for opponents that try to rush at you on the ground the second is for stopping people jumping at you.
Then there's good old Stack 3 Grace's on top of each other to make a mini- Wall I use that one for when i'm not going to a mix up and just want to play lame.
Lovely another thing I suggest is go in training mode yourself and set grace of hoggoth's down and try making Triangle shapes appear on the screen in the training mode. You can get all sorts of tricky Patterns that can confuse opponents and give you neutral opportunities when you learn to use Grace of Hoggoth's correctly.
Sooo... That's a lot to take in admittedly, might be worth reading all of what I just said a couple of times before I move on to what makes Dr Strange Dante Rocket specifically good for a Point Dr Strange Gamplan.
Ok Number 1 is Dr Strange builds a lot of metre, one of Strange's Weaknesses is he can lack a super to reliably DHC into after Spell of Viscenti. This where Dante comes in. You can do Spell of Viscenti DHC into Dante as soon as possible and then Teleport with Down Down Special and get follow ups after the super hits. Dr Strange doesn't have a native wall bounce or ground bounce in his combos so you can use Dante for Metre dump options.
Number 2 Log Trap has a wall bounce. Strange doesn't use Wall bounces as part of his combos so you can use Log trap to land hits for you. It also extends combos in the corner. only thing you've got to be wary of is if you Devil Trigger DHC to Dante Log Trap will have used up your wall bounce so you will have to rely on ground bounces for combo extensions.
In general this teams greatest strength is it's incredible 3 way synergy. Dante loves Bolts and Log Trap. Dr Strange loves Jam session and log Trap. Rocket Racoon loves Dante's Jam session and raw tagging to Dr Strange in the corner. The easiest way to raw tag to Strange is Launch them do quick air combo. Do Mr Flapper AKA Bear Trap. Do oil Bomb Press Crouch M to Stand H to trigger the Oil bomb fire on the ground. Then Raw tag Dr Strange in for Palm loops if Rocket Racoon is on point. If for whatever reason you can't get Dr Strange in. It also works if you use Dante and go for the gun loop it's possible to build 2 bars of metre that way.
Phew so after all of that you're probably thinking 'There's no way there's another Dr Strange team on par with this' Well... Yes and no. Whilst taking Log Trap the arguably best assist for Dr Strange and Dante the Arguably best team mate for the sorcerer supreme. There are some other options I wish to explore.
Fun fact none of them involve Dr Doom so congratulations to everybody sick of Dr Doom we've got a character who for the most part synergises better with other choices. We finally did it! WOOHOOO!
Shoutouts to Dr Strange Dormammu Dr Doom and Dr Strange Dr Doom Vergil they're good teams but i'm not discussing them today.
So Team number 2 is a bit of a weird choice but hear me out
where is the crazy Pigeon going with this I wonder....
Team Number 2 is Dr Strange Amaterasu with Magneto or Hawkeye in the anchor slot. I Find both work well, depends on your preference, if there are any Arthur truthers out there feel free to run your boy as an option for the horizontal assist if you're in ratios or Arthur Dagger's have some matchup Specific tech that can bail you out of a bad spot. Fun fact a long long time ago We used to run Dr Strange with Arthur Daggers it was a recommended pairing early on until Rocket, Dante, Amaterasu ,Dr Doom, Vergil, Dormammu (his arch nemesis in the comics being one of his top team mates is something I will never get over lol) took over as team mates for Strange. Well that and we stopped playing him on point because bolts of Balthakk is the best Horizontal assist in the game for a wider variety of characters than any other horizontal assist and the palm loop got discovered to we just raw tag Strange in for Damage nowadays.
So Team 1's issues is whilst Jam session and Log Trap are cracked assists. There's no Horizontal assist for Dr Strange that goes full screen.
This is What Strange/ Ammy With Magneto or Hawkeye is here to resolve. EMP Disruptor is the fastest Horizontal assist in the game, Due to DR Strange's fast teleports it can create some nasty 50/50 situations when you're at full screen. Hawkeye's Grey Hound is fast as well and has the benefit of leaving the opponent standing so your Impact Palm will Crumple them. You also have the option of running Hawkeye's scatter shot assist if you wish to take it, but primarily you'll be using Horizontal assist to back Dr Strange and Amaterasu.
The basic game plan of this team is simple, build 2 bars THC... That's it that's your entire gameplan. The Strange/ Ammy THC is the stuff of absolute nightmares to block. it deals tons of chip, it snipes almost instantly without Dr Strange having to pop X Factor. it's arguably the single best Team Super in the entire game. So my thesis for this team is this... Why not build a win condition around it? Magneto and Hawkeye's Team supers don't last very long and they won't interrupt Strange and Ammy Doing there thing as they fish for Full Screen punishes. In order to get the pick up after the Strange Ammy THC place at least 1 Grace of Hoggoth then at the end do a flames of the Faltine. This will pick them up and allow you to continue the combo.
There's one obvious flaw to this load out and that's that... Well It's better as a point Magneto and Arguably better point Hawkeye team. It's synergy isn't quite as 3 way as Strange, Dante, Rocket Racoon's This load out is very much. Give Strange his best Horizontal partners with the Okami Shuffle THC and Access to Cold Star for Chip Damage lockdown. It's a fun team though. looks very day 1 at first glance but it's a nice alternative to Dante/ Rocket or Running Strange with typical Meta Duos. There is another flaw that being that Cold Star whilst it leaves the opponent standing and is one of the top assists to give Dr Strange. It does not go full screen and can get beaten out certain projectiles. It's why I gravitate towards Horizontal assists like EMP disruptor, Psionic Blast, Triple arrow as opposed to Doom's Plasma Beam or iron man's Uni Beam. That and I find their scaling can come back to bite me occasionally even though I can full screen palm loop I find in practice i'm not always in a position to Pull it off. It's very hit box and trajectory specific.
If you're interested in running Magneto but think the Ammy Team looks a bit weird. Feel free to take Dr Strange, Dante, Magneto as a team. Dr Strange Rocket Racoon Hawkeye is a Solid alternative too. It works a bit like Treblig Punisher's Modok Rocket Hawkeye team. Where you take Log Trap + Triple arrow.
One option that can work as an anchor for Strange Ammy is Shuma Gorath i've never tried it personally, but I can see the appeal. Only issue with it really is Cold Star and Mystic Ray don't come out fast enough so you can be a bit helpless vs Rushdown teams When Strange is on point. Fun Fact that was FreshNewspaper's original team before he switched from Shuma Gorath to Crimson Viper. He ran it as a point Shuma team mostly but part of me just wanted to bring it up before the thread ended.
I think that's it i'll give the thread a proof read when I get chance and add anything i've not mentioned if I catch any mistakes.
Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed
P.S. I've never tried running Sentinel Drones with Dr Strange I always found them too slow for him personally.
