Marvel vs Capcom 3 Character Strategy Guide
We played with all 36 MvC3 characters and give you beginner strategies for all of them UPDATED!
C.Viper
C.Viper manages to stay almost identical to her SF4 counterpart, relying on big technical combos, canceling her special moves into jumping aerial combos and lots of other newbie unfriendly tactics. That said, C. Viper is capable of huge damage from small openings, as her seismic hammer attack can be comboed into and out of almost anything which allows her to get the opponent in the air, right where she wants them. Her Seismic Hammer also hits OTG which makes it a good assist option for her.
Her EX special moves can me performed by doing a specila move command then pressing S instead of L M or H, and just like in SF4, it makes them much stronger, adding extra hits damage and invulnerability frames. As a result, C. Viper tends to eat huge amounts of Hyper meter in the process, meaning she’ll need her team to make up the difference for her. C. Viper is the only character in the game with a Street Fighter IV styled focus attack (S + Attack), it allows her to absorb a few hits without getting stunned and crumples the enemy on hit, leaving them wide open to any combo or punish. Use sparingly.
Strengths
Capable of enormous damage from her huge combos
Excellentair combo ability
Excellent pressure character
Weaknesses
Incredibly difficult to use for newbies, requires technical ability and practice
Burns through Hyper meter like no other
Good for Beginners?
Nope. C. Viper's individual special moves aren't very good on their own, but when strung together in big combos, she becomes a lethal force.
Chun Li
Chun retains her float like a butterfly sting like a bee demeanor in MvC3; her moves tend to be light and fast but they all combo together easily. Chun-li has amazing pressure ability and can quickly boggle opponents when she’s on top of them with her ability to air cancel her jumps and attacks, and cross them up with her flip kick (Foward+H). Chun-Li’s strengths lie in her ability to easily string her moves together; her lighting legs attack combos easily into everything, but be careful not to spam the attack buttons while performing combos as it can come out early and botch your combo. Her Kikosho Hyper (QCF + 2 Attacks) comes out almost instantly, and can be used to end almost any of her combos, no matter how meager.
Strengths
Capable of huge combos
One of the best pressure/rushdown characters in the game
Weaknesses
No options at range, needs help getting close
Low health
Good For Beginners?
Sort of. Chun-Li's specialized rushdown nature and more advanced air cancel combos require practice, but her basic combos are dead easy to pull off and everything combos into her Kikosho Hyper.
Dante
At this point in the game, Dante is one of MvC3’s very best characters. Great movement speed, great attack reach, huge combos and a warehouse full of special moves give him a huge array of options. Despite the huge number of moves and options, Dante is very newbie friendly as his normal moves and basic specials are all dynamic and easy to hit with. Dante is the rare character that’s good in the hands of a rookie but infinitely more deadly in the hands of a pro.
Note that about half of Dante’s special moves are done by canceling one into the other, this means if you press (QCF + M) for his excellent Crystal attack, you’ll need to do it immediately after to get the other follow up move. Practice your timing as a lot of the moves that cancel into one another have completely different uses and whiffing a special move is almost always punishable.
Dante can tag in safely and aggressively by using his Devil Trigger Hyper move in a Delayed Hyper Combo (DHC). Perform the input (QCB + 2ATK) during your active character's Hyper Combo to safely switch Dante in,and even extend the previous character's combo if you're good.
Strengths
Absurd number of special moves and an endless array of attack and defense options
Fast movement speed is increased even further with his excellent teleport (Down,Down + S)
Easy to pick up and gets even better with experience
Weaknesses
Advanced play requires some demanding inputs and technical abillity
Good for Beginners?
Absolutely. Dante has some of the best normal attacks in the game and it only takes 5 minutes in training to learn which of special moves you can use easily. His Level 1 Hyper, Jackpot, can easily punish or add damage to the end of any combo.
Deadpool
In addition to being a fan favorite, Deadpool is a solid all-around character with good options at long range and in close. His special moves are straight forward and easy to use, and his combos lead easily into his Happy Happy Trigger Hyper (QCF +2 Attacks). With a combination of good keepaway projectiles and solid close quarter chops, Deadpool is an excellent beginner’s choice. His H Katana-rama (Dragon Punch + H) hits opponents on the ground and can be used as an assist to help extend combos.
Strengths
Good all around character, with good options in close and at range
Weaknesses
Somewhat predictable attack patterns
Not particularly strong in any area
Good For Beginners?
Yes. Deadpool has good normals, easy to understand special moves and above average projectile/keepaway options.
Doctor Doom
Very similar to his MVC2 counterpart. Doom’s normals are nearly identical to MvC2, and so are his strong projectile options. Doom’s Plasma Beam (QCF+Attack) and Photon Shock (QCB+Attack) allow him to play very effective keepaway especially given his deceptively fast movement speed and ability to airdash. Doom is no slouch up close though, with solid normals and the ability to dash and air dash out of most of his attacks, which allows him to put excellent high and low attack pressure on opponents.
Hidden Missiles (Backwards+H) has a long start up time, but the delayed timing of the missiles and the move’s subtle animation make it a great surprise/trick attack. It's great as an assist and a point character movebecause it's so hard to defend against.
(Jumping H): Doom shoots a ray gun whose reach is determined by how long you hold the button down. For maximum range you should hold the button down immediately after jumping. Make sure not to use this in air combosas it cannot be linked into an aerial S. Stick with jumping M instead, Doom's best normal.
Strengths
Amazingprojectile options
Abillity to air dash and cancel many of his normal moves
Hidden Missiles is one of the best assists in the game
Weaknesses
Medicore approach options
Poor aerial combos require dificult jumping M loops to do damage
Suceptable to rushdown characters once they get in
Good For Beginners?
Sort of. Doom has a plethora of awesome projectiles that are easy to both spam and use tactically, buthis normal attacks can be a bit weird and require some practice to use him on point.
Good For Beginners?
Sort of. Doom has a plethora of awesome projectiles that are easy to both spam and use tactically, buthis normal attacks can be a bit weird and require some practice to use him on point.
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