Marvel vs Capcom 3 Character Strategy Guide

Ryu

Roo, the boring milquetoast that he is, is the most straightforward of all MVC3’s characters. He has his trademark specials, trademark normals and really good level 1 Hypers. HisShinku Hadoken ( QCF + 2 Attack) does surprising damage, especially when X-Factor enhanced.Unlike other projectile Hypers, you cana ctually aim the hadoken up or down after you've activated it.It's alsoa great way to quickly punish projectile spammers or whiffed moves.

His Shinku Tatsumaki ( QCB + 2 Attack) has invulnerability on start up, which makes countering opponents up close easy. That said, even your grandma knows how to play Ryu, and his approach and combo options are extremely predictable. Ryu does good damage with relatively short combos, but focus on using his excellent level 1 Hypers for the best result.

Strengths

Great level 1 Hypers
Familiar and easy to use
Does good damage

Weaknesses

Predictable as the sunrise
Something of a meter hog

Good For Beginners?

Absolutely. Ryu is easy to use,does solid damage with relatively few hits and small combos, and his easy to pick up. His Shinku Hadoken Hyper is excellent as well.

Sentinel

Despite his large size, Sentinel is an agile character with a fast dash, flight ability, relatively easy to perform combos and excellent reach. While his large size makes him easier to juggle and cross up, his ability to control the screen with projectiles and huge sweeping attacks is unrivaled.His Standing and Crouching H attacks are beam projectiles that do chip damage and cover large portions of the sccreen.All his Hyper attacks to great damage, even if blocked, and their large hitboxes make them easy to combo into. Crouching M into S has huge range and will catch new players off guard.

Sentinel's Sentinel Force projectile assist is also very good, making him an excellent choice for any team. Be wary of spamming the assist though as Sentinel's newly reduced health means he can be severely punished if he's called out and caught in a Hyper or combo.

Sentinel is traditionally used asthe last or"anchor" character on teams because of his absurd level 3 X-Factor boost. Level 3 X-Factor Sentinel is capable of killing characters in 4-5 hits and doing huge damage with Hyper combos, even if they're blocked. For these reasons, he's one of the game’s strongest characters.

Note: Sentinel has had his health reduced by Capcom because of complaints. He still does as much damage as before, meaning players will need to be a bit more conservative with him.

Strengths

Good options at close and long range
Large radius attacks allow him to connect from long range and in the air
Easy to combo into Hyper Moves
Insane level 3 X-Factor strength

Weaknesses

Huge size makes him easier to hit and combo
Low Health
You won't be able to read messages from friends because your inbox will be filled with salty hate mail

Good For Beginners?

YES. Sentinel is an excellent choice for beginners, he does big damage, has great projectiles and great Hypers and his crouching M is absurdly good. Just prepare yourself for all the angry hate messages you'll get for using him.

She-Hulk

Astrange combination of big damage, relative speed and mix-ups, She Hulk offers a number of interesting play options. Her Heavy Strike move (QCF + Attack)automatically dizzies the opponent, making her incredibly intimidating in the right hands. Her approach options are suprisingly good, as her Runner’s Start move (Down, Down + S)can lead to frontal high/low ground attacks or a Vega like wall bounce and aerial approaches. Learning to time these moves to get around projectiles is essential as she can fall victim to keep away characters. She-Hulk needs a good assist to help her get in as she is vulnerable at long range.

The main trick to using She-Hulk is to make sure to use her excellent crouching normal attacks. Crouching L is extremely fast and has great reach. Poke characters with it and you can easily combo into crouching M, crouching H into S. She-Hulk'scrouching H automatically leads into her Running stance(Chariot)/ or wall bounce depending on whether you hold forward or backwards after performing it.Crouching H also automatuically passes through the opponent even when blocked, allowing for intersting cross ups with the help of an assist.

An interesting character with unusual options and the potential for big damage, mix ups and solid combos.

Strengths

Wall bounce and running attacks create mix up potential
Heavy strike creates intense pressure game when in close
Excellent crouching normal attacks

Weaknesses

Can have ahard time getting in on projectile heavy teams
Regular movement speed is still mediocre
Really needs a good assist character to maximize potential

Good For Beginners?

No. She-Hulk requires finesse to get in and players need to know how to pressure opponents and mix them up after knockdowns.

Spencer

While certainly no one’s favorite character personality wise, Spencer is pretty good in MVC3. His Scorpion like Wifearm grabs opponents from full screen and passes through projectiles, making him a good choice for punishing spam happy newbies. Spencer can start and end combos with his arm grapple from almost anywhere on the screen, making him a lot more dangerous than he seems. Spencer’s normal attacks are a bit slow but do big damage and stun and can easily be comboed out of. If you connect with Nathan’s grapple arm you have 3 options: L will reel them into a tackle that scores a knockdown, M does a zip kick that will bounce them off the wall, and H simply reels them in and stuns them for a moment.

His Forward + H attack covers a huge portion of the screen and has to be blocked high. Because of his ho-hum movement speed, you’ll need to use Spencer’s grapple arm to get around the stage, do so my pressing S + Attack and then pointing in the direction you want to go. His Bionic Lancer level 1 Hyper (QCB + 2 Attacks) starts up very quickly, covers the whole screen and does good damage when it connects. You can easily connect with this off of any of his wall bounces.

Spencer's BIONIC AAAAARM Hyper (QCB + 2 Attacks) is completely invincible on start up and passes through almost every other move in the game. It's a great counter move that does good damage.

Strengths

Good damage
Straightforward combos
Bionic Lancer (aka BIONIIC AAAAAAARRRRMM)Hyper is very good

Weaknesses

Very small selection of moves
Slow normal attacks
Zip line movement can be unsafe

Good For Beginners?

Sort of. Spencer only has a few special moves to memorize and does big damage with few hits, but learning to use his zip line movement and OTGbionic arm grabsis important and can be confusing to new players.

Spider-Man

One of the game’s fastest characters, Spider-Man is a light weight who relies on his speed and aerial abilities to do damage. That said, he doesn’t do very much damage and his attack options are somewhat limited. His strengths lie in his ability to attack from weird angles in the air using his web zip (Attack + S and a direction), air dash, and other movement skills. His hitbox is also fairly small, which causes some moves to whiff and can make him a challenge to juggle properly.

Strengths

Web Ball assist comes out quickly and can me hard to see in the middle of a fight
Aerial movement options allow him to create hard to predict mixups
Speedy

Weaknesses

Low damage output
Moves have relatively short range
Learning movement options takes practice

Good For Beginners?

No. Spider-Mandoes little damage andneeds aplayer who knows how tocross up opponents andcapitalize onSpidey's speed and weird attack angles.