firemtn

1. Zone them out
2. Anti-airs on point
3. Play it safe*
4. Don't get upset

ZONE THEM OUT: Your character is not a zoner? That's OK. Any character can do a little zoning, as a treat, especially against someone with limited mobility. Find your best normal for poking (decent speed, decent range, nice angle) and control them in neutral. If you have a projectile, that's a bonus. Be confident and don't give up too much space.

ANTI-AIRS ON POINT: You are controlling their ground approach? Great work. They are going to try and jump at you now. Find your best anti-airs. A fast, non-committal anti-air is often better than a full blown Dragon Punch. Vary up your attack timings to make it more difficult to find an opening to jump in. Watch out for the shallow empty jump!

PLAY IT SAFE: You want to do a big combo. I understand. But it's very dangerous to play too close to the grappler. It's OK to poke them to death a little bit at a time! Get a knockdown? Throw a meaty projectile instead of moving in. Advance aggressively when you have resources to cover yourself. If they have an invincible frame 1 super grab, for heaven's sake, don't give them those for free.

DON'T GET UPSET: So you've gotten knocked down and they are clipping their model into yours. Well, good luck. I'm sorry that happened. You have to guess now. This is normal. Be aware of all your defensive options and vary them up as much as you can. They're making you guess, but they're guessing too. You're gonna guess wrong and take some damage. It's OK. There's always new opportunities ahead of you. I believe in you.

*THE ASTERISK TO "PLAY IT SAFE": At some point, a shift seemed to happen in the way grapplers were designed. In the past, it was often very dangerous to get close to them at all or to challenge them on wake-up; they had fast jabs and faster grabs. Moving in after you knocked them down was risking getting grabbed as they got back up. However, in the modern era, grapplers often have very poor defensive options. In that case, the thing to do is press your advantage and limit their options as much as possible. Be aware of what kind of game you're playing and what defensive tools your opponent has.

There. The big grappler isn't so scary, is it? Go forth with confidence, young Davids, and face your Goliaths. Maybe try playing a grappler sometime? They're fun! Until then, don't be frightened, and don't get upset. You're more predictable when you're upset.