Marvel vs. Capcom 2: Doctor Doom FAQ v1.2
Compiled by dragonkahn
November 19, 2000
Email: dragonkahn@yahoo.com



= Table of Contents ===========================================================

	1. Profile
	2. Overview
	3. Special Moves
	4. Hyper Combos
	5. Assist Types
	6. Strategy
	7. Combos
	8. Partner Recommendations
	9. Credits



= 1. Profile ==================================================================

Real Name: Victor Von Doom
Height: 6' 2"
Weight:	225 lbs.
Place of Birth: Gypsy camp outside of Haasenstadt, Latveria
Occupation: Monarch; King of Latveria

First Appearance: Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 #5

Superhuman Powers: While in his armor, Dr. Doom can lift (press)
	approximately 2 tons. He is one of the smartest men in the world and
	has an almost endless variety of weapons and equipment at his disposal.
	At the very least, Doom's armor contains a force field and concussion
	beams -- though more weapons may also be included. Dr. Doom also has
	the ability to switch minds with another person and he possesses a
	small amount of mystical knowledge as well.

History: Victor Von Doom was raised by gypsies in a small European county
	called Latveria. He lost both of his parents at a very young age.
	Swearing revenge, Victor began to increase both his scientific and
	mystical knowledge with such determination that he was given a full
	scholarship to Empire State University. It was at ESU that Victor met
	Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, and where he started his extradimensional
	research. Doom's vanity prevented him from adjusting the schematics to
	one of his experiments, and the end result was an explosion that
	scarred Victor for life. Expelled from school, Victor began to travel
	the world, eventually stumbling upon a village of Tibetan monks who
	trained him and crafted him a suit of body armor, complete with face
	plate. He soon returned to Latveria, overthrew the government and
	crowned himself King. Ruling with an iron fist, Doom began to turn the
	resources of his small nation to his plans of world conquest.



= 2. Overview =================================================================

Doom is one of the more overpowered and abused characters in the game. But he
is not a character for the scrub or button masher, he's an expert's player.
He's also one of the more cooler-looking villians, carrying that "I can kick
your @$$" look. Don't you agree?


Let's look at his strengths...

Keep-away - In my opinion, Doom is the best keep-away character in the game. He
	has 6 variations of projectiles, flight, and air dash, making it nearly
	impossible to get anywhere near him. He can cover more area than Cable
	and Sentinel, and is one of the very few characters that can beat them.

Trap - Doom is the centerpiece for many trap teams when teamed up with certain
	characters like Strider or Blackheart. His Molecular Shield assist can
	be used in traps and his HP Beam Gun can hold your opponent on the
	ground. *Go to Partner Recommendations for traps.

Anti-Air Assist - Behold! The ultimate assist!!! This is probably the main
	reason why people play with Doom. It's the swiss army knife of assists.
	It will stop dash-ins and jump-ins, set up traps, act as a shield, help
	you dash in, hold your opponent in place, chip turtlers (Iceman), mini-
	launch opponents for an air combo, and much more. Very abusable.

Damage - Doom can inflict heavy damage with his specials and hypers while
	receiving little himself. Almost all of his specials and hypers cause a
	lot of chip damage, especially his Photon Array at close range. So you
	know a keep-away Doom is very dangerous.


Now for his weaknesses...

Speed - Doom is slow as hell. It takes him quite a while to get from point A to
	point B, on the ground or in the air. His jump barely gets him off the
	ground and his dash isn't even a dash. More like a small hop. And his
	flight mode is the slowest among the flyers in the game. Once your
	opponent gets Doom in the corner, he's pretty much a sitting duck.

Size & Weight - Doom is a big target. Anything you throw at him will most
	likely hit Doom, even when he's crouching. His size is prefect for
	combos since any attack will most likely hit him. His weight, too, is
	good for combos because he falls down at the right speed. (Imagine
	trying to do Cyclop's double-jump combo against Cable and Sentinel.
	It's much easier to do on Cable but extremely hard, next to impossible,
	on Sentinel because he falls down a lot faster.)

Lag & Recovery - Most of Doom's specials and hypers either have lag or recovery
	time. Either you can see it coming a mile away or you can block it and
	then punish Doom. This really inhibits Doom's close-up game.



= 3. Special Moves ============================================================

Plasma Beam: QCF + P
--------------------
Rating: ***--
Very quick startup, knocks opponent across the screen. Little bit of recovery,
does only one hit. Pull this out if your opponent is far away. Cancel into this
move after a blocked c.HP launcher, since his launcher has a lot of recovery
time and the Plasma Beam will give Doom more room to recover.

Air Plasma Beam: QCF + P (in air)
---------------------------------
Rating: *----
A Plasma Beam aimed 45 degrees downwards. Doom falls a lot slower while doing
this move. Pretty much a worthless move.

Photon Shot: HCB + P
--------------------
Rating: ****-
Slow startup, travels slowly across the screen. Spreads nearly all over the
screen, except above Doom's head. Covers both sides of Doom, nearly impossible
to escape, good chip damage, pushes jumpers away if blocked. Pull this out if
your opponent is far away.

Air Photon Shot: HCB + P (in air)
---------------------------------
Rating: *****
A more focused Photon Shot aimed downwards. Doom's main keep-away weapon. Use
as much as possible.

Molecular Shield: HCB + K
-------------------------
Rating: **---
Almost no startup time, but a lot of recovery time. Lot of chip damage. Use
this after a sweep.

Flight: HCB + KK
----------------
Rating: **---
Doom cannot block while in flight mode. Not really useful, unless your opponent
doesn't have good anti-air. If your opponent is in flight mode, have Doom fly
too. Bring Doom to the same height as your opponent. Then pull out HP Beam Gun.
Does about 5 hits max and good damage.

Air Dash: any direction + PP (in air)
---------------------
Rating: ****-
Doom's main transportation in the air. Use this to escape from some supers or
to get near your opponent. Can also be used in an air combo when you want to
position yourself so that you can get more hits with Photon Array. A good way
to fake out your opponent is to hit HK Rocket Dive; when your opponent is about
to attack, air dash back out. If playing keep away, air dash straight up and
rain Photon Shots while falling.



= 4. Hyper Combos =============================================================

Electric Cage: QCF + PP
-----------------------
Rating: ***--
Good chip damage. Goes across the screen very slowly and long recovery time.
Good for punishing a blocked long-range super, but hard to judge if it's gonna
hit because of its speed. Looks cool too.

Photon Array: HCB + PP
----------------------
Rating: **---
Lot of chip damage if done at close range, nearly unescapable. Long recovery
time and can't be comboed with. Don't even bother doing this move, the air
version is way better.

Air Photon Array: HCB + PP (in air)
-----------------------------------
Rating: *****
A more focused Photon Array. Lot of chip damage. Always finish your air combos
with this move. Practice timing of your air combos so you get at least 15 hits
with this move.

Sphere Flame: QCF + KK
----------------------
Rating: **---
Doom's vertical super. Fast startup, good horizontal range for a vertical
super. Horrible recovery, too risky. Doom's pretty much dead if it's blocked.
I would never pull these in a match unless I was winning against a scrub and
wanted to finish in style.



= 5. Assist Types =============================================================

Doom has the best assists overall in the game. All three assists are quite
useful compared to the assists of all the other characters'. Only Jin comes
close IMO. Even his worst assist, Projectile, is as good as Magneto's best
assist, Projectile (IMO, capture is too slow to be useful).


Alpha
-----
Expansion: Photon Shot
Rating: ****-
Good against jumpers and flyers. Decent assist but his Anti-Air is way better.

Beta
----
Anti-Air: Molecular Shield
Rating: *****
As I said before, this assist will do a lot things for you. In my opinion, it's
the best assist in the whole game. The only ones that come close is Jin's
Saotome Dynamite and Blackheart's Inferno. Always pick and abuse this assist.

Gamma
-----
Projectile: Plasma Beam
Rating: **---
The worst of Doom's Assists. Don't bother picking this one.



= 6. Strategy =================================================================

When fighting against Pixies, play a act/react game. Keep jumping up and down,
while busting out HP Beam Gun. As long as the beam travels the entire length of 
he screen, he can't dash-in. If he super jumps, throw a ground Photon Shot. If
he does manage to jump-in on you, do his c.HP launcher. It has amazing priority
over jump-in attacks. If he dashes in, Roundhouse sweep xx Molecular Shield.
You can also try to do the "Tiger Knee" Air Photon Array (hcb + ub + PP)
against dash-ins, If he does not block by the time the super is in freeze mode
(the frame where the action stops and Doom's mug is in the background), he'll
eat the super. Try to stay out of corners!

When fighting against beamers, try not to stay on the ground. You do not want
to be in their beams' line of sight (horizontally straight). Super jump, air
dash as high up a possible, and throw out Photon Shots. If they try to super
jump up with you, throw a ground Photon Shot. Doc Doom will most likely chip
more damage than the beamers, so go ahead and play a chipping game. If you see
a beam super coming, super jump and air dash across the screen (fly, if
necessary), and land behind him to combo his @$$. And punish blocked beam
supers, with Electric Cage.

When fighting against giants, stay away from them. There is no way they'll get
near you if you play a good keep away game. Keep super jumping and throwing out
Photon Shots. If you see an opening, dash-in and combo his @$$. Make sure you
finish off your combos with Air Photon Array since their huge size will eat
almost every single shot.

- To do Doom's guard break, your opponent must appear in the corner. When his
  next character pops out, hit him with a jumping Jab at the peak of your
  jump (you must jump even before he comes onto the screen). Once he
  blocks it, land and hit DF + HK (his kick launcher) and bust out your
  air combo.
- If you want to travel more faster in the air, hit HK to Rocket Dive, if it's
  safe to do so.
- Jump-in with HK Rocket Dive. If you see that your opponent is about to attack
  you, quickly cancel into Photon Array. They will most likely fall for
  it but don't do it all the time, because they will catch on.
- Always try to dash-in with c.LK, c.LK, c.HP. If your opponent blocks the
  launcher, cancel into Plasma Beam. It will give you more room to
  recover, since Doom's launcher has a lot of recovery.
- Never ever pull out any special or super at close range, with the exception
  of the Air Photon Shot. You will be punished.


Email me (dragonkahn@yahoo.com) if you want a vs. strategy against a particular
character.



= 7. Combos ===================================================================

Legend
c. = crouching
sj. = superjump
j. = jump-in
s. = standing
xx = special/hyper cancel


There are only two combos I do with Doom. Anything less is not worth doing.

- Dash-in c.LK, c.LK, c.HP, sj.LP, sj.LP, sj.LK xx Photon Array
- Dash-in c.LK, c.LK, c.HP, sj.LP, sj.LK, sj.LP, sj.LK, F + HP (throw),
  Photon Array (in the corner)


Here are some others...

- Jump-in j.LK, j.LK, s.HK xx Electric Cage


Email me if you got a good combo worth posting (dragonkahn@yahoo.com).



= 8. Partner Recommendations ==================================================

Strider Hiryu - The 2nd half of the Strider/Doom trap. Use Doom's Anti-Air
	assist to keep your opponent in place. Teleport to the other side,
	above your opponent. If he blocks, do his Ouroboros super and get up-
	close while calling out Doom again, for a lot of chipping damage and
	super meter. There are some other variations of this trap, so email me
	if you got a different version. (dragonkahn@yahoo.com)

Blackheart - Doc Doom and Blackheart are perfect partners for traps since you
	can have either Doom or Blackheart as the trap assist for the other
	one. If Doom is out, keep busting out HP Beam Gun while jumping up and
	down. If your opponent super jumps, call out Blackheart's Anti-Air
	assist. Another Doom trap is to call out Blackheart's assist and
	super jump. Throw out Photon Shots while falling down. If Blackheart is
	out, call out Doom's Anti-Air assist while throwing out HP demons.

Spiral - Use Doom's Anti-Air assist to aid Spiral with her "Wall of Swords". I
	don't know how it really works. If you know it, email me.

Rogue - Call out Doom's Anti-Air assist to hold your opponent in place. If he
	blocks it, then Power Drain kiss him.

Cable - A scrub's keepaway team. Call out Doc Doom's Anti-Air assist, Fierce
	AVB, (wait for rocks to hit), Electrogrenade, repeat.



= 9. Credits ==================================================================

Thanks to...
Shuzer for mentioning "Tiger Knee" Photon Array against dash-ins...
Strider2000 for suggestions on improvements...
Joshua for Strider/Doom trap...
Marvel Comics for Doctor Doom profile.



===============================================================================

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I would luv to hear from ya


Copyright 2000 dragonkahn
Long Live the Dragon