Blocking

Blocking is the most basic form of defense in Street Fighter VERSUS and is quite possibly the most important thing to know how to do in the game. Hold Back (high block) or Down Back (low block) to Block on ground or air, but Up Back works in the air as well.

Blocking lets you defend against attacks without taking, or in some cases only taking a small amount of damage. There are three types of blocking: High blocking, low blocking, and air blocking. High blocking will defend against attacks that hit high, such as overheads and jumping attacks. Low blocking will defend against ...low attacks like sweeps. Both of these types can block mid attacks, however. In the air, blocking with any direction will defend against all attacks. Note that if the opponent jumps in on you and you are blocking low, the jump in will hit you regardless; be wear of situations like this and make sure to block properly against every possible attack pattern.

Once you block an attack, though, you can't counter immediately. You are put into a state known as blockstun that can't be broken out of without using meter for an Alpha Counter, and a couple other ways. It is also still possible to be thrown even when you block.

Proximity Blocking, a feature present in many other Capcom games, is not a feature in Street Fighter VERSUS. Only when an attack actually makes contact with you does your character go into a blocking stance. If a blockstring leaves as much as one frame open between attacks, your character visibly stops blocking, so that would be a good time to go for a reversal or another sneaky trick.

Blocking is a very, very important factor. It can and will break you if you don't perform it properly.