Could someone give me some advice in this Mika vs. Vega match?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr56szZbLT8
That's currently the highest level of play I can achieve right now. I actually tried to be patient and rely on footsies and defense, for once. Didn't help, though.
I'm not a high level player by any means, but a few general things:
Vega doesn't have strike invincible reversals at all, though he has a throw-invul EX special when claw is on. Feel free to bully him with whatever meaty / setup once you get a knockdown.
f+HP has a lingering extended hurtbox that can be punished on block,
even from a distance. Hit up the training room to see what Mika might be able to do!
Vega's grounded specials on block are largely pretty punishable. Non-EX Rolls (QCF+K) are at least -6 with him pretty much next to you. The claw-on non-EX Spin Edges (QCB+P) are at least -6 but might be situationally safe depending on distance. You might be able to get at least pressure if he ends up close enough to you. Grounded EX specials aren't outright unsafe on block, but they are slightly disadvantageous. st.hp > claw off is similarly disadvantageous, so feel free to start pressuring after those.
This wasn't a particular problem for you since you didn't jump in much, but jumping in from 2 character lengths or further is generally a bad idea against him since his anti-airs work best from that distance.
Definitely be careful with (neutral) jumping and long duration moves when his V-trigger is stocked, especially when he also has super.
In the match:
You did good to block patiently during his claw-off blockstrings, as they lead to a lot of frame traps. You gave him a lot of space in neutral though, even though his claw off normals (aside from slide) don't really go much further than 1 character length.
When the claw is off, he's either looking to go in and bully you, or is expecting you to go in and do the bullying. Once you've established that you didn't have much intention of aggressively going in, he was able to switch to claw on to play a longer ranged game without needing to worry much about untimely jumps against his pokes.
On pressure, his frame traps with claw on aren't very real when he's further out than his jab's distance. Can try to stuff their startup extended hitboxes if you're feeling bold.
I'm not sure whether Mika has solid antiairs or air to airs, but he got cheeky with jumping once it felt like you weren't going to punish him for doing so.
All in all, it seemed like you did fairly well and kept it close in spite of letting him get away with a lot of things, and knowing that you can go ham once he's knocked down can improve your success against him. It's a hard time catching him, but once you do, the round could be won off that one knockdown.