C.Viper Moveset and Attributes

If there are any suggestions, comments or corrections, please PM me or just post on this thread. I consider this a contributor’s guide, so as long as the info is legit, feel free to notify me and I’ll update the appropriate sections, as well as give you credit for your findings. Thanks.

Last updated February 15th, 2009. Added information on “Command Normal Attacks”.

Basic Moves:

** Thunder Knuckle: QCB + P (FP version is anti-air)
Burning Kick: QCB + K (can be done in air)
Seismo Hammer: DP + P (distance depends on punch strength)

** = Armor-Breaker Attack

Command Normal Attacks:

Viper Elbow: F + MP (possible to combo afterwards if hit at the right distance, possibly max range)
This is Viper’s Overhead Attack, which is probably one of her most useful moves because of its range and attack speed, but is not 100% safe when blocked or when hit. Her safety depends on the distance that the Viper Elbow is performed. Doing it up close usually has a bigger chance of getting countered. Viper can use her Overhead Attack to go over fireballs if timed correctly. You can also go over Ryu’s and Dhalsim’s Ultra Fireballs with this attack if timed right. For Dhalsim, if he does Ultra at point-blank range, you can hop over with the Overhead Attack. Keep this in mind in close games.

B + HK: Hold back on joystick and hit HK. Viper attacks with a wide sweeping standing roundhouse. It hits late, so it’s better to use this in anticipation of a jump-in. Basically, do the move right when someone starts jumping towards you. Usually, this is her far standing HK move, but doing B + HK will do this move at any distance.

F + HK: Hold forward on joystick and hit HK. Viper hits with a 2-hit attack, going forward as she does it. Although this move cannot be put into combos, it does come in handy at times. The double kick outprioritizes some low normal attacks (like Shoto’s crouching WP, WK, etc.). I will clarify more in a future update. Usually, this is her close standing HK move, but doing F + HK will do this move at any distance.

Throws:

Ab Workout: Towards or Neutral + WP & WK (Viper punches opponent in gut)
Temple Massage: Back + WP & WK (Viper climbs on opponent’s back and shocks opponent)

Super Combo:

Emergency Combination: QCF X 2 + P

Ultra Combo:

Burst Time: QCF X 2 + PPP

Special Abilities:

High-Jump:

Tap D, then U to perform a High-Jump vertically
Tap D, then UB to perform a High-Jump backwards
Tap D, then UF to perform a High-Jump forwards

Viper is the only character in SFIV who has a High-Jump. This High-Jump is similar to what you have seen in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

High-Jump Canceling (or HJC for short):

Also known as Super-Jump Canceling (SJC). Just like Yun, Ibuki and Chun-Li in SFIII:3S, you can hit with a normal attack and cancel that into a high-jump. It is also possible to link two attacks that you couldn’t normally link using HJC. Please read the 5th post on this threadfor more information.

List of Fake Moves (aka Feints)

Seismo Hammer Feint:

F, D, DF + P, PP almost immediately
Hit two adjacent punch buttons almost immediately after performing Seismo motion.
(WP, MP, FP and EX versions can be canceled)

Thunder Knuckle Feint::

D, DB, B + P, PP almost immediately
Hit two adjacent punch buttons almost immediately after performing TK motion.
WP, MP and EX versions can be canceled as stand-alone moves or within combos.

Canceling Standing FP Animation:

You can interrupt Viper’s far standing FP (as long as you don’t actually hit the opponent with the standing FP) with certain moves. You must input the move within 1/4th of a second to register (don’t know exact frame data). You can cancel with these moves:
Thunder Knuckle (regular, EX or fake)
Seismo Hammer (regular, EX or fake)
Burning Kick (regular or EX)
High Jump

Although it may not be much of a move for trickery, it is available in the game and it can come in handy someday.

NOTE: You have a little more leeway to cancel standing FP into High Jump. Don’t know the exact amount of frames but if I find out, this will be updated.

Added info on Thunder Knuckle

Thunder Knuckle is Viper’s Armor-Breaking move. If you didn’t know, all Street Fighter IV characters have the ability to employ at least one move that allows them to absorb one hit and possibly counter-attack if you are in reach. An opponent charging a Focus Attack to at least Level 2 is one example. Other characters’ EX moves like Boxer’s EX Rush Punch, Zangief’s EX Running Bear Grab and El Fuerte’s EX Command Run are examples of EX moves with Armor properties. Thunder Knuckles of any kind can counter those moves cleanly, and you will know that you countered correctly when you see and hear glass break. Viper’s Thunder Knuckle is quite possibly the best Armor-Breaking move in the game because of its quickness and versatility of the 4 variations, including the EX version.

WP Thunder Knuckle can go under high-hitting attacks (like Boxer’s Straight Dash Punch) and most projectiles (excluding Sagat’s Low Tiger Shot). Thanks to FullMetalRoss from the shoryuken.com forums for this information.

MP Thunder Knuckle is great for covering ground quickly. It’s also a good way to link some normals, especially crouching MP and crouching MK. Viper’s bread-and-butter combo is crouching MP into MP Thunder Knuckle.

FP Thunder Knuckle is very important to Viper. It is probably her only consistent way to anti-air someone. However, it is not a fool-proof anti-air. It’s possible that someone can hit you out of your FP Thunder Knuckle on start-up. The good news is that they will be in juggle state while you get to recover. This means that you can possibly juggle them afterwards… and even if you miss it’s a knockdown scored for you. The bad news is if you are down to your last scrap of health, there’s a chance you will get KO’ed.

If you hit someone out of the air with a FP Thunder Knuckle, and you didn’t hit them late and/or trade hits with the opponent, you can connect with these moves while they are descending.

another FP Thunder Knuckle
Super Combo
*Ultra Combo

(*) Ultra Combo is quite picky to use because it seems to miss quite often, which leaves you wide open if whiffed. It also seems that some players (Zangief and Sagat) are much easier to hit with Ultra after FP TK because of their weight and bulk.

As mentioned before, if you trade hits with a jumping opponent while doing FP Thunder Knuckle, you may be able to still hit them in their juggle state. After the trade, dash forward ASAP and try doing either another FP Thunder Knuckle or Ultra Combo. Although it looks slow, usually a second FP Thunder Knuckle will get them. The timing on hitting with Ultra after trading hits may be a lot trickier, but the reward is great if it hits.

The Importance of Thunder Knuckle Feints

Thunder Knuckle Feints are an important part of Viper’s offensive arsenal. First off, it can be used repeatedly to lull someone into attacking and/or making a mistake. Seismo Hammer feints have a similar purpose, but Thunder Knuckle feints recover faster.

Second, it can also be used within combos to interrupt them midway and allow you to mix up your attacks. For example, you attack with a jump-in FK and the opponent blocks it. You continue with a crouching MK, and the opponent blocks that as well. After the MK, you can do a Thunder Knuckle feint to pretend you will follow through with the combo, and afterwards you can do things like go in for a throw, attack with Viper’s overhead attack (towards + MP) or hit them with a crouching MK into MP Thunder Knuckle. There are many indeed many options at your disposal.

Third, the TK feints can really confuse the opponent if used correctly. It really helps mask what Viper will do next, and it keeps her relatively safe while she’s doing it. It also makes the opponent jittery, which can work in Viper’s favor as she can control the offensive flow of the game with more setups. It can even agitate people who turtle into making a few more mistakes than usual. An example is feinting several TKs and Seismos until an opponent visibly drops their guard. Then you hit them with something like a Seismo Hammer, launch them to a combo, and set up another offensive set.

Fourth, it can be used to link normals that normally would not connect on their own. An example is crouching FP, FP Thunder Knuckle Feint, then another crouching FP. Normally, you wouldn’t be able to link two crouching FP attacks in a row, but with a FP Thunder Knuckle feint (and only the FP version), you can link them. This can be a game-breaker because Viper has the ability to link high damaging normals together that will build up an opponent’s stun meter (causing them to become dizzy).

It is possible to do this type of combo for huge stun potential:

deep jump-in FK, standing FP, FP Thunder Knuckle Feint, crouching FP, EX Seismo, instant HJC to Burning Kick (jumping towards opponent)

This will bring your opponent to a dizzy state, if not very close to a dizzy state.

For now, please read the other threads on this board concerning combos with TK Feints. Sometime, I will organize the combo stickied section to include more examples.

Not All Thunder Knuckle Feints are Created Equal

It really does matter which Thunder Knuckle feint do at times to achieve certain things with Viper in her combos. The aforementioned crouching FP, FP Thunder Knuckle feint, crouching FP combo can only be done with a FP feint. Why? It’s because of the shortened recovery frame-rate that allows you to link two crouching FP attacks.

So, you may be asking now… why not just use HP TK feints all the time? It seems to be the best overall.

The reason is because the timing is much harder to pull off a FP TK feint correctly mid-combo than it is with the WP and MP versions. It is also near-impossible to do FP TK feint as a stand-alone move, without hitting with a normal attack beforehand.

Doing a WP TK feint during a combo is very easy to do, but the recovery time from the start of the cancel animation to the ability to attack/move afterwards is the longest of the three. The MP TK feint isn’t hard to to do within a combo either, but it has less recovery time in-between.

The FP TK feint is the trickiest by far, but has an incredibly low recovery time compared to the others. The only drawback is that the timing is stricter, so you may accidentally do FP Thunder Knuckle, EX Thunder Knuckle or EX Thunder Knuckle feint by mistake. This can lead to an opening for your opponent to hit you.

FP Thunder Knuckle feints have a bit of risk, but the reward is great. I highly recommend practicing FP TK feint until it becomes second nature. Just keep in mind that it helps to do the FP feint input a tad slower compared to the other two. With some practice, you will discover the timing and recognize the feel of a perfect FP TK feint.

EX Thunder Knuckle Uses

EX Thunder Knuckle can be useful on opponents like Chun Li, Balrog (Boxer) and M.Bison (Dictator) when they do a ground-level Super or Ultra and whiff. If you end up avoiding the Super/Ultra (ex. jumping over them), with the opponent stuck in their animation and you are behind them, do EX Thunder Knuckle to follow them across the screen. If you have to dash a few times to catch up, do so. It helps if they are moving towards the far corner, so you have less ground to cover.

If this fails, use HP Seismo instead to hit them from afar.

EX Thunder Knuckle can also be great against people who like to use Focus Attack a lot (aka Saving Attack in the Japanese version SFIV). If you see or hear someone starting up a Saving Attack, if you immediately do EX Thunder Knuckle, you may be able to tag them with a crumple stun before they can recover. Since the opponent is stuck in Focus Attack animation, and since Dash Cancels also take time, it is actually a great way to counter. It is also very safe.

The most ideal situation for this trick is if the opponent is not in the corner, you are around sweep range away and you have an Ultra stocked. If the EX Thunder Knuckle hits, it sets up a free Ultra at the perfect distance.

Added info on Seismo Hammer

You can follow up Viper’s Seismo Hammer with another Seismo Hammer. The easiest way to perform this is a little strange, but here’s what you do: Perform the Seismo or EX Seismo normally (f, d, df + P). Around the time the Seismo will hit the opponent, input df, df, u and punch button(s). If the Seismo hits the opponent, another Seismo will immediately come out.

Thanks to FullMetalRoss for sharing the repeated Seismo method to us at shoryuken.com.

Repeated Seismo Attacks Using High-Jump Canceling

This method is possible because of High-Jump Canceling. Please read the 5th post on this thread for more information about High-Jump Canceling.

You can also immediately follow up an Seismo (normal or EX) with a Seismo (again, normal or EX) for chip damage if the opponent is caught blocking. You can do also do quite a few repeated Seismos (3 Seismos and 1 feint Seismo is the most I’ve seen), but the more you do, the easier it becomes for your opponent to get out of the trap.

Info on Seismo Feints

Feinting a Seismo Hammer is a decent tool to employ. If you are more than half-screen away from the opponent, and the opponent is pacing around, it’s probably a good idea to try throwing out a few Seismo feints to keep them on their toes. When you feel it’s safe, go ahead and throw out a real Seismo to hit them… or throw out several if they block the first one. If they jump, you might be able to punish the opponent appropriately.

Just keep in mind that although the feint helps Viper recover from the Seismo Hammer motion faster, it is just slow enough that it can get punished if the person is close enough. Unlike the Thunder Knuckle feints, Seismo Hammer feints have the same amount of recovering time regardless of what punch strength you use in the initial Seismo Hammer input.

EX Seismo Hammer Uses

EX Seismo is considered one of Viper’s main counters in the game and can be a huge momentum changer. The reason why is because on start-up, it has invincibility frames that makes most normal attacks, many projectiles and high Tiger Shots (fast versions) whiff, and at the same instance the EX Seismo will counter-hit the opponent if timed right. It can set up a launch combo for additional damage, the most common follow-up being a High-Jump canceled Burning Kick, and possibly more if you’re in the corner.

Keep in mind that the invincibility frames are very short indeed, so timing is everything. If timed right, it will make projectiles and opponent’s limbs pass completely through Viper as she counter-hits them back. Just remember that an EX Seismo can cover 3/4ths of the screen width, so countering someone who threw a fireball from a distance is not 100% safe from Viper’s wrath.

Another use for EX Seismos is to punish an opponent when you see them dash. If you see an opponent dash, try doing an EX Seismo immediately. Chances are, you will hit them right when they are vulnerable (back-dashing has some degrees of invulnerability on start-up), and then you can do an air combo after that.

I also like to punish people who are landing from a jump with EX Seismo, as long as they are a safe distance away and cannot hit you while you are doing it. From what I have noticed, it seems that there is a brief period where an opponent cannot block as they touch the ground from a jump. You’d be amazed on how many free opportunities you will get to launch the opponent as they land.

One common mistake with many new Viper players, and even an occasional bad habit for veterans… NEVER use Seismos or EX Seismos as an anti-air attack. It is strictly a ground attack. You will get punished badly if you try to anti-air people with it.

The Importance of EX Seismo Feints

Like normal EX Seismos, EX Seismo feints have invincibility frames as well, but feinting the attempt will allow you to counter immediately (usually with a throw being the best option). EX Seismo feints (f, d, df + P, then PP immediately afterwards to feint) are great ways to counter cross-up attempts, and it also goes through some normal attacks. For example, if a person knocks you down and tries to cross you up… but his/her timing is a little off, you can get up and time an EX Seismo feint, then throw when the opponent lands. If the opponent sticks out anything while in the air, the EX Seismo Feint will make it whiff, and the throw follow-up should be guaranteed.

NOTE: Remember that when you do the EX Seismo feint to make a cross-up whiff, make sure to do the inputs in the opposite direction because you’re getting crossed up. Example: You’re on the left, Ken is on the right. Ken knocks you down and proceeds to jump over (towards the left) to cross you up as you get up. Do the EX Seismo feint motion as if you were facing left.

WILL BE CONFIRMED SOON: I believe unlike normal EX Seismos, EX Seismo feints will not save you from fireballs of any sort. From what I remember, if timed right, the EX Seismo feint also works against command throws (i.e. Zangief’s SPD), Super throws and Ultra throws.

Added info on Burning Kick

Burning Kicks on the Ground

The distance traveled during a Burning Kick on the ground is determined by the strength of the kick button used. WK travels the least, MK travels further and HK travels the furthest. If you predict that your opponent will attack you low, you can do a Burning Kick in anticipation. It will hop over the low attack and counter-hit them, scoring you a knockdown. For this reason, it’s would be wise to remember the distances each kick strength takes you.

Ground Burning Kicks cannot be thrown, so this is good against predictable opponents who LOVE to throw you (especially Ken and his Kara throws). WK Burning Kick is the best option to counter a throw, since it recovers slightly faster and travels the least amount (which will keep you out of harm’s way).

It is possible, but not recommended, to literally hop over some types of fireballs with Burning Kicks. I don’t recommend doing this because the timing is pretty strict and it usually works a little better when the fireballs thrown are slow. However, it is definitely an option that is there for you.

In the corner, if you hit a grounded cornered opponent with a grounded WK Burning Kick (close range), you can juggle with either a HP Thunder Knuckle or an Ultra Combo.

Burning Kicks in the Air

Viper can also do Burning Kicks in the air. Just do the same motion as you would on the ground, but do it before you land. It allows you to hover a bit longer and has cross-up capabilities, so it can be tricky.

Keep in mind that if you jump forward and you do a WK Burning Kick, you will drop straight down. MK and FK Burning Kicks in the air makes Viper travel a little bit further forward. This is especially noticeable if you do a High-Jump towards the opponent and do BK afterwards.

When you are in the air and you hit with a WK Burning Kick in the corner, opponent trapped inside, if you land in time… you can tack on a HP Thunder Knuckle or Ultra Combo for more damage. Be careful about using Ultra Combos in the corner, because the timing is a bit stricter.

It is possible to absorb a non-EX fireball with an Mid-Air Burning Kick, but it is very inconsistent so I wouldn’t try it all the time.

If you do a MK or FK Burning Kick just before you land, you will actually hover and travel a short distance further ahead during the Burning Kick animation. This can be very good for better cross-ups on a downed opponent. This rule also applies to vertical jump to Burning Kick. If you do MK or FK Burning Kick just before you land (jumping towards or away), you will actually travel a bit further. Great to confuse someone on wakeup to cross them up.

Air Normal Attack to Burning Kick in Mid-Air

You can perform a Burning Kick immediately after hitting with these air normals:

jumping vertical WK
jumping vertical HP
jumping towards WK
jumping towards HK

example: hit with jumping towards HK, do a Burning Kick after you see the HK hit or blocked

This is vital in Viper’s mix-up game. You can decide to use a WK Burning Kick after a normal hits, to hit them in the front… or you can use MK or FK to hit them from behind.

The Importance of Performing High-Jumps to Burning Kicks (aka “Instant HJ Burning Kick”)

If you master the art of utilizing High-Jumps to Burning Kicks, it will increase your offensive capabilities as a Viper player. It can help her cover a lot of ground and it can change the trajectory of her attacks, which makes it difficult to block. The faster you do the Burning Kick after the High-Jump, the lower the trajectory will be and it will also be faster.

The normal way to do High-Jump to Burning Kick is to first perform the High-Jump in the desired direction:
quickly tap D, then immediately tap UF to High-Jump forward
quickly tap D, then immediately tap U to High-Jump vertically
quickly tap D, then immediately tap UB to High-Jump backwards

The faster you do the Burning Kick after the High Jump, the more of a change you will see in descent speed and trajectory from the Burning Kick. Needless to say, the faster you do the Burning Kick afterwards, the faster the descent and the lower the trajectory. Of course, one of the trickiest HJed Burning Kicks to defend against is one that combines a High Jump and a Burning Kick motion in one fluid joystick motion.

The best way to do a Instant HJed Burning Kick is to do it in this motion:

d, db, b, uf + K to travel foward further
d, db, b, bu + K to travel backward
d, db, b, u + K to travel in between (need to confirm distance and usage)

Remember to Switch Input Direction for Air Burning Kicks as you Crossover

Hope the title isn’t confusing, but let me explain. Imagine a vertical line going upward from the top of the opponent’s head. This line will separate his frontside area and his backside area. If you are in the air and do a Burning Kick anywhere around his frontside, then you would perform the joystick input like normal. However, if you jump over him and pass over to the backside of his body frame, you must do the Burning Kick joystick inputs in the opposite direction in order to do the input correctly.

Example: Viper is on the left, Sagat is on the right. Viper jumps over Sagat’s head and is now in his backside area, still in the air. On the joystick, you would go from down to right in a quarter-circle motion and hit a Kick Button to execute a Burning Kick in the air.

This also applies to Viper’s jumping towards HK attack. If you hit with her jumping towards HK, and you are on his backside area, you can do a Burning Kick to tag on another hit, but you must do the joystick inputs in the opposite way. Basically, if you cross someone up with jump-in HK, you can tag on something like a WK Burning Kick to get another hit… or you can do MK/FK Burning Kick as well (will confirm if it hits or distances you in a future update)

Example: Viper is on the left, Sagat is on the right. Viper jumps and crosses up Sagat with jump-in HK. The HK clearly hits Sagat’s on the back of his neck. On the joystick, you would go from down to right in a quarter-circle motion and hit WK to follow up with a Burning Kick.

Instant High-Jump to WK Burning Kick Trick:

This is a good tactic against a lot of the SFIV cast because it is hard to defense, counters a lot of attempted reversal attacks while making others whiff, and/or can be the killing blow to the opponent if they have no life left.

One good example: After a knockdown (i.e. Temple Massage throw), dash up to the opponent’s body and walk slightly towards the body to make sure you are point-blank with the body. As the opponent gets up, do an immediate HJ into WK Burning Kick attack. Most opponents will either get hit if they try anything, or they will be able to block, but Viper can follow up with a standing MP or throw. The opponent can counter after the Burning Kick, but it’s difficult.

The reason why it is a trick is because it will either hit the opponent for another knockdown, and it will make a lot of attacks whiff, including Ultras. I have seen stuff like shoto EX shoryukens and Dictator’s Ultra totally whiff because of this move. Against most opponents, it’s safe and is great to finish off someone who will die from chip damage.

NOTE: There are some opponents that this will not work on. AFAIK, these are the opponents:

El Fuerte (EX Air Grab and Ultra beat it clean)
Zangief (lariat beats Burning Kick every time)
Blanka (his Ultra can still hit, but it will hit once if timed right, Electricity will also beat it clean)

EX Burning Kick Uses

Doing an air EX Burning Kick will let you hover for a short time in the air, and it will stop your forward momentum (unless you are near the ground when you do it, then you will travel farther). It also is a multi-hit attack if the opponent is also in the air close to your body. Very useful to avoid fireballs at last minute, or to immediately hit someone if they have jumped into your vicinity.

EX Burning Kick on the ground will not hit crouching opponents and can be severely punished if it whiffs, so be careful. However, it is a decent anti-air (especially on wake-up) if the opponent is about to land around sweep range from where you are. It is also good to hit with when you are certain that the opponent will be standing near you.

High-Jump Canceling a Normal Attack

These normal attacks and special moves can be canceled into a High-Jump.

In the Burning Kick section, you may have read about High-Jumps and how to use them in tandem with the Burning Kick. There are several tactics you can employ after canceling a normal move into a High-Jump as well. This is similar to the tactics used with characters like Ibuki, Yun and Chun-Li in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

standing and crouching WP
standing (close) and crouching (close and far) MP
standing (close) and croucning (close) FP
standing (close and far) and crouching (close and far) WK
standing (close) and crouching (any range) MK

High-Jump Canceling (HJC) a crouching MK:
After hitting with a crouching MK, cancel to a High-Jump and jump towards the opponent. After you input the MK and do the High-Jump, immediately do Burning Kick. The sooner you do it after the HJC, the lower the trajectory and you will have a better chance of crossing the opponent up. This tactic works well if you hit with crouching MK at around max range.

High-Jump Canceling a Seismo Hammer:
Same principle as HJCing a crouching MK, but a little easier to get the HJ off. Best done within sweep range. The further away you are, the easier it will be for the opponent to recover from block stun and hit you with an anti-air option. If this is the case, you can either just HJ straight up or backwards, or do the WK version of Burning Kick to drop straight down immediately.

High-Jump Canceling a normal attack to an Ultra Combo:

Normally, you cannot link an Ultra Combo attack after a normal attack with Viper, but using a High-Jump Cancel makes it possible. In order to do this, you must attack with a normal attack that can be HJCed (see list above). While the normal attack’s hit registers, you must do the input for a High-Jump AND the Ultra Combo at the same time in order to link correctly. Please observe this simple example set of inputs:

D, D/F, MK, F, F/U, D, D/F, F + PPP

This is a basic link combo that allows you to link a crouching MK into an Ultra, which can be effective as a hit-confirm. As you roll your joystick from down to forward, in between the motion you would hit MK. If you hit MK while your joystick is around down-forward, it will still register as a crouching attack. When you move your joystick to up-towards, this will register as a High-Jump Cancel… but you will not immediately do a High-Jump because the MK should still be hitting the opponent, keeping Viper grounded. Immediately after that, you roll the joystick to down again and complete the Ultra Combo motion to finalize the input.

This method is quite difficult, but well worth the efforts. You can use this method as a way to severely punish someone if you know you can slip in a crouching MK while they are attacking or are vulnerable, and it is also possible to use it in a combo. In a gamechariot.com video between fellow Viper players in Japan named FZ and Kakkyun, FZ did the following combo that ended with an Ultra:

Jump-in FK, crouching WK, standing WK, crouching MP, Ultra

Using High-Jump Canceling to hit after a Seismo Hammer Attack (regular and EX)

Will update this after I confirm more information. Please be patient.

When to Use Your Ultra

Viper’s Ultra is a crapshoot at times, but here’s a heads-up on the situations when you can use the Ultra, and how much of a chance you have of hitting it.

Ultra Guaranteed to Connect:
After you land a jumping FP or FK deep (vertical jump attack or jumping towards attack)
After a close EX Seismo (anywhere)
After hitting opponent with Burning Kick in the corner (must be close range)
After hitting with Focus Attack to stun, dash cancel to Ultra
When opponent is on the way down from a special move (i.e. MP or FP Shoryuken)
After certain whiffed or blocked Supers and Ultras: confirmed to be counterable are Ken’s Ultra, Blanka’s blocked Ultra, Abel’s blocked Ultra, Boxer’s blocked Ultra, Sagat’s blocked Ultra, Viper’s missed Ultra .

Good to Fair Chance of Ultra Connecting:

With opponent in corner, EX Seismo to instant HJC Burning Kick, Ultra
With opponent nowhere close to the corner, EX Seismo to a slightly late Burning Kick, Ultra (doing it early = no chance)
non-deep Anti-Air FP Thunder Knuckle to Ultra (works better on heavy opponents, works well in the corner)

Fair to Poor Chance of Ultra Connecting:

Standing or crouching close FP, FP Thunder Knuckle Feint, Ultra (if it’s actually easy to do, I will move this one up)
HJC a normal attack to Ultra (unless you are good at it)
Hitting lighter opponents with a non-deep Anti-Air FP Thunder Knuckle to Ultra, away from the corner (especially Shotos for some reason)
Traded anti-air FP Thunder Knuckle (opponent hits you when you hit them, they float and you are temporarily stunned), dash, Ultra
Countering any move that is “grounded” but opponent’s feet are not touching the ground (i.e. Ryu’s Hurricane Kick, Blanka’s Horizontal Ball, Guile’s Rolling Sobat Kick)
Wake-up Ultra (if opponent doesn’t throw out a meaty move, you are in big trouble)
Opponent does an empty jump
Trying to punish a whiffed or blocked normal

NO Chance of Ultra Connecting:
Performing Ultra after jump-in normal attacks that aren’t FP or FK (includes cross-ups)
After F+MP attack (haven’t seen it hit yet)

Unconfirmed, But Probably Not Likely to Hit:
After juggling with MP Thunder Knuckle
EDIT: It does connect, but only in the corner after EX Seismo I believe.

NOTE: Generally, the closer Viper’s body is when the Ultra hits when you juggle, the better the chances of the Ultra hitting.

Mid-Screen Ultra Properties after EX Seismo

Click this linkto learn more about midscreen EX Seismo -> SJC Burning Kick -> Ultra properties. Thanks to mynus from srk.com for listing this for us.

Motions for HJC moves and OTG moves

(thanks to n44by from srk.com)

Im going to list all the motions for some of the moves which I remember, if anyone can post more I’ll edit this post and the OP can just take them and put them in the first post since I don’t remember all of them and some people might ask the motions to do things.

Seismo Hammer HJC into Seismo Hammer

1.- :dp: :p: (first Seismo) > :df::df::ub: :p: (second Seismo)
2.- :dp: :p: (first Seismo) > :df::df::uf: :p: (second Seismo)
3.- :dp: :p: (first Seismo) > :dp::r::uf: :p: (second Seismo)

Off The Ground Towards Burning Kick

1.- :qcb::uf: :hk:
2.- :qcb::ub::u::uf: :hk:

If you do this next to a kd’d opponent with forward or roundhouse you’ll cross them up as they wake up, if you do it with short you’ll hit em in the front.

For HJ OTG just tap the down part of the motion, for a regular you need to hold down a split second.

OTG Backwards Burning Kick Meter Builder

1.- :qcb::ub: :k:

Same as before. For HJ OTG just tap the down part of the motion, for a regular you need to hold down a split second.

I don’t know other way to do it.

Seismo Hammer (Reg or EX) Into Strong Thunder Knuckle

1.- :dp: :p: > :qcb::ub: :mp:

Seismo Hammer (Reg or EX) into Aerial Burning Kick

1.- :dp: :p: > :qcb::uf: :hk:
2.- :dp: :p: > :qcb::ub::u::uf: :hk:
3.- :dp: :p: > :d::uf::qcb: :hk:

Can also be done with forward or short, depending on distance.

Fierce into Fierce TK Feint into cr. Fierce FFF

1.- :hp: (hit and hold) > :qcb: (release) > :mp::hp: > :d: :hp:

Read all of it :slight_smile: Will so again when I get SFIV.

Great thread, thanks bud!

what is this b+hk i hear everyone talk about. i’ve only ever noticed 4 hks
close.hk - double kick
far.hk - axe/hook kick
f+hk - same as close.hk
d+hk - sweep

b+hk does the far HK at any distance. People in the Viper forums discovered that a while back.

ah. gracias, i shall play with this
suggestion: add a “command normals” section to the initial posts

Thank you for the suggestion. The FAQ has been updated appropriately.

Also remember that you can do F + HK as well to get her 2-hit advancing HK at any distance.

Kunai, thanks for compiling all this info! I’ll be able to stop losing a lot sooner now. lol

Just wanted to say that I got C.Viper IV…I mean SFIV and I’m loving it. :party:

umm…call me crazy but b+hk does not do the hook kick up close

So I started to mess with c. viper today right and I was doing the Tk feints and i saw something weird. I dont know if this was already posted in here (I read the stuff the OP posted and honestly I didnt see it mentioned on there) but I seem to be able to cancel the seismo feint into other variations of seismo. I can do another seismo feint, or go to any of the other seismo ( lp mp fp). like I’ll do seismo with mp do the feint then cancel the feint into a lp seismo. I can also do it with Tk moves but it was way harder than the seismo moves. Was that already posted?

umm…you’re probably just doing another seismo after the feint animation ends

I didn’t see this mentioned in the SH section, so does anyone know how people are doing 2 or 3 SH’s successively without pause? Seems like all the high level Viper players I see on youtube have this in their bag of tricks.

You know how you can superjump after a successful pound right? Well, you can cancel your superjump into another ground attack with a little timing. Basically if you wanted to seismo into a ground knuckle, instead of a super-jump motion(d,u) you would TK the knuckle(qcb,ub+P). What this does is make Viper do the move during the start-up of the superjump, so it comes out instead of a jump

This is explained in better detail in another thread, I’m not too good at repeating information

FYI, you CAN do c.fierce xx JAB TK cancel into another c.fierce. That’s how I’ve been doing them all this time. It’s just really fast.

If you need proof at any moment just let me know and I’ll whip up a training mode video with input display. :slight_smile:

Added some info about comboing into super but you already had it and I didn’t read early enough. Sorry!

You mean doing it with the DP+p after the seismo ends? In that case, no I’m not

like I do seismo,cancel it with PP, then i press another punch button like real fast, like piano type of button press, and itll do another seismo or if I want to do the double cancel I’d do DP+P, PP, PP the double PP is real fast. Doing this with TK seems to be alot harder.