"Gettin' that Bike $!" AE Balrog Match-up Thread

Hey Guys, i’m working through all the old stuff and the new stuff. Old stuff that hasn’t been updated will be copied and pasted (no need to sift through two MU threads). Old strategy quotes that are still relevant will be pasted in, thxyoutoo’s additions will be red, my additions will be blue. I’m going to reserve 9 posts, just cuz.

Wish me luck. :nunchuck:

07/20/13
*Resolved formatting issues with matchup thread and other articles, hopefully i didn’t miss much

Past Updates

[details=Spoiler]01/11/13
*Updated Chun-Li Matchup (Located in last MU post)

06/18/12
*Removed update date from MU thread title, (it’s a bitch for link backs, since the link to the thread keeps changing with the date)
*Added small bit about frame trap articles to post below.

02/17/12
*Updated Ryu and Evil Ryu matchup
*Random Info added to Balrog/Boxer matchup

01/03/12
Updated Post #9 with Balrog Advanced/Character Specific Information, added:
[LIST]
[
]2012 overhead followups (cr.mp xx hp.hb on entire cast except 2)
[]Headbutt mixups verified and organized
[
]Pretty pictures and pdfs with above information in post #9
[/LIST]
12/26/11
*Harvested post and consolidated thread (hopefully that’s enough to complete the remainder of the matchups)
*Copy & Pasted Oblivion’s Posts on Juri, Ryu, and Ryu

12/19/11
*Updated Game Mechanics article with “The Art of Punishing”; not really a part of the game mechanics series, but combines a lot of previously touched topics.

12/12/11
*Brief update to Hakan Matchup

11/14/11
*Updated first post with Yomi

11/06/11
*Updated Sagat Matchup
*Updated M. Bison/Dictator Matchup

10/03/11
*In the process of fixing broken links WIP

09/26/11
*Added TSwizzle’s postto Vega Matchup.

09/07/11
*Updated Seth Matchup

08/20/11
*Updated Yun Matchup
*Updated To do section: unblockables
*Added extra combo for low dashes

08/10/11
Updated Character Specific Combo Section to include:
[LIST]
[
]jav1ts combo into lk.smash (it’s a 4f safe jump setup, click the combo)
[*]PoeM’s work on headbutt cross-up jump mixup after teching the knockdown. I’m in the process of integrating into the spreadsheet.
[/LIST]
*Updated Gouken Matchup

07/22/11
*Reorganizing real-estate again, hopefully for the last time.

07/16/11
*Updated Game Mechanics section: Option-Selects

07/09/11
*Updated Rose Matchup
*Updated Dee Jay Matchup

07/02/11
*Updated Character specific link section, as well as spreadsheet with frame data for attacks that are focus attack dash canceled.
06/08/11
*Brief update to Yang and Yun Matchup

05/18/11
*STICKIED!
*Updated Sakura Matchup

04/20/11
*Brief update to the Rufus Matchup

04/15/11
*Updated Zangief Matchup

04/13/11
*Random small updates (Cammy, El Fuerte, Dudley)

04/08/11
*Updated Makoto Matchup

03/17/11
*Updated Character specific links section: comboing into ex.dl/smash from ex.ru loop.

03/10/11
*Moving posts around… [complete]

03/09/11
*Updated Cody Matchup
*Updated Fei Long Matchup (Post #4)

02/07/11
*Brief update to Hakan Matchup (tools against uncrouchable oil dives)
*Updated Post #9: Passing the torch

02/01/11
*Updated Game Mechanics section: Meaties and Safe Jumps

01/31/11
*Updated Guile Matchup (its on the last MU post)

01/26/11
*Updated Ken Matchup

01/10/11
*Updated Hakan Matchup (its on the last MU post)
-MU reorganization imminent…i think
12/29/10
*Updated Game Mechanics section: Blocking
*Brief update to Abel Matchup

12/20/10
*Updated Guy Matchup
*Updated Dhalsim Matchup for Conciseness
*Updated Vega Matchup

12/18/10
*Added Yun and Yang, small update to Yun, its all theory as there’s not a cab in Houston, yet.
***Brief **update to Cammy Matchup

12/15/10
***Brief **update to Gen Matchup

12/10/10
*Updated Rufus Matchup

11/28/10
*Updated Dudley Matchup
*Updated El Fuerte Matchup
*Updated Gen Matchup

11/19/10
*Updated Honda Matchup
*Updated Ultra Corner Activation (forgot Honda >.< PPKKK)

11/16/10
*Updated Dhalsim Matchup

11/14/10
*Updated Game Mechanics section: Focus Attacks and Avoiding Projectiles
*Updated Verification section: Exceptions to 1fb/char/screen rule.

11/11/10
*Updated C. Viper Matchup

11/10/10
*Updated Balrog Matchup for Conciseness

11/08/10
*Updated combo post: completed verification of cr.mk linking into close normals, Ultra and Super corner activation, force stand combos and Keno Special.
*Updated Cammy Matchup

11/04/10
*Updated Akuma Matchup (Most of it is from memory, post discrepancies, it is discussion worthy)

11/03/10
*Updated Abel Matchup (Still reading through Gammons post)
*Updated Adon Matchup (old posts paraphrased and picked through, credit given)
*Updated Balrog\Boxer Matchup
*Updated M. Bison Matchup
*Updated Blanka Matchup (tiny update about surprise forward/backward)
*Updated Dan Matchup (Being verified)
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Balrog is a punish machine, between U2, his 10f jab, ex dashes and headbutt, he has a way to punish just about every move in the game. At mid to high level play, you will notice that your opp makes fewer and fewer mistakes, and thus you’ll have to create your own openings and that’s another story in itself. So my main goal is to inform players what they can punish, how, and in what situations. Strategies will be given for some matchups since they revolve around that characters moveset, but often your playing the player and not the character. For example the fuerte matchup from vanilla to super changed drastically, because now the match revolves around U2, where before you just had to concentrate on not jumping.

Although punishes with Balrog will help you when your opp makes mistakes or you’re at a low to mid-level play. Yomi is what makes you an incredible player. Yomi is about thinking ten steps ahead of your opponent, weighing their options and making an educated guess and in some cases, knowing that the opponent can do nothing to avoid your option. For example:
[INDENT=1]If you’re playing Honda on the first round, you’re looking to get the life lead early and push him to the corner. You have lp.ds, to get the chip damage from neutral at the start of the match, while Honda can’t lp.hb because it’s out of range, and mp/hp is punishable by lp.ds on block. Thus Honda anticipates the lp.ds and does nj.hp and wiggles backward. So to beat this you have to late mk/hk.ru, TAP or an early hp.hb. In the second round, this changes completely if he has at least one meter, he can ex.hb for free since it goes practically full-screen, and you can only beat it with ex.hb or super if you block standing.[/INDENT]
At the least that’s my interpretation of Yomi. You can do the above on paper, don’t try to do it during the match, you should know all of that prior to the match, and then when you assess your opps tendencies, you can exploit their Yomi or the lack thereof.

SF4 Tube - Balrog Matchups

Previous Matchup threads:
Time to get paid! M.Bison (Boxer) consolidated Match Up Thread
Momma Said Knock You Out! The Balrog/Boxer Super Strategy and Match Ups Thread

Passing the torch.

This post will (once I finish going through everything)have a link/torrent with all the Matchup info, punish vids etc, so if someone has to make a new one, they won’t have to start from scratch…or at least won’t have to sift through all the spoiler tags b/c you can’t reply with quote and get the info from there.

Thread backup:
[INDENT=1]01/11/13 via Dropbox[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]02/01/11 via Dropbox[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]05/27/11 via Dropbox[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]07/23/11 via Dropbox[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]11/29/11 via Dropbox[/INDENT]

Abel[details=Spoiler]As far as characters go, Abel is not going to nickel and dime you, but he’s going to take chunks. Abel has a lot of trouble getting in outside of step-kick and ambiguous rolls after knockdown. Do you best to stay in AA range, whiff punish and knock him down. He has a special to beat every one of your options, but he still has to guess.
Abel’s U1 from neutral can be beat by ANY low attack on reaction, Ultra 1 only has upper body invincibility.
mid/full screen rush uppers (especially EX) are beat clean by Abel’s cr.hp, EX.TT, TT
JuiceBox Abel says he’s always looking for the UKD’s so he can start in the ambiguous rolls, do you best not to get knocked down.
Ultra 2 can be beat by armor breaking specials (He can’t grab torpedo during startup), Ultra1/Super, or a well placed back-dash (if he doesn’t hold it).
If you are blocking Change of Direction you can Ultra and Super between the first and second hit or reverse after blocking the second hit. Keep in mind the CoD punch follow ups are like cancels, verify the block before reversaling, jabbing between the followups will cause CH.
st.jab xx straight blocked wheel kicks.
Mix-up on Abel’s Wakeup
*normal throw beats EX TT
*meaty cr.lp can beat TT

Option selects vs. Abel and how to beat his mix-ups
Shoryuken - Balrog Option Selects and How to Apply Them in Combat
Discussion about Breathless - Abel Forum, Balrog Forum

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Adon[details=Spoiler]

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Akuma[details=Spoiler]The Akuma matchup is hella difficult for balrog, even worse than the matchup I can’t emphasize the advantage Akuma has with a UKD as well as the ridiculous number of UKD setups he has. While playing a very agressive Akuma, one of the best we have here in Texas, I found that he has a built-in safe jump/option select.

Akuma knocks you down, then does a demon flip palm which 50/50 you dangerously. Akuma’s UKDs are cr.hk and the Demon Flip Slide. Akuma can combo into cr.hk from a jab and cross-up tatsu. Really bad safe-jumps can be countered, look for them only after UKDs. Backdash can be situational since he recovers as soon as he hits the ground and may be able to tag you in the air with a st.hk or raging demon, especially in the corner.

Demon Flip Safe-jump Option Select Loses
[LIST]
[]All EX dashes (Armor broken)
[
]All non ex dashes and headbutts - Safe Jump
[]Crouch blocking - Overhead
[/LIST]
Demon Flip Safe-jump Option Select Wins
[LIST]
[
]Backdash (situational)
[*]Blocking High
[/LIST]
Akuma’s tools are cross-up tatsu, tk (tiger knee) air fireballs, red fireballs, dive kick\high low-mixups, raging demon baits, teleport baits (Ultra II).

Cross-up Tatsu: Bad Tatsus are easy to spot and easy to punish. Bluntly his crotch is about where the back of boxer’s head will be. They can also be a kind of safe-jump since they’ll recover in time to block an auto-correct ex dash punch.
[LIST]
[]Backdash/forward dash - Balrogs dash is pretty slow, so if done on wake-up it doesn’t
[
]Blocking High, sometimes crouching
[]Autocorrect Ultra 1, or Dirty Bull
[
]cr.hp (Really bad cross-up tatsus)
[*]Normal grabs
[/LIST]
Baits: Raging Demon Baits are usually fireballs at full screen, and after you attempt to jump them, TAP at close range, or headbutt.

Also keep in mind that Akuma can cancel into his Ultra 2 from a teleport, so if you’re O/S jump in TAPs when they wakeup-teleport, know that he can cancel into Ultra 2 and hit you as you’re trying to follow tap (or Autocorrect Ultra).

Fireball spacing is like any other character, except that you can’t focus absorb his red ones unless its the light fireball. Look to the gauntlet for idea of how read/avoid fireball patterns/zoning.

Random Notes:
[LIST]
[]Has a command normal that’s an Overhead
[
]st.hk is even on block
[]Can kara ultra/super, if you haven’t seen it already utub it
[
]Can link into Ultra 2 from a CH.
[]Can dive kick from a forward jump AND and demon flip.
[
]Corner escape tatsus can be punished with Ultra 1: See trick #10.
[/LIST]

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Blanka[details=Spoiler]

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C. Viper[details=Spoiler]
C. Viper is an offensive beast, but highly technical. Good viper players don’t drop combos. Viper footsies start at full screen with seizmos which hit low and keep you grounded so it’s harder to move forward, once they get you grounded they super jump cancel into a burning kick or an hk. Viper’s normals aren’t very good but the buttons she’ll use are st/cr.mp, cr.mk, j.hk, nj.hk and st/cr.hp. Viper can cancel her seizmos and thunder knuckles into neutral and into super jump. Beware of TAP baits because she can punish it hard with ex.sh or lp.tk. She can also cancel normals into super-jump (and then into Ultra 1 or Ultra 2). Most vipers will push you into the corner because a lot of her high damage combos are [reliably] corner combos thus it is better to keep her mid-screen.

Moveset Cliffnotes:
[LIST]
[]Grounded tk is not punishable on block.
[
]Seizmo’s hit low, all thunder-knuckles hit mid.
[]Bks can be beat on reaction by headbutt and cr.hp.
[
]TAP can avoid seizmos, and BKs; it is especially important for escaping the corner.
[]Seizmos and Thunder Knuckles can be cancelled into neutral and super-jumps on hit/block. She can use this to bait TAPs and punish accordingly. Avoid them with a combination of FA’s, neutral jumps, and TAPs when you want to move in.
[
]Avoid using ex dashes outside of combos because of sh sjc sh (double seizmo) and lp.tk.
[]All of her moves can be FA’d except tks, beware that she can super-jump cancel seizmo into another seizmo.
[
]cr.mk/mp xx grounded tk punishable between hits by super/ultra 1.
[]Burning kicks can cross-up.
[
]lp.tk can stuff regular headbutt.
[/LIST]
Ultra Options:
[LIST]
[*]Burning Kicks can be punished with dash under auto-correct ultra 1.

[]Viper can use ex.sh on reaction and before the final TAP to beat ultra 1 from neutral.
[
]hp.tk FADC backdash can be punished with super/ultra 1 (requires [frame trick](‘http://shoryuken.com/f251/balrog-glitches-faster-super-ultra-startup-ex-kara-cancels-aka-armor-cancels- 173508/’))
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[]f+mp is an overhead (wins if blocking low). It is also airborne so it can avoid lows like dash low and all the crouching kicks; she can combo into jab on CH.
[
]ex.sh sjc hk.bk seems like a blockstring the closer you are to her.
[/LIST]
Jav1ts Option Select -vs- C.Viper
Alternate explanation by Diclawsus

More moveset information (non-cliffs) and C. Viper finds

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Cammy[details=Spoiler]
Cammy has a good deal of specials that can be made horrendously safe on block and nice frame traps. Spacing and staying grounded is incredibly important in this match. IMO you want to hover in the area where ia.dks (Cannon Strike) will whiff and lk.spiral arrow is punishable, this is right out of range of her cr.hk. None of Cammy’s normals will reach you where you can whiff punish with st/cr.hk. Jumping back or jumping forward can be beat with cannon spike, it doesn’t have much vertical range, but the hitbox is big, and it has a deceptive number of active frames, both going up and coming down.

Blocking gets you sucked into strings and frame-traps, her sweet-spot is point-blank to 1-2 character spaces, this is not yours.

Moveset Cliffnotes:
[LIST]
[]Dive kicks [COLOR=blue]usually don’t cross up.[/COLOR]
[
]Hooligan combo throw doesn’t grab crouching, but will grab standing and in the air.
[]Spiral arrow is punishable on block but is distance dependent.
[
]Cannon strike can be beat by cr.hp, but its difficult.
[]Spin knuckle can be grabbed after the spin, not considered airborne.
[
]Cannon Spike xx FADC backdash is completely safe.
[]Cammy can reversal super cr.hk
[/LIST]
Ultra Options:
[LIST]
[
]Can ex.spin knuckle between Boxer’s last TAP, U2 loses if activated before the last TAP.
[]If she does reversal U1 after Boxer’s U1 from neutral the first set of punches (whether holding punches or kicks) will whiff and it will trade OR she will win clean.
[
]Her U2 always loses against armor breaking specials, throws, U1, and U2.
[/LIST]
Cammy’s Strats
[LIST]
[]Cammy’s lk.sa can be spammed from just outside of cr.hk range and it be totally safe on block, beware this can be a sort of frame trap if she uses an invincible special like cannon spike and you try to press buttons.
[
]Dive kicks are always positive on block, she’ll dive kick on wakeup and Balrog has to block, it’s not an overhead. Afterward, like rufus, she’ll either A) do an IA.CS or B) go for grab (or C go into another block string). The lower she is, the more positive she’ll be on block/hit.
[]She has a cross-up with a really small hitbox, and can put you in a sort of vortex where she crosses you up into bnb ending in spiral arrow over and over again. TAP to get out of the way or st.mp as she’s jumping over you. If you’re sucked into an ambiguous cross-up vortex, stop teching the knockdowns.
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[
]Beware a blocked cl.mp and cl.mk which have weird recovery frames, cl.mp is not punishable while cl.mk is punishable by cr/st.lp.
[]Counter Ultra can be beat with armor breaking specials and throws.
[
]Reversal Specials on Wake-up don’t win against counter-ultras.
[*]Sako Combo’s don’t work on Balrog
[/LIST]
Punishing Cammy’s Moveset (non-cliff version)

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Cody[details=Spoiler]
Cody’s ground pressure is SO good, but his wakeup game in comparison is bad. He has no wake up options. You are able to jump in on his wakeup. All of his options are bad against a meaty jump in. His ex.cu and U2 can beat meaty jab. When applying your own pressure always look for opportunities for a backthrow or a combo into cr.hk. Also beware full/mid-screen baits with U2. It’s really easy for cody to bait a move, especially after you’re frustrated with his frame-traps, and just U2/U1 you really easy. Cody doesn’t have a fast walk-speed so he’s going to be planted in one space for the most part.

Most of Cody’s ground games consist of really good frame traps. Cody will reset the spacing with f+mp which is positive on hit and block, but has a lot of recovery. At certain distances you can offensively CH with st/cl.mp as well as lvl2 FA for crumple stun. Defensively backdashing can reset the distance but offer no advantages and is heavily punishable if they bait it, his anti-backdash options are ex.rk, ex.cu, and ex.rocks. Don’t be afraid to BLOCK Cody has a handful of options that naturally beat crouch-techs (frame traps), throws (ex.tornados), random ex.dashes (ex.zonk).

Cody’s moveset is really important because you know when you can push buttons. ex.rocks is very positive on block in comparison to fireballs which are usually negative on block thus is better to just block and react to a throw. Full screen ex.rocks can be dash U1’d full-screen. ex.cu can be punished on block with st.lp, use this to combo into cr.hk to continue your wakeup pressure. Cody’s U2 can be punished between the spray and first hit and before the final hit. It doesn’t break armor either so you can do a handful of attacks in-between (not normals). Bingo has an incredibly long startup and is unsafe on block. Bad Spray is really useless, he can only do it after techable knockdowns (i.e. headbutt). If you see it, look to punish with your most damaging crouching opponent CH combo or CH cr.mk, U1 if you have the meter. His b+mp is a ridiculously good AA, don’t jump-in from neutral.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]His Ruffian Kick on block is very punishable.
[
]cr.mk slide can be punished on reaction with st.mk xx super.
[]Due to bingo avoid using specials without hit confirms.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]U2 can be punished after the spray and before the final hit with TAP/headbutt/ex.dash, the first breakpoint is a smaller window than the last hit.
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[]You need to be able to grab his overhead on reaction, except for setups (e.g. distanced ex.rocks (block), Hammer hook)
[
]cr.mk goes under high dashes.
[]crack kick (f+hk) is a hop-kick.
[
]His b+mp is a ridiculously good AA, don’t jump-in from neutral.
[/LIST]

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Dan[details=Spoiler]Work in Progress[/details]
DeeJay[details=Spoiler]Deejay is NOT Guile, this is even more apparent with his buffs. Dee Jay can zone efficiently full screen and up close. The Deejay Vortex is REAL and you must respect it. Unless you have a reliable and consistent 4f safe jump:
Don’t jump at DJ when he’s got meter!
Don’t jump at DJ when he’s got meter!
Don’t jump at DJ when he’s got meter!
Jumping in on DJ is ALWAYS a bad idea. If he’s throwing fireballs, if you jump over them he can max range slide to catch you as your landing for a juggle, or walk forward st.hp for a juggle on CH. Similar to how you would push Guile to the corner, do the same with DJ, but don’t get in close.

The space that Dee Jay can’t sufficiently control is just at st.hp range. Attempts to fireball can be stuffed, or at worst trade in Balrog’s favor with lp.ds (you can get twice as much damage). At this point you have to use guerilla tactics by getting in, causing damage and reasserting your spacing.

As far as the vortex goes, the most surefire way to exit the vortex is by burning ultra (which you shouldn’t be able since he’s probably already taken away your back-charge) and TAP. Deejay doesn’t have a viable way to chase with the nerfs to slide and because Vortex limits him to self-charging combos. Vortex has three possible outcomes from his jump-ins: (1) cross-up j.mk, (2) non cross-up j.mk, or (3) knee shot. Deejay’s knee shot, has a horizontal requirement, so if you’re right next to him and he jumps and attempts to do it, it’ll whiff (as in it’ll go over you), so if you’re point blank and he jumps, it’s a crossup, where as if you’re maybe a character length apart its probably going to be a knee shot. All of the jump-in mixups of his vortex are OH’s. The block stun on knee shot is crazy, nothing like Guys, elbow or gief’s meaty knees. Worse than Sakura, you want to exit the vortex ASAP, with Deejay’s jump arc you’ll need a really good read or luck to offensively exit the votex. Don’t bother with headbutt in this matchup, its always a bad idea unless they jump stupid.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]Sobat kicks are punishable on block by st.lp, as well as FADC bwd and fwd with normals/super/ultra
[
]Fireball recovers too fast to dash ultra, ex.fb can beat TAP (which is a bad idea in itself)
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[]He’s gonna pick U2 don’t jump.
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[
]ex.jm is Deejay’s main answer for meaties and safe jumps, meterless Deejay on wakeup has to guess between jumping and blocking.
[*]He has no answer to jab pressure.
[/LIST]

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Dhalsim[details=Spoiler]

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Dudley[details=Spoiler]
The Dudley matchup is definitely a footsies battle. His f+HP is too good up close where Balrog likes to be. His normals are inferior and you shouldn’t be holding down back the entire match BUT, all of them can combo into each other. IMO this is a match where you have to be conservative and nickel and dime your op because of the stupid amount of meterless damage dudley can do if you make a single mistake. cr.hk is a bad poke in this matchup, even at max distance, because if he’s FA fishing he can catch you on recovery for crumple stun.

Dirty bull makes any strength mgb punishable on block. Dudley has tons of chip damage options, across the screen (ex.mgb and U2) and from above (ex.tb). Up
close, dudley has a lot of mixup options with his fast (comboable) OH (f+hk), mixups using ducking (e.g. ducking to P/K or normal throw), as well as Ultra baits (blocked ex.mgb). Both of his ultra’s can beat dash punches on reaction. U1 is very fast and has decent horizontal range, U2 has crap horizontal range, but will catch jump-ins with its big hitbox.

Strategy wise you want to stay out of f+hp range, and keep the fight midscreen, since dudley gets a lot of damage in the corner. If you get in close and he starts putting on the pressure, FADC backdash to reset the spacing, beware of dashing towards the corner though. After UKD, Dudley’s options are severely limited with meaty cr.lp, cr.lp+cr.hk on wakeup, backdashes get sweeped. His only options to beat this O/S is to burn meter (super/ex.dp), even WU crosscounter loses (3f su). Also max distance normal cancels into ducking can be grabbed on reaction (e.g. cr.mp xx ducking) after blocking the normal, there’s absolutely no reason to let him regain spacing after a block string.

Moveset notes:
[LIST]
[]Cross counter only counters mid and high, and loses to lows/armor breakers/throw/super/Ultras.
[
]ex.mgb punishable on reaction with throw/jab, punishable on block with U1/U2/Super/cr.mp/cr.lp,st.lp.
[]all but light mgb (2 hits) are punishable on block with cr.lp
[
]Ducking followups can be jab reversalled (if in range).
[]non ex thunderbolts can crossup, it’s not an OH, punishable by anything on block, causes decent chip damage
[
]all but light SSB can be st.lp/cr.lp reversalled.
[/LIST]
Ultra options:
[LIST]
[]His U1 is fast (6 frames), it’ll whiff punish (and reaction punish).
[
]U2 has a long startup and big hitbox, ex.hb always wins, all non ex.hb’s lose point blank, headbutts will trade from a distance but recover in time to juggle U1/Super.
[]U2 can also be used as an anti-air.
[
]U2 can be jumped over from neutral, or punished with a jump back heavy.
[/LIST]
Other notes:
[LIST]
[]Has a GOOD OH that can combo.
[
]st.hp is punishable in block (-4), while f+hp (-2) is not.
[/LIST]
Extra Dudley Notes

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E. Honda[details=Spoiler]
The E. Honda matchup is in Balrogs favor on the ground, but when Balrog gets knocked down the match is in Honda’s favor because he has at least two options for every option balrog has on wakeup. This is a match where you ALWAYS want to go for the UKD when doing rush uppers (cr.lp, st.lp, cr.hk). Honda’s specials take forever to startup, so safe-jumping is absolutely an option. Beware of cross-up jump in the corner after a UKD because he can always ex.ss to catch you just before you land. Spacing-wise you have two sweet spots. The outer limit is where you can cr.hp his mk butt slam, where the front limit is just out of his st.hk range. Here you can also distinctly tell the difference between an lp.hb and a heavier headbutt since lp will whiff. The other range is full screen, this is a match where you can lose a lot of health very fast, full screen his only option is to do hp headbutt OR walk forward and lose backcharge. No full screen ex.dashes because he can oicho throw or headbutt to break armor.

In terms of normals, honda has A LOT of useful buttons, beware of st.hk which hits low when he’s standing, and st.hp which is a downward chop. st.hp has excellent range and is hard to punish, be sure to move in and out of his effective range and whiff punish with st.mk xx super or st.hk. ALWAYS AA cr.fp/st.mp if he jumps at you, a trade is better than blocking and him getting close to you so you have to guess between oicho, HHS, or anti-backdash move such as ex.hb/late ex.ss. Honda gets no free chip-damage, make sure he knows that. Also most Honda’s know that headbutt is punishable so you might only see lp.hb when you don’t have super meter, be aware that they can bait out lp.ds and punish(with ex.hb or ultra 1), but only at certain ranges. At point blank, honda doesn’t have enough time to get enough back-charge to actually punish a reversal lp.ds with ex.hb, but Honda can maintain down-charge and punish a reversal lp.ds with ex.ss. A max-range lp.hb on block gives honda enough back-charge to do ex.hb or Ultra, these are the ones you don’t want to keep pressure and get chip damage.

Honda’s U2 is (in SSF4) a 1 frame grab meaning you can’t jump out of it from neutral (like Giefs). But it has crap range, much less than Oicho, it’s the same grab range as his normal throw.

Punishing moveset:
[LIST]
[]HHs is not punishable on block.
[
]ex/lp.hb punishable on block with super (inconsistent, block standing)
[]mp/hp.hb punishable on block with Ultra/lp.dash. Punish with ex.hb on reaction.
[
]mk/hk/ex.ss punish with cr.hp on reaction (lk doesn’t go high enough)
[]SS is an Overhead and practically unpunishable on block (HK is -3 on block). On whiff he recovers as almost soon as he hits the ground, but can be punished with a ground combo as he’s landing.
[
]Oicho only works ground-ground (backdash wins). It can be grabbed/jabbed on startup.
[]All non ex SS and HB can be stuffed on startup with cr.mp, cr.mk, st.mk, and cr.lp.
[
]Whiff punish specials and normals with st.hk or st.mp xx super. (If correctly confirmed, whiffed headbutt can be punished with full grounded Ultra 1). Honda is considered airborne for part of his recovery from headbutt.
[]If using TAP to avoid a headbutt you can hit him on his recovery when he’s still airborne and combo into U1/Super.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes:
[LIST]
[
]Use PPKKK to juggle U1 in the corner.
[]Can Ultra 1 through last TAP of U1/Super
[
]ex.hb beats his U1 clean
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[]Has a standing normal that hits low st.hk.
[
]If you see him FADC hands it is probably an incoming ochio so headbutt or jump.
[/LIST]
Wakeup options and other notes can be found here.

[/details]

El Fuerte[details=Spoiler]
The key to this match is knowing what you can punish, how to avoid his specials, and minimizing the number of times you get knocked down. Most of fuerte’s options out of the habanero back/forward dash can be offensively avoided with a j.fp, and defensively avoided with a with a well timed (and guessed) dash. Take into account that he can stop/wall jump/backdash from a run as well. Also fuerte can steer all of his attacks out of the hd to catch your backdash. Beware Safe Tortilla and minimize your jumping since he has so many ground-air options (U1, U2, Guac).

On your wakeup, cr.hk is a tech-trap because it has a ton of active frames and is unpunishable on block. Compare this to the run slide which can be punished with reversal U1. After a blocked cr.hk fuerte can throw, run back into tortilla, slide gain to catch your backdash (or lk guac to catch your backdash - even midscreen) etc. This combined with a f+mk corpse hop make this matchup an even bigger PITA, depend on your normals, not your specials, you don’t need back-charge.

Fuerte has a handful of attacks that beat crouch-blocking: f+mk, tostada press, st.hk(2nd hit is an OH), and Tortilla. Fuerte has a single move that breaks armor, and that’s quesadilla bomb, which he charges by holding down a single kick (he can hold multiple kicks for multiple bombs). The animation for tostada press is identical to the animation for fajita buster (which doesn’t grab crouching), he can only do this grab from hfd. Fuerte says tostada right before he hits you (block high), this is also when you can AA him and not trade.

Fuerte’s crossups are j.hp and tostada press. Tostada press can be punished hard on block, at the least you can sweep it, at most, you can reversal ultra, you recover as soon as he hits you. Tostada press is his best/worse move, let your op know you know how to punish it, he doesn’t have enough life to gamble. You’re advantage in this matchup is that you have more health, and he can’t make too many mistakes. His U2 makes the later half of the match a pain. Do your best to get your ultra first and finish him off before he gets a fully charged U2 AND the life lead. U2 can whiff/reaction punish all of your dash punches as well as punish on block. Most normals are safe because of the distance he has to travel to get back to you, cr.hk is safe on block specifically (Even point blank). The only normal that seems dangerous on block is cl.mk because his body is so near. All Ex.dash punches are safe on block from U2 except dash low and OH.

Moveset Options:
[LIST]
[]Habanero Forward dash: Tostada press, Fajita buster (doesn’t grab crouching).
[
]Habanero Backward dash: Tostada press, Tortilla propeller (grabs crouching).
[]Can air grab and lk.guac during backdash.
[
]qbomb can be punished by anything on block.
[]Remeber he can stop/backdash/wall-jump from the dash, and he’s not like guy, his stop recovers in 3f (versus Guy’s 17f). This is a part of the mixup.
[
]His ex.hbd/hfd can absorb two hits (and can armor cancel into u1/u2). It can be grabbed
[/LIST]
Ultra Options:
[LIST]
[]U1 can be beat by neutral jumping AFTER he leaves the ground and punishing, either in the air or on the ground.
[
]from neutral, U2 can be avoided by jumping, or reversal U1/Super as long as you’re invul frames end after his.
[]If avoiding U2 in the corner, jb.hk (Crossup) to Autocorrect U1 IS sick.
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[
]2nd hit of st.hk hit’s OH and can lead to super.
[]cr.hk will go under/avoid dash punches (except sweep and smash)
[
]when in doubt, DO NOT JUMP…DO NOT JUMP…DO NOT JUMP.
[]Fuerte can steer everything off the ground from a run and from a wall jump such as Tostada Press and Fajita Buster.
[
]Fuerte has a fast forward and backwards dash (meaty jab O/S sweep doesn’t work)
[*]Fuerte has a gdlk Focus Attack, know the range.
[/LIST]
Extra Notes

[/details]
Fei Long[details=Spoiler]
Fei long is one of the handful of characters who has pokes just as good, or better than rog’s. One thing you don’t want to get is in a mid-screen footsies battle with him, he is difficult to impossible to counter-poke. Most of his normals are positive on hit and rangy, you will see a lot of cr.mp, cr.mp, cr.hp frame traps/block strings at max distance. His focus attack is very good as well, he can focus fish at max distance and hit you for crumple stun.

Taking into account his specials, higher strength rekka’s are punishable on block, ex is always punishable in Super. A blocked third rekka is always heavily punishable on block regardless of the strength. On block he can change the strength of the move and create frametraps, punishable by ex.dash/headbutt/super/U1, but nothing else. His flame kick is safe jumpable (5f), but has a hit box that rotates, so he can catch you if you jump over him as he’s waking up.

Flying kick (chicken wing) is airborne (throw invincible) and the first hit breaks armor, it can be punished on reaction with Ultra/headbutt/cr.hp and can be whiffed punished with crouching normals if he does it point blank to the middle of the attack arc. Crouching attacks make Chicken wing whiff because it lowers you hurtbox. After whiffing the crouching normal, you can buffer into Super/Ultra/ex.ru etc.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]Rekkas cancel into one another and can be block strings OR frame traps.
[
]Chicken Wing whiffs against crouching normals, can cross-up if you are crouch blocking.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[]U1/Super does not break armor, you can bait with ex dashes and beat them if they activate early.
[
]Final hit of U1/Super not a blockstring, can punish between hits.
[]His U2 loses to: throw, U2, U1, Super, and Armor breaking specials (but not reversal specials that break armor)
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[
]Safe Jump with a delayed b+cl.hk is an option-select that will airborne CH his CW and allow you to block his other reversals. It also doesn’t allow delayed dp with the meaty jump-in
[*]his cr.mk and cr.hk go under high dashes and stuff and/or make headbutt whiff. Similar effect as Ken’s meaty cr.mk xx hp/ex.dp although his dp is slightly slower.
[/LIST]

[/details]
Gen[details=Spoiler]
Gen has a lot of tools, but not much stamina, this is the only leg up Balrog has in this matchup. First things first, stay out of the air, Gen has a handful of GOOD air-to-airs ([C]j.hp, [C]j.hkx2, [C]j.mp, [M].j.lk, [C]U2). Especially if Gen has super DO NOT JUMP, again, DO NOT JUMP. Crane super has 1f startup and it can grab you out of a neutral jump 3/4 screen on reaction. It doesn’t have invincibility through all of his active frames, but only 7 are vulnerable.

Gen has two stances, crane and mantis. [C]rane has a longer jump arc and faster walk speed, while [M]antis has a slower walkspeed and a short jump arc. Also crane normal grab has longer range. Crane is identifiable by him only having one leg on the ground when he’s neutral. Gen has two sets of everything (but no distinction between close and far normals). He can also change stances within combos and while he’s walking.

Oga (the wall dive) is an OH, breaks armor, and can change direction and angle. If he hits you high (above the waist), punish with jab into anything. If he hits you lower, you probably can’t punish, alternate between blocking and backdashing so you don’t get frame trapped into gekiro (the up kicks). Gekiro on block is weird because he floats there and can follow up with the remainder of the kicks if you don’t wait until he’s landing. Gen doesn’t float if he whiffs the move altogether.

Gen as a character has trouble getting in from full screen, and his normals don’t do so well up close, these are the two places where Gen (as a character) is the most uncomfortable because most of his normals are effective mid-range and not point blank. Once you shut down Oga, by using cr.hp or blocking and punishing, move him to a corner and rush him down. ATM Gen’s options to “get you off” of him are pretty crap and if blocked put him in a bad situation.

Know when you’re being safe jumped on wakeup, and beware of an air buffered crane super/U1 and FADC backdash/block. FADC backdash CAN be punished. Using ex.moves to get away might get you tagged with [M]cr.hk it has enough range and is a UKD.

Moveset Notes:
[LIST]
[]All Ogas can crossup given the right situation. Off the wall Ogas can be stuffed on reaction with cr.hp, this works easier with the far ogas. Similar to Adon’s walldive, they can be punished on reaction with U1, but you have to do it at the last possible moment to get full grounded Ultra.
[
]All rolls are -3 on block and can be punished with a frame perfect cr.lp into combo. This move can be hit in transit, and ex.ru will force stand.
[]Gekiro has startup invincibility and can lead to [C]U1 and [C]Super. Only lk/ex.gekiro will hit crouching Boxer. Can be punished on ground recovery.
[
]Hands aren’t punishable on block and have significant pushback, they also break armor.
[]Gen has two crossups j.mk in both of his stances. The crane cross-up has a really ambiguous hitbox.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes:
[LIST]
[
]Can combo [M]Super into [M]U1/U2 and [C]U1 (as well as gekiro).
[]His [M]U1 has crap invincibility but can crossup.
[
][M]U2 recovers relatively quickly, you don’t have enough time for a full jump in combo, it’s only -10 on block.
[][C]U2 (the air dive kick) hits OH, you have to block high; most (all?) other air ultras are NOT OH.
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[
]Has a slow OH that can’t combo, but can be grabbed during startup.
[][C]cr.mk goes under dash punches, but has no combo ability.
[
][M]st.lk can stuff non-ex dashes (and is super cancellable).
[][C]cr.hp has long startup, but is a good long range poke that does
[
][C]cr.lk is -8 on block, punish every time. You can expect it after a [C]j.mk, (st.lp), cr.lk. It’s his main air-to-ground launcher.
[*][C]j.hk,j.hk hits twice, beware when blocking that if you go back to holding down after you block high it can still connect and allow a follow-up combo.
[/LIST]
[/details]
Guile[details=Spoiler]
Basic’s post is right on the money. Face it, you’re going to get zoned out really hard with sonic booms, if he’s really good at spacing (he’ll use b+lk to maintain back-charge) and not just stand in place booming, you’re going to have to move forward inch by inch and crouch block, while ONLY jumping over ex.booms because those have the most recovery AND the most push-back. It’s only safe to jump-in on guile if he’s in a vulnerable recovery. Guile has a crap ton of AA options and at least one of them will work for every jump-in. After ex.boom guile has no back-charge and is in recovery, this is the best time to attempt a jump-in and gain more ground slowly pushing him into the corner.

At the start of the match some Guiles start booming immediately to start building meter, and you should do the same, mixing up FADC’s with nj.hp, blocking and headbutts, attempting to slowly push him into the corner while building meter. FADC’ing booms midscreen is scary when guile has meter because he can ex.boom and catch you in the backdash/recovery from the FADC. Use TAP sparingly, best if used at full screen as the boom is just about to leave the screen. If the guile is trying to keep you full screen he will attempt to boom again as the other would usually be blocked and since it’s still on the screen he’ll do a backfist instead and your TAP will beat/trade with his backfist and let you close in 3/4 screen quickly.

Jumping on guile is always a bad idea unless he’s in recovery. He has a handful of AA options, all of which will work if he’s not in recovery. Jumping over an ex.boom is possibly the only time he’s vulnerable. Guile has a decent set of normals, and a hop-kick which can be jab punished on block, but is weird to deal with in blockstrings, especially if you’re trying to tick throw. All overhead follow-ups work on crouching guile, but the pushback is variable so follow-ups can’t connect, either notice when and just block for the possible reaction ex.fk or always use cr.hk follow-up.

Guile’s U2 is very similar to Dhalsim’s U1, but with a wider hitbox and a shorter on-screen time. If Guile does a seemingly random U2, take note of the spacing before you attempt to headbutt/ultra through it since its correctly spaced you’re attack will lose. ONLY hp.hb will win, as ex and other strengths don’t have enough horizontal range.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]All flash kicks have invincible startup
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]U1 can be attacked between first and second hits on block with anything.
[]U2 can by avoided offensively with only hp.hb or U1/Super (not in deep-corner).
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[
]df+hk maintains down-charge (but not back-charge)
[]b/f+lk maintains back-charge (but not down-charge)
[
]sonic boom expends all-charge and can’t maintain down-charge
[*]All OH follow-ups work on crouching guile
[/LIST]

[/details]
Guy[details=Spoiler]
The guy matchup isn’t so much hard as it is annoying once you get knocked down and at full to mid screen. Guy has a lot of tools to keep you planted and not moving and a dive kick-esque setup with the elbow which doesn’t hit OH, but has a ton of active frames. Guys run has three options out of run: stop, OH, and a low attack.

Balrog can apply jab pressure and crouch walk to avoid most knowckdowns and big damage since his air grab only connects standing and in the air as well as his run OH NOT causing knockdown. Do your best to remain midscreen, most of guy’s pressure happens in the corner. Guy’s main target combo can throw you into the corner if he connects. Guy’s pressure strings can come from one of two of his target combos, the four hit target combo is not special cancelable while the two hit combo is. Beware of resets into bushin flip and crouch block. It’s always better to get hit with the OH instead of the air-throw, damage wise.

Guy has a slow/floaty jump arc, but he can always modify it using the regular elbow drop. When you AA, use lp.hb when in doubt if cr.hp will be in range or not. His bushin flip is easily discernible from his normal jump because of the number of times he flips. He can only do elbow drop and the air throw from a bushin flip, an ex.flip tracks but will always land in front of you and never cross-up; it has brief recovery. If AA with cr.hp, keep in mind that boxer is considered standing for some of the animation.

Also guy has a number of normals/specials that go under rush upper and dash straight. These are cr.hk, run xx shadow kick, and cr.mk (these are also his UKDs). The first two are punishable on block while the last is not. cr.mk is hell on Balrog because it causes UKD, hits twice (beats all ex.dashes), is fast and is safe on block. You can whiff punish cr.mk at max distance with st.mk. cr.hk is completely safe if spaced correctly. He’s really low to the ground so this also avoids ex.headbutts, stuffs non ex.hbs and allows him to recover in time to followup.

Moveset Notes:
[LIST]
[]Only hp and ex shoulder charge can be punished on block with st.lp or lp.ds. They can all be grabbed on reaction.
[
]Guy can be punished with full jump-in combo after blocking ex.spin kick (it doesn’t break armor).
[]Command grab out of regular jump only grabs airborne, while the grab from bushin flips grabs standing and airborne.
[
]His ex. tornado kick will beat out your jump ins on his wake up every time. But it can be safe-jumped.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes:
[LIST]
[]U2 has no combo-ability, but will beat some safe-jumps. It is also a 2f grab so it can be jumped out of after the freeze from neutral. It has the same range as boxers U2.
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[
]F+MP is an OH and can kara cancel into specials (and be kara FADC’d?) it’s not comboable.
[]Has a wall jump.
[
]With hk followup to run, only the second hit needs to be blocked high.
[/LIST]

[/details]

Hakan[details=Spoiler]
If correctly spaced, the Hakan matchup is a brain-dead matchup. Most of Hakan’s specials lose to crouch-blocking. Super/Oil dive/Slide all lose to crouch blocking. With Hakan you CANNOT be aggressive, there’s absolutely no reason to, especially with the amount of trouble Hakan has getting in when you aren’t knocked down. The first half of the match will revolve around Hakan finding an opportunity to oil up. Oil has a timer on it, this is one match where you are rewarded for laming it out. IF Hakan doesn’t pick U2 and is unoiled, nj.hp on his wakeup makes the match significantly more annoying for him.

Hakan’s slides are going to be his main tool to get in on you. They hit low and break armor, he can modify the distance of the slide depending on the strength and whether or not he’s oiled up. He can use this to move in on you, and tick spds as well. All slides on block are punishable by cr.lp into anything unless he hits you with just the tip (late active frames), in that case it’s positive. There’s absolutely no reason to ever jump in on Hakan unless he’s stunned. Hakan’s j.mp does a free juggle which can combo into U2/slide or f+hk unoiled to start reset shenanigans. Not to mention that if he’s oiled he can f+mp behind you and punish as you land. Hakan’s U2 WILL catch you if you’re airborne.

Hakan’s SPDs aren’t as fast as other grapplers, but when oiled his range and damage is unmatched. He can reversal blocked lp.ds when oiled and his U1 has 1f su and enough range to punish a blocked dash straight unoiled. His Guard Low and slides go under rush upper and dash straights.

Moveset notes:
[LIST]
[]Slide has lengthy recovery. Can always be jab reversalled on block (unless its meaty), or hit during its recovery (where he flips). Beware ex tick throws.
[
]Lk oil is pretty slow and can be punished on reaction if you’re close/balsy enough. LK oil after knockdown is safe. ANY other strength oil has a really long recovery.
[]non-ex oil dive can be thrown/jabbed on reaction (cr.lp is the safest jab, even on whiff).
[
]oiled ex.spd has strike invincibility. Super has selective invincibility like Abel’s.
[]oiled SPDs (and ultra) can reversal lp.ds on block, but they can be spaced safely.
[/LIST]
Ultra notes:
[LIST]
[
]U2 can be baited (try fwd.throw, cr.mp, j.hp, this should lose to oiled reversal spds.
[]U1 cannot be jumped out of after the ultra freeze from neutral.
[/LIST]
Other notes:
[LIST]
[
]Guard Low isn’t invincible, just really low to the ground.
[]f+hk hits low, has incredible range (especially when oiled) and knocks down oiled.
[
]lp.oil slide is active just as long as other strengths but doesn’t have much horizontal range, wait until the roll recovery to let go of down+back.
[]Anti-backdash tools: oil dive, f+hk, slide.
[
]Uncrouchable oil-dives lose to Headbutt/Super/U1/Backdash
[*]Be aware of his crossup j.hk (oil slide+splash, st.mp j.hk), there are more setups.
[/LIST]
More Information

[/details]
Ibuki[details=Spoiler]Work in Progress[/details]
Ken[details=Spoiler]
The Ken matchup revolves around safe-jump/air buffers/Option-selects on knockdown, step-kick pressure, kara-throws, and ambiguity after a hit hk/ex.tatsu. JoontheBaboon’s Article has a high-level explanation of frame traps, and is applicable to the ken matchup for the simple reason that you’re first instinct will be to mash crouch-tech.

Step-kick pressure will happen at max distance and although it’s difficult to counter, it loses to ex.dash punches. Oddly enough this is an attack that Balrog can Focus Attack fish if it’s inside a certain range. Ken’s recovery on step-kick is enough to allow a charged FA to hit during its recovery for crumple stun when in range. Counter-poke with st.hk and st.hp.

He has a lot of option selects that force you to block on your wakeup. If you are facing a good Ken player just block.This is do to the simplicity (and number) of air-buffers and option-selects that Ken can use after a jump-in. Air/ground buffers are triggered only on whiff, thus blocking, ex.dash and FADC backdash can negate them, but put you at a disadvantage especially if its really meaty. Thus the best option is always to block.

If you’re really worried about kara throws, watch his feet. When he kara throws he teleports forward in a sense, it’s distinctive and may help in teching kara throws. Kara throws cancel startup of one move into a normal throw thus it’s startup is longer than 3 frames and it can be interrupted in transit for a CH. During a setup your only options are usually backdashing/neutral jump/invincible special (not TAP). A blocked cr.hk puts balrog just out of cr.mk range.

As you push Ken to the corner knock him down and zone him out and AA the hell out of him, using cr.hp for heavy jump-ins at range, st/cl.mp for close jump-ins and cross-ups, and st.lp for quick AA’s when he’s at head level. Jump back mp/hp or nj.hk can stop escape tatsus, you can also maintain down-charge and hit him with a headbutt as he comes down, this isn’t possible if you’re very close to him, about 1/3 screen will allow you to hit with max distance hp.hb. Dash ultra is possible too if you buffer it into a focus attack to facilitate the auto-correct dash.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]All versions of tatsu can be punished on block with reversal jab into anything on block. Only first hit of tatsus can hit crouching, the rest will pass over you. Best whiff punishes are st.hp, cr.hp, and cr.hk. Others are possible.
[
]His fireball is really BAD, look for U1/Super/headbutt/TAP opportunities every time he uses one.
[]dp FADC backdash can be punished by Super/U1
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]Can combo into Full U1 animation from a CH hp.dp it HURTS (NO MEATIES).
[]U2 can be avoided completely by crouching, and juggles poorly.
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[
]Meaty cr.mk xx dp beats everything on startup but U1, U2 (kinda) and Super (ex.hb whill whiff against cr.mk).
[]Meaties are always unsafe.
[
]Overheads are b+mk, b+hk, air ex.tatsu (in super)
[*]IF you get hit with a tatsu, just block.

More Ken Notes
[/LIST]

[/details]
M. Bison/Dictator[details=Spoiler]The Dictator matchup, is similar in feel to the Honda and Boxer matchups. You could argue that it’s a matchup of attrition. Dictator doesn’t do a lot of damage, but in comparison, has better mobility than Balrog on the ground with his walk speed. Boxer has the greatest advantage mid-screen and Bison in the corner right outside of sweep range. Bison’s most advantageous positioning is going to be with Boxer in the corner right outside of short range, but within lk.scissor kick and st.hk range.

When you’re mid-screen against him within st.hp/cr.hk range, you have an answer for all of dictator’s options. If he does a non-ex scissor kick, you can counterpoke with walk back cr.hk to beat it (or ex.dash straight). If bison does a psycho-crusher, you can block and punish with sweep, up close you have to punish with auto-correct ultra/super. If Bison does head stomp you can walk back throw, or walk back st.lp into anything, if you have the timing right, you can even initiate Ultra as his feet are close to your head so he lands in front. Devil reverse and headstomp look really similar, you can tell the difference between the two by (since the trajectory for headstomp is fixed) looking at the meter gain. If Bison gains meter instantly, then it’s a headstomp, if he goes airborne and doesn’t gain meter, then it’s a devil’s reverse. Devil reverse can be beat with a well placed ex.ru or TAP, 9/10 these are always bad ideas since the spacing has to almost be perfect, usually with him being closer to the corner.

When you’ve got Dictator in the corner and you’re applying jab pressure, or just general footsies pressure, he will be looking to exit the corner, if he doesn’t have meter, then he has no safe options, be sure to tick throw as much as possible. If he does have meter, then he’s going to attempt to exit the corner one of three ways: 1) ex.pc, 2)ex.dr, or 3) a hail mary j.mp, j.mp. Be patient and remember that all of Bison’s specials start up in at least 10f.

If Bison puts you in the corner, he will start the scissor kick pressure. After lk.sk both of you are even, Bison will: 1) wait, 2) st.hk, 3) st.mk or 4) cr.lk xx lk.sk . Ranges aside, st.lp is your best friend and will CH everything but cr.lk, cr.lp can beat his cr.lk by range since they both have the same startup. If Bison uses st.mk/st.hk, you can also ex.dash to punish these since he can’t cancel them but he can beat that with PC. Generally, Bison’s will use st.hk to keep you from jumping while st.mk will be used to keep you from moving forward.

Random Notes:
[LIST]
[]You CANNOT punish lk.sk on block
[
]Safe Jump O/S TAP beats everything but backdash and fwd.P-teleport
[]PC can be positive if hit with just the tip and crossup on your wakeup (corpse hop as well)
[
]Dictator j.hp is difficult to AA, use cl/st.mp
[]max distance pc’s are positive on block, beware of blockstrings (he does have enough back-charge to pc, cr.lk xx ex.pc if you try to ex.dash).
[
]Psychocrusher corpse hop in the corner is tricky, be aware of it.
[]Choosing the snowy railway/train yard might a good idea so he has to do more work to push you to the corner.
[/LIST]
Ultra Options:
[LIST]
[
]If you connect with Ultra, you can TAP under him and headbutt over him to force him to lose his back-charge so he can’t ex.pc out of the corner.
[]U2 can be beat air-to-air with j.mp/hp, TAP beats U2 on the ground always, even when meaty.
[
]Punish blocked U1 with full jump-in combo (or auto-correct super/ultra).
[/LIST]

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Makoto[details=Spoiler]The Makoto matchup is mostly about maintaing your spacing, meaning that you’re out of range of karakusa, and can safely zone and apply pressure at mid-range. Her offense is quickly shrugged off when you abuse jab as a defensive tool. Makoto’s sweet spot is right in your face where she can press buttons and frame trap you so she can net the knockdown and apply additional mixup on your wakeup. In this matchup more than others its really important to know your defensive options and how she can beat them.

All of your offensive wakeup options can be thwarted by meaty normals cancelled into ex.chop, ex.karakusa, or super. Chop will low profile your reversals, break armor, and will beat high dashes clean. FADC backdash will nullify any attempted meaty link setups as well as ground buffered anti-backdash option-selects. But will lose to special cancels (e.g. charged Hayate/hayate cancel) as well as linked U1 in the corner.

Meaty Chop will beat all of your reversal options on wakeup except ex.hb, Ultra 1 and Super. A tactic that works well on Balrog will be fadc dash forward into grab/ex.grab, to combat this you can throw her when she dashes or frame trap with cr.lp, cl/st.hk. Also random dash into karakusa works well, either go for a grab (which will beat karakusa), backdash or mash jab.

ex.grab will beat safe jumps, but has crap range, safe jumps from sweep are difficult to impossible to jump out of range but, fwd throw, cr.mk, slight walk forward j.hp will safe jump her U1 AND ex.grab. She has to tech throws on her wake up, Makoto has no offensive answers to meaty throw on wakeup aside from Ultra. Adding a normal throw to the safe jump will beat wakeup ex.chop as well.

Punishing Moveset
[LIST]
[]Her non-ex dash punch is focusable. and is punishable by st.lp on block if in range.
[
]non ex.chop punishable on block with st.lp.
[]AA her axe kick with ex.hb, non-ex will always trade.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes:
[LIST]
[
]Makoto can punish cr.hk with U1 on block.
[]Makoto’s only offensive answer to Meaty throw is U1 (and U2 situationally).
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[
]2x cr.lp is out of range for karakusa
[]Max distance cr.hk can beat st.mp
[
]Block on wakeup.
[]Meaty jab O/S sweep doesn’t work mid-screen
[
]ex.grab beats meaty jab
[/LIST]

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Oni[details=Spoiler]Work in progress.[/details]

Rose[details=Spoiler]The rose matchup is really straight-forward, and with her changes, this is one of the most intense footsie battles. Rose can’t zone well with her fireballs (except from full screen). So you are free to build revenge meter from this range, she doesn’t have any quick way to cover ground. Balrog’s tools beat all of Rose’s tools at every opportunity.

In an attempt to describe her footsies, the normals that you will see a lot are: df+hk (slide), st.mk (hop kick), cr.mp, and distanced f+hk, j.hp. There’s absolutely no reason fro you to ever jump in this match, her air to air j.hp has a really big hatbox, so at a distance you’re not going to beat it. Beware her common tick throw setups: hop-kick, throw or blocked slide, throw. She can’t safely apply any pressure or get free chip damage with soul spiral or soul spark. Any cancel’s into either of these specials from cr.mp on block, are not true block strings. Take away those options with headbutt or ex.dashes. It’s not always best to show you know how to punish that blockstring early on as you may have an opportunity to close a round or a match further toward the end when you have Ultra.

With the nerf to Rose’s U2, when they get ultra, they will have two strategies: (1) throwing soul sparks at max distance attempting to bait a jump, if you jump, they will ultra and catch you as you land, it’s safe if you neutral jump, or jump at about 3/4 screen. (2) Get a knock down, activate U2 and apply oki pressure. In this situation, it’s best to block and tech throws. Activating U2 and going for a meaty throw is balsy, but weird to combat, etching the throw will put you at neutral, but her U2 will still be in play.

Also Rose can do absolutely nothing to combat jab O/S cr.hk/st.hp. She absolutely has to block on her wakeup and respect meaty cr.lp. although ex.ss has extended startup, it doesn’t blow up meaty jab O/S sweep. Once you establish this, you can start throwing and applying safe jump pressure.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]Soul spiral can be positive on block, but it is seldom a block string.
[
]Her fireball is really slow, dash super/U1 punishable
[]Soul spiral FADC bwd or fwd is punishable on block by reversal ultra/super/jab
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]U2 has no invincibility
[]U1 has 10f startup and can catch you as your landing (lots of active frames)
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[
]she HAS to respect meaty jab
[/LIST]

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Rufus[details=Spoiler]The rufus rushdown is a guessing game between throws, instant dive kicks, and cl.lk. A bnb combo you’ll see a lot of cl.lk, cl.lk, cl.hp xx hp.gt. This is not a block string and you can attack inbetween but he can pepper in throws and instant dive kicks to beat any attempts to exploit this; also GT is excellent chip damage and is safe on block. Rufus doesn’t have any really quick reversals in terms of normals and specials although ex.mk and ex.ss are two VERY good moves in terms of invincibility and chip damage, ALL of his moves do really good chip damage and this adds up over time.

You will probably ONLY see ex.mk, which has invincibility on startup, all other mk’s don’t have invincibility on startup. He has a follow up that can hit mid, high, or low as well as be delayed. Defensive options include blocking (this always wins) or backdating which can lose to delayed followups. The offensive options vary, ex moves give you a 2/3 chance of dealing damage or whiffing, but it loses to delay lk. LK follow up FADC backdash can be punished with dash punches, ultra 1, and super (and normals in the corner).

Rufus has three moves that have significant vacuum effect: Ultra 2, ex.gt, and Ultra 1. The effect is similar to proximity blocking.

Strategy wise you have to make a guess after he does a dive kick and mid screen, he doesn’t have a lot of options. Stay out of the air, j.hk and ex.ss own rog in the air. U2 can be a pain, especially if they save it to the end, do your best to not be at the end of the round with enough life for him to chip away, especially without meter, don’t waste you ultra/super unless you have more meter for ex.hb, or super/ultra at the end of a round. Beware max distance cr.hp baits which can be punished with U2. Also Rufus doesn’t have any safe wakeup options, not even ex.mk, the only safer wakeup is ex.ss but it whiffs completely if you stay grounded and you can either jab punish or be reset to neutral but in close range.

Instant Air dive kick whiffs on neutral stance Balrog. They hit if balrog is neutral crouching, crouch blocking, or stand blocking.

Moveset Notes:
[LIST]
[]GT is safe on block and breaks armor.
[
]cr.hp can be punished by Super/U1 on block.
[]cr.mk/st.mk xx super ground buffer O/S can punish some of hit long range pokes, notably df.mk
[
]All mk’s without follow-ups can be jab reversalled
[]ex.ss has invincibility on startup as well.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes:
[LIST]
[
]U2 can be beat by non-reversal U1 and ex.hb, vacuum doesn’t go active until the moves goes active.
[]Rufus can combo into U1 midscreen on Balrog
[/LIST]
Other Notes:
[LIST]
[
]df+mk hits low.
[]f+mk hits OH.
[
]Dive kick does not hit OH, but can cross-up (if he goes pretty high), he has no height restriction on dive kicks.
[/LIST]
See extended notesfor more information.

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Sagat[details=Spoiler]Sagat’s one of Balrog’s worst matchups because he can keep Balrog out very easily with two specials and a normal. If comparing Sagat and Balrog, it’s noticeable that Sagat is very SLOW. Sagat’s normal ground movement is bad in terms of his ~30f backdash, and his slow walk speed. Sagat’s strong points are his zoning and his karas (f+lk, f+hk). His lk kara can add 1/4 screen to all of his specials. Think of it this way: if Sagat does kara ex.tk, he can hit you from full screen and be positive on block. Sagat has no real answer to jab pressure except a random DP, keep this in mind when you get in. Sagat’s gameplan is to build meter while zoning you full screen and taking maybe 1/4 health off of you, and then waiting for you to make a mistake while he’s throwing a volley of tigershots. He’ll wait for the opportunity to land a dp fadc, or if you get in close, an opportunity for a landed tiger knee or forward throw, rinse repeat. Sagat with two bars and an Ultra equals a 5f punish to 400+ damage.

Unlike Guile, it’s extremely difficult to use effective jump ranges onces he’s recovered from his projectiles. Because Sagat can kara tiger uppercut, there aren’t any safe ranges to jump over projectiles once he’s recovered since he can f+hk for the juggle into the corner, or kara tiger upper cut. Sagat’s best placement is with you full screen, Balrog is best placed at 3/4 screen (dash ultra range) and within poke range. Sagat doesn’t have any way to get out of the corner or get you off of him except connected normal throws which always put you beyond or right at half screen. Also up close Sagat can’t do anything safely, especially tigershots if you’re within headbutt range.

When dealing with Sagat’s tigershot, be aware that once you remove a tigershot from the screen he can use U2 or fire another tiger shot off. You can gain ground easier by using wiggle forward nj.hp, or jumping forward at the earliest point when he throws a fireball. His total duration for fireballs are ~40f, so you can actually whiff punish non canceled fireballs with jump-ins. This works really well from 1/4 to 1/2 screen. At 3/4 screen you can dash ultra consistently, especially with the ex.ts because they telegraph (animation and sound cue). You can also stuff tiger shots with lp.ds at 1/4 screen. Beware ex.low tiger shot because on hit they can juggle full screen U2.

In general, blocking tiger knees is scary because he can be positive on block at certain ranges, use the following tables to get a feel:

strength Active(total) Frame advantage (block)
startup Recovery(total) Frame Advantage (block @ max distance)
lk.tk 7 212(14) 3+13(16) -10 +3
mk.tk 7 2
14(16) 3+14(17) -13 +2
hk.tk 7 212(14) 8+16(24) -18 -5
ex.tk 7 3
6*6(15) 3+10(13) -1 +13

Sagat’s DP is easily safe jumpable because it starts up in 5f, all safe jumps work against Sagat. Sagat has the only single hitting DP that can break armor if non-reversal. When he powers them up with angry scar, they can break armor and do more damage. One of Sagat’s tools to get in on you or to re-establish his spacing will be DP/kara-DP FADC throw/DP, this is NOT a 50/50 because you can focus-tech to beat the mixup, he can no longer break armor since he uses up his powerup with the first DP. so if he DP’s you focus and punish, if he throws, you tech. He has to dp fadc.fwd, tiger knee or something else out of the ordinary to beat your focus tech.

You can whiff punish Sagat’s go to buttons when you’re within poke range. Counterpoke st.hk with st.hp/cr.hk, there’s a 10f window since it has 18f of recovery. If you crouch-block st.hk, you can stand and jab to punish as well (st.lp xx lp.ds or st.lp, cr.hk, not ex.ru). You can counterpoke st.mk with st.hp but it’s a 1f punish, you have to wait until the active frames are finished because the hitbox is really horizontal. cr.lk is his most positive normal (cr.lp is even on block), the attack has significant pushback though so he can’t do too many of these in a row. You can also counterpoke high tigershots with cr.hp at certain ranges as well.

Random notes:
[LIST]
[]Only useful option selects are: safe jump O/S delayed sweep and the focus-tech
[
]fake meaty cr.lp is safe against DP’s, but not wakeup throw
[]if he does meaty tigershot, you can avoid crouch delay by doing a crouching normal to force your crouching hitbox.
[
]Sagat doesn’t do enough chip damage to make you afraid to sit on a life lead, you will lose life trying to get that last bit of chip damage to kill him and eat a f+hk into ultra.
[]Punish blocked hp.dp with full jump-in combo
[/LIST]
Ultra notes:
[LIST]
[
]U1 does less damage in the corner
[/LIST]
Sagat Punishes

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Sakura[details=Spoiler]Sakura as a character is known for her patended tatsu reset mixups. The match has two outcomes, in her mixup and out of her mixup. As a character, sakura has no safe way to get in on boxer outside of 1/4 screen. Outside of her mixup, Sakura has to work really hard and burn meter to safely get into her range. To do this, she can fireball FADC dash forward (which can be beat by headbutt/ex.dash at the right ranges) or Tatsu (which is safe on block). Tatsu can be beat by cr.hp and headbutt. When you’re not in her mixup your best place is to push her to the corner and just sit on down-charge. Any attempts to get in can be AA’d with cr.hp or lp.hb. You want to make sure you’re hovering at 1/4 screen with her in the corner there’s always the risk of her throwing out a random ex.dp (that you block) and FADC forward dash into a backwards throw. ex.dp FADC fwd dash can be beat by cr.lp, while FADC backdash can be beat with Super.

When you’re in her mixup whether in a blockstring or being combo’d you want to look for an opportunity to exit the mixup and create space so you can drop your stun. If she’s constantly crossing you up to kill your back-charge, AA with a pre-emptive st.mp OR FADC out of the way. Her jump arc is low and doesn’t have much horizontal range so lp.hb is usually never a viable option (as it has too much horizontal range for her jump arc). Burning U1 to get out of the corner against Sakura is a viable tactic since she only has one way to chase you and that’s with ex.otoshi

Although she’s free on wakeup, her cr.hp rivals balrog as a really good AA, also beware her nj.hk, it’s hard to impossible to CH with normals, it’s entirely possible with a well placed ex.ru. Her fireball is an OK zoning tool, if she charges it any, it won’t travel full screen, her uncharged fireball will go full screen though. Again Sakura can’t hurt you full screen, but she can build meter with neutral jump tatsus. Tatsu is safe on block for the most part (mk - 2 hits is cr.lp punishable), ex.tatsu is positive (+4f) on block.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]ex.dp FADC backdash on block is punishable with super, timing is tight
[
]ex.dp FADC forward dash on block is punishable with cr.jab.
[]Combos into fireball on block is not a block string.
[
]All hits of the tatsu break armor.
[]Overhead (f+mk) is cr.jab punishable on block
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]U1 hits low and breaks armor
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[*]Tatsu can cross up on crouching balrog
[/LIST]

[/details]
Seth[details=Spoiler]The Seth matchup is hard. Seth is very mobile and has countless tools to get in safely. Seth’s mixup is good and he can easily carry you to the corner from 1/3 screen with two bars (1/4 screen meterless). Seth’s mixup REQUIRES headstomps, he can most easily get this in the corner, mid-screen he will need to burn meter (dp FADC) or cr.hp xx lp.dp. Seth mixup generally revolves around use of non-ex/ex.spd (throw invincible/strike invincible), normal throw, and ex.dp. Balrog doesn’t have an option that can beat all three of these and after headstomps he can cycle through them along with meaty cr.lk which stuffs headbutt which will beat 2/3 of his options.

Balrog’s most effective spacing in this matchup is within jab range with Seth in deep corner without two full ex bars. From this distance you can apply pressure and reaction to attempted wall jumps with j.mp . It’s very important to keep him in the corner. IMO Seth doesn’t have any safe buttons up close from neutral, especially from Balrog. There are three main situations where Seth will want you 1) Deep in corner (or mid-screen) after connected headstomps and dive kick air reset, 2) Full screen where you’re blocking/avoiding booms, or 3)dp fadc fwd. An explanation of what Seth can do from each of those situations:
[LIST=1]
[]Deep in corner, Seth can walk forward and easily switch sides making you lose your back-charge and also giving him an opportunity to perform a meaty cr.lk (which stuff’s non-ex headbutt but doesn’t low profile ex.hb). He can also jump dive kick which avoids all angles of headbutt as well as ex.spd. WATCH HIS METER
[
]Full screen if you block booms, he gets chip damage, and builds meter and continues spacing, the clock is always against you, especially if he has U2 and drops your health down to 5-10%. This also spaces him where he can safely poke with st.hp. Also if you’re blocking booms, he can wall j.hk safely into his 50/50 mixups, it is a safe jump if spaced properly.
[*]dp FADC fwd, puts you in a true 50/50 situation where he can go for spd or another dp.
[/LIST]
In general, Balrog doesn’t have any sure-fire ways to get out of the mixup in the corner. TAP is definitely the best option, but it forces you to fight for space again (see situation #2). I’m pretty sure he can O/S lightening legs or ex.boom under certain situations, but he can’t apply his mixup very well full-screen.

I must stress how important it is to maximize your damage with every hit you get. Balrog doesn’t have much use for meter outside of FADCing unsafe moves, TAP xx Super for chip or ex.ru combos. Seth doesn’t have any options against safe jumps except ex.spd, once you establish that you can safe jump or he’s blocking, go for throws to maximize your damage (beware non-ex.spd it’s throw invincible).

There are two traps that seth has to chip you to death that are difficult to avoid:
[LIST]
[]if he booms full screen and has super, do not jump forward, he can activate super while it’s still on the screen, suck you in, and chip you to death. Jump back to get hit by the boom or pre-emptively jump so you land before the vacuum gets to you.
[
]IF he does meaty boom, FADC forward, U2, you can only beat it with reversal super/ultra 1, headbutt WILL lose.
[/LIST]
Random Notes
[LIST]
[]It’s best to use Ultra/Super to end a match/round and not to get out of the corner or to take him to the corner (So Seth can’t chip you for free).
[
]far st.hp can be punished with reversal lp.ds @ 3/4 screen and can be whiffed punish with cr.hk
[]Dive kick angles up close beat all angles for headbutt, don’t try.
[
]can hit-confirm into U1 on connected full-screen boom, yet another reason not to ex.dash or FADC backdash full screen.
[]non-ex Tandem engine is a grab, he’s usually positive, the distance between him and you determine his advantage. (ex.te is a hit, breaks armor and beats non-ex.hb) non-ex.hb can beat non-ex.te.
[
]Can modify jump arc with dive kick
[/LIST]

[/details]

Vega/Claw[details=Spoiler]
Vega doesn’t have really good tools in the areas of safety and invincibility, but what he does have is (1) good pokes, (2) versatile U1, and (3) the Izuna drop. Vega doesn’t have any easy [SAFE] answer to rush down pressure, all of his normals are more than three frames (fodder for normal throw and CH jab).

His answer to rushdown pressure is the single and double flip which are extremely unsafe; they can be punished by sweep and walkup throw, respectively. Vega’s U1 can hit on the way up, or he can go straight to the wall and attack. It’s easy to block/backdash (at max distance) and punish accordingly. The ONLY reason you might want to backdash the ultra is to avoid a possible cross-up, this can happen about 3/4 screen crouching and standing. U1 can also be interrupted in transit with any strike since it has no invincibility. U2 hits low and has a significant amount of invincibility (6 A & I frames) and pretty quick startup on par with Dudley’s U1.

Izuna drop is the equalizer in this matchup because Balrog doesn’t have a great deal of reliable options to beat izuna drop. Flying Barcelona (the actual wall dive) is an exceptionally unsafe move because of the recovery frames, so izuna drop is a particularly unsafe move because the recovery on whiff. During the ali steps he can get punished hard. The two best moves to avoid izuna drop seems to be j.mp and LATE hp.hb . Jumping strong reduces the size of his grabbable box and puts his hitbox in front of his body while, headbutts are throw invincible. hp.hb is the best since it moves you furthest away and your legs aren’t in range for the claws. Brief tests show that he can’t really do any specials to get to you let alone maintain back-charge before you can block unless you headbutt into the corner (situational). Although it’s a really good tool against vega, footsies should make this move useless outside of combos. Also TAP IS NOT throw invincible, you can be ID’d during startup.

Only his wall dives can be done without back-charge (flying barcelona and sky high claw). This is important when jumping over him after a knockdown, all of his moves are greater than 4 frames
and have no invincibility. Keep in mind Vega has variable charge time on his moves. Most charge characters have to charge 55f to do any move. Vega’s rolling attack is 60f, while the others are 42 frames. Vega has a singular unique mechanic and that’s his mask and claw. Vega can lose each after sustaining enough damage/successive hits, this doesn’t reduce over time like stun/grey damage. When he loses the mask he deals 10% more damage, but takes 10% more damage. The claw gives an extra 10 points of dmg for each punch as well as extra range. When he loses the claw he loses a small bit of damage, and range reduction makes some combos harder/impossible at certain ranges.

Simple strategies that Vega’s will use involve a mixup after df+hk, hk.st df+hk corpse hop mixup into instant overhead hp as well as crossup ex.shc walldives. Beware corner blocked hp.rolls cancels into super, you will be compelled to jump back fp, don’t. The super ruins your back-charge, just late hp.hb out of the corner and re-establish back-charge if he attempts to slide to punish your recovery.

Moveset notes:
[LIST]
[]Flip kick and ex.shc breaks armor
[
]Beware crossup ex.shc, if he turns yellow and doesn’t hit you while going behind you, block the other way.
[]The flips are punishable during the last recovery frames, but are completely invincible.
[
]Roll is unpunishable on block, but can be interrupted in transit by a normal grab, or ex.ru for a full combo.
[]Izuna drop grabs standing, crouching and in the air (this means backdash too). Punch attack hits OH and can cross up.
[
]If Claw whiffs a flying barcelona he can be punished almost full screen with U1, a whiffed claw recovers a bit faster, but it is still punishable. It is possible to punish hard with charged TAP, if charging to very high levels, dash then TAP.
[]hk/ex.st is 4 frames, that’s his fastest special.
[/LIST]
Ultra Options:
[LIST]
[
]Keep an eye on his Ultra meter if he has U1, you can interrupt it really quickly and not know, this still isn’t an invitation for full screen dash punches.
[]Vega doesn’t really have any reversal options for U2 (cr.hk is safe because of pushback) except non ex.dash low.
[/LIST]
Other notes:
[LIST]
[
]df.hk is safe on block.
[]df.mk is an OH but can’t be comboed after CH, beware tick throws and setups after this move, on block it is punishable with jab reversal.
[
]Only cr.hk is a UKD.
[*]Can Instant Overhead with j.hp (needs claw to hit you crouching), it’s punishable with U1/Super if you have backcharge, completely safe mid screen if combined with corpse hop. In the corner you can punish with hb.
[/LIST]
TSwizzle’s Post

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Yang[details=Spoiler]Dealing with the twins in AE
[LIST]
[]Yangs U2 has no strike invincibility on startup.
[
]Can hit yang during the palms startup and the palm’s brief recovery, even the feint too, think of palm as a fireball and once you notice the pattern you can punish.
[/LIST]
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Yun[details=Spoiler]On paper, Yun is meant to be an unbalanced character with really bad defense. This is apparant in his walk speed, his lack of an FADCable DP and an attack with a long invincible startup (e.g. TAP, Zonk Knuckle). For example, ex.lung punch does not have invincibility on startup, but has it closer to the end of its anmiation. So in most cases, you absolutely have to block or avoid it or you will trade while attempting to punish on reaction (yes, even with ex.hb or Ultra). You have to do the invincible attack as late as possible to beat the attack. Yun’s weakness is rushdown, and as Balrog has no safe rush down; here is what boxer does have.

Patience, it has more meaning in this matchup than any other. If Yun is blocking, then he has lost the match. Most Yun’s will be dancing around or applying psycological pressure by walking forward and back. Yun doesn’t have the health or tools to really turtle without a life lead. With some Yun’s, you can play really patient and they will eventually kill themselves trying to apply pressure. Boxer’s main goal is to block and avoid throws until you have an opening to safely begin your jab pressure. Don’t attempt to ex.dash or jab during his blockstrings, they will not work, and ex.hb is too slow. You have to make sure you have enough life to survive a Genei Jin combo. You have to play assuming that he will get the meter and will get the opening. It’s after he blows all of his meter that you want to apply as much pressure as you can since he loses his anti-rushdown (respectively far and close) tools like ex.lunge and ex.dk (you can safe jump and meaty him for free then). It’s also very important to be aware of his mixups after Genei Jin like cross-up shoulder, dive kick air reset, or oki after UKD.

Save your meter for combos, super, and ex.hb. Ex.dashes from neutral are too easy to beat on reaction by breaking armor or TCs. If Yun starts palming, don’t attempt to punish it, just move forward creating space safely. Controlling space is really important, i think the optimal space for balrog is with Yun in the corner, right outside of Balrog’s st.hp range and well within range of Yun’s mk and hk dive kicks from neutral jump. St.hp has almost as much use in this matchup as with spacing Gief in AE, you should get a lot of mileage out of it. Yun doesn’t want to attempt to dive kick in and trade with st.hp or cl.hp. If Yun attempts to low profile it with cr.mk, you can switch to st.hk which he can’t low profile. The idea is to put Yun in a place where he thinks twice about how to get in (this is much easier when he doesn’t have meter) and it will force him to burn meter, delaying the inevitable Genei Jin.

Palm loses to headbutt, super, and ultra. Feint palm recovers rather quickly, so from a distance, Ultra can’t punish feint palm and lp.hb will punish up close if you have really good reactions/reads. Dive kicks can be beat at distances, use cr.hp/cr.mp for general anti-dive kick. Use st.mp for up close lk.dive kicks (you have to trust the hitbox and react quickly). Punishing lunge punch is…complex. Similar to Bison’s psycho-crusher, you either want to be really close to him where it’s frame advantage is intuitive, or you want it to whiff altogether. non-ex lunges can be positive on block, but usually they’re negative and not in range to punish. EX is very seldom punishable, it recovers the fastest of all his lunge punches on whiff and is ALWAYS positive on block.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]st.mp xx shoulder isn’t a blockstring at MAX range.
[
]There’s a 5f window to punish non-feint palm on whiff.
[]Feint Palm has lower body invincibility
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]Auto-correct U1/Super whiffed cross-up dive kicks on you’re wakeup, it’s recovery on whiff is punishable, it has to land behind and not in front, he should still be in the air in front of you during the screen freeze.
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[]Meaties and safe jumps are much easier when he has no meter.
[
]His Target combo: st.mp, st.hp, b+hp . The final b+hp whiffs when st.mp trades.
[/LIST]

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Zangief[details=Spoiler]This is a footsie battle. Do not hold back. On the ground, Gief doesn’t have the tools to keep you out, he has to walk forward and block. If you never get knocked down in the match, Gief can’t do anything to apply pressure. Pushing him out of non-lp.spd range is where you want to be, where only his df+hk will reach you and you’re just out of range of st.hk. The range where if you’re crouching and st.hk goes over your head just slightly, is where he will want you so he can get you in a semi 50/50 mixup with st.mp or U2 (in case you jump) or lp.spd/ultra in case you block.

Gief is free to jump-in on in a sense, there are two places where you can jump in to stuff lariat (especially if he’s in the corner): (1) j.fp where the tip is about at his elbow, or (2) j.hk at his shoulder. One of two things will happen: it hits really deep and the lower body invincibility on j.fp beats it clean, or it trades in our favor or he follows up with ex.GH which nets him the UKD in Super but forces him to burn meter. You can vary the jump distances so if he does a reaction lariat you can empty jump and cause it to whiff and punish. (you can also deep j.lk)

Gief does three things: (1) he will jump in with j.mk which is difficult to AA since you have to choose, go to AA’s are cr.hp and cr.mp if he does it lower to the ground. Always look at his deceptive jump angle, because if you whiff a cr.hp, he can land right next to you and U1 you. (2) st.hk tick whiffs into lp.spd to catch an attempted counterpoke cr.hk, just backdash until he starts using ex.green hand, then you can neutral jump/headbutt, block, then start backdashing again. (3) the meat of giefs mixup is on knock down where he will go for meaty knees tick throw/st.mp or meaty cr.lk into tick throw/ex.gh combo over and over again. Try not to exit the corner with ex.ru if he does meaty knees, if it crosses up, you stop in SPD range (especially Ultra 1). Sometimes its best to just hold up and get hit with st.mp or backdash to get the distance. Its okay to take damage and trade if it gets you a techable knockdown and out of the corner/mixup, because he has to walk over to you again.

st.mk, st.lp, st.hp, cr.hk, st.hk, cr.mp are all good pokes to push him out of range. Beware of whiffed cr.mp buffered U1/ex.spd on wakeup. Verify if he’s doing it as a meaty or a whiff, Wakeup backdash beats this. Some giefs may pick U2 in an attempt to punish bad AA headbutts when they jump in. There’s obviously no reason to go air-to-air with gief with normals unnecessarily. All headbutts have ~20f where they can’t be thrown so it’s almost a non-issue.

The longer you sit out of range of gief the greater your chances of winning, especially if you have the life lead. You can max distance charged TAP for DECENT chip damage (and possible life lead) for free if he has no meter/isn’t punishing on reaction.

On a combo note, gief is dangerous to do combos against. Max distance st.lp xx ex.ru doesn’t always combo, always go for the cr.hk if you’re at max distance. If he does lariat and you eat through it with late ex.ru, you’re a single jab distance away, so you can do a combo like ex.ru, cr.lp, cr.lp, st.lp, cr.hk.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]Lariat Punishes: Short Upper, ex.Upper, Ultra, Super, sweep, cr. Fierce, and st. Jab. The vulnerable hitbox on his legs widens during lariat recovery. if you try to use cr.mp or cr.hk
[
]non-ex.GH is punishable on hit and block and can be focused/ex.dashed
[]Wakeup lariat loses to meaty throw, unless he does unthrowable lariat
[
]df.hk is punishable on block (-11), use cr.hk
[]don’t try to counter his headbutt, it’s a waste and a really bad idea.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[
]U1 has godly range, but if you do net the backdash you can hold back and ultra/super/dash punch after you touch the ground.
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[*]Can naked spd through final TAP of Ultra 1 and Super. (can also reversal U1 during U2 freeze, don’t bother). If you think he’s meat spinning, you can vary upper and straights to catch him when he’s not holding back.
[/LIST]

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Balrog\Boxer[details=Spoiler]The Balrog mirror is easily one of the most annoying matchups any boxer will ever play in SF4. The winner is usually always the most patient player who mashes downback. In general on wakeup, boxer is free. Meaty throw beats the majority of boxer’s moveset. Boxer’s offensive options to beat meaty throws are headbutt, U1, u2, and Super, everything else can be thrown. Defensive options are blocking and backdashing (which can be O/S’d). Boxer can’t punish a meaty throw by backdashing/jumping since you recover before he can attack <<aside from an early nj.hp.>> High ex.dashes on wakeup will beat meaty jump-ins and meaty cr.jab on wakeup. Use cr.hk ALOT this will keep balrog from walking forward. You want to keep him about 1/8-1/4 screen from the wall and keep him there. There will be tons of footsies and ground games. AT mid range, you can react to low dashes and ex.dashes by grabbing and sweeping non-ex dashes (this works for TAP too). This way you can stay about 1/2 a screen away and hover (not in the corner) just out of range and punished the whiffed specials.

It also helps to focus fish sometimes even with rogs bad range. If he thinks to mix it up with lk.torpedo to break armor, you can punish on block with st.lp, cr.hk, or st.lp, Ultra 1. It’s at max distance so you probably won’t be able to combo into ex.ru. On wakeup mixing up meaty jab O/S Sweep, meaty throw, and meaty lows will force Balrog to block on wakeup (or ex.hb), <late crouch teching on wakeup will stuff headbutts AND tech throws.> Footsies should utilize ALL of his normals, gratuitous use of preemptive cr.hk can be thwarted with ex.dashes because of its lengthy recovery, but can be beat with cr.hk xx super or with cr.hk xx FA (release) for crumple stun and <insert lengthy combo here>.

Moveset cliffnotes:
[LIST]
[]All ex.dash punches can be grabbed on reaction (Read: Debatable) but are relatiely safe on block except dash low and overhead.
[
]All light dash punches can be punished on block by reversal cr.lp (if in range). This is especially true for lp.dash low [-8] and ex.oh [-5].
[]Punishing TAP is dependent on range, lvl 1 is unpunishable on block point-blank, lvl 2 TAP can be punished with reversal cr.lp on block IF in range.
[/LIST]
Ultra Options:
[LIST]
[
]Can U2/U1/Super before final TAP of U1/Super.
[]U1 can be beat on reaction by late (non-reversal) ex.hb .
[
]Always juggle PPKKK in the corner.
[/LIST]
Random Notes:
[LIST]
[*]cr.mp at match start beats all of Balrog’s options except ex.dash low/straight/smash. You may be able to buffer in headbutt to beat ex.dashes.
[/LIST]

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Gouken[details=Spoiler]Gouken is a tank with a VERY good fireball. Gouken can zone very well with his fireballs and generally control ALL of the space in front of him. Although at 1/4 screen you can jump over his lp/mp.fb he recovers in time to block (or parry). Gouken’s main weakness is that he’s SLOW, in terms of walk speed and his attacks. Up close, the main thing Gouken has to scare you is his bwd.throw, even with the late tech window. You HAVE to be able to tech his fwd and bwd.throw. Beware of laggy pokes (roundhouse) if your opponent is focus happy, FADC fwd/bwd.throw can punish st.hk and cr.hk.

On wakeup, Gouken has to tech throws to some degree. Only ex.tatsu offensively beats meaty throw. His ex/low/mid-parry beats meaty cr.lp (but you can mix in meaty lows, mids and whiffs to force him to burn meter.

Gouken has OK normals, although they’re really slow. All the close range normals don’t do much damage, but the long range ones like st.hp do a lot of damage. His nj.hp and j.hk cause knockdowns on hit/trade. Gouken may have the safest sweep in the game. It’s very fast (6f su) and very safe on block (-3f), Gouken’s will probably spam this move up close, it has a lot of recovery so ex.dashes, focus attacks, and raw invincibles punish it hard. His dive kick from the air hits OH.

Gouken’s fireball is almost like Guiles, they go full-screen and recover very quickly, dash ultra has to be more than psychic to punish one unless he charges (ex.fb is debatable). At 1/4 to 3/4 screen away do not jump over his non-hp.fb because he can lp.palm to beat your jump-in easy (and parry as well). His flip isn’t as good as Akuma’s, but the animation telegraphs IMO, look at his hands to have an idea of what he’s going to do. The main thing you will be afraid of is his air-parry. From neutral it’s safest to always backdash his flip or air-to-air him before his attack comes out (although this can be punished with high strength flips). Except for attacks on Balrog’s wakeup, he doesn’t have a way to beat air parry. Also his flip dive-kick has a really good hitbox, if you AA with headbutt always use EX or it’ll trade or be stuffed completely.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]Dive kick hits OH
[
]Beware the different tech (and startup) windows on his fwd and bwd.throw.
[]His sweep is extremely safe on block.
[
]nj.hp, j.hk trades cause knockdown (beware when attempting AA headbutt)
[/LIST]
Ultra options:
[LIST]
[]U2 inflicts stun on block, but you can’t be stunned while blocking.
[/LIST]
Other notes:
[LIST]
[
]WATCH YOUR STUN!
[]IF you get in throw range you MUST be able to tech throws.
[
]Safe jumps and meaty cr.lp beat all of his attacks except counter.
[*]normal throw beats counter.
[/LIST]
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Ryu[details=Spoiler]To be honest, i think this is probably the closest 5-5 matchup in SF4, especially since it’s an ST matchup. They key to this match is knowing exactly what’s safe and what’s not safe. Punishing is SO important because Ryu is such an average character, like Balrog. When you come across average players and you show them that they can’t just chuck plasma, they fall apart, at low to mid-level this will win you the match every time.

Like Rog, Ryu can be played two ways: as a zoner and as a rushdown. Basic Ryu should involve a great deal of plamsa on the screen, avoid these with FADC, TAP, nj.hp etc. (I won’t go into too much detail to save space and also because I already have it somewhere else, see links). Ryu’s fireball is no-where near as fast as Sagat’s so unless you’re within 1/4 screen, he has nothing scary even if he FADCs unless he has super. If Ryu has super, you SHOUD NOT avoid the fireball by removing it from the screen! (because he can cancel or reaction if you’re at 1/2 to 3/4 screen).

Rushdown Ryu does exist, but he doesn’t really have a good way to keep it going without burning meter, it’s almost always going to end in a tick throw, be aware, focus-tech is applicable here. Ryu’s Focus attack is also something Balrog should be aware of, it can be used to punish unsafe pokes like cr/st.hk and st.hp as well as dash straights. Be aware of these and punish focus attacks with ex.OH/smash (if he’s not charging close to lvl3 as it’ll break armor), Ultra or throw. non-ex.Smash can work, but he can always release a lvl2 before smash connects for a crumple stun. Cross-up tatsu from neutral (e.g. not on wakeup), should be blocked or AA’d as a regular cross-up. On wakeup it’s awkward to punish. Off a connected cross-up tatsu he can connect super, and possible ex.hado/dp in the corner.

In general, the only time where you want to change your game plan against Ryu is when he has two ex.bars and ultra, when he has this he has a plethora of ways to combo into his Ultra. Be OK with down+backing it and giving him a lot of cr.hp, once he burns a meter (usu with ex.hado in an attempt to catch you slipping), start the rushdown again.

Moveset Notes
[LIST]
[]tatsu is safe on block for all intents and purposes but you can force it to whiff after the first hit by crouching. ex.tatsu is difficult to impossible to punish on block afaik.
[
]Ryu’s sweep is really fast, but has a lot of recovery, if you block it or he whiffs it, punish with cr.hk at worst, U1/super at best.
[/LIST]
Ultra notes
[LIST]
[]U1/U2/super is slow and can be safe jumped, dp can be safe jumped mid-screen to a degree
[/LIST]
Other Notes
[LIST]
[
]cr.mk xx hado isn’t a block string at max distance on block and hit
[]ryu’s cr.hk, j.hk is a safe jump
[/LIST]
Links:
[LIST]
[
]Projectile O/S
[]Ryu Punishes
[
]Armor Cancel O/S
[/LIST]

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Juri[details=Spoiler]

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T. Hawk[details=Spoiler]Work in Progress[/details]
Evil Ryu[details=Spoiler]Most players think that you approach Evil Ryu, lke you approach ryu and this could not be further from the truth. Most notably is his cr.mk, which is a bit faster, safer on block, and has incredible range (beyond or at Ryu’s cr.hk range).

In this match, the only time Balrog should be on the defensive is when blocking/avoiding fireballs mid to full screen when getting in. The only thing Balrog has to be afraid of his his DP and super. It’s safe to say that E. Ryu will always have meter, be aware of when he has <2 bars to make DP safe. This is when its most advantageous to rushdown. Although you have 100 more health that E.Ryu, you don’t have enough to gamble or force him to burn meter. That aside, evil Ryu’s life bar still goes down quick when you take into account the buffs to headbutt in 2012.

E. Ryu’s cr.mk xx lk.ak is a blockstring/frametrap that Boxer can ONLY punish with ex.hb, super and Ultra (even at max distance). Axe kick breaks armor and is safe on block. EX.ak hits overhead so you can be forced in a high/low bait situation. Block low until you see him turn yellow, or you get hit with his command OH. F+mp is slow at 17f, but he can also kara cancel it into super, being able to react to these two attacks is a must for exiting his pressure safely. Frame data states that it can only be combed on if it connects while the opponent is standing on on crouching CH.

E. Ryu is difficult to anti-air up close because of his dive kick. The space it occupies is very similar to Cammy’s Cannon strike. It might help to use cr.hp, but very LATE so you can catch both j.hk and dive kick. The dive kick has lower body invincibility during startup and can beat cr.hp if you do it too early.

E. Ryu’s offense is heavy because unlike Akuma’s vortex, E. Ryu gives you no opportunities to breathe. Tatsu resets and corpse hops occur really fast. IF you want to maintain a safe range, you want to be just inside of his cr.mk range, where you can bait and counterpoke with st.hk, cr.hk.

E. Ryu can stun and put you do 50% health with one combo into a tatsu reset also breaking back-charge with a cross-under. With this in mind every opportunity, you get, you want to punish with the biggest combo that doesn’t require any ex.meter unless it’s going to finish the match. ex.hb is so important in this matchup.

Random Notes
[LIST]
[]His red fireball has a lot of recovery, this is the easiest to punish on reaction out of his fireballs.
[
]dive kick has a huge hurtbox during its active frames, has lower body invincibility on startup.
[]ex.ak is -4 on block
[
]f+mk has lower body invincibility and can be kara-cancelled into super.
[/LIST]
Ultra Notes
[LIST]
[]U2 doesn’t break armor, BUT it has a decent amount of horizontal range to punish backdashes (e.g. if you FADC backdash a jump-in he can reaction U2 you’re recovery).
[
]U1 has no invincibility
[/LIST]
Other notes
[LIST]
[]cr.mk xx hado isn’t a block string at max distance on both hit and block.
[
]Can still safe jump dp mid-screen with fwd.throw, cr.mp, j.hp, he may be able to super/kara-super with cr.mk though since he can walk out of it. He can probably do it outright too.
[/LIST]
Credits: Oblivion[/details]
Chun-Li[details=Spoiler]IF you’ve played a half-good Chun, then you should be aware of what makes this matchup difficult for Balrog. The best advice in this matchup is to figure out how the Chun handles pressure by going the Gief route and walking into normals to get in. If she lets you get in and can’t get you off Always, Always, Always, don’t let her breathe. If she can keep you off really well, then play patiently. She needs space to start poking you and zoning you, up close her buttons…aren’t as good, especially if you are not on the ground.

Aside from pressure, the second is to force her to burn meter. Put her in situations where ex.sbk seems like a good idea, by using safe jumps or meaty jump-ins that aren’t safe. If you can force her to block, you can pressure her on her wakeup with throws since she has to block the jump-in high (she needs down-charge for ex.sbk). If you can force her to burn meter, you take super out of the equation. Super punishes 95% of all of Balrogs buttons and reversal options. Tooserius asked a question a LONG time ago about what buttons were safe against Chun when she had super, he found that: ex.ru, st.mk, st.lk were safe buttons. You’ll also run into the issue of delayed crouch-tech, frame-traps and the shimmy will beat this to some degree.

When you make ex.sbk an option or not an option for Chun-li, you win both ways: she burns meter, you safe jump, block and punish with cr.mp into anything. Just keep in mind if you get hit with ex.sbk she’s in a much better position to start zoning with Kikoukens.

About her zoning. DON’T JUMP OVER A KIKOUKEN. Also, DON’T JUMP AT CHUN-LI [from neutral]. I can’t stress this enough, her cr.mp, cl.hp, st.hp, cr.hk, and j.hp can own you. And earlier I stated that her buttons aren’t as good up close and this is still true, but the best rule of thumb is to not jump at Chun-li. Approach her like Guile and beware of FADCing kikoukens, also keep in mind that even though her cr.hk looks like it has a mid hitbox, it hits low. There’s more information below that although outdated, should be helpful.

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Balrog Advanced/Character Specific Information

Advanced Information
[LIST]
[]Chip damage
[
]Overhead Followups
[]Ultra corner activation
[
]Super corner activation
[]Character specific links/combos
[
]Boxer headbutt mixups
[/LIST]
Game Mechanics (located toward bottom of post)
[LIST]
[]Option Selects
[
]Meaties and Safe Jumps
[]Focus Attacks
[
]Blocking
[]Avoiding Projectiles
[/LIST]
Random Articles
[LIST]
[
]The Art of Punishing: Practical Applications of Frame and Hitbox Data
[/LIST]
Work in progress spreadsheet: xls
*contains, All of the below data as well as FADC punishes

Game Mechanics: Original articles are linked to in titles

Random Articles

3nigmat1c this is awesome, it was so frustrating having a matchup thread that wasnt being updated.

Keep up the good work, be nice to fully compiled everything under one united thread.
If you need help gathering specific info or need a Balrog/Vanilla PoV on anything, shout.

Good on ya pally.

glad you got inspired :D! I’ll post everything I can soon. I’m focusing on SCR at the moment

All the best with this 3nigmat1c.

Here’s a OH follow-up list I did: Imageshack - ohoptimalfollowup.png

Green means it works, red means it doesn’t. Whenever there’s 2 reds for the stance (standing or crouching) I list the optimal follow up. Keep in mind that when your opp is stading the optimal follow up should be an ex upper but the list wasn’t made to this purpose. Only when c.lk and c.mp does not work I list the optimal follow up and I never take super into account either. C.mp EX Upper on Akuma and Blanka are there not because it’s optimal but because c.mp HB does not work when they’re standing.

Credits goes to Jay Wang and whoever posted the super characteres follow up, I forgot who was it.

And can you clarify that Super Juggle activation after HB? I’m not getting it. Is it a 4 hits guaranteed super after HB in the corner? Is that why you say it doesn’t work on Ryu? Because you can only juggle for 3 hits?

I’m working down the list. Matchup punishes will be verified before I get down to the combos. I just finished the punishes for Adon. Thanks for the idea though, i’ll drop it in a section labeled to be verified.

**i’ll wager that by a working juggle he meant that it hit more than once. I’m pretty sure i’ve never gotten a full juggle in the corner where the last hit connected.

double post

i dont think the turn around from the super can be reversaled iirc. the ultra can

true, TAP xx Super is a block string, but it can be reversaled before the last turn around punch since there’s a gap between the first four hits and the last; same goes for ultra.

AA TAP to Ultra 1/Super will combo as a juggle.

Not sure if this is the right place or not, but I am looking to add some Rogs to my FL on XBL. This is my nightmare match and would love to play some Rog players that can explain why I am losing this so badly. I use Bison and Sim. Starting with Vanilla, I have never beat a Rog player of any skill level.

Redirect your question here: Super Street Fighter IV