Hugo's Not-So-Normal Normals

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
1

hey dudes, I just wanted to start some discussion specifically regarding some of Hugo’s lesser used normals. I don’t want to talk frame data really, since another thread exists for that, but more so just to go over some of the application of his wonky normals, what do they beat, are they good OS’s, etc… Anyway I’ll talk high-level about his normals, both the good ones and the odd ones.

So to start, the most commonly used ground normals seem to be :
**- LP **( stand/crouch )
**- LK **( crouching mostly, haven’t seen much use for standing )
**- MP **( stand/crouch )
- Crouch MK
- Stand HP

Jumping Attacks:
- Jump LP/MP -> Same Hitboxes? LP has slightly faster startup, does less damage, 2x the active frames of MP, both have good lower body projectile invincibility, but I think LP is slightly better for trying to hop over fireballs and still attack.
**- Jump LK/MK **-> Same as LP/MP, probably even better against hopping fireballs though
**- Jump HP **- Slow startup, really good reach though when jumping in from far
**- Jump HK **- I’m not really sure when to throw this out instead of j.HP or Body Splash
- Body Splash - Great for crossing up, huge hitbox, but also has a huge hurtbox :frowning: not good for jumping over fireballs, as his feet will get hit

Not-so-normal Normals:
**- Stand MK **-> Double overhead, very slow startup, the only time I’ve ever hit this button is by mistake as I feel st.HP is much better
**- Stand HK **-> Hits high, but whiffs on crouchers? Or at least some I’ve heard. I’m guessing Hugo is airborne and will “jump” over crouching attacks, but unless you have excellent reads I just don’t see much application in this, especially since its very unsafe on hit and block. It does cause a Hard.KD on aerial opponents, but I feel like you have better options in those cases.
**- Crouch HP **-> Hugo’s “I’m going to attempt a dragon punch with my face” Spearhead move, causes KD on hit, very unsafe on block. I believe this move can be used as an early AA move?
- Crouch HK -> Ass in yo face, Hugo’s Fastest Overhead, but extremely unsafe on block. Causes a knockdown on hit, and I believe this move is also useful as an OS to catch some backdashes but does not work on the entire cast. So unless you’re really confident they’re going to be crouching, I still feel like st.HP is your best option for an overhead.
**- Leap Attack **-> [d,d+mk] - Safe on hit and block, can link into cr.lp on hit, good projectile invincibility, slow startup but can lead to whiff->SPD setups
- Hammer Hook -> [f+hp] - I’m totally lost on this move, other than being used as an AA against opponents jumping to close the gap, not jumping on top of Hugo though. I can’t recall if this is only on CH or not, but it will juggle the opponent if it hits them out of the air.

I think that’s everything, I specifically want to hear other’s opinions on normals like st.mk, cr. hp, st.hk, cr.hk, but any and all information is appreciated.

2

I noticed Cr.lp/mp, Cr. Lk/Mk have almost the same hitbox and aren’t far apart in reach.
Also I think I remember hearing Body splash actually increases how long hugo is in the air for.

St.mk is actually pretty good. It beats anyone trying to Focus out of the corner. It’s a double overhead and is still safe (from the correct range and it doesn’t hit only once.)
St.Hk hits hugo crouching so theres that. Even trying to use it against crouching attacks it doesn’t hit people (maybe against sagat when you’re trying to hit a low fireball)
F+Hp only combos on trade. haven’t found that much of a use for it tbh.

Normals I love:
Cr.Lk- It’s got such a long reach and can lead to various situations.
St.mp- This move is great for space control and just getting in random counter hits and just hits in general.
Cr/St.Lp- I love to just put these out there every now and then just to mix it up and throw off what I might do.
St.hp- Da god

I hate Cr.mp the recovery on it is soooo long it’s so easy to whiff punish even in lag. I was playing vs yun and he punished cr.mp every single time. Maybe other people have better success than me though.

3

Well, st. hk seems to be a really powerful anti air (for telegraphed / predicted / very slow jump ins).

It hits the opponent clean out of the air, never ever traded with it. feels like the ultimate alternate if you dont have ex for backbreaker and your opponent has fast multihiting jump ins (rolento, ryu, gen(?))

4

the way I use cr.hk is like a ghetto 50/50 high/low mix-up after any substantial block-stun Hugo may cause, such as jump-ins and hp/mp clap. Once i establish a ground game, especially on their wake up and they start blocking hp-clap, i’ll sweep if i think they’re not blocking low or is pressing shit since it’s a 2f gap. Once I think they’ll block low, I’ll get em with the overhead. This has been working quite well, and if it doesn’t hit outright, it’ll counter-hit. Works well when u get a semi-close jump in too, I’ve seen it blow up a panic throw once they blocked my jump in. Mix this overhead/sweep after they block HP-clap and condition them not to do anything after blocking the hp/mp clap, this will open u up for the dash spd, mp clap to get closer/start this mix up again, a jump in(for backdashers) or even a lk-meat squasher.

cr.hp you can use as a anti-air… but like all Hugo’s normal AA, you need to be looking for the jump in HARD. Most good players don’t jump so obviously, so if u’re spending most of ur time pooling ur concentration to use normal AA then u’re playing Hugo wrong IMO. Either mix in some neutral jump HP/mk to establish a preemptive Air-to-air instead of planting urself flat looking to normal AA jumps. The only reliably reactable AA Hugo has is his EX-backbreaker.

5

st.HK as an anti-air seems to be a good idea if you can catch it early, I’ve had some pretty good success using it to catch opponents from jumping away, especially since it just plants them back on the ground instead of resetting them out of the air.

All in all, it seems like cr.hk, st.hk, and cr.hp require a pretty hard read on the opponent, otherwise you’re probably gunna get punished.

The big question I still have then is, other than using these moves purely to mix it up and throw more stuff at your opponent…why not just use st.hp?

Lastly, I can’t figure out how to edit my original post, but I wanted to comment about standing lk…I didn’t realize the range on that poke ( his furthest reaching special cancellable normal I believe ), and since it’s also special cancellable which makes it an extremely good pressure tool for Hugo to fish for CH using st.lk xx lp claps

6

So has anyone found a trick to getting to Hugo’s LP’s to chain? The timing on them seems wonky and I can never get it consistently.

7

honestly, I think it’s just a matter of practice/muscle memory. Sit in training room and grind it out until you have the timing down. I try and count 1,2,3,4 as I’m hitting jab and basically learn the timing that way.

Could also help to really take the baby steps…Try and chain just 2 jabs together, then practice that chain until you can do it consistently 10 times in a row…Then try 3 jabs…so on and so forth…

Rule of thumb: If you push a button and the move does not come out, you’re too early. If it comes out and gets blocked, you’re clearly too late. Find that happy middle ground :slight_smile:

8

I crouch tech with cr.hp on players that like to neutral jump too much after jump ins, it launches them pretty high lol, shame hugo can’t combo from it.

9

I do low jab - high jab - low jab - high jab, it seems to make the timing easier

10

I haven’t played enough Hugo to know off the top of my head, does the standing jab whiff on crouching opponents from far?

11

  • Standing jab does whiff on crouching Juri at least, but it does seem easier for some reason to alternate between standing and crouching jabs when chaining them.

  • I was having some amazing luck using st.HP last night, that move really is godlike.

  • Leap Attack has a deceivingly large hitbox and forward movement to it, I’m liking this move more and more every day

  • st. MP is really really bad when trying to use is as an AA to slap people out of the air ( so don’t do it )

Lastly, I feel like a complete moron for asking but I can’t see where to do so, but how do I edit my first post? I’d like to organize it a little better and add some more info

12

There’s a gear in the top right hand corner of all of your posts. That’ll let you edit them.

13

Thanks, I’ve been out of town the past few days but I’ll update the first post sometime tonight when I get a chance

my original idea was to only discuss the less used normals that seem to have limited purpose at first glance ( cr.hp, st.hk, cr.hk mainly ), but I think it’s worth it to simply make this thread dedicated to discussing all of hugo’s buttons and unique attacks. I’ll do my best to better organize the first post and get some more useful info + video examples in there

14

Lets ressurect this for the sake of ideas…

I use the same layout as you did in your first post, to keep it neat.

Not-so-normal Normals:
- Stand MK -> very rarely used, but when I use it, it is after I air-to-air reset someone with j.lp/j.mp, right when you land, do st. mk and i catches people trying to jump away or mash crouch tech (whoever does that against grabblers), doesnt work always though, needs testing…
- Stand HK -> the leap of faith, if you got someone who LOVES to neutral jump on wakeup, use this. can be used as an anti air too, yet hard to master. Hitbox / hurtbox is incredible for anti air though.
- Crouch HP -> troll AA for easy anti airs, you know these onis that airdash into ex tatsu? If you dont have an ex bar, use this instead, as well as a Counter to multihitting jump in attacks (chun/ rolento/ ryu/ etc)
- Crouch HK -> the overhead, either you use it as such, or you go heavy read with it. Juris lowfireball ‘can’ be avoided with that, should work against pretty much everything with a really low hitbox, ryu cr.mk, blanka slide, etc. also needs more in-depth testing
- Leap Attack -> favorite move in the entire game for me, at first kind of awkward to use (just like the word awkward… awkwaard…) but it is golden! Avoids fireballs and everything that is considered a fireball, need to test today if it beats psychocrushers, ex blanka balls, chun u2? (would be ridiculous) … also goes right through twin palms, really, everything that is considered a fireball…
- Hammer Hook -> think of this move as some kind of slower high step kick from sagat (stepkick 13f startup, hammerhook 16f startup), if you’ve played with sagat, you shouldnt have too much trouble getting used to this move, YET, hugo has better options against jumpers, use this only if you want to close the round, since you can juggle afterwards. Hammerhook + ex Backbreaker = 310 damage as anti air… (instead of 180 -> only ex backbreaker or 120 -> only st.hp)

15

j.HK has projectile invincibility on the legs. Good against Dhalsim’s Yoga Blast and other anti-air projectiles.

16

mhh, possibly the button you want to press when you see a sakura using u2 as anti air?

had a few matches yesterday against an ibuki player that used U1 against my Hugo (weird eh?)
he tried to use it against meaty clap Setups, fell for it the first time, yet meaty leapkick (d,d+mk) stuffs it clean and catches him offguard, since NOTHING of the Ultra Comes out, not even the fireball-like orb that hangs around if you whiff the U1. Hugo sure has his many downsides, but his upsides always brighten the day, haha :slight_smile:

17

That’s because U1 is a grab first and a projectile later. You’re airborne when you do d,d+MK so she can’t grab you out of it. That’s why it stuffs U1.

18

Stand MK - I love using this move to harass people in the corner, Hugo can be standing under the timer and still hit them with his boot

Crouch MP - You can use this meaty on wake up and you are able to link cr lp after, also works with stand HP meaty

One thing I wonder is the leap attack invul on start up? Can you use it to avoid meaty fireball chip? Because I fought a Rolento once that did the stinger on wake up to my meaty clap and passed through (Since clap is considered projectile I guess)… I hope it does so at least it is an option you can use at least…

19

No, It’s projectile invincible from the 4th frame.
Rolento’s has 3 reversals that are both invincible or projectile invincible but all three are easily OS’d with BB because they’re airborne.

20

Stinger is a strike projectile btw, like Ibuki’s kunai. I think the reason it passes through is because Rolento is projectile invincible on the jump of stinger from frame 1.