Ok, So first off I am having trouble with the shimmy.
I cannot for the life of me get the super consistantly. There seems to be a bit of a timing difference in my execution compared to getting the super on a close mp>rush>super compared to a far crouching mp>rush>super. If you guys have any tips on improving this timing issue that I am having, I will be all ears.
Also, I have finally gotten to the point where I am starting to look at risk reward vs just mauling someone. Trying to create my own openings rather than waiting for a mistake to punish. Seems that the better the player the fewer the mistakes.
Trying to find those opening has forced me to really up my footsie game, making sure that if I put out a crouching HK, that it hits something. If that whiffs its punished hardcore.
Any tips would prove to be fruitful.
I understand that there are only a small handful of people still reading this forum, but hey… its worth a shot.
If you’re having timing issues with the shimmy xx rush xx super, I offer two pieces of advice (1) shimmy doesn’t do a really good job of maintaining back-charge unless you shimmy back, pause while holding down+back and then do the move. It’s not self-charging, so often times you might be doing it too fast to get enough back-charge and/or (2)You might not be using lp.ds, the timing for the higher strengths of rush punch into super require different timing, for me it’s always been incredibly slow with fierce dash straight, but almost buffered with jab dash straight (this is similar to j.hk, cl.hk, cr.mp xx hp.ds xx super i think).
I’m probably a horrible person to give any advice on gameplay, but i’ll give you my experience, could be helpful. I’m generally always waiting for someone to make a mistake and like you, more often than not, the better the player the fewer the mistakes and the safer (and increasingly more positive) their pressure. I think you should use your life bar to make your decisions, e.g. when you play a person on the first round of the first match, go crazy, do whatever you can do, there’s absolutely no reason for you to hold back scared to press a button since you probably won’t die (this isn’t mahvel). Like versus Chun, i’m going to spend the first round of every match losing health, going straight zangief style so i can get in on her, so she doesn’t get an opportunity to start the long range game nor gets an opportunity to get super, straight balls to the wall. Make your opponents earn your respect before you give it to them (or their character).
Trying to open people up is another BIG reason i use U2 versus U1, because there’s this point where as Balrog the opponent will block everything, and crouch-tech everything else, so then i can just stand there and make them worry about U2 so my pressure actually works. Also i think being aware of how your whiffed attacks can be punished is really important. For example, Balrog’s cr.hk is his best long distance poke i feel since peoples hurtboxes are wider at the bottom in general. But it can be focus dashed really easily into a big punish, BUT you can cancel into super. So you use it the entire match, and then say Zangief, waits the entire match looking at you poking with cr.hk, and he has super/U1, so when he gets it, he reads the cr.hk, focus attacks and dashes forward buffering super/U1, but you knowing this are ready and cancel cr.hk into super.
I think as Balrog you have to think that far ahead sometimes when you find that you’re a very straight forward or technical player. I for example know a whole lot, but have very little innate ability to play games, I don’t see patterns well, I open myself up a lot, i get frustrated, but i know how things work, i can think of a lot of scenarios and have them in mind when i play. Sometimes I do reads very well, but play to street fighter’s strengths. There are some things that we haven’t thought of but generally, everything a player can do is finite and not incredibly complex, so if there’s no surprises, you should be able to put them in a position to open themselves up.
Food for thought: For every match, the first attack when the timer starts from neutral. Every character has a starting attack that can beat anything their opponent were to do, usually all but one or a few and that can be the easiest way to open someone up from the start. For example, against Ryu, his go to attack to beat all of Balrog’s possible options is slight walk back, cr.mk xx hado. Beats ALL of balrog’s options from neutral on a match start EXCEPT walk forward cr.hk (as a whiff punish/counter poke). Otherwise Ryu may just plasma, which Balrog can beat with anything, fierce headbutt being the go to option. And that exchange early on can give you a big advantage, like if you guess hado the first match and do headbutt through, the next match he remembers that moment, and may decide not to hado, so while he’s afraid of what to do you just rush punch or walk forward cr.hk and you’ve got your opening early in the match without losing any life.
I rambled a bit, but hopefully that’s helpful or answered some questions (maybe). lmk.
Well for me, in regards to the shimmy/dash punch/super, after the cr.mp xx dash punch, I pay REALLY close attention to the hit animation/sound or counter hit signs as I buffer the super. If I see the dash punch or original normal connect, then I mash and/or piano the kick buttons to activate super.
EDIT: See if it works for you, by setting the dummy to random block in training mode.
As for inspiration on creating openings, as helpful as the forums are, you’re probably better off just watching more vids of PR Balrog and Keno and taking some notes or making mental notes. If you manage to catch PR Rog streaming, just ask him in chat. He pretty much answers all questions. Although it could be tough to get a detailed answer for this sort of thing.
EDIT: A while ago, @3nigmat1c said he used U2 in matches sometimes just to prolong matches to “discover the matchup” (for lack of better terms). Perhaps you could try this. Without U1, you’re going to have to rely a lot more on your normals, jabs, frame traps, save meter very carefully etc.
EDIT 2: Oh yeah something else I forgot to mention. During a match, something as simple as changing the “timing” of your dash punches, jabs, normals, can all help throw your opponent off their game. There’s a fair few matches I’ve seen where Balrog or Bison players have just altered their timing, and momentum swings into their favour.
Thanks guys, I do appreciate the feedback. I think what you said about being sure that its the lp rush that’s coming out and not a mp rush due to negative button presses is good food for thought. Never thought about that.
Random block is something that I have completely forgotten about that would help my reactions. I have been working very hard on my anti fireball Ultra reaction along with dash Ultra. I have also been working on max damage punishes.
My Rog has gotten to the point that I have to continue to improve my footsies and really work on knowing when to stick out those cr sweeps, as I keep getting focused or jumped in on. I’ll continue to work.
Guys, should I post a couple of videos of me playing in here, or can I just post my Youtube channel and you can go have a watch and perhaps give me some feedback?
One other thing, I have only seen the PR Rog stream on youtube, never know when or where to look to see it live, any advice on where and when that would be?
Whatever you want to do - Youtube channel or embedded videos. Forums are kinda dead. Looks like you’ll only get 2 replies anyway lol.
There should be a follow button on that page. Click on it and you will be notified via email as to when he’s stream goes live. Or you can follow him on twitter (https://twitter.com/PR_Balrog), since he also tweets when he’s streaming as well.
You can go through his archives. Sometimes he’ll play ranked with various characters and sometimes he’ll focus only Balrog. Sometimes, he’ll switch it up in the same session.
Overall, there’s nothing really wrong with your gameplay. The decisions you make on what normals and dash punches to use are perfectly reasonable and in most cases, most other Balrog players would have done the same thing. Having said that, maybe consider the following.
Perhaps, establish your throw-game a bit earlier or even a bit more often. Even if your throws get tech’ed or you can uppercutted in the process, you’ve established your intentions to the opponent. Once you get them thinking about throws, they become easier to open up with frame traps, staggered jabs and the shimmy.
Constantly playing at the same pace/rhythm with jabs, normals and dash punches. Everytime you use jab, its usually chained and it seems to be just for baiting a dp. That’s also perfectly fine when you play against a lot of people online who just want to go random nuts, but it’s not always going to work against an experienced player who can tell what you’re doing. You might have to think about “teasing or harassing” the opponent when you use jab and make them roll a dice. Hit a jab or two (not chained, but leave a gap for them to press a button), and force the opponent to make a decision - to block, to tech/press a button or do a reversal. You’re making them ask themselves - Is he going to throw me? Is he trying to frame trap me? Should I take the risk and do a reversal? How much damage am I going to eat if I reversal?
*You kinda need to plant the idea in the opponent’s head, that if they don’t anything, they will get thrown. If they start tech’ing perfectly, then start trying frame traps. If the frame traps don’t work, go back to throwing.
*
3. When you’re trying to bait a reversal dragon punch from a Ken or Akuma by chaining jabs, you don’t need to wait so long after you’ve finished the chain. I’d probably wait half a second, then continue with maybe a throw or another jab into throw or even a frame trap. From what I remember, you probably waited a bit too long. Even if you do get hit by a dragon punch or some reversal, it’s still a risk you have to take occasionally. I did a basic video tutorial on how to use jabs in the beginner thread if you’re interested.
As far as wake-up EX dash punches go, EX dash straight should usually be your go to and that’s what you used, so that’s a good decision. But, if you really want to get away from an opponent (especially from an ambiguous jump-in attack), perhaps trying using the EX torpedo punch. A few times against Ken and Akuma, you woke up with EX dash upper or EX dash straight and were still in the vicinity to be punished by their sweep.
Now with TAP, it’s perfectly fine to use this randomly, as a followup punch (after a dash punch or whatever) or as a distance closer, since the level 1 version is only -2 on block. If it hits as a counter-hit or breaks focus (also counter-hit), you get a free combo into an EX loop or into headbutt > Ultra. However, against Gouken you using it a bit too much to pass through projectiles from almost fullscreen. There was even a point in round 1, where Gouken buffering his U1 after a fireball to punish your TAP. Fortunately, you didn’t pass through that particular fireball and Gouken messed up his timing/buffering/OS and you didn’t get punished. If it were me, I’d probably do a few neutral jumps and empty jumps until I was within poking range, if I wanted to get in really badly. Or if you had the patience just walk forward and crouch block your way towards him. You could also use focus dash backs or focus dash forwards to get through, while building your Ultra meter at the same time.
*Also consider all your options after a TAP is blocked or if it hits (and you land right next to your opponent) [Just a reminder to anyone else who reads this thread].
block
throw
neutral jump
jab xx dash punch, jab then throw
EX dash punch/overhead, EX headbutt (risky unless you’re going for chip)
backdash
I think there may have been times when you could have focused backdashed when you couldn’t react with an anti-air. But it could also just be due the lag or the online environment making it difficult to react.
I don’t think there was too much issue with meter consumption. May have been able to save up for a super in some cases. Perhaps, in that Gouken matchup, there may have been a few too many EX dash punches.
Props to you for posting probably Balrog’s more difficult matchups. I think a lot of players say that the Gouken/Balrog and Ken/Balrog matchups are 5/5, but they’re definitely not easy 5/5s.
Thanks for the feedback, excellent information.
I am posting my Sagat matches as well, those seem to be getting harder and harder as the players improve.
Thanks again, and I will put your information to thought.