I was reading back a few pages, and I noticed that there was some talk suggesting that Juri is like a watered down version of Yun. Yun is obviously a really good character (whereas Juri is a character that no one cares about), but let’s clear up some misconceptions about this. Juri and Yun have a number of similarities, but they are still fundamentally different characters. I don’t know a whole lot about Yun, but I’ll just go over some of the main things that make Yun so good and explain why it isn’t reasonable to lament that Juri’s abilities are “worse”.
First of all, meter-building. Yun’s main meter-building tool is Kobokushi (palm strike), which has 30/60 meter gain. You’ll see good Yun players whiffing this at every opportunity to build up their meter. It does build a lot (about 42 per second), but it’s not actually very safe. The animation is 42 frames, almost as long as Ryu’s Hadoken, so it is susceptible to being punished by things like jump-ins and dive kicks. I think the move seems better than it really is due to human error and character unfamiliarity. It has a deceptively large hitbox and long active frames, so a lot of times, people will run headlong into it instead of punishing the recovery, and Yun builds that extra 60 meter.
Juri builds her meter in a similar fashion, by whiffing her Fuhajin store. It has 20/20 meter gain and a 30-frame animation, which is only slightly slower (40 per second). On the other hand, it’s less punishable on whiff because of the much faster animation. It also gives her a stored fireball, which animates in 33 frames (Guile’s Sonic Boom animation is 29/31/33 frames for comparison). Yun, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a fireball.
Next, meter usage. Again, Genei Jin is clearly one of the best supers in the game, which works well with Yun’s ability to build meter so fast. Juri’s super is decent, but it’s not nearly as strong as Genei Jin. Of course, being that Genei Jin is a combo super, it’s being more readily compared to Juri’s Ultra I, Feng Shui Engine. I keep seeing complaints that Feng Shui Engine isn’t as good as Genei Jin, but there are too many differences between the two for it to be so black and white. The purported advantages of Genei Jin are that the activation is hit-confirmable, does more damage per combo, and combos can be started from a command grab and an overhead.
As you know, Juri also has the overhead option; both of their overheads have a 20-frame startup, so there’s not really any significant difference between the two. She doesn’t have a command grab, but her normal throw is very good, and it leads to a good mix-up. Since FSE is an ultra, Juri also doesn’t have the luxury of easy hit-confirms, but look at what she does have. FSE is a guaranteed activation once or twice per round, whereas Yun has to work to build up his meter and avoid using EX moves. If Yun messes up with his super, he loses his entire super meter and has to build it up again. Juri, on the other hand, is free to use her EX moves and still have access to FSE.
Now, let’s look at rushdown options. Yun has a safe dive kick, EX Zesshou Hohou (lunge punch), Zenpou Tenshin (command grab), and c.MP (+2 on block, +6 on hit). These are all really good, and Juri doesn’t have any of the same tools, but the fact is, she is just not a rushdown character. Shikusen is really not like other dive kicks, as it’s used more for mobility and punishment than rushdown (it can counter crouch tech, though). She does have a very good kara throw and a fireball with huge frame advantage, which don’t necessarily function as well as Yun’s tools but are not bad by any means. If you really want to play rushdown, I would suggest picking a character like Yun, but Juri has other strengths that you have to take advantage of, like her great mobility and corner game.
In general, stop worrying so much about what Juri doesn’t have or doesn’t do as well as other characters. There are other characters who have similar weaknesses and still do well in tournaments. Juri also has other useful tools that other characters can’t match. What’s important is to understand your character’s strengths and weaknesses and what you need to do in order to maximize her potential. Believe me, Juri has a lot of potential.
so I’m in the lab right now trying to break that habit.