Uhm… What do I do aganist that freaking WAZOOOOO kick? It just owns the hell out of rufus
I got my ass handed to me by a G1 Guile player, I know the guy personally so no salt there 
Anyway, he is just F@#$% untouchable, got a response to everything I did… Dive Kick? no problem I’ll just c.hp or flash kick… jesus kick? no worries… I’ll get you on time, jumping HK? no problem, I’ll grab your fat ass in the air or jump.lk and I’ll get ya!.. He is no turtle, he is very aggressive and seems to be always charging a move. I’m not a pro Rufus, but I think I’m decent enough to win more than a round…
I looked for some Rufus vs Guile videos in the SFdojo, but, unfortunately all matches are lost by Rufus… so, anyone with any tips? or videos? I’ll try to record a match of this guy to better illustrate how deep Guile’s boot is in my behind!
Guile’s freaking tough to get in on, as he should be. If you’ve got a good wakeup game, though, Rufus owns him once you get that one knockdown. If he’s aggressive, what you want to do is bait him. Do a barely-off-the-ground divekick to bait out a flashkick (you should be able to block it after landing unless he psychic FKs), and punish him with a HP-tornado combo. A Guile will be ducking a lot, so see if you can mix in a few overhead kicks.
Hey guys, Ryu the Boss here. Seeing as a lot of you here use Rufus, I’m here to convert you to the way of the projectile. Check out my fireballs for beginner video. See you guys out there, and remember, HODUKEN.
[media=youtube]rBOeeEguoMY[/media]
Great technique video, thanks!
Awsome vid RyuTheBoss. Why don’t you make a few more and show us how to do a hurricane kick over a fireball. I THINK WE ALL , yes, WE ALL need this info, and we need it well QUICK!
Rock on man!
There’s no specific match-up thread for SSFIV? Seems a bit odd, given the amount of changes and the introduction of the new chars… or will character specific sub-sections be added to the SSFIV sub-forum when the game’s officially launched?
Hey guys Ryu the Boss here,
ChuFye I’m so pumped that you liked my video and it helped your game. So your wish is my command. I made the hurricane kick over a projectile video. I think you guys had enough time to get the projectiles down, so now step your game up with the hurricane kick! Hope this helps!
here it is: [media=youtube]2ofBbB_zsww&feature=channel[/media]
This is my opinion so far of most of the matchups that changed and for new chars with a little note. Remember its just my opinion.
Sagat 5/5
This change is due to U2, Sagat’s 2nd hit of HK only doing 40 dmg (instead of 110!!!), significantly lesser dmg on tiger uppercut and j.mp nerf.
Ryu 4.5/5.5 in ryu’s favor.
Nothing much changed here. U2 changes the zoning game, but I don’t think enough for it to be even.
Zangief 5/5
Gief’s dmg output on his combos and some pokes have been nerfed, while Rufu’s normals still do the same. Rufus’s dmg from combos got nerfed, but in a Gief matchup, you rarely get one in to begin with. Also the Lariat nerf makes the match easier for Rufus players because punishing a whiffed lariat is much easier from far range and close range. And apparently his hitbox during his jumps are now bigger so you have even more room to punish jumpers. Now which Ultra to use? I’m thinking U2 because it will punish any jump attack he does, even headbutt. It won’t beat empty neutral jump so be careful about that. U2 also punishes whiffed lariats, close range and far range.
Balrog 4.5/5.5 in balrog’s favor
Balrog stayed the same and Rufus dmg output weaker. Advantage Balrog.
Seth 5.5/4.5 in Rufus’ favor
I might be pushing it with this but I’m thinking this because of the same reason as balrog. Seth U2 also gives him better dmg output. I’m not sure how Rufu’s U2 fares on seth players.
Vega 6/4 in Rufus’ favor
Vega is good now lol.
And for the new chars:
Juri 6/4 in Rufus’ favor
Her EX pinwheel will get her out of trouble or get her into trouble. She can’t get Rufus off her.
Hakan ?/? in Rufus’ favor
I haven’t played enough Hakan to even think about a matchup. But the only thing that saves Hakan here is U2. Rufus will win tho. Also, Hakan hitbox is maybe like blanka/balrog.
Makoto 9/1 in Rufus’ favor
Makoto has no answer to rushdown. She is basically free at the moment. Unless there’s something I’m totally missing.
Ibuki ?/?
Didn’t play with or against Ibuki. But I’m thinking she could give Rufus some trouble.
Dudley 5/5
Dudley has all the tools to counter Rufus’ rushdown, but not to prevent it. Rufus can stop Dudley from starting his with c.mp and s.hp.
I’m leaving it even for now because Dudley takes a while to learn so I’m thinking we haven’t seen his true game yet. But at the moment, I think he’s overated.
Adon 6/4 in Rufus favor
U2 shuts down 3/4 of his special moves.
Cody 7/3 in Rufus favor
Zonk/Bingo doesn’t save Cody here. He is basically free to rushdown once your in. Cody will need godlike reactions or guess right forever to prevent Rufus from coming in.
Guy 6/4 in Rufus Favor
EX snake strike beats his floaty jump-ins and ninja flip. Guy only saving grace here is his own EX messiah kick.
With all these matchups, I think Rufus is sitting at the top 3 position.
Good news: Rufus’ target combo does not whiff on any of the new characters while they’re crouching. Still whiffs on the same old players (-_- @ Ryu).
Ibuki seemed pretty free. She’s extremely floaty in the air and has an abnormally large hitbox making it extremely easy to double roundhouse or ex-snakestrike her out of there. Her only reversal option is her ex-flippy kick move, but I don’t think that auto corrects. Her aerial mix-ups remind me of Akuma except a bit more dangerous. Because Ibuki has a pretty good vortex I’m unsure of how I want to rank this match.
U2 destroys Akuma from what most Akuma players told me. Assuming that fireballs are completely unsafe (which takes away half of Akuma’s game). I wonder if Rufus can U2 Akuma’s teleport.
I still think Guile is going to be a tough match-up for Rufus.
Curious as to how Abel’s U2 (Breathless) will effect Rufus’ dive pressure game. I heard it was gdlk, but we’ll see.
I think Dhalsim’s are going to be a huge pain in the ass. Him getting buffs is going to allow him to play the keep away game much longer while doing more damage. Curious as to how U2 would fair against him.
Chun Li’s U2 is going to help her against her match with Rufus. Still, I think Rufus can handle her. Short dive kick pressure as usual since even without her U2 most Chun’s were able to anti-air Rufus from full jump ins.
Does U2 punish Blanka’s blanka ball on block? If it does, lol.
No way rufus-cody is 7-3, i agree with the rest of your list (ill say boxer and ryu are 6-4)
Also 9-1 is too extreme against makoto althought ill say it can be perfectly 8-2
Dictator will beat rufus now imo. Have to see how he deals against guile.
I forgot to mention Guile, he is gonna give Rufus some problems now.
What did Dictator get that gives him an even bigger advantage now?
For Dhalsim matchup, once your in…your in lol.
I haven’t played any Abels, but I think Rufus will have to tweak their strat a little to prevent Abel from doing ultra against dive kick.
As for Cody, I don’t see him getting away from rushdown. He’s got anti-air normals and HK Ruffian. So I might be going overboard on the 7/3 though lol.
And yes, U2 punishes Blanka Balls lol
chuns either lk or mk (not sure which one it is) got wayyyy faster and stuffs dive kicks clean with proper spacing now. And it seems her moves do more stun too, cause I got stunned in two combos from her earlier, may have just been me getting owned though.
I have played this game for 45 hours over an indeterminate period of time. I, however, do not own or possess any copy of this game, legitimate or otherwise so I can’t test anything. I can so far confirm that if you feel so inclined you can U2 punish Sim and Dictator’s back teleports. I don’t know about Akuma but I’m assuming it’d be the same. The only other thing I punished was Blanka ball on block . I can’t really comment too much on punishes because I simply work on more of an anticipation and reactionary basis, so I would generally reverse things before they hit me.
MOST aerials as long as they aren’t safejumped or empty neutral jumps. Attempted crossup tatsus get punished. Condor dive on block, or in reaction to the oncoming dive. If done at an angle that it actually crosses you up (generally off your knockdown), the one time I did try it Hawk was too far above me and U2 only sucks in from the forward direction.
If you can consistently reverse Abel’s hoyle kick (or whatever it’s called) on reaction with U1/EX messiah for all hits, you can certainly do it with U2. I don’t know if you can punish a whiff though, and I didn’t want to risk attempting to punish it on block as it seems to have a startup between vanilla rog U1 and Honda’s U1 (given how safejumps can’t be AA’d). Guy’s flip, Guy’s Run, Guy’s chun-li hazanshu type dealie, Guy’s vertical drop from that flip, Ibuki’s Kunai, Maximum Beat, Kikosho, Hadouken, Tiger Shot, Tiger Knee, SONIC BOOM (!!!1111one… with a teeny few more frames for you to do it on reaction than simply guessing it perfectly a la Abel/Chun Li’s U1), Seth’s Boom, Dhalsim’s tp and his Yoga Fire. Seismo Hammer, Burning Kick, Thunder Knuckle… just be aware that the wily Viper player will be aware of your U2 goodness and start playing like a dick with all sorts of cancels just to bait. What I found this did for the matchup, however, is that you can now jump in pretty safely or divekick midway through your arc to approach her if she decides she’s just going to try and bait your U2 all day long.
Also, on a Dee Jay who was attempting that dastardly vortex on me with the j. mk and the jab links to cr. mk: 50/50 ambiguous crossup working as a double edged sword when they end up not crossing up and blocking incorrectly after the flash despite it being a safejump. (This was mentioned in some Theoryfighter in another thread).
EDIT: That’s just stuff about U2, however. One thing that is worth commenting on is appropriately timed Blanka U2 and and Abel’s U2 to stop your triangle jumping divekick shennanigans. In a way, it is very similar to trying to trick Vanilla Akuma from AA’ing your ass with Ultra demon. If you want to bait out their ultra, just jump at a range where divekick can d/f+mk~f crossup at full extention (but don’t jump immediately within falling sky range… that shit hurts now), and if they’re used to you doing a lot of divekicks once you’re 30% of the way up they’ll just ultra. At appropriate range, even if they just sit there charging it waiting for you to land etc… just divekick from max height and cross them up. If they move, also just divekick as low as you can and you may just cross them up anyway. Don’t get me wrong. Abel’s U2 is dangerous, hell, ABEL is dangerous now. You just have to be careful and play it cool.
EDIT 2 (forgot to mention Blanka’s U2): Even though you won’t want to jump too much, if they can ground U2 your divekick on reaction, even with the startup, it WILL get your divekick. Be careful. Also: Don’t do what I did… EX messiah reversal a random wakeup Ultra 2. It turned out to be the AA one, which is instant, and Messiah kick lost. It could’ve just been cus it was at the wall, but remain cautious all the same. If you see Ultra 2, just jump back and if it’s AA do a d/b hold after your divekick to land quickly and dash in to punish the monstrous recovery. If it’s the ground version, just divekick in such a way that you hit him inbetween ground pounds.
Is it just me or is Ryu way harder now?
FADC does more damage than before (probably due to Rufus taking a stamina drop), and Shoryu xx Shinkuu Hadoken does retarded damage on Rufus.
Ryu doesn’t appear to be nerfed at all save trade DP’s, whereas Rufus damage output is lower overall (bnb, snake strike, messiah, ultra all do significantly less damage). What am I missing that this matchup actually got better for Rufus?
That’s what I was thinking!
Fighting Ryu’s is a huge pain in the ass. I was hoping they were going to give him some tools against fireball spamming, but they didn’t do anything.
^I hope that’s sarcasm and just a way of teasing the previous poster. Big Bang Typhoon. Seriously. Ryu isn’t as fscked as Akuma because of it, but even then, you can at least close in a little easier. @ParryAll: Rufu’s stamina drop doesn’t cut the fact that everyone bar like Sim and possibly Claw had their damage nerfed. This includes Ryu, so fundamentally, the damage is similar. Alternatively, you could try not jumping in.
Ryu is definitely easier. Seriously.
Early game absorb his fireballs and build U2 Ultra. Once you have it he CANNOT throw fireballs safely from 3/4 of the screen. Rufus sacrifices being able to U1 from certain combos in order to bring this match to a close quarters combat fight. I think Rufus benefits from the CQC match obviously although Ryu isn’t free.
So at this point you’re just facing a non-hadouken Ryu who’s going to attempt to rush you down. He also is going to have trouble building meter without hadouken spamming which means his bars become more expensive.
If he jumps, cr.mp/st.fp/j.hk/EX Snakestrike anti-air him.
This match-up definitely gets easier with U2 equipped imo. Even without it, Ryu’s nerfs make it easier to trap him in a corner.
…Hm… I wonder if Rufus can dash (or dashx2) to U2 punish if Ryu tries to tatsu escape out of corner.
In regard to punishing akumas teleport and dhalsim’s IAT, couldn’t these two characters both reveral ultra II? I’m making a list of punishes and on reaction punishes for rufus’s ultra II, and will add stuff like that to the list as well. I won’t have time to really do it until later though.
It’s suppose to be a punish as in it catches them on the lag of their move @ Bja_eh. If they can block after teleport then it’s not a punish.
Also, Hakan has Boxer legs. That is, short dive kicks will whiff at his ankles, but they hit the top of his knee.