I could be missing something, as I didn’t play against Rufus much in sf4, but Im playing Guile in this and have a really hard time against the top BP Rufus players
in Japan on xbox. I generally do fine against the top BP players of most other characters fwiw. But the top Rufus players basically own me. First of all, he doesn’t have to get in… the starter character gets him in, and then he starts on top of you. Second of all, in this game, unlike in Sf4, he can do massive damage from confirming low short x n, and from quite a distance away. Also, Guile is missing key anti airs compared to street fighter 4: air throw, stand fierce, and down forward roundhouse are all ass in this game. Compared to sf4, the ratio of your anti air damage to his combo damage is waay lower. Well, you said you have to recognize the difference between his normal, instant, and delayed dive kicks. Recognize how? Are you saying you actually dont commit to an anti air until you visually see the divekick start? I dont think you have enough time (correct me if Im wrong).
I can play against Rufus with my Nina. I don’t think Nina beats Rufus, but I can keep his ass out the air with her. You just have to specifically practice anti airing. I’m a lifelong Guile player (sim as well in pre sfiv games). Maybe my AA aptitude is just a little better. I mean the first thing I did when I got the game was practiced my characters AAs. needed some help for Xiayou admittedly.
Spacing in this matchup becomes more second nature or intuitive as you play it enough. Good Rufus will walk back and forth to try to fuck with your ranges. but Rufus walk speed sucks dick, and is even worse in this game. Rufus walk down dive kick games is what made him effective in sfiv, especially amongst compotent Rufus players. There is nothing here that makes him scarier except for his reward from a landed divekick.
Still doesn’t mean the same rules that applied in sfiv don’t apply here. And help I can air counter hit the fat fuck and turn it into 300 to 400 damage. Divekicks having higher blockstun works against. Alpha counter, tag cancel another smooth 400 damage.
Rufus isn’t staying on top once people wisen up, stop whining, and start grinding this matchup. Rufus also has worse defensive options under pressure. He can turn 3 stocks with messiah kicks into halflife damage anymore. Block messiahs are damn near guaranteed punishes now because no more focus cancels. He has followups but its just as much a guess for him as it is for you.
Followups for jesus kicks are safe and he can tag cancel it on hit for arguably just as much damage as ultras in sf4.
But considering how much damage he already does and that he actually has a low game now i think that’s a moot point.
It’s not as simple as you make it seem and I get the feeling you haven’t played a top Rufus. You think that the pros haven’t played against Rufus type characters before? You think they don’t know how to use spacing and all the other crap you are talking about? There is a reason dive kicks are good in almost every fighting game.
Beating someone who just dive kicks for no reason isn’t hard, beating someone who knows how to bait your AA response is hard. The reason dive kicks are such a problem to deal with is that they allow you to change your trajectory and in the hands of a play who actually uses them correctly they are very dangerous.
This is a timing and hitbox thing. You don’t need airthrows. Only bad Rufus players got airthrown by Guile on a regular basis. There is noting I can tell you here besides play the matchup more. Your key anti airs are St.mp (for divekicks outside sweep range), st.mp for jump fp, st.mk for max range divekicks. It’s a bit of a journey learning to properly AA Rufus. It took me a month in vanilla to get use to it. Guile usual AA options work here. Also at close ranges st.jab isn’t a bad idea here. Just reneged AA his feet not his.body. that is the thing that throw people off. Also jump back fierce is a good defensive AA, jump forward roundhouse is good for Rufus players whi wakeup jump a lot. Wakeup jumping is something a Rufus at every level do, so get free damage from them when they try that. Oh and neural jump fierce is still ggod in this game against Rufus. Meaty backhand pressure snuff divekick prejump frames. And dont be a afaid to rush him a little. He has a hard time dealing with pressure.
As for people who get him in, learn how to better fight their point characters is the best advice I can give. I have a lot of experience in the Rufus vs Guile matchup. Played it every Fucking weekend for almost 4 years. And the matchup isn’t drastically different here.
Df.hk is good against him too, but kind of situational. It’ll come togehter when you play the matchup more and after you put your time into training mode
Exactly, there’s a reason why 50% of the teams at ncr had rufus and 100% of the japanese players have him (and they’d pick him twice if they could).
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Julia.
I’ve never played Justin or Ricky O Rufus. But I’ve played good Rufus players, with my scene having a ton of them. Know Rufus gameplan is to bait AAs. That’s the point of being mobile because its a commitment on his end. Of course a good Rufus is going to find better work arounds. But its not difficult to shut down his basic game. People on these boards aren’t complaining about Rufuses with great situational knowledge and superior spacing like Wong or Ricky. They’re talking about random line mindless divekick spamming Rufus players. People aren’t complaining about Rufus through excellent positioning and spacing Fuck up their AA timing. They talking about Rufus players who don’t know what they’re doing.
I don’t claim to know how to beat Justin Wongs Rufus. But any Ryu advice isn’t based on beating Daigos Ryu. It’s basically how to shutdown his basic tools. Which should shutdown 90% of the uncommited Rufus bandwagoners.
LOL @ PICK RUFUS TWICE.
Yeah. I know. Remember when in vanilla most top 8s had Ryu, Rufus, and Balrog. Or how every team in vanilla mvc3 at Final Round had Sentinel. Things will change in a month or two. Don’t take what’s happening now like its set in stone. Rufus is good, won’t deny it, but he has a lot of weaknesses.
It doesnt help that Rufus shits on 90% of the tekken cast.
Just like I could easily shut down any Yun from AE except the people who were actually good players. I don’t care about beating scrubs. I care about beating players who think. There are a lot of ok Rufus players out there, but till you have actually played someone who understands the character you haven’t played Rufus.
Ryu and Rufus were still good at the end of Vanilla. Hell apart from AE neither of the two characters has ever been bad.
People who say they have problems with Rufus when they are playing as a character with no answer for dive-kick pressure have a legitimate reason to be annoyed. I never have to be worried because I run Sagat and Rufus ALWAYS has to respect Sagat.
In SF4 Rufus would body people who did not have an answer for his Dive kick, that is why Japanese players started developing new technology like jump back lp to deal with dive kicks(including the twins). Hopefully something like that could be found in this game.
I will say to people who haven’t played the SF4 series much or haven’t played a strong rufus, you can body him just as hard as he bodies you on wake up. He might have EX Messiah kick, but you can bait it and punish, treat it like an SRK but not as deadly(Since SRK can be done on EVERY WAKE UP).
Remember one thing, Rufus has to be inches from you to keep that pressure on, you can stand your ground and beat out his jump ins and dive kicks from certain distances. The only really bullshit thing is Crumble on his cr.fp counter hit, pretty stupid lol.
I play Atlanta players. They know how to play Rufus. That’s what I’m basing my experience on, not a bunch of scrub online matches. And if you think I come from a weak scene, 2 Atlanta players made top 8 at Final Round. So I think if anyone is a good Rufus I the Atlanta scene I can assume they are a pretty fucking good Rufus.
how many tekken character doesn’t get owned by guile for free?
and he does pretty well vs ryu and rufus also.
I LOL @ GUILE VS ASUKA OR PAUL. THOSE ARE EASILY 10-0 MATCH UPS
Yes and you can ask DBJoeseph and Dat Knut who I play in addition to having had played J-Wong and Ricky. There is a massive gap between average Rufus players and awesome Rufus players. It is just like when I hear people say “Oh I never lose to Akuma” because they haven’t played anyone who actually knows how to use the character.
Also just because you come from a good scene doesn’t mean you are actually good. You might be, but there are a lot of players who have all the access to the great players but still manage to stall.
Me and Joeseph were suppose to get matches in at FR, but we never got around to it.
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in Atlanta who don’t know me. I was in the Atl scene long before dbjoesph. And I know da Knut, he’s my friend. We teamed up in the teams tournament at Final Round this year. I can admit they both are better than me, as they are more commited. But Im no pushover, until I run up on bad matchups.
it’s pretty sad that i main asuka and didn’t even know what her idel animation was
and i agree with picking two chars with overlapping flaws is just making things harder for yourself
yet i still do it o.O