Optimizing combos

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
1

At the moment i am a confident Balrog player, and i feel all combos that can be done i can do. But, my struggle is deciding which combos I should use and at what time? I know corner position is key. Sometimes comboing into ultra early isn’t so great because it can be a comeback factor. That being said what should be done mid screen?
Example; both players have same health both have two bars and Rog lands cr. jab what should the Rog combo into?

Me in this situation i usually: cr.jab cr.mp Ex dash upper cr.jab cr.mp ex dash upper cr.jab cr.mp hp Headbutt

lately ive been trying to combo into mp. dash straight more often because of how close it puts me in front of the opponent, but what should i do after the mp dash straight hits. i know its different depending on how my opponent plays but what should i look for, and what should i keep applying pressure with?

First post on SRK so don’t rip me apart

2

There’s not enough activity here to get ripped apart so don’t be worried about it.

Balrog has a lot of options. I personally think that i almost NEVER get an opponent who i hit standing so i never get a lot of opportunities to land ex.ru combos. BUT, there is one option that no balrogs really uses AFAIK. You can combo into lk.smash mid-screen for a corner carry if you’re anywhere close to mid-screen. So cr.lp, cr.lp, st.lp, cr.mp xx ex.ru, cr.lp xx lk.smash OR cr.lp, cr.mp xx ex.ru, cr.lp, st.lp, cr.mp xx ex.ru, cr.lp/cr.lk xx lk.smash Either of those combos will corner carry, but are somewhat character specific, you need to land a max-range cr.mp where ex.ru will still combo on hit, to be able to have enough time to get back-charge to do the cr.lp/cr.lk xx lk.smash. See below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLLzOVQNvwM

After mp.ds, i’d suggest going for a cl.hk or cl.hp, they won’t catch any 3f normals, but they do work against 4f lows etc. Also, it’s difficult for most characters to “walk” out of grab attempts after being hit by an mp.ds it’s -1, so you don’t have a whole lot of advantage, but you can get away with some pretty decent normals, just don’t try to shimmy after an mp.ds because you’ll get tagged by a low or crouch-tech. His ex.dash punches are good on hit and block as well with more push back, so alternating can give you some really good opportunities to force the opponent to press a button when they shouldn’t.

Also it depends on how much control you’re in if you knock them down. For example, if you’rep laying an opponent with a 3f dp, i’d say always go for headbutt. He has easy 3f safe jump if they don’t quick rise and if they do, they have to deal with fake left/right cross-up. If they have a 5f reversal, always combo into sweep (e.g. ex.ru, cr.lp, st.lp, cr.hk) since you get free 5f safe jump and can do a delayed sweep to catch backdashes. If you’re playing someone like Guile or Deejay, i feel like its best to combo into straights so you can maintain momentum and they have to commit to something stupid (e.g. ex up kicks or flash kick) which can be a pain to bait and punish. Throwing after mk.ru is really nice for those opponents who have equal or less throw range as Balrog since they can’t stand-tech and open themselves up to shimmy really easily (e.g. NOT Rose).

Is that what you were looking for?

3

sorry for the very late reply. but thank you im working on this. im also trying to implement a grab game mixup after knockdowns. and learning how to adapt to player tendencies.

4

No problem, here’s a portion of my grab mix-up game/flowchart that you may be able to springboard off of:

*Jab hit-confirm into sweep
-Opponent doesn’t tech: cr.lp, j.hk <safe jump>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: j.hk, cr.lp <meaty cr.lp>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: j.hk, throw <meaty throw>

*Successful fwd.throw
-Opponent doesn’t tech: fwd.dash, cr.lp, j.hk <safe jump>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: fwd.dash, j.hk, cr.lp <meaty cr.lp>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: fwd.dash, j.hk, throw <meaty throw>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: jump back lk.smash <meaty armor breaker, positive on block>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: cr.mp, j.hp <3f safe-jump, opponents can walk out of it>
-Opponent techs: cr.lp, fwd.dash, cr.lp, j.hk <safe jump>
-Opponent techs: cr.lp, fwd.dash, j.hk, cr.lp <meaty cr.lp>
-Opponent techs: cr.lp, fwd.dash, j.hk, throw <meaty throw>

*Combo into headbutt
-Opponent techs: jump-in mixup to swap sides (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20617091/hb_mxups_2012.pdf)
-Opponent techs: slight walk back jump-in <safe jump>
-Opponent techs: slight delay, TAP <meaty armor breaker>
-Opponent doesn’t tech: (any jump in), cl.mp, nj.hp <3f safe jump, works mid-screen>

*Successful safe jump
-Opponent blocks: cr.lp for frame advantage, initiate frame-trap on block (SF4 Game Mechanics: Frame Traps
-Opponent blocks: walk forward, go for throw
-Opponent blocks: walk forward, block
-Opponent blocks: Instant overhead nj.hp or j.lp (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20617091/Instant_Overhead.pdf)
-Opponent backdashes: O/S st.hp or cr.hk (SF4 Game Mechanics: Option-Selects

etc, I think there’s significant utility in understanding what Balrog’s most efficient damage/stun is given a certain situation. So using the general flow-chart above, you can calibrate for your opponent and if you have the awareness apply the most damaging result and resume your flow-chart.

5

@ 3nigmat1c Been meaning to reply to this post for a while but just keep forgetting.

  • Following up MP dash straight on hit with close st.HK is pretty innovative. Didn’t really occur to me. I’d either throw or shimmy. But that’s a good mixup to throw in there as well.
  • Those combos into torpedo punch made think of the Balrog Trial combo cr.LP, close st.MK xx Torpedo punch. Off a focus crumple, there’s probably a better non-meterless combo into Torpedo punch that I’m not thinking of, but I haven’t been into training mode just yet. From memory, cr.MP xx Torpedo doesn’t combo if Balrog is too far from the opponent.
6

Off a crumple, the best combo into smash is probably, crumple, cl.hk, st.lp, cr.mp xx ex.ru, cr.lp xx lk/ex.smash

Cr.mp xx smash almost never works unless you’re point blank, ex is a bit more reliable, but only a bit. cr.lp xx lk/ex.smash are your best bets almost 100% of the time. cr.lk xx lk.ex/smash is also reliable against some characters for example, j.hk, cr.mk, cr.lk xx lk.smash works against crouching Akuma but no other characters AFAIK.

7

I’ve gone into looking more in depth with balrog. And I found ending with mk.Upper leaves you +1on hit. Has anyone found any use of this? it kinda puts you just out of throw range so anything come from using this?

8

Yep it leaves you pretty much exactly where you want to be.
you have literally all the options!

basic roundhouse vs throw frametrap is good after that.

9

I feel after a mk upper combo ender, I can delay jab and bait dp/ counter hit any button presses.

10

I haven’t tried focusing yet but I think it’s worth giving a go if they’re not throwing out a reversal.