Talk to me people, what are his best pokes? Which ones have the highest priority? Which ones are fastest? Which ones can be cancled? Super cancled?
By far, his best pokes are Crouching Forward and Standing Roundhouse. Those are the moves you throw out if you are hoping to catch the enemy while they aren’t Blocking or beating out their moves. Crouching Forward is better as a standard poke and Standing Roundhouse is better as a Space Controller, designed to hit their moves, especially low attacks.
From there, you can use Crouching Roundhouse, which has slightly less range than Crouching FOrward, but is good for positioning if you think you can catch the enemy standing.
Towards + Forward is a GREAT move, but tricky to implement. It’s not something you can just toss out all day because it has a slow start up, and people who are doing their own poking and space controlling can hit you randomly if you try it for no reason. It’s best to use it when you’ve got the enemy “scared” and defensive. After it is Blocked, the two characters recover at roughly the same time. I think Beni may recover slightly before, even. In any case, a quick Crouch Short into Fireball + Short follow-up usually catches people when they try to Counter attack a blocked Towards + Forward. Even better yet, you can go for a Super or a Custom Combo after the kick, and this will catch a lot of people. Sometimes, I go for a “Rushdown” of sorts by doing Towards + Forward, coutnering their counter with a Crouch Short, and then going into Towards + Forward again to apply pressure. Then I mix up with Stand Roundhouse or just do Crouch Short into Fireball + Short. I never try to keep up the pressure in this style, however, because it’s risky. And don’t try Towards + Forward into Super Throw. It won’t reach.
When up really close, Crouching Short is a good move. At closest range, three Crouching Shorts into Fireball + Short will do Block damage, which is always good, and it pushes the enemy away: Benimaru is not a good close-up fighter. Also, it’s fast and if the enemy gets hit, the whole thing will Combo for you. It’s his best B&B because it’s easy, safe, and reliable.
If you choose Beni in a Run Groove, Crouching Jab and Crouching Short take on another use for Rushdowns. Doing a standard CvS2 Run-Groove Rushdown with those moves (Running Crouching Jab, Running Crouching Jab, etc.) is always effective, if you are good at Running Rushdowns.
Lastly, Jumping straight up or jumping forward and doing an immediate Down + Roundhouse is really really vital to the poking game, as it attacks from an different angle and allows him to make it over the majority of ground pokes from opponents. Be careful, though: if you do it at improper angles, the enemy may be able to Throw you when you land. Try to aim for the bottom of their legs (if they are standing) when you do this to make it as safe as possible. Follow-up with a Crouchng Short, as that’s his fastest move. If you do the Down + Roundhosue deep, though, sometimes you can land with a Super Grab. Since Down + Roundhosue causes very short Block Stun, the Super Greab just might connect, but it’s sorta random… it all depends on how low the lowest hits lands on your opponent. If it’s too low, the Throw will whiff because the enemy is still in hit/block stun. Your mileage on this trick will vary. As it is, I hardly use it unless I need a comeback or something.
Hope that helps with the poking department.
- James