Greetings, everyone. I’m a recent convert to Rufus after a year and a half of Hakan play, and I feel pretty solid with a lot of his basics, but I did have one question.
I’ve found myself struggling most against players whom knock me down to follow up with neutral jump attacks into BnB strings (Cody’s neutral heavy punch into low jabs into his tornado punch being fairly prevalent in my mind). In addition, I’ve suffered with cross-ups of someone jumping over me on wakeup, making it harder (if not impossible) to EX Messiah to get out of it.
What is the best way out of these situations? I’ve attempted to front dash out of being jump-crossed over by the likes of Akuma, but Rufus doesn’t turn around fast enough to even block, let alone counter-attack.
Practice blocking and wait for an opportunity to use your EX Messiah. When people are fighting against Rufus they’ll usually attack him relentlessly because without meter he’s practically vulnerable. When you have a meter for EX Messiah and they attempt to cross you up; use it. After you use it depending on the situation don’t do a follow up after so that you can get some breathing room, after being constantly pressure. Be careful because sometimes your opponent will bait you into using it (EX Messiah) and Option Select you when they’re able too.
That’s all I can think of for now. I hope this helps.
Just go into training mode and set up the same thing you were having trouble with. Set the dummy for neutral jumps on your wakeup and try to find the best option. Don’t be scared to block, sometimes its your best option.
You really should be able to get out of nearly all of the crossup situations via ex messiah kick…
But is it really necessary all of the time, in exchange for 1 meter.
Also you need to worry about getting os’ed.
Learn to block crossups, thats the way to go, without Hakan Ultra <3.
Aye, the problem with rufus is this defense is actually pretty crummy, especially on wake up where his EX messiah is like - one of the most safe jumpable moves in the game. Hit that back son.
Best thing to do on wake-up is to just block. If they neutral jump a lot on your wake-up then you can punish with EX Snake Strike, although it’s pretty risky.
Thanks for the tips, everyone. After a few hours of sparring with my girlfriend’s Cammy (with implicit instructions to neutral attack the fuck out of me) I think I’ve finally gotten accustomed.
Ex Jesus Kicks all day. If they are aggressive, Ex will beat out their normals. If they have ridiculously good meaty timing, you might not be able to pull it off. Practice. If you whiff the kicks, you can safely land far enough away where they cant punish effectively.
A terrible idea. The meter could be either saved up for Messiah FADC Ultra 1 or used for EX Tornado combos for more damage. Blocking has no ill consequences.
Try this:
[LIST=1]
[]If it’s a neutral jump to evade your ex messiah kick (which people more likely do this), try EX Snake Strike, cl.HP, or focus attack.
[]If it’s an earlier neutral jump where EX SS will whiff, try to block, backdash (haven’t tried), EX Messiah, or U2.
[/LIST]
It worked for me at least.
(the OP hakan player will like that)