Remixed Remix Boxer Thread

Classic Fighting Games SSF2T: HD Remix
1

Preface

None yet.

Handy Links

The Original Boxer thread
Boxer wiki
Controlling space by Ponder/Seth Killian
Reaction Guide by Thelo
Street Fighter Dojo Maintained by zaspacer
HDR frame data maintained by Rufus
Best source of ST hitbox and frame data. by Geo. Has handy links, too.
Combo FAQ by Fresh OJ

Organization

I plan to organize the first few posts starting with beginners tactics and end with advanced tactics/character specific stuff. You’ll probably notice somethings are posted in more than one section. This is because I believe that it is hard to learn everything in one go. So I’ll start explaining the general properties of a move in one section, but I might discuss it in a later section in more detail. The idea behind this is that I think there are certain nuances that are easier to understand with a greater understanding of the game. For example, I have two block string sections right now. The first block string section is for very reliable block strings that almost always work. My second block string section involves riskier block strings, but are useful as mix ups. These block strings need to be used with more care, and so more experience is needed to determining when to use them. So I think it is better for newer players to develop a good sense of how to use the first few block strings and get a solid grasp of Boxer’s fundamentals before moving to things like mix ups.

Notation

jab = LP = light punch
strong = MP = medium punch
feirce = HP = hard punch

short = LK = light kick
forward = MK = medium kick
roundhouse = HK = hard kick

Joystick Notations:

d,b,f,u (down, back, forward, up)

or the “num pad” notation

789 | ub u uf
456 | b n f
123 | db d df

Taken from here

General information Stuff that’s good to know and can be used almost all the time. Also, thanks to Rufus for the awesome screen captures!

Played ST but New to HDR?

Skip to here for Boxer’s nerfs.

Standing Normals

I’ve included pictures of Boxer’s more commonly used normals to give you an idea of where his offensive and defensive hit boxes are.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/733/jabr.jpg

St. jab - Fast and repeatable. Boxer’s whole arm is invincible during the attack. This would be a great poke if it didn’t wiff crouchers. That said you can repeat it to stop Honda’s headbutt/super and Blanka balls.

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/2338/fstrong.jpg

St. strong - Good fast anti-air normal. As an added bonus it will catch people who try to jump away from throw attempts.

Cl. fierce Help! I know you can combo into this against certain characters, but I don’t remember what the combo is or who it works on. Also, does this have a use otherwise?

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5776/ffierce.jpg

Far fierce - Slow but good poke. Has about half a screen range and can really catch people by surprise. Great for creating space against certain characters like Honda and Gief. Note that the following characters have to block Boxer’s far Fierce even while crouching.

Fei
Sim
Claw
Sagat
T.Hawk
Gief
Rog
Honda

Far fierce will wiff on the rest of the cast if their crouching.

St. short - I don’t use this.

Cl. and far forward - I don’t use this

Cl. and far roundhouse - I don’t use this

Crouching Normals

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/4540/crjab4.png

Cr. jab - Fast and repeatable. Does not have the same invincibility as st. jab, but it won’t wiff on crouchers. Good for block strings and tick throws.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4509/crstrong3.png

Cr. strong - Boxer’s best overall poke. Like with st. jab, Boxer’s whole arm is invincible and it has a decent
amount of range. It’s cancelable to boot. Great for general counter poking, controlling space, and block strings.

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/4243/crfierce4.png

Cr. fierce - Another good anti-air normal. It’s slower than st. strong, but you can keep a down charge and it seems to have more active frame. If anyone can help me flesh out when to use st. strong over cr. fierce that’d be great.

Cr. short - The animation looks a lot like cr. jab, but it’s not repeatable, and the hit box extends from the top of boxers arm almost all the way to the ground. Can be used to counter poke an opponent who is wiffing low pokes, but you’re better off with cr. forward.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4003/crforward3.png

Cr. forward - Another good normal for Boxer. I think Boxer’s fist is completely invincible, it has decent range, and a good amount of active frames. It hits low, too. This is great for counter poking a opponent wiffing a low poke right in front (Guile’s cr. forward) of you or Vega’s slide. Also good for as a meaty attack, tick throws, and block strings.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8356/crroundhouse4.png

Cr. roundhouse - Again, I think Boxer’s fist is invincible during this attack. It knocks down. Has okay range for a sweep. I’ve found it’s good to throw out as a poke or in a block string to keep your opponent wary of your low attacks (and thus keeping them from trying to jump or walk away).

Jumping Normals

Diagonal j. jab - I don’t use this.

Neutral j. jab - I don’t use this.

Diagonal j. strong - I use this when I’m jumping in and I’m trying to keep TAP charged. It’s a good jump in, but if you’re not charging TAP, j. forward is better.

Neutral j. strong - I don’t use this.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2789/djfierce3.png

Diagonal j. fierce - I use this if I’m jumping over a fireball or another move and I want to try to punish at the same time. It’s also a good jump in, much like j. forward.

Neutral j. fierce (aka float fierce) - Has the weird property where you can control Boxer in the air for a bit. This makes jumping over fireballs a lot easier. As far as I know, this is the safest way to get around fireballs, though you can’t keep a charge nor do you go very far.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8595/jshort.jpg

Diagonal j. short - Great for safe jumps. It has a lot of active frames so it’s easy to get them to overlap with your opponent on wake up so long as you time the jump correctly. I think it should stay out for the duration of the jump if you hit short just as you’re falling from the apex of your jump.

Neutral j. short - I don’t use this.

Diagonal j. forward - Almost exactly like diagonal j. short, only it isn’t active for as long but does more damage. Good for jump ins that aren’t safe jumps.

Neutral j. forward - I don’t use this.

Diagonal j. fierce…I mean roundhouse - See diagonal j. fierce. Their pretty much the same move. Lazy programmers.

Neutral j. roundhouse - Useful for when you think your opponent is going to try to reversal throw on wake up or out of block stun. For example, if you land a throw against Gief, cross under like you’re going to go for a cr. forward tick throw. But instead of going for a low forward, jump straight up (and out of the reversal SPD) and then hit him with neutral j. roundhouse on the way back down.

Specials

Straight Rush (Jab, strong, fierce) - Fast and it has lots of range. The front part of Boxer’s fist is invincible. The only problem is that this move wiffs on crouchers. Additionally, the fierce version will knock down on hit. Good for an occasional poke, trading with fireballs (especially shotos), and combos on standing characters.

Low Rush (Jab, strong, fierce) - A little slower than his Rushing Straight, and it has less range, but all three strengths knock down and they have to be blocked low. Just watch out for people who like to jump since they can jump right over the punch and hit you in the face. Great for a low poke and block strings.

Kick Rush (Straight: Short, forward, roundhouse. Ground: Short, forward, roundhouse) - Both Straight Kick Rush and Ground Kick Rush have the same animation, there are subtle differences that I’m not fully aware up. Please help me with this. I do know that Ground Kick Rush knocks down on hit, while Straight Kick Rush does not. That said I usually use Ground Kick Rush. Kick rush has a lot of uses so I’ll take more time to explain them. In the ground game, Kick Rush is a great poke against opponents that walk back and forth a lot, like a Gief trying to get in on you from 3/4 of the screen away. Most of the time they’ll either block it or get hit and in both cases you’re safe. You can also wiff it to get closer to your opponent after a a knock down, or in a block string. After getting close you can mix up with several options. Wiff, throw, wiff headbutt, wiff super, wiff cr. jab block string, or wiff wait punish. I found the differences, but I’ll update later.

Buffalo Headbutt (from now on I will just call it Headbutt) (Jab, strong, fierce) - Completely invincible on the way up and decent range. Use to avoid fireballs in certain situations. If your opponent is in range, this is also Boxer’s best anti-air. Also good for Headbutt (though a fireball) Super (through another fireball). This move has been changed from ST so that it is now more easily punished on block or wiff. It’s easy to abuse this move on newer players, but experience players will combo you every time.

Additional MP headbutt weirdness. Basically it seems that MP headbutt is better for dealing with crossups.

TAP (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8/final)- Has a lot of uses, but they are pretty situational so I’ll save TAP discussion for later in the Situational Stuff and Character Specific sections.

Staying Charged!

I was originally thinking of putting this in the Situational Stuff section since it can be technically difficult for new players, but at the same time it’s very important and should be one of the first things a new Boxer should learn. What I’m talking about is keeping a down charge while using Low Rushes and keeping a back charge while using Headbutts. Boxer is fortunate enough to be able to execute his Low Rush with df. None of the other charge characters have the ability to use their back forward charge move and still keep a down charge. This works to Boxer’s benefit since he can execute a Low Rush or a Kick Rush with db (charge), df + p or k. If you execute a rush punch in this way, you maintain a down charge. This means as soon as you recover from the rush punch, you can go immediately into a Headbutt. The same goes for Headbutts if you execute them with db (charge), ub + p. This is useful for wiff Kick Rush, Headbutt, or Headbutt, Super.

Super

Pretty much hands down the best super in the game. Most of the time it’s safe on block except on Gief (he can reversal SPD you). It has 5 hits, each of which do chip damage, and they will usually all connect if the first one does (unlike DJ’s super). It has a lot of range. It does a ton of damage. And most importantly, it blows through fireballs. This really shuts down a lot of options for your opponent since the risk of eating a super on punish or even random super is worth considering. Activating super with punch starts the super with a straight punch while activating with kick will start the super with a uppercut punch. I believe the super defaults to straight punches for the next three hits, unless you are holding a kick button down (this includes charging TAP). The last punch corresponds to whatever the first punch is. Uppercuts will wiff on crouchers, so if your opponent is on the ground, DO NOT HOLD KICKS OR CHARGE TAP WITH KICKS. The uppercuts have a better chance of juggling, though. So if you hit your opponent out of the air, hold kicks down.

Also, beware about using super to chip an opponent in the corner with just straight punches. The super will sometimes lag between hits (leaving larger than normal openings for opponents to reversal out). This will occur most often between the 2nd and 3rd hits. If you sense your super will lag and that your opponent will try to counter with a DP, try switching the next hit to a kick to stuff any DP as the uppercut will switch the hit box. Thanks to Boggleminds for this.

Basic Block Strings

(J. forward,) cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, Low Rush (cr. jab does not combo into cr. strong)

(J. forward,) cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, Kick Rush, throw

Cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, Low Rush Thanks to DJreign for showing this to me. You can pull this off without any “pre-charging”. This is great for pressure on wake up. You can easily mix this up with tick into throw.

Cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, Kick Rush, throw

Cr. forward, link into cr. strong, Low Rush

Cr. forward, link into cr. strong, Kick Rush, throw

2

Situational Stuff Intermediate level tactics and stuff that will only work in certain situations.

Controlling Space

Controlling space can be a little abstract especially for players new to fighting games, but it is an important skill nonetheless. Seth Killian wrote agreat article on the theory behind controlling space. I suggest reading it as it provides insight from a veteran. It’s kind of long, though, so here’s a reader’s digest version by Raakam along with some other stuff. And if you’re too lazy for that just keep reading.

The basic idea behind controlling space is to prevent your opponent from entering certain sections of the screen safely. To control space effectively, you need a firm understanding of all of Boxers normals, specials, and even his super. For example, Boxer can’t easily reach a jump in that’s about to land at say 1/2 a screen away with any of his normals (far fierce is too slow) or Headbutt, however his Kick Rush will do just fine. Essentially, with that one move you’ve managed to shut off that little portion of the screen. If your opponent for whatever reason tries to jump there, you can easily punish it so long as you have a charge.

Another more active way to control space is to wiff normals. You might notice some will wiff either st. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, or cr. forward. All of these moves are Boxer’s best normals to wiff, though they are not his only good space controlling normals. By wiffing a normal, you create a an area where your opponent’s defensive hitbox cannot enter during the duration of Boxer’s normal. Wiffing a normal is generally used when you find yourself just outside of that normal’s range. For example, if you find your opponent just out side of cr. strong range, just start hitting cr. strong repeatedly. If your opponent does anything to move his defensive hit box into your cr. strong, he will get hit. This includes walking forward and executing a move that extends his defensive hitbox into your cr. strong. While you wiff cr. strong you won’t hit your opponent or do any damage, but you limit what your opponent can do. You’ve taken away your opponent’s ability to get closer to you and you’ve also limited what moves your opponent can perform. Taking away your opponent’s options is never a bad thing. As an added bonus, while your opponent thinks about what he can do safely, you get time to build up a charge if you don’t already have one.

I talked a little bit about what normals are good to wiff in the General Section, but I’ll reiterate it here for the sake of ease.

St. jab ? This is generally reserved for stopping Blanka Balls and Honda Torpedos. If you spam this, you can shut those two attacks out completely.

Cr. jab ? This is useful for controlling space if you’re just outside of Cr. jab range, but you don’t want push your opponent away with cr. strong. If you’re trying to counter poke with this move, don’t be surprised if you trade, though.

Cr. strong ? Your best general poke and way to control space. Boxer’s whole arm is invincible and it has decent range. The only thing to worry about is that it doesn’t hit low pokes.

Cr. forward ? This doesn’t have the invincibility that cr. strong has, but it’s good for counter poking and opponent wiffing a cr. forward or some other move like that.

Please see this ghettotastic picture. If you know anyone who can actually get a nice picture of Boxer crouching in the corner of Honda’s stage (the tiles make it easy to gauge the hit boxes) please help me!

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/6052/crnormals.jpg

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/3033/stnormals.jpg

TAP Basics

Like I said Earlier, TAP is a very situational move. I’ll just have a small section here to explain the very basics of TAP. First of all, to charge a TAP, press any two or three punch buttons, or press any two or three kick buttons. You can charge TAP with punches and kicks at the same time, however you can only have up to two TAPs charged at a time even if you hold down all six buttons. If you have a stick, it’s generally best to charge TAP with short with your thumb and roundhouse with your pinky. This leaves your other three fingers perfectly placed over jab, strong, and fierce. It’s a hard decision whether to sacrifice his punches or his kicks, but his punches have more over all utility additionally it is easier to charge kicks and use punches than the other way around. TAP is generally used as either a meaty or a poke. As a meaty the spacing really doesn’t matter how you space your TAP so long as your offensive hit box is active on your opponent’s wake up. Using TAP as a poke is a little more difficult. TAP has enough start up that a counter poke can stop Boxer before TAPs active frames come out. So try to space it so that only the very tip of Boxer’s fist will connect. This will prevent counter pokes from hitting you out of TAP. After a blocked TAP you can follow up with a rush punch, or wait a bit and punish anything your opponent might do.

Wiff Rush Super

So if you didn’t know already, it’s possible to wiff a rush into super. The most common way to do this is to wiff a kick rush and super right after you recover. Why would you want to do this? For one thing, if you do it on your opponent’s wake up, the wiff kick rush can bait your opponent into trying to punish. If you time it correctly, you can super right through any punish attempt. At worst you’ll get chip damage if they choose to block. Also, Boxers super doesn’t have fullscreen range, so you can use the kick rush to close the distance before executing super.

So here’s how you perform a wiff rush into super. In a general sense you wiff a rush, then hit b, and then finally f + p or k (to perform the super) as soon as you recover from the rush punch. So it looks something like this.

B (charge), f + p or k, b, recover from rush punch, f + p or k (punch super is preferable since it won’t wiff on crouchers).

Wiff Kick Rush Setups

The great thing about wiffing Kick Rush is that you can use it to put yourself right next to your opponent. At this range you have a lot of possibilities (some of which are reflected in the in Advanced Block Strings below). The easiest thing to do is wiff Kick Rush, throw. This works really well on people who just turtle and don’t counter poke. A counter throw or SRK will mess you up. However, if you anticipate this, you can wiff Kick Rush, Headbutt. But if you opponent blocks, he can punish you. You can also wiff Kick Rush, Super. Like Headbutt, Super blows through counter throw attempts and SRKs, but it’s also a lot safer. Keep in mind, though, you’re giving up a whole super for something you can’t guarantee. Finally you can just go into a cr. jab block string and start the whole process over again. Whoopee! Given all these options, wiffing Kick Rush really sets up mind games. Try to anticipate your opponent’s reaction while also keeping him guessing what you’ll do next time.

Advanced Block Strings This block strings require a better command of either mind games or spacing in the case of the last one.

(J. short/forward or cr. jab,) cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, Kick Rush, Headbutt (punishable on block, but beats counter throw attempts)

(J. short/forward or cr. jab,) cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. strong, Kick Rush, Super

Cr. forward, link into cr. strong, Kick Rush, Headbutt

Cr. forward, link into cr. strong, Kick Rush, Super

Cr. forward, cr. roundhouse, rush mixup ? Not a very tight block string so be careful of reversals, but it’s good to mix things up.

Meaty TAP, cr. strong, low rush - You need to space the TAP so that you’re in range to follow up with the cr. strong.

Meaty TAP, cr. strong, Kick Rush mix up.

Anything reasonable, Low Rush, far fierce, level 3+ TAP (against opponents who can’t duck far fierce) ? Be sure to learn the spacing on the Low Rush if you want to use this combo. If your Low Rush is blocked at the very tip, the far fierce will wiff.

Advanced Combos Combos you’ll want to confirm into

Cr. jab, cr. jab, st. jab, fierce Straight Rush ? Needs a little pre-charge and most opponents will have to be standing.

J. forward, cr. jab, st. jab, fierce straight rush (an easy stun combo for the dexterously impaired like me)

J. short/forward/fierce/roundhouse, cr. jab, cr. jab, st. jab, fierce straight rush - Combos on tall crouchers (Boxer, Fei, Gief, Honda).

J. short/forward/fierce/roundhouse, cr. jab, cr. jab, renda cancel fierce straight rush - An alternative to the above combo. I try to use this because I can renda cancel more often than I can land that st. jab. Also works on tall crouchers.

J. forward/fierce/roundhouse, cr. jab, cr. jab, renda cancel super ? You want to cancel the second cr. jab into a st. jab and then cancel that standing jab into super. You can accomplish this by quickly inputting the motion for super after the second cr. jab, then when you’re pressing f, hit lp and then quickly hp.

After a Knockdown

Wiff Rush or Headbutt ? Both of these will get you close so that you can stay on top of your opponent. You can wait and punish whatever your opponent tries to do, or you can use a block string to keep the pressure on.

Wiff Rush , Headbutt ? Time the Rush so that you recover before your opponent and reveral. You want to bait your opponent into trying to punish your Rush. Assuming you’ve baited your opponent into committing to something like reversal shoryuken, your Headbutt will then punish the baited move).

Wiff Rush, Super ? This is like wiff Rush, Headbutt, but safer and more damage on hit.

Jump in ? Obviously try to safe jump if possible. J. short block strings are good for pressure. Empty jump then cr. mk block strings are a great way to mix up things, but empty jumps are risky in HDR.

Wait ? Don’t over estimate just sitting on a charge and seeing what your opponent does. It’ll keep you from being over aggressive, give you time to study your opponent, and possibly punish a reversal.

Meaty TAP - Chip damage on block, possibly super level damage on hit. Only problem, you have to have TAP charged.

Jump up, neutral j. roundhouse ? Bait out that reversal throw attempt and then punch your opponent in the face. You take the risk of eating an uppercut, though.

[Cross-ups:

Jumping fierce/roundhouse: (Standing) Works on everyone (though extremely difficult on Claw), but not deep enough to follow up on Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Zangief, Guile, Dee Jay, Boxer, Sagat; (Crouching) Works on everyone.

Most reliable cross-up: Jumping fierce and jumping roundhouse. (Both moves have the same hit box, so both work equally well.)](http://forums.shoryuken.com/showpost.php?p=7594758&postcount=28)

During/After Landing a Throw

Cross under, cr. forward (or cr. jab x 1-2), throw ? Easy setup, lot’s of damage, and put’s you right back into a throw.

Cross under, meaty cr. forward, link cr. strong, Low Rush ? In terms of risk:reward ratio, this generally your best option. It’s safe on block and does a lot of damage on hit.

Cross under, meaty cr. forward, link cr. string, Kick Rush mix ups - Keep your opponent guessing.

Cross under, jump straight up, neutral j. roundhouse ? Again, fake a tick throw to bait the reversal throw.

Hold down back during the throw, then meaty cr. strong, low rush - At worst it’s free chip damage, but this only works on a few people.

Fake cross under, cr. roundhouse ? Knocks down. It doesn’t give you huge combo damage, but it’s a good mixup against opponents expecting the regular cross up.

Charge TAP during the throw, crouch and wait, meaty TAP, throw - A tick throw that can do some serious damage on hit. I do this in the corner to keep my positioning. I’m not sure how viable this is outside of a corner.

Charge TAP during the throw, walk back, TAP - Walking back gives you good spacing to use TAP as a poke. You can follow up with a rush if you want.

J. forward block string/combo ? Basic pressure and the possibility of doing ~40% damage.

Below is a quick reference chart for the three best options I can think of and who they will work on.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/6016/throwfollowups.jpg

Dealing with Fireaballs

You’ll eventually want to move on to the character specific section, but for now here are some ways to think about getting around fireballs.

Headbutt ? Headbutt is completely invincible on the way up, so you can use it to easily get past fireballs. That said only jab and fierce Headbutts will go through fireballs reliably so stick with those two. Try to learn how to time a jab Headbutt to get through a fireball (since it’s safer on wiff/block and harder to time), and from there try to learn which Headbutt has how much range. Knowing the ranges of your Headbutts is useful for predicting a fireball and using a Headbutt to avoid the projectile and punish your opponent.

Float fierce ? Jump straight up, press toward + fierce. Boxer’s neutral fierce gives you the ability to steer Boxer for a bit which makes neutral jumping over fireballs a lot easier and lets you advance a little be at the same time.

Super ? Your super goes through fireballs. Always keep that in mind. If you have super and your opponent is spamming fireballs like a moron, try to punish it with super if you’re close enough.

3

Character Specific Tactics

Vs. Akuma

[media=youtube]gUEz4C-927E"]Just quit. This match up is [URL=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy1EJtce1fI”[/media] and not worth the frustration.

Vs. Blanka

One of the biggest things too keep in mind is that you can punish Blanka Ball on block with a Rush (all of them work). This shuts down Blanka’s ultra long range poking game pretty hard. While good players know this and will avoid using random Blanka Balls on you, it’s still good to keep a back charge so you can remain a threat. While it’s tempting to just turtle the whole match, Blanka still has really good normals (especially his jump normals) and can use his agility to get in on you rather quickly. So it’s advisable to stick out a few st. jabs (to stop Blanka Balls if Blanka is far away), cr. jab, cr. strong, or cr. forward (at mid range to keep Blanka from hopping/command dashing or walking in on you). That pretty much covers the ground game.

If Blanka jumps in on you, Headbutt if you have a charge, if just block. It’s not worth trying to use Boxer’s normals to beat out Blanka’s jump normals. After you block you have to guess whether your opponent will go for a combo/block string, some kind of cross up using the dash, or tick throw. I’ve found mashing strong throw beats tick throws more often than not. Spamming cr. jab seems to beat Blanka’s command dash really well. And obviously blocking beats block strings.

Another thing to worry about is electricity. Know the spacings of your moves so that you don’t eat electricity unnecessarily. Cr. strong is good for counter poking electricity if Blanka is in range. Low Rush can be good at longer ranges, too, though I find that I trade pretty often. You also can’t be too aggressive on wake up because of both electricity and Up Ball. Even so, I still like to do cr. jab block strings on block strings on Blanka’s wake up at least half the time to keep the pressure on. And unless you can safe jump, jump ins on Blanka’s wake up are pretty easy for him to punish, so try to avoid them.

I also usually don’t keep TAP charge since I feel like Blanka is too mobile both horizontally (walking and dashing) and vertically (jumping) for me to get the opportunity to land a TAP. Since I have access to Boxer’s kicks I can easily use Kick Rushes to beat bad jumps or jump ins by Blanka. Sometimes Kick Rush will trade with Blanka’s jumping normal, but you most likely won that trade or at least scored a knock down.

Vs. Claw (Vega)

At the beginning of the round you have a few options and it’s pretty much a guessing game if you’re goal is to land the first attack. Cr. strong beats Claw’s cr. strong but loses to slide. Cr. forward beats Claw’s slide but loses to cr. strong. Headbutt beats out pretty much everything but is unsafe if you wiff it or if it’s blocked.

During the match you’ll want to use cr. forward to defend against slides. That means you shouldn’t have TAP charged. Also be aware of how much range Claw’s cr. strong has. If Claw catches you in a cr. strong block string, keep blocking until your out of his range before you attempt to counter attack with anything. If you try anything else you’re likely to eat Claw’s pokes. Eventually you’ll find yourself far away from Claw looking for a way to get in. As always, a Rush Punch is what you’ll want. Your default is low rush, but if you feel like he might jump or wall dive away Kick Rush will stuff him. Be sure to use a low rush even if it’s the Kick Rush. I’ve noticed that Claw will Walldive away before I can get to him causing Boxer to wiff and leaving him somewhat open to attack. If this happens, Headbutt. At worst you’ll eat and Izuna Drop, which isn’t the end of the world, and ad best you’ll actually hit. In any event you probably won’t be where your opponent expects you to be making it that much harder for him to track you with the wall dive.

On Claw’s wake up, you can Headbutt through his offensive Backflip, or just block and punish with sweep. On your wake up, watch out for a meaty roll attack. If you have a charge, this should be free damage for you. Otherwise you have to guess between just blocking or Headbutting through a meaty attack as always.

Vs. Sim

In this match up, you’re either getting zoned out really badly or you’re rolling all over Sim. You basically want to stay on top of Sim as much as you can. Up close you’re a threat because your normals are better than his at that range, and once you score a knock down, there isn’t a whole lot he can do on wake up against Boxer pressure. Without any sort of SRK like move, he’s very vulnerable to low rush on wake up. Sim also can’t block Boxer’s far fierce so it’s easy to keep Sim in a good amount of block stun at the right range. Low Rush, far fierce, level 3+ TAP works wonders, though you do sacrifice your TAP. Despite that, the risk reward ratio is great. Sim can’t really do anything to stuff any of those moves, but if he tries he either gets knocked down, eats a fierce, or eats a TAP. All great scenarios for Boxer. If you notice that Sim always blocks standing fierce after the Low Rush, try wiffing a one or two cr. strongs, to tempt Sim into throwing a yoga fire, then use far fierce.

If you’re getting zoned out, here are some things to remember. At fullscreen, Headbutting through a fireball is never safe. Sim can just kick you on reaction. You’ll have to make do with float fierce. Even then Sim might kick you out of float fierce. Keep trying, though. TAP is also good for trading with limbs or with Yoga fire.

It’s always good to keep TAP charged because if Sim tries to teleport, TAP will easily hit Sim on his recovery due to the range and number of active frames. Just release TAP as soon as you see Sim reappear.

Vs. Honda

At the beginning of the round the best thing you can do is first stick out a cr. strong. This will stuff torpedos or HHS executed at the very start of the match. It also has quick enough recovery that you can Headbutt a Buttflop. The only thing to worry about is if Honda waits for a bit, then uses his torpedo attack. You should be fine if you just do one cr. strong then wait. If you beat out an early torpedo or HHS with cr. strong, or Honda is still just sitting there, wiff a few st. jabs to stop any torpedo attempts. After that you have to rely on your ability to read your opponent. If you think your opponent is going to torpedo, st. jab is the best way to stop torpedos, but you give up your down charge to counter buttflops and jump ins. That said, if you can manage to move out of buttflop range, you should be fine just wiffing st. jab until Honda goes for a jump in. If you think your opponent is going to buttflop, but best thing is to sit on a down back charge and maybe wiff a few normals.

In the end, you want to bait as many torpedos as you can as they are easier to deal with than buttflops. You can accomplish this by back out of buttflop range, or by sitting on a down charge and being ready to Headbutt a buttflop on reaction. If Honda uses his torpedo attack from anywhere other than full screen, he will not have a charge to perform another charge special move. This means you can follow up a blocked torpedo with a Low Rush without having to worry about eating a jab torpedo from Honda. If you use strong Low Rush, you’ll be in range for Boxer’s far fierce, which Honda cannot duck. Honda can reversal jab torpedo a far fierce in this block string. Sometimes you’ll counter poke Honda, so it’s worth paying attention to your opponent anticipating his reaction. If you use the far fierce, you can then follow up with a level 3+ TAP for more chip damage. The TAP keeps you ahead in terms of chip damage if you two are having a chip war. The only problem is by that time Honda has had enough time to try random torpedo or buttflop, both of which might beat the TAP.

If Honda gets in on you, there’s not much you can do other than cr. jabs to give you space while trying to save up a down charge for Headbutt to give you a knock down. Usually when I play, though, if Honda gets in on me, I’m toast. Also, try to avoid the corner. Repeated buttflops can trap Boxer in the corner. Blocking high ruins your down charge so you can’t just wait then headbutt you.

Most Honda players won’t super on Boxer, but if your opponent does, just block it. You can punish with Low Rush or Super on block.

Vs. Sagat

At a distance, Sagat can be a problem. You have to slowly weave your way through his tiger shots before you can get close. Up close it’s a lot better. Given how big Sagat’s hit box is, he’s very vulnerable to pressure. Sagat has an uppercut that gets him out of pressure, but it’s so slow and easily punished that you can bait it out and use it to your advantage. The move I have a hardest time dealing with is actually his Tiger Knee. On block, Tiger Knee gives you enough time to throw. However I often mess up and eat a Tiger Uppercut or Sagat’s throw for my troubles. Similarly for wiffed Tiger Knee, it should be a free cr. strong Low Rush, and yet I have a hard time actually landing theses consistently. Luckily, most Sagat players will either try to throw or uppercut after a blocked or wiffed Tiger Knee. Jab headbutt will beat both options so I’ve stated using Headbutt to punish. Another tactic to look out for is jump back Tiger Knee. The jump back baits you (at least me) into going in for a Low Rush. Unfortunately Tiger Knee beats Low Rush cleanly and leads into an extra juggle for decent damage. Be cautious of any jumping Sagat does. Walk toward Sagat to close ground if you have to since Low Rush (or any Rush Punch for that matter) is risky. Other than that Sagat doesn’t pose any abnormal problems for Boxer to deal with.

Vs. T. Hawk

This match up is dependent on making sure you keep T. Hawk as far away from you as possible (duh). Up close T. Hawk has several tick set ups to land a 360 on you, not to mention it’s a lot harder to react to his dive and dive fakes. You’ll generally want to use Headbutt, Kick Rush, and cr. fierce if you don’t have a charge as anti-airs. Know the range of each so that you can punish every opportunity T. Hawk gives you. For example, some T. Hawk players will fake a dive with empty neutral jump, attempting to bait out a Headbutt from you. If you can spot an empty jump, you can easily punish with Kick Rush.

As for your ground game, random rushes (all three) and TAPs do a a great job of picking T. Hawk apart. You don’t want to be using this constantly, but it’s good to wiff a few normals and then throw something out. If T. Hawk gets close, remember that T. Hawk can’t duck Boxer’s st. fierce. So that punch can be used to give yourself space if you need it.

Vs. Zangief

Gief is very dangerous up close, so Boxer’s goal through out the whole match is to keep Gief out. If you let a Gief get in, you’re likely to eat an SPD set up for up about 50% of your life, and the Gief player will be able to set himself up for something else that could lead up to another 25%. In a matter of seconds can lose 75% of your health. While you’re zoning Gief, you’ll probably be doing a bit off backing up to buy yourself more room or bait a mistake. It is good to keep in mind how much of the stage you have left to retreat to. With that general pointer out of the way, here are some more details about the match.

At the beginning of the match the two biggest threats you have to contend with are wiff Glow Hand into SPD or Gief’s 360 kick throw. To counter these two moves the first thing you want to do is hold back at the start of the match and take a step or two out of the 360K throw range. If Gief uses either Glow Hand or 360K, you can easily wiff punish with cr. strong Low Rush, or far fierce. Keep an eye out for a jump in, too. Since you’re holding back you’ll have to counter with cr. fierce. If Gief choose to do nothing, wiff some normals, or retreat, park yourself in the down back position. Once this initial phase of the match is over, you will be mostly reacting to Gief rather than rushing him down like you would against most other characters.

Once you have Gief about 3/4 to full screen away, you’ll want to focus on punshing jump-ins and Lariats. If Gief jumps toward you, cr. fierce is your best anti-air (besides headbutt) but if Gief jumps from full screen, you will have to use a late far fierce. Know the ranges of those two normals and when to use them. You might trade with Gief, but hitting him out of the air knocks him back. If Gief jumps back or neutral jumps, don’t do anything. If Gief uses Lariat, wait for him to complete this first rotation, then punish with a properly spaced low rush (jab for about 1/2 a screen away, strong low rush for anything about 3/4 to full screen away). You want to attack the second rotation because you will wiff through the first rotation of a Quick Lariat.

Gief can also try to walk up to you, but from far away, Boxer’s ground game is much better. If Gief uses Glow Hand or random 360K, that’s a free far fierce or Low Rush for you. Also, if you see Gief walk forward, you can try throwing in a low rush. Becareful of players that will bait your rush and couter with SPD, though.

When Gief gets closer, your game plan changes a little bit. If you still have room left, just jump back to reset the situation. If you can’t, then start wiffing cr. strong to counter poke Gief. Also, while random Low Rush is okay at far range, do not use it at close ranges. The risk of sweep or SPD is too great.

When you land a knock down or hit Gief out of the air, you have two main options. Meaty low rush (pushes Gief back and chips on block or knocks down if it connects) or wait for Gief to wiff reversal SPD and punish with low rush. If you land a few meaty Low Rushes at the beginning of a match, your opponent may start trying to reversal SPD you, opening the wait then option option for you. You can also jump in on Gief. Jumping in on Gief is risker than the first two options since you’ll be bringing yourself closer to him, but you’ll want to use them to keep Gief guessing. The safer option is to j. short, cr. jab, cr. jab, some kind of fierce rush combo on hit (this will hit Gief even if he’s crouching so long as it combos) or cr. strong, Low Jab Rush. The risk you run here is if Gief blocks the first part of the block string, he might SPD you between the second cr. jab and the cr. strong. Your other jump in option is j. short, cr. jab, wait, Headbutt, or other variations. If Gief tries to SPD you, your Headbutt will knock him down. If Gief chooses to block, however, Gief can easily punish you.

It is also worth mentioning that I don’t bother to have TAP charged for most of the match. TAP is easily beaten by random jumps or Lariat that random TAP isn’t useful in this match. The only time I think about TAP is if I don’t have a decent life lead and Gief is wiffing normals and playing defensively. TAP is likely to beat or trade with Gief’s normals in your favor.

Finally, you want to build meter if Gief gives you the chance. If Gief is at full screen wiffing cr. roundhouse or something like that, wiff a Headbutt or TAP or Low Rush to build meter. Since it’s easy for Gief to safe jump your Headbutt, you need another wake up option if the situation arises.

4

Reserved.

5

Misc. Information Because I can’t spell miscellaneous.

Nerfs :annoy:

Boxer was a super ultra saving attack dominant character in VST. As such he received a few nerfs.

Headbutts Jab Headbutt travels farther and has more recovery making it easier to punish on block. Strong headbutt is supposed to go through fireballs. In practice that really hasn’t changed. Fierce Headbutt is still the same.

Super Less damage on hit and I think less invincibility frames during the beginning.

Headbutts and TAP’s charge less super meter Eh, you just have to land more of that stuff to get super. No biggie.

Strong Throw Less range and maybe something else? You don’t have to reversal out of meaty cr. forward throw anymore because Boxer has to walk forward for a bit before he can throw. Or something like that anyway. Basically you can’t abuse cross under, cr. forward, throw as easily.

6

Like what you’ve done here. The only thing I would add since this is a HDR thread is to mention how Rog got nerfed and how it affects his game. Off the top of my head:

His LP headbutt is no longer safe on block. Pretty much the entire cast can sweep him for free now after blocking it. The added landing recovery on the move also makes for getting zoned easier if you try to use LP headbutt to go through fireballs.

MP headbutt should go through fireballs but it doesn’t seem to work all the time, so piano reversal headbutt through a fireball is still risky.

Super does less damage. Sirlin said it should only do 50% vs 60%. In my experience it only does around 40% or less now.

Headbutts and TAPs do less super meter charging.

7

I put down everything I could think of down for the first two sections. All I’m really thinking of right now is adding some stuff to Controlling space. If you have any input for the first two sections otherwise, feel free to post!

8

Nice guide, excellent for beginners and I noticed in the same style as Urien’s 3S guide on Shoryuwiki which was a nice touch for me because I’ve been trying to learn Urien.

Anyway, about your explanation of the Super.

You say you shouldn’t charge for TAP if your opponent is blocking low because you will whiff Super Dash Uppers.

Although this is true, you can hold a punch button during his Super, even if you are charging TAP with the kicks to get a Super Straight Dash instead of a Super Dash Upper.

Hope this helps! Keep up the good work.

9

Rather than create a new thread, why not create a word processor document and post it in the current boxer thread?

10

To be honest, I actually hadn’t thought of that. Though I’d like to stick with this format. If I posted a word document in the current thread, it would get lost eventually, and I would have to reupload that document every time I updated it. Rather than have everything on the front page of a website, users would have to find my document, download it, and then open word or something. I think this would be easier for everyone.

Edit: I added a picture to the controlling space section at the end. What do you guys think (other than wow that image quality sucks)?

11

more pics where you outline hitboxes like you do would make your guide nothing short of sensational

12

This is a great guide. Thanks a lot for making this and adding to it. I wish all the characters had a summation on fundamentals to play them the way you have it set up.

:tup:

13

Quick addition off the top of my head (although this probably isn’t useful for a beginner):

Boxer’s super will occasionally “lag” on an opponent who’s in the corner. By this I mean the timing between the straight punches can become irregular, as if he’s pausing at a random moment. It most commonly occurs between the 2nd and 3rd punches. I don’t think we understand why this happens yet.

Anyway, characters like Ryu or Ken can DP during these “lag” moments. Don’t take my word for it, but if you sense that you’re in a “lagging super”, quickly input a kick which will convert the straight punch into an upper. I believe this can stuff any DP attempts due to the different hitbox on the upper punch.

14

Thanks so much! When I saw you post I was afraid you were going to tell me half the guide was wrong. Whew. Yeah I just got Lariated out of super, though I don’t know if that’s easier than DPing out. Anyway I’ll update right away.

Edit: Come to think of it, I think my opponent used that lag to Ochio me once.

15

I saw in the other thread some people where just talking about the gief match up and I didn’t notice anyone say anything about using rogs nearly instant overhead jump back mk. Gief is fat and eats these quite a bit because he is either trying to lariat or 360. In my experience, I haven’t seen a gief lariat me out of attempts at it. The lariat either whiffs, they block the mk or they get hit overhead. Not something to use ALL of the time but, its a decent little way to chip at giefs life if you knock him down + the jump back puts back into good positioning and you can charge d/b the whole way back down to do whatever when you land. Im still experimenting with it though. If anyone gives it a try, let me know.

Oh and on the lag, that has been around since VST. Its completely random I believe. Just like sometimes you will get a super in the corner that will push YOU out far enough to not get 360’d in the gief match. Strange.

16

I had planned on starting to pick up Boxer and Dictator as mains in SF2 after Evo and this thread has helped immensely. Thank you!

On a side note, I think it would be very helpful if we had one of these condensed threads for all of the characters.

I’ve Ochioed Boxer out of a super while I was waking up too. FTW too actually.

That thing isn’t super safe as a meaty unless you perform it as they are rising (so you can eat their reversal input.)

17

If it’s all the same to you, please stick to Honda! I watched some videos of the Evo regional 3v3. You’re the only Honda I’ve seen that would walk in on a Guile with a down charge while you have the life lead. It’s a lot of fun watching you play and rooting for you!

If you’re going to thank anyone, thank all the great Boxer players that have been posting in the original forum and helping me improve my game!

Me, too. The current threads are full of information, but they’re a pain to navigate.

Well if people would just stop using reversals, meaty super wouldn’t be a problem, now would it? :arazz: But yeah, I usually try to time my super to blow throw any reversals. Sometimes I’m a little late and I eat some big damage.

18

So, I’ve come to realize that school is way more work than I anticipated. I would appreciate it if Boxer players could help contribute to anything I’ve missed at this point. Unfortunately I’m so buy I hardly have time to even do theory fighting.

19

You don’t use jump jab or jump short? Well I think they might be the same thing but jump short is a great safe jump. Didn’t you see graham tear everyone at evo up with safe jump short(jab? it looks the same I think) into c.jab c.jab mixups? Saw a bunch of matches where one knockdown lead to safe jump jab jab throw, or jab jab whatever mixup, 'til he won.

20

Use that shit, folks! Especially the safe jump short on wakeup – on certain chars you can hit confirm the jump short into cr.jabx2, st.jab -> jab straight rush.