All of your questions have different answers depending on who you are playing vs. You can’t really say there is a correct “way” to mixup, let’s say you have a player who just mash crouch tech like crazy, then a throw may not be very good so you want to go for a frame trap. If your opponent only blocks and never techs you can just keep throwing and never go for the combo. If your opponent mashes srk you can just do really low dives and block or do meaty crossup on their wakeup which beats srk and then go for combo if you’re confident in your dive aim or just block and hp x hp.gt when he lands his wiffed srk. lp xx ex.gt may be better/easier vs some chars like Ryu/Ken lp srk since they don’t have much recovery. If you have ultra just do that as soon as you see the little blue block flash after their srk.
The aim of your dives also differ, if they crouch you can do crossup dive which confuses your opponent. Rufus have some really good shenanigans with his dive. Basically what you can do after your first dive is to follow up with another dive, blockstring/combo, throw, st.lk > throw/another dive, crossup dive or just block/backdash. If your opponent is really respecting you then you can do some shit like nj.hk hp hp.gt but that shit makes you eat ultra vs some chars (ryu for example). Just get comfortable with ALL options, don’t be afraid to get crazy and see what’s possible and not vs particular opponents.
After blocked gt it depends on my opponent, but know that it’s -1 and your fastest move (jab) is 4 frames. If your opponent has a 3 or 4 frame move he will be 1-2 frames ahead of you, good players will know this and use it against you. Depending on what they do you can just block, backdash or ex messiah.
If your opponent can’t or don’t punish/use their frame advantage against your blocked gts you can do c.lp to catch their jump (makes you stay in a good position since they get reset) or c.lp ex.gt which combos for like 150-200 damage if they press slow buttons. If they respect you and keep blocking (maybe after you have hit c.lp ex gt and follow up with good oki a few times) then you can just walkup throw or do your thing which is back to step 1, divekick pressure/mixups into maybe another hp.gt which they block or a throw which gives you oki. Btw, your mixup doesn’t have to start from a dive, you can also just walk up to your opponent and do st.lk st.hp hp.gt or st.lk throw etc etc. You have probably seen boxer players do walk jab walk jab walk jab walk jab throw or something like that, Rufus have all these options as well, st.lk works well for the ‘terminator walk’ ^^.
I get the feeling my thoughts came out a bit messy on paper but I hope you appreciate the tips anyway.
I came on here to ask a new question, but just saw and read DonkeyKnifer’s response to my last one. Thanks, that did make perfect sense.
The new question: I know U2 is really good and there’s already lots of discussion about which ultra to use when. But I’m wondering, if I personally prefer to only use U1, am I making a huge strategic mistake? I hate sitting there trying to be reactive and guess when they’re gonna do a naughty move, and would rather be proactive and rewarded for hitting my combos (or in Rufus’s case, hitting just about anything hehe). With U2 I just end up psyching myself out and worrying more about “did he FB??” than playing my normal game.
But if I were to say screw U2 (which thus far I mostly have) and only play U1 regardless of the matchup, are there any matchups where I’m just being an idiot to do so?
When I first started using U2 I thought it was going to create so much more utility for rufus but the more i play the more i find i want U1 instead. you are not making a mistake by always choosing U1 especially against good players that dont make many mistakes. Right now i only use U2 on Ryu,Sagat,C.Viper, Guy, and sometimes Honda. I like to have it against Ryu and Sagat just so they stop throwing fireballs and i can walk in and start my mix-ups.
I asked a friend of mine who is pretty good w/ Rufus (he just won a tourn in AZ beating Sabre in the finals, nice job Dan!) and asked him the same question. He also really prefers U1 and only uses U2 if he feels it’s absolutely necessary. (apparently switching back from 2 to 1 is what let him take down Sabre’s Cody in the finals). He said he’ll still use U2 vs: Ryu, Akuma, Sagat, Viper, and Ibuki. In particular he said it shuts down Ibuki’s entire vortex. His words, not mine, but thought it might be helpful to share.
i noticed that when i get the lk>hp link on some crouching characters, it wiffs(only blanka so far). in that case would i just use lk>mp? also who else would this wiff on?
I’d -Akuma and +Blanka. It’s not surprising using U1 against Cody got him the W. As soon as you get a bar you can option select every jumpin on cody with EX messiah and get almost full damage if he ex zonks or backdashes, and as soon as you get U1 you can do the same.
Yeah I really dislike using U2, and have been using U1 only. So any matchup where both are good, or U2 is a little better, I’ll go U1 no question. I’m just wondering if there are any matchups where U2 is so much overwhelmingly better that I’m practically handing the game away by going U1.
Another quick question: Let’s say I am doing some sort of block tring, but am now out of range to get a close sHP, I’m trying to think of some good ways to end it besides re-diving or the ol’ block ‘n’ bait. Is cLP/cLK/cMK xx HP GT safe/good on block (if the jab/short/forward is max range) to end a string with?
I do like and use the ol’ sLK cLK cLP sLP cMK xx EX GT sequence, but on block is a waste of meter. Unless HP GT is a good substitute?
The short answer is no, you pretty much give your opponent their choice of free damage if you do something like max range c. mk xx hp gt… unless they’re bad or don’t know the matchup, in which case, go ahead. If you are up close and your opponent is blocking, the absolute safest block string is chained c. lks. If you want to maintain pressure in a way, predominantly go for normals that have the most frame advantage on block… close lk and far lp are best, close mp and far mp are also decent.
Accidently did rufus GT against abel ultra 2 last night. Beat it out, never knew that would happen. Is that a good way to beat the ULTRA 2 or did I just get lucky.
I prefer U1 for Ryu and Akuma these days. It’s nice to shut down Ryu’s fireball game, but you still have to deal with his footsies and ultra setups, and that’s while sacrificing your own U1 setups.
EDIT TO ABOVE: GT breaks armor which is why it works against Abel U2.
Hey, Rufus mainers. Abel main here, but I’m interested in finding an alt. Feeling that Rufus is to my liking, but I’d like to ask a couple of questions before I completely decide on him.
What are some bnbs I should get down to learn how Rufus plays? I can s.lk, s.hk 90% of the time in a match (playing Abel has gotten me more used to plinking than I’m willing to admit), and I consistently EX Messiah, LK finish, FADC to U1 or Snake Strike, but what are some other bnbs I should get down? I know absolutely no GT links. I’ve heard cr.lp, lp GT is a link, but I seem to get cr.lp, lp Snake Strike. I also have heard st.hp, HP GT is also possible. Are these just 1-framers that I don’t know about, or are these not possible?
What’s Rufus’s approach game like? Obviously he can spam the shit out of dive kicks, and df.mk is a decent approach, but does he have anything else to mix it up?
What are some U1 set ups? I know air-to-air j.hk > U1, target combo > U1, and GT in corner > U1, but are there any others I should know?
Does Rufus tend to conform to just to a single playstyle like a shoto, or does he conform to a matchup like Chun?
Any hit confirms, shenanigans, or gimmicks you guys are willing to teach me? :3?
This is really stupid. But, after a target combo, what snake strike is most efficent? I tend to s.lk, s.hk, hp snake strike. Is this inefficient?
BnB’s to know: divekick s.lk s.lk hp->hp gt (can ultra 1 in corner)
dive, 2x close mp, ex GT (good damage, can ultra 1 in corner) there are others but these are two that you will use often . You listed the main setups for U1 already but there are a couple others such as far hk hits them into the air and straight into u1. The target combo can be linked from a divekick as well.
Id recommend looking up the wakeup thread. Wakeup shenanigans are a major strong point for Ruf. I cant remember about the tc to ss though. Sorry
Dustlooper, other good combos/strings that will come up somewhat often:
sLK, cLK, cLP, sLP, cMK xx EX GT looks hard/complicated, but is actually one of his easiest combos IMO
sLK x 1-3, cLP xx EX GT
any sequence w/ jabs and shorts into sLP link sMP
And other good U1 setups you need to know are after EX Messiah, LK followup, FADC into free ultra any time you have 2 more stocks. Though note, if you have them in the corner, you have to dash BACK off the FADC.
MikeByson, two standing close MPs? I’ve never seen that before, will have to try it. Though in theory, wouldn’t the dive and 1st sMP push you too far back to get another standing close move? And do you really use that combo a lot? I’ve watched tons and tons of Rufus vids and don’t believe I’ve come across that one once, so it’s weird seeing it with, “these are the ones you’ll use most often.” Though if it works and the link isn’t a 1-framer, def might be something to add to my combo tool box
Got another dive-kick related question (I’m tryin to master this shit! lol). This is probably matchup specific, so I guess Im asking more about the typical types of opponents, the DP guys, the Balrogs, the Chuns, etc. While divekicking on wakeup is a no brainer, good players in vids will intitiate dive pressure during footsies as well as they close the gap. I swear it seems like Justin can just dive whenever he wants w/ impunity! Bastard (/jealousy)! but anyway, what do you guys find are the signals that it’s OK to dive right in, so to speak? Is it a certain range? After they’ve done a certain thing? I’m sure there’s no “right” answer here, but wondering when some of you guys like to dive outside of wakeup situations? Some days I just feel it, other days it feels like unles they’re knocked down, there’s no reason to even try. Thoughts?
