Rufus Q&A Thread: Post ALL your questions here!

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
401

I did not find it out myself and I don’t use it very often but yes it can be done point blank but range doesn’t matter as long as you will hit their backdash. It is mostly used against those players who always press something on wakeup like scrub shotos mixing their wakeup with wakeup throw, wakeup srk or wakeup backdash ^^.

Things that will beat it is a wakeup focus attack and slow attacks that avoid sweep (like ultra, hazanshu and such) and command grabs.

I often do delayed crouch tech against srk spammers when I pressure them to bait an srk while being safe against throws. But I do this without the hk as it is often unsafe against many characters point blank.

402

Im lazy these days and forgotten some stuff, I want some questions answered please;

**1)**which honda-headbutts can i punish on block with U2? (wasnt it like MP and HP only or something)

**2)**I can connect st.HK to U2 on every character if they’re grounded when i hit the st.HK right? haha…

**3)**the Ibuki move (I think you can call it her SRK, when she jumps up with a kick then throws a kunai at you), if she does this (EX) on her wakeup and you block it, whats the best way to punish it? can I EX-SS it if im fast enough? havent tryed

**4)**Didnt Rufus have a move that beat Abels flying kick when coming at you? was it st.MK or something? Cant remember…

403

  1. MP and HP only. Stand or Crouch blocking it works. Also extra tid bit is if you see any form of buttslam, just mash U2.

  2. That I’m not 100% sure for ALL chars but just make sure to do U2 as soon as possible. Any delay makes it a one-hitter.

  3. EX SS is the answer. Make sure to do it as a reversal. If you have U2, use it. Make sure you DON’T do it as a reversal or right after reversal timing. Sometimes it comes out a one-hitter. So you have to delay U2 for a split second. Also if you have no bar, do HP Snake strike as a reversal.

  4. I think that is if you press it right after the wheel kick. It won’t be due to reaction, more of a preemptive decision. Not 100% sure.

404

Ranma answered a lot of it…but to add to #4…u can s hp if he does it at an ugly range (ie really close), as long as he isnt that far…c mp also beats it relatively clean.

For #2, just make sure the character is on the way up as u do u2, if theyre at the peak or going down it’ll be a 1 hitter.

405

still having some problems even getting it to hit at all on anyone. any more tips?

406

Its character specific.
It hits at different points in the air on different characters.
You really just need to hit up training mode and try it out.
Also, I believe that it hits most of the cast while they’re crouching.

407

You want Rufus’ crotch to be in their face, seriously that’s how I judge the distance, it’s a pretty small window to hit.

408

just wondering, is there any other major option you guys use often to add to the mix up options on dive kicks below (copy and pasted from the rufus strat page)? seems like the option of st.lk ticks is omitted, as well as st.lk/c.lp ->dive kick (to catch throw techs)

Dive Kick Mix-up:

If there is something important to Rufus gameplay, is his ability to mix-up after a dive kick quite well and with some damaging combos is the opp guesses wrong.

Rufus works best when he is up close and personal. Ideally you want to put your opponent in the position of blocking Dive Kicks or a roll. Then you’ll apply your mind games to try and break their guard and setup combo opportunities.

There are many, many things you can do with Rufus when you get into this situation, but here are some examples by Golden Gunman

High / Low Mixup
Dive Kick (blocked), cr. XX jab tornado ( + ). (Safe on block)
Dive Kick (blocked), close HP XX Fierce Tornado ( + ). (Safe on block)
Dive Kick (blocked), cr. (blocked), walk up throw.
Dive Kick (blocked), overhead ( + )
Dive Kick (blocked), Dive Kick again (triangle jump to make Dive Kick really close to the ground), cr. xx +
Dive Kick (blocked), cr., cr., cr., cr., roll (blocked or hits), throw.

Throw Mixup
Dive Kick (blocked / whiffed), walk up and throw.
Dive Kick (blocked / whiffed), walk up EX Messiah Kick. ( + )
Dive Kick (blocked / whiffed), Jump Back Fierce.
Dive Kick (blocked / whiffed), walk up -> launcher, Snake Strike ( + ) / Ultra ( x2 + )

Cross-Up Mixup
Dive Kick (blocked), Jump Up Dive Kick to other side. Rinse and repeat if desired.
Dive Kick (blocked) Jump straight up, Jump / on way down, go into blockstrings on landing.

Baiting Tactics
Whiff Dive Kick, Focus Attack xx Dash Back
Whiff Dive Kick, Jump Up.
Whiff Dive Kick, Jump Backwards, Dive Kick

409

What’s the deal with Rufus landing in front when doing a cross-up dive kick in the left corner?

410

You cant cross up in the left corner if your opponent is right up against it.
Its the same with any character.
Its a flaw in the games engine.

411

It is possible to cross up in the left corner, but it’s quite delayed, only slightly before df+mk would become db+mk and give you a regular jump mk instead of a divekick. If you really want to get a crossup divekick in the left corner, you can substitute LP GT after HP Gt for a forward dash or whiffed close lk into divekick, but this is specific to character’s hitboxes.

412

hey liluoke, good stuff, you mind if I put what you wrote in the first page of the main thread? giving you the credit of course.

413

I’ve got a question regarding ex SS and conserving meter.

Ex SS does like 220(?)dmg (300 after fj.HK, ex SS) if everything hits and if predicted right it usually does. Though one thing i’ve noticed after watching top level player matches is that they don’t use the move a whole lot. I might have just not watched a lot of matches where people jump a lot but if I see the jump coming then I go for it.

I tend to not use messiah kick much because I need a lot meter for it to be safe. Also I tend not to have meter 'cause I’m using snake strike or c.jp xx ex GT.

So I’m wondering am I missing the importance of messiah kick or is there something else I should be considering?

414

Most players save at least three meters so they have a pocket, safe EX Messiah.
Having that safe EX Messiah is a big threat to your opponent.
You can land ultra 1 anywhere on screen if they do anything unsafe and you can escape a large portion of the casts pressure games with it.
I really only use EX SS after a J.HK if:
-It will push my opponent into the corner
-Im in complete control of the match
-It will give me a KO or put me really close to one
Otherwise, after a J.HK I usually go for Divekick resets and more pressure.
I use it as the occasional AA if I have a good read on my opponent.
I hate guessing wrong and whiffing an EX SS.

415

Yeah I see what you mean. Ex SS only hits when I know whats going on and I either whiff completely, leaving me wide open or I get all hits.

I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my wake up game. I either try to grab, which just gets beat out by an attack or I block, which can be difficult when you’re getting mixed up. So I guess you’re saying use it in the same way Ryu would when he has two bars. Just not when you’re gonna get OS’d of course.

Thanks for the advice! It should boost my defensive game with offensive options.

416

The reason why I (not speaking for anyone else) don’t do ex snake strike after the j rh a lot is because it misses when i hit the j rh. The only specific situation I can think of where I know it misses often is if I predict a neutral jump after a divekick, the majority of opponents will not be hit with ex ss if i hit them early in the neutral jump.

Messiah kick is only good against people who do not know about meaty safe jabs and what not. (Meaning don’t use it against any char who will have it fly over you, or against people like rogs whos jab is 100% safe after a knockdown)

Against chars who have safe jabs…your best option is really to just lean back and wait for them to push you out of pressure…if you’re in the corner…youll have to guess.

417

I’m having trouble in the Balrog match-up. Any tips on dealing with his various dash punches? I think that’s what I struggle with the most.

418

Focus, jump, hp gt, ex messiah, ultra… There are multiple ways to deal with them depending on which one he uses

419

That’s the thing, I feel like I’m guessing him and it doesn’t fill me with much confidence. You could only feasibly react with EX Messiah or Ultra from a distance.

420

That depends on your reaction times, remember that every time he does a dash punch he also has to guess. You can throw his overhead or punish on block, neutral jump his smash and straight and jump/sweep his upper. You can probably jump forward as well if you see it coming. Focus attack works vs upper and straight