Rufus Strategy/Combo Thread (because you can't poke forever...)

would have to be a lp snake strike, annd, I don’t think you’d get two tornados, just one and possibly an ultra, I’ll test it out.

Apparently the combo that everyone is doing nowadays off dive kick is s.LK>s.HP> HP Tornado.

Its only a little harder than s.LK>s.MP>Tornado, but it does more damage and the tornado connects a lot more consistently.

Also, instead of c.LKX2>c.LP> Ex Tornado, I find that its better to do s.LKX2 or 3> c.LP> Ex Tornado. Firstly, the Ex Tornado seems much easier to execute in this combo. Secondly, you can do this combo off continuous walk forward s.LK pressure.

im trying to learn rufus but i have a few questions

1- what is the timing for st. short to st. roundhouse? or maybe the distance? i can never get this to connect

2- during ex messiah what is the earliest time you can press short

s.lk, s.hp hp tornado is really good. i just got it down 100% today.

s.lk, s.mp tornado only connects on some characters when they’re standing … i only used it when people were crouching or people I knew the s.mp into tornado would work on. usually I’d do s.lk, s.mp, c.lp, ex tornado instead. but now this s.lk, s.hp has renewed my hope :D.

Unlike all the other anti-airs in the game, Fierce Snake Strike is actually really good at stopping cross ups. As long as the opponent is not actually behind you when you do it (and this includes cross up wake ups), Rufus will jump up, block the opponent with his fat body and whack 'em.

Wish I knew this early, since this makes several match ups (especially Zangief) a lot easier.

Regarding the long combo off the Level 3 FA -> messiah-> flip FADC’d into Snake Strike -> Ultra, does it have to strictly be a jab Snake Strike or can I even do an EX one, for instance?

Furthermore, I’m assuming that there is no such thing as a :dp::lk:, as is listed in the mega-post, and is instead meant to be a snake strike right?

Finally, it never occurred to me to try this but if we CAN actually carry them to the wall with j.rh to EX Snake Strike, then we should be able to ultra a la the Seth K. combo? Heck, wouldn’t that mean that short -> roundhouse -> Snake Strike -> Ultra would also be possible on the wall?

Only the jab one lands fast enough.

That sounds correct, yep.

About j.RH> Ex Snake Strike> Ultra, I don’t think so. The start up for the Ultra is too long and the Ex Snake lands too fast.

No sure about about short> round house> Snake Strike> Ultra, it might work with the jab snake strike.

Honestly though, if they’re in the corner, you have absolutely no reason to do the short> roundhouse chain. Main reason being that if they block it, its possible for them to punish you. Short> Roundhouse is not cancellable and leaves you at -5.

If you want to land the ultra in the corner just keep on doing qcf+P combos. Its safe on block and if hits you can still juggle the Ultra.

Did s.LK X 3> s.HK> Ultra in the corner against a Boxer the other day. Can’t remember if I started with a dive kick.

Also:

I don’t see this anywhere, but the LK follow up to Messiah Kick breaks armour. Pretty important since FA beats the other two follow ups for free.

I’ve been investigating Rufus over the last few days. I think I’ll be learning him a little when the console version comes out.

I was wondering why I never see Normal Messiah in Videos? It only ever seems to be the EX version thrown out, and whats besides FADC out of it, whats his safest/best option when the initial kicks are blocked. (Launcher vs Low kick/sweep or whatever vs overhead kick)

Normal Messiah is used, its just not nearly as good as the Ex version. Unlike the Ex version which is basically a Rufus Shoryuken, the normal Messiah is generally used for closing distance, or punishing fireballs (only works if you anticipate the fireball). The normal Messiah kick isn’t particularly good at either though, since it doesn’t have much priority and is not safe on block. Check out the Iyo vs Kindevu match in the video thread, and you’ll see Kindevu trying to close distance a lot using HK Messiah and getting punished when he gets the distance wrong OR getting hit out of the air by Dhalsim’s limbs.

TLDR for the rest of this post: None of the Messiah follow ups are 100% safe, but you can decrease your chances of taking damage but playing the appropriate mind games. FADCing out of the Flip Kick follow up is the only true safe follow up to any Messiah Kick. Not doing any follow up is also unsafe.

For safeness, it kinda depends on the match up, but in general the overhead kick is the safest follow up because the hop allows him to simultaneously dodge and punish some counter attacks. The sweep is safe on block, but it has slow start up, so anyone mashing crouch jab after blocking the Messiah Kick will hit you out of the sweep.

The truth is, however, that against good players, the Messiah kick is never 100% safe.

All characters can beat both the sweep and overhead by Focus Attacking through them and comboing you. They don’t even need to guess whether they should block high or low. The FA will absorb the hit from either and punish you. You can counter this by doing the Flip Kick, which breaks armour, but if they guess that you’re going to flip kick, they can just block and combo you. Alternatively, don’t do any follow ups, then beat their FA by either throwing them or busting out another Ex Messiah.

Most characters can beat both the sweep and overhead by jumping up straight vertically, avoiding either of these follow ups, and landing down and comboing you, or at least force you to block something. Again, the flip kick may hit them, but if they guess that you’re going to flip kick, they block and punish you. The safest counter to this is to not do any follow up.

Ryu/Sagat punish all Messiahs for free by mashing shoryu/tiger uppercut after blocking the first hit. If you don’t follow up, the uppercut hits you in your recovery. If you follow up with the overhead or sweep, the uppercut will hit you out of both. If you follow up with the flip kick, it will trade in the best case scenario. I think the same can be said for Akuma and Ken, but they need to use a specific strength of uppercut, otherwise your Overhead kick will avoid it. Gief can mash Lariat to beat/trade with all follow ups. Abel can avoid all follow ups with LK Roll and throw you from behind. I’m sure there are more, but these are the ones that come to mind.

is it better to invest in EX Snake Strikes Or Go Cheap with the regular snake strikes?

All Snake Strikes have their own uses, so whether to use LP, MP, HP or Ex Snake Strike depends on the situation.

LP Snake Strikes- Hits certain opponents when they’re crouching, leaving you +2 on block and +5 on hit. This makes it safe anti-meaty-crouch-poke-move on wake up against certain opponents (Sagat and Zangief especially). You can combo into c.LP> Ex Tornado on hit. Its also his best move for charging meter, and a generally safe early anti-air that does low damage. Works somewhat as an anti-cross up if they’re a little behind your head.

MP Snake Strike- Has the best trajectory for jumping over fireballs. Otherwise I prefer all the other versions for the different anti-air situations.

HP Snake Strike- Best anti-cross up if the opponent is right above your head.

Ex Snake Strike- The best anti-air if the opponent is in the air right in front of you. Does the most damage and has start up invincibility, unlike the other Snake Strikes. Best follow up to j.HK in the air unless you’re right against the corner, in which case it will whiff, unlike the normal snake strikes. Does not work as an anti-cross up or late anti-air.

Is this character dependent? I don’t think I have managed to hit other than the big characters with this. Also, are you supposed to do lp snake strikes?

Im fairly new to this game, and im liking rufis and i had a couple of matches and ive now learned all the basic moves and where to use them, so it was time for me to learn the combos and master those…

i cant even to hp xx d/df/f hp combo

i decided to do the challenge mode as i figured it would teach me basic combo’s etc. im stuck on lvl 3 with the hp xx d/df/f hp combo, i just cant do it, ive tried different distances from the target, ive tried inputing at light speed ive tried inputting a medium and slow speeds. I just cant get it. ive tried on a stick, ive tried on a controller.

where am i going so wrong… it should be easy to do and its not. i understand that the xx in the combo means to cancel into it, i.e buffer into the move. so i figured that ment fast input…

can someone please give me some type of tip on how to do this… as im having absolutely no luck and i almost threw my stick at the tv

You must keep pressing forward after doing the tornado motion or it won’t combo.

im not at home so i cant do this till tonight, but when you say keep pressing foward do you mean input the d/df/f (hold the f) p (continue holding f)???

Exactly.

I’ve done this on Ryu in training so I don’t think it is character specific.

when stunned, FAlvl3, HK, ->HP, Ultra is nice

Yeah I got the lp snake strike to work on Ryu in the corner but I haven’t been able to land it midscreen yet. The timing seems somewhat strict so it might just be me.

Doing s.short>c.JabX2> far s.jab> far s.strong as my main mid-screen bread and butter now. Damage is less than short>fierce> Tornado, but it generally leaves him in a better position, since whether its hit or blocked, you can follow up with continuous walk up far jab/strong pressure.

Plus, if its blocked, you can walk forward anytime during the string to throw/reset the string/psychic Ex Messiah.

Also somehow people love to jump after being hit by the far s.strong, so its the perfect set up for a full damage Ex snake strike.