Continued from the C-groove combo factor
A Groove combo factor
A groove builds up only two level 1 meters. It builds up slower than the C-groove level 1, but the point is you can do almost as much damage as most level 3s with a CC for the price of building only two bars. The only difference is that during a CC you have a tendency to mess up, but if you know how to moderate, then A-Rugal is very very good.
*Once you get a full bar
The opponent knows that youre obviously aiming to land a CC, so its better to surprise them occasionally, spending a level 1 every now and then, since Rugal can do good damage even for 1 level.
**Using level 1 supers sparingly: remember that once you get a full CC bar filled and you havent activated, you are enabled to use 2 level 1 supers as well. Since Rugal can whip up some nasty damage at level 1 which tends for the opponent to shift tactics, you can use any means of confusion to open them up for other nastier things. If you have spent a level 1 super from a full bar, remember that you only need to build up just a level 1 to have it filled again. With Rugals massive utility of level 1 supers youll never be labeled one dimensional. Though of course the author doesnt recommend spending your two supers after the other, just use one, build up a little, and only use one if youre close to an access to another level 1. Make it a steady rhythm of your supers usage for the meters utility outside of CCs yet. Things like the level 1 gigatech pressure into the genocide heaven are a no no unless its enough to kill what small amount of life they have. Otherwise you could have used the entire meter for something cooler (the CC) or just use one meter so youll still have one left to support the foundation that you only need to build one more.
**Using the custom combo: The ways to set up anyones custom combos is pretty much general knowledge, otherwise the safest bet would be on an opening. The set-up of Rugals CC however is the same as the set-up for his genocide heaven juggles, the godpress, after Rugal thuds his opponent to the wall, activate the CC. Heck you can even activate the CC first then do a bufferable move into the godpress.
***Rugals custom combo notes
Rugal may not have a midscreen CC (on normal terms), a guard crusg CC, a mid-screen juggle CC, but the godpress sets it up so that you wont almost need to have all of that. Since the godpress always takes them to the corner, that almost always says it for any mid screen and ground CC, the damage he does makes up for any loss of a chipping life CC and a guardcrush CC. the basic concept after the godpress is to juggle them in the corner, use the best normals that does the most damage.
The basic things you can juggle with the CC that has the highest damage potentials are
Standing Roundhouse (HK) x n
Jumping Fierce/ Jumping Roundhouses x n (or alternating)
Fierce godpresses x n
Since I have stated that the distance of Rugal to the opposite screen when the godpress connects affects how far you get pushed back, you need to do something to get-in close or push the button fast enough to juggle them as you are getting pushed back. When this happens you would have to jump forward then press Fierce/Roundhouse so youll opo them up again and land in closer range for a more comfortable juggling scheme, otherwise if you dont get pushed too far back, then Juggle with your hearts content.
You can almost interchange any of those three juggling methods into another, exceptions would have to be his standing roundhouse x n juggles which you cannot switch into his repreated jumping Fierce/Roundhouses since you cannot cancel the animation of the last phases of the standing HK into a jump but you can with a special kove like the HP godpress.
And finally when the CC timer is about to run out tack on a gigatech pressure as his super finisher instead of the genocide heaven, because youll get full damage with the gigatech pressure.
And last but not least is his anti-air CC, the concept here is to wait until your opponent is too deep then activate, upon activation do a genocide cutter but cancel it while Rugal is till on a ground to either a godpress (preferably fierce) or a fierce punch buffered into a godpress to take them to the wall and do the aforementioned juggle processes. The author listed this last because the anti-air start-up method is not practical, it requires practice. Hence as I said Rugal is for someone with a good execution and good reaction time.
The combination of his custom combo potential plus his overall effectiveness with level 1 supers make A-Rugal a master of annihilation himself. The small invincibility frame rate would be enough to cover up some of Rugals weaknesses into his advantages.
Next: P,S,N, and K combo factors