it’s lunch break so
here’s what I can say about the Blanka Rufus matchup right now (I’ll post more when I get home)
As Blanka, it may seem kinda obvious or unnecessary to say, but try to be crouch blocking as much as possible…a good Rufus will eventually try to mix some sweeps or overheads in but there’s no real reason to fear that for the most part…but two very important things for Rufus–his target combo and his close fierce–whiff crouching Blanka. Also because Rufus has trouble jumping in at Blanka, he will try to get in with the roll kick which hits low.
so what I would do is if you’re getting hit with a Rufus bnb, try to actually hit him after the light kick, because if he doesn’t know that his fierce will whiff, you can get a free punish in there…and if he does know and combos to strong, then oh well you were getting hit anyway…just gotta beware him delaying (or just flat out missing) and getting a counterhit…this is obviously a risky strategy but it is something to consider
even in super, Rufus could punish blocked ball with walk forward crouch fierce (or U2 but I don’t think Rufus should be using that in this match anymore), but only if he was stand blocking…he can now punish without needing to stand block, and may be able to punish even harder, though I haven’t actually gone into the lab to see what punishes he can do (for example, raw ultra 1, dash ultra 1, dash target combo ultra 1)…I would imagine he could walk forward sweep like basically anyone can do now…point is don’t just blanka ball at him, obviously…he can also ultra 1 that on reaction from fullscreen so definitely never do that
Divekick pressure can be hard to deal with…Rufus doesn’t have the best safejump setups so ex upball on wakeup isn’t a terrible option, but obviously use that cautiously…as for the actual pressure, I’m not sure if you can OS a strong with your crouch tech, someone with more Blanka experience can c/d for me there…mashing electricity will beat it or trade in your favor but it’s probably way too risky…beware just pressing c.lp or s.lp as you can eat a throw or an ex messiah…obviously, the overall objective is to keep him away from you to avoid this guessing game because it’s not in Blanka’s favor at all. Do note however that making him burn an ex messiah isn’t always the worst thing if he doesn’t have bars to cancel and/or ultra stocked, because its damage is terrible now, and eating a throw is actually worse, as it does more damage and he can safejump you off that. From a distance, most of Blanka’s pokes can deal with divekicks really well, especially his standing ones…stand strong is really good here
If you get a knockdown and he has no meter, feel free to rush in there because there’s basically nothing he can do. Rufus wake-up without meter is awful…he may try to focus dash out, which you can deal with just like you would anyone else who would do that. If he does have meter, bait ex messiah, even if he hits you, if you’re crouching up close (e.g. meaty c.lk) he will go over you and you can slide punish to reset the situation.
If he has you in the corner, be really careful because he can beat ex rainbow roll in a number of ways, and his divekick is incredibly ambiguous here…always be looking for a chance to get out, if he jump up high for an ambiguous divekick, if it’s not meaty you can just hop/slide/ball your way out.
Honestly I believe this matchup was in Blanka’s favor just SLIGHTLY in Super (I disagree with a lot of Rufus rankings in the latest Super tiers, I think he’s reeeeeeeally overrated), but now it’s basically even. Electricity pressure is good against Rufus due to his huge hitbox. The key to this matchup I feel is to mix him up whenever he has little to no meter, even if you take an ex messiah it’s not that big of a deal if he can’t ultra you after…when he has meter, and/or when you have a lead, play really lame…
Oh also ex upball will beat all ex messiah followups after a block, except lk fadc
And if you notice he is trying to cross-up divekick a lot on your wake-up, test his meaty timing with ex up-ball or even elec, as this is more difficult to do meaty than from the front