Tengu Stone: Usage outside combos

Classic Fighting Games Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
1

Alright…I’m rather new to Oro, so feel free to take whatever I say with a grain of salt, but here’s a discussion-worthy topic which I don’t recall ever seeing in this forum. Well, maybe somewhere in the gigantic strat thread, but this deserves its own.

Basically, I seem to remember hearing a comment here before that Dirty Music (the Japanese Oro player whose team won the latest Co-op Cup) uses Tengu Stone much like Genei-Jin. That is, he activates it outside combos and uses it for chip damage and high/low mixup. If that is the case, this is quite a contrast with Oro players over here, who generally seem to use this super only within combos.

Hence, this thread is where we can discuss Tengu Stone pressure, ways to set it up, and so on. I’ll start by giving details on what I feel are the two best moves for mixup purposes. Note that the mixup I’m referring to works well anywhere on the screen, not just the corner. Anyway…

The first move is obvious: Low Short. It’s an extremely quick low attack, and if it hits you can easily link the close Strong after it (due to the rocks providing much additional hitstun) and proceed with your usual juggling madness. Low Forward allows the same link, but it’s not as fast a move.

The second is the universal overhead. This is preferable to standing fierce for two reasons:

  1. It’s faster.

  2. You can link close Strong off of it. You have to be pretty close for this, though, which is also true of low Short.

However, the UOH->close Strong link does NOT work on 4 characters due to the fact that they crouch so low that the rocks will never reach them. Those 4 are:

Oro
Ibuki
Elena
and best of all…
CHUN EFFING LI :mad:

Another possibility which I did not test, but just thought of now, is Twelve walking forward. I don’t think it would work, since getting hit here makes him go into standing hitstun (which should make the rocks connect), but it should be looked into regardless.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I’d like to hear some discussions on viable setups for this mixup game, especially considering you have to be so close for it to work…

-Josh

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I use the one-handed Tengu myself much of the time, though I naturally prefer EX Tengu juggles when I can actually connect a launcher

Setups:

-Backthrow them into the corner, activate before they hit the ground; the beauty of this is the distance Oro chucks the opponent and the speed of his dash.

-If you’re pinned in the corner, neutral throw them and activate before they hit the ground… now they’re in the corner.

-You’re pinned in the corner, connected a launcher, and activated regular Tengu by accident because of your shitty execution. Oh no! Cut your losses by juggling with an early close Forward, dashing under the opponent, and pushing their prone body to the corner for some pain.

-Supercancel an anti-air Strong/Fierce fireball into regular Tengu slightly more the fireball connects. The superfreeze will probably make it difficult to parry, and even if they do you can stick out another move. If they get hit by the fireball, juggle with something if you can and dash them into the corner.

-Activate willy-nilly and try to get a couple hits in. Not recommended unless you’re desperate.

Pressure patterns:

If you pressure properly, not even red parries can stop you. Timed properly, you can stuff reversal specials that normally work, like Ken’s Fierce Shoryuken and Akuma’s Gou Shoryukens. Watch out for invincible wake-up supers like Shin Shoryuken, though. You can trade with Seichusen Godanzuki and Deadly Double Combination, but it leaves you frozen for a free knockdown hit that allows Q and especially Makoto to escape the corner.

Far and close Standing Short are your main pressure tools. Although they can be blocked both high and low, their frame advantage allows Oro to get closer and score some guaranteed chip without worrying about the opponent escaping. Mix in some ducking Shorts and universal overheads, and throw in the occasional ducking Forward (use d.Fierce/s.Roundhouse only if you see the opponent getting hit). If you’re ever pushed back by any of these moves, continue with a far standing Short or two and do a kara-UOH (cancel far Forward) to close the gap. When Tengu-time is almost up, you can try to finish off with a standing Fierce or a backthrow or you can just keep pressuring for a couple seconds without the rocks.

Damage:

The damage potential is obscene if the opponent tries unsuccessfully to counter. If everything is blocked, you’re looking at 15-20% chip damage. If the opponent mostly gets hit in the confusion (SCRUB), you’re looking at 70-100% damage easily.

(I personally don’t recommend trying to launch the opponent mid-Tengu unless you’re midscreen or you’re pressuring with EX Tengu for some reason. While they’re flying through the air, you’re losing some valuable chipping time.)

EDIT: My favorite one-handed Tengu combo: s.Short, link s.Forward xx Human Pillar Driver. Use this when you anticipate and block a retaliatory super.