My Kuma Guide:
Specials
HCB+K= curls up into a ball and jumps in the air. No invincibility but OK anti-air. EX gives a wall bounce but if near the corner you can’t follow it up. The EX can be stuffed at start up too, meaning he has no truly invincible move other than supers (I think)
HCF+P (+P to follow up)= Palm strike. Good range poke and safe on block, this is his go to move for combos and general mix up, because of the follow up:
Jab = small follow up punch. Hits mid but is safe on block. Probably the best option. This combos off any palm strike so is the safest and most guaranteed (combos on hit, safe on block but lowest damage)
Strong= Big delayed slash that hits overhead and does great damage AND ground bounce- you can follow this up with crouch short and combo into super! This doesn’t combo and it’s unsafe. So your best hope is to hit it if your opponent turtles your initial palm, although they can just stand up. I reckon this will eventually be useless as nobody should fall for it and crucially he has no low option after the palm, apart from wait for the recovery to end on the palm then sweep.
Fierce= Looks the same as the Strong slash, but doesn’t hit overhead. So what’s the point? It combos. Drawback? Unsafe. So his best palm combo is palm, fierce, his best block string is palm, jab and his best mix up is palm, strong or palm, wait, sweep/command throw.
EX- a cross between strong and fierce- it combos AND bounces. This sets up a true combo into super off a palm combo.
HCB, F+P= Command grab where he spins them around on his paws. Looks funny, shitty damage. Throw isn’t instant. Best thing is that it has BIG range.
360+P,P= Roll and headbutt. If up close just instant headbutt. This does hit faster and does better damage, but the range is very small and if you aren’t in range he rolls, which is punishable- just crouch and sweep the roll, or avoid the throw attempt.
^with this in mind you realise his throws have specific applications and aren’t go to moves. He’s not a true grab character, more a Tonk Alex/Abel type who relies on short damaging combos and super rather than tick throws. The roll is standard in that the length is further the harder the punch used, goes under fireballs etc.
**KK- Stance Change- **Kuma gets on all fours. Can’t block, jumping puts him back in default stance, so does most special and super inputs.
During low stance- three normals (punch and kicks of the same strength do the same thing) weak->medium->hard all chain. Hard knocks down. All pretty standard, good length, hit low slashes.
**B+MP= **Barge. Goes through fireballs and wall bounces, good damage. Can set up a good combo. Good option for getting in, good range. Bad recovery
**B+HP= **Spins about on his back. Can work well as a runaway and as an anti air. Not too unsafe as he moves away
F+HP Massive Launcher, can combo
**F+MP **Less Massive launcher, might be safe
**Special normal chains **
B+ferce X3
Strong X2, Back Strong – Both do good damage for auto combos. The fierce one is a bit unsafe, the stong one is safe after the first two hits.
Key Normals- Crouch strong is his best normal, good range, hit confirms, doubs as far anti air. Looks like a MASSIVE version of Blanka crouch strong.
All his kicks are useless. Crouch RH is OK sometimes for a quick knockdown, crouch short is used after his palm strike ground bounce, apart from that AVOID.
Stand Strong is the best poke.
Kuma cant jump over his opponent unless they are crouching. He has a VERY low jump so jump strong and fierce are great as overheads.
Most of Kuma’s game is hitting mid and high, which is why you need to throw and sometimes sweep or crouch jab/short to keep them honest- I really think you can neutralise his mix up by stand blocking (no need to crouch) and mashing jab into a hit confirm.
