Here’s a breakdown of how I play Rog.
NOTE: This does not translate to “This is how to PLAY Rog” or “This is the best way to play Rog”.
Basically, with the way AE is now and especially after the changes, things are slightly more rushdown orientated.
With that in mind, it’s a good time to brush up on your aggression with Boxer. Some will tell you it is STILL best to play to his strengths and that is FOOTSIES (Which should be used anyways, beit defensive or aggressive) but ultimately I was never very good at that - Anytime I had a footsie battle it’ll ALWAYS seem like “I’m being stuffed by his Normals” or “Their Normals seem better than mine”. This may not have been true, it could have been bad spacing, or me just randomly throwing out punished Normals rather than being selective, but for me they just didn’t seem to work as a ‘primary’ strategy and eventually it became something I didn’t use as often as others. This does not mean I forget them entirely - I will work them in any chance I can because the power of Rog IS his Normals, not his specials.
Again, like above, SPACING is another issue entirely.
With Boxer, you NEED to be willing to sacrifice your charge and MOVE FORWARD. The key with Balrog is the fact that his specials are not the answer to everything. Fireballs can be anticipated and stuffed with a well spaced and timed standing roundhouse, sweep, far standing fierce, standing forward etc - It’s not like you need to TAP through it, jump over it, EX Special through it or headbutt through it at all - But to do that, you need to be positioned correctly. It’s no good sitting down-back at the far end of the screen eating chip damage from fireballs all day when you could be close enough to punch them in the teeth for doing it, instead.
Alternatively, when it DOES come to specials, launching them from mid/full screen is NOT a good idea no matter who you face - It’s just a terrible terrible thing to do. Even me and my slow snail like reactions will see it, neutral jump/focus/stuff or armor break your ass for doing it, so don’t.
You need to learn your MATCHUPS - If you treat every opponent with the same gameplan, you will likely lose more than you should. Some opponents REQUIRE a more laid-back strategy - Other opponents are prone to being rushed down better than patiently picked apart - Learn who slots in where. Example, it’s almost favourable to rushdown people such as Gen / Vega, but this method won’t work against born turtlers like Guile, or footsie Chun’s. Rushing down a Zangief is borderline suicidal unless they’re extremely bad or you get real lucky. Every opponent has different strengths and weaknesses - LEARN THEM, USE THEM, ABUSE THEM.
Just because a matchup is in your favour DOES NOT MEAN it’s a guarantee’d win. I lose to Blanka more than I do Sagat, purely because I’m not a very reserved player. Any matchup thread will tell you Blanka has to WORK to get in and do damage on Balrog, so it’s pointless rushing him when you can just sit there and punish everything he does. But thats not my style, so I lose more despite it being 7-3 to Balrog. MATCHUPS and TIERS DO NOT ACCOUNT FOR PLAYER SKILL - Just averages. A bad Balrog can easily get stomped by a good Blanka - Hell an average Blanka could stomp an average Balrog - Do not put faith in tiers or lists, but LEARN from them all the same.
MIXUPS!
Balrog is hailed as probably the most ‘linear’ character in the entire SF4 Roster - This does not mean he can’t throw out some trickery or throw off their opponent with mindphucks. If the dead-pan straightforward method is not working, it’s always good to have an ace in the hole. Some opponents don’t expect a reckless Rog (Some people claim they’ve only ever seen patient down-back Rogs) others may not be used to the more patient Rog (Some only know Rushdown Balrogs) so be willing and able to not only use any possible mixups, but mixup your gameplay in general.
It’s very very VERY easy to become ‘predictable’ with Balrog, so DON’T!
Finally, be ready and willing to accept defeat and, in doing so, use it for critique.
Lot of players out there are just plain bad sore losers - This will not help you in anything, in any way, ever in life or games. Losing is part of ANY game, get used to it - When you do lose and you feel it shouldn’t have happened, or maybe you could have prevented it, use the lovely replay feature in SSF4 AE and watch what you did, what they did and LEARN. In addition, use the “Balrog Critique” thread here in the Balrog Forums - It’s chock-a-block full of other players in the SAME BOAT as you.
One thing that helped me immensely to notice my bad habits, mistakes and errors was seeing it for myself - You never EVER take stock for mistakes while playing unless it’s plain and obvious, such as only noticing that last fatal error that cost the match when, in reality, you could have been throwing it away from the “FIGHT” sound not just that last bit.
Despite all this, I’m still mediocre, myself but I’ll tell you something. I’ve come a LONG way from how I was compared to how I am now. That may not be a major self-compliment but it is one nonetheless. I went from a random headbutting Balrog who won games from just throwing out random shit, to someone who has comboability, abuses mixups and shinanigans, has read this Forum, it’s critique and video threads IMMENSELY for years, tried my best to learn from my errors and thanks to that I enjoy this game more than I ever did and I’ve never once got bored of Balrog - I’ve not played anyone else since Vanilla, ever, except the odd once off every year.
If you want to improve then there are a tonne of ways both within and external to help you, so read the Forums, take a look at yourself and the way you play, watch others play, read, use it in Training mode, experiment and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.
Here’s me when I first started playing SF4:
[media=youtube]DvYdUUd2iTw[/media]
Here’s me when I first started playing AE:
[media=youtube]kCYV9rVpXhE[/media]
Obviously I’m not exactly some SF4 god but I’m at least better than I was, purely for a willingness to learn and research and experiment.
I still have my own bad habits, like misusing TAP too much and using predictable movesets but otherwise I’ve improved.
