The King of Fighters XIII/Terry

Terry

In a nutshell

Quite the renowned character, this SNK hero makes his inevitable return. Although Terry is a straight forward, pressure character, he isn't quite adept as Kyo or Iori in regards to breaking an opponent's ability to guard high and low attacks (not to say he can't do that kind of offensive pressure at all.) In return, Terry has strong game plan based around chunky block-strings and good frame traps that breaks the opponent's guard gauge. Overall he's a simple character and is a great character for beginners and experienced players alike.

Move List

Normal Moves

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Standing Light Punch

kof.lp

25

chaincancel cancel

Standing Light Kick

kof.lk

30

cancel

Standing Heavy Punch

kof.sp

80

supercancel

Close Heavy Punch

kof.sp

1st hit: 55
2nd hit: 25

cancel

Standing Heavy Kick

kof.sk

80

Close Heavy Kick

kof.sk

70

cancel

Crouching Light Punch

d + kof.lp

25

chaincancel cancel

Crouching Light Kick

d + kof.lk

30

low chaincancel

Crouching Heavy Punch

d + kof.sp

70

cancel

Crouching Heavy Kick

d + kof.sk

80

low softknockdown cancel

Blowback Attack

kof.sp + kof.sk

75

softknockdown specialcancel

Jumping Light Punch

air kof.lp

Jump: 45
Hop: 40

high

Jumping Light Kick

air kof.lk

Jump: 45
Hop: 40

high

Jumping Heavy Punch

air kof.sp

Jump: 72
Hop: 70

high

Jumping Heavy Kick

air kof.sk

Jump: 70
Hop: 68

high

Jumping Blowback Attack

air kof.sp + kof.sk

Jump: 90
Hop: 80

softknockdown

Unique Attacks

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Rising Upper

df + kof.sp

60

specialcancel

Back Knuckle

f + kof.lp

80

Throw

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Buster Throw

f or b + kof.sp or kof.sk (while close)

100

throw hardknockdown

Special Moves

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Power Wave

qcf + p

p : 60
ex 1st till 3rd hit: 45x3

supercancel
kof.sp : softknockdown

Burn Knuckle

qcb + p

kof.lp : 75
kof.sp : 90
ex : 160

softknockdown drivecancel

Crack Shoot

qcb + k

kof.lk 1st and 2nd hit: 40x2
kof.sk 1st till 4th hit: 40x4
ex : 120

ex : high hardknockdown

Rising Tackle

d (charge) u + p

kof.lp 1st hit: 40
2nd till 5th hit: 10x4
kof.sp 1st hit: 50
2nd till 7th hit: 15x6
ex 1st till 7th hit: 20x7
8th till 20th hit: 10x13
21st hit: 30

softknockdown drivecancel

Desperation Moves

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Power Geyser

qcb hcf + p

p : 210
ex 1st till 3rd hit: 120x3

softknockdown

Buster Wolf

qcf qcf + k

k 1st hit: 90
2nd hit: 90
ex 1st hit: 90
2nd till 5th hit: 30x4
6th hit: 90

softknockdown maxcancel

Trinity Geyser

qcf qcf + kof.lp + kof.sp

1st till 3rd hit: 150x3

softknockdown

Strategy

Move Analysis

Normal Attacks

• Standing Light Punch - A standard anti-hop attack. Typically it whiffs on crouching opponents, but larger, crouching opponents are exceptions such as Goro or Raiden. In this case, it could be used to pressure those large characters in a similar manner that Terry could in Garou: Mark of the Wolves.

• Standing Light Kick - Far reaching kick. It is used to control the space in front of Terry. Doesn't have quite the recovery nor the height it had in previous KOF games, this attack makes up for it by being cancelable. Still a good attack to use to keep the opponent outside of your inside range.

• Standing Heavy Punch - A beefy straight. Think of it as an extension of Standing Light Punch but with higher committal, as it will be more susceptible to sweeps due to the longer duration of the attack compared to Standing Light Punch. In return, it does more damage and the longer active hitbox allows Terry to set up frame traps with this move. If one could hit-confirm, then a successful Standing Heavy Punch could net a combo into any of Terry's Desperation Moves on a grounded opponent.

• Close Heavy Punch - A fast, twice-hitting, gut punch. A typical fast, Close C/D attack, but lacks the vertical range of similar moves such as Kyo's or Iori's Close Heavy Punch. Instead, this attack has a very convenient hit-confirming property of being two hits and it's easy for new players to learn to confirm bread and butter combos. Good in blockstrings and the multiple hits help in doing guard damage to the guard meter.

• Standing Heavy Kick - In previous KOF games such as King of Fighters 2002, this move was really slow and lacked much application. Now this move is particularly useful for anti-air in angles Terry couldn't really cover on reaction, barring Rising Upper (df.C). Since Terry can't just hold forward to walk or run and press Standing Light Punch to anti-air on a whim (as Terry either has to commit to stopping to do Standing Light Punch or accidentally get Back Knuckle [f.A] and suffer the consequences of having a chunk of start up while he extends his vulnerable hitbox forward), Standing Heavy Kick covers that application at the cost of being susceptible to sweeps and other low hitting attacks. It's faster than Standing Heavy Punch though, so Standing Heavy Kick's function as an anti-air is much more relevant in King of Fighters XIII than in the past.

• Close Heavy Kick - Although not as fast as Close Heavy Punch, this move has a wider activation range than Close Heavy Punch and has a bigger hitbox both vertically and horizontally. The active frames of this move is longer than each of the hits of Close Heavy Punch so this move is generally a better attack for meaties. When in doubt of being able to run forward to punish a move in time with Close Heavy Punch, Close Heavy Kick would be a moe consistent option due to generous activation range. Also good for safe blockstrings and frame traps.

• Crouching Light Punch - A simple, light attack from crouching that doesn't hit low. Used mainly after Crouching Light Kick so that Crouching Light Punch could cancel into Rising Upper and further into a special attack such as Crack Shoot (qcb+K) or Burn Knuckle (qcb+P). Could be used to stagger blockstrings and have a bit more frame advantage than Crouching Light Kick at the expense of a slight bit of distance and hitting low. If spaced right while staggering the timing, it could preemptively stifle a hop or jump out. An opponent might anticipate a sweep after a few crouching light attacks in a blockstring and may want to hop on your "anticipated" sweep attempt, and a Crouching Light Punch staggered in a blockstring could stop and check the opponent with not too much risk.

• Crouching Light Kick - Similar to Crouching Light Punch but hits low and has less of a vertical hitbox if any. As most Crouching Light Kick attacks, it's really useful for hitconfirms, doing high/low mix ups from hops and empty hops, use as a meaty for bad jump-ins and bad landings, and for blockstrings and pressure. A pretty standard move.

• Crouching Heavy Punch - A punch attack that is quite similar to Guile's "Low Strong" from the Street Fighter series. In application, it is quite similar although the frame advantage might not be as good. It's a good move to use in a blockstring due to the slightly slowness, but the dominance it has due to its hitbox. So it's one of his many frame trap moves that help him score hits and confirms. This move could cancel into command normals or certain specials to add to his pressure. Crouching Heavy Punch also is able to cancel into the aforementioned attacks on whiff as well.

• Crouching Heavy Kick - A standard sweep with a slight raise in height at the tip of his foot, allowing to anti-air from certain angles in special circumstances. Like Crouching Heavy Punch, it could cancel into command normals and special attacks upon whiff. In some cases in which one baits an opponent to hop or jump onto your sweep for the punish, Terry could simply cancel the whiff animation into his Rising Upper (df.C) and anti-air the opponent. Even Crouching Heavy Kick canceled into Rising Upper on block is quite safe. One could maintain pressure, momentum, and control a bit of aerial space by also canceling Crouching Heavy Kick into Crack Shoot (qcb+K), preferably the B version of Crack Shoot.

• Blowback Attack - A standard standing CD attack. In past KOF games, this move used to be a sobat kick that went over low attacks. Now it looks like Terry's old shoulder tackle special attack, Power Charge (hcf+K), and doesn't not have properties such as going over low attacks. This current Blowback Attack is more like Kyo's as it initially reels Terry back, and then charges forward with a big, meaty hitbox. In some rare cases, Terry could use this move in response to an overextension of an opponent's attack, and punish the recovery of the move as Terry springs forward as he comes from reeling backwards. On it's own it does not have too much application; although, one could whiff it from a further distance and cancel the active frames into a special move such as Crack Shoot (qcb+K) to close in distance, but there are better and safer ways to approach an opponent rather than to do that.

• Jumping Light Punch - Such as many Jumping Light Punches in the game such as Kyo's or Ryo's, this attack is mainly an air-to-air move that works in a limited amount of situations. This is due to the fact that Terry's other jumping attacks cover similar ranges but with better reach and control. So in the few cases in which no other attack is fast enough as Jumping Light Punch nor could reach to the side nor below Terry, then Jumping Light Punch may be applicable.

• Jumping Light Kick - This kick is Terry's furthest reaching, jumping normal attacks. It has quite the lengthy active period that it actually hits and it controls the vast horizontal space. The weakness of this move is that it easily whiffs against crouching opponents regardless of what jump or hop arc Terry takes and is susceptible to meaty, Crouching Light Kick attacks that lead into combos. Commit to this move when one is able to either confirm Terry's safety upon landing or set up and successfully air-to-air an opponent. At the right angles, Terry could air-to-air an opponent with this attack and have the time to land and run under the opponent as the opponent lands on the floor; thus setting up for a mix-up.

• Jumping Heavy Punch - An attack that functions both as a jump-in and as an air-to-air given the context of the situation. This attack may not have as wide or as low of a hitbox as Jumping Heavy Kick, but regardless of the comparison this attack is able to be used as a jump-in. The hitbox of course is surrounding Terry's upper body rather than below his waist, leaving Terry a bit more susceptible to anti-air attacks than Jumping Heavy Kick. What Jumping Heavy Punch has to offer is that ability to check an opponent just in case for whatever reason, the opponent decides to hop or jump given the proper spacing. So when Terry is at that distance where the opponent could decided to either crouch, block while standing, or hop, Jumping Heavy Punch would be a very appropriate move to control those several factors at once and keeping the advantage. In some cases, that hop the opponent does may happen to go over Terry's Jumping Heavy Kick that was timed and intended for a jump-in, and Terry didn't want to commit to a Jumping Light Kick in that situation as well due to the risk of a crouching opponent anti-airing the attack. So in some cases and spacing, Jumping Heavy Punch does have relevancy.

• Jumping Heavy Kick - A standard jump-in attack. One of the few moves in the KOF series that have a Street Fighter-like hitbox upon jump-in. As in, this attack has a really good 45° downward angle, good horizontal range, and cross-up just like a Street Fighter Jumping Roundhouse attack by a character such as Ryu. Within the context of KOF and hopping, this move isn't as fast nor has as much of a downward, vertical hitbox like Kyo's Jumping Light Kick or Iori's Jumping Heavy Punch to establish quick, hard-to-defend pressure. Though, he can do quite similar pressure as well but not to an extremely dominating extent, it's a bit easier to react to and anti-air Terry's Jumping Heavy Kick compared to the aforementioned attacks. Due to the systems of the game, this move can actually cross-up more easily from a hop than in past iterations of KOF, allowing for more angles of pressure and offense for Terry to exercise. People more familiar with Street Fighter jump-in attacks would be quickly familiar with Terry's Jumping Heavy Kick and become well acquainted with it.

• Jumping Blowback Attack - Similar to Terry's Jumping Light Kick attack, this move is almost strictly for anti-air. It has a higher angled hitbox compared to Jumping Light Punch and Jumping Light Kick for air-to-air, and it covers that remaining upward space that Terry's other jumping normal attacks do not control. On the other hand, Jumping Blowback Attack whiffs over most crouching characters; and since all Jumping Blowback Attacks do not hit high as an overhead, the opponent doesn't need to stand up at all in response to this attack. So if misused, this attack will whiff and be severely punished. On larger crouching characters such as Raiden or Maxima, it's easier for Terry to make this attack be blocked regardless of the opponent crouching or standing. So in those match ups, Terry could force an additional set-up/frame trap by using a well spaced Jumping Blowback attack in a preemptive response to an anti-air attack, and will counter hit or trade with that attack. As usual, any opponent that is hit by a counter hit Jumping Blowback Attack is susceptible to an additional hit for a juggle combo, such as a jumping normal attack for a hit reset or a super.

Unique Attacks

• Rising Upper - An uppercut quite similar in application as Ryo's Crouching Heavy Punch or Kyo's Close Heavy Punch. The limitation of this move compared to the previously mentioned moves is that this move can't be simply done on reaction from a blocking position, or from holding back. So Terry has to commit or risk doing this on defense and is harder to do on reaction than a simple Crouching Heavy Punch from a down-back position. On the other hand, Terry can approach or maintain his run by holding down-forward by sliding down from forward from initiating a run, and just press the C button on reaction when the player sees the opponent jump or hop. So while in certain instances it may more difficult to use this move as an anti-air than others, Rising Upper also does have its means of ease in others. Although characters such as Ryo could also do the same kind of uppercut from a run as well, Terry's hitbox on his Rising Upper has better horizontal coverage compared to Ryo's Crouching Heavy Punch. In comparison to Kyo's Close Heavy Punch, Terry's Rising Upper covers more or less the same range, but Kyo's limitation is that Kyo has to be close to the opponent to execute Close Heavy Punch; Terry can do Rising Upper anywhere on screen regardless of spacing.
  • Additionally as this is a command normal attack, many of Terry's normal attacks can cancel into Rising Upper. So Terry has the the advantage of canceling attacks such as Crouching Heavy Punch and Crouching Heavy Kick into Rising Upper, controlling ground and air space almost simultaneously. Further, this move can combo from Crouching Light Punch that combos from Crouching Light Kick. So from a jump-in or an empty hop, Terry could more or less earn the same kind of combo and knockdown from a high or low mix up as Rising Upper combos into Burn Knuckle (qcb+A) and his Desperation Moves.
  • On a blockstring, Terry could cancel Rising Upper into Crack Shoot (qcb+B) and be relatively safe. If the opponent might try to Guard Cancel Roll on the Rising Upper to try to punish the recovery of Crack Shoot, Terry can simply end the blockstring on Rising Upper and reassume pressure by applying a meaty attack on the recovery of the Guard Cancel Roll. If the opponent does not Guard Cancel Roll, Terry's Rising Upper induces enough push back on block that Terry is left at a safe range.
• Back Knuckle - This attack doesn't have as much utility as Rising Upper in terms of being a command normal to hitconfirm during combos. Although there is more time to "confirm something", this move doesn't cancel into anything afterward. Instead, this move could be used to confirm into a Hyper Drive mode activation and Terry could extend his combo. Otherwise, this move is like Back Knuckle in King of Fighters 98; but in King of Fighters XIII, it only hits once and hits faster with better recovery. In a neutral game, Terry could use Back Knuckle as an anti-air against a hop that is beyond the reach of Standing Light Punch, Standing Heavy Punch, and Standing Heavy Kick while using a Burn Knuckle (qcb+P) is too much of a risk to use due to the lack of safety on block, as spacing a Burn Knuckle on block to be safe is very minute, and a precise/difficult thing to do.
  • This move also gets in the way of Terry walking/running and holding forward to press Standing Light Punch on reaction or on a whim. Terry has to commit to stopping and immediately pressing Standing Light Punch for the anti-air, as if not done quickly enough that Terry will end up in the recovery animation of the run and not immediately anti-air. Of course if Terry holds forward and presses the A button, then he'll get a Back Knuckle, which could be detrimental if he's too close to the opponent since the start up animation is not that fast at all, and is susceptible for a punish.

Tips and Tricks

• Typically when Terry does two crouching, light attacks on block from point blank, Terry could cross up with Jumping Heavy Kick on an opponent from a full, normal jump.
• Similarly when Terry does three crouching, light attack on block from point blank, Terry could cross up with Jumping Heavy Kick on an opponent from a hyper hop.
• Terry could whiff a Close Heavy Kick on okizeme and still cancel the whiff animation into a Rising Upper (df.C) and use that attack to meaty an opponent, a potential gimmick.
• The timing for canceling Rising Upper (df.C) is trickier than in previous games. A recommended tip to try is to cancel Rising Upper a bit later than anticipated.

Basic Strategy

Offense

• Block

Defense

• Block