Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike/Oro/Strategy

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Strategies

Footsies

Oro's best grounded pokes are far MK and 5HK. Far MK is his second farthest reaching normal. It has fast (8f) startup considering its reach, along with a slightly disjointed active hitbox. It is particularly useful in the shoto matchups, where it will cleanly beat shoto 2MK when properly spaced. 5HK doesn't have the disjoint hitbox or the range of far MK, but it makes up for this with absurdly fast 7f startup and heinous stun damage. It does so much stun that even the long stun bar characters can't afford to carelessly get hit. Its speed, heavy priority, and hitboxes make it difficult to contest. Unfortunately, both of these otherwise incredible buttons suffer from the same major weaknesses. On whiff, far MK and 5HK are respectively 26f and 28f long, meaning they are quite whiff punishable. Both kicks are also -5 on block. Additionally, Far MK is -4 on hit, and 5HK is only 1f better at -3 on hit. While this is not always a problem, it can open Oro up to big punishes on block when the opponent has meter, and even on hit against characters with fast supers, like Ken and Chun Li. Finally, both moves have rather high active hitboxes, and they will whiff on short crouching characters like Chun, Elena, twins, and even in the mirror.

Far MP has the same startup as far MK, but with shorter range. It is also less rewarding to land, doing both less damage and less stun. Fortunately it has a shorter overall animation at 24 frames; less severe disadvantage on block and hit, at -2 and -1 respectively; and a lower reaching active hitbox. The extra block and hit advantage is useful against characters that can punish your stronger pokes, sometimes even on hit. The lower hitbox maintaining Oro's neutral presence against the shorter characters than can crouch under his kicks.

2HK is another absurdly fast heavy button, with only 6f of startup. Much like 5HK, it is unfortunately quite whiff punishable, with 18 recovery frames and 28 frames total. Unlike that button, it is only -2 on block and +0 on hit. While not a standard "footsies" type move, due to its fast startup and fairly generous disjointed active hitbox, it is an excellent whiff punish. It especially shines in the Hugo matchup, where it will usually cleanly beat Hugo's standing LP, crouching LP, and standing MP; as well as the Makoto matchup, where it is pretty much Oro's only (albeit excellent) option to punish Makoto for abusing her 2MK.

2MK is Oro's primary low button. It has fast 6f startup, 4 active frames, and a quick (11f) recovery. It also has a generous disjointed active hitbox, so it tends to have favorable interactions with comparable low pokes. It will often cleanly beat tackle-type moves like Urien's chariot tackle. If you hit someone with it at close range, it can combo into human pillar driver (Oro's hit-grab) for a hard knockdown. All of this and it's even +0 on block, +1 on hit, and +2 on crouching hit; a rarity for Oro pokes.

Neutral

One of Oro's greatest strengths is his mobility. His dash and back dash or both very fast, his jump arcs are good, and he has a double jump. He can use these tools to stay out of the opponent's desired range, avoid jump-ins, bait anti-airs, and more.

His goal in neutral is to use these tools to frustrate the opponent and bait them into mistakes. When the opponent cracks, Oro punishes them with HK to rack up stun, or cl.MP into tengu or yagyou loops to (ideally) end the round.

Choosing which Tengu to use: This is highly based on player preference, and I see EX and regular stones activated in all sorts of ways. In general, I’d recommend using EX stones during a combo, or if you have full meter and Oro is punishing, simply 2 hit MP xxx Stones (then juggle appropriately). I opt to use non-ex stones out of combo a lot of the time unless it’s a situation where the enemy has a lot of life, the timer is going to run out, and I’m almost dead. I really just like having the option to juggle more. The EX stones don’t last very long, so they are the worse choice if Oro is trying to chip the opponent to death.

Regular SAIII (3 stones): This is good for chipping opponents and keeping presence on the fight for a while. The stones last a really long time. Usually you want to activated non-EX stones after a backthrow or sweep that leaves the opponent cornered. Try to activated just before they land to mess up their meaty timing. You can also cancel into stones after throwing a fireball to make them safe to use, since there is recovery. Don't just randomly use them. Stones make meaties very easy; all Oro needs to do is whiff a move and let the stones hit as the opponent gets up, and he can block. Make sure that when applying pressure, you don't just mash light kick and walk forwards. The stones don't hit as often as Genei Jin shadows, most of them attack every other move that Oro does. So you kind of stutter like... lk (walk forwards with stones), lk (walk forwards with stones), cr lk..... If Oro pushes himself out of block range, he can whiff a st. LK, then UOH while the stones are out to hop back into attacking range.

With non EX stones out, there is a way to deal decent damage that isn't from chip, and really keeps the opponent on the edge (which I covered in the video linked above); UOH, cr MKxxx command grab. This really makes your opponent not want to just block low the whole time because this easy combo causes a lot of damage and an untechable knockdown.

Usually for pressure, Oro uses far LK, close LK, cr LK, and UOH during Tengu since they are fast.

Another little note about regular Tengu is that I prefer it as a raw activation over EX very much in the Urien and Chun-Li match up. Urien doesn't really have fast reversals he can sneak in between attacks in case you mess up your timing, or the set of stones messes you up, so Oro can often times get max damage off of non-EX Tengu here. Against Chun, EX stones out of combo tend to be bad because most sets of stones do not allow Oro to activate, then UOH linked to MP for juggles, so I just go for chip and try to get her to burn meter for EX legs to make Oro go weeeeeeeeeee across the screen.

EX SAIII (5 stones): EX stones is the one that grants Oro his big combos. In the corner, all Oro has to do is continually roundhouse until the timer runs out, then combo into his bnb chicken dance to build back some meter. Mid screen there are a couple combos most Oro players use:

(Assuming the opponent is in air either from jumping or after being launched) jump HK, land, juggle w/ cl MK, repeat. If the opponent seems like the next jump HK is going to get hit too far away, use toward MP in place of jump HK. Just try it a few times in trianing mode to get the ranges down. It's kind of hard to describe because his combos are all stone specific and there are 3125 combinations of stones.

The other mid screen juggle is roundhouse, toward MP, roundhouse, toward MP.... Same thing where if the next roundhouse is going to miss, use a toward MP instead like the other mid screen juggle. I recommend this one for shotos, since sometimes the land, cl MK causes them to start being juggled in the wrong direction based on how close to them Oro is. But really, just use whichever combo you are comfortable with. Both of these combos work on the whole case.

If you do choose to or are forced to use EX Tengu Stones you of combo, you CAN lead to a big Oro juggle. Use UOH linked to cl MP to put the opponent in a juggle state, or use Oro's cr HK to start a juggle, then usually do one jab before the roundhouse for timing purposes; the start up of jab is much faster, so characters that fall quickly will not drop to the ground very often if the first attack is a jab. Again, this timing may be odd at first, so you gotta spend two quarters when no one else is at the arcade to get dat training in.... Or are you playing on 3so? What!!!!

Tips: Close LK is a great move for tic throws since it has a 2 frame start up, frame advantage, and is only parrable high. Close LP has better frame advantage, but it is parryable either high or low.

Overview

Oro is an unorthodox, but balanced character. He fills basic special movelist requirements (e.g fireball, uppercut). However, he has unique mechanics such as a double jump and EX supers. However, his damage is often limited to close proximity so he must either use short combos or poke until he's in an effective range. However, if he successfully lands a setup, it is often round-ending, or at least leaves him at a huge advantage. He achieves this either by unblockable/50-50 setups by SA2, or big damage juggles/ridiculous corner pressure by SA3.

Basics

Normal Pokes

-s.HK beats Dudley’s s.HK (and a lot of other things!)
-s.MK beats Ken’s d.MK (Oro’s farthest-reaching poke)
-d.MP beats Urien’s d.MK (solid poke that stays out for a while)
-d.HP beats Makoto’s d.MK (great priority, destroys Makoto’s standard pokes)
-s.MP beats Urien’s s.HP (another solid poke, mix it up)
-d.MK beats Chun-Li’s b+HP (best low-hitting poke… not much to choose from)

Poking Strings

-d.LK - d.MK (d.LK d.LK is fine too, but less damage if it hits)
-close s.LK - far s.LK - d.MK (high-high-low, pushes you into zoning range)
-close s.LK - d.LK - s.HK (high-low-high)
-close s.LK - d.LK - d.HP (variation on Makoto, also comes out quicker)
-UOH - far s.LK - far. s.MK (don’t use on Chun-Li and Oro; they can duck the MK)

• (Use variations of these for yourself! This is only a guide.)
  
  

Normal Anti-Airs

-s.HK beats Yang’s divekick (proper range)
-d.HP beats Ryu’s j.HK (mix up with s.HK for far jump-ins)
-close s.MP beats Chun’s j.MK (use sparingly, and use the chance to juggle either a s.HK or another launch (first hit only) into super

• (Not shown: close s.LP against close jump-ins, then mixup when they land)
  
  

Air-to-Airs

-j.HK beats Remy’s j.HP (the height from a superjump helps to outprioritize)
-j.MK beats Q’s j.HP (it’s all spacing, use doublejumping to your advantage)
-parry - airthrow (use this after an air parry whenever you can, it hurts a lot)

• (Not shown: vertical j.HK… USE THIS!!! I can’t believe I forgot to include it)
  
  

Super Art Selection

• SA1
  • Invincible EX Super Art
  • Long one stock meter
  • Limited options
    • Use on: No one

• SA2
  • 3 Medium stocks
  • Unblockables.
  • Predictable and specific gameplans
  • Unblockables are not guaranteed as opponent can get out
  • Reliant on landing cl.MP
    • Use on: All except Akuma, Twins, possibly Urien, Oro, Ibuki

• SA3
  • Longest duration Normal Super Art
  • Big guaranteed damage juggles
  • Incredible pressure option
  • One Stock Art Meter and longest one
    • Use on: All

Kara-Techniques

Beware that close MK has effectively no kara range, so st.HK is used to kara within cl.MK range. For kara-UOH, press Strong a split second after pressing and holding Forward.

Roundhouse is best for normal throws. Far Forward is best for his command grab and regular Kishin Riki. I don’t recommend doing the kara-command grab in a real match any more than I would recommend doing it on its own outside of a combo. As for Kishin Riki… do yourself a favor and pick a good super art.

Same as the command grab. During Kishin Riki you can make a grab attempt with any punch on its own, but you can kara only if you do the command grab motion. F, DF, D, DB, B, Forward, any punch. You must complete the half-circle motion before pressing Forward.

Zoning

Oro is surprisingly adept at projectile zoning, being able to cover different angles with minor recovery.

• LP fireball - standard grounded fireball, beware it extends his hurtbox before and during the fireball coming out, also the fireball comes out a distance away from Oro.
• MP fireball - far anti-air fireball, less recovery than LP fireball, harder to juggle out of in midscreen.
• HP fireball - closer anti-air fireball, less recovery than LP fireball, easier to juggle out of in midscreen.
• EX fireball - slow startup, but two hits and tracks to a degree. Note that it launches at an angle if the opponent is airborne on startup.
• SA2 ball - slow startup, but many hits and able to walk with the ball to create space/go in. LP version covers most distance and HP version bounces higher.

Kara fireballs can also be effective in controlling space.

Mixups

your best options for wakeups and mixups are these:

• cl.MP - hits mid, high parry only. Safe (mostly) , confirmable and is his bnb starter
• cl.MK xx hcb+P - hits mid, high parry only. Hard to confirm
• cr.MK xx hcb+P - hits low, low parry only. Hard to confirm
• MP+MK, MK xx hcb+P / MP into chicken combo - hits overhead, UOH must hit late to be able to combo off
• hcb+P - hits mid, cannot be parried
• (kara) throw
• HP - hits overhead, knocks down airborne opponents
• jump late, air qcf+K for 9 hits - hits overhead
• jump early, air qcf+K on landing, MP into chicken combo - hits overhead
• empty jump, cr.MK xx hcb+P - mix with above, hits low.

Additional Notes

• Personal Action: Recovers stun meter.