The King of Fighters '98/Rugal

Introduction

pick c color it's nice

Colors

Gameplay Overview

Returning from KoF95, Rugal has been toned down significantly from his Omega-self in that he no longer does stupid damage from every hit, so in 98 he is damned into the G-tier section along with other crap characters like Brian or Andy, but don't let that discourage you as Rugal is still a pretty cool guy! He requires moderate execution skills, mostly comboing into his super from his f+b command normal. He should be placed middle in the team as most of his damage comes from his Gigantic Pressure DM (and you'll probably want to have some better character as last anyway if you wanna win)

Combos

c.b, cl.a/b/c.a x f+b x God Press/Gigantic Pressure

(jump-in) cl.c [2 hits] x f+b x God Press/Gigantic Pressure

In-depth Analysis

Movelist

	Frames	Advantage	Cancel	Block	Hitbox		Notes
Standing Close
	2/2+3/8	-/-	C	HL			Typical close A, used as combo filler/pressure, also is his best anti-air, cancelable.
	3/5/5	-/-	C	HL			Typical close B, used as combo filler/pressure, cancelable.
	5/3+2/24	-/-	-/C	HL/HL			Rugal's main punishing tool, 2 hits, both cancelable.
	5/3+15+4/23	-/-	-/-	HL/HL			2 hits, cancelable on first hit. Same startup frame than cl.C
Standing Far
	5/4/11	-/-	-	HL			Good poke. Great range, fast, hits crouchers.
	6/3/16	-/-	-	L			OK poke. Hits low.
	16/3+3/30	-/-	-	HL			Good range but very slow, bad recovery, and not cancelable.
	14/3+5/24	-/-	-	HL			Nice range but slow, okay to throw out sometimes though, can check people out of jumps late in the move, just watch the long recovery.
+	11/4/27	KD/	S	HL			Very lacking range and slow to come out, attacks mostly vertically but not that useful as an anti-air.
Crouching
	2/3/9	-/-	C	HL			Good and fast poke, cancelable, the range is pretty bad though.
	3/4/6	-/-	-	L			Typical low hitting c.B, okay range, throw it out when in range as a poke.
	8/3+3/22	-/-	C	HL			Not much use. Cancelable.
	11/4/25	-/-	C	L			Long range cancelable sweep, kind of slow though.
Jump
	5/7	-/-	-	H			Don't bother.
	5/6	-/-	-	H			Good as a crossup, not much else. The neutral jump version can instant overhead.
	8/5	-/-	-	H			Not too useful.
	6/4	-/-	-	H			Rugal's main jump-in, good priority as air-to-air, can crossup. Neutral jump version hits twice.
+	12/3	KD/-	-	HL			Pretty bad, bad hitbox, doesn't hit crouchers sometimes if done too early from hop, slow to come out, but I guess it's okay sometimes.
Neutral Jump
	5/7	-/-	-	H
	5/6	-/-	-	H
	8/5	-/-	-	H
	9/3+5	-/-	-/-	H/H
Command Normals
f+	6/3+16+4/24	-/-	C/-	HL,H			Rugal's most important move. Fast, good range, chains from any cancelable normal, 2 hits of which the first is always cancelable and the second is an overhead, can be used as a poke by itself although the main use is to cancel into it from Rugal's normals and then cancel the first hit into a special/DM. Just watch for GC roll/C+D if you failed to cancel the first hit.

Normal Throws

b or f+C - Unbreakble, front knockdown, rollable.

b or f+D - Breakable, front knockdown, unrollable.

Both throws kind of stink, but D throw prefered in most cases, except if you have them cornered, as it's unrollable even though the wakeups are pretty much limited to C Reppuken, which isn't even meaty, unless you throw them into the corner. The C throw can't broken, but opponent can mash buttons to get out of it faster and reduce damage. Both throws send the opponent to the other side of the screen.

Special Moves

Reppuken (qcf+P) - A fireball. Fast to come out but bad recovery. A version goes slow, C version goes fast. Stick to the C version most of the time for blockstrings and such. Unlike in 95, you can't have this and a Kaiser Wave on the screen at the same time. You can setup an unblockable with this and his Dead End Screamer DM.

Kaiser Wave (f,hcf+P) - Another fireball, except it's bigger. Very slow and telegraphed startup, easily countered by opponents who are awake with invincible Ranbus, rolls, etc. A version goes slow, C version goes very fast. Chargeable to do more hits and damage, but just begs to be punished. Unlike in 95, you can't have this and a Reppuken on the screen at the same time.

Genocide Cutter (dp+K) - Rugal's signature move, although it's pretty bad in this game. You'd think it's your typical dragon punch type attack, except this one goes mostly straight up and neither version has no invincibility at all thus limiting it's use. B version is sort of good as a poke as it's hard to punish at the tip and it's fast, D version is mostly just to get you killed. Overall not that useful except with limited anti-air capabilities, but even then you need to anticipate a jump.

Dark Barrier (qcf+K) - Reflects fireballs back at their thrower, even some DM fireballs. It also has an attack hitbox that knocks down on hit, but unlike what you may remember from KoF95 this version does not give frame advantage on block.

God Press (hcb+P) - Rugal runs at the opponent and tries to grab them, if he's succesful he'll deliver them nicely all the way into the corner for a hard knockdown. Although it's a "grab" it can be blocked. A version goes about 60% of the screen while C goes full screen. You'll want to limit this move into comboes only as it's terrible on block and has no invincibility or anything nor a particulary fast startup.

Desperation Moves

Gigantic Pressure (qcf,hcb+P) - Rugal does a souped up version of his God Press special move with the exact same properties as the special. His main source of combo damage although buffering it from f+b can be tricky. MAX version does more damage and goes from corner to corner. It has a pretty great hitbox for catching hoppers with, and the MAX version's startup invincibility helps with this.

Dead End Screamer (qcf,qcf+K - The Rugal Spin! Rugal jumps at the opponent with a kick and if it hits he knocks them down on the floor and spins on them laughing and looking very silly. Unlike God Press and Gigantic Pressure this move is actually a grab in that it's unblockable, but it doesn't hit people in the air. This super is meant for jumping over fireballs and punishing them for it.

Takes some time to build up reaction speed and muscle memory for this. It does, however, do a little bit more damage than Gigantic Pressure on it's own, but you can't combo into it. B version goes a shorter distance than D version.

MAX version does more damage, and has startup invincibility along with 8 frames of invincibility when his feet are off the ground. The Max version makes it easier to go over super fireballs. The regular versions have no iframes.

Team Loyalty

This is how other characters react to Rugal on the team. Rugal always takes a bar away for people. Build your team accordingly with this information to make sure it works for your strategy.

Characters that give meter

Yashiro/Orochi Yashiro

Takuma

Daimon

Terry/EX Terry

Joe/EX Joe

Ryo

Robert

Athena

Mai

Chizuru

Chris/Orochi Chris

Mary

Lucky

Characters that leave the same

Kyo/EX Kyo

Benimaru

Yuri

Clark

Kensou

Chin

Kim

Chang

Shermie/Orochi Shermie

Yamazaki

Billy

Mature

Vice

Heidern

Characters that take away meter

Andy/EX Andy

Leona

Ralf

King

Choi

Iori

Saisyu

Shingo

Heavy D!

Brian

The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest