Street Fighter EX2 Plus/System

Health

All characters in this game have the same amount of health at 200 health points.

Bison, Darun, and Zangief take less damage than the rest of the cast since they have a damage modifier.

Specials deal chip damage only when done outside of Excel, Supers only deal chip damage if done raw or cancelled from a normal, they do no chip damage if super cancelled from a special or another super, chip damage can kill in EX2 Plus.

Throws

EX2 Plus has single button throws, just like the Street Fighter II games. Throws have no startup, if two players input it at the same time, the throw will still be teched.

You only have 4 frames to tech after the throw input. There is no tech option if you are being thrown during a moves animation, whether its on startup or recovery. After teching a throw, there is no frame advantage for either player.

Most characters have their throws on medium and heavy normals. Some are missing a punch or kick variant and others can only use their heavy normal to initiate it.

Super Meter

You can have up to 150 units of super meter, meter is divided in three bars, each bar is 50 units long. Excel activation, supers, and guard break all cost 50 units of meter. There are a variety of ways to use meter in EX2 Plus.

Super Cancelling

Super cancelling allows you to cancel your special moves into a super, you can also cancel a super into another super (a super can't be cancelled into itself, you have to super cancel into a different super).

The window to input the super cancel is usually pretty generous, a lot of combos in this game rely on super canceling a special or super very late into its animation. Jump-in confirms into a super (e.g. Ryu's j.HK > cr.MK XX Hadouken SC Shinku Hadouken) usually deal less damage than a slightly optimized Excel combo, but are easier to pull off.

Meteor Supers (Level 3 Supers)

Big cinematic supers that cost all 3 super meter gauges, they all deal 50% damage if they hit raw (Zangief's meteor super is the most damaging at about 70% damage), and some of them can be comboed into. Some are even fast enough to be used as antiairs or specific punishes, such as Guile's.

Guard Break

Guard Breaks are done by pressing a punch and a kick button of the same strength simultaneously ( + OR + OR + ). All Guard Breaks are fully unblockable and will put the opponent in a stunned state if they hit, allowing for a free followup.

Guard Breaks have a lot of startup and can be reacted to, they're forward moving attacks with a lot of horizontal range so they can still catch someone off guard with their deceptively long range. Every character has a different Guard Break, and some have special properties (e.g. Bison's Guard Break is airborne so it goes over lows).

When you're hit by a guard break, you're put into a stun state which can be mashed out of. Doing so will let you avoid jump in starters. After wakeup, there is an extended period of invulnerability to guard breaks and hitting two of them too soon after one another will cause a knockdown, even though the opponent might have recovered already.

Cancel Breaks

Basically the same as guard breaks, but cancelled into from blocked/hit specials and supers. Even moves with invulnerability on startup, like Ryu's Shoryuken, can be cancelled, as long as you input the cancel break while grounded after it connects with the opponent.

Hitting your opponent with a cancel break after a special or super move hits them will cause them to get knocked down instead of being put into a stun state. This usually even combos, but if hitconfirming your special or super, there is no reason cancel break.

Some characters (e.g. Sagat) can utilize cancel breaks as combo tools. Inputting a cancel break will trigger a "CANCEL BREAK" message under your health bar to indicate the difference, as raw guard breaks have no message of their own. Essentially they are the same, but the hitstun inflicted by a cancel break is way lower.

What a cancel break also does is remove any active move that is being blocked and immediately ends blockstun. This denies any sort of "unblockable" setups one could think of.

Excel

The defining mechanic of this game and the main difference between vanilla EX2 and EX2 Plus.

Gaining Meter

As usual for the Street Fighter series, any move that connects, whether on hit or block will build meter.

Any blocked hit builds 1 point of meter for the defender. For the attacking player, light normals build 1 point of meter, mediums 2 points and heavy normals builds 4 points. The numbers for blocked specials vary. The same goes for any move on hit.

The other main way to build super meter is by whiffing special moves, good to use when having a knockdown with large frame advantage or right as a screen shift is about to occur. Moves with airborne followup (Ryu's and Kairi's rekka series) can be continued offscreen to keep building meter.

Other than the two methods mentioned above there are other actions that will grant additional meter while triggering a message on the screen:

First Attack

Hitting the first attack of a round immediately builds you 25 additional meter. Trades will give 25 meter to both players. A successful throw, super or guard break as first hit will also trigger this effect. If the first hit of a round is done during Excel, the first attack message will trigger, but build no meter. Most characters get to build 50 meter if they get the first attack from a jump-in combo.

Reversal

Getting a proper reversal input on a special or super move will trigger a message on the screen and build 15 meter. The reversal window is 2 frames, so the timing for successful reversals is rather tight. This can be triggered on wakeup, after air resets, and out of hitstun/blockstun.

Tech Hit

A "TECH HIT" is what the game calls successful throw techs. It gives both players 15 meter. Obvious throw attempts can be used to build meter if the opponent can reliably throw tech. This can also be used to deny building meter, as landing a throw gives noticeably less. Keep in mind that the window for teching throws is only 4f after the throw has been initiated.

Option Selects (OS)

Button Priority OS

Since > > > > > applies to input priority, using + / or + / as throw inputs is usually ideal, unless the medium/heavy normals do something you would like to come out instead. If the opponent is able to be thrown, you just get the throw, if not, a light normal comes out instead of a medium or heavy one.

Crouch Tech OS

To initiate a throw, only and are allowed as directions. This does not apply to the defender, as they get to hold any direction that is not //, so inputting + + or + + can function as throw tech. If the timing is correct, you tech if they go for a throw, block if they frame trap or mash out if the gap is big enough. This will get beaten if those options are delayed.

Throw/Excel OS

Every normal in the game can be cancelled into Excel if the second button is input 1 frame after the first. In combination with throws having no startup, this allows for EXCEL/throw option selects. If the opponent cannot be thrown, the normal will be kara cancelled into an EXCEL activation.