Introduction
Benimaru has solid defenses and tricky attacks, though a bit more balanced than OG. Take advantage of his range. Note that he has a very high jump.
For the most part, he’s even better than before.
Moves List
At a glance
| Normal throws | |
|---|---|
| Catch and Shoot | (throw) f/b + C |
| Front Suplex | (throw) f/b + D |
| Midair throw | |
| Spinning Knee Drop | (air throw) f/d/b + C/D |
| Command moves | |
| Jackknife Kick | f + B |
| Flying Drill | (air) d + D |
| Special moves | |
| Raijinken | qcf + P (possible in midair) |
| Iai Geri | qcf + K |
| Handō San-Dan Geri | hcb + K |
| Shinkū Katategoma | qcb + P |
| Super Inazuma Kick | dpf + K |
| Benimaru Collider | (throw) hcb f + P |
| Super special moves | |
| Raikōken | qcf qcf + P |
| Raikō Katategoma | qcb qcb + K |
| Electrigger | (throw) hcb hcb + P |
Normal moves
- st.D – good ground zoning move. Invincible to low blows. Mix it up with the cancellable cr.D.
- st.C and st.B – they hit high, making them useful for checking jumps.
- j.B and j.D – can do crossup. The latter has an unusually forward-leaning, and it would probably be alright to say that it would be hard not to crossup with it.
- j.C – has a very strong hitbox horizontally; you can cancel it with command moves and special moves.
Command moves
- Jackknife Kick
- f + B
- Invincible to low blows during startup. Cancellable even without cancelling into it. However, it does not combo from strong attacks, and other than linking there aren’t many ways to use it.
- Flying Drill
- d + D in midair
- A sort of kick that travels obliquely downward. Does multiple hits, even with an air hit. Depending on how it hits, you may even be able to juggle off of it (!).
Special Moves
- Raijinken
- qcf + P (possible in midair)
- Sticks out a fist surrounded a ball of electricity (which has a projectile hitbox). The weak version puts it straight forward, the strong version puts it diagonally upward. The strong version has somewhat quick startup and, though it does not have invincibility frames per se, it is usable as a quick anti-air. The weak version can be used for linking and zoning.
- The midair version keeps Benimaru momentarily suspended while he sticks it diagonally downward. You can be easily counterattacked if it whiffs, so it’s hard to use properly.
- Shinkū Katategoma
- qcb + P
- An attack where Benimaru plants a hand and spins around on it like a top. The weak version does three hits, and the strong does six, after which the opponent gets blown away. Combos from strong attacks. If the strong version is blocked, it can be countered by a move with quick startup. The weak version doesn’t leave you
so open, but you can still get owned by a GC.
- Super Inazuma Kick
- dp + K
- Benimaru does a backflip, leaving a column of lighting in front of where he stood. The weak version sends him backwards, and the strong version sends him basically straight up. The weak version does not do knockdown. It combos from weak moves, but since the reach is short, it’s not really suited for combos. The strong version now has some invincibility, but the weak version is even more open than before, and both versions have a worse hitbox now. For these reasons, you’ll likely trade hits if you use this aside from punishing flubbed anti-airs.
- Iai Geri
- qcf + K
- Safely combos from weak attacks; doesn’t leave you open so long as it touches the opponent (it has a lot of pushback). In fact, it leaves you less open than OG did, which wasn’t much at all. Doesn’t do knockdown, but quite useful in combos and links.
- Handō San-Dan Geri
- hcb + K
- A three-step move that combos from strong attacks. The third hit on the weak version sends him backwards, and on the strong version sends him basically straight up. The weak version leaves him less open. Powerful, but it takes hit confirmation, so it isn’t used much.
- Benimaru Collider
- hcb f + P at throwing distance
- A 1-frame throw. When successful, the opponent will be dropped right in front of you, so wakeup attacks will be easy. Does more damage than in OG.
Super Moves
- Raikōken
- qcf qcf + P
- A stronger version of Raijinken that does five hits. The weak version puts it straight forward, the strong version puts it diagonally upward.
- The MAX version does ten hits and it is put out forward regardless of the button you use. It combos from weak moves. Not so good as an anti-air and such; as soon as the opponent sees the flash, they’ll know how exploitable you are, so just keep this one for the combos.
- Electrigger
- hcb hcb + P at throwing distance
- Now a 1-frame throw. Powerful, does a lot of damage.
- Raikō Katategoma
- qcb qcb + K
- Shinkū Katategoma with a ball of electricity as part of the spinning. There is a damaging hitbox even behind Benimaru, but the MAX version has it in front only. This can save your butt if you don’t land a Super Inazuma Kick (it’ll make you a little less open). Safely combos from weak moves.
Combos
Basic
- crossup j.D > 2–3 × cr.B >> strong Iai Geri or Raikō Katategoma or MAX ver. Raikōken
- If you’re not very close, do less cr.B; the supers will safely combo even if you aren’t in MAX mode.
- crossup j.D > cl.D >> strong Shinkū Katategoma or strong Handō San-Dan Geri
- The latter does more damage. When blocked, use weak Raijinken or something as the special move, so as not to leave yourself completely exposed.
The Basics
First off, defense.
At mid-range, keep it mostly to st.D and cr.D, and weak Raijinken or Iai Geri to zone. Time st.B and st.C to drop opponents who wanted to jump. When it’s a hop or hyper hop and st.B and such doesn’t cut it, though, it’s better to be ready to drop them with a strong Super Inazuma Kick, so the worst thing that could happen is a mutual strike. The idea is to give the opponent the idea that you can’t be attacked without consequences. Intercept normal and super jumps with j.C and strong Raikōken. It’s easy for the opponent to (learn not to) make this mistake, so you probably won’t have to worry about this too much.
Now for offense.
While defending, if you have the right spacing, the basic offense is to insert these inside your wall of defense. When zoning at mid-range, after st.D and st.C, if there is about 2–3 character widths of space, cross them up with normal jump j.D. This particularly works after st.C does a midair hit. After crossup, attempt a cr.B, and input a combo if it hits. At far range, if the opponent won’t come in to attack, do super jump into sj.D. Regardless of whether the crossup works, test them with cr.B and confirm it into a combo.
Electrigger is now a better throw, and does more damage now; it’s a good follow-up from a blocked cr.B. That being said, Benimaru’s jump is too high to fool anyone into high-blocking a nonexistent jump attack, so you don’t have the luxury of any mixed-up timing in that regard. You’ll have to play mind games instead.
Mind game example: start off by delaying the cr.B a little. After the cr.B, get the timing off a little and get out a strong Iai Geri. Do this a couple of times so they’ll “catch on” and they’ll be looking down the low-attack avenue when you jump like that. Good things to do after planting this image would be Benimaru Collider or Electrigger after walking up. After this, retreat a little, and aim for a normal jump j.D crossup. Even after throwing just once, st.C (or sometimes st.D for opponents with short crouching heights) is good. Opponents looking out for the throw would jump and get hit by it. After flashing them this one, most things besides cr.D will be effective; cancel into Iai Geri or weak Raijinken for damage.