Ultra Street Fighter IV/Rufus/Matchups

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Omega Ver.

Matchups

Abel

Abel [character page]

Abel can punish a blocked cr.HP from Rufus with his ultra 1. Abel's ultra 2 can also be an effective counter to Rufus' divekick, so it's important to note which ultra Abel has selected and adjust one's approach accordingly. Abel may build a cr.HP option select into his crouch tech when defending against divekick pressure, which is designed to counter Rufus attempting a divekick to beat a throw tech attempt. To counter this tactic, Rufus can opt instead to frametrap, for example by inputting a st.MP after his blocked divekick. Rufus may need to attempt throw on wakeup once or twice to discourage Abel from attempting to roll away from the pressure. Once Abel has decided not to try and roll out, Rufus will have better success with his pressure game on wakeup. Abel's only option for chip damage at the end of a round is his wheel kick. If Rufus is expecting this attack he can react with ultra 1 to catch it before it hits, or he can ensure he doesn't stand at the wrong ranges so that this is not a threat.

Adon

Adon [character page]

One of Adon's most effective tools here is his jaguar kick pressure. Rufus should know that the ground jaguar kick will break a focus attack, but the air jaguar kick will not and so anti-air focus is useful if you see Adon jump before inputting a jaguar kick. Rufus' st.HP and cr.MK can also be used as anti air in this situation. Against a ground jaguar kick, the best options are either simply to block and accept the chip damage, or attempt a pre-emptive far st.MP to stuff the startup of the jaguar kick. Adon's off-the-wall jaguar tooth attack can be frustrating for some characters as he can aim it short to bait a reversal attempt. Rufus however can use his divekick to jump back and instantly divekick in place - if Adon's jaguar tooth lands short, Rufus stays safe, and if Adon's jaguar tooth lands where Rufus was standing then Rufus will connect a divekick and can convert into a full BnB punish. As a result, good Adon players won't often attempt this move against Rufus, but they may test to see if the Rufus player knows how to handle it. Adon has an "unblockable" setup against Rufus, following from his backthrow, so be sure to mix between delayed wakeup and normal timing if you eat a backthrow. Adon's standard setup after a knockdown is to either jump and come down with MK immediately to cross you up, or take a little step back to hit you in front. Or he can do a j.LK instead without moving to hit you in front. Watch for the step backwards and you'll know to block normally. If you jump in and manage to bait (and avoid) Adon's EX rising jaguar, Rufus can either cr.HP for an easy punish or immediately jump towards HP into combo/ultra (harder).

Akuma/Gouki

Akuma [character page]

Rufus can respond to Akuma's defensive teleport on wakeup by entering a jump input as an option select during his jumping attack. Practice jumping in on Akuma while he's waking up and inputting a backwards- or forwards-jump at the moment when Akuma would be in blockstun if the attack hit, and if Akuma teleports then Rufus will land in time for the jump input to register and send Rufus back into the air. Rufus still has to guess which direction Akuma will teleport but this can nevertheless be useful in chasing down and discouraging a teleport-happy Akuma player. Blocked/whiffed uppercuts should be punished with ultra 1 or with cr.LP xx EX Galactic Tornado. The standard punish of st.HP xx Galactic Tornado will whiff against Akuma because the recovery animation of his uppercut moves his hurtbox away from Rufus. Akuma's ultra 2 meter offers him an almost-guaranteed punish against any EX messiah kick ender (the exception is a slightly-delayed MK ender, however if Akuma anticipates this option he can adjust his timing accordingly). If Akuma throws a badly spaced air fireball Rufus can sometimes cr.HP underneath it for a trade in Rufus' favour, but good Akuma players will space their air fireballs to make themselves safe. Against forward-jump air fireballs that would otherwise be safe, Rufus can anti-air with EX snake strike with proper timing, which does excellent damage against Akuma's short health bar.

Balrog/Boxer

Balrog [character page]

st.MP is an effective poke for Rufus against normal dash punches, though it is obviously out-ranged by Boxer's sweep if he expects it, and beaten by EX rush punch armour. Boxer can punish a blocked EX messiah kick with ultra 1 regardless of whether or not Rufus delays the LK ender, however the HK ender can hop over the ultra 1 punish attempt. Low divekicks will whiff on a standing Boxer due to his strange hurtbox. This isn't an issue against crouching Boxer and crossup divekicks can be very effective, especially as they also remove one of Boxer's reversal options by nullifying his horizontal charge. Boxer's traditionally strong wakeup options are headbutt and EX rush punch. EX rush punch will lose to throw, so don't be scared to attempt a throw on Boxer's wakeup. Jabs can beat out Boxer's dash punches, including ex ones. Rufus can also buffer a Galactic Tornado into the jab, or simply do an EX tornado on reaction to the approaching dash punch as it will break armour.

Blanka

Blanka [character page]

Rainbow balls can be focused, but if Rufus blocks one he can punish with j.HK juggled into ultra or snake strike. cr.LP will knock Blanka out of his hop, but once Blanka is up close and has advantage then the cr.LP may be too slow to be effective. After a forward throw, Rufus can bait EX upball by dashing forward twice, jumping forward and timing his divekick so that he does not cross Blanka up until after the reversal window. Blanka will EX upball in the "wrong" direction and Rufus will land safely and be able to chase for a punish. Blanka can of course counter this by delaying his EX upball. Blocked slides can often be punished with EX Galactic Tornado, or even with cr.MK xx EX Galactic Tornado if the slide is particularly badly spaced.

C. Viper

C. Viper [character page]
cr.MP can beat burn kicks sometimes. C. Viper's cr.MP (or cr.MK) xx thunder knuckle is not a true blockstring, so Rufus can interrupt with EX messiah if he predicts the normal attack will be cancelled into thunder knuckle on block. Rufus' far st.HK is particularly good against C. Viper's cr.MK and will go over it and hit C. Viper surprisingly well.

Cammy

Cammy [character page]
Cammy can use ultra 1 on reaction to punish Rufus' EX messiah kick (blocked) FADC backdash, meaning that unless you want to test the opponent's knowledge it may be better just to save the meter if you comming to an EX messiah kick which is then blocked. Cammy has an unblockable setup from her back throw, so Rufus must vary his wakeup timing and occasionally look to use reversal options.

Chun-Li

Chun-Li [character page]
Chun Li's cr.HK can trade with divekicks where other character's low attacks would lose, so Rufus must be mindful of this. Chun Li's high jump arc makes EX snake strike a reliable anti-air. Chun Li can punish Rufus' blocked cr.HP with her ultra 1.

Cody

Cody [character page]
Cody has several good anti-air options against Rufus' divekicks, but up close his defensive options are weak. M and H versions of Criminal Upper can be punished with cr.LP xx EX Galactic Tornado - a good Cody player won't be presenting this punish opportunity often, but it's useful to keep in mind.

Dan

Dan [character page]

Rufus' far st.MP is effective at stuffing ground Dan-kicks if Dan is using this to try and close distance. If Dan opts instead to jump and use LK air Dan-kicks then Rufus' st.HP is the preferred anti-air. Careful use of these two buttons will eliminate most of Dan's approach options. Remember that Dan's crumple/dizzy animations are unusual and so normal punishes are harder to execute - it's often a better idea to attack with raw ultra or begin your combo with an attack that hits fairly low on the body (e.g. cr.LP).

Decapre

Decapre[No Data] [character page]

Dee Jay

Deejay [character page]
Against knee-drop pressure Rufus' only useful options are to block, attempt a st.HP very early (which will often trade), or attempt an EX snake strike in anticipation (which may miss depending on spacing).

Dhalsim

Dhalsim [character page]
Rufus must walk Dhalsim to the corner and prioritize keeping the positional advantage over scoring damage. Often it can be more effective to walk, jump or divekick to a position closer to Dhalsim than to attempt to hit Dhalsim immediately, as his anti-airs and ranged options are of course very good.

Dudley

Dudley [character page]

far st.LK is an effective poke in this match, and can be converted into the combo far st.LK, cr.LP xx EX Galactic Tornado. Dudley's ultra 1 will punish a blocked cr.HP from Rufus. Dudley will often mix between walking forward with normal attack pressure and fishing for a crumple with focus attack, so it can be effective to mix raw Galactic Tornado into Rufus' approach in this match to discourage Dudley from using focus attack.

E. Honda

E. Honda [character page]

If Rufus knocks Honda down in the corner and does jump forward dive kick for an ambiguous dive while he's waking up (timed as if you expect him to quick rise, or to hit at the moment he's waking up if you got a hard knockdown), as soon as Rufus hits the wall/correct point to dive at, the game thinks Rufus is on the other side of Honda so even though Rufus still looks like he's facing in the right direction he must hold downback and press MK to get a dive kick. The left and right corners still work the same as for other characters with regard to whether or not you land in them or outside of them as with any other character, but Honda's hitbox as he falls/rises means that at the point you're usually inputting the dive kick command you're technically on the other side of him so need to reverse your input. If you do the dive kick earlier (before you touch the back wall) or later (when he's standing) then you can just input it normally. With four bars of EX meter, Rufus can follow on from EX messiah kick FADC with an EX snake strike if he does not have ultra 1 meter available. E. Honda can punish the LK ender of messiah kick with ultra or super on block, so Rufus should usually opt for HK (which can still be punished with buttslam, but at least isn't as damaging as an ultra/super). E. Honda's body shape means that even when standing Rufus can place a divekick unusually high on his body and still combo into st.LK.

El Fuerte

El Fuerte [character page]
Ultra 2 is a reliable punish against blocked Quesadilla Bomb or splash attacks. A blocked Quesadilla Bomb can also be punished with cr.HP or EX Galactic Tornado.

Elena

Elena [character page]
Elena's EX mallet smash move is -5 on block which makes it difficult to punish. Rufus might opt instead to try to interrupt its startup with a far st.MP or trade with st.HP. After blocking an EX mallet smash, Rufus can do LP Galactic Tornado which will interrupt any button Elena attempts as a follow-on to her pressure, though this will of course if she attempts an invincible uppercut.

Evil Ryu

Evil Ryu [character page]

There is a timing at which Rufus can press cr.MP as an anti-air against Evil Ryu's jump-in where, if Evil Ryu attempts a normal jump-in attack, the anti-air will be successful, but if Evil Ryu attempts a divekick to delay his approach the cr.MP will recover in time for Rufus to block. The timing is earlier than Rufus would normally press anti-air cr.MP and might seem difficult to achieve consistently without practice. Rufus' far st.MP should rarely be used in this matchup as it will lose reliably against Evil Ryu's cr.MK, which is far and away Evil Ryu's preferred poke.

Fei Long

Fei Long [character page]

Fei Long's "chicken wing" attack is extremely useful to him in closing the gap to apply his pressure game, so it is well worth Rufus learning to anti-air on reaction with far st.HP. Even if it trades the trade is in Rufus' favour and frustrates Fei Long's approach. far st.MP is a useful footsie tool to stuff Fei Long's rekka attacks. Fei Long's range of jump-in attack options make cr.MP the preferred anti-air for Rufus in this match, except when reacting to "chicken wing" approaches.

Gen

Gen [character page]
If punishing Gen's waterfall kick feels difficult, a st.HP punish while Gen remains airborne is still reasonable damage. If Gen neutral jumps to bait an EX messiah kick on Rufus' wakeup he can punish with Ultra 1.

Gouken

Gouken [character page]

Gouken's diagonal fireballs, if poorly spaced, can be punished on reaction with cr.HP. It should go without saying that attempting a cr.HP before confirming that the diagonal fireball is on screen will often result in Rufus suffering damage. Using Galactic Tornado to move through fireballs is not recommended due to the flexibility of Gouken's fireball game and his powerful punish options if he anticipates a Galactic Tornado approach. Gouken's focus attack is fast enough to crumple a high divekick.

Guile

Guile [character page]

The speed and range of Guile's flash kick enable him to punish a blocked EX messiah kick FADC backdash. However, the flash kick is not fast enough to punish a blocked EX messiah kick FADC forward dash. Guile does have a fast jab he can use to punish this but the timing is strict. A high/deep divekick on Guile's wakeup will beat flash kicks cleanly. He can anti-air reliably in this situation only with super, or his ultra 1 which can work though with stricter timing (and may sometimes only hit once).

Guy

Guy[No Data] [character page]

Hakan

Hakan[No Data] [character page]

Hugo

Hugo [character page]

At close range, every hit of MP snake strike will hit a standing Hugo, making it an extremely damaging attack. Rufus can even link a cr.LP afterwards allowing him to continue the combo into EX Galactic Tornado, and even FADC from that into another MP snake strike and cr.LP link. As a result of the above behaviour of MP snake strike, Rufus has some high-damage character-specific combos against Hugo but these may not prove to be particularly useful in normal play. However, the MP snake strike becomes a threat which Hugo must bear in mind on either character's wakeup, and work around.

Ibuki

Ibuki [character page]
far st.LK is useful in checking Ibuki's approach if she is attempting to dash in, though it loses to slides.

Juri

Juri [character page]

Rufus cannot use Galactic Tornado to pass through Juri's diagonal or low fireballs. Juri's close st.HP is a great option against Rufu's divekick pressure - if Juri blocks a divekick and Rufus then attempts a second divekick, Juri's close st.HP will hit Rufus no matter how high or low he aims to place the divekick. However as this is a standing move it cannot be built into a crouch tech. A cleverly space cr.HP from Rufus can punish a fuhajin charge on reaction, so Juri must be careful only to charge fuhajins at full screen or during blockstrings.

Ken

Ken [character page]

Rufus can't do two st.LKs after a divekick in his BnB against Ken = he has to do only one st.LK before continuing into st.HP. st.HP is a good anti-air against Ken's speculative jumps because it hits directly above Rufus, so it can knock Ken out of the air in a normal jump and still catch his air tatsu attempts. st.MK is Rufus' best poke in this match as st.MP lacks the range to compete with Ken's normals.

M. Bison/Dictator

M. Bison [character page]

Air to air, Rufus may want to opt for an early j.MK instead of his usual j.HK in order to minimise the risk of Dictator winning the interaction with his j.MP and juggling into ultra. Although Dictator can alter his trajectory after a blocked headstomp, Rufus can cover a reasonable range of spaces with a st.HP after blocking the first section of the attack. If Rufus can position himself just outsideDictator's st.HK range, he can use cr.MP to counter-poke the st.HK and buffer a Galactic Tornado follow-up.

Makoto

Makoto[No Data] [character page]

Oni

Oni [character page]
Rufus' far st.MP isn't a good option inside Oni's cr.MK range but it can be useful to poke speculatively outside Oni's range to discourage "surprise" slash attacks from Oni.

Poison

Poison [character page]
Far st.MP is a useful button to stuff Poison's fireball startup.

Rolento

Rolento[No Data] [character page]

Rose

Rose [character page]
Rufus should normally expect Rose to use backdash frequently as her best defensive tool. Option selects on Rose's wakeup will not work well so Rufus must commit to an action to either chase the backdash or pressure in place. Rose's st.HK is good in this matchup, particularly for beating divekicks, but Rufus can whiff-punish with st.MK if he is looking for the opportunity.

Rufus (Mirror)

Rufus [character page]
Jump back HP is a useful option in this match. A whiffed cr.HP can be punished with a small step forward followed by cr.HP.

Ryu

Ryu[No Data] [character page]

Sagat

Sagat [character page]

At the tip of Sagat's st.HK range Rufus can attempt a nj.MK or nj.HK to punish Sagat's anticipating a divekick and trying to anti-air with st.HK. If performed perfectly Rufus can then combo into cr.LP. In USF4 Sagat's high tiger shot hitbox was reduced significantly on the underside in order to allow Hugo to crouch underneath it, meaning that Rufus can now cr.HP on reaction with no fear of being hit by the high tiger shot.

Sakura

Sakura[No Data] [character page]

Seth

Seth [character page]
Rufus may wish to spend EX meter freely on EX snake strike in this matchup whenever the opportunity arises, due both to Seth's low health and his wide range of options for avoiding EX messiah kick. If Seth attempts a wall-jump approach during neutral play Rufus can anti-air easily with EX snake strike. Seth's super can punish a blocked EX messiah kick FADC backdash.

T. Hawk

T. Hawk [character page]

T. Hawk's forward-flying attack can be interrupted with far st.MP. EX snake strike is a good anti-air in this match due to T. Hawk's size and his ability to vary his attack with condor dive. Blocked condor dives (including EX) can be punished with cr.HP. If the condor dive is very badly spaced then it can be punished with ultra 1. Galactic Tornado can be punished by T. Hawk's ultra 1 on block. If the Rufus player lacks confidence in his st.LK, st.HP BnB link, T. Hawk's hurtbox size means that the st.HP can be replaced with a st.MP for only 12 points less damage.

Vega/Claw

Vega[No Data] [character page]

Yang

Yang [character page]
Rufus' st.HP is a strong anti-air option against high divekicks from Yang.

Yun

Yun [character page]
Yun can use his lunge punch to punish a blocked EX messiah kick FADC backdash. Rufus' st.HP is a strong anti-air option against high divekicks from Yun.

Zangief

Zangief[No Data] [character page]