Ultra Street Fighter IV/Cody/Matchups

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Omega Ver.

Matchups

SRK Matchup thread archive: https://archive.supercombo.gg/t/we-finished-practicing-now-cody-match-up-thread/98500
The majority of these matchup information suggestions are taken Blockstring forums matchup thread (site now offline), provided by Ramma

Abel

Abel (Slightly Unfavorable, 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): Throw, MK Ruffian, EX Zonk Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian & Back Throw (unless he has meter or U2) Choice Pokes: cr.LP (buffered), cr.LK (buffered), st.MK, st.HK, st.MP, cr.MP. Anti-Airs: All are good Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Not sure. General Strategy: This match is not easy. You need to play perfectly. It's one of those matches where if you screw up or lose focus, you're life bar becomes dinner really fast. Best thing you can do for the majority of this match is just stay neutral. If he's meterless and you have the knockdown, you have nothing to fear. It only gets tricky when he has meter. You don't need to chase Abel down if he gets out of a knockdown situation. In fact, if he does escape, your best option is to reset the match and go back to space control. Mid-Range: Your normals absolutely beat Abel's normals. Plain and simple. Use buffered cr.LP if he's trying to advance a lot. st.MK and st.HK are great unless he's rolling a lot or trying to get under your st.HK with cr. MK buffered into Change of Direction. Stick to your faster pokes which won't put you in a bad position if he does a well timed roll. The knife is a fantastic zoning tool in this match-up as well. Very good for defensive pokes and space control. Good range, great active frames and solid advantage on block. Rocks have their uses, but one bad rock will lead to Roll > Command Grab and you're screwed. Fake rocks are good for baiting roll and Ultra 1. All the same, use rocks and fake rocks sparingly, and focus more on beating him with footsies. Unfortunately, you can play a perfect footsie game for 60 seconds, and one mistake leads to you losing the round in 15 seconds. You have to play smart. Don't be predictable. Keep him at the spacing you want him at. Pressure vs Pressure: Your pressure is not as scary as Abel's pressure. Your pressure can easily lose to a mashed EX Tornado Throw or EX Change of Direction. Abel players love to do something on wake up whether it be back dash, command grab, EX Command Grab, EX Change of Direction or EX Roll. Throw deals with the last three. A meaty with an option select deals with the first two. It's sad that pressuring Abel is basically a risk, which is why the neutral game is sometimes the best way to go. You'll get a feel of what time of Abel player you're going against just by how they go for pressure when knocking you down. If they are peppering with you jabs and light attacks, trying to lock you into place, you're in much more trouble than against someone who goes for a lot of command grabs and cr.HPs to catch you running away. The latter is committing where as the former is conditioning. Both dangerous all the same. Don't show Abel's pressure game too much respect. You better believe he won't show yours any. Notes: EX Command Grab is strike invincible. Command Grab is throw invincible. Abel's U2 beats all safe jumps, has armor properties. Wheel Kick, HK Ruffian, st.HK and Zonk are great for dealing with Abel's Wheel Kick. Get a feel of when to use which attacks in the training room. Step Kick is even on block. Throwing Abel after Step Kick isn't a bad option, but don't abuse it. Change of Direction is -3 on block with the follow up attacks being very punishable. Remember the block pattern is Mid~High~Low or Mid~Low~High. Block the grab the right way.

Adon

Adon (Unfavorable, 4-6) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 1 Option Select(s): All are good depending on what you're expecting Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian and HP Criminal Upper Choice Pokes: st. HK, st. MK, cr. MK, cr. LK (buffered) Anti-Airs: All are good, but stick with HK Ruffian Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: Adon is a bad match for Cody. Having Zonk stored in this match is super important. Zonk can stuff/beat Jaguar kicks from almost any spacing and during pressure. Avoid using any focuses in this match for the most part. Jaguar Tooth, Jaguar Kick and st. HK all take out focus, so it's not a good tool at all. This is one of the few matches you'll want to use U1, as opposed to U2, in because it punishes Jaguar Kick/Tooth, and this is a match where EX Zonk > FADC is going to come in handy, whether due to being pressured or using it as a reversal. Plus, with the need to use HK Ruffian in this match, you have that FADC option ready as well. Adon can pretty much blow you up in any category, so you really just want to get this match done fast. And don't be afraid to play dirty, because Adon players are not afraid at all. Keeping a distance for a while and chucking rocks isn't bad to do as long as you have a zonk stored in case he tries to special his way in. Mid-Range Game: Again, you don't have much to offer here, but stick to st.HK and cr.MK as your pokes. St.HK can catch some of Adon's normals and closer Jaguar Kicks. Cr. MK can do the same, but can stuff some Jaguar Kicks or go under them (allowing you to punish the recovery). This is a dangerous area to be in. Stepping on the Jaguar's Tail: Adon is pretty easy to frame trap with his 4 frame cr.LK, but many Adons like to reversal and they like to stand tech (a la Rose), so you have that to deal with. Standard frame traps will work. Sometimes a well timed normal will beat his reversal depending on which one he uses. Standard pressure here. Crossing him up on wake up isn't so bad if you do it good and meaty because he won't auto-correct and you'll stuff him before he leaves the ground more times than not. Dealing with Jaguar Pressure: Most Adon's are going to pressure Cody with jump shenanigans, and Cody is pretty free to it even with his godlike B+MP. It still will get stuffed by nj.HK a lot of time. Some times they'll cancel that into air jaguar kick as well, or they'll fuzzy guard you and do the same. you can focus dash or cr.MK out of these shenanigans, but don't be predictable and do that every time if you find yourself there often enough. Just put the idea in his head that you can do that, and it'll keep it honest. But Adon really makes Cody free under his pressure, especially with his frame traps on top of the shenanigans.

Akuma/Gouki

Akuma (Unfavorable, 4-6) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): Crack Kick is the best, and sweep Safe Jumps: None work (3 frame reversal) Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK, cr. MK, st. HK Anti-Airs: All are good Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: Akuma is one of Cody's worst matches. It's not quite El Fuerte, Cammy, Viper or Yun...but it's up there. You need to get in on Akuma and make lots of good reads and have your option selects ready to go. Akuma will want to zone you until he had the opportunity to vortex the hell out of you. Getting in on Akuma is a hell of a feat to say the least. Cody has no great option against Akuma's air fireballs. Sliding and focus dashing under poorly spaced ones are an option. EX rocks can be good if you can time and space them for Akuma to land on them (it gives you a chance to dash in a bit). EX Ruffian Kick works great on all grounded fireballs for the record. But even when you get passed Akuma's fireball game, his mobility and footsies blow Cody out of the water. With this in mind you really need to capitalize big on Akuma's mistakes and/or get a solid whiff punish. For example, Akuma's st. far HK is very bad on Cody because the second hit whiffs on block. This allows Cody to do a pretty good punish leading into a knock down. The Lack of Oki on Gouki - Keeping him locked down: Once Akuma is down your own guessing game begins. Is it a DP, a teleport, back dash, block, or is Akuma expecting you to do nothing and is going to wake up with pressure or a throw? Crossing up Gouki with an option select works well but it won't put you in the clear. Standard frame trapping applies here otherwise once you have a good download of your opponent. Your go to OS in this match is crack kick. Note that the crack kick is supposed to whiff. It's your follow up that catches him. Cody can't OS to catch his teleport with anything but crack kick. After F+HK, you can follow that up with a Ruffian Kick or U2. This OS will also cover his back dash but will obviously lose to DP. Sweep can also be OSed during block strings if he's back dashing. Being Vortexed: When a great Akuma has you down, you're in the deepest of trouble. His vortex is a nightmare for Cody. There's nothing you can really do to get out of it except make the right read a few times in a row and find your escape..of course your escape means he's fine and he's going to go back to zoning...so yeah...back to square one unless you happen to have the life lead. Trying to focus attack out of his demon flip is a terrible idea. For starters, palm and throw will beat it and more times than not the dive kick will recover in time. Back dashing will just get you OS ed by a sweep if the Akuma player is good. If he's not option selecting...BACK DASH! Your best option is to be patient and find your opening. Notes: Level 2, level 3, and EX Zonk can beat Akuma's U1. Big damage is important against Akuma's poor health. Maximize your damage and stun in combos at all times. Don't focus once Akuma has super or ultra 1 because he can cancel many of his normals into those and you'll eat a lot of damage. If Akuma has U1 it will beat your safe jumps. On non meaty demon flips jump back LP works wonders.

Balrog/Boxer

Balrog (Close/Even, 4.5-5.5 or 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): All are good Safe Jumps: All Work Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK, cr. MK, st. HK Anti-Airs: All are good Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: Some say this is a bad match for Cody, but I don't necessarily agree. This is one of those more passive aggressive matches as Cody. You don't need to move forward vs Balrog if you don't want to or if he is turtling hard and doesn't have a life lead. So it's best to just take your time and find an opportunity for a knock down. Mid-Range - Cuffs vs Gloves: Always have a regular zonk stored when doing the dance with Balrog. A regular zonk will beat all turn punches and all regular/ex dash punches (except low sweeping attack, but that can be beaten by EX zonk). He's also pretty easy to anti-air, but stick with HK Ruffian. st. MK can kinda contend with some of his pokes, but he will out poke you, so don't play footsies very long. Cr. MK will also go under a lot of his stuff. Use your rocks, but just be careful and unpredictable. Fake rocks are a risk at a closer range. Pressuring the Boxer: I like to pressure Balrog with jab staggering at first (and possibly the whole match). Many Balrog players like to mash the hell out of cr. tech or cr. LP, especially online, and because of that going for frame traps with st. HP or cr. HP can be tough (st. MP is pretty good still). Using jab staggering, you have a good chance of catching cr techs, mashed or not, and it deals with those mashed buttons as well. Meaty cr. LPs (and cr. MK as well) seem to avoid head butt as well, so you kinda nullify that option and can full punish when he lands. Plus (yes, there's another reason), Balrog's who abuse ex dash punches on wake up, can be hit with two cr. LPs before their special comes out, waste their meter and giving you another combo. And of course (ha), you have the option to OS sweep in your jabs if he attempts to back dash. Getting the Mike Tyson Treatement: If Balrog has you down, and if you are cornered, this match gets very, very hard. Balrog has good frame traps, great jab staggering of his own, and safe special pressure. Keep an eye on the overhead, it's easy enough to react to and easy to punish with cr. LK xx whatever. Just be patient. If you see a habit on his slow normals, take the risk and let a zonk rip, and get the hell outta there! Try to end every combo you get with EX Ruffian. If the ex ruffian is spaced as anything but max-distance, you will pass under Balrog. After you recover from your ex ruffian, input st.mk, cr.lk and do jump forward HK. This is an unblockable Practice punishing his dash punches with cr.lk and st.lp. Here would be a great opportunity to re-wire that stick of yours and start plinking lp with select so that the punish is a bit easier. Corner combo when stunned, jump-in hk, cl.mp, cl.mp, cr.hp xx HK Ruffian xx MK Ruffian. You can even link without using meter to U1 after HK Ruffian, but I don't prefer that ultra. Theoretically, as f.HK has the same start-up as U1, you should be able to connect with that and end the combo with EX CU, but I haven't tested it, just thought of it. Notes: Worth noting again that cr. MK goes under any headbutt. Knife isn't bad vs Balrog's dash punches and pokes.

Blanka

Blanka (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): EX Ruffian, sweep, Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian, Back Throw Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, B+MP, st. HK Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Not sure General Strategy: Some say this is in Blanka's favor, but it feels even. Blanka is all about knocking him down and getting him trapped in the corner. This is one of the few momentum and based matches where Cody can out of his opponent's pressure easily enough. You really just have to pay attention to what he is doing. All and all, you want to get in on Blanka and maintain your pressure. Neutral Game: You're either going to deal with a turtle Blanka or a throw caution to the wind Blanka. If he turtles, stay just outside of slide range and mix fake rocks with real rocks and wait for him to make the move. If he is aggressive, rocks and fake rocks are a risk because he can react to both with slide pretty easily. With that in mind, don't just stand when you're playing footsies. Keep moving around. If he goes for a random slide, get the hard knockdown. Buffered pokes are a must here because of hops and random specials. If you can get Blanka on the ground before he gets meter, the round is all but won. Pressuring the Brazilian: Blanka without meter (or Ultra since they love that) is as free as can be. Meaty attacks (F+MP, st. MP, etc) kill most of what he will go for and it is a free counter hit combo if he does something like electricity. Avoid crossing him up on wake up because he will beat it with electricity, beat it with reversal or he will get away if the reversal whiffs. Once he does have meter or ultra, you need to be much more careful and delay your normals just outside of his throw range (they love to wake up throw too). Your delayed buttons will not eat his ultra or upball, but will catch his rainbow ball. Dealing with Blanka Gimmicks: This can be a pain (especially online). It is important to watch Blanka closely (the way you would with Ibuki). If he times a corpse hop on you he will be safe on the other side and he will either tick electricity/throw, throw or go for some sort of jump shenanigan. If he passes through you during pressure you can jab him out while he recovers more times than not. Be ready to anti air his jump gimmicks or meet him air to air with nj. HP or jb. LP to get yourself out. Good to have a EX Zonk stored at all times when down because Blanka has plenty of gaps, and its the best way to deal with the ambiguous corner blanka ball into electricity. Notes: Ultra choice is up to you but U2 punishes almost everything Blanka does on block (not ex horizontal ball). U1 avoids Blanka's U1 chip (BLOCK the no damage low attack first) and will punish him. LK and EX Ruffian can punish most of Blanka's stuff as well. EX Ruffian can juggle into another EX Ruffian and then a EX Criminal Upper. Slide (hard to do), focus (non reversal), and LK Ruffian can avoid rainbow ball if you're not sure how to block it.

C. Viper

C. Viper (Very Unfavorable, 4-6 or 3.5-6.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 1 Option Select(s): EX Criminal Upper*, MK Ruffian, Sweep Safe Jumps: All Work Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, cr. MK st. HK, Crack Kick. Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, B+MP, cr. MK Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: From max range, yes. General Strategy: This is a tough match. If you can't block burn kicks and you don't know how to option select, you're in big trouble. You want to get in on Viper as soon as possible and get her in the corner. Every Viper in the world basically never just blocks. They'll mash thunder knuckle, back dash, mash burn kick, or ex Seismo, so safely pressuring Viper really isn't an option. You're going to be in a constant guessing game on the offense or defense, so you have to make the right reads. Mid-Range: For starters, Viper is never going to sit still, and neither should you. You should be El Fuerte in this match. Ask to borrow Guy's running shoes because you should be as mobile as Cody's slow ass can be. Some Vipers may try to zone you with Seismos, but you can use hop kicks to avoid them, as well as EX Ruffian and LK Ruffian to punish them if you're fast enough. Viper will have no problem randomly burn kicking into you, and anti-airing them is not always going to work. You need to be ready with a fast HK Ruffian if you see them super jump towards you, or cr. MK to avoid it completely. Viper's cr. MP xx Thunder Knuckle string is not safe. Feel free to zonk Viper ( :kappa: ) between the two. Although, this match doesn't always leave the most room for using Bingo. Pressuring the Milf: Again, you are still in a guessing game and here's where you NEED to have an option select. All your standard frame trapping will work, and if you've conditioned Viper to not press buttons, you'll be in good shape, but no Viper is ever conditioned to not press buttons, so.... This is why you need option selects. Use these: EX Criminal Upper: Beats all of Viper's options LK/MK/EX Ruffian: Beats Seismo and Backdash Sweep: Beats backdash EX Bingo: Only if you predict HP Thunder Knuckle and you don't want to allow her to FADC Jab pressure (with sweep OS) on wake up is a good way to start off, just don't be predictable and also bait things. A meaty jab can make Thunder Knuckle whiff, allowing you to punish when she lands behind you. It'll also catch her mashed Burn Kick and can deal with some Seismos or Seismo feints. A meaty cr. HP on wake up isn't a bad idea when Viper has meter and you're predicting a EX Seismo to escape. It'll land you a counter hit cr. HP that you can cancel into EX Rocks > U2 for big damage, or combo from easily with cr. LK xx HP Criminal Upper. To be honest, this all sounds easier on paper than it is in reality. If (When) You Get Knocked Down: Go make a sandwich or read a book. Or, if you're optimistic and think you have any shot in the Seven Hells of winning this match, you need to be patient. Option-Selecting cr. MK into your crouch tech can cause burn kicks to whiff and can go under Viper's overhead (which she will do. Viper's love their overhead! Don't fall victim to the Seismo dance. If she sits there getting herself off on electricity, MOVE YOUR ASS! Get out of there or go in and get her. If she has you cornered, and for any reason she corners herself, expect her to burn kick over you and knock you back into the corner (where she can ultra you easily). Being cornered by Viper is scary because she can juggle the hell out of you. Notes: Viper can EX Seismo Feint to avoid your safe jump and make your option select unsafely come out. Again, make use you OS your cr. tech with cr. MK, but DON'T always crouch tech (because of Burn Kicks) Don't try to throw empty jumps, especially in the corner, because half the time they are Burn Kicks. Double Dash > cr. MK after a LK Ruffian knockdown will make Viper's reversals whiff Meaty cr. HP will land as a counter hit if Viper goes for wake up EX Seismo. Buffer EX Rocks into it and you can combo into U2

Cammy

Cammy (Unfavorable) [character page]
Ultra Choice: Ultra 1 Option Selects: Safe Jumps: All work Choice Pokes: Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian U1 and RH Ruffian punish hooligans. Train yourself to punish hooligan on reaction. NLBC #86 EG KBrad vs PIE Chin Exhibition

Chun-Li

Chun-Li [character page]

cr.MK beats her st.HP and st.HK clean since they hit high and it slides under. Bad Stone vs Fireballs Hasan Shu has a hard time going over Bad Stone in most cases beats it out. Jump in with heavy punch. Chun has no good anti air for this move except for ex spinning bird kick. If she has no charge ( meaning she hasn't been crouching), you can jump in for free. OS backdash with MK Ruffian late nj.HP pretty much will always be out EX SBK Careful about crouch teching against her. Cody can have a hard time against her especially if she uses her overhead kick after blockstrings, on wakeup and if she chooses to do it randomly in your face. It's safe on block and it will go over his crouch jab and low so if you must crouch tech, do it with by pressing crouch jab, low and fierce to option select it to smack her out of the air in case she does it or throw When he was trying to run away with fireballs, I found it effective to just out-run-away with Bad Stone. Her fireball can't really keep up, and you can gain positioning by dashing once after a Stone. A few times of seeing that sequence made him weary to try to keep up, and he started trying to do other things. So after that stuff got understood, we found ourselves at mid range a lot, just kinda playing footsies, and without his st.HP and st.HK feeling strong, he was using a lot of st.MP which beats Cody's cr.MK, and is his last super long range poke (but basically the best one). I quickly found that f.MP beats her st.MP clean every time. As a bonus, you hit her CH and I was able to link sweep on reaction multiple times. Believe it or not, Chun's recovery on her fireball is not good. But due to the fact that most Chuns back up before they shoot it, they don't fear the jump in too much. Chun are usually very obvious about their fireballs so if you see one walking back, odds are they are going to shoot a fireball sooner or later. At near full screen If you see this. walk forward with her while mentally preparing to input the fireball motion. Match her back walk speed with your forward walk. EX slide will easily punish the fireball due to its slowness. You won't be at risk of getting hit by it on startup like in the shoto matchup because it moves forward much too slow. On her wakeup, meaty standing strong and Fierce is a good option rather than jab because they both put you at advantage on block and will clip her out of the air if she decides to wakeup with overhead kick which will beat out and crouch jab option. cr.HP xx MK Ruffian works as a counter poke but use it sparingly and at the proper spacing as it is easily whiff punished Remember to use fake rocks especially if Chun is rocking ultra 1. Cody has a slow ass fireball so many Chuns will definitely try to punish with overhead kick. You a fake rock to bait out an overhead kick which you can immediately focus attack after fake rock. Leads to great damage. Alternatively instead of baiting it out, you can also focus attack dash in on reaction to an overhead kick and punish with crouch low into Criminal upper. Lastly, once Chun has her ultra 1. Look to see if she's waiting for you to throw a fireball. Many players totally forget Cody even has fake rock in his arsenal. 1 fake rock at 3/4 screen is sometimes all you need to take the round. If she's knows you have it in your arsenal or you've been using it heavily in match already. Throw it out randomly a lot to scare her from using Ultra 1.

Cody (Mirror)

Cody (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): EX Bingo, MK Ruffian, Sweep Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian, Back Throw Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK, st. HK Anti-Airs: All are good Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: This isn't going to be a long section because there isn't too much to say. Yeah...no Cody likes doing a mirror match unless that Cody likes to play random as humanly possible. More or less, just get the first knock down. The more patient Cody is the one who will get the first knock down. Best to just see what Cody does first. Neutral jump is probably the only safe thing you can open with. If you're rushing in with a crack kick you will get whiff punished. If you jump, an easy anti-air. If you throw rocks you might get jumped in on. If you random EX or LK Ruffian, you'll probably get punished. Just play patient and get the first knockdown. Pressuring: Cody's love to use random zonks/ex zonks when being pressured or waking up. They also love to use Bad Spray after a Criminal Upper. Before you commit too hard to pressuring Cody, see what they do once they get a bar or two. Otherwise, standard frame trapping and pressure. Being Pressured: Stand teching in the mirror match works really well because you know the gaps and know where the frame advantage is. Unfortunately, random zonks can work really well as well, but better to play it smart than stupid. Notes: U2 can punish all of Cody's sweep and all of his specials except a well spaced/meaty LK Ruffian and LP Criminal Upper. Codys thoroughly enjoy using every Cody gimmick in the book during a mirror match, so watch for them. The better Cody doesn't necessarily win. Enjoy your match.

Dan

Dan[No Data] [character page]

Decapre

Decapre [character page]

Punishes: cl.MK and cl.HK are -6 on block Far HP is -4 Far HK is -7 Sweep is -8 Target Combo 1 is -9 Target Combo 2 is -11 df.MK is -3 All DPs are -28; can walk forward or dash into combo All meterless Rapid Daggers are punishable on block (LP is difficult at -3); EX is 0 Scramble: LK Razor Edge Slicer is -10 EX Razor Edge Slicer is -21 HP Break is -9 EX Break is -9 Cannon strike is +6 at best; early high hits can be -8; EX is always safe, +1 at worst Super is -50 U2 Ground is -40 U2 Air has 42-61f landing recovery but can be hard to punish due to range

Dee Jay

Dee Jay (Favorable, 5.5-4.5 or 6-4) [character page]

Ultra Choice: U2 Option Select(s): Sweep (can use all of them for different reasons) Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian and HP Criminal Upper Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK Anti-Airs: B+MP, HK Ruffian, st. HK Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: If you know how to play this match, it is quite in your favor. Not knowing the match well can make this match seem just as hard as Guile, but it isn't. There's no reason to chase Dee Jay down from the get go. Throw rocks (because you can match his fireball) or inch your way in. Dee Jays will either turtle hard or rush in and hope to get an early lead. Mid-Range Game: If Dee Jay starts moving forward, be ready for a slide or a jumping knee. B+MP will beat jumping knee pretty freely, and st. HK will do well against Dee Jay's further out jumps. Slide can be whiff punished with cr. LK (or punished with cr. LK if the spacing is bad). Spin kicks can be stuffed, beaten, etc. by regular zonk. Sometimes it's okay to let Dee Jay pull the trigger first and allow you to knock him down. If Dee Jay is sitting on down back, make your way in cautiously. He's waiting for you to jump (upkicks) or throw rocks (EX spin kicks), so just inch your way in. Once he's off down back you can move in a bit faster obviously, and if he fireballs while you're in range for zonk, let it rip. Pressuring the Jamaican: Very simple. way of keeping Dee Jay locked down and essentially dealing with any of his options: meaty cr. LP. If Dee Jay tries anything (reversal, ultra), a meaty cr. LP will: stuff it, make it whiff, or you will block in time. OS your second cr. LP with sweep and you officially have Dee Jay locked down. Once Dee Jay knows he can't escape, start your throw/frame trap game. Unless it is a safe jump, you have no reason to jump at Dee Jay (his up kicks are easy to auto correct and EX version is 4 frames). Dee Jay on the Offense: When Dee Jay has you down, his pressure might seem scary but it isn't too hard to deal with once you've familiarized yourself with what he will do. After a few normals, sometimes Dee Jays like to spin kick (zonk on reaction), jumping knee (B+MP) or slide (cr. LK punish depending on spacing) to keep them in. Just look for your opening and put Dee Jay back on the ground. Notes: EX Spin Kicks are punishable with U2 if all hits are blocked. So go for the bait with fake rocks. If Dee Jay reversals over you in the corner, back throw him back in and KEEP him there (unless you need the damage rather than the spacing to finish him off).

Dhalsim

Dhalsim [character page]
cr.MK is a great option to close the distance on Dhalsim. If he does j.HP and you can slide under to make it whiff, or cause a trade. Either way you can start to back him to the corner quickly.

Dudley

Dudley (Slightly Favorable, 5.5-4.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: U2 Option Select(s): EX Zonk, Sweep, MK Ruffian Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian and Back Throw (when he has no meter) Choice Pokes: cr. LK buffered, st. MK, st. HK Anti-Airs: All work, but HK Ruffian and B+MP Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Yes, at max range General Strategy: If there is one thing I've learned about this match by fighting and talking to Dudley players, is that this is a fight for spacing and for the knock down. The match does favor Cody, but that is only if you can keep the mid-range game in your favor. The moment you lose the mid-range game, you lose. Dudley can do endless pressure on Cody like Cody can do on Dudley. His combo-able overhead and such make his offense very dangerous for Cody. Mid-Range Game: As stated early, you need to win the game here to get Dudley down. Try to keep yourself out of the corner and be patient. Don't let Dudley bully you backwards or you're already losing the war. Keep your ground and find your spacing. Whiff punish Dudley's st. HP with cr. LK xx whatever. Use st. MK and st. HK to keep Dudley at bay until you see the opportunity to take him down. Unpredictable rock usage is great here. If you have a zonk charged and Dudley is trying to duck under your rocks and hit you or chip you, you can zonk him before he gets to you if you space your rocks correctly. You'd be amazed at how often this works at the beginning of a match with LP rocks. This is also where you want to use the knife. If there is any match in this game that the knife is just godlike in, it's in the Dudley match. Knife st. MP just destroys Dudley's soul (according to ThirtyFourEC, Dudley can't even whiff punish it). Knife cr. MP and st. HP are also good. If you have an opportunity to get the knife, get it. Notes: Cody can punish EX MGB with U2 Cody's U2 will beat Dudley's U2 even if Cody activates the ultra first. It's basically a free chip out using the dust. Use Crack Kick extra sparingly. It's not good vs Dudley at all. SSF4AE Team PIE Concept Match: PIE Chin (Cody) vs PIE Smug (Dudley)

E. Honda

E. Honda (Close/Even, 5-5 or 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 (especially in USFIV) Option Select(s): EX Zonk, Zonk Safe Jumps: All Work Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st.HK Anti-Airs: All work, but HK Ruffian and st.HK work best Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: This match is easier if the Honda isn't willing to be patient. If Honda is a :turtle: , this match becomes more difficult. Most Hondas like to turtle. If you have the life lead, or at the start of the match, there is really no reason for you to go in. Start a match with a zonk stored as you would with Ryu. If he tries to headbutt or buttslam, "BINGO!" Once you've established a significant life lead, you can hang back or continue to pressure if Honda has no meter. Barraging a meterless Honda with pressure is always safe when you're Cody. Once Honda has meter, everything changes. You have to bait EX headbutts, deal with random EX headbutts, and EX hands are nasty, and if you don't have the life lead, good luck. Your main goal is KEEP THE LIFE LEAD. Once Honda has the lead, and even more so if he has meter, this match turns into 12/-2 in Honda's favor. Cody has no great options to get in on Honda, as Honda can keep him at bay pretty easily. You're going to have to inch your way in and make a read that guys Honda knocked down. From there, again, if he has meter, find away to neutralize EX Head butt by crossing him up and making him lose his charge. If you have a round to spare, it's not a bad choice to build a bunch of meter and cause him to waste his leading into the next round :wink: . Sad that that's one of your best options. :failfish: Mid-Range Game: Cody can keep Honda away with rocks, st. HK and anti airs easily enough. Once Honda has meter, the match completely changes because of EX headbutt. Being that you don't need HP for much, you want to keep zonk stored incase the random head butt, or even butt slam (B+MP can stuff this), come your way. It's good to use cr. LK xx OS MK Ruffian in this match because of it's reach and speed to deal with Honda's st. HK (which is -6 on block). Never sleep on Honda. You have to have your anti-airs ready at all times. You need to pay attention to Honda's charge. Rocks AND Fake Rocks are not an option when Honda has meter and is sitting on downback, because reacting to the start-up is easy enough. Do something to make him move. If you have the life lead, do nothing until he moves or inch your way forward if you're really far out.. If he doesn't have meter and goes for HP or MP headbutt, you can punish them with MK Ruffian or U2 on block (stand vs MP version). Zonk will beat regular versions and EX Zonk will beat EX HB, so if you need to avoid chip, do so. Pressuring Honda: When Honda is meterless, just do it! Have your Zonks and OSes ready all the same when pressuring Honda incase he backdashes or tries to butt slam. Standard traps all work and just do your thing. Once Honda has meter, you need to be very careful. On block, EX head butt is completely safe and not easy to stuff from the ground. Luckily you can bait EX headbutt with jump back. When you land, it's a free cr. HP xx HP Criminal Upper punish. Knocked Down/The Fat Man is in: Honda's pressure can be pretty scary. His HHS and oicho throw can be hard to deal with. His well spaced cr. LP will shut down most of Cody's buttons for free (knife is good vs it, but if Honda is in, you can't pick it up, so...If you're cornered, you need to find your opening and get out. Honestly, you might have to take a risk or make a very good read to do so. Between Honda's nj. HP and his cr. LP, Cody is pretty damn locked down. B+MP is actually a godlike anti-air (vs all of Honda's jump ins, cross up or not) and Butt Slam stuffer when cornered. It just seems to take care of everything with almost no strict timing. It's important to note that meaty cr. MK will avoid or stuff all of Honda's wake-up options with the exception of EX headbutt. Some meaty slide set-ups (leaving you at +5 on hit, +8 on counter hit) will go a long way in this match-up. Notes: Hondas love to HHS > FADC > Oicho Throw, but can also knock you of the air if you try to jump away. Cody's knife is not bad in the neutral game, but don't use cr. HP as your go to anti-air. Honda is pretty free to jump in on if he has nothing charged. Bait U1 with Fake Rocks Ultra choice is up to you. U2 will punish st. HK, MP Head Butt and HP Head Butt, and obviously does more damage. A good Honda won't head butt once they see you have Ultra 2 though. U1 is useful if you can react to Head Butts, Butt Slams (their wake up, or yours) and can be used to anti-air Honda. Plus, if you're knocked down, you have the threat of a safe combo into Ultra with EX Zonk or Bad Spray FADC combos. I prefer U1, as do others. But I think U2 remains the popular choice. stuff honda's n.j HP with st.HK or H.ruffian kick When Cody has the life lead, or at the start of the match, E.Honda will have to take risks if the Cody player is as patient as he is. To get in and steal the life lead back, Honda has to give up his favourite D/B position, lose buttslam and headbutt charge, and walk forward. When he does walk, realise you can jump in for free or at least trade with him and keep your life lead. Honda's main goal at this point is doing damage by footsies with cr.jab x HHS (and gain meter), he'll ignore the normals he gets to his face along the way. If the Honda player is unable to do cr.jab HHS, he'll probably walk forward and do some st.HK pokes (gets blown upped by your own f.HK), st.HP or neutral jump (risky). What he'll most likely do of all, is walk in midscreen range and wait until you throw a rock from mid screen (fake or real), react to it and do chip damage with HHS or get in with an oicho throw. You should not fall for his obvious attempts. From midscreen Honda can also do some desperate stupid stuff like medium buttslam and jump forward. buttslam, jumping forward (when Cody does nothing) and st.HK are the most risky options Honda can do. He can't do much without charge and if Cody's in the air, maybe a chop (st.HP) or 2. When E.Honda has the life lead, he'll give you hell and sit on it with all his might. He can just D/B from fullscreen and not give a fuck. if you walk forward and you're close, he can do some random cr.jabs (if the player can cr.jab x HHS). if the cr.jab connects, he's going to HHS to get more EX.headbutt meter and give you even more hell. He can also jab headbutt to beat your focus attempts when he feels like it and be completely safe. worst case scenario, he can do nothing and just react ex.headbutt towards everything you do. Unless you're playing a reaction god monster, you can still walk forward with cody (even though he's slow as a snail), bait ex.headbutt, jump back and punish with an ultra or your biggest combo. If the life difference isn't so much, you can throw 5 chip rocks to set the record straight. when choosing this approach, watch the timer you might get the win this way. Last but not least, I think Cody can also set the record straight with knife poking and baiting ex headbutts or buttslams. Cody Match-Up Tips: E. Honda (USFIV) by Ramma

El Fuerte

El Fuerte[No Data] [character page]

Elena

Elena [character page]

cr.HP is -7 cr.HK is -16 f.MP Handstand Kick is -2 and overhead f.MK Handstand Whip is -3 and overhead Slide df.HK is -10 with 10 active frames, -1 at best Ground TC1 is -4 Ground TC2 is -3 Mallet Smash is -7/-5/-1/-4 for L/M/H/EX, hits overhead Scratch Wheel is -14/-19/-23/-25 for L/M/H/EX; EX is 4 frames startup, 1-7 invincible Lynx Tail is -7/-9/-13/-9 for L/M/H/EX, hits low Rhino Horn is -6/-5/-3/-3 for L/M/H/ex. wiffs on crouchers Spin Scythe is -6/-7/-10/-8 for L/M/H/EX LK extension is -6, MK and HK are -10 Super is -44 U1 is -14

Evil Ryu

Evil Ryu (Close/Even, 5-5 or 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: U2 Option Select(s): U2, MK Ruffian, LK Ruffian Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian, immediate fake Bad Stone, neutral jump MK (3f safe jump) Choice Pokes: cr. LK buffered and st. MK Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian (beats dive kick timing change) and b+MP Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Yes, from max range General Strategy: This match is pretty even. Evil Ryu is going to want to get you down pretty quickly and take advantage of a meterless Cody or he may go for the zoning approach at first. You want to find your opening and get Evil Ryu down. From here you need to be OSing whenever you aren't baiting a reversal. Evil Ryu's will still use that terrible teleport (OS U2 or LK Ruffian) and they will back dash. You really can't afford to low him and his low health get away. Mid-Range: It's important to keep a zonk charged when mid-range to react to a fireball, just like vs Ryu. However, doing a zonk through cr. MK xx Hadoken is not possible unless done at max range (you only get touched by Evil Ryu's toes). If ER is doing a lot of fishing with cr. MK or sweep, you need to be throwing out that cr. LK xx MK Ruffian to stuff it and pretty easily whiff punish it. Like most characters, Cody doesn't have much to go against ER's st. MK, so if he's using it a lot, try focusing it, using your own st. MK to stuff it or even use the knife (st. MP). It is important to be weary of Evil Ryu's dash and kara dash, just to note it. He covers distance quickly in general. Dealing with the Angry Shoto: When it comes to pressuring Evil Ryu, there's really nothing special for you to know. There are a few things to keep in mind when being slapped around by Evil Ryu. For starters, his EX Axe Kick is -4, so punish it with cr. LK xx whatever. Evil Ryu has some decent frame traps, but if you don't see him using any, tech your ass off. You can EX zonk all of Evil Ryu's axe kick cancels the way you would any other cancel that's not a true string. Pay attention to what he does in the air when he's jumping in when you're knocked down. That dive kick can be tricky. After a blocked MK Axe Kick, it's best to press nothing and really delay your tech. Evil Ryu is -2 on block. However, a typical trick of the trade is for Evil Ryu to rip an SRK in hopes to catch you pressing anything. That, or he'll do a kara throw (which a delayed cr. tech will tech but not come out and get caught by the SRK). It's best to just let Evil Ryu do what he wants to do. If the range of the MK Axe is really bad, you can actually opt to back dash/kara back dash away pretty safely (just don't be predictable with it). Oh, and...don't get cornered. Evil Ryu has some pretty nasty set-ups and fake cross-ups on Cody in the corner. Couple that with his ambiguous dash after a LK tatsu reset, and you'll find yourself in serious trouble. Notes: Just like with most reversals, EX Zonk can beat or avoid Evil Ryu's SRKs (and even his ultras if timed right). Hop Kick is safe on block and hit. If Hop kick is canceled into a tatsu on block, it is not safe. ER players will throw caution to the wind and do empty jump Hop Kick xx EX Tatsu or use it as a frame trap. Punish it with MK Ruffian, or even EX Ruffian > EX Ruffian > EX Criminal Upper. Evil Ryu's U2 is a very strong anti-air. Watch. Your. Jumps. Use HK Ruffian to deal with dive kicks. B+MP is risky because of the timing change. Cody Match-Up Tips: Evil Ryu (USFIV) by Ramma

Fei Long

Fei Long (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: U2 Option Select(s): cr. HP, MK Ruffian, Sweep Safe Jumps: HP Criminal Upper, EX Ruffian, Back Throw Choice Pokes: cr. LP (buffered), st. HK, cr. LK (buffered) Anti-Airs: All have uses Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: All fundamentals. Fundamentals wins this match for both characters. This is one of those matches where Cody really only has to worry if he's cornered. Cody can work his footsie game quite well here. Keep the game neutral and don't back up too much. You definitely don't need to in on Fei too hard. When he has you knocked down, the damage can add up, and if he ends up landing a nice 3 Rekka combo on you, you've lost a lot of space. If you got the life lead, it's better to let him back dash on trouble than put yourself in a knocked down situation. It's worth mentioning that there's little to no reason for you to risk jumping in. Unless it's some Fei spamming slow normals that you can get an easy jump in combo on, there's no reason to go for a jump. Playing Footsies with Bruce Lee Buffered *cr. LP* and cr. LK are very strong in this battle. A max spaced cr. LP can stuff Fei's godlike cr. HP. A buffered cr. LK can catch a lot of things as well. In regards to st. HK, it's not as useful vs a good Fei. It's slow and easy to whiff punish. Once he recognizes that you use it a lot, he'll beat it clean with cr. HP or crumple you for some big damage with his focus attack. Use it sparingly and strategically at most. Keeping HP Bingo stored is quite good as well. Any Fei that uses chicken wing or focus a lot is going to take a lot of zonks in the face. Rekkas are easily stuffed with Bingos (if you react fast enough and other normals such as st. HK. Rekkas are very easy to whiff punish with cr. HP (buffered) and cr. MP (buffered) if you stay at the right range. In USFIV, Rekkas took quite the nerf, so Fei players won't be as liberal with them as they used to be. Rocks are great from more than half screen because you can pretty much react to anything Fei tries from this range. Any closer range could lead you getting focus crumpled, chicken winged, or ultra'd. Know your spacing jailbirds. Pressure vs Pressure As stated earlier, Fei can do some nasty things to Cody in the corner. Luckily in USFIV he lost his 3 frame chainable cr. LK, so his empty jump cr. LK gimmick is sort of out the window. However, with Cody's back to the wall, the options are still there. Look out for a jump attack (cross-up or regular) into Tenshin grab (particularly EX grab now that it's 10 frames in USFIV). It's a Fei tradition. If Fei is pressuring you and he gets cute with a second Rekka that is blocked, or if he's feeling really risky, a blocked 3rd Rekka, punish him hard. All 2nd and 3rd Rekkas (except second EX Rekka) is 8 on block or much worse. Meaning all of them are U2 punishable. All in all, avoid being knocked down as per usual, but Fei's pressure is manageable. When it comes to you getting the business done. Fei's going to have a 4 frame cr. LK in USFIV, which is going to make him even easier to frame trap. If he's mashing LP to be a regular Balrog, just throw him a lot or jab stagger. Standard pressure really does apply here. Watch his meter when he has two bars of course. When pressuring Fei, Safe jumps are great. Probably even so in USFIV, just don't rely on them as much. Your go to OS on safe jumps is cr. HP. It catches back-dash. It stuffs Chicken Wings (great for when they want to escape the corner) and will not come out if they DP (unless delayed wake up of course). If you have to opt for keeping him knocked down, sweep and MK Ruffian are good as well. Notes Knife - Use it when you can. It's a footsie war sorta match. Knife is golden. EX Chicken Wing - if manages to EX Chicken Wing over your head, you can punish his landing with U2. Fei's Ultra 2 - Never try to punish this too early (not even with your own U2). It's counter is active for 35 frames Chicken Wings - None are punishable outside of LK version, which you'll almost never see. HK and EX versions are even on block, so choose your option wisely. They'll likely DP, throw you or bait a reversal themselves. Flame Kick - EX Zonks go through all of them except be careful when timing one against an EX Flame Kick. EX version has good invincibility frames.

Gen

Gen (Close/Even, 5-5 or 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): MK Ruffian/Sweep Safe Jumps: Back Throw, EX Ruffian, HP Criminal Upper Choice Pokes: st. MK, cr. LK (buffered), Kst. MP, Kcr. MP Anti-Airs: All are good, but stick with HK Ruffian and b+MP Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: Gen is a very complex character for Cody to face. Cody's pressure is really the only thing Cody has for him in this match. Gen doesn't blow him up in any spot really. It's simply hard to get your game going against him. And Gen can capitalize on a knockdown so well. The plan is to get him down and stay in. But you have to be patient in getting the old man on the ground. Gen's footsies are good for keeping Cody at bay until he wants to get in. Essentially, you have the same game plan for each other, but if Gen needs to he'll keep you at away all day. If you do have a huge lead on Gen, you can play a bit more conservative. But don't give him so much respect that he just walks you down. Once he has full super and ultra, you need to play very smart. You both know what he wants, don't let him have it. Mid-Range Game: St. MK is great for stuffing Gen's pokes when he's trying to stay at max range. Buffered cr. LK is great for whiff punishing those long limbs. If he's buffering cr. MP xx Hands a lot, things get much more tricky. However, Cody can counter that with the knife. The knife goes a long way here too. KSt and Kcr. MP have great frames and boxes for grandpa. The down side to the knife is losing b+MP which is a great AA for Gen. If the Gen player is one of those more eager to jump and use jump shenanigans, you might want to hold off on the knife usage. But if Gen wants to dance, you have those two knife attacks and st. MK and cr. LK. Best of both worlds. Hold your ground, fight for space and find the knock down. Pressuring Gen: Gen players have a tendency to be very active in their wake up. Safe jumps and meaty cr. LP with an OS go a long way. Make the most of your punishes when he does reversal. Otherwise, find your rhythm and put him to sleep. There's not much Gen specific tech really. Ruffian is Down: Gen has so many ambiguous setups and unblockables on Cody. You really need to avoid getting down at all costs. There's no great answer, no special tech, to deal with Gen. A lot of dealing with Gen's post knockdown setups is a matter of familiarity. Understanding his trajectory and which side things are going to hit on. Once you guess right, you need to find a way out and reset the match. Notes: (cr. MP xx) Hands - at some ranges the hands will not fully connect. This is punishable if it happens. Up kick punish - if you're iffy about the punish, go for sweep or LK Ruffian. Take a hard knockdown if you can't do a combo. Save your meter - if Gen gets you down, you need all the help you can get. Wall Dive Shenanigans - Practice them and learn how to block/punish them.

Gouken

Gouken (Favorable, 6-4) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): All are good. Safe Jumps: Back Throw, EX Ruffian (can be beaten by Counter) Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK. Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian (beats all demon flips) is best. Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: Gouken is one of Cody's best matches in my opinion. Some Gouken players may try to take an offence based approach and Cody has the options to deal with Gouken. However, zoning will be the most likely strategy Gouken tries to employ and Gouken can't zone Cody all that well. Your job will be to get in and keep the old man locked down. Getting in isn't a very difficult task. The most difficult task is keeping him under pressure, and it's not very taxing. Mid-Range Game: Zonk, EX Ruffian Kick and slide are all great at getting around fireballs at the right ranges. Cody can pretty safely match fireballs with rocks as well. Cody has good recovery on his rocks so from the right ranges you can bait Gouken's dash punch and beat any version with a Zonk Knuckle. If Gouken abandons his zoning Cody can still win the footsie game with his pokes...but keep an eye on that dash and kara dash into his safe sweep. If Gouken uses lots of demon flip shenanigans, HK Ruffian Kick all day. It's armor breaking property shuts down all versions including the attack absorbing one. Pressuring Papa Ryu: Standard pressuring to be applied here. You're best off testing your opponent and seeing if he's mashing counter during your strings. Keep your strings tight and go for plenty of throws early on to deter any sort of mashing. A meterless Gouken is a free Gouken. Once he has one bar you have to worry about EX counter, EX Tatsu or ex demon flip. At that point it's just about making reads. As per usual, EX Zonk will beat or avoid all of his reversal options. Notes: As stated earlier, EX Zonk > all of Gouken's options. So feel free to abuse the hell out of Gouken with Zonk FADC combos. Zonk can avoid chip from Gouken's U2. Gouken's overhead is usually followed by his safe sweep. If you jump over Gouken's fireball and he has time to block, he can do his anti air counter. Try empty jumping at first in that scenario and go for a throw instead. Worst case scenario is that he techs.

Guile

Guile (Unfavorable, 4.5-5.5 or 4-6) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): All are pretty good Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian Only Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, cr. MK, Crack Kick. Anti-Airs: All are great Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: This is a match I really hate as Cody. You need to get in on Guile, and it is by no means easy. There's no reason to rush in from the get go if Guile is really turtling hard. You can back up and throw rocks for a bit because you can throw rocks faster than he can sonic boom. You really can't play this game too long though, but you can test how patient Guile is willing to be once he doesn't get you to move forward or takes a chip/hit. If he decides to move forward just off of that, you are going to be able to get in on him based on his lack of patience. The point is, get in and don't let him breathe. Getting in on the Family Man: Ah, here in lies the challenge, yes? Getting in on Sargent Big Hair. There's no specific tool that's going to get you in on Guile. You need to get a read on him. Zonk isn't as useful in this match as you'd think, because Guile recovers too fast. EX Ruffian is good from the right distances, but you still need to react fast. You're going to have to take some chip and eat a few sonic booms to get in. It's important that when you do get hit, that you wait to see what Guile does. Guile loves to position himself to throw out a F+HP after you eat a fireball to catch you still trying to head in. And then they like to F+HP you again if you get hit. If Guile is chasing down his sonic booms, and thanks to ADN for pointing this out to me, there is usually a gap between when the sonic boom hits you and his st. HP. You can squeeze in a cr. lK xx finisher or zonk after the sonic boom. Now, once you do it, he might try to bait it so, use it sparingly. Pressuring the American: Guiles love to get you off them right away, so be cautious. If they have two bars, they will almost always flash kick when you're in range on wake up. His level of zoning patience will likely reflect his pressure patience. Ambiguous cross-ups are always good because it'll make Guile afraid to flash kick and it'll also catch him blocking the wrong way. Definitely establish your throw game BEFORE you start going for frame traps (you should be doing this anyway, but a reminder is needed here). Some Guiles mash LP when being pressured and some Guiles try to walk out of pressure as well (if you notice this, you can sweep them too). If you get Guile cornered, keep him there. Unless you are setting up an unblockable or have a trick up your sleeve to finish the match/get the stun, keep him locked down, be ready for a jump or bazooka knee to get himself out. Notes: Guile's U2 will trade with Cody's U2 even if Guile activates first. I think Cody can beat it if Guile time's it too early as a wake up chip. You can time an EX just right and avoid the ultra completely. Still, it's a pain. Guile can actually lock Cody down in the corner pretty well, so be patient. You can bait Flash Kick with shortly charged focus attack from max distance. Be ready to dash forward and punish. The Momochi Combo doesn't work on Guile out right. You have to jump in or Level 3 Focus for it to work. Gain space and shove Guile to the corner by forcing a safe Zonk block against LP Sonic Boom.

Guy

Guy [character page]
cr.MK is amazing in this matchup, as it beats/neutralizes his Bushin Flip and even some of his mixups. Since it gives you forward momentum you will usually end up behind Guy while he is still recovering.

Hakan

Hakan[No Data] [character page]

Hugo

Hugo [character page]
st.HP -6 [armored frame 7-16, Overhead, 17 startup frames] stMK -8 st.HK -16 cr.HP -23 cr.MK -7 cr.HK -40 f.HP Hammer Hook -6 Lariat is -11, EX is -6 Super is -14

Ibuki

Ibuki[No Data] [character page]

Juri

Juri (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): EX Zonk, Sweep, MK Ruffian, EX Ruffian Safe Jumps: All Work (she can EX Counter out, be ready) Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, Crack Kick. Anti-Airs: All are great, but HK Ruffian has the priority in this match. Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Yes General Strategy: A lot of Cody players hate this match, but it's very even, and shutting down Juri is the key to that. Once Cody is in on Juri, she has very little to work with. Juri wants to keep you out in this match, but inevitably, even the best Juri player, will take some risk vs you. You need to be ready for that dive kick or LK PW (which Cody can ALWAYS punish with cr. LK xx HP Criminal Upper). Push Juri in the corner where she is pretty defenseless, and whatever you do, DON'T GET CORNERED. Juri + Corner = Big Trouble. Juri + FSE + Corner = Panic Button. Juri + FSE + Corner + Meterless Cody = GG, you lost. Getting In: You 100% need to get in on Juri. You can't play the fireball game with her. Don't jump at her unless she's predictable with her FB game. She has fantastic anti-airs to deal with any of your jumps. Zonk is not as useful against her fireballs because of her LK FB. EX Ruffian and EX Zonk are much better options. Careful with your focuses (especially when Juri has meter). Buffered pokes and taking some chip and licks are a big part of getting in. Pay attention to her fireball habits. If Juri is always storing and releasing, make her pay for the predictable zoning. Slide under normal fireballs, crack kick over low ones Pressuring on Wake-Up: Meaties can beat Juri's EX PW, and once you get used to reacting to EX Counter, dealing with this option is easy as well. You can frame trap her all day, but don't get predictable. Juri wants to get the hell away from Cody, and will use desperate measures to get out. If you read EX PW or EX Counter, punish with U2 once recovering. Juri's FSE (Ultra 1): Any good Juri is gonna use FSE on Cody. Bottom line, block low and wait for the overhead. She's gonna do it eventually, and you need to be ready for it. DON'T ANTICIPATE. REACT. You just have to be aware that it's coming. You can react to it by standing up or EX Zonk it. Take note if you knock Juri down, and she has FSE activated, she has better invincibility frames on her EX Pinwheel. Notes: EX Pinwheel can beat a U2 chip out. EX Zonk shuts down ALL of Juri's wake-up options with the exception of U2. Juri likes to empty jump with st. MK (off the ground), so be careful when OSing her jump ins with throw. Some Juris (even good ones) like to end blockstrings with LK pinwheel. It's -4 on block (crouching, more negative when standing), so punish it always. st.HK will trade in your favor against divekicks

Ken

Ken (Even but obnoxious, 5-5 or 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): MK Ruffian, Sweep, EX Bingo Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian, immediate fake Bad Stone, neutral jump MK (3f safe jump) Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian is best, but all work Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Rarely General Strategy: There isn't much tech in the Ken matchup to be honest. This matchup is a bit more challenging than your run ins with Ryu. Ken's pressure and kara game is a lot harder to deal with. Cody can zone Ken decently but with Ken's mobility it will only get you so far. Once you get Ken down you need to make the right reads. If Ken gets you down you're in trouble. Mid-Range Game: Ken can and likely will win the footsie game. Cody's cr. LK and st. MK can get you some wl miles, but again, Ken has the options to reign supreme. Using more of a keep away approach is your best bet when neutral until you have the opening or see a mistake to capitalize on. HK Ruffian Kick is definitely your anti-air of choice. For those air EX Tatsu happy Ken players, this is your best option. Cr. MK can avoid it as well but why avoid when you can punish. Notes: EX Zonk will avoid Ken's SRKs causing Ken to soar into the air allowing you to punish or avoid a chip out to which you can punish that as well. Focusing step kicks is not a bad option as long as you don't get predictable.

M. Bison/Dictator

M. Bison (Even but obnoxious, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): cr. MK (covers all options except teleport), crack kick (teleport) Safe Jumps: All Work Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK, cr. MK, st. HK Anti-Airs: All are good Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Rarely General Strategy: This is definitely a momentum based match, and Bison can get out of Cody's pressure much easier than Cody can get out of his, so you have to be on point with your pressure and make every knockdown count. No reason to charge down Bison, but don't let him dictate (no pun intended) the pace of the match either and get his game going. Getting Bison cornered is key, but as soon as he has meter, don't be surprised if he EX Psycho Crushers out, just to get out of the corner (even if you can punish it). You don't want to be in the corner against Bison, so fight for your space. Don't back track or give up space when you don't have to. Be dominant, but patient! Mid-Range Game: Cody can stuff Scissor kicks with cr. MK and st. MK. In fact, st. MK and cr. MK are really good pokes in general against Bison. All his anti-airs are good vs Bison, but try to use HK Ruffian when possible (especially if he goes for stomp). Bison's j. HP can slide passed other anti-airs sometimes. All that said, you can't out footsie Bison, so look for him to make a mistake, and do your thing. Buffered pokes and unpredictable neutral jumps are important. Buffered pokes will catch Bison's dash and focus dash attempts, and neutral jumps can catch scissors for a full punish if he picks a bad moment to do one. Pressuring Bison: Use your safe jumps on him whenever possible. It keeps him locked down and OSing his reversals are easy enough. If Bison has meter, it's best to OS a cr. MK which will stuff EX PC and EX Scissors, go under and allow for a punish if he EX Stomps, and catch his backdash. Cr. MK won't cover his teleport however. If you predict a teleport, or if Bison is meterless, you should be OSing crack kick and follow that up with a juggle or ruffian to catch his recovery. No other OS is needed in this match. Bison's seem to have a habit of using EX PC or a Reversal after a F+MP for whatever reason, so be ready for that. EX Ruffian or a delayed U2 will punish EX PC, and cr. LK xx finisher will punish EX Scissors. If the Bison player likes mashing LK under pressure, jab stagger Bison as you would Balrog or Vega. Ruffian Under Pressure: If Bison gets you knocked down, which he probably will at some point, his pressure is really hard to deal with. Unlike Rose, Ryu, Ibuki, etc., doing a bingo or zonk through his cancel won't help because all scissor kicks beat non-ex zonks. Just be patient, and try to inch your way out. After a few Scissors, Bison might go for an EX Stomp, and that's a chance for you to escape if you can follow where Bison is headed in the air should he Devil's Reverse. Don't abuse it and it's a risk, but you can cr. MK after a blocked scissor. If he tries to scissor again or goes for his st. HK, you'll stuff him, giving you some space. You can also buffer a cr. LP xx MK Ruffian after a blocked Scissor which will beat most of what he follows up with (except an EX or ultra for example). Again, this is like a once, maybe twice, in a match move to pull, and Bison can bait it if he presses nothing and whiff punish you. It's an option, but it's not a go to. All and all, his pressure is hell to deal with, and it's just a matter of you making the right read to get out. Notes: To punish Bison's U1 with your U2, you have to slightly delay it or he'll be off the ground, much like his EX PC. You can punish Bison's follow up attacks from stomp if you activate Ultra right before he touches you. You will get the full animation off of this timing. Bisons like to hold focus for a moment and dash forward, have a buffered poke ready to catch his dash. (from BJ Unchained's post on EventHubs) Cody has an answer for most of Bison's options: EX Psycho blocked -> U2 or EX ruffian Headstomp/Devil's reverse -> cr.mk beats both options on the way down cody's cr.mk deals with scissor kicks, f.mk, and f.hk well. Bisons can whiff punish cr.mk consistently however. In addition, lightly charged rocks is great for Bison approaching, and will allow Cody to recover in time to beat out Bison's floaty jumps consistently. However, it is difficult to open up a Bison with life lead, and the matchup boils down to who can establish and hold the life lead. Cody Match-Up Tips: M. Bison / Dictator (USFIV) by Ramma

Makoto

Makoto (Slightly Unfavorable, 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): MK Ruffian, Crack Kick, Ultra 2 Safe Jumps: All Work (meterless), slight delay when she has meter Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK, Kst. MP, K. cr. MP Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian is ideal Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Rarely General Strategy: This match is not great, but very winnable. There's no sleeping in this match. She can deplete your health faster than you can deplete hers. A lot of Makoto players like to call this match even but Cody loses this one, if only slightly. Cody has no real advantage in this match outside of the Mid-Range game. Much like Sakura, Makoto does most of what Cody can do but better. You absolutely need to score the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth knockdown or you're done. That said, you need to play very passive aggressive until you have Makoto where you want her. Until then, keep Makoto out of your space. Mid-Range Game: A lot of Makotos...good and bad...like to start a round with something almost every time. Forward dash into pressure. Back dash into meter gain with whiffed overheads. Some even jump. It's best to just be prepared for what Makoto is going to attempt rather than draw first. You don't need to rush in and should let Makoto do your job for you as she tries to get in. Zone her. Make her desperate. You can beat Makoto purely on patience. Be ready for her to start trying to focus dash, axe kick or random EX Hayate to get in. Buffered cr. LPs will do great at keeping Makoto at bay on the ground. HK Ruffian and st. HK are great for anti airing Makoto because most players have a tendency to try to jump or axe kick in from a ways out. This is another match where the knife does come in handy. St. MP is not only great in footsies as it will beat everything Makoto does, but it is also a great wake up pressure tool. Don't rely on cr. HP as an anti air though. Makoto is great at getting around it. Momentum - Pressure vs Pressure: This battle, once the mid-range game is eliminated, is purely momentum based. Like Cody, Makoto's wake-up is pretty bad. When pressuring Makoto, it's good to option select early and see how eager she is to try to get away. MK Ruffian and U2 are great Option Selects for Makoto. Sometimes sweep can't quite catch her backdash, so it isn't a go to option. Stay on her and don't let her breath. When she has meter, you need to watch approaching her from the ground because of her EX Command Grab, but meterless, Makoto is free to frame traps. Well timed cross-ups work great on Makoto as well, but watch where you are landing or her DP will hit you, and that's big damage and the knockdown she needs. Don't be careless. When Makoto has you locked down, it's a matter of making a good read. Trying to EX Zonk her off you right away is a poor decision, as many Makoto's like to keep the pressure going off the knockdown with Axe Kicks. You do have options to deal with Axe Kick. You can dash forward or backward depending on the height. You can also wake up with focus, which more times than not will give you a crumple. You should try to react to overheads, not anticipate them. They are very slow and if you're watching, you'll see it. Back dashing out of pressure also works quite well, but don't over use it, or you'll just end up eating an OS dash into Command Grab. Even in USFIV, Cody's back dash is still one of the worst in the game. Notes: U2 - completely safe for chipping if Makoto has U1. Cody's Ultra 2 will beat Makoto's U1 even if Cody activates first Safe Jumps - EX Command Grab can beat safe jumps. Slightly delay your jump to avoid it. Also, make sure you don't crouch block after the jump incase your OS doesn't come out. Ex Overhead will catch you. Command Grab > st. HP > Hayate Cancel Dash > Command Grab - Just watch out for this gimmick. They love it. If Makoto is beating your jump ins...and you shouldn't be jumping at Makoto much to begin with, but... Practice Your Punishes - This is a match where you need to know your frame data in a big way. It's why I'm noting that you need to know how to punish Makoto optimally.

Oni

Oni (Even or Slightly Favorable, 5-5 or 5.5-4.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): MK Ruffian, Sweep Safe Jumps: None, SRK Choice Pokes: cr. LP (buffered), cr. HP (buffered), st. MP, st. HK, cr. MP (buffered), cr. LK Anti-Airs: All are good Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Not sure. General Strategy: Cody has great tools when it comes to Oni. He can't zone you (EX Ruffian Kick is too good) and you can keep up with him in every aspect. A lot of Oni's normal and unique attacks are great buffered poke damage for Cody as well. Oni is going to get most of his damage off his FADC combos and mix-ups. He will want to get in vs you. You don't have that necessity, but take the chance once it's there. Playing Footsies with a God: It can't hurt to take a step back and whiff punish or stuff Oni at the beginning of a round. Oni players love opening with F+HP, which is even on hit and -9 on block. If you get one of those Oni players who like to F+HP twice (a la Guile), block the second one and Ultra him free. As I stated earlier, buffered pokes all day with a mix of some rocks. You can control space all day with buffered pokes. If you can do that with a zonk stored to prevent Oni from doing any random specials or fireballs, you're golden. Oni might start doing the Oni Shuffle in the air where he's flopping all over the screen like an idiot. Bop him with some rocks or clip him with a HK Ruffian and that'll stop really quick. Hell. Let him give up space and move forward a bit. Don't play into any shenanigan he plans on trying. They love that Air EX Tatsu. Pressure vs Pressure: Pressuring Oni isn't much different than any other shoto (as Oni will have his DP FADC in USFIV). Something that is great specifically against Oni is a meaty buffered cr.HP xx EX Rocks. It's a CH set-up if he goes for Sky Dive on his wake up. Commit or bait. There's really no in between against Oni. Dealing with Oni's pressure can be a bit of a guessing game (and very difficult to deal with online). After a blocked LP Slash, Onis will either go for a throw, a DP or a Sky Dive if they want to mix you up there. Focus back dash can deal with the latter two depending on the strength. Delayed tech or stand tech will get caught by Sky Dive. If you happen to predict a sky dive on your wake up or during pressure, you can focus crumple it. Notes: EX Slash and EX Sky Dive - Both are Ultra 2 punishable. Zonk - much like FB cancels, can be used to interrupt LK Slash cancels. Oni AA U1 - beats Momochi corner set-up. EX Zonk - To avoid EX DP chip, needs to be released very late. EX Sky Dive- must be blocked high, just an FYI. Slashes - are throwable, so if he uses a lot of slash gimmicks, react with a throw. EX Air Tatsu - it's punishable and easy to stuff with practice. Hit the lab.

Poison

Poison [character page]

Far HK is -6 and whiffs against small and mid sized crouching characters Sweep is -15 Overhead is -8 Backflip takes 48 frames, invincible during frames 1-33 Rekka 1st hit -4 2nd hit -9 3rd hit -12 EX Rekka 1st hit -3 2nd -13 3rd -12 4th -6 Love me tender is -1 and breaks armor; you need to preempt it EX LMT is +2 DP: LK -31 (1-4 frames invincible 5 frame startup) MK -46 (1-5 frames invincible 4 frames startup) HK -58 (no incinvibility 10 frame startup) EX -39 (invincible 1-12, 4 frames startup) Super is -35 U1 is -34, projectiles dissipate the Ultra U2 is a grab ultra with 79 recovery frames, can jump out after the freeze

Rolento

Rolento [character page]
Far HP is -8 cr.HK is -11 with 7 active frames [-5 at best] Trick rod is overhead and -2 on block Patriot circle LP is -3 MP is -4 HP is -6 2nd hit is -6 3rd hit is -22 EX is -7 Backflip is 1-11f invincible, 12-26 airborne, 27-35 landing recovery (27-28 recovery with MDA cancel) Mekong Delta rolls are -8 EX is -10 Super is -19 U1 is -19 U2 is -18

Rose

Rose (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): EX Bingo, MK Ruffian, sometimes sweep Safe Jumps: Back Throw, EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK, st. HK Anti-Airs: All are great depending on the spacing. Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: At max range General Strategy: You can pay this match pretty passively. Once you're in you have to make it count though. Rose's fireballs can't match Cody's rocks all that well. Rose also cannot reflect Cody's rocks to build meter. Still, fireball to fireball, she'll build meter much faster. She is going to try to zone you out until she has a chance to get momentum going. Rose totally has to come to you if you don't play into her hand and play the match smart and pay attention to what she's doing. This match is awful if you don't keep your head in the game. Mid-Range Game: As I said before, you can nullify her zoning game fairly easily. Rose players love to abuse slide. From some distances it is safe on block. However, punishing it with cr. LK xx whatever is very easy. Using buffered cr. LP in this match deals with a lot of her normals as well. Pay attention to her range at all times. Whether or be for a slide or kara dash into throw, Rose is going to want to close the distance of she doesn't have a lead. If she gets button and slide happy feel free to start focusing and crumpling. Her FB doesn't have great recovery, for the record. It's an easy EX Ruffian if you're in range. If their spacing is really poor, you get a full jump in combo. Pressuring Grandma: For starters you need your option selects on point. Rose players love to back dash. St. LK OS MK ruffian or cr. LP cr. LP OS sweep take care of that. They also love to stand tech and they love to reversal. OSing EX Bingo can deal with EX Soul Spiral. Stand Teching can be a problem as Cody in general and you either need meter to fadc to safely punish it or you need to take a risk to beat it. Worry about locking her down and keeping her honest on wake-up before you start going for certain setups. Once you know she respects you...especially in a longer set, you can go to work. Dealing with the Fortune Teller Lady: Rose players like to end every hit confirm with a special just because they are usually safe. Every time she does it you have a free Zonk. It'll beat her soul spiral and soul spark. After a while she might start baiting it so make sure you are reacting not anticipating. Most Rose players spam throw so make sure your teching is on point. Rose has good tools to blow up stand teching so be careful there. Notes: EX Zonk FADC combos work great on Rose because of how much most players stand tech. Including empty jump EX Zonk. Just block against her U2 unless it's some sort of well spaced guaranteed chip out. Whatever you try will probably lose and lead to her landing a nasty combo. Meter management is pretty important (it always is but still). You'll need your meter to deal with a lot of Rose and her shenanigans.

Rufus

Rufus (Unfavorable, 4-6) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 1 Option Select(s): Sweep, MK Ruffian, (EX) Bingo Safe Jumps: Back Throw, EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP buffered, st. MK Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, st. HK and st. LP, cr. MK are the best (latter two for dive kicks) Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Yes General Strategy: This is one of those matches where once you're down, you're going to get stomped. Rufus's dive kick pressure is incredibly hard to deal with. It's a momentum based battle and Rufus has better ways to get his momentum going than you do. It's a patient match for Cody but Rufus wants to play dirty. You need to land a knock down early and finish Rufus quickly. His low stun and slow normals are great for frame trapping. Essentially, you're finding a way to get Rufus on his giant ass while he's looking to rush you down. Mid-Range: Stay mobile. Your reactions and space control are the most important things in this match. Rufus has so much range on what he does. His cr. HP, flip kick, EX Messiah Kick, Galactic Tornado, etc are great for getting to you with ease. Get your anti-airs on point. Rufus has the ability to jump in from a great distance as well. HK Ruffian is so good in this match, but cr. MK and st. HK are good as well. B+MP can be avoided content completely with a well spaced dive kick, so don't rely on it. st. LP is good for stuffing dive kicks, but the timing can be tricky, so practice it. Buffered pokes such as cr. LP and cr. MP are great to catch Rufus coming in but again, he'll bait a buffered poke just to jump over it and he's in. Jumping back LP can get you out of that if you have the time to. Stray away from over using st. HK. Rufus's cr. HP will go right under it. St. MK can stuff a lot of Rufus's stuff as well. If he goes for a Galactic Tornado to get in, you can stuff it with MK Ruffian Kick or land a full neutral jump combo (great way to start a round too). You can also Ultra it on reaction. Putting some leather on the Fat Man: Meterless, Rufus is beyond screwed. He'll try to dash away, hold up, etc. Keep your pressure meaty and tight. Set up your throw game, then frame trap him and call it a day. Once Rufus has meter...especially 3 bars...everything changes. EX Messiah Kick is an obnoxious special to say the least. It's got crazy invincibility frames. Does decent damage and FADC can lead to ultra. On safe jumps you can avoid it with OS Bingo (don't need to EX). If they mash it out, you can punish most of the follow ups with HK Ruffian (you can avoid the overhead with dash under > cr. HP xx HP CU. You can punish ALL follow ups or no follow up with a non-reversal Ultra 1. To do non-reversal Ultra 1, you need to slightly delay your U1 after you're out of block stun. Once you practice it a bit in the lab, you'll find the timing to be very easy. One more option to delay with a wake up EX Messiah is jb. HK to avoid chip. It's a read and Rufus could make you pay for it, but it's an option. The Fattest Pressure in the Universe: Rufus's dive kick pressure is relentless vs Cody. It's why Rufus wins this match pretty free. Empty jumps (low attack, throw or EX Messiah), delayed dive kicks, throws, pressure, etc, etc, etc. It's rough. Using Zonk to get out of dive kick pressure ISN'T a good option, so don't bother. Your options to get out are: jump back LP - gets you out of delayed or higher dive kicks, throw and other jump attempts EX Criminal Upper - gets you out of some dive kicks and, until USFIV, all throw attempts. cr. tech OS cr. MP - great for lower to the great dive kicks cr. tech OS cr. HP - great for higher dive kicks. It's a matter of making the right read with which option to use to be honest. Whatever you do, don't get predictable in your defense and remain patient. Sometimes it's simply better to just weather the storm. Knowing how to deal with Rufus's pressure does come from practice, so find yourself a Rufus training partner. Cody L Upper Beating EX Messiah Notes: Focus Attack - A lot of Rufus's normals are very slow or have long active frames. They are great for focusing. However, Rufus has great ways of dealing with focuses so pay close attention to what the player is doing in the mid-range game before taking the risk. Blockstrings into Galatic Tornado are not true strings when canceled. You can interrupt the cancel. Air-to-air - Going to air-to-air is a risk because Rufus's double kicks are hard to beat and combo into ultra. Bad Stone - good when used very carefully and strategically. You can cause Rufus to land on them with fake rocks and delayed rocks. That said, know your spacing, or you'll pay hard. Bad Spray - good to use against quite a few soft knockdown set-ups. Make sure you have the meter to FADC. Meter - save it for your wake up game and combos into Ultra.

Ryu

Ryu (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): Sweep, MK Ruffian, EX Ruffian Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian, immediate fake Bad Stone, neutral jump MK (3f safe jump) Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. MK Anti-Airs: All are great depending on the spacing. Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No (but usually it is not punished correctly, bait accordingly) General Strategy: Shutting down Ryu's fireball game and getting in on Ryu is your main goal. However, it's important not to rush it. You can play with Ryu in the mid-range game for a while. This is a marathon match, not a sprint. Patience and timing is important. Don't sacrifice your momentum by taking a risk unless it's a do or die situation. Random ex zonks, ex ruffians and careless jump-ins are not an option. If you read a fireball and go for the jump, that's one thing, but don't jump-in on Ryu. You CAN battle him on the ground. Be solid. Hold your ground. You have no reason to take any action once the match begins. Let Ryu make the first move, and punish him for it. He might fireball (Zonk), jump (HK Ruffian), focus (just wait). If he back dashes or whiffs a st. LK from the get go, you already know he's gonna try to zone you and wants to get out of your zonk range or see if you're ready to punish those fireballs. If he dashes in, he wants to get you knocked down more likely. It's important to know what type of Ryu you're dealing with. The zoning Ryu, IMO, is much easier to deal with than the pressure Ryu because of Cody's bad wake-up. Cody definitely has comeback potential against Ryu and visa-versa, so it's important to not give Ryu the chance to rally. Ryu doesn't have the relentless pressure of Cammy or Sakura, but he can certainly put the heat on Cody, especially a meterless Cody. Dealing with Fireballs: One of the reasons this match is even because Cody has Rocks, Fake Rocks, Zonk (closer), EX Ruffian (mid-range), and U2 (closer for full punish, mid-range for just dust finish) to deal with Ryu's fireball game. You want to keep your HP zonk loaded almost at all times when you aren't pressuring. IMO, use HP zonk because you need MP for anti-airs (B+MP) and footsies (F+MP). You want LP available for hit confirms, footsies and throws/techs as well. Once Ryus get hit by 1 or 2 zonks, they are afraid to use fireballs. Ryu's cr. MK xx Hadoken can be interrupted by a zonk at almost every spacing. If Ryu tries to mix it up with a cr. MK > F+HP, your zonk will beat it. A good Ryu will know this, so be ready for a simple cr. MK with no cancel. Footsies and Crouching Medium Kick: Dealing with that cr. MK can be a doozy. You can whiff punish Ryu's cr. MK with Cody's cr. LK but it's not an easy whiff punish. You can also hop over Ryu's cr. MK (and cr. HK) with crack kick (F+HK). Using rocks and fake rocks in your footsies, especially after he's afraid to throw fireballs, is useful. It can catch his cr. MK. Mix up your use of buffered pokes, crack kicks and rocks in the mid-range game. Knockdown Pressure: Once you get Ryu knocked down, it's time to go to work, but tread carefully. You don't want to eat that SRK on wake up and lose your momentum. Mix up what you go for in terms of pressuring Ryu. Well timed cross-ups, up close meaties, and delayed pressure are a must. Make Ryu afraid to do anything by being unpredictable. Ryu's 4 frame crouch tech (whether OS'd with cr. MP or not) is pretty easy to frame trap. Obviously, his 3 frame SRK and Super are not safe-jumpable, so you have to mix in your safe jump set-ups with empty jumps to bait his reversals. It isn't a bad idea to opt for a empty jump (delayed throw/crouch tech) in your first attempt to see how he reacts, particularly in a longer set. In the corner, you have so many options to use on Ryu. You can go for the EX Ruffian set up, a damaging EX Criminal Upper juggle, an unblockable and even a cross under reset. The first option will corner you, so be careful when using it. Know when to use it. See the Data Thread for those set-ups. Ryu Has You Down: Ryu can lock down Cody pretty well. It's important not to panic if Ryu gets you knocked down. Cody isn't going to lose half his life bar and get stunned off one knock down. Have patient defense. Don't just zonk right off the bat. If Ryu is pressuring you with normals or tick throwing, just find your opening. Have a zonk or ex zonk (MP+HP) ready, but he might be baiting it in his first couple normals, so don't jump the gun. He has a safe jump off sweep, so just block if you get swept. A reversal or a backdash is going to get swept and put you back in the same situation. If he has super, be ready for that cross-up tatsu. When your cornered, and he has ultra. Be careful. He's going to mix up throws with ex tatu's and ex fireballs to do some big damage. Notes: EX Zonk will avoid all SRK chip outs or reversals. However, EX Zonk will lose to EX Tatsu if used as a chip out. You can make j. HP very ambiguous on Ryu off of back throw and forward throw. Use it. Sweep can be punished with U2 or MK Ruffian. If a Ryu messes up a punish or link into sweep, let it rip

Sagat

Sagat (Even or Unfavorable? 5-5 or 4-6, Sanford says Sagat wins) [character page]

Ultra Choice: U2 Option Select(s): EX Zonk, MK Ruffian, Sweep Safe Jumps: Back Throw and EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK, st. MK Anti-Airs: All work well depending on the spacing Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No (might work from wonky max ranges) General Strategy/Footsies: This is operation get in to the core. Sagat is going to try to push you away all day long (unless they are one of those YOLO Sagat players, which you should have no trouble beating). Getting in on the Tiger Lord: Crack Kick (sparingly), kara dashing, and inching forward whenever you can is an absolute must. You have to push your way in whenever you can. Fight for that space. If Sagat is back pedaling a lot, that's good for you. Before you know it, you'll be tickling his scar. If he knows to fight for space, the match gets hard. From further out rocks have their uses, such as negating fireballs and giving you a safe approach (they can even sneak over low Tiger Shots on occasion), but that is about where their uses end (outside of frame traps of course). Your slide can go under high tiger shots with loose timing as can crouching, but the slide will bring you closer and is safe to whiff from the right spacing. From up close, you can Bingo for a free punish. For low shots, you can neutral or forward jump, focus them, or block. Use all your options so your opponent doesn't know what to expect. I cannot express the importance of using EX Ruffian to get yourself in. Reacting to Sagat's fireballs are not very difficult, but a good Sagat player is going to shoot them outside of zonk range. And once you're in zonk range, they'll probably start mixing in a lot of st. LKs and st. MKs to space you out. Possibly so they can space you for a safe Tiger Knee. Zonk Knuckle is useful, but the range of EX Ruffian Kick can not underestimated. Yanking the Tiger's Tail - Pressuring Sagat and Notes: Standard pressure works on Sagat. His poor back dash and poor range on his focus attack really limits his defense. As it is, his DP is five frames and somewhat easy to stuff. To avoid Sagat's DP you can actually back dash away safely. For example, you could jump attack in (blocked, cross-up or not), and back dash. If Sagat mashes a DP he'll go soaring into the air. When Sagat is cornered, st. LP (a la Ryu) can stuff DPs, TKs, and most of his pokes if well spaced. EX Zonk can beat/avoid Sagat's DP as it can with most reversals. A lot of Sagat players will do a random EX Tiger Knee when you're in range. It's -1 on block so Sagat is safe. Expect a throw or a Tiger Uppercut (to catch stand teching or cr. teching). If Sagat has 2 more bars in stock and you're not about to lose a round, it can't hurt to eat the throw or really delay your tech, A tigger uppercut FADC into ultra is not worth eating. EX Ruffian as a finishing move to combos is great. You'll slide under him. If you back dash and do a st. LP on the earliest possible frame, you can jumping HP forward for a very hard to block jump in...that can lead to the same set up if you have another bar

Sakura

Sakura (Unfavorable, 4-6) [character page]

Ultra Choice: U2 Option Select(s): EX Zonk, Sweep, MK Ruffian Safe Jumps: Back Throw and EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK, st. MK Anti-Airs: All work but HK Ruffian is the only one that won't get stuffed ever. Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: From max range, yes. General Strategy/Footsies: This match is a not so much fun. Sakura does everything you do but with more damage, much safer and it is a lot easier for her to do it. One bar is all she needs to put you in a terrible spot. She can usually out footsie you as well. Probably the only thing Cody has better than Sakura is his health. Basically keep Sakura out until she gets herself knocked down and then get to work. Pressuring Ryu Jr.: You can pressure her for free when she doesn't have meter. But Sakura has so many 3 frame normals that frame trapping can be terrible. Tight frame traps all day. Until you've taught Sakura to keep her buttons honest, frame trapping can be tough. Crossing her up on wake up has to be meaty because her cr. HP can anti air you even on wake up. Sakura Got You Down? Her LK tatsu is even on block and her ex tatsu is +4. If she doesn't have meter you can go for a throw or a cr. LK that will beat or trade with her normal depending on what she does. But it is best to delay your crouch tech and play it safe until you know what she wants to do. Also, cr. MK can go under LK tatsu. Just be patient dealing with pressure as per usual. Notes: Sakura gains meter very quickly so keep an eye on it. Rocks are good in this match from further ranges. Up close she can tatsu through them for free.

Seth

Seth (Unfavorable, 4-6) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): EX Bingo, MK Ruffian Safe Jumps: Back Throw, EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK, st. MK Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, jb. LP, b+MP (in corner) Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Yes General Strategy: The problem with the Seth match is that you have to win based on his mistakes and really good reads. Between his teleport, DP, and SPD, there's no great option for pressuring Seth. Even if you cross him up and he blocks, he can mash DP or SPD which puts you in a 50/50 mix up lol. Seth his awful footsies, so keeping Seth at bay isn't the worst option in the world. Unforunately, Seth can jump in on you in pretty wonky/gimmicky ways and his Tanden Engine you in. Eventually you'll have to go in on Seth when he is down and finish him off. What Cody does have going for him in this match is his stun and damage vs Seth's health. That said, all combos and punishes need to be optimal in terms of your output. Your single goal is to not get knocked down at any cost. There's no secret to what Seth is going to endlessly do. Mid-Range Game and Pressuring: As I wrote earlier, you can out footsie Seth fairly easily, but many Seth players loooove to jump, so that HK Ruffian Kick needs to be ready at all times. Due to Seth's dive kick, anti airing him with anything but HK Ruffian Kick is a risk. St HP also works fairly well Once Seth knows he can't jump in, he's going to start fishing for dash in SPD, Tanden Engine and he'll use his atrocious fireball. If you have a bar, Seth should almost never get away with a fireball. EX Ruffian Kick will be there ten minutes before Seth is done recovering. When Seth is down, it's all about reads. Is he going to reversal, teleport, wait to mash or do nothing? There's no good OS you can use on Seth unless it's a safe jump setup. Only OS when you're looking to punish a teleport or avid some sort of chip. Boss Character Doing The Beatdown: Knowing how to deal with Seth's pressure will comes from practice, knowing some of his set-ups, and making proper reads. There is no science to it. You just need to get the hell out of dodge and reset the situation. If you manage to guess right on one of Seth's shenanigans, you need to punish him hard. Max damage and max stun at all times. Notes: If Seth has meter, he can beat your safe jump with an ex SPD. Seth's EX Legs can go through rocks. EX Zonk will avoid all of Seth's DPs when timed correctly. EX Zonk can beat Seth's U2 if timed perfectly and in range. Poorly spaced Tanden Engines can be punished. You can easily slide (cr.MK) under his fireballs

T. Hawk

T. Hawk (Favorable, 6-4) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): Lol, but sweep I guess. Safe Jumps: Back Throw, EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK, Knife st. MP Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, st. HK, B+MP Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Very spacing specific, but yes General Strategy: This isn't the hardest match for Cody. At the same time, once Hawk gets in you are pretty screwed. Still, Hawk might be the easiest character in the game for Cody to zone. Cody has the normals, specials, anti-airs, etc. to deal with Hawk pretty handily. Really the only section that matters in this match is how to zone him, because you just have to guess right to get him off you. So let's get into it. Zoning T. Hawk: For starters, T. Hawk can't jump in on Cody. HK Ruffian beats Condor Dive 95% of the time, or it'll trade. If T. Hawk tries to empty jump, HK Ruffian still clips him. If T. Hawk tries to delay his Condor Dive, HK Ruffian still clips him. If Hawk tries to get up close and Condor Dive, chances are you'll hit him with a st. HK before he can do anything. St. HK, like vs Gief, is your go to poke in this match. The knife is also great against Hawk. If Hawk is using Condor Spire or sweep to wiggle his way in, you can easily react to it with a HK or MK Ruffian Kick and send him back across the screen. If Hawk is focus dashing a lot, feel free to tag him with an EX Rock, or a buffered poke if he is in range. You can bait the hell out of T. Hawk using your rocks and fake rocks. They work really well in this match. If Hawk lands on a rock, be sure to follow it up with a MK Ruffian. The only time you should be worried about T. Hawk is when he isn't afraid to just walk forward (a.k.a. a Good Hawk player). When Hawk is patient and willing to take some chip and hits to get in. You have to play footsies well (again, knife works well here). So keep him out with st. HK and st. MK, but watch for his sweep (which is safe). Keep your st. HK spacing, and be ready to whiff punish. Notes If T. Hawk whiffs a jump attack high up in the air, chances are he is going for an SPD or Ultra 1. Sometimes it is worth it just to block a Condor Dive (non-ex) so that you can U2 him. EX Condor Spire and EX Condor Dive are both safe for T. Hawk to do. Everything else is very punishable. jump back LP can get you out of trouble sometimes against Hawk. Zonk is pretty useless in this match unless it's EX Zonk to get out of trouble. If you backdash out of a SPD attempt, it's a free MK Ruffian or U2 punish.

Vega/Claw

Vega (Even, 5-5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): Crack Kick*, EX Zonk, Sweep, MK Ruffian, EX Ruffian, Zonk Safe Jumps: Back Throw & EX Ruffian Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, Crack Kick, knife Anti-Airs: Best to use HK Ruffian due to Vega's insane j.HP. Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No General Strategy: You're going to want to weasel your way in on Vega and stay in his face. Vega is gonna want to poke you to death and keep you away or look for the knock down and go to work with karas, hop kicks, izuna drops, etc. He's going to outclass you pretty handily in footsies due to his pokes and mobility. You can jump in on him easy enough if he gets predictable. Once you get the knockdown, you need to stay on him. If you can corner him, even better. Plenty of Vegas like to mash buttons so keep your frame traps tight at first to see if he's mashing buttons. Most Vegas try to constantly run away from pressure with back flips, back dashes, reversals, etc., so be prepared for constantly dealing with this. There isn't anything too match-up specific about fighting Vega outside of punishing what he does. All of Vega's blocked specials with the exception of roll can be punished with U2 and MK/EX Ruffian Kick. His slide is easy to whiff punish and punishable on block. You can use EX zonk to avoid any chip out he attempts and to avoid his Super or Izuna grab. Trading with his roll is never a bad thing because it does like no damage off a single hit.

Yang

Yang[No Data] [character page]

Yun

Yun (Very Unfavorable, 3.5-6.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 1 Option Select(s): MK Ruffian, Sweep Safe Jumps: EX Ruffian, Back Throw (when meterless) Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK, st. LP, st. MK Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, st. HK, cr. MK, st. LP, jb. LP Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: No Punishes: You can punish lp shoulders with cr lk xx CU/MK Ruffian. Plink the cr lk with cr lp as it is a 1 frame punish General Strategy: This is one of those matches where Cody gets absolutely steamrolled. It's very hard to keep Yun out, and once he's in, you have no great way to get him off you. On top of that, Yun players love to be very active on wake up, mixing up DPs, back dashes, throw and EX Command Grabs as they wake up. Luckily, in USFIV, a meterless Yun is free to pressure as HK DP will be losing ALL of it's invincibility frames. That said, you have to outplay Yun and you have no great way of doing it. Yun's low health is the only thing Cody has going for him in this match. You need to make a few good reads and seal the deal. Until you have Yun knocked down, do your best to make him pay trying to come in. If Yun is playing the neutral jump game while waiting for an opening, you can always delay a rock so that he falls on it. HK Ruffian and st. HK are great for keeping Yun out of the air if he's in range, but his neutral jumping can bait those both really well. So be sure to mix in st. LP to knock Yun out of the air. This isn't a great keep away tool because it doesn't do a lot of damage, nor does it push him back, but it stops Yun from getting in, and that's a big enough battle in itself. Once you have him down, start frame trapping. A lot of Yun players like to make you respect his wake up right away so be wary of this. Again, in USFIV, Yun will have no good wake up option without meter, so a meterless Yun is free to pressure. Once you get him down, keep him locked down unless you read reversal. Then punish him hard. If you're pressing buttons on his wake up, you need to OS. Like Rose, Makoto and Vega players do, Yun players love to back dash away. His 4 frame cr. LK is good for frame trapping. Once Yun has 3 bars or more, you need to be careful. Tighten those footsies right up, because if he gets a jump in or if he whiff punishes something...it begins...and it's going to be a ton of damage and he's going to drag you all the way to the corner where he can pummel you some more on wake up, or go for a reset. If you can force Yun into any situation where he blows some meter, you do it. Never let Yun sit there and start whifing palm for meter. Like in 3S, Yun without bar is Yun racing to get bar. Yun with bar is Yun in control. Keep him from gaining control. The Twin Has You Down: Being pressure by Yun is flat out terrifying. If you have a Yun player who likes to do chip with shoulder attacks and other safe specials, you can zonk during the cancel and get Yun off you. A Yun player who knows how to go full-on Rufus and mix you up with dive kick pressure is what you really need to worry about. Unfortunately, you simply have to weather the storm and find an opening. EX Zonk is not going to get you out of dive kick pressure very well. There has been relative success vs Dive Kicks with EX Criminal Upper (and this may be even more true in USFIV when it gets a strike invincibility buff), but use it sparingly. If Yun hits you with a dive kick very high, you can go for a throw. Especially if it's LK dive kick (which is almost a completely vertical attack). Making a good read on a dive kick with jb. LP will work wonders as well. Notes: EX Lunge Punch - it's safe. Press nothing. Yun players love to mash DP after it. Delay your tech at the very most. Yun's U2 - It beats your U2 whether you activate it first or second. You rarely see Yun players using U2, but just be aware of this fact. Sometimes Yun players will DP just to get themselves out of the corner. So be ready to punish. Yun's Specials - Other than EX Lung Punch and regular palm strike, every one of Yun's specials are punishable. Even LP shoulder is -3 on block. Most Yun's know this, and will not be ending many strings with specials.

Zangief

Zangief (Close/Even, 5-5 or 4.5-5.5) [character page]

Ultra Choice: Ultra 2 Option Select(s): MK Ruffian Kick Safe Jumps: Why are you close to gief Choice Pokes: cr. LP/LK buffered, st. HK, Knife st. MP Anti-Airs: HK Ruffian, st. HK, B+MP Is LP Criminal Upper Safe: Very spacing specific, but yes General Strategy: If it isn't obvious, keep him away all day. You want no part of Gief, and with your walkspeed (that is equal to his) and your terrible backdash, moving in and out of LP SPD range is very dangerous. Pokes and mobility is key. If you arent sure about an anti air, you MOVE. Cody has great tools to keep Zangief at bay, but very little to get him off you. Keeping the Russian Out: On top of rocks, charged rocks and fake rocks, st. HK is a fantastic poke in this match for keeping space, as is st. MK. It is good for catching him walking or dashing in, and at that range it will stuff or whiff punish green hand. If Gief is using st. MP to whiff punish st. HK you need to be less predictable. If you are really getting your butt kicked in footsies, the knife is a good option. Gief as absolutely no answer for knife st. MP. Stick to st. HK and HK Ruffian for anti airs though. Gief can empty jump knife cr. HP for a free SPD. Gief's st. HK, cr. HK and cr. MK are very easy to punish and whiff punish with a simple cr. LK xx MK Ruffian/HP criminal Upper, so there is no reason to just block. Always punish. Greenhands are all unsafe on block and some on hit. Punish every single blocked green hand and punish it well. Most Giefs will mash an SPD after a blocked green hand because they know they will be punished. EX Greenhand is very unsafe on block and is a free U2. What's even better is that whether Gief does a FADC on his blocked EX Greenhand or not, Cody can still U2 it. Gief can FADC forward or backward or not at all, but no matter what, he's getting ultra'd. :wink: Take not that EX Greenhand is +1 on hit and can combo into Red Focus, so be wary when he has meter. Rocky gets knocked down by Drago: There is no real tech to give here. You just have to make the right guess depending on the Gief player, and try to get away. A good Gief player is going to make a read depending on your play. You're looking at an SPD, tick SPD/Combo or a lariat. Gief players rarely seem to bait an EX Zonk from Cody, so use it, but use it when Gief is feeling comfortable because a blocked EX Zonk is bad. EX Criminal Upper is great for getting out as well because of it's throw invincibility and it's ability to beat poorly timed normals. It's an option to get away. When you are cornered, be ready to react because Cody loses the match here. If Gief throws out a normal to inch in for an SPD cr. LK xx Ex or MK Ruffian to give yourself some space. Be ready to anti air. Watch Gief like a Hawk (T. HAWK :kappa: ). If Gief looks to set you up for the Snackish (focus > dash forward > then SPD or U2 guess), react to focus with a zonk or ruffian kick. Notes: All green hands are punishable on hit and blocked (except ex green hand on hit. You can U2 EX Green Hand on whiff too if you're fast enough. A meaty attack will beat a wake up SPD and throw will beat Lariat. You can punished a blocked lariat with cr. HP xx Finisher. If you backdash out of an SPD attempt, it's a free U2 or MK Ruffian punish.