SF4 Biweekly TACV 05: Rufus / C.Viper

This one wasn’t as much fun as i’d hoped. Either i don’t get these characters at all or it’s no accident that most Rufus and Viper combo vids are nearly identical. Well, here it is, with apologies for the delay.

0:11 The next-to-last hit of Space Opera Symphony sets up its melodramatic finisher by launching the opponent into an abnormally high arc reel. Interrupting it with a Akuma’s LP Zanku Hadoken allows Rufus to juggle with the LK followup to LK Messiah Kick instead, which has surprisingly higher juggle potential than Galactic Tornado.

0:23 The slow, acrobatic Spectacle Romance finisher requires its second punch to cause unbelievably long hit stun. Interrupting it with a projectile like Rose’s LP Soul Spark gives Rufus plenty of time to follow up with lvl3 Focus Attack. MP Spectacle Romance is used because the HP version is too slow to combo from c.LK and the LP version doesn’t have enough range.

0:43 With perfect spacing, C.Viper’s HK air Burning Kick can be tricked into knocking the opponent toward her from behind her, giving her enough time to land and juggle HP Thunder Knuckle midscreen. Since the setup requires her j.HK to connect high, the counterhit bonus is necessary to make the Burning Kick combo.

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0:50 Chun Li’s LP Kikoken is needed to interrupt Burst Time because Viper stays invincible all the way through the last frame of the ground pound starter. Whiffing HK Senretsukyaku brings Chun Li close enough for HP Emergency Combination to connect after HP Thunder Knuckle. Since the HP version of her super is much quicker than the rest, Viper has just enough time to perform one HP Thunder Knuckle feint.

0:59 There’s a lot going on in this combo, but most of it should look standard to Viper players. The difficult part is timing both HP Thunder Knuckles perfectly to keep Rufus high enough to land the vertical superjumping EX air Burning Kick. As shown, the combo adds up to 815 stun. Omitting the lvl3 Focus Attack to start with counterhit j.HP instead yields 925 stun. Unfortunately the EX Burning Kick doesn’t seem to work against any 900-stun characters.

1:09 EX Thunder Knuckle hits once if it trades with a normal attack and twice otherwise. When trading with a fireball, it hits once if the projectile is positioned inside the opponent and twice if she runs into the projectile behind the opponent. Both hits cause crumple stun, akin to a lvl2/lvl3 Focus Attack. Since EX Thunder Knuckle has a whopping 26 frames of startup, it doesn’t combo off any of Viper’s normal moves and two of them can’t be linked back-to-back without knocking down the opponent.

The whole point of the last combo was connecting all four EX Thunder Knuckles within standard meter limitations. But it looked kind of anticlimactic so i added her MP Emergency Combination super at the end. Please ignore that part if it bothers you. Viper can’t do anything else at that point because both HP Thunder Knuckle and the first hit of Burst Time only have juggle potential of one, which had already been exceeded. Still, if you absolutely hate the idea of Training-Mode-only combos, let me know and i’ll go back to avoiding them in the future.

This is a tool-assisted combo video recorded with two ASCII PAD V Pro programmable controllers. Absolutely no cheats, hacks, or game-altering devices were used in the making of.

36 thoughts on “SF4 Biweekly TACV 05: Rufus / C.Viper

  1. Maj Post author

    Hey guys, just so nobody stays up too late waiting for this thing, i wanted to let everyone know that it’s going to get delayed until tomorrow evening. I haven’t had as much time to work on it as i’d like, and i could probably rush to finish by tonight, but i’d have to cut corners along the way.

    I’m betting everyone would rather wait an extra day instead of sacrificing quality for instant gratification. But if i’m wrong, feel free to call me a slacker and other such derogatory terms. Okay, back to work …

    (Btw if you’re looking for an enjoyable (and educational!) way to kill two to three minutes, go check out the new 3S clips posted on SlimX’s channel.)

  2. Smileymike101

    No biggie Maj,I always wandered why it took so long ,but as i recently made a combo vid/interesting stuff project I worked on it like 3 weeks so now i get it.

  3. Maj Post author

    It’s past 2am in the UK huh? Hate to say it but you’re probably better off checking back tomorrow. I’m one combo away from finishing but the editing/exporting/encoding process always takes a while.

    It’s coming along okay, though i got stuck on one combo trying to make it dizzy. Unfortunately it doesn’t work on any of the 900 stun characters. Works on Rufus but he doesn’t want to get dizzy. Anyway i’ll include in the video with a different starter cuz it looks kinda stylish.

    “Tomorrow evening” might well turn into one of those “way-past midnight” “evenings.”

  4. Maj Post author

    Well, the video is turning out okay but it’s probably best if you guys don’t set your expectations too high. There’s a reason every Viper combovid looks the same. She has several powerful tricks but they’re all strictly one-dimensional.

  5. jamheald

    Well 2 am for me is like 6 pm for you so I think in future i’ll just Check them out when I get up.

  6. error1

    four fireball trade combos. Amazing the number of moves in sf4 you’d rather be hit cleanly by then trade. Both of these characters look like they have a lot more potential then they do so anything new with them is impressive.

  7. jamheald

    I think that that last one looked ace without the super but i don’t mind it being there. It’s not like anybody’s ever gonna get that combo off in a match anyway. Nice work. Rose soon I hope.

  8. Maj Post author

    error1: Yeah i was trying to avoid overusing that Rose/Guile setup, but it’s very difficult getting Rufus and Viper off their rails. Rufus has tons of frame advantage, hella knockdown normals, lots of juggle potential, but in practice there are only two or three directions you can go and very little variation to each. Viper has the craziest tricks in the game but no options in terms of juggle potential, so you only get to use one trick at a time.

    jamheald: At that point her options are limited because she has no meter and can’t combo normal moves into non-EX ground pound. Here’s what you can do after the first three EX Thunder Knuckles without extra meter:

    LP Seismic Hammer -> superjump xx lvl1 FA xx dash under, EX Burning Kick
    c.HP xx EX Seismic Hammer -> sj xx lvl1 FA xx dash, HP Thunder Knuckle
    c.HP xx EX Seismic Hammer -> sj xx lvl1 FA xx dash, ultra
    c.HP xx EX Seismic Hammer -> sj air Burning Kick, HP Thunder Knuckle or ultra

    … and uh, that’s about it. She has a lot of cool stuff but you only get to choose one, so i went with that fourth Thunder Knuckle.

  9. zero9teen

    The second Viper combo against Rufus…you can get an extra hit at the end with the EX Burning Kick by doing the instant aerial form of it (TK). Rather than a three hit EX BK you’ll get the full four hit attack…giving just a wee bit more stun and damage.

  10. TongariDan

    Thanks, Maj! You simultaneously did a vid for the character I picked and my main =).

    The Rufus combos even have some things I didn’t know were possible, which is great (LK messaiah finisher into super? I’m definitely gonna try that.)

    Btw, no way to land Ultra at 1:07 or 1:18? Just asking, as the opponent almost seems high enough.

  11. Foxhawk

    Hey man, love your TACVs. Would love to see some Rose action despite her anemic combo offering. Some folks miss some of her shenanigans, which include some char-specific hitbox combos with FA cancels that result, iirc, in mid-screen ultra combos on some chars, including Sakura I think (?). Also her Soul Piede (fwd+HK) will cross under certain chars with a hop wakeup animation, and soul throw I think will hit slow backdashes.

  12. Maj Post author

    TongariDan: Thank you sir, i’m glad you’re pleased. Rufus definitely has some cool combos but most of them have been covered on u2b already. Btw you have to use LP super after the LK Messiah Kick followup. Forgot to mention that above. As for Viper’s ultra, it only has a juggle potential of one – same as her HP Thunder Knuckle. That’s why you never see ultra combo after two HP Thunder Knuckles. It’s impossible after EX Burning Kick and since EX Thunder Knuckle is two hits, using it in a juggle is the same as two HP Thunder Knuckles. That’s the main problem with Viper: she has tons of awesome tricks but zero synergy between them. (Otherwise she’d be overpowered.)

    Foxhawk: I’d absolutely love to do a Rose vid. Although i haven’t had any time to experiment with her, right now she seems like the most fascinating character to me. But it’s out of my hands. Whoever wins this screenshot caption contest gets to choose the next TACV character.

  13. zero9teen

    @Maj

    Interesting…I’ve never seen the air version only hit two of the “ball” hits like that. I’m gonna try it out.

  14. zero9teen

    Huh…so I guess one of the EX BK hits actually doesn’t connect after the juggle state that the second HP TK puts him in. Crazy that it’s so particular like that but still connects.

  15. Maj Post author

    It’s because the juggle potentials of EX Burning Kick increase gradually. The first hit has a juggle potential of 1, the second is probably 2, the third is probably 3, and the flame is probably 4.

    So if you do it after a simple knockdown (like HP Thunder Knuckle) then all four hits connect. But if you do it after a one-hit juggle (like a second HP Thunder Knuckle) then the juggle counter is already at 1 so the first hit whiffs. That also explains why the timing on this combo is so tight.

    The ground version of EX Burning Kick works the same way except the first hit has no juggle potential, the second has a juggle potential of 1, the third has a juggle potential of 2, and the flame is probably 3.

    Therefore, anti-air HP Thunder Knuckle, HP Thunder Knuckle xx FADC, EX Burning Kick gives you only two hits from the ground EX Burning Kick.

  16. zero9teen

    Are there any other moves you know of with a gradual juggle potential like that? Like a galactic tornado or tatsu of some kind? Just curious to know if in your experience there are any moves that stick out in your mind with similar juggle properties.

  17. Maj Post author

    Yeah, tons of ’em. That’s why it’s so hard to combo Guile’s super into ultra. Because the super’s second Flash Kick uses up all the juggles of the ultra’s first Flash Kick except for the last hit. So you have to do it early enough for Guile to get to the very last part of the first ultra Flash Kick. Visually you can see the entire thing whiffing except for the end.

    Same goes for Sagat’s EX Tiger Uppercut. That’s why it’s so easy to do anti-air F+HK into EX uppercut but so much harder to do it after two F+HK’s, and even harder to do after his super.

    I wouldn’t say everything works this way because most juggling moves either have a juggle potential of one (most EX moves) or infinity (most supers). Then you’ve got projectiles which have fixed juggle potentials throughout all their hits. But the majority of the remainder probably increment gradually.

  18. IC IO IM IB IO

    I hate what they did to guile in SF4, i have a replay online that ends with my guile linking his super into ultra and its as Maj said! the whole first part of ultra whiffs and the second part misses a hit, so that combined with the combo scaling is enough to make me stop playing SF4!

  19. Maj Post author

    Yeah they played it too safe with Guile. He should have been capable of slightly more damaging combos and his Flash Kick didn’t have to be as bad as they made it.

    In fairness though, practical super to ultra combos are rare and nobody gets full damage from them. Ryu’s ultra misses a bunch of hits, Ken’s ultra goes into its secondary animation, Sagat’s ultra misses most of the last uppercut in the corner, etc.

    All Guile needs is one good basic ground combo that does around 250-300 damage and one practical ultra setup like all the good characters have.

  20. Smileymike101

    Maj,what happens if you dont do anything after 2nd hit of rufus’ super?After like 10 years they get out of hit stun,right?

  21. Maj Post author

    Yeah she just goes back to standing. It lasts slightly longer than Rufus takes to do the final part. That lvl3 Focus Attack wasn’t difficult to connect but i think Rose was pretty close to recovering by the time she got hit.

    You should try it out. It’s pretty easy in Training Mode. You just gotta record Rose FADCing LP fireball then dashing forward seven or eight times. Then set it to playback and jump back a couple times with Rufus.

    Originally i was trying to do a juggle combo into super so that it would go back to being a ground combo, but strangely enough the juggle counter didn’t reset. So if you do far s.HK, LP Galactic Tornado (one hit) xx LP super (two hits, LP Soul Spark interrupt) then she’s immune to everything except ultra, another super (which is illegal due to meter), and the palm part of EX Galactic Tornado (which is surprising but again illegal). That’s because the Galactic Tornado counts as the knockdown and the super raises the juggle count to two.

    On the other hand, far s.HK, LP super (two hits) sets the juggle counter to one, so you can do LP Snake Strike. It hits once on the way down because that last part has a juggle potential of two. Unfortunately the juggle counter is still active so all normal moves whiff right through her until she fully recovers from hit stun. It’s totally bizarre.

  22. zero9teen

    That’s all pretty interesting. I think I’m gonna mess around with that Rufus Super business right this second.

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