Strider
"It doesn't pay to betray your principles......"
There's a lot of talk going around that Strider is the newest and worst cheap ass character in the crossover universe. His combnination of high priority, long range attacks and his ability to make huge combos simply makes him one of the best characters in the game. However, he's got a lot of flaws that can be exploited and many of his tactics can be countered by a smart player. Only a threat in the hands of an expert. This is the main reason that I still think that Wolvie is still the cheapest bastard around. You need to actually think if you wanna win with Strider.
Advantages
- Strider probably has the highest priority normal attacks in the game. His sword gives him incredible reach and most of the time, he'll end up coming out on top if his opponent tries to trade hits with him. Do a lot of jumping in with his Fierce and Roundhouse attacks to make full use of his priority.
- Strider is one fast SOB. He can run and jump with the best of them. It's very hard to catch this guy if he doesn't want you near him. Conversely, it's hard to make him leave you alone if he wants to stay near. His speed is a great asset to him, making him a very slippery character.
- Not only does Strider have speed and priority, but he's got strength as well! Ok, now I'm starting to see why people call him cheap. His attacks do insane damage and if you take into account the fact that he can pull off eight hit ground combos, then you've got a character that simply kills.
- Strider has a ton of moves at his disposal. Not only does he have a group of attacks to use, he's also got a whole bunch of decoy moves, surprise attacks and evasion tactics. He can keep you guessing throughout the entire fight by keeping you confused by all the leopards, bombs and satelites on the screen. While those thing keep you busy, he can teleport in and bust out that ground combo of his.
- To top off all of his positive traits, Strider also has throw priority. He can out throw almost anyone in the game. His air throw has extreme priority and does very good damage.
Disadvantages
- First and foremost, Strider's greatest wekness is the fact that he takes hits like a little girl [Roll? Hahaha]. I'd say that he has about 75% of the normal character's stamina. Thank you Capcom for doing this because he would definitely be very overpowered if he took hits like a normal character. Be careful when using him because he doesn't have as much margin for error as someone like Hulk or Ryu.
- Contrary to popular belief, I think that Strider's supers suck. Ragnarok takes forever to start, has a difficult joystick motion, has no vertical range and is umcoboable! When are you suppoes to do it? Legion is also slow but it's a very good chipping super. Finally, Ouroburos is difficult to connect with. I do admit that this is his best super, but you've gotta be very slippery to use it effectively. I'll discuss this in detail later.
- A lot of Strider's special moves have weird attributes that leave him vulnerable as well. Any version of the Ame No Murakamo will leave him open to counter attack if he completely misses with it. The air versions are also awkward to deal with. Calling either the Bomb Drop or the Satelite leaves Strider vulnerable for a period of time and I've never met anyone who used the wall cling effectively.
- Since he's got so many special moves, Strider has a lot of move commands as well. It's very easy to accidentally pull off a Satelite Summon or a Wall Cling in the middle of a critical fight. I've fought a lot of guys that ate my supers because they accidentally pulled of moves that they didn't wanna do. Hahahaha....
Offense
- Constantly attack your opponent and never let up. Strider is best used on offense. His speed and priority will make him very hard to counter. Strider players like trapping their opponents in the corners, attacking constantly until the victim blocks incorrectly. I've personally foundd it almost impossible avoid getting hit if the computer Strider gets me stuck in the corner.
- Stick to his normal moves if you're not too sure about how to use his specials. If you accidentally pull off an inappropriate move in the middle of a fight, you'll be eating super and we all know that Strider doesn't take hits that well. Don't do too many of his slow recovering specials either.
- Strider's best super is definitely the Ouroburos. If it manages to connect with the opponent, it does insane damage. The problem is that a lot of people just activate ths super and dash at their opponent, trying to get in a lucky hit. The best way to connect with this super is to activate it and then teleport behind your opponent. Most of the time, they'll end up blocking incorrectly and get pummeled by the Satelites.
- Strider's Legion super is very good at chipping. It's almost impossible to avoid all of the eagles and leopards that fly at you. For massive chipping damage, you could even link three of these in a row because of the fact that it's almost impossible to get near him during this super.
- Strider's ground combos are a lot more effective than his air combos. He can tack on a lot more hits and do a lot more damage by staying on the ground. Of course, he's got one of the best launchers in the game, but it's still a good idea to do ground combos for maximum damage.
Defense
- Strider won't be on defense too much, but during the rare times that he is, he's able to hold his own. Air defense is best provided by his launcher. That attack is just nuts in terms of priority. Most characters won't be able to trade hits with it unless they've got an insanely prioritized attacks like Hulk or Spidey.
- Do a lot of short bomb drops to slow down an attacking opponent. Either they'll see it ahead of time and stop their attack, or they'll plow into it. Either way, they'll think twice about dashing in on you. Make sure that they're at least a full screen away before trying this though, cause if they get to Strider before the bomb hits, he'll be eating a combo!
- Strider is one of the best characters to have when defending against a two on one. As soon as you see your opponent try a two on one, activate the Ouroburos and crouch in a corner. Most people don't want to waste the two levels of super meter that they've used up, so they dash in like idiots. The Satelites will punish them while wasting the time on their super meter.
- Strider's got a double jump and the air version of the Ame No Murakamo to avoid beam supers and other attacks waiting for him on the ground. I'm not sure if you can do a wall cling in mid air, but I'm sure that it would help as well.
Onslaught
First Form - Strider is a great character to use against Onslaught. Since he's relatively small, he's one of the characters that can sucessfully crouch block in the hole of the Mega Optic Blast and attack. Use his Sliding Kick to get near Onslaught if he pulled off the MOB while out of Strider's attack range. His Ouroburos and Legion supers are also very good supers to use against this version. You can also use the teleport to get behind the big guy.
Second Form - It's best to just jump around a lot, hitting him with an air combo to the face. You can use an Ame No Murakamo to fly off the screen to avoid his attacks, while hitting him at the same time. Legion and Ouroburos work very well against Ultima Onslaught as well. just make sure that he is close to the ground before trying either one to get maximum damage. If you use the Ouroburos, keep jumping at his face while slashing. He should be too stunned to retaliate. If you've got guts, you can try a lot of bomb drops to his face.
Fighting Strider
- Like Spider-Man and Hulk, Strider players get really overconfident with their jumping in. Since they've got such high priority attacks, they don't have much to lose. Use this to your advantage. When you see Strider jumping in, pull off a Dragon Punch type move, a high priority launcher or a vertical super. Surprise him and teach him that he's not invincible.
- Be careful of his ground combos. You'll be especially vulnerable to them if you're in a corner so avoid the corner traps. If you do end up getting hit by it, start doing the roll command. If Strider chooses to end the ground combo with an OTG Ame No Murakamo, you'll be ready for it. Doing the jab version should leave you close enough to him to counter attack.
- A lot of Strider players love teleporting after an Ouroburos activation [especially after reading this strat guide]. To defend against this, you can either super jump until the super wears off, or you could dash backwards into the corner. Never be blocking in the middle of the screen during this super or you'll get caught in it.
- Be patient. Most of the time, your character will be able to take hits better than Strider. Use this to your advantage by thinking out your strategy and waiting for the good attack. If you try to trade hits with him in a brawl, you'll usually end up dead. Hit and run, stick and move.
- Strider is very dangerous in the air. If possible, avoid going after him. Try to get above him if you do decide to jump. His high priority attacks will always beat you out otherwise.
- If you get caught in the corner, do just about anything you can to get out. Strider will turn up the pressure, and your turtling will do nothing but delay the inevitable. Push block and super jump to get out of it. Otherwise, his fast attacks will eventually confuse the hell out of you and you'll get hit.
- To completely avoid all chipping damage from the Legion, you've gotta super jump and then hold the joystick forward as you reach the peak. Be sure to avoid the eagles or else it'll knock you down into the other animals.
Overview
Strider is definitely one of the best characters in the game. He's got a lot of attacks at his disposal and he can play a good mind game. When there's a Strider player fighting, there's definitely a lot of plotting and strategy involved.
� 1998 Migs Rustia: [email protected]
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Strider