Balrog Basic Guide

Balrog is another strong character in Street Fighter 4 who can play both a very aggressive offensive style or sit back and wait with his solid defense for his opponent to make a mistake. In either scenario you will find his crouching Light Punch to be an invaluable tool to not only interrupt your opponents offense, but to start one of your own. His wide range of Dash Punches also allow him to play a strong high low mix up game which will keep the other player guessing at all times, especially when you start to land throws on them for good measure.

Some of Balrogs combos require very strict timing to pull off and landing his Ultra is a bit different than some other characters in the game, but do not let this deter you from picking him up -- hop into training mode, get these combos and set ups down, and you will thank yourself once you start stacking up the wins.

Strengths

* Very useful normal moves such as crouching LP to shut down his opponents offense and start one of his own.
* Wide range of Special moves that allow him to adapt to any situation and mix-up his opponent when he is on the offensive.
* Good number of Armor Breaking moves.

Weaknessess

* No cross-up move means he will have to find other ways to pressure downed opponents.
* Somewhat difficult combos which will require more timing and precision compared to some other characters in the game.

Notable Normal Moves

* Crouching Light Punch
* Crouching Hard Punch
* Crouching Hard Kick

Antiair

* Crouching Hard Punch
* Buffalo Headbutt

Crossup Move

None

Block Strings

* Crouching LP, Crouching LP, Crouching LK, Crouching MK
* Crouching LP, Crouching LP, Crouching LK, Crouching HK

Focus Attack

Balrog's Focus Attack has much more vertical range than it does horizontal range and is typically best used to fake and bait your opponent.

Armor Breaking Move

* Dash Low Smash
* Dash Swing Blow
* Turn Punch (TAP)
* Super and Ultra

Best Special Move

Buffalo Headbutt: Allows Balrog to go through fireballs, follow up with an Ultra and is also an anti-air move.

Landing the Ultra

* After Buffalo Headbutt
* After Focus Attack that leads to a crumple state
* (Kara?) Ultra Reversal after super armor absorbing EX Dashes

Combos

Jump Hard Punch, Crouching Hard Kick
Basic 2 hit combo to score a knock down.

Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Standing Light Punch, Light Punch Dash Straight, Super  

Combo

A simple straight forward way to hit confirm into his Dash Straight into Super.
Crouching medium kick, Crouching jab, Crouching medium punch , fierce punch Buffaulo head butt, then ultra or super mabye go in for a wakeup options can also be used as blockstring.
Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Kick, EX Dash Upper, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Kick, Buffaulo Headbutt
This combo is a bit complicated because you are linking the crouching light punch after the EX Dash Upper, so the timing perform this combo will require a bit of practice. Also, the opponent must be standing, otherwise, the EX Dash Upper will not connect. Good damage and stun.

Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Kick, Buffalo Headbutt, Ultra
This is Balrogs bread and butter combo in Street Fighter 4 so be sure to get this one down in that it is his safest way of landing his Ultra. To land the Ultra after the Buffalo Headbutt, charge down, then go to up-back to hold the charge, and when you land from the Buffalo Headbutt input the command for the Ultra. By holding up-back during the Buffalo Headbutt the game will see this as you never losing a charge that is required for the Ultra.

Note: To juggle with the Ultra, use the kick version, let the first hit connect, let the second punch pass through, and then HOLD all three kicks to finish it off. This is the only way to land all the hits after a juggle.

Controlling the Ground

Balrog will control space on the ground using his many variations of Dash Punches and quick to execute normal moves, so become familiar with the properties of all these moves so you can play both a strong defensive and offensive game. Also keep in mind that the EX versions of his Dash Punches have armor on them that can absorb one hit of a non-armor breaking move so use this to blow through your opponents attempts to stop your offense.

Balrog's Light Punch Dash Straight is one of your primary tools to pressure and punish the other player. It's safe when connected from max range so get a feel for how far it travels because if you do it too close to the opponent they can punish you. You will find yourself using this move very often in most battles due to it's speed and ability to move yourself closer to the opponent to mount an offense. You can use the EX Version to absorb one hit of whatever your opponent throws out so it's also good for going through fireballs as well. You can also cancel into Balrog's Super off of his Dash Straight, but again, be careful because if it is blocked you can be punished if you perform it too close.

If the opponents catch onto your linear game plan of pressuring with the Light Punch Dash Straight and start blocking high, you can mix it up with his Dash Low Straight which hits low to score a knock down. If they begin to Focus Attack your Dash Straight, you can use his Dash Low Smash to break their armor.

Balrog also has a couple ways to deal with characters who rely on fireballs to zone and avoid projectiles altogether. His primary way of doing this is using his Buffalo Headbutt which will go through fireballs and covers a significant amount of horizontal space as well (works well for hitting Zangief out of his Lariat). For instance, at the beginning of a round, if Sagat throws a High Tiger Shot, you can do a Buffalo Headbutt that will not only go through the Tiger Shot but will hit Sagat in the process. He also has his Turn Punch (commonly referred to as "TAP") where he will perform a quick spin, pass through a projectile and end with a punch.

Once you get in close to your opponent (or if they happen to close in on you), Balrog's crouching Light Punch is his go to normal move. Not only is it a great move because it is so fast and will stop the other players offense, it is also his primary way of starting combos. If they end up blocking it, you can mix in a walk up throw or Dash Swing Blow for an overhead.

His crouching Hard Kick is also a good normal move in that it is a quick way to sweep your opponent and start and offense. You can combo this off of a jump in Hard Punch for a quick 2 hit combo to score a knockdown as well.

Controlling the Air

Stopping jump in attacks and covering the space above Balrog isn't too difficult and is pretty strait forward. His primary way of doing this is with his down and Hard Punch. This is very solid anti air normal move that inherently has a lot less risk than his Buffalo Headbutt. His Buffalo headbutt of course is a good choice as well in that if it hits clean you can combo into Ultra. His Buffalo Headbutt is also a good way to get out of cross-up situations. If they jump over you when you are waking up, perform the Buffalo Headbutt and you will either hit their attack or escape in the other direction.



//guide from www.mycheats.com