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Vs181104-004

Falcon Kick in action

Falcon Kick is one of Rufus' unique attacks in Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter X Tekken.

Description

An attack that can only be performed in the air. Rufus momentarily stalls his aerial descent and changes his aerial angle 45 degrees forward or 90 degrees down depending on how it was activated with a kick that remains active throughout the remaining time Rufus has in the air.

Frame Data

USFIV (Latest Version)
Startup 11
Active Until Rufus touches the ground
Recovery

Until Rufus touches the ground
+4 recovery frames when Rufus hits the ground..

Advantage

Varies, If blocked at very last frame +7 on block.
Can be negative or even on hit if Rufus hits opponent
from too high of an altitude.

Tactics

Street Fighter IV

Falcon Kick is considered the center point of Rufus' gameplan. It can be used for the following purposes:

  • Change aerial arc to avoid anti-airs.
  • Punish a throw tech attempt.
  • Use on wake up to punish Command and Regular grab attempts.
  • Avoid and punish attacks that have hitboxes usually below the belt.
  • Descend from the player's jump much faster.
  • Instant Air dive kick to mix up the opponent.
  • Cross Up the opponent.
  • Air Reset an opponent while they are in a Juggle state.
SFTK 11 4 2018 3 11 37 PM

Rufus can take advantage of blocking opponents by using his above average damage throws. Characters without Reversals have less options to deal with Rufus' dive kick pressure. Rufus's dive kick is known for it's lack of height restriction, making it very good for catching recovery frames.

It is advised to aim to hit the opponent's legs as close to the floor as possible with this attack. If it is blocked too high it is punishable on block. This is especially true against tall characters like Hugo.

Street Fighter X Tekken

In Street Fighter X Tekken version 2013 this attack was toned down in power drastically. It gained a height restriction, slowed descent, hurtbox changes that both made it easier to hit Rufus and harder for him to Cross Up, and lowered the hit and block stun of the attack drastically. More care has to be taken in using this move, further complication include that anti airs are generally better, with Craig Marduk's light Gator Slam being invincible to airborne attacks, and Ibuki's Agemen having upper body invincibility with combo able followups. Furthermore in the 2013 patch Tekken characters such as Asuka, Law, and Nina gained jump in immune anti airs that allow followups when hit.

Due to Street Fighter X Tekken's Juggling mechanics, a Falcon Kick will actually start a juggle on airborne opponents. This can give new opportunities for a Rufus player to punish jumpers on prediction or catch Backdashes. Furthermore due to Rufus's wide jump arc Falcon Kick can be used to mix up Rolling opponents, This can be useful to change where Rufus will hit his opponent as Rufus will always hit to the right side of his opponent when he jumps back point blank if he simply uses jumping medium kick.

Trivia

  • Rufus' Falcon Kick has a resemblance to Yun and Yang's Raigeki Shu; kicks that remain active throughout their whole usage, change aerial trajectory, and stall in the air momentarily. There are some key differences between the dive kickers.
    • Falcon Kick does not have variations. It's activation is down forward MK. The twins have three different options with down forward LK, MK, or HK.
    • While Falcon Kick changes jump arc it only changes it one way. The twins' dive kick have more options in terms of how horizontal their dive kicks are.
    • Rufus can Falcon Kick off a back jump. However, in this scenario, he does not go horizontal any way while the twins do not have a jump back dive kick option.
    • Rufus' dive kick does not have a height restriction (though one was added in Street Fighter X Tekken's final update).

Gallery

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