Benimaru is a character well equipped for both midrange poking and rushdown. He has a great set of normals to keep the opponent in check so he can go in and run offense. his aerial control is especially good because of his long range dp+K and a great air to air button in j.D. Once he is in he has access to a great cancelable cr.B for low strings, a command grab that lets him run oki afterwards and good jumping buttons for highs and crossups. Benimarus main weakness is his lack of long ranged tools to fight with and his floaty jump can be a double edged sword.
Benimaru is a character well equipped for both midrange poking and rushdown. He has a great set of normals to keep the opponent in check so he can go in and run offense. his aerial control is especially good because of his long range dp+K and a great air to air button in j.D. Once he is in he has access to a great cancelable cr.B for low strings, a command grab that lets him run oki afterwards and good jumping buttons for highs and crossups. Benimarus main weakness is his lack of long ranged tools to fight with and his floaty jump can be a double edged sword.
== changes from previous versions ==
'''98 to 98UM'''
Normals:
* st.Bs damage reduced from 8 to 4 points of damage.
* hurtbox of st.B extended to the tip of Benimarus foot.
* hitbox of j.A shifted upwards so j.A becomes better for air to airs but can no longer cross up.
Specials:
* dp+Bs invincibility frames reduced.
* dp+Ds invincibility frames increased, it is now a proper reversal.
* increased damage on hcb,f+P.
* j.qcf+P now causes a soft knockdown and lets you juggle after it.
* qcf+K now deals less stun damage.
Supers:
* added a new super, qcbx2+K.
* hcbx2+P is now a 1 frame command grab.
'''98UM to 98UMFE'''
Normals:
* st.B damage increased from 4 to 7 points of damage.
Specials:
* qcf+P deals less hits and damage but now pops the opponent up into a juggle state on hit.
Benimaru is a character well equipped for both midrange poking and rushdown. He has a great set of normals to keep the opponent in check so he can go in and run offense. his aerial control is especially good because of his long range dp+K and a great air to air button in j.D. Once he is in he has access to a great cancelable cr.B for low strings, a command grab that lets him run oki afterwards and good jumping buttons for highs and crossups. Benimarus main weakness is his lack of long ranged tools to fight with and his floaty jump can be a double edged sword.
changes from previous versions
98 to 98UM
Normals:
st.Bs damage reduced from 8 to 4 points of damage.
hurtbox of st.B extended to the tip of Benimarus foot.
hitbox of j.A shifted upwards so j.A becomes better for air to airs but can no longer cross up.
Specials:
dp+Bs invincibility frames reduced.
dp+Ds invincibility frames increased, it is now a proper reversal.
increased damage on hcb,f+P.
j.qcf+P now causes a soft knockdown and lets you juggle after it.
qcf+K now deals less stun damage.
Supers:
added a new super, qcbx2+K.
hcbx2+P is now a 1 frame command grab.
98UM to 98UMFE
Normals:
st.B damage increased from 4 to 7 points of damage.
Specials:
qcf+P deals less hits and damage but now pops the opponent up into a juggle state on hit.
Supers:
QCBx2+Ks startup quickened by 3 frames.
MAX QCFx2+Ps recovery decreased by 9 frames.
Normal Moves
Close
cl. A: Whiffs on short crouchers. chainable. cancelable.
cl. B: Whiffs on tiny crouchers. chainable. cancelable.
cl. C: Decent close range combo button that hits higher than cl.D. cancelable.
cl. D: your best close range heavy combo button because of its faster startup and larger activation range than cl.C. cancelable.
Stand
st. A: Whiffs on regular height crouchers. not as good of a hop stopper as st.B but can be useful for angles st.B doesn't cover. chainable. cancelable.
st. B: good hop stopper and poking button. Whiffs on short crouchers. not chainable. not cancelable.
st. C: good hop stopper and poking button. has nice priority. riskier than st.B because of the extra recovery. whiffs on short crouchers. not cancelable.
st. D: kinda long startup but has good priority and low profiles. not cancelable.
Crouch
cr. A: quite short ranged cr.A, better on block than cr.B but other than that not very notable. Chainable. Cancelable.
cr. B: fairly ong ranged low combo starter. good to use in blockstrings for hitconfirms. an absolute staple in Benimarus toolkit. Chainable. Cancelable.
cr. C: Benimarus longest range cancellable attack. use it for longer ranged punishes. cancelable.
cr. D: mid range sweep. comes out fast and has a nice hitbox and priority. cancelable.
Jump
j. A: a average j.A. Not much point to this move as he has better jumping buttons to use.
j. B: his fastest air button. can work well as a jumpin or air to air. can crossup.
j. C: an air to air normal that covers the space at benimarus head that j.B and j.D don't. Cancelable.
j. D: Benimarus go to jumping normal. works as both a air to air and air to ground at the same time. Can crossup.
neutral j.D: Good air to air normal with lots of priority.
Blowback
st CD: long startup but has some low invincibility and a big hitbox with some priority. Cancelable.
j. CD: good jumpin normal for pressure and for locking the opponent down.
Throws
Catch and Shoot - (close) f/b + C
regular throw, techable. Benimaru picks the opponent up and kicks them almost fullscreen away causing a soft knockdown.
Front Suplex - (close) f/b + D
regular throw, techable. Benimaru picks the opponent up and slams them down behind him causing a backturned hard knockdown.
Spinning Knee Drop - (mid air) f/d/b + C
air throw, not techable. Benimaru throws the opponent down to the ground causing a hard knockdown.
Command Moves
Jackknife Kick - f + B
will not combo from lights or heavies.
useful for frametraps and pressure. Cancelable raw and when cancelled into.
Flying Drill - (air) d + D
safe on block divekick. good for pressure and changing up your jumpin angle.
When blocked it sets up Benimarus offense and mixups.
has a lot of recovery so punishable if whiffed.
Special Moves
Raijinken - qcf + A/C (possible in the air)
The A version hits in front of him, while the C version hits diagonally above him, both for 3 hits
A version Doesn't knockdown
C version launches opponents on hit, allows you any follow ups. But it wont hit ANY CROUCHER, even Chang. They can crouch and punish it easily.
C version has high body invulnerability, makes it an amazing anti air.
On block, the enemy is pushed back midscreen, while in the corner point blank, Benimaru is open for punishment while he is in recovery
Benimaru Collider - (close) hcb, f + A/C
Leaves opponent right in front of you with hard knockdown, gives you amazing Oki opportunities.
Triple Resist Kick - hcb + B/D
Has short full body invulnerability on start up.
mostly a combo move from heavies.
both versions punishable on block.
Shinku Katategoma - qcb + A/C
has some invincibility on startup, B version has more than D version.
can be used to combo from heavies.
can be used for dealing some chip damage.
Iai Geri - qcf + B/D
Causes hard knockdown against airborne.
Safe blockstring ender.
Super Lightning Kick - dp + B/D
B version doesn't knockdown, while D version does and is cancel-able into
B versions start up has brief full body invincibility followed by some lower body invincibility
D version has full body invincibility up until the first active frame so it can be used as a reversal
punishable if whiffed
Desperation Moves
Raiko Katategoma - qcb, qcb + B/D
Very fast super you can use for any combos.
Electrigger - (close) hcb, hcb + A/C
Became a 0f start up command grab, can't jump out from it after super freeze frame. Does not so great damage.
Raikoken - qcf, qcf + A/C
super version of his raijinken
has a big hitbox so it can be used to catch people jumping or rolling.
good in certain combos
Max version does more damage
Combos
Meterless
1.)cr.B, qcf+K
You can cr.b up to 3 times depending on the distance, tip range won't work so becareful.
2.)cr.B, dp+D
Same with cr.B, qcf+K, with more damage and soft knockdown but less stun. Though getting stun became too hard in 98um, so this is your go to combo.
