Terry Bogard has great frame traps, some good special moves that can bully opponents, and great blockstrings that can end in frame advantage, or cause lots of guard gauge damage for an eventual guard crush.
He is strong at close and medium ranges. His weakness is that he has no overhead (with the notable exception of an instant jumping one against non small crouchers) and no untechable grab. He can frame trap all day, but against someone who just wants to block, he must eventually guard crush, which he is fortunately great at.
He has some easy tools that are immediately effective at beginner levels, but to take him to the advanced stages, he needs some execution to unlock his crazy damage, and to secure hard knockdowns midscreen that lead to ambiguous left right mixups. Left right mixups are his only real way to mix up his opponent.
Pros
Cons
Jumps: His jumps travel farther and higher than other characters', without being floaty or slow. His super jump is among the best, if not the best.
Guard crushing: His strings do good guard gauge damage, and he can do strings that never risk wasting a guard crush, by ending in power charge.
Massive damage: If he does get a clean hit, he can two touch his opponent if he has sufficient resources.
Frame advantage: Terry can sneak in frame advantage by pushing himself far enough away to end strings with a max range power wave, or by ending in crackshoot, which lets him do it all over again.
Frame traps: Terry has frame traps with good range and great reward on hit. They can even be block confirmed to go for crackshoot instead. Mix up between frame traps, and jumping or running in again behind the threat of the frame trap.
Hard knockdowns: Terry can easily secure hard knockdowns in the corner. With good execution, he can also do it midscreen, which allows for strong left right mixups. These mixups can even defeat reversal attempts. His D grab is a hard knockdown as well.
Burn knuckle: Burn knuckle is a great noob killer move. Throw it out at its tip range when you're slightly positive, or even neutral, and watch people kill themselves on it.
Power charge: One of the main things Terry has over EX Terry. This move may not seem like much, since it loses to pokes, but it's a great move to throw out after blocking a dominant but slightly negative poke. You can just walk up to Yashiro and block his 5B, then immediately do power charge. If Yashiro tried to do anything after making himself negative, he'll get hit by the power charge. While you're trading like this, you are chipping him and building meter, while he's not gaining anything. It's also a strong move to frame trap to, since it's always safe on block. It's a pretty good whiff punisher as well.
Weak mixup: His only overhead is a jump back D, which doesn't work against small crouchers, and he has no untechable grab. If his neutral pokes were very dominant, this would be okay, but his ground and air normals are actually just mediocre.
Small crouchers: Against medium crouchers, he has good crossups, but small crouchers can crouch under them. This limits him to left right roll mixups, or forces him to perfectly time a meaty crossup, which is very difficult, and even if executed properly, unsafe if the small croucher correctly holds down back despite the crossup.
Execution: Requires strong execution to unlock his highest damage, and to mix people up; especially small crouchers. Variable wakeup timing per character further complicates things.
Changes from Previous Versions
98 to 98UM
Normals:
The activation range of cl.D has been reduced
st.D's priority has been reduced
j.D from a full jump now has less downwards priority, meaning that you can no longer use it as an instant overhead on regular crouchers; j.D from a hop still works, though
Specials:
hcf+B's damage has been reduced from 9 to 4
dp+K's second hit now has an increased hitbox size, so it air-to-airs better
dp+B's second hit's damage has been reduced from 14 to 11
dp+D's second hit's damage has been reduced from 15 to 13
Supers:
Third hit of qcfx2+AC's hitbox has been increased behind it; now all hits of qcfx2+AC connect even at the edge of the screen, though it will drop if used all the way in the corner
98 to 98UMFE
Normals:
st.B's damage has been increased from 5 to 6
Specials:
dp+C now has 3f extra invincibility
qcb+D's recovery has been reduced by 3 frames
qcb+D's hitbox has been extended downwards, it can now hit short crouchers
hcf+B's damage has been increased from 4 to 8
hcf+D's damage has been increased from 9 to 12
dp+D's first hit now launches the opponent higher in the air, on a trade it knocks the opponent up into a juggle state
Supers:
qcfx2+BD now has added startup invincibility
Normal Moves
Close
cl.A: Same as crouching A except it is better at catching people jumping, whiffs on short crouchers, and is +1 on block.
cl.B: One frame slower than other lights, but has a great hitbox with its hurtbox very far behind. Good to frametrap in to from a different light.
cl.C: Same speed as his crouching A and B. Does two hits to help with hitconfirming. Pushes back less than lights, and therefore allows for the running power dunk after power charge from farther away than them.
cl.D: Larger activation range than cl.C, but only does 1 hit. Same speed as his crouching A and B. Has a lot of active frames, so good as a meaty. Pushes back less than lights, and therefore allows for the running power dunk after power charge from farther away than them.
Standing
st.A: Mediocre standing jab. Does its job of stopping hops, but isn't anything special.
st.B: Good far-reaching mid-range poke. You can always frametrap to this for a low risk, low reward option.
st.C: Hits low crouchers. It has the same speed as st.B, but less range, more damage, a higher hitbox, and a hurtbox further back. When in range for this and you want to do a st.B, almost always do this instead as it's a better pre-emptive anti jump.
st.D: Very slow move that whiffs on most crouchers, but it has an excellent hitbox and hurtbox and massive range.
Crouching
cr.A: Standard crouching jab. Neutral on block. Chainable and cancellable.
cr.B: Terry's main low confirm option. Chainable. -1 on block.
cr.C: Fairly fast, nice range. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff. Same range and speed as standing far C.
cr.D: Slow startup. Causes soft knockdown. Long range. Pretty good hitbox and hurtbox. Special cancellable on whiff and hit which can save you if the move was rolled past.
Jumping
j.A: Quite strong hitbox and hurtbox for air-to-airs, and has enough active frames to be used as a decent air to ground and air to air with the same timing.
j.B: His fastest air button, which gives it a niche as an air to air move. Whiffs on most crouchers.
j.C: Can crossup, except against small crouchers. Has the most active frames of his air normals, but doesn't have a particularly strong air to air or air to ground hurtbox or hitbox. Decent jumpin though.
j.D: His most-used jump-in, and a great multi-purpose tool, as it also works as an air-to-air, crossup, and instant overhead (only the hop version) on regular crouchers. Good range, but unremarkable hurtbox only being slightly behind its hitbox.
CD Normals
st.CD: Slow-to-start-up st.CD that has decent range and a pretty good hurtbox. Moves Terry forward slightly, and can avoid low attacks starting from frame 6. Can be cancelled on whiff, block, and hit. Slightly positive on attack cancel roll.
j.CD: An attack with somewhat slow startup that is angled downward and out, and has a good horizontal hitbox. Unremarkable hurtbox and few active frames, but great if you get your opponent to block it. Pretty good range, though the hurtbox is not far behind.
Throws
Grasping Upper:b/f+C (close)
Regular throw, techable. Soft knockdown in front of Terry.
Buster Throw:b/f+D (close)
Regular throw, techable. Hard knockdown behind Terry with back turned wakeup. Sets up crossups, and against the characters who wake up slowly, left right roll mixups.
Command Moves
Back Knuckle:f+A
Terry swings his arm forward, hitting the opponent twice.
A good command normal for Terry, but he only gets most of its use when you want to combo into one of his DM's, most of his special attacks aren't fast enough unless you bypass using the strong normal to combo into it.
Second hit is free-cancelable.
Rising Upper:df+C
Terry does a quick hook, hitting the opponent in the face.
Another useful command normal, comes out very quick so you have to be fast if you want to cancel. qcb+A in most cases is the best option, as it's fast and relatively safe.
Cancelable if canceled into.
Special Moves
Power Wave:qcf+A/C
Terry punches the ground, sending an energy wave across the screen.
Great for ground and (in some instances) air control—the hitbox reaches pretty high off the ground, so it can be a reliable anti-air on opponents that like to jump in (but the timing is crucial).
Knocks the opponent down at close range, but doesn't further out.
Builds good meter, even more so when it hits.
Burning Knuckle:qcb+A/C
Terry does a quick pose, then charge punches towards the opponent. Terry's most basic combo finisher when he doesn't have any meter to spend.
The A version goes about 40% of the screen while the C version goes fullscreen, neither are safe on block unless spaced to a T.
Can be used as a makeshift anti-air, or to defeat moves with slow startup/no priority.
Crack Shoot:qcb+B/D
Terry does a one-legged flip, swinging down to hit the opponent on the head. Despite the look of this attack, it is not an overhead and your opponent can guard it crouching.
It can still be used as a combo finisher, just like qcf+P, but the difference here it doesn't knock down and only the B version is practical because of its fast startup.
It has surprisingly good vertical range and priority, so it can act as an anti-air.
Creates a half-juggle state on hit, meaning that you can juggle them when they're going upwards but not when they've started falling down in the air.
qcb+D gives you frame advantage on block, making it an excellent blocksring and frametrapping move.
Rising Tackle:dp+A/C
Terry does a flurry of rising kicks launching his opponent into the air, Terry's one and only DP.
This move is strong and has great priority, has a few good combo options but can also be used to anti-air opponents on a whim.
C version is invincible into the first few active frames, and thus can be used as a reversal.
Power Dunk:dp+B/D
Terry does a leaping punch that knocks the opponent up into the air, and then another punch that knocks them back down again.
Full startup invincibility, but none on the active frames, meaning that it can trade if used as a reversal.
D version can be used as an anti-air, as you get a hard knockdown if it lands, but dp+C is a much safer alternative for a bit less reward.
In a trade situation, the D version will juggle them upwards, allowing for a followup attack.
Good combo ender after hcf+K, as it gives you plenty of time to set up whatever offense you want.
Power Charge:hcf+B/D
Terry slides forward with a shoulder tackle, knocking the opponent into the air.
B version is safer overall to use, but D version does a bit more damage.
Terry's main combo confirming tool, as it gives you a juggle chance on hit and is cancelable into other special moves.
It's also fairly safe on block, making it an excellent blockstring ender for Terry.
Desperation Moves
Power Geyser:qcb,db,f+A/C
Terry slams the ground, creating a big burst of energy in front of him.
Good combo ender for Terry, as it combos from most of his routes.
Has some invincibility, but is pretty slow to be used as a reversal or anti-air except on a read.
The MAX version creates three big pillars of energy, each one further away from Terry.
High Angle Geyser:qcfx2+B/D
Does a bit more damage than qcb,db,f+P, but is way harder to combo into, so it's not a DM worth using much.
qcfx2+D has full startup invincibility, but can trade once the hitbox comes out.
MAX version does more damage and travels further than the regular version, making it easier to combo into.
Combos
General Notes:
You can shorten the input (21416A) to 2146A or 246A.
In any meter-using combo, you can replace 236236B with 236236BD or 21416A with 21416AC for more damage if you have the resources.
Meterless
Low
2B, 2A, 3C, 214A
2Bx1-2, 2A, 3C, 41236B, j.D
You need to do a regular jump or superjump for j.D to connect.
2Bx1-2, 2A, 3C, 41236D, 623C
41236D is canceled into 623C.
Mid/Jump-In
(j.X), cl.C, 3C, 214A
(j.X), cl.C, 3C, 41236B, j.D
You need to do a regular jump or superjump for j.D to connect.
(j.X), cl.C, 3C, 41236D, 623C
hcf+D is canceled into dp+C.
Corner
(j.X), cl.C, 3C, 41236D, 623B
You can do this combo outside of the corner, but you need a very tight microrun after hcf+D.
With Meter
Low
2Bx1-2, st.A, 236236B
You can do this as 2B, 236A, 236B for an easier cancel.
2Bx1-2, 2A, 3C, 21416+A
It's much easier to do 3C into DM if you remove the down back part after 214, looking something like 3C2146A. This applies to all combos that have this as an ender.
Mid/Jump-In
(j.X), cl.C, 236236B
(j.X), cl.C, 3C, 21416+A
With Quick MAX
Low
2B, ABC, cl.C, 3C, 21416A
Mid/Jump-In
(j.X), cl.C, 3C, 41236B, ABC, 21416A
Strategy & Tips
Instant overhead jumping D jump state jank
You may have noticed that when trying to do a jumping D for an instant overhead, it sometimes just doesn't work. This is because, if your last jump was a full jump, or, you just started a round and haven't jumped yet, then the timing to get it to hit is much stricter. You can however get it to connect by doing a short jump back and pressing D at the right time.
However, if your last jump was a short jump, then the timing is lenient and you can just go for it.
