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.
Compared to EX Terry, he has slightly less combo damage (against standing opponents), and his ability to generate frame advantage from neutral and with blockstrings is inferior, though still respectable, but he is better at whiff punishing, and can spam power charge after blocking pokes over and over. He also has looping hard knockdowns that lead to left right mixups, unlike EX Terry. He requires stronger execution.
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
A far reaching command normal that is useful for setting up the distance at which power wave is +1, and for strings ending in crackshoot without putting Terry in normal grab range. Remember that being +1 doesn't matter if the opponent can grab you with a 0F move, but you can't grab him.
Second hit is special cancellable.
Combos don't work from very far away if done with this command normal, and some don't work at all, so use the other command normal for most combos. If you have weak execution, you can start with this as it's easier to use.
Allows for the longest range qcf qcf B confirmation if done on its own.
Rising Upper:df+C
Reliable combo filler after light or heavy starters. Special cancellable.
Good pre emptive anti jump when close, but vulnerable to rolling.
Has the same speed as his close heavies and his lights at 3F
Special Moves
Power Wave:qcf+A/C
The reason Terry is not a shoto: This projectile can only be very slightly positive at most unless meaty, but it reaches quite high, especially during its later stages, letting it catch jumpers sometimes. Causes soft knockdown depending on how it hits.
The best special move to end a blockstring with if going for guard gauge damage.
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
Has considerable startup, but when it gets going, Terry travels forward with quite a strong horizontal (but not vertical) hitbox. Hurtbox decently far behind.
Both versions are safe if they hit late.
Vulnerable to attacks from straight above, and low profiling attacks.
His easier, but inferior, combo ender. Less damage and no hard knockdown.
Crack Shoot:qcb+B/D
Terry flies forward in an arc with a hitbox that starts above him and ends in front of him.
B version whiffs on small crouchers. C version does not, unless done too close.
Good anti air if you are underneath the opponent when doing it.
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. Juggle with jumping D or C if close, and jumping B if far.
D version gives you frame advantage on block.
Rising Tackle:dp+A/C
This is a decent DP, but it's not the best, as it is somewhat diagonal and has a blind spot where it doesn't hit, causing it to lose to well positioned jumping attacks.
It has a decent hurtbox and hitbox, but against the really serious jumpins, you need to rely on its early armour frames. This means waiting until the opponent is close, and then doing it.
C version is a true reversal due to its invincibility and armour frames.
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. Because it moves Terry forward, you can sometimes get away with whiffing this where rising tackle would be punished.
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, both versions will juggle them upwards, allowing for a followup attack. The D version gives more time to react however.
Good combo ender after power charge, as it gives a hard knockdown, setting up left right roll mixups if midscreen
Easy to combo to in the corner, but difficult midscreen, as a short run must be performed after power charge. Impossible if the power charge hit at tip range.
Power Charge:hcf+B/D
Terry slides forward with a shoulder tackle, knocking the opponent into the air.
D version is slower but still combos, does more damage, and is unsafe on block.
B version is faster and safe.
Bnb combo tool.
Will lose to most pokes, but is none the less a great tool outside of combos. It can whiff punish, and it's a great way to capitalise on frame advantage, as it will hit people out of startup. If you are having trouble with dominant pokes like Yashiro's 5B, then you can block them and immediately do this move. If the opponent does another move or jumpes, this move wins. If not, you can keep trading blows with it, since you're causing chip and building more meter than he is.
Desperation Moves
Power Geyser:down,back,f+A/C
Creates a huge disjointed hitbox in front of Terry.
The easier, but less damaging metered combo ender.
Has some invincibility, but is very slow, letting short jumpers land and block in time if you try to reactively anti air with this. However, against slow moves that rely on superior hitboxes, such as Ralf kick, this is a great solution.
In the corner, this is the DM to combo to, even though it does less damage midscreen.
High Angle Geyser:qcfx2+B/D
The more difficult, but more damaging metered combo ender.
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, meaning that you can combo to it from farther away.
Many of the MAX version's hits whiff in the corner.
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 advanced mode
Easy
2B, 2A, 3C, 214A
5C, 3C, 214A
Medium
2B, 2A, 2A, 3C, 41236D, 623C
This combo, plus or minus a light, works anywhere on the stage. 41236D is canceled to 623C
2B, 2A, 2A, 3C, 41236D, 623B
This is a better combo, but only works in the corner. Also works with a light power charge.
Difficult
5D, 3C, 41236B, run, 623B
This is how to get a hard knockdown midscreen. It also works if you don't have run, but you can't be as far away when starting the combo. Can also be done from lights, but only 2, and you have to be close. The fewer moves in the combo, and the closer you start, the easier the combo is. Heavies allow for this combo from farther away than lights.
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.
