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How to play cyrax

Trap1994

Noob
Hey can you tell me how to play cyrax?
I know all his combos i practised a lot this summer but when i play online vs good players i can't make the good pressing on the opponentn and i am not able to start combos...any advices please?

(Sorry for the english i'm italian)
 

Trap1994

Noob
Watch some matchvideos from the cyrax section, im sure they will help you out a bit.
I have watched all of them...i tried to play like mustard at 20XI but i don't know why opponents continue to press me and i cant get free form it...i don't know when i should use net or when i should use bomb..should i change fighter?
 

blues686

Black lantern
yea cyrax has issues with heavy rushdown. use ex ragdoll on wake up to get some one off of you, you can also do ex teleport, it nets you 8% damaand knocks the opponent away and down.
 

Trap1994

Noob
yea cyrax has issues with heavy rushdown. use ex ragdoll on wake up to get some one off of you, you can also do ex teleport, it nets you 8% damaand knocks the opponent away and down.
Ok today i tried to use more bombs, more exrangdoll as wake up attack and i won some matches, but i have still problems vs fighters which have speed teleport (melena, smoke) and vs fighter which make a continued pressing (kl, sonya exc...)...i will try to improve thx a lot for your advices...
 

Felix

Noob
Trap1994, I know how you feel as a not tournament-level Cyrax player myself. The best advice I can give is do not try and play like any tournament level-player such as Trophy Club or Mustard (that guys fucking amazing). The reason why these players don't get rushed down is because they automatically put fear in the opponent that with one wrong move, they will get punished for 60%. This Makes the opponent less likely to rush down like crazy and be careful when attacking which lets pro Cyrax's play the match a little slower and much more to their playstyle.

Us lower skilled Cyrax players don't get this because people online either don't know about Cyrax's massive punisher combos so just start rushing the shit out of us or they know you can't punish them for 60% with every mistake they make. Best way to deal with it in my opinion is not to play at all like Mustard or Trophy Club as it makes you play defensive and fucks you over. Atleast until you learn to be really really good at punishing.

A good pressure technique vs non tournament-level players is 1, 2, 1, ff4. This gives you a free bomb after the punches. You should immediately dash forward to start attacking/net them (change occasionally to mix opponent up) or when they start getting used to it, use 1, 2, 1, bbf4 to really fuck them over and again dash forward and start attacking/throw a net. Try it, throws off good players (1000-1500 wins) EVERY time.

For fast teleporters just dash then block, when you block a teleport try uppercutting because it's alot easier than trying to get a full combo and you get a free bomb!

Tip: At the end of 1, 2, 1 you can add df3 to reverse kick (don't do ragdoll) them and you still have enough time for another free bomb to keep the pressure on. Watch though, because they land closer to you and I find pressure is harder to apply after a reverse kick, it's just good because it makes them have to react differently. Also use shit loads of EXdf3 and db1 into jump punches/low hits to keep them on their toes. This will calm down their pressure ALOT, giving you space to breathe to try and get some bombs or whatever you like!
Tip #2: If they ever get you in the corner use df1 to anti-air over their head, use EXdb1 to teleport around them+knock them down or try d4 to poke them away a little to allow for breathing space.

Basically, to remove the pressure people put on me, I put shit loads on them!

Hope this helped. :)
 

blues686

Black lantern
Trap1994, I know how you feel as a not tournament-level Cyrax player myself. The best advice I can give is do not try and play like any tournament level-player such as Trophy Club or Mustard (that guys fucking amazing). The reason why these players don't get rushed down is because they automatically put fear in the opponent that with one wrong move, they will get punished for 60%. This Makes the opponent less likely to rush down like crazy and be careful when attacking which lets pro Cyrax's play the match a little slower and much more to their playstyle.

Us lower skilled Cyrax players don't get this because people online either don't know about Cyrax's massive punisher combos so just start rushing the shit out of us or they know you can't punish them for 60% with every mistake they make. Best way to deal with it in my opinion is not to play at all like Mustard or Trophy Club as it makes you play defensive and fucks you over. Atleast until you learn to be really really good at punishing.

A good pressure technique vs non tournament-level players is 1, 2, 1, ff4. This gives you a free bomb after the punches. You should immediately dash forward to start attacking/net them (change occasionally to mix opponent up) or when they start getting used to it, use 1, 2, 1, bbf4 to really fuck them over and again dash forward and start attacking/throw a net. Try it, throws off good players (1000-1500 wins) EVERY time.

For fast teleporters just dash then block, when you block a teleport try uppercutting because it's alot easier than trying to get a full combo and you get a free bomb!

Tip: At the end of 1, 2, 1 you can add df3 to reverse kick (don't do ragdoll) them and you still have enough time for another free bomb to keep the pressure on. Watch though, because they land closer to you and I find pressure is harder to apply after a reverse kick, it's just good because it makes them have to react differently. Also use shit loads of EXdf3 and db1 into jump punches/low hits to keep them on their toes. This will calm down their pressure ALOT, giving you space to breathe to try and get some bombs or whatever you like!
Tip #2: If they ever get you in the corner use df1 to anti-air over their head, use EXdb1 to teleport around them+knock them down or try d4 to poke them away a little to allow for breathing space.

Basically, to remove the pressure people put on me, I put shit loads on them!

Hope this helped. :)
well said
 

Felix

Noob
Cheers. :)

Took me fucking ages to work out how to get the pressure off Cyrax. People would just poke away, do mix ups and shit! Finally realised that you can't try and play similar Mustard and Trophy Club unless your punishments are lethal and the opponent knows they are haha, which mine aren't yet (it's sooooooo much harder than they makes it look under pressure). I can only really uppercut on blocking teleports at the moment lol. Mind thats not a bad thing because I love free bombs. :)

Cyrax's fear factor is just massive in all the tournament level videos I've seen. It totally changes his matchups in my opinion.

It's really hard to get useful Cyrax info since everyone assumes that we should all be able to punish like a madman therfore our opponents should be terrified of us.. well their not, so it's much harder to punish when the opponent plays nothing like they do on the videos we see. It makes it even harder as the pressure builds and builds, while punishing gets harder and harder until I'm getting my head eaten off.

I like to get them scared of me first round with tons of EXdf3 and stuff i mentioned in the last post, that way the game becomes slower pace and plays out closer to how the tourney vids are because the opponent is more careful when they attack and thinks I will dive in with attacks. Second round, with less pressure they're eating 50% +free bomb for extra pressure in no time! Good luck to them, they'll need it.
 

Trap1994

Noob
Cheers. :)

Took me fucking ages to work out how to get the pressure off Cyrax. People would just poke away, do mix ups and shit! Finally realised that you can't try and play similar Mustard and Trophy Club unless your punishments are lethal and the opponent knows they are haha, which mine aren't yet (it's sooooooo much harder than they makes it look under pressure). I can only really uppercut on blocking teleports at the moment lol. Mind thats not a bad thing because I love free bombs. :)

Cyrax's fear factor is just massive in all the tournament level videos I've seen. It totally changes his matchups in my opinion.

It's really hard to get useful Cyrax info since everyone assumes that we should all be able to punish like a madman therfore our opponents should be terrified of us.. well their not, so it's much harder to punish when the opponent plays nothing like they do on the videos we see. It makes it even harder as the pressure builds and builds, while punishing gets harder and harder until I'm getting my head eaten off.

I like to get them scared of me first round with tons of EXdf3 and stuff i mentioned in the last post, that way the game becomes slower pace and plays out closer to how the tourney vids are because the opponent is more careful when they attack and thinks I will dive in with attacks. Second round, with less pressure they're eating 50% +free bomb for extra pressure in no time! Good luck to them, they'll need it.
You are my god, thank you very very much, i will try to apply your advices and i will not forgive your help.
 

Stark

Bomb Dispenser
Cheers. :)

Took me fucking ages to work out how to get the pressure off Cyrax. People would just poke away, do mix ups and shit! Finally realised that you can't try and play similar Mustard and Trophy Club unless your punishments are lethal and the opponent knows they are haha, which mine aren't yet (it's sooooooo much harder than they makes it look under pressure). I can only really uppercut on blocking teleports at the moment lol. Mind thats not a bad thing because I love free bombs. :)

Cyrax's fear factor is just massive in all the tournament level videos I've seen. It totally changes his matchups in my opinion.

It's really hard to get useful Cyrax info since everyone assumes that we should all be able to punish like a madman therfore our opponents should be terrified of us.. well their not, so it's much harder to punish when the opponent plays nothing like they do on the videos we see. It makes it even harder as the pressure builds and builds, while punishing gets harder and harder until I'm getting my head eaten off.

I like to get them scared of me first round with tons of EXdf3 and stuff i mentioned in the last post, that way the game becomes slower pace and plays out closer to how the tourney vids are because the opponent is more careful when they attack and thinks I will dive in with attacks. Second round, with less pressure they're eating 50% +free bomb for extra pressure in no time! Good luck to them, they'll need it.
While this may be really good advice, I do not agree with some of your points. These are the following:

1. If you're not playing pro-level players, punishing combos should be a lot easier to do as non-pro level players tend to be insanely careless. IMO, its just up to you to react to their carelessness. They may move differently, have unorthodox styles, but certainly shouldn't change the way you should be playing, or punishing for that matter.

2. You shouldn't be using ex ragdoll so much IMO. Why? Because if you're looking to strike fear into your opponent, nothing scares them more than seeing you have 2-3 bars of meter. I'm not saying you should hoard your meter but that you should plan out your usage more. Save it for the breakers and the sticky bombs if you ask me.

3. As a Cyrax you should know that you are the one the sets out the booby traps. In that sense you are supposed to be controlling how your opponent should be moving. If he likes to pressure you, set some bombs nearby and net when they jump in from there you punish. If you're knocked down in the corner against JC (hate playing against him) for example, you can anti-air out of there and scurry away, bait him into one of your traps.

I have also picked up Cyrax as my main. I am also here to learn more about him. And I just want to share what I have learned with you guys. Again, I'm not saying you're playing him wrong, just that there are different ways around specific obstacles. GO TEAM CYRAX :D
 

Lt. Boxy Angelman

I WILL EAT THIS GAME
Helpful tip from Box: Anti-Air throws are awesome, so learn how to catch. Nothing says mindfuck match more than yanking your opponent out of the sky everytime they try to jump in on you, especially flying Kitanas or attempting-to-dive CSZ's and Laos. So much fun :D.

And Stark's right about the meter: IMO, unless you're certain you can catch him in an EX Net to drain his meter, the Stickys and breakers are all you'll really need the meter for. The occasional random super attack every now and again works to diversify the match and mix up your foe, but it's best to try and save it for your combos and breaks.
 

Felix

Noob
While this may be really good advice, I do not agree with some of your points. These are the following:

1. If you're not playing pro-level players, punishing combos should be a lot easier to do as non-pro level players tend to be insanely careless. IMO, its just up to you to react to their carelessness. They may move differently, have unorthodox styles, but certainly shouldn't change the way you should be playing, or punishing for that matter.

2. You shouldn't be using ex ragdoll so much IMO. Why? Because if you're looking to strike fear into your opponent, nothing scares them more than seeing you have 2-3 bars of meter. I'm not saying you should hoard your meter but that you should plan out your usage more. Save it for the breakers and the sticky bombs if you ask me.

3. As a Cyrax you should know that you are the one the sets out the booby traps. In that sense you are supposed to be controlling how your opponent should be moving. If he likes to pressure you, set some bombs nearby and net when they jump in from there you punish. If you're knocked down in the corner against JC (hate playing against him) for example, you can anti-air out of there and scurry away, bait him into one of your traps.

I have also picked up Cyrax as my main. I am also here to learn more about him. And I just want to share what I have learned with you guys. Again, I'm not saying you're playing him wrong, just that there are different ways around specific obstacles. GO TEAM CYRAX :D
Sorry but half of what you said is very bad advice for the majority of good Cyrax players, who remember aren't tourny-level and who would like to play matches to achieve that level.
Most people who give Cyrax advice expect you to sit in training for countelss hours to make punishments perfect when it's much funner and a lot less tedious to play online instead. If you do play Cyrax but are able to sit in training for 5 hours a day to make everything you do perfect then by all means, watch the pro's videos and copy them.

1. Your right they do make careless mistakes but we are more likely to whiff attacks etc. This means that THEY AREN'T AS SCARED so put more pressure on to make you make MORE MISTAKES.

2. This is completly wrong. Against good players they will just assume you aren't good and put pressure on from start to finish, even with 2-3 bars of meter, what you said couldn't be further from the truth. It's Meter well spent if it puts fear into them so you can later pull off better combos and set traps with ease.

3. We already know this, we are talking about how to achieve this by putting fear into them mustard etc do. I would say that you can't just plant bombs and set traps against someone who is advancing towards you at an insane speed, and incase you say, they will block or jump over a net, it slows them down an insignificant amount. Fair enough it shows them enough for you to build meter quite nicely but thats where you need to use it on EXreverse kicks. You can play the way your talking about but you need to do the occasional EXreverse kick and change your combos to apply pressure over damage to create pressure on them, take some pressure of you and you can even play very much like a booby trap setter in the second game, once the fear has been set in.

Again, advice is aimed at the tourny-level players, not just a good player.



EDIT: @OneBoxyRobot. Your first piece of advice is nice, however don't be fooled like I was. I bet you wached all the Cyrax vids from tournaments and since they hardly use EXreverse kick, you and everyone else assumes they are bad. That is because they don't work against other tournament-level players that well. They do work however on good players who aren't perfect. EXreverse kick is a good move, I agree that occasional EX moves are good to mix up but the only move worth using to mix them up is EXreverse kick. Buzzsaw is blockable by anyone and anti-air is only good for getting out of corners so yeah use EXreversekick for those purposes, also the free bomb is nice if you choose not to ragdoll (which i strongly reccommend as you need that pressure in my opinion). Cyrax builds meter fast anyway, using short bombs to keep them out and then a net to make them block, followed by more bombs to build meter and try and trip them up.

A reverse kick basically pays for itself because you should use a bomb straight after, followed by pressure by either attacking directly (which will build meter if they block) or by use of nets and bombs. So yeah don't just watch the Cyrax games in tourny vids, be origional and imaginative. If you can make the opponent think you could EXreverse kick at any time then this is a great tool and much easier and more practical than somehow making them belive that with 2 meters you are dangerous, which don't get me wrong you should be, the EXreverse kick threat just keeps them still or backed away from my experience.
 

Lt. Boxy Angelman

I WILL EAT THIS GAME
I loves me some reverse kick. I just make better use of the anti-air throw most of the time.
With enough timing practice, any hopeful jump-in can turn into a pancake splat.
The EX Doll is definitely a useful keepaway tool though, but only if you have the meter to spare. If you're fighting somebody without a teleport, someone who'sgonna try and rush into you in a way you can get under, kick away. But a blocked Kick can lead to horrible pain, so I like saving them up for the Stickys and bouncing around.
The tourney vids have been great for learning new combos, but I've had my default strategy long before the awesomeness of TYM came along.
They just reassured me I was going in the somewhat-right direction.

 

Felix

Noob
Yeah tourny vids for Cyrax players should only really be used to learn the pressure strings and combos if your a non tournament-level player yourself, i agree. :) But yeah anti-air is such a good move, but I think it puts them in an awkward position (just my opinion).
 

Lt. Boxy Angelman

I WILL EAT THIS GAME
Yeah tourny vids for Cyrax players should only really be used to learn the pressure strings and combos if your a non tournament-level player yourself, i agree. :) But yeah anti-air is such a good move, but I think it puts them in an awkward position (just my opinion).
I love it :D.
"I'll give him a jump punch." *YOINK*
"Maybe I'll divekick?" *YOINK*
"SONOFABITCH!" *YOINK*

It's a blastyblast.