Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike/Q/Archive

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Moves List

Normal Punches

Far standing jab: This is a decent semi-poke and situational antiair. It comes out pretty fast and has decent range, but its recovery isn’t as good as it could be and it can be ducked by most characters. It’s most often used to tick into c&db, to keep certain opponents from dashing in, and to antiair empty jumps. It can be parried high and low, even by characters whose down parries make them crouch under the actual jab.

Close standing jab: This comes out and recovers faster than far standing jab and can be canceled into all of Q’s command moves, although it only comboes into ex slaps and super. Its main uses are as a tick and as an antiair against empty jumps and opponents who jump right in front of you. It can be parried high and low.

Neutral standing strong: This move has great range, is safe on block, and actually recovers better if whiffed than you’d think. While it’s mainly used in c&db corner resets and to give Q his second-best karathrowing distance, it can also serve as a poke and antiair, although it’s not too useful as a poke against most characters because it can be ducked by most and stood under by lots. It must be parried high.

Back + strong: This is very useful as a poke and antiair and gives Q his best karathrow range, so it’s used a lot. It makes Q move up a bit, and the punch actually extends over and a little behind Q’s head, so you can hit people who are over and a little behind you. It’s safe on block and has good range, so it’s good for a poke and for making sure the opponent doesn’t jump when you have him cornered. Plus, if you use it as an antiair and time it just right, you can recover in time before you can be hit or thrown. This move also gives Q his best distance for karathrowing, although it throws the opponent behind you unless you have crazy enough timing to only press back for the punch and not for the throw. It must be parried high, although it can be difficult to parry for an opponent jumping right over you because the opponent sometimes has to parry what looks like behind himself.

Neutral standing fierce: This move knocks the opponent down for most of its many active hit frames, but at the very end it works as a reset if the opponent is in the air or as just a regular hit if the opponent is on the ground. It can be used as a poke against tall characters and more rarely as a situational antiair. It’s safe when done from max range, beats most high-level pokes, and has an active hitbox that stays up for a long time, but characters who can duck it can punish it easily. This move can be used to end a c&db or SAII juggle, although there are better options. It has to be parried high.

Back + fierce: This is a good poke and antiair that’s best against opponents who are either tall enough to get hit by it when crouching, like Dudley, Urien, Hugo, Alex, and Q, whose air attacks are susceptible to this move’s weird hitbox, like Twelve, Urien, Makoto, and Dudley, but it’s good against anyone if the opponent is using a high poke or standing up. It’s safe on block, beats out lots of attacks, and is usually even safe if parried by a jumping opponent if it moves Q under the opponent and past his attacks. It’s also very important as a reset in c&db corner juggles. It has to be parried high. Crouching jab: This is a quick little ranged poke that’s great for keeping the opponent out and beating slower attacks, so it should be used often. It can be parried both high and low.

Crouching strong: This is a decent poke and antiair that’s safe on block and can recover in time if parried by a jumping opponent when you’re more underneath than in front of him. It can be used up close to tick into karathrow or to preemptively stuff an opponent’s wakeup attack or jump. Its main drawback is that it can be parried high and low, which makes it less useful as a meaty attack since the opponent can’t guess wrong on a parry.

Crouching fierce: This is a good meaty that is safe on block and stuffs or trades with most non-invincible wakeup attacks, although its startup is a little slow. Its range extends above and beyond Q’s fist, so it can also be used to stuff long-range low attacks, but that’s kinda risky because of its long startup and recovery if whiffed. It has to be blocked and parried low.

Jumping up jab: This comes out almost immediately, has great priority, and lasts the whole jump, so it’s useful as an air-to-air antiair. It must be parried high.

Jumping toward jab: The claw! This move comes out quickly, lasts almost the whole jump, and has great priority. It can be used to beat most air and even antiair attacks, to retaliate with after an air-to-air parry when the opponent is in front of or above you, and to fake an empty jump by attacking at the last second. It has to be parried high.

Jumping strong: This is good against characters that jump higher than you or are tall enough to get hit by it when standing, but it’s rarely used because Q’s other jumping attacks are usually better options. It has to be parried high.

Jumping fierce: This is a great air move that should be used often. It’s good for starting combos and beating or trading with air attacks and antiairs, including some moves like dragon punches and headbutts. It can set up a taunt if it knocks the opponent out of the air and can also serve as a tick into c&db. It must be parried high.

Normal Kicks

Standing short: This is a nice little poke that comes out and recovers very quickly and is great at keeping the opponent out. It’s also used to tick into karathrow or c&db. It can be parried both high and low.

Far standing forward: This is an excellent poke that should be used often. It beats lots of stuff, has good range, is safe on block, can’t be ducked, and is even a decent meaty attack. It must be parried high.

Close standing forward: This is also a very important move because it’s Q’s only (only.) cancelable ground normal that combos into all his comboable specials and supers. It can also be used as a tick into karathrow and an occasional meaty attack; although it can’t beat many wakeup attacks, using it to combo into super as the opponent is waking up is an important way to get damage and force the opponent to stay still on wakeup. It can only be parried high.

Neutral standing roundhouse: This is safe on block and beats just about any non-invincible attack, but if whiffed or parried it’s completely unsafe. It can be used for keep-out and spacing, as a meaty attack if you think the opponent will dash back, and in anticipation of a poke from an opponent who can’t hurt you much if you miss. That said, however, its main use is as a c&db combo finisher. It has to be parried high.

Back + roundhouse: This move is almost great, but just a little too risky. If it touches the opponent early, it has great range and priority, must be blocked low, knocks down on hit, and can be canceled but not comboed into all of Q’s command moves; if it touches the opponent later in its animation, it can be blocked high, doesn’t knock down, and can’t be canceled. There are three uses for this thing. The main use is as a meaty attack; if you do close back + roundhouse xx slaps or dash punch and the opponent doesn’t parry, he’ll either get knocked down by back + roundhouse or take some block damage from the specials. It can also be used to beat low pokes, since the early part of its animation eats up every low move in the game. The third use is as a preemptive antiair, for when you think the opponent might jump back on wakeup and you’re a little distance away. One problem, apart from the fact that it doesn’t combo, is that this move cancels into other moves fairly slowly, meaning that if you do it too close when the opponent is waking up and try to cancel into slaps, you could get thrown; the solution is to take advantage of the move’s range and do it from further away. It also has huge recovery time if uncanceled or whiffed, so make sure that that only happens when it’s successfully used as a preemptive antiair. It can be parried both high and low at any stage of its animation.

Crouching short: This is a decent poke that can also work as a meaty attack and a tick into karathrow. Its startup is a little slower than crouching jab and it doesn’t beat as many things, but it does have slightly longer range so it’s better for opponents who are farther out. If done at max range, it can stuff moves like Ibuki’s ex dragon punch. It must be blocked and parried low.

Crouching forward: This is a good poke that does more damage than crouching short but is a little slower to come out. It has good range, beats lots of attacks, and makes a great tick into karathrow. It’s also Q’s best meter-building attack. It has to be blocked and parried low.

Crouching roundhouse: This move knocks down on hit, has good range, and is pure active hit frames at Q’s feet, but if blocked or parried it can be punished by anything. It’s a fairly good poke against some characters, a pretty good situational antiair, and a decent way to capitalize on parries when the opponent is at max range. It’s also useful as a meaty because it beats everything except moves with invincible startup frames, like some supers and dragon punches. This move has to be blocked and parried low.

Jumping short: This is much like jumping toward jab in that it comes out as fast, lasts as long, and has as good priority, but because its hitbox is lower it’s better for attacking an airborne opponent who is lower in the air than you are. It’s good at beating air attacks and some antiairs, faking an empty jump, and ticking into karathrow. It must be parried high.

Jumping forward: This is a great move, one of the air moves you should use the most. It has great range, beats lots of stuff, is a useful defensive poke, and is a good spacer. It must be parried high.

Jumping roundhouse: This is another excellent move. It stuffs a lot of things and trades with many of the rest, even some that have invincibility frames because its oddly-shaped hitbox sometimes hits the opponent in an area where he doesn’t have invincibility. It’s Q’s only jumping attack that knocks the opponent down out of the air instead of resetting them and has deceptively good range and hit stun. It can be used to zone the opponent out, whiff a jump-in to throw, and start Q’s most damaging combos, and it also makes a useful tick and meaty attack. If you do it so that it hits as late as possible, like around the level of the opponent’s feet, it can’t be punished if it gets parried. It has to be parried high.

Other Attacks

|Neutral throw: This does less damage than the toward or back throw but also does more stun, so if the opponent is just about to get stunned, use this. It leaves the opponent right next to Q, which is good if you don’t need a taunt or want to play close to the opponent. The regular range is longer than many characters’ normal throws, but unless you’re trying to tech a throw or otherwise need a throw to come out as soon as possible, you should use the karathrow (same thing with the toward/back throws).

Toward/back throw: One version throws the opponent a bit ahead of Q and the other a bit behind, but they both do the same damage and stun and both even have the same animation. They do more damage than the neutral throw and leave the opponent farther away, but they also do less stun. Use one of these if you want to do more damage, set up taunts in some situations, or have the opponent some distance away from you. It seems to me that the toward/back throw also has more range than the neutral throw, but unfortunately I can’t find any data to make sure.

Universal overhead: Q’s uoh is slower and floatier than that of most characters, but it also has better range. It’s a decent poke and can be used to link into super if it’s done at max range or as a deep meaty. If you do it as a deep meaty, you can also link into close standing forward, standing short, and crouching jab. You can also use this for tricky ground crossovers when the opponent is waking up. Other than overhead dash punch, this is Q’s only overhead attack, so make sure you use it. It has to be parried high.

Special Moves

High Speed Barrage	D, DB, B + P	(EX)
Dashing Leg Attack	Charge B, F + K	(EX)
Dashing Head Attack	Charge B, F + P *	(EX)
	* Hold P for an overhead attack
Capture & Deadly Blow	F, DB, D, DB, B + K

Super Arts

I	Critical Combo Attack	D, DF, F, D, DF, F + P	2 stocks
II	Deadly Double Combination	D, DF, F, D, DF, F + P	1 stock
III	Total Destruction	D, DF, F, D, DF, F + P then D, DF, F + P or K	1 stock

Strategies

The best way to learn Q is to watch the tutorial video called Clawstrophobia. It is available on ComboVideos.com.

Taunt

Three of Q's taunt brings his defense rating to the highest in the game. The taunt is succesful when the screen has shaken slightly and lasts for the entire round. Opportunities for taunts:

- Super art
- Any anti air that knocks down
- Air to air jumping fierce (mid screen)
- Any Capture and Deadly Blow combo
- Cancelled back + roundhouse