Introduction
Moves List
Normal Moves
Throws
| Koshuu Tou | LP + LK |
| Ryuusei Raku | In air, LP + LK |
Command Normals
| Souren Shou | B + MP |
| Hakkei | B + HP |
| Senjou Shuu | F + MK |
| Kakushu Raku Kyaku | When close, hold MK |
| Yoku Sen Kyaku | F + HK |
| Tenshin Shuu Kyaku | DF + HK |
| Sankaku Tobi | Near wall, UB, UF |
| Yousou Kyaku | While jumping, D + MK |
| Yousou Suitotsu Da | While jumping, D + HP |
Target Combos
- UF or UB + HP -> HP (Air chain)
Special Moves
| Kikouken | B, DB, D, DF, F + P | (EX) |
| Hyakuretsu Kyaku | Tap K rapidly | (EX) |
| Hazan Shuu | F, DF, D, DB, B + K | (EX) |
| Spinning Bird Kick | Charge D, U + K | (EX) |
Super Arts
| I | Kikou-Shou | D, DF, F, D, DF, F + P | 1 stock (2.2 ex) |
| II | Houyoku-Sen | D, DF, F, D, DF, F + K | 2 stocks (5.2 ex) |
| III | Tensei-Ranka | D, DF, F, D, DF, F + K | 3 stocks (5.4 ex) |
Move Analysis
Combos
Non-meter:
B + hp, Fireball (QCF, P)
Jump-in hp/hk, cr. mk, Spinning-bird kick (charge D, then U + K)
SAI:
Cr. mk, SAI
B + hp, SAI
Cl. hk xx SAI (must be super-jump cancelled)
SAII:
Cr. mk, SAII (the most common SAII combo, by far.)
B + hp, SAII
Cr. lp, SAII (has uses, such as punishing certain fast-recovering moves, or getting out of a corner lightning-legs trap against another Chun-Li.)
B + mp, SAII (dumb, but it's there.)
Far HK, SAII (on certain crouching opponents, such as the shotos, Hugo, Q, and Dudley.)
Close HK xx SAII (must be super-jump cancelled.)
Lp, Cr. lp xx SAII
SAIII:
Cr. mk, SAIII (only if opponent is crouching, but not too sure. Needs to be confirmed.)
Frame Data
Strategies
Overview
Chun-Li is a top-tier character, sharing the top slots with Yun, Ken and (arguably) Makoto. Her greatest assets are her extremely damaging Super Art (Houyoku-Sen), extreme range of her kara-throw, her fast dash, and fast/high-priority normal moves. She has the capabilities to rush other characters down using her quick dash and faster moves such as s.LP, c.LP and close HK, as well as adding her throw to the mix and fear of Houyoku-Sen super which can be cancelled off of plethora of moves. However, she is often played as a reactive character; one that reacts to an enemy rather than trying to pressure them with a rushdown. As such, she makes an excellent turtle. She also has an extremely short hitbox while crouching, allowing her to duck an enormous number of moves that would normally hit.
Her main weaknesses are that she has no damaging combos that she can perform when she has no meter, and in some cases lacks a definitive anti-air such as a typical DP maneuver. Her assortment of high-priority normals and quick dash, however, can be used as anti-air devices with a great deal of success. Also, she lacks a fast overhead; both the universal overhead and flip kick are fairly slow and easy to block on reaction. She does, however, have an extremely long kara-universal overhead which can compensate for the lack of speed. Finally, she has a large falling/juggling hitbox, which means she's more prone to eating high-damage combos than a lot of characters (for example, Ken can do strong, fierce, jab uppercut x2 in the corner on her fairly easily, without a kara or strict timing at all.)
Basics
Chun-Li can dominate a match with simply her normals and throws alone, but much of her strategy stems from having at least one stock of the Houyoku-Sen super ready and available. It can easily be hitconfirmed off of a c.MK and b + HP, which are two of her most commonly used moves for poking, punishing, and during mixup.
Having a Houyoku-Sen stock can drastically change the flow of the match. Its damage is very high, and the last kick can be cancelled into a superjump, offering an array of different resets or simple extra-damage knockdowns that can set Chun-Li up for more mixups. Landing the Houyoku-Sen is not always necessary to take control of the match; the fear incited from being hit by the Houyoku-Sen is usually enough to turn the tide in your favor.
Super Art Selection
Chun-Li's most powerful Super Art is the Houyoku-Sen. It has a healthy stock of two supers, is very damaging, and can be super-cancelled or linked into using many of her attacks:
- c.MK
- c.LP
- s.MP
- b + MP (first or second hit)
- b.HP
- c.HP
- close HK (must be super-jump cancelled)
- F + HK (only on crouching opponents)
- DF + HK
- Kikouken
- EX Kikouken
The Houyoku-Sen's final kick can be super-jump cancelled. As the last hit connects, perform a super-jump, and she will leap into the air. The opponent may be juggled following the Houyoku-Sen, and it is another useful tool in her mixup arsenal. It is almost a guaranteed free ride for your opponent into the corner, so you can take that into consideration if it proves advantageous for your position. Common Houyoku-Sen enders include:
- sj.HP, HP (Target Combo, Resets)
- sj.HP (First hit only, Resets)
- sj.HP, HP (First hit whiffs, second connects, Resets)
- sj.MP (Resets)
- sj.d+MK, d+MK (Character-Specific, Knockdown)
- sj.d+MK, MP/HP/MK/LK (Character-Specific, Resets)
- sj.HK (Knockdown)
The Houyoku-Sen is also a 17-hit Super Art, making it a notorious ender of rounds via chip damage. You may also cancel a Kikouken or EX Kikouken into the Houyoku-Sen for the purpose of disrupting the timing for the opponent should they decide to try and parry it.
The Houyoku-Sen also has invincibility frames on startup during her initial rush to the opponent. It can be used to punish fireballs.
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Other Supers:
Kikou-Shou (SA1) - The Kikou-Shou is a relatively high-damage super and comes with a rather short bar, which means you can have this super stocked more often than the Houyoku-Sen. It does more chip damage and is more difficult to parry than the Houyoku-Sen, but the primary drawbacks are the fact that it only comes with one stock which bars liberal use of EXs, and that its range is fairly limited. You cannot cancel a max-ranged c.MK into a Kikou-Shou and expect it to hit. For this reason, SA2 is considered a much more powerful super. However, the SA1 does have its merits as an anti-air.
Tensei-Ranka (SA3) - The Tensei-Ranka comes with a much healthier 3-stock limit as opposed to the Kikou-Shou, but it's much more difficult to use successfully. Unless the opponent is very tall or standing, you will not be able to hit them on the way up using the super, which turns the Tensei-Ranka most of the time into an extremely delayed, readable overhead. It is best used as an anti-air or confirmable damage off of an anti-air. Since a common way to punish jumpins with Chun-Li is to either close s.HK or parry into close s.HK, you can super-jump cancel into the Tensei-Ranka after a confirmed hit in order to do more damage than you normally would, at the expense of a reset.
Kara-Techniques
Chun-Li has two useful kara-throws available to her:
- MK
- close HK
A kara-throw is executed by inputting the correct attack (in this case, either MK or close HK) and cancelling the first frame into a throw. For example:
Execute the MK kara-throw by pressing the MK button and immediately pressing LP + LK. You will see Chun-Li move forward as she executes the throw, which will drastically improve the range of your throw and strengthen your game.
Her best kara-throw is her standing MK. It is tied with Q for the farthest reaching kara-throw. Her close HK kara-throw has a few uses against certain characters such as Dudley, whose hitbox can be deceiving, making the s.MK karathrow fail, and having the close MK technique execute instead.
Zoning
Mixups
Additional Notes
- Personal Action: Recovers stun meter (when she yawns) and either Attack up (when she cracks her neck), Defense up (when she pats her shoulders), or both (when she arches forward). Note: Her taunt actions are completely random.
Buffering/Partitioning Hyakuretsu Kyaku (Lightning Legs)
Cancelling normals into Hyakuretsu Kyaku (from now on, referred to as simply 'Lightning Legs') is a great way to make an opponent think twice about punishing certain moves, and is also used to make b + HP a much more powerful anti-air, as the opponent will not only need to parry the b + HP, but also several kicks as they descend.
There are few ways to improve buffering Lightning Legs other than improving your own manual dexterity, but here are a few helpful hints:
- Double-tap each of your buttons (drum two or three fingers each time you go to press the appropriate button -- easier on Japanese-style buttons which are more sensitive in activation).
- Press the appropriate kick button in addition to the normal move you are trying to cancel. For example, if you wanted to cancel a s.MP into HK lightning legs, press MP~HK, then continually double-tap the HK key as fast as you can.
Lightning Legs can also be partitioned. That is, the button inputs for the technique can be stored through dashing. The most simple way to see and perform this is to dash continuously, pressing a single kick button as many times as possible while the dash animation occurs, then to stop dashing and press the kick button again. If done correctly, the lightning legs move will be performed.
This is useful in matches when you need to 'hide' the button inputs. If a player sees one or two standing shorts or repeated presses of the same kick button, they may interpret this as preparation for the move and adjust their gameplay accordingly. By masking the inputs in the dashes, you can spring the technique on your opponent more covertly. This is especially useful during air resets, since the lightning legs technique is a very good way of obtaining chip damage.
Match-ups
Serious Advantage Match-ups
- Oro
- Alex
- Remy
- Q
- Hugo
- Sean
Advantage Match-ups
- Ken
- Makoto
- Yang
- Akuma
- Urien
- Ryu
- Ibuki
- Elena
- Necro
- Twelve
Fair Match-ups
- Chun-Li
- Dudley - For the most part, Chun-Li can win this match-up by playing it as though it were any other match, however, should Dudley earn a knockdown, you're in trouble. With Chun-Li's lengthy standing animation and Dudley's ridiculous wake-up control it can be devastating considering the amount of damage he can distribute on Chun-Li especially
Disadvantage Match-ups
- Yun - Easily Chun-Li's worst matchup, due to her inability to counter Yun's dive kicks effectively, and the universal difficulty of dealing with Genei-Jin. Although Chun-Li is normally played with a more defensive/opportunistic mindset, it is important to pressure Yun before he can get meter. While Yun has no meter, it's difficult for him to damage Chun. Chun's superior normals will keep him at bay, and in any circumstance, regardless of whether or not Yun has meter, a stocked Chun will allow her many opportunities to throw or karathrow, as the threat of Houyoku-Sen is often too great to risk counter-throwing or sometimes tech-throwing. Being able to parry Yun's dive kicks is also very helpful, although good Yun players will often vary the ranges of the dive kicks in order to rush Chun down with well-placed mixups. For players who find it difficult to telegraph dive kicks, learn the ranges. Yun is restricted to only 3 different ranges (LK, MK, HK) and must land at a precise distance. Also, know that Yun's superjump arcs him slightly backward, adjusting the range ever so slightly. Knowing the correct ranges of the dive kicks and being able to see where they will land allows you to perform the appropriate anti-air (close s.HK, d+HK, b+HP, s.MP, parry, block, or air-to-air are all effective counters to divekicks at the correct ranges). Finally, be patient! Yun's main weakness (aside from his lack of non-meter offense) is his poor stamina, so one c.MK xx Houyoku-Sen is 40-50% of his life.
Serious Disadvantage Match-ups
Chun-Li has no match-ups where she is at a serious disadvantage
Platform Specific
Costume Selection
Press the corresponding button during character select to show a costume.
MAME Japan 990512
| Blue | FP |
| Gray | MK |
| Light Gray | LP + MK + FP |
| Pink | FK |
| Purple | LK |
| Sky Blue | LP |
| Turqoise | MP |