Yeah, this thread should (will prob) be moved to the Strategy Zone. I play quite a bit of Reptile. Don't have too long to write now but just a quick thing, if you swap the slow ball and the fast ball in your combo (do fast one first) you will get more damage out of the combo. Having said that I also find it easier to do the slow one first. Plus if you mess up the input slightly you might still end up doing the 1221 combo ending in a launcher that you can connect a slide on at the end.

Here is a nice Reptile combo for you to try (timing is a bitch though);
321, shoulder dash (will miss), njp (neutral jump punch), 32ffb, 32sfb,321, slide.

Also a quick tip for Reptile players; do NOT overlook the usefullness of his acid hand d,b,2. If you try a combo string (1221) hoping to go into the combo the OP mentioned but you are getting blocked, rather throw the acid hand in at the end, ie 122,db2 , as this will push the opponent away from you and prevent them from countering.

I was very good with him in the old 2D era, yet in this game he feels kind of sluggish to me so any tips would be appreciated :)

Dude, just watch some of ChrisG playing him (there is a thread with the EVO finals in the Strategy Zone and we would love some more comments over there), his match is kinda in the middle of part 1.

His dash is pathetic (officially slowest in the game I think) BUT you should never use that. Use his shoulder charge for mobility (and attack and wakeup (ex version), lol just use it for everything) Shoulder charge is the absolute key to using Reptile well.

I had some trouble with that combo and then watched a video of ChrisG playing (of course) and switched to ...Njp, sfb, 321ffb,321slide. It does a little less damage, but the timing is waay easier than trying to land the 32 after the njp.
full combo will do 40% with a jump in punch.

Nice post, but it should go here

Oh, reptile strat? Here's one: start off with an elbow dash. Follow it up with an elbow dash. If you want to close distance, use the elbow dash. If your opponent blocks your elbow dash, continue the pressure with the elbow dash. After you knock down with the elbow dash, punish wakeups with another f***ing elbow dash. On wake up use the acid ball, no I'm just kidding. Wake up with an elbow dash.

F*** I hate fighting reptile.

One thing I really hate about fighting Reptile in the AI, Reptile is too much of a pussy, I try to walk over there, he backs away and uses Force Balls and Acid Spits. And ocasionally when he feels brave, he'll do an Elbow Dash, but it won't reach far enough away from me because he was being a pussy and backing up too far away to the point where he was camping out at full screen.

Reptile is beast... i have been maining him since release. 1,2,2,1,EX Slide (Not sure about damage) A long one is: 1,2,2,fast ball,3,2,slow ball,3,2,1 (you dont have to do the final 3,2,1. you could do 3,2 Xray or 3,2,EX spit. 3,2 acid hand might work but I think the gravity will ground them before reptile can spin around.) I also LOVE reptiles low 4. Do the long komboa above during EX invisible for a damage boost and it looks cool.

Another thing about his bnb combo (long one mentioned above) is that a lot of guys will throw in a slide at the end. I will only do this if that exta little bit of damage will close out a round. The better option is to just throw a fast fb after the combo. This will create a "trap" where the opponent either has to block it as soon as he gets up or gets hit by it and you just start combo'ing him all over again. (certain ex-wakeup moves obviously aviod this). If he blocks you get some meter and some chip damage, plus you lock him down allowing you to rush in and pressure again.

Also a easier option for the combo i originally mentioned is to leave out the njp as it is very hard to time correctly. Rather start it with 321,elbow d, 32, etc.. The beauty of this is that, since the dash wiffs, it resets the damage scaling. So just doing 321, elbow dash, 321, slide takes a quater of health.

So I've tried to do f+2,bb+3(fast forceball) and tried with slow fb too but haven't been able to combo it except once in practice and once online on accident. So I guess it is possible but has a very very pain in the ass timing from my experience. Also couple disappointments.... f+2 though it be a mid I believe, I've had blocked by low block. Also his elbow dash is a two hit thing And the initial hit is mid but seems like it can be blocked with low block as well.... maybe someone can correct me of I'm wrong though? Because I kinda don't understand ..... I thought I've done both successfully while opponent blocked low, but maybe not....

The fact that it is a mid means it can be blocked high or low in fact. Lows can only be blocked crouching (duh) and OVERHEADS can only be blocked standing. (Cannot remember if the training mode specifies overheads) Overheads include things like Kabal's d,b,2 slam (where he hits you with his swords from above) , Mileena's jumping split kick-thing (d+4 I think) or Cyrax's b+2 (hit with bomb thing). Reptile's 1221 combo has the last two hits count as overheads. His acid hand also counts as an overhead.

of course, if your opponent is THAT predictable, you may want to consider using the block button

I HATE PEOPLE THAT SPAM BLOCK!

Seriously though, I did find Wombat's post funny. Just don't try make your own guidebook coz it won't sell too great.

Oh ok. I guess I'm just use to miss having to be blocked high in fighters lol. Thanks for the info

lol!! totally agree, story of my fuckin life playing reptile. Elbow dash online is incredibly hard to punish, I'd say more so than Raiden's teleport. I HATE losing to people who i A. Know I can beat them and B. Know EXACTLY what they're going to do but STILL lose. Very frustrating sometimes.

Exactly. Maybe offline I can uppercut a blocked elbow dash, but online with the ASS netcode, if he follows it up with another elbow dash, or something equally as fast, I have to eat it. As it is, I'm lucky if I can get off a D+3 after blocking it.

Use a D+4 when you block it... Better Reach, the punishable widow is very small though.

Oh ok. I guess I'm just use to miss having to be blocked high in fighters lol. Thanks for the info

Great posts everyone, great to see strategy zone getting more attention.



lol oh my god I detest fighting Reptile too, I find it unbearably difficult to punish a blocked dash, usually getting thrashed by a repeated dash after I block the first 2 or 3. Online makes it that much more of a hassle.


I know there's a window to punish Reptile, but it's not very apparent, it should be as obvious as missing Kabal's nomad dash, Reptie should stumble backward.

Yes! That is perfect. No need to increase the time, the gap is there just not very obvious because of the way it is animated at the moment. Guys should be greatfull you cannot cancell his dash like Kabal's one.

Mix low kicks with elbow dash and you have a winner

I got some better Reptile combos now.

Jump in Punch, FP, BP, BP xx fast forceball, FK, BP xx slow force ball, FK, BP, FP xx slide - 12 hits 34% damage. Without the jump in punch 31% (jump punch adds 3% I think on All combos)

Variations :

Same as above but enhanced slide at the end for 36%
Must time the last few hits properly so slide doesn't miss however.

Same as above except ending with enhanced acid spit for 35%

Same as above but end with FK, BP xx Acid Spit for 33%

All of these combos I believe done with enhanced invisibility will add 3% damage making the combo above with e chanced slide first Ishmael while using enhanced invisibility does 39%.

Oh and above combo with xray finish is 42%.

I want to talk about some Reptile technique. I've played with him a lot and now often get complemented online for my play with him. Anyways....

Elbow Dash owns. When I'm not setting up with that, I'm jumping in doing the combo in above post to dish out 34/36% damage. However I'll set things up with the rlbow dash a lot so here are some set up.

Elbow Dash setups ( what to do after initial elbow dash):

Elbow dash again ( will miss) to get close up while opponent is in wake-up phase and start doing combo FP, BP, BP xx Fast Forceball ect. If opponent is blocking low on wake-up the third hit should land. Or if they try to do something on wake-up you should usually interrupt them with your combo.

If blocking high on wake-up and your combo is being blocked, stop in the middle of it and grab them real quick. Or if they're blocking high a lot on wake-up, you can set up a slide move after initial elbow dash.

Slide is good after elbow dash if they aren't blocking low.

Usually ppl will adjust to what you're doing so you must adjust as well. So when ppl start rolling back during wake-up phase, a slide works usually since they usuly start to combo after rolling back and a slide is what I tend to do. However I've thought about F+FK, FP+BP or F+BP, B+FP xx slide (or other special maybe?) Might be good options for those wake-up situations but I haven't tried them myself yet.

Something one person started to do to me on wake-up was an uppercut which was punishing me. I haven't tested but in theory if you start getting uppercuted a lot on their wake-up, then just rush in, block it, and then punish should work I believe.

Well that's all I got for now. :)