A Killer Instinct Guide for SFIV Players by Infil

Tremor is a wholly unique move in KI. TJ leaps into the air and slams his fist down at one of three set ranges, depending on the strength used. If it makes contact with the opponent, it’s an overhead and will also recapture anyone in the air (mid-combo or anyone trying to jump away). If it misses the opponent, it causes a low-hitting earthquake that quickly fills the entire screen. This earthquake does 0 damage, but causes a hard knockdown which lets TJ instantly close the gap. Note that the overhead hit on Tremor is -6, -8, and -10 for light, medium, and heavy, so make sure to punish it when you block. Knee and Backfist are standalone special moves and also options out of Powerline; Knee will crush lows and is technically -8 on block, but has very little blockstun and requires fast reactions to punish, while Backfist is good for close pressure and is safe on block.

This list of moves only tells part of the story for TJ’s openers, however. TJ also has access to Vortex, an uppercut move that launches the opponent high into the air and follows up with a second strike, and Shoot Toss, a terrifying dashing command grab where TJ grabs you, turns around, and slams you into the ground, bouncing you into the air. While these are not technically openers, since you can’t cancel them into auto-doubles or linkers, both will still lead to combos because TJ will recover in time to perform Tremor, which will recapture you to the ground. As a result, TJ has more ways to start a combo than any other character in the game; some will be standard openers, while others will launch you into the air before TJ uses Tremor to recapture.

If you are on the ground being comboed, TJ will have access to these four linkers. Spin Fist is probably the easiest heavy linker to break in the game, since he'll do three very, very slow Spin Fists consecutively, so it's best to avoid using that unless you're going for a counter breaker trap. The linker version of Tremor will do 1, 2, or 3 hits like normal linkers, which is important to recognize, because when you do a Vortex linker, TJ will knock his opponent into the air. At this point, TJ must use the regular version of Tremor to recapture them to continue the combo. This Tremor will not hit multiple times, but will instead travel a different distance depending on the strength used, and will always hit just once; you're able to break the recapture version of Tremor on reaction to the distance TJ jumps. To summarize, if you're on the ground, TJ does the one, two, and three hit linkers like every other character. If you're in the air, TJ does the non-combo (but still breakable) versions of his special moves.

Like most battery enders, Tremor is great at the start of a fight to gain some extra meter, but TJ is less reliant on meter than other characters, so it's not mandatory. His damage ender requires 6 different auto-double strikes in a row to gain access to, which tends to mean that unless you plan to only do Auto-Barrage strikes in your combo, you will need to choose a different ender. But that's okay, because his Powerline wall splat ender is pretty good. It seems to do more damage than other wall splat enders, and in the corner, it lets TJ get a free Shoot Toss command grab (remember, grabs are not breakable, nor can throws blow out the KV). The opponent after being grabbed by Shoot Toss will be at max KV, but TJ can either instinct cancel the Shoot Toss to continue the combo mid-screen, or he can set up a dirty set play mixup on the knocked down opponent, and Shoot Toss does good unbreakable, untechable damage after the ender to boot.

Normals to watch: TJ typically uses special moves for many footsies purposes, but he still has a collection of noteworthy normals. Superman Punch (+HP) is a pretty fast overhead that covers an absolutely shocking distance of horizontal ground, and can be canceled into openers to start a combo, but because TJ doesn't have any amazing low moves from this range, your opponent may choose to default to stand block. Crouching MK is a decent footsies or mixup low to keep people honest about their blocking. Far HP takes up a good amount of space in front of TJ and is good for corner control. Rollercoaster (+MP) is a command normal opener that rolls TJ towards an opponent, finishing with a safe on block punch, but it does not low profile any moves. Stand LK is one of his better normals to use up close, especially to keep a person blocking while you mix up your Powerline options.

Specials to watch: TJ is the character with the most reliance on special moves in the game; many of them have numerous applications. Vortex is his uppercut move, but only shadow Vortex is invincible for any period of time (and even then, not all the way to the first hitting frame), but it's pretty fast and always leads (via recapture) to a grounded combo with low KV, making it useful in certain circumstances. The main special move we need to discuss, however, is Powerline ( +HP), a move that sends TJ flying forward with his fist ready. Out of this move, or using a different button other than HP after the back-forward motion, TJ earns many different followups that are central to his gameplay.

LP is Spin Fist, a safe on block opener that keeps the pressure high. MP is Shoot Toss, a dashing command grab which might be the best grab in the game; it leads to a full combo with recapture and is incredibly hard to sniff out during pressure. HP is Powerline itself; TJ completes the charging animation with a Balrog Dash Straight-style move that has a hit of armor and goes full screen very quickly and is safe on block. LK is Back Step, a fake out move that makes TJ jump backwards to avoid punishment for any other option. MK is Tumble, a roll which is fully invincible to strikes (but never throws) from frame 1, which makes it excellent to get through projectiles or predictable midrange pokes, but it has some recovery at the end so you need to weigh the risk accordingly. Finally, HK is Flying Knee, a combo opener that crushes lows from half screen away and, while technically unsafe at -8 on block, is difficult to punish due to its deceptively short block stun. In order to punish Flying Knee, the opponent must press a button before TJ lands, which is difficult to do on reaction when also trying to defend against TJ's other Powerline options.

General strategy: The addition of a command grab to TJ's arsenal makes focusing on Powerline's numerous options the general idea behind TJ's neutral game. At the midrange, it is difficult for the opponent to keep TJ at bay without a solid read. Blocking loses to Shoot Toss, trying to press buttons can lose to Powerline or Flying Knee, and trying to react to the startup of Powerline is unreliable because of Back Step and Tumble. TJ can keep himself safe while sniffing out your habits by doing Spin Fist, as well, and easily convert into a combo if you flinch. Keep in mind that every option out of Powerline is made even scarier by instinct mode, since they are all grounded attacks. If the strong wheel of options from Powerline isn't enough, TJ also has Tremor, which will beat people trying to jump back out of Powerline range, trying to throw at close range, or trying to press low buttons, although this option is now more unsafe than it used to be (-6 at best), which gives the defender a chance if they're able to predict TJ's moves. TJ is very difficult to zone out, as well. The combination of armored Powerline, Tumble, and the hard knockdown, full screen low quake from a whiffed Tremor will give zoners fits, and let TJ slip into his optimal range quite easily. To beat TJ, you must outread his Powerline at the midrange, which is much easier said than done, and you may even have to kill him twice.