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Chun-Li Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition 2012 Moves, Combos, Strategy Guide

Guide last updated on
January 3, 2012 at 9:56 a.m. PST

Chun-Li Super Street Fighter 4 Character Guide

• Moves and Strategies • Frame Data • Hit Boxes • Vs. Character Notes •

• Costume Colors • Story • Artwork •

Character Overview

Heavy contributions to this guide by Nyoronoru

Chun-Li is one of the best zoning characters in SSF4 with a very strong poking and solid fireball game. Her mixups are good, a lot of her options are safe and like any other great character in the game, she has no problem landing her Ultras in a match.

Other advantages include top-tier throwing ability, a dominating aerial game, fast walk speed and a great Focus Attack. She also has powerful juggle options which opens up some big damage portals.

Disadvantages are that she lacks good anti-air options against strong jump-ins (such as dive kicks) requiring good spacing to counter aerial opponents. She also has below-average stamina, decreasing the room for mistakes. Her wakeup game is also questionable, with only one true reversal attack that is an extreme risk to take.

• Strengths •
+ Fast walk speed.
+ Has exceptional pokes and is great at whiff punishing.
+ Tick throw game is unmatched.
+ An amazing backdash with incredible speed and range.
+ Super has 1-frame startup.
+ Two very useful Ultras, depending on the match up.
+ Great juggling ability and strong combos.

• Weaknesses •
- Low stamina (900).
- Can't deal with quick aerial attacks.
- Ultras do weak damage or require specific spacing/characters.
- Fireball has limited range.
- Very risky reversal options.
- No non-obvious crossup setups

Notable Normal Moves and Unique Attacks

Crouching Light Kick

Chun-Li's primary combo starter and short-range poke.

Neutral Jump Hard Kick

One of Chun-Li's anti-air options. If you anticipate a jumping attack use this as the hitbox's length is insane. It also works well if the opponent lands before you do, since you will come down on top of them with the crazy hitbox still extended.

Standing Hard Punch

A great poke from Chun-Li, which can also be used as an anti-air against people that jump in front of you. It's a tad risky to use in that sort of scenario as a mistimed button press will have you eat the whole jump-in, but it's still good.

Crouching Hard Kick (Sweep)

Chun-Li's sweep is really good. It's fast and safe on block at mid-to-maximum range.

Jumping Hard Punch 2x

This move is an incredibly dominating aerial attack both when used in air-to-air and air-to-ground. You can hit twice with it, making it good for breaking Focus Attacks and throwing off block timing. It also juggles the opponent when it catches them in the air, so you can land EX Legs, EX Spinning Bird, Ultra 1 (corner), Ultra 2, or you can use Head Stomp three times to build meter.

Anti-Air Flip Kick

This move takes a little time to come out, but if execute it quickly enough it will beat out normal jump-in attacks and juggle the opponent where you can land EX Lightning Legs or other juggle attacks.

Auto Cross

This is an automated crossup attack, but since Chun-Li only travels a specific distance when flipping over you can create an ambiguous crossup situation where the opponent can't tell which way to block.

This move can be easily countered by Dragon Punches and the like so you'll have to apply it very carefully on knockdowns. Try to time it so that you won't get hit by Ultras either.

Hop Kick

Chun-Li steps forward and kicks the opponent in the shins. The recovery of this move is fast and it can tick into a throw.

Head Stomp [Aerial Only]

This attack is unsafe if blocked so don't try to get too cute with it. Try to use it if you catch someone with a jumping Hard Punch.

Wall Jump

If you are near a wall with Chun-Li, press in the opposite direction to jump off the wall. This sort of approach is really risky because most players will merely jump backwards and hit you out of the air. Chun-Li travels pretty slowly with this technique so it's not a good corner escape either.

(In the air)
Air Throw

Chun-Li can grab opponents out of the air, and this throw has good range too. Air throws in AE 2012 have great priority and can grab people out of quite a few things as long as they are airborne.

Special Moves

Lightning Legs (Hyakuretsukyaku)

Damage

Light
90

Medium
120

Hard
120

EX
160

Properties

Chun-Li unleashes a flurry of leg strikes. If you do it at the right distances and you don't keep mashing after the opponent has been pushed out of range, this attack is safe on block no matter which version you use.

This is a good move to end a combo with, if you do not have EX meter or a down charge. All versions give you some frame advantage on block or hit, but since this attack tends to push opponents a good distance away on block or hit it's unlikely that you will find a combo opportunity.

EX Version This is one of Chun-Li's strongest moves. It's damaging, starts up quickly, is easy to combo into and is safe on block. It's possible to land Ultra 1 in the corner or Ultra 2 anywhere on screen after you connect with it. You can also land two sets of EX Lightning Legs consecutively, or you could land EX Spinning Bird Kick afterwards in the corner.

Fireball (Kikoken)

Damage

Light
50

Medium
60

Hard
70

EX
100

Properties

Chun-li's fireball. The Hard version travels the fastest but fizzles out the quickest, Light is the opposite. You'll probably only be using the Light version, since you can walk behind it and use it as a shield for a safe approach.

If it lands, you can sweep the opponent. If they block it, it sets up an Overhead Flip Kick or a jump in for you. If they try to jump over it, meet them in the air with a jumping Hard Punch, a Neutral Jump Hard Kick or Anti Air Flip Kick.

EX Version: This hits twice and comes out really fast. Other than trying to chip someone for a KO or to try to win a desperation fireball war, there really aren't that many uses for the EX Kikoken, especially considering Chun-Li has much better uses for her EX meter.

Overhead Flip Kick (Hazanshu)

Damage

Light
90

Medium
110

Hard
130

EX
170

Properties

One of Chun-Li's best mixup options. She flips up in the air for a split attack that must be blocked high. The Light version comes out the fastest, but travels the least amount of distance compared to the other versions. If you land her Overhead Flip Kick it gives you enough frame advantage to combo afterwards, and if it's blocked Chun-Li is completely safe from counter attacks.

This can work very well against projectiles, but it needs to be spaced and timed correctly. The Hard Kick version is often your best bet when you're around sweep distance against a projectile throwing opponent, and this can shut down a lot of their fireball options from this range, depending on the match up.

The primary weakness of this move is that it is susceptible to Focus Attacks and invincible reversals. Try not to be predictable with this attack. Also, this move is very susceptible to whiff punishing.

EX Version: This causes Chun-Li to flip upwards much faster but come down slower. It also knocks down and has a small invincibility window. A good move if you want to capitalize on a knockdown or if you want to give an opponent less time to react to your mixup.

Spinning Bird Kick

Damage

Light
160

Medium
180

Hard
200

EX
170

Properties

This move has a lot of startup before Chun-Li begins spinning, so it's not good for approaches. All versions are unsafe on block. The upside to all of this is that this move does a huge amount of damage, so it works well in combos when you don't have better options. Unfortunately, that's really the only use for this version of the move.

EX Version The EX Spinning Bird Kick is a really good move and definitely Chun-Li's best reversal. It starts up extremely quickly and works well in juggle combos. Since she is considered airborne when she does it she can't be thrown.

Even if all the hits don't land, any hit will knock the opponent a full-screen's distance away. It's still unsafe on block though and there is a small vulnerable box between Chun-Li's legs where she can be hit out of it. Knowing when and when not to use this move is key otherwise you will simply be rushed down endlessly.

Super and Ultra Moves

Super — Super Lightning Legs (Senretsukyaku)

Damage

Super
340

Properties

This Super's speed is not to be underestimated. It's starts up in only one frame, meaning that you can punish anything that takes longer than a frame to recover, making this the fastest non-command grab punish move in the game.

Any move that offers you frame advantage on hit, like Chun-Li's Far Standing Hard Punch or her Far Standing Medium Punch will allow you to easily link and combo into this Super as well.

The strength of the button pressed determines the distance that Chun-Li travels before she hits the opponent. It doesn't determine the speed of the move in any way though, meaning that Chun-Li can traverse almost half-screen in only one frame to punish a move. The downside to this is that Senretsukyaku cannot go through projectiles.

Chun-Li has a lot of great EX moves, though. Her EX Overhead Flip Kick is good for knockdowns, EX Lightning Legs is one of the best EX moves in the game and EX Spinning Bird Kick is great for reversals. Because of this, you should only use your Super as a finisher or to gain a large life advantage.

Ultra 1 — Ultra Lightning Legs (Housenka)

Damage

Ultra 1
325 - 460

Properties

Chun-Li dashes forward to land a kick hit which is very similar to her Super. This Ultra is really fast, travels a bit over half-screen and it is invincible to projectiles for most of the startup. The projectile invincibility is a big factor in matches as it forces fireball characters to approach Chun-Li, especially when she has a life lead.

The only flaw with the anti-projectile status of this Ultra is that it loses to slow projectiles like Guile's Sonic Boom or Dhalsim's Yoga Fire since the invincibility runs out before the projectile can pass through Chun-Li. If you time it extremely well you can still avoid these projectiles, but it is still difficult to do.

What's really great about this Ultra other than the anti-projectile properties is that you can juggle into it, but only in the corner. Juggles into the cornered Ultra 1 can be started from EX Lightning Legs, EX Spinning Bird Kick, Target Combo or a Jumping Hard Punch attack.

Only certain characters will be juggled for the full cinematic of the Ultra in the corner. The other characters will get dropped out of the combo when Chun-Li attempts to launch them in the air. This is not dangerous for Chun-Li as she will recover before they stand.

Ultra 2 — Ultra Fireball (Kikosho)

Damage

Ultra 2
240 - 330

An Ultra Fireball that's really easy to combo into. All of the juggle attacks that let you land Ultra 1 also work to land Ultra 2, but you can now land them anywhere on the screen (minus the EX Spinning Bird). If one hit of the Kikosho lands, the rest of the hits will land no matter what.

If someone attempts to jump over your Kikoken fireball and lands on it, you can hit them with this Ultra. You can also use it as a standalone anti-air.

The only obvious downside is that the damage off of this Ultra can be low. Damage scaling really hurts it to the point where you have to carefully pick the right situation that allows the most damage. Try to combo into it with the fewest moves possible and make sure you have a sizable amount of Ultra meter before you use it.

This Ultra is extremely versatile and works just as well in her previous matchups as Ultra 1 does since all Chun-Li needs is one combo opportunity. It's fairly obvious that you should pick this Ultra in non-fireball matchups, but whether you think you'll have a better chance of landing this against projectile characters or not is up to you.

Target Combo

If you land this Target Combo, you can combo into any of your juggle attacks such as EX Spinning Bird Kick or Ultra 2. Other than that there's not too many reasons to use it since there are easier more damaging combos you can use in that sort of punishing situation where you have time to land this Target Combo. The initial hit of this Target Combo is also very unsafe on block and Chun-Li steps pretty far forward when doing it, so it only exacerbates the situation.

Combos

Important note: Not every possible combo is listed here. Instead, you'll find the most common and helpful combos that you should know. There are many variations to these as well.

EX Lightning Legs

5 Hits
156 Damage

Bread and butter combo. You can do a few more or less Crouching Light Kicks and this will still work.

4 Hits
146 Damage

If you fish for Crouching Light Punches against your opponent and they land, end with this Link combo.

EX Lightning Legs, Juggle with EX Lightning Legs

6 Hits
284 Damage

A powerful punish combo if your opponent makes a big mistake. Easier to land on big characters.

Jump

Medium Spinning Bird Kick

10 Hits
279 Damage

Standard meterless jump-in combo.

Light Overhead Flip Kick

EX Lightning Legs

5 Hits
216 Damage

Basic Hazanshu combo.

Jump

juggle with EX Spinning Bird Kick

7 Hits
246 Damage

Use this when Chun-Li meets her opponent in the air. You can sub in a Head Stomp 3x if you can't EX Spinning Bird Kick, although this will do less damage.

EX Lightning Legs juggle with Ultra 1

21 Hits
423 Damage

Only works in the corner, or when your opponent is reasonably close to it.

EX Lightning Legs juggle with Ultra 2

22 Hits
369 Damage

Works any where on screen and it's a very easy way to land your Ultra 2.

Tips and Tricks

Chun-Li's poking game is exemplary, so keep controlling the space in front of you with normal attacks. Standing Medium Punch is a great poke and a Cancelable normal move that keeps pushing the opponent into the zone you want them to be.

Fire off lots of Fireballs at mid-range or farther to keep chipping the opponent and forcing them to come to you. If you are getting caught in a maze of projectiles that interrupt your poking game keep Focus Absorbing them to build Ultra meter for your anti-projectile Ultra 1. Never surrender space with Chun-Li.

Don't forget that Chun-Li's throw game is one of the best. Similar to her Third Strike form, you should constantly be poking at their ankles to tick into her grabs. Once your opponent starts to tech throws recklessly, start punishing their tech attempts with Crouching Light Punch.

A popular and sneaky technique is to cancel into the Overhead Flip Kick from a normal attack such as a Close Standing Hard Kick or Standing Medium Punch. The blockstun of the normal moves forces the opponent to wait until the Overhead Flip Kick comes down to make a decision, rather than giving them the option to hit Chun-Li out of the move since she is not invincible when she performs it.

Another specific option you can use is to utilize the Overhead Flip Kick as a counter to projectiles. The rising startup for Overhead Flip Kick is pretty fast and the Hard version travels pretty far for an overhead attack, making it ideal for punishing fireball throwers when you're near mid range.

Other Resources and Credit

You can find more information about playing Chun-Li on the Central Character Discussion Thread on the EventHubs.com forums

Contributions to this guide by Nyoronoru and Killertakedown.

Comments

Chunstoppable said on March 12, 2010 at 9:29 a.m.

Chunners second ultra will connect fully..a lot. and compared to ultra I? a whooole lot more. and it probably takes less timing to do also, so for beginners who dont got the ultra juggle timing down, itll be nice. otherwise im using it for the full ultra everytime it hits.

LuckyD said on March 16, 2010 at 1:41 p.m.

@233
(dont mind my english)
the last trial isnt that difficult and you can do it with a normal controller i did it both with a ps3 and a xbox 360 controller
when you hit the focus attack tap forward twice after that you immediatly tap back medium kick then it should come out good

LuckyD said on March 16, 2010 at 1:46 p.m.

@236
the key to get the crouching medium kick into the lightning is simple(i assume its about hard trial 2)
you jump hard kick then crouch medium but when you do the medium kick you must tap it i think 4 times and then te tap the light kick 1 time and it wil come out
if it dont come out you need to tap faster or more times

LushyLushy said on April 5, 2010 at 11:55 p.m.

1st ultra will still be good as a zoning tool against any fireballing character. Otherwise, her second ultra will be more practical, as it connects fully and more easily

CMAyhem said on April 11, 2010 at 6:54 a.m.

i guess i'lll be still using hosenka a lot in SSF4, kikousho is very easily to do and combo, but its damage is horrible.

lol said on April 20, 2010 at 5:50 a.m.

babe.

benjee said on April 27, 2010 at 5:45 a.m.

@244 CMAyhem/
It's not.
Hk->Ex legs->Kikosho does 400+dmg, get serious.

Danielq94 said on May 1, 2010 at 3:46 p.m.

thank god the kikosho motion is QCF and not charge, that would have just sucked, Ex Legs- Kikosho!!

shannaro1992 said on May 15, 2010 at 5:55 p.m.

I'm pretty sure Chunners will still end up as the strongest woman in future SSFIV tiers. Top Ten? Probably.

Meteo2 said on August 6, 2010 at 1:58 a.m.

Some people complain but Chun is one of THE funnest characters to fight against IMO. At least for Claw I guess. I guess its because dealing with her pressure makes me feel like Neo from The Matrix haha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPRlMl...

Don't get too aggressive or you might pay :3

#10

ChunLiSexBeast said on August 8, 2010 at 7:09 a.m.

I love her!!!

#11

scarsofzsasz said on August 9, 2010 at 8:27 p.m.

Who are considered to be the top SSFIV Chun Li players? I want to watch some matches of the best Chun players to pick up some strategies.

#12

SF4junkie said on August 28, 2010 at 3:11 a.m.

Chun Li is definately top tier because of U2. She has so many options to combo it in from EX Lightning Legs, EX Bird Kick, up kicks target combo, and the easiest of all, j.hp.

Any strong foes?

Random vs Random?

PSN: OoDemonSeedoO
XBL: GotDemonSeed

#13

Super_Shoto_Fighter_4 said on September 2, 2010 at 9:07 a.m.

Is it just me or does Chun Li seem to Dizzy her opponents very quickly? I have more Dizzies with Chun Li than Cammy and Bison.

#14

Ryu_Apprentice said on September 10, 2010 at 4:09 a.m.

chunli dash back ultra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-o9q9...

#15

AeonGuardian said on September 13, 2010 at 6:42 p.m.

@251
Is Shizza still maining Chun Li? I know he was beastly with her back in vanilla.

@253
I'm pretty sure her moves do A LOT more stun than actual damage. So much that they toned down her crouching roundhouse for the SSF4 arcade release, it sounds like.

#16

xShonuffx said on November 18, 2010 at 9:39 a.m.

@251 in america Shizza is the only real pro player that mains Chun Li and he playes on a pad, plus he earned top 8 at EVO 2010 and is the only American Chun player (As far as I know) that has done this in Street Fighter 4 history.

@255 I'm sure he does but I think he is training now because I haven't seen him in awhile, maybe school or life is getting in between his training but im sure he is gonna be back stronger than ever, just watch.

#17

letsfightlikegentlemen said on November 18, 2010 at 1:31 p.m.

"Even if all the hits don't land, any hit will knock the opponent a full-screen's distance away. It's still unsafe on block though and there is a small vulnerable box between Chun-Li's legs where she can be hit out of it."

i know the spot very well

#18

jesiramoun said on November 18, 2010 at 11:05 p.m.

i find the hard spinning bird kick a little confusing.

if i hit an opponent (very close to me) with it, what do i do next? it seems that chun-li is vulnerable to throws or reversals after.

what's the best option after an SBK without any super or ultra? a follow up grab? some light attacks? or a safe block?

#19

riotlancer said on November 24, 2010 at 8:02 p.m.

@258
I usually follow up with a grab, especially when using light sbk

#20

PwnDizzle0 said on December 8, 2010 at 4:01 p.m.

Chun-li is just pure beastty

#21

joselo_joselo said on August 30, 2011 at 6:53 p.m.

i think is unfair for chun some change, her ultra some times don´t land all the hits, like the sf4, her d+f lk comes slower and i think kiko-sho should act as a shield, sometimes my opponents pass trough it like cammy´s gyro drive smasher.. i do not know what you think guys..

#22

joselo_joselo said on August 30, 2011 at 6:59 p.m.

im a bit jealous from the other characters because chun li´s has been my best character since her first game(street fighter 2 i think...)

#23

joselo_joselo said on September 25, 2011 at 8:38 p.m.

im a bit jealous too.. the first woman in street fighter having less stamina than ryu and ken.. in others sf they had the same health.. why now she have less?

#24

mtbrandao said on November 20, 2011 at 2:43 p.m.

So, now the most damaging move is HK Spinning Bird Kick, dealing 240 damage.
More powerful than Zangief's SPD and Hawk Mexican Typhoon (230 Hard Version)
Equal damage to Zangief's EX Atomic Suplex (240)
Equal damage to Hakans's EX Oil Dive (240)
Only losing to Hakans's Oiled EX Oil Dive (250)

#25

SFStudent said on March 9, 2012 at 1:21 a.m.

Has anyone experience this cause I've been reading some SF4AE and I haven't seen any article about what happened to me last night while playing Chun-Li, I set the game on hardest level on a 1 round arcade mode.

Pass Seth I ended up with 318,000+ pts and 1 perfect round on one of the earlier battles i think it was against Felong. after Chun-Li gave her winning pose a big, I think it was an exclamation point came out then an extra round where Akuma was my opponent, this Akuma's AI was different from the one I sparred with on training mode on hardest difficulty, He even used a different Ultra not the Revenge of the Raging Demon, I almost had him had not he pulled a fast (almost impossible imo) Teleport move after his hard SRK whiffed I used hosenka on him as he was landing but because of that crazy teleport speed I ended up my back to him and got hit with that Ultra no continue was offered.

It was a great experience and i want to fight him again but i'm not really sure what were the pre requisite for it. Any one with the same experience or has beaten Akuma?

#26

SFStudent said on March 9, 2012 at 1:22 a.m.

Btw I'm playing on the PC

#27

hotpinkfighter said on February 24, 2013 at 4:50 p.m.

Chinese girls are #1!

#28

mird0ch3gal said on February 25, 2013 at 8:34 a.m.

hi here are some combo videos/guides for chun
http://youtu.be/tUIpU3OE7Rs

#29

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