Overview
Learn how to use the sumo wrestling character E. Honda effectively by reading this guide.
Character Overview
Gameplay Style –
E. Honda can be played several different ways, depending on your preference or the matchup. His most useful style is a defensive, footsies based type, because of how good Honda’s normals and anti airs are they can keep the opponent away. If you are fighting a zoning character or if you like to just be in your opponent’s face all the time, Honda is very good at staying in to apply pressure and chip damage against the opponent with his Hundred Hand Slaps. Honda has a very difficult time getting in against fireball characters so you will have to play extremely patient vs them if you want to get the win, do this by slowly walking your opponent to the corner either by just walking forward a little then blocking a fireball or by using a neutral jumping heavy punch to go over them. Honda’s far range game is not very good, but he can still play it by using Sumo Headbutts against characters that are not able to punish it in block.
Character Data –
Stamina: 1050[www.eventhubs.com]
Stun: 1100[www.eventhubs.com]
Tier: D[www.eventhubs.com]
Throw Range: 0.9[www.eventhubs.com]
Forward Dash: 19 Frames[www.eventhubs.com]
Backward Dash: 27 Frames[www.eventhubs.com]
Story –
Honda is not back in Japan for long – he soon joins another international fighting tournament. However his goals have apparently not changed much at all, as he is once again fighting to prove the strength of sumo to the world. During the tournament, he meets up with his old friend Hakan, but loses his match against him. They later agree to meet again in Japan, but Honda warns him not to expect him to lose. He also encounters El Fuerte, and helps the aspiring chef by telling him about Japanese food. After the tournament he exclaims “Look out Olympics, here I come!”. However, while on a plane, he comes to the conclusion that in order to get sumo into the Olympics, he will have to join the IOC himself.
Strengths –
- Damaging normals and specials
- Safe pressure
- Great pokes / footsies
- Plenty of mixups
- Good reversals with meter
Weaknesses –
- Basically an Arcade Stick only character, using something else will be difficult
- Has the most trouble dealing with fireballs out of any other character
- Both of his ultras are extremely bad
- Normals have slow startup
Normal Moves
Close Standing –
Light Punch: Not really much use for this normal.
Medium Punch: Very good normal for frame traps, I will get into this later, it also hits twice so you cannot focus attack out of it.
Heavy Punch: Sets up some of Honda’s most damaging combos, because it gives him a lot of frame advantage on hit.
Light Kick: Hits low and can combo into Hundred Hand Slap, but still very good.
Medium Kick: You can combo into this move, but it really isn’t useful since it does very little damage.
Heavy Kick: Quick damaging punish normal if you do not have time to land crouching heavy punch.
Far Standing –
Light Punch: This can be used to frame trap the opponent from a distance.
Medium Punch: Can stuff moves sometimes.
Heavy Punch: Extremely useful normal with a couple uses, it’s hitbox beats pretty much every character’s normal attacks, and it also can be used as an anti air if you do not have a charge, although this will trade a lot.
Light Kick: Can be mashed quickly to stop some moves like Blanka’s horizonal ball without having Hundred Hand Slap come out.
Medium Kick: Not much use for this.
Heavy Kick: Another extremely useful normal, has very good range, decent damage, hits low, and has a pretty good startup time. This is Honda’s main poke and is also used in Hundred Hand Slap combos.
Crouching –
Light Punch: Probably Honda’s most important normal, good range, this is used to combo into Hundred Hand Slap from a slight distance, also can be used to tick into his Oicho Throw.
Medium Punch: Same use as far standing medium punch.
Heavy Punch: Amazing damage on this, so this is good finishing an opponent off as a punish.
Light Kick: Useful to starting combos into crouching light punch, can also be used to tick his Oicho Throw, but not as useful for that as with crouching light punch.
Medium Kick: Hits low so it can be useful for his mixups and it is also good for getting more damage from his Hundred Hand Slap combos.
Heavy Kick: Pretty bad sweep, but it can be used sometimes as a mixup to get a hard knockdown inside his semi-vortex, which I will talk about later.
Neutral Jumping –
Light Punch: Hits crouching opponents unlike most of his neutral jumping normals and it has pretty good range.
Medium Punch: Not really any use for this, just a worse version of neutral jumping heavy punch.
Heavy Punch: Extremely useful normal, it is Honda’s best air to air move since it can’t really be beaten by any character’s jumping attacks. It can also be used to slowly move your way toward the opponent by using it then holding forward to get over a fireball (or hold back if you can’t get over it).
Light Kick: No use for this either.
Medium Kick: Possibly one of the worst neutral jumping moves in the game lol.
Heavy Kick: This hits crouching opponents like the neutral jumping light punch but it does not have as much range, this can be useful for starting combos because of all the frame advantage on hit.
Diagonal Jumping –
Light Punch: Can be used to tick into Oicho Throw, if you time it right you can go immediately into an Oicho Throw once you hit the ground on hit or block and it won’t whiff.
Medium Punch: Honda’s most used jump in attack, it can beat certain anti air normals.
Heavy Punch: Has weird lower body invincibility with it’s hurtbox, so this is great for going through fireballs you would have landed on, and be able to combo from it after.
Light Kick: Same use as the diagonal jumping light punch.
Medium Kick: Honda’s cross up attack, this will sometimes trick your opponent into blocking the wrong way, and also can ruin a charge characters charge, just make sure to figure out the distance for this to hit behind them.
Heavy Kick: This is Honda’s most damaging diagonal jumping attack so it is useful to start combos with if the opponent gives you a big enough opening where you wouldn’t need to do medium punch or heavy punch.
Command Normals / Target Combos –
Shikofumi (Down+Forward+Heavy Kick / Overhead): Not very fast but it is useful, it puts the opponent in a hard knockdown, has good damage, can catch people trying to jump away on their wakeup, and you can cancel it into an Oicho Throw to catch people that see it coming and try to block it.
Target Combo (Close Standing Medium Punch xx Shikofumi): Not really useful at all, I don’t think I have ever used it.
Special Moves
Hundred Hand Slap –
The heavy punch version of HHS is E. Honda’s most important move in his arsenal, learning how to cancel into it from his normal moves is very important. There are several ways to do this, I will list some along with what controller type you should be doing these with (like I said before, if you are not using an Arcade Stick then you will have a more difficult time doing these, but it is possible). The light and medium versions of this move are very useless. If you hit with the EX version you have a chance at getting a one-frame unplinkable link into another crouching light punch into HHS, this should not be attempted too often because you need meter for other moves.
Arcade Stick
Piano Techniques:
*Tap each input in order.
Light punch, heavy punch, medium punch, light punch, heavy punch. (This is my favorite way of getting HHS because fingers have an easier time going from the ring finger to the index finger than the other way around.)
Light punch, medium punch, heavy punch, light punch, heavy punch. (This is the piano input that Mike Ross uses, takes a little more practice than the above, but once you get it down it will work fine.)
Sliding Techniques:
*Use your preffered finger to slide your finger along the buttons in a specific order.
Light punch, medium punch, heavy punch, medium punch, heavy punch. (This is the main way that Slide players use to get HHS to come out.)
Light punch, medium punch, light punch, medium punch, heavy punch. (This is another way to do it, but it is not very reliable.)
Keyboard
Light punch, heavy punch, medium punch, light punch, heavy punch. (Use the Piano Technique for this. Basically the only way to do it on the keyboard fast enough for HHS to come out.)
Controller / Pad
Light punch, medium punch, light punch, medium punch, heavy punch. (Use the Slide Technique for the first 4 inputs then tap the button for the last input, this will most likely take a lot of practice to get down consistently.)
Sumo Headbutt –
This is a good move for pressuring your opponent from anywhere on the screen and it does a great deal of chip damage.
Light Headbutt goes the shortest distance and has the slowest startup, but it has a lot of upper body invincibility frames so it can be used as a good anti air, it is also the safest version of headbutt along with EX headbutt.
Medium Headbutt goes about half screen and starts up faster than light but slower than heavy, has some lower body invincibility, it is safer than heavy headbutt on block.
Heavy Headbutt goes full screen and starts up the fastest of all the headbutts along with EX headbutt, it has lower body invincibility so it can go right over low fireballs like Sagat’s low tiger shot, but it is also the most unsafe version, I will explain about unsafe headbutts later in the guide.
EX Headbutt is by far the best version, it has full body invincibility so it can be used at any time to get the opponent off of you or it can be used as a great anti air, also it is almost completely safe on block and if they jump over it you will fly all the way across the screen making it hard to punish.
Sumo Smash –
Sumo smash is a good mixup, reversal, and anti-air tool, because of its invincibility, and that it is an overhead. Each version pressed has Honda go a different distance, light going the shortest and heavy going the furthest, medium Sumo Smash has the most startup invincibility. This move is safe on block unless you use the heavy version and the opponent has a 3 frame attack like some Shoryukens. It can however be punished by everyone if they use a focus attack since Sumo Smash does not break armor, to avoid getting punished like this, if used as a reversal Sumo Smash gains armor breaking properties. The EX version of this move goes a good distance and always hits twice unlike the regular versions that only hit once, making it possible to use in combos.
Oicho Throw –
This is Honda’s command grab, it is a very useful tool to him because it is quick, unblockable, damaging (for a non-grappler), sets you up for some mix ups after landing it, and it has many ways to tick into it. Oicho throw will punish players that just try to sit back and block the whole game, forcing them to try getting away from one, and if they guess incorrectly can be punished depending on how they try to dodge. The light version of this move is the one that you will be using most often because it has the most range, the heavy version can be used at times for a quick punish if you do not feel like comboing. EX Oicho Throw is pretty useless since it is the same as light, adds a little bit of damage, and takes away a bar of meter, which is extremely important to Honda.
Combos
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xx Means to cancel
, Means to link
These combos can all be started with a jump in attack
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Crouching Light Punch xx Heavy Hundred Hand Slap
(This is Honda’s most useful combo, so it is very important that you learn this and be able to execute it 100% of the time)
Crouching Light Punch xx Heavy Hundred Hand Slap , Standing Heavy Kick
(Honda is able to hit with a Standing Heavy Kick after Hundred Hand Slap ends if you do it from the right distance, so learn the distance and timing so you can get the most damage from your HHS combos)
Crouching Light Kick , Crouching Light Punch xx Heavy Hundred Hand Slap , Standing Heavy Kick
(Combo from a quick low attack to punish people not blocking low, not as much range as the above combo so you cannot rely on it completely)
Crouching Medium Kick xx Heavy Hundred Hand Slap , Standing Heavy Kick
(Good punish combo with better damage than the above combo, and can also trick people on their wakeup if they are expecting an overhead from Honda)
Close Standing Heavy Punch , Crouching Light Punch xx EX Headbutt
(Add on a Jumping Heavy Kick at the beginning and this is probably Honda’s most damaging combo without one-frame links, EX Headbutt will hit every character when using this combo, Heavy Headbutt can work too, but only against certain characters)
Crouching Light Punch xx EX Hundred Hand Slap (Hold forward during) , Crouching Light Punch xx Heavy Hundred Hand Slap , Standing Heavy Kick
(Very difficult combo, but it does a good amount of damage, especially when started with a jumping heavy kick, and you will look like a complete boss if you land this)
Frame Traps
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Frame Traps are a series of attacks that leave just enough frames in between them for an opponent to throw out a move, but not enough time for the opponent’s move to startup leaving you safe from being hit and having them hit instead, this is a good way to punish people mashing on buttons during your block strings, this does not include invincible reversal mashers though (just block and punish against those idiots).
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Far Standing Light Punch -> Crouching Light Punch [1 frame]
(Good way to punish people trying to get you away from them from a distance, if they hit a button after far standing light punch, you get a free HHS combo.)
Crouching Light Kick -> Crouching Light Punch [2 frames]
(Same as above, but more likely to work since you will be right next to them and they will want to push buttons more likely.)
Close Standing Medium Punch -> Far Standing Heavy Kick [3 frames]
(The long duration of close standing medium punch makes people think it is unsafe or at least minus on block so they try to hit you after it, this will punish them for trying, if the opponent figures out this frame trap and neutral jumps to avoid the far standing heavy kick, you can switch that out for a far standing heavy punch which will catch them in the air.)
Crouching Heavy Kick -> Crouching Light Kick [3 frames]
(Of course people are going to think that a blocked sweep from point blank range is going to be punishable, but actually Honda’s sweep leaves him plus on block, so this is a great frame trap to use on the opponent’s wakeup where you have time to startup a sweep, if they fall for it you get a free combo into crouching light punch xx HHS.)
Anti-Airing
Far Standing Heavy Punch
If you do not have a charge then this will be your go to anti-air if they jump at you, this move does trade a lot though so try to have a charge whenever possible so you don’t have to rely on this move to work.
Close Standing Heavy Punch
This can anti-air people who are pretty much directly above you, doesn’t work too well as an anti-cross up though.
Neutral Jumping Heavy Punch
This is a preemptive anti-air attack, very good move to use because it really can’t be beaten by most any jumping attacks.
Sumo Splash
The trajectory of this move makes it very useful for catching people who jump from far away, it is also useful for punishing dive kicks.
EX Sumo Splash
Same as the regular version of Sumo Splash, but the damage is better, it starts up faster, and has better invincibility.
Light Punch Sumo Headbutt
Good anti-air because of its large amounts of upper body invincibility frames, if timed right this move should be able to punish all normal jump in attacks and some specials like airborne Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Start up is slow though so if not done fairly early they will land and block it.
EX Sumo Headbutt
Honda’s best anti-air, it has good startup time, great invincibility, good damage, and knocks the opponent far away.
Setting up Oicho Throw
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These setups will confuse your opponent, making them think you are starting a combo so they block, but instead you are stopping and going right into an Oicho Throw to get good damage and to set up some mixups. Once the opponent sees this they will most likely try to escape it, then you can continue your combo instead of Oicho Throw to punish them for jumping away.
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Diagonal Jumping Light Punch or Diagonal Jumping Light Kick -> Oicho Throw
Going into an Oicho Throw right when you hit the ground after connecting with this move (hit or block) will work a lot because of how fast it forces the opponent to react before they get thrown.
Crouching Light Punch -> Oicho Throw
Most basic setup for Oicho Throw, it makes the opponent think that Hundred Hand Slap is coming.
Crouching Light Kick -> Crouching Light Punch -> Oicho Throw
Makes the opponent think a combo is coming more than the above setup, but using this too much will get you punished since it leaves more time for the opponent to react.
Shikofumi (Overhead) xx Oicho Throw
This is a good trick to use on the opponents wakeup, because of Honda’s slow overhead startup time, the opponent will see it coming and be sure to stay on the ground and block so they do not get hit, this leaves them open to an Oicho Throw.
Hundred Hand Slap xx FADC Forward -> Oicho Throw
Honda’s best way to set up an Oicho Throw from a distance without risking a jump in. If your opponent starts to see this coming instead of doing an Oicho Throw, go right into a crouching light punch xx HHS after the dash.
Empty Jump -> Oicho Throw
Almost everyone expects you to attack if you are jumping in so they will try to block it, if you do not attack then you can land and go immediately into an Oicho Throw, giving the opponent no time to react whatsoever.
Focus Absorb xx Dash Forward -> Oicho Throw
E. Honda’s forward dash is not too terribly great, but at times this setup can work to get through poorly timed fireballs or pokes.
Punishable Sumo Headbutts
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Not updated for Ultra where EX headbutt is punishable by a lot. Note that using a Sumo Headbutt in the corner can be punished by almost every character, I will not be listing corner headbutt punishes. Blocking a Sumo Headbutt while standing allows some characters to punish that wouldn’t be able to if they crouch blocked, so assume that all characters are doing a standing block.
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Abel –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Light / Medium / EX Change of Direction.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Adon –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Light Rising Jaguar, Super, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Super.
- Light headbutt can be punished by Super.
Akuma –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Crouching Heavy Kick, Super, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Balrog –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Light Dash Straight, Light Dash Upper, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Light Dash Straight, and Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Blanka –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Amazon River Run (Slide), and Ultra 2.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Amazon River Run.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Cammy –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Medium / Heavy / EX Spiral Arrow and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Chun-Li –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Standing Heavy Kick, Super, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Super and Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt can be punished by Super, and Ultra 1.
Cody –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Medium / EX Ruffian Kick, and Ultra 2.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Medium / EX Ruffian Kick, and Ultra 2.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
C. Viper –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Medium Thunder Knuckle.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Dan –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by EX Dankukyaku, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Dee Jay –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Medium / Heavy / EX Double Rolling Sobat, Super, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Super, and Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Dhalsim –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by all of Dhalsim’s long range normals excluding standing heavy kick.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by all of Dhalsim’s long range normals excluding standing heavy kick.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Dudley –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Medium Machine Gun Blow, EX Ducking Straight, and Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by EX Ducking Straight, and Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1.
E. Honda –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Standing Heavy Kick.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
El Fuerte –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Evil Ryu –
- No version can be punished.
Fei Long –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by all versions of Rekkaken, and Super.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by all versions of Rekkaken, and Super.
- Light headbutt can be punished by Medium Rekkaken, and Super.
Gen –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Standing Medium Kick.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Gouken –
- No version can be punished.
Guile –
- No version can be punished.
Guy –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Shadow Kick and EX Hozanto.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by EX Hozanto.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Hakan –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Heavy Oil Slide, Heavy / EX Oil Dive, and Super.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Super.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Ibuki –
- All versions punishable only by Ultra 2.
Juri –
- All versions punishable only by Super.
Ken –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Forward + Medium Kick, and EX Tatsumaki Senpukyaku.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Makoto –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by EX Hayate.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ex Hayate.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
M. Bison –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by all versions of Double Knee Press, Standing Medium Kick, Heavy Psycho Crusher, and EX Psycho Crusher.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Light / Medium / EX Double Knee Press, and Standing Medium Kick.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Oni –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Ultra 2, and Super.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Super.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Rose –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by EX Soul Spiral, and Super.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Rufus –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Crouching Heavy Punch, and Ultra 2.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ultra 2.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Ryu –
- All versions punishable only by Super.
Sagat –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Ultra 2.
- Medium headbutt cannot be punished.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Sakura –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Heavy Shouoken.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Heavy Souoken.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Seth –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1, Ultra 2, Super, Far Standing Heavy Punch, and Lightning Kick.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ultra 1, Super, Far Standing Heavy Punch, and Lightning Kick.
- Light headbutt can be punished by Super.
T. Hawk –
- No version can be punished.
Vega –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Standing Medium kick, and EX Flying Barcelona Attack.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Standing Medium kick, and EX Flying Barcelona Attack.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Yang –
- No version can be punished.
Yun –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by Ultra 2, Zesshou Hohou, and Forward + Heavy Punch.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Ultra 2, and Zesshou Hohou.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.
Zangief –
- Heavy headbutt can be punished by all versions of Banishing Flat.
- Medium headbutt can be punished by Light / Medium / EX Banishing Flat.
- Light headbutt cannot be punished.