vs. Dhalsim

Downing Dhalsim

Dhalsim’s limbs have large hurtboxes and are relatively easy to counter-poke from a distance, if he’s predictable. They’re even vulnerable to hit-throws from almost full screen. He’ll supplement his long-range poking with Yoga Fires if you give him room, but his startup on this arcing fireball is actually quite long, giving you time to move in on the ground. Don’t respect Yoga Fire startup.

He’ll likely Yoga Teleport often for mobility, offense, and reversal escapes. You’ll have to get used to blocking sudden jumping overheads when he teleports directly above your character’s head. Training Mode can help immensely: go use two recording slots, one with Dhalsim’s tiger knee punch teleport into cross-up and another with the kick teleport into front-hitting . Then, just drill yourself blocking/reacting to both.

For Yoga Teleport escapes, you’ll have to make some hard reads and perhaps use option selects, depending on your character (like a shoto jump-in or meaty poke buffered into Tatsumaki Senpukyaku). A jump-in or meaty over Dhalsim’s wakeup that he teleports away from can just lead to him getting hit, if you prepare adequately. Getting a feel for Dhalsim’s teleport tendencies is important. Thanks to Dhalsim’s low stamina, catching him on an escape even once in a round can make all the difference.

When Dhalsim drops Yoga Burner on your side of the screen, you’ll slowly build up white damage that Dhalsim can make permanent with any single hit. Watch out for him to strike suddenly with low-hitting slides or overhead-hitting instant jumping . If you’re not cornered and you’re not at critically low stamina yet, it’s usually worth it to just make some big, bold lateral movement to get away from Yoga Burner. This could include Vega jumping to the opposite wall, Karin using EX Sappo forward, F.A.N.G. slithering past with EX Nikankyaku, Rashid V-Skill leaping over, Chun-Li performing V-Skill jump into Head Stomps, shotos forward-jumping into aerial Tatsu or simply using “random” grounded Tatsu, and so on. Dhalsim isn’t the fastest character, so the likelihood that he’ll actually be able to punish you hard for an edgy escape attempt is low, unless he simply reads you like a book. Once you’re clear from Yoga Burner’s area, it’s really hard for Dhalsim to force you back in at midscreen.