TEKKEN 8 fighter

Dragunov

RushdownOppressive pressure and rushdown

What beats Dragunov?32% of this movelist is punishable

Moves

141

Punishable

Defining strength

Rushdown

Excellent pressure mids (wr2, b+1+2 etc.) that punish opponents both for getting hit or blocking.

Best on block

highest on-block advantage in the movelist

Rushdown

Oppressive pressure and rushdown

Dragunov is an oppressive pressure and rushdown character who excels at freezing his opponents cold with powerful, plus-on-block mids, and then slicing them open with hard-hitting mixups, and a complete throw game. He combines strong poking and above-average movement and whiff punishment, making his "small Tekken" also difficult to deal with. In Heat, Dragunov's pressure becomes even more chilling due to the constant chip damage, which when coupled with his pokes, will punish you even for blocking. Dragunov is fairly simple and straightforward to use, and success with him is directly proportional to your skill. He is excellent for players looking to embody Tekken 8's aggressive philosophy and force their opponents to constantly block their big, strong buttons. Dragunov's pressure moves can be fairly linear, and require skill to land against opponents with good movement. Their slower startup also leaves Dragunov open to interruption, and he doesn't have the best tools to counterhit opponents trying to mash against him.

What defines them

Rushdown

Excellent pressure mids (wr2, b+1+2 etc.) that punish opponents both for getting hit or blocking.

Where they lose

Interruptible

His primary pressure tools are fairly slow, and he has very few ways to compensate for them outside of his pokes.

Stances

SNK (Sneak) – qcf

Heat Smash

Mid, i15, +6

Feint & Catch and Ambush Tackle become unbreakable.
Can perform Ambush Tackle after additional moves.

Strengths

Rushdown
Excellent pressure mids (wr2, b+1+2 etc.) that punish opponents both for getting hit or blocking.
Hard-hitting
High damage output and decent wall carry.
Dancer's legs
Long range on some pokes.
Geared for success
Great Heat Engagers, including ws1+2, an i12 punish from crouch, and 1,2,1, an i10 CH wall splatting string.
Sambo master
Access to a complete throw game, along with unbreakable tackles in Heat, and throws that remove recoverable health.
Fear of pigeons
Amazing oki at the wall with the addition of Pigeon Roll 2 and 3.

Weaknesses

Interruptible
His primary pressure tools are fairly slow, and he has very few ways to compensate for them outside of his pokes.
Side-switcher
Has to give up wall position to deal optimal damage with b+1+2 and uf+1, and most of his throws also side switch to some degree.
Linear
Most - if not all - of his key moves have little to no tracking, making him very vulnerable against lateral movement.
Lack of CH-utility
His counterhit tools are below average and fairly risky, so he has to rely mostly on movement and fairly low-reward parries against offensive opponents.

Moves to learn first

Signature and situational picks come from the guide; the fastest launcher and best unpunishable poke are derived from this character's own frame data.