Rushdown

 

Overview

Rushdown refers to a both a general philosophy across all fighting games as well as a number of specific, aggressive strategies and play styles in particular games. It can be considered the opposite of turtling. The general goal of a rushdown player is to overwhelm the opponent and force costly mistakes either by using fast, confusing setups or by taking advantage of an impatient opponent as they are forced to play defense for prolonged periods of time. Rushdown players often favor attacking opponents in the corner or as they get up from a knockdown; both situations severely limit the options of the opponent and often allow the attacking player to force high-risk guessing scenarios.  
 
Rushdown characters are often fast and require a certain degree of physical dexterity and educated guesswork to use effectively. Some famously strong rushdown characters include Marvel vs. Capcom 2's Magneto, Street Fighter III: Third Strike's Dudley and Makoto, Tekken's Bob, and Street Fighter IV's Rufus, to name a few.