Hi there! If you don’t know who Jefailey is you obviously don’t know enough about Fighting Game Community memes, so go look up some stuff on knowyourmeme.com for a bit I guess.

Now that your FGC memes are up to snuff, you can now read this guide. The purpose of this guide is to explain all the quirks that make up this beast of a character so you can play him at his best, or to improve your Jef strats with new info you may not know.

So, to avoid making you read through stuff you might already know or you won’t understand, feel free to follow the below instructions according to what you consider to be your current status:

“Just bought the game” tier: Jef is a pretty rough character to start playing right off the bat with, so I would recommend checking out Thanospkc’s excellent basics guide and then returning here for more info about everyone’s favourite top-tier character.

“I’ve played this game before and this character’s seems pretty dope” tier: Well, don’t worry, as you are exactly the target audience of this guide!

…

...so feel free to read all of it.

“Already a Jef master” tier: Hi there Hdiz/Ober420! You may correct me on my opinions on matchups or on any wrong info I might have left in here.

Short answer: Obviously.

Long answer: Sure, I guess. Jef is this game’s by-the-book Glass Cannon[tvtropes.org], so he certanly has the upper hand if played correctly, but if you slip up even once you might as well lose the entire match because of it. Nonetheless, his dynamic matches and complex gameplay make for a fun character to play as.

His most defining feature is his inflatable head, which grows every time you win a round. This makes him floatier the more wins you have and it makes the opponent getting a headshot on you exponentially more likely to happen if you’re not careful. This also makes all matchups change drastically as you get closer to victory, as it may make previously unfavourable matchups turn around on your side (versus Dr. Shoals, for example) or it might turn you into a one-kick man who mostly stands around charging a kick while you wait for a timeout to happen.

Wait, a charged kick? What’s that you’ll ask? Is it his other trademarketed feature which separates him from the rest of the cast? Why yes, of course! His kick is based off on Mike Haggar’s dropkick from Final Fight and MvC3 (and maybe R. Mika?), which makes him one of the only three characters to not have a kick with a straight trajectory. Also unlike the rest of the characters you can hold the Kick button to charge your kicks and go from mildly faster to shooting yourself from side to side of the screen. This ability can give him a big tactical advantage if used properly, as the opponent won’t be able to get near you safely once you have charged it up.
Another thing about his kicks are that as they usually come from above, you usually end up getting more headshots than not, so chaining headshots is a more viable strategy if done correctly (though it’s easier said than done).

His specials are probably some of his more powerful tools, as one gives him a projectile that if it connects with the opponent instantly empties his meter bar (which is good) and the other one gives you the power to MANIPULATE TIME AND SPACE TO YOUR WILL SO YOU CAN show off your own bobblehead for 2 seconds. How can you beat that? Anyways, his specials are pretty complex, so they’ll be explained in their own section.

To end off this small introduction, his KF (short for KickFactor) is pretty insane if used correctly. Basically, while in KF all kicks Jef does are instantly max charged kicks, which makes him easily the most agile character in the game (and makes for some hilarious situations).

So basically, if you like high-risk high-reward characters, who have a lot of options to deal with opponents but are hard to master due to the opponent being able to easily punish you then this is the character for you.

If you are a boring person who takes the chillis out of spicy food and wants to put no effort into his wins, then go play Kung or something, I won’t judge you. (I will)

And now, to get started on the basics.

On which I explain how to effectively use Jef’s charge. Basically, while you press the K button you charge your kick, and when you kick you consume all your charge, getting a faster kick depending on how much charge you had. Have in mind that releasing the K button while not jumping will reset your charge.

As a general rule YOU SHOULD (nearly) ALWAYS BE HOLDING DOWN THE KICK BUTTON except when you're about to kick or back-kick. His kick charges if and only when you’re holding down the K button, even if you’re jumping, kicking or even doing an special, so be sure to press K again after releasing it as quickly as possible. Also, his kick charges linearly over the period of 5 seconds, and stays maxed out until you release the K button.

Also, there is a small period just after jumping where if you try to kick then you’ll lose all your charge without actually kicking, so practice the timing to make a minimal height kick if you don’t want to drop flat on the floor (or so you can drop flat on your opponent’s head on demand!).

Another thing integral on playing Jef are his specials, which besides having the most comedic value out of all the cast are also some of the better ones IF you know how to use them.

Jef takes out a megaphone and shouts a big projectile that drains ALL the enemy meter on contact, allowing you to potentially always be on meter advantage. As you can guess this is REALLY good against any character that relies heavily on meter like Skill, Mr.N, Kenny and so on.
Even better, since Addition Edition hit you can now cancel a kick into it, so if you have done a bad kick and the opponent is going to kick you when landing you can always DQ to try and save yourself. Remember to always kick before DQing for the extra meter!

While this special seems easy enough to comprehend, there are a couple of really important quirks/bugs that you should be aware of. First of all, notice that usually when you DQ there’s a sort of knockback effect that sends you flying backwards. While this knockback can be pretty useful, be aware if the DQ projectile hits something before you finish shouting you’ll just drop straight down, and if there’s any kind of pause while you shout (KF activation, other Timer Scam) you will take a lot more knockback.
In second place if the opponent activates Kickfactor while a DQ projectile is still flying it will NOT stop while the animation plays, instead it will continue until it hits something. If you time it just right, you may even end the opponents KF before it even starts, usually sending them into a spiral of despair which may result in your win.

Jef takes out his bobblehead for all of us to see, which stops all action for 2 seconds. This special alone makes Jef the best character for winning timeouts, as if you use it while the timer is at 1 OR LOWER (the timer still has a full second to go when it says 0) you’ll instantly win the round if you’re closer to the center line.
Apart from the obvious use, this special also has a myriad of other smaller uses if you’re feeling creative enough, which are:

• Charging 2 seconds of Kick
  
• An aid to react to incoming kicks
  
• Messing up your opponents inputs
  
• Running out the enemy Kickfactor meter
  
• As a makeshift in-game taunt
  
• etc.

Jef takes out a calculator and finds out how many meter he gains for each kick, gaining further insight into his inner workings.

• Each time he kicks he gains 38 points of meter
  
• DQ requires 180 meter
  
• TS requires 280 meter
  
• At 480 points he triggers KF, which lasts for 8 seconds

So in short, starting from an empty meter he can DQ after 5 kicks, TS after 8 kicks and trigger KF after 13 kicks.
Note that using specials during KF still drains the normal amount of meter, though you can use them even if you don’t have the required amount, in which case the meter just resets to 0.

So if you have played with Jef at all you know how floaty he gets 2 or more wins. As mentioned, that’s one of his biggest assets and one of his biggest flaws at the same time, because you have to constantly readjust your strategy as the match advances. While the specifics vary from matchup to matchup, here are some guidelines on what to prioritize:

0-2 wins: This is the stage of the fight where you are more agile, can push back enemies better, can build meter more easily and are less susceptible to getting headshotted. In this phase you can play Jef as most other characters, building meter and moving with low kicks and punishing bad kicks from your opponent, while still being able to charge kicks if needed. Focus on chaining headshots if able to and building meter, while being semi-aggressive.

2-4 wins: Now the playstyle usually changes to be a lot more defensive, with a huge focus on charged kicks. As you can’t really push forward in a safe manner your main pressure tool will be charging a kick to push opponents back, punish if they try to come in and try to force a timeout if possible. Try to carry as much meter as possible from previous stages, as building on this stage goes from unsafe to suicidal depending on the matchup.

This is basically a repository of different strategies you can use in your matchups, which I’ll reference on the matchup guide to point out the most effective way to play against each character.

Chargeless Pressure
AKA normal footsies. Just Dive -> Kick or Kickback -> Kick to build meter, punish the opponent if he tries to come in and push him backwards. Remember to not get too mindless to prevent getting kicked by incoming YOLO kicks.

Charged Pressure
Consists on building a decent amount of charge to force the opponent either to come in unsafely or to be pushed back, at which point you can advance a bit and repeat or build meter yourself. This is the way to go when on 3+ heads, as horizontal mobility is greatly reduced due to Jef’s floatiness.

Charge Voiding
If an opponent is right next to you and standing still you might not be able to just kick him if you have enough charge, as you’ll just fly right over him. To prevent this you can release the kick button right after jumping to lose all your stored charge and press it again to do a normal kick, hopefully dropping right into your opponent's head.

Back-kick Bait
When landing right next to your opponent the usual reaction you can expect from them is to punish you almost instantly. Knowing this you can purposely land right next to them, immediately back-kick away and kick again to counter-punish their punish. Jef’s unique kicking angle makes this strategy pretty effective at low heads, but don’t abuse this strat, as people can start counter-counter-punishing you if they expect it.

YOLO Opening
AKA the best way to tell someone they are overextending. If your can see you opponent just blindly rushing forwards at each round start just also kick forwards right at the start of the round to make them more defensive, which should give you more time to build kicks. You can also try to delay a bit the punished to confirm that they are actually rushing in on that particular round.

Delay Kicks
The holy grail of Jef strats. If you can do this consistently you can consider yourself to be a member of the Jef club. Basically, when at 3+ heads your opponents will start enjoying hanging out right next to the spot you jumped from (maybe they are using your head as an umbrella?). If when you’re descending they still haven’t backed off, there’s a small window between you descend and you land on which you can kick right into your opponent, or even better, his head. The timings pretty precise, so be sure to practice this beforehand.

Royal Guard Stance
AKA the only reason why you shouldn't be holding down the Kick button while standing. As we already covered the easier way to punish enemy kicks is with a Kickback -> Kick, but doing it on reaction can be quite hard so you need every edge you can when reacting. As just pressing a button is way faster than letting go and then repressing a button, when expecting a kick you can stop building charge to react to stuff quicker, and start building charge again when/if the opponent backs off.

Standing Still
As you have probably already noticed people reeeeeally going for the headshots, but when Jef is at 0-1 wins his head isn’t big enough to reliably get them, which results in people sometimes overshooting you to punish your jump , resulting in a headshot. In that case, the best thing you can do is absolutely nothing and punish them when they pass right over you.

Getting out of a Headshot Chain
Which is easier said than done, as if you’re headshoted while at 2-4 wins you’re going to have a bad time. As no one is perfect you’ll find yourself in this situation quite a bit, so it’s important to know how to return to a neutral state ASAP.
Your primary objective is running down the headshot timer if possible. As your opponents will (usually) try to corner you before going for another headshot you should only back off when absolutely necessary, which is usually before when the opponent dives in front of you when going for the kill. If you do manage to survive until the end of the timer you can try to surprise counterattack right after the timer ends, as you’ll have full mobility on exactly that moment and still keep any charge you had.
In case the opponent can corner you and headshot you again before the timer ends, you have two ways of getting out: conditioning the opponent on making a mistake and punishing that and forcing a non-headshot kick on yourself to return to neutral. Both require paying attention to what your rival is actually doing so you can force him to be more defensive than needed by doing some YOLO kicks, or to be more aggressive by building enough charge.
Also, have in mind that if the oponent is ultra-agressive on the round start a simple kick forward at the start of the round should both get you out of the headshot and make the oponent think twice before pushing so mindlessly, which will make running out the headshot timer easier. Don't rely too much on this strat or the oponent will expect it and punish it accordingly though.

DQ-Kara-canceling
If you don’t have (for some reason) the K button held while jumping and you want to DQ you can press K and then D shortly after (which is called plinking) to kick and then DQ right after, building some extra meter. Kara-canceling isn’t a technique specially useful on Jef, as his air special is cancelable and most of the time he already has the Kick button held anyways, but squeezing some extra meter in a more efficient manner is never bad.

Setup-ing
There are two ways of baiting an opponent with DQ. The first one consists on doing a normally unsafe kick, interrupt it with DQ (bonus points if the projectile actually hits) and then counter-punish your opponents punish.
The second one is more matchup specific, but overall a lot more effective. On character with a low jump and a horizontal kick (like Kung Pao or Markman) and when they have a decent amount of meter just neutral jump and throw a DQ so it hits approximately where the opponent is currently standing. As they’ll most likely won’t want to lose their hard earned meter they’ll try to dive and then kick to avoid your projectile, moment on which you’ll be able to punish them, usually by kicking right after DQing. On the other hand, if they just stand there and take the DQ well, they’ll still have lost all their meter so it’s win-win for you!

Knockback
Because of how Jef kick works hitting enemies right below you is not doable after a neutral Dive, and after you land your opponent can just K->K to get a free headshot. If the happens just DK at the peak of your jump, and use the momentum of the knockback to position yourself right before your opponents for a free headshot!

Center Braking
If you’re on a stand-off situation where time is about to run out, you have 2-4 wins, you have a fully charged kick and you’re farther from the center than your adversary you can try this strategy to try and take the center. Just neutral jump and kick right when the round is about to end and use DQ right above or a bit farther than the center-line so when the timer ends you’re as close as possible to the center. A good alternative for when a Timer Scam is too risky.

End of Round Baiting
So yeah, if a round is about to end and you have meter your opponent will just know that you’re about to TS him. It’s like the sole reason this thing exists, right? Well, so you can play with their expectations by, for example, TSing when the timer is at 2 and headshotting them on the small window of time that’s left after; or punishing their attempt to take the center by not Timer Scamming at all.

React Aid
If you think your adversary is going to try to go for the kill, or you just find each on right next to each other you can Timer Scam to try to give yourself a bit more time to analyze the situation. Usually the best course of action is to mash the K kick to kickback and then kick right after finishing the taunt, though if your opponent starts predicting that you’ll do that you can try just building some charge.

Safe Activation
While your KF is overall really powerful the kick you fill your meter with can be used to punish you heavily as it still doesn’t count as KF, specially in matchups like the Kung Pao or the Sensei ones. In that case you might want to set up your activation kick, which can be done by:
Activating it on the midst of a neutral dive (using DQ if you want to charge-kick without landing)
Building meter to pressure your adversary and then either kicking as normal or charge voiding it
Waiting until your opponent comes in and just punishing them as normal (be wary of them interrupting their kick though)

Safe(r) Positioning
As strong as your KF is, it comes with a really strong flaw, which is that while all your kicks are fully charged not having uncharged kicks means that you’ll be overextending yourself with any kick you do if your adversary predicts it. As your opponents will try to stay as away as possible from you (and with good reason) you can try to pressure them by back-kicking and then kicking as low as possible, and then going for the kill when they are finally cornered. If even that is too unsafe (like in most Kung matchups), you can just kick on the top of a neutral jump, reset your kick with a DQ and then kick again if you have a good angle.

Everyone’s favourite part, amirite?

Gem: Kick
Pretty balanced matchup, both players have great headshot chaining potential so be wary of those. In general try to prioritize building charge over pressuring Dive, and then punish him when he tries to pressure you.

Gem: Kick
Same as Dive but easier. Try to pressure him a bit more so he doesn’t have access to his specials, as all two of them can be quite good against Jef and his KF is pretty brutal. Also, because of his low Dive height DQs are really effective here, so try to keep his specials at bay with them.

Gem: Kick
Kung Pao is really easy to play as. She’s so easy that you can expect 50% of your opponents to be maining or have a pocket Pao, and worst of all, she can be played so radically differently that you’re probably going to spends your first match against someone trying to figure out if he’s going full-turtle, full-YOLO or some point in between.
Your biggest asset on this fight are charged kicks, so try to build charge when you see Kung trying to pressure you. Depending on what she’s doing at the moment you should act in two different ways:
She’s building meter in the corner: Usually done by people who are too pansy to push without KF. When she’s doing this you can either push (without getting too close or she’ll punish you!) or build meter yourself, while making sure to DQ her if you see the chance. DQ baiting also works really well against Kung because of her unique angle, so sometimes even a correctly positioned raw DQ will work wonders against her.
She’s actively pressuring me: AKA when Kung constantly attempts to invade your personal space, and try to catch you off guard with unreactable kicks. As Kung can’t get close to you safely at all when you have charge try to already have some built or if you need it really urgently build it with a TC. When you have enough charge you should only really dive when pressuring her from across the map or when going for the kill, as you’ll be too easily punishable when you’re landing.
She’s a maaniac, maaaniac, on the floor: AKA when she’s just going full YOLO, either at the start of the match or somewhere in-between. If she always starts the match with a raw kick forward just punish her with a normal kick to stop her from doing so, and otherwise just try to bait a kick from her with a back-kick and punish her that way.

Gem: Kick / YOLO
While technically possible, it's definitely an uphill battle. If Mr.N has enough meter for doing his air special (which is always) it’s incredibly hard to punish his jumps. Your only chance is to either chain headshots until you’re at 3-4 wins so you can outjump him or try to build meter and only go after him after connecting a DQ.
If you can’t switch characters you can always try picking the YOLO gem for the necessary higher Dive and meter build, or at least so the match finishes faster :P
After actually getting to play against a Mr.N main again and some advice from Hdiz this matchup might be not that impossible, while still being one of Jef's worst. The key is in realizing when the Mr.N wants to bait one of your punishes and either backkick and delay your kick to try to counter-counter-punish him or to not punish at all and try to get Mr.N while he is still jumping. As if you can win enough rounds you'll end up outjumping him anyways the kick gem is recomended to make punishing him on reads easier.

Gem: Kick
While this match can get a bit unplayable online due to Red’s twitch-kick style of playing it’s actually pretty balanced for both players overall. As usual building some charge is a pretty good way to punish Red, but don’t be afraid of releasing the Kick button to react faster to an over-aggressive Red. As always DQing her helps a lot, as her KF can be incredibly dangerous due to her air-special shenanigans where she just flings herself at you.
Also, be wary of her crouches, as they are pretty hard to hit if you have 2-4 wins, so try to get her with a back-kick into a delayed kick to try to punish her.
And on the topic of hitboxes Red is infamous for having probably the most broken normal hitbox on the game, being almost on the same level as Stream's flame kick and Markman upkick. As her kicks hitbox takes up almost half of her leg, it's not unusual for her to "pierce" other kicks which normally would result in a draw. Luckily Jef also has one of the most broken hitboxes in the game, so don't worry too much about that :D

Gem: Dive
Still not great for Jef but not nearly as bad as before AE hit. The start of the match can bit rough but when you get a couple wins you pretty much have the upper hand IF you don’t get headshot, as that’s pretty much an instant game over.
Still, don’t be over aggressive and eventually you’ll laugh on the face of everyone who tries to “counterpick” you with Shoals!

Gem: Dive / Kick / YOLO
Almost a hard counter to Jef, but there’s still a few tricks you can use to try to win this matchup. Try to keep your distance, as if he super-jumps at close range it’s pretty much a free headshot for him, and take advantage of the fact that Sensei has a hard time pushing safely without using loads of meter, so don’t be afraid to punish his pushes if you have enough charge.
The key to this matchup is to keep Sensei at medium range and try to read when he's going to come in to punish him then. If the Sensei isn't using fancy-nancy stuff out of ThanosPKC's guide his mobility is like trying to do origami with a fishing pole, aka incredibly unwieldly, so just charge up your kicks and try to punish him if he comes forward, go over him if he does a low foot-kick and jump below him if he does an excedingly high super-kick.
As a headshot is pretty much an instant loss if you’re at 2-4 wins, you might also want to try the YOLO gem, as that extra dive height will make Sensei’s super-jumps actually punishable, though because of how buggy this games hitboxes are you shouldn't pick it in any serious environment.
Another way to go about this matchup is the “DQ City” strat, on which you basically spend the whole matchup building meter and spamming DQs to avoid Sensei having enough meter for a super-jump.

Gem: KICK, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD KICK GEM
Clearly a hard counter, Jef pretty much always wins this.
On a more serious note, this matchup is probably one of the most unfun ones to play in the game IF and only IF any of the two players have any idea on the optimal way to play it. So in case you want to actually enjoy the matchup you’re in luck, as I won’t spoil it for you :D

Gem: Kick
Fighting the Baz is a matter of knowing when to push and when to defend. Basically you can assume that the enemy Baz will always be either 100% dedicated to building meter by doing repeatedly canceling low kicks or 100% dedicated to offense starting a kick by doing a high jump, so try to pressure him when he’s building meter and try to play defensively with back-kick punishes when he’s attacking.
Also be wary of both his specials, as they are both really good against you. Usually Baz will use his Bazkouzen at the end of your kicks or to punish your jumps, so try to stay on the ground as much as possible and try to punish him if you see him rotate towards you. Also, against his shocker if you see him mysteriously stand still for a second he’s obviously baiting a Shocker, so just delay kick him after he does it or if you’re right over him DQ to get out of the way safely.

Gem: Kick
Pretty good matchup for Jef, assuming you can keep the pressure up. As Mark can’t attack at all except with enough meter for his air special or with his Kickbox active try to push him to the corner while building meter of DQs and KF so he can’t search for objects. Be wary of his glue and his poison mist if you’re almost on KF, otherwise just DQ him if possible and push past the mist.

Gem: Dive / Kick
Pretty balanced matchup actually. Optimally you should try to punish his kicks right as they finish, so try to time your jumps to start right before or after his kick animation ends so he can’t cancel it into another with his air special. As his KF is also really dangerous, if you can land a DQ try to go for it, but if you get too predictable he’ll just dodge it.

Gem: Kick
Hope you know how to dodge S-Kill’s Tricks, because that’s all he’s going to do in this matchup! Your only chance at succeeding here is to always be on full offensive mode and try to get him with a kick or DQ before he can build enough meter for trick, and if he does try to dodge it above all else WHILE trying to maintain pressure. If you can read his trick you can most of the times escape it by just jumping or back-kicking, but if you have enough wins and he doesn’t trick due to the floatiness of your jump you just set yourself up for a free headshot.
Actually only DQ when Skill doesn't have meter for trick AND he doesn't expect it, otherwise it's a guaranteed headshot.
Also, if he stands still while you’re close he’ll (pretty much) ALWAYS go for the parry, so mix up your kick timings if you can.

Gem: Meter
As usual, the Kenny matchup is one of the most fun to play on the game and this one is no exception! Pretty much everything said above still applies, but Kenny can cancel nearly every kick into his air special, so when he has enough meter be wary of baits and try to DQ him as soon as possible.

Gem: Kick
Basically the Dive matchup with some nuances to it. His car is mostly useless, so don’t worry too much about it unless he makes it ultra-obvious that he’s going to use it; and his black hole is a good opportunity to build some charge, as getting stuck in there while hilarious can result in a headshot from either party. If he manages to activate his KF play as defensive as possible, as without consistent charged kicks pushing against Gat is pretty hard.

Gem: Kick
Oh boy, everyone’s favourite character. The most important thing to do on this matchup is, if he has the sword, to bait it away from him and to not let him touch that ever again if possible. Just imagine like Fencer is He-Man on that regard. The easier way to do this is by baiting sword-throws and dodging the sword so it falls on one of the two corners, which can be done by canceling kicks into DQs, kicking right over the thrown sword or jumping out of the way if you’re on the ground. Even if you don’t manage to dodge it, just standing in a corner and getting the Fencer to throw a sword at you is definitely worth the single loss.
Of course, you don't have to worry about baiting the sword from him if you don't even let him have it in the first place, so start the matchup being ultraagressive to take the middle and then apply pressure from there so he doesn't get it. Have in mind that if he kicks you and lands next to the sword he'll still pick it up.
When you do manage to get the sword away from him the battle becomes a much easier version of the Dive matchup, only that you still have to worry about keeping the sword away from him. Depending on the side the sword is stuck on you might want to play differently. If the sword is stuck on the Fencer’s spawn side of the map try to back-kick immediately after the start of the match and build meter until the Fencer tries to start being more aggressive or if he starts building meter for KF (with which he’ll be able to retrieve the sword for free!) try to DQ him or get him with a charged kick. If the sword is in your side, just play more aggressively while looking out for rolls he’ll try to do to sneak past you towards the sword.

Just go play the game already.

If you have any more questions feel free to add me at http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/id/NekuCerv

For finding people who is actually playing the game be sure to check out the Dailies at http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/groups/CDKTourney

Huge thanks to ThanosPKC for his Divekick Data spreadsheet, inspiring me to write this guide with his Sensei one and be willing to put up with my horrible new meta suggestions every other week (YOLO gem is actually viable, you guys :P)

Also, thanks to Fireball for writing the program to extract the hitboxes from the game’s files and to Hdiz and Ober420 for sticking with this character!

-Changed recomended gem in the Jef mirror


-Made adjustments acording to feedback from Hdiz (thanks, btw!)
-Leaving the 4.5-6.5 matchup in there


-Created the guide, duh