Tekken 8: Eddy Gordo Guide - Combos, Move List, Rage Arts, & More

Eddy Gordo is now fully playable in Tekken 8. This character has been a mainstay in the Tekken games since all the way back in Tekken 3, and his character design has only gotten better and better over time. Eddy also has an incredibly visually distinct fighting style compared to the rest of the roster as he is a Capoeira master, a martial art with dancing as its foundation.

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Those of you who have watched any gameplay of this character might be thinking he looks complicated to play given his multiple stances and moves that are 'all over the place'. However, it turns out this character is absurdly easy to learn in-depth, even for new Tekken 8 players overall. So, let's break down who Eddy Gordo is as a character, what his story is, what his mechanics are, and what you should keep in mind when you play as him.

Eddy Gordo: The Indomitable Flash

What Has He Been Up To? Why No Character Story In Tekken 8?

To start things off, let's take a look at who exactly Eddy Gordo is as a character in the Tekken franchise. For one, Eddy may just be one of the most recognizable characters from the Tekken IP, as every kid who ever played a Tekken 3 arcade cabinet had to try the guy who spins on his head at least once. Despite how 'silly' his fighting style might seem (nothing silly about the freedom that Capoeira represents) his actual life story is incredibly tragic. Up until age 19 Eddy Gordo had it pretty good. He was from a rich family, had a nice life, and had a bright future. However, one day he comes home to find his father shot and on death's door after the Brazilian Drug Cartels that he was trying to destroy attacked him. Eddy's father pleads to Eddy to lie and say that he murdered his father so that Eddy can stay safe in prison, for now.

Eddy listens and spends the next 8 years in prison, which is where he actually learned Capoeira in the first place. After getting out, Eddy goes and teaches this martial art to his master's granddaughter, Christie Monteiro, and both of them participate in the next King of Iron Fist Tournament. Neither wins the tournament, unfortunately, but Eddy does work out a deal with Jin to treat his dying master in exchange for Eddy joining Jin's 'Tekken Force'. The events of Tekken 6 are pretty all over the place, but it turns out Eddy's Master still sadly dies, which means Eddy made that deal for nothing. He immediately leaves the Tekken Force, heads to G Corp, and proceeds to be beaten within an inch of his life before being saved by Yoshimitsu.

After this, Eddy does some self-reflection and some hardcore training that leads him to where he is now in Tekken 8. It's not entirely clear what his story or motivations are in the newest game, however, as (for some reason) Eddy didn't get a Character Episode released alongside his actual character release.

How The Tekken Notates Combos & Attacks

For Writing Out Directional Inputs, Attacks, & Combo Strings

The Tekken community uses a bit of a unique writing style for rotating their inputs compared to other fighting games. To be more specific, Tekken has Left Punch, Right Punch, Left Kick, and Right Kick that are expressed in the same order as 1, 2, 3, and 4. So, a combo that followed a sequence of, say, Left Punch into Right Punch into Left and Right Punch together would be written as 1, 2, 1+2.

When doing things this way, Tekken players can easily read how a combo or attack string is performed regardless of what their controller method is (be it a fight stick, controller, or even keyboard). We aren't going to get over all the terminology used or how it's written, but for the sake of this guide, here's what you'll need to know:

Symbol Used	Meaning
u	Up
d	Down
b	Back
f	Forward
U	Tap & Hold Up
D	Tap & Hold Down
B	Tap & Hold Back
F	Tap & Hold Forward
WC	While Crouching
WR	While Running
1	Left Punch
2	Right Punch
3	Left Kick
4	Right Kick
H	Heat
HB	Heat Burst
RA	Rage Art
u/f	Up+Forward (AKA Diagonal Up & To the Right)
d/f	Down+Forward (AKA Diagonal Down & To the Right)
u/b	Up+Back (AKA Diagonal Up & To the Left)
d/b	Down+Back (AKA Diagonal Down & To the Left)

How Eddy's Capoeira Gameplay Loop Works

He Just Keeps Going and Going and Going

Now at the time of writing this, Eddy has been out for less than a week. Personally, we've taken this character all the way to Garyu Rank, but that doesn't mean we know him inside and out. There is a lot more people have to figure out by dissecting this character, so take everything on here with a grain of salt. In any case, Eddy Gordo in Tekken 8 is an absolute powerhouse. When Eddy gets an attack string going, it's just going to keep going and going. Despite this, however, Eddy is also one of the characters that has undergone the most changes between Tekken 7 and Tekken 8. A good portion of his moveset is all-new, and while he did lose some very powerful tools he used to have, the trade-off is that he's a more fluid character than ever before.

In this game, Eddy Gordo is a combo string and mix-up machine. He is designed to be 'all over the place' in terms of his kicks, what types of kicks, his Negativa Stance, his Handstand Stance, his assortment of different flip kicks, and even his punches. If Steve Fox is the 'all punches' character then Eddy Gordo is the closest thing to the 'all kicks' character. On top of all this Eddy also has an 'install' counter of sorts, called his Mandinga counters, which are denoted by the little yellow and green swirl underneath his health bar. These give Eddy more moves to do when in Handstand (technically Bananeira Stance) Stance, and the second charge of the meter also powers these moves up even further.

This is all to say that, Eddy has been a polarizing character in the Tekken franchise for a long time. A lot of veteran players feel that this character is almost too easy for newer players to pick up and just mash buttons with to win. And, while Eddy is different in Tekken 8, the fact that players can basically just press 3 over and over again and get a combo with mixups that deals 60+ damage is pretty hilarious. Still, it's too early to give a definitive hard 'take' on this character, but we can say without a doubt that he's pretty strong.

Eddy Gordo's Rage Art

Enchente de Axe

Eddy Gordo's Rage Art is one of the rare few that can be compared to Yoshimitsu's Rage Art in quite a few ways. For example, like Yoshimitsu's Rage Art, when Eddy hits his, he takes his opponent to another 'world' of sorts (Dragunov also does this). Then, from there, he seems to be doing a pretty traditional Capoeira dance with these ancestral spirits of sorts made from wind and earth playing instruments in the background. After this, Eddy tells his opponent that this is their last 'jogo' (which means 'game' in Portuguese) before absolutely sending them flying with this inhuman upward-flying dropkick.

Like most other Rage Arts in Tekken 8, the first hit of this is a mid, meaning that it's easy to block as long as players aren't crouching. However, the mix-up comes from the fact that Eddy can also use his Rage Art from his Negativa Stance, which is easily enough to catch quite a few opponents unaware and swing the round back in your favor in an instant.

A few things to remember about Rage Arts in Tekken 8 is that you can only use them once per match when you're at 25 percent health or lower. You can see this visually when your health bar goes from yellow to red in color and starts exuding this red 'aura' around it. Also, remember that Rage Arts removes all of the recoverable health (if any) the opponent currently has, so it's absolutely worth ending a combo with to make sure all the damage from said combo actually sticks.

Eddy's Array Of Absurd Stances

Negativa, Bananeira, Mandinga Counter, & More

It's up for debate on this next point, but personally, we think that Eddy is the character in Tekken 8 that's more dependent on his Stances than anyone else. If Eddy couldn't use Negativa or Bananeira, he'd be an awful character. However, with these Stances, Eddy is almost too easy to pick up and play.

In previous games, it was hard to find a proper use for Bananeira Stance, but in Tekken 8 it's a lot better. Additionally, Negativa is also better and has an absurd number of different moves that easily transition into it. By default, you can go into Negativa Stance by pressing d3+4 and come out of it by simply pressing nothing. But, if you want to transition to Negativa mid-attack string, here are some ones to keep in mind:

1, 2, [4, 3] (press 4 quickly after 2, wait a quarter second, then press 3)
1, 3
3, 3
d+2, 3
1, 4, 3+4
While in Bananeira: b1
b+3, 3
u [4,3]
u/f+4 (only on hit)
f/f+3 (only on hit)
u/b, b (backflip into Negativa)

These aren't all of his potential Negativa shift attacks as Eddy also has a good number of ways to shift into Negativa while crouching. Eddy also has an almost equal amount of moves that transition into Bananeira as well, which means half the time newer players will shift into Negativa or Bananeira without even realizing it half the time.

Stance Name	Stance Button Input	Visual Telegraph	Primary 'Function' of Stance
Negativa	d3+4	Eddy gets incredibly low like he's about to sit on the ground	Negativa is almost Eddy's 'primary function' in a way. Negativa leads to a lot of his best moves, is part of his best combos, and is his best tool out of everything he has, hands down.
Bananeira	f1+2 (or b1+2)	Eddy flips over onto his head in a handstand	Bananeira is a bit more of a specialized Stance compared to Negativa, but it has some great uses. It's a good mix up option, a great way to quickly sidestep (f1+2 for left, b1+2 for right), and has quite a few attacks Eddy can do right out of it. Additionally, Eddy can shift from Negativa to Banaeria and vice versa absurdly easily.
Mandinga	None (Adds b+3 & 3+4 attacks to Banaeira Stance)	Eddy kicks will have a green light trail following them	These are the 'counters' underneath Eddy's HP Bar. To get them, players either need to land 2, 3 while in Bananeira Stance or 3, 3 while in Negativa Stance. It maxes out at 2 stacks with the first stack giving Eddy access to previously unavailable mixups in Bananeira Stnace (b+3 & 3+4) and the second stack buffs the damage of these moves even more.

General Starter Guide For Eddy

Honestly, You Can Figure Him Out as You Go

While Eddy has a lot going on mechanically, that doesn't necessarily mean he's difficult to use for newer players. In fact, Eddy's moves and Stances all blend together so well and so easily that most people who pick him up feel like they're suddenly better at the game. At higher Ranks, you'll absolutely need to learn his weaknesses, his best whiff punishes, his launchers, and alternative combos, but up until honestly Blue Ranks, you can almost completely get away with playing Eddy however you want (as long as you kick a lot). For those who do still want starter tips:

Tip #	Explanation
1	Eddy has basically an auto combo that's somehow even more powerful (and even easier execution) than Victor's 'bread and butter' combo. If you feel like doing 60+ damage with Eddy, just hit 3 seven times in a row. This isn't a joke, you're likely to get this full combo off at least once per round until maybe the second set (and that's even taking fast adapting opponents into consideration)
2	Eddy's db+3 is a very powerful low, though it does have a very memorable telegraph and is a bit slower. But, the range is deceptive, and people rarely block low in this game (at least consistently) until the upper Red Ranks.
3	b1, 4, 3+4 is a fantastic quick string to get the momentum in your favor, as the third hit of it will almost always sweep your opponent off their feet.
4	u+4 has Eddy do a sick backflip. There are a couple of moves you can use mid-flip but if you hit 3 after he lands Eddy will do a very reliable launcher that can then lead into his full 3 (x7) combo.
5	df+3 is a fantastic launcher and whiff punish that also can transition into the full 3 (x7) combo.
6	b3+4 is a forward-pushing kick (and Heat Engager) that is very reminiscent of the one King has. It's an incredibly useful tool to forcefully take the momentum back from an opponent who won't stop pressing buttons.
7	Pressing 1+3 or 2+4 while in Bananeira Stance will have Eddy grab the opponent with his feet. People aren't expecting to be grabbed by a man mid head-stand (at least not yet) so these are rarely broken.
8	While not quite as good as Azucena's WR, 3, 2 Eddy's WR+3 is a very powerful pressure tool as he's usually safe to keep attacking even on block.
9	Almost no one expects you to keep attacking right after your Heat Rush, especially with a low. However, if the opponent blocks said Heat Rush you end this in Negativa, so you can press 3, 3 to do a quick sweep kicking low.

Here's the thing, Eddy is so amazing right now because his moves are hard to read and it's difficult to know when your window is to whiff punish. But, once players figure that out, you'll find that you're countered or adapted to as Eddy incredibly quickly. So now is the best time to learn all of Eddy Gordo's tools and options so you're ready to adapt to your opponent's adaptation.