Tekken 8 Dragunov Guide

Tekken 8 Dragunov Guide for newer players

Character Description

Dragunov is an agile poking based character. What makes him different to other poking character is that he has the ability to enforce a Plus on block situation and is armed with a great wall game. He does have a bit of some other tools like counterhit and some mixup potential, but make no mistake that this character's main focus (along with other poking characters) is to create whiff punish opportunities or bait panic moves into block punishment. The infamous Plus frames that he gets are not his main directive and is just a PASSIVE win condition that he can follow through with when opponents are complacent, but he should really be striving to put fear into his opponents with his strong pokes so he can force big mistakes. We'll get more into the details later into this primer. Pokes, Mobility, Big Plus Frames when they do nothing.

Good Pokes

Stuff you'll generally want to focus on in using mainly to open up mixup opportunities, whiff punish opportunities, and just in general feel out your opponent. You don't plan to win with just these buttons but it can happen if you whittle your opponent down enough. Use these to gain information on your opponent's reactions so you can use your other strong tools effectively.

1 - i10, +8oH, +1oB, Standard jab, Use it for jab things: Control the space in front of you, Low committal keepout, On offense to lay pokes behind, Mash attempt to break up your opponents offense. This will sound like the most boring button on the list but it is quite important, the speed is used to exercise control, keep your opponent at arm's length and stay in control when they get buttonsy but you can't exactly tell when
-1,1,3 String - The method to make mashers pay big for being antsy, especially dangerous at the wall as this will cause a wallsplat, safe on block (-9) and causes a knockdown, don't use this often, keep it in your back pocket for at the wall use.

d2 - i18, -1oH, -13oB, One of two of the infamous buttons that Dragunov has, Fast High Crush, Basically a homing move as it tracks 180 in front of him, and hits low, on CH becomes +13 but no damage is guaranteed, just massive plus frames for Dragunov to act afterwards with. This moves also forces a crouching state for his opponent but also puts himself in a crouching state as well. We'll get more into how pokes in general are used, but just know that this is quite the amazing poke. The big downside is that it's -13 on block which is punishable, launch punishable for Kazuya and anyone else in the future that gets a i13 WS launcher. It's famously said that in order to play Dragunov better, you simply improve your placement and usage of d2 and WR2.

df1 - i13, +7oH, -2oB, Your mid complement to your d2, it gets the job done as a mid poke but there's nothing really amazing about this, in fact it's a bit weaker than generic df1's as it is more linear and can be stepped in either direction and doesn't hit as low to the ground to poke out pesky low to the ground evasive moves like Ling's AoP, not the greatest mid but it'll do most of the time.
-df1,4 - df1 has an extremely delayable 4 high extension, in Tekken 8 this move has been buffed as they have made this extension Launch on Counterhit which is the only reason this extension was "okay" at best, but now made much more rewarding. Still just something to use occasionally / keep in your bag of tricks, do not rely on this as overuse will get you ducked and launched, there is no mid counterpart to this extension. -7oB and just knocksdown on normal hit.

db3+4 - i20, +7oH, -15oB, Power Low/ "Hatchet Kick," New Dragunov low that covers a niche that he has sorely lacked, a Plus on hit high risk high reward low, Unlike d2 this new low deals quite a chunk of damage AND leaves Drag +7oH creating a new way to enforce a mixup but from a low attack. Use this to scare your opponents out of complacency, let them know that they cannot just block forever and they will have to act against you at some point or they'll just die from the low itself or from the powerful plus frame situation afterward. On the flipside this is quite unsafe being launch punishable, but nothing surprising for a low that tracks both ways, is unseeable, and grants huge plus frames. Don't overuse as it'll kill you on block, but use it to remind people that they're mortal.

FC df1:4 - i16 Low "Mid" string, +7oH, -13oB, FC Poke Low, Dragunov's other newly added low (other than db3+4) and a bit of a strange one in usage. The knee followup only comes out automatically on hit though timing a 4 press as the handswipe connects will result in a slight more damage, on block the knee attack does not come out regardless of pressing the input or not. Can only be done in a crouching state and acts as the perfect complement to Dragunov's amazing while standing moves for a proper mixup. While the move itself is good, the situation afterwards is... questionable as Dragunov is forced to go into his crouch dash which is not really used to "mixup." While sure his crouch dash has a mid and a low, the fact that it's a "canned" mixup in that Dragunov is limited to only 5 specific attacks, some of which are unsafe on block, one of which is linear, and the others can be ducked under/guarded low, it's almost as much as a mixup for Drag as it is for the opponent which is quite the double edge. There's also no way to cancel out of this forced crouch dash. The new Dragunov Online Special/Gimmick is to do FC df1:4's into Crouch Dash 4/QCF4, this sequence is interruptible with a jab but the CrouchDash 1 option will beat mash attempts, Both will lose to stepping to Dragunov's weak side (SSR). Truly and honestly it is a good low but overuse of the forced followup crouch dash options can lead into your demise so be careful when using it on higher level opponents as they'll force you to use risky options to beat SSR which turns this low poke on hit into a sudden punish on yourself. Dragunov gets along just fine with d2 before this (with Sidestep Cancelling) so it's not such an important priority to use ALL THE TIME use it moderately and you should be gold.

d1 - i18, +8oH, +1oB, Mid Downward Elbow strike, An interesting mid poke that's pretty decent to throw out and does more work than his df1, obviously nowhere near as fast but comes with the benefit that it forces the opponent in a crouching state on hit or block, limiting the options that they can retaliate back with compared to a standing state. On Counterhit this allows for a guaranteed stomp (d3+4) for some chunky damage. The move itself is great to "softly" oppress your opponents with its slight frame adv. and forced crouch state, it's also pretty slow at i18 so it's not really a good idea to throw this poke behind other pokes on block but is great to start with and see how your opponent reacts so you can poke behind this button. Its other weakness is that it's quite linear and is pretty easily avoided by opponent's SSR, Dragunov's overall big weakness. Otherwise a great check to just throw out that's more rewarding than df1.

WS4 - i11, +6oH, -5oB, Mid, Your run of the mill WS4, and a part of what makes Dragunov's While Standing moveset comparatively great compared to other characters, Just a simple mid check that's synonymous in use to his df1, has a bit more range with Instant While Standing techniques that I'll go over later but just a solid mid poke in his arsenal of pokes. Also his basic WS punisher at -11 (like most of the cast) but can be used more in neutral than others.

WS1 - i12, +4oH, -3oB, Rising Mid punch(?), Yet another great mid poke for Dragunov and another great WS move, by itself the mid punch is basically just a low committal mid poke that comes out pretty darn fast at i12 (well you have to get yourself to crouch for it so you don't have instant access to it), but it most notably has two different followups that are incredible in adding to his Wall game
-WS1,2 - +10oH, -7oB, A High backfist swing followup to WS1 that is completely safe on block, What makes this move particularly great is that on hit it causes a "ballerina spin" animation (that's just what we call it idk man), an animation that indicates that, like KND on hit moves, will cause a Wall Splat for a wall combo when struck against a wall. This extension cannot be delayed but it does naturally combo with WS1 on hit, making for a subtly dangerous move at the wall and easily leading to 70+ damage combos on wallsplat with his WR4 hit throw. Ducking under jabs of panicked opponents at the wall only to be wallsplat by WS1,2 is quite a classic Dragunov strategy.
-WS1,3 - KNDoH, -13oB, Mid straight kick followup to WS1, This is the string you'll want to use as a WS punisher for -12oB lows but can also cover the obvious flaw of WS1,2's high property which can be ducked and punished, Still accomplishes a wall sp

Tools

These are the buttons/moves you'll want to use in response to your opponent's actions. Are they ducking a lot? Are they pressing buttons a lot? Are they moving a lot? Are they blocking a lot? The information of your opponent's behaviours can be exploited with these buttons, make no mistake that these are great attacks but only in response to their niche. I cannot confidently say that you should be just throwing these out on a whim (yes even WR2) unless you have a good idea on how your opponent is currently feeling, a state that will change over the course of the match and will want to adapt to.

WR2 - i15 starting from the button press (so actually much slower since you have all those forward inputs to press more realistically going to be i22-ish or more), KNDoH, +6oB, THE other button that Dragunov is famous for (the other is d2). Grants massive plus frames on block, Knocksdown on hit and gives a free stomp if the opponent was not holding back for a techroll as they were getting hit. On Counterhit this becomes a launcher for one of Drag's hardest hitting combos, not in your opponents favor to directly challenge as a trade will almost always be in Drag's favor. This move is Drag's lockdown and basically always enforces at the very least a poke mixup. Every thing about this move connecting with your opponent, hit or block, is a win in Drag's book, for starters it pushes opponents closer to the wall, on block the +6 allows for an offensive poke mixup, and on hit is free damage (and more corner push). This move is not without it's weaknesses of course, for one it is highly susceptible to sidewalk left, the +6 post block situation is not air tight as opponents can step or mash against Drag's slower buttons (quite the risk of course but still shows that Drag cannot do absolutely anything and everything he wants), known to lose in weird freaky hitbox hurtbox interactions with especially evasive characters like Xiayou, and of course not the fastest move at it being realistically executed at i20 or higher. A good move for sure but it has its time and place just like every other tool. Plan to use this, especially with instant WR technique, on opponents who are afraid to swing at Drag and turtle up in defense by blocking more often than not.

uf4 - i22 Jumping Mid kick, KNDoH, -9oB, Drag's low crush of choice, one of Drag's main weakness is that he does not have a low crushing launcher so he has to make do with this attack. Still not bad as a low crush callout as it's completely safe on block and still leads for a little mini combo with d4,1,3 for 41 damage. This attack is meant to beat defenders who crouch jab or to beat attackers that use a lot of low attacks on you, not a bad thing to throw out when you feel that either of these things have happened as you can just block right after.
-Currently there's for what I'm sure is an "unintended" interaction in that Dragunov can microdash forward after a uf4 on hit and pick up for a combo with b43 -> b1,2 for a combo, effectively making uf4 a safe launcher. I'm pretty sure this will be patched out as this would be incredibly strong for Dragunov so enjoy it while you can. (Edit: Yeah it was removed)

1,2,1 - i10 Drag's G Clef Cannon, KNDoH, -14oB, Drags counterhit tool of choice, an incredibly useful High Mid Mid string that is a HIT CONFIRMABLE 10 FRAME KNOCKDOWN, Fantastic to break up your opponents pressure to instantly turn the table and great for shutting down retaliation on Drag's offense, especially at the wall where it will wallsplat for a wall combo. This move isn't without its weaknesses of course. First you must learn how to hit confirm with it (which I'll teach later) and Second the 1,2 you throw out as the hitconfirm is -9 on block. Great because it's safe, not great because if used offensively this effectively "ends your turn" as you cannot act behind it on block and you're pretty much forced to guard unless you risk getting CH yourself. This jab string is NOT to be meant as a poke, but as a CH fishing tool for when you have a good read that your opponent tends to be pretty buttonsy. The tool truly comes to life when you learn how to confirm with it and have a good read on when your opponent will press buttons.

Throws - f1+4/f2+3/uf1+2 - i11/i11/i12 - Dragunov has a complete set of command throws as in each requires a separate break as opposed to generic throws which can be broken with 1 or 2. While this is reactable to being broken by trained players, even top players can crack and mess up in breaking throws. Similar to WR2's usage, you can use throws to break open your opponent's guard when you notice that your pokes aren't getting the player to create whiffs for your whiff punishes. Special note to uf1+2 as it deals the most damage out of the three and can cause a floor break for a combo or lava burst, effectively turning it into a high damage launcher. Use these when you know you know your opponent is so caught up in blocking mids and lows that they don't swing back to stop a grab attempt.
-Like uf4 I feel that this is going to get nerfed but after uf1+2 you can do a "backroll catch" due to the way you're standing over a victim's knocked down position. By immediately doing df2, you will launch an opponent who is holding back to get up for a free combo. Opponents who learn of this tech catch situation will simply stay on the ground or roll away in which Dragunov can punish with a stomp (d3+4) to create a mind game post uf1+2. Something like this has existed in Tekken 7 and was removed in a nerf so I expect the same to happen at some point. Enjoy it while you can. (Edit: This is still in the game)

QCF4 - i17 Mid Axe Kick, Heat Engager on 1st hit, KNDoH, +7 on block, Similar to WR2 in it's usage though weaker as it's quite linear and can be stepped to either side. Great for it's post block situation but I cannot recommend doing this "raw" in neutral often given how slow the move is and needing a crouch dash (which adds more startup) which overall leads to a rather predictable sort of move, especially if overused. Where it does find a place is upon a forced crouch dash maneuver, namely FC df1:4. But even then still steppable or interruptible. Regardless it's pretty decent in a to allow Drag to poke behind but the weakness tends to be placing and landing this move in the first place. Don't get predictable with this! (In fact I think Drag does just fine without this move). (Edit: As more players develop Dragunov, this move has found great use against the wall to "negate" it's increased pushback nerf. It's been mostly useful as an Oki tool to just lay down when an opponent is downed at the wall, get up they have to block, stay down you'll get a free QCF4 hit)

b3+4 - i28 High "step kick," KND on hit, -2oB, A very slow kick that is actually a Subaki (which is a punch parry), If a punch connects with Dragunov as he's in the long start up of this move he'll perform a punch parry and the kick will connect as a punish. Not really a tool that a lot of Drag's opt to use but particularly useful to people who spam punches in a predictable manner, particularly and hilariously effective against Steve as he'll be forced to use lows or his weird kicks. It is a High with incredibly slow startup, don't overuse this as you can get ducked under and launched, otherwise great for getting out in a punch, I mean pinch.

Importance of the Wall

First, let's talk about the importance of the wall before we get into the next section.
Typically the only way to get big combos is through the use of launchers to start juggle combos, but given that launchers are unsafe on block they're pretty limited in usage (unless you want to get punished to death) as people should be using them in situations that they can confirm that they will connect on hit (Block punishing or Whiff punishing). In Tekken the wall turns certain pokes and "upgrades" them into launchers if they can wallsplat since you can do a wall combo. What was a 25 Damage string can turn into a full 80 damage combo because of its wallsplatting feature. By replacing your pokes with moves/strings that can wallsplat, a player can turn "pokes" into launchers. Luckily Dragunov has an absurd plethora of SAFE wallsplatting mid attacks that makes his "wall game" incredibly potent.

Main Takeaway: Replace your mid pokes with more rewarding wallsplatting mids because they unlock huge damage potential if they land

At Wall

b4,3 - i14 Mid High string, KNDoH, -9oB, An incredibly powerful string that's also a Heat Engager on hit, The string Naturally combos and cannot be delayed at all so Dragunov will have to commit to hitting b4,3 in order for this string to come out. Completely safe on block and leads to a whopping 35 damage before even doing any wall combo, easily can do half of an opponent's HP bar if this connects with its following wall combo. While strong, it has a glaring weakness in that the 2nd hit is a high and can be ducked under and punished, flipping the situation on Dragunov and providing a means to escape his scary wall game and ruining your one chance at a wallsplat mixup (People move around a lot in Tekken!). Until an opponent learns to duck this move and punish you for it, definitely go for it. Should also note that on Heat activation this will still wallsplat the opponent so just continue into the wallcombo normally. Did I mention that this move is completely safe to block punishment?

b4,2 - i14 Mid Mid, +4oH, -7oB, The complementary string to Dragunov's b4,3 featuring a Mid Mid string compared to b4,3's Mid High string. It's used to hit defenders that are aware of the duckable high on b4,3 and aims to hit that duck attempt. The string doesn't wall splat like b4,3 and doesn't even naturally combo, but still serves as a potent mind game that your opponent has to be wary about. The existence of this complementary string is part of what makes Dragunov so powerful at the wall, there is no way to defuse this mixup, your opponent just has to guess like the rest after the first b4 connects.
-b4,2,1 - High Extension, +5oH, +1oB, Specifically in the b4,2 string, there is a final High attack that Dragunov can opt to do that further increases his mixup potential with his b4 series alone. As noted before b4,2 on block is -7, The frame disadvantage is enough that it should end any further action from Dragunov, except that this high ender exists to Counterhit opponents who immediately try to act and wriggle out of a blocked b4,2. On Counterhit of the 1 extension, Dragunov is +14 and can get a GUARANTEED b4,3 to get that wall splat anyway (lmao), what's more is that the 1 extension is DELAYABLE, allowing defenders to second guess whether this high extension is really coming or not and upping the chance of this Counter hitting. In previous Tekkens this wasn't delayable nor did it give a free b4,3 on Counterhit so this new addition is quite the buff and hilariously strong. You may be asking well what's stopping people from ducking it? In order to effectively duck under and punish this high attack a defender has to confirm that it whiffs in the first place, and if it never comes then Dragunov has probably already stopped experiencing his -7 frame disadvantage from the b4,2 and can probably act again. Anyways, the b4 strings are REALLY good at the wall.

b1+2 - i22 Mid, KNDoH, +6oB, Double Axe Handle Slam (not really), You read that right, this move is +6oB just like his WR2, the difference is that it's a tad quicker since you don't have to do a WR2 motion and can easily access this with a press of a button(s), Like WR2 this move is used as lockdown to crack open defenders and allow a mixup attempt with his pokes/wallsplat moves. Why only use it at the wall? It's because this move has notoriously short range and can easily be outranged with a single backdash, however at the wall the opponent has nowhere to go. What makes this especially powerful is that on Hit it causes a knockdown for a free stomp (d3+4) for 45 damage, which is massive for a single button that doesn't launch. Pressure at the wall on block and huge chunk of damage on hit, this move's only weakness is that it's very slow at i22 so use this to catch the opponent hesitating to basically ensure you a free mixup attempt after it

uf3 - i17 Mid, KNDoH, -7oB, Jumping Mid kick, A kinda niche but yet another safe wallsplat from Dragunov, This move is specifically great for people trying to crouch jab out of wallsplat mixup as it low crushes, it's basically the same as uf4 when you detect people are trying to do lows or crouch jab but you get a wallsplat instead of uf4's mini combo. Also completely safe on block so nothing really lost at an attempt using this move. I should also mention that due to the nature of it's input having an up input you can us this move directly from a crouching state, perfectly complementing his FC df1 low along with WS1,2 as a wallsplat mid. Again not your go to but fills its niche perfectly on beating lows and crushing them for a wallsplat.

WS 3 - i16 Mid, KNDoH, -9oB, Straight kick, haha WOW ANOTHER wall splat mid that's safe, also used to complement his FC df1 low with a mid attack. A reason to use this over WS1,2 as it's just a single mid attack, defenders who are on the ball that prove that they can duck under WS1,2's high and punish Dragunov won't have the WS1 to telegraph an incoming high. This used to have it's own niche as a wall BOUNCE move but since that system doesn't exist in Tekken 8, it rejoins as one of the many safe mid wallsplats that Dragunov has.

WS1,2 - Already talked about this string above in the pokes but still something you'd want to consider to use because it's still, haha, another wall splat that's safe on block.

WR 4 - Now this move is NOT a move to use in neutral, but I had to include it somewhere as this is the COMBO ONLY tool that encourages Dragunov's wall game and really ups his damage and makes all of these wallsplats a huge threat. In appearance it's just a mid running knee attack but if this connects with a wallsplatted opponent, Dragunov will go into an animation that does a bunch of hits and THEN still allows for a followup string (d3,2,1+2) for a combo. You can't get the followup on any combo as the followup after the animation is only allowed if you still can do your Tornado for your combo, but given that you just wallsplatted a person, you still have it (so basically can't be used at the end of normal juggle combos unless you've preserved the use of it, more on this later). For a test run you can do: b4,3 (or any wall splat), Opponent gets wallsplatted, fff4, Hit animation, immediate d3,2,1+2. This should do massive damage and really show you the opportunity for damage from ANY wallsplat because of this move, WR4.

Launchers and Whiff Punishers

The attacks that will start your juggle combos, typically you'll want to use these solely to whiff punish or on a very hard read. Launchers are typically punishable on block as they yield such a huge reward, which is why we try to use them in situations(typically) that you can confirm that they're going to hit for sure.

df2 - i15 Mid, Launch on Hit, -12oB, Standard run of the mill launcher, Use for whiff punishes and block punishes only (basically like most launchers). Starts a combo and launches standing and crouching opponents. Block Punishable and kinda lengthy in recovery on whiff. Does exactly what it says on the label.

QCF 1 - i15 High, Launch on Hit, -3oB, Your go to whiff punisher and does a bit above average than a standard launcher, comes from Dragunov's crouch dash which moves him forward so has more range than you think. Realistically only used as a whiff punisher, usage outside of that is really kind of a hail mary or if you're trying to do silly stuff with Drag's df1,4 crouch dash stuff. Very safe on block but also a high that can be ducked under, though if people are ducking under this intentionally, you're probably using this move wrong.

QCF 2 - i18 Mid, Launch on Hit, -14oB, Heavy whiff punisher and now also a combo tool in many of Dragunov's staple combos. Regardless this is a much more damaging launcher than his other ones but only reserved for the biggest of whiff opportunities as this move is quite slow to come out. Punishable on block like most big launchers so really only used for whiff punishes, specifically ones that are big whiffs though using the other launchers above is just as serviceable. You'll get credit for whiff punishing successfully with this, but you won't if you miss the whiff punish opportunity entirely, just stick to what works.

4,1 - i12 High High, +8oH, -4oB, Dragunov's go to "small" whiff punisher for players that whiff using smaller moves (like a jab), Up close you'll want to deal with whiffs with 4,1 and or df2, while at range you'll want to focus on QCF1 (or QCF2), either way getting every whiff punish attempt is really important to a poking character, a mind set we'll discuss in a bit.

Punishers

Dragunov's go to punishers on block, Ideally you want to match the amount of negative frames with your punisher's startup frames for maximum damage, ESPECIALLY if it's a launch punish, Attacks that are launch punishable are often launch punishable for a reason (as in they yield huge reward on hit or have really good properties), You do NOT want to let an opponent get by using an incredibly rewarding move without matching its risk.

i10 - 2,1 20DMG, +8oH

i12 - 4,1 27DMG, +8oH

i14 - f4,3 38DMG, Knockdown

i14 - b4,3 35DMG, Knockdown, Heat Engager

i15 - df2 Launch for combo

WS

i11 - WS4 15DMG, +6oH

i12 - WS1,3 26DMG, KNDoH

i12 - WS1+2 28DMG (Has longer range if needed), KNDoH

i15 - WS2 Launch for combo

How to play a poking character (like Dragunov)

(I've been typing this guide/notepad thing for quite awhile so instead of rewording this, I'm going to copy paste this from a "quick and dirty" Drag guide write up I did which should still get my thoughts across)

-df1, on this move I will explain how Drag WANTS to play, The move itself is a great mid check, on block you're -2, this is the complement to his d2 poke, "great these are the moves I should be doing to win the game" YES but NOT because you're a mixup machine and you're constantly winning the mid low roulette to empty their life bar, that's simply just too risky because any of those guesses can be blocked and even punished, you should use df1 and d2 instead as pokes to incentivize your opponent to try to swing at you. Drag does not try to win with overwhelming mixup opportunities, he wins because he is an agile and mobile poking character that can backdash or sidestep behind a lot of his pokes for great whiff punish opportunities. I repeat, your main goal should be to win by whiff punishes (big and small), not because you are strangling them with plus frames and mixups with pokes. Is it wrong to mixup with pokes? no absolutely not, you NEED to do that, but not because you're trying to kill them but because you want them to do a whiff so you can evaporate their HP in one combo. Sometimes you'll just win by mixing up with pokes and they simply guessed wrong and that's great, but overall letting people destroy themselves with whiffs in trying to stop your pokes or WR2, or by doing risky panic moves in which you can block punish or whiff punish is the play.

okay why speak of this on df1? df1 is -3 on block, a golden rule in Tekken is that if you are at most -5 on block, you can still sidestep or sidewalk and have enough time to avoid a jab (everyone's fastest standard button). This information should open your eyes that df1 and d2 (and a lot of other buttons!), despite being minus on certain situations, doesn't really mean anything as you can sidestep to avoid an attack (as long as it doesn't track in the direction you're stepping), you negate the downside of the move almost entirely. Poke into Sidestep into whiff punishing with 4,1 or just a simple 2,1 jabs is really the core of Dragunov's offense. He gets additional credit over other characters because his pokes happen to have really good qualities (d2 high crushes AND tracks fully, etc). With enough representation of your ability to move behind your buttons and evade retaliation your opponents will want to press less and less buttons which means more and more opportunities for Drag to do his WR2 and ENFORCE the mixup instead. Pushing enemies to the wall unlocks Drag his scarier options in which half of his mid pokes suddenly turn into launchers with the threat of the wall combo, while still being able to iWR2 for opponents that freeze up against his wall pressure.

Anyway the main takeaway here is that
1) Mixup and Attack for the sake of whiff punishing, not for the sake of trying to win the round (unless it gets to that low HP)
2) Sidestep and Backdash behind your pokes that are -5 or higher (-4,-3,-2,etc.)
3) Drag unlocks his more dangerous offense at the wall, use your wallsplat options instead of your mid pokes to put the fear of god into them

Useful Techniques

-Crouch Cancelling
If you've been messing around with the buttons now you might notice that after doing some buttons (most notably Drag's d2) you'll be put in a crouching state. When your character is crouched, you won't have access to the a lot of your moveset compared to when you were in a standing state, which kind of sucks because you can't do back to back d2's unless you....
Crouch Cancel, simply tap "up" to initiate a sidestep from a crouching state to make you exit your crouching state immediately. In order to do back to back Drag d2's you simply tap up towards the end of his recovery animation from the first d2 and then input another d2. Two things to note here is that:
1. You're not actually returning to your regular standing state, you're actually in a sidestep which can play a part if your character has sidestep specific moves (for example d2 into crouch cancel 2,1 (as if you're trying to do standing jabs right after) will actually get you Drag's side step 2 so you'll have to cancel the sidestep by tapping back if you want to jab after crouch cancelling for some reason)
2. You can only crouch cancel by tapping up, this means that what side you're playing on is extremely relevant because tapping up on the 1P side makes you SSL while tapping up on the 2P side makes you SSR, which dictates whether you can avoid specific attacks after crouch cancelling.

Other than repeated d2 usage, another reason why Dragunov will use this trick is for his combos.
Dragunov's "Sneak" or his crouch dash can be side step cancelled, a little new to Tekken 8 is that some moves that transitions into Sneak can be crouch cancelled from doing Sneak early while some are only allowed to be cancelled way later into the crouch dash. Probably the most important and common combo tool that uses crouch dash is from his f3 combos for its massive wall carry potential.
To demo this idea simply execute, f3 -> df (starts the transition to Sneak) -> tap up
If done right and quick enough, you'll cancel out of your crouch dash really early and quickly with a sidestep and from that sidestep we can press a button!
A sample combo to try is df2, 1, f3~df, up, 1, f3~df, up, 1, f3~df 2, T!, dash up, f3~df 1+2
This combo should look like Drag is doing that step kick, lunge for the crouch dash, and then crouch cancelling with a sidestep and pressing jab which is cancelling the sidestep.
It might be tough to get down but it's something you will find in a lot of Dragunov combos, the jab coming out of the up should be coming out so fast that a sidestep shouldn't even visually come out (as in you shouldn't even see your character sidestepping before that 1 jab comes out). Practice Practice Practice

-iWR2
iWR2 stands for "Instant While Running 2"
Well going into Tekken 8 there is no special technique for this anymore, the game allows you to get WR moves even at point blank of your opponent with just a simple 3 forward inputs and the corresponding while running button. BUT STILL regardless it's really important that you have a consistent manner in getting these out. It shouldn't take long to really figure out your cadence of inputting 3 forward inputs quickly but I'd still like to go over some specifics to ensure a Drag player should be getting:
1.The game requires 3 forward inputs no more no less
2.The last forward input needs to be held
3.The button press should NOT be on the same frame as the last forward, it should be done closely AFTER the last forward input

You've also probably seen that there's a Blue Spark version of Drag's WR2 now, it adds 5 more damage and that's it. Nothing about the frame data changes. To get a Blue Spark WR2 you simply need to press the 3 forward inputs quickly between each other.

The last point I want to mention here is that you can do this from a crouching state, in fact you can backdash, forward dash, and even do those forward forward moves from a crouching state. Drag d2 straight into WR2 (especially on CH d2 and it's massive +13 frame adv.) is a really common pattern/tactic to take advantage of your opponents that freeze up or panic. If done quickly enough you'll CH any retaliation and at worst will be +6. Depending on how fast you are in reacting and doing iWR2 it can be steppable if you're too slow, though stepping on -13 is quite the risk and can be covered with Drag's other attacks to add to the mind game.

-iWS
iWS stands for "Instant While Standing"
There are many methods to this technique really, some faster than others (though usually you don't NEED the move to come out as fast as you can unless you're doing some specific combos) but this is a way to access your potentially good While Standing moves as fast as you can.
Method 1: d, df, neutral+button
Do a crouch dash, let go of your stick/directional buttons and press a WS button at the same time. This is basically like doing "almost a quartercircle forward" and doing a button. Not the fastest but has a bit of a range benefit from your character's crouch dash animation.
You'll find that this method also works for characters without a crouchdash but that's just because you're in crouch for "so long" by inputting down and downforward.
Method 2: Simple hold downback or down or downforward and neutral+button
Literally a manual input of crouching and letting go, I find doing this with downforward works the best for me but that's just my opinion

For Drag, I find this technique quite handy when I am against smarter players who understand that WR2's major weakness is that it is very weak to opponents who SSL so I can use the low committal WS4 to halt them repeatedly when they expect me to run in, Much safer to whiff compared to fF3 imo.

-How to confirm G Clef Cannon / Drag 1,2,1
"G Clef Cannon" is a colloquial term that we give to jab strings that behave the same as the original jab string that works this way, which is.. "G Clef Cannon" originally found on Michelle/Julia and Kuma/Panda. How this works is that this WHOLE string is guaranteed to connect if the FIRST jab lands on Counterhit. On Normal hit only the first two hits will combo but an opponent can block the third hit (which is usually quite punishable, -14 in Drag's case). In fact, the whole string on block is a true block string AND jails (you can't switch your guard stance after blocking the first hit) so there's no gaps in between the hits. How does one confirm this string?

"Twitch Confirming" is what's needed in order to confirm a G Clef Cannon string.
To setup a practice set
1. Pick Drag yourself, pick Drag for opponent
2. Practice settings -> Defense mode training -> Record (you're going to record 3 slots)
a. df1 -> immediate df1 -> hold block -> end recording
b. df1 -> hold block -> end recording
c. df1 -> Walk Forward just for a tiny bit -> Walk Backwards a bit -> Crouch -> End recording
Okay so how this works is that as Dragunov, you will block the first df1, "dial in" the 1,2 and OBSERVE your opponent
a. As you "mindlessly" dial in the 1,2 if you see your opponent TWITCH BEFORE THEY GET HIT(as if he was starting up another move) you want to finish the string and hit the last 1
b. If you see that your opponent has blocked, you will simply stop and save yourself from doing the punishable last part of the string
c. If you see that the opponent got hit BUT DIDNT TWITCH before getting struck by the 1,2 do NOT finish the string as they did not press a button to get counterhit
Here's the exact same training example video that I used when I was explaining this stuff in Tekken 7 because I can't be assed to record this again (lmao)
https://twitter.com/kwakalakaalt/status/1226697509365403648?s=21
Watch Katarina specifically to see the "visual cue" I'm working off of to confirm this properly.
and just like in the video, go ham and record different moves behind the first df1 to try and confirm off of (df1 to jabs/magic 4/hopkick/etc.)

Other useful misc. tips

-It's hard pressing button combinations, especially 1+2 and 3+4, bind them as macros to another button, it sounds like it should be easy but the input leniency on Tekken is strict so it's harder than you think in being 100% consistent.

-Button Buffering, Useful in niche situations, Aris explains it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBpSTK4Sjio

-Content Creators for other beginner stuff: Phidx, AvoidingthePuddle, TheFrameWhisperer, TheMainManSWE, Sajam

-Fighting Game Glossary if some of the words don't make sense: https://glossary.infil.net/

-If you've gotten this far then I'd like to say sorry for the formatting, I usually do all my notes on a notepad and make it readable enough to me and just some friends that I bother sharing this stuff with. I also have an Azucena and Victor writeup if I unlazy myself to add it on Steam. Good luck climbing the ranks!

[Pimpollo]

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