Akuma FAQs: Quick questions & answers!

bump 4 super

After 6 months maining Gouki, I swear I’ve reached a brick wall in my level. Theres SOOOO many options but when playing I just find it hard 2 choose which one to use.

mix-up

I been having a hard time stepping up my game with Akuma also. But first, spacing. I been having troubles with my spacings. What I mean by this is (unless bad execution is what the problem is) I’ll go for H.Tatsu just to be safe and get hits in. Instead of going for L.Tatsu. How do you guys go about this? Practice so much that it just becomes second nature? Also is there any worth mentioning frame traps for Akuma? Against a opponent who just know how to block/tech every single thing just sucks.

If this is the wrong place my bad.

hope this is the right thread to ask this:

is there any setup for auto-timing safe jumps vs 4f reversals, like flash kick, blanka ball, guys ex tatsu?
i’m currently practicing the timing after sweep or forward throw, but since that time window is so damn small, i can’t pull it off consistently.

is there something like forward throw, dash, dash, MK demonflip palm whiff, which is safe against sagats 5f TU, but for 4f reversals?

VS 4 frame reversals, I’m not sure if my timing is off, but I couldn’t pull off forward throw > 2 dashes > Safejump. So if I know that my opponent is reversal happy, I just do forward throw > 2 dashes > empty jump, it should block the baited reversal in time so you’d punish it. As for 3 frame attacks (SRK), I’ve been doing forward throw > 1 dash > HK demon flip palm, I think it works fine for baiting since SRK’s can’t be safejumped

What is the best way to finish a combo now then? I’ve been reading the other threads regarding the changes, and it seems m.srk > fadc > lp.shaku is one, along with lk.tatsu > ex.srk. I have been watching videos but I don’t think I’ve seen these applied and I’m still seeing lp.srk > fadc > hp.shaku used or just lk.tatsu > hp.srk.

Maybe I think I’m abusing the uses of the lp.srk > fadc > hp.shaku because i’ve finally managed to do it 10/10 times consistently on a stick now.

EX srk or hp srk.

lp SRK fadc EX redball deals good damage but at the cost of three stocks.

I can relate - it took me a while to wean myself off automatic lp srk into hp red ball. I realised I was blowing 2 bars on a measly 5 - 10 extra damage and promptly dropped it.

^ yeah I make a :T frown face everytime I get a BnB and realize I cant fadc redball. >_< wth capcom

Hopefully this doesn’t seem too much, but can I get an overall idea of the changes made to Akuma from IV to SSIV? I’ve been playing him in IV in order to fine-tune my game for SSIV (basically I’m abolishing my online record in order to face people better than me, so that way when I play SSIV I won’t have to do the same thing).

Overall less damage in his combos. His red fireball has been nerfed to the point where it is no longer feasible to use it in fadc combos (not worth the two bars for the measly added damage) and its stun values have been reversed (lp red does the most stun least damage, hp does least stun most damage).
His st.hk has also been nerfed making it very difficult (not worth trying) to use the loop. You can still combo off of st.hk, just not into it. Because of this, it is also more difficult to fadc into st.hk as well.
His demon flip throw has been given added recovery, so you can no longer option select out of it, and the amount of hit stun incurred by his demon flip kick has lessened. His teleports have also received added frames of recovery.
Jump trajectories have changed a bit, so spacing for things like crossup air tatsu are a little different. His c.mp and c.mk are improved to be closer to Ryu’s.

Dumb question probably, but is there a way to practice safe jumps in training mode?

Nope. You just have to keep trial and erroring.

sort of. you can record the dummy doing srk spam and when you play it back you can hope that after you knock down the dummy he’ll reversal but it might be a few frames off.

Actually yes. Select the character you’re trying to practice safe jumping on as 1p (Sagat for example), and select the character you want to safe jump as 2p (Akuma I would assume). Record 2p doing an untechable knockdown, then following it up with a safe jump, ending with block of course. Then set it to playback and restart it. After you (1p) get knocked down, mash out a reversal. If you (1p) can’t hit the recorded 2p on reversal, and get hit by the jump in attack if you don’t block (as 1p), it was a correct safe jump.

This is also a good way to practice or figure out option selects.

I don’t like the way I worded that first sentence. This should make it simpler.

1p = Your opponent. 2p = You

i do it this way, and i think it is the fastest and most comfortable:

select your char and, say, sagat for a 5f reversal. set the dummy to record, and whiggle the stick from db to df like mad, while mashing P. this will give you a constant df, df+P shortcut and if done fast enough, will give you a reversal 7/10.

for 4f reversals, set guy as dummy and mash qcb+KK.

im still experimenting with my combo enders:
i do EX srk most of the time, but isn’t there something like an auto-setup after lp srk, fadc, HP/EX shaku? i usually don’t go for demon flips after techable knds, most of the time i mix up cross tatsus, front jHK savejumps (what is better, jHK or jHP?) or empty jump shenanigans.

what is the most effective way to pressure your opponent and keep momentum from a cLP xx LK tatsu opening, if you are playing a char which can not be swept after the tatsu?

That sort of works, but it is hard to tell if you did a safe jump or just an early jump.

Besides if you want and easy reversal generator just set it to record, set up Sagat, pause the game, unpase, quickly do the SRK motion, and then pause it as soon as you are done. This will loop the SRK motion over and over against and always give you an uppercut.

sure it could be an early jump - but if you do it over and over, you will hit him sooner or later. the dummy doesn’t reversal always. if you miss, that could be a hint you are safejumping to early.
i really have good experiences with that - at least it is the best way i know of. (s)sf4 practice mode is a pain when it comes to testing safejumps.

A good character to start practicing safe jumps on is Balrog and his headbutt, that thing is something like an 11 frame start up. You got forever to safe jump that thing.

Of course don’t forget in a real match he has the EX rush upper as a wake up option.

i like practicing safejumps on sagat - if you know how to safejump sagat, boxer is a piece of cake. but if you are just starting to learn the overall timing, picking a slow reversal could be a fine start.