The timing isn’t really tricky but you have to be at the right distance…after a demon flip throw dash once and do it…it should hit while you’re landing and you can continue the combo.
After demon flip palm it’s a bit trickier because you have to see the distance and the timing by yourself. Just practice it, you’ll get it eventually.
Hey Ya’ll, I have a question about U2 in Super
[media=youtube]i8G9nNv9G_I&feature=feedu"[/media] but when should you use it? On wake up, teleporting away? How is it better than U1 in this matchup?
Also, who uses U2 against Cammy? The idea of protecting our teleport against drills/ultra is nice, but isn’t she too low to get hit by U2? I haven’t tested, but that was my assumption.
Thanks a lot :china:
Well I think that U2 in the Viper matchup might work similarly to how it works vs. rog…just palm os u2 and whatever viper does she’ll get hit. Not sure tho, not a big fan of U2, I only use it vs Rufus.
As for the cammy question, in AE the hitbox is lower and you can hit her out of cannon drills and ultra 1
Hmm, I did hear that about AE, but I feel like I saw people using U2 against cammy as well. I’ve just never seen anyone hit U2 against cammy in any ‘counter-attack’ sort of way.
Oh, but that’s about the viper input, that OS makes sense.
I think it might work against Viper’s OS EX TK (on teleports) too, but I don’t see the point of that if you can use EX Seismo.
I still enjoy U1 to punish those morons (ofc it won’t matter against good players) who just do random BKs.
ok thanks for the reply, but what exactly is KD? 
Knock Down
Fuck.
Last night I played 2 good friends of mine. They were using Bison and Honda, characters they do not play AT ALL. My Akuma is not good but I would like to think he’s at least capable of beating someone who has never used Bison or Honda. I lost ALOT. Then I picked Zangief and went 10-0 using just the lariat and some focus attacks. I have never played Zangief beyond the trials.
Someone tell me something, ANYTHING. I’m losing my fucking mind with this game, I just can’t play it.
Shoot a fireball? Get jump-attacked easily.
Throw a poke? Poke always gets countered.
Cross-up? Somehow my opponent can just walk out of it (not dash, just walk).
Tech a throw? Throw doesn’t tech.
Practice in training mode? Do random shit in a match because the inputs are fucked.
Is anyone experienced willing to add me on XBL and go through some training with me? I’m a classic SF player and have been trying to use what I’ve learned, but none of it works.
Classic SF2 didn’t have any characters comparable to Akuma in terms of stamina. You really can’t afford to fuck up with Akuma, especially against characters that have monstrous damage output. i.e. Honda.
I can’t play with you as I’m too far away and the lag would be comical, but I’d suggest that you perhaps need to strip your game back to a much more cautious and safe approach first and foremost and then start building from that.
Your projectiles should only be launched from positions where you cannot be messed with or in combos. This is especially important in AE. Not all your pokes should be getting countered so you may find that your spacing is perhaps a little off or you’re losing out to lame mashed random nonsense from some opponents. Throw techs don’t fail - you are either teching correctly or not. Keep in mind that online play can make teching a bit flimsy if the connection isn’t stable and also that if your tech reads are off your whiffed grab animation from a poorly judged tech attempt (say your spacing is perhaps off) will result in that whiff being thrown.
Re: the training mode comment, it sounds like you are making an effort to work on a game-plan and Akuma’s setups, etc but are having difficulty applying it in game. I think this is an especially big hurdle for all players. I recommend piecing together an extra safe and stripped back game-plan and making goals to throw in single pieces of Akuma’s strengths every few days until they get ingrained into your automatic game-plan, or perhaps find their way into your game plan where they start being applied naturally. As an example, I found that I wasn’t using option selects near enough against strong opponents which was surprising many people so these past two weeks I’ve been focusing on them a LOT. As a result I’ve found myself capitalising on knockdowns not with just vortex trickery but also with a mix of option selects to counter people who are developing a good understanding of Akuma’s vortex.
I can relate to your game plan taking a backseat in some matches and instead doing silly or poorly planned attacks. I had a few comments on my performance at a tourney a while back which was just plain terrible with comments like “where was your Akuma?” 'cos I was horrendously nervous. All my shit just didn’t get applied and my performance sucked. I realised that my game plan lost out to nerves which translated to a collossal waste of time on the stuff I’d learned and practised. I failed simple blocked Blanka ball ultra punishers, missed tatsu sweeps, bad safe jumps, that kind of shit. It was awful. I feel a simpler game plan that was rooted in basics would have helped a lot but I failed to even apply that. I think what I learned from my failings at that tourney might be worth you also keeping in mind - while it might scale back your game to being a lot lamer, it will allow you to at least be in control and give you something to build on.
I hope this helps and I apologise for the wall of text 'cos I’m fueled with coffee right now xD Also note that I’m not having a stab at your game, just trying to convey some info that relates to some of the hurdles I’ve had personally that I can relate to in what you’ve said.
Lastly, Akuma is difficult to do well with until you have a good handle on him. He’s a great character but geezus his effective learning curve is high. When I switched to Akuma the road to getting decent with him was a long and frustrating one. Using other characters during that period was demoralising because I found that I’d net much more comfortable wins purely because a mistake when using them didn’t translate to a 30%+ health punisher due to poor stamina - i.e. like your games when using Zangief. Maybe drop into your replay channel’s battle log and watch your matches to see if you can see any recurring fuck ups that are getting you killed. Replays can be a good way of identifying dumb patterns or poor habits that you need to drop.
Another effective method is to play someone stronger than you and take your licks in say a first to ten session and then ask them about the matches. You’ll find they’ll be able to tell you how they can exploit any weaknesses or predictability in your game which will give you something to think about. FT10 sessions are good because it’ll allow an opponent to understand your style well and a good player will be able to exploit any predictability or go-to habits you have. Catch is having them share that criticism with you. The best part is taking this advice, trying to patch up those holes and then requesting another FT10 later on to measure your improvement. Even if you don’t win, you’ll be able to ask them if you’ve patched up problem areas they’ve mentioned - i.e. improved.
Re: playing a safe game, check out some of Momochi’s vanilla matches on Youtube. Study them. Momochi played a lot of really lame games which showcased how to keep Akuma safe which I don’t see a great deal of among many Akuma players lately. Check out his spacing - he leaves few options for opponents to catch him off guard or in a vulnerable position.
thanks Goody Steve and superlollo. i guess i still have a lot to learn. i just figuered out that untechable in that case means unquickstandable right?
Exactly.
Here’s the thing about SF4 vs SF2. SF4 has no block stun, no push back, no execution barrier, very little true blockstrings, mediocre specials and weak throws. As such anything you’ve learned in SF2 that relied on one of the aforementioned conditions to be effective is now heavily reduced and your approach to the game must be adjusted.
The biggest things you need to stop doing from SF2 is;
Relentless Fireball zoning - not so great
Throws setups -only occasionally
Pressing the initiative on block - can only press is specific circumstances
Crossup pressure - mediocre
Footsies - still viable but different
Things you can do;
More frame traps over throw attempts
Safe fireball zoning
Character specific wake up pressure
More caution on the initiative
Way more baiting
Learn option selects
About the only thing that can translate well from SF2 to SF4 is footsies. However even in this case you will encounter a wide variety of characters who have mindless footsies and despite any good spacing or timing on your part you can still lose a footsie battle.
Thanks for the advice, guys. Shin - I definitely understand what you’re saying, infact I think we’re both Vega main’ers in ST/HDR lol. Back to training mode I go. I think I’m going to hit up nonstop endless until I improve, though my 54% win rate is going to steadily decrease…
cheers, I’ll give that a crack later
Hey, how do you guys consistently do a meaty, safe palm strike on wakeup? I am aware it is akumas safest option for pressuring most of the characters, but I have been really inconsistent lately, resulting in the palm either whiffing and I get thrown out of my option select, or it is done too late, and I get nailed with a reversal like Abel’s falling sky or Goukens ex Tastu.
I tried whiffing normals to get better timing but haven’t found anything reliable yet.
Is there a trick to get the proper timing? Is this another one of those “must play perfect” situations with Akuma.
Thanks
Training mode!
I do this setup without whiffing normals, simply through experience.
If you do it 1000000x in training mode you can do it naturally too.
This.
Most of the times trying something over and over in training mode is the best option to learn to do it consistently. I know it will probably be boring but for example if you record abel doing wakeup ex falling sky and try to palm him for 30 minutes straight you’ll probably get it down.
Of course lag is really bad when it comes to safe jumps so don’t be too surprised if online you’ll sometimes miss the timing.
Thanks! Time to go grind it out.
For some reason I could only hit his srk after a LK tatsu sometimes. How do I properly time this to always hit it a 100% of the time? Is there something specific in the timing cause I always try to option select buffer it or just input it really fast but it doesn’t usually hit
I usually double tap right when akuma’s feet touch the ground and get it 100% of the time.
Seriously, training mode, that’s the only way to learn it. After a while you’ll have the timing down and will be able to do it without even watching the screen (it’s like that for me anyways). Just grind it out, it’s fairly easy