O GOD AJAY PLZ TEST AS MANY SETUPS AS POSSIBLE TO C IF ANY STILL WORK
Don’t know how it will be ran in UK but loctest aren’t training room test, it’s arcade 1 player mode, hard to test particular situational stuff. Good luck anyway.
And for the over used “sweep once = 50% dead opponent” I’m still trying to figure out how to achieve this with my Akuma 3 years later. Even when I fight against an Akuma and purposely doesn’t use my TP, the odds I’m gona eat his wake up mix up is low. I don’t do dumb stuff on wake up though… that’s prolly why.
wtf? its arcade 1 player mode…smh wtf capcom…
We have xbox setup for USFIV in France this week, maybe the arcade cab thing was only for Japan in their arcade room (it was also pay to play there). So maybe we’ll have more freedom in EU.
Yes, lots.
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Definitely give c.mk xx ball > FADC > fs.hk a try. I want to see if its useful as a reliable combo again. i.e. none of this dumb “at specific distances on specific characters on Thursday it’s possible 7 times out of 24” crap. I doubt it though, given that cs.mk has replaced its utility somewhat as our go-to on crouchers
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Speaking of which, see if you can work his new cs.mk into your game a little. We know it now forces stand, but I’m also curious to learn about the extended reach and faster start-up and how this translates when playing
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For shits and giggles try and tatsu sweep some characters it doesn’t work on. You never know…
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Run some text book untechable knockdown setups and see if you can get opponents to mess with your timing by using delayed wake-up. I’m yet to see or hear of any half capable Akuma players actually doing this
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Confirm how demon flip > EX fireball functions. We’re assuming its the same as EX flip > EX ball
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See if MP SRK invokes knockdown on the first hit
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Try to gauge if redball has received any damage or stun gains. This might be tricky though
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See if fs.mp is special cancelleable, likewise with fs.hp
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Despite HP SRK losing a frame of invuln, try to hammer away with it as an anti-air to see if it has received any hitbox changes to make it more reliable at collecting all three hits
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Test the reportedly ‘fixed’ EX tatsu vaccum effect - i.e. c.lp x3 into EX tatsu and see if it sucks 'em in for a good amount of hits
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Let us know how laggy jump back air balls ‘feel’
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Test all teleports in both directions
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Give his walkspeed a run through its paces to see if they haven’t gimped that area also
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See if LP DP still has its signature sluggish recovery
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Test demon flip grab on crouchers, pay attention to the range to gauge if it has been reduced
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Try demon flip slide. I want to know if this special has any use or if it’s still 99% useless
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Try j.hp, c.lp > cs.hp > EX Red Focus > Demon. I’m curious to know how this scales
That’ll perhaps be enough from me. Have fun at the play test!
Awesome, now that’s a list! I’ll be testing that stuff. I’ll also try and play specific match ups where Akuma’s nerfs benefit the opponent. Chun li immediately springs to mind.
Yeah man, I think above all a good plan of attack for testing would be to play Akuma as you do in AE/2012 and see what holes begin to emerge. Obviously you want to adjust, but if you adhere for a good while at his current style it will become more apparent as to what has changed and what no longer or perhaps poorly works.
so AJ, what did you find out?
It’s tomorrow dude!
fuuuuuck
Day 1
OK I’m here and I’ll be providing up to the minute info. Dawgtanian said everything that is in this build is the same as the Japanese one, so there are no hidden changes! I’ll organise these notes later in the day.
DF DK > cs.HP xx level 1 ex red focus > u1 does 501 damage.
Back air fireball nerf is definitely noticeable. Characters that already punish it (Chun u1, yun u2) will have more room for freedom.
DF > ex air fireball has same trajectory as ex DF. Cancelable during flip as the same time as ex DF. However it does not have the same recovery as ex one. Recovers faster Found out they both have the same recovery. Follow up combo possible if you do air fireball at DF throw range. DF > ex air fireball (in opponents face) > s.HK to whatever.
Poision and Elena are tatsu sweepable. Rolento and Hugo are not.
2nd hit of s.RH whiffs on crouching Poison and Elena. It does not whiff on crouching Hugo. Whiffs on crouching Rolento if done very close.
Cr.lp to cs.mk is now easier and has same timing as cr.lp to cs.HP. cs.mk whiffs on a crouching Blanka sometimes.
Could not do Viper overhead unblockable in the corner. Kept getting fake crossup. Same with shoto unblockable.
Opponent meter gain from U1 when using double ultra is the same as if you picked U1 on its own. Dawgtanian said this might be left on purpose.
It appears that ex tatsu is not fixed! In fact it got worse. Cr.lp x3 xx ex tatsu makes ryu drop out. I think the same combo on ryu in 2012 works OK. Someone please confirm this?
Frame rate issues and got major lag periodically on the space stage (don’t know name)
Akuma v Yun is slightly harder. There were several of my jump back air fireballs that got punished that I knew would have been safe in 2012.
Delayed wakeup severely hampered my game. Nearly all safe jumps whiffed and if I did any option selects they would activate which were prone to being punished. To counter delayed wakeup I whiffed cr.lp (which has a total frame count of 11) before any regular setups. Two problems with this though: it has to be frame perfect and if opponent doesn’t delay wake up, you screwed.
Anti airing with HP.DP was no problem. Maybe traded once. HP.DP has to be done deep anyway to reap benefits. MP.DP still is number one DP for Akuma.
Red focus seems like a very good tool against bison scissors.
Everything else is practically the same. Let me know if you want anything tested.
Day 2
So today I managed to experiment a little more with DWU. The meaty demon flip palm/throw mixup is one that can be altered to cover DWU. For example: you land a sweep and you go for a meaty demon flip palm. If the opponent decides to DWU, the technical message will roughly pop up around the time you finish your input for demon flip (so demon flip has started up and Akuma has already taken flight). Consequently, if I saw a technical message, I would substitute my original plan of meaty palm with a DF super late dive kick to hit the opponent as they get up from DWU. This is clearly punishable via invincible DPs but it was the only consistent way of keeping up pressure. If I didn’t see the message I would proceed with my meaty demon flip palm.
Akuma can get a delicious cross up DF.DK on people who use DWU on Akuma’s back throw.
Akuma’s kara backdash + red focus on wakeup seems to be a very strong escape option. As Akuma does not get much from a DP FADC (compared to Ryu), spending two bars on this option is a good alternative + a ton of ultra gauge is built up (provided the opponent attacks). DP FADC kara backdash is also an option but can be punished by chase ultras. DP FADC backdash seems safe.
Akuma’s wakeup game just got a whole lot stronger thanks to DWU. A combination of DWU, teleport, DP (to stuff out anti-DWU setups), red focus, regular focus, back dash, double ultra (or ultra 2) made it extremely difficult for opponents to pressure me.
DP FADC -5 is quite tricky to punish. Dawgtanian said ‘despite it being -5, you have to be on point with your punish’.
HP.DP being FADCable on first hit on block was nothing new to me as I’ve been doing this in 2012 to get use to it. So if any of you still hit confirm with it, now is the time to stop.
Made up for loss of u1 from sweep by variation of attacks such as ex fireball, cr.mk xx HK tatsu, walk up throw, fs.HK and etc. to beat focus attacks. Cr.MK/fs.HK (1st and 2nd hit)/fs.HP xx demon have been suitable alternatives against focus fishing opponents.
When doing whatever normal xx lk.tatsu on Hugo, the whole freaking screen moves up and down. This is aesthetically annoying!
Day 3
Elena can punish Akuma’s max range sweep on block with reversal U1.* I was mistaken, max range is safe but a poorly spaced one will be punished.*
Found a bug with cs.mk. if you do cr.lp > cs.mk xx lk.tatsu on a crouching Ryu and Akuma, the tatsu will always whiff. Only tested on these two, there may be more characters that add to this list. The cs.mk forced stand but the tatsu kept whiffing. Reported to Dawgtanian.
Didn’t use double ultra much. Felt it was unnecessary and damage was a deciding factor in picking U1 or U2 in certain matchups.
Other character changes
Thought I might delve deeper a little bit on how I felt on the other characters in the game:
Evil Ryu is looking very beastly in the game. His 6 frame sweep is definitely noticeable and because of it he can tatsu sweep the same cast as Akuma can. Health buff is also very demoralising when playing against a good Evil Ryu, His core gameplay remains intact, he needs 2 bars and he is ready to go.
Hugo Out of the new four characters I think Hugo is probably the best one out of them. His toolset is varied and amazing. I really believe he could potentially be the best grappler in Ultra.
Ryu is looking a whole lot more solid. cr.mk buff was immediately felt and consequently I could feel the cr.mk xx fireball become a truer string from further ranges. The air juggle tatsu buff is lol and not really practical. DP being -5 does hurt him quite a lot but this also works out for him as his pressure game on wakeup became stronger.
Ibuki got hit hard because of DWU as well. If you do a regular Kunai setup and the opponent uses DWU, the kunai whiffs and it is a free punish on the kunai’s recovery for the downed opponent. F-Word himself said this. I feel that DWU hit Ibuki harder than it did Akuma.
Seth got butchered. I felt so sorry for the people who use the character. SPD is weaker due to DWU. His wall jump was absolutely wrecked and the added hurtbox on divekick is definitely there as it was a whole lot easier to anti air (didn’t get many trades). Tanden cancels from normals were gone. His stun output got reduced and his buffs are lolwut. They took away his stretchy arms as well! A much weaker version of Seth for sure.
Conclusion
Overall I felt that Akuma largely felt the same as he does in 2012. His nerfs are essentially a slap on the wrist however my main concern is DWU. With DWU, I feel that it will be a whole lot harder to get the vortex going and you will need to be psychologically confident and stronger with your reads and execution.
His reported buffs are ‘meh’ at best, his cs.mk buff doesn’t even work on the two characters I tested and EX tatsu is still broken. Despite of this, his biggest buffs are red focus, DWU and the system wide change of DPs being -5. I didn’t feel double Ultra is really beneficial for Akuma and furthermore his ultras’ fit into the 60% damage category. Akuma already has a very strong wake up game and DWU just amplifies this. Red focus gives Akuma an expensive option to combo into his U1, but given the fact that Akuma’s meter building capabilities are very good, this shouldn’t hinder him. I can see this game mechanic being further refined as the game comes out. DPs being -5 is also beneficial for Akuma as it makes his meaty game slightly stronger.
So the main question you would probably like to know is Akuma still viable/good?
**YES! **
An infiltration mindset and style of play would be the most benefiting way to play Akuma in this version.
As for Ultra itself, the overall game feels the same but at the same time it is fresh and new. The new stages look nice with the exception of the space stage which is currently lagging. The new game mechanics have a huge amount of potential and as more players start to play Ultra, new tech will be discovered. I had fun playing it! and I don’t really want to go back to 2012! Each character is looking dangerous and viable. Plus it is only a matter of time before a top player comes and unlocks the potential of the new characters.
There is another location test that is happening at Hypespotting in the UK at the end of March. The fifth character will be released in mid march. Dawgtanian said there is a chance that build will have the 5th character ready to play and there will be some more character changes implemented (fingers crossed!). There is a chance that I will be attending this location test as well so expect to hear from me very soon!
That’s it from me! Hope you guys found that informative!
i dont mind them nerfing akumas keep away game, his jump back air fb was bs anyways. i just hope they give something meaningfull to his offense. this is coming from an akuma player who doesnt use akuma as his main and uses akuma the wrong way to boot. i dont have any set ups, i just use him as a ryu with safer jump ins and harder combos for less bars. a faster glass canon of a ryu. my “vortex” is more a way to get in safely than it is to actually mix them up hard. then again i dont do training mode, only play vs friends or online and still playing super, and not even at home but at friends house because i borrowed it to him like a year or so ago. i want to get ultra but the changes dont seem to make a lot of sense for this game. i hope they dont fuck it up, ultra is actually worth buying with all the characters and outfits in the box.
smh
Jump back fireball against me in an Akuma mirror, makes me an happy panda.
- Weak to focus
- Weak to walk forward
- Weak to trades
- Weak to proj invu moves
- Weak to many Ultras
- Self corner carry
so much for a BS move that need nerf yeah…
cr. lp x3 xx ex tatsu does not work on ryu point blank in 2012. you have to b just a little bit further out for it to combo. if it still doesn’t combo him point blank in ultra i wonder how much they increased the vaccum. AJ could u test ex tatsu combos on a crouching cody and c if that got better?
j.HK -> cr.LP 3x -> ex tatsu on ryu gets all hits on the tatsu so idk wtf is happening there
Cheers for the info Ajay.
It sounds like things have panned out the way we expected, with Akuma remaining largely unchanged with the exception of the big impact DWU has on him.
Very curious to hear about any changes to redball and fs.hk’s combo ability if you get the chance. Appreciate what you’ve shared so far though, as this is the most concise collection of stuff we’ve been able to get throughout all the location tests!
It’s pretty funny to hear that WU1 doles out a stack of meter. Thanks, Capcom. It’s also surprising that Hugo can’t be tatsu sweeped, I would have thought he’d be ripe for it. Glad to hear Poison can be as I expect an absolute army of Poison (and Rolento) players when this game drops.
Hey Gam, unfortunately there is no change to red ball or fs.hk at all. I doubt there will be any hidden changes but I will continuously keep looking for some!
dont worry gam. they’ll all drop off about a month or two after release or a month or two after EVO. btw y u no add my DF setups to the rest of the list on the 1st page?
Updated with Day 2!