After playing around more with shoto characters I wound up answering my own question from the “Most Offensive Playstyle-Friendly Shoto” thread and I’ve decided to main Akuma (at least for the time being). Due to this, I’m trying to pick one alt to learn that decently covers Akuma’s weaknesses.
Now I realize most of you will immediately say “Don’t worry about an alt right now, learn your main fully first!”. I intend to do this, and the vast majority of my time will be dedicated to Akuma as I’m really enjoying him, but I’m sure most of you will understand that after a few hours of playing the same character things can get a little boring and you need a change of pace. For this reason, I want an alt that will complement my main that I can learn in those times.
Any suggestions? Because mechanic-wise I really have no idea what would be a good alt to complement him.
Have you tried Dee… wait… you like shotos.
The problem with prefering shotos is that they all play, more or less, the same. So picking another shoto to cover the first’s weaknesses means leaving the same weaknesses in your game play.
Juri is used quite a bit and can be fun. I personally recommend Dee Jay, but that’s just me.
4.5/10 is hardly a disadvantaged matchup. What it means is that two players of equal skill have an almost equal chance of winning. If you are losing horribly, then you simply need to improve your Akuma so you can 50/50 a decent Ryu or Rufus player. That is the benchmark.
To be honest the tier list is pretty worthless. The numbers at the end have a large variation simply because of the amount of possible matchups. I really don’t think the game is as balanced as it appears. It looks to me like people are being conservative in their ratings. Unless of course the games mechanics can be used to negate any matchup specific tactics, which is probably just as likely.
Take a look at this ST tier list.
I play Ken, Zangief and Dhalsim.
Difficult matchups are in the region of 3.5/10. Extremely difficult/hopeless matchups are 2.5/10 or lower. Unless your character has a matchup lower than 3/10, if you are good you can still expect to win it without any major disadvantages.
I’m aware that a 4.5/10 matchup is barely worth mentioning, but since Akuma is such a solid all around character it’s hard to recommend an alt that will compliment him.
Consider Seth? He’s another command character with some shoto-like moves (and more) that can be in-your-face or play keep-away, has a teleport move like Akuma, and shares a life disadvantage similar to Akuma that will help teach you how to play solid instead of getting in 50/50 or trade situations. I recommend him because you could apply some tactics and knowledge from each character to the other. His walk speed is much slower than Akuma, and he has a command grab which are some of the big differences.
Bison is a solid charge character that has a teleport and fast walkspeed. His pokes and invincible startups more than make up for lack of fireballs. He could open your abilities with charge characters.
Sorry should have made it more clear in my OP. I’m not looking for a shoto alt, I’d actually prefer a non-shoto alt for a change of pace.
Seems like common opinion is that Akuma is so well rounded that more than needing an alt I just need to adapt my playstyle, and as far as alts go I can really play whatever.
you still need to make the decision by yourself dude. no one can tell you who is the best alt for you.
do you want rushdown like rufus? mixups like sakura? want to play a totally different game and go dhalsim? a charge character? a grappler?
just play the game however you like to learn characters; online, trials, training mode, whatever. try a few characters out and see which you like best. it’s simple.
That was kind of my point, that the OP doesn’t need an alt because Akuma has no bad matchups. If he feels there are bad matchups, then he probably doesn’t understand the opponent’s character, doesn’t have enough experience of their play or just hasn’t got the strategy yet.
Picking a grappler usually gives you good ideas. In HDR, I used Ken at first, then picked up Zangief because I was impressed by someone I was knew. It opened my eyes to the whole concept of baiting reversals and more careful spacing.
I’m not sure about complimenting your “main”, but should check out Claw if you’re looking for a little outside-the-box-ness. At first you might want to scratch your eyes out, but after a while, he really is a lot of fun. He’ll take your spacing/zoning to the max.
The only real weakness Akuma/Gouki has is low HP. I can usually eat them all day with Rog. It all depends on what you’re looking for honestly. I prefer charge characters as well as the original grandmasters (Sagat, Rog, Bison, Vega). So basically look for an alt that fits you’re playstyle. I would recommend picking up a charge character though. When I decided to switch from Guile to Rog in vanilla, I found that playing Rog taught me a lot of fundamentals of the game that I was lacking.
Also, I wouldn’t let the tier list decide who you use. Tier lists basically serve as guidelines for particular matchups but are by no means a be all end all solution as to whether you will win or not. Any character can beat any character as long as the player is skilled and knows the matchup well.
I think you are trying to run before you can even walk. You’ve only just decided on Akuma as your main character, but now you want an alternative too? Learn Akuma inside out first and become familiar with the game, characters and matchups. A lot of this knowledge works across the board, so while you are learning Akuma, you will also be learning character specific weaknesses that you will be able to exploit with whoever you choose next. I used Ken solid for about a year, almost daily before I felt that I had learned enough with Ken to be competitive. Learning two characters at once will take twice as long as learning one. If you want results quick, you need to just play Akuma non stop and learn everything you possibly can.
It’s different for everyone, but the last time I decided to take another character seriously (Dhalsim) I found that it took 2-4 weeks before I noticed that I was winning more and was generally comfortable. After that you will still improve but at a much slower rate. I’d say give Akuma a month solid (almost daily if possible) and see where you feel you are at.
Your best bet is to friend some really strong players and ask them to see why you are losing. Are you just not making the most of Akuma, or are you making fundamental mistakes that you would make with any character?