What are Takuma’s anti airs or how does he deal with them? I can’t seem to find a reliable anti air.
I probably shouldn’t be asking this here but i’ll just go for it. So I really want to get good at this game, but I live in East Cost. That pretty much means all hope is lost right?
From what I’ve experienced, st.A and cr.C seem to be his only normals that can reliably anti air. When in doubt you could always try air to air j.CD a.k.a Das Foot.
Ash is pretty much played like every zoning character with limited rushdown. Push the opponent to the corner > lock them down with safe hops > make them do something stupid > big punish via ABCD super and other crazy shit. Check out some Mr.KOF matches and there are some A-cho matches on youtube where some of japan’s Ash players get pretty nitty gritty with him. Sorry I cannot link you though. 
Takuma really doesn’t have any. He’s a rushdown or zone character based on choice. However, I’ll give him the rushdown since his j.CD is one of the best and that his j.D crosses up… and he has a 100% stun combo D: OK SO HE IS A PRETTY GOOD RUSH CHARACTER. I feel like his thing is like characters without a true dp option like shen. If opponent gets into rushing you, use your meter to guard attack then and reverse the pressure. Takuma can use s.C to stop hops, but his luck will eventually run out with that option. His s.C is good, I would have to test it but I want to say it whiffs crouching opponents and doing so gives your opponent the option to go low since it is no where near as fast as anything else. Crouching C is alright, but don’t bank on it you get beat up using it. I’ll say play it safe and use s.A or jab to stop hops, however, a normal jump against takuma should just be blocked or do Ryo Ranbo with C since it has auto guard in the startup before the dash…
East Coast plays KOF, including Michigan(if you count them east or not, I usually do), so does North Carolina, New York, and Maryland. You are correct, just ask this question in the KOF general discussion thread. That way east coast players can reach out to you.
So I’ve been watching the NorCal 10 replays of KOF XIII and the more I watch, the more my interest grows. I do try to play every fighting game, just to broaden my horizons. But I’ve heard KOF is notoriously technical (on the same level as 3S, if not more so) and that kinda turns me off. I like slightly more relaxed inputs (ala SFxT or SSF4) but I am a fan of these HD-ified older games. I am a somewhat ‘casual’ fighting game player though. So, would it be worth it to look into this game and invest time and money? Or should I stay away because it’s lack of beginner-friendly presence?
do you think Kyo, Clark, Iori is a pretty scrub/noob/easy team? if not, who would you replace in that team for an easier character?
I am day 2 KoF and so far only learned Kyo’s BnB’s other then the HD cancel ones (too hard dp to rdp to dp, he’ll just be my point)
also what are some of the characters with the easiest HD cancel combos?
Don’t let what you’ve heard detract you. Usually the people who claim that KoF is this super hard game that is high execution and not for noobs are usually full of shit. The inputs are incredibly relaxed in this game. The motions are the only thing that would give someone trouble when it comes to execution. I’m not gonna lie though, it requires work to actually get competent at this game(But the same could be said for any fighting game…at least I would like to believe that) but it’s not like it’s damn near impossible to play. Give it a shot, you might actually really enjoy it.
Just going to second what Zeromurasama said. KOF is not very difficult in execution, just… different. To me sf4 with it’s endless amount of 1-frame links is much harder.
Yes that’ s a really easy team, but a good team. Iori & Daimon’s HD combos are pretty easy.
Ralf’s ground HD is pretty brain dead.
Andy,Shen, Both Iori’s, Ralf, Daimon, and Leona have really easy HD combos. Benimaru has some easy ones like Knee into Benimaru Lancer but it is not optional for damage since he can do so much more after the first rep of that.
who would benefit the best for me at the 2nd position out of these four chars? Iori, flame Iori, Benimaru, Shen?
Any tips for fighting against Mr. Karate?
So, as a somewhat beginner to FG’s in general(just started around this year with SF arcade edition)
What would you recommend a beginner do to develop fundamental skills in this game(KOF 13)
Also which characters would be best at teaching these fundamentals
I got the game about a week ago and did the tutorial mode and some missions and I’m not gonna lie they are really tough for me. It takes me about 10 min to do one. I think that’s due to trying to get the right timing.
Iori seems pretty easy to learn, as does Kyo although he seems a bit more complicated to me.
Open to any suggestions
Thanks in advance anyone who helps
First question, how’s Duo Lon? I was testing him and he seems really fun. He seems to be able to set up a reset after his BnB. He can switch sides really fast with his EX Teleport and he seems to be able to instant overhead while the opponent is in fuzzy guard and combo afterwards (can somebody confirm this?). His damage seems on the low side but he seems like my type of character.
Second question: What are other some characters that have great mixups and pressure? Maybe some characters with command grabs or safe specials (ruby heart in mvc2, ibuki in sf4).
You pretty much described Duo Lon in a nutshell. Sadly most of his fuzzy guard breaks don’t work well since the change from arcade, but he’s still a solid meter building character who plays a basic pressure game, while looking for a BnB or chance to put out his fireball to start his mixup game. His ground speed and basic style makes for a good throw game as well. He is definitely on the overall lower side of damage for KoF13, but can easily dish out solid damage if you want to spend a couple meters or a drive cancel. Rekkas are generally safe in a lot of situations due to being able to cancel into his teleport, which is not easy to punish for many characters unless they have a one frame grab or a good, fast, and far reaching super/special.
If you want great mixup and stupid safe pressure yuri is exactly what you are looking for. Her strings into demon flip xx dive kick are very hard to deal with for a lot of characters, and dive kick is always +frames no matter how high it hits (unlike a capcom dive kick for example it has variable block/hitstun, so you always get pressure/combos from it). The crossup games you can do with demon flip are nothing short of disgusting, and on top of it she has a 1 frame command grab, and really good ground normals.
Thanks a lot Klaige. I am going to main Duo Lon.
If you have time, can you give me a little insight on if these character fit that pressure/rushdown description, because I am not feeling Yuri much. Characters I am interested: Kyo, Joe, Benimaru, Maxima, Iori, Shen, Elizabeth. Any of those fit the description? Sorry to bother.
Alternate guard him, guard cancel to punish his qcf.+p if you can(I saw mr.KOF do it against Reynald during Runback Thursdays). Certain characters with projectiles can blow him UP if he tries to normal counter from far screen. Rush him, watch out for the DP and you should be fine.
Kyo, Beni, Shen, and Iori are some of the best characters on the game, primarily because they can do ANYTHING. Maxima is getting higher in good characters list since his placings in tourneys. Joe has problems, but is also a good character because of his insane corner pressure and his ex tiger kick does crazy damage and have tons of invincibility on startup.
I’d say look on Dream Cancel and here on SRK at the Character threads or the strategy area for some more insight on the characters. Also, visit http://logicfighter.com/ for some more information.
For starters watch “The Beginners Incomplete guide to KoF” by DandyJ. It will teach you the core fundamentals of the game. The only character I would recommend learning like immediately is Kyo since he’s pretty much the embodiment of King of Fighters in one character. Other simple characters to pick up would be Clark, Robert, Iori, and Andy.
I’ve been trying Saiki as as of late and I really like him. I have two questions:
Would this team work: Kyo (Anchor)/Saiki (second)/Ash(point/front)?
And also does anyone have any general tips for a Saiki player?
I’d say that’s a solid order for your team. Honestly Saiki and Ash can be switched around pretty easily there, but Kyo is almost certainly the best for your anchor spot on that team. I know a lot of Ash players put him 2nd or 3rd since his good damage relies on having meter handy. But overall that’s a team with flexibility and you can adjust based on matchups really well.
For Saiki, it’s really important to understand his normals. At first they may appear kind of average but he has a really strong set as long as you know when to use them. Far D is a godlike poke at max range, and functions as a fantastic hop check as well, so learn your spacing for it. Jump A. and Jump D, are both really solid jump ins for your basic hop game, his jump CD is fast and has a solid hitbox, and it’s really easy to crossup with on a lot of characters. Crouch B is his main low poke and is both fast and chainable, utilizing it with Far D and your basic jump ins will set the foundation for your basic KoF pressure game. Crouch C. is a solid anti-air and is cancelable too, so learn what space it covers.
Saiki’s fireball is really strong, but it cannot be tossed out recklessly due to it’s very long recovery. Saiki can play a basic shoto-style zoning game extremely well, but keep in mind that DP’s in KoF13 for the most part do very mediocre damage. Saiki’s DP+B will only net you 35 damage unless you hit deep with it, meaning the risk-reward for using it is pretty paltry on your end. When you have meter stocked his QCFX2+K super is fantastic anti-air. It’s one of the fastest starting supers in the game, meaning it requires almost frame perfect safe jumps, and it’s hella invulnerable so you will punish poor jump ins every time with it. His lvl 2 grab super is 1 frame and has solid reach on it, so its awesome for both opening up someone and punishing moves that are normally safe against most situations (kyo upkicks for example).
The other thing to keep in mind for Saiki is that all his damage comes in the corner. His midscreen combos are almost non-existent, so you’ll want to push your opponent to the corner whenever possible. Once you’ve got them there work on Saiki’s basic corner combos. You can easily break 500 damage for 1 meter and 1 drive bar on a jump in. His best hitconfirm off a low in the corner is to do Cr.B into ex fireball and then start his basic corner combos. Saiki builds meter really well so don’t be afraid to spend the extra bar to start his really damaging combos.
Those are some pretty basic points to start, if you’ve got more specific questions then feel free to toss em out.