When you fight zangief I found this out the hard way. Combo into lk dankus. MK and HK can be command grabbed 100% of the time. So what you do for example is c.FP xx QCB+LK. If it blocks you can either jump instantly and be safe or backdash. this is how you get pressure on gief. If youre feelign ballsy you can stick out an ex koryuken to catch gief trying to grab you but i wouldnt do that a lot. Also, ex. danku kick is safe on block like the LK version. Also, dont try to cross gief up, his lariat destroys dans crossup MK.
Dans QCB+LK in the air beats all of giefs anti-airs if you time it right.
Dans MK is an awesome poke.
Meaty MP -> LP xx QCB+KK is a safe block string.
Dan can combo on a j.HK, MP -> LP XX koryuken\ex koryuken\ex danku.
Jumping HK, cr.HP xx super taunt xx Ultra is dans most damanign combo. You dont need to throw out a gadouken either.
I’m really at a loss on what to do vs. other shotos/anyone with a real fireball. Once I get in about 2 character widths I feel really comfortable (oh my lord I love the frame trap off a late hit lk dan kick) but it’s like pulling teeth trying to get in that range. Gadouken “Shielding” other fireballs dosen’t even seem to work not just because of it’s range, but Dan’s hand is so far out there that it seems really easy to tag his hitbox.
What can Dan do versus the standard fireball trap?
^If you don’t mind me going all theory fighter here, I would advise doing you what one would do with non-projectile characters (eg Abel, FeiLong)
I have no idea what Fei Long has, but Abel has Marcellus Roll and Ex Wheel Kick to beat projectiles. Dan from what I can tell doesn’t have anything like that until he gets ultra. EX Shoryu goes through projectiles too but that doesn’t really solve the problem I’m having, haha.
You can do a couple of things. You can FADC through them, that should get you close. That should get you in jump-in range. If you’re gonna get tagged with an uppercut, bust out his in air QCB+KK, fairly certain that’ll stuff dragon punches. Other then that, mix it up. Use mp gadouken to “pop” fireballs and play defensive, make them come to you. FADC through a few of them, bait uppercuts. ex danku is a great poke beater to stick out when you get in range for it. It takes a lot of effort to beat other fireballers. Mix it up.
Thanks. I was kind of afraid that “FADC more” would be the answer, haha. That’s a mechanic I’m still getting used to.
I’ve had every version of Air Dan Kick stuffed by a dragon punch though. 
I love Dan’s attitude and personality in SFIV so much, that I really do want to main him. I’m practicing hard. But, if there is a balance update to the game or SFIV Dash/Championship version, I really do wish they’d just give Dan /one/ direct anti-fireball ability. He’s already effective enough to not be a joke character anymore (in terms of gameplay, his attitude is still a riot).
What I have basically found with playing Dan in SFIV is he is not to be played like a shoto. DO NOT use the fireball as a conventional fireball. Use it as more of a poke when in close range or playing footsies.
If anyone here plays King of Fighters, play him EXACTLY like you would Ryo Sakazaki.
Something interesting I found tonight:
If someone jumps in with an attack, just before they hit you perform Dans regular super, it will suck them in and juggle for all 19 hits.
Not only am I still amazed that anyone would even try to play Dan as a shoto, but I’m amazed that people have to keep saying, “Don’t play Dan like a shoto.”
Seriously, it’s just not registering for me, and it hasn’t since I first saw him in Alpha. And that was almost FIFTEEN YEARS ago.
It blows my mind as well. He is one of my mains in Alpha 3(and has been for years). I have to keep telling people he isn’t a shoto.
Im loving Dan. As soon as I heard he was going to be in this game I was hyped. After a few days of playing him, Im still hyped. Im actually WINNING matches. I played him in A3 also but never got good enough with him to beat anyone else that was good.
If anyone wants to get some knowledge on the Rose matchup from a semi-ok Rose, feel free to challenge me online.
I want to see what a good Dan looks like, as I haven’t played any yet and am too scrubby to figure out how to use him on my own, I just plain suck with him.
Important concept that hasn’t been mentioned in this thread yet:
HP Koryuken links from close Strong. Sure, you do less damage than if you comboed with close Fierce, but you have plenty of time to hit-confirm (meaning less risk). Although, the Koryuken will not hit from a cross-up.
The MP xx HP Koryuken link allows for the following combo:
Jump HK, close MP xx HP Koryuken, FADC xx HK Dan Kick (knee whiffs).
The combo takes two ex bars, but is a hit-confirm combo for 1/3 life (on 1000 character).
Another (useless since you should be using ex’s) hit-confirm combo is this:
Jump HK, close MP xx far MP, taunt super, ultra.
Timing is tight.
Ryo Sakazaki, exactly. Ever since all the previews of Dan went up, I realized he’s been practicing Kyokugen. Which is why he’s one of my mains now… SNK represent!
I like playing runaway/hit’n’run dan. Is it possible to focus a jump-in, then backdash cancel to the ultra? For example, against shotos who like to rh/rh you all the time. I was playing around with it, but I kept getting an ex uppercut instead of the ultra.
Does anyone know if dan has a kara anything.
Shotos are now giving me a headache too, particularly Ryu. I’m having a problem dealing with standard FB/DP zoning.
And exactly what can i do against a turtle Guile. I’ve got nothing
Instant air LK Dan kick is good for footsies. It’ll hit crouching opponents, and it has a lot more range than a grounded one.
s. LK is great for pressure as well.
This is far from useless. FAR from useless. I’ll debate the crap out of the need to use dan’s ex moves. You can lock down characters with his lk danku, which is safe on block, and his fierce koryuken is a good enough anti-air. Ex gadouken is extremely situational and should only be used in corner combos to either link into ultra or a focus attack. and you honestly dont ahve to use his ex danku.
If this combo works, then Dan has a way to hit confirm into Ultra. How many other characters can you name that can hit confirm into their ultras?
To me, thats huge.