Dan Strategies and Match-ups

This list is based solely on my meager experience. I’ve faced only one Gen that was any good, and I only played 5 sets with him. Not really guide worthy, but I had to put something. The rest is gleaned from cannon fodder G2-F Gen players. :\

And I’d avoid a hop-over on Ryu, since if he ducks and you fly over, he can Jab > Jab xx Shoryuken FADC Ultra.

I’m also certain Abel can’t nab you with Falling Sky if you’re spaced properly. I’ve stuffed it on more than one occasion.

Heres a compiled list of some great vegas to fight against…let them know u added them from VEGAS LIST
http://www.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=220046

Alright guys, i have to ask because this has been getting the best of me in a lot of my more recent matches and i feel like its my biggest fault right now in my play style. I’m having significant difficulty dealing with zoning/getting zoned (against any character, Ryu, Sagat, Rose even) If i get zoned i get completely locked down. I get really impatient when im just sitting there hopping over or focusing fireballs, and i can’t find a good way to get in. Dan’s tools seem limited in what i can do, and im curious if im missing something really crucial. The only ideas i have are the following:

  1. Turtle as well as i can, and force them to come to me via taunt ( b ’ ’ )b
  2. Slowly get in, and when i would jump in and get DP’d bait with Air EX Danku (seems somewhat viable, haven’t tried it enough in real matches to see if it actually works)
  3. ???

I feel if i can get passed this my game will improve quite a bit, but im having issues figuring this out on my own. Thanks

I’d stick with #1 :stuck_out_tongue:

Another way to approach is HK Danku or EX Danku. If they aren’t buffering DP, they’ll probably block it. HK Danku only leaves you at -2, whereas EX leaves you at -3. Off of HK Danku, you can mix it up, going for an all-or-nothing EX Koryuken (Beats almost everything), a dash back (bait something), or an EX Danku (If they’re dashing back).

You need to do some srs downloading of your opponent for this to work, even then it’s hella risky. In these matchups, you need to knockdown, so sometimes it’s worth it.

EX Danku at mid range seems to be the best idea, seeing as it is the fastest moving Danku. Usually i get beat out by a fireball right before i’m about to hit them, meaning i’m probably not close enough.

If you have to play footsies with Dan it’s very hard. However, it’s possible. Basically, copy Sanford’s style [media=youtube]9rs3r3-KqlY"[/media]. Poke with Gadoukens, s.mk, cr.mk, cr.lk, s.lp, and EX Danku. Versus people with bad reactions that aren’t gief you can do mk/hk dankus to poke and get a mixup going. I think EX Danku is safe on block at the right range though, even versus Gief. But don’t quote me on that. One way to get damage in footsies is to do a counterpoke and buffer EX Danku. For example, s.lp xx EX Danku. If your poke whiffs or gets hit you don’t get the Danku, but if it does you get damage and a knockdown.

Dan’s dash is bad so focus absorbing projectiles is only okay. Basically if you focus absorb a fireball and dash forwards you’re putting yourself at ‘frame disadvantage’ unless you absorbed it at point-blank range (in which case you can punish them with a combo). The best ways to counteract the recovery of the dash is to either immediately backdash, koryu, or neutral jump. If someone is good at zoning with fireballs you might have to focus absorb some. His jump is too floaty to jump over low Tiger Shots safely for example. Your best alternative is to try to absorb fireballs to get your ultra (and try to ultra them through a fireball).

Dan is kind of like Blanka in that his offense is almost all shenanigans. Dan wants to do random stuff and catch the opponent doing the same random stuff. But in order for that to work you have to play safely for 80% of the time. Another way of saying this is that the fewer times you jump in and the more patient you are the more likely that you aren’t going to get anti-aired. Also, predicting a fireball and jumping pre-emptively can pay off very well, but you have to weigh risk versus reward and against a good player you shouldn’t jump in often. You have to set your bullshit up with footsies so that when you do a HK Danku to close the distance or a jumping lk Danku or a normal jump-in they just don’t counter it on reaction. People don’t have a 100% general specific reaction time, their ability to react is based on what they anticipate you doing. That is why you have to fight the losing battle of footsies in order to mask what you really want to do because your other options are unsafe.

Dan is hard because his best footsie tools are only mediocre. His fireball can be counterpoked more easily than a hadouken, his cr.mk and s.mk is a bit slow, his jumps are very high, he has trouble with fireball traps without his ultra, his walk speed is poor, and his forward dash is a whopping 21 frames long. This is why Dan is possibly the worst character in the game. However, Dan is pretty okay once he gets in.

I suggest that you try to work on your ground game. Try to go entire rounds without jumping towards a character if they have good anti-airs. Walk people down but don’t be afraid to block. Like I said before, jump-ins are sometimes worth the risk but you can’t rely on them. They should be more like your ‘Ace in the hole.’

Because Dan’s footsies are so bad some people refuse to play footsies and try just to confuse the opponent with movement. This [media=youtube]XPkwDve7dyI#t=3m48s[/media] is a good example of that. Note how he keeps at full to mid screen and waits for the opponent to drop his guard, which is when he jumps in or does a hk danku. However, I think this type of play is fundamentally flawed because good players either A) are so good at chasing you that they will beat you at your own game after they push you to the corner or punish your gambit or B) the opponent will just refuse to chase you. If an opponent has a life lead there’s not much Dan can do to make them come to him.

Hope this helps.

I’ve been able to back dash away from reversal SPD after a blocked EX Dankuu (max range methinks) so must put you at no more than -1, right?

Then get Dankuu (not necessarily EX) from negative edge :frowning: I tend to do the Sakura trick with EX Dankuu, c.MK xx EX Dankuu close to their feet. His c.MK isn’t as good as Sakura’s for counter poking but if they walk into it you get a nice combo.

Bend me. Ryu and Sakura’s are 18 frames methinks, didn’t realise it was that bad, ontop of which it covers less ground than his back dash. Wonder if KRK has increased block stun since SRK FADC puts Ryu at -1 (if I remember correctly), same block stun would make KRK FADC -4 D:? (sure we’re not at that much disadvantage)

I’m so bummed right now, I remember UltraDavid’s Option Select video and I think there’s great possibilities with j.HK~OS~Ultra but trying it out against Akuma his God damn teleport is always just out of reach >.< Doesn’t seem like OS helps out against Akuma in that department :frowning:

Still I’m determined to find some nice OS against other characters :tup:

Edit: Ugh, maybe I’ll leave the Option Selects to the pros :stuck_out_tongue: I’ve found a few things out but nothing great really:

cross-up j.MK~OS~Ultra on Dhalsim (should work on Seth and Bison), the usual run away tactic to that would be Reverse DP+KKK teleport, if they do that Ultra will catch them. Also works against the PPP version of that but teleports attempted with regular DP motion will avoid it.

cross-up j.MK/j.HK~OS~EX Dankuu against Vega if he backflips away you’ll recover in time to punish but seems like a waste of meter.

And that’s it, nevermind :frowning:

Need some help against Rose, I think I’m not doing something right as my friend kept beating most of my attempts at attacking =_=
Also Rose’s Jumping HP beats LK Danku, and when should I input my Ultra to counter Rose’s Ultra?

After you block it or jump over it.

You can beat it out with yours, but you need to hit her close up and late as possible.

Jump over it with a hp or hk into Ultra if you are far out, block and punish closer to her.

I’m not sure but I think the j.HK/j.HP > Ultra link actually does less damage than the Ultra alone and it’s easy to mess up. Just jump straight over it and input on landing, there’s plenty of time.

Rose has some pretty good pokes and can be tricky to get in on, I’d counter her pokes with Gadoukens and random EX Dankuu amoung the regular c.MK and s.MK. I’d assume she’d probably use c.HP as AA unless it’s blatently obvious you’re jumping (then Soul Throw), well timed Air Knee would probably beat c.HP. Abuse Knee on her wake-up, her only anti-pressure tool is EX Soul Spiral and that’s unsafe on block.

Actually, Jumping HP/HK Ultra does 348 minimum damage, and 472 max damage. At the very least it can be a ‘hit confirm’.
For that matter it actually IS a good combo.
However, Jumping MK does 70 points of damage, and if comboed into his Ultra after it, damage is 318 min. and 442 max.
Thanks for the info. Can I counter a Soul Spiral with an HP Koryuken?

You can’t hit confirm that shit, you have to hit the jumping attack so late there’s no way you’ll be able to tell whether it hit or was blocked before you input’d the Ultra motion and hit PPP. Can’t link it off a j.MK either, doesn’t give enough hit stun.

Ultra does 465 normally, 472-465 = 7, 7 extra damage for what? Chance to cock it up? No thanks, not worth it IMO.

Soul Spiral is unsafe when not used at the right distance, a good Rose will know what version to use when but if it’s used in your face then it will be unsafe (-4 at the very least, -8 with LK version).

What are you guys anti airing with? Been trying to learn Dan but jump-ins kill me

Crouching Koryukens (:df::d::df::p:) and Focus Attacks.

AA Focus is a gimmick and will get you killed against a good opponent. It’s only good if they’re not expecting it, and how much they expect it is inversely related to how often you do it.

But yeah Koryu beats everything period.

nj.MK works pretty well too.

Played this one Ken, Focus’d 3 of his jump-ins in a row :rofl: took like 55-60% of his health off with those 3 combos :rofl:

I really need to work on my reaction speed with Kouryukens :frowning:

Every single gief I played today neutral jump-headbutted to counter my KoJ. It’s like they all learned it at the same time.