Why is this? Because they take everything he has, his pokes, away from him. How to you handle people who like to focus? I completely get shut down by good ryus, can’t jump can’t poke, can’t df.rh, can’t do anything 
There’s this dude on XBL, GT ‘MoniraKing’ and he absolutely nullifies everthing Vega has via his expert focus attacks. Fortunately not everyone is as good as him…otherwise, I’d give up.
Ha, I’ve played him alot, he’s on my friends list and is indeed a great player (much better than me I might add). Anyway, I fail to see how focus heavy players “shut down” Vega. For starters, he has a normal (st. RH) that completely nullifies FA’s since it hits twice. I encounter alot of problems while plaing Vega, but Focus spamming usually isn’t one of them.
at close range, use st.hk. it comes out real quick (4 frames, as fast as your jab) and hits twice so it’s probably the best focus breaking option that you have. forget about scarlet terror.
at long range, you can try using st.mk. this is good and safe poke to use at max distance because most characters like ryu will not be able to focus absorb and crumple you because they won’t be in range to do so. if they try going for the crumple, their focus attack will whiff in front of you, leaving them vulnerable for a free hit
It doesn’t nullify shit because it’s range is too little and at max range it only hits once. This basically means I even have to get in more for it to hit.
And this is just the ideal range for Ryu to use cr.mk…
I guess this is the only option I have though, so thanks Tatsu. That st.mk is also a very good idea.
Ninja: I bet you haven’t played someone who constantly FA’s your cr.mp, df.rh or last hit of rcf, then gets huge damage from it, have you? It’s almost a third of my life gone, because I threw A POKE . And if he has Ultra, it’s even worse, not to mention that he always gets a free knockdown and puts you into another guessing game that can end pretty badly.
Don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not predictable nor do I spam the move. I even punish some FAs in a match. It’s just that if he lands two or three I’m basically almost dead already. And I have no other choice but to go into footsie range…
sHK your way to victory~
If they’re too far for the focus to hit, I’ll sMK as a way of saying "why you do this, friend?"
Also, it’s fun to counter a focus with a focus of you’re own sometimes. =D
Back dash if you smell a full coming.
This. Whenever I play people that love to focus all of my pokes, I just start using st.RH and it pretty much fucks them up. Don’t do it from too far, or only one hit will connect, and watch out for Honda, because he crouches during his FA, meaning your RH will only hit once, which equals big damage.
By the way, if you jump in and you see someone focus, the best thing to do is just empty jump and throw.
I was waiting for someone to say this
I have actually. It can be problematic, no doubt, but I actually FA quite a bit of my opponents pokes myself, which sort of negates this problem alot. Don’t misunderstand though, I’m not proclaiming myself to be good at SFIV by any means. Just speaking from experience.
Ha, lately the vegas i’ve played (some from shoryuken) do fall victim to FA. Too many ppl play way to turtlish and try to poke with their crouching attacks. All u have to do is jump in and grab, or depending on how close u r u can usually hit them twice with a s. mk. Or go for a long range poke combo, the cr. mk, cr. mp or cr.mp/cr.mk , ST/EX FBA. Or just FA right back at them, vegas has more range than some other characters and if u have goof eyes u can stand right outside of their range and hit them when they try to release it.
If someone is getting focus happy with you, get the timing on your crouching jabs down, which are very fast if you link them, or bait to throw or standing roundhouse.
You can also just focus their focus.
this is where footsies come into play and you can win with vega easily just using footsies. but if thats not your style then…
when you poke and you see a FA then you can cancel by pressing one of the kkk or ppp. but be warned if you play someone who doesnt attack all the time after absorbing one you run the risk of him dashing up and grabing you or punishing you. your best bet for these assholes is simply make him throw a fireball where he thinks is safe and jump in with meduim punch to punish. or you can simply just chip him enough for life lead and just run away. the more you run away the more aggresive and infuriated the opponent becomes, and starts making more mistakes. remember these guys have a methodical way of dealing with you. once they learn that shit isnt going to fly you have the advantage its your game now, not theirs. and remember dont rely on df.rh, or pokes. to many vega fall victim to this flowchart playstyle and its sadning that most vega’s belive df.rh is a must. just be happy parrying isnt there because i think this will affect vega in worse ways.
thats a good idea, but ive played people who release it just before i land and stun crumple me. its not like ryu where he can be at waist level and still block an attack he should have eaten. but other than that its good advice. i should try it to mix it up.
GRACIAS SENOR Shack POR EL AVISO NUEVO!!!
You can’t focus their focus. They’re hitting you on the recovery of your attack, Brento.
That’s what I’m doing. I’m playing a footsie game, and to play footsie you need to poke - as soon as I get in poke range, I have to do something, don’t I? So I poke at him.
It’s not like I stand there crouching and throwing cr.mp all day, I’m not a turtler :'D I don’t use df.rh too much either, those were only examples. I simply can’t play my footsies on that guy because hadoken at that range is safe and the fb and his FA completely destroy me. Even if he does get punished for it, it’s only so little damage compared to him hitting the FA.
Oh well:
- st.mk
- st.hk
- cancelling pokes into short backslash
- running away after the life lead
I’m going to try this out. Thank you 
Maybe we can spar sometime. I really suck at mirrors, but I’d still like to see your interpretation of Vega
sure any time just send me an invite or pm.
If they focus while you are jumping I would say you are better of with a very late air move into scarlet terror. This will prevent the backdash, and the focus attack if you do it right. (Landing frames = 4 with no moves possible, scarlet is 4, focus attack at fastest is 12ish? Thats a fairly big window).
So you can jump at someone if they do too many focuses. Remeber they have to commit to doing focus in order to punish your pokes. If you have db charged, you can jump off the wall with EX sky. You can also just do normal barcelona, already charging focus is a bad place for your opponent to be when you hit that well. Make the focus a more dangerous option for them to just throw out fishing for CH, and you will see less of it and the game will return to what you are used to.
LOL. I fell victim to your FAs a couple of times alright!!
I use focus a lot too. I suggest you use the poking and the throws more. Try to perfect the air grab if possible when they use the focus. That will null out the focus attacks for the most part. I love playing Vega, but he gets creamed by some characters. Tough, but I suggest have fun and do what you can.
That’s why you’re the focusfabian!
Thanks for the advice, Destin.
maybe since you’re getting hit with focus attacks just means you’re sitting still for too long. return to the air!
1.Your using Cr.MP to close mabye?. At close range use cr.lp since if he focus attacks you can hit him one more Cr.lp or CR.MP
2.Jb.HP is a great move to get away form focus attacks.
3.If you have a fast reaction or can guess when they are going to do a focus attack you could Cr.MP to sky high claw or ex wall dive.
In truth you shouldn’t be anywere near there range to be focus attacked.