Hey there everyone, it’s 2013 and that means another year of oil. I’ve noticed Hakan has begun to receive more and more attention and also gained some wins in the tournament scene, so with that hopefully more people will begin to use him as well as explore some of his more unexplored tactics that make him worth playing (in my opinion anyway).
That being said, I’d like to start a thread that revolves around Hakan’s backdash canceling and its variable uses outside of your wakeup defense. I personally use it as an offensive tool on my opponent’s wakeup, given the situation and feel it could be expanded if someone with more skill than I were to spend some time in the lab with it. Hakan’s backdash evasions when interchanged with his FADNCs, option selects, and just plain no respect 360s can open up a completely different mindgame that is well worth learning to use once you get into your opponent’s head. If you are already onto their game it’s free damage for you and you can keep them guessing. Here are a few examples where I’ve found uses for it and I’m sure these have already been found, but I’m bringing attention to them for the sake of context.
Ex. 1- Cr. RH Hard Knockdown, n./f. jump, BDNC MP
This avoids all of Cammy’s reversal DPs.
**-alternate Ex. 2- Cr. RH Hard Knockdown, n./f. jump, BDNC cr.MK
This avoids Dudley’s DPs sans his heavy DP. Also avoids Adon’s/ Rog’s DPs as well as others and doubles as a way to punish backdashes.
Ex. 3- SlidexxPress, HP Slide, Backdash Coward Crouch Cancel
**-alternate Ex. 4- Dive, Slide, Backdash Coward Crouch Cancel
This avoids a majority of all possible reversal options from a majority of the cast, all shoto DPs, Sagat’s DP & EX Tiger Knee, Bison’s EX Crusher, Adon’s DPs, you name it. It’s an AWESOME asset to Hakan’s offensive game as it avoids any armor breaking options they might have, while keeping you incredibly close to the opponent. When they catch on and start blocking or doing jabs on wakeup, you can simply FADNC instead or go back to simple BDNCs.
These are just a few examples, but I’m sure that there are much more to be had off of Hakan Stomp, F+RH, Empty slides, etc. They just need to be discovered. Hope I get some feedback on this.