So ive been playing sf4 for a long while now and here is my rant.
This is how i feel against M.Bison as an Akuma player.
I feel like i can’t do shit but run and play a coward jump back fireball game basically.
Not sure if the character is broken as fuck or if i just don’t get the match up, but here are my main issues:
Bison’s s.HK beats everything i have from pokes, to sweep, to jump-ins. Also every time the tip of his feet hits me its about 20 % damage.
Spamming c.lk to bicycle kick chips the fuck out of my hp on block and is nonpunishable.
Ultra 1 teleports my hit box in front of Bison when i jump in so it shuts down my vortex instantly. there is no option select that makes me safe for a random ultra 1 on wake-up.
The only knockdowns i get are shut down by wake-up ex psycho crusher or ex jump move ( not sure how it’s called ) so as soon as the bison player has 1 ex bar, my wake up pressure is shut down entirely.
Overall i feel like his normals are far superior, and most of his moves mindlessly spam-able without any risks. I know it’s more complicated, its just really frustrating.
I have alot of close friends that play sf4, at a pretty decent level They main Ibuki and Balrog. Funny thing they both Alt M.Bison. I pulverize their mains and whatever character they pick, but when they pick bison, it takes me everything to win 2 in a row, and when i do i feel lucky or i just feel that either they fucked up big time or just didn’t spam enough.
So i’m taking my rant to the enemy. How do i beat Bison as Akuma, where are the flaws in the character ? What did i not get in this match-up ?
Thank you in advance
Be patient and block
Crouch Tech more often than not
Neutral jump MK his lk scissor kick pressure or jump back RH to land vicious combos
Jump in with light attacks when close as his AA game is bad
At what range does sHK beat your sweep? Go to training mode and play around, s.HK wiffs on crouching characters at certain ranges. Even better, use cMK for a lower hurt box. sRH is pretty slow overall so you can focus and dash in or even focus and let it rip for a crumple.
LK SK is indeed safe on block, and MK and HK SK is safe on block at certain distances. You shouldn’t be trying to punish them, instead try to get a read on them. Neutral jump when you think your opponent is going to throw out a random SK or just take the chip. After the scissors, be wary of another scissors or a poke. If you are pretty sure either of the two are coming, then don’t be afraid to DP. Akuma is not a character that gets locked down under repeated scissors. If you are playing a local, then you can even throw out a normal with good active frames to stuff the DP.
Actually, U1 has a 12 frame start up. You can safe jump that with ease. Even better, EX SK is 13 frame start up and EX Psycho is 14. Just safe jump him. I’m pretty sure OSing an EX DP on a safe jump would at worst whiff against U1 and at best hit.
One of the pros of playing Bison is that he has a ton of wake up options. Learn the Bison’s tendencies and watch his bars. If he has no bars, OS a tatsu to catch teleports and back dashes. If you think he is going to do an EX Psycho or EX SK, OS a DP to catch EX Psychos and SKs. If he does EX Devil’s Reverse, focus the follow up for a free crumple (unless he does an EX follow-up). If he does a EX headstomp, block the stomp, then chase down and punish. Or let him get away, because Bison does not get away for free without bar. Play around with devil’s reverse and headstomp in training mode, because they are pretty punishable but you need to know how.
Bison is a you-know-it-or-you-don’t kind of opponent. A lot of his tools are gimmicks that get shut down when abused. Where he really shines is his great footsies and pokes. Don’t be afraid to lame it out in this match-up with fireball zoning.
I’m gonna be honest here. Most people that win against other characters and lose particularly bad against Bison have weak footsies. In this game (especially with Akuma) you can play in a way that covers up your lack of a neutral game, but not against Bison. He forces you to play honestly and to make reads in the midrange. If you’re obviously scared of Bison, he will run over you. I’m not trying to be a dick but I suspect that you rely a lot of setups because Bison doesn’t care about vortex (so many wakeups). Me, I’m really bad at anti-airing in general, so I lose particularly badly to characters like Cammy and Cody that require you to have a good anti-air game. Just as an example.
Lame him out. Use fireballs as a poke and not just from fullscreen. Attempt to read scissor kick by neutral jumping or stuffing it. Frame trap if the Bison is massing cr.lk. Focus if you feel he is going to slide. Backdash is also particularly good against Bison.
Once you get more confident in the matchup, you can read his charge times and react accordingly. This is difficult to do consistently though.
Also there are plenty of ways to safe meaty him, Bison U1 is rather slow. Demon flip dive kick can also beat EX PC if timed right.
To add to this try and hone your reactions. The fastest thing Bison can do on wakeup is 13 frames and that is very punishable by simply blocking. It might not be easy but if you can react to what he does you can mess him up every time.
