Okay, I’m tired. However I’ll bite, though I don’t fully understand the need for the secrecy of your project.
If you can’t tell by looking through the threads here, Ibuki is not the most solid character in SFxT. In fact she’s commonly rated as one of the worst in 2013 (the patch is less than 2 months old as of my writing this but still people like to assume) and she wasn’t the best before the patch either.
Regardless I’m a stubborn bastard so I’m doing my damnedest to make her work. Here’s my take:
Ibuki’s strengths:
-Solid AAs that can combo into at least 300+ dmg (meterless w/out gems) and an airthrow that does a solid 190 dmg
-Fast normals, despite 2013 st.LP nerf, still has a solid poking game IMO (meaning no more brain dead st.LP,st.LP,st.LP, etc but with creativity things can happen)
-Works well into tag combos with either her TC4xxspecial, TC6xxSJCxxspecial, Close st.HK into combo, etc
-Mix-ups (duh)
-Can really work wonders in Pandora in certain situations thanks to Yorotoshi (with the 2013 preset pandora gems she can bring a match back around if set up properly)
-Works well with others, works best as a secondary character IMO (those close st.HK hijinks of of tag cancel/launcher are too good)
-Mid-level walk speed, quick back dash, fast normal dash
Weaknesses:
-Rather low vitality coupled with rather unsafe moves and pressure strings that make for some unfortunate situations…
-Has an unblockable attack that requires meter and is way too situational to use in an actual match.
-Is not to be confused with the Ibuki from 3S or AE2012, this one’s not built on footsies + mixups or vortexes + mixups… She’s really in a weird place right now and is leaning toward how she was in 3S more than AE2012.
-A lot of what she can do, most of the similar characters (Xiaoyu in particular) from the Tekken cast can do better (mix-ups, safer options, better anti-airs, faster overhead, etc)
-Ratio of risk to reward is unbalanced and not worth it in most cases
-Sazan and Ex.Neckbreaker (unlike AE2012) are unreliable for dodging under fireballs, requires an in-depth knowledge of who’s she can dodge under and who’s she cannot.
Partners:
I run Yoshi x Ibuki, circa day one baby, and I find they compliment each other well. Yoshi is a great battery as well as a great starting character due to his unorthodox fighting style coupled with his abilities to hold opponents in A/B stun for safe tag cancels. He’s not the fastest nor the best character in the game but especially in 2013 he is a much bigger threat (you know things are looking up when pros like Ortiz and Valle are in the lab with him) than he was pre-patch. He has an invincible dragon punch (Gehosen MP), a great entry to Pandora, EX.Poison Breath, (causes a crumple state, perfect for Ibuki to Yoroitoshi their ass) and he is also a mix-up heavy character. My theory is that if Ibuki is built for mix-ups then a partner who is also heavy in that same field will help create a chaotic and stressful match for my opponent. There’s more to this, but I’ll leave it at that.
I’ve seen success with her on teams with Claw and Xiaoyu as well both being heavy in their mix-ups, both being great overall characters.
I feel also that Ibuki would benefit from partnering up with Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Alisa/Juri/Sakura due to her lack of a reliable fireball or ability to deal with a zoning character as effectively as she’s had in the past. It could also work to change the pace of the match and allow some patient thought to creep in while you continue the fireball war. This is all theory fighter however, so take it with a grain of salt.
Combos:
I’ll come back sometime this weekend and throw some in when I’m labbing again (with all the delicious details ex: Gems or no gems)
General Strategy:
Judging by the state of this sub-forum, the strategy is still a mystery. Knockdowns are no longer central to her game (rolling saw the end to that), Kunai now causes a soft knockdown, MK/HK Tsumuji is now -3 on block making it unsafe in pressure strings against your 3frame reversal happy characters, so what is her strategy then? To taunt? To give your opponent the W and make sure you take the L?
No. Her job is (in my humble opinion) simple, to play as a utility character. She does best when assisting her partner be it by coming in with a deliciously swift cl.St.HK into a bound combo, utilizing their tag cancel to create an opportunity for mix-ups, and for Pandora. She’s a character who feels best when her unsafe moves are rendered safe by her partner’s actions. Throw out a random neckbreaker? No way fuck you! Tag cancel into a safe neckbreaker? Hey now we’re talking… Her existence on a team is to extend combos, to add damage, to create opportunities and to utilize Pandora (if you’re a bad enough dude/tte). She is fragile however and requires your defense and knowledge of your opponents abilities to be top level to achieve her potential.
In conclusion, Ibuki is fun if you like a high risk to your gameplay, kunoichi, or are a masochist. She’s not the worst character in the game, not yet at least, but she is definitely very weak and is easily bottom tier right now.
Hope this helps, doubt it will… I know someone will probably come in here and shut me down but whatever. I want to discover the depth and the limits to her potential officially.
