Karakusa'ing Opponents

Okay, first of all, everyone facing a Makoto is going to be expecting a karakusa which leads to my first question: What are some of the best ways of karakusa’ing the opposition? For example, on wakeup, i try to karakusa, but the opponent just throws me first, etc.

What are the best post-hayate mixups that you’ve often used? I’ll mention one, but barely works, 'cause of my d-pad, but the overhead tsurugi (as soon as you jump, perform tsurugi) sometime tricks them when they block low. I’ve seen a guy at the arcade abuse hayate so bad and even though its known that the move has bad recovery, he still manages somehow. c.lk to hayate to karakusa, etc. do you guys know which hayate he is using? lp, mp, hp?

This has been covered in the other thread, but just to make it clear, what are some good options after hayate and the opponent tries to jump away? i believe that sometimes they jump away too fast for the c.hk, but i could be wrong.

Just to end the post, I believe that Makoto players need good teching skills to be able to use her effectively, 'cause i have a hard time trying to pull off the karakusa. the kara-kara is very hard on d-pad too =[. do people really get tricked by the kara-kara? is it suppose to make them block 'cause they are expecting an attack?

Anyway, just a couple things to make the real savvy Makoto users think. Enjoy. =p

After using Makoto for a while, I’ve noticed a few things about post-hayate. Beginners tend to block after a Hayate, knowledgeable beginners tend to block after the first couple of times, then SRK/other wakeup option after you’ve karakusa’ed them post-hayate, and experts tend to jump out the first few times, poke their way out if they find jump out doesn’t work, and block/parry rarely.

If you find your opponent blocks often, then the best answer is obviously karakusa. Mix it up with block though, in case they catch on and wakeup SRK. What I find sometimes works is a block confirm, by just blocking to wait for the wakeup, and if you don’t see it and they don’t jump away, s.mp/c.mp to keep them in block stun and follow up appropriately.

If they tend to jump out, I find s.mk the safest option, followed by j.hk (I also find c.hk too slow to land, although it looks like a good option on paper). Apparently c.lk -> hayate is fast enough to beat out the jump, I think? But I’ve never got the timing of that. If that does work, then that would be a good option as well. EX oroshi is another option, but should be used sparingly, as I think I’ve tried that as an option before and it eventually gets parried a lot more often than you’d think. I’ve also been working on a riskier EX uppercut to beat jump outs, which has had a fairly good success rate, but you’d have to be pretty sure they’re going to jump out. If it lands though, you’re awarded a juggle/reset into mix up, as well as decent damage and stun.

Anyway, the whole thing about post-hayate is to mix it up as much as possible and keep your opponent guessing. You shouldn’t stick to a couple of options that “seem to work” all the time, because eventually you’ll get figured out. However, if you think you’ve figured out your opponent and you think you can predict his reaction, then there are some options which are best in the situation.

To answer a couple of other questions, c.lk is connected with lp hayate, from close to sort-of mid range. mp hayate connects with c.mp from almost all ranges, and fp for s.hp. Higher strength hayates have longer startup and recovery, which is why you mentioned the c.lk -> lp hayate -> karakusa works (although it works for any strength hayate, it has a slightly higher success rate with lp). Kara-karakusa is situationally dependent; the only workable setups I’ve heard of are after forward s.mp, on opponent’s wakeup (walk out a little and time well), and after SA I in the corner. I think with enough experience though, you’ll be able to pick out the rare occasion when it’ll reach during mid-fight, without the use of a setup to really surprise your opponent, though I’ve rarely seen it. It’s just a nifty little trick.

Okay, Ill try to cover everything, I hope I dont miss something. I would like to see what other people will say as well.

Oh yea, before I talk about everything its best you know this:

  • In my opinion, always do hk karakusa’s. Except in one situation, if you parry yun’s dive kick a mk karakusa may be unnescapable. Just so you know.

**
Landing the Karakusa**- For the most part, if your playing someone that knows how to defend well against Makoto, you will have a hard time getting a karakusa on them when they wakeup. But it all depends on their style, you really have to train yourself to pay attention to everyones style and see if a karakusa will work on the on wakeup.

Better ways to land the karakusa on wakeup- Because a plain karakusa doesn’t work on a lot of people on wakeup, your better off trying these ways.
These are some good ways to set up the throw on their wakeup:

(the arrows dont mean they link when I use them always, hope it doesnt confuse you)
-s.mp --> Karakusa (best way, works when they block too)
-c.lp --> Karakusa (quick, I prefer the first option though)
-c.lk --> Karakusa (Works well on some people)

  • Like you mentioned before, the kara-karakusa. (little side story) Ive got this friend that plays Yun, and if I ever try a plain karakusa on him on wake up I get punished. But if I dash back and kara-kara, he always tries to block. It might work when you think it wont =).
  • I usually use this in regular gameplay, but I should be trying it on wakeup… Universal overhead --> karakusa. Works surprisingly well for me.

And for all of those dont try to do the karakusa too fast.

Landing karakusa’s in regular play- Here’s a few ways I could think of off the top of my head.

  • All the options I said before work well regularly

  • A MK axe kick in the air that hit’s the opponents head (if blocked or not), will set you up well for a karakusa. And if you accidentally hit them too low, you can try to dash in and than grab them.

  • Ive seen this work occationally on people who like to block. If they block
    s.hp --> EX hayate, than you can dash in and grab them. Once again, all depends on who your playing though.

  • Just a dash in and karakusa works sometimes

  • After you hit the opponent with a hayate is sometimes a great time to land it, I will talk more about it later. Usually standing or crouching lk --> lp hayate --> karakusa works the best.

  • After a HK in the air (against standing opponents).

  • After a HK in the air (against opponents in the air) than dash when you hit the ground and grab them.

  • After close parries

  • If you parry one of their air moves, s.lp, than dash under. Than you can mix up between a karakusa or a c.lk --> lp hayate
    And so many more situations

Post-hayate attacks against jumpers- After gathering all the info from the other thread, I think these are the best options you have.

-A lp hayate, which will send them flying in the air and will allow you to hit them with another hayate (its either a medium or high punch hayate I never remember).
Dangerous to do because your not very safe if they decide to block =(.

-s.lk --> lp hayate. If you time it perfect the opponent wont even be able to jump. This is tough to pull off all the time though.

-Jumping up with them and hitting them with a HK is descent too, just try to predict when they will jump.

-c.hk if you have good timing also, but it seems that it doesnt work all the time unfortunitely. s.mk works better than this, but I wouldnt suggest using s.mk either.

-EX oroshi is fairly good, but won’t get all jumps.

Best post-hayate mixups (assuming they dont jump)- Theres tons options here, because in the middle of all of the mixups you can always block or dash back, which I see a lot of makoto players do.

The best ones:

  • lp hayate. Sometimes just doing many lp hayate’s in a row work well. This will stop some of those quick jabs and other quick moves. I would suggest doing repeated lp hayate’s and than predict when they will block and karakusa them.

-c.lk --> lp hayate to c.lk --> lp hayate to s.lk --> EX Oroshi. This is a popular option and work very well. And instead of the EX oroshi, sometimes another lp hayate is a good idea and you can keep mixing up from there.

-Like you said, the quick EX tsurugi overhead move. I play on pad more than on joystick and its kind of tough for me to pull off too on pad =(.

-A karakusa. For example, s.hp --> hp hayate --> karakusa. After a lot of hayates that end with you being close to the opponent a karakusa is a good option.

-Never forget blocking/parrying those dragon punches as an option too.

-c.lk --> lp hayate. s.lk --> lp hayate. s.lk --> EX Oroshi. Those 3 are always going to be descent options after a hayate, youll just have to learn when to use them and how to combine them. A plain EX Oroshi is a bit slow, so I try to stay away from doing it by itself.

These dont work well:

-All of the options I told you about how to get a karakusa on wakeup do not work very well after a hayate.

Well, I really hope that helps.

thanks for the tips. i’ll definitely try some of them out.

why do they not work well? i figure it does, 'cause they’ll expect another hayate after a s.mp/c.lk so they’ll block so if u s.mp -> dash -> kara it could work.

I’m going to try the s.lk -> EX oroshi. i think i tried c.lk to EX oroshi and it wouldn’t connect 'cause i’m pushin the opp back too far for oroshi to reach. i’ll try the s.lk tho.

a hp hayate will lead you to be close to the opp? how abt mp or lp? that’s why i’m wondering what the best hayate is to use, 'cause sometimes the opp(onent) is pushed too far back. if anyone got input on this, that would help a lot.

always hard kara, gotcha, but if yun dive kicks, you use mk kara right? is that what you are trying to say?

post-hayate against jumpout - After an EX fukiage against a jumpout i suppose you can dash and fukiage again then dash and kara. that’s if the ex fukiage even hits heh.

pot-hayate mixup - block confirm then s.mp/c.mp to walk up and kara. would that work?

and about the j.hk to kara i dont think that would work cuz the opp would get pushed back but i suppose u could forward a bit then kara cuz they’ll expect u to connect wit the j.hk.

I guess I never really thought about it or even tried it. Maybe it works well, but when I just think about it seems that it is too slow compared to her other options and you will be giving them a bit more time to retaliate than usual. Maybe I should test it out though in gameplay.

c.lk to EX oroshi is pretty good at really close range though, but yea a lot of the times your a bit too far for them both to hit.

About which hayate to use, Brilliantnaoki said it well at the end of his post. The rule I use is if you use a light attack, use light hayate; if you use medium attack, use medium hayate; and if you use fierce punch, use fierce hayate. Hope that makes it easier for u.

Precisely, although even in the middle of battle I dont think about using mk kara against him in that situation. Theres probly very few other situations, but nothing major.

Yea Im not too sure about all the options because EX fukiage leads to a bunch of things, I like doing 2 EX fukiage’s in a row though if I have the bars :wgrin:.

I guess it could work, but like I said before it seems like it is too slow and gives the opponent a bit more time to retaliate. But once again, I really havnt tried it in battle.

Surprisingly the j.hk doesn’t push you back much at all and the only time you’ll be too far is if you hit them with the tip of the j.hk. Maybe if they block it you’ll be pushed back more, but usually you’ll still be in range for that kara.

ya ima try the j.hk

s.lk -> EX oroshi - does this one push them back too far sometimes or it usually or always connects?

i’ve seen one crazy makoto own a dudley and ibuki the other day. i think his monikor or aka or screen name or what he is known as basically is KLT. i like how he moves back as soon as battle starts to trick the opp then dashes in. he’s also good wit post hayate mixups. the c.lk lp hayate times 2 then he s.lk to EX oroshi. he likes to use the s.mp on wakeup as well and sometimes just jumps straight up and j.mk which i don’t understand. why jump straight up in the midst of fighting? is he tryin to look for opportunity to kara? to confuse or just try something different? he barely kara’ed but when he did he kills it with the hp to ex hayate =p

my primary characters are ryu and alex, but i’m really startin to like makoto. does he have any overhead attacks that work well and low frames? like ryus forward medium punch that does 2 hits?

Yea that move will pretty much always connect from any distance.

Oh, jumping up and using j.mk is a terrible option, dont copy it from him =(. If your not fighting anyone with good wakeup options, the only air move I would suggest using is a j.mk axe kick (I forget its name) on their wakeup. But using j.mk or j.hk when their waking up isnt a good idea and is parry bait. Does who have any overhead attacks that work well?

oh i was referring to makoto. like are there any moves she can throw out that still hits when opp block down? oh and does anyone have any nice makoto videos? anyway, if you guys do, just pm me or something. always up for some nice vids =]

Not really, just the oroshi. Even the lp oroshi is pretty slow and I only use it to link into supers.

yea, i never use non EX oroshis they are way too slow. i never knew they can link to supers tho thats pretty neat. i suppose u can s.lk non-ex oroshi to super?

on a side note, i thot alex’s forward + mp was an overhead attack and his s.hp. it’s not =[