st.hp, vskill, lk tatsu hp srk
is a nice combo for whiffpunishing throws or slow buttons
CC st.hp (spin), vskill, b.mp~hp xx ender of your choice
raw st.hp into vskill is +3, so lk tatsu will combo but b.mp wont.
CC st.hp into vskill is +4, so you should always go for the b.mp~hp TC
Luckily, it’s reactable if you crush countered or not, so as long as st.hp hits, you should be able to get good dmg off of it.
For st.hk, well… it’s a slow button so you want to use it for punishes, mainly blocked/whiffed uppercuts/ inv.reversals, but occasionally you can use it in the neutral to catch your opponents slower buttons (or vs bronze balrogs fullscreen dashes sigh)
CC st.hk, vskill, mk tatsu, hp dp (1 hit), preferably ex instead of hp dp for reliability and more dmg.
Always make sure lk tatsu connects TWICE and mk tatsu connects THREE times, otherwise you will whiff that hp uppercut and die.
Take anything what I just said with a grain of skepticism since Im no pro ken player either, not even close…
Dude thanks so much for replying. You’ve been very helpful. One more thing. I’ve tried to do b+mp~hp (target combo) and then medium tatsu into ex DP but it the DP always whiffs, but I’ve seen some players that do something similar, what am I doing wrong? Am I supposed to use light tatsu instead of medium after the target combo? Also I can connect it if I do standing heavy punch instead of the target combo.
TC into medium tatsu is an iffy thing. You can make it work on max range, as in
cr.mp, TC, mk tatsu (2 hits), dp
even then it may not connect properly…
for me personally, it is too unreliable to use in a real match. I’d much rather go for TC, hp dp or sometimes hk tatsu.
It is easy and gives you some nice wakeup pressure
Yea, I’ve also noticed that 90% of the time I try to do cr.mp~b.mp the b.mp whiffs. I mean isn’t that like a BnB for Ken? I have to be super duper close and in a match that really isn’t viable. Why does it whiff most of the time if it’s a basic combo starter?
I would try too not rely on that “bnb” too much. As you’ve already noticed, it’s prone to whiffing a lot
If you recognize the proper ranges you can switch from
cr.mp~TC xx hk Tatsu/hp DP to
cr.mp~st.lk xx hp DP
Well that’s what I am doing if I happen to get a crossup jump in, use jump mk and cr.mp too hitconfirm and depending on your range you’d choose between both options.
As a “reliable” combo starter you should learn to hitconfirm with st.lp ~ b.mp instead.
On block, you stop right there at -2f
On hit you go into TC xx Special
Hey guys. I never really played much of the franchise growing up so Im really learning for the first time now with SFV. I’ve been looking int the BNB’s you guys refer to like his chin buster and the lion breaker. I find it slightly easier to go into a CA or an ender from this set up but It seems like i never get enough time to pull it out of the bag.
When do you guys think is the best time to bust this out?
Also, regarding the footsie strategies with Ken, what are the easiest strings to put together now in season 2?
It’s getting harder and harder to watch good Ken battles and i couldn’t see a single Ken yesterday in the top 100 when I checked the rankings. Even Momochi has put him to the side for a little by the looks of it.
I didn’t get this last part. If you are starting out, use TC1 for close punishes and TC2 for ranged ones. It will be hard for you to start hit confirming them for now.
For poking, start using s.mp and c.mp. Then add c.mk. Also, you can abuse Ken’s fast dash to get in and throw. Next time, dash in and poke.
Regarding strings, Ken dosen’t have good ones.
c.mp~s.lk xx shoryuken
c.lk~s.lk (or s.lp) xx shoryuken
and CC s.HP xx vskill ~ s.lp~TC1 xx h.Tatsu (h.shoryuken) as a DP punish
… should be the first things to master.
Also, learn to OS s.HP and s.HK for crush counters.
@douglavras Thanks for commenting back. Much appreciated.
Maybe I was confusing you by not using the right terminology. I just mean that when Im in training I can do a lion breaker or a chin buster straight into his CA or a DP. In a real match I never get a chance to do these same set ups as everything is fast and furious and my fingers are trying to keep up to what my brain is telling it to do.
I’ll use these pokes as per your suggestion. I have a friend who has played the franchise games his whole life and keeps on telling me that in a poke game Ken should stick to just cr. mp into fire ball as the main shoto poking close range tactics. Let me know if you agree on top of the other close range tactics you gave me.
I don’t understand the following terminology. Could you help me out?
What does TC stand for and when you write down the strings above can you explain what the “xx” means?
Nice, man. Welcome to the FGC world, then. Glad to help
~ or , means you can link a move into the other, causing it to combo.
So c.mp~s.lk means you can make it a 2 hit combo with proper timing. After c.mp, if you press s.lk and the move don’t come out, you pressed it to early. If you press s.lk and it doesn’t combo, you pressed it too late.
xx means you can cancel. It’s also a combo, but you input the command right after the previous button and it will cancel into that move. Pretty much like you’re doing with c.mp into fireball.
TC is short for Target Combo. Ken’s target combos are chin buster into chin buster 2nd (TC1) and s.mk into lion breaker (TC2).
OS stands for options select (don’t worry about this one for now).
Check theses things out on Newbie Saikyo Dojo room. Once you have a grasp on the basics (at least terminology) you’ll have more tools to absorb the knowledge here.
With time and practice, things will start to slow down and you’ll have to think less. Just take your time, be patient and have fun while learning. Take every loss as a learning experience, not a fight to death. Remember, it’s a game and supposed to give you good moments.
