Does it even matter if standing roundhouse is minus, you’re not supposed to use it from vulnerable ranges. Like, what is the situation where you would even be punished? -4 on a long range normal IS safe.
Luckily i had the chance to play some more and o man Ken is one hell of a doping freak! 
About his run as it is in Beta 2 i believe that is fine and most people underestimates it’s utility in the neutral game , i havent played KOF much but it reminds me at some point the way u can cover part of the screen actively specially if u mix with dashes, then they might start whiffing normals to check u proactively.
From up close it’s not a pressure tool like Guy’s run in any case , it should be used when u make them be afraid of your frame traps , whiff punish or by moving slightly back and dash throw.
Generally u have to keep them honest and thats a reason why i believe cancel to hado shouldnt be that punishable on block.
Whats for sure is that after first few days-weeks u wont be able to cancel it after cr HK or st HK on block cause they wont have any reason to do not press any buttons there.
Instead of st HK (if this is accurate) buff they should buff his f+HK OH be less unsafe on block since start up and recovery are big , like having b+MK for combo extension if it’s counterhit or meaty but be unsafe while after f+HK u cant combo anything but u are safe.
His EX Shoryuo range might be a bit too good , almost full screen if u throw a Hado LP u can dash like 2 times and if opponent jumps neutral he can see himself wrapped in flames!!
I know that characters have anti fb tools as draining V Skills or parry , their own fireballs etc even block it since there is cant chip out from specials but even for an AA perhaps its too good.
If they start nerfing-tweaking other characters V-Trigger i can see his Hado drain meter like Ryu does, i believe that it wont be much of a problem for Ken as it is for Ryu though cause his V Trigger is all about addiotional spicy damage.
I wish they balance V Triggers properly in the game so V Trigger gauge can be transfered from round to round without it being depleted since it is not a comeback mechanic , in that way u could have access to your “new” moves from the start of a round for more options diversity and meter management ,also characters with not good reversals would gain some temporarily answers , would make you to have reasons to combo into V Skill for less damage
You realize at -4 it can be punished because of the extended hurtbox at max range by a shoto st. LK right? It basically is impossible to space correctly against some characters the way it is now. At best pixel perfect.
For Ken that is 15% and a knockdown or 45% of your life and a knockdown off a 3f window because of the new buffer system.
Literally in the Ken mirror matches I’ve tried offline in the endless Beta we end up just turtling up because you can punish every button of his on block no matter how well it is spaced except his lights and st. MK if perfectly spaced. Given the shoto mirror is a lot of st.LK throwing out anyways to eat st.LK->EX Fireball->V-trigger combo is a big thing to give up for free. st. MK can be spaced pretty safely sometimes because the hurt box isn’t so extended, but it still isn’t great and has to be spaced really well. Still can be be punished if not done at a perfect spacing. Ken’s punishment game is really good and when you play against someone as punishable as Ken the holes are really obvious. Other characters like Mika can actually reach with st. Jab at max range also, honestly it needs to be -3 or else a lot of people are going to get punishes on him even if well spaced.
While you do have a point about RH being punishable at every range by certain characters, making it -3 on block is not a good solution. A move like that should be punishable when not spaced properly. What Capcom needs to do is adjust the hurtbox during blockstun instead.
The move has 13f of startup, he is opening himself up to mad counter-hit opportunities. -3 isn’t ridiculous either. Not like at 13f of startup he can just mash it and zone people. It would be powerful, but not convinced it would be OP by any stretch especially with the new sweep CC HKD stuff.
Als i’d really like Ken’s sweep to have a hitbox that behaves more like it looks. The fact the hit box doesn’t start till his lower shin is really confusing.
Yeah, it has all that startup because it’s not meant to be mashed, it’s a counterpoke. By itself it’s not that great, but if you factor in v-skill and v-trigger OS it’s a really powerful tool that can lead to massive damage when it connects. IMO moves with such a high potential reward shouldn’t be completely safe on block.
As for his sweep, i agree it sucks that there is such a difference between the graphics and the actual hitbox. But i think the issue lies more on the animation than on the hitbox itself. The sweep animation has a massive range, it would be a crazy buff for Ken to have that kind of range for sweeping opponents, especially now that counterhit sweeps offer a hard KD and half a bar of v-skill.
What i’d actually want to see, is kick TC connecting at max range and st lk combo into fireball. The first change has to do with spacing. st mk needs good spacing because it’s -4 on block, but if you are even a little further away than the ideal range st hk will whiff. I feel that the spacing for reliably confirming into TC shouldn’t be as strict. As for st lk -> fireball, i think that as far as v-trigger activation goes, he shouldn’t be paying it with meter when he starts off of lights anyway, damage scaling is penalty enough as it is.
I’d be ok if you just couldn’t poke him out of his medium normal->fireball block strings with zero risk. At least force them to use an invincible move.
TC hitting at max range would be really good and it is already really good. I’m all for it but that TC is already hit confirmable and punishes stuff meterless because of the range for way more damage then most people get.
Woshige matches vs Combofiend, Ken is played in the second one.
This guy is part of the dev team in SFV and is the dude that plays guilty gear and popped off before confirmming the opponent was dead at grand final EVO this year I believe lol
Noticed he buffered s.mp into fireball a couple times, maybe that’s the best normal for that.
Be interested to see his frame data in the next beta. Those were the only tweaks he really needed. If st. MP and b.MP are even or + some of is pressure would be legit and it would be interesting to see.
fyi low attacks have less hitstun and blockstun than normal, for example, Ryu cr.mp xx fireball is a true blockstring but cr.mk xx fireball isn’t. Pretty sure it’s universal, and applies to all strengths of normal.
Hmmm… Ken feels much worse to me in this stress test. Fireballs seems slower, pokes feel worse. Probably the lag. But whatever it is…l it feels bad.
Playing him in the stress test, it’s been awhile since I last got to use him so some of this stuff might have already been around but,
-His b.MP may have gotten a range nerf. It’ll only connect if I’m really close after cr.MP, doing something like a jump in into cr.MP, will push me out of range for b.MP.
-He can’t do neutral jump tatsu.
WTF did they do to ken
I can’t confirm it, but I’m pretty sure he took a damage nerf just like everyone else.
can confirm he took a damage nerf. Last time I played him doing cr mp to super did around 40 damage more.
Ryu feels a lot better than Ken currently.
Im still looking for frame traps but I have finals tomorrow, FML!
unbelievable, cr.MP to b+MP was like his only hit confirm. Smh I don’t approve
Ryu better than Ken?
I don’t know what his frame data is, but I was trying to look around for ways for him to abuse the priority normal system and I couldn’t find much at all. I only tested his medium buttons, but cr.MP is the only one that would let him link afterward on counterhit, and only into another cr.MP. B.MP traded a lot, and I couldn’t link another strong after it, same for s.MP.
hey guys i heard Ken changed, i come from the Ryu thread, can i take a sit ?
I wasn’t able to play last night, can anyone confirm if his cr.mk has a better hitbox now? So sad about the b.mp nerf 