I’ve been using st.lk off almost all of my non-meaty cr.mp confirms, it’s too risky to potential drop them out of your combo or whiff your b.mp.
Yeah, I’m just using lk after a c.mp, don’t like the whiffing of trying to hit target combo. Only thing I’m quick enough to react to is throwing out another c.mp or c.mk if I see counter. And even then,'I probably was hoping for a counter and that was a predetermined string and not reactionary. Learning to react off of both target combos is hard enough. In neutral, I just try to be somewhat safe and not be stagnant. Creativity goes a long way, but I think not being stagnant is better. As long as I don’t do the same things over, I think it gives you a chance to win.
C.mp s.lk is one of my favorite hit confirms, I usually go for a medium Tatsu ender and that’s when the party starts!
It could be possible to react to counterhit on cr.mp but it’s already hard enough to react to hit or block. Reacting to counterhit off said move probably won’t be happening until later down the line
It’s definitely reactable, idk if that’s cause of the years of playing Cody that helped me but yeah. Things like cr.mp CH > cr.mk > ex tatsu are really essential in the Gief MU.
But it always boils down to being mentally aware whether it’s hit confirming, counter-hit confirming or both together. If you simply aren’t ready for it then you won’t get it.
Thate actually really easyto react to. I just always throw c.mp and glance at the sides of the screen for “counterhit”. I don’t even need to actual read the word, just notice their is text on my side of the screen. I do c.mp c.mp into ex tatsu very commonly and im ass lol.
Its all about understanding the situations and pre set outcomes. I apply the same principle to throwing and having a mp.dp ready… only a few situation can happen if i go for a throw on their wake up…
A. They tech the throw and the situation is reset
B. I throw them
C. They beat my throw with an invincible reversal
D. They backdash
E. They jumo back
F. They neutral jump (buffee mp.dp wirh every throw attempt so youre ready for that)
G. They foward jump
Wants i started understanding situations better and realizing the game is pretty static i noticed things like ch hit confirming to be way easier.
Well the thing is that I’m personally aiming to switch up my buttons depending on whether or not cr.mp is blocked right now, trying to react to counterhit at the same time is too much information atm so it’ll be worked on later down the line. If i’m already committing to cr.mp x2 in my head then reacting to ch is a lot easier but I feel like i’d be giving up potential damage.
imo with c.MP meaties you can’t be too academic about it. it has a noticeably different feel on counterhit, I’m still a ways away from confirming it properly 100% of the time, but it is well within the realm of possibility to adjust your confirm on the fly there because Capcom has made hitfreeze so different between normal hits and CHs
a lot of it is playing the player too. imo I only go for c.MP stuff when I’ve lost confidence in my ability to execute a higher reward play. like c.MP only has 1 more active frame than s.LP … if I’ve grinded it out so I can hit my s.LP meaty, why am I going for a worse one? if I want the max benefit of c.MP, that’s actually a lot harder, cuz if I fuck it up and miss hitting that last active frame I’m wide open to a punish cuz I have almost twice as many recovery frames
c.MP doesn’t set up the tick throw like s.LP does, and if it doesn’t set up the throw, it doesn’t set up a really big crush counter that well either. if i’m looking for a meaty CH c.MP, why am I not making the hard read and going for a meaty s.FP crush counter combo? my frame trap options after c.MP are much more limited due to spacing and the rest as well
I only go for c.MP off bad knockdowns like anti-air SRK where i’m not quite as sure of my spacing & timing. just the difference in blockstun gives my opponent more time to react to the situation and adjust his plans
if somebody is just walking backwards out of all your pressure, make the hard reads and nail him with a c.mk or sweep. you only have to do it a couple times to force him to sit still a little bit more often and accept the mixup
The benefit of cr.mp is that you get two full-on hit confirms in the sense that you can confirm off of the b.mp. If they block then you can wiggle after the cr.mp to blow up tech or you can go straight to b.mp for a tight frame trap or whatever. I’m only comfortable doing meaties with cr.mp when they’re cornered though so i’ve been defaulting to st.lp mid screen. Just hate it when st.lp actually connects before going for a throw, pushes them back more so the throw might whiff and you’ve already given up damage (unless they don’t patch out that hit-stop options select)
I’m sure the R. Mika matchup isn’t that bad; but how do you approach it? Particularly the neutral game? Ken’s far game works, but you have to watch for both the flying peach and charged drop kick, as they both go over fireballs (and s.HK). Mika also has little incentive to press buttons inside your s.HK range, so that doesn’t hit as often as it does against other characters. I know when Ken has the advantage he can rush her down, but you have to be mindful of leaving gaps for her to grab you. Ken has better pokes, but it’s hard to convert them to good damage (unless she walks into s.MK).
Is the solution just to play very defensively (until you can get inside on your terms)? I just feel I’m playing this match too reactively, as if I’m missing something here.
Just beat her in the neutral. It’s fine if she blocks your attacks because she eventually ends up in the corner. Bully her until she’s there, then kill her, or if she’s over ambitious, just kick her face in in the neutral.
Her goofy cr.hp has 6 active frames and is -4 on block so it could be up to +1 on block I believe. It’s not that hard to punish her for whiffing this normal. Her charged hk/pseudo dive kick should be stuffed, it’s easiest for me to go st.lp and sometimes you should be able to dragon punch it. If you wind up having to block it when she catches you sleeping then you can v reversal. Her sliding kick is very unsafe as well so punish that on block with b.mp or st.lk if she’s somehow far. Neutral jumping once is a while is a sound deal since there’s a lot of ways she can overextend and get wrecked for it, like dash up command grab. Her reversal isn’t throw invincible so you can just default to that once in awhile.
Thanks guys.
Yeah I’ve learned the hard way that both cr.HP and charged s.HK leave her at frame advantage. I didn’t know you could jab her s.HK, that would lead right into point-blank pressure games in Ken’s favor. I’ve been a bit gun-shy about hitting that move with normals, been crush countered one too many times; I’ll have to try jabbing it in reaction. I do DP it whenever I smell it coming, but again, I hate giving up the initiative like that. Sounds like you favor playing the bait/punish game in neutral though, so I’ll have to try and be more patient.
I’m thinking that if I can get to s.MK range, that should be a good range for Ken to either walk backwards and bait something, or press buttons more aggressively. The only normal I would have to watch out for at that range is her cr.MK.
Does anyone know what I’m supposed to do against Fang? Like I have no idea what the general gameplan is tbh
Kinda have to get in his face and pressure him super hard. You can see brentiscool vs SonicFox from FinalRound.
He doesn’t have strong reversals so you just get in his face and do Ken stuff. I think neutral isn’t hard against him either. Ken can definitely bully his normals.
I can upload a ft10 against a strong rashid if interested
When blocking any string, look for ex tornado and interrupt with dp since it’s not a true string.
I’d be interested. That’s one of the four matchups I’m most in the dark on.
I’m interested as well
Welp, they’re gone now lol. Will have to get another set in the future. Got some birdie tho
Edit: Found out that he uploaded our first set, lost 2-3 but it’s insightful. This is why you gotta react to ex tornado cancels with dp or ca since he will just bully you if you let him
Guys any tips against Laura? I suck so bad against her she makes me hella scared. I feel Ken should beat her but I don’t know the way to go about the matchup.
I kinda want to zone her but I can’t use fireballs when she has EX, I throw random DPs because I know all of her stuff is about frame traps but that’s pretty much it.
I also understand that she has no wake up option basically.
I actually have an easier time against Mikas.