Ken Strategies and Matchups

Since most strategies and tricks are matchup-dependent, it makes sense to group the two together. Discuss anything useful in actual matches here, from specific tactics, to character-dependent move counters, to overall gameplans. The more specific you get, the better. It would be greatly appreciated if you took the time to test out everything you plan on saying in training mode to make sure that it works and to provide some numbers for stuff like damage and dizzy amount.

Other than that, try not to piss anyone off or start any flame wars.

vs. athena i find it a lot better to stay on her with s.lk and using light hurricanes to go over her c.fierce. I usually do s.lk, c.roundhousexxxlight hurricane then react accordingly to what she does. I mainly use a lot of throws, close s.roundhouse when i get the chance, and s.lk

how do u punish blanka ball consistantly with ken

Hm, Choi gave me a few tips on c-ken in IRC. He said against a Chun thats poking you, dash at her, that way even if she does hit you with s.mp, she can’t combo into super because you’ll be airborn while dashing. Also be persistent, with Vega too. He also said you need to land a crossup combo to beat Sagat haha.

c-groove ken.

in real match play this works. i do it a lot…but it has 2 b set 2 either full screen or 1/2 screen…

with level 2 or 3 meter

full screen:
jab hurricane kick,(land)lp,lp,fierce hurricance kick,(land)lk,lk, (by this time the enemy should b in the corner)level 2 dragon punch, c cancel(roll), level 1 super(can’t remember the name of the super but its down-toward with kick instead of punch)…damage on this is crucial…great 2 use in like round 2 or 3 after meter is boosted up.

1/2 screen(just about the same thing):
fierce hurricance kick,(land)lk,lk, (by this time the enemy should b in the corner)level 2 dragon punch, c cancel(roll), level 1 super(can’t remember the name of the super but its down-toward with kick instead of punch…damage on this is good 2

note: this requires good timing & buffering but 1nce u get it down & hit some1 with it this is really a tide turner especially when you’re down 0-1 in rounds.

On Ken…

Ken is a fustrating character to use, because the majority of his game revolves around RC funky kick whoring. Seriously, there is NOTHING (and I mean NOTHING!!!) that Ken possesses that can’t be easily countered besides RC funky kick.

St. Rh…rollable, jumpable, JD-punishable and really doesn’t even have that much range contrary to popular belief.

Fwd + RH…a little better than st. rh but suffers from the same weaknesses, just to a lesser extent.

Fireball…when used like a poke (i.e. Sagat st.fwd), it’s pretty decent, but unfortunately, this game is dominated by grooves with roll, making it VERY VERY VERY risky to use. It’s still a pretty decent poke against non-roll grooves—makes it a little harder to punish, but be weary of small jumps.

RDP + Kick…the good thing about this move is that no one ever counters it. The bad thing about this move is that it is EXTREMELY punishable if they get tired of being stupid and decide to do something about it. You can roll, super, CC right through this move and fuck Mr. Masters up hardcore.

s.short…I don’t think many people realize, but Ken’s s.short has the EXACT same range as his c.fwd and c.roundhouse. It looks like it has shorter range, but it doesn’t. Standing short is good in the sense that it can stuff a lot of moves (i.e. slide attacks) and that it’s bufferable into short Funky kick. But this move will trade sometimes…NOT in Ken’s favor (it’s a short :sad: ), so it has to used carefully. Still one of his best moves. shrugs

So as you can see, most of Ken’s best tools are HIGHLY punishable…that’s where RC Funky Kick comes into play.
RCFK is NOT highly punishable. Let me break down some common in-game scenarios and how RCFK deals with ALL of them.

  1. You RCFK, your opponent sticks out a poke, they get kicked in the grill. Basic.

  2. You RCFK, your opponent jumps over it, Ken recovers in time to block or DP.

  3. You RCFK, your opponent jumps too late, they get kicked to the floor.

  4. You RCFK, your opponent rolls, Ken recovers in time, throw or short, short, super. (Works against most characters, but characters with quick rolls like Iori can punish it).

  5. You RCFK, your opponent crosses you up, Ken recovers in time, Reverse Dragon Punch. Hell, sometimes you can do a regular DP, and he’ll turn around automatically. :clap:

  6. You whiff RCFK (very common to see Ken doing this), your opponent attempts to punish your recovery with a poke (i.e Sagat st. fierce), Ken recovers in time. This is why it’s good to whiff RCFK----you won’t see many (if ANY) people punishing a whiffed RCFK.

The bottom line is, without RCFK, Ken requires a tremendous amt of work.
With RCFK, Ken becomes a beast. Your opponents face will be like :xeye: and yours will be like :badboy: . haha

ive noticed a few bad match ups with C ken.
I’ve been a hardcore a groover but now have switched to C… anyways, i’ve got down all the basics with ken and i find my ken can beast against most of the top players, untill hes placed up against VEGA (any groove), and C Honda (GOD do i hate that guy).

Any tips on beating these two characters???

My problem against Vega is that his pokes reach 1/2 way across the screen as apposed to kens right up in your face rush down game… even his footsie game is put to shame against vega. I find it impossible to get in on vega. But once i do, i seem to do well, the problem is getting in. Any suggestions???

Honda… well hondas honda. WIth his rc everything, and sick high priority norms…hes a tough guy. I find this is one guy u can not rush down. U cant jump at him, cross up or not. U cant rc whiff funky kick, get hit wit head butt. U cant s.hk, get hit with rc handslap… it starts to feel like your playing a psychic player… any tips on beating this lard ass???
And another thing that sucks about this match up is u loss the whole mind game setups on the opponents get up. His rc 360 will throw u if your close, if it whiffs he gets a free poke or block… and u cant cross him up with a jump in… toughest match up in my books.

so how u beat rc ball

kcxj… IMO jumping works pretty good vs cammy anyways. you jump a st RH, you win.

How do I roll out of the lvl 2 shoryureppa. where do I press roll to do it? I keep messing it up. Is there a certain way to do a c-cancel?

u can’t roll out of it if you’re thining the jab+short roll… u have to use the command roll and u can pretty much cancel the lvl2 super anytime with it… shoot cancel it on the 1st hit if you want. =)

WOW!!! this stuff is gr8, never knew kens d.mp stuffs so many moves.

Neway im having major trouble fighting against C-Sagat mainly attacking ones, i find turtling sagats not to bad to fight against with ken cos u can bait his c.hp and punish him with r.c funky kick, but what do u do when Sagat is consistantly coming at ya. I’ve tried the r.c funky kick and it works a few times untill Sagat figures out its coming and baits it then chucks me across the screen.

Ne tips or strats against Sagat would be much help, thx, i use A-Ken btw

Here’s a counter hit/tick throw set up i’ve been doing as of late. After a knockdown, i do a deep s.lk, then throw or a deep s.lk, s.roundhousexxxhcf+lk.

Hi, my name is Dan, and I have some questions,:
the first one is: waht do you mean with this s.lk, s.roundhousexxxhcf+lk? Probably is for another system, and I have Gamecube, so… can someone help me with this pleas?

And the other one is: I already try to do the victory quote and the tal to a tem member, but I JUST CAN’T do it, I just could do it twice with Terry an bye accident, my question is: exactly in what moment, second I must do it? It has to be done right after de KO before the KO or where?

Please, someone helpme, I really wanna do it, I have the game for more than 2 years aprox. now, so… I NEED HELP SO DESPERLY!!!

Good question man. Remember Ken does 2 ‘reps’ of Shoryukens on that level 2 super. Let the first rep happen, then cancel the first hit of the second rep, as soon as possible, like it were a normal cancelled to a jab roll. Cancelling instantly rather than a slight delay, gives you the most stun time and sets up your followup perfectly.

What you do after that is really up to you. In the middle of the screen, a fierce shoryuken is really nice cause it does great damage, and sets up Ken’s crazy crossup. If you want to go for trickery, cancel a stand fierce or RH into a strong roll, you land right next to the enemy, you can go for any mixup you can imagine, just make sure you’re pretty sure it’s worth the trouble. Doing this everytimes makes it stale.

In the corner you have an option of level 2-jab roll or whiff short funky kick (gotta delay it slightly, otherwise it’ll hit)-jab shortyuken-level 1 shinryuken, which does hella, but isn’t always neccesary if you want to conserve meters.

My favorite stupid cancel is in the corner level 2-cencel to whiff short funky kick (hcf+short), standing close jab, then jump at them. If they’re asleep they might just eat another whole combo cause it’s “well timed”. Jab recovers fast unlike the fierce.

Oh yeah while everyone knows Ken’s “bread and butter” comboing into the light funky kick, when you dizzy someone, my combo of choice is jump fierce, low strong, HCF=Roundhouse funky kick, cause it knocks down and is less risky than shoryuken combos, although standing shortXX fierce shoryuken is always nice.

Random tips for Ken:

  • when doing short short XX level 2, remember to HOLD DOWN the short kick b4 you press strong. You don’t want the awesome short short whiff shinryuken level 1 combo of death.

  • want to build meter really fast when far away? Kara cancel low RH into short funky kick over and over at far range. When they get close, do tiger knee backwards air hurricane to ge farther back, then resume building. Then when they try to close in again, superjump towards them and right away air HK, fly over their head across the screen. And of course, when this isn’t safe, low strong will do. Ken always has meter.

  • if you’re cornered, and have level 2, look for the opening to land an antiair level 2 shinryuken. Mash with just the kick buttons (don’t move the stick), then as you descend, whiff a short air HK, then you should have THEM cornered, and you get a free juggle hit, either a fierce shoryuken, jab shoryuken (into level 1 if you have it), or the EASIEST followup, which requires no timing, just stand/crouch fierce or RH as the juggle , as it does good damage and you can cencel if you wish, or not. It’s all good since that’s like, level 3 antiair damage for CHEAP.

  • Throw out standing shorts at far range sometimes because that move is kind alike the low strong in that it hits so many moves.

  • learn the range where low short X 3 will NOT work, but low shortx2-standing short WILL. Stand short you can end you chain with and it has more range than low short. Remember that you can do short short short level ONE super with Ken. It doesn’t do great damage but it will combo from farther than the light funky kick will combo, and level 1 super can’t be quick - recoveried, so it always sets up a crossup attempt, just SUPERJUMP after the level 1 and it’s practically random what side you land on.

  • Ken’s far standing fierce is really good against small jumps. And jumpins that are unsafe to shoryuken.

  • level 2 shoryureppa is a GOOD anti air super. Cancel the first couple hits with a jab roll then fierce shoryuken. Why is it good? It has way more range then the shinryuken. Ken always has meter so you should just super everyitme you have a chance.

  • Ken has a very good okizeme. Most people do not wakeup with a low attack upon getup, so I think that when you gaina knockdown, a good start. is to walk right next to the opp. to make them think you are being very agressive, then right at their reversal point or just before reveral, walk backwards a bit. If they supered (sagat, sakura, etc with low hitting supers, disregard this, block low instead) or uppercut, RC, or throw, it should be blocked or whiffed, and you counter accordingly. If nothing happens, either

  • walk up throw

  • walk up low shortx2 - super if it hits.

Once they know this is a basic tactic, it makes them more hesitant and careful on wakeup, it open up more options for you. Keep it simple at first, then you can go a little more creative.

Low short - throw or low short, wait, short short (super)

Crazy dash towards backwards (repeat) is fun and looks cool. Kens’ dash is so fast, use it as much as you can possibly get away with.

Uh, yeah, bad fights for Ken? Sagat is bad but be patient. In a bad matchup, often if the guy w. the disadvatage is more patient, he wins anyways reagardless of ‘advantage’. VEGA is rough. You need good reflexes to uppercut his jump on reaction, you have to be able to do that.

Against P/C groove, use a lot o alpha coutners, they can’t quick getup from it.

Cancel lvl2 into roll, mp DP if u wanna setup a crossup, not HP DP…hi/low.crossup mixups xx super on wakeup with mk are the best way to win a match vs any character…If your gonna use ken, u really need to make sure your reaction is better than your opponent…try not to rely on patterns so much, just RC HCF lk all fucking day like Andry does and youre good

Ei how about against chun-li and sagat, I’m having a hard time with that bitch!

dash on chun. your dash is airborne, if she decides to cancel into super it will whiff.

I’ve been doin that after I read the earlier posts, but my enemy doesn’t pull out a super if it’s not started as a combo. I use a r2 ryu, ken, sagat(which I’m forced to use because ken and ryu are more toned down here than in cvs1)

what exactly is a jab roll and how do i do it? thanks sir.