New matchup thread being made....rejoice!

Classic Fighting Games Ultra Street Fighter IV
1

Disclaimer:
I am merely the thread owner and updater; all information in this thread is from the community as a whole. If you have a contribution to make on a particular matchup, this is the place to do it. I will be checking in on the thread periodically to add new information found within the discussions that take place. I am summarizing what people post into a list, so if you feel that I am missing crucial information on a matchup then please don?t hesitate to point that out.

*Some basics to remember when you?re having trouble with a specific matchup: *
Remember the basics. SRK their jump-ins, zone with fireballs, build demon with FA’s when you can. There are lots of different matchup specific situations that you can take advantage of, but never forget the basics of your character.

“Your opponent is doing x. What tools do I have that are designed to counter this?” More often than not, you have an answer within your own tools without having to find something specific to the matchup.

With that said, here we go:

Updates:
4/04/09: Copied all existing information fromt he old thread and added some of the information being discussed.
4/10/09: Formatted the original post, and organized all matchups into organized sections. Easier to read/navigate without all the redundant information.
4/13/09: Added the “Street Fighter Dojo” for high level videos of your matchup of choice.
5/03/09: Updated the format to be easier to search through, added new information on matchups. Hope you like the new layout. :slight_smile:
9/02/09: Added Tatsu > Sweep? Section to all characters.
9/03/09: Updated Abel section, formatted both posts a little…mostly just OCD. XD
9/09/09: Updated Chun section, updated some Bison, too.
9/14/09: Updated E. Honda and El Fuerte, removed ‘contributors’.

General Info: http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2008...aracter-guide/
**Frame Data: **http://www.eventhubs.com/guides/2008...eet-fighter-4/
**Matchup Vids: **http://streetfighterdojo.com/sf4/index.html

Abel

Spoiler

Abel

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Rekka (CoD): Super only, after the 1st hit
Blocked Wheel Kick: Super only
Blocked Super/Ultra: Super and Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
Abels?s ability to land his ultra with relative ease and ability to get in through your fireballs can make this match a pain for an Akuma player. Luckily for us, Abel doesn?t have a consistent AA.

In general, Abel has a hard time dealing with jump-ins and pressure. Feel free to apply pressure with HK’s and various jump ins. Once Abel has his ultra, your zoning game is severely hampered; if he catches you throwing a fireball when activating his ultra, he will pass through and put the hurt on you. If Abel gets on the offensive, just look for an opening to teleport out and try to take back the initiative, just be wary of his Ultra.

  • Always be looking for the roll to get an easy throw. From there you have an easy jump in setup.
  • Use RH kicks to apply pressure, but be wary of his meter, EX COD will blow through and put the hurt on.
  • He has poor AA, so abuse cross ups and demon flip mix ups
  • Zoning is fine early in the match, but once he has ultra be careful when throwing fireballs
  • When on the defensive look to teleport out, but again, watch that revenge meter.
  • The hk, s.lp loop is viable on Abel, and you can start a good pressure and mixup game by ending it with a sweep.

Balrog (Boxer)

Spoiler

Balrog (Boxer)

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Dash Straight: Super, must hit deep
Blocked Dash Low Straight: Super, must hit deep
Blocked Dash Overhead: Super
Blocked Dash Upper: Super/Ultra
Blocked Dash Low Smash: Super/Ultra
Blocked TAP: Super, must hit deep
Blocked Headbutt: Super/Ultra
Blocked Super/Ultra: Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Balrog can be a tough matchup; his combos can do heavy damage and stun, he has several options to get through your fireballs, has a solid AA, and a strong mix up game. Stay cool, play patient, and you?ll soon realize that it?s not too bad of a matchup one you learn some of the options Akuma has to deal with this matchup.

Your Ultra plays a very large role in this matchup. If you throw a fireball and Balrog decides to EX charge through it, you can catch him with an ultra. If he headbutts through it, you can Ultra provided it?s not too late. If he jumps in at you, teleport out or ultra if you have it. Try to stay a safe distance away, zoning with fireballs and watching for rush punches. If you don?t have ultra and he EX charges through your fireball, be ready to teleport out. In general play very safely, zoning at all times while looking for that chance to demon for big damage. If it?s not an EX charge, feel free to try to HK him and if you?re close enough then combo.

  • All of his specials can be punished by Super on block
  • Learn to buffer the demon after throwing fireballs, pressing FP only when you see him EX through
  • Pay attention to his movements:
    • If he jumps, he lost his Head butt charge
    • If he moves forward, he lost all Rush Punch charges
  • Always be on guard never go forward too long or you’ll risk eating dash punches in the face
  • Be wary of his TAP, only throw fireballs from a safe distance and vary the timing on them
  • Don?t jump in on him, his AA is too solid. NEVER jump in if he?s has ultra or super.

Blanka

Spoiler

Blanka

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked close slide
Blocked far slide (Super only)
Blocked ball
Blocked up ball
Blocked Backstep ball (a reversal is too fast, wait a bit)
Blocked Super/Ultra (a reversal is too fast, wait a bit)

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
Blanka can be a tough matchup for Akuma. EX ball passes clean through fireballs, the slide can go under poorly spaced fireballs on reaction, and he?s got some strong pokes that tend to break Akuma quickly. A lot of your regular zoning game is stripped away in this matchup, but with patience and careful baiting you?ll find yourself with the upper hand more often than not.

Very well put post on your general game plan for fighting Blanka. Throwing max range hadooccasionally is not punishable by EX ball and should be your main strategy. Baiting EX ball using a jab hado is a great way to fish for that easy reversal Ultra. Teleport out when he approaches and just play the game at your own pace. Beat Lightning with any low hit (spaced properly) or with a fierce SRK. FADC that into your fierce Shaku and they?ll be much more hesitant to throw it out as frequently.

-Don?t jump in; lightning will win

  • Punish blocked ball with ultra when you can
  • Again, watch his movements, and know which moves he has lost charge on
    -Punish slides with sweep if out of range for anything else
    -Teleporting though his ultra is fun and works every time

Cammy

Spoiler

Cammy

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked cr.HK (Super only)
Blocked close drill
Blocked far drill (Super only)
Blocked Spike
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Cammy is an odd matchup. Her Spiral Arrows are safe from the right distances, and can be linked into her cannon spike, giving her a nice mixup option out of it. In the right hands she can put up a good fight, but the advantage is still in your hands.

Cammy is a matchup that can be odd to handle at first, with her ability to get past your zoning game. Only play a fireball game from to full screen vs her, and if she gets close you can teleport out. She has to get close to deal her damage, and with no projectile to meet yours, playing keep away will be your best bet. Stay out of the air, her AA kick has invincibility I think all of the way up. Hooligan combo cannot throw crouching opponents, and it?s other option is a sweep. Guess what you do? Block low. Cammy doesn?t really have an answer for the low block, if she tries to cannon drill in for a 50/50 throw or cannon spike, you can teleport out and reset the match. SRK her jump-ins and dive kicks.

When on the offensive, try to bait her AA and punish accordingly; I wouldn?t recommend jumping in at her at all. Play a ground game, using focus attacks to close the distance. Once you are close, she cannot safely use them anymore. Use that knowledge to your advantage. It?s overall a simple match, your basics will really come into play here. Out-turtle Cammy all day.

-s.mk can beat a far Spiral Arrow
-FA?s work on everything except for close HK Spiral Arrows and that crappy backfist.

Chun Li

Spoiler

Chun Li

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked f+MK (Super only)
Blocked Spinning Bird Kick (Super only)
Blocked Hazan Shu (deep)
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
First thing to know: Chun can and will out-poke you. Your optimal ranges are at full screen, and in her face. Her are at about 1/2 and 1/3 a screen’s distance, where her pokes and hasanshu can come into play. Once she has ultra ready the only safe fireball option you have is a full screen, jump back air fireball. Play this one fairly runaway, zoning until you have an opening to get in, or she has Ultra.

Once she has ultra, you can no longer zone with fireballs as effectively. While some may simply stop throwing them altogether, watch what she does: if she loses charge, feel free to throw a fireball. They’re still very useful as well as needed to create an opening vs a solid Chun. Just because you can’t spam them doesn’t mean you have to resort to full screen runaway…just be wary.

-Demon flipping in while she has meter is risky, but aim for the center for the best results vs EX sbk
-The vortex works well on her, just keep that ex bar in mind…
-After a tatsu > sweep: step forward into MK Demon Flip kick, it should be positioned to beat out the EX sbk

C. Viper

Spoiler

Crimson Viper

Guaranteed Demons:
f+MP (Super only)
Blocked MP Thunder Knuckle (Super only)
Blocked HP Thunder Knuckle
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Viper. With a cross up heavy playstyle, many combos into her ultra, high stun combos, ability to cancel moves and use super jumps?a good viper can be one of the toughest matchups out there. The key to beating her is to know what the hell she?s actually doing.

Viper can use her aerial Flame Kicks to attack from in front of you, on top of you, or cross you up and hit behind you. Teleporting out is the 100% safe choice, but beware firing it off too early, she may cancel the move and then you?re in trouble. Using a Shoryu against the flame kicks can work, but it?s a risk/reward situation if you guess where she?s going to be incorrectly.

Take care when zoning from max range, many Vipers will try to sneak a little bit closer so that they can Seismo you as you?re throwing a fireball. Remember that her Seismo cannot reach full screen, and just watch for when she creeps forward. Avoid getting hit by a Seismo at all costs, she can and will combo a burning kick afterwards + Ultra.

-Her Thunder Knuckles can be difficult to deal with, try to bait one and neutral jump, or tele out
-Watch for EX Thunder Knuckle and punish appropriately
-While she has no projectile to meet yours, baiting her to jump for an AA Ultra will not work since she can easily change her trajectory during the flash by using a burning kick.

Dan

Spoiler

Dan

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Koryuken
Blocked MK or HK Dan Kicks (Super only)
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Member Input:
- needed?wait, is it? :P-

Dhalsim

Spoiler

Dhalsim

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Mummy deep
Blocked Drill deep
Blocked Drill shallow (super only)
Blocked Slide
After being hit by jump back HP
Blocked point blank Super (Super only)

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Dhalsim is going to play keep away. Keep in mind that at full screen he can?t fireball you effectively and that his limbs will not reach you. Don?t jump, that?s what he wants. Just wait and bait his fireball, throwing occasional Shakus out to stuff them. All of his ranged options require some sort of action from you in order to be effective, be it jumping or trying to focus a fireball. If you find yourself cornered, try tossing out a fireball or two followed by an EX flip. Teleports are only going to get stuffed, since Sim?s never going to be close enough to you for it to be safe. Note the guaranteed demon off of a connected j.hp. Once you have ultra, fish for the j.hp from Sim, if he?s jumping backwards just throw the ultra and it will catch.

-Teleport out from ultra setups
-If you can safely get in close, feel free to apply pressure since Sim?s close game is garbage
-Full screen away renders his fireball game almost useless and his limbs will not reach
-Focus Attacks can be a good way to get in after zoning and seeing what his tendencies are

E. Honda

Spoiler

E. Honda

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Butt Splash (Super only)
Blocked ex Butt Splash (Super only)
Blocked far Super (Super only)
Blocked close Super
Blocked Ultra
Blocked Ultra (between hits)

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
There are 2 primary tactics to deal with Honda. One is to simply zone and runaway, which is very effective; the other is to apply constant pressure, crossing up frequently to mess with their charge. With proper zoning you can generally keep the lead on a Honda, but you have to play it smart. It only takes a 1 or 2 errors to push the game into Honda?s favor. The key is to simply out zone him, forcing him to come to you?look for his lost charge as the go-ahead to get in.

  • TK FB into mix-up is a hard pressure game for Honda to deal with.
  • When he has ultra, be wary of the possible AA use when applying pressure.
  • Focus attack butt slams that are on their way down for free meter/combo.
    -Forcing Honda to take the offensive is the safest option, as well as being easy to do

El Fuerte

Spoiler

El Fuerte

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Quesadilla Bomb
Blocked Run slide (Super only)
Blocked Super
Backjumped Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
Fuerte?s strong point is his ability to force a tough wakeup game. Teleport out. Don?t become too predicatble with this, as good Elfs will punish you, but know that this matchup is made much easier just by having this tool. Zone as you normally would, being cautious for the EX run and wall jump?this match is heavily in your favor, just don?t become predictable with your fireballs. When you are pressing the advantage, go crazy with it?when he is pressing the advantage just escape and zone until you have your chance.

-Standing HK will connect with both hits, and Elf doesn?t have an answer. Enjoy.

  • uh?
2

Fei Long

Spoiler

Fei Long

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked double kick (deep)
Blocked Rekkas (mash Super, if he stops or delays at any time he will get caught)
Blocked Flame kick
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
- needed! -

Gen

Spoiler

Gen

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Gekiro
Blocked Mantis Super/Ultra
Whiffed Crane Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
- needed! -

Gouken

Spoiler

Gouken

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked cr.HK (Super only)
Blocked Dash punch (must hit deep)
Blocked ex Dash punch
Blocked Flip sweep
Blocked Tatsu
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Gouken?s at his best zoning you out, and at mid screen distance. His rush punch shuts down your fireball game at this range, and while his parry can be bothersome, it?s nothing to be scared of and just a small adjustment to your game plan will have you laughing at his attempts to parry.

Your goal in this matchup is to stay out of mid range. This is his optimal range: With his fast fireballs he can out spam you, while his rush punch will go through your fireball attempts. Try to stay at max screen distance, where you can out fireball him due to him being unable to throw another hadouken until the first is gone. From this distance you can also recover from your fireballs fast enough to SRK him if he rush punches through them. Try to gain the advantage by abusing this range and playing it safe.

If you?re on the offensive, stay close. This is Gouken?s worst range to be fighting at, with his weak normals and no good AA, you can pile the pressure on while staying fairly safe. One of his only tools at this range is the parry. Things to note about this move: It acts like a focus attack with no startup on the attack part. So no 2 hits will beat it, and reversals (armor break) and the demon flip punch will break his guard. You can also throw him out of it, making it pretty risky from close range. Mix in random jump-ins with your pokes so that he can?t parry your anticipated moves, and to bait the parry as an AA. Remember that his parry is either high or low, so keep him guessing when playing footsies, and remember that your throw will always beat his parry. The back throw is a threat, but just look for when you?re in range and be ready to tech it. The tech window on the back throw is insanely large; you should be able to break every throw attempt.

-When in close, watch for parries and try to throw him out of them. Kara throwing helps to snag him.
-If you?re uncomfortable dealing with the options he has out of his flip, just teleport out.
-His fireballs are 1-hit unless charged, use your EX hadou to score a knockdown and start pressuring.
-TECH THE BACK THROW!

Guile

Spoiler

Guile

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Flash kick
Blocked f+MP (Super only)
Blocked target combo (Super only)
Blocked cr.HK (do it between the two kicks)
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Guile has great defense. Akuma?s is better. This is a match of patience and attrition, but one where the cards are stacked heavily in your favor.

Guile?s basic gameplan involves throwing sonic booms to zone, and waiting for a flash kick opportunity. Don?t jump in, force him to come to you. The match is very basic, if he presses forward behind a sonic boom you can Shakunetsu if you?re at max range, jump back air hadou to force him to block, or teleport through him if he?s right behind it. But there?s really nothing Guile can do to force Akuma into a bad situation. If he?s far, your ranged game beats his, and if he?s close you can always teleport out. If you do happen to be on the offensive, try to bait the flash kick since it?s the only thing Guile really has to deal with pressure at the risk of exposing himself?? Guile really doesn’t have the tools to hang with Akuma?.

-Be wary of his target combo: c.mk, overhead punch. It?s quick and dirty.
-If the Guile you are playing is using the sweep, punish it every time.
-Keep patient, stick to your roots and play very basic runaway.

Ken

Spoiler

Ken

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Shoryu
Blocked f+MK (Super only)
Blocked LK or MK Tatsu (Super only)
Blocked HK Tatsu
Hit by his HK Tatsu (Super only)
Blocked EX Tatsu (Super only)
Blocked Super/Ultra
Blocked Super (between uppercuts)

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
- needed! -

M. Bison (Dictator)

Spoiler

M. Bison (Dictator)

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked close slide
Blocked far slide (super only)
Backstepped Stomp (Kara the demon)
Blocked Psycho Crusher (any aside from max distance lp/EX)
Blocked MK, HK, or EX scissors
Blocked close Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
Bison can be a tough matchup for Akuma with his tricky aerial game and solid rush down techniques on the ground. Learning to walk backwards to negate his air game and taking care when zoning are key to this matchup.

Walk backwards when he flies up in the air, if it?s a Stomp then punish with your BnB of choice; if it?s a reverse, then just watch what he does and react accordingly. If he does a reverse and comes right at you with it, you can time an SRK to beat it clean every time. Be wary of air fireballs, as he can c.hk(slide) right under them. When zoning only occasionally throw fireballs, or else you risk a psychic EX Stomp or teleport for big damage on punish.

Applying pressure is a great way to deal with a Bison, he has no solid AA?s that can cope with the pressure, and cross-ups can wreak havoc on him. Keep the pressure up, but don?t become predictable with your jump ins. In fact, don?t jump in if he?s crouching?trust me you don?t want to get headstomped as Akuma. If you see him stand up when at close range, know that he lost charge and you can jump in or demon flip in fairly safely. Know the ranges of his MK and HK pokes, and be wary when in that zone; you can focus these attacks, but unless it?s a lvl 2 focus, just backdash afterwards?if it happens to crumple you can always dash forward and fierce SRK him as he?s falling.

-Note if he makes a noise while jumping, if so it?s not a normal jump
-Check the distances he?s jumping at and whether or not it?s a special or just his jump
-Backwards jumping HP beats his headstomp cleanly unless you?re in the corner
-EX Scissor Kicks will go through fireballs at a bit less then max range. Take care when he has meter.

Rose

Spoiler

Rose

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked slide (Super only)
Blocked Soul Spiral (Super only)
Blocked Soul Reflect
whiffed AA throw
Blocked Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:

Contributors: Miz

Rufus

Spoiler

Rufus

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Messiah Kick (do after first hit, if he flips you’ll still block, so repeat)
Blocked f+MK (Super only)
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
Rufus has many options to rush you down with. Knowing where the holes are in his approach so that you may punish them is half the battle.

Rufus players will use his dive kicks to triangle jump over your fireball game, his Tornado to nullify the one?s he doesn?t jump over, and his advancing normal moves (f+mk, d/f+mk) to get in. If you?re watching for them, you can beat dive kicks clean with an SRK or a FA. Be extra careful when jumping, since his j.HK > EX Snake Strikes will do HEAVY damage to Akuma; not to mention he can easily go into Ultra from it as well. Just avoid jumping when in range for his j.hk.

In general, a defensive style is optimal, since Akuma can?t handle the high damage combos that Rufus can throw down.

  • Teleport out when under heavy pressure
  • When zoning, watch how he deals with your fireballs and react accordingly
  • Don?t let dive kick pressure lock you down, learn to SRK them
  • Messiah Kick can also be SRK?d on reaction

Ryu

Spoiler

Ryu

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked cr.HK (deep)
Blocked Shoryu
Blocked f+MP (Super only)
Blocked Tatsu (Super only)
Blocked ex Tatsu (deep)
Jumped Ultra
Blocked Ultra (close)

Tatsu > Sweep?
No

Strategy:
- needed! -

Sagat

Spoiler

Sagat

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Tiger upper
Blocked close Tiger Knee
Blocked Super/Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Oh, Sagat. Top tier health, top tier damage, top tier combos, top tier. Luckily we can force Sagat to come to us unlike most of the cast, and that plays fairly well into our favor. Spacing, rhythm, and an appropriate amount of caution are key to winning this matchup.

At long range there will be a fire(fight!)ball fight. More than likely player will spam until one of them decides they?ve had enough and closes the gap; make that person be Sagat. FA some of his fireballs to build up your ultra while jumping over or blocking the rest until your health has recovered. Use red fireballs on occasion to force chip damage or if you?re lucky, beat one of his shots.

Once Sagat decides to move in, the going gets tough. At mid range he will be looking to Tiger Knee in. You can use your standing HK to poke at this range, but play it safe more often than not. The Demon Flip can work wonders against Sagat, use it when he?s going to fireball or as a mix up after some of your block strings. He can Uppercut these on reaction, so don?t be afraid to bait this with a HK or MK demon Flip from close range; you?ll fly past him, and your standing HK can catch up to his whiffed upper.

-Make him come to you, you can always win a fireball war
-Don’t fall for his strings into safe knee, mix up the teleports with a j.RH Tatsu to get out of there

  • Jumping in is generally not a good idea, since trades are greatly in his favor
  • If Sagat has ultra, you must play it very safe

Sakura

Spoiler

Sakura

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked f+MK (Super only)
Blocked Shouoken
Blocked MK or HK Shunpukyaku (Super only)
Blocked Ultra

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
- needed! -

Seth

Spoiler

Seth

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked Super

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Recently getting attention due to his ability to keep away, treat this matchup like Dhalsim with more tools. As we know he takes damage like an infant and that must be exploited if/whenever you get the chance. If you miss an opportunity for a big combo, it might have been the only chance you?re going to get.

One thing to remember about Seth and his ultra in particular, is that he has many ways to land it. Once he has his ultra ready to go you essentially cannot fireball, jump, or walk forward more than a single step or so. It doesn?t do much damage, but if you?re low on life then it will actively shut down several of your options.

  • Get in, deal your damage and get out
  • Be careful with your actions when he has ultra ready

Vega (Claw

Spoiler

Vega (Claw)

Guaranteed Demons:
blocked Flying Claw
blocked Flipkick
blocked d/f+MK (super only)

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
When playing against Vega, its back to basics; Shoryu his jump in attempts, teleport when needed, and force him into action with fireballs. FADC?ing his Wall Dives will give you an opportunity to punish, but beware the throw. If you seem to always get thrown, simply short teleport out. Vega has no answer to your teleport, and sometimes this will lead to a free punish combo. Once you have the lead, just sit on it and run away, there?s not really anything that Vega can do to stop you.

For a change of pace, you can take the offensive in this matchup. His wanna-be flip kick is not a reliable AA, so feel free to cross up and dive kick pressure him into making a mistake. Pressuring with the HK works well to get you in range, once you?re there just stay in his face looking for that opening to dish out a big damage combo. If he flips away, walk forward a bit then HK to catch him with a heavy combo.

-Teleport away from his Wall Dives if you?re unsure about how to handle it

  • Be wary of throwing fireballs when he has ultra?as in don?t.
  • Abuse his lack of a good AA to put pressure on and gain the lead
  • Watch for patterns when he uses his dodging flip; bait and punish

Zangeif

Spoiler

Zangief

Guaranteed Demons:
Blocked far long sweep (super only)
Blocked close long sweep
Whiffed Lariat (hit the recovery, not the Lariat)
Blocked Green Hand
Hit by Green Hand
Blocked ex Green Hand

Tatsu > Sweep?
Yes

Strategy:
Zangeif. A simple enough matchup, but mess up twice and it could be lights out for Akuma.

If you get knocked down, teleport out. If you don?t, it?s going to hurt. Use lots of fireballs to zone, mixing in properly spaced sweeps and HK?s. Unless the HK connects, jump back or teleport away. There?s not much to this matchup, just try to read what he does in reaction to your zoning game and be ready for it. If he tends to green hand, block and punish; for lariats if you have the spacing down you can Demon Flip him as long as the dive kick is centered on his body. Use fireballs to bait a lariat, and punish with ex flip for big damage. Then return to your regularly scheduled programming and stay away.

  • Stay away.
  • Sweep his lariats
  • Aim for Time Over if you have to
  • Stay away!
3

It may be of note that in the Rog matchup you can ultra TAP on reaction as seen in this vid at 2:50 - [media=youtube]DEHpFHxW6WQ&feature=channel_page[/media]

4

Great idea for this thread.

I had a question earlier today…

Is there any way to avoid Seth’s Ultra? I’ve faced a couple of Seth’s lately and I always seem to lose to the “become a part of me” Ultra. It seems like there is nothing you can do about it, though I didn’t try teleporting.

5

MrQuestions,

All you have to do is block.

6

When you do that just make sure you know you’re spacing, if you do it from too far away you will get punched in the face. Just another thing, if you don’t have ultra and he uses TAP to get through a fireball, st. RH will catch him almost every time and you get a free combo of your choice. Again, you gotta know your spacing for both of these but they’re great options against his TAP.

However, I just played against a really good Balrog online and struggled mightily. I really need to work on that match up.

7

Wah? really? I’ve blocked his super but not his ultra.

I swear he does it when I’m just crouching there blocking and it still sucks me in and kills me.

Maybe it’s the POS Xbox 360 Dpad. Wouldn’t be the first time I was holding back and the game didn’t think I was blocking…

8

3/4 screen and closer and demon will work if you do it on reaction, not anticipation.

However for TAP when you don’t have ultra, roundhouse tatsu beats it everytime I find.

9

versus Ryu I have severe problems if I block a hk.tatsu it seems to me and i’ve been trying and trying that I can’t counter with anything other then block and hope to try to tp out after the block??

Surely there is a guaranteed punish after blocking a tatsu?? :frowning: Cos even EX.DP gets blocked by ryu :S

10

Although the Ultra can be blocked, it can be VERY difficult to actively avoid it. When Seth has his ultra you basically can’t do any of the following:

  1. Throw any Fireballs
  2. Jump, unless you scored a knockdown and are doing a cross-up (in which case, Seth has better options anyway)
  3. Walk forward more than a step or two w/o going into crouch blocking (Online only, but the majority of the time even a tiny amount of input lag gets you tagged)

The Ultra doesn’t do a lot of damage, even to Akuma, but it can make life difficult. Sometimes, if you have a big enough lead, it’s better to just eat it early. Odds are good if you landed enough damage to get him an ultra in the first place, a combo + change will kill Seth outright afterwards.

11

I usually throw or teleport, or go for a FA as sometimes the Ryu’s I have faced do the Tatsu then dash back and go for a FB

12

For Guile I just learned that you can rh tatsu or srk in between his sweeps. Lol that makes life easier.

Also for Honda you can super/ultra a fierce headbutt if you are at full screen when they start it. Just jump backwards and he’ll land right next to you on the other side and you can jab jab on the way down. If you don’t have meter then you can do whatever close punisher you want. Just remember if you are in the corner when he headbutts you he won’t end up on the opposite side so adjust accordingly.

13

Figured out blocking Ryu’s hk.tatsu is never a good thing just have to hit him out of it otherwise teleport out. To hit him out of his tatsu all you need is to punch him out of it.
standing HP is good but crouching HP is better medium & light might trade but c.lp seems fine but it might wiff c.hp is easy to hit.

14

soo is anyone else having trouble with guile…online its very hard to get inbetween his c.hk…which causes me the most trouble…i just need some type of strategy to keep him off me…and umm against any decent guile i obviously know air hado are very bad along with demon flipping cuz of the flash kick

15

Ya guile is my hardest fight lately. All my rounds are going like 90-99 seconds long. If there’s lag it can be tough to punish his sweep. I’d say test out the connection on the first sweep and if you cant connect with the tatsu or srk then I’d just stop trying for that match. You can always jump backwards out of it in between and be safe I think. Although watch out for the immediate sonic boom after the sweep cuz they prob expect you to air fireball in which case the boom will hit. If anyone knows anything else on guile please share!

16

For guile, just sit back and throw fireballs. He can’t beat you at that distance and it will force him to come to you. When he does just play very basic; if he jumps in, FP srk; if he tries to out poke you, use FA’s.

Most good guiles won’t bother with the double sweep, if a guile does, just stuff an ultra in there to teach him otherwise. Shouldnt be too bad of a matchup.

17

^^^ For sure, RD him once between sweeps and he probably won’t ever throw that out again once you have ultra haha.

Note for Bison - For hitting an RD after blocking his ultra, you have to wait a split second before you input it. If you get the “reversal” sign on your ultra you’ll actually pass right through him as he’s coming out of the psycho crusher part. Happened to me twice yesterday, it wasn’t cool.

Also for Bison players who like to sweep under your air fireballs. I started doing empty jumps (backwards or vertical depending on spacing) then when I’d land I’d go into FA and catch their sweep which gave me a free combo.

18

well depending on spacing it is possible to hit him with airhado if you do it imediately after the jump…i think ive done it everytime but maybe cuz that bison was bad and timed his slide wrong =/…but the airhado shot out and a nice sharp angle so im not really sure…also is anyone else losing to like the weakest players and beating the better ones?..for some reason i lose to flow chart kens who dont throw out the dp like crazy…but do it randomly…and win to ppl who have like 3,000-6,000 bp…its kinda weird…just wondering if its normal :bluu:

19

Playing flowcharts can really confuse or irritate you.

Everything you learn to fight a decent player doesn’t work because the flowcharts have no fear(brains) and do stupid stuff no matter what.

20

This is true, but if you can keep your cool, it’s no sweat. I get sooooo frustrated by Ken’s flaming shoryuken, but if I can keep a level head, I can usually bait it and punish for a huge chunk of health (and morale!). Another huge thing is keeping in mind that if an opponent jump kicks into a DP two or three times in a round, he is probably going to keep jumping at you even though any reasonably intelligent person would realize that it’s a bad idea. It can be tough to keep “watch out for his jumpkicks!” in the front of your mind considering most decent players don’t randomly jumpkick against shotos very often, especially after you’ve already nailed him a couple of times, but you just gotta stay focused. The thing is, as predictable as a flowchart player may be, it doesn’t change the fact that HP shoryukens and jump kick/leg sweep combos do a LOT of damage to Akuma, and his annoying predictability can make it hard to stay calm and focused on doing what you have to do to win.

I have lots of match-up thoughts that I will add when I don’t have a paper due in -7 hours, but a comment for now is that I am torn on whether the format in the original post is best as it is or if it would be better as a list of concise bullet points that summarize the posts. On the one hand, it seems really silly to see stuff like “Destroy her.” as part of the official match-up post, but on the other hand, it might prove helpful to keep the original language of the posters’ suggestions to remind us that all of these suggestions came from individual, imperfect players who are basing their tips on their own experience and strategies, which may or may not be accurate.