I keep having a LOT of trouble vs. Ibuki. She’s in the air really often, so I can’t throw, and she seems to attack at just the height where I can’t hit her with anti-airs. Any advice? Should i be playing more of a waiting game? and if so, what points should i be waiting for to capitalize?
well… first you dont want her in your face but you have to close the gap… she being so fast create alot of problems for the big guy…what i do is take whenever chance i get to capitalize on her mistakes, if it is a random Ibuki player i just go with SA3, but if is somebody who knows his stuff i just go SA1,her pressure game sometimes is too much for the big fell but is a winnable match just be patient… thats what i do. btw Ibuki is by far his worst nightmare… is not Akuma like some people say around here… i know is not a whole lot of info but it might get you on the right path… i hope…:sleep:
c.Mp and c.Jab are great for keep away on the ground and mix it up with s.MP against those dash happy Ibukis.
9 times out of 10 you will see pretty much any Ibuki player with SA1 throw out a kunai(qcf+P in air) after the kazekiri(dp+K) or the Hien(rdp+K). If you blocked the kazekiri or the hien, try to red parry the kunai and punish with either EX clothesline, SA2(qcfx2+K), or dash forward into c.MK. But if they have full meter, then be patient and don’t try to punish the super unless you parry the whole thing and if you do, simply punish this the same way.
Also, use jumping back FP for a pursuing Ibuki thats jumping after you, and use jump in FK for an Ibuki that stays on the ground. If they try to jump in on you, usually it will be the 2-hit target combo, so either block it or parry twice. If they jump in deep, buffer the 360 on the second parry. If they jump in just a bit out of range, punish with c.MK.
I have a lot of experience with many matchups but just so you know, this is just off the top of my head. But I hope this helps.
Also, SA2 and SA3 are the best choices situation wise, but SA1 scares Ibuki players like hell so use that to your advantage and anti air them a lot till they stay on the ground.
I know this thread is pretty old but i’ve actually just discovered 3rd Strike on Supercade.net and absolutely love it. I find that i play it more than Super SF4 some times. Any way, in reference to what you said here, is it possible to parry the first 2 hits of a Hien and punish with a roundhouse backbreaker before Ibuki has a chance to throw out a kunai? Like i said, i only play an emulated version of 3S so i dont exactly have access to a training mode to figure this out for myself. Any response would be appriciated, thanks!
I’ve never really seen any Hugo players try it in matches, so Backbreaker probably won’t make it in time. j.LP would probably be better, just to knock them out of the air temporarily. Maybe if you’re a god at instant DPs after parry, but again, yet to see this happen. D:
Lk Backbreaker beats Kunai and EX Kunai cleanly if you’re very fast after the second parry, even if they activated Kunai as early as possible after the Hien. Which means lk SA2 works too. 
Fk Backbreaker can work, but it doesn’t seem as reliable as lk.
I tried it against Ibuki’s SA1 in place of a Kunai, too. If she activates SA1 INSTANTLY then lk Backbreaker and lk SA2 won’t make it. If there is even the slightest pause before she activates (probable, in my view), then Hugo will make it.
By the way SwiftInTheNight, lk, mk and fk Backbreakers all do the exact same damage, the only difference is trajectories and grab timing (sorry if you already knew this). So in situations where you need to grab somebody as quickly as possible then lk is usually the best version I reckon because its grab frames are very fast/low off the ground. Even though Ibuki seems too high (Hien pushback + Kunai pushback), you’ll be amazed what lk Backbreaker will grab if you’re fast after a parry. Things like UOHs… you can even interrupt all shoto Tatsus with a lk Backbreaker at any stage of the Tatsu if you’re quick from the parries.
Wouldn’t that take too long though? Parries can’t be cancelled into jumps can they? (I just turned the PS2 off and can’t be arsed to check now.)
thanks alot for the advice guys…ill give it a shot when i get a chance
You can’t cancel into a jump off a parry but I was thinking an immediate j.LP while they bounce back. I haven’t played this matchup in ages though so you’re most likely right about that. haha
against ibukis, i tend to throw LK backbreakers when I see them leave the ground. It tends to discourage jumping. Get used to parrying twice on her jump ins, since she has so many target combos in the air. It turns into a guessing game, but never expect just to do it once. Another thing that may work is doing your body splash on the way up, it works pretty well as a “psychic” aa with pretty good recovery. For air vs air situations, i tend to mix up MK and MP, honestly, whatever my finger presses on instinct lol. Jump away HP also works, since hugo’s fist takes up so much of the screen. Just don’t hunt for those 360s, well ever, but especially against ibuki.
Good advice. Also, when I score a knockdown and I’m standing over her, I often go for a down-parry and hesitate because it catches her weak normals and her Shoryu. If you see her Shoryu come out then you hesitated so you have time to parry the rest.