Plinking / Tsuji-Style: KARA BUFFER Inputs for Easier Links and More!

[Kevko5212]

I gotta come in here and just give my thanks to the person who discovered this trick. I can now do abel’s 1 frame link with like 90% success. It’s ridiculously good.

[PeterTheBohemian]

This is correct, but plinking is still useful here because in this scenario if the the first input (mk) is pressed a frame too early nothing will happen, and the lk+mk will still complete the link in the next frame. Also using plinking here means if you do link 2 frames too early you will get that lk and your srk/flashkick etc will not come out, so you will not be punished.

It is always better to plink. Everyone should learn plinking in my opinion, it WILL improve your execution in sf4.

Easier said than done. That guile cross up combo I’ve been practicing for weeks, I can now do with like 60 - 80 percent consistency without plinking, but with plinking, I keep accidentally jabbing.

[AyoChap]

good find, helped lots of people with there sf game

[Warahk]

Easier said than done. That guile cross up combo I’ve been practicing for weeks, I can now do with like 60 - 80 percent consistency without plinking, but with plinking, I keep accidentally jabbing.

shouldve spent that time practicing with plinking.

[mr.sloppy2nds]

any tips for easier links with Guile?

[redgatorade]

This is rediculously hard. Feels totally unnatural.

[ditn]

Same for me,but thats due to my weird hand position on joystick i think
(thumb on mk,next finger on lk and rest on punch buttons)

[System_1]

Hm… didn’t read all of the thread… sry…

but can you plink with lp~mk to get a mk link?

like c.mp, lp~mk xx Nee Prezz with Bison?

[Mariodood]

Hm… didn’t read all of the thread… sry…

but can you plink with lp~mk to get a mk link?

like c.mp, lp~mk xx Nee Prezz with Bison?

You would do MK~LP, but yes.

[Mechanica]

(thumb on mk,next finger on lk and rest on punch buttons)

wtf?

[ditn]

yeah i know,no idea how it ever got to this:(
My hand is rotated 45 degrees from normal hand position when typing.
Should i relaearn my hand position?

[mr.sloppy2nds]

Guys, please help me out. I’m having trouble understanding this theory.

I use Guile and have worked out some combos but have trouble consistantly getting them out. I probably get the majority of them down 2 or 3 out of 10 times. I’ve linked them before so know they work!

OP says:

I’ve found this method to work more than 90% of the time for me - whereas double-tapping (perhaps due to my poor technique) works maybe half the time.

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The same thing can be done for MP, HP, HK links:

MP links = MP~LP (or LK, but obviously LP is easier to hit)
HP links = HP~MP (or MP or LK or LP, but obviously MP is easier to hit)
HK links = HK~MK (see above)
(Remember: you have to press both buttons almost simultaneously, but with the stronger-strength button a split-second earlier than the weaker-strength one)

It also works for cr.LK, BUT ONLY IF your character’s cr.LK is not chain-cancellable.

cr.LK links = (while crouching) LK~LP

This method will not work with cr.LP, due to the fact that down+cr.LP+cr.LK is always interpreted as cr.LK. It will also not work with standing LP or LK because then it becomes a kara throw.

Disclaimer: this linking method will not automatically make you a link combo god - you still have to get the timing right and everything. Like double-tapping, this essentially turns a one-frame link into a two-frame link by giving you two chances to nail the input window.

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If you haven’t figured it out yet, here’s why it works:

A couple of days ago I was practising my Kara throws in training mode with Akuma (HP~LP+LK) when I noticed something - the game recognises my kara throw input as:

(second frame) LP+LK+HP
(first frame) HP
Note: The first input repeats itself when you do HP~LP+LK

And as we all know, whenever two or more attack buttons of different strengths are pressed, the game will give you the strongest strength attack i.e. if you press LP+MP+HP, you’ll see that the game executes that as a s.HP.

In other words, if you were crouching, essentially the above input could be interpreted by the game as:

(2nd frame) down+HP+LP+LK (you’re stuck in animation, but if you were not, this would have been executed as cr.HP)
(1st frame) down+HP (executed as a cr.HP)

So what happens when you’re in the recovery frames of some other move, like, say, Akuma’s cr.LP? You now have two chances to nail the one-frame window required for cr.LP to cr.HP link, depending on if you hit the down+HP squarely on the window, or one frame before that. One-frame links become two-frames. Two-frame links become three, etc, etc.

This is effectively a double-tap HP. Only thing is, you don’t have to cram both of your fingers on a single button, which surely takes some level of finesse to pull off, especially under pressure. It should make link combos, in general, a lot easier. Personally I can hit cr.LP to cr.MK about 90% of the time.

Some other examples you can try:
Ryu’s cr.MP, cr.MP, cr.HK
Sagat’s cr.LK x3 xx Tiger Knee

^^^I read it a few times and:

Like double-tapping, this essentially turns a one-frame link into a two-frame link by giving you two chances to nail the input window.

Ok, this part. I get that this technique will give you an extra frame to hit a one link.
But what about ‘two chances’?

Does this mean that you would still have to double tap, c.mk~lk twice? Or you tap it once and because of the technique you get an extra fram per any given move?

This:

In other words, if you were crouching, essentially the above input could be interpreted by the game as:

(2nd frame) down+HP+LP+LK (you’re stuck in animation, but if you were not, this would have been executed as cr.HP)
(1st frame) down+HP (executed as a cr.HP)

Say if I want to pull off this combo w/Guile…

How I do it:
c.lk x2, c.lp, c.mp, FK

with technique:

c.mk~lk x2, c.mp~lp, c.hk~mk, FK <<—That’s where I’m confused. Would all of my combos be changed to these inputs?

How do you guys use this method?

[mr.sloppy2nds]

Ok, I know that I misread or misunderstood.

I tried this method and it didnt’ work for me!\

This:

MP links = MP~LP (or LK, but obviously LP is easier to hit)
HP links = HP~MP (or MP or LK or LP, but obviously MP is easier to hit)
HK links = HK~MK (see above)
(Remember: you have to press both buttons almost simultaneously, but with the stronger-strength button a split-second earlier than the weaker-strength one)

I tried my combo:

c.lk x2, c.lp, c.mp~lp, FK <<–at least that’s how I think it works. But it didnt’ work for me. Any advice? How could you tell you are doing it right?

[Twist]

I get that this technique will give you an extra frame to hit a one link.
But what about ‘two chances’?

‘two chances’ is just referring to the 2 input frames that you have for it to work with plinking.

Or you tap it once and because of the technique you get an extra fram per any given move?

Yes, this.

Say if I want to pull off this combo w/Guile…

How I do it:
c.lk x2, c.lp, c.mp, FK

with technique:

c.mk~lk x2, c.mp~lp, c.hk~mk, FK <<—That’s where I’m confused. Would all of my combos be changed to these inputs?

No. By doing cr.MK~LK x2 you’re going to get a MK coming out. There’s not really any need to plink light attacks anyway. The only one you need to plink is the link to cr.MP.

c.lk x2, c.lp, c.mp~lp, FK <<–at least that’s how I think it works. But it didnt’ work for me. Any advice? How could you tell you are doing it right?

You’re trying to do exactly the right thing there - if it’s not working you must be doing something wrong. The best way to find out what you’re doing wrong is by trying in training mode with input display on and the dummy on auto-block. This is what you should get:
:lp::mp:
:mp:
:lp:
:lk:
:lk:

If the MP isn’t coming out then you’re doing it too soon, if the dummy blocks then you’re doing it too late.

[mr.sloppy2nds]

You’re trying to do exactly the right thing there - if it’s not working you must be doing something wrong. The best way to find out what you’re doing wrong is by trying in training mode with input display on and the dummy on auto-block. This is what you should get:

If the MP isn’t coming out then you’re doing it too soon, if the dummy blocks then you’re doing it too late.

Ok, so if I try my combo - c.lk x2, c.lp, c.mp~lp, FK - the mp button should appear once by itself, then again with lp, as you displayed above?

I’ve been in training mode but not sure if I’m doing it right. I managed to hit the combo a few times but it still feels like I’m only hitting c.mp instead of c.mp~lp.

[Twist]

Ok, so if I try my combo - c.lk x2, c.lp, c.mp~lp, FK - the mp button should appear once by itself, then again with lp, as you displayed above?

Yep, that’s right.

I’ve been in training mode but not sure if I’m doing it right. I managed to hit the combo a few times but it still feels like I’m only hitting c.mp instead of c.mp~lp.

What does input display show when you do it? That’ll tell you what you’re doing wrong …

[ober08]

Ryu’s kara throw is driving me crazy. HK - LP+LK. I’ve only managed to get it to come out a few times and I have to use both hands!!

With one hand, i’m pressing the HK w/ my pinky and immediately rolling to the LP+LK. It seems I’m not fast enough because the HK comes out all the time, unless I use two hands.

[mr.sloppy2nds]

Radar, thank you, dude. Like a douche bag, I hit the combo a few times but didn’t turn on input display.

I’m gonna try some more today.

[reploidx]

This sounds ridiculous

I just read about this yesterday, and haven’t tried it yet, but from what I’ve read of the thread, not many are questioning this technique.

A few tried explaining why it works, but not many are asking if it should work.

So if you tell someone a combo is lp, lp, mp, and they try it and can’t do it, then you say:

“No, no, you’re doing it all wrong. What you need to do is quickly press lp again after mp.”

“What?”

“Press it really quickly after mp.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. That’s how I should do a lp, lp, mp combo.”

It sounds stupid and entirely unintuitive. Some things like pianoing or negative edge make some sense, but also aren’t that intuitive. To me this sounds like it should be removed if possible.

I think a one-to-one relationship to what you press on the stick to what the character does makes the most sense, and I guess more lenient timing is what would allow for that.

The solution shouldn’t be to have to press a weaker button just after the stronger one for a basic (or what used to be basic-er in older SFs) link combo.

I think it sounds like it should be called B.S.linking.

[ditn]

u mad?