You may as well triple plink with hp~mp+lp+lk
that won’t work if you’re trying to plink st.hp though
Oh ok I see then, no wonder I keep eating Shoryukens when I try to safe jump…
Against Shoryuken-type moves you can stuff them if you do j.hp at the right angle/timing
Either they’ll get stuffed or they will whiff, in either case you’ll get free punishment.
that’s right, my bad.
Can anyone on PSN fight my Sakura and tell me what I can do to improve my game?
For those of you who get confused with plinking, don’t think a lot of other people don’t get it. Plinking is difficult to learn (no matter what anyone else says). When you are used to pressing a single button to execute an action but then try to drum 2 or 3 at a time it changes a lot of things. It changes the time at which you would normally try to finish the combo, and changes the built in muscle memory you formed by trying to hit the combo straight without plinking. Although it does work better it takes time, almost like relearning.
There are a lot of little tricks that took me a while to get too, like shortcuts almost to make execution easier. Like charge characters for example, (Urien was were I learned this). If your charging back and want to super cancel your next move you should perform the special move by doing a half circle forward instead of just pressing forward, so you already have half of the super rolled.
You just have to think outside of the box with inputs.
Unless you’re a tempo genius, you can’t play Sakura properly without double-tapping/p-linking.
Doing 1-framer and just-frame raw proficiently is REALLY hard. Learning links with p-linking will take you alot less time than doing it raw.
Yeah, the only moves I P-link are her HP Shouken FADC cl.hp and after a lk shunpu cr.hp. Those two are the hardest for me to get. The hit confirm cr.mk xx hp shouken is okay to do, doesn’t require much aside from practicing the timing.
sakura can be played just fine without the use of plinking. granted being able to do it when you actually need it is important. but the rare occasions you do need it hardly dictate her overall gameplay. seeing as increasing combos in SF4 drastically reduces damage output i rarely use sho fadc st. hp etc… 2 bars is a lot to waste. you’ll get twice the damage going for a non ex bar using reset. but to each their own.
Shou Fadc cl.Hp is guaranteed while reset aren’t.
When you’re playing, always go for the safest options. I’m not saying reset are bad cuz I still do use them sometimes but sho FADC is guaranteed and powerfull. If you don’t miss your combo( which mean practicing a lot with p-linking) most of the case you’ll get a higher probability of getting dizzy your opponent than with a single reset.
For us which I think want to play the schoolgirl at good level, we should rely on shou fadc combo and not on reset.
This shit is powerful ! It’s scary for the opponent because with just a lk or a lp as starter they can get dizzy.
You can make crazy come back with it and win a round which appeared to be lost at first sight.
I mainly use it to try get up and in the opponents face. Very useful imo. It can also lead to devastating combo’s the only drawback would be the risk needed (2 bars and 1 frame link). But that can be practiced. Watch Skatan haha he gets it like 95% of the times… Not saying that I can too, but that just proves that if he can do it, then so can others if they put the time and effort needed.
The whole reason the shouken fadc combo is better is because its a highly damaging combo that leads into the mixup (if you have 3 bars). in general its nice to go for the shouken fadc combo because even though you’re using two bars, the hit confirm into it builds bar for you to get the 3rd bar.
The reset is a strong option that she has and should by no means be ignored. As far as mixups go, it’s a relatively safe option.
There are times to go for the shouken fadc combo, and there are times when you want the mixup. If you are a little lower on health, you definitely want to head straight into the mixup. The shouken fadc combo is a 1-frame link, which isn’t really that bad with practice, but going straight into the mixup can lead to dizzy just as easily as the shouken fadc combo. The mixup applies tons of pressure, especially since it’s one of the better mixups in the game.
The only time I’d say to use the shouken fadc combo no matter what is if they’re in the corner. Corner pressure with any character is especially strong, and even if you miss the cl.HP link they’re still in the corner, and from there you can apply normal pressure. If you land the cl.HP link, you get the mixup and in the corner it’s even stronger.
Right there with you RGT. The sho fadc is great, but of all her combos I think it is the least viable in a real match. Meaning unless it is going to guaranty my win or dizzy, I am not risking the meter. It is a risk too, because though some of you say (claim) it may not be that hard, it is far more difficult than cr. short-cr.jab-cr-hp ex tat. ultra, or mix up. And you don’t get damaged scaled to hell.
i dont know, my new goal with her has turned into getting 3 bars land a cr mk buffered with a ex shou and then push im into the corner with the combo and then apply pressure. and i prefer her mixups in the corner more i feel they are stronger.
@MakotoKilla : what if you’re playing someone who actually knows how to zone, AA, and can keep you at a distance ? You won’t get much chances to land your BnB because they require you to be at a really short distance from your opponent.
Also what do you do when your ex.tatsu mix-up are rendered useless by certain special moves like teleport(yaw for Akuma o/), ex.psycho-crushers, ex.headstomp ?
Going to end your combo with otoshi(using 1 bar for a safe-jump, yaw o/) ?
What do you do after one lk.tatsu loop on block ? You can’t cr.hp because chances are you’re too far away for that and also because it’s a 4frames startup normal meaning you won’t be able to use ex.tatsu because you can’t force a stand-up position from your opponent.
You can’t ONLY rely on close range combos and that’s when shouo>fadc comes into play : it opens up heavy damage (we’re talking 400 to 500dmg) on mid-range(st.lk and cr.mk).
Anyone else get this “Lol you only know one combo” shit?
I suppose that’s a good point about closing distance and escape characters in reference to her BnB combos. Although, if you anticipate the teleport you can catch them with big damage without the need for risking the 2 bars. I agree that sho fadc has uses (those 2 def being big), I also find it useful when ex shoing though fireballs (against guile, ryu, etc)
When closing range I take advantage of cr. mk --sho, but I usually let it finish instead of fadc to save meter and start a mixup on wake-up.
I have a tournament this weekend, so I’ll practice it this week to see if I can find a fundamental use for it.
I’ve started going for the shou fadc combo every single chance I get because, as Skatan says, “why not?” What have I got to lose? Points? pfft… fuck that. Right now in my game, winning isn’t as important as landing <random combo into hp/ex shouken> fadc xx s.hp xx ex shunpu, ultra 1. That’s pretty much been my only goal for every match I’ve played in the past few days. I’ve come close, but never quite got the full thing exactly right yet… but it’s still pretty cool even when it’s only partly right because people online don’t know how to block 
Yeah I’ve been doing this too. I’m trying and god knows I’M TRYING to break out of my “old” Sakura ways that used to net me plenty of wins in vanilla and at the start of ssf4 buy I know are not good tactics. So in the meantime my points have gone to shit but so be it. At least if I fuck up the cr.mkxxhp shou FADC you almost always get a throw out of it lol