Ken has the same options as Ryu to pressure on wakeup.
Overhead>Sweep for a 2 hit combo. Use cr.Forward>Shoryuken to mix it up.
Crossup shenanigans into combos, throws, etc.
LOTS of options to pressure your opponent.
blitzfu is correct. Ken has a lot of pressure options - Ken is one of the stronger offensive characters
If throwing fireballs are your weakness, stop doing it. Train yourself to not use fireballs.
Personally, I only use fireballs on characters that are weaker against fireballs (Honda, Gief) and I only use them in combos. To use fireballs against characters like Blanka will get you killed.
That is why Ken’s kneebash is so good.
Kneebash is a high damage throw, and if you can get them in a loop, it changes the opponent to have a 50/50 guessing game when they have to worry about kneebash, or LP dragon punch, and if they get hit by that, it’s either another jump MK crossup/kneebash loop
If you are REALLY locked down and can’t get out, throw out a TIMED MP dragon punch. It is 100% invincible on the way up and it can get you out of most situations.
Don’t throw fireballs unless:
- You need to punish someone from full screen.
- You are at full screen and you know throwing it won’t get you killed (see Balrog, Honda, or Ryu’s super)
- You hit (blocked or not) with a c.mk and you are using the fireball to push away or do extra damage
- You are throwing fireball on wakeup to do block damage or to start the fireball corner trap.
If you throw fireballs at mid range you will get killed. I learned this the hard way from playing as Sagat but it applies to the other fireball characters too.
Yup.
I never used fireballs much with Ken in ST anyway.
They really are a spacing tool i.e. get that sucka to block so you can advance and get ridiculous in their face, for him.
Either that or a last resort combo ender.
What’s the best distance to start a meaty fireball trap? Is there a certain distance that allows you to throw fireballs over and over to lock an opponent in blockstun without escape (except a invincible move)? I remember one time having an opponent down in the corner, and I threw a meaty LP fireball, followed by a HP fireball, repeated several times, and the guy was just stuck there, but I’m not sure if he was too panicked to escape or if he really couldn’t move. I think I was just outside of sweep distance, or a lil bit further out.
I’ve been maining Ken and I hardly ever throw fireballs. Standing roundhouse is decent for putting pressure on from mid-range (and it moves you slightly forward), and exploiting hurricane setups can put you in a good position for a kneebash (even if the hurricane whiffs). Always be ready to sweep and keep pressure on with cross-ups and maybe a goofy overhead here and there (just be careful against Sagat and Fei Long–their DPs can get reversal priority even if it looks safe to cross-up). Standing roundhouse can be good to throw out on a downed opponent, too–they’ll probably block on wake-up, but it’s safe and it keeps you on the offensive.
Meaty Jab Hadoken > Fierce Hadoken is the trap. If done right, your opponent has no choice but to block both Hadokens or use an invincible move like Shoryuken or Super.
The range is about half screen, or a little farther. If too close, your opponent can hit you out of the 2nd Hadoken. If too far, they can jump the 2nd Hadoken. It works best in the corner.
If they’re cornered, though, you can be a little closer. I tend to set this trap up from a jab Shoryuken. If you try it in practice mode, practice with Ryu first, because if you do it right, the two Hadoukens should count as a 2 hit combo. (Since hit stun and block stun are the same frame length, this is a valid test.) When you get that spacing down, then you can adjust your timing for Ken’s slower windup time. Practice on Blanka and then move down to Ryu/Ken and Chun Li. You should be able to do it on anyone.
Yes…exactly! I was trying to remember the range. That works when they’re cornered. If they aren’t…you can really only hope for the best.
To be honest, I don’t use Ken’s fireball trap much, if at all in ST/STHD
The risk/reward usually isn’t worth it for me.
I like using it with Ryu, because his fireball is faster and bigger, and it’s even better now with the fake fireball.
I love his LP dragon/Kneebash game, and I still need to learn to use LK hurricane mixups more. I also underutilize his standing HK.
2 questions:
Jump HP into Air Hurricane, what can I do after that apart from Dwn MK xx Fireball?
That’s the only thing I can do, I get pushed back too far to go into walkup => kneebash
Does Jump LP into Air Hurricane push you away less?
j.Fierce > Air Tatsu > Super for 7 hits. Comboable on everybody, and surprisingly easy to do, even on speed 4. Other than that, it’s not much more push back than j.Jab > Air Tatsu, so I still go for Knee Bash if no Super.
As for the fireball corner trap, I do it a little differently. I guess my different perspective comes from not playing Ken since Champion Edition came out.
Anyway, the perfect range for me is a bit out of poke/sweep range. After you figure out what they’re going to do by throwing a couple, react accordingly:
Jump?–>jab or strong shoryu
Block?–>continue throwing fb’s, walk up and throw, or do a MK or HK overhead, then sweep
Anything Else?–>continue fireballing or jab or strong shoryu (they’ll probably get hit anyway)
My favorite thing to use is strong shoryu because it has great range and it’s invincible. You’re guaranteed to hit the opponent if they attempt to jump while in the corner.
Damn, Ken is fun to play!
Hey…Ken can still fake fireball by crouching, standing up, and throwing out a jab. 
It still works.
I wouldn’t say that doing FB/DP traps is a dependable strategy with Ken, but in the spacing that was described earlier, it’s just another option to have…along with crossing them up and knee bashing them.
That’s been Ken’s dilemma since Super and the introduction of the parabolic HK. That’s the only combo he has after it…excluding a cornered Sagat, of course. If the ground :hk: Hurricane Kick were faster though…watch out! (Hmm…that may be something to try in the corner…if you’re not fighting Sagat.) But, as far as a tick is concerned, while all aerial moves put the opponent in 11 frames worth of hit stun, blocked hard attacks put the opponent in 20 frames of block stun, so…yes…jump :hp: would push back more than jump :lp: if it’s blocked. Therefore, j.:hp: XX Hurricane Kick pushes back more than j.:lp: XX Hurricane Kick on block. If either aerial combo hits, follow up with ye old cr.:mk: XX :hp: Hadouken (or :hk: Hurricane Kick if it actually does combo in that situation in the corner.)
Don’t forget about MP throw, it still has the old big range like before. Kneebash was just always the better answer, but now its actually worth considering.
I’ve been looking at a few mattsun/aniken videos and they tend to throw fireballs relentlessly, even at mid/point blank ranges. How are they allowed to get away with this even in circumstances where they could be prone to air attacks? I just don’t figure out why the people they play dont jump over when they’re at an advantageous range.
I don’t know which videos you’re talking about, but I’m willing to bet that Ken was spamming only Jab Hadokens. Either that or kara cancelled Hadokens. Although I haven’t experimented with that enough to know if the Fierce Hadoken can have the same recovery as the Jab Hadoken using kara cancelling. If somebody can confirm this, that would be great.
Ken CAN spam Hadokens at almost any range, but I only do it with Jab, so as to have the fastest recovery. So if the opponent jumps on me, I can hit him with Shoryuken. It’s only unwise to do it at extremely close range and/or against chars that can kill Hadokens (eg. Zangief, Honda, etc.).
hey blitz im on if you wanna go?
I’m getting on. Did you add me?
Can someone please assist with comboing the crouching weak kicks into a super?
I’ve noticed two schools in my search:
cr. lk, lk, qcf x 2 + P
or
cr. lk, df, f, d. lk, df f + p
Does anyone have an easy(ier) way of doing it?
Thanks, you were alot of help, and I think ill spend alot more time in training then fighting people online and learning bad habits.