The Akuma Thread

Classic Fighting Games Street Fighter x Tekken
481

Ok, guys I have an idea for a thread but I don’t want to go and create it without some sort of feedback/approval first. Mainly because I don’t want to clutter the Akuma character discussion page.

That said, I think that it would be a good idea if we were to compile the list of changes that Akuma got from SF4 to SFXT.

I say SF4 for a good reason, the game may look and play like it to SF4 players. So a lot of people will play it like SF4, this can lead to some really, really bad results for newcomers especially if they use Akuma.

Ahh I can remember my times as a D Rank online, picking Akuma, almost reaching D+ and then losing it all again…twice. Not something I would like to go through again and it isn’t something that I would like others to go through with as well just because people play the game like it’s SF4 re-incarnated with Tekken Characters in it.

482

Sounds like a good idea. I can see why it might be frustrating relearning a character you like again. I had to go through that in BB back when I used to play it. I have the frame data from the guide if you need any help.

483

This is why for a very long time no one used Bison. He is the most useless p.o.s. if you try to play him like ssf4 version.

Anyways im here because I want to learn a 3rd character for fun. I’m having a hard time figuring out Akuma’s gameplan unless he is more freeform in this character.

484

Bison is pretty solid in this game. I love how his cr.hp AAs above his head which he couldn’t really do in sf4.

Akuma’s pretty versatile in this game. I play him as a battery zoner for the most part until I get a knockdown. He does pretty big damage in the corner but average mid screen. He’s got great ways to tag his partner in such as his srk and overhead chop.

485

Kind of adding onto what OZleon said, Akuma is a versatile character in SFXT sure some people may just see him as ‘a bitch keepaway zoner’ (real salty hatemail right there)

As a point character, Akuma fares decently versus a majority of the cast due to his assortment of fireballs, yeah people say that because he can’t ‘fake’ it like Ryu he can’t zone but if you play it smartly, he sure can.

This is further aided by the fact that the focus system from SF4 isn’t in SFXT so if someone sees a fireball coming, it’s either jump out of the way or try to get through it using an anti-fireball tool (the latter can be countered and/or can be made useless against you if you can learn the range on these).

Hell I’ve even zoned out Jack-X in certain situations!

Personally I’m not a big fan of putting Akuma as an anchor character on team simply because his HP SRK and his overhead setup his partner well.

However, the main benefit of having Akuma as an anchor character is being able to have access to a good supply of meter. I pretty much covered this in a post I made above. But simply put, it puts you in a pretty advantageous situation having to start the match with some meter for Akuma to use.

In my opinion, those who put Akuma on the anchor spot, are probably those who wish to play an offensive style with him.

And yes you are right, Akuma’s playstyle is quite well ‘free’ or ‘open’ as some would say. You can play the guy how you want to and not like some characters who are meant to played in one specific way or another.

EDIT: Also I wonder why don’t people super jump with Akuma sometimes? Because it is real good for offensive pressure.

Combine this with his regular dive-kick (Down + MK) and you can make your approaches just that little bit trickier to deal with.

486

I’ve found that keep-away with Akuma boils down to the following:

-jab fireballs at closer range
-fierce fireballs at long range
-walking forward after a backwards air hadou in order to st. fp or SRK

Its hard because the shoto fireball-sweep pattern no longer exists, and because jumps cover a ridiculous amount of ground. Not to mention there are too many ways for opponents to jump your fireball and land in a range that keeps them safe from a follow-up AA. He could actually use some small buffs to his fireballs, all Capcom did was copy-paste his SF4 version.

487

Ok guys I have a little something to share regarding an up and coming video I have in the works.

I remember saying once on one of my Road To B Rank episodes that I said that I was going to make an Akuma Tips/Tricks/Gimmicks series’ of videos on my channel regarding some small little tricks and things you can put into your game.

That said, I have a couple to show but I realize that the process of uploading the video is a lot of work. BUT that doesn’t mean that it is still being done right now. Think of it like a teaser before the actual video :slight_smile:

I will state however that the following is more like a ‘gimmick’ like a ‘what will your opponent do next’ thing and you’ll have to react accordingly as to what they’ll do next.

Ok so here is the idea using the following combo:

Cross-Up Tatsu > Far St.HK > Cr.MK xxx Fireball.

Using the 3 wake-up options in the game, I’ll go over how this works out.

Option 1: Roll !

If your opponent likes to roll a lot this little setup should stop them from doing so.

Charge a HK Demon Flip after the combo.

If you hold it long enough you should be able to charge up for a free counter hit. From there, dash forwards and then do a meaty cr.MP on their wake-up.

If this connects, you’ll get a free counter hit combo if you link into Far St.HK.

You can make this setup really tricky by delaying the hits in the combo SLIGHTLY and ever so slightly. This will allow you to either go behind them after they finish rolling or go in front of them.

The most damage I have got off of this solo is I think around 370. Forgive me if I’m wrong because at the time of writing this, I’m in a hurry.

CH. Cr.MP > Far St.HK > Cr.MP xxx LK Tatsu > Cr.MP xxx MP SRK.

Option 2: Quickstand

This is for if your opponent is a quick stander (Most Tekken Characters really shouldn’t be doing this due to their not so strong wake-up options but I’ll digress)

So for this setup, do a HK Demon Flip and then do either a Divekick or a Palm.

If performed correctly, it will make 5 frame reversals whiff although it does depend on the type of reversal, I’ve tested this vs Guile and Cammy and it does work.

I will admit though, that it is a little specific, it depends on (erm…how best to word this) what part of Akuma’s leg he hits with when he does the Far St.HK. This only applies should you use the Divekick option.

The Palm is the most reliable as you can go behind them and sometimes it can hit meaty. It’s arguably more reliable than the divekick as it has a better chance of making the reversal whiff.

Option 3: Wake-up normally

Arguably the riskiest option for the opponent as you can just pressure them like it’s SF4 all over again.

Charge a HK Demon Flip and then let it go once you see that they haven’t rolled. From here it’s pretty much pressure like the SF4 days.

Oh yeah and you don’t have to start this from Cross-Up Tatsu only.

You can also use:
[LIST]
[]Trade MP SRK (just put in the Far St.HK > Cr.MK xxx Fireball afterwards)
[]& LK Tatsu > Cr.MP xxx Fireball
[/LIST]

I’ll get a video up of this set-up in action soon. Only I just wanted to share this just in case this video takes too long to make due to work at my college. :frowning:

I have others as well if people want me to say them in text form. So if this was helpful, reply and I’ll try to get another little ‘gimmick or trick’ as soon as I can.

488

just a couple things i noticed watching. 1st- im trying to pick up akuma to go w/ yoshi cause i main him so glad im not only one. but you never want to use an ex of yoshi’s to tag someone in. that defeats the whole purpose of character. all his moves build a ton of meter using an EX version that basically defeats the purpose of tagging someone in.
also when you tag yoshi in after a dp from akuma to maximize dmg midscreen: sMp-sMk-MpDp. in the corner. sMp-sMp-sMp-MpDp.

also if you land his overhead just do the follow up (any punch button) and you get same results without doing any of yoshi’s ex.

489

Just put up a message in the gem strategy thread, I thought that it would be a good idea to do so as tournament are slowly allowing the use of gems in them despite the thread being months old.

Hey it has gotta be stickied for a reason right :slight_smile:

490

So I’ve realized I need to learn more block strings since most of my block strings get beaten by raw launcher. What do you guys use for block strings? I mostly use cr.mpx2, crlk x2, and cr.lk-cl.lk-cr.mp.

491

Ok whoa…those are getting beaten by raw launcher? I may have severely underestimated the thing.

Personally I haven’t been launched out of my blockstrings (yet) but I tend to use the following:

Cr.MP > Cr.MP

Cr.MP > Far St.MP

Cr.LK > Cr.LP > St.LP

Been trying to learn the range on Akuma’s Safe (ish) chains such as:

Cr.MK > St.HP

St.LP > St.MK

You have to literally be at the very tip of these moves in order to make the chain even remotely safe against most things due to push-back.

You can still get supered and characters with long reach can still punish you though.

Credits go to TZA for the finds :slight_smile:

From there I usually go cancel into Akuma’s charge move and then back or forward dash from there.

backwards to bait out uppercuts and other reversals, forwards for pressure into throw setups.

Sometimes I delay the move and then let it go if I see that they want to throw out a poke or something like that but it depends on the type of opponent you face.

492

Ok guys this thread and the others need some form of revitalization (albeit my ability to record videos right now is hampered by the people who are currently fixing my computer right now) so I’m going to drop another ‘gimmick.’

Like these other gimmicks, these are untested but hey untested stuff can lead to some form of success… like the Powerpuff Girls :slight_smile: (ugh I can’t believe I said that.)

Ok so the key gimmick here relies on Akuma’s EX Tatsumaki.

Akuma’s EX Tatusmaki is arguably one of his most under used tools and why would someone use this in the first place unless they’re in the corner?

Mid-screen however you can get some nice little tricks to screw over your opponent’s wake-up options.

Simply land an EX Tatsumaki on a standing opponent and then throw a LP or HP Fireball from your current position.

Best way to land one is arguably off of the following

Cr.MP > Cr.MP xx EX Tatsu.

OR

Cr.HP xx EX Tatsu.

Pick what you want but it has to be on a standing opponent if you want this to be MOST effective.

I’ll go over these options by going through the 3 wake-up options that the opponent has.

Option 1: Roll !

Arguably my favorite option as probably some of you know.

Do either a MK or HK Demon Flip (HK is a little harder to land though) and then do a Divekick.

If you time this right it will hit meaty on their wake-ups. Great for stuffing some pesky Cannon Spikes…unless they are EX ones.

This can also cross-up if the opponent thinks that it is a good idea to walk out of their rolls to avoid the divekick.

This can also allow you to avoid roll DPs from people like Ryu especially depending on your timings.

Ken is a little bit finnicky as sometimes he can hit you with his DP (All versions except HP) whereas sometimes he can’t. It can also stuff his HP SRK as well.

Option 2: Quickstand

This is where your choice of fireball matters I haven’t tested MP Version though…but I’ll get to it later…I hope :frowning:

If the opponent quick-stands then depending on what fireball you throw out, they can either take the fireball as meaty or just in their face a little bit.

LP Version travels near their face a little bit
HP Version hits as meaty

& I’m going to straight up assume that the MP Version either whiffs or is a mixture of the 2.

These fireballs allow you to put some pressure on them by getting in their face a little by using your Demon Flip Mobility to your advantage.

Your Demon Flips don’t go full-screen :(. However if your opponent thinks its a good idea to jump over the fireball and not block it then by using either an MK or HK Demon Flip > Palm follow-up, you can jump over there and smack them in the face for jumping over the fireball.

Sometimes you can hit them whilst they’re airborne for a free ground bounce juggle.

This all depends on learning the reaches of your opponent’s air to air moves. In most cases, the longest reaching one can be beaten by a MK Demon Flip > Palm but it depends…

Option 3: Wake Up Normally

Should the opponent wake up normally, then it all depends as to what version of fireball that you threw out.

The LP Version will hit as meaty whereas the other versions I believe whiff.

Use your HK Demon Flip to stay in pressure range. From here you can work around and either play some footsies or walk a little forwards and go for your overhead.

There is also the option to just straight up continue zoning them out should they decide not to advance. This works especially if you have a life lead but in general, opponents tend to roll whilst you have a life lead over them so this situation generally happens when you don’t have a life lead and you need to catch up.

DISCLAIMER: Yet again this is severely under tested and severely dangerous to use in a real match. Although it has given me some success. Use at your own risk…in fact why am I saying this?, You guys are Akuma Players. Risk is your game :D.

493

Was watching some of SSF4Evo’s Replays today to see an Akuma Player on there. Damn they are rare as hell.

That said this player going by the name of ‘j stax’ did something really good in I believe it was round 2 of his fight with Ryan Hunter.

After Hwoarang launched his Julia, his Akuma came in from the launcher and did the following:

Cl St.:mp: > Far St.:hk: > Far St.:hk: > Cl St.:hp: xx HP SRK

I’m curious as to know how much damage this does off of a raw launcher. Can’t test it now but I just thought that I would share it with you guys.

Here is the video for those who are interested. It is at 1:14:31 onwards :slight_smile:

[media=youtube]4ijqQxlsjyM[/media]

494

It does 364 off of a raw launcher while cr.mp-cl.hp xx hp srk does 323. If you add an ex srk at the end, you get 439 off of a raw launcher. Even if it isn’t a raw launcher it still does more then the old post launcher combo. It’s also really not that hard to do either. The hard part is getting is landing the hks early enough but it’s easy with enough practice. To land the hp you gotta walk up slightly after the second hk. This is probably going to be the new post launcher bnb but it might need more testing with other partners. I think some character launcher higher then others. I had no problem doing it with my partner Heihachi. :tup:

Edit: You can also drop the 2nd hk and do hp xx mk/hk tatsu. If you do hk tatsu, you’ll land behind them. If you do mk tatsu, you’ll land in front of them. Both do 319 damage off of a raw launcher.
[/quote]

495

Well, since I don’t have anything better to do in the meantime, I’ve decided to make a video series; In the lab. Basically, I’m going to go through all 38 characters in the game, practicing with them and taking them online, and making videos about some combos and tech that I find with each character. So once a week, one character will be featured, and the first character is Akuma.

[media=youtube]nCntrWjMS6w[/media]

It’s not meant to be a beginner tutorial or something really in-depth…the video series is just meant to show progress with a new character. But feel free to comment on any tech that I (most likely) missed in my short training period with the character.

After I spend a week practicing with the character, I’ll take that character online (paired with a character that I do know how to use, either Ken or Heihachi) and upload some of the resulting matches.

I hope that I can use this to help keep the character forums alive and encourage people to try out new characters. :smiley:

496

Nice stuff man, I hope you continue your journey and may it be prosperous as you play as other characters.

Whilst you are on Akuma may I suggest a couple things about some stuff?

cr. LP > cr.LP > cr.LP > St.HK is a good hitconfirm and all but I would suggest to put a st.LP to replace the last cr.LP since that one has a tendency to whiff on average sized opponents especially.

Cr.MP > Cr.MP > Far St.HK is a good hitconfim into launcher. With your characters Heihachi benefits more if you switch cancel the Far St.HK due to his ability to extend combos.

I think that you probably know this already but LK Tatsu > st.HP is really hard to hit. I’d suggest going for cr.MP xx MP SRK or Fireball to keep your opponent grounded, stay in their face as well as for reliability purposes.

Also remember your 2 bars man…that demon is something else against high/low mix-ups :smiley:

I don’t know if PC players think any differently but your Far St.HK also becomes really spammable as a poke when you get 2 bars as you can just let the second hit whiff and demon them.

But yeah man, keep it up :)!

497

Am I the only one who thinks that Misogi should do more damage? It’s already really hard to combo into…I really think it should do at least 350 considering how slow it starts up and how hard it can be to combo into.

Well, 350 might be a bit much considering it can punish raw-tags from full-screen, but I can’t be the only one who thinks that Misogi should do more damage.

498

It should do more damage! Akuma should be a heavy damaging glass cannon >:(.

Also you can do the new post launcher bnb after a ground bounce from demon flip palm.

To add to the hit confirms, I use cr.lk > cr.lk > cl.hk. It hits low, doesn’t scale too much, and pretty simple to hit confirm I won’t go into the cl.hk as it is slightly unsafe but not every character can punish it.

You really shouldn’t spend bar on switch cancel on st.hk since it only gives only a little more damage.

Sometimes cr.mp will push the opponent too far away for srk to connect after lk tatsu. I just go straight into mp srk if the connection is iffy.

Mp srk does more damage after lk tatsu but hp srk does more in longer combos.

499

^ THIS!!! IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS!

If there is probably one change I would take for Akuma it would be the fact that his Misogi does more damage.

Ok this may sound greedy when you look at the positives of it.

[LIST]
[]It breaks armored attacks
[]It has the most priority in the game
[]It punishes raw tags from anywhere
[]It hits only 3 times, making it scale well at low percentages.
[/LIST]
BUT!!!

It’s difficult to combo into
It’s slow

And the real kick to the nuts here is that despite it being difficult to combo into, other characters can just come in, do a cancellable normal into a super art and it will still do more damage than Akuma’s setups.

Also to get his Misogi to connect in charge super set-ups, you must burn one bar of meter to do so since the super charge already takes its time as well as the super itself. Oh yes and it will still do less damage than other characters who have to burn one bar of meter

And for the last point about it scaling properly at lower percentages, Kazuya’s one hits 4 times and does 330 damage and I believe that each hit gets stronger or at least the laser part is the strongest part. Simply put there are other people who do it better.

Even if they don’t buff up the damage at least give us the option to at least steer it a little whilst he is in the air so that it is comboable via a cancellable normal…

500

Well, did some more training with Akuma, and discovered that you can combo into Akuma’s HK demon flip palm off of Heihachi’s hell axle and cause a ground bounce. Unfortunately, if you do demon palm in that situation, the opponent retains their momentum from the hell axle and bounces across the screen so you can’t follow it up with anything unless you’re in the corner. :frowning:

Gonna do more testing to see if there are any moves that you can use to combo into demon flip palm that will actually allow for a follow-up…