The "Best" Anti-Airs

I got a little curious recently about other character’s anti-airs (since I’ve been studying to defend against jump-ins, a personal weakness of mine). I know that anti-airs often tend to be situational, and most of them have to be used smartly and carefully (e.g. maximizing a punish by anti-airing on prediction)- but I wanted to find those that could be used for general purpose (i.e. fairly lenient, working in multiple situations).

I decided to go through and compare a few from multiple characters. I picked the ones I would examine by looking at their hitboxes (the Arcadia magazine ones on EventHubs); specifically, I chose anti-airs that either had invincibility frames, or had hitboxes that extended past their hurtboxes. (Since I don’t have the SSF4 hitbox videos, I didn’t consider any moves that may have had improved late hitboxes.)

I tested all of the anti-airs I chose against Sakura’s j. HP because of its hitbox properties (hitbox extends past the hurtbox). I didn’t account for FADC stuff (which can jack up the damage) or EX moves.

I figured it was a waste to keep my findings all to myself, so, here you go!


Format is:

(Character)'s Move - approximate damage, startup frames, notes/observations

Adon’s MK Rising Jaguar90 DMG. 5f. Trades or gets beat when done late.

Adon’s HK Rising Jaguar50-150 DMG. 5f. Have to do late to get full damage, 50 DMG is really pitiful.

Akuma’s MP Shoryuken60-130 DMG. 3f. Has to be done late- two hits is inconsistent.

Akuma’s HP Shoryuken30-80-150 DMG. 3f. Three hits is rare.

Cammy’s Cannon Spike - 100 DMG. 5f.

  • LK – Tends to trade.
  • MK – Seems reliable.
  • HK – About the same as MK. Bigger reward if you guess early.

Chun’s airthrow150 DMG. Not bad, but since there’s a height restriction on the throw it’s easy to mess up the input. You kind of have to do it early.

Cody’s b. MP80 DMG. 6f. Tends to trade or get beaten. Hitbox is weird.

Dan’s MP Koryuken80-120 DMG. It can trade depending on the angle.

Dan’s HP Koryuken100-140 DMG. Same as MP Koryuken.

Deejay LK Jackknife Maximum - 120 DMG. 6f with invincibility. Requires charge, but that’s a lotta damage!

Dudley’s cr. HP120 DMG. 8f. Slow, but damage is good.

Guile’s airthrow (neutral jump or forward jump)150 DMG. Works the same as Chun’s.

Guile’s df. HK110 DMG. 11f. Terrible, it’s too slow.

Guile’s LK Flash Kick80-110 DMG. 4f. Have to do late for full damage- doesn’t feel as nice as Deejay’s, but it’s pretty reliable.

Guile’s st. MK – **60-70 DMG. **5-7f. Not bad, but can’t really be done late.

Hakan’s st. HP80 DMG. 8f. Not bad…

Hakan’s Ultra 2 (Oil Combination Hold)401-450 DMG. Full invincibility for 30f… Weird input, but a big punish!

Ibuki’s b. MP30-60 DMG. 6f. Not bad, but low damage. Two hits for 90 DMG is inconsistent.

Ibuki’s cr. HP100 DMG. 9f. Must be done early since it’s slow.

Juri’s cr. HP100 DMG. 7f. Tends to trade or get beaten when done late.

Ken’s MP SRK60-150 DMG. 4f. Not bad, two hits is common. Tends to trade.

Ken’s HP SRK40-150 DMG. 3f. Tends to trade, whiff, or get beaten out entirely… Three hits is rare.

Ryu’s LP SRK – **70 DMG. **3f. Not good at all. (I know this is supposed to be the big one, what with the FADC Ultra, and the Super, and everything, but as an AA, it… It feels terrible.)

Ryu’s MP SRK50-130 DMG. 3f. You have to do it late to get full damage.

Sagat’s Tiger Uppercut - 120 DMG. 5f. You have to do it late, or it can trade.

Sakura’s cr. HP100 DMG. 4f. Easy to use!

Seth’s MP SRK –** 75-90 DMG **(90 is more common). 138 DMG with followups. 5f. Not bad at all, but the followup inputs are strict.

Seth’s HP SRK –** 100 DMG.** 146 DMG with followups. 5f. Like MP version + 10 more damage.

Yun’s LK Nishoukyaku50-120 DMG. 5f. Pretty damn good but try not to do it early.

Yun’s HK Nishokyaku70-140 DMG. 5f. Not bad but if you do it early it’ll just whiff, LK feels better.

Zangief’s PPP Lariat120 DMG. 4f. Not bad at all, pretty easy to use, if you trade you still do high damage.


My personal favorites out of the list were:

  • Dee Jay’s LK Jackknife Maximum
  • Cammy’s MK/HK Cannon Spike
  • Hakan’s U2
  • Sakura’s cr. HP (This seems broke.)
  • Yun’s LK Nishoukyaku
  • Zangief’s PPP Lariat

It was surprising to me that a Shoryuken was not the godlike AA I thought it was. I guess I’m not so envious of shotos anymore.


Of course this is all… purely unscientific, and the data isn’t backed by experience (these are my personal notes). so, if you have corrections or suggestions, go ahead and post up!

I mean, look at this:

http://i.imgur.com/qxlshSg.png

http://i.imgur.com/iJoFNCB.png

http://i.imgur.com/G4N27cg.png

That is…

That is retarded, I can’t even front. what is this I don’t even

>No Cammy cl.hp

Bitches don’t know bout them anti crossup normals

What about Yang’s DP? Doesn’t it have invincibility frames?

True.

http://i.imgur.com/2pbrlYq.png

But the hitbox/angle is kind of weird. I’ve used it before, and I don’t recall particularly liking it- I feel like it’s too steep.

50-70 damage is just “OK” to me. 150 two-hit is nice but they pretty much have to land right on you for that. His brother’s feels a little more consistent to me even though it technically has a smaller hitbox- I think it’s because of how the second kick is placed.

But don’t let me tell you what you can and can’t use.

Into f+hk into U1 for 500 damage, we OBVIOUSLY wouldnt want that now would we?

Also Sakura j.hp is one of the most retarded jump ins to anti air without a DP, but if you do have a DP and it trades, its 100% because you time it incorrectly, not because of the DP itself.

Yang’s DP is annoying to use I found.
It runs out of active frame really quick. I often get beaten by neutral jump if I do it too early

In rare situations Sakura’s j.hp will beat Sagat’s tiger uppercut, i’ve experienced it a few times online.

Ibuki her b.mp can be cancelled on the first hit into her command dash, after that she can follow it up with a cl.hk which can either be super jump cancelled into cr.hp or follow upped by a hk kazegiri.

b.mp xx qcf.k>s.hk xx SJC xx qcf.k>cr.hp: 170 into another mixup.
b.mp xx qcf.k>st.hk>hk kazegiri: 178

These are meterless options from whenever you do a b.mp, however like i said it has to be cancelled from the first hit…and that make it alot more difficult against Sakura her j.hp. You will almost never beat Ibuki her b.mp once it is out though.

So will Guys j.hk and Ken/Ryu j.hp, you just have to time your AA differently vs some jump ins.

I’ve had Sakura jHP trade with Fukiage a few time. Which always put my hair off.
Talking anti air tho, I hope the buff to Viper’s far stHK make it a better anti air. She’s a good character but really has nothing useful in the way of normal move anti air.

500 Damage isn’t worth it if you’re taking about 80. #Kappa

Also +1 on Sakura. Bison can’t get a clean AA with ST.HK unless it’s a bad jump in, and cr.hp is only good if you kinda anticipate it. If she’s too far to do anything yolo after, I just teleport, screw trying to AA that cow. Of course I can block, but I don’t want that cow near me. I’ve recently seen some stupid shenanigans if I block an mk tatsu from her. -_-

This too. I’ve had a few games where I was dominant, and feeling myself, then I messed up an AA with Yang it went terrible. :frowning: I’ve also had a funny situation where I was like a pixel away so I didn’t hit them and got punished hard.

I think people underestimate Oni’s AA, they’re really good and his normals hurt.

Guys crouch mp, Juri’s crouch mp and Saks crouch hp are easily the best in the game. They don’t trade

Guy’s will in USF4 they nerfed that one for some reason. I mean I get the hitbox is redonkulous but it also only had 3F active and ever since Alpha series that was his main anti air button. O well.

Juri crouch mp sometimes loses to Ryu j.lk when I play that match

Sakura’s cr.hp is ridiculous. Just absurd.

I remember when Super first dropped I got to top ten on the Sakura leaderboards doing nothing but EX Tatsu reset shenanigans then just crouching and AAing once I had a huge life lead. Simpler times, those were.

Aren’t anti airs…supposed to beat out jump ins?

What is this nonsense you speak of, sir?

I think it’s jus the fact that she has both crHP and jHP that make her pretty easy to hate on.