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 Jaguar – 90 DMG. 5f. Trades or gets beat when done late.
Adon’s HK Rising Jaguar – 50-150 DMG. 5f. Have to do late to get full damage, 50 DMG is really pitiful.
Akuma’s MP Shoryuken – 60-130 DMG. 3f. Has to be done late- two hits is inconsistent.
Akuma’s HP Shoryuken – 30-80-150 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 airthrow – 150 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. MP – 80 DMG. 6f. Tends to trade or get beaten. Hitbox is weird.
Dan’s MP Koryuken – 80-120 DMG. It can trade depending on the angle.
Dan’s HP Koryuken – 100-140 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. HP – 120 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. HK – 110 DMG. 11f. Terrible, it’s too slow.
Guile’s LK Flash Kick – 80-110 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. HP – 80 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. MP – 30-60 DMG. 6f. Not bad, but low damage. Two hits for 90 DMG is inconsistent.
Ibuki’s cr. HP – 100 DMG. 9f. Must be done early since it’s slow.
Juri’s cr. HP – 100 DMG. 7f. Tends to trade or get beaten when done late.
Ken’s MP SRK – 60-150 DMG. 4f. Not bad, two hits is common. Tends to trade.
Ken’s HP SRK – 40-150 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 SRK – 50-130 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. HP – 100 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 Nishoukyaku – 50-120 DMG. 5f. Pretty damn good but try not to do it early.
Yun’s HK Nishokyaku – 70-140 DMG. 5f. Not bad but if you do it early it’ll just whiff, LK feels better.
Zangief’s PPP Lariat– 120 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!