I know, I was making a joke about how good Chun-Li and Yun are. No doubt that fighting Yun is one of the most annoying things for an Alex player.
My biggest concern about lag like SSF IV is about how bad parrying could be. I mean having to tech 3/4 of a second early is already annoying.
Arent Akuma and Urien bad matchups for Alex?
IMHO, Alex’s worst Matchups:
Yun. He can apply pressure, Alex doesn’t have anything that counters the Dive Kick (aside from parrying), Yun has a lot of safe things he can do, and his specials and normals beat out most of Alex’s.
Chun. Der. The queen of poking…
Urien: Not a horrible matchup like the above, but it’s a struggle because some of Urien’s crucial normals beat Alex’s. Plus SA2 does not go through Aegis. However, SA1 (powerbomb super) beats the Aegis. Something to keep in mind. The strategy I’ve used against Urien is mostly poking him out, keep him on the defensive, make him come to you. When you knock him down, try to take advantage but always be wary of Urien’s Headbutt.
Yang/Akuma: This is a toss up. Yang is a bad match for a lot of the same reasons that Yun is a bad matchup. Dive Kick is awesome, and some very safe things. For Akuma, the worst thing he has his Hurricane Kick. It’s fast, beats a lot of things, gives him a lot of options. On the other hand, it’s fairly easy to parry it. Not to mention Dive Kick mixups.
Parry the dive kick or hurricane kicks consistently and Akuma isn’t too bad unless they drastically change strategy.
Alex vs Urien: Urien doesn’t do so well against Alex’s corner mixups considering both the Headbutt and Kneedrop can get beaten out by HP. The only problem is getting Urien to the corner and keeping him there takes some work. He can keep Alex out with his normal pokes until he gets meter for Aegis. Alex wants to get knockdowns and then start with his wakeup options, which can really hurt Urien. It’s not a bad matchup, kind of comparable to Chun vs Dudley, only Alex can get huge damage without the need of two stocks.
That’s when I mix it up with Flash Chops, sMK, crMK, sHP, tHP, etc to keep him guessing.
I just want to say that Alex’s most underrated normal is sLK. Has decent range, and can keep them on the defensive. Excellent opportunity to dash in grab/Powerbomb them or whatever else.
Of the big three, Yun is actually the worst of Alex’s worries.
s.strong helps with dive-kick pressure. Yang is worse than Yun because EX Mantis punishes just about everything Alex does, IMO. What I’ve found to combat the twins is to cut off their air game and, like always, force them onto the defensive. High damage output makes these match-ups easier to deal with, but at the same time, they all still suck
Urien match-up is slightly in his favor for reasons stated above. I still wouldn’t use SA1, though, not enough chances to reverse an Aegis trap (and smart Uriens will just stay out of Hyper Bomb range if they’ve got you in an Aegis mix-up or do UOH once you’re cornered. SA3 is probably a better choice, but SA2 still remains the way to go). Alex is a big target, though, so a lot of things will hit him no matter what.
Akuma match-up is just as bad as the twins. Same mobility plus a DP, but lower defense make the match go quicker. Oh, and just as a quick note, get used to parrying Hurricane Kicks. Helps tons.
I couldn’t find the video on the right way to parry Akuma hurricanes. Here’s how anyway: Crouch block then stand up and parry the last hit. It’s a blue parry so it’s not as hard as you think. Standing strong xx whatever is my follow up of choice.
I’ve used Alex for years and years, but I still can’t get past the hurdle against decent Chuns.
Alex honestly doesn’t have any safe way to get in on her, especially when she has meter. The only decent sorta-poke he has against her is his Dwn MP here and there, and Twd+MP here and there. Her absurd low crouch makes Alex wiff almost all of his jump attacks, and if you jump in with the LK knee, she can Bk+HP you all day. Chun has like a half-dozen anti-airs/ground pokes to stuff out Alex.
The only useful “gimmick” that Alex has against Yun is to stomp his Genei-Jin when he tries to command grab you. His divekick mixups own Alex’s wide hitbox. I think I should use more neutral jump attacks in this match.
I talked to KSK in 2005, and IIRC, he said that Alex vs Urien is 4-6 for Urien. I agree, Alex just needs one or 2 decent knockdowns, or at least pin Urien in the corner, then Alex wins. However, if Alex pokes too much, the gets parried and thrown into The Beatdown Room.
Akuma can dictate the pace and spacing of the match at his will. Hurricane is bad, which I do need to practice parrying, but I gotta find out how to punish teleports out of the corner.
I just played against my bro using Alex right now, and damn Alex is fun to use, especially with his corner knockdown punishment.
The sad part is that I’m much more skilled with Alex than Urien/Ken, but I get more consistent wins with those 2. I think I need to fight Alex’s bad matches with more patience.
I thought Alex’s jHP was pretty good to use against Chun. Doesn’t beat bHP, but it does well against everything else. You really have to stay on the ground to get in on Chun. I think Yun is infinitely worse than Chun just because Yun can link off of anything, and that leads to an easy knock down. Chun can’t link off of everything until she has SA2 loaded.
Renic made a vid on Alex vs Yun [media=youtube]TnChSpd9nV4[/media] I’m still waiting on part 2. A lot of great advice there. But it’s still his hardest matchup.
I think the same could be said for Urien, all he needs is one to two knockdowns, then Aegis it and you’re fucked. It’s a really hard fight. sHP beats his Headbutt on wakeup, but he doesn’t have much else that beats it, so all the Urien player needs to do is parry the slow sHP to rape you. Plus when you get him in the corner it’s very easy to make one mistake and he gets out and now you’re in the corner. Of note, bHP goes through Aegis.
I will never give up playing Alex no matter what the tier-whores say. He’s too damn fun to use. Plus he has three moves (bHP, Powerbomb, and DDT) that counter Parry-whores.
Chun can crouch MK to make Alex’s Jump HP to whiff, then she goes into SA2
IIRC a well timed Stand MP beats Urien’s headbutt wakeup.
I’ve seen the video and I’ve taken a lot of tips from it. But I still hold that Yun’s just slightly easier to deal with than Chun and Ken. Chun, even without meter, has ways to bully Alex. He might not have to fear cr.forward or b.fierce off the start, but a good Chun will utilize proper zoning to keep Alex out and, at the same time, build meter. Ken’s the same way, for the most part. Yun, on the other hand… while Genei-Jin still rapes just about everything, damage inflicted on Yun makes the match a little more bearable.
Oh, and yes, a well-timed s.strong can beat Urien’s EX Headbutt. In fact, if you’re fast enough (and I’ve done this once in my life), I confirmed the s.strong hit and EX Air Knee Smashed immediately after it. Everyone thought I was crazy for doing it (and I totally was).
For parrying Hurricane Kicks, it goes along the line of if you’re crouching, the second or third kick whiffs on most crouching characters (excluding Hugo, Dudley, and Q, IIRC.). Now, if you remain crouching, the last kick actually crosses up (happens to the twins often). However, after the whiffed kicks, you can parry forward (twice for the roundhouse Hurricane since it’s five kicks) and then follow up with whatever punish necessary.
Oh, and Sanchez told me best: s.strong every Demon Flip.
Basically, as Alex, you must bully the fuck out of your opponent. High damage output but even higher risk.
Funny thing I just found in training mode:
There’s another way to combo into bHP other then MP/HP Flash Chop. Do jHP, do it very late. You want to hit them with it just before you reach the ground, then immediate bHP. This does combo. I was in MAME and tried it against Ryu. And this does easy 60% stun.
I don’t know if it’s common, but I thought it should be noted.
Yep that works. So does deep jumping roundhouse -> back.HP
Yeah, but jHP is easier to do IMHO.
Just quoting myself because this hasn’t been answered by anyone else. I do have a weird moment to share; fighting a chun, I knock her down, then do sLK, and it beat her EX Spinning Bird Kick. In the next round the same situation, except this time the EX Bird Kick beats my sLK… So yeah. I don’t think crLK/crMK will beat it, unless you do it really early.
I can’t tell you specifically for each move, but EX bird in general tends to beat low moves but lose to standing normals and overheads especially, so besides fierce you can count on your UOH for sure.
And if you can beat it with a move once but it doesn’t work the second time, that just means you messed up the timing.
I feel dumb, but I’ve forgotten what UOH means. That’s a kind of Option Select, right?
UOH = Universal Overhead = MP + MK
Oh okay, I feel like an idiot. I didn’t know that would interrupt EX Spinning Bird Kick, because that typically doesn’t interrupt any wakeup attacks like SRK, Flash Kick, etc.