The Ken Thread - Ask Here - Discussion - Strats

mixups/crossups on knockdown. Why do I feel like a parry option select beats it all?

Ken can just mix up the timing itself or not do anything at all to beat that option parry.

  • I’m not sure, because I’ve never really seen anyone do this midscreen. I’m thinking the pushback would make this combo not work anyway.
  • You can’t kara the SRK during a cancel.
  • If your reactions are sick enough, cr.MK->Shoryu.

What exactly is this “parry option select”?

In this particular case AmigoOne’s talking about, you can tap backwards when Ken attempts a crossup with j.MK. If Ken does cross you up, the backwards tap will turn into a parry. If it doesn’t cross up, then you’ll just end up blocking. That’s one example of an option select parry.

@mingo
against an ambig crossup, just hit back. Timed right, it will parry if it crosses up, block if it doesn’t. Works the other direction too I guess.

@aku
Ive been running across people who love to parry everything. I don’t know if its just me but I’ve had to resort almost completely to throws sometimes for my offense because UOHs and jumps are super easy to react to on wakeup. Besides those, theres no reason to not block low.
Im also frustrated because things I thought were supposed to be punishable on block with cr short, like maks hayate, get parried to shit.

@Amigo: you nailed it when you said you’ve resorted to throwing them a bunch. Throw them until they stop trying to parry you and then make them whiff their throw tech and punish that too. If they’re trying to play guess strike and succeeding you need to mix it up some more and Ken definitely has a lot of tools for that.

if you’re being parried a lot it doesn’t mean you need to throw. it means you need to vary your timing/spacing a lot more than you are currently. the only time someone should be able to parry you consistently is when you’re being obvious and using the same moves at the same time/distance. throws are excellent for opening people up but really the problem isn’t being shut out due to parry, it’s that your offense is too basic.

Another quick question, does backdash escape throw? Are backdashes even useful in this game?

You kinda can, but it requires a lot more anticipation since they’re not exactly invincible to throws. Backdashes are still good, they’re just not as ridiculous as in SF4.

I know this basically has barely any if not no uses, but I was playing some ken mirrors on ggpo last night and the guy was kara throwing me when I was in the corner. When I asked which normal he was using, he said hk. However, when we stopped playing I realized he was getting forward throws with the kara. So was it actually just foward + hk or can you hold foward after doing the kara with hk to get forward throw?

probably the latter. you don’t have to press forward in exact unison with the throw input, as far as i know. that’s why kara throwing with crouching moves is possible. you just need to hit the desired direction as quickly as you can afterward.

i think standing mk might be better though since if you make a mistake at close range, you’ll get a slightly faster move. it has the same kara range as hk. c.mk is the best though, followed by b+mk (may as well go for it if you’re looking for a back throw).

thanks for the info

imo kara throw with b+mk is very good! probably in top 10 best kara throws

i see, i’ll have to work that into my game. Btw, lovin the the newest video podcast with renic

dunno if this has been asked, but i fireball cancel into sa3 using negative edge, how can I cancel in sa3 without doing negative edge?

using negative edge for that cancel is impossible… unless you’re pressing P+K for the fireball then releasing both or something wacky like that. fireball and shippu are done with two different buttons. if you’re talking about negative edging the fireball from the HP of ken’s target combo, then just don’t hold the button. tap HP quickly, tap whichever P you want for the fireball, done. sorry if i’m misunderstanding your question.

nvm got it…

Fired this game up for the first time in a while. Im still getting parried to shit. Doesn’t help that I can’t, I have a hard time parrying even obvious jump ins, I want to blame the lag cause the rare moments I play with a friend offline I don’t have problems. But everyone else is parrying a shit ton of things. I’m literally trying every button, still getting parried way too much more than I should on wakeup. st mp target combo, cr lp lk, b mk, cr mk, cr mp, spaced cr hk… what am I doing wrong? I feel like opponent is just hitting fw or cr on wakeup and he has a solid chance in parry.

Also, how to be damaging without super?

Also, Akuma flip pressure, what do.

It’s hard to parry online, but theres lots of people who have gotten used to it. You can be good at parrying offline without being good at it online.

Something as simple as not doing meaty moves beats wakeup parry. In the back of your mind whenever you attempt a meaty move should be “am I sure my opponent isn’t going to do a wakeup parry right?” I’ve found players who get lots of mileage out of wake up parry have a difficult time finding damage outside of that situation.

Outside of opportunities for combos into srk, you’re kind of in the same situation as Chun without meter. You still have a set of killer normals to work with, but you just have to accept you won’t be doing real serious damage without the stock. Even if you don’t get much damage, you can still use this time to try to feel out how your opponent defends, which will be useful when you want to land a super, and as they block your moves or you throw him you’re still building meter. No reason to do risky srk’s or anything.

The easiest option is jump back rh when you see the demon flip start. Worst case scenario is he does a very early demon flip kick and hits you mid air for minor damage. When you’re more comfortable against them jab srk beats demon flip well, or trades with an early kick at worst. The worst thing you can do is try to parry if you’re struggling against demon flips. Demon flip timing is very dynamic so unless you’re 100% confident you know what kind of demon flip your opponent is doing you’re risky eating a 40% combo by trying to parry desperately.

Woah what. I didnt know ken had a kara throw with any decent range. Also who can i double shoryu midscreen w/ o kara outside of q?