He’s currently locked in Professor Stoli’s basement.
In all honesty, how can people say Akuma is #1-#2 if he doesn’t win anything in the US? Since the game’s release the only player that can maybe place above top16 with Akuma in a major is ShadyK. Even on a local level akuma’s not winning many tournaments. PerfectLegend won a ranbat in MI. Okay. Ed Ma’s been out of the picture since EVO last year, so bringing him up is irrelavant. Sanford dropped Akuma. Issei doesn’t play because of real-life obligations. Anywhere/Anyone else? No???
How people claim a character can be #1 but doesn’t win anything, anywhere, boggles me…
He’s number 1 in theory fighter 4 ldo 
I’m not from the US so I’m not exactly sure how’s the scene there, but could it be because most people over there prefer to main characters that are easier to master? Akuma is an awesome character, but it feels like he’s one of the hardest characters to truly master in the game, because you simply can’t afford to make mistakes when you’re playing as Akuma and you have to be perfect with him vs high level players in order to win.
I don’t remember many people that won big tournaments in the US with Akuma even in vanilla SF4, but the Akuma players in Japan have shown that he’s one of the best characters in the game (Eita, Tokido, Momochi…etc). IIRC, SBO Final match was won by Momochi and Tokido won the last God’s Garden tournament.
I tell everyone the same thing rugi.
Well part of that just has to do with who is playing him. I mean just look at some of the top names in the US and who they play
Wong: Rufus
Ross: Honda
Valle: Ryu
Marn: Viper
ComboFiend: Guy
Choi: Ryu
In all seriousness the results are slanted because of the top players are still playing the mains they used back in SF4. You say “why isn’t Akuma winning” yet part of the problem is the fact he isn’t being used. Besides last year at Evo we had what? 3 or 4 Akumas including Edma place in the top 8 while Sagat was nowhere to be found. Does that mean Sagat was overrated in SF4 because he wasn’t placing high at a major tourney? Nope, just no top player used him. Mago in Japan showed just how powerful Sagat was.
Isn’t Marn maining Dudley now? Did i get something wrong?
He played Viper or Rufus for all of Devastation except the last match against Valle.
I personally think Akuma remains arguably the most versatile character in the game with a lot of untapped potential. The catch is that to capitalise on that potential you need to play well. By ‘well’ I mean that you need to have a solid foundation in all of IVs core offensive aspects combined with solid defense. Screwing up with Akuma brings you close to a loss due to how easy it is for him to be wiped out.
He is not near as devastating as his vanilla incarnation due to heavily reduced stun and damage (and a nerf here and there) but his core game and qualities largely remain intact. If you have a solid handle on his most efficient punishers and mix-ups and have a varied and unpredictable play-style (which Akuma facilitates well) you’ll find that few characters can match his options. I think this is perhaps Akuma’s best attribute - the bastard has an answer for everything provided you handle the situation right.
As for tier placement, I think thats a grey area for all of the stronger characters because they’re all standing on essentially the same pedestal. Once you go beyond the ‘good’ characters (or mid to upper-mid tier) I think you’ll find that those considered high-tier have a blurred line between one another with differing strengths showing up in specific match-ups. I think Akuma (from a tier perspective) resembles the Sagat we now know. Sagat is no longer a dominating force, but when used correctly with a heavy focus on his zoning play-style he still remains a great character. Like Akuma, he can no longer rely on the leg-up he enjoyed because he simply dealt obscene amounts of damage. Instead, he needs to be used properly and when people do, he still demonstrates a lot of strengths.
My only beef is that I’m a bit at odds with Akuma’s vitality in Super. Sure, we receive pseudo health buffs by way of across-the-board damage reductions, but I think from a ratio perspective Akuma still takes a lot of damage with respect to what he can deal. 900 health would have been nice, but I can’t help but think that may be pushing balance too far. We can still tear off a good chunk of health without meter by way of a simple punish so perhaps 850 remains justified. But only just. I guess a good argument is our excellent escape mechanism (tele) and keep away options (air balls, good zoning options) justifies 850 even further.
A major problem for Akuma players is that for all the skills we refine and the practice we put in, we can still be randomed out (or very close to it) in matches. Also, one tiny mistake suitably punished can be enough to tip a match out of our reach. I find this an interesting hurdle for the Akuma crew. When it happens it forces us to further perfect the way we use this guy because playing as Akuma means we can’t afford to make mistakes. This isn’t unique to Akuma, but I find that those who have a focus on minimal errors demonstrate very refined Akumas that are awesome to watch in action and all players can appreciate an Akuma wrecking house with calculated finesse. There’s nothing sweeter than playing a perfectly executed match using Akuma without errors or bad mistakes and I think this is perhaps why I continue to use him. He’s fun as hell with heaps of options and has a built in mechanism that drives me to just plain get better with him.
In my opinion, Ultra 2 sucks though. For a little while I entertained it perhaps being somewhat viable but I’ve come to the simple realisation that its just plain shit. I’d like to be surprised in the future though.
I don’t remember many US tournaments won by Sagat in Vanilla…does this mean he wasn’t top tier? Most of the times it’s the player that wins a tournament, not the character…
Seriously, your argument doesn’t make any sense
For one the best US players don’t play Akuma, just as they didn’t play Sagat in SF4. Second, how long did it take for Sagat to win a major tourney in Japan even tho he was considered the undisputed number one? Not until the first Gods Garden IIRC, so you’re looking at 8 months into SF4’s life. Third I have placed second and won one of our two local majors with Akuma, so at least there is somebody winning with him.
Akuma’s tier rank has nothing to do with whether or not someone (who mains him) wins any tournament using him.
If you like a particular character, just use him/her and screw the tier lists.
In fact, ignoring things like skill level of the player, Akuma is a high risk high reward character choice to use in a tournament due to his low health. 1 mistake and you could very well lose an entire match.
Sanford. BF Arcadia 5-13?
By the same token, he used Akuma a lot in those as well.
I never thought he used akuma when something was seriously at stake or that he needed to squeeze out every oz of performance from the char.
ie: he never used akuma in any grand finals. Or I don’t remember that he did.
L.I. Joe won Sinsation Fight Club and Summerjam last year I’m pretty sure.
Sanford won multiple Arcadias mostly using Sagat. You can make the Akuma argument but he mostly played Sagat/Viper.
Cajunstrike won a major in GA/ATL with Sagat, and won many NC tournaments.
Floe won IL/Midwest regionals and locals with Sagat, top8 at West Coast Warzone
At NEC, Steve Harrison and WeakSauce both placed top8 with Sagats. I think the closest Akuma player to place was Eric Kim somewhere in top 16.
At least with Sagats I can give some winnings here and there… I’m just saying. Akuma is good, but until EVO happens people shouldnt be making rash claims about whos top in super.
I think this is why he’s not used as often at tourneys. There’s money on the line and people are just too nervous to play him, perhaps? This is just a theory of mine but it would make some sense, I think.
I’ve solely mained Akuma since Vanilla and have worked on my game tirelessly which is why I pointed the lack of potential in his arsenal. Yeah may be the most versatile but they all are easily countered and prioritized by other characters moves. And sure he has big combos if you can get which equals to 2-3 hp, hk, or dp of most characters. So what else did I miss. Oh yeah the low health … go figure.
Lastly if we are arguing tiers based on tourney results then Akuma and Dan are bottom as I’ve seen neither place much less used in tourneys maybe for Akuma in Japan.
Easily countered? How do you figure?
Best examples are Rog jabs, Bison scissors , Ken Ryu and Gat DPs … oh and Chun pokes and Cammy’s. Lastly Akuma has nothing airborne except air fireball that can be sweeped etc. And non combo Ultra which all other characters have. And his Ultra 2 is crap, a sorry excuse for combo . It’s useless , easily avoided on reaction with little to no setups. It’s why everyone is mainly using U1. Nuff said.