Ok, so I’ve been playing SF4 for a while and I still don’t know what the fuck to use the Focus Attack for. Is there a thread dedicated to the Focus Attack and its uses?
Been playing SF since SF4 but I’ve had a lot of problems with getting thrown all the time being the main one. I’ve watched a lot of pro vids and they almost never get thrown and always tech any attempts. Now these guys are the masters of mix up so if anyone should be able to do it consistently its them. A throw comes out so, how do people tech it? Is it about anticipation? I dread to think it is down to reactions. If somebody starts a block string they will either carry on with the full combo or interrupt and do a throw. Why doesn’t mashing the throw buttons ever work as a tech grab?
You should use a technique called late crouch teching. The idea is to press lk+lp as late as possible so that you’re able to block attacks and tech throws without having to guess. Practice it in training mode by having the dummy perform a block string into combo on you, and then a block string into throw (or just a normal tick throw). You’ll know you have it right if you’re able to block all the hits and tech the throw without adjusting your timing. Keep in mind though that this technique can be beaten if the opponent delays their throws.
Mashing tech doesn’t always work from a crouching position because it causes you to do a cr.lk if the opponent hasn’t tried to throw you yet. In SFIV, throws beat attacks so if they throw while your attack is coming out, your attack will lose to the throw. Mashing standing tech sometimes fails because sometimes after ticks they’re still too far away to throw you (and you them) so they need to walk forward a bit. If you’re mashing tech, what will happen is that a throw will come out but since they’re too far away it will whiff and then they can just walk up and grab you.
It’s better to post these type of questions in the newbie forum because this forum doesn’t get much attention these days because of SSFIV.
There are lots of ways FA’s can be used. I’ll just a give a few examples.
Absorbing projectile:
After you’ve absorbed the projectile, cancel the FA with a backdash to get out of the way, or with a forward dash to gain ground on your opponent.
Baiting an attack when you’re at sweep distance:
If they try to attack, release the FA and dash forward into a combo or throw. If they block dash forward for a mixup, or dash back to get out of the way
Applying pressure during blockstrings:
Do a level 1 FA during a blockstring and dash in afterwards to continue the mixup
Anti-air:
FA’s can absorb the jump-in attack and punish the opponent when they land
Baiting a jump:
Perform a FA at a tempting jumping distance and then dash backwards. If the opponent jumps you can anti-air them
Baiting a reversal:
Charge up your FA while your opponent is knocked down and then backdash as they rise. If they try a reversal you’ll be able to block and punish. If they never perform reversals you can let it charge all the way to level 3 and it will become unblockable. If they like to jump on wake up, releasing at level two will prevent them from leaving the ground.
Beating safe-jump option select:
Don’t worry about stuff like this yet.
Sup, I’m new too. Judging from the match vids on Youtube, it’s clear that links are important.
I’ve played through some of the challenge combo training routines, but I can’t get the links down. I’m mashing the buttons just to get a single link to work properly, and there’s no way I can do that reliably.
Right now I’m forcing myself to slow down, stop mashing, and try to do single, clean inputs. The links never come together, but I can’t see any other way of doing it.
Focus Attack (with the various dash, punish, and other subtleties) is just one big huge murky question mark to me. Sometimes I hit with it, sometimes I get punished. I’ve seen people FA-dash through fireballs and it struck me as a bad trade off. You get to bypass a projectile but you take temporary damage - and the enemy only has to injure you once again to make it permanent. Sounds like a poor man’s roll (from CVS) to me.
Been playing fighting games casually for years, sf4 beeing the first i;m trying to understand on a deeper level. Use a Hori RAP EX-SE. And still cant seem to FADC well 
I’m going to learn to play Ryu soon, but should I buy SF4 or SSF4, I’ll be playing it on the 360. I know SSF4 has new modes/costumes/tweaks but are ryu’s combos still the same?
buy SSF4, most of the community switched to SSF4 when it was released and thats where you will find the most competition
you also get your ultra meter up w/o taking permanent damage.
Just on a side note for many pc street fighter 4 players like myself:
SSF4 is not yet on the pc and for peeps who only play pc ( most never touch a console ) SF4 is still the best option. ( and still played by uncountable people )
A block/attack string is simply where you use a series of safe attacks that force your opponent to become stuck in block stun, take for Ryu for example if you execute Low Jab(LP), Low Short(LK), Low Forward(MK) OR Low Jab(LP), Low Jab(LP), Low Jab(LP), Low Forward(MK) it will allow you to:
**A)**Cancel into Hadoken or other special move
**B)**Give you enough time to walk forward and throw your opponent
**C)**Pressure your opponent into opening up their defense causing them to make a mistake,
this is very useful when you want to confirm whether or not it’s safe for you to Special Move Cancel and/or
Super Cancel when you don’t have enough EX Meter for a Focus Cancel/Saving Attack
DWalk or jump forward to pressure them with the same or different block string
A perfect example of these would be to watch lordofultima on YouTube he has an excellent 3min.
video demonstration of blockstrings and their advantages to become a high level player.
Daigo Umehara is knwon for having the best Ryu around if not the best user of Shotokan characters in Street Fighter
and well known for his Sol-Bad guy in the Guilty Gear Series, as well as Jedah from Vampire Savior
FADC stands for Focus Attack Dash Cancel, it should be noted that you do not have to charge the Focus Attack at all for it to be considered an FADC the Dash Cancel is thrown in FADC to let you know that you’ve canceled the Focus Attack animation with a Dash. Also FADC is commonly confused with Focus Cancel/Saving Attack in which you Cancel your characters Special Move or Normal Move with a Focus Attack allowing you to hit with a Level 1, 2, or 3 Focus Attack depending on how long you charged the **Focus Attack ** for. One other important thing to remember when trying to discern the differences between a Focus Cancel and FADC is that, the FADC can be performed at anytime without having the need to first connect with an attack, a Focus Cancel however does not have this luxury since you need a minimum of two bars in your EX Meter to perform one.
No. It’s not that hard to play with a normal controller o Rico Suave o and GeoM MoD1ns1d3 are perfect example’s that playing with a pad(especially D-Pad on the Xbox 360)is not impossible. I play with a pad for the moment myself and I have to say it’s a matter of preference really, I’ve played with sticks as well and there are some techniques that are much easier to perform as opposed to the pad but, once again I’d suggest watching the above players, I swore they played on sticks until I questioned them myself.
He does. You just have to use Blanka’s EX Rolling Attack, EX Vertical Rolling Attack, or EX Backstep Roll to get past them, his Super, and Ultra help, but if you have no meter at all then a well timed Amazon River Run will go under any projectile(even Sagat’s Low Tiger Shot).
1.Can you still do special cancels into super like in 3s? I.E. Hadouken -> super?
Yes.
2.FA cancels on specials and normals: can you preform this like a roman cancel? Or do you have to do it in a particular frame/frame range like a False roman cancel?
It’s possible to perform a Focus Cancel just like a regular Roman Cancel in Guilty Gear, no specific timing needed
3.Does Ken still have his MP HP chain combo?
Ken still has his target combo which can be Special and/or Super Move canceled
sorry if I’m using the wrong terminology.
Your not.
For Sagat’s Fake Kick I found that you really only have about 1/2 a second to input the second Roundhouse(HK) otherwise the animation continues as normal for Sagat’s High Roundhouse(HK).
As for beating Seth on medium don’t feel ashamed about it as I couldn’t do it the first time around when I first got back into the Street Fighter series. I don’t know your skill level at the moment since but I can say that whenever Seth uses Tandem Stream you can mash out a Special, Super Combo, or Ultra combo to punish him before he can attack you since the move is extremely unsafe, jump over projectiles when he uses them, and watch out for his Dragon Punch, or Spinning Pile Driver after knocking Seth down to the ground. When you’re the one knocked to the ground Seth loves to teleport twice before initiating his offense, he’ll either teleport next to you if your low on health, or away if he’s on the losing end. It’s really tough to decide what to do at this point if he’s close to you either neutral jump or catch him with a Special, Super, or Ultra(Note:The CPU never blocks your Ultra). Every once in a while Seth will perform an EX Hyakuretsukyaku to counter your projectile attacks, punish with your characters anti-air(AA)Normal or Special Move when he tries to close in on you with a Wall-Jump.
Your Stun Gauge does reset after a certain time of not being hit by your opponent, to get a look at how fast I’d suggest going into training mode and turning on the Attack Data to view how much Stun a certain character has, as far as certain character’s Stun Gauge recovering faster or slower than others I don’t know.
No. Saving Attack/Focus Cancel is not the same as a FADC, Saving Attack/Focus Cancel is where you Cancel your characters Normal or Special Move after connecting with your opponent thus using two bars of your EX Meter. A FADC is simply cancelling the Focus Attack animation with a Dash, this, unlike using Saving Attack/Focus Cancel does not use two bars or your EX Meter and may be done without charging the Focus Attack fully, or requiring you to connect first with an attack.
In conclusion both techniques give you the option to Dash Cancel or use a Level 1, 2, or 3 Focus Attack.
Hope your joking but I’ll answer your question anyways. Assuming your character is facing the right side of the screen you’d hold back on the D-pad or stick, if your opponent is attempting to cross-up then you’d hold forward since the game registers their attack hitting you from behind.
A standing block defends you from High and Middle(Overhead)attacks, but, you are still vulnerable to low/crouching attacks. Finally a crouching block is done by holding down-back which defends you from all high and crouching attacks, that being said makes crouching block the most preferred block over a standing block. Be warned though that Overhead attacks still hit you while crouch blocking since they hit middle level, meaning they must be blocked high.
Playing on the PS3 pad should be fine for now if you don’t have a stick yet and are more used to using a fight stick. Only thing I have to say about the PS3 pad is that most(including me)prefer the D-pad over the analog since the analog is in such an awkward position, as far as mapping your button layout that’s all up to you to mess around with no real tips on that one. When it comes to playing any fighting game with a pad or stick is a matter of preference and it all depends on how much time and dedication you want to put into getting better, a player is only limited to what they limit them self to.