Can I get any tips on this matchup? Very annoying IMO. Out of the Shotos, including E.Ryu, Ken gives me the most trouble. What should I be doing in this match up? Things to avoid? Etc.
Round up his main tools first - Kara grab, Step-Kick, sweep, Thunder Kick. I’m pretty new to Adon as a whole so I’m just theory fighting to be honest but I’ll see what I can think up.
Most Kens want you at the range they can threaten both the Step-Kick and fireball to work their way in, if you close that gap slightly and Jag Kick/jump over a fireball or Step-Kick attempt you’re in his face immediately, and can go for throw/low/Rising Jaguar. Always be weary of the kara grab, that thing catches me off guard way too much and I even play Ken, it’s just too good and the range is deceptive. I’ve always liked neutral jumps in neutral to try and tag Step-Kicks into a confirm. St.hk might actually beat out Ken’s cr.mk but I’m not too confident on that one at all, I’d honestly just not bother engaging in a footsies war because Ken has dominance in that area, I’d try to IAJK/grounded Jag Kick into his close range and threaten tick throws and frame traps, seems your best bet to shut off Ken’s offensive options. I always get scared to get cornered by a Ken because I find his grab game gets even scarier there, but that’s just a personal quirk of mine…avoid the corner in general regardless. Obviously after the buffs Adon received in Ultra you always want the corner yourself as you can land a lot more damage from combos there, how you go about getting a Ken to give up screen and walk him there is another thing entirely.
Off the top of my head, only have about 3 days worth of Adon behind me, just spontaneous theory fighting.
Ultra choice…I’d be tempted for double sometimes, but I could be persuaded for either. I swing more in favour of U2 just so you can net that extra damage whenever you need it but some people really like that U1 to catch any fireballs because Ken’s suck and he basically can’t throw them as soon as you have the ability to threaten U1.