I use Asuka first, and I havent really trained with Heihachi to the extent I have with Asuka.
Shes a big damage dealer…but I dont know if she has the tools to be at the first spot. Her normals arent the best and have a short range. AA’s arent great unless you have an EX air grab. Does that make her a better tag in/complimentary character?
Im gonna main Asuka, as for my 2nd character im not bound to anyone yet. What kind of character could/should I look for?
This discussion probably belongs in the strategy thread.
To answer your question though, when people start getting good at the game Asuka’s going to want to be in the second position on the team. Asuka has very good damage potential but much of the cast is either better at the long distance neutral game or gets inside with far less work than it takes Asuka. You really only want to start Asuka on point if your other character is worse in those particular areas, so right now that’s looking like maybe King, Kuma, and Marduk.
The game is still incredibly young though; play whoever you like in whatever order you like and try to figure things out.
Law first and Asuka second. I feel like the order could go more or less either way, but most people with zoning characters tend to put them first, and Law handles them a little more easily. The damage potential is fairly similar regardless of team order though.
I also use Juri and Asuka. I’ve given Asuka a Power Boost gem and a Speed Boost gem that activate whenever Juri tags her in, I’ve also given Asuka a Power Boost gem that activates when she hits 5 times. My main strategy is to get them down about a quarter life with Juri, then tag combo into Asuka (Who is now Speed and Power +) to finish the combo with enough hits to activate her second power gem (Stacking them), then I go for the post combo j.hp mixup. If I hit it, my 20% power boosted Asuka wins the game.
Pretty basic strategy but it’s doing good for me so far.
Another Juri / Asuka player here. It’s fun because Juri is my SF4 main and Asuka is my T6 main. I had some trouble adjusted to her SF incarnation at first, but she’s starting to come together for me. I haven’t messed with gems much yet, but I’m thinking I’m going to put power gems on Asuka since she is a close ranger (definitely doing the one which activates on tag in!). I use Juri on point because I know I can use her to get in – so basically the same as you other Juri/Asuka players.
Wow, I thought my Juri/Asuka team would be unheard of, glad other people had the same idea! I haven’t even run into other Juris or Asukas online at all, much less paired.
The biggest problem Asuka has is against zoners and good footsie characters. Chun is there to counter act that and provide a good hit confirm for Asuka. If Chun lands a s.MP xx Legs, it’s easily hit confirmable to a Tag Cancel to Asuka starting a combo with s.HK if you’re early enough, leading to 422 damage from a simple s.MP with Chun. The Tag Cancel requires one bar initially, but Chun can lame it out for that first initial bar and the best part about this combo is that after you spend meter for that first tag cancel, you build half of that lost meter back in the process.
Chun and Asuka can also easily loop together pretty well even though I’m sure other characters can use the same loop for more damage, so try experimenting. For example…
Chun Starter:
(Chun) c.LK c.LP [b.MK > MK] Jump Cancel, j.HK, Land, cs.HK, Jump Cancel, Stomps x3, Tag Cancel, (Asuka) f.LK f.LP c.MP Onikubigari, Tag Cancel (Chun) cs.HK, Stomps x3 Tag Cancel… keep looping for as much meter you have for cancels.
Asuka Starter:
(Asuka) j.HP s.HK xx Upkicks j.HK s.HK xx Onikubigari, Tag Cancel (Chun) cs.HK Jump Cancel, Stomps x3, Tag Cancel (Asuka) f.LK f.LP c.MP Onikubigari Tag Cancel… etc.
Gems wise, Chun/Asuka both have life regen, some sort of meter building gem, and speed gems. The meter building is SUPER important for Asuka since she’s a pretty big meter hog and needs that meter desperately in certain matchups (coughcoughGUILEcoughcough).
So far I’ve been running Hugo/Asuka. The pairing definitely has problems getting in, so it may not be the best plan, but I’m going to stick with it for now and consider switching to Nina if/when I get sick of it. Day 1 Hugo still blows most people up pretty hard, and even when people figure him out, he’ll always be a danger because 1 mistake will cost you 500 HP.
I’m running Hugo with all Damage gems and Asuka with either Heals+Fortitude or Meter. Sometimes I run Hugo with Heals+Fortitude as well, which helps with fireball characters.
But yeah, I agree with the sentiment that you need a point character who can get in and set up the tag. Thankfully, Asuka’s tag combos to lots of damage, and as far as I can tell so far, she’s very good once she’s in there.
Running Vega/Asuka for now, Vega for general footsies and rolling crystal flash tag cancel mixups. Vega can also punish errant normals with LMHH to get Asuka in.
I’d type them out, but I’m not sure they are all optamized yet. I think I’ll throw together a quick video today. It would be easier to show than tell, no?
Also, I’ve got some oki stuff (anti-roll) and some ideas for OS’s that are unique to her.