Ah didn’t know they made it less bad on block.
How to fight Ken?
His c.mk is unfuckwithable, since its as fast as our jab or c.lk.
I don’t think this MU favors Yang, but I like standing outside of c.MK range and using Yang’s c.MP as a whiff punish. It’s Yang’s best anti-shoto button IMO. Otherwise, sometimes I chance it using overhead as a poke (like Ken’s step kick) or neutral jump LK/MK dive kicks to land either deep or as whiff punishes also.
Few things i know on this matchup:
_ ken ability to tag neutral jumps with his dp is quite annoying so mix in some back jump.
Don’t attempt to read his cr mk but read what comes after it:
- Ken crouch mk is punishable close range (-4) on block with st lk or u can just st mp to rekka pressure.
- At far range cr mk>fireball is not a true block string (except for ex fireball) so it makes for a focus opportunity, or ex dash to pressure (risky).
- ken needs his cr mk to keep yang out but he will adjust once he realize u understand cr mk he will use it only to keep u out with no followups. Here u can respond with ex (frame trap) or hp rekka>fadc to start ure pressure.
- after lp rekka ure at perfect range to spam lk> lp rekka pressure cuz ken light attacks have very short range
- His step kick is negative at close so he goes for the hit at the tip where it can be tagged with neutral jump gimics or the new st mp of wiff
- at the tip he is positive frames on step kick so mix back dash and block.
- Cr mk beats air hurricanes
when u get a bad read just allow ken to push u away or back dash or back jump.
Im more of a vega player but im sure others will add or correct me if needed.
s.lk will lose to Ken’s jabs due to frame disadvantage on rekka.
Does yang have an option on punishing trollento rolls and decapres rapid daggers? Id assume not her light version
All rolls are free rekka punish, all day, every day. You can walk forward s.lk xx rekka too, but it’s tight timing.
All depends where Kappy spaces her daggers as to how it can be punished.
How do you guys fight Gouken? I’m having a bad time with that match up for some reason
His fast hadouken recovery can be annoying. But, you’re more nimble and he’s still pretty free on wakeup.
S.lk is a good poke and whiff punish if I remember, I might throw out s.mp rekka to challenge his mediums and heavies.
Empty jumping on wakeup helps deal with both EX Tatsu and parry.
Gotcha, I’ll start messing around with those ideas now then.
I was referring to +1 on hit however on block his jabs will wiff if ure at the range u want to be. On block its a mind game where ken has more options (since yang is -2) but u can land more damage if you read right. I don’t know of a hard and fast way to shut ken down on a blocked far lp rekka but I can rant of a few things ive picked up.
If you see them mashing jab after blocked rekka just use far lk> lp rekka and hold back and lk as soon as u see yang twitch, if he jabs u will be locked in position to wiff punish with st lk and if he is blocking you will step back just enough to be in perfect range to reset the pressure. Here you are -2 which makes you open to cr mk but at this distance cr mk to hadoken is not a true block string. it might be risky but this here is the only time i land red focus since they’re so confident about their mk>hadoken pushback. Also once u have two bar they will stop mashing jabs.
Imo ken has two range he wants to be either at the tip of step kick range or up in ure butt where his 3 frame light chainable normal with good plus frames to tic throw or frame trap with another light while still being easily hit confirmable into full combo. U just need to be in between there at all times. And be confident about when he does not have plus frames and when he is outside his light normal range.
Lets get a vega discussion going for a bit
I’ve only played a few of the better Vega players (Zeus/Phoenix/Claw/Luger) and those weren’t long sets either, so my experience may not be valid to warrant a comment.
In neutral, Vega murders Yang. I need to find a way in and I try to stay away from him until I can land like a sweep or low forward into rekka without taking too much damage. Once he’s down, I watch for two things on wake up. 1.) He likes to focus backdash which means I need to incorporate either throws or delays in my block strings to pop his focus attempt. 2.) Blocks followed by mash jab. If they actually sit down and block, then I know to start throwing in a few command throws on wake up to make them try something else. If I do a cr. jab x2 block string and I get jabbed immediately afterwards, I start building ultra to blow them up for that. I can’t stand the mashing so as soon as I get ultra I let it rip to hopefully send a message across.
However, in watching some recent Yang v. Claw vids I see that most people go with U2 in this fight to punish wall dives which is great, but I can live without it and just EX dp it.
Defending against Vega is difficult because of his range and his kara throw/df RH. If they start moving towards me, I hold focus and either let it rip before they can get another button + charge to punish me or focus backdash. Guessing between the df RH and kara throw is hard, but I’d rather eat the throw before I get hit with that thing.
df+rh/throw is like oldest of old school Vega tactics and shouldn’t really work anymore. Cosmic heel used to be his only tool but now you can bait and punish it since they nerfed it to -3 on block so either try reversal throw, plink c.lk into confirm, or do a s.lp OS sweep since Vega likes to backdash. ppl thought Rose’s backdash was a problem… Vega’s is pretty much just as good
his overhead apparently doesn’t get extra frames on counterhit so even if he tags you CH, you are both neutral and he is probably close enough you are in your best range.
ground game is all Vega and with his buffed/bugged c.fp it is more difficult to jump at him now as well. vary dive kick timings to try and bait & punish anti-air attempts then do early jump normals if he starts going for anti-air air throw.
not every Vega plays focus heavy but some of them do because focus backdash is such a low risk move for Vega they will start fishing with it. so in that case remember you have an air target combo and take your punish
Vega scarlet terror reversal is not invincible but goes over lows & throws on startup so keep that in mind.
his U2 also got buffed to be faster and it now hits you even if you empty jump so he does have a strong invincible reversal option now. you can still safe jump it but previously you could bait it just by jumping at him with a blatantly unsafe jump, not press any buttons, and his ultra couldn’t hit you. they fixed that.
Vega outdamages, out-footsies and has good wakeup game vs Yang. most of Yang’s setups for tricky crossups don’t work on Vega and irc you need to use as many jabs as you can before a c.mk xx mk roll confirm if you want to go for the crossup.
you have to dissuade him from pressing too many buttons, to open up opportunities for you to walk right up into his face so you have to have on point footsies. s.fp is a good option to counterpoke his crouching lp and mp but you are trying to use a fierce to contend with a jab and he has boss air normals too. his s.rh destroys focus but is -7 if you block both hits. crouching Yang usually only has to block the first one making it -9 so you typically have time to walk forward s.mp punish
match is probably advantage Vega
Ironically, we now have a Vega player here. Guy is pretty good too. We played a best out of 5 and I won 3-2. His play style reminds me of a mix between Zeus and Shin Phoenix. I’ll record some sets in the future.
Tournament today with Tampa Bison, Brian F, So Flo Bison, Private Jokr and a few others. Wish me luck
Right On. Good Luck.
Think I got top 8. But I lost to the same player twice. Brian F. Really good Balrog. First lost was because of an input error on my behalf. Second time was just a punish attempt gone bad. 2-1 both times. I think I went 6/7-2. Tamba Bison won it all.
Balrog claw or Balrog boxer?
both MU are annoying… did you manage to record some fight? that will be cool 
Boxer and unfortunately no. I brought my lgp but forgot my HDMI cable. I got second in KI though. Yay!