Getting focus'd on wakeup, unavoidable?

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
#1

I seem to have the hardest time dealing with focus attacks on wakeup with Balrog and other characters with weak wakeup options. This really is a basic question, but can I headbutt to avoid this? I thought Rog’s headbutt was invincible during startup but I still seem to eat FA every time…so maybe my timing is just bad. Jumping just seems like kind of a loss as well because I get caught in the air.

Clearly I’m messing something up here but I can’t seem to get around this.

How do you deal with this on knockdowns where you can’t get up quickly?

#2

Back dash, or use a fast starting invun. move on wake up (IE DP), or a fast starting focus breaker/multi hit move.

#3

Back dash/throw

#4

Balrog does not have a weak wake-up option. Headbutt is great. So you can use that. For people with truely weak wake-up option like Cody, El Fuerte, Hakan, Dhalsim, Rose and other like them, you can backdash, or jump when you expect it.

Hope I helped :wink:

#5

Backdash or EX-headbutt are both good options if you know the focus is coming out. Preferably backdash, especially if your opponent starts to dash cancel out of his focus.

Also, if the FA isn’t level 3, you can use any of Balrog’s EX rush punches.

Edit: Actually, now that I think of it, even a regular headbutt with reversal timing should work, since an FA wouldn’t hit low.

#6

Yeah this is helping a lot. I think I just get flustered after messing up the timing on one headbutt and that screws up my timing on the next one.

The backdash throw never occurred to me for some reason though so that will be a big help. This has just been one of those weaknesses in my game that I could never get around.

Thanks for the info guys

#7

Wakeup reversals break armor

#8

Wrong - only the smash, tap and overhead break focus and they are too slow to use if you’re getting tagged immediately on wakeup.

As people said just throw or backdash - you might get lucky with turn punch if you time the invincibility of it but why bother

#9

I could be wrong, but I thought the problem was that he was getting focus attacked immediately on wakeup. If they’ve already let go of the focus, it won’t have armor unless it’s level 3.

Therefore, he’ll absorb the hit from the focus attack and hit him with any of his EX rush punches.

#10

What do you do if you’re someone without a good reversal(gouken?) and it’s someone like T-Hawk with a HUUUGE focus attack range? It catches you even if you backdash.

All reversals break armor btw…

#11

what are you talking about? all levels of FA gain hyper armor

if you try to wakeup ex rush upper against someone they will absorb the RU and you will eat either a level 1 counter hit(which crumples) or a level 2/3 that will crumple regardless into a huge combo

#12

Focus attacks are only active for a very short time. As long as you backdashed when it was gonna hit you’ll completely avoid the FA.

#13

A reversal timed wakeup EX rush upper will armor break. All specials done on reversal armor break.

#14

Not after you release it, they don’t. Only level 3 FAs keep their armor once you stop charging. If they’re hitting him as soon as he wakes up, that FA doesn’t have its armor.

#15

Does a person actually have time to avoid a focused wake-up attack with a dash? One assumes that they’ve timed it -just so-. I’m using Juri so I have no fast go-to armor-breaking wake up moves… I just lost a round to a fella (Ryu) who kept spamming this on me.

#16

Seriously, just throw. You can literally throw ANY CHARACTER (except ones who become airborne during FA, makoto, fuerte, sakura) out of Focus attack at any time before they hit you. Im serious. Focus attack is shittingly succeptible to throws.

#17

bad advice…if its meaty you’ll just eat a full crumple. When in doubt, backdash. You’ll be invuln when they have hit frames and can punish as hard as you want if they actually commit to releasing the lvl 3.

#18

with rog -ex headbutt back dash throw or do what i do and use a super or ultra [if available] and buffalo them to there doom

#19

also ed rumster can i add you as a friend i think we could learn things from each other my main is guy secondary dudley third abel

#20

Senpusha owns focus attacks, just don’t over do it.