i haven’t played ken in a long time, after i found the fun in playing makoto and yun ;pp but he was also the character i started with… here are my answers…
1. In match videos very often people don’t go as close as possible to their opponent when he is waking up. Instead they keep some distance even when playing Shoto against shoto. Why is that? I like to get in close use throw or use c.mk and link it to dp, or simply do short times three and try to hit SA3.
ken’s throw range is pretty good… almost good to the point of it being deceiving… when playing a shoto, you should stay AWAY from them when they wake up, as a shoryuken will stuff almost anything you try to do, unless you’re trying to bait one, which is pretty risky, cuz if they decide to throw instead, you probably won’t be able to react fast enough to tech it.
Ken’s s.mp/c.mp is GODLY, and once you can hit confirm this, you can link this from almost half a screen away. if you’re too close to them, the s.mp will turn into his meaty attack, the short uppercut.
ken’s jab dp, IMHO, is like the best move in the game. its ability to stuff from a distance away is amazing, and can hit opponents when it seems like it shouldn’t even come close to them. This becomes an option to put your opponent back on the ground and do some hurtin if you have good reactions and can jab dp when you see your opponent begin an attack animation.
ken’s c.mk and c.fk have good range, but in the situation where u are too close (especially the sweep) , you are easily punished, but if you have the right distance where your toe is hitting the opponent, you will be too far for an easy punish.
ken’s has 4 main options when you are in your opponent’s face when they wake up…
- s.mp > s.fp > etc (shoryuken or super.)
- c.lk > c.lk > SAIII
- b.mk > SAIII
- Throw
the options arent too bad, but the problem is his axe kick (b.mk) startup animation is pretty fucking obvious, and you can be thrown or poked out of it, or they have plenty of time to react and block high, or parry. his uoh link is risky as hell, as it is also pretty easy to see coming. his c.lks and s.mp can both be blocked low. so what i do at least when playing vs a ken thats in my face, is just block low and watch for his overhead attack animations, and if they don’t do any of those, just get ready to tech a throw.
ken has more/better options when starting from a little distance, since you can also dash/walk up the them quickly enough where they won’t have time to react.
2. IF I do short times three on wakeup is it possible for someone to grab me or superart me if i time it correctly?
NO. If you time it correctly, it works as a meaty. It will stuff most moves, and if you can hit confirm it to SAIII, since its a combo, they will eat it.
however, you will eat most supers, but in high level play, people generally dont wake up super. you will stuff supers that take time to activate, such as ryu’s SAI/SAIII, or chun’s SAII.
3. When someone tries to air cross me up and I run under them which attack is best to use to ensure damage?
I wouldn’t recommend trying to dash under people with ken’s “decent at best” dash. but if this situation happens, i would suggest a s.mp or c.mpor c.lks hit confirmed into SAIII
4. If someone jumps into me and then tries to grab me, but instead of grabbing I do short kick, will i come out on top mostly or is it better to always grab when someone jumps over or into u?
if you try to short vs a throw, if they are in throw range they will throw you. the only real “no-risk” option after an empty jump is to throw, cuz the worst that can happen is that the throw will be techd. this is why you see (if you’ve ever seen it) daigo empty jump in, and fierce shoryuken. EVERYONE will expect a throw after an empty jump it, but the shoryuken will beat the throw. It seems like Daigo is just being random as fuck, but in reality he’s taking advantage of people’s “habits”… if you will…
5. I’m having problems punishing Chun Lis SA2. The last kick pushes me far away from her and I can’t connect with my C.mk. Should I try to parry the last kick or simply do SA3 directly after her last kick?
You should parry the last kick, but if you can’t or don’t want to try, I believe you can just super after being pushed back… the c.mk wont hit, but a plain SAIII will… (i think)
6. When I play against this guy online vs Makoto he does the grab then puts me down and slaps the shit out of me and then links into his stun combo. After that the round is basicly over. Usually the way he sets himself up for this is by using his lightning dash attack, or whatever its called and then either does c.short and the attack again or the grab. Whichever way I’m screwed. What can I do to not get myself in either of those situations?
being mainly a makoto player (at least nowadays), I can tell you that taking the fight up close is probably the worst thing you can do. makoto has too many gimmicks/mixups, and if the makoto is good, you’ll hardly see any of that shit coming. play a good keep-away game, using safe pokes to try to keep her away from you (c.lk, c.mp, and c.mk) the one thing makoto fears the most vs a ken is ken’s shoryuken. it shuts down practically every setup or gimmick, but use it sparingly, cuz ur screwed if it is anticipated and blocked. play keep away, and stay on your side of the screen, but away from the corner… if she does the c.lk > hayate (the dash punch thingy… this is what im assuming you are talking about), on a block the hayate is incredibly punishable… just c.mk > SAIII after every blocked hayate as long as your bar can keep it up, otherwise, punish however you want (i prefer to just jab shoryuken). playing a good makoto can get fucking frustrating, and it takes time to be able to recognize her most popular gimmicks and setups.
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7. Against Akuma he always gets me in the corner and throws air fireballs at me and mixes it with grabs and hurricane kicks. I always end up in the corner no matter how I play. And I hate being in the corner like a little biatch getting dominated… What can I do?*
VS a good akuma, the corner is the WORST possible place you can be… if he throws out hurricane kicks, just block it and punish when he lands. do NOT try to do anything on wake up (unless ur gonna be risky as hell and throw out a random super or a shoryuken) cuz akuma has lots of ways he can stuff you. just be patient and look for an opportunity to punish him, or throw him into the corner. cuz a akuma that gets hit is a dead akuma ^^
8. When someone misses their DP or other anti air attack I get a free shot to punish him but many times I screw it up by hitting too soon and instead they fly “out of my grip” and I end up giving minimal damage. I noticed that when I use S.Mp many times my opponent manage to grab me or dp if i wait too long, but if I don’t they “fly out of my grip”. Should I use another attack then the middle punch, fierce punch SA3 combo? Or do I just need to get the timing down?
get the timing down… all i can say…
otherwise, use c.mk > SAIII… i believe that the opponent has to be on the ground for a c.mk to hit, and they will fall into its frames. this will eliminate the “reset” problem u got going.
9. What are good ways to set up for UOH into SA3? Also which kick button should i use to link it and when should i start doing the motion?
You should know how to do a UOH > SAIII to make your arsenal a little stronger, but its risky in a match. i suggest you stay away from trying to land it in a match. the UOH has to hit too “perfectly” for it to really be applicable as a viable option in a match. also, if it gets parried, you’re screwed. but if you insist on landing it, know that there are 2 situations in which you can link a UOH > SAIII.
- you meaty the uoh, and your opponent wakes up into it and gets hit by it during its last frames.
- you have the perfect spacing where your uoh will hit your opponent during its last frames.
as for which kick you should use, you should be “drumming” it out. like… pretend you are playing the piano, and hit all 3 kicks a “drumming” fashion, so you maximize your chances to immediately do SAIII.
10. How do i do double dp in midscreen? I’ve seen em done in matches but i never seem to get one of. I read I’m suppose to Kara and then do the dp. Which is the easiest way to kara and how do i do it?
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=86370
From mopreme blog:
Verifiable Kara-uppercut Mid-screen
Kara-uppercut is really good. I have been trying to find more ways to land it, but generally it is up to your opponent to mess up to give you an opportunity to hit them, such as whiffing a throw for instance. Low forward -> DP and stand strong -> DP are generally the two main ways to land it. Unfortunately, neither is verifiable.
The hit confirm kara-uppercut mid-screen, the only way that seems to work is meaty UOH -> DP. It?s good, like after landing a super. But after a normal knockdown, your opponent can quick recover, and doesn?t leave you enough to time set up a meaty UOH on wake up. I have been trying to find some other way to land kara-DP mid-screen. Although I don?t think there is any other way, I came across something I thought was neat while experimenting.
I was thinking that if you could link jap DP after a meaty stand strong, that would give you enough time to verify it. You can in fact link jab DP after a meaty stand strong, however, you can?t get a second kara-DP. When you cancel stand strong into DP, you move forward and cancel before you get pushed back from the strong punch hitting. But when you link it, you get pushed back the full distance of the strong hitting, so you are not in range to hit a second jab DP. But you can link DP after a meaty stand strong. Not really useful, but kind of neat.
Complete Kara-Shoryuken Listing
Here are the circumstances where Ken can do 2 jab Shoryukens.
Midscreen:
Strong fierce Shoryuken Shoryuken
Stand strong/low forward Shoryuken Shoryuken
Stand fierce Shoryuken Kara-Shoryuken
- Chun Li, Makoto, 12, Necro
Stand strong/low forward Shoryuken Kara-Shoryuken
- Ken, Ryu, Akuma, Sean, Chun Li, Makoto, 12, Necro, Urien
Corner:
Strong fierce Shoryuken Shoryuken
- Ken, Ryu, Akuma, Sean, Chun Li, Makoto, 12, Necro, Urien, Elena
Strong fierce Shoryuken Kara-Shoryuken
Stand fierce Shoryuken Kara-Shoryuken
11. What is a good way to set up for an air crossup?
Theres no real way to “set up” for the air crossup, but once you keep trying the crossup, you’ll learn the distance and spacing you need for the crossup to work, from normal jumping or super jumping. the most reliable time to do it is probably when your opponent is waking up.
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12. I’m having trouble hit confirming. Should I for instance do c.mk then qct qcf and then release the button or should i do qcf qcf and then hit the button again? Also what is the easiest way to hit confirm, meaning which attack gives me the longest time to see if it hit?*
Hit confirming a c.mk > SAIII is tough, and arguably impossible to be able to do it consistantly on a random c.mk hit. you should probably save the hit confirms to c.lk x2, s.mp (close) >s.hp, s.mp (far), c.mp, b.mk, and f.hk.
as for c.mk, its easier to truly hit confirm it into a shoryuken, and thats what i stick with.
goddamn that took longer than i thought it would. feel free to ask anything else.
hope it helps.
