[P4A] Akihiko Gameplay Discussion

[g0th1k4]

So just wondering..i decided to main akihiko today and drop kanji (maybe use as sub) and after playing with him for a few hours against a friend i got some questions. Realizing that he only has sweep as low, is there any other options to open up the opponent? I also noticed since you can't dash through the opponent (even during knockdown?) it seems his pressure is limited because of the ease to block everything. Are there any mixups anyone uses? Maybe after rush punches or anything like that or any safe 5C setups since its overhead? Thanks

[E For Eugene]

Is there any thing to look out for when pressuring with a kill rush>boomerang hook into a D weave? Like DPs for instance? And is a cyclone 2+ sweep safe on block?

EDIT: Seems like every character's DP will whiff except for Mitsuru's. It's also important to note that Elizabeth's DP will still grab you if you 're weaving. I guess it's better to just jump and punish?

Edited August 9, 2012 by E For Eugene

[CrisisEdge]

Well you can just tech Liz and as for the sweep I believe it's even on block for lv3 so lv2 is probably unsafe if they punish with a fast enough move

[Heroic_Legacy]

EX Dash will cross up opponents when close enough and leave you in neutral to 5B. Akihiko can fuzzy opponents after a deep jump in. Other than that, just frame trap and throw a bit more than other characters.

He's primarily a spacing character relying on whiff punishes though rather than HIT BUTTONS MIXUP.

[Skye]

If you hold the input, you'll do Corkscrew after EX Ducking.

If you switch inputs, You'll do Boomerang Hook.

[iw2ma]

I love landing both EX dash cross over moves, but what's the best combo after those hit? I mean if it's a level 3 and they wallbounce with CorkScrew and/or crumbled with Hook?

[Skye]

Cork.

Level 3 can be followed up with 5b > j.b > 5aa > 2a+b > 236a => delay 6b.

Don't know if that's optimal, but it nets about 3k. I'll have to check the jp wiki.

[temps]

how do you guys approach the Shadow Labrys matchup? I tried it last night and was getting destroyed. I couldn't control her persona at all and couldn't find any way to stop her airdash pressure with j.B -- air to air with j.A didn't ever work and trying to anti-air with 2B was a total crapshoot

maybe ducking xx BD as an anti-air? both have upper body invul maybe that will give me the angle I need to AA slab's approach

wiki calls this guy a "good reads" character.. is he really all frame traps? that is the way things are seeming right now. his mixup is very poor

Edited August 10, 2012 by temps

[a Lisianthus]

mm.. anyone know any decent frame traps? B hook to A hook works sometimes, but B hook is sorta risky off a kill rush since it's pretty slow.. and thats pretty much all i know haha

[Heroic_Legacy]

how do you guys approach the Shadow Labrys matchup? I tried it last night and was getting destroyed. I couldn't control her persona at all and couldn't find any way to stop her airdash pressure with j.B -- air to air with j.A didn't ever work and trying to anti-air with 2B was a total crapshoot

Let her whiff j.B and go in for pressure if her persona isn't prepping a move. SLabrys's DP isn't really strong so you can pressure her into making a bad choice eventually.

wiki calls this guy a "good reads" character.. is he really all frame traps? that is the way things are seeming right now. his mixup is very poor

Frame traps =/= good reads generally. A good read as in "I think they are gonna throw this move out right now. CORKSCREW" And it fatal counters and you get wallbounce combo. You should work on getting in and making the call either the opponent is going to block (Throw or B charged hook) or if they're gonna poke out (Counter/Corkscrew).

Also this gets even better when you have 50 meter cause if you guess right then you get a combo ending in tornado upper. Guess wrong, lightning fists and all is well.

Generally if you keep 5A/2A'ing them, theyre gonna get antsy and push a button. That's where you make your read and punish them for attempting to poke out/block more.

[Dacidbro]

Please don't say things like "His mix up is very poor", say things like "His mix up FEELS very poor". Akihiko has some of the most dangerous mix up in the entire game, but it's very difficult, so I can understand if you're not optimizing it yet. Are you using EX Duck for cross ups? Mixing up high low with sweep or 5C/2C for safe high low? Using his sweep then one more cancelling to represent threat of low during special cancels? And, finally, putting his grab in everywhere to add the stress of a grab that doubles as a frame trap at any range, thanks to D duck?

[Chazmobile]

EX dash is one of the coolest looking mix-ups ever. In regards to what you said though Dacid, I agree, Akihiko's mix-up is incredibly scary due to the massive reward he gets off of it. Though it does require a bit of conditioning.

Just out of interest though, does D duck have any different properties to C duck?

[Dacidbro]

EX dash is one of the coolest looking mix-ups ever. In regards to what you said though Dacid, I agree, Akihiko's mix-up is incredibly scary due to the massive reward he gets off of it. Though it does require a bit of conditioning.

Just out of interest though, does D duck have any different properties to C duck?

Range/Recovery, longer for both.

Also, remember that grab is the fastest followup to Duck, much faster than hook, so use that to beat blocking and mashing.

[Umareru]

Anyone got any setups for 2AC or jump turnaround shenanigans? I want to incorporate them into my mixup but I'm not sure how.

Anyway, loving the damage I'm getting off him. You know you got a powerhouse on your hands when you're doing 3.4k off 25 meter and thinking it's too little.

[Skye]

Don't short jump with Akihiko, it's useless. His jump is low enough to suffice.

Air turn is a good part of his mix up, come down with a j.b and you'll be good.

[zeththedarkmage]

Anyone got any setups for 2AC or jump turnaround shenanigans? I want to incorporate them into my mixup but I'm not sure how.

Anyway, loving the damage I'm getting off him. You know you got a powerhouse on your hands when you're doing 3.4k off 25 meter and thinking it's too little.

The only thing I've found so far is if you have them in the corner you can jump turnaround j.d and land in front of them and the tanden engine will pull them towards the corner. This might limit their mobility but I haven't tested it.

[Ajsnipes9]

completely random but hey guys add me on psn Ajsnipes9 and i play AKi of course Sig color pallet so far aki 4 ceasear 8 im also a good friend of ShinSyn aka TheNobleYellow

[Skye]

I'll be sure to add you when I get the game.

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[ChrisFGC]

Don't short jump with Akihiko, it's useless. His jump is low enough to suffice.

Air turn is a good part of his mix up, come down with a j.b and you'll be good.

Why do you find short hop useless? Idk of its known, but you can cancel into short hop from boomerang hook, and you can confirm off of a late short hop j.b with cr.a. This seems to make akihiko even scarier from boomerangs hook because it's a total guess for your opponent, they have to either block low sweep, block high short hop, stand in order to tech duck > throw, and of course there's always the threat of EX duck cross up. Also it seems really easy to get counter-hits with boomerang hook cancel to short hop

[kazukifafner]

I only find hop ever useful against Kanji.

Because, well, it's Kanji.

[ShelledMenace]

Well Kanji can still anti-air command grab you out of it lol. If he reads you you get manhandled by his persona :d

I don't think his hop is useless though, especially since it technically let's you "jump cancel" moves you wouldn't normally be able to. Plus you can kill rush cancel the short hop, which I just learned from the Q&A thread lol

[Dacidbro]

Short hop can also be used to bait grab, in the context of D duck > short hop jB

[Umareru]

Why do you find short hop useless? Idk of its known, but you can cancel into short hop from boomerang hook, and you can confirm off of a late short hop j.b with cr.a. This seems to make akihiko even scarier from boomerangs hook because it's a total guess for your opponent, they have to either block low sweep, block high short hop, stand in order to tech duck > throw, and of course there's always the threat of EX duck cross up. Also it seems really easy to get counter-hits with boomerang hook cancel to short hop

That is dirty, will try it tonight. Thanks dude!

[Skye]

Why do you find short hop useless? Idk of its known, but you can cancel into short hop from boomerang hook, and you can confirm off of a late short hop j.b with cr.a. This seems to make akihiko even scarier from boomerangs hook because it's a total guess for your opponent, they have to either block low sweep, block high short hop, stand in order to tech duck > throw, and of course there's always the threat of EX duck cross up. Also it seems really easy to get counter-hits with boomerang hook cancel to short hop

Well that all relies on your opponent being conditioned to respect you.

Since you can't block during short hop, nor can you press anything until the descent, they can mash out and you lose all momentum.

The only thing that really forces respect out of the options you listed is sweep, since it's air tight from Boomerang Hook on normal block. Everything else can be mashed out of, which is bad for all but EX Ducking > Cork, since that trades in your favor.

Either way, short hop is more risk than reward. You sacrifice a lot of flexibility by doing that, and it's not even a guaranteed way to resume pressure.

[ShelledMenace]

Well it honestly all depends on what you're going for regardless. Though I'm sure everyone's realized by now that people love to mash Akihiko pressure lol.