Agito

For round start there's so much she can do to gain momemtum fast that Ken can't do much about including 5B or a simple 5a so I'd recommend just being defensive from the start. As for spacing out command grabs, it's possible but I haven't really seen too many Margaret's doing it, it's usually done in blockstrings from my experience on JP netplay.

In this matchup you're going to have to respect Adachi.....ALOT. His pressure is airtight for the most part and his j.c is too good to try and anti-air. The only thing I can really say as far as defense goes is know how to block. At neutral it's not too bad as Koromaru can pester him and Ken's spear normals can hit him from long-range. But when Adachi is in the air I would stick with j.a as the air-to-air, j.b comes out too slow and you risk CH j.c. When applying pressure on Adachi he can mash AoA and DP to hit Ken even from max range spear distance, so bait those until you feel like the opponent is respecting you.

imo this is one of if not Ken's worst matchup. Margaret can pretty much zone you out the entire time and shut down Koromaru almost without even trying. Keeping Koromaru put away until you're able to inch close enough to apply pressure is something I highly recommend. You can also roll during the starting frames of her D command grab. Staying patient and making the most of your openings is key in this matchup, especially since she can do a ton of damage off any confirm from anywhere on the screen.

I just played Guymam's Sho not too long ago and I learned some interesting things, although nothing that wasn't already known for people who've fought regular Sho. Ken can zone him out quite easily with his normals + Koromaru, which is what you want to do to him the entire time in this matchup. Beat him at footsies and put the pressure on him when you get a chance. When Sho has 100 meter though he can use his 236A/B super to get out of pressure for free on wakeup thanks to him being able to OMC off Koromaru, so be wary of that option. On defense Sho's mixup is pretty crazy. Ken's normals aren't really fast enough to disrespect him and DP'ing isn't the best option since he can bait it naturally with teleport cancels and 5D. Unfortunately when he's in your face you just have to hold that and block. I have noticed that sometimes you can roll the teleport crossups on reaction but you risk getting tagged by the rekka if you do it too soon or if he just does nothing afterward. You can also grab or DP but that too is risky. I personally would recommend just blocking and waiting for an opening to escape. Or Guard Cancel if you got 50 meter.

A good thing to note that I found with Ken's AoA, you can use D ender anywhere on the screen w/o fatal and actually get a 236A to continue the combo So far the only one I've been using is ~D> 236A> 236C> 236B(A)> 214C oki 2000+ dmg For this combo it's hard to tell how much damage you'll get depending on how many hits you actually complete before the D ender but I've always gotten around 2000+ while trying to get as close to 18 hits as possible. Challenge 24 with Ken also offers a D ender combo as well, this time in the corner and with the fatal ender ~D(Fatal)> 2B> 2A+B> 236B> 2B> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 214D> B+D> 214214B 4914 dmg

With blockstrings 5a/2a> 2b> 5b is airtight and from there I usually go for 214c/d if I think the opponent will jump, 5d if I think they'll stand there and then 236c, or 236D if I think they'll try to roll. My use of Koromaru is very dependent on the matchup. Against characters like Mitsuru who beat Ken at neutral I use Koromaru as a neutral tool to annoy and look for openings. And against characters like Adachi and Yukiko who can destroy Koromaru I only have him out when applying pressure.

Naoto's traps won't be revealed if Koromaru goes near them but once they are revealed he can be hit if he doesn't attack through them. Pretty much all of Koro's attacks beat traps.

We actually have the skype group already up. Add agito974 and I'll add you. After playing enough matches online and doing a bit of training mode. When Ken gets touched, whether hit or blocking, Koromaru stops whatever he's doing. The only thing Koromaru is capable of while Ken is blocking is entering/exiting from battle. It's a bit annoying but makes sense.

The regular 214A+B heals a bit more since you're using meter while the S-Hold version uses the regular 214A.

The timing for the combo is really weird, it has to do with where they land on the spear vertically. The closer to the center the better. Also discovered that most of Ken's combos ending in j.2b can also end in 2C> B+D instead to get damage as opposed to Oki.

Hama playing matches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWlI9UdrMY&feature=youtu.be&a

lol I actually have that color. I'm glad it doesn't make him huge, he'd be an easy target.

A few counter hit combos. The first three work on opponents both on the ground and in the air. CH j.b> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a> j.b> JC> j.b> j.2b oki 3517 dmg CH j.b> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B)> 236C> 236236B 4384 Dmg (For this combo to work you have to slightly delay the B follow up to 236BB so that Koromaru ends up behind the opponent) CH j.b> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B)> 214214B 4514 Dmg (It's possible to do an extra 236C but not necessary for the combo to work) (Aerial opponents) CH j.b> 5B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a> j.b> JC> j.b> j.2b oki 3324 Dmg (aerial opponents) CH j.b> 5B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B) > 214214B 4455 Dmg (Aerial Opponents) CH j.b> 5B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236BB> 214C> 235236B 4249 Dmg (Have to delay the 236B follow up so Koro hits behind) (Anti-Air counter hit) 2B> 5B> 236A> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a> j.b> JC> j.b> j.2b 3284 Dmg (Anti-Air counter hit) 2B> 5B> 236A> 236D> 236B(B)> 214214A 3794 Dmg (Anti-Air counter hit) 2B> 5B> 236A> 236D> 236B(B)> 236C> 236236B 4115 Dmg (Same as the other combo where you have to slightly delay the B followup to 236C) (Grounded opponents) CH j.b> 5B> 5C> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a> j.b> JC> j.b> j.2b oki 3747 Dmg (Grounded opponents) CH j.b> 5B> 5C> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B)> 214214B 4808 Dmg (Grounded Opponents) CH j.b> 5B> 5C> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B)> 236C> 236236B 4652 Dmg (For this combo you don't need to delay the 236B follow up because Koro already positions himself to hit behind.) 5B Counter Hit Combos: CH 5B> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B)> 236C> 236236B 4206 Dmg CH 5B> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B(B)> 236C> 214214B 4392 Dmg CH 5B> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a> j.b> JC> j.b> j.2b> 2C> B+D 3809 Dmg

Alright then. Would you rather me re-post stuff there or just leave it here and everything new go in the threads?

Kagikou has just released a combo video for Ken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ6MUGZnK0Y I've analyzed and written the combo notation as well as a few things of interest that have to be stated. It looks like you should be able to get oki from the first two combos. First combo: 5AAA > 236A> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a> j.b> j.2b> 2C> j.2b 2437 dmg The key thing I noticed about this combo is that during the 5AAA Koromaru doesn't attack. Whenever I try this in training mode Koromaru always attacks during the third hit. I've tried everything from holding down a button to even mashing a different button but I can't seem to get Koro not to attack during 5AAA. Second Combo: 2A> 2B> 5B> 236A> 236D> 236B> 2B> j.a >j.b >j.2b> 2C> JC> j.2b 2353 dmg The same combo as the one above but from a different starter. This combo I have been able to do in training mode with no problem. Nothing of interest about this one Third Combo: 5AA > 5B> 5C> 2A+B> 236A(B follow up)> 236D> 236BB> 236C> 236236B 4098 dmg Something really interesting about this combo in order to make it work like in the video, when you do the first 236D after the 236A(B follow up) you have to time it so that Koromaru actually ends up behind the opponent! Since the timing is a bit hard I've been doing the combo with the same inputs but only without the follow up to the 236B and the 236C. It gets you 3616 damage as opposed to 4098. Fourth Combo: 2A> 2B> 5B> 5C> 2A+B> 236A(B)> 236D> 236BB>236C> 236236B 3687 dmg Same combo as above but off a different starter. Koro having to go behind the opponent still applies Fifth Combo: C+D> 236D> 236B> 2B> 2C> j.b> j.2b 2108 dmg Simple combo off of throw that knocksdown and gives possible oki setup. EDIT: I just retried the first combo with 5AA>5B as the starter instead and got the same combo with more damage. I got 2680 which is almost 200 more damage.