Eshi

akihiko has so many different hit confirms depending on the starter hit, and different combos for if he wants max damage or some type of oki or ending in super... he's surprisingly complicated o_O

If you block Mitsuru's DP while she has 50 meter, prepare for noob-out super. Don't go for 5B fatal. The best ways to punish it IMO are CH 2C for an air juggle (kind of tricky), or 5AA once she lands. If she supers, 5A recovers first and it's punishable by dash 5B fatal on block. If she doesn't, you can still hit confirm for 2.4-3.4k. C Weaving is decently useful in this match-up. 5A will whiff through it but it recovers WAY too fast to punish on reaction, so do not bother. If she does Coup Droit A into a weave, punish with Corkscrew A on reaction. If she does Coup Droit B, you can react with duck > Corkscrew A for a 3K combo. Like Skye said, EX Corkscrew eats Bufula with super armor and punishes on reaction. Don't even try psychic close-out blows, you'll just eat 2A's all day. Almost everything this bitch does is safe on block so, be REALLY patient for an opening and respect the threat of the box.

I'm surprised it's not. o_O Wind is built by doing his special series, every one after the first raises level by 1 until 3. Sweep, AOA, throw and super also count for raising level. If you're already at 3 then you have to stop the special series in the BNB to reset it to 0 and continue from there, which is sometimes not possible.

auto-combo isn't just an ezmode thing, it's actually surprisingly strong for some character because it builds a ton of meter. way more than an alternate BNB off of some hit confirms. Jiyuna had like a 1 1/2 hour training session with a ridiculously strong yosuke and he autocombo'd a lot, especially at the beginning of matches. I'm mostly apathetic about its affect on the game, it's just a thing to me. (ignore zyphur, he is a drama whore)

His uppercut super is affected by the his tornado level thing. When it's level 3 he travels highest and deals the most damage. It also recovers the longest so he can't double super after it, while he can with level 1/2.

no but there should be. his only high/low mixup is between AOA and sweep which is fairly easy to block. his main way to deal damage without meter is frame trap/throw. his normal gatlings can be delayed for quite a long time. During a special series he can cancel into sweep to hit mashing (deals no damage though), or cancel into duck for a throw or some other follow-up and it's vulnerable to mash/up back. The latter is pretty bad TBH. It completely changes once he gets meter though, because he can cancel any string into EX Duck > Corkscrew for a cross-up. Any blocked A Kill Rush can go into A Hook > EX Duck > Corkscrew - it will cross up even if inputted as quickly as possible and fatal counters mashing/hits jumping. Shit is stupidly fast, it's basically impossible to react to. The fear of eating a cross-up fatal helps land his other basic mixup a lot.

I understand what you mean now, but predicting that you'll need to react to something is completely different from straight up prediction. The latter forces you to commit to an action that can be punished while the former doesn't. Also, average human reaction time is supposed to be somewhere between 150 - 300 ms, so reacting to 1/3 of a second isn't too unrealistic.

Counter is not good in this match-up because there's nothing long enough to react with it to. Sorry for not being clear with that statement. I implore you to take the stick out of your ass, though. You have a completely wrong impression of me.

Huh, this is a clever idea! I'm definitely gonna test that out when I get home!

Basically everyone's DP is option select punishable by Akihiko in some way except for Kanji's. It's not frame 1 invincible, it's frame 1 super armor which is a BIG difference. Invincible DPs allow you to safe jump their wake-up and punish every time. Counter DPs allow you to safe cross-up their wake-up which makes the counter followup whiff so you can also punish it. If you try to do this on Kanji then you're screwed. Other characters have a persona attack or projectile type attack they can meaty to OS his DP but Akihiko has nothing like that. jC is a good bait punish though. I say this because option selects are vastly superior to baiting - option selects always work when executed correctly while baiting implies that guessing wrong can get you punished instead. Because of this, going in on Kanji carries more inherent risk than going in on other characters, which is why I recommend to play much more lame than normal. That way, if he makes a bad guess then you can reaction punish with A Kill Rush without taking any risks yourself.

does akihiko's parry (214A/B) have counterhit-able start-up frames? I'm testing it on block strings and training mode and keep getting counterhit. I'm 99% sure I'm not just missing inputs. also, zyphur, what you're describing is NOT reaction, it is prediction. reaction is like seeing the start-up on elizabeth's lazers specifically and immediately parrying it. There is no guessing involved by definition.

C weaving only works on 5B, gets hit by 2B also, for some reason weaving doesn't work on her magnetic blast, for some reason it doesn't count as a projectile? but 214A/B will parry it and duck > corkscrew will eat her.

you said earlier that it has no effect, does this mean you tested it and disproved it? That's pretty cool if so!

trying to land a raw corkscrew like that is a really bad tactic against good players. if you have 50 meter to OMC it then you're better off going for EX Duck > Corkscrew cross-up after the A hook. It's MUCH more difficult to correctly block while still countering mashing. Well yeah, but the cyclone level doesn't affect the THROW itself, it just carries over from the throw. Which leads me to believe it doesn't affect the AOA either since they're both basic system mechanics.

it carries cyclone level over just like his throw, I'm interested in knowing if either of them on their own are actually affected by level.

Holding C Weaving can avoid Yu's pokes and you can punish on reaction, if you're fast. Same goes for Misturu. Don't bother with his counter, it is shitty. Also, both Yu and Mitsuru's R-Actions are very easy to safe jump (IE, hold back during a very low jump in so you'll block if they do something invincible). This forces them to at least respect your okizeme. Remember to RUN UNDER THEM after you block a DP or they could hit you with a super cancel. Like Chie, there's nothing really to get around Yu's persona oki except blocking well. So block well. Guard Cancel can get you out in a pinch, though, so save your meter if you think you'll need it.

Another cross-post from Mayonaka since this match-up will eventually give everyone trouble: This match-up is surprisingly difficult for Akihiko. I played 16 matches with OmniScythe yesterday and lost all of them, BUT I learned a lot. Naoto has a very unusual moveset that makes it more difficult than normal for Akihiko to get in. Don't try to close distance with corkscrew or kill rush because you'll just run into a trap. EX kill rush may help since it has armor, though. Naoto's normals are fairly weak compared to other footsie-oriented characters, but Akihiko has no footsies at all so it doesn't matter. It can feel frustrating but Naoto is a glass cannon and will melt under Akihiko's pressure once he's close, so don't ever give up! Things that help this match-up: * Naoto's R-Action can be crossed up after a knockdown to make the follow-up whiff. I'm fairly sure it can be safe jumped too, but I need to test how quickly the follow-up can be activated. * If you have a life lead, DO NOT APPROACH HER. She has no mid-full screen mixup so holding back will negate any damage. Navigating her jungle gym of traps is extremely difficult for Akihiko so use every opportunity you can to keep her out of that position. Remember: the more traps you get hit by, the faster she can instant kill you from any hit confirm into super. * Save your burst for SMP combos. If you're playing a good Naoto then it will happen. Use it after she blows the meter for her super, and only on something she can't interrupt for a burst prediction like Double Fangs to be extra safe. * If you corner her, WATCH OUT FOR EX AIM. She can cross up and go straight into her SMP loop from there. If she has 75+ meter, then try to space yourself so that EX Aim can't cross-up and be ready to throw her out of a roll. God help you if you're the one in the corner.

Cross-posting from Mayonaka Midnight: kanji's DP is insanely godlike. honestly it's probably the best thing going for him in this match-up. He will punish akihiko's normal agressive play really hard between it and command throws, and it's impossible to safe jump or OS the frame 1 super armor so Oki is a lot more risky. It's best to play this match like it's Makoto vs. Zangeif. Play much more lame while you have a life lead and force him to take risks, it's a lot easier to reaction punish him than to rely on guessing with mix-up. Max distance for A Kill Rush is the perfect spacing for this. I find that exercising more control over my rush down drastically increases my chances of winning. There's two useful things I figured out in training mode. The first is that EX Weaving is strong for escaping dangerous situations (like electrified). if he does DP or D throw, you can just run in and fatal 5B on reaction, or C Duck > Corkscrew on moves that recovery faster (or electrified). The second is that if he's feeling himself and counter DP's your DP, you can on reaction super cancel into Thunder Fist to make it safe (other two supers don't work).

ah yes, I forget that akihiko is the only character that never uses persona attacks :3 traditional safe jumps are impossible at least

I'll be there on Friday but I'll be with my BF so we may have plans for that day. Would be available after dinner, though.

I was just thinking the same thing! But which game that you don't play will you play?

persona blue: accent core sounds fucking godlike. I can't wait :D

it's impossible to safe jump kanji (IE, doing a really low jump attack so you land and block if they do something invincible). His R-Action has frame 1 super armor and you can't cancel the hitstop with anything.

AFAIK, every single R-Action except for Kanji's can be safe jumped or safe cross-uped on knockdown. Even characters with counter DP's will have their follow-ups whiff on a safe cross-up. Then there's zoning characters that don't even care about your DPs and characters with meaty persona attacks that will eat it instead. Honestly, the more I think about the P4A system, the more impressed I am with how viable but counterable every mechanic is. I love this game.

thank you very much for the matches omniscythe, I have so much to learn before Summer Jam orz