[P4A] Akihiko Q&A/FAQ Thread

[Soriphen]

Akihiko works by the cyclone gauge. Take a good look at the aura around him when he performs the throw during the demonstration. Different cyclone levels indicate different properties for certain moves, the hook being one of them. So start off with a Weave > Duck > Throw > A Hook > etc.

As for Akihiko tips? Read the tips I wrote on page 14. Also, read anything Skye and Alpha say (the resident Aki gods).

[Zangriefing]

What are some strings or rather moves that give me enough frame advantage to Duck A then back dash and bait the throw? Is it just 5B? I see other people do it, but I just end up with being counter throwed. Am I just not inputting something fast enough?

[Skye]

C Duck > D Weave baits throws, punish with cork.

If you know they will throw you can do duck > AoA. Free 3k+.

[Zangriefing]

C Duck > D Weave baits throws, punish with cork.

If you know they will throw you can do duck > AoA. Free 3k+.

Oh, Thanks. I'll try implementing that into my meta game.

[Effenhoog]

you can also duck > short hop > j.A or j.B, which will counterhit their throw whiff and get you a free combo

[Zangriefing]

you can also duck > short hop > j.A or j.B, which will counterhit their throw whiff and get you a free combo

That sounds like a good idea too, thanks for the tip.

[Elochai]

Is 6B OMC > 5B a legitimate frame trap, or have I just caught people pressing buttons slower than 5B?

[Skye]

Corkscrew?

Legit.

[A.X.I.S.]

Is 6B OMC > 5B a legitimate frame trap, or have I just caught people pressing buttons slower than 5B?

Corkscrew OMC > 5B is legit.

5B is 6F

[Codename Exia]

Corkscrew OMC > 5B is legit.

5B is 6F

Should honestly just have said Moke does it.

Wouldn't even need the frame data.

[Skye]

Personally I'd rather he use the frame data instead of "x player uses it". Yes, Moke does it, but it's important to understand why he does it; to properly discern a legit strategy from gimmicks or situational tactics that take advantage of conditioning, and one of the surefire ways to do this is to bring up hard numbers.

If you just copy without grasping the subtleties or logic behind it, you're just being a shithead.

[ShelledMenace]

A bit unnecessary with the shithead lol, but he's right. It's not really going to help just to do what a good player does if you can't/don't figure out why he's doing it in the first place. That's easy enough to learn the hard way though

[Codename Exia]

Personally I'd rather he use the frame data instead of "x player uses it". Yes, Moke does it, but it's important to understand why he does it; to properly discern a legit strategy from gimmicks or situational tactics that take advantage of conditioning, and one of the surefire ways to do this is to bring up hard numbers.

If you just copy without grasping the subtleties or logic behind it, you're just being a shithead.

Was more a joke than anything -- I'll refrain from it if you like. It's obviously not the correct mindset.

[Skye]

Sorry about that, jokes are typically hard to catch on the internet.

[Codename Exia]

It's fine, I would've shot back if I didn't understand the situation well enough. I tend to get into trouble on forums a lot as a result of my own brand of humor. I type things to make myself chuckle above all else.

Anyhow I've been working on 5AA/5B/2A => Duck pressure, any ideas of good ways to open opponents up from this besides a tick throw? So far what I've got is SB Duck crossup and shorthop j.B. I don't really have any fundamentally solid ideas besides enticing them to DP by applying the pressure and baiting it with D weave.

[Zangriefing]

What's the most optimal punish on Chie after blocking her DP?

[Ctrlaltwtf]

What's the most optimal punish on Chie after blocking her DP?

5B is the optimal punish for just about everything, as it's a Fatal Counter that makes jB(1) > j214B possible, amongst other things.

You start FC combos with either FC 5B > 236C/D > 4C > F.Action or FC 5B > 236B > 6C/D > F.Action

[superscience890]

Anyhow I've been working on 5AA/5B/2A => Duck pressure, any ideas of good ways to open opponents up from this besides a tick throw? So far what I've got is SB Duck crossup and shorthop j.B. I don't really have any fundamentally solid ideas besides enticing them to DP by applying the pressure and baiting it with D weave.

You also have C weave which is good for resetting pressure from time to time. Like 5B(1) Weave, dash 5A or something like that. At least when I play, my main pressure is frame traps, and grabs since Akihiko's sweep generally ends your pressure or you go into duck/weave stuff. But I dunno, my pressure still needs work as well, so there's a couple of things

What's the most optimal punish on Chie after blocking her DP?

if you can run after her and hit her in the air, then 5B 236C 4C BD > fatal combo

If you can't catch her in the air, it's not in counter hit state but she is crouching so, 5B(1) 236B 6C BD and then ender from there.

[Zangriefing]

Can somebody give me any tips against for neutral game against Lab & Yu? I just feel like I'm constantly running into stuff and being AA. Oh & Aigis too, if it isn't too much. Getting in on these characters seem really stacked.

[Skye]

Unlike Liz, these are MUs I know. I'll start with Narukami.

Narukami has better normals than you, simple. You can't freely approach him the same way you do other characters. His 2b can and will zone you. You have to play mid range, make him their something out so you can punish the whiff (5b, 2b and 5c have a ton of recovery) or make him nervous about pressing a button. Block him well, he should never get away with doing raging lion outside of his vortex, you can ib and punish ziocar. You can duck/weave through the following;

5a (duck only, never tested weave)

5b

5c

2c (must ib previous move in block string to not get frame trapped)

Fireball (c weave for free meter)

Neutral is literally trying not to get in without getting 2b'd, if Narukami isn't abusing 2b, neutral should be free for Akihiko.

Misc notes;

EX hook beats cross slash

EX weave > roll makes cross slash whiff

Ziocar will beat any EX ground move (hook or cork must be done late to win)

Character specific BnB, Narukami only: 5aa > 5b(1) > delay j.b > 66b > 2b > 2ab > kill rush > d duck > a cork nets about 2.8k

I'll touch up on Labrys and Aigis in a sec.

[Skye]

Labrys is an easy MU, it's the only one I'd say is in Akihiko's favor (though slightly), neutral game is long range here given Labrys' hitboxes, stay in motion so it's harder for her to space her j.bs. After that, just push her shit in, her DP is pretty ass and you can bait her 2b easily with j.c (since it hits so low). And with well times IAD's you'll be able to land in time to block it anyway. You can IB the first hit of Guillotine Axe and DP, if you can help it, don't let her get on the offensive when she has meter, that's when her mix up becomes threatening. You can duck/weave throw the following;

Chain Knuckle

Neutral in this MU is silly and simple, the only hard parts of the MU are blocking her when she has meter, and approaching her, she has a pretty big bubble when she starts using her persona to control space.

[Skye]

Aigis I'll say is even, like truly even (not "you just have to touch her once through her zoning your shit in" even), you just have to keep an eye out for certain things in both of her modes. Pre-Orgia is simply, Aigis is gonna like to j.c, at times you have not choice but to respect this, at other times you can pop her with a preemptive j.a and get a CH. You're gonna want to roll those 2bs, free crouch confirm from midrange and you might be able to sneak in an EX kill rush at 3/4th screen distance. In Orgia look out for more 2bs, some Aigis players will use it liberally. If you know how to block Orgia, she's free, if you don't or you're not sure you can make it work, then avoid her like crazy; up+back, roll, whatever it takes, the more Orgia meter she wastes chasing you, the better. If you're caught eating mix up and can't block it, eat the j.b over the sweep, sweep can cost you 4-6k, the damage differences aren't that big, but every point counts. If Aigis has low Orgia meter and is on the defensive, expect a DP, since DP switches modes as well. You can dodge Goddess Shield if Aigis has meter to cancel it, otherwise safe jump it, Aigis has no Air Unblockable normals when she has ammo, you can box jump Heavenly Spear. You can duck/weave through the following;

Max Range 2b

5b

7th Gen Gatling Blast

Neutral pre-Orgia is mostly respecting her and rolling 2b. Neutral during Orgia is dodging her hard. Misc notes;

EX Cork bodies Megido Fire during neutral for free.

Try not to jump in too much, 2b destroys Akihiko's air game.

Don't try to guard point/invul through Goddess Shield, it won't work.

[superscience890]

Just going to pop in and say a few things,

Weave will also go under Narukami's 5a

You can also do the jump loop on Yosuke as in (standing confirm 5b(1) j.b 5b(1) j.b ...). Off of 5aa, two reps is probably max if you want to get lvl2 corkscrew knockdown

For the Aigis matchup, when she's not in orgia mode, try not to jump too much meaninglessly because then she can take that opportunity to 2b into orgia which sucks. As Skye said j.c has a large hit box so you want to be careful of that.

[Zangriefing]

Just going to pop in and say a few things,

Weave will also go under Narukami's 5a

You can also do the jump loop on Yosuke as in (standing confirm 5b(1) j.b 5b(1) j.b ...). Off of 5aa, two reps is probably max if you want to get lvl2 corkscrew knockdown

For the Aigis matchup, when she's not in orgia mode, try not to jump too much meaninglessly because then she can take that opportunity to 2b into orgia which sucks. As Skye said j.c has a large hit box so you want to be careful of that.

Aigis I'll say is even, like truly even (not "you just have to touch her once through her zoning your shit in" even), you just have to keep an eye out for certain things in both of her modes. Pre-Orgia is simply, Aigis is gonna like to j.c, at times you have not choice but to respect this, at other times you can pop her with a preemptive j.a and get a CH. You're gonna want to roll those 2bs, free crouch confirm from midrange and you might be able to sneak in an EX kill rush at 3/4th screen distance. In Orgia look out for more 2bs, some Aigis players will use it liberally. If you know how to block Orgia, she's free, if you don't or you're not sure you can make it work, then avoid her like crazy; up+back, roll, whatever it takes, the more Orgia meter she wastes chasing you, the better. If you're caught eating mix up and can't block it, eat the j.b over the sweep, sweep can cost you 4-6k, the damage differences aren't that big, but every point counts. If Aigis has low Orgia meter and is on the defensive, expect a DP, since DP switches modes as well. You can dodge Goddess Shield if Aigis has meter to cancel it, otherwise safe jump it, Aigis has no Air Unblockable normals when she has ammo, you can box jump Heavenly Spear. You can duck/weave through the following;

Max Range 2b

5b

7th Gen Gatling Blast

Neutral pre-Orgia is mostly respecting her and rolling 2b. Neutral during Orgia is dodging her hard. Misc notes;

EX Cork bodies Megido Fire during neutral for free.

Try not to jump in too much, 2b destroys Akihiko's air game.

Don't try to guard point/invul through Goddess Shield, it won't work.

Sorry for the late reply, but thanks for the match up information. I was starting to feel like those match ups were unwinnable, but this helps a lot since the Match up forums are outdated.

[Lanimal]

I've been lurking the Akihiko forums for such a long time I'm surprised I even made an account.

Anyway, with Evo being in a month, what are some of things you guys are doing to prepare? I do not think I'm very good but I plan on taking down as many Narukami and Chie players as possible. :D