[P4A] Yu Narukami vs Akihiko Sandada

[MashThat5A]

Discuss the Ahikiko matchup here

[VR-Raiden]

Block punishes vs Akihiko:

2A+B (IB)

- (dash) 5A

Note: In crouch state during recovery.

B+D

- CH 214A

- FC 2C

A+B

- (dash) 5B

Corkscrew A/B/SB

- (dash) CH 5C

poorly spaced/early j.C

- dash 5B

Note: In crouch state during recovery

Cyclone Uppercut

- CH 214A

- FC 2C

- (during flash) A+C > dash CH 5B

- (during flash) Cross Slash/Ziodyne

close Thunder Fists

- CH 5B

Maziodyne

- (far range) dash CH 214A

- (mid range) FC 214B

- (close range) dash FC 2C/236D

- (during flash) Myriad Truths

Earth Breaker

- FC 214B

- Myriad Truths

Note: Wait for it to stop pulling you in.

I'll edit this if something's wrong or needs to be added.

[LuminAbyss]

I was instant blocking his sweep (done after Kill Rush > stuff) in pressure yesterday a lot, and punishing it with 5A. Can someone confirm if this is legit or was I just calling him out on mashing things afterwards?

[VR-Raiden]

I was instant blocking his sweep (done after Kill Rush > stuff) in pressure yesterday a lot, and punishing it with 5A. Can someone confirm if this is legit or was I just calling him out on mashing things afterwards?

Yeah apparently this is true, that will help a lot.

[FullAutoDeath]

Akihiko's Level 2 sweep normally isn't punishable if you only IB that, as Yu will usually be out of range to hit with 5A. If you IB the last hits of 236A or the 4A hook(or both) and then IB the sweep you will be in range to punish with 5A.

Level 3 sweep doesn't seem to be punishable

[Raging Ghost]

Any general strategies?

[shinobispectre]

I'm not the best authority but try to stay midrange while watching out for his Kill Rush especially 236AB. 5B is your friend, I'm not sure if it beats Kill Rush but I have found that 5B does stop his Corkscrew attack. Should they get in and initiate Akihiko's combos watch what they use as an ender if you block. They generally go for the sweep, but some go for the All Out Attack to catch you off guard as well as take to the air mashing A. When you encounter someone (the few that do this I haven't met many) that uses his D attack to pull you, use Swift Strike as it is enhanced by the pull and can catch them off guard, I doubt it would work continuously so use it when you think they least expect it. Swift Strike should also low profile his Corkscrew attack as well otherwise I'm just getting lucky with timing. DO NOT AIR APPROACH AN AKIHIKO WHO USES HIS C ATTACK IN AIR! It keeps you close enough for the player to get in and hurts a lot. If you expect it though Yu's C attack should beat it. An earlier tip I believe from darkpath or Shinsyn is to use 236C to force the player you are facing into the air, while I am hesitant to use it against Akihiko for that annoying j.C attack, it nullifies Akihiko's better ground approach. If they try to use assault drive you can 2B them. If they are in Awakening do not use Ziodyne if you are not sure that it will, it is free punish for Akihiko's Maziodyne. Do not jump in not only that Akihiko can use his C attack but his uppercut is just too good. Watch what your opponent does and try understand their gameplan, Akihiko needs to get and I have found opponents try to stick to specific approaches punish them for it. Again I am not the best authority but I hope this helps!

Side Note: Should you find yourself in the air, you can use Big Gamble to catch Akihiko using air C. Watch out for how much blue health you have, one blink and it will be gone.

[floatwater]

What in the fuck does i do with a nigga 5A?

[skd]

What in the fuck does i do with a nigga 5A?

your 5a is just as fast and has more active frames...

if you mean during blockstun i dunno, IB grab/5a/keep blocking or something

[floatwater]

it's kinda like that, i know i can't just mash out of it. it's usually during 5D oki, like i don't even use it anymore against aki because i feel like it's so invalid half of the time. i didn't know my 5A could match aki's.

[Shinsyn]

5D oki works on Akihiko, you're probably:

1) Not close enough

2) Hitting him with Max range 2AB (5D will get punished in that case)

3) Not pressing 5D after 2AB when you should be pressing it.

Akihiko shouldn't be able to mash out 5A in your 5D okizeme pressure if it's done properly.

[floatwater]

So 2AB doesn't work max range. .oh. the only other thing is the gaps in mixups. i usually get DP'd out of it. nother reason i guess.

what about in terms of spacing? besides 5B what else do i have?

[skd]

5D oki works on Akihiko, you're probably:

1) Not close enough

2) Hitting him with Max range 2AB (5D will get punished in that case)

3) Not pressing 5D after 2AB when you should be pressing it.

Akihiko shouldn't be able to mash out 5A in your 5D okizeme pressure if it's done properly.

wtf? delay your 5d

[floatwater]

ok so all i have to do now is bait random DPs.

K.

[Shinsyn]

wtf? delay your 5d

That is an option as well. You will most likely get a CH 5D this way and you could do a combo for a good amount of damage.

[VR-Raiden]

My understanding is you want to do 5D asap if you hit the sweep really far, since it has to go farther.

If you delay 5D too much they can roll/jump/attack/delay tech through it.

I dunno what you were getting 5D punished with. if it was DP, a good chunk of the cast can reversal DP it so that's not specific to Akihiko.

[Shinsyn]

My understanding is you want to do 5D asap if you hit the sweep really far, since it has to go farther.

If you delay 5D too much they can roll/jump/attack/delay tech through it.

I dunno what you were getting 5D punished with. if it was DP, a good chunk of the cast can reversal DP it so that's not specific to Akihiko.

I thought the same thing too but I can see how delaying it could work out if the opponent is recklessly mashing buttons on wake up due to recovery on certain moves. It's probably situational depending on what they're doing on wake up though.

[VR-Raiden]

Yay a use for D Ziodyne.

Apparently, if you delay it slightly after the flash, you can D Ziodyne through Akihiko's Maziodyne.

btw 2C is pretty good in this match

[skd]

you can cross slash through every ziodyne except level 3 d maziodyne, same with d ziodyne(trades). if you have meter w/o persona out no reason for him to get an unlockable unless you tech badly

[Fistmaster049]

Don't suppose I could get some general tips about this matchup?

he just keeps punching through anything I do

[VR-Raiden]

Don't suppose I could get some general tips about this matchup?

he just keeps punching through anything I do

Neutral

- 5B poking is good but he's able to weave and punish. 2C however will FC him out of weave (except EX). It's also hard for him to jump over it at long range due to his short jump arc, making it a pretty useful long range poke in the matchup. If he rolls it, usually you'll at least be at advantage, unless he rolled right before you did it. He can kill rush you out of it but you can punish that attempt by getting it to whiff or putting out a normal at the right time (5A works well, active for 5 frames).

- look for IADs or other reckless attempts to get in on you, and punish accordingly. Doing 2B too late will get you CH by IAD jB, so you have to react quick, or you can always DP. Convert hits into knockdowns for 5D Oki, safejumps, or regular meaties whenever possible.

- don't swing too many jB out of range in air-to-air situations, his CH jC hurts. He can hurt you with it for getting you anti air 2B attempt to whiff too so be wary of that.

Offense

- nothing out of ordinary here, except keep in mind his DP first hit is air unlockable, so jumping in after 5D too early too close/in corner is bad. Easy to avoid though since it has pretty short range. It also doesn't hit behind so it won't hit you for certain cross up attempts like others.

Defense

- IB kill rush, its easy to. Roll gets out of a lot of his mixups but can get you thrown obviously. Don't guess throw techs, try to react or use an OS, his fatal 5B on your throw whiff hurts. I don't recommend many random DP to get out for the same reason. His only low is sweep so keep that in mind, he can't get anything off it w/o meter after killrush (as far as I know).

- look for EX duck thing crossups when he has resources/you're low on life.

- delay D ziodyne through random maziodyne anywhere on screen.

[Fistmaster049]

Neutral

- 5B poking is good but he's able to weave and punish. 2C however will FC him out of weave (except EX). It's also hard for him to jump over it at long range due to his short jump arc, making it a pretty useful long range poke in the matchup. If he rolls it, usually you'll at least be at advantage, unless he rolled right before you did it. He can kill rush you out of it but you can punish that attempt by getting it to whiff or putting out a normal at the right time (5A works well, active for 5 frames).

- look for IADs or other reckless attempts to get in on you, and punish accordingly. Doing 2B too late will get you CH by IAD jB, so you have to react quick, or you can always DP. Convert hits into knockdowns for 5D Oki, safejumps, or regular meaties whenever possible.

- don't swing too many jB out of range in air-to-air situations, his CH jC hurts. He can hurt you with it for getting you anti air 2B attempt to whiff too so be wary of that.

Offense

- nothing out of ordinary here, except keep in mind his DP first hit is air unlockable, so jumping in after 5D too early too close/in corner is bad. Easy to avoid though since it has pretty short range. It also doesn't hit behind so it won't hit you for certain cross up attempts like others.

Defense

- IB kill rush, its easy to. Roll gets out of a lot of his mixups but can get you thrown obviously. Don't guess throw techs, try to react or use an OS, his fatal 5B on your throw whiff hurts. I don't recommend many random DP to get out for the same reason. His only low is sweep so keep that in mind, he can't get anything off it w/o meter after killrush (as far as I know).

- look for EX duck thing crossups when he has resources/you're low on life.

- delay D ziodyne through random maziodyne anywhere on screen.

Thanks for the advice

Now I really need to learn how to instant block D: