HNK/Toki

	Damage Taken
	100%
	Jump Startup
	4f
	Backdash
	1f

Overview

Starter Guide

Combos

Overview

Of course the guy who looks like Jesus is God Tier. If you are even a little familiar with Hokuto no Ken, Toki probably needs no introduction. With peerless pressure, mixup, mobility and defense, Toki is easily the best character in the game and a legendarily strong pick to play as.

It is somewhat difficult to summarize Toki, as basically everything he does can be summarized as "it's pretty good" or "it's the best in the game". His pressure is excellent, with multiple reset points and a great strike/throw game. His mixup is unique and unconventional but extremely fast and always rewarding. His mobility and use of boost are among the best in the game, and his defense is simply the best in the game with no real competitors.

The reason behind Toki's strength lies in his Hokuto Musou Ryuubu series of teleports. With incredibly fast startup and very little recovery, these teleports allow Toki to zip around the screen at an absurd pace and completely dominate the game. Teleports have their use as both pressure extenders and mixup tools, letting a good Toki player run (or perhaps teleport) circles around their opponents. Opponents need to have strong game knowledge and execution if they want to escape from Toki's assault.

On the defensive front, Toki has an incredible defensive toolkit to work with. His 2A is an insanely powerful button for every purpose you could think of, and he also has a reflector for dealing with zoning and a projectile of his own to compete with. He has two of the best reversal supers in the game, one of which is plus on blockGuard:
AllStartup:
8+0Recovery:
Advantage:
+8, as well as a zero-startup series of counter moves. On top of all of this, he also has the singular best FKO in the game alongside Kenshiro as it goes nearly fullscreen and can be combo'd into from a whole bunch of stuff.

Look, Toki is the best character in the game. We know it, the community knows it, and now you know it. He's an extremely fun, highly expressive and totally unique character to play, making him an enduring facet of the competitive scene. While he no longer totally dominates the game like he used to, and the playing field has been equalized out of his favor to a strong degree, he is still without a doubt one of the most powerful characters ever put in an Arcsys fighting game.

Toki

Pros and Cons

Toki is a lightning fast teleport character, and can do just about everything.

Pros

Cons

God Tier: Positive matchups against all characters; has two 9:1 matchups against Mamiya and Jagi.
Hokuto Musou Ryuubu: The best teleport ever, and Toki's central move. Goes all over the place at high speed with almost no recovery at all and can be cancelled into any move, even itself, for ridiculous mixups and free neutral. You could even treat it like a free Boost in some scenarios.
Huge Combos: Can followup nearly every hit with huge no gauge combos. His throw and counters cause wallbounces, and even his slow 2B launches. Additionally, he has great star reducing abilities, and his FKO reaches fullscreen.
Incredible Defense: Hokuto Haryuushou is a frame 1 active counter that, as mentioned above, leads into insane reward. Can also reflect projectiles with Hokuto Ryuukojin, and has two of the best reversal supers in the game. Why not?
Wack Hurtboxes: Toki's hurtboxes are extremely small relative to the rest of the cast. This makes him unusually hard to properly juggle, influencing the way several of his matchups play out. Even if you can get through his huge defenses, you may have to go for less effective routes in combos.

Honest Mids: 2B is his only low attack, and it's very slow. Toki relies more on confusing his opponents with teleports then opening them up with traditional high/lows, as well as the threat of his throw which can lead to 100% combos.
Execution: His 3-star FKO combos are fairly difficult to pull off, but you can always rely on the rest of his insanely cracked kit to win anyways.

Unique Mechanics

Sekkako Install

Hikou SekkatsukouGuard:
Startup:
Recovery:
Advantage:
powers up multiple of Toki’s special moves: Hokuto ShorinkyakuGuard:
Startup:
2Recovery:
4Advantage:
, Toukei KohouGuard:
AllStartup:
13Recovery:
32Advantage:
and Hokuto SaihakenGuard:
Startup:
6+3Recovery:
30Advantage:
-17 have their damage increased while Tenshou HyakuretsukenGuard:
HighStartup:
9Recovery:
12Advantage:
and his parries take off one extra star on hit.

During this install, Toki cannot regenerate health.

Normals

c.A

c.A

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	9	9	4	8	-2

Weak, redundant jab

Mostly useless. 2A is faster and provides great advantage, so use that instead.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

c.B

c.B

Decieving animation, it is not a low.

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	9	9	4	8	-2

Hits opponents OTG, which is used in some 100% throw routes for the last few points of damage.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

c.C

c.C

Strictly worse c.D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	19	13	4	24	-13

Combo filler, commonly used in corner loops. For whatever reason this move has absolutely no pushback on block. If only it wasn't -13.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

c.D

c.D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	19	13	4	24	-13

Used in some combos, such as Rei crouching infinites.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

f.A

f.A

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	7	9	4	4	+2

Still mostly useless. Whiffs on crouching.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

f.B

f.B

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	7	6	4	12	-6

Cancelable into itself.

Its long range and fast startup make it very good for footsies. Can also be used against low air-dashing opponents.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

f.C

f.C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	17	13	6	16	-8

Slow startup, not very useful. Also whiffs on crouching, but you can't ever get close enough to your opponent for it to even whiff without the close version coming out instead.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

f.D

f.D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	17	16	4	16	-5

Stuns opponent when it hits on the ground, can follow up with a Banishing Strike except vs Mr. Heart.

Not very useful outside of combos.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

2A

Not a low.

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	6	5	3	3	+5

Arguably Toki's best normal. Hits quite high and is oddly disjointed, which makes it great as an anti air. However this does mean that it won't be able to stuff certain moves like Shin's 2B. Also used in Toki's Basuke routes, and on top of all that its +5 on block. If at any point you aren't sure what to do, just hold down and mash A! This makes up for any potentially mediocre normals Toki may have by itself.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

2B

A low!

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
Low	6	16	4	18	-12

Toki's only low, and a launcher on hit. However the 16 frame startup, the odd launch, and the proration make this move less attractive than Toki's other mixup options. However it is important to use every once in a while to get your opponent opened up by your more rewarding overhead mixups.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
Launch

2C

Still not a low.
Still not a low.

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	8(14)	9	4(5)4	16(12)	-1

Important combo and blockstring filler, and it's also jump cancellable. If the first 2C connects or is blocked you can follow up with another. This move is commonly used in combos for its ability to gatling into Grave Shoot Kara cancel.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

First hit only is -8 on block.

2D

Despite everything, it's not a low.

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	16	11	4	20	-6

Toki's second most imporant move, which is great for rushing down. The move has a significant amount of forward movement with quick startup, lending it to be commonly seen in blockstrings, combos, and neutral. On block it is commonly cancelled with 623B and a follow up 2A, creating a true blockstring. Additionally it can be kara cancelled into Toki's grave shoot, which is a staple of his combo game.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
Launch

j.A

j.A

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
High	6	5	8	6

Mostly used in combos.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

j.B

j.B

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
High	6	5	8	6

Used as an air vs air and in combos.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

j.C

j.C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
High	14	10	6	10

Wide horizontal range makes it useful as a cross-up in some situations. jC is unique in that it does not contribute to the hit count for chikusekiFrom Hokuto no KenAfter a long, uninterrupted combo of specific normals which results in a knockdown, a meaty attack will trigger an acceleration effect which boosts the rate at which all gauges fill, including the guard crush and hidden dizzy gauges. for Toki, and should be avoided in combos

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

j.D

j.D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	14	9	24	16

Insanely long active time. Can be used as a cross-up.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Universal Mechanics

Throw

6C or 4C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
Throw	28	4	6	16

Opponent is thrown in the opposite direction, so for example if you input forward C, they will be thrown behind you
Causes wall bounce and can cancel into a teleport, allowing for no-gauge follow ups

Toki grabs his opponent and blasts them away from him. Hands-down the best throw in the game, makes your mixup game even more terrifying. Getting thrown by Toki will often lead to death.

Toki does not have a BD throw, but this is the only throw you'd need any way.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Kick Throw

Grave Shoot

A+C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	20	13	3	20	-5

Launches the opponent into the air.
Can cancel into a teleport

Big upward kick. One of Toki's staple combo tools.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
Grave Launch

Heavy Strike

A+B

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
Unblockable	20	41	4	20	-8

Fairly short range but still useful in some situations. About middle-of-the-road as far as Heavy Strikes go.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Banishing Strike

C+D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	20	19-39	4	20	-9

Toki puts his hands together and unleashes a blast of energy. Mostly used in combos,

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
Banish Launch

Command Normals

6A

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
High	20	29	4	12	-2

Launches the opponent into the air

Not a very useful move. Slow startup, and there are better overhead options for Toki. Can be thrown out every once and a while to confuse your opponent, but you'd be better off using your teleports.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
Launch

6B

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	20	17	4	16

Launches the opponent into the air
Jumping kick. Can go over some low-hitting attacks

Not very useful except as a gimmick. Again, just teleport.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
Launch

6D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
High	20	17	4	12	-2

Strike a pose.
Upper body invincibility
Overhead, but whiffs on every crouching opponent except Raoh and Heart.

A fancy-looking straight chop. Useful for countering high-hitting attacks and as an anti-air. Primarily sees use in combos for its high damage.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Special Moves

Toukei Kohou

63214D

Fortunately for your opponent, this is in fact not a low.

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All	10	13		32

Slow-moving ground projectile
Has basically no recovery and no limit to how many you can have at a time, spammable move
Takes off one star on Counter Hit

Can be used in combination with a teleport as a way to force ambiguous left/right mixups after a combo.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Tenshou Hyakuretsuken

j.236C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
High	3x5+20	9	444(12)4	12

Cancelable into a teleport, except when low in the air
Takes off one star on counter hit.
Commonly referred to as "Hands".

Toki quickly performs multiple fist strikes that all hit overhead. This makes for either extremely quick overheads when performed as an IASInstant Air Special
Conceptually includes Tiger KneePerforming a special as soon as possible after becoming airborne. Usually, but not always, involves an input trick.
For Example: 2369S for a j.236S input. or after an air dash, or more commonly, a very potent combo tool.

Toki's air rapid punches are a very important tool in his combos, since it is the easiest way for him to remove stars as he can either pillar combo between his Grave Shoot and this move via his teleport cancels, or spend Boost to combo into it multiple times in a row in the air with his normals. The multi-hit nature also helps to crank up hits for BasukeFrom Hokuto no KenA state during particularly long combos in which the victim of the combo begins to rebound off of the floor at extremely high speeds, most commonly while the attacker is also airborne. Resembles dribbling in basketball, hence the name. or TravelingFrom Hokuto no KenHitting the opponent OTG until death after a 55 hit air combo or a ground combo ending with a Banishing Strike. combo strings.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Hokuto Shorinkyaku

j.214D

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
		2	20	4

Frame 2 air counter
Won't work on projectiles or super moves
Takes off one star on Counter Hit

Causes wallbounce vs grounded opponents, and recovery ends while still in the air. One of many counters Toki has.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Does not counter supers or projectiles

Hokuto Haryuushou

214A or 214B

HNK Toki 214B Hitbox-2.png

Version	Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
Hokuto Haryuushou		22	1	16	16
Hokuto Haryuushou		22	1	18	12	12

214A

Frame 1 high/mid counter
Won't work on projectiles or super moves
Causes wallbounce
Takes off one star on Counter Hit

Obnoxious counter. Unparalleled defensive option, can even be used to bait guard cancels thanks to its speed. On hit, you can followup with a teleport for a massive, free combo.

214B

Frame 1 low counter
Sends the opponent flying, in a similar trajectory to Toki's 2B. Prime angle for 623A followups.

Not as awesome as Haryuushou because it doesn't cause wallbounce, but still insanely good. Can still followup with a teleport to murder your opponent violently for trying to play the game.

Version	On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
214A
214B

214A
214B

Hokuto Ryuukojin

214C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
All		1	31	15

1 frame startup projectile reflector with Super Armor
Reflected projectiles take a star on hit
Toki becomes completely invulnerable on a successful reflection, and is able to act during this time
Cannot reflect beam-type projectiles

Thanks to your teleports, your opponent doing anything hasty in neutral is out of the question already, but that doesn't make this reflector useless.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Reflects Projectiles

Hokuto Musou Ryuubu (Forwards)

623X

B & D Versions
A & C Versions

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage

The Toki move. Blazing fast teleport with ludicrous range, and is used for basically everything Toki does. It's almost difficult to put into words how good this teleport is, and how fast Toki moves during it. Makes your opponent vomit trying to block your offense. Makes your opponent vomit trying to see where you are in neutral. Generally, makes your opponent hate you.

Toki has almost no recovery while teleporting, and the very small recovery can be cancelled into anything, even another teleport. Teleports cannot steal corner.

Mix between the versions just to make it even harder to tell what you're doing.

623A/C

Moves diagonally into the air
C version goes farther than the A version

623B/D

Moves straight ahead on the ground
D version goes farther than the B version

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Hokuto Musou Ryuubu (Backwards)

421X

A & C Versions

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage

A backward-moving teleport
Unlike the forward version, this one does have quite a bit of recovery

The recovery renders this pretty much useless for anything but messing around - which you can do if you want, you are Toki after all!

421A/C

Teleports Toki diagonally into the air
C version goes farther than the A version

The only teleports which are actually invulnerable. All others can be hit.

421B/D

Teleports Toki straight back on the ground
D version goes farther than the B version

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Hokuto Musou Ryuubu (Vertical)

236A

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
		1

A vertical teleport
On the ground it shoots you up into the air, and in the air it quickly brings you back to the ground
Doesn't count as jumping so you can jump twice after using it on the ground

Used extensively both in and out of combos, or just to make it even harder to tell what you're doing. Spamming this over and over to make the teleport line play constantly will get you kicked out of your local.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Super Moves

Hokuto Ujou Danjinken

236236C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	7x10+39	29+1		28	-24

Uses 1 bar of Aura
Toki strikes a pose, then speeds forward and past his opponent, striking them many times
Takes off one star on normal hit and two stars on Counter Hit
No startup invulnerability, but fully invulnerable when Toki moves forward

Staple combo finisher and also used to begin Dribble/Hyakuretsu combos.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Hikou Sekkatsukou

236236B or 214214B

Used in 3 star FKO combos and as a missinput of the better version

Version	Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
Hikou Sekkatsukou	All	33	8+0			+8
Hikou Sekkatsukou

Uses 1 bar of Aura

236236B

Takes two stars on normal hit, and will hit downed opponents
Counter hit causes wallbounce and takes 3 stars

Toki winds up and strikes his opponent's pressure points. Great reversal move, and has advantage on guard. Wall bounce after CH allows for combos almost anywhere, most notoriously FKO. For a period of time after connecting with this Toki's opponent is unable to recover health. The move has very low recovery as well, being quite difficult to punish on whiff and on block it is a staggering +7. According to the game's official frame data book it should be punishable, but Toki transcends measly developer intention.

Interestingly, this move has a priority system in the event of trades to determine who wins:

If the opponent is winning by 1 round, 236236B wins. Otherwise it loses.
If the round win count is the same and the opponent has more HP than Toki, 236236B wins. Otherwise it loses.
If the round win count and life totals are the same, the winner is randomly decided.

214214B

Install Super

Toki hits his own pressure points, powering up. Once activated, for a period of time the damage of Tenshou Hyakuretsuken, Toukei Kohou, and Hokuto Saihaken is increased, Tenshou Hyakuretsuken and the catch moves take one extra star than usual, and Toki's life doesn't recover. This move doesn't get much use as Toki usually has better use for his Aura, but it is by no means bad. Used in his three star FKO confirms.

Version	On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level
236236B
214214B

236236B
214214B

Hokuto Shaihaken

214214C

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	44	6+3	6	30	-17

Uses 1 bar of Aura
Air Unblockable
Takes off one on normal hit and two stars on Counter Hit

The ultimate anti-air attack - like Raoh's Shinkesshuu, this move cannot be blocked at all in the air. Opponent goes flying into the air on Counter Hit so you can continue into a combo. However, if this move is used to take off your opponents last star, a special animation plays, and following up is not possible.

On-Hit	Boost Gain	Aura Gain	GC	Level

Fatal KO

Hokuto Ujou Haganken

236C+D when opponent has 0 stars

▒▓█▇▅▂∩(・ω・)∩▂▅▇█▓▒

Guard	Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Star Damage
	FATAL	20+5	20(7)20	63

Hits fullscreen, even behind Toki, and hits downed opponents. GGs asshole.
Also goes through other projectiles, but this doesn't have much use except as a gimmick.

Toki sits down to relax for a moment, then shoots lasers from his hands. If these lasers hit, Toki kills his opponent. The absolute best FKO in the game.