P4AU/Junpei Iori/Strategy

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General Tactics

Before we go into it, let's look at the character first.
Junpei is a "Power Up" character that relies heavily on momentum. You need to get in and score Runs as soon as possible to activate Victory Cry. Junpei is pretty weak outside of it, so you need to get his Install going, otherwise you'll most likely lose.

Offense

Now, let's start with the offense. Junpei's B normals have decent reach, you should try getting in with them at mid range. Once you make them block, you have tons of interesting options:

  • 5AA: Moves Junpei forward and can be jump canceled. Possible to go for a throw or cross up with air-turn.\
  • 2B: Can also be jump canceled on block, giving you more options during pressure.
  • 5B: Can be dash canceled, allowing for a throw attempt or just a movement option to get closer.
  • 236C/D: His sliding special move can be both an overhead and a low, similar to Chie's Skullcracker. This opens a lot of mixup possibilities with One More Cancel. One More Burst Confirms also leads to big damage (if you're in Victory Cry). The SB Version has Armor properties and you can feint it by holding down the buttons.
  • 214A/B: Super Bunt is a very interesting move as well. All versions contain guard frames and the SB version is +1 on block. All of them are very important tools when attacking your opponent. Keep in mind that the Armor property can punish mashing and even bait some DPs.
  • All Out Attack: Slow and unsafe but has huge reward. You should definitely keep in mind and use it from time to time.
  • Hop Cancels: Some of Junpei's normals can be Hop canceled. This is useful to reset pressure and punish low attacks.

Once you're in, you should focus on getting Victory Cry. Use as many B normals as you can and finish the combo with a Homerun Super or extend it with One More Cancel (if you need to). If you already got his Install going, then get those Clean Hits right and try to finish your combos with 5D (when in corner) to get okizeme (knockdown). That way you can keep them on the defensive while you mix them up for another combo. Don't be predictable and remember to use every single tool you have in your arsenal.

Defense

Close Range

Junpei's defensive game is not great, but decent. His DP is useful and his Guard cancel is good (5AA animation). Aside from those universal options, his Homeruns Supers and Awakening Super can also be used defensively to get out of a bad situation, I don't recommend it unless you have a good read on your opponent; They are completely unsafe if baited and you might lose SP over nothing. His DP is a meterless option but also unsafe if they block it, be careful with it. Sometimes you might want to use a Homerun Super after a blocked DP to hit them while they try to punish you.

Long Range

When defending projectiles and other types of long ranged attacks, remember that you have Deathbound, it's a pretty good move to deal with long range pressure. SB Sliding is also an option since it's a move that advances Junpei, has armor and can be feinted. These are very good tools to work with in these situations. Another way of dealing with them is Junpei's exclusive ability to reflect projectiles. If you use any bat move against a projectile, it will turn that attack into a fireball that will go back to the opponent really fast. You can even score a Base/Run by reflecting the projectile alone. Do remember that Junpei won't be able to reflect multi-hit projectiles such as Narukami's Ziodyne or Akihiko's Maziodyne.

Neutral

Neutral game with Junpei seems a bit tricky. He has excellent jumping normals like j.A/j.B/j.C but lacks speed on the ground. So more often than not, you'll find yourself covering space with jumping normals alone. His 2B works well as an anti-air but does not hit behind him. His Persona normals covers a LOT of space on the screen and can be really useful sometimes. j.D variations makes Trismegistus fly to hit the opponent either downwards or upwards, if he does hit his target while flying downwards, he'll kick them 2 more times giving you enough time to close the distance. 2D sends Trismegistus upwards and can be canceled into Deathbound on hit. Deathbound itself is great for neutral game against some characters, specially zoners since the Persona can get them while they're setting up. It's not advised to use this move against Rushdown characters though, they might punish you if you're too close and the move itself is a little slow to use against a character that wants to be in your face at all times.

To wrap it up, here's a list of pokes/moves you should use at different distances during neutral:

  • Long Range: j.D, j.2D, 2D, Deathbound, Bat attacks to reflect projectiles.
  • Mid Range: j.B, j.C, 5B, 5C, 2C, Sweep.
  • Close Range: j.B, j.A, 5A, 5AA, 2A, 5B, 2B, Sweep.

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