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How to play the Fukua as a rush down character

joshb911

joshb911

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So I have noticed that a lot people play Fukua keep away and do not utilize her best tools up close. SO.... here is a thread for you guys that want to play her as a rush down character rather then keep away. This is not gonna be a guide on Fukua if you want that check out the "art of Fukua" (or whatever the title is now) on Dreamepitaph's page.
So I guess Ill start with some basic tech that I have found is really useful for playing Fukua as a pressure based character.
How do you get in as Fukua?
There are two moves that are incredibly useful for getting in and maintaining pressure on your opponent
s.HK:this is great for punishing an opponents grab attempt or a light normal because it pushes back your hit box and then moves you forward which maintains your pressure it can also be canceled into lk shadow if blocked to keep it relatively safe
cr.HK: this another great move for getting in on an opponent and getting under a lot of zoning tools(paras NS, Squigs Silver chord, peacocks Mag etc...) It causes knockdown that you cant combo after which is not good :(
run in: A lot of people don't expect you to run in with Fukua so its really useful at scaring people and getting in at the same time
Punish them: Fireball super is probaly the best pressure tool in Fukua's box if you see your opponent going for something you can throw it out to keep them in check (use with caution though)
BFF: Very similar to fireball super but is especially powerful against characters that constantly throw stuff at you (best used when you are less than 3/4 of a screen away from opponent) Incredibly powerful because you can combo after it.
cr.HP: incredibly long distance attack that is really useful at punishing people and best of all is that if your reaction time is good you can cancel into love dart then BFF for a great hit confirm set up (its similar to ken's hit confirm cr.mk, hadouken, SA3 set up)

Ok now I'm in now what?
Once you get in on people you have several options:
You have the flowchart based pressure which is just j.hk, air lp love dart (really useful cause it can sometimes crossup people and provides you with blockstun to do stuff), cr. lk, lk. shadow the issue with this is that people will soon learn that you don't have an overhead so you gotta switch it up also some characters have tools to deal with this vortex.
During the flowchart based pressure there are several points where you can play mind games on your opponent:
* After the air love dart you can jump straight up and see if you opponent was mashing or not
* When you land after the air love dart you can go for a grab (I would suggest QCF grab)
* If your opponent is up-backing you can use the cr. lk to keep them in check
* If your opponent is just blocking low you can use hk shadow to start a combo (only do this if you are sure they are blocking low cause you will get punished if you guess wrong)

You have other options for pressuring up close:
Kara throwing is really useful for once again scaring people because many people do not expect a character to run at them
So how do I kara throw?:
* run in s.mk cancel to QCF grab (similar to Chun's s.hk kara grab in third strike) very effective up close
* run in when you are about 1/3 of a screen away from someone s.hk cancel into QCF grab at just the right moment
Keeping your opponent in check with periodic cr. lk is a great tool for poking because its fast and is plus on block and you can then go into a combo if it hits. Also note that cr.lk is a great tick throw tool ;)
Pointblank fireball super is another great pressure tool for two reasons:
* Its safe at certain distances
* It chips the hell out of people
Beware of abusing fireball super though cause if certain characters are crouching it will whiff (unless your playing beta)
Also you have the power of the most horizontal dp ever made. Drill can be used similarly to BFF but instead of punishing a longer whiff you can punish low start up moves with invincibility (it works on the same basis as a shoryuken)
So more pressure options!!
cr. mk: use this against Painwheel and bella why(blows through armor)
j.mp: hard to push block and blows through armor

"But Josh I don't wana play solo! WHAT DO I DO!?!?!?!" Don't worry I got you covered. Time to take a look at some of Fukua's hommies:
Val
What a great partner so much unused potential...
So what your gonna want for a val assist is cr. mk if your into oki setups and what not, grab for added pressure and confusion, bypass for added damage and conversions, lastly consider s.hk for an anti air (really under utilized)
Filia
The sisters are back with a vengeance and are better then ever 0.0
So some Filia assists your gonna want to use: Of course we have the updo (super over used) which is great for pressure and added damage to your combos, next we have french twist (cr.mk) the confusion and oki setups that are possible are endless with this beast, next we have hairball which is useful as a lock down move and for chip, lastly we have s.hk (wait that's an assist 0.0) it is now it blows through a lot of reversals and is fantastic for DHC options at the end of a combo.
Double
This beast.... So the go to lock down assist for almost every team you'll ever see is bomber its got invincibility and it pressures opponents (and you can convert off it easily) and filia slide (?) useful to punish and provides an oki setup for hard knock downs
Parasol
Already know I'm going to say napalm pillar.....
Big Band
Very powerul for the zoning game but here's how to utilize this beast up close: utilize Beat extend (A great DP option that's ridiculously fast) and take the a train (light) why because you can scoop people if you have them locked in the corner and if you play Fukua smart you can basically tick throw you opponent with this method
Fortune
Ok so many of you are going to think use fiber uppercut but no..... Fortune's best assist in this case is her instant air axe kick because as previously mentioned Fukua lacks a fast neutral overhead and this move is fantastic for that high low mixup
Bella
Ok so this is the big one..... First there are two ways to play this assist damage and lock down: Lock and load is the go to assist for all the high level bella players why? because it does like 1.5k damage, it's powerful in combos, and its armored. The lock down method is to use cerecopter (my main assist) because it provides air coverage, hella chip, time to reposition yourself, and you can hide inside the animation to confuse your opponent
Now there are plenty of other assist options open for Fukua but these are my favorite :)
Now these are only my opinions on how to play Fukua with a more pressure based play style. In my opinion these tools are what make Fukua scary not her keep away.

I would love to hear anyone's opinions on my thoughts or would like to add anything they have noticed for Fukua rushdown (so I can start using them 0_0)
 
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The real thing is not playing fukua keepaway. The real thing is mixing them. You zone in neutral, try to get a decent confirm and then you play rushdown until you screw up and go back to neutral.
 
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I mean, her fireballs are nice and all, but the reason I like using Fukua is that her j.HP > j.HK sets up a vortex game.
 
@erkicman
Im interested in learning about this j.hk,h.hp vortex would you mind explaining it a little bit.
Im unfamiliar with that vortex
 
joshb911 said:
@erkicman
Im interested in learning about this j.hk,h.hp vortex would you mind explaining it a little bit.
Im unfamiliar with that vortex
If you're hitting your opponent with an air combo and chain j.HP into j.HK, the j.HK will accelerate you to the ground before your opponent. From that position you can:

- qcb command grab into BFF (if you have meter and if your opponent is hitting buttons, also beats some mashed supers), combo, launch, then eventually j.HP > j.HK back to the same mixup situation
- qcf command grab info BFF (if you have meter and if your opponent is timid), combo, launch, then eventually j.HP > j.HK back to the same mixup situation
- HK Shadow (if you don't have meter and your opponent is blocking low), combo, launch, then eventually j.HP > j.HK back to the same mixup situation
- low (if you don't have meter and your opponent is blocking high), combo, launch, then eventually j.HP > j.HK back to the same mixup situation
- s.HP or MK Shadow (if your opponent is looking for the command grab and jumps), combo, launch, then eventually j.HP > j.HK back to the same mixup situation

But the last 3 options can be beat if your opponent hits buttons, so... yeah. It's rudimentary but it works for me
 
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@erkicman
Only issue with this vortex is that if the opponent is upbacking they can pretty much runaway from it (unless you are using cr. lk and even then unless you jump at them you lose them). (also note that using this method only provides you with one method of hitting high and most of these options reduce the amount of pressure you can put on your opponent) Its not terrible but it seems that these are better reset options rather then vortex setups. Just my opinion
 
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Questioning Fukua's rushdown gameplay is like questioning Fukua's neutral. I'd like to point out just a few things here anyway:
joshb911 said:
Punish them: Shinku hadouken is probably the best pressure tool in Fukua's box.
I thought we were playing Skullgirls and not Street Fighter AKA could you please call those "hadoukens" fireballs or fireball supers because I cannot take this seriously and some players might get confused.
Is a Shinku Hadouken a fireball super? If so, you're better off using your meter for something else than constantly throwing out fireball supers. Also, Fukua's BFF is better at punishing opponents in that kind of situation (invincible during start-up AND you can combo from it). You can even counter certain supers like Filia's ground gregor samson by cancelling a wrong input into a BFF.

joshb911 said:
You have the flowchart based pressure which is just j.hk (...)
A common mistake made by players is that they think that j.hk is the best move ever and a move simply superior to the rest. However, a j.lp or j.lk into j.hk is way better in that regard. Don't get too j.hk happy, you'll make yourself look like a clown. Using it from a certain distance is okay occasionally, I guess.

joshb911 said:
cr.HK: this another great move for getting in on an opponent and getting under a lot of zoning tools
Why would you use c.hk if super and/or double jumping provides better positioning + you can even chicken block at the same time. Chances are, you're still getting hit by an assist or whatsoever as you're too busy sliding on the ground from that c.hk.
 
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c.hk xx BFF punishes argus fullscreen, tho.
 
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@SScrux
I will use what ever terminology I want 0_0 (quickly changing the terminology used to more common terminology)

Also cr.HK is good because for a lot of the casts supers you can knock people out of their super with this move because of its extended hitbox near her foot and her hurt box being pushed back (try this on a parasol lvl 3 and tell me its not a good option 0_0) Also you can whiff this and go into lk shadow if you think your gonna get punished

BFF is not a god send its really easy to predict and as soon as you see Fukua go into stance you can block (its not always the safest option and can then be punished) BFF is much better as a move to hit confirm into or use as a anti zoning tool. I've played many players that bait BFF cause they know everyone uses it. Using BFF is great to punish supers yeah but what good players do you know that randomly throw out gregor or B.B.s tuba thing?

Your absolutely right about j.hk but the reason its useful is because it can set up cross-up situations. I would much rather use j.hp (more damage better everything) but it does not set up as well. Its effective but yeah I agree that people abuse this to ridiculous degrees (myself included)
 
guys let it rock. but as isa and colossi said. do not use Armor grab.

I admit i got hit by this once because i never thought that a fukua would do that shit. However you can get HCH and 9/10 you will so hell no.

i do not recommend it.

Also josh the beta changes on the fireball does not make it whiff on crouching.

i'm only here to see what technical corrections can be made. the gameplay on rushdown is something i'm interested in.
 
SScrux said:
Why would you use c.hk if super and/or double jumping provides better positioning + you can even chicken block at the same time. Chances are, you're still getting hit by an assist or whatsoever as you're too busy sliding on the ground from that c.hk.
Both cHK and sMK are very useful to reposition yourself quickly for ground fireballs, since you can whiffcancel them.
.. I guess that doesn't really have much to do with rushdown, though.

cHK itself is useful for both cHK xx H.Shadow-slightly-before-the-cHK-connected, since people will recognize the Sweep and be busy downbacking and it is actally a bit weird to react to the overhead shadow there (Not sure whether this still works in Beta with the startup increase),
and cHK(blocked) delay xx Cmd Grab / Armor Grab which is a little mean frametrap which beats p.much everything but upback - or just cHK(blocked) xx L.Drill+Assist which generally means you get to pressure your opponent.
 
SScrux said:
I thought we were playing Skullgirls and not Street Fighter AKA could you please call those "hadoukens" fireballs or fireball supers because I cannot take this seriously and some players might get confused.
Additionally I always think of Shinku Hadoken as a beam super because of Marvel games, so the first time Josh called it that I got REALLY confused.
 
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dekillsage said:
armor grab is godlike wtf
Armor grab similar to BFF can be baited out so if your playing a smart player they will poke you until they see you go into hibernation preparing for a peakaboo and then jump over you and wreck you. But of course everyone falls for this at least once :P
 
mcpeanuts said:
Additionally I always think of Shinku Hadoken as a beam super because of Marvel games, so the first time Josh called it that I got REALLY confused.

You are correct and have a right to be confused. Shinku is the big ass beam in marvel. The fireball super in SF is Metsu Hadoken. and no one cares to know the difference. Not even Josh apparently :P
 
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@Fedora_Ninja
man......... metsu is the ultra in SF4. Shinku is the super...... Its also the super in third strike and SF2......
You guys need to play more oki games :P
 
Soooooo....... about that fukua rush down.......
 
learn to set up for the rushdown?

tbh if i see a good fukua rushing down they better have....GODLIKE and i do mean GODLIKE reads. most times fukua's play "keepaway"(i would explain what's wrong with that, but this is more important) is that it sets up the read required for fukua to get in and then put them in the "fukua blender". this is from the best of my knowledge but i could be wrong.
 
I just try to get someone in the corner (usually by jumping over them as I do Updo assist), if they fall for it, they usually get in the corner. Then I just do Updo assist with shadows, j.HK > j.HP, then low, high shadow, assist, and maybe throw a cross-up or throw in there.
 
joshb911 said:
@Dreamepitaph I taught Meiynas alot of the stuff he does O.O lol
Hum, yes, at the beginning of my Fukua. But "stuff" can be replaced by "fondamentals". (Exeption for j.HK j.L-Fireball Double jump (and I doesn't use/like it)).


Dreamepitaph said:
muh. i guess we'll get nowhere with this topic then.
+1
 
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so I guess I'll add something s.hp kara throw is pretty good it's alot easier to execute then s.mk into throw
 
hmmm ok i'll provide ideas.


ATTENTION SOLO FUKUA PLAYERS read spoiler and discuss from there.

Fukua ways of rushing down is learning how to approach the enemy in terms of advancement. your most primal way of advancing is using what most fukua players will most likely won't ever use or have not used. which is...you guessed it L. fireball. L. fireball allows you to advance while the fireball is on screen. it is not used as a "hit the opponent" button its to control space and get your self in. the opponent has to either block, up back, forward jump or SJ which can be countered with a j.lp, Throw or s.hp if they try to press a button.

Along with that you can also TK fireball. you gain momentum while also chucking a fireball which is SPLENDID.

Enough with the brief idea on how to approach with fukua. let's talk about what to do while you're in there!

so typically fukua's will do some bullshit chain (like i do) c.lk, s.mk, L shadow.

what you can do instead is one of the following

c.lk, L shadow

c.lk, cmd throw

or c.lk, stagger, c.lk

or c.lkx2, H shadow.
 
s.lk is a bad move, IMO. Pushes her back and whiffs against a lot of characters. It deals double the damage of c.lk (400 from s.lk, 200 from c.lk), so if you want to use it for damage, use it when cornering.
 
Colossi said:
s.lk is a bad move, IMO. Pushes her back and whiffs against a lot of characters. It deals double the damage of c.lk (400 from s.lk, 200 from c.lk), so if you want to use it for damage, use it when cornering.
shoot should have commented on this..... I would use s.lk in a combo not for neutral in this case.... s.mp or cr.hp is a much better option as a hit confirm into lk shadow IMO
 
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