Month: March 2017

Take a stance! is an article series designed to help you analytically approach the wide world of stances in Tekken.

Last time we looked at stances in Tekken 7, we talked about the wildly evasive Ling Xiaoyu. As she’s one of the most stance-heavy characters in the game, let’s pull back a bit and pick apart someone a little less convoluted: Tekken’s Tiger Mask inspired luchador, King.

“Stances” aren’t synonymous with the feline grappler, and for good reason: King never needs to use them for combo filler, and can win entire rounds by bullying opponents with his great pokes and powerful grab chains. His stances, instead, are supplementary options that flesh out King’s movelist and mobility.

There’s three basic stances to consider for King: Back Turned, Jaguar Step, and Crouch Dash. I’ve listed these in order of least-to-most-likely to encounter in a match.

Note: for those unfamiliar, here’s how to read Tekken notation.

Back Turned Stance

King’s back turned options are a little anemic. Still, can go into back turned manually via a few moves, and he has unique moves from this state, so it’s worth at least acknowledging.

Entry moves into Back Turned Stance:

Input	Hit level	Impact Frame	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Counter Hit Stun	Notes
1+2	m	18~19 RBT	-11~-10	-2~-1	0~+1
d/f+4, 3, 4, B	l, h, m (TJ)	14 RBT	-8	KND	CS
d/f+3+4 (Close)	Sm (TJ)(, h(Throw))	28 RG( RBT)	Throw(KND)	Throw(KND)	Throw(KND)
b+4 (Close)	h	15 RBT	-6	KND	KND
b+4	h	16~21 RBT	-17~-12	KND	KND

As you can see, all of King’s transitions are minus on block. Being able to attack from any of your stance transitions on block relies on your opponent committing to an incorrect option. If your opponent knows their frame data, they will likely either go for a fast mid (i12 or i13 type stuff, typically df+1’s), or jabs and crouch jabs.

But since no one is 100% perfect at reading the situation, these stance transitions are at least somewhat viable for reasons other than frame data. 1+2 is a string starter, so your opponent must be willing to press a button immediately after blocking it. (Which, of course, means you could have landed the rest of the 1+2 string on them instead.) b+4, when blocked at close range, pushes the enemy uncomfortably far away. D/F+3+4 preys on your opponent’s knowledge of its startup animation, as they must crouch, step, or jab this move before it connects with their guard. You have things to play with here, it’s just all risky.

It doesn’t stop being risky once you look at the moves he has access to, either:

Input	Hit level	Impact Frame	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Counter Hit Stun	Notes
BT 3+4	JGS					Jaguar Step Transition
BT 1 or 2	h	8	-8	+3	+3
BT 1+2	h(!)	27~29	KND	KND	KND
BT D+1 or D+2	Sm (TC)	10	-5	+6	+6	Tech Crouch
BT 3	m	13	-16	+7	CS	JF with 1+2 for hit throw
BT D+3	l(TC)	14	-14	-2	-2	Tech Crouch
BT 4	h	10	-8	KND	KND
BT d+4	l (TJ)	22~24 RC	-17~-15	KND	KND	Tech Jump
BT 1+4	m(!)		KND	KND	KND	Tech Jump

Your “safest” options are, as usual with Tekken, your jabs and crouch jabs. You also have access to a generic low kick in BT D+3. In addition to these, you have some very flashy, high damage, high risk options.

BT 3 is awful on block (-16) but hits grounded (useful after some knockdown setups!) and, if you input a just frame 1+2, leads to an attack throw. If your opponent doesn’t know how unsafe this rarely used option is, congrats: you’ve just got away with murder.

BT 1+2 and BT D+4 both exist for the same reason. These attacks brutally punish standing blocks (the former being an unblockable, the latter being a knockdown low), but have technically react-able startups. These are great tests of your opponent’s animation reactions.

A King player whiffing 1+2 for a Back Turned Moonsault setup.

BT 1+4, King’s famous Moonsault, is another curious unblockable. Its slow startup makes it technically even more reactable then BT 1+2, but it jumps very high and it has a wide hitbox to the side, so it’s possible to clip someone when they try to step it. There’s two correct ways to deal with this: either enter a sidewalk and completely move around it (it’s easier if you sidestep, then backdash cancel away from King so he doesn’t clip you.) Or! You can jab him as he’s coming down and float King for a full combo. The timing is somewhat precise here–do it too early and King will go over your jab, and do it too late and you’ll get, quite literally, bodied.

King, like we mentioned in the Ling article, can also pivot away from back turned stance by inputting a down-back direction. This creates space and, after some transitions, can allow you to whiff punish some poor button choices. This may potentially frustrate your opponents to chase you down with dashes or longer range (and slower) attacks. If they start doing this, they are now open to all your BT attacks!

All in all, King’s BT isn’t enough to base your entire game plan around, but peppered in enough versus an opponent, especially in longer sets, can give you some valuable information on how much your opponent really knows about King. Landing BT 3 JF, BT D+4 or BT 1+2 will make your opponent stop and think long and hard about their lives (and rapidly disappearing lifebar).

Jaguar Step

Jaguar Step will likely seem unwieldy when you first encounter it. No strings or moves cancel into it. Almost all options are steppable, and the ones that aren’t (JGS df+3) are unsafe on block. Gross, right? So why would you use this?

There’s some curious quirks about the way JGS works. First off, it instantly tech jumps. With the right read, it can easily blow up auto-pilot crouch jabs. If you hold JGS, you continue to spin. “Charging” this stance makes your moves more powerful and safer on block. That step killing kick mentioned before that carried so much risk becomes a frame trap after two spins, for example. Any opponent that remains passive versus JGS will find themselves dealing with a more frightening mixup than if they had just tried to jab you.

Ah, but since you’re jumping, they should always just jab you anyways, right? After all, that’ll float you for a full combo. What risk do they have?

Let’s jump into JGS’s full range of options…

Input	Hit Level	Speed	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Counter Hit Stun	Notes
3+4 (to JGS)	(Special) (TJ)(JGS)					Tech Jump
b+3+4 (to JGS (backwards))	(Special) (TJ)(JGS (backwards))					Tech Jump
3+4, 1 (one spin)	h	19(43)	-5	CS	CS
3+4, 1 (two-five spins)	h	–	-1	CS	CS
3+4, 2 (one spin)	m	11~12 (35)	-9~-8	+2~+3 (+13~+14 OC)	+2~+3 (+13~+14 OC)
3+4, 2 (two-five spins)	m	–	-2~-1	+2~+3 (+13~+14 OC)	+2~+3 (+13~+14 OC)
3+4, 3 (one spin)	m (TJ)	22(46)	-5	KND	KND	Tech Jump
3+4, 3 (two-five spins)	m (TJ)	–	-1	KND	KND	Tech Jump
3+4, 3, 2+3 (Close)	m (TJ), (throw)	22(170) RG	-15~-11 OC	KND	KND
3+4, 3, 2+3	m (TJ)	22(170) RG	-10~+6 OC	-13~+3 OC	-13~+3 OC
3+4, 4 (one spin)	h	17(41)	+8	KND	KND	Tail spin
3+4, 4 (two-five spins)	h!	–	KND	KND	KND	Tail spin
3+4, d/f+4 (one spin)	m	17~18 (41)	-17~-16	KND	KND
3+4, d/f+4 (two-five spins)	m	–	+8~+9	KND	KND
3+4, 1+4 or 3+4, 2+3	h(Throw)	12(36~)		Throw

Right away you’ll notice the relative strength of JGS 2. This mid is safe and i35 at its fastest speed (that includes the JGS startup). While blocking this may be easy for the opponent, jabbing it on reaction is a little trickier, particularly when King could just JGS into block/duck. And pity the ragdoll that gets hit by this move while crouching–that’s a free crouch grab attempt for King that must be broken by the opponent. All crouching grabs have the same startup animation for King, so it becomes a pure 50/50. JGS 2 is a powerful tool.

So, let’s say they decided to just sit there and stand guard. You may have noticed you have no lows from JGS, but you do have JGS 1+3 and 2+4. These throw startups cannot be distinguished from each other and lead to hilariously high damage grab chains. Between JGS 2 and JGS chain grabs, you have a brutal, respectable mixup.

Maybe they can try crouch jabbing? Not only would a held JGS blow this up, but JGS 3 is a jumping mid that knocks down and is safe on block.

There’s a lot of good things to say about most of the JGS options. Many are safe, lead to combos and work in conjunction with each other to keep the opponent guessing. Your only real weakness is the slow startup of the stance, but once again, the options and freedom of the stance outweigh this hurdle.

Two quick asides: one, you can also do a retreating JGS with b.3+4. Two, you can do JGS from back turned. It sends you in the wrong direction. Why you would do this is anyone’s guess, but hey, it’s there.

Crouch Dash

Crouch Dashing is great for anyone that has it, as it provides forward movement and ducks at the same time. However, it is not universal. Not every character has a crouch dash and not every character’s crouch dash is executed the same way. King, for example, can CD with:

f, n, d, d/f

But he cannot cancel immediately into another CD the way, say, the Mishima’s can. If you want to do repeated crouch dashing with King, it’d have to look something like this:

f,n,d,d/f,  f,f, n, d, d/f, etc…

It’s a little tougher! But it’s also mostly trivia, as King isn’t nearly as reliant on Crouch Dashing as, say, a Mishima is. Still, your options from a CD are solid.

Input	Hit Level	Speed	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Counterhit Stun	Notes
f, n, d, D/F	(Special)	RC				Recovers Crouching, allows WS and FC options
f, n, d, D/F+1	l (TC)	30 RC(34~)	-9	KND	KND
f, n, d, D/F+4	m (TJ)	15(19~)	-9	CS	CS
f, n, d, D/F+1+2	m	20~22 (24~)	-10?~-9s?	KND	KND
f, n, d, D/F+2+3 or D/F+1+4	h(Throw)	12		Throw(KND)

In particular, his CD contains an assortment of very strong, practical mids. Of these, CD+4 is of note, as it’s a counter-hit combo starting mid that is very, very fast for what it does. Since he attacks with his knee, this also means it cannot be countered by parries.

Don’t forget that since CD gives you incredible forward movement, so you have access to one of the most irritating mid pokes in the game–a forward moving WS+4. Generic WS+4’s are the fastest WS punish options across the board and by doing a crouch dash, you can add range to yours that others cannot. The difference between CD+4 and CD into WS+4 is that you hold down-forward when inputting CD+4, whereas you let it go then press 4 to get the WS attack.

A King player mixing up CD and Backdash to lure out whiffed pokes, before finally dashing in and landing a chain grab starter.

As with most things CD related, it is worth noting that his CD is also a chain grab starter. Just like with JGS, CD+1+3 and CD+2+4 have identical animations, so your opponent cannot go by sight to break these. They must either anticipate duck, or guess 1 or 2 to break.

CD+1 is also worth noting, as it tests the reaction time of your opponent. This attack is very slow and easy to block, but also safe. Remember how I mentioned WS+4 is a generic fast option for all characters? King has a parry for kicks. So, you intentionally make them block CD+1, and parry- since WS+4 is the go to button for many players, you’ve just scored yourself some surprise damage, a knockdown, and a frustrated opponent!

If you’re fighting against a CD-happy King, remember that the real threat is when he gets in–chain grabs have to be at point blank range and his only lows from a CD are the seeable CD+1 or the low damage, disadvantage on hit lows like FC+3 and FC+df+4. You can intercept him easily out of CD with longer range pokes, or just block mid at ranges you know he can’t chain grab you from.

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And that’s it! As King player, these options aren’t so much the centerpiece of your game, as much as they are options to flesh out your main neutral tools. And because they aren’t your main tools, they serve as great knowledge checks for unsuspecting foes. And as a King opponent, it’s important to know these tricks are in King’s back pocket at all times, particularly his chain grab starters and distance-munching crouch dashes.

Sources: INATEKKEN [for frame data]; TekkenZaibatsu