Boxer Akuma Match up

[xpunch]

recently iv been having trouble with this match and i always get stuck in the vortex with mason's and jacksmash's akuma's. any tips or advice? after i dash back on wake up i still get caught, if i headbutt on wake up i get sweep'd, fong said i just need to play jack more to get the hang of it. help me out top players pretty pretty plz  because after i get knocked down i get rolled lol is it a guessing game or can i get out of it easily?

[Gankatron]

Dont HB as u will be in sweep range for sure and the process starts again.

Back dash to avoid it once/twice but not three times as you will get sweeped when you finish back dashing once Akuma catches on.

If you got meter you can ex rush out of it and either hit him or go out the otherside.

If you dont have meter just block the strings and tech throw etc.

Also you can see if its a air throw cos he stays in the air longer than a dive kick or palm so a neutral jumping fierce or if ur brave u can wait till the last moment and do a light HB which will tag him if it wasnt a cross up and Ultra if u have it.

[Skullator]

Well, my boxer is scrubby at best.. but if there is one thing at this game I am most proud of, it's probably my ability to sit in the vortex decently while ticking every "pulse" of the block stun..
I always really really struggled with it too.. particularly being overly defensive and then catching the lk demon flip ->air throw.

But then my time spent in Melbourne.. getting sets against Toxy and Ero_Oyaji (Oz rank #2 and #4.. both Gouki's currently) something just clicked for me because it was my first time sitting in very advanced vortexes for hours on end completely lag free..

The vortex is something you need to completely understand from Akuma's side of things.. in order to defend it correctly. You need to watch Akuma's spacing.. to predict which option he is going for next.

The biggest tip I can give you here.. learn Akuma! It makes it all so much easier to read!
As I'm not familiar enough with boxers options, I will approach the Akumas mentality..

- Assuming you didn't just wake up, The Akuma will almost always want to start the vortex with their easiest options, these are the ones they dont have to space JUST RIGHT in order for them to land. So this means, the beginning of the vortex will probably be either palm attempt (Just block it imo, and option select tick throw IMMEDIATELY ON LANDING! EVEN ON PALM WHIFF! Whiff palm = zero recoveries, good akumas use it for resets and jumping fireballs and to get in on you) or just a regular non cross up kick attempt (Focus and release if brave, or other punish while he's airbourne, ortherwise blocking is OK too, but puts you in the vortex)

- Asuming you are on wake up, Akuma wants to either air throw you, or cross you up with demon kick into full combo (Or of course.. fake a cross up with demon kick ;\ ). If he goes for the air throw, you need to be backdashing or punishing if your character allows for it (Not bloody likely lol) however.. if he didn't space himself for the air throw.. he instead made the motions of cross up OR fake cross up demon kick.. you need to know not to go for the dash, try a focus attack (Boxers is the PERFECT shape for demon kick!) or sitting in a full block string while constantly ticking throws on each "Pulse" of the blocks.

If you get regular thrown- good akuma is going to dash forward twice and then immediately lk\mk demon flip, THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS POSTION! HE CAN SHUT DOWN ANYTHING YOU TRY AFTER HIS FORWARD THROW! Do not back dash from this position, you have to sit in whatever he decides to throw at you. It is most likely going to be a very delicately spaced regular or cross up demon kick, the spacing after forward throw -> Double dash -> immediate LK or MK demon flip is something special for Akuma.. gives him great options to punish everything.

In my opinion the above are all the scariest aspects of the vortex once again in summary below-
- Cross up kick
- Fake cross up kick
- Palm having zero recoveries used as a mix up OR focus break
- And air throw mixups.

Get your head around it all and constantly tick throws.. and it just doesn't seem as bad anymore. (Note I don't play a DP character either, so it's not like I just mash SRK's and metsu..)

Study these videos and see how you go! Note, I'm much more comfortable sitting in a vortex, than making a hasty guess to say "Focus on wake.. he might kick me!" And then eating the palm knockdown lol. Like others say, it really does just come down to sitting in it alot to get comfortable.. and just general experiance with your tick throws etc.

part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTJ5srcjWiA

part2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBVVdBu4iEE

[xpunch]

thanks bro now if i get stuck in the vortex il sit back and try my best to analyze whats going on also trying akuma out wud help. cheers skull

[stereomonkey]

You could play marvel and learn how to block rush down characters?  That usually helps when defending I guess.  And just play safely until your out of the pressure zone.

Have a training session against Mason online to find out the kinks and such.

[massi4h]

Well a couple tips: the easiest thing I usually use at the start of a vortex is cross up tatsu. This has such a small timing window if you are crouching though, perhaps not so bad for balrog. As Gank said EX rushes are usually safe to get out (except it loses to palm) and if I'm almost above your head then you can probably TAP out.

But the only thing that beats a smart block (get used to what option akuma normally uses based on the distance he jumps at) is a demon flip grab and it's not that easy to spam I guess.

Definitely one thing that helps is to listen if he makes a grunt when he jumps. If so, then it's a demon flip and you could probably judge what to do based on what distance he jumps at you. A medium kick demon flip jumps about the same range as a forward jump.

Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqXCxBc9hOo and then try not to let that happen lol.


My attempts at advice are pretty shit...

[fluxcore]

My attempts at advice are pretty shit...

Always better than people giving advice thinking they are the top dog, when if fact they are utter scrubs!

[Skullator]

Exactly flux.. and that is often the case on SRK I find lol..

So I dunno about you lot but I'm loving this sub forum thus far ... haha

[xpunch]

thanks again guys helping my noobish ways im starting to watch akuma as he flips or jumps etc.. it almost seems easy not to get caught in it but i gota train up agaisnt mason to put this to work

[Skullator]

Yea definitely get sets in with him.. even last night I was going back on my words earlier in this topic and forgetting to back dash obvious air throw setups.
Perhaps I'm just out of practice in the matchup... but it's really VERY easy to forget every option of the vortex haha.. Air tatsu ambiguous crossup -> sweep is such a guessing game!
And I don't think Boxers large character hit box helps with that at all.. (I know it makes it harder to know how chuns DF RH cross ups will land)