Strongest/ Best version of Akira

http://virtuafighter.com/view.php?section=vf4&file=vf4_escape_crouch_dash.php
http://virtuafighter.com/view.php?section=vf4&file=vf4evo_all_round_escape.php
http://virtuafighter.com/view.php?section=vf4&file=vf4ft_are_vip.php

ARE was basically an evade that was throw proof, that would also option select into a minor/major counter attack if your opponent attacked immediately when they got an advantage. So you'd be at slight disadvantage, and you'd evade like normal, but cancel the evade into a crouch dash, while then inputting for both a crouching punch and another punch attack like an elbow or palm.

If your opponent did a throw, which normally beat evades that don't have throw escapes, you'd cancel the evade into crouch dash and then attack with crouching punch. So it made evades beat throws at certain minus frames.

If they attacked, you'd get a successful evade, into immediate attack like an elbow or palm. Characters that had quick combo starters like standing palm attacks could use this for strong defensive play.

So it basically shut down throws and linear attacks at all small disadvantage situations. Assuming that your opponent was able to actually input ARE without error consistently though. It would still lose to delayed santaku attacks, circular attacks, or waiting and punishing your normal off of the ARE input. Some characters had better ARE than others.

Akira probably had the best (or tied best) because of standing palm combos. I'm not even sure that ARE was really great with the entire cast in VF4:EVO. You'd see in Akira mirrors that people would lean heavily on delayed santaku setups where the opponent would evade and then they'd use delayed kakuda chochu. Or if you played Wolf and you were getting hit with ARE from opponent you'd use delayed toe kick stunner.

How often did people use ARE? Seemed pretty rare to me. I'd think that constant ARE input at every minor disadvantage situation would melt your fingers. Most hard-to-execute techniques seem to be pretty rare even at high levels. Things like quad throw escapes or perfect fuzzy guard seem more rare than standard (at least in VF4). Most top players in VF4 only escaped two throws at a time anyways. So guesswork usually was better to work on than insane inputs that still lose to guesses anyways.

 

ie Yomi beats tech. FT still the best the VF iteration though.

 

This is the wrong mindset. Yomi doesn't replace tech, tech is only dangerous when coupled with yomi. Yomi without sufficient tech is a wasteful use of good reading skills. Terrifying players are equally proficient at both. Level up your mind son!

 

This isn't replacement just being aware that a player is using it vs another. Go ahead MTE all day however if the other guy knows you are relying on it as a crutch your ass is going to get launched. If learning to counter tech requires less effort on my part, why bother doing it. Reduce the game to it more simple elements.

 

You're right, simplifying the game is one of the keys to improvement. I do not find the idea that just because something requires less effort and you can win, that it means there is no reason to do it. With that logic, you could also ask why you should bother learning to crouch dash fuzzy guard if you can just make the right read and abare or block. I think you would agree, that would be sub-optimal play. It's like you're putting weights on your feet because from -3 to -5, if your opponent is only throwing or attacking without delays then it takes the LEAST amount of effort to just CD fuzzy guard them.

That player that refuses to learn CD fuzzy because it is too hard, ends up playing a different game than everyone else and is working a lot harder and making unnecessary reads. Basically, the opponent has not presented a true mixup because both throw and attack are beaten with the same defensive technique. I've seen a lot of players think their offense has mixups, but because they either aren't able to use the basic system mechanics (or more commonly do not know it exists). FS still has an equivalent technique to A.R.E. and it's even stronger and less taxing on the hands.

P.S. @adamYUKI would input at least 3 TE's back in the days when that mattered and he is a beast. He understands when to use tech based on his yomi. It's like going super saijin.

P.P.S. @Terracrush I think aoi spoils you

 

love this

 

Virtua Fighter 4:EVO/FT were designed so that you could always guess and win (on offense and defense). Option Selects and special techniques simply made your guesswork easier at the cost of extremely high execution requirements. A correct guess against a throw requires one input. A random guess against a throw is only as good as how many throw escapes you can mash. But guesswork will always trump execution in VF. Whereas other games like Marvel, Street Fighter, and Tekken to some extent will have ways where execution just wins outright.

Marvel and Street Fighter have unblockables. Street Fighter has things like auto mix-ups and safe jumps. Tekken has throw breaks on visual reaction and things like Rage meters that reward losing (like SF's Ultra/V-Trigger system or UMvC3 X-Factor). There is no guaranteed damage in VF outside of punishes or combos. And even throws punishes are only guaranteed as attempts unless they are the more rare inescapable throw (which usually can't be used as punishes anyways).

Generally in Virtua Fighter guesswork is better on defense than an offense. On offense you must have execution to land your combos. Easy combos almost always do lower damage. On offense you are rewarded for high execution. And in some cases they do much lower damage. Also you lose out on high damage moves like Stun Palm (Akira) or Kage's 4-hit Dragon Punch sequence. I don't think most top players are proficient at both because most top players would always go crazy when someone executed a really high level move. I remember most top Akira players constantly dropped his hardest combos in VF4FT. So no one was really proficient with Akira's execution other than like 3-4 people in the world. These games are all designed so that people have to spend lots of time practicing executing combos or canned combos. So it's more than just leveling up your mind.

And if you play high level Street Fighter, execution is probably more important than guess work.

Right. Defense is the best place for your reads and guesswork. Offense is where the training mode practice shines. The best defense in VF is the most simple. If players are relying on option selects and MTEs and so on it likely means that they are mentally overwhelmed and are having trouble reading their opponents. Either that or they have just naturally insane execution and so they can just mash MTE without effort.

But still, some people prefer to only execute and play with very little guesswork. I'd imagine that most Street Fighter players in Japan, who main SF but play VF on the side, do not use a lot of guesswork in VF and just try to execute the most powerful sequences that they can. There's no 'right way' to play VF.

Someone who prefers execution isn't working harder though if their execution is good from day one. Some Japanese come to VF through Guilty Gear or Super Turbo/Third Strike and so they don't need to hit training mode at all because they are better than 99% of VF players already execution wise. I doubt someone like Nuki had trouble adjusting to VF execution when he started playing VF4:EVO.

VF can be played a million different ways. Street Fighter usually has 1-2 ways of playing a character and then 10 million wrong ways. Ever played high level SF? Like high level Third Strike? Almost all top 3S players have the same setups and styles. Sure every VF player will start with jab and crouch jab, but from there you have a nearly unlimited range of possibilities. The movelists in SF are short, you can memorize everyone's moves realistically. Try memorizing on VF character's movelist. It's difficult.

The point is that there are top players who don't fuzzy guard or MTE and they are playing the same game as everyone else. Because VF has the most open ended system of any fighter (and also the best balance). A person who avoids fuzzy or MTE likely makes better reads because they have all the accumulated experience of having to guess. So they know "always escape TFT" or "he only goes low jab -> elbow from disadvantage" simply based on focusing on that rather than focusing mentally on "evade, throw escape, down throw escape, forward throw escape, guard".

VF5FS was designed for scrubs so no surprises there. Big dumb combos, loud rock music, and moron-level execution. ResidentSleeper Fighter 5: Final Showdown.