Is Ken's ultra the most useless in the game?
Aside from using it as an anit-air move if you time it right, Ken's ultra is pretty useless from what I've seen. If you focus cancel into it, which is very hard for the average person to pull of anyway, you usually don't get all the hits, meaning it doesn't do much damage. Am I missing some opportunities here?
Responses (4 total)
I wouldn't say that it is the most useless, but it definitely doesn't have the pursuit properties (which allow it to connect with most of the hits of the combo even though you don't hit them with the initial connecting hit) that other ultra combos have (e.g. Sagat). That's one of the things that makes ultra combos more effective in general.
That being said, using FADC is probably one of the most important aspects of Ken's game when it comes to connecting the ultra (as well as other combos, but more often than not, you are going to use it for the ultra), and like you said, it isn't necessarily easy to pull off.
However, it's something you must learn to be successful in the game.
If you are using a pad (as opposed to a stick), I'd strongly recommend switching to a stick. Getting the feel for FADC is much easier on a stick, and you have the added benefit of being able to be console/arcade-agnostic on top of that.
Once you get the feel for the stick, I'd recommend using training mode and breaking down the combos that you want to FADC into ultra into it's separate components. Instead of trying to get it right the first time, work on the few parts, then FADCing out of the move, then getting the followup to the FADC when done.
Back to the ultra combo and FADCing, I see the super as being more useful in certain cases, as there are more opportunities to use it. Ken has a number of links that end with super-cancellable moves which provide more opportunities to connect with a super than there are ultra opportunities.
With that in mind, if you have a full super/EX meter, you might be better off using it to cancel into super as opposed to FADCing and trying for an ultra. It's going to be safer if you don't have the FADC down yet, and even if you do, the super has more damage per hit and is more consistent with the number of hits, which means it is less affected by damage scaling.
Finally, if you want to see effective Ken play, I recommend watching some videos of Damdai and Ed Ma playing Ken to see how they integrate these things into playing Ken.
To add to Casper's post, he does have that one combo, ex air tatsumaki into ultra. If you can land that air tatsumaki, you're set to land the FULL ultra, which, imo, is an awesome set up. And with EX tatsumaki, you can have it cross over too. Another nice setup is a counterhit HP Shoryuken, FADC to ultra, and that actually connects to the FULL ultra for a lot of damage.
Also, Vega's ultra is more useless, by far. =P
Also, be sure to check out the japanese ken player "Wao". A huge list of matches of his were recently uploaded as Wao's Kumite.
Ken is a rough character to use altogether. His combo potential is pretty good, which is the best way to line up his ultra, and he can close space with his forward+medium kick, but when placed beside similar characters like Ryu and Sagat, he just doesn't measure up. His focus attack SEEMS long range but it just isn't, and his hadouken has a really long recovery time.
His ultra REALLY needs to be comboed into to work best, and even when it does it's power isn't top notch. It isn't the WORST ultra in the game, but there are far better. Focus cancel really is the best way to go with it, but for the damage you'll get (and the potential missed hits), it isnt even worth it. He's popular, sure, but there are better characters to pick.
just because you dont get a trillion dmg off his ultra, i dont think it should be considered the worst ultra in the game. if blocked its very punishable yes, but so is ryus or even sagats. if blocked, sagat can be poked out of the tiger uppercut portion after the tiger knee startup. and with the new nerfs, ryus ultra does around 2 throws worth of dmg after a shoryu cancel? i think ken does about the same. the thing hits like 15 times going up. and its honestly not too bad to land, as soon as they hit the apex of their way up after getting hit by your shoryu/cancel, you input it and if you do it correctly, if your ultra hits them as they're descending, you usually get the entire ultra. or even if you dont, i would say it does a throw and a half worth of dmg. there are probably much worse ultras. vega, guile, and sakura just to mention a few. it still does great dmg after a Focus attack. im really confused why people always complain about his ultra. strange...
