A Brutal Aoi, or Cerbral Aoi?

Does this arcade age restriction include the US? Or is that just Japan?

Not to turn this thread into another Shun thread, but what is it about Shun that I'm missing? I've NEVER gotten above 1st Dan (CPU). I've only tried Shun against humans on a couple of occassions, rarely winning. With Aoi, you're doing major damage with throws; Shun's the same way for me. If I can't throw, I can't win. The difference is, Aoi has her elbows, her fast jabs, and her impressive . Really reliable stuff. Shun has , , the Chouwan and as fast effective offense that doesn't come out slow as shit and leave you in a bad way if blocked. Does anyone use unless they're delaying for a counter? Shun is slow, and yet good players make him look fast as Lion. I keep waiting for a revelation with Shun, but it doesn't happen.

 

Shun requires patience and elegence. YOu can't powerhouse your opponent, at least not until you get 8 drinks down you.
The Chowan is the key. Remember, it eats most low attacks, including low crescents and low punches. Of course, this depends the distance between you & your opponent.
One nice move as a setup is:
++
Basically from here, you've got a couple of options. I either throw, or use the Chowan. If they're expecting the Chowan, they'll just sit there. If they're expecting the throw, they'll low punch, and you've got the frame advantage. The Chowan will get a counter and float them.
Also don't forget . Full crescent, not throw counterable, and leaves their back turned to you on hit.

 

I started a game with aoi and i came across a little move,its for a downed opponent,the command is++ i have done this move on a few occasions but just cant execute on a regular basis.
Does anybody no a way to perform it consistantly,or maybe a good move to do before it as a set up...

 

It's a down throw. They're not always guaranteed. Basically, you can always do it in the following:

-Opponent is down longer from hitting the wall
-After +
-After an crumble, although there are MUCH better follow ups.
-After certain reversals. Elbow being one of them.

If you read all of this thread I think there's a longer list.

 

Damn GaijinP...I keep saying, man, you ought to write out a Shun Dojo; for one thing, you write in clear terms and get to the point, as with the Aoi Guide, which helps dummies like myself without making them feel stupid. The better guides do that...BUT SHUN DOESN'T HAVE ONE.

As far as Aoi's down throws, I try them mostly after launching the opp. with , or after a wall. I love the down-throw, but it's probably about the same damage as a down-attack (I think). Though the down attack seems to do slightly more damage, but it's helped me to do to cancel the down attack if the opp. is QRing. I mean, I ran across that information late, and I can't tell you how many matches I've lost going for the big down attack and getting nailed by a TR and a counter.

 

The after + is NOT guaranteed. It can be escaped by rolling sideways (/...) towards Aoi's front (e.g. Aoi's left leg in front, roll to her right side).
The distance is pretty big afterwards under normal cicumstances, so the is still safe, even if your opponent evades it /versus/images/icons/cool.gif.

 

Well, when I first played Aoi I think it is rather unfair that Sega made her so weak in comparison to other characters. It's true, I think in term of striking attacks she's the weakest character in the game. But after playing her for quite some time, I found that she's quite powerful.
The main aspect of Aoi's attacks is NOT to hurt them, rather, to interrupt and confuse them. Many times I have been able to string a combo or even a single attack and finish it with a throw or reversal (yes, reversal). The key to Aoi is combo with her THROW, yes, throw! not her striking attacks.
Crumpling moves are great! Keep in mind that YOU CAN LOW-THROW a crumpled opponent.
Here are examples:
+: counter or no, you'll get plenty of time to do a low-throw. Being slow, I sometimes prefer to use this after evading an opponent who continuously attacks.
+: same as above, but getting to hit in is rather difficult. If is blocked, you can either:
- Go to Tenchi In 'You stance (or YY stance, as some people call it) to parry your opponent's attack. (Safe)
- Reverse (Risky, but can be very demoralizing and painful to your opponent)
- to interrupt or pressure your opponent attack, but I find that + works better.
- an excellent interrupt move! It come out almost instantaneously, and a counter hit will crumple your opponent, ,THEN you can low-throw them.

: a counter hit net you a free low-throw. A good delayed/trick move against human opponents.
: first kick miss, but if second one counter hit, the opponent will be in crouching position, giving you a free low-throw.
+ : it is very fast and easy to do. If hits, you can follow up with a low-throw. However, if your opponent is fast enough, they can stand up or move away to avoid your low-grab, BUT, if it is a counter hit, there's no way to escape other than throw-escape.

Another good move to use:
+ : This move has it uses. It is best to use it after you finish your previous attack, then if your opponent attacks back, they will be hit by this move. There are frames in this move where Aoi move back, ,hence she can avoid certain short-range or slow move like a single or a slow . It is also very fast. Although you can't get a low throw, you can do instead and if you're close enough, you can follow up with a ground-throw without having to dash forward first.

Also, I have found a way that, in some way, I think is kinda on the cheating side. It only requires... a single . YEs! However, it MUST be a counter hit. Some people don't realize this, but, a counter hit single will stagger your opponent A BIT. Allowing you to quickly follow up with a throw if you're fast enough. Most of the time I'd go to ++ or ++ or +.
The counter deals 15 damage, so if you go to her 'longer' chain throw (which deals 65, 75, and 76 damage) you can easily get 80-91 damage!!
In order to do this, pay close attention to your opponent attacks. It is best to use this whenever they're using a series that you can interrupt in the middle.

As for reversals, I LOVE Aoi's reversals. Keep in mind that there are a few reversals that you can follow up with a ground-throw:
-High/Mid reversal (right hand reverse)
-Side reversal (right feet reverse)
-Elbow reversal (quickly dash forward and you'll get a free ground-throw)

Well, hope that helps.

 

About the MC thing, it gives you a +8 advantage, so that's a throw. Getting in the whole half-circle in time, that's another matter...

Also, if you do all three pieces of that monster throw, someone mentioned that the down-throw is guaranteed if you're fast enough? If so, then MC,three-part-throw,++ is over 100 damage! /versus/images/icons/shocked.gif

LauFists: Fredericksburg, eh? How close is that to Roanoke?

 

Thanks for the corrections.
Yeah, yeah low-throws can be escaped, but I think in a heated battle low-throws are more effective, because it deals a lot more damage and throw-escaping in VF4 requires an extreme amount of concentration and reflex. Just mix her low-throw between her Tekime Toushin (++) and Shin no Kurai ++) to make escaping more difficult, or just go for .
As far as my testing goes, my opponents NEVER managed to escape my low-throw after I forced them into crouching position with an MC. Well, I'll just have to test it out again, I think...
Ground-throws can be escaped? I never know that! I'll have to check on this soon...
BTW, her + is a much better down attack than her regular u. What do you guys think?
BTW no.2, I never found much use for her deflecting atatcks and . Deflecting with this move requires just almost as precise timing as reversing, so, why don't you just go for a reverse, then?

 

Yeah, I pulled out the Training mode last night, and I also found that the ground-throw is not guaranteed after the multi-throw, but about the hit stun thing...

DISCLAIMER: This is completely untested; I'm just presenting a hypothesis.
MC- gives Aoi a +8 frame advantage. Let's say you buffer the throw command in during the punch's recovery, and so all 8 of those frames go into starting up the throw. Thus, the hit stun and your throw's startup take the same amount of time. The opponent hit stun has just ended right when the sweet spot of your throw happens. Bam, he gets thrown.

/versus/images/icons/laugh.gif Am I right?

 

wOW THIS post actually blew up when I was gone. I'm actually surprised that people are now starting to use Aoi. It about time, but for the most part aoi can be an over whelming person to play as, since it probably pissed people of the she is a very weak character compared to others, I usually play as her just to piss people off with her reversals and counters. It's true she can reverse almost every attack, but I don't know about the ground throws. /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

Nope. It's not guaranteed no matter what, the only guaranteed punch-throw situation is wolf's MC P --> f+P+G.

Click here to see why.

There ARE a few (very few) attacks that sega has made to guarantee throws. Only a handful in the entire game.
So far:
1. Vanessa b+P (MC) --> dash and throw.
2. Jacky backturned P+K (ultra close range) --> no dash, just throw.
3. Lei fei d+P+K+G stance --> P, P+K ... causes animation like vanessa's, guaranteed throw. This is from a magazine, I've never tested it.
4. Wolf's b+P in situations where it doesn't knock down (like after a D,DF+P uppercut, or after a wall stagger). I've been told by one source this is a guaranteed throw and others it is not. It sort of feels guaranteed if you use a quick throw, not wolf's slower HCF+P+G.
5. Not sure what the deal with this is, but jacky's automatic reversal -> f+P -> throw is guaranteed, though one friend swears lion can get out of it with QCB+P or some other attacks.

 

Gajin,

I just wanted to mention (if it hasn't already been) that does slightly more damage than ; also, her ground throw is guaranteed after a few of her reversals (defintately 2) as well. One I know for sure is her reversal for side kicks (not the dragon screw looking reversal, but the one where she finishes with a kick to the hamstring). Is it me, or does it seem like she has very poor priority for a lightweight. She seems to have a lot of useless moves that are too slow to even think about using. Many of her moves that lead to good follow ups (crumbles, low throws ,etc.) are fairly unreliable when playing human opponents; ex. , and . I dunno, maybe it's just me. I've been using her for about a month and a half now, and I get real frustrated when playing against Lau's, Lions, Sarahs, Lei Fei's and Kage's. They just seem to beat her to the punch all of the time. It feels like everytime I press a button to attack; I get hit. Anyway, enough of my whining; your guide was useful, thanx /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

The problem with Aoi, attack-wise, is that she's not designed to perform a lot of fast attacks. I gather the character was put together as the ultimate test of a player's knowledge of the other characters in the game, since Aoi will have to read her opponent and look for the weaknesses, rather than Lau-overpowering them. I think most of Aoi's strikes are interrupters, setting up for stronger attacks with throws and even reverses, depending on how good you are at that. One of her best strikes has to be that low upward elbow, not-fast but it feels safer than some of the slow stuff, (I believe), while her + is a good tool against Lau...but as with anything against Lau, if you screw it up you'll be ripped.

 

I guess you're right. The throw may not be 100% guaranteed, but I'm guessing, MC-->throw is still a good thing to throw out, since if they expect another striking attack and block, they'll eat the throw, unless they escape, of course.

 

Creed,

I would like to confirm something about number 4 in your list of guaranteed throw situations (Wolf's throws). The only 2 throws I'm aware of that are absolutely guaranteed after , are the KS, and the good version of the GS. If you go into training mode on the PS2, you'll notice that these are the only 2 throws that actually register as combo damage in cojunction with the and the stagger move used to set it up (assuming the stagger move wasn't blocked; either way it still works, and combos with the ). Other throws I like to use after are the jackhammer with afterwards (guaranteed ground move after jackhammer I think; since I've never seen the cpu or humans roll away in time), and the pendulum lariat into or the ground pickup. However, I'm not sure these 2 throws are guaranteed after , cause the dmg from them is tallied up seperately from the elbow; not combined like the KS and good GS. Those 2 throws must have a quicker execution time. I don't ever recall anyone avoiding the the other 2 throws though (notice I said avoiding, not escaping); so they MIGHT be guaranteed as well. Maybe someone else can confirm this. Btw, if you connect with say, a fully charged + (unblocked), into , into a KS; you'll get a total of 130dmg. If you use the good GS; you'll do 150dmg! Oh, and one more thing regarding Aoi; her ground throws are also guaranteed after an opponent misses (or it is successfully guarded) a move that causes them to fall to the ground. A good example would be many of Shuns moves, Wolf's +, his , etc. Aftewards, I always go for , and it usually always connects after the ground throw. Not sure if anyone mentioned this stuff already.

 

Yeah, Aoi's is a fairly useful move. It has very good range; and the throw afterwards, if you connect with it on a counter hit, is both easy to do and does decent damage (not to mention pretty cool looking too). Her other hit throw is also a fairly useful move cause comes out somewhat quick. I think the timing on that one is a little more tricky (having to connect the instant the second hit from connects), because happens so quickly. I've never found to be overly useful though; the range is terrible and it always seems to get me in trouble against human comp. If it does connect though; the most damaging combo I've come up with afterwards is ,.

 

/versus/images/icons/confused.gif Just a little question here, but I can never pull off Aoi's ,+ hit throw in an actual match. I get it every time in command training on my PS2 but even as a counter(yes, i know it has to be a counter hit)it never seems to work for me. You guys seem to know a lot about Aoi, a little help here?