Aoi's top 10 moves

There's no better starting point for players to learn a character than a good "top 10 moves" thread. Simply list what you think are Aoi's 10 most useful moves and why. Naturally I'm sure she has more than 10 useful moves, but this thread is simply to help players new to using Aoi to gain a good idea of where to start.

Also, I think that for the sake of avoiding repetition & shouldn't be included in anybody's lists since they're pretty much a no-brainer for virtually every character.

So then, experienced Aoi players, what do you think are Aoi's top 10 moves?

 

You forgot to add to your list of not-to-include, just sayin' .

Here's my list in no specific order of importance:

1. Ryoushi

Ryoushi is Aoi's fastest executing mid attack at a quick 13 frames. On top of that it is a double palm attack effectively crushing any sabaki, parry, or reversal attempts (excluding Aoi). It staggers on counter hit giving you a great mixup game when it lands. It's completely safe even going as far as to allow fuzzy guarding on block as it is only -4. And how could I almost forget, it goes under all high attacks even at disadvantage. Irrefutably one of Aoi's best moves.

2. Shinchuzuki +

Aoi's punch (HP, H-EL, MP, EL) sabaki that allows for combos on success, it works wonders against jabbers and it has so many applications in specific situations just like her other sabakis. It's damage potential against walls will have opponents thinking twice about punch their way into advantage. It's not the safest move, requiring ETE for optimal defense but it's a great move nonetheless.

3. Ogamigeri +

Aoi's kick (HK, MK, SK, KN) sabaki that leads to a combo when successful. Sarah players beware, this move has become infinitely more useful in FS as it now has the VF5 Vanilla 's properties but instead of a high it is now a mid and it has increased in range. It doesn't have the most damaging followup on sabaki but it kills almost all kicks if your opponent is fearing the Shinchuzuki combo away or against walls. Another useful condition tool in Aoi's arsenal.

4. Tsumujikaze

, and too difficult to handle? This will become your favorite move. It sabakis HP and LP and is a mid that allows for combos on CH. The fact that it sabakis low punch alone makes this a move you should commit to your strategy.

5. Ouka +

The range of this move is amazing and is a vital part of Aoi's distance game and wall combo game. It's combo potential (only on CH) is comparable to any other one of Aoi's launchers making it a great semi-safe move for great damage.

6. Tenchi In'You ++

And it's follow ups. It is a very important part of Aoi's defensive abilities and it has been upgraded immensely in FS. No longer is it susceptible to throws thanks to the new move. It has launcher potential (Essentially Sou Un Ha ) with . It has LP and other short range avoiding capabilities with and more combo potential with . Tenchi may seem like it's one of the greatest moves in Virtua Fighter because of it's insane parrying ability, and arguably it is, but recognize its flaws and learn ways around them or you'll see just how crippling a reliance on this move can be.

7. Koromoguruma

Another distance closing move. It pushes back on hit protecting you from the ever annoying . This is the move everyone avoids like the plague against walls. It's a half circular mid meaning it counter hits any failed evades and will proceed to cause a wall stagger that can lead to a cringe worthy whooping 103 damage ON NORMAL HIT.

8. Tsukiashibarai

A half circular low that is semi-safe on block. It's half circular properties make this move really shine as it will knockdown the opponent on fail evade and if they don't tech it's a free combo. Aoi's true low arsenal is small but the few she has are very effective.

9. Musouha ~> Sodeguruma ~> + (Hit)

A hit throw that should be mostly used to punish high whiffs since it ducks under them and blocked low sweeps. It will still connect even if it is a normal hit, keep that in mind. But it is also -13 on block guaranteeing a from the opponent. Guard and input a throw escape just in case.

10. Move into ~Sundome (+Ukifune & Tachibana) & ~Tenchi In'You

Aoi's mind games revolve around these essential cancels. Learn them to lure the opponent for some easy counter hits.

Whoops, ran out of space . So many good moves to choose from they wouldn't come near to only 10

 

aka Tenchi Stance
Sundome ( hold ) ~
Jump, while landing

 

1K seems like a weird choice to me over 2K+G. I mean, they're both great, but 2K+G is ranged, full-circular, and the G-cancel and Tenchi followups put it among the best sweeps in the entire game.

I guess my list would be:

2K+G (above)

6P+K,P (fast, nice range, knocks down, sundome options, half-circular)

66P+K, P (amazing range, second punch is quite delayable which punishes a lot of stuff)

66K (yeah, this move is overused by most people, but just because it's so good. Really long range launcher that tends to go over some low. Highly punishable, so don't just throw it out, but when the opponent whiffs something, having this ready is invaluable)

4K (reasonably fast and safe special high that staggers, a great answer to anyone who overuses lows and helps keep pressure from right on top of the opponent)

2KPP (Another kind of boring, overused move, but again because it's so good. Can combo off anything, rejuggles people who don't recover right, and since it starts low and ends with a move that can go into sundome and crumbles on counter-hit, you can even just throw it out randomly from neutral and come out ahead. Also works as a frame-trap that stuffs sideroll rising kicks for free.)

Ground throws (they're guaranteed after all sorts of stuff Aoi can do. A little riskier than vanilla since there's technically fewer of those guaranteed options, and be careful near walls, you don't want to waste all your work cornering someone just to do a ground throw that steps over them and corners yourself. But really, most of the time if you're not going for those it's just leaving damage behind.)

66P (already talked about by everyone else)

P+K+G (Tenchi stance, use it!)

P+K+G,4,K+G (All the new option moves while leaving Tenchi stance are great, but this one is my personal favorite. Simplest use, go into Tenchi stance next to a knocked down opponent, making it look like they'll get a free low rising kick, use Ryuka to dodge the kick, and then K+G knocks them right back down. And so many other uses exist for what is essentially a backdash with a built-in ranged full circular low, any impatient opponent will walk right into this one.)

 

Thanks for these lists.. very helpful. just realized the importance of sundome (guard cancel) into . great to mix up with throw setups from sundome and using with and

 

Thanks for these lists, I'll try to incorporate them into my game.

 

That o.0

 

Exactly, Righteous_Dream. Love that move.

 

I miss Aoi 1P being + on hit

The followup is unsafe but otherwise I'm a very big fan of 64P+K. It's 15 frames, surprisingly easy to confirm and has a big enough delay on the followup that using it to gain respect and allow sundome is pretty easy, though a little bit risky.

4K was mentioned, but it's worth mentioning that it's also half-circular

I haven't seen 3P mentioned, I feel like I'm the only fan of that move. Only -2 on block, decent range for its speed and has potential for strong mindgames on CH (They have to sidestep or press a button to escape the crouch throw mixup).

Also, I like 43P as much as the next guy, but you have to be very smart with it against good players. A single good sidestep or backdash and you're going for a ride.

 

wow someone asked me this question on SRK. Glad my list synch up with most you all. Let's me know I had a good idea of how the character was suppose to be used. But not digging her low damage right now. And while I know her wall combo, I rarely can get my opponent in that situation. She is so garbage for low level meta games, because I think her threats really open up when she can start running her throw game. But when an opponent is constantly swinging it hurts. I'm finding good frame traps, but then again, I'm getting 70-80 at best. and 80 is pushing it. When Jeff does 100 on CHs anywhere on the screen, it's kind of hard to keep her as your main.

 

About 3P: it is +8 on MC so you can stop both d+P and evade with 2+K+G.
So it causes a 50/50 mixup between low throw and sweep.

 

yeah, 3P is +5 or 4 on normal hit too.. great move from my experience if you need more range than 43P or know you wont need to duck or get a counter hit

 

I don't particularly mind Aoi against bads. Just abuse delayable strings and basic frame traps (5P 43P) to get them to stop pressing buttons, and if they don't then just keep doing it. If you land something that's higher advantage and they're the type that's dumb enough to keep pressing shit, just take your free CH 6K into a combo.

I find Aoi difficult to use because of the sheer amount of tools she has and the knowledge necessary to properly adapt between various players and characters. I use Goh and Wolf as well, but I plan to keep slowly working on Aoi since no other character can really replace what she can do.

 

I find playing aoi sort of difficult to understand because her specialty is reversals, not offense. she has no moves that are + on block apart from 5p which means she can't just throw out stuff on the offensive on blockers like characters that have a lot of them.. against smart opponents who know frame data I'd imagine that is a disadvantage for her. Have to get better and better at sabakis and attack cancels etc do to well with her in the long run I guess.

I guess button mashers are a good way to test out reversals and sabakis, I should try doing that more. mostly just relying on people falling for 66k over and over and wall combos etc. which I shouldn't let get into my head

 

Lol wut :3?

Aoi's offensive game is just as beastly as her defense game. She can combo off of an insane amount of moves in FS, her throw game is among the best in the game, sabakis, parries, and reversals are not the complete center of her game but are there to cover up mistakes(disadvantages). Besides if she had +frame moves on block you could constantly attack, making her quite the broken character.

The reasoning behind her vast negative frames even on hit in some cases is to tone her down. She's speedy as is and if they made her any safer (*cough Ryoushi cough*), everyone who plays as Aoi could abare all day long and win. It's hard enough to hit her because of her quick frame attacks and on top of that her counter & cancel repertoire. Gotta give slower characters like Jeff and Taka a chance, right?

Doesn't specialize in offense, silly thing to say .

Meh, you can do fairly well with solid basics (, , , circulars, throws). Her technical things, like every other character, are sort of like frosting on a cake to mixup your game further. So don't feel like you absolutely NEED to incorporate them into your strategy to be good with Aoi. Don't get me wrong, when you delve deeper you'll see how good Aoi can be with them, but take it slow and learn at a comfortable and enjoyable pace (Don't skip out on the basic foundation, seriously ).

 

Yeah, as Tiripsem said, thinking Aoi is slow/weak because she doesn't get +frame moves is kind of missing the point.

Her moves tend to be relatively fast, and her G-cancels and stance cancels make even her launchers incredibly safe, especially against the weak players who will just attack into your stance every time.

If you're having trouble with button mashers, skip the reversals, skip the throws, skip the sabakis. All you need to do is stand there in Tenchi while they hand you guaranteed damage. Throw out Ryuka moves if you get some distance. And add in the basics, 6PP or 4k to punish lows, 44P+K to crumble against the P-strings, etc. Everything else is just there so you have an answer to players who can beat the simple stuff. But if your opponent is just mashing, the absolute worst thing you can do is overcomplicate your game. Stick to the basics, until they force your opponent to start working around it, and then opportunities to use everything will show up.

 

Instead of arranging moves in some random top 10-list, you should find out the frame statistics of each move, and then figure out in which situation it is useful. Almost every move in the game is useless in some situations and really useful in other situations.

I was going to make a new topic for this, but maybe I just post the information here instead. This also explains a bit about how frame data works.

Here goes:

The fastest move in the game is + and it executes in 12 frames for every character in this game. When applying frame data, understanding which moves that stops + is central (if a move stops low punch, it will also stop every other move since low punch is the fastest). There are exceptions, important ones, but you can deal with those later.

Now, there are three situations that will occur so often that every new player should learn to understand them as fast as possible.

1. is guarded (Aoi has +2)
2. connects on normal hit (Aoi has +5)
3. + connects on counter hit (Aoi has +7)

Situation 1
In this situation Aoi has +2, so moves that execute in 14 (12+2) frames or faster will stop +

* + (execution 13 frames) Gives stagger
* + (execution 14 frames) Can be followed up for more damage or a guessing game


Situation 2
+5, so moves that execute after 17 frames or faster will stop low punch (notice that the moves in Situation 1 still works!).

* ++ (execution 16 frames) Initiates a combo, but carries some risk if evaded. This is Aois most basic combo starter.

Situation 3
+7 so moves that executes in 19 frames or faster will beat low punch.

* ++, (executes in 16 frames) Fairly low risk, but a big damage combo
* + (executes in 18 frames) High risk, high return.
* ++ (also 18 frames, good for punishing stuff, but I think unless you buffer it perfectly it will take 19 frames for it to come out)


So, have the opponent guard your and then do
a) throw
b) +
Now, the opponent have to guess. Either he guards and beats b) (but then lose to a)) or he can do a low punch (which beats all throws but lose to b)).


I don't know if this helps, but this is usually how you analyse the game and find uses for different moves.

 

Great idea Madone, very interested in how other moves will fit in an analysis like that. Ive instinctively been using p to 6p(or 43p) / p to grab mixup because it seemed safe, but knowing things for certain is surely better

@Tiripsem, Sorias: I didn't mean Aoi was bad by any means, just that I was having trouble understanding how she is "meant" to be played. But I am a beginner and shouldn't have tried to argue about the + frame moves and stuff though since I've barely given the other characters any playtime yet.

 

I disagree, actually. The point of these top-10 lists are for complete beginners who are either new to VF, or at least new to Aoi. Learning and remembering all the frame data and system rules is just too much to handle on a first pass.

These posts should function as a short checklist of moves for a beginner to experiment with as they start playing their first matches. Later, if they stick with the character, they'll look up the rest of it.

So, the more complex info is great and should be around somewhere, but it probably does deserve it's own thread.

No worries, I think we both responded because your point was both interesting, and a very widely held misconception. On paper, a quick glance will immediately reveal that reversals are "Aoi's unique thing!". But the truth is just that they hardly qualify as useful, much less important. I think the correct way to classify Aoi at a simple beginner level is as a throw-based character that can use her G-cancels to maintain a very aggressive playstyle, unlike the slow defend&punish style of the more traditional grapplers like Wolf.

We should be thanking you for bringing the topic up for discussion.

 

amazing post madone, I wish I read it weeks ago, I know most of this now.... but if I had just read it instead of slowly realize it all myself through losses I would have saved so much time

IMO probably the most significant bit of info out there on what you NEED to know offensively with aoi.