Pai vs Akira

I am no expert in Pai, neither a newbie, but Pai is my best character and i always use her. Although Pai is weak, i still had no problem against other opponents except Akira. I tried poking and comboing him, but he always retaliate with the sPoD and reversalals comboing up to 75pt dmge. I really have no solution to the string of attacks and get thrashed up easily. It is against my cousin who is best at Akira BTW. Any Pai experts have a solution?

 

Much Akira's attacks are linear and he's quite easy to dodge. Also, keep in mind that he has a lot of mid level attacks. Use the Inashi, Luke. Learn to anticipate when your cousin will shoulder or double palm, and make sure you throw him immediately after blocking either.

just some quick thoughts...

 

I know... but he also often bodychecks too. One problem is the distinct advantage he has on me. Pai is a lightweight and fast but vulnerable. I also try to use my speed as an advantage stringing combos with etc. However Akira is almost as fast as Pai and in terms of power does i think x3 damage. I also hardly use air attacks and the somersault kick, because they leave a long recovery for Akira to combo.

 

Well, much of your losses are likely due to inexperience. It would very unwise to ever do as a string mid match. The crescent is easily blocked (even if the punches hit) and then you're toast.

Here's some pointers to get you going. Pai is indeed fast, but keep in mind that finishing strings is not such a good thing. Lead in with a P. Then move to a fast safe mid level attack like sidekick, or +. Her f+P poke is also very useful. Don't forget about her sweep, ++, and work on setting up a throw. Pai's throwing game in VerC does good damage and it's easy to mix up the directions too. Use both b,f+P+G and f,b+P+G.

Best thing for you to do, really, is log onto to #vfhome (EFNET) on IRC. We can help you there in discussion. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

cheers,

 

I also play Pai, and I've been finding that I actually have an advantage against Akira if I don't stay really close to him; the ideal distance seems to be right around the max range of + and +. That way, he's got a lot of ground to cover when he comes at you, he can't do that fast guard-break punch, and you've got a lot of time to either inashi him or counter him with +, +, or +,. The key thing is that he can't profit from you guarding in any way (i.e. throw you or guard-break-n-stagger you) when you stay away from him.

 

Wow, I haven't posted in a while so forgive my newbie writing style. So you say your having problems with Akira? Usually If u always play agianst the same person you can always anticipate what their going to do next. So I suggest that u mix up your attacks alittle. Akira might do more damage but(I'm guessing here)when I mc him It seems that it does more damage to him than anyother character in the game. Don't forget about Pai's has decent range to counter dashing elbows, and then . I find this more reliable than the , even though it does less damage. You should also break up your attack string just to keep up the mind games, for ex. maybe , , . Just to distrupt his attacks and go for a throw. But If u play your cousin on a dayley basis, it shouldn't be that hard to know what he's going to do next. Hopefully some of this /versus/images/icons/grin.gif helped /versus/images/icons/grin.gif Shout out goes to CREED AND STA /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

One thing that i dont think anybody mentioned was that Akira tend to either double palm (block that dont counter) you or try to some kind of mid attack to u when you tr so remember that pai has some usefull counters.

 

how can Pai counter that? I'm in the habit of tech rolling and sometimes akira will catch me with a move into a backstagger? how can i stop this without stopping techrolling all together? mid reversal right away?

 

Don't tech when your falling face down head towards your opponent...you can still quick-rise and you'll avoid being backstaggered. Tech-rolling/quick-rising too much isn't a good idea...I rather eat a 12pt ground attack than lose anywhere from 25-90pts by guessing wrong after tech-rolling.

 

[ QUOTE ]
BMF said:

I rather eat a 12pt ground attack than lose anywhere from 25-90pts by guessing wrong after tech-rolling.

[/ QUOTE ]

It is much smarter to opt with possibly taking a light down attack, than eating a huge backstagger combo.

If you techroll with your backturned, there is no real way of avoiding the stagger attack, as long as your opponent times it right. Instead you can lie on the ground and attempt to ground roll to the side. If you opponent judges wrong and tries for a striking attack to get you to stagger, you will be free to rise/roll without worrying about a down attack. Also, many attacks that knock you down face away from your opponent lack the range to be immediately followed with a light down attack, and in that case a down attack is only confirmed when either, you fail to roll to the side, or attempt a slow rising attack in which case it is countered by a down attack.

Staying flat on the ground, is safe and effective in case you are unsure whether to rise or techroll.