[SFV] Akuma for Beginners Full Guide

Timestamps:
00:04 Introduction
00:37 Notation
00:50 Difficulty
01:20 Anti-Airs
03:24 Neutral Combos
08:21 Crush Counter Combos
09:26 Corner Combos
11:15 Basic Setup
11:54 Playstyle
13:34 Training Mode
15:47 Resources
Links:
Gief's Gym: / giefsgym
Truen1ght's Gameplans: / tips_for_players_in_ro...
Akuma Discord: / discord
T-M-B's Setup videos: • Street fighter 5 | Aku...

[@gerram9617]

This is, no joke, the best guide on an SFV character I've seen so far. Thank you!

[@elim9054]

Every "how to get started playing [character]" guide should be organized like this. Too many of them either dump a lot of combos on you with little to no explanation of when and where they are useful, or they take like an hour explaining the particulars of each of the character's normals, frame data, matchups, etc. I do think the latter format can also be useful, but imo this is the ideal take on a quick and dirty guide for learning how a character's punish game works.

[@kyu2813]

TOTALLY agree, every single "beginner guide" I've seen was actually for pros, they assume we already know everything

[@ccoldramenn]

This is honestly better then most guides out there, you’re so descriptive on when and when not to use certain things. You deserve way more views.

[@xIRobert]

I have got my first win with Akuma in ranked thanks to this guide. Thank you!

[@Hushfield]

Congratulations! That really makes me happy :) Keep up the good fight!

[@xIRobert]

@@Hushfield Thank you! Keep up the amazing content aswell!

[@darkpandemic3953]

I like the fact that you cater for people like me who just bought the game on sale I actually understand this guide

[@_Bonjo_]

I'm not joking this is the best video i've ever seen and i saw many Videos

[@diegsternator0917]

I was pretty decent with akuma in the other games but with the new mechanics I wanted to see a guide and you helped me a lot thanks

[@user-lb4ew7gr2j]

if that's you in your pfp I won't believe you

[@diegsternator0917]

I love it when people underestimate me

[@user-lb4ew7gr2j]

@@diegsternator0917 you look like a kid is what I'm saying so I'm guessing you don't play those other games because they came out two decades ago

[@diegsternator0917]

I can understand that

[@diegsternator0917]

A lot people say I look like a 4th grader even though I’m 15

[@kevindurm5234]

Great guide, I love how you are thorough with basic concepts that will get the player going. Then for deeper information you give resources instead of rushing it or trying to squeeze in everything. This is how you grow a community thank you

[@canine8284]

13:22 "According to legend, it will also do the dishes and pick up your kids from school."

[@jacksuwanpradit6992]

Canine I couldn’t agree more

[@timezero8409]

That quote killed me! LOL!

[@Hushfield]

Unfortunately with the new patch notes in season 5 (patch 6.x, 2021 version of the game), Akuma has changed a bit. Almost everything in this guide is still relevant, but two things are now obsolete: neutral combo 5 and 6, the ones that use the light tatsu sideswitch after v-skill kick. I'm in the process of making a new beginner's guide to Akuma, but it might be a while before it's done because people are still figuring out the new patch and what the optimal combo routes and meter usage will be.

[@SandwichGamer107]

Honestly, well made guide and it's glad to hear that you plan to do a new guide and update us on it on a 2 year old video ^^

[@pdxholmes]

Thanks for the dedication man. As a new SFV/Akuma player I really appreciate it. I've still picked up a lot from this guide even if some of the stuff like the side switch doesn't work anymore.

[@XzephyrX]

Can you pls write down the stuff thats now obselete

[@Hushfield]

@@XzephyrX It's really only neutral combo 5 and 6 (the ones that used a light tatsu sideswitch after vskill kick). Since I already mentioned that neutral combo 4 is best performed with hcf.HK, that still works fine. Everything else also works the way it did before this season.

[@XzephyrX]

@@Hushfield thanks man will be waiting for your new guide😄😄

[@SJNaka101]

Thank you so much. I havent even studied the video much yet, but just switching to tatsu finish instead of dp finish seems to be helping a lot. Also, I didnt know st.mk forces standing position so light tatsu will connect. Also, I practiced 1 simple cr.hp crush counter combo for 5 minutes, and "fishing" as you said net me 3 combos over 2 matches immediately after watching the video. Seriously, you are a good teacher. I am going to watch this video many times.

[@hyamz2085]

Why in the fuck this has so little views, also it's 2019. I just picked akuma and I'm still a beginner, this is probably the best akuma guide I've seen. Subscribed and liked

[@dutchschaefer11]

Best akuma guide out there

[@benstubbins]

Absolutely great guide man. I hope you're proud of yourself for it!

[@JPVersus_]

Jfc, thank you so much for this guide. I was looking for something bite sized and full of important information and I got it here! The Akuma army grows because of this video!

[@mateuszmatys1871]

This is the best beginer tutorial I’ve ever seen. Thank You!

[@ricardolazarim2886]

Thanks man , i saw this at the akuma discord server and it helped me out alot!

[@Hushfield]

Glad I was able to help :)

[@0x0x0x0]

been trying to get into this game since it dropped, uninstalled and reinstalled it so many times. this is easily the best tutorial for this game i've ever seen.

[@razerian674]

This is one of the better SFV guides I've seen.

[@thedragonking5380]

Akuma is the reason for why I got this game and so thank you for teaching me how to play as him

[@Ducethedragon]

I decided to get back into akuma since his release a while back and by far you have the best guide on getting back into it. You cover everything you need to know getting into akuma without overwhelming people. Great job my guy!

[@SkellaTore]

Watched a load of akuma for beginner vids and this one honestly helped me the most thanks yo

[@nomi-non]

cheers, kage player who wants to try akuma and this is a great jumping off point that isn't too long or too short.

[@ReginaldSkulls]

Never played an SF game but got this free for ps plus. Been really interested in 6 and plan on maining Akuma when he comes out so this will definitely help, thanks!

[@francisb1]

this was the kind of guide i was looking for, thanks for making it. you should do more or update it. keep it up

[@codelinx]

This was great to see some general info

[@nexus1418]

Thanks for making this guide. It is well organized, to the point, and fits the scope of new players. Well done.

[@charliewaffle4928]

"According to legend he can do your children and pick up your dishes from school" Savage

[@IamDrerex]

This is an amazing guide, thank you so much!

[@TheDesciple30]

Wow!! Amazing guide!! I needed this!!

[@jsuisebfeu]

Nice vid, subbed and liked !

[@Hushfield]

Thanks for the support!

[@Latino_Burrito]

I’m actually watching this because I’m SO hyped for Akuma in sf6, and when I got into sfV it was literally the very end of its lifespan so I didn’t learn much. Bro please, PLEASE make another guide for Akuma when he drops in sf6, I bet there’s gonna be so much tech now that we have DI and drive rush, if you can make another Akuma guide I’ll def subscribe

[@Hushfield]

Hi spicytunaroll, I am quite on and off with KZbin and fighting games, but I do still play a bit and am also hyped to see Akuma in SF6. If I end up playing him for a longer period of time, I'll probably make a guide, though you shouldn't expect it in the first few weeks or even months after he drops. I'm a pretty slow learner and like to take my time with those.

[@robigulo207]

this is the best video i've ever seen

[@ssosa22]

just in case anyone wondering. side switching combo with light tatsu does not work anymore

[@brunorodrigues2661]

Massive thank you. You saved me a lot of time

[@DSiLemon]

Great Guide! I feel ready to start!

[@singha360]

Recently got back into the game. Decided I should pickup Akuma. Thanks for this!

[@magipotato430]

Great guide!

[@Enginerr82]

Awesome video

[@BentaraNaga]

Nice guide. Been looking to convert from Ryu for the last months

[@Shirmar]

Thanks this rly helped Im new to sfv and this helped me get my first win

[@UxNOxHOO]

You did a great job, this was extremely helpful, thank you!

[@johntziannis359]

Pretty straight forward. Thanks will be giving it a go.

[@goochie080ify]

Thanks i needed this

[@tfujita8054]

Awesome guide! Really helps!

[@Luminarise]

What an amazing guide

[@DivX0X]

Awesome guide. Any chance of an update for season 5 Akuma. I'm a beginner.

[@duraflExed]

Wow, talk about being thorough. Well done!

[@ericrodriguez138]

I actually subed because of that demon flip joke.

Very good video!

[@supernaut669]

Great guide.

[@sheridankamal]

Thank you for in-depth guide. I was hoping you can do for other characters as well. Many thanks.

[@Hushfield]

Hi Sheridan, thanks for the kind words. I would like to eventually make more guides for other characters as well, but as I'm still focusing on learning and improving with akuma, that might be a while. If there are any specific characters you want to see guides for, feel free to leave them as a reply here. If I do get round to making more character guides, I'll try to do those first.

[@sheridankamal]

Hushfield Hi and Goo day, thank you for your kind response. It’s okay, no pressure but i would love to see Juri or Karin and my wishlist would be endless. Take your time and i shall keep following your channel for new content. What i love about your guide is how breakdown them into few sections/elements where any players can practice or focus on. For instance I’m lacking on anti-air with Akuma and your lesson gave me an idea how to do it. Thanks again. Cheers!!!

[@kyu2813]

o my god you are so amazing, every other guide I've seen was too hard for beginners, can you please teach all the characters?? I only want to learn from your videos haha

[@Hushfield]

Hi Kyu, thanks for the kind words. I might eventually make some other starter guides, but for now chances are pretty low, since I still mainly play only Akuma.

[@kyu2813]

@@Hushfield starter guides will be soooo perfect, many of us are casual players that will probably never reach high level play, every single guide I've seen is so complicated 😭😭 I just wanna learn some basic and realistic combos to use. thank you so much for making this video, it must've taken a really long time

[@ceciliogutierrezarceo1296]

This is a great video, very easy to understand everything for someone like me that is new. One question, are all this combos still able to be input in the current season? Thank you

[@Hushfield]

Yes, absolutely :) Everything in this video still works in season 5.

[@michaelmichael6352]

Hey I'm pretty new to SF overall, but I have close to 2000 hours in Tekken and NRS games, so I'm not new to the genre. I got into Akuma having played him in T7 and being kind of familiar of what he can do in SF. I don't know about previous patches and what's changed. But for the corner combo section, it seems like the hcb.2P is pretty weak. Maybe I'm missing something with potential oki, but I found that doing EX tatsu is just far superior since it guarantees DP for almost double the damage. I'm looking forward to your update with the new new combo routes and information for season 5.

[@chrisdavidson771]

I have a question, but praise first: Clean, tidy, the commentary is great and all laid out well. I finally learned how to cancel (xx) YAY!. But Neutral combo 4 and a few others have just "K" or "P" and I can't see anything online about these. Its almost like you're activating them without your V-Trigger. Any guidance man? Otherwise AWESOME, Thanks

[@Hushfield]

Hi Chris, thanks for the kind words! Akuma's V-skill one is a parry. If you press medium punch and medium kick at the same time, you will parry an incoming attack from your opponent. If you press a button quickly enough after you have parried something, Akuma will do a followup move from that v-skill. V-skill + p (= pressing any punch button) will make him do a far-reaching palm attack, v-skill + k (= pressing any kick button) will make him do a kick followup that launches the opponent in the air. You can cancel that v-skill kick into several other moves (like demon flip, or light tatsu). Since you can do v-skill as much as you want without any meter, we don't usually call this activation. That term is reserved for the V-trigger (pressing heavy punch and heavy kick at the same time). Hope this helps!

[@nh3heathen348]

Very good video. Very well thought out and explained. Do you have a video for wakeup. I was a NRS player for years and SFV wakeup game is very different. Seems like very few defensive options in SFV. But still more fun than MK11 at this time.

[@laughinoutlaw9013]

Ty bro!

[@lewojan]

Thanks man

[@gallonthegreat7036]

Ryu main but im trying to learn Akuka btw almost at platinum so thanks for the vid

[@lukelaser5397]

Why not stay with ryu? Just curious is all.

[@gallonthegreat7036]

@@lukelaser5397 Honestly I feel like a lot of people gimmick moves with lag work better for them....see Ryu in the old SF games compared to know...its different Akuma is the only O.P. shoto because this game isnt a arcade game where shit that ryu , ken and all the other shotos get away with

[@gallonthegreat7036]

@@lukelaser5397 ryus cheap cheesy shit is nothing... This is a stimulator which SF should of never went too

[@gallonthegreat7036]

@@lukelaser5397 sorry if this didnt answer your question...but hes just weak in this game..yes he does damage but Ryu always does damage...his fighting style tho doesnt match this compared to guile and gimmick characters like bison and fang...

[@lukelaser5397]

No no it answered my question. I also agree with most everything you said to. Sfv dosen't feel like a traditional sf game. It seems like its loaded with gimmicks and the v trigger system is nothing more then a bogus comeback mechanic ya know? Anyway thanks for the response man.

[@namelessking_tk8213]

been practicing for a while now but for some reason when i do : [ st.MK, V-skill + K xx qcb.LK, qcb.HK or dp.HP ] i dont switch sides during the light tatsu, does this mean my cancel is too slow?

[@Hushfield]

Hi namelessking, no you're doing nothing wrong. Unfortunately, this combo was removed from the game. Akuma's meterless sideswitch with v-skill was removed. You can find a bit more info in the pinned comment.

[@namelessking_tk8213]

@@Hushfield ahhhhhhh okay, i just picked up street fighter the other day so im new to 2d fighters but i play alot of tekken so that was what i was thinking, cool to know, thanks :)

[@IamNster]

Tip for c.mk into hadoken for noobs like me: When you do c.mk, hit forward+punch as it connects. Easy shortcut for the hadoken motion, since you already input down to do the c.mk

[@OutplayedChad]

Great guide thanks bro. Subbed!

[@samgorham9275]

They nerfed him so you can’t do st.MK, V skill + K xx qcb.LK, qcb.HK Your first tatsumaki doesn’t put you behind him

[@kompetitif7883]

Is it still possible to make vskill into light tatsu cuz i find it rly hard to pull off ??

[@eurologic]

St MK links into LP, MP and EX red fireball but not HP

[@BasedSif]

Would you say a lot of this applies to CE as well?

[@Hushfield]

Absolutely! The main things that changed are some pressure and combo followups in the corner, how punishable buffers into light red fireball are in the neutral and the way you activate V-trigger. But since none of those things feature heavily in this video, these basics of playing Akuma are all still relevant in CE and Season 5. You can check out all the changes for Akuma in CE here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5bUm4qoZ6tnprs

[@user-lb4ew7gr2j]

ok

[@Hushfield]

Unfortunately with the new patch notes in season 5 (patch 6.x, 2021 version of the game), Akuma has changed considerably. A lot of things in this guide are still relevant, but some stuff is now obsolete (most notably: the light tatsu sideeswitch combo). I'm in the process of making a new beginner's guide to Akuma, but it might be a while before it's done because people are still figuring out the new patch and what the optimal combo routes and meter usage will be.

[@abrogaming5976]

@@Hushfield please comment here when the video is out.

[@nothing3887]

Okay I don’t get how to do the crush counter. Straight after I land HK, I can’t seem to land the HP. I tried the micro walking you suggested but still can’t do it. Please help

[@Hushfield]

Hey nothing, it's a little hard to diagnose without seeing you do the combo, but when that happened for me, it usually meant I was mashing buttons too rapidly. You often miss a timing if you do it like that, so best to go into training mode, land the cc HK and then try out different timings for when to press the cr.HP. I can't really tell if you're pressing it too fast, too slowly or if it's something else, but usually if a combo like that drops it's because of mashing the buttons. If you still can't get it, I'd recommend making a short recording of you doing the combo in training mode with inputs turned on, and posting it in the Akuma discord. They'll be able to tell you exactly what the problem is. Good luck :)

[@sighyawn6378]

i actually cant open people up in this game. they anti air my every jump in, break all my throws, and jab my approaches, and all my whiffs get punished. i feel like i cant do anything at all and i dont get it. currently 1/17 with akuma. i play dan and dont have these issues. im a tekken player tho i dont really play streets.

[@cloud4876]

what did u do to akumas hairs

[@toshirokigai]

im knew to street fighter and akuma is my main but my one problem is that i constantly get knocked down and punished as soon as i get back up, ther must be some sort of counter to being constantly knocked down, and this is especially annoying since everyone in rookie is ken. Any help would be appreciated and thanks for the helpful video

[@anxiousamoeba8661]

The counter after being knocked down is to block! Don’t be afraid of getting thrown, it’s much better than getting hit

[@dylantan9290]

8:30 why not use HK>HK for the cc combo instead of HK>cr.HP since its easier to land and does the same amount of damage? im a bronze akuma so idk shit pls educate me

[@Hushfield]

Hi SMOrc, that's a valid question. Personally, I started out doing st.HK > st.HK target combo as well, since as you mentioned it is easier to do. However, the damage is not the same. If we look at the following combo: st.HK (cc) > st.HK, st.MK xx h. demon flip + palm it does 264 dmg and 405 stun. The optimal combo st.HK (cc), cr.HP, st.MK xx h. demon flip + palm does 288 dmg and 469 stun. That's a difference of 24 damage and 64 stun, which is quite significant. That's why you eventually always want to do the optimal cc punish using st.HK, cr.HP instead of the st.HK > st.HK target combo. Hope this helps :)

[@dylantan9290]

@@Hushfield i think i need a new pair of glasses :( thx for the clarification, love the guide.

[@djouneidcheck3200]

Hi, thank you really much for your work ! I got ultra silver yesterday thanks to this tuto even if cant do all those combos yet. Do you any english speaker pro player streaming akuma i could watch ?

[@Hushfield]

As far as twitch streams are concerned: I like watching UYU Kami: www.twitch.tv/whatiskami (has been streaming quite a bit lately. It looks like he's goofing around a lot, but he has some serious skills and pulls off some very technical stuff with akuma.) Chris Nguyen: www.twitch.tv/chris_h_nguyen (not super active, but very nice stream and is happy to explain things to viewers) If you want to see more akuma streams, check the akuma discord: discordapp.com/invite/cVXAwnN

[@notkyonu4655]

I think im gona uninstal this game i cant hit shit because im shit at fight games it takes me too much time to do a special attack NEVERMIND YOUR TUTORIAL IS SO F GOOD THX YOU DID A GREAT JOB

[@shukrans7623]

I’m struggling to perform demon flip can you give me the input please for PlayStation like x circle triangle square, also demon flip is not on the command list in the game?

[@xtidlbitx]

his move that says hyakkishu is demon flip

[@namelessking8744]

Now how i did it you go ⬅↙⬇↘↗➡ and then press x, try not to press them at the same time. As soon as you input those arrows then you press x

[@mythicalph2666]

i only know how to kamekameha amd double kamekameha

[@skepto18]

Awesome guide, do you have something similar for Ryu?

[@Hushfield]

I currently do not, sorry. I might make more guides in the future, but I'm still mainly focusing on learning Akuma and improving my game.

[@skepto18]

@@Hushfield im trying to learn Akuma, but for some reason i get confused during matches and i forget all the combos i learned from your awesome video.. beside with Akuma, you really need to be so close.. Ryu normals has some more reach. Could you please do a guide for Ryu, at least text guide in the same layout for Akuma :)

[@mcknucklehead5722]

For me Akuma's at his best mid-screen, correct me if I'm wrong

[@littlekitten6600]

I just started playing the game.. should i continue trying to learn akuma? Or go to someone easier like ken

[@Hushfield]

Hi Little Kitten. That really depends. There are different views on how to best start learning the game. A lot of people say it's good to start learning the game with a character like Ryu, because there's nothing in his kit that is really OP, which means you have to learn the game in "an honest way" and will prevent you from developing bad habits. But this definitely isn't always true, as there's a lot of raggo Ryu players out there as well. Ken has stronger offensive pressure but sometimes new Ken players tend to pick up some bad habits (like full screen heavy tatsu or rolling their face over the ex dp inputs). I learned the game on Ryu and switched to Akuma after a while. While it's definitely true that Akuma is a much more technical character and requires more practice to do well with, you can learn the game with any character. So basically: if you're willing to think about the game, learn from your mistakes and not autopilot, you can play whoever you like best and still improve. Hope this helps, feel free to ask more questions if you have them.

[@littlekitten6600]

Hushfield i mainly asked if i should learn ken first bc when I used to play sf4 (like a decade ago ) i remember playing a ton of ken so maybe i would be more familiar with him

[@Hushfield]

@@littlekitten6600 The shotos are all a bit different from version to version. Especially in SFV they did an excellent job distinguishing Ryu and Ken. They're very different from each other, but I couldn't tell you how they play compared to SF4. If Ken is your old main, I would definitely check him out. If you do decide to pick up Ken, one of his main strengths is his corner pressure/mixup game (meatie/overhead/low/throw, it's a nightmare to have to guess vs him in the corner). And since you're always but a single backthrow away from being in the corner vs Ken, I would say he is definitely a very scary character in this iteration of Street Fighter, even if he never makes it to the very top of anyone's tier list.

[@SothX57]

すごい先生カケー

[@pawelbu4672]

Sorry for nobish question, how to perform XX - cancel action ?

[@Hushfield]

There are different types of moves in SFV. Normals are usually just pressing a single button (like light kick or hard punch), or with a direction (crouching medium kick, forward hard punch). Then there are special moves which usually combine a certain movement input and a button like throwing a fireball (quarter circle forward movement + punch) or tatsumaki (quarter circle back + kick). You can *cancel* the last part of the animation of a normal move directly into a special move. Basically, you have to input the special move fast enough after the normal move, and they will combine into a short little combo. You can see that you did this correctly if a 2-hit / 3-hit counter appears on the screen. So just try to do it fast enough, and it should cancel. A good way to practice this would be the first neutral combo from this guide: cr.MK xx qcf.P (crouching medium kick into a fireball). Let me know if you have any further questions, and good luck!

[@pawelbu4672]

@@Hushfield Thanks a million !! :)

[@luantw-]

i dont know who made this guide but the voice sound like blindwarrirorsven

[@Hushfield]

I am definitely not Sven, although we're both native Dutch speakers, so maybe our accent is a little similar :)

[@sevenelevenG]

My cousins say watching videos for combos is cheating true??

[@Hushfield]

Hahaha. Nice. Watch all the combo videos you want, beat his ass, then post that comment to ScrubQuotes ^^

[@sevenelevenG]

😂

[@BigDoinkz]

6:03

[@drkcrstl]

Pro tip 1 Get a fight stick. Dont use pad 👀 i would know

[@Hushfield]

Actually, there's a really healthy mix among the top players in SFV between those who use fight sticks and those who use pads. Many top players prefer pad (these are often the younger generation). There's absolutely no requirement and you can be great on any device. Just got to put in the time and effort. I know quite a few people who got an expensive stick, used it for a few months and went back to pad because it just wasn't for them. Buying an expensive piece of hardware is not going to make you better at the game.

[@drkcrstl]

@@Hushfield player 2 with pad ? aint for me

[@lukelaser5397]

Use whatever controller you want to. Thats a pretty lame statement. Using a stick like I do dosent make me better. It is just more comfortable for me.

[@TomahAwkDJ7]

@@drkcrstl player 2 is actually easier with pad than p1 due do the shape of the thumb for doing dp motion.

[@slipperypete9283]

Umm...I think you could've u used a little bit more explanation as to what all that giberish means. I thought this was for beginners? I didnt bring my study guide...

[@elim9054]

Which parts needed more explanation in your opinion? This is really meant for people who already understand SFV's base mechanics and more general fighting game jargon, but want to learn how to play Akuma in that game specifically; otherwise this video would have been way longer than it needed to be.

[@CleafKnowsVLOGS_nl]

Thank you sir!

[@elchrisgonzo]

7:06