STAY DOWN. Rikana's guide for Smoke players.
STAY DOWN.
I'm no pro smoke player, but I do understand the character well enough to provide good information.
Q: What are the inputs I should learn for Smoke?
A:
Normals:
1) 3, d1, 2 (use this over 3, 2 because you can combo better with it. 3, 2 will put you at a farther distance when comboing. d1 allows smoke to take a step forward before launching the opponent in the air)
2) b2, 3, db2 (very effective against crouching blockers and gives you a free setup for a combo from smoke bomb)
3) d1, d3 (combo breakers and very good pokes)
4) b4 (one of the fastest sweeps in the game. abuse it; putting your opponent down on the ground is always deadly because you put them in a state where they have to guess what you're going to do)
5)fj/nj 1/2 (to set up for your ground combos)
6) nj/fj 3/4, throw (extremely important that you learn your timing for smoke bomb off the ground)
Specials:
all. abuse what you can.
Teleport: only use it when you're sure your opponent is going to pull out an attack that is already buffered so you can teleport for a free punish - sometimes much me effective than a teleport punch punish because smoke can do 50% meterless combos.. use EX teleport when needed. its quite safe and covers a lot of distance.
Teleport Punch: don't use this often. ONLY use this to get near the opponent whether it hits or not (by not hitting I mean that it hits the air, not a blocking opponent) shake is a much better punish for projectiles. use this to punish buffered attacks they can't get out of and you have no other fast ways of punishing. don't really bother with EX teleport punch. its not really worth it. throw it out from time to time to surprise your opponent. and depending on your opponent, jumping backwards may let your opponent's guard down. interupt your landing and use a teleport punch when you see that he's not guarding.
Shake: abuse this like no tomorrow against projectiles. don't bother teleport punch. use shake. abuse shake. EX shake is good as well up close.
Invisibility: use it from time to time, or when you can, to never really give your attacks away. keep your opponent from guessing whether or not they should punish it. EX will make you completely invisible so they wont know whether youre going for a sweep or going for an overhead. mess around with it; invisibility is very open ended.
Smoke Bombs: abuse it. don't bother with EX. learn your smoke bomb timings and you'll be good.
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Q: Is smoke's Xray worth using since he can do combos that do 50% without using a meter?
A: Yes. Having a full meter will make them think twice about throwing a projectile or even hitting you. With both those options covered, they might get nervous.
The way I see it; don't use his xray off a combo. Use it as a counter/anti-zoning, pressure, or do damage that he can't breaker. Take a look at his meters - does he have 2 bars of meters? If so, use it to finish off your opponent in a combo if you must. If he doesn't, resume with your regular combo. Remember though, air throw and smoke bomb OTG can't be breakered as well so Smoke is quite dangerous once he gets a combo going. I'd rather save the meters for breaker or EX specials.
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Q: Smoke seems so solid. What can't he do?
A: answer kind of applies to many characters but I believe that smoke falls into this category quite heavily - corner pressures. KEEP AWAY FROM CORNERS. All you can do is jump out, teleport (this is when you should use EX teleport), or teleport punch. ONLY teleport punch as a last resort. Its super punishable if blocked. You can always go on the offensive and push your way out but its harder when you have no room behind you to give you a breather. An attack I would recommend is f4. It has very high horizontal knockback and its safe on block.
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Q: So should Smoke corner someone in game?
A: Smoke has a strong mid screen and zoning gaming. Opponents usually don't bother with zoning much because Smoke punishes so hard against projectiles. Keep your opponent in the middle of the stage so you don't risk the chance of being in the corner.
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Q: which EX special should I be using?
A: Look at question 1.
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Q: when should I reset a combo?
A: when you predict breakers. Resetting combos is risky; I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing. Its better to eat a breaker because your opponent will be down 2 meters. And because you're at a distance after a breaker, force him to approach again with smoke bombs.
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Q: Should I uppercut? (d2)
A: You could.. but I would rather air kick to air throw into otg smoke bomb and combo from there.
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Q: Stay down?
A: Stay down.
STAY DOWN.
I'm no pro smoke player, but I do understand the character well enough to provide good information.
Q: What are the inputs I should learn for Smoke?
A:
Normals:
1) 3, d1, 2 (use this over 3, 2 because you can combo better with it. 3, 2 will put you at a farther distance when comboing. d1 allows smoke to take a step forward before launching the opponent in the air)
2) b2, 3, db2 (very effective against crouching blockers and gives you a free setup for a combo from smoke bomb)
3) d1, d3 (combo breakers and very good pokes)
4) b4 (one of the fastest sweeps in the game. abuse it; putting your opponent down on the ground is always deadly because you put them in a state where they have to guess what you're going to do)
5)fj/nj 1/2 (to set up for your ground combos)
6) nj/fj 3/4, throw (extremely important that you learn your timing for smoke bomb off the ground)
Specials:
all. abuse what you can.
Teleport: only use it when you're sure your opponent is going to pull out an attack that is already buffered so you can teleport for a free punish - sometimes much me effective than a teleport punch punish because smoke can do 50% meterless combos.. use EX teleport when needed. its quite safe and covers a lot of distance.
Teleport Punch: don't use this often. ONLY use this to get near the opponent whether it hits or not (by not hitting I mean that it hits the air, not a blocking opponent) shake is a much better punish for projectiles. use this to punish buffered attacks they can't get out of and you have no other fast ways of punishing. don't really bother with EX teleport punch. its not really worth it. throw it out from time to time to surprise your opponent. and depending on your opponent, jumping backwards may let your opponent's guard down. interupt your landing and use a teleport punch when you see that he's not guarding.
Shake: abuse this like no tomorrow against projectiles. don't bother teleport punch. use shake. abuse shake. EX shake is good as well up close.
Invisibility: use it from time to time, or when you can, to never really give your attacks away. keep your opponent from guessing whether or not they should punish it. EX will make you completely invisible so they wont know whether youre going for a sweep or going for an overhead. mess around with it; invisibility is very open ended.
Smoke Bombs: abuse it. don't bother with EX. learn your smoke bomb timings and you'll be good.
---------------------------------------
Q: Is smoke's Xray worth using since he can do combos that do 50% without using a meter?
A: Yes. Having a full meter will make them think twice about throwing a projectile or even hitting you. With both those options covered, they might get nervous.
The way I see it; don't use his xray off a combo. Use it as a counter/anti-zoning, pressure, or do damage that he can't breaker. Take a look at his meters - does he have 2 bars of meters? If so, use it to finish off your opponent in a combo if you must. If he doesn't, resume with your regular combo. Remember though, air throw and smoke bomb OTG can't be breakered as well so Smoke is quite dangerous once he gets a combo going. I'd rather save the meters for breaker or EX specials.
---------------------------------------
Q: Smoke seems so solid. What can't he do?
A: answer kind of applies to many characters but I believe that smoke falls into this category quite heavily - corner pressures. KEEP AWAY FROM CORNERS. All you can do is jump out, teleport (this is when you should use EX teleport), or teleport punch. ONLY teleport punch as a last resort. Its super punishable if blocked. You can always go on the offensive and push your way out but its harder when you have no room behind you to give you a breather. An attack I would recommend is f4. It has very high horizontal knockback and its safe on block.
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Q: So should Smoke corner someone in game?
A: Smoke has a strong mid screen and zoning gaming. Opponents usually don't bother with zoning much because Smoke punishes so hard against projectiles. Keep your opponent in the middle of the stage so you don't risk the chance of being in the corner.
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Q: which EX special should I be using?
A: Look at question 1.
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Q: when should I reset a combo?
A: when you predict breakers. Resetting combos is risky; I wouldn't recommend it unless you know what you're doing. Its better to eat a breaker because your opponent will be down 2 meters. And because you're at a distance after a breaker, force him to approach again with smoke bombs.
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Q: Should I uppercut? (d2)
A: You could.. but I would rather air kick to air throw into otg smoke bomb and combo from there.
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Q: Stay down?
A: Stay down.
, Smoke Cloud
, 
+
, 
(40% cocky finish once again)
it can also be used as bait by mixing up ur timing on it or if your opponent is jumping out of it it can be :en to catch them as they jump off the ground or before they hit the ground.
, air-throw (ground throw if 
