What's new

Counter Poking?

I've been on a quest for the last month to polish my footsies and fundamentals. A few weeks ago I started looking at the frame data for all the character's block advantage on pokes. As most of us know, d1 is usually -13, d3 is usually -7, and d4 is usually 0. I discovered that counter poking a blocked poke can get you out of sticky situations like pressure strings, and could easily shift the momentum in footsies range. Also, counter poking is an alternative to getting around the 1p advantage. For example, If Cage is 1p and Jax is p2 and Cage uses f3,3 - d1. Jax will lose the d1 trade, but if he blocks the d1 and counter pokes he has the momentum.

I was playing a friend of mine in a Cage Vs Jax match up. He usually beats me because of his pressure strings. For example, He would use f4,1 - d3 - f3 xx GG and mixes up every time. However, in all of his pressure strings he always uses d3 or d1. After I noticed that, I started blocking his d1/d3 then counter poking with my d1/d3 then go straight into my frame traps.

To become successful at counter poking you have to know a few things:
- Your opponent's basic block strings​
- Your opponent's overhead options​
- Spacing on your opponent's pokes​
- Good reactions​
@1:10 is that BEST example of counter poking, but there are many more in this match! Also notice every time Maxter pokes, CDjr pokes back to stop his offense and vice versa.