What's new

New to Tekken? Beginner tutorial vids

This is simply a list of vids/tips that can help people new to the game. Feel free to contribute if you like:


Levelupyougame Series:



AvoidingthePuddle Series:








Useful info:

Ducking - In most 2D fighting games, crouch blocking is the way to go. IT IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE IN TEKKEN. In tekken you rarely want to crouch block. Most launchers are mids, and if caught ducking you can lose half of your life.

Tagging out- Don't be greedy, and tag out when your a character eats a damaging combo or at half health. Don't wait at the last second, this makes your tag more predictable to be punished. Tagging out is very punishable, even when your character is already in, they still cannot block for a good number of frames. Tag at a safe distance, or do a tag grab(tag button+2)/ tag combo to bring in another character. Remember, the more you tag out, the better your character that's hurt can regain health.

Bound moves- A bound move is a move that during a juggle will bounce the character on the ground. Each character in the game has one, so it's important to know them for juggles when using a character. In practice mode, go to the command list and the moves have a green box next to them.

Tag Assualt Combos- To do a Tag Assault Combo, you must bound your opponent during a juggle and hold the tag button during the input. This makes a loud "BOW!" noise, and your second character will have time to follow up. You can hold the tag button so your secondary can do a filler, or simply create your own filler if you have a better one. You have plenty of time to combo with your secondary character, so don't panic the first time you do it. Beware however, that doing a tag combo gives your opponents secondary character rage, which deals tremendous damage. It also takes away your secondary's characters red health.

Tag Buffer- Certain launchers can be used to bring your other teammate early in a combo, and have a red icon next to them in the character's command list. Simply do the launcher and hold "5" (the tag button). By doing this, the character that does the launcher will tag out with your partner to do juggle damage, that will take away your opponents red health as well, and unlike tag assault will not give your opponent rage (until you bound with tag assault).

While Rising/ Standing Moves- These moves can only be performed when your character is rising/standing up after ducking previously. These moves are important to punish lows for maximum damage. If your character has a while standing launcher, you can punish lows that are heavily negative on block. After blocking the low, simply let go of duck and input it for the launch. In practice mode, the game will say "punish" when done correctly (punishing with a WS move, launcher or no launcher). You can also duck a high move and punish with a WS move if you know a high is coming or a string that contains a high move. Know these moves.

Counter- When you hit a character before their move can hit you, this is called a counter. Counterhits are more damaging than just hitting someone normally, can give more frame advantage on moves, and certain moves can stun an opponent on counterhit, leading to a free combo. Even a WS move that doesn't launch can launch on counterhit. Know these moves for your character. In practice mode, you can turn counter hit on in ADVANCED SETTINGS to see which moves stun or launch.

Sidestepping/Sidewalking- When tapping up or down your character will sidestep into the background(up) or foreground(down). By sidestepping, you can dodge attacks, and whiff punish with a launcher (or any move not longer than your opponents) To sidewalk, simply double tap up or down, and hold it. Sidewalking is effective at seeing what your opponent is going to throw out as well, and can be used to be move effective than just a simple sidestep. You can also sidestep cancel as well (df df df df.../or uf uf uf..../ or db db db...../or ub ub ub....), or sidestep cancel with walking (uf, u(hold) repeat or ub, u(hold) repeat or use down instead of up). This can be used to maneuver away from a wall. Beware of tracking moves, which can track you sidestepping. (more on tracking moves below).

Tracking Moves- These moves track an opponent that is sidestepping. By checking your character's command list, the move should have a blue box icon next to it, and every character has one. You can also tell if a move tracks when performed, when you see a white streak line on the limb of the move. Be also aware that certain moves or strings may not have a tracking symbol, but can still track depending on which direction a person is sidestepping. These moves are important to know as well for "sidestepping happy" opponents.

Getting up- In Tekken, not knowing how to get up can be a bad habit that can cause you to lose games. For a beginner, the safest options for getting up would be to 1)tech roll by hitting either 1 or 2 for the background or 3 or 4 for the foreground after immediately being knocked down 2)stay down and wait to get up since most character can deal very little damage when your grounded 3)roll by staying down and then tapping 1 4) Getting right back up by tapping up, the fastest safest way to get up (NOTE: after getting up you must immediately hold back or db to block or you will be vulnerable). There are other options such as wakeup kicks and rolling forward or back. NEVER ROLL BACK. The majority of the cast can easily punish a character rolling back, many for a full combo. If you roll back, it needs to be after getting knocked back a considered distance to roll back up quickly. (post still being edited)

Crushing- A high crush or low crush is a highly used term in the Tekken community. It is when you "crush" an opponents low move or high attack with your own attack. A good example of this is an opponent attacks you low, you jump up over the low and use an attack that hits them. You are therefore "crushing" your characters low attack. To high crush, simply duck under a high attack and hit or launch them out of it. Certain characters even have moves that makes them duck under highs for a free launch (good example is hwoarangs d4+4 that ducks under high attacks, and the second hit launches, steve fox's f3, 2 as well).

Wall Splat- A very commonly used term in Tekken. A wall splat is a move when done near the wall will "splat" your opponent on the wall behind them. By doing a wall splat, this can lead to huge combo potential. It's important you know these moves for your character, and combos to follow up with in a wall stage.

High, Mids, and Lows - High moves can be ducked and are blocked by stand blocking. Mids can't be ducked, and are blocked stand blocking. Low's are blocked by low blcoking. It's important when throwing out a string, you know whether the move is a high, mid, or low. There are also special mids that can be blocked ducking. Usually, mids that aren't heavily punishable on block are the moves you want to throw out.

Movement - Movement is the heart and the core of Tekken. Without it, you cannot whiff punish, poke correctly, and get damage when needed. Backdashing is too slow in Tekken, so you need to cancel it. By doing bb-db-b(hold)-db-b(hold)....and continue to repeat db-b(hold), you cancel your dash to back away quicker. DO NOT DO THIS TOO QUICKLY. A very common mistake is that beginners try to do Korean Back Dash cancelling (KBD for short) at a beginner level too quickly. This can reduce the distance you backdash, because you're canceling the backdash too quickly for the animation to complete, making it less effective. Start off slow, and gradually get used to the movement. Make sure to also hold back; if you just tap back you are no longer blocking, giving your opponent a free hit, launch, or poke.

Another key issue is that movement isn't only about (KBD). You need to mix up it up with sidewalking, and sidestep canceling as well. Movement is the most important fundamental in Tekken, and takes time to perfect. Even top tourney players always need room to improve movement, it's a never ending learning process, and there's always room for improvement.

Universal low parry- Just as the name suggest every character in the game has a universal low parry. To do a Universal Low Parry, simply hold df (NOTE: the parry only last for a couple of frames so you need to time it). This makes you parry any low attack, and puts your opponent in a bound state, leading to free damage. This is an important tool, because you can maximize damage off an opponent if you read they are going for a low. You also need to practice combos with your character off of a low parry that doesn't bound (you can't bound off a low parry).

Throws and how to break them -To do a throw there are two universal throw inputs for all characters.

-1+3 This throws your opponent in the same direction
-2+4 This throws your opponent in the other direction, switches positions

Breaking throws is tough, requires good awareness of your opponent, reads, and anticipation. To break a throw you need to see which arm (or arms) come out to grab you first.

-If the opponents left hand comes out first then you must quickly tap 1
-If the opponents right hand comes out first, then you must quickly tap 2
-If both of the opponents hand come toward you then you must quickly tap 1+2

Visual of hands to look for reference:
breaking hands.jpg

You should also note there are special throws as well as back turn throws that require special timing/or different inputs that don't follow the rules above and are harder to see. A good example would include King's chain throws. (post still being edited)

Tag Crash- If your partner has rage and the character you have in is on the ground, you can do a tag crash. A tag crash is done by pressing 5+2 (tag button+2), and allows your partner to safely dive into action (and your other character to get out safely). TAG CRASHES ARE NOT AS SAFE AS THEY SEEM. A tag crash is safe on block, however it can be baited and whiff punished for a full combo. Use a tag crash as a last resort when it's obvious your character is clearly low on health and has no way out (about to die).


Chicken- Have an opponent that does nothing but parry? A chicken is your answer. To chicken a parry, press f1+3 for after your characters left attack has been parried (1 and 3 attacks). For the right side attack being parried (2 and 4 attacks) press f2+4. You can buffer chickens before the reversal as well. When successful, your character should be able to counter your opponents parry. NOTE: Not all moves can be chickened, so go to practice mode against a parry character (Asuka is best) to see how chickening works.

The term chicken is referred to a glitch in tekken 3 in which after a reversal you would hear "chicken". Just a fun fact :)

Vid

Launchers-All characters have launchers, and are used to start juggles for big damage. The fastest (and most dangerous) launcher is EWGF, only 13 frames and can only be done by Mishimas (except Lars and Jinpachi). On block, most launchers can be twin piston punished (punishing with a 1,2). Launchers can usually be whiffed punished for big damage, so it's important you know the range of your launcher, the duration, and how negative it is on block.

Low Block leading to Stagger- If you block your opponents low, and your opponent staggers, this allows a full WS launch punish. It's important that you know what this animation looks like, so when you block a low you can punish for big damage.


(post is still being edited daily)
 

Bildslash

Goro Lives 
Pretty good. It's good to let the basics be known so newcomers don't jump right into intermediate/expert tech like KBD, WD, EWGF or whatnot without working on their Tekken fundamentals.
 
Thread Updated, going to summarize movement tomorrow. Anyone want to suggest any corrections (besides punctuation, I'll get to that lol), like on basic fundamentals, feel free to post here and I'll edit my post when I get the chance. Feel free to ask any questions as well :)
 

dendeno9

Noob
These videos are great. I plan on getting Tag Tournament Two soon, and I'm sure these will be really helpful. Does anyone know where I could maybe find some character specific beginner guide videos?
 

-Deadman-

Getting better with age
Rip and MYK are doing "Morning Bread and Butter" episodes for character specific tutorials on youtube, I think they're about 20 chars deep atm.

check out user "LevelUpYourGame" on youtube

Edit: Also, Aris has done in depth tutorials for Armor King and Feng Wei if either of those two are your thing
 

ShadowBeatz

Dropper of Bass and Bombs
I have been wanting to learn Tekken for FOREVER now. Just can't stick with it. (I'm nothing without my bombs and nets :()

Oh well, this should be VERY helpful. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the feedback, I have 3 more sections to go which I also feel are important for beginners. They will be updated today.

As for Tekken, for a first time player, it's really tough. Most people end up dropping the game within a month, but if your willing to accept the challenge then I'll do the best I can for the info on here. This game is all about whiff punishing and memorization to put it in a nutshell. :)
 
I just updated movement, universal low parry, and throw breaking. I still need to add more to throws, and tag crashing is next on my list. :D

Also, can a mod change the title to:

New to Tekken? Beginners Info
 

dendeno9

Noob
Thread Updated, going to summarize movement tomorrow. Anyone want to suggest any corrections (besides punctuation, I'll get to that lol), like on basic fundamentals, feel free to post here and I'll edit my post when I get the chance. Feel free to ask any questions as well :)
Just a small thing I noticed: I think you pretty much described a tag assault in the "Tag Combos" section. From what I've played in the game, isn't there a difference between Tag combos (which don't require a bound move and don't give rage or remove red health) and tag assualts?
 

Bildslash

Goro Lives 
Just a small thing I noticed: I think you pretty much described a tag assault in the "Tag Combos" section. From what I've played in the game, isn't there a difference between Tag combos (which don't require a bound move and don't give rage or remove red health) and tag assualts?
I think the best would be to call them: 1) Tag Assault Combos for combos using Bound to tag in the partner, 2) Tag-Bufferable Combos for combos using selected launchers or moves to tag in the partner.
 
I added 3 new topics for useful info. If there any other topics you think I should add, or any questions, or mistakes you see, feel free to tell me. I hope this thread has helped new comers understanding the basics. :D
 
Thread update:

-added to visual to throw section to show which inputs to break with the respect hand that grabs
-added launchers (still under evaluation)
-added chickening (useful against parry)
-added low block stagger (still needed visual, will do that later) :coffee: