what in the lord's name are we supposed to do against takeda? His pokes seem to annihilate smoke's, and once he gets a that string going (idk the buttons it's the one that hits overhead at the end with his whip) into ex kunai, I don't know how to get out. Phase doesn't work, nor does it work getting off the ground due to the huge reach, giving you phase forward as the only wakeup option, or get sucked back into pressure. I just played a takeda in esl challenger and it honestly felt unwinnable. Worse than gm sub zero. Help please. Yes this is a salty post.
That MU is actually pretty OK for Smoke, I'd say 5-5.
The string you mean f122+4 into Kunai used to have a gap, it doesn't anymore, and there's no gap for EX Kunai either (unless delayed)*, just gotta make him whiff so using Phase Forward is your best option, prioritize your meter to this Special, and if you see him delay EX Kunai for a HTB setup, use EX Phase to get out, practice this on reaction.
Also, if you're getting hit by his pokes too often, I'd suggest using F21 or F4 strings, as he has no low-profiling option.
Another thing to note is that B21 will whiff on Takeda crouchblocking, UNLESS the B2 hit him on (crouch)block, so you CANNOT do B21 on WHIFF, keep that in mind.
Lastly, Takeda is one of the very few characters that can punish your Smoke Bomb (after a string) relatively easy, so don't be predictable with it
EDIT: there IS a gap after f122+4 EX Kunai however, f122+4 follow up by Takeda beats Phase Forward