Ultra Street Fighter IV/Akuma

Characters

Controls/Notation

Basic Elements

Game Mechanics

Universal Abilities

Movement

Advanced Techniques

Akuma

The art known as Ansatsuken (the Assassin's Fist) was created by Goutetsu, and he passed the skills onto two brothers: Gouki and Gouken. However, the dark nature of the art consumed Gouki, and he reveled in its ability to end the life of those who came against it and, thus, came to be known as Akuma. Determined to become the most powerful warrior on the planet, he not only murdered Goutetsu himself, but also turned the Satsui no Hado, "the killing intent," on his own brother Gouken. Now on a hellbent mission to fight against the most worthy opponents, Akuma has set his eyes on Gouken's student Ryu. Although Gouken had removed the Satsui no Hado from his teachings, Akuma intends to being that out in Ryu so the two can engage in the ultimate battle to the death.

In a nutshell

Akuma has always been the "balance" between Ryu's excessive defense and Ken's excessive offense. His playstyle is very technical and he requires a lot of practice, but the payoff is well worth it. Akuma players live by one simple motto: "The best defense is a good offense." Akuma has the second worst health and the worst stun in the game, but his extremely high speed and massive damage output more than make up for it. His vortex game is absolutely unparalleled, and is practically the defining point of his playstyle. He has so many options at his disposal that the very prospect itself can be downright frightening. If you like playing mind games with your opponents, or if you feel that Ryu and Ken aren't challenging enough, Akuma may be for you.

Players to Watch

Infiltration (Korea)
Tokido (Japan)
Eita (Japan)

Ultra SFIV Changes

(From Ultra SFIV Arcade Japan)

• Close MK: Now forces stand on hit; startup reduced to 4 frames from 5 frames; Hitbox expanded downward
• Crouch HK: Can no longer be cancelled into Wrath of the Raging Demon (UC1)
• Zanku Hadoken: All versions done during back jump have recovery increased by 2F, to 18 frames from 16 frames for Light, Medium, and Hard versions and to 11 frames from 9 frames for EX version
• EX Zanku Hadoken: Can now be performed during the start of Light, Medium, and Hard Hyakkishu (Demon Flip) as well
• Goshoryuken: 2nd hit of Medium version can no longer be EX Focus cancelled on block
• Goshoryuken: 2nd and 3rd hit of Hard version can no longer be EX Focus cancelled on block
• Goshoryuken: Hard version startup invincibility reduced to 5 frames from 6 frames
• L, M and H Goshoryuken --> EX Focus Cancel --> Forward Dash is now -5 on block at best

(New to Ultra SFIV Console Digital Release)

• Close MK: Attack range recognition increased
• Stand HP: Damage reduced to 90 from 120
• Stand HP: Can now be canceled into Special Moves, Super, or EX Focus Attack
• EX Shakunetsu Hadoken: Startup reduced to 19 frames from 25 frames
• Tatsumaki Zankukyaku: Light version Hitbox expanded downward

(New to 1.04 Update)

• Gohadoken: All versions' startup reduced to 13 frames from 14 frames

Character Specific Data

Akuma

VITALS
Health:	850	Stun:	850	W-Ultra Scaling:	75%
WALKING			DASHING
Forward Walk Speed:		0.055	Forward Dash Distance:		1.00
Back Walk Speed:		0.04	Forward Dash Total Frames:		18
JUMPING			Back Dash Distance:		0.90
Jump Height Apex:		1.76	Back Dash Total Frames:		25
Jump Total Frames:		40 (4+36)	Back Dash Invincibility:		8
Forward Jump Distance:		1.92	Back Dash Airborne:		10
Back Jump Distance		1.92	Back Dash Recovery:		7
THROWS			WAKE-UP TIMING
Forward Throw Range:		0.91	Face Up Total Frames:		31
Back Throw Range:		0.91	Face Down Total Frames:		21
NOTABLE MOVE CLASSES
High Attacks:	Zugaihasatsu, Tenmakujinkyaku		Hard Knockdowns:	Crouch HK, Hyakki Gozan, Hyakki Gosho, Hyakki Gosai
Low Attacks:	Crouch LK, Crouch MK, Crouch HK, Hyakki Gozan		Armor Breakers:	Hyakki Gosho, Demon Armageddon
FOCUS ATTACK DATA
Level 1 Focus Startup Frames:		21	L1 EX Red Focus Attack Combo Lead-Ins:	Close MP, Close HP, Far HP, Crouch HP, GoHadoken (Corner Only), MP/HP Goshoryuken (1st Hit), MK/HK Tatsumaki Zankukyaku (1st Hit)
Level 2 Focus Startup Frames:		29
Level 3 Focus Startup Frames:		65
L1 Focus Attack Forward Dash:		-2	L2 FA Forward Dash (On Block):		+4
L1 Focus Attack Back Dash:		-9	L2 FA Back Dash (On Block):		-3

Frame Data (At A Glance)

More detailed Frame Data Table at bottom of page.

Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv
Close LP	Close	30	50	20	HL	ch/sp/su	4	2	6	+3	+6
Close MP	Close	70	100	40	HL	sp/su	3	2	13	-1	+4
Close HP	Close	100	200	60	HL	sp/su	4	2	26	-10	-6
Close LK	Close	40	50	20	HL	-	5	2	7	+2	+5
Close MK	Close	70	100	40	HL	su	4	2	14	-2	+1
Close HK	Close	40*70	125*75	60*20	HL	su*-	6	2(4)4	17	-3	+2
Far LP	Far	30	50	20	HL	ch/sp/su	3	2	5	+4	+7
Far MP	Far	80	100	40	HL	su	4	2	13	-1	+2
Far HP	Far	90	200	60	HL	sp/su	6	3	16	-1	+3
Far LK	Far	40	50	20	HL	-	3	2	8	+1	+4
Far MK	Far	80	100	40	HL	-	9	2	13	-1	+2
Far HK	Far	50*30	125*75	60*20	HL	-	8	2(8)2	16	-2	+5
Crouch LP	Crouch	30	50	20	HL	ch/sp/su	3	2	7	+2	+5
Crouch MP	Crouch	60	100	40	HL	sp/su	4	3	9	+2	+5
Crouch HP	Crouch	100	200	60	HL	sp/su	6	4	23	-9	-4
Crouch LK	Crouch	20	50	20	L	ch/sp/su	4	2	9	0	+3
Crouch MK	Crouch	60	100	40	L	sp/su	5	3	13	-2	+1
Crouch HK	Crouch	90	100	60	L	-	6	3	24	-9	-
Zugaihasatsu	+	30*50	50*50	40*20	H	-	17	2*2	17	-5	0
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv
Neutral Jump LP	Neutral Jump	50	50	20	H	-	4	7	-	-	-
Neutral Jump MP	Neutral Jump	80	100	40	H	-	5	3	-	-	-
Neutral Jump HP	Neutral Jump	100	200	60	H	-	6	3	-	-	-
Neutral Jump LK	Neutral Jump	40	50	20	H	-	5	6	-	-	-
Neutral Jump MK	Neutral Jump	80	100	40	H	-	6	4	-	-	-
Neutral Jump HK	Neutral Jump	100	200	60	H	-	5	3	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump LP	Diagonal Jump	50	50	20	H	-	4	7	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump MP	Diagonal Jump	80	100	40	H	-	5	3	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump HP	Diagonal Jump	100	200	60	H	-	6	3	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump LK	Diagonal Jump	40	50	20	H	-	4	6	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump MK	Diagonal Jump	70	100	40	H	-	6	3	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump HK	Diagonal Jump	100	200	60	H	-	7	3	-	-	-
Tenmakujinkyaku	(air) +	60	100	40	H	-	12	Until ground	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv
Focus Attack (Level 1)	Level 1 Focus	60	100	20	HL	-	10+11	2	35	-21	-21
Focus Attack (Level 2)	Level 2 Focus	80	150	40	HL	-	18+11	2	35	-15	-
Focus Attack (Level 3)	Level 3 Focus	140	200	60	-	-	65	2	40	-	-
Goshoha	Forward Throw	130	120	40	0.91	-	3	2	20	-	-
Syuretto	Back Throw	130	120	40	0.91	-	3	2	20	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv
GoHadoken	GoHadoken	60	100	10/20	HL	su	14	-	30	-4	0
EX GoHadoken	GoHadoken	60*60	100*100	-250/0	HL	su	14	-	30	-1	-
Shakunetsu Hadoken	Shakunetsu Hadoken	50	200	10/30	HL	su	25	-	25	-4	-
	Shakunetsu Hadoken	35*35	50*100	10/16*16	HL	su	25	-	32	-3	-
	Shakunetsu Hadoken	33x3	35x3	10/16x3	HL	su	25	-	38	-1	-
EX Shakunetsu Hadoken	Shakunetsu Hadoken	47x3	70x2*100	-250/0	HL	su	19	-	25	+18	-
Zanku Hadoken	Zanku Hadoken	40	50	5/20	HL	-	14	-	After landing 16[18]	-	-
EX Zanku Hadoken	Zanku Hadoken	40*40	50*50	-250/0	HL	-	8	-	After landing 9[11]	-	-
Goshoryuken	Goshoryuken	100[70]	100	30/40	HL	su	3	14	17+18	-28	-
	Goshoryuken	70*60	80*50	30/30*16	HL	su*-	3	2*12	25+18	-34	-
	Goshoryuken	70*50*30	70*50*30	30/30*10*10	HL	su*-*-	3	2*2*12	28+18	-37	-
EX Goshoryuken	Goshoryuken	80*60*50	100*50*50	-250/0	HL	su*su*su	3	2*2*12	28+18	-37	-
Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	70	50	20/20	HL	-	11	2(6)2	12+8	-9	-
	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	80*40*40	100*50*50	20/20*10*10	HL	su*-*-	5	2(5)[2(5)2](5)1	16+12	-8	-
	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	80*40x3	100*50x3	20/20*10x3	HL	su*-(x3)	5	2(5)[1(5)1](5)[1(5)1](5)1	13+8	-1	-
EX Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	35x5	40x5	-250/0	HL	-	11	1(3)1(3)1(3)1(3)1	18+3	-1	-
Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	60	50	10/30	HL	-	9	[2(6)2](6)2	After landing 10	-	-
	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	70	50	10/30	HL	-	9	[2(6)2](6)2	After landing 10	-	-
	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	80	50	10/30	HL	-	9	[2(6)2](6)2	After landing 10	-	-
EX Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	40x5	50x5	-250/0	HL	-	7	1(3)1(3)1(3)1(3)1	After landing 4	-	-
Hyakkishu	Hyakkishu	-	-	20/-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
EX Hyakkishu	Hyakkishu	-	-	-250/0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hyakki Gozan	Hyakki Gozan	100	200	0/40	L	-	39+7	15	14	-11	-
Hyakki Gosho	Hyakki Gosho	110	200	0/30	HL	-	27+8	2	After landing 4	-	-
Hyakki Gojin	Hyakki Gojin	70	100	0/30	HL	-	27+11	Until ground	After landing 4	-	-
Hyakki Gosai	Hyakki Gosai	150	150	0/60	0.9	-	27+3	2	After landing 17	-	-
Ashura Senku (Far)	Ashura Senku (Far)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total 61	-	-
Ashura Senku (Close)	Ashura Senku (Close)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total 53	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv
Raging Demon	Raging Demon	330	0	-1000/0	0.9	-	1+0	36	13	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv
Wrath of the Raging Demon	Wrath of the Raging Demon	510	0	0/0	0.9	-	0+5	33	19	-	-
Demon Armageddon	Demon Armageddon	50*450[421]	0	0/0	HL	-	0+14	2	46	-27	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Block Adv	Hit Adv

Moves

Standing Close Normals

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Close LP	Close Jab	Close lp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Aside from being able to combo into Akuma's cr. HK, you won't find too many uses for this move.
File:No image.png	Close MP	Close Strong	Close mp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ You could potentially use this as a frame trap and fish for a counter hit, letting you combo into cr. HK and a few other normal moves.
File:No image.png	Close HP	Close Fierce	Close hp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is the go-to normal if you want to start any bread and butter or punish combo. You can link into this normal off of cr. LP and cr. MP, letting you dish out more damage than usual.
File:No image.png	Close LK	Close Short	Close lk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ It leaves you at a frame advantage on block, and also leaves you at enough frame advantage to link into cr. MP. You can sometimes start a block string with cr. LK, then follow it with a chain cancelled close st. LK and can either continue block string pressure, fish for counter hits, or go for a throw.
File:No image.png	Close MK	Close Forward	Close mk	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ The release of Ultra Street Fighter IV made this move shine. In the previous versions, Akuma had limited combo opportunities (outside of counter hits) if his opponent was crouching. This move now forces opponent to stand, so you can do way more damaging combos to crouching opponents than you could have done before. What's also nice is that you can hit your opponent with two cr. LP's or one cr. MP, and you'll still be in range for Akuma's close st. MK to connect.
File:No image.png	Close HK	Close Roundhouse	Close hk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ There's practically no use for this move. Even if you land a counter hit, it tends to push the opponent far away to land useful combos.

Standing Far Normals

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Far LP	Far Jab	lp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is a great move to use if you need to punish something that requires tight timing, such as Balrog's LP Dash Straight. You can combo into cr. HK or far st. HP off of this move as well.
File:No image.png	Far MP	Far Strong	mp	supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ A mostly useless normal.
File:No image.png	Far HP	Far Fierce	hp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's far st. HP has many uses. The change made in Ultra Street Fighter IV is that this move is now special cancellable, meaning you can cancel a far st. HP into a special move. This is a great buff because against most characters, you cancel into LK Tatsu and it will still connect, even from the tip of the st. HP. It can also be used for pressure because fireballs can be tighter block strings than they were before. Even better is that if you happen to land a counter hit with this move while you were pressuring the opponent, you can link into cr. HK as well. This move can also be used as an anti-air as well. There are times when the opponent will jump from a range where your Goshoryuken might whiff. In those instances, this is the anti-air move to go for. There are times when the opponent will jump from a range where your Goshoryuken might whiff. In those instances, this is the anti-air move to go for. Combined with the ability to special cancel, if you manage to successfully hit your opponent out of the air, you can cancel into a LK Gohadouken for safe chip; by the time you opponent lands from the move and the fireball connects, you will have already recovered before the opponent can attempt an anti-projectile move.
File:No image.png	Far LK	Far Short	lk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ You might occasionally be able to hit your opponent out of the air with a far st. LK, but it's not that reliable for the purpose of anti-air. It's mostly used to feint a fireball after you do a quarter-circle forward motion.
File:No image.png	Far MK	Far Forward	mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is nothing compared to Evil Ryu's far st. MK, but using this once in a while as a poke can have its advantages. Otherwise, its uses are limited.
File:No image.png	Far HK	Far Roundhouse	hk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ A pretty nasty move, this move can frustrate opponents while playing footsies. Akuma will do a series of two roundhouse kicks, and if the second hit connects, it gives you enough frame advantage to link into most of his other normal moves. You can also use this to pester opponents who likes to focus a lot, since this move hits two times. You can still be hit by the focus in between the kicks, but it requires some timing from the opponent to be able to hit you out of this. While this move has many uses due to having two hits and lots of combo potential, this move should be used sparingly in high-level matches. Opponents may be looking for this move outside of its range and will neutral jump to counter you, so don't abuse this move too much. Also, the second kick will whiff against certain opponents when they are crouch blocking. The second hit of far st. HK will whiff on the following characters when they crouch block: Blanka, C.Viper, Cammy, Chun-Li, Cody (will kick twice a bit up close), Decapre, Dee Jay, Dhalsim, Dudley (will kick twice a bit up close), El Fuerte (only at further ranges), Elena, Evil Ryu, Ibuki, Juri, Ken, M. Bison (at further ranges), Oni (at further ranges), Poison, Rose, Rufus, Ryu, Sakura, Yang, Yun.

Crouching Normals

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Crouch LP	Crouch Jab	d + lp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ A fairly common combo starter, but it can also be used to punish certain moves as well. You will most likely use this move to start hit confirming, as it is both advantageous on both block and on hit. You can apply safe block string pressure, or you can link into most other normal moves.
File:No image.png	Crouch MP	Crouch Strong	d + mp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Another nasty move in Akuma's arsenal. You want to use his cr. MP to fish for counter hits, because the amount of things you can do off of landing a counter hit cr. MP is insane. You can link into cr. HK for a hard knockdown, giving you a mix-up opportunity. At closer ranges, you can even link into far st. HK, letting you do combos with ridiculous damage and stun. Even if you fail to land a counter hit cr. MP, you're not missing out entirely, since you can still combo into other normal moves such as another cr. MP, cr. MK, or close st. HP for big damage too. This move is also safe on block, so when you're applying pressure up close, this is a godlike normal to go for.
File:No image.png	Crouch HP	Crouch Fierce	d + hp	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma raises his fist upwards, and this is actually a solid anti-air normal. It's nothing like an uppercut where it would knock your opponent down, but this is the anti-air to go for if your opponent is directly above. Things like a cross up tatsu attempt, Honda's Sumo Splash, or Vega's wall dive will get hit by cr. HP. If you're also not prepared to do a Goshoryuken, cr. HP will also do a decent job hitting opponents that jump towards you from up close.
File:No image.png	Crouch LK	Crouch Short	d + lk	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This move is a solid normal to use to apply pressure on opponent's wake up. However, don't just input a meaty cr. LK. It's best to press both cr. LP and cr. LK so that if the opponent tries to throw you on their wake up, you can also tech their throw. If the opponent blocks the meaty cr. LK, a common frame trap setup is to follow it up with a close st. LK afterwards, then mix the opponent up with either a throw or a cr. MP to fish for a counter hit.
File:No image.png	Crouch MK	Crouch Forward	d + mk	speccancel supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is one of Akuma's primary pokes. It's not as good of a cr. MK in comparison to Ryu's since it has less active frames, but it can still get the job done in a poking war. I would argue that with the release of Ultra Street Fighter IV, this should be the poke that Akuma should go for more often rather than the cr. HK. It may have shorter range, but the fact that you can cancel into special moves and Ultra more than makes up for it. There are many things you can answer to from a cr. MK. If the opponent focuses your poke, you can cancel into HK Tatsu to punish them for trying. If the move connects (hit or block) mix it up with doing just a simple cr. MK or cancel it into a Gohadouken to keep the opponent guessing. Note that a cr. MK cancelled into a Gohadouken is not a true block string from further ranges, which is why it is advised to mix it up. Lastly, if the opponent jumps, you can buffer the Wrath of the Raging Demon to convince your opponent that they are a fool for jumping at you while you have an Ultra stocked up.
File:No image.png	Crouch HK	Crouch Roundhouse	d + hk	supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ In the previous versions, one of the reasons why Akuma was hated on so much was because of his cr. HK. It seemed completely safe to use without much thought, as it had great range, was difficult to punish, and even if a character could punish a blocked cr. HK, Akuma would have usually been able to just easily cancel into Wrath of the Raging Demon to counter the punish attempt. That is no longer the case in Ultra Street Fighter IV. This move has lost the ability to cancel into Wrath of the Raging Demon, although it can be cancelled into the Super Raging Demon (which is pointless because the Super does not have any invincibility). Therefore, this move will lose to Focus Attacks now, and can also be countered with a jump attack if predicted. It still has great reach and somewhat difficult to punish on block. While it is -9 on block, it does quite a bit of pushback, so some characters may have trouble trying to punish it. You can still use this somewhat in footsies, as long as you don't abuse it like you could've in the previous versions. However, rather than using this to stick out a poke, it's better to use this to whiff punish your opponent's pokes due to its range. Also, it gives you a hard knockdown, giving you the opportunity to mix your opponent up on his or her wake up.

Neutral Jumping Normals

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Neutral Jump LP	Neutral Jump Jab	u + lp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma uses his elbow to hit a jumping opponent. It's the fastest neutral jumping attack that Akuma has, so it can sometimes be used in air-to-air situations. The only problem is that the range isn't that great, but you can use this in a pinch if you need to quickly hit an opponent in the air.
File:No image.png	Neutral Jump MP	Neutral Jump Strong	u + mp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ If you have the opponent in the corner, this normal move may have its uses. If you opponent tries to jump his or her way out of the corner, you can peg him with a nj. MP. It's not as fast as nj. LP, but it has better range.
File:No image.png	Neutral Jump HP	Neutral Jump Fierce	u + hp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Like nj. MP, this can also be used to trap a jumping opponent to keep him or her stay in the corner.
File:No image.png	Neutral Jump LK	Neutral Jump Short	u + lk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This move is pretty much useless. It has almost no range, and you have better neutral jumping normals for air-to-air situations, so avoid using this.
File:No image.png	Neutral Jump MK	Neutral Jump Forward	u + mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This move can be used in most air-to-air situations. It has pretty decent range, and it can be used to hit an opponent trying to jump in on you. It is on the slow side of things unfortunately, but it will work every now and then at the right ranges.
File:No image.png	Neutral Jump HK	Neutral Jump Roundhouse	u + hk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is a worse version of the nj. MK. It is slower, but it also has decent range for air-to-air situations.

Diagonal Jumping Normals

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Diagonal Jump LP	Diagonal Jump Jab	ub / uf + lp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Although uses for j. LP is limited, you can use it for sneaky tick throw setups off of safe jumps.
File:No image.png	Diagonal Jump MP	Diagonal Jump Strong	ub / uf + mp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ A useless jump attack. There is almost no utility behind a diagonal j. MP.
File:No image.png	Diagonal Jump HP	Diagonal Jump Fierce	ub / uf + hp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This move can have its uses. You can use it as a jump-in, for air-to-air counters, or to bait out a Zanku Hadoken.
File:No image.png	Diagonal Jump LK	Diagonal Jump Short	ub / uf + lk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is a sneaky jump attack to use on the opponent's wake up. You can setup an ambiguous cross up, but it does not provide as much frame advantage on hit as j. MK or HK.. It can become difficult for the opponent to guess whether this move will hit from the front or the back, since it is not as obvious as a cross up j. MK. This can also be used for tick setups as well, due to the little amount of block and hit stun this move does.
File:No image.png	Diagonal Jump MK	Diagonal Jump Forward	ub / uf + mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's diagonal j. MK is his primary cross up move. You can also use this move to hit the opponent from the front as well, depending on how you spaced your jump attack.
File:No image.png	Diagonal Jump HK	Diagonal Jump Roundhouse	ub / uf + hk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is one Akuma's primary jump-in attacks, since it hits more downwards than the diagonal j. HP. If you predict a fireball or a poke with lots of recovery, you can use the occassional jump-in HK to hit your opponent. It leaves you at tremendous block and hit stun, so you can apply pressure or perform combos if the opponent fails to anti-air you.

Unique Attacks

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Zugaihasatsu	Overhead	f + mp	supercancel
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's overhead can be used once you condition your opponent to block low. It can catch your opponents by surprise sometimes when they are not expecting it. Be aware that you're at -5 on block, so it can be punished if the opponent guesses correctly. What makes the overhead really scary is that it is one of his primary tools to kara-cancel into his Raging Demon.
File:No image.png	Tenmakujinkyaku	Dive Kick	(in air) d + mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Holding down and pressing medium kick at the peak of Akuma's forward jump will give you his dive kick. At first, this move may seem useless, but it can actually be pretty dangerous if used correctly. At certain ranges, when you want to jump over an opponent's projectile, but he or she hasn't thrown a projectile, the dive kick might save you from an anti-air move... as long as you didn't press a button in the air beforehand. Just don't abuse this tactic because your opponent may catch on and just walk forward and anti-air you out if they start seeing a pattern. This can be pretty useful on the opponent's wake up as well. Let's say you successfully knocked an opponent down, and you're at a range where a diagonal j. MK would cross the opponent up. Well, if they're expecting that cross up, use the dive kick to hit the opponent from the front instead. If this hits meaty, it provides enough frame advantage to combo into big damage.

Focus Attacks

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Focus Attack (Level 1)	Level 1 Focus	mp + mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's Focus Attack can be useful because Akuma steps back a before he unleashes his his attack. After a Level 1 Focus Attack forward dash, Akuma is at -2 on block and on hit.
File:No image.png	Focus Attack (Level 2)	Level 2 Focus	mp + mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's Focus Attack can be useful because Akuma steps back a before he unleashes his his attack. After a Level 2 Focus Attack forward dash, Akuma is at +4 on block, which makes this a great pressure tool if the opponent blocks. Akuma's Focus Attack isn't exactly the fastest in the game though, so use it with care.
File:No image.png	Focus Attack (Level 3)	Level 3 Focus	mp + mk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ You're most likely going to land this only when your opponent is dizzy, or if your opponent just doesn't realize what you're planning in time.

Throws

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Goshoha	Forward Throw	f or n + lp + lk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma will hit the opponent hard in the chest and send him or her flying. Landing a forward throw sets your opponent up for your deadly mixups.
File:No image.png	Syuretto	Back Throw	b + lp + lk
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ The back throw has much less utility than his forward throw. If you do land a back throw, you can apply meaty pressure on your opponent's wake up.

Special Moves

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	GoHadoken	Fireball	qcf + p ex
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's fireball is projectile thrown on the ground. It's main use is for zoning and FADC combos. The punch button pressed determines the speed the fireball will travel at. LP Gohadoken will travel the slowest, HP Gohadoken will travel the fastest, and MP Gohadoken is somewhere in between. LP Gohadoken can be used for a few different reasons. Akuma will recover fast enough that he can somewhat follow the fireball and use it as a shield. It's nothing like a Guile Sonic Boom or Poison Aelous Edge, but it can be used to serve that purpose. HP Gohadoken can be used as a poke in footsies, since at closer ranges, it can be hard to react to the fireball. You can use MP Gohadoken at that range as well, or just for general zoning from far or mid range. Gohadoken is also useful for FADC combos. If you cancel a Gohadoken into an FADC forward, you'll be at enough frame advantage to combo into many of his other normal attacks too. EX Gohadoken hits twice, and the second hit will always knock the opponent down on hit. If you hit the opponent in the corner with an EX Gohadoken at close range, you can juggle into a HP Goshoryuken for bigger damage.
File:No image.png	Shakunetsu Hadoken	Red Fireball	hcb + p
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ You should definitely consider having a meterless Shakunetsu as a privilege, since not every character has a meterless multi-hitting projectile. Akuma will charge up a little bit and throw a red fireball, and this will knock the opponent down on hit. The LP Shakunetsu hits once but recovers the fastest, MP Shakunetsu hits twice but recovers slower, and HP Shakunetsu hits three times but recovers the slowest. The Shakunetsu can be very useful in a projectile war. When Akuma and his opponent are exchanging projectiles full screen, throwing a Shakunetsu will help you gain more advantage. The opponent sees Akuma charge up, thinking he's about to throw a multi hitting projectile. Whether you threw the LP Shakunetsu or the MP Shakunetsu, your opponent will likely either jump or block the fireball, and you'll have time to throw another fireball to help you gain the advantage. HP Shakunetsu can be used occassionally in fireball wars, but the slow recovery can become a hindrance, so use it wisely. EX Shakunetsu has been changed in Ultra Street Fighter IV to make it a much more viable tool. The startup on the move has been reduced, so you can now combo from a far st. HP cancelled into an EX Shakunetsu. It does decent chip damage and you'll recover just as fast the LP Shakunetsu.
File:No image.png	Zanku Hadoken	Air Fireball	(in air) qcf + p ex
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This move is one of the reasons why Akuma is hated on by many. It outclasses so many other tools in the entire game in terms of utility, and it makes his zoning very difficult to deal with for most characters. Having a projectile that covers both the air and the ground is a godsend, so use it well. LP Zanku Hadoken travels at a steep angle that will land close to you, the HP Zanku Hadoken will land at a 45 degree angle, and the MP Zanku Hadoken will land somewhere in between. You want to use each different versions for different uses. You want to use the LP Zanku Hadoken to try to discourage your opponent from trying to close in on you, and the other versions should be used to irritate your opponents from further ranges. Note that all versions of the EX Zanku Hadoken have recovery on landing, so certain moves will be able to punish you on landing (such as a projectile timed to hit you as you land, or any well timed anti-projectile moves). So even if you have a fantastic zoning tool at your disposal, don't get too cocky with it because you could risk getting punished heavily if you're not careful. There are certain setups on the opponent's knockdown where you can do a tiger-knee air fireball to mix the opponent up; sometimes you will cross the opponent up and sometimes you will just hit in front. EX Zanku Hadoken can be used both as a keep-away tool and a get-in tool. If you feel your opponent is starting to close in more, throw an EX Zanku Hadoken to further push the opponent away from you. You can also use EX Zanku Hadoken as you jump forward so that they will feel restricted to try to anti-air you. Of course, don't overuse this tactic because eventually they can just walk right under and punish you. EX Zanku Hadoken can also be very nasty in the corner because it will keep them locked down. If timed so that you throw it lower to the ground (ie just before you land), it will give you enough block stun for you to continue applying pressure. If both fireballs hit, it will give you so much frame advantage to hit your opponent with a big combo. Akuma can also cancel any of his Demon Flips into an altered version of his EX Zanku Hadoken. You can trick your opponent into thinking that you're going to take a risk doing a full screen Demon Flip, then trick them and do an EX Zanku Hadouken for trying to counter. Even if the opponent doesn't do anything, you will still gain space at the cost of one bar.
File:No image.png	Goshoryuken	Uppercut	dp + p ex
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's Goshoryuken is his primary anti-air option, but it can also be used as combo enders and frame traps. It has more recovery than most other uppercut special moves in the game, so be careful when using this. LP Goshoryuken has limited uses. It isn't that great of an anti-air, since it has very little invincibility and bad angle. You're most likely to trade if you use this as an anti-air, and most trades will not be in your favour. If you do land a successful LP Goshoryuken, consider FADC'ing forward and follow it up with a HP Shakunetsu for additional damage. MP Goshoryuken should be your go to anti-air. It has the most invincibility out of all the other non-EX Goshoryukens, so you won't be trading that often if you use this as an anti-air. Try to hit deep because a single hit MP Goshoryuken does very little damage; you want both hits to connect. HP Goshoryuken should be used mostly as a combo ender. You can use it as an anti-air, but the problem is you need to make sure the first hit of the HP Goshoryuken hits to dish out full damage. It's very difficult to time the HP Goshoryuken to have all hits connect on an airborne opponent, and a two-hit HP Goshoryuken does less damage than a two-hit MP Goshoryuken. However, most juggle moves will let you hit a full HP Goshoryuken afterwards. These include LK Tatsu and a cross up air Tatsu. If you're feeling brave, you can use HP Goshoryuken as a frame trap, but be aware that you can only FADC out of the first hit, and you're also at a disadvantage if your opponent blocks. If you're feeling even braver and feel like spending 3 meters, try to frame trap with a HP Goshoryuken and cancel that into EX Red Focus. If that hits, pat yourself on the back for a good read; you earned that combo. EX Goshoryuken has uses for both anti air, combo enders, and amazing ability to kill opponents by chip. EX Goshoryuken has ridiculous amount of invincibility, and what's even better is that it is fully invincible, even while it's active. That means if Zangief jumps up and he does the Siberian Blizzard Ultra, if you do a regular Goshoryuken then he will catch you. If you use EX Goshoryuken to anti-air, you will be completely safe from the Ultra and even hit Zangief out of the air. If you also manage to land a bread and butter combo that normally ends with HP Goshoryuken, and your opponent is very low on health, consider using the EX Goshoryuken to finish the combo instead. You will either leave your opponent close to a KO, or you might even do enough damage to get the win. EX Goshoryuken also does quite a bit of chip, so if your opponent is in his or her last few pixels of health, EX Goshoryuken will usually deliver the kill.
File:No image.png	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Hurricane Kick	qcb + k ex
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ LP Tatsu is probably one of Akuma's most used special moves. It is used primarily for combos, as it sets you up for a free juggle into most normal or special moves. You will most likely follow any LK Tatsu juggle into HP Goshoryuken, as it gives the most amount of damage without using meter. On certain characters, you can land a cr. HK off of a LK Tatsu juggle, but this is entirely character specific. Also be aware that this is unsafe on block, so make sure you hit confirm successfully before committing to LK Tatsu. MK Tatsu doesn't have much utility. It acts similarly to HK Tatsu, but it does less damage and hits. HK Tatsu is a multi-hitting hurricane kick that hits up to three times. There will be times where some hit confirms will leave you too far away for the LK Tatsu to connect, in which you'll have to resort to using HK Tatsu to finish the combo instead. Another use for HK Tatsu is if your opponent likes to focus you at footsie range, cancelling a cr. MK cancelled into HK Tatsu will punish him. EX Tatsu keeps Akuma in one place instead of having him moving forward. It is usually used for combos when opponents are crouching, since regular Tatsu's don't hit on crouching opponents.. This isn't as big of an issue due to Akuma's close st. MK buff, but it's still a combo to use against crouching opponents if you have trouble linking into a close stand MK. It is also very useful if you manage to hit the opponent when he or she is cornered, as it lets you juggle into HP Goshoryuken for more damage. It can also be used as a frame trap if you time it right.
File:No image.png	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Air Hurricane	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ There's very little utility for this move outside of mixups, but it can be deadly if you do successfully knock your opponent down. In neutral, one of the few uses can be to build bits of meter, but you have better options for that. The most likely use of an air Tatsu is to cross the opponent up on his or her wake up. From there, you're given a free juggle between any normal move. You can either go for a reset by hitting the opponent with a normal cancelled into a Demon Flip for another mixup. You can also just end the juggle with a cr. HK to set up for another mixup. If you want to go for damage, juggle with HP or EX Goshoryuken.
File:No image.png	Hyakkishu	Demon Flip	dp + k ex
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Hyakki, AKA the Demon Flip, is Akuma's primary mix up tool. Akuma will do a big leap forward, and the kick button pressed will determine how far he will travel across the screen. LK Hyakki won't move him much forward, HK Hyakki will fly him across almost 3/4 of the screen, and MK Hyakki is somewhere in between. EX Hyakki will travel a lot faster and home in on the opponent. What you do after a Hyakki is determined by what you pressed after Akuma has reached the peak of the Hyakki.
File:No image.png	Hyakki Gozan	Demon Flip Slide	No input after performing Kyakkishu
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ There is absolutely no reason to ever use this. If you press nothing after performing a Hyakki, you will do a slide that will knock the opponent down. It is ridiculously unsafe on block, and all variants of Hyakki can be blocked by defensive crouch, so this is essentially next to useless.
File:No image.png	Hyakki Gosho	Demon Flip Palm	p armorbreak	Perform during Hyakkishu
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Hyakki Gosho, aka the Demon Flip Palm, has many uses such as safe jumping, armor break, and plays a part in Akuma's side-to-side mixups. In neutral, if you want to build meter from full screen, the Demon Flip Palm is good to use along with his projectiles. Akuma will land almost instantly if he does the palm, and you can go back to mixing up with different fireballs and Demon Flip Palm to build meter quickly. This is also a terrific option to use on the opponent's wake up. Depending on the distance, you can use MK Demon Flip Palm to safe jump and bait the enemy's reversal, or you can use the HK version to go behind the opponent as he or she gets up. Speaking of safe jumping, if your opponent has a reversal that has armor properties, this will instantly break armor and knock the opponent down. You can set up for a tiger knee fireball and make the opponent guess whether you will hit up front or cross up.
File:No image.png	Hyakki Gojin	Demon Flip Dive Kick	k	Perform during Hyakkishu
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ An awesome move, this is another way of safe jumping the opponent. Most reversals will either whiff or even get stuffed if timed right. Akuma is given a lot of advantage on block, so the opponent is in your world while you go for pressure. If the opponent guesses wrong and gets hit, have fun doing your big damage combos. This move will hit up front about 90% of the time, but on rare occasions it will cross up. This is very strict on timing, distance, and the match up, so this where you just have to study whether you have a cross up Demon Flip Kick setup or not.
File:No image.png	Hyakki Gosai	Demon Flip Throw	lp + lk	Perform during Hyakkishu
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ This is a beautiful move, both aesthetically and technically speaking. Akuma will grab the opponent's head and hurl him or her some distance away. Be careful that if this move is whiffed, you are very much punishable due to its long recovery, so use it with caution. Once you land the throw, you're given a few setup opportunities. See strategies.
File:No image.png	Ashura Senku (Far)	Punch Teleport (far)	dp or rdp + 3p	dp moves Akuma forward; rdp moves Akuma backwards
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ If Akuma isn't hated enough due to air fireballs and insane mixups, this is probably the other reason why Akuma is hated. Akuma will teleport to safety, and depending on whether you did a forward dragon punch motion or a backward dragon punch motion, you will teleport in different directions. You are completely invincible while the teleport is active, but there is quite a bit of recovery once the move finishes, so you can risk eating a big punish if the opponent successfully chases you down. You can cancel the teleport from some of its active frames with Demon Armageddon. What's even better is that the teleport gives Akuma the ability to combo from a normal move cancelled into a teleport into the Ultra. The PPP version will travel very far, but it has longer recovery time.
File:No image.png	Ashura Senku (Close)	Kick Teleport (close)	dp or rdp + 3k	dp moves Akuma forward; rdp moves Akuma backwards
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ If Akuma isn't hated enough due to air fireballs and insane mixups, this is probably the other reason why Akuma is hated. Akuma will teleport to safety, and depending on whether you did a forward dragon punch motion or a backward dragon punch motion, you will teleport in different directions. You are completely invincible while the teleport is active, but there is quite a bit of recovery once the move finishes, so you can risk eating a big punish if the opponent successfully chases you down. You can cancel the teleport from some of its active frames with Demon Armageddon. What's even better is that the teleport gives Akuma the ability to combo from a normal move cancelled into a teleport into the Ultra. The KKK version will have a shorter travelling distance, but it has shorter recovery time.

Super Combo

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Raging Demon	Super Combo	lp lp f lk hp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's Super is a 0 frame grab. This means that if the opponent is in range to get grabbed by the Raging Demon, he or she cannot escape from the Super. The opponent must also be in a throwable state for the Super to land, meaning that any opponent in block stun or hit stun will not be grabbed by the Raging Demon. See the strategies section to find various setups to land the Raging Demon.

Ultra Combos

	Name	Nickname	Command	Notes
File:No image.png	Wrath of the Raging Demon	Ultra Combo I	lp lp b lk hp
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Wrath of the Raging Demon is probably one of the scariest Ultra Combos in the game. It can be used to punish certain moves on block, and it can also serve as a fantastic anti-air and anti-focus tool. Unlike the Super, Ultra is not a 0 frame grab, so even if the opponent is in point blank range, he or she can still jump away from the Ultra. It does 510 points of damage with maximized Ultra meter, so you can expect to do brick tons of damage if the opponent makes a crucial mistake. See strategies for more detailed methods on how to land the Ultra.
File:No image.png	Demon Armageddon	Ultra Combo II	u u + 3k armorbreak	Can be used in the middle of Ashura Senku
	~~ Uses and Strategies ~~ Akuma's Ultra II also comes with a lot of uses. One of them is to punish anybody that tries to punish your teleport with an Ultra or a special move if you can react fast enough. Unfortunately, if you cancel the teleport into Demon Armageddon, the damage to the Ultra will scale down, but it's more than worth it if you need to escape safely from the opponent. The hitbox of Demon Armageddon will also expand if you cancel the teleport into it. Speaking of cancelling from a teleport, you can combo into Ultra II off of a normal. To elaborate, if you manage to hit the opponent with any normal with enough hit stun, cancel that into the teleport and then quickly cancel into Ultra II, you will be rewarded with tons of damage. Against characters with large hitboxes (such as Sagat, Balrog, Abel, Rufus etc), you can juggle into Ultra II with a cross up Tatsu. Timing is tighter than juggling into other normals or special moves however.

The Basics

Akuma is a very versatile character. He has everything you need for every situation. He has the fastest walk speed alongside Chun-Li, M. Bison, and Vega, so his ground game is already very strong. He also has amazing zoning tools, thanks to his arsenal of great normals, three different types of projectiles, and a variety of anti-air options. If that's not enough, he also has an amazing teleport that can be pretty difficult to punish, since there's no indication of which way he'll be going. Not only can he annoy you with amazing keepaway zoning tools, but if he manages to land one hard knockdown, his opponent is in his world. Even with delayed wake up, Akuma's mixup potential still stands strong. He has many options that he can do as you get up, only to knock you down again and even looping you into his vortex until his opponent dies.

That said, even though Akuma may have amazing abilities at his disposal, being able to win consistently takes lots of practice. By no means is he an easy character, in fact some may even argue that he is one of the most technical characters in the game. Not only is he difficult to win with because of execution requirements and knowledge of how to properly use his tools, but he also has the lowest health and stun in the game. You can only get hit so much before falling dizzy and eventually falling dead, so you must strive for perfection before being able to win consistently with Akuma. Another factor that plays into the difficulty of using Akuma is that a lot of his setups vary from character to character, so matchup knowledge is a requirement as well.

Combos

Standard Combos

close st. HP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

cr. LP, close st. HP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

cr. MP, close st. HP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

cr. MP, cr. MK XX HK Tatsu

close st. HP XX Gohadoken FADC close st. HP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

far st. HK, cr. MP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

far st. HK, cr. MK XX HK Tatsu

cr. MP, cr. MP XX Gohadoken FADC far st. HK, cr. MK XX HK Tatsu

close st. HP XX Teleport XX Ultra 2

cr. MP, close st. HP XX Gohadoken FADC close st. HP XX Teleport XX Ultra 2

Corner Combos

EX Zanku Hadoken, far st. HK, cr. MP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

EX Zanku Hadoken, far st. HK, cr. MP XX EX Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

EX Zanku Hadoken, far st. HK, cr. MK XX HK Tatsu

Counter Hit Combos

CH far st. HP, cr. HK

CH cr. MP, far st. HK, cr. MP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

CH cr. MP, far st. HK, cr. MP XX Gohadoken FADC cr. MP XX LK Tatsu, HP Goshoryuken

Strategy

Zoning

Akuma has one of the best, if not the best set of zoning tools out of the entire cast. Learning to use Akuma's fireballs well can frustrate his opponents to no end, and being able to zone is an art form itself.

At the beginning of the match, there are a few ways to start. Obviously, starting with a Demon Flip right away can be quite risky, so it's probably best to start out a little defensive at first. You want to analyze how your opponent plays. It's best to vary how you start a round every time so you can throw your opponent off as soon as the round starts. Here are some ways you can you can start a round:

1) Do a defensive crouch for a few seconds.
2) Take a few steps towards your opponent before stepping back a bit.
3) Neutral jump Zanku Hadoken.
4) Back jump Zanku Hadoken.
5) Any ground Gohadoken.
6) Step back a bit before throwing a neutral jump Zanku Hadoken.
7) Walk right up and throw a cr. MK.

You're not limited to these round starters, as you can start a round with whatever you see fit... so long as they're safe. You want to make sure you act according to how your opponent reacts. Playing defensive lets you get a feel for how your opponent likes to approach the Akuma matchup. If you're seeing an opponent that jumps a lot to try to hit you out of your fireball, you obviously have an impatient player in your hands. At that point, you should probably focus on getting your anti-airs out. Akuma has his cr. HP for opponents above him or pretty close up. He has his far st. HP for opponents that may be positioned further away. He can use his MP, HP, or EX Goshoryukens if the opponent is in ranges anywhere in between.

If you have an opponent that likes to focus dash your fireballs, you can implement different strategies depending on the player. Stop some of the fireball barrage and play a bit of footsies at mid range. Take note of any habits your opponent may have if he or she likes to focus a lot. Once you notice a pattern, you can punish with a cr. MK cancelled into HK Tatsu for both solid damage and positioning. Even if there's no pattern, you can sometimes just react to the focus as long as you buffer the cr. MK with a quarter circle back motion before pressing HK button.

Now, if the opponent seems to be focus dashing, you have a few options. Depending on the distance, you can just use cr. MK to hit him out of his dash, or even cr. HK if you're up for it. This is obviously distance dependent though; if you threw a fireball at closer ranges, where the opponent might be able to focus dash through and hit you before you recover, then you already know that you were standing at an unsafe range to throw fireballs. That's not to say you should never throw fireballs at that distance, since you don't want to give up throwing fireballs as a poke. Likewise, it's still important to know your opponent's dash distances in order to make sure you're ready to punish any badly positioned focus forward dashes.

If you notice the opponent is focus back dashing more, tell your opponent that he or she can't do that forever. Take note of this though; the opponent may not likely be focus back dashing all the time. Sometimes, he or she may just block a few before focus back dashing again. Once you confirm that your opponent seems to be playing defensive, that's your cue to push your opponent down to the corner while still applying fireball pressure. Even if the opponent catches on and begins to push forward, that's still fine. Unless if the opponent caught on earlier, by the time he or she noticed what you were planning, you already gained positional advantage to start zoning again.

Now any good opponent isn't going to do one of these things. They will always vary how they react to different fireballs, so that's when getting a feel for their habits can get a bit more difficult. That's why it's important to vary different types of fireballs. Against non-projectile characters, vary with back jump air fireballs, neutral jump air fireballs, and ground regular fireballs. Mix these up, constantly. Make sure you're not leaving any patterns for the opponent to catch on to. The more variety of plasma you chuck, the more frustrating it can get for your opponent.

Don't just pray and hope that your opponent will eventually get impatient and do something stupid though. Opponents who play patient can and will gradually push you to the corner if you keep playing a keep away zoning game. That is why sometimes you have to switch from defense to offense when the situation demands it. At some point, if you notice you're beginning to lose space, that probably means you tried to play keep away for too long. Playing defensive is fine, but playing too defensive can make you lose positioning. Once you're cornered, your options become much more limited, so when you play zoning game, pay attention to where you are on the screen while you do it.

So let's say your opponent is gradually closing you in to the corner. This is where you have to play footsies. If you've been playing keep away for a certain amount of time, then your opponent may start to catch on to your playstyle. Well, break that impression and start pressing forward (well, not 100% literally...). Don't get overly aggressive now, because chances are this is where your opponent will also play aggressive too. You can play more offensively, but make sure you play a cautious offense with your pokes. Starting using a mix of cr. MK and close range fireballs to play footsies; these do wonders in pushing your opponents away. It may not look like it, but telling your opponent that you won't run away forever and will fight up close sends a message. If you win this poking game, you can get some damage and also push the opponent further away. If you feel like you've successfully done this part, great, go back to the zoning game and start frustrating your opponent again.

In the case that you are cornered, don't give up just yet. You are still free to throw the occasional jump back fireball, but also try your best to fight back and gain positional advantage again. If you feel that you've gotten your opponent to concentrate on the ground game, you can suddenly do a HK Demon Flip Palm to escape, and now the tide has shifted because now your opponent's back is closer to the corner. Be careful doing this though, because opponents may be looking for you to go to the air to try to escape.

Mix-ups

Vortex plays a large part of Akuma's metagame. Knock your opponent down, then find several ways to knock them down again as they get up over and over again until they die.

Starting the vortex

You're going to have to find ways to knock the opponent down. A successful cr. HK or forward throw will help you start the mix-up party instantly.

You can land cr. HK in footsies, but you should probably use it mostly for whiff punishing. The move isn't as overpowered as it was before, since you can be punished with either a focus or a jump-in, so resist the urge to constantly use cr. HK to fish for that knockdown. Using cr. HK to whiff punish is safer because you're not randomly throwing out a poke and risk eating damage, but you're more likely anticipating a poke from the opponent and countering it. Poke the opponent with a few cr. MK first to make them feel the need to poke back at you, and look for opportunities to whiff punish with the sweep.

You can also get a hard knockdown with cr. HK by fishing for counter hits. Akuma's cr. MP is famous for this, because if you land a counter hit cr. MP, you can link into cr. HK pretty easily.
On some characters, you'll be able to combo into cr. HK from a LK Tatsu juggle. This requires a lot of practice at first because timing can be a little awkward. This is entirely character specific though, as there are some characters where the cr. HK will just whiff if you try to juggle.

Characters that can be knocked down from LK Tatsu -> cr. HK: Adon, Akuma, Balrog, C. Viper, Cammy, Chun-Li, Cody, Dan, Dee Jay, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Elena, Fei Long, Gouken, Guile, Guy, Hakan, Hugo, Oni, Poison, Rose, Sagat, Sakura, Seth, T. Hawk, Vega, Zangief.

Characters that cannot be knocked down from LK Tatsu -> cr. HK: Blanka, Decapre, Dudley, Evil Ryu, Gen, Ibuki, Juri, Ken, M. Bison, Makoto, Rolento, Rufus, Ryu, Yang, Yun.

Against characters with wide hitboxes, you can usually link cr. HK from a st. LP. While in footsies, if you successfully land a far st. HK, you can link into a st. LP and follow up into cr. HK for an instant knockdown.

Akuma's forward throw sets him up for his mix-ups really well. In the previous versions, all he had to do was dash forward twice before starting his Demon Flip mixups. This changed after version AE 2012, because he received a change to his throw in that there was now 2 more frames of recovery after the throw animation has ended, and this change has stayed in Ultra Street Fighter IV as well. The classic setup will still work against some characters, but you will have to vary your forward throw setups against some other characters too.

Here are some forward throw setups that you can use against different characters.

Forward throw -> far st. HK -> HK Hyakki: Ryu, Ken, Guile, Evil Ryu, Akuma, Yun, Yang, C. Viper
Forward throw -> Dash -> Take one short step -> HK Hyakki: E. Honda, Dudley, Ibuki, Seth, Fei Long, Sagat, Adon, Rose, Poison, Elena, Juri, Gen, Dan, Vega, T. Hawk
Forward throw -> Dash -> Dash -> j. HK / cross up tatsu / MK Hyakki: Balrog, Cammy, Decapre, Dhalsim, Abel, Rufus, M. Bison, Makoto, Gouken, Cody, Rolento, Sakura

Regardless of how you landed that hard knockdown, you will always have to deal with delayed wake up one way or another. Learn to time your setups according to how your opponent tends to respond after getting knocked down. A good opponent will always mix-up regular wake up and delayed wake up to keep you guessing, and it takes some practice to react to the TECHNICAL message.

The Vortex

Once you land that hard knockdown, it's time to put your opponent in a world of pain. Akuma has so many options to mix up his opponent, you're definitely going to have fun. Let's go over the options he has, one by one.

1) Demon Flip Kick
When you get the first hard knockdown, this is the move you should go for. Against most characters, you don't need to time the kick button that much to safely pressure the opponent, but against some you will have to delay the kick just a little bit to successfully safe jump. Most reversals will whiff completely, so you are mostly safe. Once you block, you have the opportunity for free pressure. Take this time to analyze the opponent. Does he have great defense? Does he have good tech timings? Does he like to mash out reversals a lot? Use this as data.
On occasions, the dive kill will cross up, but it's very rare. On hit, it gives you enough frame advantage to do big damage combos, so take advantage of any hit that you can land on the opponent.
It's probably best to do the Demon Flip Kick on your first two or three hard knockdowns. It may be tempting to go for tricky side-to-side mix-ups, but it's good idea to condition your opponent to block on wake up first. What's also nice about this option is that when Akuma does the Demon Flip, he takes a slight pause before he descends. If your opponent does delayed wake up, you can delay the kick button just slightly and you can still safely pressure the opponent.

2) Demon Flip Palm
If you land a max range cr. HK, or do any forward throw setup, you can use HK Demon Flip Palm. You're not using the palm strike to hit the opponent, but you want to land behind him or her. Once you land, start your pressure with crouch tech cr. LP + cr. LK. You want to do this after you do the Demon Flip Kick because you want to cross over the opponent when he or she's probably thinking you're going to hit front. A well-timed auto correct reversal will hit you out of this, which is why it's best to go for Demon Flip Palm after you condition your opponent to block first.
Alternatively, you can use Demon Flip Palm for safe jump Option Select. After a knockdown, do a MK Demon Flip Palm, and press cr. HK at a time just slightly after the palm would connect to the opponent. What will happen is if the opponent either gets hit or blocks, you'll land safely and you can pressure your opponent, or you can go for another mix-up if he gets hit. The beauty of this option select is that if the opponent likes to backdash on his or her wake up, cr. HK will come out and grant you another hard knockdown. The reason why this works is if the Demon Flip Palm gets blocked, the opponent will be in block stun, which delays Akuma's landing time. If Akuma just does an empty Demon Flip Palm, he will land instantly, so if the opponent backdashes, the Demon Flip Palm will act like the opponent isn't there anymore. Since there's no block stun to delay Akuma's landing, the cr. HK will come out, thus thwarting the opponent's backdash attempt. You also have to delay the cr. HK just slightly because if the opponent wakes up with a reversal, if you input the cr. HK too quickly, your cr. HK will come out and you'll just get hit out of it. If you add a slight delay, your cr. HK won't come out, thus you'll be able to safely block the opponent's reversal.
To add some extra spice to the Demon Flip Palm, you can also OS with HK Tatsu or even any of his Ultra's. These can be a little more risky because your opponent might do delayed wake up, messing up your attempt at Option Selecting, and you may potentially waste your Ultra bar if you're not paying attention.

3) Demon Flip Throw
Once you condition your opponent to stay blocking on wake up, that is when you are given the green light to go for the Demon Flip Throw. You can attempt this much earlier on, but there are chances when your opponent might just backdash or do a reversal and punish you. This move is severely punishable on whiff, and is usually guaranteed to get hit by reversals since you have to be in front of your opponent to throw. When you land the throw, you are in perfection position to go for another setup. You have the following options:

Demon Flip Throw -> cr. MP -> Demon Flip Kick / Palm: Will safe jump most reversals except for Dee Jay, Yun, Yang, T. Hawk.
Demon Flip Throw -> Dash -> Tiger knee fireball: If you throw the fireball low to the ground, you will hit up front. If you throw the fireball higher up, it will likely cross up. Do not attempt this against Zangief; he can wake up with EX Atomic Suplex.
Demon Flip Throw -> Dash -> EX Demon Flip Kick / Palm: The EX Demon Flip Kick will cross up on some characters, but the palm will make you land in front to create a potential side-to-side mixup.

4) Cross up j. MK / Dive kick mixup
Demon Flip is a beautiful move due to its eclectic mixup options, but you can mix the opponent up without it. If you land a sweep, or even a back throw, you can cross the opponent up with a simple j. MK. Don't worry if it hits or not, the main part of this is to make your opponent think you'll cross him or her up at close range. Once they feel that you'll cross them up again at that range, then it's time to get tricky and do the jump down MK dive kick to hit them up front. This is best used for later because most opponents probably won't be thinking about that too much when they fight Akuma. He's mostly known for Demon Flip mixups after all, so you want to use the dive kick when the opponent least suspects it. More than likely this might get into your opponent's head and will start thinking about this setup through the rest of the game.

5) Cross up Tatsu
Throw this out here and there. You get a free juggle if you can land this, and if you want to continue the vortex, just go for cr. HK again after the juggle. Unlike the LK Tatsu combo into cr. HK, Air Tatsu will juggle into cr. HK against everyone. If you really want to mess with the opponent's head, knock the opponent down with cross up Tatsu twice, three times, four times, however many as you see fit. Just make sure your opponent doesn't catch on because you would be too predictable with your mixups.

6) Jump-in low
On rare occasions, you should jump-in with cr. LK to catch the opponent standing. After all, if you want to block a jump-in attack, you have to block that standing, but going for a low attack instead can catch your opponent off guard. While you're at it, don't just input a cr. LK, but input cr. LK + cr. LP. This is in case your opponent tries to throw you on his or her wake up, and we don't want that to happen and lose whatever momentum we had.

7) Corner mix-ups
If you get a forward throw with opponent in the corner, you can setup a deadly mixup. As soon as you recover from the throw, do a neutral jump and time a LP Zanku Hadoken so it will hit meaty. In most cases, this should cover both regular and delayed wake up. Your opponent will be forced into block stun because you'll recover in time; if they do an invincible reversal, you'll be recovered long before they can even attempt to hit you. There are a few things you can do in this situation. You can jump forward while the fireball is still doing down, and go for a high-low mixup by doing a j. LK or cr. LK. You want to do j. LK because it can be quite ambiguous as to whether you will land in front or behind, so it can be quite tricky for the opponent to guess which way you'll be going. You're already adding another mixup to the table by also going to a cr. LK instead, so this is already a tricky setup to avoid.
If you feel that your opponent is just a chip away from death, here's another thing you can do. While the LP Zanku Hadoken is still on the screen, hold the HP button but do not release. When you land, do the Shakunetsu motion and let go of the HP button. If the fireball is still on the screen, you will be able to safely block if the opponent tries to do something. After all, if the opponent does an invincible reversal, it will go past the fireball. Since you cannot have two of your projectiles on the screen, the Shakunetsu fireball won't come out. However, if the LP Zanku Hadoken does connect because the opponent woke up blocking, and you release the HP button, the Shakunetsu will come out for additional chip damage. This is what is called Negative Edge, where you hold the button for a special move, then you release it after you do the motion. It's very effective in this scenario because if you were to press the HP button after doing the Shakunetsu, and your opponent does an invincible reversal, there's a chance you will get hit out of a st. HP. By using Negative Edge, the Shakunestu will only come out when the game allows it to.

If you manage to land a combo into LK Tatsu with your opponent's back to the corner, consider juggling with LP Goshoryuken. Afterwards, jump forward and do a j. LK. If your opponent quick rises, what will happen is the j. LK will hit cross up, but you will actually land in front of your opponent. This can give you a free opportunity to go for another damaging combo, provided that your opponent doesn't know how to deal with the setup. Once the opponent begins to recognize how to block, you can go for a jump in cr. LK + cr. LP to get tricky.

Raging Demon Setups

The input required for the Raging Demon looks daunting at first, right? Well, there's a way to make the input easier. You can reduce the amount of button sequences needed from 5 to 3. To do this, you can press LP twice quickly, and then you can input LK, forward / back (depending on which Demon you want), and HP all at once a to get the Raging Demon. This shortcut is vital to perform all Raging Demon setups, since most of them require you to input the Raging Demon in a very short period of time.

Kara Super

One of the easiest ways to Kara cancel into the Super is off of Akuma's overhead. It takes quite a bit of practice to get the execution down at first, but this can end up being a really sneaky way to send your opponent the fatal blow. The Raging Demon input has a lot of leniency put into it; it turns out that you don't need to push the stick straight forward for the Raging Demon input to register, but diagonal forward motions will work too.

A common mistake for starters is doing the overhead and then pressing two LP's quickly. Instead, a better way is to input hold forward and press LP+MP twice. So long as the game registers two LP's in some manner, you're already half way through the Raging Demon input. Since the game has already registered the first two LP's, all that remains is LK, forward, and HP. At first glance, it may seem like you have to return your stick to neutral and input forward again. Well, this is where input leniency will save you some trouble. You can just lean your stick to down-forward position as you press LK and HP at the same time, and the Raging Demon will still come out!

Even with the input leniency, this is still easier said than done. Most people who try to do this in their first few attempts will either just an overhead, or the Super will come out after the overhead has already hit. So it's crucial that you get the inputs down as quickly as possible.


Other setups for Super

Some sneaky Raging Demon setups
More setups for the Super

There's a few other sneaky setups to land the Super outside of Kara cancel setups. You can also tick two cr. LP's into the Raging Demon, but there's a trick to doing this. What you want to do is that during the second cr. LP, you want to buffer two cr. LP's instead of just one. In other words, you input one cr. LP first, and then in the follow-up cr. LP, you need to press cr. LP twice very quickly. You need to be quick enough in the second cr. LP so that you don't come out with a third cr. LP. After that, you just finish the last three inputs to land the Super. There are a few reasons why you want to input 3 cr. LP's in total rather than just two.

1) In case you did two simple cr. LP's, where two cr. LP's come out, your input may not be fast enough for the Raging Demon to come out. It might put you at an awkward spot where you might accidentally cancel the cr. LP into the Super, which obviously won't work because you can't land the Raging Demon while the opponent is in block stun. The other scenario is that if you just press two cr. LP's and Akuma does actually punch his opponent twice, the game might not register the Raging Demon inputs properly. Therefore, when you finish the last remaining inputs, you might either get a st. LK or a st. HP (depending on whether you did in the shortcut or not).
2) If you only did one cr. LP and inputted two cr. LP's very correctly, you're not giving yourself enough time to react as to whether the opponent got hit or not. That's why you want to make sure two cr. LP's connect so you can have enough time to see whether your opponent blocked or not. This is important because hit stun tends to last longer than block stun, so in the case that the opponent does get hit by the cr. LP, you can slightly delay the last remaining Raging Demon inputs.

Another sneaky setup for the Super is after a diagonal jumping light attack. Input two LP's very correctly while a jumping LP or LK is still active, and make sure no LP comes out from the ground. Once you land, input the last remaining inputs for the Raging Demon. This doesn't give you enough time to hit confirm in case you actually managed to land a counter j. LP or j. LK, but in most cases it will land because neither moves have a lot of block stun or hit stun.

Landing Wrath of the Raging Demon

One of the nice things about Akuma is that with the exception of cr. HK, you can cancel any of your normal moves into Wrath of the Raging Demon. The most viable way to cancel into the Ultra is off of a cr. MK, and this is because you lower Akuma's hitbox significantly. This is useful against jumping opponents because by lowering your hitbox, you lessen the chances of getting by a jumping attack.

When you have the Ultra stocked, unless if you want to cancel a cr. MK into a Gohadoken for fireball pressure, make sure you always input two cr. LP's while the cr. MK is still active. In other words, you should buffer two LP's for every cr. MK you throw out in neutral. This helps you be ready for two things; a jump-in and a focus attack. Once you see either the jump-in or a focus, just finish the remaining inputs for the Ultra. It still requires a bit of reaction on your part to see if the opponent just blocked a cr. MK or if the opponent did something about it. With a bit of practice however, you will be able to react consistently to your opponent's actions and punish accordingly. When you counter a focus with the Ultra, make sure you're using this on an opponent whose character doesn't have a backdash that's fast and travels far (Chun-Li, Fei Long, Rose etc). If you cancel a max range cr. MK into focus, their back dashes will recover in time to punish you instead.

This is also a solid anti-air option, and when it hits, it feels euphoric. You want to make sure you space it so that if your opponent does do a jump attack, you want to be in the range where it would hit. The ideal range to anti air with the Ultra is where if the jump attack would hit so that they would be in range to still connect with light attacks. This is because you want to cover both a jump attack and an empty jump. If they jump at a range where only the jump attack would hit, but outside of ranges where light attacks wouldn't reach, they could be able to bait out your Ultra with an empty jump and punish you. At closer ranges, the opponent is taking a risk even if they empty jump. They might be able to do an invincible attack, or do something that keeps them in the air longer, but you're still likely to catch them in their landing frames if you time and space it properly.

A successful anti-air Ultra would look like the jump attack is touching Akuma while Wrath of the Raging Demon is starting up. So when he's saying "Prepare yourself!", it should look like the jumping attack should connect. With proper timing and spacing, you will catch your opponent and give them one thousand deaths for a delicious reward of 510 damage.

Matchups

vs. Abel

(No strategies)

vs. Adon

(No strategies)

vs. Akuma/Gouki

(No strategies)

vs. Balrog/Boxer

(No strategies)

vs. Blanka

Akuma's gameplan: Stop Blanka's hop and ball shenanigans. Control space with lots of caution.
Blanka's gameplan: Get into the mix up range and pester Akuma with mixups and normals.

LK Tatsu cannot be juggled into cr. HK.
The second hit of st. HK will whiff against defensive crouch.

This match up can be quite frustrating and even overwhelming if you don't know how to approach this fight. One thing to keep in mind is that this match up doesn't boil down to mix ups, but it's whoever can whittle down the other's defenses.

Blanka has one of the scariest slides in the game. It has a really long reach and can shut down your projectile game from 3/4 of the screen away. That said, don't let this discourage you from throwing a few ground Gohadokens here and there. In fact, I do encourage you to throw fireballs, but at the right timings and / or spacing. If you're about 3/4 screen away, and Blanka is holding down, it's probably not a good idea to throw that fireball. At this range, it's really easy for Blanka to react to a fireball and either slide or EX Horizontal Ball (depending on whether he's holding down-forward or down-back).

The best range to throw fireballs is somewhere just outside of Blanka's cr. HP range. At this range, it's very difficult for him to react to your projectiles, whether he wants to slide or do an EX Horizontal Ball, or even Ultra 2. Use it wisely though; one good read from Blanka and he will jump in at you for big damage.

Be careful throwing out back jump air fireballs too. Blanka has a few answers to these, the main one being slide. If you're jumping back and he's walking towards you, you probably don't want to chuck plasma at him. Sometimes, if Blanka has a read on you, he can just hop into Vertical Ball for a knockdown, so be very careful if you choose to zone with air fireballs.

When it comes to footsies, Blanka's normals generally tend to outclass yours. They have longer reach and would sometimes outright beat yours if you both pressed buttons at the same time. You do have a faster walk speed however, so try to establish your gameplan more on whiff punishing than sticking pokes out and hoping you'll beat him.

For this match up, you will rely mostly on three things; cr. LP, cr. HP, and Ultra 1. Rather than trying to focus on what you want to do, shift your focus more on stopping Blanka from what he wants to do. There are 2 ranges where Blanka has the advantage, and the first one was already mentioned; it's 3/4 screen away, where Blanka can shut down some of your zoning tools. The other range where Blanka is at an advantage is somewhere within his cr. HP range. At this distance, the tip of his cr. HP should connect. His LP Horizontal Ball will also whiff too, and this is what he wants. It has enough recovery for him to throw you immediately if you're not paying attention. At this distance, rely on your cr. LP and cr. HP. You're having the cr. HP ready in case he decides to jump at you. If you have fast enough reactions, then go for the Goshoryuken too if you want.

At this distance, you're looking for three things; jump in, LP ball whiff, or hops. As mentioned before, you can counter the jump in with a cr. HP. You can counter the whiffed LP Horizontal Ball or hops with cr. LP. Players inexperienced with the Blanka match up may not know that you can actually hit Blanka out of his hop; it can be misleading because if you watch it visually, he goes through your character and switches sides, but you can hit him out of it completely. You're using cr. LP here because you want to hit him fast before he tries anything. You don't want to deal with more shenanigans when he gets a knockdown on you; he can and will get a knockdown if you let him do either of those two things. With the hop, the most common thing I'll see Blanka players do is hop right into EX Vertical Roll for a soft knockdown... Or he might even just do either of his Ultra's from here if he feels gutsy enough.

If you plan to advance forward, pause with a cr. LP every now and then. Use the cr. LP as a shield, so you can stop Blanka from randomly using Horizontal Balls or hops on you. Once you send Blanka the message that he can't do hops or balls liberally, that's your cue to advance and pressure him. Watch out though; sometimes they'll mash out electricity to hit you out of your pressure. You can beat whiffed electricity by waiting a little bit, and then pressing a cr. MK to hit him. The electricity will push you away a bit on block, so you want to give yourself some space before you hit him out of electricity. Otherwise, you'll be too close and you'll end up losing clean.

If you knock Blanka down, don't go for vortex mixups. Reversal EX Vertical Roll will shut down almost all of your air approaches, so don't even bother. Instead, go for a delayed crouch tech; Blanka doesn't have a lot of answers to this. If he tries to wake up EX Vertical Roll, your delayed tech won't come out and thus you'll safely block. If Blanka just blocks, you get pressure. However, pay very close attention to what he does on his wake up, because he can and will do EX Backstep Roll to get out. The ideal solution to this is to do a delayed tech Option Select on his wake up. The input is: cr. LK + cr. LP, cr. LK ~ cr. HP. You're covering all avenues of escape for Blanka; if he blocks on wake up, you get pressure. If he does EX Vertical Roll, and you timed the delayed tech correctly, you'll safely block and will be able to punish him. If he does EX Backstep Roll, your cr. HP will come out and you'll hit him out of it.

Lastly, pay attention to all Horizontal Balls he might try on you. You can punish HP Ball just by waking up and cr. HK, but other versions cannot be punished until you have Ultra 1 stocked. It is an unforgivable sin to let Blanka get away with a blocked Horizontal Ball, so make sure you're ready to punish at all times.

This match up can and will be frustrating at first, and the best Blanka players will be a pain in the nut to deal with. The key to this match up is to always pay attention. One slip up can cost you the whole match.

vs. C. Viper

(No strategies)

vs. Cammy

(No strategies)

vs. Chun-Li

(No strategies)

vs. Cody

(No strategies)

vs. Dan

(No strategies)

vs. Decapre

(No strategies)

vs. Dee Jay

(No strategies)

vs. Dhalsim

Akuma's gameplan: Push Dhalsim to the corner, get one knockdown to mix him up.
Dhalsim's gameplan: Keep Akuma out with limbs and fireball zoning.

LK Tatsu can be juggled into cr. HK.
The second hit of st. HK will whiff against defensive crouch.

Patience is key in this matchup. The biggest mistake you can make against Dhalsim is to rush him down recklessly, because that's exactly what he wants you to do.

Start this matchup by just bulldogging your way through. When you're within Dhalsim's st. HP range, you're at a disadvantage. The only thing you should do at this range is to nullify Dhalsim's Yoga Fire the very moment you see him spit flames out. You suffer many consequences if you fail to do so; throw a fireball too late and Dhalsim can hit you out of your recovery frames with st. HP. Jumping in will either get you anti-aired or it just won't do much. Focusing a Yoga Fire at this range is free damage to Dhalsim, since any of his limbs will make you lose that grey life.

Your best bet in this match up is to mix up how you react to a Yoga Fire. Dhalsim has an answer for everything you try, but keeping him guessing will throw him off more. Don't be afraid to back off if you feel that you need to; always having the urge to get in can just make you feel more annoyed and irritated.

Once you get in, make sure you do your best to push him to the corner. If you're pressuring him in the middle of the screen, he might do a Yoga Teleport to give himself some room. By pushing him to the corner, you can effectively shut down all avenues of escape for Dhalsim, but make sure your offense is air tight. One small hole in your offense and Dhalsim can either push you away, or you might eat a throw. The latter is probably the worst case scenario, because you'd have to work your way in again.

Also, if you manage to get a combo in on Dhalsim, don't end any LK Tatsu combo into LP Goshoryuken. Just juggle into cr. HK, because you always want to make sure Dhalsim stays down on the ground as long as possible. Doing the LP Goshoryuken into j. LK setup can be avoided by Dhalsim slide, and now you just put yourself in the corner. (See setups for more details.)

This is a matchup in Akuma's favour, but you're going to have to put a lot of hard work and patience to overcome this annoying matchup.

vs. Dudley

(No strategies)

vs. E. Honda

(No strategies)

vs. El Fuerte

(No strategies)

vs. Elena

(No strategies)

vs. Evil Ryu

(No strategies)

vs. Fei Long

(No strategies)

vs. Gen

(No strategies)

vs. Gouken

(No strategies)

vs. Guile

Akuma's gameplan: Take out Guile's Sonic Boom game and push him slowly to the corner.
Guile's gameplan: Pester Akuma with Sonic Booms and normals.

LK Tatsu can be juggled into cr. HK.
Both hits of far st. HK will hit against defensive crouch.

Akuma is usually considered one of Guile's worst matchups for a number of reasons. Akuma shuts down Guile's gameplan effectively, and once Guile is knocked down, there is very little he can do to escape Akuma's vortex.

One of the biggest misconceptions when fighting against Guile is that you have to punish his Sonic Booms by jumping over them. This is actually what Guile wants; his anti-airs options beat out almost every single jump-in attack you can try. He recovers ridiculously fast from throwing a Sonic Boom too, so trying to get in recklessly is not a good idea.

What you want to do instead is take away Guile's Sonic Boom. At full screen, throw a bunch of Gohadokens and Shakunetsu to make Guile hesitant to chuck plasma. When you do this, you make it very difficult for Guile to keep up. You will eventually overwhelm him with your barrage of projectiles, and force Guile to throw Sonic Booms less. You'll force him to come at you. Also, you'll be able to build meter with this gameplan, and you might need as much meter as possible to win this fight at certain ranges.

The fight gets a little interesting when you're at mid range. The range Guile has the advantage is outside of Akuma's cr. HK range. At this range, your options become a lot more limited. This is a range where Guile can try to outpoke you, be it with his normals or his Sonic Booms. You do not want to be fighting Guile around this range, because this is the only range where Akuma can and will lose in. If Guile throws a Sonic Boom, the only thing you should do is throw an EX Gohadoken. Jumping in would be too risky because of Guile's cr. HP anti air. Absorbing his Sonic Boom with Focus can be risky too because he can follow up with any of his normals. Lastly, if you throw a Gohadoken to get rid of Sonic Booms at this range, Guile can follow it up with a backfist to hit you out of your recovery. You can throw an EX Gohadoken to counter Guile's Sonic Boom here, but you must see Guile throw a Sonic Boom first. If you just throw an EX Gohadoken, but you guess wrong, there's a chance you might either eat a jump in, or Guile can trade with his Ultra 2 if he has charge.

vs. Guy

(No strategies)

vs. Hakan

(No strategies)

vs. Hugo

(No strategies)

vs. Ibuki

(No strategies)

vs. Juri

(No strategies)

vs. Ken

(No strategies)

vs. M.Bison/Dictator

Akuma's gameplan: Maintain the life lead and watch out for anything Dictator attempts on wake up.
Dictator's gameplan: Push Akuma to the corner and keep him trapped there. Punish all air fireball attempts with st. HK

LK Tatsu does NOT juggle into cr. HK.
The second hit of st. HK will whiff against defensive crouch.

This is a matchup that both players will hate. Akuma players hate Dictator, and vice versa. The advantage between the two characters shift for every situation, and it's important to recognize to maintain any advantageous situations you may have at any given moment.

Round 1, Fight. You have the immediate advantage here. Dictator is going to have trouble getting in, because he only has one very risky tool to get around fireballs, which is his Headstomp. If Dictator starts the round by building meter with Devil's Reverse, always stay mobile. Throw some ground fireballs here and there and hope to catch him with on the way down. Just don't be too obvious, because that's when he's going to bonk you on the head. The worst thing you want to have happen at this point of the match is to lose the life lead. If he's not doing too many Devil's Reverse, then pester him with projectiles; there's very little he can do without meter.

Of course, unless if you got a perfect in Round 1 before he built any meter, he will have at least one bar. Now you really have to watch out, because there's so much he can do about your fireball game... if he has charge. You throw an air fireball from super high up, he'll go through you using EX Psycho Crusher. You throw any fireball on the ground, he'll go through you with his EX Knee Press. Always assess whether he has charge or not before you throw that fireball. Even then, you have to watch out when you throw an air fireball as well; Dictator can usually walk under it and peg you with his st. HK.

Against Dictator, you generally want to play defensive, but playing too defensive can have its consequences. He is dangerous up close, thanks to his 3 frame cr. LK that he can combo into, and his normals reach further than most of yours. Your cr. HK actually reaches longer than his st. MK, but whiff punishing it is really difficult because your spacing has to be near pixel perfect. At least if you whiff punish, you get a knockdown into setups, while he just gets measly 70 damage for whiff punishing a sweep. That said, if you end up playing too defensive, you'll end up pushing yourself to the corner, and that's exactly what Dictator wants. Always make sure you fight for space, because it's never fun when Dictator cages you in the corner. It's important to play footsies, even if his normals can be intimidating to deal with. Also, remember that it's a common tactic for good Dictator players to walk under an air fireball and hitting you with his st. HK, so learn to not play too defensive against him.

If you have him knock down, make sure you force him to lose charge. If he has no bar, always do Demon Flip and OS a palm into HK Tatsu; it's pretty much his only reversal option. Now if he has meter, always make sure you make him lose charge. It's never fun having to guess whether he's going to EX Psycho Crusher, EX Knee Press, EX Devil's Reverse, or Teleport on wake up. By making him lose charge, you only limit his wake up to EX Devil's Reverse and Teleport. Very rarely is he ever going to do EX Headstomp, because that is completely punishable on wake up. If you do Demon Flip Palm OS into Wrath of the Raging Demon, you'll only beat his EX Psycho Crusher and Teleport... anything else he does will make you waste that precious Ultra you had. It doesn't matter whether you're being too predictable and only going for cross ups, what's more important is to make sure you either force him to block or waste his meter.

One tool that can come in handy is the Super. If Dictator does EX Psycho Crusher, and you block it even at point blank range, you can always punish with Super.

If Dictator has you cornered, control your nerves. Just sit back and eat some LK Knee Press chip. He has an answer to everything you try. If he thinks you'll stick out a poke, he can either counter poke with st. MK or another LK Knee Press. If he thinks you're going to jump, he'll either st. HK or Headstomp... or even worse, he's going to j. MP into Ultra. You try to teleport, he'll either slide or throw you back into the corner. Just sit back and wait a bit. Sometimes it'll take 2 LK Knee Press, sometimes 4, sometimes even 10... eventually he's going to try something like walk up throw, Headstomp, or EX Psycho Crusher frame trap. Always look out for these possible moments to escape, rather than taking a risky guess to try to escape.

If Dictator won the first round and he has some meter, round 2 is going to be pretty difficult. You have to play super careful and not make any mistakes, because losing the life lead at any point here is nearly equivalent to game over. Once he has the life lead, and he's holding down back, there's very little you can do to approach. You can try to get some sneaky jumps in here and there, but he can always EX Psycho Crusher to anti air you if he's always prepared. Even if he doesn't hit you, he still just ran away and avoided pressure, so he has room to hold down back again... and losing that one bar isn't a problem because he can use Devil's Reverse to build meter again if he wants to. If it's round 2 or 3, and he's holding on to the life lead with 2 or more bars while you have 2 or less... all I can say is good luck.

vs. Makoto

(No strategies)

vs. Oni

(No strategies)

vs. Poison

(No strategies)

vs. Rolento

(No strategies)

vs. Rose

Akuma's gameplan: Push Rose to the corner, get one knockdown to mix her up.
Rose's gameplan: Control Akuma's space with cr. MP xx Soul Spiral pressure, fight for as much space as possible.

LK Tatsu can be juggled into cr. HK.
The second hit of st. HK will whiff against defensive crouch.

At first glance, this may seem like a matchup in Rose's favour, but it's actually 6-4 in Akuma's favour.

It may seem discouraging to throw fireballs in this match, since she can absorb or reflect them and build tons of meter. The thing is you should throw fireballs... at closer ranges. A good range to throw them are somewhere just outside of her st. HK range, or even somewhere within it. If you're throwing fireballs at timings and places when Rose isn't expecting you to throw them, it's very difficult for her to react to it. Just be a little more careful when she has meter, because she can get through your fireballs with EX Soul Spiral. However, if you're always changing up your patterns (ie distances and timings), it can still be difficult for her to react in time.

Rose can be really annoying to fight against at footsie ranges however. She's going to pester you with normals like st. HK, slide, cr. MK, and occasionally cr. HK as well. Her st. HK is especially annoying to deal with, because it reaches long and her feet are off the ground, so it's difficult to whiff punish with something like a cr. MK or cr. HK. You can try an Option Select to deal with this however. You can try to do cr. MP, and buffer a Gohadouken while the cr. MP is still out. If you're at the right range, you can actually hit Rose's feet with cr. MP, and if it hits, you'll get a Gohadouken coming out. At that range, your fireball won't hit, but it will help push her to the corner.

Once you do have her cornered, you have a lot of things you can do to her. One thing to look out for is her slide, because it covers a lot of ground and will push you away. When you have her cornered, always dance around her cr. MP range, because her cr. MP XX Soul Spiral is another way she's going to try to push herself out of the corner. Also, when you dance at this range, and you successfully block her slide, you can usually punish her with a cr. LP hit confirm or even LP Goshoryuken. If you're lucky, and Rose hit you with a slide point blank, you can still punish her because she's -3 on hit. If you block just the tip end of the slide, don't bother pressing any buttons. She's going to counter hit you every single time, so just remain blocking.

If Rose is the one putting offensive pressure on you, be very careful about pressing buttons. She has an annoying frame trap in her close st. MK, which is throw invincible and is a fantastic frame trap. She's totally safe on block, and if she hits you, she can convert it into a combo. When fighting Rose, it's usually better to eat throws than to eat her combo's, because she won't be getting nasty ambiguous setups against you off of a hard knockdown. That of course is different if she has Soul Satellite equipped, but unless if you're cornered, you can usually teleport your way out. That is, if Rose doesn't predict which direction you would escape to. Even then, it's an annoying Ultra to deal with because it kills whatever momentum you had before.

There are some things that she can annoy you with though. Her cr. MP pressure is pretty annoying to deal with. Her cr. MP XX Soul Spark can be punished just by jumping forward after blocking her cr. MP. Her cr. MP XX Soul Spiral can be Ultra'd in between. Ultra 1 would lose to Soul Spark, but Ultra 2 would cover both options. Another cool trick is that if you block the tip of her cr. MP, and she does LP Soul Spiral, you can avoid it by doing a st. LK to raise your hurtbox and punish her. This is pretty distance specific, but you can always try it if you feel confident that you spaced yourself correctly.

When she's knocked down, unless you have Wrath of the Raging Demon equipped, this is a guessing game. You can try to OS Demon Flip Palm into cr. HK, which would beat her backdash, but lose to her EX Soul Spiral. You can try Demon Flip Throw, which would lose to backdash but beat her EX Soul Spiral (it has no throw invincibility). You have a bit of a guessing game to play, but if you have Ultra 1 equipped, you cover everything that she has on her wake up.

As far as Ultra Combo's go, this is totally up to you, though I wouldn't choose Ultra Combo Double thanks to damage reduction. With Wrath of the Raging Demon, you can punish blocked EX Soul Spiral and Option Select her on wake up using Demon Flip Palm ~ Ultra 1 (covers backdash and EX Soul Spiral). On the other hand, you can try Demon Armageddon to punish her cr. MP XX Soul Spark / Soul Spiral pressure, or just land big damage combo if you get the opportunity. Take note that Demon Armageddon will not hit her EX Soul Spiral if you Option Select Demon Flip Palm ~ Ultra 2.

Overall, play very patient and push her to the corner. Once you limit her ability to move, there's very little she can do without taking big risks.

vs. Rufus

(No strategies)

vs. Ryu

Akuma's gameplan: Dominate the ground game with the use of Akuma's variety of fireballs. Fish for a hard knockdown.
Ryu's gameplan: Push Akuma to the corner without getting knocked down. Build meter to slowly discourage Akuma from fighting close.

LK Tatsu does NOT juggle into cr. HK.
The second hit of st. HK will whiff against defensive crouch.

This is mostly either an even match, although some say Akuma has a slight advantage in this fight.

Akuma has the superior fireball game, since he has three different varieties of projectiles. He also has many different ways to build meter. For Ryu, he's usually limited to throwing out Hadokens or LP Shoryuken's to build meter. From fullscreen, this match is essentially nothing more than a stalemate; both characters have to take risks trying to get in. Akuma can pester Ryu with fireballs and his pokes, and one mistake from Ryu can give Akuma a hard knockdown. On the other hand, Akuma has to walk Ryu slowly as well, since he does not have much life to take that many trades or hits.

The first thing you want to do in this matchup is try to figure out patterns Ryu likes to do at footsie range. He relies heavily on his cr. MK and his Hadoken. Learning to find patterns at this range and countering them takes away a huge portion of Ryu's gameplan, and it helps you mount up your offense as well.

Akuma's most dominant range is just the tip of his cr. HK range. Ryu's options are limited, as Akuma's pokes at this range will usually outright beat Ryu's. At times, you'll even trip Ryu with a cr. HK before he can even throw out his Hadoken. Also, at the tip range of Akuma's cr. HK, Ryu's cr. MK will usually whiff if you're standing. There will be occasions where you'll need to crouch in case you didn't measure the distance correctly. Also, even though you're at cr. HK range, don't hesitate to walk up slightly to use cr. MK. This is a useful poke to use if you want to slowly push Ryu to the corner. Lastly, at this range, you can occasionally throw a Focus Attack to catch Ryu throw a careless fireball. Akuma takes a step back when he holds his Focus, so at times, Ryu's pokes might whiff. You can peg him if Ryu throws a Hadoken at you, since his outstretched hands will expand his hurtbox.

There are some ranges where Ryu has the advantage though. If you block Ryu's cr. MK XX Hadoken, it will push you away a bit, and that is exactly the range where Ryu has the upper hand. At this distance, most of your pokes aren't going to connect, but neither would his. At this range, you will likely throw fireballs, and this where you're at a disadvantage. Ryu's fireball is much faster than yours, so it's much harder for you to react to what he does if he throws a barrage of fireballs. Also, at this range, your jump in is much riskier than Ryu's. If Ryu jumps in, you're most likely going to get a Goshoryuken, and if it trades then you'll just get a Shakunetsu juggle. Of course, if you have Ultra 1 equipped, then it's a different story, but if Ryu survives, you're giving him a lot of meter. On the other hand, if you jump, Ryu's Shoryuken will likely do more damage if hits you clean, and it's even worse if you trade because he can juggle into either EX Hadoken, Super, or Ultra.

This fight can get a little more challenging if Ryu has meter built. The more meter he has, the more dangerous he can get up close. Even at Akuma's cr. HK tip range, it can get a little risky. Ryu throws an EX Hadoken, you get knocked down and you might lose whatever momentum you had in the ground game. Ryu will also gain some ground if he manages to hit you with an EX Hadoken. If he has at least two bars, you definitely do not want to mess with him. Anything that leads Ryu into his Shoryuken FADC U1 can give Ryu the momentum booster he needs, and he can land this off of an anti-air or a frame trap. Lastly, if Ryu has a full Super stocked up, this match can turn instantly into Ryu's favour. At this point, your options are way more limited than before. Ryu can punish a blocked cr. HK into Super, punish a back jump fireball with Super, punish mid range fireball, and even juggle a Shoryuken trade into Super.

You might think after reading that, Ryu probably wins this matchup. Well, before you reach that conclusion, notice that a lot of the advantages Ryu has in this matchup really boils down to having meter. Ryu is usually forced to spend bar to make this fight more honest, but Akuma usually doesn't need meter to do big damage. In fact, in this matchup, when it comes to offense, Akuma probably doesn't need meter that much. A lot of Akuma's meter usage may come from a defensive Shoryuken FADC or occasional EX Gohadokens to pester Ryu with. Outside of tools with meter, Akuma has superior options otherwise, ranging from superior ground game (better pokes, better fireball game, faster walkspeed) to the infamous Akuma mixups. Ryu doesn't have safe ways to escape the vortex; usually if you do a Demon Flip Kick to pressure Ryu on wakeup, and Ryu attempts a reversal Shoryuken, it will usually whiff. Ryu is usually forced to guess and block Akuma's vortex. What makes this fight honest is that Akuma can't keep knocking Ryu down over and over; he can't juggle LK Tatsu into cr. HK unlike he can for some other characters, so the vortex will eventually come to a halt at some point.

This is mostly an even matchup. In order to win this fight, you should always pay attention to how much meter Ryu has at all times. A meterless Ryu can't fight Akuma that well, but once Ryu gradually starts building those blue bars, it's a fight where you have to play more carefully. Work on trying to outzone him, and use Akuma's superior ground game to your advantage.

vs. Sagat

Akuma's gameplan: Weaken Sagat's zoning game while slowly pushing Sagat to the corner.
Sagat's gameplan: Pester Akuma with Tiger Shots, well-spaced Tiger Knees, and variety of normals.

LK Tatsu can be juggled into cr. HK.
Both hits of far st. HK will hit against defensive crouch.

This is a matchup in Akuma's favour, but you definitely need to stay on your toes to win this matchup. Be patient; the biggest mistake when fighting Sagat is to recklessly rush him down and make mistakes. Sagat dominates in that aspect.

Akuma actually has a better fireball game than Sagat, so at full range, you have the advantage. Mix it up between Hadokens and Shakunetsu to give yourself momentum. You want to tell Sagat that his zoning game won't get him anywhere. Occasionally, don't throw a fireball at all to throw Sagat off. As long as you establish ground dominance with your projectiles, you're doing the right thing.

Things get a little trickier at footsie range. This is where your patience will be tested, as this is the range where Sagat dominates in this matchup. He's going to pester you with many, many things here. You want to consistently stay somewhere around your cr. MK range. Your goal in this matchup is to push Sagat to the corner, and Akuma's cr. MK does a great job in doing that. Mix it up between a normal cr. MK and a cr. MK XX Gohadoken, and you'll gradually start pushing him forward. Of course, it's Sagat's job to make sure he doesn't get cornered, so he's going to do everything he can to slow you down. A lot of his normals will lose to your cr. MK, save for Sagat's st. LK. Block every now and then when you reach your cr. MK range, because constantly throwing this out without thought can get punished by Sagat's st. LK.

You have to watch out for random low Tiger Shots he's going to throw at you, because each one you block will push you away. Resist the urge to jump at him if he pesters you; one bad jump in can cost you a huge chunk of your life with a Tiger Uppercut trade -> f. HK -> Ultra (if he has Ultra stocked). Also resist the urge to use Focus Attack. In fact, at this range you should never be using Focus Attack at all. You risk eating Sagat's normals (most of the ones he'll use at this range are two hitters), a Tiger Knee, or EX Tiger Shot. It's definitely not worth trying to absorb a regular Tiger Shot and hoping to catch him.

Also, at this range, watch out for Tiger Knees. Sagat will occasionally throw these out at ranges where it's safe on block. This is a pretty dangerous situation you might put yourself in; you either have to guess whether he'll throw you or frame trap you with a Tiger Uppercut. You're probably better off getting thrown than eating a random Tiger Uppercut, which can lead him to FADC'ing into big damage. Study this range well; you may occasionally be able to bait this out with a neutral jump and punish him. Don't rely on this too much though, because Sagat can counter your attempt to counter with a st. HK of his own.

Speaking of st. HK, Akuma's far st. HK is a great move to use in this fight... so long as you're not predictable with it. This is a 2-hitter normal attack that can also push Sagat closer to the corner. Akuma's cr. MK is still probably the better poke to use to push Sagat to the corner, as it's safer and and has less recovery. Abusing st. HK will result in Sagat neutral jumping to punish you for big damage.

Once you do push Sagat to the corner, make sure he never gets out. From this point on, mix it up between throwing neutral jump air fireballs for pressure and using a variety of your normals to prevent him from escaping. Also, watch for meter; Sagat can and will do EX Tiger Knee when you're not expecting it. It can be a very annoying move to deal with; you'll feel you did all that work of pushing Sagat to the corner for nothing. Stay calm, you haven't been pushed that far away just yet. Just be worried about either being thrown or frame trapped, and if you feel that it might be too risky to take any chances, just teleport away safely. You're better off losing a bit of positioning than losing a great deal of health.

If you do successfully land a hard knockdown against Sagat, he's definitely in your world. His big hurtbox makes him susceptible to side to side mixups, so take advantage of this situation while you can. Also, because Sagat has a big hurtbox, if you successfully hit Sagat with a cross up air Tatsu, you can juggle into Demon Armageddon for massive damage.

vs. Sakura

(No strategies)

vs. Seth

(No strategies)

vs. T.Hawk

(No strategies)

vs. Vega/Claw

(No strategies)

vs. Yang

(No strategies)

vs. Yun

(No strategies)

vs. Zangief

Akuma's gameplan: Stop Zangief from getting in at all costs. Fight for every inch for space.
Zangief's gameplan: Push Akuma to the corner and keep him there. Build as much meter as possible to threaten with EX Red Focus combos.

LK Tatsu can be juggled into cr. HK.
Both hits of far st. HK will hit against defensive crouch.

Akuma VS Zangief matchup has always consistently been in Akuma's favour, but it's become a little more difficult from iteration to iteration. You have to pay attention to every single aspect in this fight, including meter, spacing, and time.

At the beginning of the match, the best thing to do is to abuse the hell out of your fireballs. Use regular Gohadoken and jump Zanku Hadoken's, but one thing I will tell you right now is that do not back away from Zangief. In other words, do not start the round by jumping back for an air fireball, or backing off before throwing a fireball. Good Zangief players want you to back away as much as possible, because they want to instill fear in you and force you to back yourself to the corner. Fighting Zangief with your back to the wall is never fun, so make sure you fight for every inch of space possible. One thing you must keep in mind of is that it's not very likely Zangief will just randomly do SPD while both of you are dancing around. Instead, he's going to be throwing out normals such as st. MP and st. LK to either hit you or whiff punish you. The only way he'll ever get big chunks of damage off of you in this situation is by jumping at you, so it's very important to anti-air every single jump-in he tries. One jump-in you fail to anti-air means losing that precious space you had on the stage to fight. Never give him the opportunity to jump-in, ever.

Once Zangief has meter, use projectiles more sparingly. Throw them at random intervals to keep him guessing, because you definitely do not want him close to you with his EX Banishing Flat. Even with the threat of this move, don't hesitate to throw fireballs here and there. If you throw these in ways that can make the opponent difficult to get a read on you, you are a lot less likely to get hit. You want to make sure you have different modes of fighting Zangief, and mix these up in between.

The first anti-Zangief strategy you want to use is throwing out pokes efficiently. Akuma has slightly better pokes, but Zangief's st. lk might rival them in some ways due to its speed. It's an excellent whiff punish tool, so stay around the range where it won't be as effective. There may be times when Zangief has meter, he will more than likely concentrate more on whiff punishing your pokes than to throw one of his out. If that's the case, don't be afraid to walk right up to him and throw him. You want to throw because if you attempt a frame trap or block string pressure, you risk eating a churned SPD. Of course, Zangief can beat this strategy by sticking out a cr. LP or cr. LK earlier than your throw and cancel that into EX Banishing Flat, so don't get too cocky and throw.

The second strategy to use in this matchup is to go crazy with your fireballs, even if he has meter. It may sound crazy, but you want to throw this at closer ranges, somewhere within your cr. MK range. Throwing projectiles at this range makes it very difficult for Zangief to react with EX Banishing Flat, and also makes jumping in risky if he guesses wrong. Mix up how many projectiles you want to throw; at this range, sometimes you just want to throw 2, sometimes 3, sometimes 4, hell, throw out 8 if you really want to mess with your opponent's head. Making Zangief second guess himself in these situations can frustrate him beyond words.

When playing footsies, keep your fingers off of the HK button. You have no reason to use any version Akuma's HK, be it crouching or standing. Akuma's st. HK is -2 on block, so you give Zangief a free SPD if he blocks. You also risk eating a jump in or getting whiff punished if you use cr. HK... and since you can't cancel into Ultra 1 anymore, you have no reason to ever use this move.

However, let's say you managed to get Zangief in a hard knockdown state. It's usually ill-advised to go for Demon Flip mixups, because Zangief has an answer for each mixup attempt you try at him. Demon Flip Kick can be countered with a wake up Ultra 2 or a delayed Lariat, Demon Flip Throw can be countered with a wake up Ultra 2 or backdash into SPD, and Demon Flip Palm can be countered with wake up Ultra 2 or a delayed Lariat. Your best bet is to go for a meaty Shakunetsu chip. If you knock Zangief down with cr. HK, and he has no meter, use HP Shakunetsu. It's free chip, or if he wakes up with Lariat to avoid it, it's free punish for you. If he does have meter, use LP Shakunetsu instead, because a meaty LP Shakunetsu cannot be punished with an EX Banishing Flat. You're not doing much in the damage department, but you put yourself at a safer position by sticking with fireball chip.

Also, make sure you save up as much meter as you can possible if Zangief has Ultra 2 equipped. Akuma's EX Goshoryuken will keep you completely safe from this Ultra, so you should probably show Zangief that having Ultra 2 won't do him any good if you have a few bars by your side.

Speaking of meter, if Zangief has 4 bars stocked up, this matchup is probably in Zangief's favour. The threat of having EX Banishing Flat cancelled into EX Red Focus is enough to make you respect his ground game, because one predictable poke you throw out will result in you losing a ton of life. Try to find ways to bait out EX Banishing Flat here, because you want to make sure he loses at least one bar, or three if he wants to be safe. You can try this by throwing fireballs at the range where it'd be hard for Zangief to react, and then once you feel like you've planted an image in his head, go for feints more often.

In this matchup, the preferred Ultra would be Wrath of the Raging Demon. Zangief doesn't have a special move that does a great job chasing down teleports (his Banishing Flat is okay, but he has to guess which way you're going). Also, any combo into Demon Armageddon isn't going to do that much, since cancelling Ultra 2 off a teleport is going to scale the damage. You want to focus on anti-airs against Zangief, so Wrath of the Raging Demon is the more preferred Ultra in this matchup.

Frame Data

Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info
Close LP	Close	30	50	20	HL	ch/sp/su	4	2	6	11	+3	+6	11	14							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Close MP	Close	70	100	40	HL	sp/su	3	2	13	17	-1	+4	14	19							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Close HP	Close	100	200	60	HL	sp/su	4	2	26	31	-10	-6	18	22							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Close LK	Close	40	50	20	HL	-	5	2	7	13	+2	+5	11	14							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Close MK	Close	70	100	40	HL	su	4	2	14	19	-2	+1	14	17					Forces stand	Forces stand	Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Close HK	Close	40*70	125*75	60*20	HL	su*-	6	2(4)4	17	32	-3	+2	18	23	Only +1 on hit vs. crouching opponents						Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Far LP	Far	30	50	20	HL	ch/sp/su	3	2	5	9	+4	+7	11	14							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Far MP	Far	80	100	40	HL	su	4	2	13	18	-1	+2	14	17							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Far HP	Far	90	200	60	HL	sp/su	6	3	16	24	-1	+3	18	22							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Far LK	Far	40	50	20	HL	-	3	2	8	12	+1	+4	11	14							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Far MK	Far	80	100	40	HL	-	9	2	13	23	-1	+2	14	17							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Far HK	Far	50*30	125*75	60*20	HL	-	8	2(8)2	16	35	-2	+5	16	23					Forces stand	Forces stand	Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Crouch LP	Crouch	30	50	20	HL	ch/sp/su	3	2	7	11	+2	+5	11	14							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Crouch MP	Crouch	60	100	40	HL	sp/su	4	3	9	15	+2	+5	14	17							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Crouch HP	Crouch	100	200	60	HL	sp/su	6	4	23	32	-9	-4	18	23					Forces stand	Forces stand	Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Crouch LK	Crouch	20	50	20	L	ch/sp/su	4	2	9	14	0	+3	11	14							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Crouch MK	Crouch	60	100	40	L	sp/su	5	3	13	20	-2	+1	14	17							Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Crouch HK	Crouch	90	100	60	L	-	6	3	24	32	-9	-	18	-	Cannot be canceled into Wrath of the Raging Demon				Hard Knockdown	Hard Knockdown	Hard Knockdown	Hard Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Zugaihasatsu	+	30*50	50*50	40*20	H	-	17	2*2	17	37	-5	0	14	19					Forces stand	Forces stand	Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info
Neutral Jump LP	Neutral Jump	50	50	20	H	-	4	7	-	10	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jump MP	Neutral Jump	80	100	40	H	-	5	3	-	7	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jump HP	Neutral Jump	100	200	60	H	-	6	3	-	8	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jump LK	Neutral Jump	40	50	20	H	-	5	6	-	10	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jump MK	Neutral Jump	80	100	40	H	-	6	4	-	9	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jump HK	Neutral Jump	100	200	60	H	-	5	3	-	7	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump LP	Diagonal Jump	50	50	20	H	-	4	7	-	10	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump MP	Diagonal Jump	80	100	40	H	-	5	3	-	7	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump HP	Diagonal Jump	100	200	60	H	-	6	3	-	8	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump LK	Diagonal Jump	40	50	20	H	-	4	6	-	9	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump MK	Diagonal Jump	70	100	40	H	-	6	3	-	8	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jump HK	Diagonal Jump	100	200	60	H	-	7	3	-	9	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tenmakujinkyaku	(air) +	60	100	40	H	-	12	Until ground	-	#VALUE!	-	-									Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info
Focus Attack (Level 1)	Level 1 Focus	60	100	20	HL	-	10+11	2	35	57	-21	-21								Crumple	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Focus Attack (Level 2)	Level 2 Focus	80	150	40	HL	-	18+11	2	35	65	-15	-							Crumple	Crumple	Free Juggle	Free Juggle	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Focus Attack (Level 3)	Level 3 Focus	140	200	60	-	-	65	2	40	106	-	-				X			Crumple	Crumple	Free Juggle	Free Juggle	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
																							-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Goshoha	Forward Throw	130	120	40	0.91	-	3	2	20	24	-	-						X	Hard Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Syuretto	Back Throw	130	120	40	0.91	-	3	2	20	24	-	-						X	Hard Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info
GoHadoken	GoHadoken	60	100	10/20	HL	su	14	-	30	44	-4	0			Pursuit property, 17~18f cancellable		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
EX GoHadoken	GoHadoken	60*60	100*100	-250/0	HL	su	14	-	30	44	-1	-			Pursuit property, 17~18f cancellable		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Shakunetsu Hadoken	Shakunetsu Hadoken	50	200	10/30	HL	su	25	-	25	50	-4	-			27f cancellable		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
	Shakunetsu Hadoken	35*35	50*100	10/16*16	HL	su	25	-	32	57	-3	-			28f cancellable		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
	Shakunetsu Hadoken	33x3	35x3	10/16x3	HL	su	25	-	38	63	-1	-			28~29f cancellable		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
EX Shakunetsu Hadoken	Shakunetsu Hadoken	47x3	70x2*100	-250/0	HL	su	19	-	25	50	+18	-			27f cancellable		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
Zanku Hadoken	Zanku Hadoken	40	50	5/20	HL	-	14	-	After landing 16[18]	30	-	-			[] refers to when performed on a back jump		X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
EX Zanku Hadoken	Zanku Hadoken	40*40	50*50	-250/0	HL	-	8	-	After landing 9[11]	17	-	-					X				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Goshoryuken	Goshoryuken	100[70]	100	30/40	HL	su	3	14	17+18	51	-28	-			[] refers to active frames 3~14				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	1~2f	Lower body: 3~16f	Lower body: 3~16f	3~4f	6f~	-
	Goshoryuken	70*60	80*50	30/30*16	HL	su*-	3	2*12	25+18	59	-34	-							Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	1~5f	Lower body: 6~16f	Lower body: 6~16f	-	6f~	2nd Hit JP: ?
	Goshoryuken	70*50*30	70*50*30	30/30*10*10	HL	su*-*-	3	2*2*12	28+18	64	-37	-							Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	1~5f	Lower body: 7~18f (? Ultra change)	Lower body: 7~18f (? Ultra change)	-	8f~	2nd Hit JP: ?, 3rd Hit JP: ?
EX Goshoryuken	Goshoryuken	80*60*50	100*50*50	-250/0	HL	su*su*su	3	2*2*12	28+18	64	-37	-							Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	1~18f	-	-	-	8f~	2nd Hit JP: ?, 3rd Hit JP: ?
Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	70	50	20/20	HL	-	11	2(6)2	12+8	40	-9	-							Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	Lower body: 7~20f	-	7f~	JP: ?
	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	80*40*40	100*50*50	20/20*10*10	HL	su*-*-	5	2(5)[2(5)2](5)1	16+12	54	-8	-							1st Hit: Forces stand, All others: Soft Knockdown	1st Hit: Forces stand, All others: Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	Lower body: 7~26f	-	7f~	JP: ?
	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	80*40x3	100*50x3	20/20*10x3	HL	su*-(x3)	5	2(5)[1(5)1](5)[1(5)1](5)1	13+8	57	-1	-							1st Hit: Forces stand, All others: Soft Knockdown	1st Hit: Forces stand, All others: Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	Lower Body: 7~36f	-	7f~	JP: ?
EX Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	35x5	40x5	-250/0	HL	-	11	1(3)1(3)1(3)1(3)1	18+3	48	-1	-							1st-4th Hits: Forces stand, 5th Hit: Soft Knockdown	1st-4th Hits: Forces stand, 5th Hit: Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	Loewr body: 6~27f	-	6f~	JP: ?
Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	60	50	10/30	HL	-	9	[2(6)2](6)2	After landing 10	36	-	-			Floats opponent, [] hits once at most				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	70	50	10/30	HL	-	9	[2(6)2](6)2	After landing 10	36	-	-			Floats opponent, [] hits once at most				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	80	50	10/30	HL	-	9	[2(6)2](6)2	After landing 10	36	-	-			Floats opponent, [] hits once at most				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
EX Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	Air Tatsumaki Zankukyaku	40x5	50x5	-250/0	HL	-	7	1(3)1(3)1(3)1(3)1	After landing 4	27	-	-			Pursuit property				Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	Soft Knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	JP: ?
Hyakkishu	Hyakkishu	-	-	20/-	-	-	-	-	-	39	-	-			27~37f cancellable into followup, 40f lands and starts Hyakki Gozan (slide)				-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5~39f	-
EX Hyakkishu	Hyakkishu	-	-	-250/0	-	-	-	-	-	39	-	-			5~39f airborne, 27~37f cancellable into followup, 40f lands and starts Hyakki Gozan (slide), tracks opponent, can cancel into Hadouken EX (air)				-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5~39f	-
Hyakki Gozan	Hyakki Gozan	100	200	0/40	L	-	39+7	15	14	74	-11	-							Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hyakki Gosho	Hyakki Gosho	110	200	0/30	HL	-	27+8	2	After landing 4	40	-	-				X			Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hyakki Gojin	Hyakki Gojin	70	100	0/30	HL	-	27+11	Until ground	After landing 4	-	-	-							Forces stand	Forces stand	Reset	Reset	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Hyakki Gosai	Hyakki Gosai	150	150	0/60	0.9	-	27+3	2	After landing 17	48	-	-						X	Hard knockdown	Hard knockdown	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ashura Senku (Far)	Ashura Senku (Far)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total 61	61	-	-			Passes through opponent, can cancel into Ultra 2 until 44f								-	All: 1~49f	-	-	-	-	-
Ashura Senku (Close)	Ashura Senku (Close)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total 53	53	-	-			Passes through opponent, can cancel into Ultra 2 until 36f								-	All: 1~44f	-	-	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info
Raging Demon	Raging Demon	330	0	-1000/0	0.9	-	1+0	36	13	49	-	-						X	Hard Knockdown	-	-	-	-	All: 1f	-	-	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info
Wrath of the Raging Demon	Wrath of the Raging Demon	510	0	0/0	0.9	-	0+5	33	19	56	-	-						X	Hard Knockdown	-	-	-	-	All: 1~6f	-	-	-	-	-
Demon Armageddon	Demon Armageddon	50*450[50*371]	0	0/0	HL	-	0+14	2	46	61	-27	-			[] refers to damage when canceled from teleport	X			Hard Knockdown	Hard Knockdown	Hard Knockdown	Hard Knockdown	-	All: 1~15f	-	-	-	-	-
Move Name	Nickname	Damage	Stun	Meter Gain	Hit Level	Cancel Ability	Startup	Active	Rcvry	Total Frames	Block Adv	Hit Adv	Block Stun	Hit Stun	Extra Details	Armor Break	Proj	Throw	On Hit Ground	Counter Hit Ground	On Hit Air	Counter Hit Air	Armor	Full Invincible	Strike Invincible	Projectile Invincible	Throw Invincible	Airborne	Juggle Info