SvC Chaos: SNK Vs Capcom/Ken

ケン・マスターズ, Ken Masters
Difficulty	Easy
Max Mode Needed?	Up to you
Tier Placement	Non-Threat (D)
Standing Hitbox	Average
Crouching Hitbox	Short

Introduction

Ken Masters is the long-time friend and rival of Ryu in the Street Fighter series, having been playable as far back as the original SF in 1987. Whereas Ryu is a more balanced, zoning friendly shoto, Ken is more aggressive and flashier with his fighting style. Ken is usually a pretty strong pick in the Street Fighter games and even some spinoff games, and sure, he isn't the worst character here, either, but almost every other shoto is better suited for SVC than he is. Sporting his classic DP isn't enough to help him get by when what good points he does have, other characters probably do better and then some. He's too honest for his own good in a broken game. If you heavily insist on playing an easy character and you never jived with Ryu, there are still better options, but Ken at least has some usefulness.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Easy to play: If you play any amount of fighting games, you pretty much know how any shoto archetype plays. Same with Ryu, if you can play him, you can most likely do just fine with Ken. He's only very slightly harder to learn than Ryu is, but still serves a good starting point to learn the basics with an easy-to-understand kit. Good normals and Command Moves: Ken has a good selection of different buttons to work with for a variety of situations. They're mostly comparable to Ryu's buttons with slight differences, but they allow him to play neutral comfortably enough. Decent mobility: Ken's overall movement speed and jump arc is quite good and compliments his rushdown playstyle nicely. In addition to this, it's one of the few things he has over Violent Ken to stand out with. Though it may seem small, the extra mobility can prove helpful regardless of the matchup. Can grab his opponents in the air: One of the only air throws in the game, Ken can use his CD throw to grab opponents in the air for the extra mixup, though it only throws forwards. Easy, short, and (relatively) damaging combo: Any combo does is usually pretty rewarding, and they don't take much to learn, either. As one of the few things he does better than Ryu, Ken can comfortably earn consistent damage with his combos. Supers are easy to confirm into: In the same vein that his combos are easy to learn and do, confirming his supers is also easy, too. Even his max mode combos hardly deviate from this trend much, since most of the time his max mode combos just cancel off of his heavy DP. Excellent anti-air options: Ken's solid buttons and his famous DP give him a lot of leg room to anti-air his opponents and punish attempts at jumping in, making jumping against him riskier. Amazing DP: Ken's DP is one of the better DPs in the game with great i-frames to boot. It serves as a great reversal to get out of bad situations and does a respectable amount of damage. Ken players should always aim to make the most of his DP whenever possible - wakeup DP addiction aside. Unique quirks: This part of the pros section is stretching it, but Ken has some unique traits like being able to link db.D twice in a row for some more damage, or how he can connect multiple DPs in a row due to some cancel shenanigans. This makes it that if you're truly dedicated to mastering normal Ken, you have a few extra ways of optimizing his damage further.

Bad health: Ken's squishy in this game, yet he has to play rushdown to get the most of his gameplay, also leaving you more vulnerable to costly punishes. Bad projectile: As with Street Fighter, Ken's more of an aggressive fighter than a zoner, leading to a riskier and less rewarding Hadouken. Due to the nature of SVC being a more zoning heavy game, this naturally leaves his projectile game a lot to be desired combined with his other issues. Ground Tatsu is unsafe on hit: Using Ken's tatsu will generally get you killed if you're on the ground, no matter the version you use, made worse by pushing him closer to the opponent. Only way to make it safe is if it stuns, a risk not worth taking. Exceed is hard to hit: Ken's Shinryuken being his Exceed means you must combo into it if you want to make any meaningful use out of it, and these combos are limited, including max mode combos. Not comboing into it means getting next to no damage out of it, and that's assuming it fully connects with poor horizontal reach. Meter hungry in general: Ken's normal combos do good damage but in order for him to unlock his optimal damage, he has to rely on super combos and max mode cancels that confirm into super. Plus, as a rushdown character with bad zoning and having to force his way in, often has to close the gap against opponents with GCFS, burning more of his meter. Basic toolkit: Ken has more moves than Ryu does, but functionally is a rushdown version of Ryu, whose kit is already very simple. When you add on top of that mediocre moves like tatsu and his geri kicks, Ken isn't offering much different to his gameplay. Doesn't mesh well with the flow of the game: Beyond offering good punishes, Ken feels out of place in SVC's meta, including his already mentioned bad zoning. It's less that he is bad, and more that he doesn't offer anything that you can't get from someone else but better. SVC is also a broken game, but Ken does nothing broken himself. He does many things and does only a few of them okay. Ryu does nearly everything better than Ken in this game: If you want to stick with the ol'-reliable shoto archetype, Ryu offers so much more in general. What Ryu lacks in stronger rushdown and a better DP he makes up for it everywhere else. Having access to safer, more reliable zoning and sharing the same moves as Ken without the downsides makes him stand out better. Plus, even in areas where Ken is technically better, in practice they're marginally better differences. Violent Ken exists: What few things Violent Ken lacks in comparison to normal Ken generally doesn't justify picking normal Ken instead. As a boss character, he may not always be tournament legal, and has a higher learning curve than normal Ken, but much of what both Ken and Violent Ken can do overlaps, making learning the two characters fairly easy. Violent Ken is simply a better Ken, leaving normal Ken with no identity. A no-bosses allowed meta doesn't help Ken stand out, either.

SVC Chaos: SNK VS Capcom Frame Data Glossary
Damage	How much damage the attack does. This takes into account no defense modifiers, so the damage assumes a 0% damage modifier, or in other words the average defense modifier of 223 against characters like Kyo and Ryu. Note: Damage is a little inconsistent. Example: Geese cl.A deals 5 damage. Against Zero, sometimes it does 5 pixels of damage to his life bar, other times it does 4 pixels. Against Ryu, cl.A does 4 pixels of damage, other times it does 3 pixels of damage. This info comes from the Enterbrain Mook, but most likely this is the cause of damage modifiers skewing the damage slightly, thus making it a bit inconsistent. Damage values listed are pulled from the SVC Chaos Enterbrain Mook, save Athena, Red Arremer, Serious Mr. Karate and Shin Akuma. It is listed because it's an official source for this info, just keep in mind damage is not 1-to-1 due to varying health values and screwy ways the game calculates damage anyways. There will be a question mark next to the four mentioned characters because it's only a guess as to what the actual damage values are (until health and damage are better understood), since they were never gathered in the Mook. Unfortunately, when doing attacks, the numbers dealt in damage do not match up with the mook. As an example, Geese's cl.C does 16 damage according to the mook, but against characters like Zero, it only does 14-15 damage, and very rarely it does 16 damage. Against Ryu, it does 12-13 damage at most. But against Orochi Iori, it also does 14-15 damage, and very rarely it does 16 damage. The mook does not explain how the numbers are obtained either, or against who they're tested against, if anyone. In other words, how these numbers were obtained if not through data mining is a mystery in itself, but it can be best assumed it was against 255 defense modifier characters, and at the max damage possible. Lastly, moves like Geese cl.D, though it says 10x2 for the damage, which is true, damage scaling reduces total damage on the second hit. Max Mode also reduces damage dealt by roughly half at most.
Counter Damage	How much damage the attack does on a counter hit, or when it connects with an opponent while they're performing an attack. Counter damage values listed are pulled from the SVC Chaos Enterbrain Mook, save Athena, Red Arremer, Serious Mr. Karate and Shin Akuma.
Guard	Where the attack hits, and thus where it must be blocked. Mids can be blocked standing and crouching Overheads must be blocked standing Lows must be blocked crouching Unblockable cannot be blocked Throws break through block up-close
Guard Crush	How much guard meter damage the attack does to the green Guard Gauge.
Stun	How many points of stun the attack adds to the opponent's invisible Stun Gauge.
Meter	How much meter is gained for performing/landing the attack. Special moves earn meter both when activated and when they connect with the opponent, whether it hits them or they block it.
Cancel	The type of cancel the attack can perform. Any - All cancel types work Ch - Chain cancel; it can chain into other attacks (mostly just lights) Self - Can chain only into itself Cmd - Command cancel; can cancel into command normals Sp - Special cancel; can cancel into special moves, and almost always this means super cancels are possible too Su - Super cancel; can cancel into super moves Free - Free cancel; can be cancelled in Max Mode by other special moves or super moves Written only for special moves as all normals can be Free Cancelled, so writing it in for every move would be redundant X - Cannot be cancelled, either outside of Max Mode or that it cannot be cancelled at all
Startup	How many frames it takes before the move becomes 'active' or has a hitbox. The SVC Chaos wiki uses classic startup notation, which does not include the first active frame. A move with 3 startup becomes active on frame 4. Super and Exceed startup will calculate both the frames before and after the super flash animation as such: X+Y, with X being the startup frames before the flash animation and Y being the startup frames after the flash animation. The startup will not take into account the frames of the flash animation itself where time freezes and the opponent player cannot act. Super flashes last 28 frames, whereas Exceed flashes last 27 frames. Because there is currently no way to view throw boxes, it is assumed that throws/command grabs are at most 0-1 frames of startup. Truthfully, we don't actually know though.
Active	How many frames a move remains active (can hurt opponents) for. Consecutive sets of active frames on a multi-hit move are separated by a comma. (Example: 3, 4 - The attack has its first hitbox for 3 frames, then the second hitbox for 4 frames) If there is a gap between sets of active frames, the gap is denoted by a number in parentheses. (Example: 3, (2), 4 - The attack is active for 3 frames, then is not active for the next two frames, followed by being active again for 4 frames.) Throw boxes are not visible either through dipswitches or the hitbox viewer so it's only a guess how active throws and command grabs are, but it's probably one active frame at most. This also applies to hitbox images - they will still show the push and hurtboxes of characters but outside of that, unfortunately there is no way to depict the throw boxes at the moment.
Recovery	How many frames it takes for a move to finish after it's been active.
Total	The total number of frames the attack lasts on screen for. This adds up the startup, active, and recovery frames into one number.
Hit/Block Adv	These are frame advantage values when the attack hits or is blocked. If the number is positive, then the move will end before the defender can act again. If the number is negative, the defender will be able to act before the attacker and maybe even punish. SKD refers to a soft knockdown, or a knockdown you can tech roll out of. HKD refers to a hard knockdown, one that you cannot tech roll out of. All frame advantages assume Ryu as the opponent. If there are variable wakeup times, it is currently unknown info. Also assume that on soft knockdowns, the frame advantage is when the opponent does not tech roll. If needed, a second frame advantage will be added next to it for when they do tech roll. Frame advantages of projectiles assumes the opponent is point blank range. Any farther and this obviously changes and/or doesn't matter. Block advantage assumes no use of Guard Cancel Front Step. For one, it obviously decreases the attacker's frame advantage significantly. When the defender uses GCFS is also a variable factor so you cannot provide a hard answer as to what the frame advantage is after GCFS, as well as how soon they cancel GCFS into an attack. Generally speaking, just assume the block advantage minus the active frames of GCFS (18 frames), and that's a rough estimate of the frame advantage when GCFS is performed. Do keep in mind that GCFS technically has a slight delay when the dash is performed even if you register the input as early as possible. This doesn't really matter in most cases, since the attacker will automatically be quite minus after most attacks. It would only matter in situations where the attacker can punish GCFS attempts like with throws or multi-hit attacks, but even then, that's because the attacker canceled the blocked attack into another attack that the frame advantage of the blocked attack after GCFS no longer matters in that situation. All that matters, then, is the attack is cancelable at all.
Invulnerability	Indicates whether there's any frames of invulnerability during the attack.

Move List

Normal Moves

Close Normals

cl.A

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	3	5	5	13	+2	+0	-
Not that good for Light Attack chains, because it will whiff on some characters, but he can cancel it anyway.

cl.B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	4	4	8	16	+0	-2	-
Good for Light Attack chains, but as a ender(You can't chain this move into itself, or other Light Attacks).

cl.C

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	4	2, 5, 4	10	25	-1	-3	-
Use this normal on combos. Can be easily canceled(And comboed) into almost all of Ken's Special/Super Moves.

cl.D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	5	4	15	24	+1	-1	-
Like the cl.C, but it's a knee, and cannot be canceled(Just use the cl.C).

Far Normals

st.A

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	5	4	4	13	+4	+2	-
Good poking move. It's a incredible one just because it doesn't whiff on low crouching chars(It looked like, really). Can be normal canceled, and even chained into itself(The timing is tricky).

st.B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	7	6	7	20	-1	-3	-
Can be useful as an anti-air, but he can just do a DP instead. Cannot be canceled.

st.C

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	7	2	19	28	-1	-3	-
Fast, but not that useful. Will whiff on low crouching chars(That's why f.A is better), and cannot be normal canceled.

st.D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	10	5	28	43	-13	-15	-
Ken's poke with the best reach. Won't whiff on low crouching chars, and it has a decent recovery too, which makes it good to use. Can't be normal canceled.

Crouch Normals

cr.A

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	4	4	8	16	+0	-2	-
Just a little punch that is useful as a poke(Has a little more reach than the f.A). Can be normal canceled, chains into itself, and even other Light Attacks.

cr.B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	3	4	8	15	+0	-2	-
A kick that hits low. Good to use on Light Attack chains, but as a starter. Can be normal canceled, and chained into itself.

cr.C

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	5	1, 1, 6	20	33	-8	-10	-
Another anti-air. Just do a DP instead. Can be normal canceled too(You can use this on combos instead of the cl.C, but that's optional).

cr.D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	11	2	22	35	SKD	-6	-
The Shoto's sweep. Can be used as a low poke. You can actually cancel this move, so if you need meter, cancel it into a Projectile/DP/Tatsu.

Jumping Normals

nj.A

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	5	11	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jumping Attack Can be used as a neutral jump-in attack for combos.

j.A

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	4	10	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jumping Attack Can be used as a jump-in attack, but Ken has better options for that.

nj.B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	4	10	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jumping Attack Kick aiming up. Good to use if your opponent has a high jump.

j.B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	5	9	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jumping Attack One of Ken's jump attacks for crossup combos, and it's very easy to combo after it. Ken has better options for crossup attacks, but that doesn't mean that you can't use this move.

nj.C

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	5	3	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jumping Attack Almost the same as the above, but aiming a little for the ground.

j.C

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	7	4	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jumping Attack Punch for jump-in attacks. Good damage on this one.

nj.D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	4	5	-	-	-	-	-
Neutral Jumping Attack Just an air-to-air defensive move. You can use this, but you'll need to know what to do after it.

j.D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Overhead	-	-	-	-	5	3	-	-	-	-	-
Diagonal Jumping Attack Ken's move in the air! Useful as an air-to-air, air to ground, and for crossup(and damaging) combos! Learn this move(Or the diagonal j.B) for crossup combos, you'll need it in your game(Remember: Ken is an "In your face" char, so if you have an opportunity, do stylish combos on your opponent).

Command Normals

Inazuma Kakato Wari
f.B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ken's overhead kick. It's a little fast, but you cannot cancel it(Outside of Max Mode). Do it mostly on the opponent's wakeup. You can max cancel his normals into this move, but you can't connect them.

Kurubushi Kick (cr.MK)
db.D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
The Shoto's classic cr.MK. Ken has the fastest cr.MK between the Shotos in this game(It is so fast that he can link two cr.MKs), which is good for him and his combos. It hits low too.

Throws

Throw

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
24	24	Throw	0	0	0	X	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Throw

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
24	24	Throw	0	0	0	X	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Guard Cancel Blowback
on Block

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
0	0	Mid	0	0	0	X	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Special Moves

Hadou Ken
qcf P

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Not a good projectile. Very unsafe if hits. Don't use this, unless if you want to negate another projectile, or even to cancel the cr.D, if you need meter.

Shouryuu Ken
dp P

Version	Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
dp A	-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Version	Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
dp C	-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
This move is awesome! One of the best anti-airs in the game! So quick, and even has fast startup(With some invincibility frames). The A version is better for anti-airing your opponent(The hit can be max canceled, but you combo only if you get a counter hit), and the C version is better on combos(Does 3 hits, and the first 2 hits can be Supercanceled in Max Mode).

Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku
qcb K

Version	Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
qcb B	-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Version	Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
qcb D	-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Not a good tastu. After the move connects(Let's... Suppose you canceled the cl.C into this move) Ken will be at a frame disadvantage(That means your opponent will recover after you after the attack, and the version used won't even matter, and if he was on a frame advantage, he could make easy infinites, making Ken Masters, a broken char). The best way to use it is if you're sure that your opponent will get a stun while/after the move hits(Use the D version for that in the corner, but if not, use the B version).

Kuuchuu Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku
j.qcb K

Version	Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
j.qcb B	-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Version	Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
j.qcb D	-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
This is a good version of Ken's tatsu. Can be used to move in the air, to do crossups, and even as a jump-in attack! The bigger the opponent, more hits he/she will get, and you can score a combo after it! If you need more hits on a combo, or if you want to practice Ken's rushdown game, learn how to use this move, you'll need it.

Kama Barai Geri
hcf B

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
One of Ken's "Geri"(Means "Kick"). Pretty fast, and can be max canceled (Only), which is a little good, but will whiff on small crouching chars. Ken's "Geri" Moves are important for him, so learn them.

Nata Otoshi Geri
hcf D

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ken's best "Geri" move for combos. He will perform a kick with 2 hits, and the two of them can be max canceled (Only), and Ken can do some good combos involving it(In Max Mode, I mean). The second hit can whiff on some crouching chars.

Oosoto Mawashi Geri
hcf BD

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Useful as anti-air, but, again, just do a DP instead. It's the only "Geri" move that will knock your opponent down. Can whiff on some crouching chars, and if you want to use it on combos, forget it, Ken has better options.

Inazuma Kakato Wari
Hold K After Any Geri

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
-	-	Mid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ken will do his f+B overhead. In the D "Geri", Ken will do only one hit, like in the other versions(He should do 2 hits, but it's okay), and after that, he will do the overhead(And they won't connect too).

Super Moves

Shippuujinrai Kyaku
qcb x2 K

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
31x13	34	Mid	0	0	0	X	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
A super pulled from his SF3 iterations, where Ken kicks the opponent several times into a rising tatsumaki senpuukyaku. It does more hits and a bit more damage than the Super below. His main go to super for combos.

Shouryuu Reppa
qcf x2 P

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
34x7	38	Mid	2x7	0	0	X	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
The less used in Ken's combos, but the easier to land. Use this if you're in trouble with the "SA3". If you want to try, just max cancel a DP+C into this super, and see how easy it is(It even has a shortcut, DP+C, QCF+P).

Exceed

Shinryuu Ken
qcfx2+BD, Mash Buttons

Damage	Counter Dmg	Guard	G. Crush	Stun	Meter	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Invulnerability
60x9~17	64	Mid	0	0	0	X	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Ken's... Exceed... Really, SNK? The Shinryuken is his Exceed? I quit. First, the epic roll, now this hard-to-hit Exceed? Thank you, SNK... It doesn't matter, Ken has some hit-confirm combos for this Exceed(Almost auto-win ones). Remember that you have only one chance to do it, so mash like if you need to win! Or use controllers with turbo... Which I don't like that much...

Strategy

Basic Strategy

Ken's gameplan

Ken is a simple close-range(Or rushdown) char, with nice moves to help him on that, like the air tatsu and his damaging supers. He needs to be agressive, because if Ken takes a combo/is being pressured, especially in Max Mode, he will get a free stun/guard crush, and that's why you need to master the GCF, or the CD counter. For an anti-air, just do a DP+A, it's fast, and will knock your opponent down, which gives you time to plan on "what to do now?", and the answer is... Continue being argressive, and stylish. Oh, and the almost useless moves... The projectile, and the ground tatsu... You can avoid them, really, they won't help you. Well, play agressive, don't give your opponent time to breathe, avoid some somes, do combos, and know how to master his defensive options(They aren't that hard too). Good luck in your future matches.

Advanced Strategy

Double Shoryuken cancel

This is a tech that you should learn for Ken's advanced combos(It's a good way to spend meter). The Double Shoryuken cancel is a very important thing in Ken's game(Isn't unique for him, he isn't the only character that can link more than one DP in one combo), but it's a little tricky to do. This can be called "Double", but you can repeat it many times, but based in your Max Mode gauge. Now, "How can I do it?" First, Ken must not have the ability to use his Exceed(If you assume you are in a real match, you can either be with the yellow life, or you can even spend your Exceed before you try this). Now, Ken must be in Max Mode(You should open your training mode while you read this). Now, do a DP+C, and as you already know, it does 3 hits. Now, the tricky part begins. First, try to "cancel" the first hit of the DP+C into a QCF+KK(Normally, if you had the Exceed avaliable, you would combo into the Exceed. It's like Kim's Haki cancel, if you know what I mean). You can be asking: "Is this a special move?" No, this isn't even a move, it's just part of the trick. Now, after you "canceled", did Ken flash? If not, I'm sorry, because you missed. If yes, that's fine, but that's only the easiest part. Now, try to, after the "cancel", do another DP+C on your opponent by canceling the second hit of the DP. Ken will do another DP+C, and remember that in Max Mode, you can Supercancel the DP+C, leading to more damaging combos! But sadly, you can't do DP into Exceed, because you must not have the Exceed avaliable to use this tech... I know, it's hard to do, but with practice, you can master this technique. (Important note: This thing is very harder to do with Ken's Violent version.)

Combos

SVC Chaos: SNK VS Capcom Quick Combo Notation Guide

cl. = close normal st. = standing/far normal cr. = crouching normal f.; etc. = forward direction (NOT far) X = any button CH = counter hit , = Used to separate attacks in the combo / = Separates different options for the combo (mainly different starters or enders that are possible) Unless otherwise stated (such as it's a link or you need to delay the attack), assume this is a chain/cancel. Example: cr.B, cr.A, dp A ; cr.B chains into cr.A, then cr.A cancels into dp A [b]~f = Indicates to charge back (or downback), then press forwards for the given special move ( ) = Parentheses used to indicate the attack(s) within the parentheses are optional to add to the combo (C) = Indicates a free cancel, aka a cancel only possible in Max Mode (SC) = Indicates a super cancel via free canceling in Max Mode (1) = Used to indicate how many hits of the attack should connect (or less than) before continuing with the combo Example: cl.C(1), hcb P means that only one hit of cl.C should be performed before moving on to do hcb P, not more than one hit [ ] = Used to distinguish combo loops or combo starters/etc. in case a certain attack is only possible after specific options xN = Repeat the given loop for as many times as either possible or as many times as you wish May change to numpad notation much later down the road.

Starters

Starters

Combo	Position	Damage	Stun	Difficulty	Notes
cr.B, cl.B	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
cr.B, cr.A	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

BnB Combos

BnB Combos

Combo	Position	Damage	Stun	Difficulty	Notes
(j.X / j.qcb K - cross-up preferably,) cl.C / cr.B, cl.B, dp C	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	Easy combo. You have two options on this combo too, one for damage, and the other for a low starter. For some finishers, you'll need to crossup with the Jump Attack to make it work. You should learn this combo, and practice Ken's crossups too.
(j.X / j.qcb K - cross-up preferably,) cl.C / cr.B, cl.B, Any Super	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
(j.X / j.qcb K - cross-up preferably,) cl.C / cr.B, cl.B, db.D, qcb x2 K	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	Another good, and damaging combo. Practice this combo, and it's easier to do with the cl.C(You'll have a little more time to react and cancel it). If you want, you can add a QCB+B after the db+D, but it can be safe this time. I said that it can.
(j.X / j.qcb K - cross-up preferably,) cl.C / cr.B, cl.B, Exceed	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Max Mode Combos

Max Mode Combos

Combo	Position	Damage	Stun	Difficulty	Notes
(j.X / j.qcb K - cross-up preferably,) cr.B, cr.A, dp C(2), (SC)Exceed	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	Easy light confirm into Exceed, particularly because of dp C giving you more than enough time to hit confirm after the lights connect. Arguably the best way to combo into Exceed without relying on heavies or a window to punish the opponent.
(j.X / j.qcb K - cross-up preferably,) cl.C / cr.B, cl.B, dp C(2), (doubel dp cancel), (SC)qcb x2 K	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	Ken's BnB in Max Mode, and one of Ken's most damaging ones. Pretty easy, except for the fact that you can do Double Shoryuken Cancels(But that's optional, remember that everytime). Practice this combo, you'll need it for your life.
(Corner only, tall/big characters only) (j.X / j.qcb K,) cl.C / cr.B, cl.B, dp C(2), (C)hcf D(2), (C)dp C(2), (double dp cancel), (SC)qcb x2 K	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	A variation of the combo number one. Pretty good, I can assume, but you should stick with the first, because those tall characters aren't that used(Except in Sagat/Demitri's cases). Good luck on this one, it's a little tricky too.