Akuma woke up one day and decided to be cheaper than he has ever been before.
Master of the Satsui no Hado, the demonic power of killing intent, Akuma is quite different from the rest of his shoto confidants, playing moreso like a setplay character with oppressive okizeme under the right circumstances. Arguably, Akuma's most notable character trait isn't an offensive tool at all, but rather his teleport, Ashura Senku, with a simplified input done by pressing back or forward plus three punches or kicks. Akuma's teleport is as powerful as it's ever been, being fully invulnerable for the entire duration as well as freely cancellable into any of his special moves. In combination with his new 8-way airdash, Akuma is extremely mobile as he tosses fireballs across the stage.
His fireballs have received comfortable improvements - most notable is his new air red fireball, done by performing the Shakunetsu input in the air. Additionally, EX Shakunetsu has been overhauled, now moving far slower and allowing Akuma to act independently of it as it travels. EX Shakunetsu acts as a moving wall in neutral, allowing Akuma to shelter behind it and continue harassing the opponent with buttons, threatening to anti-air them if they try to jump over. Akuma's goal is to control the ground and air with his fireballs, then get an opening and force the opponent's defense to crack with reset pressure and his famous Demon Flip.
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Weaknesses
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- Teleport: Akuma's teleport is so good, it's not even funny. Ashura Senku is a candidate for the best special move in the entire game, and it's not hard to see why - with full invulnerability for its entire duration, and the ability to cancel into special moves at any time, Akuma has a verifiable "get out of mixups free" card at quite literally any time, and it doesn't hurt that it travels half-screen, too. Akuma is practically impervious to dealing with offense as a result of this special move, and it should be used whenever you feel like you're about to be put in a desperate situation.
- Great Zoning: While not a pure zoner, Akuma has access to amazing tools for keeping the opponent away, as well as forcing them to the corner from afar with EX Red Fireball. At a moment's notice, he can switch from aggressively pursuing the opponent to taking a life lead and playing from a distance.
- Raging Demon: On top of great resource use in general, Akuma has access to one of the best supers in the game in his Raging Demon. Only costing two bars, and lacking a super flash, this super acts as a 290-damage command grab jumpscare if Akuma is ever directly on top of you, and he's extremely plus after the knockdown, to top it off.
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- Fragile: Alongside Seth, Akuma holds the lowest health pool in the game at 850. Although this weakness isn't quite as bad as Seth's due to the existence of Ashura Senku, Akuma is still exceptionally prone to dying for a mistake, especially against explosive characters like Boxer, Makoto and Yun.
- Mediocre Damage: While definitely nowhere near terrible, Akuma's damage is generally lacking compared to his contemporaries, although not exceptionally so - this generally calculates out as requiring one extra confirm on average per round to secure the kill.
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