Marvel vs Capcom 2/Akuma

Overview

Combos

Strategy

Resources

Introduction

Mastering the Dark Hado wasn't enough for him- Akuma now seeks the mightiest opponent on the battlefield of Marvel vs Capcom 2! Generally, Akuma's considered a lower-middle tier character in this game, but don't write him off. Like many of his other appearances, Akuma is a character of extremes. On one hand, Akuma has a very capable offense. He's got a kit of good shoto normals, as well as useful special moves and supers, a number of which are air-enabled. To balance this offensive flexibility out, however, his defensive ability is pretty bad. He has close to the worst vitality in Marvel vs Capcom 2, so it is very important that you not get hit. He's not as easy to kill as, say, Phoenix is in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but he's gonna die if you get caught in a combo. He still has special moves like a teleport and a divekick he can use to stay slippery, but he really needs to get into the opponent's face and stay there to be effective. Thankfully, you can bring in assists to help with covering his weak points, so if he sounds appealing, he may make a good addition to your team.

TODO: Add frame data, as well as missing sprites

Gameplay

Akuma is a brutal offensive presence who can use his variety of powerful specials to keep the opponent guessing. His main weaknesses are his dangerously low stamina and his lack of range outside fireballs and beams.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Very nice offensive toolkit- plenty of fast and powerful moves, although they lack range outside the projectiles Very damaging Level 3 super- the Raging Demon does a lot of damage when you can land it Five super moves total, all of them allowing for some big damage Above average mobility- good wavedash, as well as a quick teleport and a divekick give him some ways to stay slippery

Terrible defense- he takes significantly more damage from attacks than most of the cast does, so you'd best not let him get combo'd Overall lacks range on his attacks- his normals are pretty stubby, so he has to use his projectiles and mobility to compensate Struggles against strong zoning. Not completely helpless against it, but his options for evading it are kind of limited. Needs to remain on offense to have a chance at winning- he can't turtle very well Raging Demon is quite slow to come out, even though it hurts when it hits

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Character Summary

Special Moves

---

Gohadoken (Fireball)

• +

Zankuu Hadoken (Air fireball)

• + / ()

Goshoryuken (Dragon Punch)

• + / ()

Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku (Hurricane Kick)

• + / ()

Tenma Kyuujin Kyaku (Divekick)

• + / ()

Jigoku Guruma (Command Throw)

• + (close)

Ashura Senkuu (Teleport)

• or + + or +

Super Moves

---

Messatsu Gou Shouryuu (Shoryuken super)

• + +

Messatsu Gou Rasen (Hurricane kick super)

• + +

Tenma Gou Zankuu (Air fireballs)

• + + (Mashable)

Messatsu Gou Hadou (Beam super)

• + +

Shun Goku Satsu (Raging Demon)

• , , ,

Assist Types

---

Type α - Projectile Type

• Assist: Gohadoken
• Counter: Gohadoken
• Combination: Messatsu Gou Hadou

Type β - Anti-air Type

• Assist: Goshoryuken
• Counter: Goshoryuken
• Combination: Messatsu Gou Shouryuu

Type γ - Expansion Type

• Assist: Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku
• Counter: Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku
• Combination: Messatsu Gou Rasen

Moves List

Normal Moves

Ground Normals

Light Punch
5LP //

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
4	5	4	4	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-
Quick punch, low range and damage with good speed

Medium Punch
5MP //

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	4	8	15	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
None	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Heavy Punch
5HP //

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	6	9	17	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
None	Special, Super	-	-	-

Light Kick
5LK //

Kick

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	7	11	7	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
HL	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Heavy Kick
5MK //

Kick

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	10	9	8	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Heavy Kick
5HK //

Kick

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	10	9	8	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Special, Super	-	-	-

Crouching Light Punch
2LP // +

Caption

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
4	4	5	5	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-
Quick low move, good up close

Crouching Medium Punch
2MP // +

Caption

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	5	5	9	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Crouching Heavy Punch
2HP // +

Punch them into the air

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	5	13	12	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Crouching Light Kick
2LK // +

Low kick

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	5	7	5	L
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Crouching Medium Kick
2MK // +

Low kick, now with more range.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	6	7	9	L
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Crouching Heavy Kick
2HK // +

Knocks down, of course!

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	6	7	9	L
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Special, Super	-	-	-

Air Normals

Air Light Punch
j.LP // Jump +

One punch.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
4	8	11	1	High
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-
Quick air normal

Air Medium Punch
j.MP // Jump +

Another punch.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	6	10	1	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-
text

Air Heavy Punch
j.HP // Jump +

Sends them down if they're in the air.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	9	7	5	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Special, Super	-	-	-
Helpful for building meter- usable several times in a super jump

Air Light Kick
j.LK // Jump +

Big knee

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
4	8	11	1	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Air Medium Kick
j.MK // Jump +

.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	10	8	10	High
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-

Air Heavy Kick
j.HK // Jump +

.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	8	7	9	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Special, Super	-	-	-

Command Normals

Forward Heavy Punch
6HP // +

Karate chop

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
4+6	27	17	9	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
Template:Overhead	None	-	-	-
A slow karate chop that works as an overhead. Blockable on reaction and unable to cancel into anything else afterward, so be sure you'll hit before you throw this one.

Forward Heavy Kick
6HK // +

Hop kick

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	19	17	5	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Special, Super	-	-	-
Useful for putting your opponent in position for his air fireball super during an air combo.

Air Up Medium Kick
j.8MK // Jump + +

Smaller, but higher hitbox than your normal j.MK

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
7	5	17	5	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-
Useful for putting your opponent in position for his air fireball super during an air combo.

Air Up Heavy Kick
j.8HK // Jump + +

Different hitbox, same good damage

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
12	13	7	10	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Special, Super	-	-	-
Flows from j.8MK pretty well.

Universal Mechanics

Launcher
3HP // +

Akuma's universal launcher

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	5	13	12	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
Template:Launcher	Super Jump, Chain, Special, Super	-	-	-
A slightly higher damaging version of Akuma's 2HP. Seems like the same hitbox as well, not much point in using this as it's harder to hit confirm.

Special Moves

Gohadoken
236 + P // QCF+P // +

It's not that color in-game, but the hitbox is the same

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
14 (both versions)	-	-	-	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	Super	-	-	-
A standard shoto fireball. HP version travels faster than LP version, but the damage between the two is the same. As a very basic projectile, it doesn't have much use against any character/assist with a beam or highly durable projectile.

Zankuu Hadoken
236 + P // QCF+P // +

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13 (both versions)	-	-	-	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
	Super	-	-	-
An Akuma staple. Not as oppressing in this game as in others, but still good at covering some space in the air or for stalling/covering Akuma's descent. Can only be used once when normal jumping but can be used as many times as can be input during a super jump, so TKing the input (2369P) is useful.

Goshoryuken
623 + P // F,D,DF+P // +

Makes you invincible, like a SRK should do

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
19 (light) / 16 + 4 + 4 (heavy, 3 hits)	-	-	-	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
	Super	-	-	-
A pretty good DP. Multiple hits, goes slightly farther than Ryu's DP but not as far as Ken's (and definitely not Sakura's). Mainly useful as a reversal as it has invincibility on startup (roughly 3 frames). Extremely unsafe on block but does good damage, so it can be useful as a combo ender where j.HP/j.HK won't kill.

Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku
214 + K // +

Pretty good.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
6 x 3 (light) / 5 + 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 (heavy)	-	-	-	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
	Super	-	-	-
Like most of his other appearances, this move pops the opponent up for some minor juggles. The best use of this move is using it in the air either after a magic series, and followed by an air fireball super (j.236PP), or immediately following a launcher (and maybe a j.lp to position the opponent correctly) to abuse the air tatsu glitch, allowing this move to do an extremely high amount of damage with little to no effort and no meter. However, if the air fireball super is used after an air tatsu, characters may fall out of the super, leading to very little damage and possibly a punish on Akuma if rolled and performed low to the ground. This can be generally avoided by ensuring that Akuma is very close to the opponent and at a perfect diagonal so that nearly every fireball hits.

Tenma Kuujin Kyaku
236 + K // +

Makes you fall very quickly

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
12 (light) / 18 (heavy, all hits)	-	-	-	H
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
	None	-	-	-
Akuma drops like a brick when you use this, so it can be useful for dodging stuff.

Jigoku Guruma
63214 + HK // +

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
16	-	-	-	N/A
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	None	-	-	-
Command throw. Doesn't have a whiff animation. Because it shares part of the motion with your Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku, it can be used as an option select up close.

Hyper Combos

Messatsu Gou Shouryuu
236 + PP // + +

Akuma's version of the Shoryu Reppa

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
41 max	-	-	-	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	No	-	-	-
A good reversal super, as it comes out relatively quickly and has a few frames of invincibility on startup. Akuma also moves forward quite far and fast before rising into the air, so it can be used to punish even longer ranged moves or closely thrown fireballs.

Messatsu Gou Hadou
214 + PP // + +

This is the beam hitbox- it's a bunch of these that overlap

Hitbox closest to his hands- not optimal

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
45-51 if all hits connect	-	-	-	HL
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Slow startup, but great range.

Messatsu Gou Rasen
214 + KK // + +

Rising blender kick- Shinryuken with kicks instead of a punch

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
45	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Really good corner carry on the last hit- sends them flying

Tenma Gou Zankuu
236 + PP // + +

Made up of lots of these.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
45-46 (varies)	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
	-	-	-	-
Useful as a combo ender- you can land it after a Tatsu or after an air combo, for example. As previously mentioned, be careful using this super after an air tatsu; if Akuma is not positioned correctly, the opponent can fall out, leading to significantly reduced damage at best, and a punish at worst (thanks Cable).

Shun Goku Satsu (Raging Demon)
5LP, 5LP, 6, 5LK, 5HP // , , , ,

I still have more!

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
70	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
Grab, Level 3	-	-	-	-
Slow to come out, but does very nice damage if you hit. It's slow,

Variable Assists

Projectile Type
A1 // A2

Type α

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
13	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
HP Gohadoken. Variable counter is also HP Gohadoken. Variable Combination super is Messatsu Gou Hadou. An okay projectile assist, but generally not used as both of his other assists are much better (especially tatsu assist). Also not terribly useful due to his fireball having no durability, in a game where the best projectile assists are literal beams. His alpha counter being a fireball makes this assist even less worthwhile.

Anti-Air Type
A1 // A2

Type β

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
24 (total)	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
HP Goshoryuken. Variable counter is also HP Goshoryuken. Variable Combination super is Messatsu Gou Shouryuu. A good anti-air assist, as Akuma covers a good portion of the screen in front of the point character, and he has invincibility on startup of the move. Also features a great alpha counter in his DP. Despite its practicality, this assist is generally not picked over tatsu assist, especially considering how competitive the anti-air assist niche is in this game.

Expansion Type
A1 // A2

Type γ

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
23 (total)	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
HK Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku. Variable Counter is also HK Tatsumaki Zankuu Kyaku. Variable Combination super is Messatsu Gou Rasen. Despite this assist's alpha counter being mediocre, and the THC being useless, this is Akuma's preferred assist choice. Travels quite far past the point character, and puts opponent in a lot of hitstun if it connects which makes picking up combos off of this assist very easy. This assist is also great for trapping your opponent and forcing them to eat a mixup if they do block the assist. It does leave Akuma somewhat unsafe after the tatsu, so don't be predictable or carefree when calling this assist unless you want him to get blown up. Overall, a very powerful assist that can quickly catch opponents not paying attention, leading to a high damage conversion, and run the ground-game against opponents who don't counter-call it.

Other

Ashura Warp
241 + PP/KK or 623 + PP/KK // or + + or +

Moving

Startup

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
0 (no hitbox)	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Full invincible during startup and movement. the stick input determines the direction- goes forward and goes backward PP goes behind your opponent, but KK goes a short distance in either direction