A poke is an attack used to safely interrupt the opponent's attacks and movement. A good poke is both fast (to interrupt slower moves) and has short recovery (so it's difficult to whiff punish). Most moves in Tekken are not both of these.
Their opponent won't punish stronger but less safe moves (e.g. strings, throws, and launchers) effectively anyway.
When riskier moves don't get whiff punished, there isn't much point in using pokes.
Situation
Pokes often don't do much on their own beyond dealing a little damage and giving frame advantage. Because their reward is low, using pokes excessively can lead to feeling like you're winning (because you're getting a lot more hits in), but still losing in the end to a couple well-placed counter hit launchers. They're a means to an end: enabling you to use your more powerful moves, and preventing your opponent from doing the same.
As such, the time to use a poke is when the situation is unclear. Are you unsure what your opponent will do here or there? The poke is a safe option while you get more information. Is your frame advantage somewhere between -4 and +4? If the advantage is yours, pokes can cover both movement and challenges. If the advantage is theirs, pokes can be a safer choice to challenge with.
But if the situation is clear and you have a read, or the frame advantage is more significant, pokes can squander an advantage.
Example pokes
Pokes make up a lot of the standard moves, and it's rare for an effective poke not to fall into one archetype or another. This is mostly because pokes are quite oppressive and thus a key part of Tekken's system. If a character lacks any key poke, it's usually by design with a serious tradeoff. Conversely, if a character has an abnormally strong poke, it can easily make the character overpowered.
Jab
NameThe name of the move in the English localization.Most often directly from the in-game movelist, but can also be a community name.
AltOther inputs that also perform this move, written in notation.
InputThe input to perform the move, written in notation. This is often used as the move's name.For strings, the input of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
Hit levelThe hit level of the move.Capital letters mean it hits grounded.For strings, the hit level of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
DamageHow much damage the move does without any modifiers.For strings, the damage of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
RangeThe maximum range recorded of the move hitting Lars on-axis. (For Tekken 7, it's vs Heihachi.) Assume an error of about ±0.03.For strings, this is the range of the whole string.This measurement shouldn't on its own be used to compare characters: larger characters get more "range" by this measure, but their opponents do too.
Left TrackingThe tracking score to the attacker's left.Roughly speaking, when up close, if the defender sidesteps or sidewalks right for no more than this many frames, the move still connects.
Right TrackingThe tracking score to the attacker's right.Roughly speaking, when up close, if the defender sidesteps or sidewalks left for no more than this many frames, the move still connects.
BlockThe frame advantage on block.Blank if the move can't be blocked (e.g., an unblockable or an aerial attack).For breakable throws, this is the frame advantage when the throw is broken.
HitThe frame advantage on hit.Blank if the move is not an attack, e.g. is a stance transition only.For throws, this is the frame advantage after the throw.
CHThe frame advantage on counter hit.Blank if this is the same as on normal hit, i.e. there is no special behavior on counter hit.
StartupThe active frames of the attack. The "i" stands for "impact", i.e. impact frame.If there is more than one hit, a comma indicates that frame 1 is now the frame after the last active frame of the previous hit.For strings, therefore, this usually has a leading comma.
RecoveryThe total number of frames, the recovery frames, and what stance the move recovers in, if any.The "t" stands for total and "r" for recovery. If no stance is listed, the move recovers in the default, standing position.For strings, the total frame count is from the start of the string with no delays.
NotesAnything that doesn't fit elsewhere.Many common move properties, such as whether a string can be delayed, go here.See Movelist#Notes for standard wording of common properties.
The recovery is so short it can be difficult to hit confirm. What you do at +8 should be very different to +1.
Other pokes can be compared to the jab as making a tradeoff to improve some of these downsides at the cost of speed or safety.
Jab string
Jab strings make a tradeoff of safety for extra damage, tracking, range, and being substantially easier to hit confirm. As is the case with all strings, throwing out a bunch of hitboxes is an easy way to interrupt your opponent and takes tight play to punish effectively.
The nature of the added risk depends on the string, but typically it's being evaded by a sidestep or high crush. If the string is evaded, then unlike a jab on its own there's enough time for the opponent to react and whiff punish accordingly.
Jab strings where the second hit is a mid, such as Jin's 2,1, Kunimitsu's 1,1, and Lidia's 2,4 are particularly strong as they're also safe against crouching.
Shadow cutters are dangerous for jab strings, since they crush the first hit and then get a counter hit from the second. And unlike whiff punishing jab strings, using a shadow cutter against them is super easy.
Mid check
Mid checks make a tradeoff of speed to upgrade from a high to a mid. This allows it to deal with the jab's biggest weakness: evasive moves. They also typically track better, dealing with sidesteps in at least one direction.
Unlike jab strings, mid checks are mostly too fast to whiff punish on reaction. Instead, the core weakness of a mid check is that it's slower: A faster poke will often beat it, and a counter hit launcher can beat it with big upside.
Crouching low
Crouching lows are similar to a mid check in that they tradeoff some speed to upgrade from high to low. More critically, crouching lows also high crush, which means they'll beat out most challenges that would beat a mid check. When combined with mid checks, this allows pokes to function as a weak mixup against guarding while also being robust against challenges.
The downside of crouching lows is that they're unsafe on block and can be low parried for a potentially huge punish. Worst of all, they're minus on hit. This seems like a big problem, because are your pokes not supposed to get you an advantage? Well, yes, and they doâinterrupting your opponent, and the truest advantage of all: damage. Frame advantage is great and all, but it's only a means to an end. Damage is ultimately what wins the game.
For most characters, their main crouching low is the generic crouch shin kick. This move is notable for also having good range and tracking, making it effective against just about anything except guarding.
NameThe name of the move in the English localization.Most often directly from the in-game movelist, but can also be a community name.
AltOther inputs that also perform this move, written in notation.
InputThe input to perform the move, written in notation. This is often used as the move's name.For strings, the input of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
Hit levelThe hit level of the move.Capital letters mean it hits grounded.For strings, the hit level of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
DamageHow much damage the move does without any modifiers.For strings, the damage of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
RangeThe maximum range recorded of the move hitting Lars on-axis. (For Tekken 7, it's vs Heihachi.) Assume an error of about ±0.03.For strings, this is the range of the whole string.This measurement shouldn't on its own be used to compare characters: larger characters get more "range" by this measure, but their opponents do too.
Left TrackingThe tracking score to the attacker's left.Roughly speaking, when up close, if the defender sidesteps or sidewalks right for no more than this many frames, the move still connects.
Right TrackingThe tracking score to the attacker's right.Roughly speaking, when up close, if the defender sidesteps or sidewalks left for no more than this many frames, the move still connects.
BlockThe frame advantage on block.Blank if the move can't be blocked (e.g., an unblockable or an aerial attack).For breakable throws, this is the frame advantage when the throw is broken.
HitThe frame advantage on hit.Blank if the move is not an attack, e.g. is a stance transition only.For throws, this is the frame advantage after the throw.
CHThe frame advantage on counter hit.Blank if this is the same as on normal hit, i.e. there is no special behavior on counter hit.
StartupThe active frames of the attack. The "i" stands for "impact", i.e. impact frame.If there is more than one hit, a comma indicates that frame 1 is now the frame after the last active frame of the previous hit.For strings, therefore, this usually has a leading comma.
RecoveryThe total number of frames, the recovery frames, and what stance the move recovers in, if any.The "t" stands for total and "r" for recovery. If no stance is listed, the move recovers in the default, standing position.For strings, the total frame count is from the start of the string with no delays.
NotesAnything that doesn't fit elsewhere.Many common move properties, such as whether a string can be delayed, go here.See Movelist#Notes for standard wording of common properties.
Crouching lows can be a bit slower than a usual poke and still work as one, because fast moves are usually highs. Similarly, crouching lows have a long enough recovery that they can be whiff punished on reaction, but they usually have enough range and tracking that they're not likely to ever whiff, so it's not much of a concern.
Crouch jab
NameThe name of the move in the English localization.Most often directly from the in-game movelist, but can also be a community name.
AltOther inputs that also perform this move, written in notation.
InputThe input to perform the move, written in notation. This is often used as the move's name.For strings, the input of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
Hit levelThe hit level of the move.Capital letters mean it hits grounded.For strings, the hit level of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
DamageHow much damage the move does without any modifiers.For strings, the damage of the previous moves in the string is shown but washed out.
RangeThe maximum range recorded of the move hitting Lars on-axis. (For Tekken 7, it's vs Heihachi.) Assume an error of about ±0.03.For strings, this is the range of the whole string.This measurement shouldn't on its own be used to compare characters: larger characters get more "range" by this measure, but their opponents do too.
Left TrackingThe tracking score to the attacker's left.Roughly speaking, when up close, if the defender sidesteps or sidewalks right for no more than this many frames, the move still connects.
Right TrackingThe tracking score to the attacker's right.Roughly speaking, when up close, if the defender sidesteps or sidewalks left for no more than this many frames, the move still connects.
BlockThe frame advantage on block.Blank if the move can't be blocked (e.g., an unblockable or an aerial attack).For breakable throws, this is the frame advantage when the throw is broken.
HitThe frame advantage on hit.Blank if the move is not an attack, e.g. is a stance transition only.For throws, this is the frame advantage after the throw.
CHThe frame advantage on counter hit.Blank if this is the same as on normal hit, i.e. there is no special behavior on counter hit.
StartupThe active frames of the attack. The "i" stands for "impact", i.e. impact frame.If there is more than one hit, a comma indicates that frame 1 is now the frame after the last active frame of the previous hit.For strings, therefore, this usually has a leading comma.
RecoveryThe total number of frames, the recovery frames, and what stance the move recovers in, if any.The "t" stands for total and "r" for recovery. If no stance is listed, the move recovers in the default, standing position.For strings, the total frame count is from the start of the string with no delays.
NotesAnything that doesn't fit elsewhere.Many common move properties, such as whether a string can be delayed, go here.See Movelist#Notes for standard wording of common properties.
Crouch jabs are strictly useful for interrupting the opponent. Like crouching lows, they lose hard to low parry but are difficult to whiff punish. Unlike crouching lows, they have poor range and tracking, and they don't work as a mixup.
