Jin counterplay

This page is for Tekken 8. For Tekken 7, see Jin counterplay (Tekken 7).

Overview

As an opponent, Jin tends to have few weaknesses in his moves to exploit. His strings in particular are far safer and stronger than the average Tekken string. Nonetheless, there are always countermeasures—but the main goal will likely still be to find weaknesses in the player's habits rather than Jin himself.

Dealing With Strings

2,1,4

#Jin-2,1,4

Double Thrust > Roundhouse

2,​1,4

h,​m,​m

9,​9,​18

-9

+4

+27a

,i18~20

t73 r26

• Combo from 2nd CH with 8f delay
• Input can be delayed 10f

This is a notoriously good string that many Jins can autopilot into with very little consequence.

The first thing to know is do NOT mash, as the 4 followup is an airtight frame trap that will knock you down on counterhit.

Instead, a simple thing you can do is buffer a backdash between the 1 and the 4. This way, you can make space for yourself while still keeping your guard up. If you do this from the tip of this string's range and Jin delays the 4 followup, you can even make it whiff and get a punish with no risk of getting hit.

If the Jin likes to delay the 4 followup, you can also try to SSR it. This is a bit of a risk, but it's still much safer than mashing as you won't take a lot of damage and Jin will only be +4 on the hit.

One last thing to be wary of is the low followup:

#Jin-2,1,4~4

Double Thrust > Low Trick Kick

2,​1,4~4

h,​m,​l

9,​9,​20

-31

+16a

,i20~21

t90 r28

Interrupt with i16 from 2nd block

This is very telegraphed and reactable once you're familiar with it, but always keep an eye out since Jin can use this string so often that it may slip your memory that this option exists.

1,3,4

#Jin-1,3,4

Left Jab > Double Low

1,​3,4

h,​L,​l

5,​9,​17

-13

+3

+29a

,i23

t85 r32

• Combo from 2nd CH with 7f delay
• Input can be delayed 12f

The first low in this string is unreactable, so you're bound to get hit by it sometimes, but there's a very important thing to remember when trying to react to the second low after getting hit: BLOCK low, DON'T low parry. Being in a hit state stops you from being able to low parry, meaning you'll only be able to block and get a -13 WS punish on this, but it's still certainly worth doing.

Many Jins are aware that this string is very reactable, so they will tend to only do 1,3.

#Jin-1,3

Left Jab > Single Low

1,3

h,​L

5,​9

-12

-1

,i16~17

t61 r30

• Combo from 1st hit with 4f delay
• Grounded hit can be inconsistent

Remember, this is only -1 on hit. Take your turn to stop him from endlessly jailing you into his strings.

1,2,3

#Jin-1,2,3

Left Right > Axe Kick

1,​2,3

h,​h,​m

5,​12,​20

+0

+31d

,i24~26

t72 r21

Spike

• Interrupt with i10 from 2nd block
• Input can be delayed 9f
• Move can be delayed 4f

Another high into mid string. This one has more range, but is less solid as there is a large gap between the 2 and the 3, giving you a chance to SSR and get a full launch punish. It can be a bit tricky to react to and will knock you down on any stray hit, so you still have to be quite careful when trying to contest it. Since it's 0 on block, you can simply not worry about it and try to take your turn back with an i10, but the potential reward for stepping will likely urge a Jin to use this string very sparingly.