| Reina |
|---|
| Counterplay (Tekken 8) |
|---|
Dealing with f,F+2,F on block[1]
Reina's f,F+2 is an extremely oppressive move. Fast, long range and difficult to step, it's tough to get around and Reina can use it to both whiff punish from afar and easily approach and enforce SEN mixups. However, the mixup from f,F+2 on block is not in her favor, and the defender can make it very unrewarding for Reina to keep going for it with the proper defense.
Succinctly, you have to make a read between ducking, SSL and SSR, and launch punish her if your guess was correct.
| Move | Purpose | Defence |
|---|---|---|
| SEN.3 | to get plus frames, as a follow-up on a whiff punish attempt[2], to track steps, to beat jabs | Duck |
| SEN.2 | to catch duckers, to catch SSR | SSL |
| SEN.3+4 | to track steps, to beat stand blocking | Duck |
| SEN.1+3 | to track steps, to beat stand blocking | Duck |
| SEN.4 | to get plus frames, to catch duckers | SSR (better)/SSL |
| SEN.1+2 | to track SSL, to catch duckers | SSR, i10 punish |
| SEN.1,qcf+2 | to beat jabs, to track SSL, to catch duckers | SSR |
There is no true OS against the mixup, so you have to guess. However, the penalty for guessing wrong is not as bad as the reward for guessing right (which is why it's important to launch punish her on a correct read). Stepping some options like SEN.1 and SEN.4 can get you their back, so have a good off-axis or backturned combo ready.
A single jab works to interrupt all options other than SEN.3 and SEN.3+4, and can net a float combo on SEN.4. It also beats SEN.1 since Reina cannot confirm into the follow-up, which gets blocked. However, it trades unfavorably with SEN.3. A down jab will high crush SEN.3 and interrupt the others but will get hit with SEN.4, a damaging mid with a guaranteed follow-up. These options should be used sparingly.
To minimize risk and avoid guessing, stand blocking is the best choice since the only risk is eating a 22 damage low or a 12 damage throw (with potential oki). However, it is important to make a conscious decision to stand block and not default to it.
Advanced Reina players will forego the SEN mixup and instead use the mental frame advantage to enforce a different mix-up. If you read an empty SEN transition on block, you can punish with an i12 or faster move.
- â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfvm9OxVyoE
- â SEN.3 is a guaranteed follow-up if f,F+2,F hits, but not on block. A player who attempted to whiff punish with f,F+2,F but failed to properly hit-confirm will likely be going for SEN.3. It is possibly to duck a delayed SEN.3 even if f,F+2,F hits.
Character specific
Bryan, King, Jin, Law and Reina can backdash to make SEN.3 whiff after a blocked ff2F.
Alisa
Alisa can backdash to make WRA.2 whiff after WGS.DF+4,2D