Fighting Game Guide

Tekken 7 is a 3D fighter with emphasis on safe movement, powerful punishment, and stealing back your turn from a frame disadvantage. Launchers can be done at any time for no cost. You can backdash away from an attack then whiff punish it for a huge combo. You can sidestep an attack then whiff punish it for a huge combo. You can duck under an attack then whiff punish it for a huge combo. There is a defensive answer for everything in Tekken and capitalizing on one mistake can turn the tide of the whole battle.

Helpful Resources

Notation

Attack Notation

Directional Notation

High attacks are attacks that can be ducked under. Mid attacks are overhead attacks that must be stand blocked.

Tekken 7 uses Impact frame data notation. If an attack is i7 it hits on the 7th frame.

Engaging neutral in Tekken and 3D fighting games is different from 2D fighting games. The major of differences are:
-Whiffing any attack is a big risk because attacks have a lot of recovery frames and it's humanly possible to react to whiffs.
-All high attacks can be ducked under and punished.
-Backdash in Tekken is incredibly safe as it blocks high attacks and mid attacks while retreating backwards.
-Low attacks hit backdash but low attacks can be slow, have short range, are very unsafe on block, and can be negative even on hit.
-Very few attacks are plus on block. Some characters only have a single attack that is plus on block.

It seems like doing nothing is better than doing something and the person who makes the first move is at a disadvantage. This is not true because there are many reasons to make the first move in 3D fighting games.

High attacks can be ducked under and punished but that means your opponent has to stop moving to do so. Movement is the most important part of Tekken and stopping movement is disadvantageous.

Slow high attacks can be ducked under and launched on reaction, but fast high attacks recover too fast to be launched on reaction. If a fast high attack gets launched, it was a prediction and not a reaction. It is a risky prediction because the launcher is unsafe on block.

There are very few plus on block attacks in 3D fighting games because stances and strings serve a similar purpose. Characters get frame advantage on block when canceling an attack into a stance. The drawback to this is that the attacks in the stance are limited and can be predictable.

Canned strings also keep the pressure going on block and have built-in mixups.

If you want to know which strings can be interrupted, look at a frame data chart and if any hit of the string has more than 10 frames of startup it can be interrupted. You can buy frame data as DLC, visit RBNorway on your browser, or download T7 Chicken on Android or Apple phones.

Counter hits also reward players for making the first move. Counter hits in 3D fighting games can be very advantageous. A counter hit can turn a fast safe low damage poke into a full combo starter that takes off half of your opponent's health bar. In Tekken characters usually get high counter hit launchers at 11 frames and mid counter hit launchers at 15 frames.

Some strings only combo after a counter hit. We call 1,2 an NC or "Natural Combo" and 1,2,1 an NCc or "Natural Combo only on counter hit".

There are many attacks that gain special properties only if the latter hits of the string counter hit.

In Tekken 7 when an attack trades, it counts as a counter hit for both players. If you're fast enough you may be able to get a combo even after getting hit.

Generic Attacks

1 (Left Punch) is the jab. It is high and your fastest attack. It has 10 frames of startup and is plus on block for most characters. It naturally strings into combos. Use it to approach and start your offense.

d/f+1 (down-forward Left Punch) is one of your best mid attacks. It's around 13 or 14 frames of startup, which makes it one of your fastest mid attacks if not the fastest. It recovers fairly quickly and is around -1 to -3 on block, so there are still many options even after it's blocked. d/f+1 usually tracks to one side.

Magic 4 (Right Kick) is a high kick that is slower than your jab but usually faster than your d/f+1. On normal hit it's just a regular hit but on counter hit Magic 4 starts a full combo. It's your fastest counter hit launcher.

Low attacks in Tekken and most 3D fighting games can be negative even on hit. Low attacks that do a little bit of damage are around -11 to -13 on block. More rewarding low attacks are launch punishable on block. Think of getting hit by a low attack like chip damage. A lot of times it's better to willingly take a low attack then get launched by a mid attack for crouch blocking.

d+1 (down Left Punch) also has 10 frames of startup like standing jab but it leaves you in a crouching state, is not plus on block, and doesn't string into anything. It is useful for ducking under high attacks and interrupting slow mid attacks.

While crouching you have access to full crouch, while standing, and jumping attacks.

d+1 is a special mid which means it loses to both stand block and crouch block. It can also be low parried.

Press and/or hold d/f to low parry low attacks. Low parry has very little risk. It's only real drawback is the following combo won't do a lot of damage.

Punishers

d/f+2 (down-forward Right Punch) is your safe short range launcher. It's mid but does not launch crouchers. It's great for whiff punishing after backdashes and sidesteps. It has 15 frames of startup and is your main tool for punishing attacks that are -15 on block. It's actually pretty safe on whiff as it doesn't extend your character forward too much. Players use d/f+2 in neutral when they expect their opponent to run forward.

WS2 (while standing Right Punch) is the launcher used after ducking under high attacks. You have to be in full crouch, let go of d, then press 2 to perform this while standing attack. It has 15 frames of startup like d/f+2 but since there is a delay going from standing to full crouch, the "real" startup of the attack from standing is slower. WS2 is risky because it is unsafe on block.

Hopkick is a low crushing launcher that is a mid attack. Low crushing means that it is invulnerable to all low attacks. Hopkick has 15 frames of startup and is -12 to -13 on block.

Crushing attacks are valuable panic tools to "steal turns" in Tekken. Low crushes are invulnerable to all low attacks. High crushes are invulnerable to all high attacks.

-15 on block is just the beginning of launch punishable attacks, you will see attacks that are -16, -17, even -20 on block. Your character has slower and more damaging launchers for these situations.

Not every character has d/f+2, WS2, and hopkick. If your character has a hopkick but not WS2, you can use hopkick to block punish attacks from crouching. If you have a hopkick but not d/f+2, you can use hopkick to block punish attacks that are -15 on block. Use whatever you have or does the most damage.

There are attacks that aren't crushes and aren't invulnerable to anything but avoid attacks by moving the character's hurtbox. This is a Backswing Blow. It avoids attacks by moving the character out of the way.

Tap u (up) or d (down) to sidestep. Sidestepping avoids linear attacks. English speakers say "sidestep left" and "sidestep right" while Korean speakers say "sidestep clockwise" and "sidestep counter-clockwise".

Hold u or d to sidewalk. Sidewalking is riskier but more rewarding. Sidewalk if you predict your opponent will commit to a string. You could end up in a very advantageous back-turned situation.

Sidestepping and sidewalking get hit by homing attacks and tracking attacks. Homing attacks are flagged to beat stepping in either direction. Tracking attacks hit the opponent if they sidestep in that one specific direction. Which one to use? Tracking attacks are like regular attacks with the added bonus of potentially hitting sidestep. Homing attacks never fail to hit sidestep but as a result they can be slow, high, or very negative on block.

Power Crush is a new addition to the Tekken series. It is an attack with unlimited armor. The armor on Power Crush isn't instant as it usually starts around frame 8 to frame 10. Power Crushes can be fast or slow, some are very unsafe on block and some are plus on block.

Unlimited armor is both a positive and a negative. The character can absorb a lot hits before the Power Crush finishes and end up losing more health than they inflict.

Power Crush loses to low attacks. It doesn't matter if the Power Crush itself is high, mid, or low.

Throws are guaranteed against Power Crush. The throw cannot be teched. This is one of the few situations where the throw itself, and not just the attempt, is guaranteed.

Universal throws are performed with 1+3 and 2+4. There is a whiff animation if unsuccessful. Universal throws can be teched with either 1 or 2. Special command throws require a different throw input and those are teched by observing which hand is dominant. 1 techs left-handed throws, 2 techs right-handed throws, and 1+2 techs double-handed throws. Throws in Tekken are reactable and a good player should be able to tech most throws.

Characters enter Rage with less than 20% health. In Rage the character receives a slight damage boost and gains access to Rage Art and Rage Drive. Rage Art is Tekken 7's super attack. It absorbs one hit with armor but armor will not save you if the hit would have killed.

Rage Art can be used in combos but players choose not to in most situations. This is Tekken, every character already has combos that can take off half of a health bar for free. When you have Rage your opponent will start playing differently. They stop using certain attacks, they play more cautiously, and take less risks. That can be more beneficial than adding a little more damage to a combo.

Rage Drive is an enhanced version of one of your attacks. It is not armored or invincible and can be interrupted. While it isn't as damaging as a raw Rage Art, it is plus on block and sometimes has multiple follow up options.

Because of the new screw mechanic in Tekken 7, almost every combo ends at the wall. A wall splat usually guarantees two hits and a higher wall splat may give three hits.

Wall bounce is another launcher for your character. Every character has an attack that wall bounces.

Movement

Movement is the most important part of Tekken. I put movement at the end of this guide because I see a lot of newcomers attempt backdash canceling, struggle to perform it after an hour of training, then abandon learning the game altogether. You won't master it in a day as it takes a lot of practice. But while you're improving your movement you can improve on other aspects like poking, punishing, mixups, strings, combos, sidestepping.

Press b, b to backdash. If you hold b you block all high and mid attacks. Backdashing is very safe as it is essentially blocking with movement.

Ordinarily you would have to wait until the backdash animation has fully ended before performing another backdash. If you crouch at any point, the backdash is canceled and the character returns to neutral immediately. From here you can backdash again and repeat this indefinitely. The best way to crouch is to go from b to d/b because you'll still be blocking attacks. The d/b input also counts as a b input meaning you only need to press b one more time to backdash.

Backdash canceling inputs looks like this: b, b to start the first backdash then d/b, N, b, d/b, N, b, d/b, N, b.

If you play a character that doesn't have a back sway you can use: b, b to start the first backdash then N, quarter-circle b, N, b, N, quarter-circle b, N, b.

Let's practice this in training mode. Pick any character for yourself, pick Lee/Violent as your opponent, and pick any infinite stage. Under Action Settings set CPU Opponent Action 1 to Repeat Action. Go to Movelist and select Mist Step. Set Interval Between Action at the speed you want. Press the Play command. As you get better at this you can set the speed to a faster setting.

What's fun about Tekken is that even if you're at a frame disadvantage you still have a lot of options. Stealing turns is an integral part of Tekken. Here is a very rough guide on what is possible at certain disadvantages.
-9, -8, -7: block, duck, crushing attack
-6, -5, -4: all of the above, backdash cancel
-3, -2, -1: all of the above, sidestep, attack

Do not follow this guide exactly as it's just a rough guide with estimates. What you can do depends on the situation, the characters, and the players. If I'm at -5 but I'm very confident my opponent will retaliate with a slow attack, I might attack with a jab to interrupt them.

Wakeup

After a knockdown there are four ways your character will lie on the floor. Each position has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Face Up Feet Towards (FUFT)
Face Down Feet Towards (FDFT)
Face Down Feet Away (FDFA)
Face Up Feet Away (FUFA)

Immediately after a knockdown press 1 or 3 to quick recover. 1 side rolls into the background and 3 side rolls into the foreground. The side roll is like a wakeup sidestep and avoids linear attacks. The character wakes up into a crouching state and cannot immediately perform standing attacks.

After not recovering in FUFT you have three options. Press b to back roll. I know it's not actually a roll but that's what it's called. It's a new option introduced in Tekken 7. It's a very safe way of waking up and you should use it when you're not sure what your best options are. You can wakeup standing. And you can wakeup crouching with d/b.

Immediately after knockdown in FUFT hold f and your character will perform a kip up. This attack is advantageous on hit but is very punishable if it whiffs. On block it is -16, -18, or -20 depending on the character, which makes it always launch punishable.

Waking up from FDFT and FUFA is dangerous because the character is back-turned and has to turn around before they can block.

After not recovering, press 1 or d+1 to roll. 1 rolls into the background and d+1 rolls into the foreground. Holding d makes the character perform a half rotation and stay on the floor longer.

The half roll is useful because it lets you change positions. FDFT and FUFA are bad positions to be in because standing up exposes your back to your opponent but if you do a half roll you end up in FUFT or FDFA and standing up now is much safer.

Unlike the quick recover rolls, these ground rolls do not have any evasion. In fact your hurtbox is larger and you can get hit by attacks you wouldn't have gotten hit by before. When you get hit OTG (on-the-ground) you get another recovery option including any of the quick recover options.

In FUFT press f while on the ground to forward roll. Press 1+2 during forward roll to Cross Chop. This is a plus on block attack that knocks down on hit. It is very slow and easy to avoid.

In FUFT press d+4 while on the ground to toe kick. There's no frame advantage because your character rolls backwards after the hit. It's for creating distance and resetting things to neutral. It is launch punishable on block.

In FUFT press 3+4 while on the ground to spring kick. The beginning of the attack may go over low attacks and the end of the attack may go under high attacks. It is negative on block but how negative it is depends on when it was blocked. The later it is blocked the safer it is. Spring kick is used to challenge OTG attacks.

Press 3 or 4 during any recovery to wakeup kick. 3 is a low kick and 4 is a mid kick. The part that's confusing is that the frame data between all eight of the kicks is different. And the frame data also changes if some kicks hit close or far. But what is consistent is all mid wakeup kicks knockdown on counter hit and all low wakeup kicks launch on counter hit.

This is the frame data for the wakeup kicks:

FUFT:
Mid - i22, +5 on hit, -12 on block
Low - i22- +5 on hit, -12 on block

FDFT:
Mid - i19, +5 on far hit, knockdown on close hit, -14 on block
Low - i19, -3 on far hit, launch on close hit, -17 on block

FDFA:
Mid - i19, -10 on far hit, knockdown on close hit, -19 on block
Low - i21, +1 on hit, -20 on block

FUFA:
Mid - i18, knockdown on hit, -14 on block
Low - i19, +5 on hit, -12 on block

Remember you can half roll before doing a wakeup kick to get a better kick. FDFA kicks are very unsafe on block and it would be better to half roll into FUFA to kick. You can also forward roll before kicking but that is extremely slow and is rarely successful.