Combos

Low Hit-Checks

COMBO 1

Crouching standing , then cancel into either:

159 damage, 253 stun

175 damage, 293 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

Your standard two-hit hit-check combo ending with a special move. You can spend EX Gauge for a bit more damage. Both HP Shoryuken and EX Tatsumaki Senpukyaku put you at enough advantage to keep up your offensive pressure.

Grounded Hit-Checks

COMBO 2a

Crouching standing , then cancel into either:

199 damage, 283 stun

215 damage, 323 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

COMBO 2b

Crouching , then cancel into either:

251 damage, 341 stun

251 damage, 376 stun

COMBO 2c

Crouching (hold) , then cancel into:

301 damage, 441 stun (requires full V-Gauge and a stock of EX Gauge)

306 damage, 441 stun (requires full V-Gauge and a stock of EX Gauge)

Crouching is an excellent frame trap and meaty attack that leaves Ken at +2 advantage on block. It’s also easily hit-confirmable into standing HP Shoryuken or EX Tatsumaki Senpukyaku at either point-blank range or just a step away from being flush with your opponent.

For a stronger combo, use Combo 2b. However, is relatively unsafe on block, even if it’s canceled into Hadoken. To ensure that your blockstring is unpunishable, you can cancel into EX Hadoken (+1 on block). It costs an EX Gauge, but it’s generally worth it because you want to keep as much tempo as possible over your enemy.

With a fully loaded V-Gauge, you can cancel Step Kick into Heat Rush for extra damage, with the bonus of transitioning into your power-up V-Trigger. Note that using a V-Trigger cancel in a combo heavily scales damage because the V-Trigger cancel itself counts as an attack in scaling calculations.

COMBO 3a

Standing crouching , then cancel into:

254 damage, 400 stun (requires crouching opponent, uses one stock of EX Gauge)

COMBO 3b

Standing standing , then cancel into:

235 damage, 373 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

COMBO 3c

Counter-hit standing crouching , then cancel into either:

405 damage, 270 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

269 damage, 430 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

Combo 3a and 3b are a bit situational, but you can use them on their own or off of a clean jumping attack. Note that standing is -4 on block, so you are punishable by most light attacks. You can cover this weakness by canceling into EX Hadoken after confirming that your enemy is blocking.

Additionally, Combo 3a requires a crouching opponent (due to their wider hurtbox) in order to link standing into crouching . To be safe, you can use Combo 3b instead. On counter-hit, link into crouching , as shown in Combo 3c. You can easily earn 400 points of damage with a full EX Gauge off of a well-placed counter-hit standing frame trap or reversal punish counter-hit.

COMBO 4

Standing , then link into either:

,
207 damage, 320 stun

170 damage, 285 stun

Standing Quick Step can be a risky sequence against experienced players, but it’s still useful if you think your opponent is being overly cautious. On a hit-confirm, you can link into Ken’s three-frame special attacks—either LP Shoryuken or LK Tatsumaki Senpukyaku.

COMBO 5a

Standing , crouching ,

COMBO 5b

Standing , crouching , then cancel into:

(one hit)
450 damage, 421 stun

327 damage, 496 stun (requires full V-Gauge and one stock of EX Gauge)

333 damage, 496 stun (requires full V-Gauge and one stock of EX Gauge)

321 damage, 466 stun

With full V-Gauge, Ken’s mid range standing is even more dangerous, as it becomes a hit-confirmable 300 damage poke. This is one of Ken’s most dangerous tools in his arsenal, allowing for major comeback potential.

Jump-Ins

COMBO 6

Forward jump , crouching , then follow up with either:

283 damage, 405 stun

,
356 damage, 545 stun (requires a stock of EX Gauge)

, crouching ,
374 damage, 591 stun (requires full V-Gauge)

A standard triple heavy attack combo off a clean jump-in. If you have full V-Gauge, you can tack on an extra 100 damage with the second variant listed.

If Ken lands his jumping attack and he’s at point-blank range, you can follow up with MK Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. This puts the opponent into a juggle state, allowing for a final EX Shoryuken.

COMBO 7

Forward jump , standing , then cancel into:

423 damage, 320 stun

304 damage, 460 stun

297 damage, 460 stun

290 damage, 425 stun

After a clean forward jumping from range, Ken might not be flush with his opponent for his stronger combos. In these situations, you can use the Lion Breaker target combo to deal serious damage.

COMBO 8a

Forward jump cross-up , crouching , , then cancel into either:

280 damage, 400 stun

280 damage, 430 stun

COMBO 8b

Forward jump cross-up , crouching , crouching , then finish with either:

(one hit)
485 damage, 511 stun (requires full V-Gauge and full EX Gauge)

344 damage, 541 stun (requires full V-Gauge)

Example combos to use on a cross-up forward jumping hit-confirm. Combo 8a is safer to start with if you’re unsure if your opponent is blocking or not, as crouching leaves +2 advantage when guarded.

COMBO 9a

Forward jump , (whiff), then finish with either:

263 damage, 330 stun (requires two stocks of EX Gauge)

256 damage, 295 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

COMBO 9b

Forward jump ,

Combo 9a is a fancy and impractical combo that requires your opponent to be positioned near the corner and a deep Air EX Tatsumaki Senpukyaku hit (you need to connect with it close to the ground).

Combo 9b is much more practical and can be confirmed into HP Shoryuken anywhere on the stage.

Grounded Counter-Hits

COMBO 10a

Counter-hit standing OR crouching crouching , then cancel into either:

218 damage, 334 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

210 damage, 334 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

202 damage, 294 stun

COMBO 10b

Counter-hit standing OR crouching , then cancel into:

241 damage, 360 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

210 damage, 360 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

227 damage, 325 stun

227 damage, 360 stun

These counter-hit link combos are two-step hit-checks. You’ll commit to the first two inputs while looking for the “Counter” system message. For instance, input standing immediately followed by crouching (as if it were a real combo). If you see the “Counter” message pop up under your character portrait, confirm and cancel crouching into your preferred finisher.

COMBO 11a

Counter-hit standing , then cancel into:

287 damage, 421 stun

287 damage, 456 stun

422 damage, 386 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

COMBO 11b

Counter-hit standing standing , then finish with either:

(two hits)
430 damage, 442 stun (requires full V-Gauge and EX Gauge)

325 damage, 526 stun

319 damage, 496 stun

These are your optimal reversal punish counter-hit combos. With full V-Gauge and EX Gauge, you can deal almost 50 percent of an opponent’s total life bar from baiting out a blocked or whiffed reversal move (such as Rashid’s EX Spinning Mixer).

As a frame-trap counter-hit setup, standing OR can be used as an option select with the correct timing. On block, you won’t cancel into anything, and on hit, you will cancel into Quick Step or Heat Rush. The timing is essentially hitting OR after the cancel window of standing is over. To practice the technique in training mode, go to Dummy Settings -> Guard, and set it to Random. Then, simply practice a delayed input of after standing on the dummy. When done correctly, you’ll always get the desired outcome. This works because the hitstop on a successful strike delays the cancelable window on your initial poke, so the late input triggers a V-Skill/V-Trigger cancel on hit, but nothing happens if guarded.

COMBO 12a

Counter-hit crouching , then juggle with (hold)

COMBO 12b

Counter-hit crouching , , then finish with either:

281 damage, 430 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

417 damage, 270 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

Fishing for a counter-hit with crouching can net you either a large amount of V-Gauge or damage with these combos. Note that crouching is easily punishable on block, so use this string sparingly or if you have a full V-Gauge bar to back it up with (by canceling blocked LP Hadoken into Heat Rush, which leaves you at +13).

Additionally, you will beat out any light and medium-strength attacks if you happen to “trade” hits on the same active frames, which may happen frequently because of how quickly crouching starts up (a six-frame startup is relatively fast for a heavy attack).

COMBO 13

Counter-hit standing , , then finish with either:

284 damage, 365 stun

403 damage, 260 stun

With full V-Gauge, Ken becomes a huge threat, with the ability to cancel any of his moves into a Heat Rush combo. Using standing in your blockstring potentially sets you up with this Crush Counter juggle combo. Fish with standing , and on reaction to the screen freeze from the Crush Counter mechanic, input and finish the juggle sequence.

COMBO 14

Counter-hit (hold),

A fancy link combo for the rare occasion when you land a counter-hit Thunder Kick.

V-Trigger and Situational

COMBO 15

(Heat Rush active) (whiff first hit), then juggle with:

254 damage, 285 stun

, (cornered opponent only)
346 damage, 405 stun

, (cornered opponent only)
354 damage, 445 stun (requires one stock of EX Gauge)

If you use V HK Tatsumaki Senpukyaku from a distance and it connects with your opponent, it puts them into a juggle state, allowing for a juggle combo.

COMBO 16

(Heat Rush active) Forward jump cross-up , , then cancel into either:

305 damage, 461 stun

305 damage, 391 stun

Unlike Ryu, Ken’s Air Tatsumaki Senpukyaku can be used as a cross-up. Unfortunately for Street Fighter IV Ken players, the non-Heat Rush versions of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku don’t provide enough frame advantage to allow a link afterwards. However, in Heat Rush mode, V Air Tatsumaki Senpukyaku not only has a larger hitbox, but also lets you link into a follow-up .

COMBO 17

(two hits) , then cancel into:

374 damage, 100 stun (requires full V-Gauge and EX Gauge)

246 damage, 260 stun (requires full V-Gauge and one stock of EX Gauge)

238 damage, 220 stun (requires full V-Gauge)

Although HP Shoryuken canceled into Heat Rush is -5 on block, it can be worth using as a defensive measure that potentially leads into a combo. On the Shoryuken hit, you will usually end up passing through and crossing up the opponent’s body (unless the foe is cornered), so prepare to do your follow-up juggle with Ken facing the opposite way.

COMBO 18

(Cornered opponent) forward jump , standing standing , standing standing ,

An unnecessary but super stylish combo for when you can land a clean jumping on a cornered adversary (most likely off of a stun) and you also happen to have a full V-Gauge. Great for demoralizing your opponent.