Learn to counter running and unblockable attacks in Tekken 3. Discover anti-poking and anti-turtle tactics.
Running attacks are best negated by sidestepping because they are fast, they hit at different levels of attack, two of them cannot be blocked (the Shoulder Ram and the Ultimate Tackle), and it's difficult to hit a running opponent before he hits you. Be sure to wait until your opponent is within a few strides of you before you sidestep or the move will track. Also, if your opponent does the Flying Side Kick and you sidestep around it, you may be able to attack him from behind. If your character has a backflip (uf~u~ub), then you may also use this to escape some running attacks, although that is difficult and not recommended. Heihachi's backwards run (b~b~n~3+4) is a more effective alternative to the backflip. If you are convinced that your opponent will attempt the Shoulder Ram you may be able to throw your opponent before he can ram you. You must dash forward and throw (preferably any throw with a forward motion, long range, or both, such as Nina's uf+1+2 or Paul's f~f+1+2) because your opponent becomes immune to throws shortly after he begins to lean his shoulder forward in preparation for the ram. If you dash forward and throw, you will be able to catch him at the beginning of his Shoulder Ram animation, when he is vulnerable to throws. But, once again, this is a counter that only works on very predictable opponents.
Unblockables cannot be blocked (thus the name), they are difficult to sidestep, and (if your opponent is using them intelligently) they usually catch you off-guard. When sidestepping an unblockable, you should sidestep at least two times (try your best to get completely behind your opponent) because unblockable moves tend to track very well. If you are caught off-guard, your reaction time is going to be very slow, and so you should use a fast attack such as a jab or a quick kick to knock your opponent out of the unblockable (I prefer a d+1 because many characters crouch down during their unblockable moves, making them somewhat immune to high attacks). It all really depends on how far away you are from your opponent, how long the range for their unblockable is, and, most importantly, how long it takes them to do their unblockable. Oh, and btw, it is not recommended to reverse an unblockable if you're playing to win.
- A little poking of your own works well against pressure tactics such as poking or pit-bull. d+1, ws4 works very well with any character when used to interrupt a poking or custom-string pattern. The d+1 has very high priority and can be used in between your opponent's strings or single attacks to interrupt virtually any series of follow-up attacks he may have in store for you unless you are stunned or have some other condition which allows your opponent to out-prioritize it. The following ws4 is another high-priority attack which serves to distance your character from your attacker, and the ws4 may be followed with a df+4 with little or no risk in order to interrupt an opponent attempting to rush in and restart his poke, and it also serves to distance yourself from your opponent. After the final kick you use (whichever it may be), you may dash backward (dshb) to further distance yourself from your attacker, thereby allowing yourself time to set up for an attack of your own. In a worst-case scenario, your attacker may low parry (lppry) the d+1 and combo off of it, but this is very unlikely (as long as you use the d+1 somewhat sparingly), and there are very few characters who may combo off of a low parry. You may buffer a chicken into the kicks if you feel your opponent is apt to reverse. King is the only character who can really punish this sequence with his un-chickenable kick reversal, but even a reversal from King is unlikely if the kicks following the d+1 are used only as interrupts. The only character I recall as having a significantly different ws4 from the others is Julia, in which case I'd recommend following the ws4 with 2~B against an opponent who is rushing in to restart his poke, or a simple dash backward (dshb) against an opponent who has been poked motionless.
- Turtles can be a very frustrating opponent. Use his own willingness to block most attacks against him by forcing guessing games between juggling moves (very fast juggle starters with very fast recovery, such as df+2 are preferred) and throws (high-damage throws with two-button escapes are preferred). If you feel the ends to a powerful low attack justify the means (risking a low parry or counterattack while you recover if it is blocked), then go for it, but do your best to make the attack as difficult to see coming as possible.
- Do it back =)
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