Karin Help

[IPikachuInTheShower]

Hey guys! I'm new to the Street Fighter Community, this is actually my first Street Fighter and fighting game so I hope you all welcome me. I was wondering if there were any people who knew how to play Karin that could give me some pointers? I've really taken a liking to her and I haven't played any matches yet, just spent about 9 hours in training mode see how she works. I'm not sure what are her good approach tools or what moves to use in neutral, can anyone help?

[Razorhoof]

Her pokes are beyond excellent. All of them. Plus, you have a lot of long range specials to mix your opponent up with. Go through her trials to get some ideas for basic combos and watch some of Punk's matches on YT. Karin is a lot of fun once you get her execution down.

[IITWLLII -ES-]

Welcome to the SFV forums.

Karin is very technical in comparison to many other SFV characters, so it will take a while to get comfortable with all of her options, especially if you are a beginner. But this makes her less "dull"/ more interesting, than let's say Guile, on the long run.

Basically she is played often with an explosive play style, which means looking for weaknesses/mistakes of your opponent, or trying to condition them and then punish with a huge, devastating combo.

Videos usually explain it better, than 1.000 words, so check these commentated videos for her approaches in season 4:
https://youtu.be/1DWXuos_Dok
https://youtu.be/wMpbGtUCeP8
https://youtu.be/ZxFJY7_5ls8

It usually takes about 80+++ hours, or more to get used the basics and most common patterns/matchups in fighting games (and that's still scratching the surface), so don't get discouraged, when you lose a LOT against human opponents in the very beginning.
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Play for fun and learn over time, everything else can become overwhelming with so many matchups, 1 week pause is enough to get rusty and forget some stuff. Ideally you have some friends on the same skill level and play frequency, so you can practice together.

Don't play ranked unless you feel comfortable, or have nerves of steel, enduring the pressure and constant losses of your rank points, else you will fall into the never ending salt mine trap.

Truth is that fighting games can become very very complex, if there is such a variety of characters/move properties and you want to know all of them, some situations are better avoided to begin with, if you or your character can't handle it.

Example: it's often a bad idea to get cornered in first place, because your escaping and defensive options will be highly limited and exploited, in season 1 it was basically a game over against good R. Mika players.

Training mode CPU dummies at level 6 are will suited to learn reactions and practice some counters, the real fun begins in arcade mode on the hardest difficulty, the CPU mimics some gold ranked player fighting styles/combos at round 3++. But this still won't replace practicing against real humans, who will act completely sometimes (mindgames/conditioning etc.).

Playing regularly against human opponents is the best training you can have, everything else can be explored later with time. But it's definitely beneficial to know the very basics, like which moves are usually safe/unsafe on block, or invincible, which are overheads, knockdowns, crossups, crush counters etc.

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The following basic tutorials are all you need as a beginner, they explain everything important, before you climb to the next level (some frame data may have changed during multiple balance updates, but the basics still apply):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st5CUkIHIM0&list=PLdoYSYt-_agNyTieQanGzDnj6-Duww5l7&index=13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZN9-geD0Yg&list=PLdoYSYt-_agNyTieQanGzDnj6-Duww5l7&index=12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AomsfS_8cT8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbsxbVmTp7g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhW2gA0mlqw
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You also need to know that there are 3 types of combos in SFV:

1. Cancels = your current move animation can be instantly cancelled into some of your next input (example normal move cancels into a special or super move, cMK into fireball/super).

2. Links = your current move needs to completely finish the animation and the opponent also needs to be still in hit-stun (can't block again), so you can successfully land your next attack.
It can be difficult to get the split-second timing right, but it's usually much easier than in SFIV).

3. Chains = specific normal move combinations (sometimes also called target combos), these are usually relatively easy to perform (example: Ryu's MK => HP => HK).
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If you are already more experienced, then you can dig into the frame data / hitboxes, if you like:
https://fullmeter.com/fatonline/#/home
You can change the active character at the bottom (dark grey bar).

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These tutorials explain how to use the training mode recording features:

https://youtu.be/5UV92rADDgk

https://youtu.be/qq71GK3mctc

https://youtu.be/aWtj-e6ekAM

[NeoTurfMaster]

I have been summoned.

Throw out st.MK a lot (but don't be predictable, obvs). Her best poke; however it can only cancel into VT. Useful against people who are about to jump, as well as whiff punishing and resetting the neutral. Assign it into your brain as back standing MK to avoid using overhead. If you're into comboing after whiff punishing, st.HP is your go-to button. Another useful poking tool is her V-Skill. The held-down variation is -2 on block and therefore safer than the regular version. The move itself has a ginormous hitbox however, so you shouldn't be too worried when using it from a safe distance. It can be comboed into her VT1 when on the ground.

st.HK is her main CC tool alongside cr.HP. You mainly want to use the former for canceling into VT. When timed right, cr.HP CCs as an anti-air in which you can follow up with the equivalent of a regular Tenko juggle combo.

Seppo is your ultimate approach tool. It can be used to switch sides after an anti-air and the EX version is fireball-invincible (great for approaching zoners along with Ressenha). When an opponent jumps in on you and you're not confident enough to land an anti-air, just use LK/MK Seppo to go underneath them, which makes for a great corner-escaping tool. Also, if you trade with an Orochi (which is -2 on block), you have enough reach for cr.MK to hit and go for a combo.

Karin's tick throws after LP and LK are excellent. Throwing out LK is also useful to pressure your opponent in the corner and to stop sudden attacks. When you get counter hit with LK, you can convert into st.MP, cr.MP, and cr.MK. St.MP > st.MP is also a useful frame trap which combos on counter hit.

It's also helpful to check out how Punk or Bonchan (but mostly Punk) plays her. If you want, let me know when you're down for some practice.

[Gailim]

many of Karins best combos involve tenkos and juggling. both of which can be hard for newer players.

fortunately she does have some easier combos that you can use while you are getting the hang of that stuff.

one of my favorites is crouch MP, stand MP, light ressenha (qcb+LP). this combo doesn't use tenko and has no juggling so it is more on par with most other characters while still doing good damage for a meterless combo and the followup slide on ressenha leaves her right next to her opponent for additional pressure.

it also has some additional benefits in the low rankings. if you miss the cancel from MP to ressenha it will often still hit as it is an overhead. I tagged people with that all the time when I was rising through bronze/silver

in neutral don't neglect her standing light kick. its fast, has good range for a light, and can be cancelled into her command dash to quickly close the distance

[IPikachuInTheShower]

Thanks for all who responded <3 you all gave me great advice and have improved my gameplay so much.