Tekken 7 Anna Guide Featuring Fergus

True to her story throughout the Tekken series, Anna Williams, as a character, usually sits in the shadow of her sister, Nina. However, it would be a big mistake to dismiss her, as Anna has a large arsenal of tools to pressure, knowledge check, and mix up her opponents. Mastering her is not an easy task, but it is rewarding.

To get you started, we got some advice from one of the best Tekken players in the world, Fergus!

Fergus's Anna Guide

Anna's Best Moves

• 1 - Despite being a standard i10 +1 jab, it works pretty well for Anna and can be used for starting your pressure. She also has quite a few follow-ups out of jab.
  • 1,2 - Standard jab string.
  • 1,2,4 - CH launcher, can be useful if opponents try to take their turn after 1,2.
  • 1,2,3 - Low extension that can catch opponents off guard.
  • 1,2,1,d4 - Similarly to 1,2,3, it's a low that is slow but can be used to occasionally surprise opponents.
  • 1,2,1,4 - Normal hit launcher and +7 on block. However, it's a high with no mid to cover it up. Only use it on opponents who don't know the match-up or don't expect it.
• df1 - Ordinary df1 by itself, your go-to mid poke to check opponents with. The follow-ups are what makes her df1 much stronger.
  • df1,2 - Solid mid-high string that jails on block and has mid or low follow-up options that enable some mind games. Out of df1,2, you can go into df1,2,4, which is a safe high, or df1,2,3, which is a -12 mid. Both of these options will also wall splat. Once your opponent respects the follow-ups, you can abuse the mental frame advantage to go for other pressure or mixup options.
• df4 - This move complements the df1,2. While it is a launch punishable low, it's fairly fast, has good tracking, gives you +5 on hit, and has guaranteed follow-ups on CH.
• d4 - One of the best generic d4s in the game because it opens up many options. On top of being just a solid low poke, you can cancel it and go for other moves or transition into the Chaos Judgement (or CJ) stance. Even if your opponents try to challenge it, you can cover it with the d4,1 string, which also grants a follow-up on CH.
• ff2 - A +6 on block, homing high move. It knocks down on normal hit, opening up many extra opportunities to deal follow-up damage. The main purpose of this move is to get the plus frames or stop them from sidestepping.
• ff3,4,3 - As a string, this move grants you follow-ups on normal hit and can lead to a mixup (albeit not a very favorable one for Anna). By itself, ff3 will also serve you as a decent whiff punisher.
• b4 - Slow but far-reaching homing move that serves as one of Anna's few keep-out moves. At +9 on hit, it can almost frame trap into itself.
• qcf1 - One of the most vital tools for Anna. Speedy high CH launcher that's +3 on block that gets even more plus if spaced to hit from further away. Quick recovery makes it relatively hard to punish even if you whiff it.
• qcf4 - Good option to approach the opponent, and it's a mid, which complements qcf1.

Crouching Mixup

• FC df2 - Anna's famous crouching launcher. If instead of 2, you press 2~1, you will do a stronger version of the move that deals more damage and hits from further away. Make sure to learn how to do this consistently.
• WS 2 - One of your main options to launch the opponent. Anna's crouching moves can scare opponents into crouching and that's where WS2 will get them.
• WS 4 - A safe mid alternative to WS2.
• WS 1,2 - Same as normal df1,2. Another safe option to poke the opponent when going for crouching mixups.
• FC f2 - Safe wall bounce, strong option when the opponent is close to the wall.

Chaos Judgement Stance

The main ways for Anna to access her CJ stance are 2,3, her main 10 frame punish, and WS 3 (hold back), which is her i11 punisher. Another option is her d4,1 into stance. Now let's look at some of the moves she has in this stance:

• CJ 1 - i11 high slap which guaranteed a follow-up on male characters, but female ones can slap back. 
• CJ 2,1 - Fastest option out of the stance which can be used to check opponents.
• CJ d3,3 - Low-high string, part of your CJ mixup that can be done after entering the stance from hitting WS 3 or 2,3 punishes.
• CJ 1+2 - Safe mid option which is a more reserved alternative to the hopkick.
• CJ uf4 - The risky hopkick option that will catch opponents who will try to mash or crouch.
• CJ ff - The roll that leaves Anna in crouch, allowing to go for crouching mixups. During a roll, Anna can press 3 to throw out an evasive kick that can launch the opponents.

Something worth nothing about the CJ stance is that during it, Anna will automatically punish any low with a hopkick. It also reversals grabs, but that's less important.

Staple Combos

• df2 > df1 > df32~df 1 > f32 s! > dash > db1 delay 4
• ff3 > df1 > df32~df 1 > f32 s! > dash > db1 delay 4
• ws2 > df1 > df32~df 1 > f32 s! > dash > db1 delay 4
• FC df2 > d41 > qcf1 > f32 s! > dash > db1 delay 4
• qcf1 CH > ufn4 > df32~df 1 > f32 s! > dash > db1 delay 4
• 4 CH > b4 s! > df32~df 1 > f32
• df2 > df32~df 1 > f32 s! > RD > SS > f2+3
• at the wall CJM 1 > f23 w! > df12 > f2+3

Strengths & Weaknesses

It's pretty evident that Anna is a high damage, 50/50 character. Her mixup game is exceptionally good and often leads into very damaging combos.

But, with high reward comes high risk. If opponents manage to block her mixups, she is bound to eat a hefty punish. Her poking is also fairly weak.