Tekken 8 King Guide by Jesandy

Tekken 8 has already established itself as a top game, and we love to collaborate with the pro players for the character guides. Today, our guest is one of the best King players, it’s Jesandy from the United States, teaching us how to play as the Grabmaster himself!

Overview

King in Tekken 8 is, as per usual, the premier grappler of the roster. His grabs do lots of damage and he has one of the fastest whiff punishes in the game. His neutral game is also solid, leaving him in situations that lead to knockdowns. The tradeoff is that his lows are quite slow and they don’t do a lot of damage. You can play him both defensively and aggressively quite well.

Best Buttons

• 2,1 – a good fast 10-frame punish. +8 on hit, -3 on block, with some nice damage.

• b1,2 – a 12-frame punish. A full launch on counterhit.

• b2,1 – 37 damage and a knockdown. Wallsplats. It’s duckable, so be careful.

• df1 – great poking tool, only -1 on block. Great followup if your opponent mashes.

• df2 – only 12 damage, but a great check to stop your opponent moving. A CH combo though.

• ff,N,1+2 – no damage, but makes your opponent respect the spacing. Makes some moves guaranteed on CH.

• b3 – -10 on block, but it’s armored. 43 damage on hit.

• ff,N,2 – best low of King.

• ff1 – 20 frames, homing, leaves your opponent on -14. Safe on block.

• f3 – low range, but has a DDT followup. Good Oki.

• uf4 – 15-frame launcher. Use only as a launcher, not as a punisher.

Whiff Punishers

• f2,1

• b3

• b2,1

• FCdf2

Heat Moves

• f2,1

• f2+3

• df1+2

• d1+4

Gameplan

King players are known to be overly aggressive. And by that I mean they love grabbing. It is used as a crutch sometimes. If you want to do that, be mindful of how and when you grab. Be mindful that your opponent knows you want to gram. Mix them up wisely. Make them scared of your pokes. His options do a lot of damage and are relatively safe, so abuse this.

He has incredible Heat Smash, use it to your advantage.

Make your opponents hesitate, make this a never-ending chasm of guesswork.

On defense, he has good whiff-punishers, but you need to pick and choose them appropriately. Take calculated risks, do not be rash.

Combos

• UF+4 > 4 > df+4,3 > b+1,2 > f,f,f+2+4

• FC DF+2 > 4 > d+f4,3 > b+1,2 > f,f,f+2+4

• FC DF+2 > f,f+1 > df+4,3 > b+1,2 > f,f,f+2+4

• FC DF+2 > WS3 > df+4,3 > b+1,2 > f,f,f+2+4

• FC DF+2 > f1+2 > df+4,3 > b+1,2 > f,f,f+2+4

• UF+4 > 4 > b+2,4 > b+3 > f,f,f+2+4

Nerd combos

• UF+4 > 4 > df+4,3 > b+1,2 > 2  > f,f,f+2+4

• FC DF+2 > 4 > d+f4,3 > b+1,2 > 2 > f,f,f+2+4

Conclusion

King is really good at enforcing the mixup game. His arsenal of tools makes him decent at both aggressive and defensive games – he has both pressure and the ways of dealing with opponent’s pressure. He does struggle somewhat against the opponents that turtle, and also against those who have good rushdown with good execution. Be mindful of those who control neutral better than you and don’t get webbed into their own game, control your tempo and you’ll be victorious.