[KOF Arena] Grapple skill counter strategy; aim to counter after guarding!

Feb 10, 2023

Understanding the grapple skills which have a preemptive strike attack

As grapple skills aren’t guardable, they’re generally evaded by rolling (S). However, if the opponent is skilled playing a grapple fighter, they keep the initiative by predicting your dodge and slightly delaying their skill connection. If your opponent is at this level, they can seem like an unconquerable fortress.

Some grapple skills have one preemptive strike attack and are ‘connected’ to the grapple attack. The main examples are the E skills of the balance-type fighters, Kyo and Iori. The moment that Kyo and Iori touch the opponent is a strike-type attack, and when they hold the opponent up is a grapple-type attack. Therefore, to counter these skills, you can guard the strike attack followed by a strike-type skill to interrupt the combo and start a counterattack using the super armor.

▲ Iori guarding Kyo’s E and slipping away with dodge, you can also counter right away by using a strike-type skill (super armor).

Countering grapple skills which gets difficult according to the distance

1. Opponent fighter uses grapple skill

2. When the skill contacts, use a strike-type skill at the moment of contact

3. If the opponent’s grapple motion is interrupted and your strike skill is connected, your counter attack succeeds

The fundamentals of countering a grapple attack with a preemptive strike attack are the same as countering a blast attack. If you have enough practice, you can easily do it, but in actual fights, it’s safe when you have enough ‘distance’ between you and your opponent. This is because the connection between the strike attack and grapple attack is short — trying to counter can allow the opponent to connect combos. So if you’re close to your opponent, use dodge (S), and only attempt to counter when there’s enough distance or when you have the upper hand.

With fighters that have blast attacks and charging grapple attacks like Kyo or Iori, you would often use the combo where you induce the opponent to guard or dodge by using a blast attack and dealing damage with the charging grapple attack. It’s good to use the aforementioned counter method in this situation. Guard the blast attack and the strike attack that follows, then start your counter with your own strike-type skill. You can also react to the charging grapple attacks that are used to close the distance.

▲ Ralf guards Kyo’s first strike attack of his charging grapple skill (E) and counters.

▲ Takuma’s charging grapple skill (E) is a pure grapple skill that doesn’t include a strike attack, so you have to dodge it before contact.

Know in advance! The ‘grapple skills’ that can be countered

You can see when to counter through the striking motion of Kyo and Iori’s charging grapple attack (E), but if you try to counter Orochi Yashiro’s charging grapple (E) after seeing it, it’s too late. It’s very likely that you’d be already grappled and upside-down. Therefore, you need to know which fighters’ grapple skills can be countered, practice the counter timing through practice mode, and gain more experience in fights.