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Up your game with these essential Tekken 7 tips
A host of casters and pros are here to help you hold your own in competitive Tekken.
Are you looking to dial up your Tekken 7 game? Then you've come to the right place.
Pro players Vincent 'Super AKouma' Homan, Richie 'AyoRichie' Olusanya, Hoa 'Anakin' Luu and caster Hassan 'Spag' Farooq were all in attendance at Red Bull Golden Letters in March 2023. They share their top tips for improving your game below.
At Red Bull Golden Letters, the Beat the Pro challenge saw Korean star Chanel lose out to Red Bull UK Discord member Sensei Salam. Scroll down, follow the advice, and maybe that'll be you next time?
More Tekken
01
Anakin's top tips
Anakin at Red Bull Golden Letters 2023
© Mark Roe/Red Bull Content Pool
My number one tip is that you're going to have to work hard to make it
Find a character you identify with
"My main character in Tekken has been Jack, the robot character. I've been playing Jack as my main character since, like, 2009-2010. So it's been over 10 years now."
"A lot of players would consider it to be like a long time to be playing with one character, especially in Tekken."
"Jack is a character I feel really loyal to, he has helped me win a lot of championships long-term and all I have is good memories, good moments."
"There were a lot of players in my city that used Jack over the years, so after a while it was inevitable that I'd start to dabble with him. When I did, I came to like his really basic playstyle because it means you don't have to focus on a diverse move list and instead you can just focus on who you're playing and eliminate worrying about moves or any intricacies of different characters from your thought process and just play your game."
"That's making your decisions a lot easier, you can make them a lot quicker."
"Jack can beat pretty much everybody if he'd make the right decision. So that's kind of what drew me to him, not to mention the fact that you can kind of play him in a very aggressive, bully-like style. Honestly, what it's fighting games like Tekken, or other things like MOBAs and team shooter games, I kind of gravitate to the bigger character that can kind of push around the smaller guys on the map. So, me and Jack are a natural match."
Work hard!
“The Tekken scene is competitive right now! If you used to be good or you've played in the past, you can't rely on your fundamentals or your legacy skills anymore because the quality of players is much higher now."
"The community has grown bigger, it's growing stronger every day and with all the resources like Twitch, YouTube and the in-game trainers, my number one tip is that you're going to have to work hard to make it as the standard of play is so high now."
"However, you can turn this to your advantage. The biggest and best players in the world are just a Twitter DM or Twitch chat message away, so if you're having trouble put the hard work in and use the resources available to you and that hard work will pay off."
Get to grips with Punishment Training
"Punishment Training is the best example of how serious the game has gotten now. It really shows how far you need to go to make that jump from a casual button master to a day-one competitive player."
"Tekken 7 was the first time that things like Punishment Training or tools to learn the frames have really been part of the game instead of managed by a community, and it's helping people to learn the advanced parts of the game."
"So, yes learning is harder now, but it means there's a good way to bring players in and help them learn a historically difficult game. I'm all for it."
Not everyone is comfortable talking to new people, and that's okay, but trust me, it's worth it
"All the time now at offline tournaments I'm talking to players who are there competing in their first tournament experience. It's exciting to see this after the game has been around for six years on console and even longer in the arcades."
"I tell them the most important thing. There are a lot of opportunities from going to your first offline tournament. It's the opportunity to make friends and be part of the community. Not everyone is comfortable talking to new people, and that's okay, but trust me, it's worth it."
"Close friends and close ties to your city will make sure you're getting to play regularly, whether that's by sparring your new friends or just feeling plugged into your local community. The C in FGC stands for 'community' and it's the best way to better yourself, and help everyone else get better, too.
"Go ahead and exchange some contact information and make some new friends."
02
AyoRichie's top tips
Ayorichie celebrates on his way to winning Red Bull Golden Letters
© Mark Roe / Red Bull Content Pool
If you need to, just play slow and work around how long you have.
Master the basics!
“In general, if you want to get good you just need to focus on the basic stuff. This is your movement, mostly, but learning this basic stuff like, 'Why is this guy always interrupting me?' or, 'Why do I keep getting counter-hit?'
"By making sure you're always dealing with your fundamentals, you can focus on your opponent instead, focus on what you're getting right and build up a game plan, no matter what."
Analyse how you're getting counter-hit
"A counter-hit is when you're trying to hit an opponent and they get a hit on you instead.
"If I'm getting counter hit I'll break down what happened. It could have been that I should have gone for another jab, or I should have moved instead. Once you're moving you're probably not going to get counter-hit, but it forces your opponent to think and to go for other options.
"So maybe the next time you're in that situation, you can switch up your options and try to be a bit less predictable so that whoever your opponent is then, he has to adapt to that."
Get experience at a meet-up
"The number one thing is that you don't be shy when it comes to asking people for games. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, people are very friendly and they will give you advice after they play you. That's the main thing. But if you're competing in the bracket, just have fun. Don't expect too much of yourself. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just use it as experience."
Play slow
"I've found that something that's always worked for me has been keeping an eye on the time. My play-style is that I want to get a life lead and then stay away from my opponent, mitigate any big launch they could do, and time my opponent out if I have to."
"So, if you need to, just play slow and work around how long you have."
03
Super Akouma's top tips
Super AKouma at Red Bull Golden Letters 2023
© Mark Roe / Red Bull Content Pool
People are incredibly welcoming at FGC events.
Get to grips with generic tools
"The number one thing you need is to get to grips with generic tools. The number one tip is to realise that, really, every character kind of does the same thing. Accepting this will definitely help you learn your pokes, how to counter, how to move."
"The main thing is that players often get their hands on a character and try to learn the big combos and big launches and go out there trying to land them. Remember you're supposed to work towards that, it's an end goal that's only possible when you've got it right in your head that every character is basically the same."
Master the poke
"Poking is huge in fighting games. A poke is actually just little moves, that some block on hit, that you just use to annoy your opponent into making a mistake so you can punish the mistake heavily."
"Some people just go for these pokes because they feel like they're a bit safer and they're saying, 'Oh, it does damage so it's good'. No, the point is to create an opening for you to exploit.
"It helps to imagine it like your opponent is poking you in the real world. If you do it for long enough, eventually you'll get annoyed and you'll reply. In Tekken, you're ready to catch them out when that reply comes, ideally with one of your bigger launches or a big combo."
IRL meet-ups aren't scary – so go!
"Realise it's not as scary as people think! People are incredibly welcoming at FGC events and most of these people are here for the same reason. They want to learn, they want to teach and they want some great offline match-ups."
04
Spag's top tips
Spag commentating at Red Bull Golden Letters
© Mark Roe / Red Bull Content Pool
You never lose. You win or you learn, but you never lose
Losing isn't losing
"If you're a casual player that wants to get involved in competitive, the number one thing to remember is that losing is a part of that journey," says Farooq. "Don't let it get to you. I've spoken to players that qualify for the Tekken World Tour finals who tell me that for two years straight that were just losing again and again."
Losing is a constant during your time with Tekken, but it's best not to think of it as a loss. Farooq describes it simply: "You never lose. You win or you learn, but you never lose."
Work on your fundamentals
There's a punishing trainer now included in Tekken 7, but the rest is going to be the result of a steady grind.
"Whether it's learning your combos, positioning, punishment or even poking, learning your fundamentals means you're learning game information," says Farooq. "This is knowledge that can be used across just about every character."
"Take poking – poking is when you sling a lot of short fast attacks at an opponent: an annoying kick, a high jab. You can spam it and it will - like a real life poke - annoy the hell out of a player. Then, they'll make a mistake and you can punish them by hitting them with one of your more powerful moves.
"Learn your fundamentals and you'll be able to counter gimmicks – you'll have a solid grasp of how the game works and how to counter anything thrown at you."
If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a combo
"Tekken is the only prominent 3D fighting game that's really popular at the moment. This brings several challenges with it.
"The lateral movement is one of the most important things to win matches at a high level in Tekken, and when you watch the Korean players, those guys are a masterclass in how to sidestep, how to move laterally," says Farooq. "If you're in defence you want to be using movement to get around your opponent and then punish them. In 2D, you just move backwards and forwards to try and defend, in 3D there's a range of lateral movement that good players will master."
There are different uses for both the sidestep and the sidewalk, and both techniques will be able to dodge different moves. Farooq admits that it might sound complicated at first, but spending time in the practice room or playing against a friend will help you get the hang of what you should use, and when.
It's worth the effort. Farooq claims that mastering the sidestep and sidewalk moves is one of the fastest ways to improve your game in the short term. However, you shouldn't go expecting progress to be easy, because…
You will progress in big chunks, not gradually
Improving at any fighting game is often less about a gradual increase like you might see in a first-person shooter or even a MOBA, and much more about learning core concepts and putting them into practice.
This means you'll plateau and then master something new that really ups your game and makes you far more formidable than before.
"If you don't see improvement over a week or a month, it doesn't matter. Like just keep playing, grind the game, and you'll notice yourself getting a lot more used to the mechanics of the game, and then just improving very rapidly all at once," he says. "Once you learn something in this game, you don't forget it."
Go to an offline meet
"The best way to put everything into practice is to go to a physical location and put your skills to the test against other players," says Spag. "Whether they're better or worse than you doesn't matter, the important thing is you're all there for the same reason: you want to get better.
"The number one thing," Spag thunders, holding his finger up to make the point, "The number one thing! Is that nobody is too bad to go to an offline tournament. I've had so many people say, 'I'm not good enough,' but I've seen players that have never played a fighting game before go to these things and learn the game and make friends.
"I don't want to hear, 'I'm not good enough to go,' or, 'let me get better'. You're going to learn, and the best way to learn is to go and play against people that are good at Tekken. This isn't a competition in the traditional sense, it's all a learning experience, and the UK community, the global community are very welcoming – they want to teach you."
Spag says he'll link up any new players with a meet in their area, if he is aware of a tournament near you. Start by hitting him up on Twitter – who knows where it could take you?
