Ibuki using Target Combo 4 on Ling Xiaoyu
Target Combo 4 is one of Ibuki's Target Combos in the Street Fighter IV series and Street Fighter X Tekken.
Description[]
One of Ibuki's many Target Combos. The hits work in fast succession one after the other, fitting for the fast but fragile nature of it's user. Visually speaking after the close light punch it appears she uses Agemen then her crouching hard punch. This target combo was removed for the Street Fighter V series of games seemingly having a spiritual successor in "Shinten" using the same inputs to execute.
Tactics[]
This target combo is arguably Ibuki's most important one. It allows her to fully combo from a 3 frame jab. the MP and HP stages are also special cancelable. It should also be noted that the second hit of the MP stage can whiff and the HP followup will still come out.
It must be stressed that while this Target Combo is great in terms of ease of use and the damage it causes, the user should use Ibuki's other links when possible. Primarily those starting with MP as they do less scaling and more overall damage. Being too far will result in far LP, a move which is unable to initiate Target Combo 4 and instead works for Target Combo 5, another less useful target combo.
Street Fighter IV[]
Target Combo 4 is part of Ibuki's bread and butter combos. It was buffed in the final update so that the medium punch variant better hits low Hurtbox characters such as Blanka when he is crouching (he was infamous for making said hit whiff despite the successful initial connection). It is useful for point blank punishes due to Ibuki's three frame startup on her jab and helps against Armor as, while Ibuki's jab doesn't break it, the followups come out extremely quickly meaning Ibuki will quickly rack up the amount of hits to break. The medium and hard endings are special cancelable which is useful as both Neck Breaker and Tsumuji can be used off this and starts Ibuki's vortex.
It is recommended that Ibuki players still learn her Link combos, especially those starting with medium punch (her most positive normal on hit and block) as they will usually lead to higher overall damage than what this Target Combo will allow. Link Combos are a lot less restrictive in terms of Proximity Attack range than this target combo meaning they can be more reliable in some instances. Depending too much on Target Combo 4 can make Ibuki players both leave a lot of damage on the table and not Punish certain unsafe tactics due to range.
Street Fighter X Tekken[]
This attack is very similar to the IV incarnation. In this game the Ibuki player must hold forward on the directional pad while the medium punch is Input after the close light punch or else Ibuki will be using the Cross Rush mechanic. While the Cross Rush mechanic looks very similar to the Target Combo mechanic it in general does much less damage and is unsafe on block. Attacks that could be special canceled normally (like her Medium Kick) need meter to cancel into while this Target Combo is +1 on block. Furthermore this attack can be special canceled without meter at the expense of not being able to finish the sequence on hit or block into the Launcher.
It is still more recommended (even more so in this game) that Ibuki players learn her Link combos. While they are more difficult they do not have the scaled Cross Rush damage or the restrictions of this Target Combo and can both be ended with the automatic launcher or any of her special attacks, which can be useful with Kazekiri to Switch Cancel the opponent in with an attack that does 150 damage compared to her 50 damage auto launcher when the player doesn't want to bring Ibuki back in but do maximum damage.
Trivia[]
- In the III games, Ibuki has a unique sprite for the final hit. In the IV games (and Street Fighter X Tekken due to using the same models) Ibuki reuses the hitting portion of her crouching hard punch for the final hit.
- Her SFV equivalent Shinten uses her standing hard punch for the finale.
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