************************************
*KYO FAQ FOR KOF2K (Basic/Intermediate)*
************************************
by: FacJoe (facjoe@angelfire.com)
Version 1.2

Started: June 3 2001
Finished: June 3 2001
Revised: June 5 2001
Re-Revised: June 6 2001 (Spelling and some other stuff)

==========
DISCLAIMER
==========

Haha! You tried to nick something out of this FAQ? I'm flattered.

=============
A FEW REMINDERS:
=============

If you got your own comments about certain moves and strats mentioned here,
email them to me and tell it to me nicely. I'm accepting positive criticisms.
However, no matter how good you are, if you badmouth me right away telling me I
suck because this move doesn't suck and so and so, then I'd be the first to
point my (middle) finger on you. Respect, people. No matter how wrong or right
a person is. Also, if you got any corrections about moves' names/combos etc.
feel free to email them to me. Thanks.

Okay, first and foremost, I didn't bother to put in the bios and all the
(basic) moves here. I assume that most of the readers have read or played KOF
and have an idea of some moves used. The main reason why I wrote this FAQ is to
get rid of all the fancy stuff that Kyo offers and kinda have a little 'in your
face' game attitude where I just advice players on the things they need to know
about playing Kyo in KOF2K. Please note that all of the things written here are
my opinion and based on my gaming experience in KOF.

 ==================
 BASIC MOVES, TERMS, ETC.
 ==================

Hop: Small Jump. Done by tapping upforward/upback
dwnfwd: down+forward
f/fwd: forward
bkbk: back, back (hop backwards)
b: back
dp: dragon punch motion (f,d,f)
rdp: reverse dragon punch motion (b,d,b)
qcf: quarter-circle forward
hcb: half-circle backward
qcb: quarter-circle backward
hcf: half-circle forward
IIRC: if I remember correctly
IOW: in other words

A: Light Punch
B: Light Kick
C: Hard Punch
D: Hard Kick

===========
MOVES TO USE
===========

=======
STANDING
=======

FAR:

C: Left BackFist. Fair Damage, Fair Priority, but not really that useless.

D: New animation Hard Kick. Right Whip Kick. Hard, Fast, can be used as an
anti-air at times. (REALLY, REALLY RARE CASES!)

NEAR:

C: Good for combo starters. Good Damage. OK Priority.

D: Not as good as it's punch counterpart in terms of priority and comboablity
(most ppl tend to use Near C), but it has more damage

B: Uh, not really that good, but it hits low and if your opponent got used to
block high, you can stick in a DP+A or maybe if you're good enough, chain into
a stand C, then combo his ass off.

======
CROUCH
======

NEAR/FAR:

C: Anti-Air. Good Priority. Often used by turtles. Opponent jumps in, this is
the move to use (if you are not fast enough to do a DP+P by instinct). When
opponent becomes roll/evade-happy, use this and chain into combos.

D: Sweep. Not so good, but does the job.

df+D: Double sweep that doesn't really knock down the opponent. Leaves you at a
safe distance. Beware of 'interrupt' strikers such as Another Iori or Seth
though.

B: Poking tool. Fast, efficient, just watch out for grapplers. They'll eat you
alive. (Argentine BackBreakers from Hell, Joe Strikers everywhere)

==========
VERTICAL JUMP
==========

Uh, does anyone use verts?

===================
HORIZONTAL/OFFENSIVE JUMP
===================

dwn+C: Great Knockdown move, OK Priority, if you get lucky, you might dizzy an
opponent with this move. (When you have bombarded him with knockdown hits, and
you just need another one to make him dizzy). Good starter for
combos/pressure-type offense. Can be used as a crossup attack.

C: OK move, fair damage, priority is not something to be crazy about, but does
the damage for you. Can be used as a crossup attack.

B: Good priority, used as crossup attack. Damage is not that good though, but
nevertheless, still a good attack.

D: Uh, has bigger damage than C. Fair Priority.

===========
SPECIAL MOVES
===========

fwd+B: Axe Kick. When used alone, it sucks. When used as a pressure tool, it's
good. However, watch out for CD counter-happy/Emergency
Escape-happy/Striker-happy players.

qcf+A [ARAGAMI]: Short Range Right Punch with fire. Good Priority. Fast, can be
used as a VERY SHITTY anti-air, safe if blocked, has auto-guard. Use this to
fill up your power gauge and to pressure your opponent. Not so hot for combos
though. Use for corner juggle/tick damage.

qcf+P After Aragami [KONO KIZU]: Short Ranged, Advancing Left Uppercut with
fire. Fast, but kinda open for combos. Do not use except for combos/corner
juggles/tick damage.

hcb+P After Aragami [YANO SABI]: Overhead Attack/Left Downward Elbow with fire.
Knocks opponent down.  Slow, ugly attack. Do not use except for corner juggles.

P After Kono Kizu/Yano Sabi [MIGIRI UGACHI]: After Kono Kizu, this move has the
same animation and function as the Yano Sabi attack. However, it is faster but
still recovers like shit. No good use except for corner juggles/tick damage.
After the Yano Sabi, it's a right punch on the face of the opponent after you
have knocked him down. Good for corner juggles/tick damage.

K After Kono Kizu/Yano Sabi [NANA SE]: Jumping, Lunging Left Kick. After the
Kono Kizu, this is a good ender for a combo. Plus, if you got Another Iori as
your striker, you can end your opponent's life once you use this in a corner
juggle. After the Yano Sabi, it's an utterly useless attack. If blocked, you
are in major shithole of trouble.

qcf+C [DOKU GAMI]: Best Punch combo starter for Kyo. Turning Left Hook with
fire. Has auto-guard, Distance is great. Use for combos, pressure, tick damage
and to fill up your gauge. Safe if blocked.

hcb+P After Doku Gami [TSUMI YOMI]: Right Gut Punch with fire. FAIRLY safe if
blocked. Used for combos, fill up gauge, tick damage, pressure.

fwd+P After Tsumi Yomi [BATSU YOMI]: Ender for Hard Punch combo. Right Shoulder
Ram with fire. Do not use if Tsumi Yomi is blocked. For ticking away last bit
of life only.

DP+A  [ONI YAKI]: Elbow Shoryuken with Fire. High priority anti-air. Has
Auto-guard. Knocks opponent down. Do not use the C Version. Not so safe if
blocked.

RDP+K [R.E.D. KICK]: Some sorta ButterFly Kick. B Version is used most of the
time for juggle enders.Hops over fireballs, destroys turtles. Fairly Safe if
blocked. Use D Version for Fireball- happy idiot opponents or for
striker-accompanied combos. Good Damage. Good for dizzying opponents, and at
times, going over low fireballs.

QCF+D,D [#75 SHIKI KAI]: Right Kick, Left Kick Juggle Starter. No good use
except for juggles. Sucky damage, but for a juggle-starter, it does the job. Do
not use the B version. It's only used for show-off combos.

HCB+K [HIKIGANE]: Kyo's 'cool' new move. B version (Hop, turn, Flaming Left
Gut/Uppercut punch) is said to hop over fireballs and have some frames of
invincibility. Use as a juggler after QCF+D,D ANYWHERE  in the screen (but it's
more preferable if it's a corner juggle). Has more range than D version. Good
damage.

The D version (Left Standing, Flaming UpperCut Punch) is suppossedly an
anti-air, but with more frames of invincibility. Other than it looks cool and
offers decent damage, I really don't see much of a use for it, except in
Counter-Mode combos. Oni Yaki is still a better option. Note: from Hebretto: It
is said that you can follow up hcb+B with hcb+D in the corner even when NOT in
Counter Mode. Try this out: Note Again: I have confirmed this, and yes, HCB+D
follows up to hcb+B when done in corner. However, you cannot follow up with any
other move unless you are in Counter Mode. This combo looks cool.

QCB+P [NUE TSUMI]: Kyo's gay counter move. Not much use, but it's worth a try.
Comboable, but that's it. No more follow-ups. Agh, if I were u, I wouldn't use
this move. I just put it here for kicks.

==============
DESPERATION MOVES
==============

QCB, HCF+P [OROCHINAGI]: Flame Blast. Same ol' thing. Useful for juggles if you
want mucho damage right away. Fair range.

QCFx2+P [182 SHIKI]: Left Flaming Punch/Galactica Phantom Lite (It really is.
Look at Ralf's GP DM, and shorten it's range and lower it's damage). Anti-Air.
Chargeable up to 4 seconds IIRC. Can also be a juggle ender in corner. Almost
same damage as Orochinagi. Unblockable if fully charged. Better than it's 99
Punch DM counterpart. Suckier compared to 98 Mu Shiki DM in terms of damage.
Range sucks.

QCB, HCF+AC [SDM OROCHINAGI]: Same DM, More hits, More range, More Damage, 3
Stocks Required. Same ol' thing. Cool 'Negative Background' animation.


===========
 COMBOS TO USE
===========

CASES:

1. No DM, Need Good Damage, Not going for dizzy, Wants to fill up Power Gauge,
Not in corner:

Stand C, qcf+C, hcb+P, P

Or

Stand C, qcf+DD, hcb+B, qcf+A

2. No DM, Need Good Damage, Going for dizzy. Anywhere. Want to take down
opponent:

Stand C, qcf+DD, rdp+B

3. Started a low combo:

Crouch B, Crouch B, Crouch A, df+D

4. DM Ready. Good Damage. Anywhere.

Stand C, qcf+DD, Orochinagi DM/SDM

5. Corner Combo. No DM Ready. Want Mucho Damage. Want to take down opponent.
Not willing to be risky. Not going for dizzy.

Stand C, qcf+DD, qcf+A, hcb+P, P (Hey, this is just easy. Practice it)

6. Near Corner/Corner Combo. Willing to be Risky. Mucho Damage. DM or No DM
Ready.

Stand C, qcf+DD, hcb+B, [qcf+A, qcf+P, K]/[rdp+B]/[182 Shiki DM-A version] (the
hcb+B must hit as early as possible in order for the DM to hit)

7. Pressure Combo. Anywhere. Fills up Gauge. Mind games available.

[(After Opponent is knocked down and upon waking up) Jump C]--> (Optional
Portion), Stand C, fwd+B-->(Optional Portion), qcf+C,
hcb+P-->(Optional portion),dp+A/df+D should the opponent try to attack
immediately.

One good set-up is this: Do the aformentioned combo slightly pause after the
qcf+C, then, if the opponent attacks, chain the qcf+C into the hcb+P, P since
it would hit the opponent and the remaining 2 attacks would chain. (Thanks to
EndleSS for this tip)

8. So, you're really good, eh?

Stand/crouch B or A, stand C --> follow-up with any combo of choice.

===============
 COMPATIBLE STRIKERS
===============

Another Iori, Joe, Benimaru...

Actually, it's up to you to determine who you'll use as striker. I just happen
to use these two often. Other oftenly used strikers include: Seth, Yamazaki,
Kasumi. My advice would be, try to pick a striker that would be compatible to
all the 3 players you are using.

=============
WHAT TO DO WHEN:
=============

1. Opponent is Block Happy
-Pressure these fools to fill up your gauge. Most likely, they'll use CD
counters or emergency escapes once they have a stock. Watch out for strikers
too, as they might "lure" you into attacking them and then wait and call their
strikers to whip up their own offense. Play up close, but with caution. Striker
system halts offense. (Well, for strikers like Another Iori and Seth)

2. Opponent is Offensive Type
-if he is the "jumpy" offensive type, anti-air, if you think you can counter
his jump-in attack. If you have a gauge and you think the dude is hell-bent on
pressuring you, use an emergency escape to roll past him and combo him. You can
use CD counters too. Use strikers, but not to often if you want to suddenly
shift the momentum to your side. (i.e. Opp. is comboing you, call Another Iori,
roll past him then jump CD, or Orochinagi)

Word:

* Lin - if he goes into countermode, watch out for his crouching B. Infinite
combo if he catches you in the corner. Also, if you know you blocked his attack
correctly, but you still got hit, shake your head and shrug it away. Your
faggot opponent is using Lin's unblockable normal moves attack.

* Vanessa - watch out for a far standing C. Infinite combo if she catches you
anywhere.

* Seth - watch out for his counter. Avoid being comboed. He is strong.

3. Opponent is a Rabbit
-Most rabbits (IOW: opponent who jumps all over the screen) are
priority-dependent. For example, you got one Clark user as your opponent, and
he mindlessly jumps all over the screen with a hopping D, thinking that they'd
beat you because of the gay priority of their move. In this case, just do an
anti-air, once he gets the hang of over-jumping (is that a word?). Beware of
jump baits, though (i.e. Clark does a small hop, you do an anti-air. Turns out
that his hop is just a bait to lure you into attacking him). If you want to go
head to head with them, I suggest you use jump, dwn+C as your offense. It's the
best tool you've got. Catch them with a low-starting combo every now and then.
Do not be pissed off with them. Do not attack hastily. Wait for them to come to
you. Strikers can be a good option to, you just have to time them either as
soon as they are beginning to jump, or they are coming down from jumping.

4. Opponent is a Turtle
-Do not jump over them or roll past them. It's futile. They'd just use an
anti-air (pretty much like Kyo's crouching C) or poke you, if you roll. Best
option is try to cautiously approach them and pressure them to stand up. qcf+C
is a good move since it has auto-guard and it covers a good range. Be patient.
Then, once you have done considerable amount of damage, you do the turtling.
MUWAHAHAHAHA! (jk) Hops are preferred for these types of opponent. Use dwn+C as
offense when hopping so that if they really have a high-assed priority
crouching move, you'd have, at least, the benefit of trading hits with them.
And the dwn+C does considerable damage.

5. Opponent is a Chicken
-Most of these guys roll backwards or jump backwards with high-priority moves
once they have done damage to you. Be patient. Check their rolling/jumping
habits. Guys like these tend to be nervous everytime you come close to them. If
they roll past you, be a turtle and combo his arse off. If he keeps on jumping,
do an anti-air. Even if the time is winding down, be patient and don't
mindlessly do DMs/SDMs hoping for tick damage. (That is, unless of course, you
know that the tick damage you will inflict will be enough and will be long
enough for the round to be through once you've stopped ticking him: i.e. His
life is just more than yours by a couple of energy and it's 5 seconds before
time over. Check the distance and do an SDM Orochinagi. If luck is on your
side, you'd win by timeover.)

6. Opponent is a Grappler
-One of the more fearsome opponents and cheapest (because of Joe striker). It's
best to do offensive attacks. IMO, grapplers are over-powered in 2K because of
the striker system. Dish out huge damage pronto. You got a DM? Do the standard
combo, stand C, qcf+DD, Orochinagi. Good thing that most grapplers don't have
good anti-airs. With Hinako, you don't have to worry much about being jumpy
(unless of course, she has a DM and uses her throw DM to catch you in the air).
However, watch out for low starting combos. Hinako can take away much more
damage than Ramon with just a single combo. With Ramon, be very careful about
his throw DM too. Takes away huge damage. Faster than Hinako. If he goes into
counter mode, watch out for a standing A near the corner. Infinite combo.

With Mary, you gotta be careful cos she also has a counter. Watch out for her
Straight Slicer (b, f+K) move too, if she appears to be backing away from you.
Watch out for her unblockable throw DM and high-priority jumping D.

Ralf and Clark: Gay if paired with Joe. Too cheap (but hey, I use 'em too!)
Avoid the Backbreaker. Jump and attack. Pressure them to death. Watch out for
wake-up mind games.

7. Opponent is Striker-Dependent
-Bait these dudes into using their strikers. Most of them call strikers once
you got near them and started comboing. It's best that you use throws, but
sparingly, since the throw break in 2K is in favor of the one who broke the
throw (knocks the thrower down). Guys like these can't do shit without
strikers. Also, if they taunt in hopes to regain a striker stock, combo their
ass off. Now, if only Kyo had a command throw like Clark or Iori, life would be
a lot easier when fighting these types of players…

8. Opponent is Fireball-happy
-At beginning of the round, walk toward him. Combo once you have avoided their
fireball. Most guys like these go hand-in-hand with Striker-dependent type of
players. Once you roll past them, they'd call in a striker. Do the
aforementioned solutions above for these types of player. Jump with caution.
Roll with caution. Do not be too hasty. Their tick damage isn't really that
great (unless it's down the wire)

I have no advice for you if you are really fighting a good KOF player. It will
just boil down to who is better and who has more 'tricks' up his sleeve. Also,
a word for regarding strikers. I used to hate them too. But accept that they
are part of the game. Use them wisely. And hey, you've got to admit that
striker-made combos are good
*coughcoughexceptforgaygrapplerClark/Ralf+JoeStrikermadecomboselcheapocoughcough*

===============
SOME (CHEAP) COMBOS
===============

With Striker Joe:

(Anywhere on screen, but preferably not on corner)
-Stand C, qcf+C, hcb+C(Joe), run a little bit forward, 182 Shiki/Orochinagi.

(Corner, opponent's life is full/IOW: T.O.D.)
-Stand C, qcf+DD, R.E.D. Kick, Joe, repeat from start.
- you only need 2 Joes to dizzy your opponent and finish off your opponent with
the same combo.

(Corner, opponent's life is full, MAX Power Gauge, Kinda hard, though)
-Stand C, qcf+DD, hcb+B, R.E.D. Kick, Joe, Repeat from the start, but replace
R.E.D. Kick with SDM Orochinagi.

With Striker Another Iori:

(Anywhere, preferably not on corner)
-stand C, qcf+C, hcb+C(Iori), roll forward, Orochinagi
-stand C, qcf+C, hcb+C(Iori), move forward a little bit, then as Iori does his
2nd hit do qcf+DD (by this time, opponent must be in  corner),[hcb+B, qcf+A,
qcf+P]/[Orochinagi]/[182 Shiki].

With Benimaru Striker (corner; TOD):
-stand C, qcf+DD, hcb+B, hcb+D (fast), call Benimaru, roll backwards, qcf+DD,
hcb+B, hcb+D...up to how many strikers you've got. (from Hebretto)

==================
 COUNTER MODE COMBOS:
==================

(near corner/corner)
-Stand C, qcf+DD, hcb+B cancelled into Orochinagi DM.
-Stand C, qcf+DD, hcb+B, hcb+D cancelled into 182 Shiki DM.
-Crouch B, crouch A, qcf+DD --> you know the drill.
-Jump C, Hop C, stand A, fwdfwd stand A (3 times) qcf+DD, [qcf+A (pause:
early)]-->(Optional), qcf+A qcf+P K cancelled into 182 Shiki DM.
-Crouch B, crouch A, qcf+DD --> Any other follow up for qcf+DD.

==========
 FINAL NOTES
==========

In attacking, what do I use, hop or jump?
-Hop. Faster, better, safer.

Armor Mode or Counter Mode?
-It depends on your preferences or who you are playing against. You want to
combo? Use counter mode. You want to be a walking fortress or snuff
high-priority jumping attacks? Use Armor mode.

Other Notes:

-Practice makes perfect.
-Do not be sore once you lose. Even against cheapos.
-Limit your arcade expenses.
-Don't be addicted to the game.
-Don't forget your studies.
						=======
						 CREDITS
						=======


-Gamefaqs for hosting this faq.
-weis' Vanessa FAQ for the info about Vanessa's infinite combo 
-hebretto for the hcb+D info.
-I forgot, but the dude who divulged Lin's unblockable bug at Neo-Geo.com
(There's a thread about it at KOF section)-IIRC, it's Professor(?)
-Oro for the tips
-EndleSS for the tips
-Gunsmith for what-not/ON.com (it's alive! it's alive!)
-KOF FAQ writers-my references when I was a budding KOF player
-uh, various KOF FAQs at Gamefaqs for move's names (TMTM)
-Arcades everywhere
-People who beat me up in a KOF session
-People who I beat up in a KOF session
-SNK for the game
-Kyo Kusanagi  (and other characters mentioned here as well) is SNK's character
for their game, King of Fighters 2000.