Additional Topic: Using Dee Jay's Focus Attack (AKA How to Turn a Shit Sandwich Into a Full-Course Meal)
Another attribute that is often criticized in Dee Jay's gameplay is his rather lackluster focus attack. Admittedly, it does have some glaring deficiencies,
such as being short in range, slow to release, and accompanied by a short and vulnerable back dash
(when canceled out of), leaving him open to heavy counterattack if he is not
careful when using it. This makes Dee Jay’s focus attack a poor offensive tool, especially when compared to
more potent versions like Fei Long’s, Akuma’s, and Gen’s. If this is the yardstick
by which you measure the Jamaican kickboxer’s focus attack, then, yes, Dee Jay
loses out compared to his SF4 counterparts. BUT, as always, it is narrow-minded
to assume that, because a tool sucks in one respect, that it is equally useless
in all others.
In fact, Dee Jay’s focus attack has a number of viable uses,
including the following:
Absorbing projectiles and heavy attacks
This is generally accomplished with an instant Focus counter
(meaning cancelling into a backward dash from it as soon as the game allows you to).
The aim here is not necessarily to crumple the opponent. Rather, the goal is
twofold. One, to reset the distance between yourself and the opponent to a
range that is more optimal to Dee Jay’s game (either by dashing forward or
backward, depending on where you are standing relative to the opponent when you
start your focus). And two – and perhaps more importantly – to build meter.
Unlike doing a special attack, Dee Jay gains super meter AND Ultra meter
whenever he focuses an incoming attack. This means that you can build both your
meters much more quickly by focus absorbing a great deal (a great strategy, given how much better Dee Jay’s damage game becomes with meter).
The flip side of this is that you have to be wary about getting hit while you still have gray damage from your focus on your life meter (which gets converted to real damage when you are hit before it is recovered). For this reason, you have to find that perfect medium between not focusing at all (and taking much longer to build up your meters) and focusing too much (thereby risking a huge health loss if you get hit before recovery). There is no easy way to describe to you when to use Dee Jay's focus attack for this purpose and when not to. Ultimately, experience will teach you the best times to do this and for what purpose. Against Guile, for example, it's a huge part of my early round play, as Guile players tend to throw lots of booms that can be absorbed for meter, and Dee Jay needs the damage potential from meter to lay down as much hurt as possible on Guile, given his fewer opportunities to break through Guile’s defense in that match.
The flip side of this is that you have to be wary about getting hit while you still have gray damage from your focus on your life meter (which gets converted to real damage when you are hit before it is recovered). For this reason, you have to find that perfect medium between not focusing at all (and taking much longer to build up your meters) and focusing too much (thereby risking a huge health loss if you get hit before recovery). There is no easy way to describe to you when to use Dee Jay's focus attack for this purpose and when not to. Ultimately, experience will teach you the best times to do this and for what purpose. Against Guile, for example, it's a huge part of my early round play, as Guile players tend to throw lots of booms that can be absorbed for meter, and Dee Jay needs the damage potential from meter to lay down as much hurt as possible on Guile, given his fewer opportunities to break through Guile’s defense in that match.
Increasing combo potential and potency
The idea here is to use the focus attack to crumple the
opponent, so that you then land your heavier attacks for greater damage. There are typically
two times you will want to do this; either as a focus cancel off a Forward Dread Kick
(to extend a combo) or to land a big combo on an opponent who whiffs from a farther
distance (giving you time to both crumple them with a Level 2 or 3 focus as a
starting hit and also dash/charge towards them for a further combo). Using the
focus attack, for example, is one of the few ways that Dee Jay can consistently land his
heavier normal attacks, such as Fierce punches. It also sets up some of his
higher damage combos (such as the double Roundhouse into Super, or his Ultra 2).
Being able to use the focus attack in this matter is a great way to increase
your combo and damage potential with only a little additional work, so it pays to learn when these options are available and to then do them consistently. Note: many combos using Dee Jay's focus
attack are included in the earlier post on maximizing Dee Jay’s combos here.
Taking Advantage of Crumple
Opportunities
While Dee Jay’s focus attack
is not great for the purpose of crumpling an opponent, it can still happen as part of your overall
focus attack strategy (particularly the counter hit version where your instant
Focus hits them just as they are attempting to attack). For this reason, you seldom will
want to be fishing for these crumple opportunities, but you SHOULD always be ready to
take advantage of them whenever they actually arise. When doing so, a couple of
things to keep in mind:
One, in most cases, you will want to dash BACK after a Focus unless it is after a very obvious slow opponent attack which you are certain will crumple them (otherwise, you risk putting yourself into a maul situation which, as mentioned, is the perfect mistake to get destroyed with Dee Jay). On those occasions where you actually counter an opponent with the focus and get a crumple, you can still use the time during the dash back to save a new charge and do either a Dread Kick or a dash forward Ultra 2 (both leading to excellent damage).
Secondly, you should be aware that certain characters may have a special move, super, or Ultra that will hit you at the end of a dash back even after a successful hit with a Focus hit that does not crumple. So be on the lookout for these and for players who know when to use them.
One, in most cases, you will want to dash BACK after a Focus unless it is after a very obvious slow opponent attack which you are certain will crumple them (otherwise, you risk putting yourself into a maul situation which, as mentioned, is the perfect mistake to get destroyed with Dee Jay). On those occasions where you actually counter an opponent with the focus and get a crumple, you can still use the time during the dash back to save a new charge and do either a Dread Kick or a dash forward Ultra 2 (both leading to excellent damage).
Secondly, you should be aware that certain characters may have a special move, super, or Ultra that will hit you at the end of a dash back even after a successful hit with a Focus hit that does not crumple. So be on the lookout for these and for players who know when to use them.
TLDR: Dee Jay's focus attack has many not-so-obvious applications, including to build meter, optimize positioning, and increase combo opportunities. Know these applications reflexively and then use them.