Heihachi Mishima is known to be the weakest of the Mishima-style characters in Tekken 7, but the game’s latest 4.20 patch has people eyeing the franchise fighter as a potential main.
With the new Heihachi buffs, many Tekken enthusiasts sought the opinion of Korean pro player Kim “JDCR” Hyun-jin. While he usually sports a deadly Dragunov in competitive tournaments, he’s always had a soft spot for the old man ever since his Tekken 5 days.
JDCR’s thoughts on the Heihachi buffs
In his review, JDCR had a lot of praise for Heihachi’s adjustments in the 4.20 patch. The tenured character had a total of ten move adjustments, including reach potential and frame advantages on-block.
Fundamental moves
JDCR admired Bandai Namco’s approach to changing Heihachi’s pressure game with improvements on key moves.
“The fact that they buffed moves like df1 and jab shows that they still understand Tekken as a game,” stated JDCR.
JDCR has always been a stickler for fundamentals, so the changes to the two moves definitely appealed to the pro player. With a longer reach, the pro demonstrated how these can now be used as go-to poking moves.
His Hammer Punch (d1) received a homing and start up (17-18 to 16-17) buff, slotting it in as a perfect follow up to blocked pokes.
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Hellsweep buff
As for combos, Hei’s first hellsweep hit (f,n,d,df,4) now grants a frame advantage of +8 frames, guaranteeing a true string with df1.
While this is a significant buff, JDCR only saw it as a simple add-on to the hellsweep game plan, for you will still have to find the right time to utilize the move to deliver a nasty follow-up.
He now has a 9-hit screw combo
With Tenma Barrage (b,f,2,3) having three fewer frames on-hit, the old man now has a 9-hit screw combo that does 69 damage. This will also increase Hei’s wall-carry potential and further develop how fast he can close out rounds.
A new WS punish
The Tekken team has also decreased the frame start-up of Quick Iron Fist (WS1) from 14-15 frames to 13-14 frames in exchange for less damage (From 20 to 17). The while-standing move can now punish slow low pokes on-block like Hei’s own d3 for a 41-damage combo.
From the video, JDCR proved that the changes are quite substantial, as he got 14 back-to-back wins on Heihachi, including one against fellow pro player Kim “CherryBerryMango” Jae-hyun.
With JDCR himself saying that Heihachi is now good with the recent buffs, we hope to see him pick the Mishima fighter in a competitive match soon.
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