Tamaki tools and gameplan

Radiance

Well-Known Member
To be honest when this character first came out, I was not interested at all. She reminded me of casserole; bland, generic, and flavorless. Eventually, the more I played her the more she just felt right. Her simplicity are her strong points. I'm not the greatest Tamaki player but nowadays if I am playing DOA6, she's the go-to character for me.

Her neutral is good but not the greatest. In comparison to the top characters she's decent enough to where she can compete up close.

5P -> i10 (high)
6p -> i12 (mid)
7p -> i11 (mid) "unsafe" - This poke is great for shutting down opponents who like to delay, free cancel strings, or punch/grab. It does however lack range. Use it to challenge.
2p -> i13 (low poke) "-1 on NH" - She has one of the quicker 2p's. If your opponent is aware that it's -1 they will challenge you. It's great for mind games and checking your opponents awareness. I occasionally like to pair this with her 46p sabaki.

Tamaki is not Kasumi and definitely not Christie. She is not going to be trying to rush you down. She has a good variety of safe strings but imo I think tamaki is one of the more telegraphed characters once you know her strings. She does however have some deep stuns that put opponents in situations where they must guess, this complements her stun/launch or stun/HC throw game.

3P -> lift stuns on CH; 5PPP is alternate variation which is complemented by pp2k (+4 low sweep on NH that tracks). 3P on CH is +29 thus she can follow up with just about whatever including her 214P fatal.

6P -> on CH this has two deep stun follow up's (and a OH); 6PP is semi-safe (-6, can be neutral thrown which can be broken) and opponent will slowly fall to the ground. 6PK tracks, unsafe (-11). Both options are great because they will cause a wall stun.

4P+K -> Excellent tracking option if you're expecting your opponent to sidestep. On CH, it forces a turn stun that leaves you +23 which is deep enough for any launcher. It's safe on block at -3 and if you catch your opponent sidestepping it fatal stuns.

P+KP -> a decent ranged tool. Both options deep stun on CH; the first followup is unsafe (-11) but +31 on hit. P+K6P. is a go-to option for safety (-6).


Tamaki's crush game is very basic. She does not have many options but the few she has are strong.

8PP -> 8P by itself will crush highs. At the same time it has a jumping status that evades lows, thus the follow up will be out low wake up kicks. The string on block is also a +1 guard break and excellent combo tool for dangerzone.

9K -> Mid kick that evades low. Works 100% of the time from my experience.

Where I believe Tamaki excels best is the mid/long range. She has excellent whiff punishing tools comparable to Momiji or Ayane, almost as good as Raidou.

3K -> ranged poking tool. i14, -7 on block, safe at max range. This also has a punch follow up that is unsafe.
4F+K -> a standalone version of 6pk followup.
46p -> Tamaki's sabaki. A mid range punch with excellent range (-6) on block. This can also be done from BT as p+k.
8k -> You're not getting much from this mid kick. It has great range, fast, and it's safe on block. On CH it causes a bounce. The most you'll get from the launch height is 3p6p.
F+k -> a high kick launcher on CH. Highly unsafe, but great whiff punish tool. PPK is alternate variation. Next to 3P+K, this is one of her highest launchers.

Typically I want to gain the advantage over my opponent in the neutral utilizing knowledge of her speed vs theirs. Knowing the neutral can help you make predictions with expert holds. Tamaki's playstyle for me is one that's very simplistic. Stun/launch until they start holding. At this point you want to begin using her damaging throws. Once I have the upper hand, I lame it out by spacing which forces my opponent to come to me (typically whiffing every tool in their inventory). This allows you to open up your opponents with her ranged pokes, scare them into pressing buttons and capitalize with her OH's.

This was sort of rushed so if I left anything out, just post it below, or post your own gameplan for how you play her. It's DoA so there truly is no one way to play a character. Just your preferred play style.
 
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