All Street Fighter V: Champion Edition players have struggled against Akuma at some point.

The character is considered S-tier by the majority of the SFV community and even pros like Victor “Punk” Woodley consider Akuma to be in a class of his own.

So how do you deal with him? Here are three quick tips that will help you get the upper hand.

3. Space him out

Be a bit more defensive-minded when going up against Akuma. Trading blows against a glass-cannon will quickly put you at a life deficit. So make sure to keep an eye out for Akuma’s crouching heavy punch, which often comes with follow-up buttons that can land on unsuspecting enemies. Players can back dash right after it, but be careful with Akuma’s V-Trigger activation, since this can be used to chase after you when you back dash.

Remember, Akuma’s standing heavy punch isn’t safe on block. You can land punishing combos when your opponent mistimes a crush counter attempt.

2. Punish his air attacks

Akuma players love to apply pressure from different angles with their multitude of air attacks and will often try to throw their air fireballs outside of their regular jump range, to avoid dragon punches or anti-air attacks.

But if you’re prepared, you can time your forward or backward movement to throw your opponent’s spacing off.

Make sure to stop his Demon Flip shenanigans as well. You can use neutral jumps, anti-air attacks, and instant air-to-air attacks to stop the Demon Flip. By taking away this special move, Akuma will be much easier to read on the ground.

1. Pick Abigail

If you’re really struggling against Akuma, just switch to Abigail as he has all the tools you need to easily counter him.

Since Akuma is such an offensive character, Abigail can easily catch him with a command parry into a wake-up setup. Abigail’s anti air can also easily nullify Akuma’s aerial attacks.

Make sure to use Abigail’s long range pokes to get quick and easy damage that could deter Akuma from moving forward. Abigail’s long range normals can also be used to punish Akuma’s teleport escapes.

Another thing Abigail has going for himself in the Akuma matchup is his large hit box. Akuma’s target combos work differently on Abigail, since some of his air fireball setups won’t link like it would to characters with normal hit boxes.

Need more help with this matchup? Just watch Marcus “THE COOL KID93” Redmond absolutely demolish Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi’s Akuma, which is widely considered to be the best in the world.

The 3 best ways to counter Akuma in Street Fighter V

3. Space him out

2. Punish his air attacks

1. Pick Abigail