Arguably the most popular fighting game available Tekken 7 is one of the few examples of a title rising in popularity as it grows older, through passionate developer and community support. A series housing a multitude of iconic characters Tekken has a rich and deep history of both a passionate fanbase and an ever-growing roster. Rivaling even the titular main character of the series, Heihachi Mishima, Paul Phoenix is one of the most recognizable figures from the legacy fighting game series. From his patriotic character design to his outlandish hair cut, Paul is the most interestingly unique design in Tekken, a game filled to the brim with Ancient Ogres, Boxing Kangaroos, and Robotic Fighters.
In a game with as many difficult to master and execution heavy characters, Paul stands at the top as one of the most difficult. Right beside the Mishima family in his execution, Paul requires a firm knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses to excel with. Although possessing some incredible weapons, Paul can be used at low levels quite effectively. His real strength comes when mastering his particular fighting style. From his incredibly high damage attacks to his high skill ceiling, Paul is a fan-favorite character in the legacy fighting game for a reason.
Paul Phoenix at a Glance in Tekken 7
Paul represents an interesting niche within Tekken 7. A high damage poking character, Paul excels at controlling the mid-range fight like none other. With a wide variety of long-reaching moves, Paul excels at keep out and whiff punishing. Playing Paul Phoenix means you are out playing your opponent and thinking one step ahead of them.
Alongside Brian Fury, Paul is one of the few “back sway” characters. An archetype that possesses the technique to move their character model backward performing a head bob style maneuver. From this stance, Paul has a variety of options. As mentioned Paul plays the mid-range fight extraordinarily well, with a variety of high burst damage pokes. He certainly is not a bad rush down style character he is not the perfect character to fit that archetype. Prone to side-stepping Paul requires a keep away style which exploits overly aggressive players.
The Death Fist in Tekken 7
Paul’s iconic attack is his powerful “death fist” punch attack. Providing one of the highest damage attacks for a signal hit, Paul’s death fist is a must to utilize in order to master the character.
This Death Fist is “death” on the block, meaning if your enemy blocks the Mid hitting move than you will eat a high damage combo in return. The Death Fist embodies what Paul is as a character, a high-risk high reward powerhouse. Given the Death Fist’s unsafe nature you may ask yourself, how am I going to get mileage out of this move? The answer is relatively simple and will be a common philosophy in Paul’s gameplan.
The Death Fist is performed by doing a quarter circle motion and pressing 2, the triangle button on PS4 and Y button on Xbox. This move provides a far-reaching mid attack that cranks out massive damage on your enemy. But given its unsafe nature how do we use it efficiently. Simply put it can be an excellent whiff punish tool. Using some of Paul’s other powerful neutral tools than backing away from your opponent will lead them to want to react to your style. This is where the Death Fist becomes deadly. As they whiff their counter-attack you can time the Death Fist to punish their attempted offense.
Using the move as a powerful neutral tool provides two main uses: the first being it will increase the potency of your offense. That is once an enemy is hit by a Death Fist they will probably not one to respond to your pressure. Giving you free rein to open them up with lows or throws. It also provides one of the highest damage signal hitting moves in the game. So if you struggle with performing high damage combos this Death Fist can be a temporary supplement to compete with good players.
But it is essential that you be wise when using this move. It is incredibly high risk and if it is blocked a punish will be sent your way. But if used correctly this move makes Paul a deadly offensive powerhouse.
Mastering Movement with Paul Phoenix in Tekken 7
As mentioned before, Paul is one of the few “back sway” characters in the game. For good or bad this provides Paul a back sway motion with quarter-circle back. What this provides Paul is a decent punish for overzealous players utilizing their character’s high attacks on Paul. What it doesn’t let Paul do is the supplemental “back dash cancel” shortcut motion that most characters can use.
The easy back dash is down by a quarter-circle back then pressing the back button again. This performs a “back dash cancel” or a “Korean back dash” cancel. Unfortunately, this easier motion is not possible with Paul and forces players to master the “true” Korean back dash cancel. This motion is rather difficult even for skilled players and will require a lot of practice to master.
You may say to yourself, “I don’t need to learn this Korean back dash to be good with Paul!” And this is true, you don’t NEED it to find success with Paul. But given the previously mentioned utility of Paul’s whiff punishing Death Fist, it is an essential tool in his arsenal. Being able to quickly get in and out of an enemy’s effective range is one of Paul’s key game plans. So becoming well versed in this technique will see your Paul-effectiveness increase exponentially.
So take the time and master the maneuver in order to get the most mileage out of the flat top having, Earth defending karate master. And enjoy your time with arguably the best fighting game available now.
Tekken 7 is available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.