Throws

Forward throw

• Good for keeping the corner
• Decent damage
• Bad Oki (can't get a meaty back+MK)

Neutral throw

• Mash throw
  • Good damage when your opponent is bad at mashing (and you can mash pretty well yourself)
  • Otherwise mediocre damage
• Best Oki, you can do most of your options except taunt

Back throw

• Great corner carry
• No Oki if you throw them full screen (unless they miss the quickrise)

Standing Normals

LP

• Useful for stuffing dashes, part of some Shoryu confirms
• Multiple LPs is good against jump-in parry

MP

• Far:
  • Great confirm to super
  • Plus on hit or block
  • Decent anti-air or anti UOH or hop-kicks
• Close
  • Part of your target combo
  • Plus
  • Best punish option on many occasions because of double DP
  • Lots of mixups - see Oki

HP

• Far:
  • Decent anti-air, better against some characters, notably Dudley
  • Wins trades against mediums and lights
• Close:
  • Good as an anti-air when you buffer in a late special vs parries
  • Starts your best punish combos
  • Useful on oki

LK

• Slightly plus, good for tick throws and not much else

MK

• Decent anti-air / UOH / hop-kick
• Pretty good range and pretty fast
• Punishable on block, but also parry bait

HK

• Great spacing tool
• (Mostly) safe
• Does a lot of damage, especially after taunt
• High-parry only

Crouching Normals

LP

• Part of some Shoryu confirms
• Multiple LPs is good against jump-in parry
• Chains into other lights
• Your crouch tech button

MP

• Great super confirm! (learn this one first)
• Lots of mix-ups - see Oki
• Good "priority": the hitbox comes out before the hurtbox, so stuffs a lot of moves
  • That's why it's sometimes called emperor punch
• Very plus
• Best normal to whiff when building meter
• High and low parry though

HP

• Situational anti-air
• Also has a hitbox low to the ground in front of Ken
• Can stuff some attacks pretty well, mostly good against Dudley/Urien/Oro/Hugo when you buffer super behind it

LK

• Main low confirm into super and DP
• Good for tick throws
• Slightly plus

MK

• Best poke
• Whiff punish tool
• Occasionally good as a meaty
• Only unsafe vs certain supers, and even then it's hard and risky to punish
• Great for DED OS

HK

• Ken's sweep, knocks down
• VERY unsafe - make sure your opponent gets hit if you try using this
• Less unsafe at max range
• Best normal for punishing far away, i.e.: Urien anti-air fireball

Command Normals

Towards MK

• Not very good, punishable on block by some chars
• Not worth using

Back MK

• 2 hit overhead that confirms to super, good oki tool
  • The confirm is a 1 frame link, but it gets way easier if you piano it
  • Some player can react to this nearly every time
  • Can get red parried

Towards HK

• Very slow overhead, completely reactable
• Links to super on crouching hit (1 frame link)
• You can hold it for a feint
• Not worth using
  • Not worth using the feint either for that matter