Tag Combo (タッグコンボ, Taggukonbo^?) is a mechanic in the Tekken series exclusive to Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2, which involves combining both characters of the team in a single airborne combo.

Moves that can initiate a Tag Combo have no official name, but are collectively called by the community "tag bufferable moves".

Description

Introduced in the original Tekken Tag Tournament, a Tag Combo is executed by tapping the tag button (notated as 5) during a tag bufferable move - typically a move that launches the opponent. If the move connects on hit, the current character switches mid recovery with their tag partner, enabling the tag partner to continue the airborne combo. If the move connects on block or misses, the tag buffer input is ignored, and the current character stays on screen.

While most tag bufferable moves require the player to buffer the tag button input prior to the active frames, some moves allow tagging during recovery frames, resulting in delayed tagging.

After a Tag Combo is successfully initiated, any hits added to the following combo will not add recoverable red health to the opponent's health bar, unlike a standard airborne combo.

Tag bufferable moves can be used an unlimited number of times in a single airborne combo, allowing the player to extend combos further or switch characters safely.

A mechanic deriving from Tag Combo is the Great Combo, available only to specific character pairings (e.g Jin and Asuka, or Baek and Hwoarang). The on-screen character must tag buffer a specific move, resulting in the tag partner tagging in and entering a special stance with unique extensions.

Tekken Tag Tournament

Certain tag bufferable moves do not launch on normal hit, e.g Lee Chaolan's Silver Heel, which only launches on Counter Hit, and leaves the opponent in a standing state on normal hit.

Certain tag bufferable moves change properties when a tag button input is buffered, e.g: Jin Kazama's Rising Uppercut/Wind God Fist and Electric Wind God Fist, which launch the opponent higher, and become special mid attacks instead of high attacks, while EWGF also results in less pushback and different opponent reaction on block.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

In a character's move list, tag bufferable moves are now marked with a red icon containing two arrows pointing in opposite directions.

The tag out animations during tag bufferable moves have been universally sped up, allowing for much larger combo opportunities universally compared to the original Tekken Tag Tournament.

While initiating a Tag Combo still stuns the opponent's health bar from gaining recoverable red health, using a Tag Assault disables this effect.

Gallery

Tekken Tag Tournament

Law and Paul performing a Tag Combo

Yoshimitsu and Kunimitsu performing a Tag Combo

Jin and Heihachi performing a Tag Combo

Lee and Kazuya performing a Tag Combo

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Steve and Law initiating a combo with a tag buffer

Devil Jin and Kazuya utilizing a tag buffer mid-combo

Dragunov and Armor King utilizing Tag Combo and Tag Assault simultaneously

Jinpachi and Ogre utilizing two tag buffers in a combo

Trivia

• In the original Tekken Tag Tournament, pairing Kazuya with Devil causes them to become one entity; only one of them is visible at a time during intro poses and win poses, and using normal tag results in a transformation from Kazuya to Devil and vice versa. This, in turn, disables most tag mechanics, such as Tag Combo, Tag Throw, and Tag Quick Roll.^[1]
  • Conversely, in the home console releases of Tekken Tag Tournament, pairing Kazuya with Angel instead shows them as separate entities, and will not impose any tag mechanic restrictions. This was not the case in the arcade version, however, as pairing these two characters automatically replaces Angel with Devil.
• Chapter 5 of Fight Lab mode teaches the player about the tag system, including how to utilize a Tag Combo.

References