DBFZ/Android 18/Strategy

General Tactics

Android 18 is a relentless point character. She is one of the few characters to have a built-in set of assists with 214X, which allows her to consistently extend pressure after soft and sliding knockdowns alike. She really likes to have neutral assists due to how poor her neutral is. Because of her built-in assist, she generally doesn't need lockdown assists to get her mixups. Her stagger pressure is also decent, allowing her to regain assists and steal turns by herself. Once she knocks you down, then things really start to turn to her favor. 214H~214H makes her mixups almost invisible and covers all techs, practically guaranteeing the next hit for her. Most of your meter usage will be towards that move.

Team positioning

Point

Yes. As a pressure character Android 18 functions very well with assists. It is easier to get away with frametraps if they are expecting you to use assists to extend your blockstrings.

Mid

Decent in mid, assist improved after the most recent balance patch.

Anchor

You do not want Android 18 here. Sure, she has the most consistent metered okizeme in the game, but her poor neutral means that most of the time you won't be able to use it.

Picking Teammates

She does best with teammates that have offensive assists that can help back up her pressure game and condition the opponent to block.

Blockstrings

2L > 5L > 5LL > 2M > 5M > 5H...
2L > 5L > 5LL > 2M > 5M > 5H > 214L
2L > 5L > 5LL > 2M > 5M > 5H > 2H...

Safe normals: 2L, 5L, 5LL, 5LLL, 5M, (-6) 2S (+11) or 5S.

2H leaves 18 airborne.

Reflect proof:

5L (reflected) > slightly delayed 5M (5M jails in reflected strings if not delayed)
5L (reflected) > 5H (Only works point blank)
5L (reflected) > 5S (Ki blast can be SD'd)

Mix-up tools:

Ground support attack (214M)

...214M , 2M
...214M , IAD j.ML
...214M , IAD ▷ 2L
...214M , slightly delayed IAD j.H (Frame trap)

Will need an assist to jail the opponent in blockstun. Empty low can be fuzzy mashed. Pushes opponent away making this less effective midscreen.

Air support attack (j.214)

...2H > slightly delayed j.214M , airdash j.L
...2H > slightly delayed j.214M ▷ 2L
...2H > j.214M , airdash j.M (Cross up)
...2H > j.214M , j.H/SD (Same side)

2H adds landing recovery so it can be fuzzy guarded but it is extremely difficult. Doing j.214M immediately keeps 18's upwards momentum allowing her to cross up the opponent.

Heavy support attack (214H)

214H , 214H , delayed 2M
214H , 214H , IAD j.H
214H , 214H , delayed 236L (Command grab)

Usually done on a sliding knockdown, but can be used on very passive opponents in blockstrings. The blast 17 makes covers up the characters on screen making it near impossible to see, opponents are forced to spark or guess block.

18 has access to an unreactable command grab (236L) that she can use on knockdowns or can be ticked into off most buttons by delaying the 236L, this may require some practise to pull off consistently. 18 can tick into her medium and heavy grab alot easier then her light version and are mainly used as a knowledge check because of their slow startup. 18's j.M may not be the best in neutral but it makes up for it with its double sided hit box that makes cross ups very hard to react to if spaced out properly.

Okizeme

Okizeme guide for 18: https://docs.google.com/document/d/110BU5umD1oQgQBpMrQlL_YAd4b4tY3Iq2vCGCB49jU4/edit?usp=sharing

Tips and Tricks

Fighting Android 18

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