Overview
The resident geezer with a cleaver, Kliff works pretty well at any range closer than half a screen away. He can confirm into his combos incredibly easily, knock down without any trouble, and do OTG pickups in corner carry combos without meter. He has three good lows, an instant overhead, and one of the hardest standing dusts to see coming in the game. His 6P, Charged 2H, Force Break Chop, and 6H can all do enough dizzy damage to get an opponent seeing birds within a matter of seconds.
On the flip side, using 5D puts Kliff closer to being stunned, and the higher this value, the higher the chance that Dodge will fail and leave Kliff extremely vulnerable. Kliff on offense is very strong, but must play smart when on the defensive, as his most potent tools could end up backfiring and costing him the game.
Kliff Undersn Huge risk and huge reward, Kliff Undersn is a big range, easy damage machine, with a focus on an ability to stun opponents incredibly easily at the risk of screwing things up for himself.
- Obscene damage output with meter: 70% combos and even TODs are on the field once Kliff scores 25% meter or more.
- Enormous Range: Incredibly long reaching hitboxes which can poke or even mix up from nearly an entire screen away.
- High corner carry: Kliff can put opponents in the corner very easily, even off of stray hits.
- Myriad of mixup tools: Fuzzies, IADs, and plummet FRC give Kliff some unusual overhead opportunities.
- Braindead easy oki/meaties: 236P is active for nearly half a second and is always plus, giving Kliff laughably easy oki setup.
- Small, floaty target: Low profile tools, tiny hurtbox, and floaty jumps can make it very easy for Kliff to avoid setups or offense.
- Stuns with the snap of the finger: Can have the opponent dizzy in a single setup, ready to kill them from full health.
- Horrid mobility: One of the slowest set of dashes in the game. Must either wavedash, drill, or Nape Saddle to cover ground, all of which carry risks.
- Large hurtboxes on bigger normals: Many of Kliff's powerful long range buttons can be easily counter poked and counterhit.
- Very Telegraphed: Despite his useful overhead tools, Kliff's lows and throw can be extremely easy to see coming, and Kliff must be as tricky as possible.
- Risky defensive options: No reliable reversal or even Dead Angle means that Kliff must either hold the pressure or roll the dice.
- Takes a lot of damage: Poor guts and defense modifier means one mistake can spell doom.
- Floatiness: Excessive airtime can make defense and escape a nightmare, as well as prevent the use of otherwise universal defensive options: e.g. Air IB > land > Throw.
- Gets stunned easily, makes it worse for himself: Tied for the lowest dizzy resistance in the game, can raise his own stun level, and this can make his defensive tools backfire.
Many of Kliff's moves raise his stun level or are affected by it.
Kliff is capable of stunning opponents within a single combo with his high damage and moves with very high base damage and high dizzy modifiers (Such as 6P and 6H). Several moves have varying interactions with his and the opponent's stun level, so that using these moves involved becomes a large consideration of risk vs reward.
- 5D is a strong dust that is safe on block, but it raises Kliff's own stun level on each use.
- Two Steps Forward is a dodge that is strike invincible for its entire duration. However, each use increase's Kliff's stun level and increases the chance that the next use of this move will cause Kliff to throw out his back, leaving him free for the opponent to punish.
- FB Hellish Charge has an offensive dizzy modifier of x119, but it is extremely slow, can only be combo'd into in very specific situations, and has a horrible recovery time. It is also not guaranteed to stun the opponent in a combo based on the opponent's stun resistance, and may not work if the opponent was recently stunned already.
All of these moves can contribute to Kliff's style of Russian Roulette. Though he can be difficult to manage defensively, Kliff is capable of dizzying and TOD'ing opponents with no prior interaction, making matches very volatile and cementing Kliff's role as
the glass cannon.