- Slayer is a vampire feared for his ability to convert into massive damage on hit. Given a counter-hit or enough meter, he can easily kill the opponent from a single hit, even going as far as possessing ToD's and setups into Instant Kill due to his enormous stun output.
Slayer focuses on controlling space with his solid pokes and punish tools, which allows him to effectively land hits on opponents who are too tempted to just mash buttons on him while also being able to build up respectable presence that can allow him to pressure his foes freely. Playing both as and against Slayer is a huge mind game in its own, as Slayer can easily blow his foe up if they get careless as well as somehow dropping your defenses too carelessly, especially to throws or any other mixup tools Slayer has. Slayer can also build up a lot of stun on his opponents with said singular hits, which really ups his whiff punish game.
However, Slayer is by no means easy despite his little need for execution in regards to long combos, since he requires the ability to know your attacks' effective ranges, and the ability to read your opponent very closely. Slayer lacks solid gatlings on his normals which causes his up-close game to easily be compromised by lack of quick deft execution for his grounded offense and neutral. Not to mention his unique teleport dashes that can phase past his foe while handy for okizeme and cross-ups, limits his standard mobility and makes him quite the nitpick when it comes to his optimal attack range as his walking speed is slow. In order to combo effectively with Slayer on the ground, knowing how to link his normals into each other is crucial.
Not only that, but while Slayer has a lot of utility in his physical space control, a lot of his tools are otherwise easy to punish if used carelessly, especially since he lacks a true projectile and needs to be in an optimal range to both punish his foe and to avoid being counter hit himself. BDC (Back Dash Cancelling) with him is also no easy feat since while he can use the said backdash to maintain invincibility frames from it to transfer it into his next-cancelled action, that specific feat requires a decent amount of practice to get down for practical application.
Overall, Slayer can really force your opponent into tight spots with his effective punishing + counter hit tools which can lead into huge damage or death, though haphazard management with the gaps in his tools in mind make him rather double-edged in that aspect.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths |
Weaknesses
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- Monstrous damage and stun output from either combos or singular hit confirms
- Excellent pokes and anti-air options, provided by solid-ranged attacks and/or effective punishing tools
- Amazing Overdrives in both damage and range
- BDC and moveset contribute to a powerful mixup and frame trap game, allowing him to control neutral very well
- Does not require too much heavy execution for his one/two-hit counter options; combo execution into longer combos is a bonus
- Can restore his own life
- Not one, but two infinites!
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- Limited mobility outside of teleport dash and Dandy Step; makes it difficult to get in vs. zoning matchups as well as having a lack of a true projectile and slow walkspeed
- Grounded-pressure, mixup and combo game on the fly are below par due to limited grounded gatling options and the need to maintain space (be it a certain poking range or being risky with up close); requires the execution to link his normals together for grounded combos
- Certain options are very unsafe (on startup or on recovery) if haphazardly used outside of okizeme, respected pressure or out of the corner; easily punished with good use of instant-blocking
- BDC requires solid execution and timing to master effectively
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Unique Mechanics
Teleport Dash
Slayer has unique forward and back dashes that teleport him along the ground for a set distance and time. Slayer's forward dashes grant him invulnerability through their duration. His forward dash is able to move through an opponent and cross up. Unfortunately, unlike conventional forward dashes, he is unable to cancel his forward dash into normal moves until the dash's duration completely ends. This forces him to take a different approach to pressuring opponents.
Like other characters, Slayer can still jump out of his forward dash. However, while other characters cannot jump out of their backdashes, Slayer can. By canceling his dashes into jumps, he can end the dash early and perform a special move. If he cancels his backdash, he still retains up to 6 frames of invulnerability. This technique is called Backdash Canceling (BDC). BDC allows Slayer to always block after jumping or catch the enemy with an invincible counterhit. When used to cancel into his Bite command grab or Dead on Time overdrive, Slayer can quickly turn the tables on his opponent with an unstoppable BDC Bite or BDC Dead on Time.
If he cancels his forward dash with Forward Dash Canceling (FDC), he does not retain any invulnerability. However, FDC makes his jump travel further. It can also trick the opponent into attempting to attack. FDC is also used to execute a theoretically infinite number of Bites in a row.