Frame Advantage
Frame advantage is the concept of who is free to act first after an interaction.
This is most commonly brought up after blocking an attack; who can act first - the attacker or defender? Frame Advantage has the answer! A negative value means the defender can act first, and a positive value means the attacker can act first. The value shows exactly how many frames one character can move before the other.
- Ex: Frame Advantage -5 means the defender is free to move 5 frames before the attacker.
- Ex: Frame Advantage +2 means the attacker can move 2 frames before the defender.
Each character's Full Frame Data page shows both the Frame Advantage when an attack is blocked. Air attacks don't have Frame Advantage listed since that value is heavily influenced by when the attacker lands after an attack.
Frame advantage assumes that the attack connects as soon as possible against a standing/crouching opponent, and that the attacker does not cancel the attack into anything else.
For more information on using frame data see here.
Use Active Parter Skill to Punish Cross Burst
Since Cross Burst has super flash startup, attackers can react to it with an Active Partner Skill (usually 4P) to punish it. The attacker will get hit by the Cross Burst, the incoming opponent will get hit by the Active Partner Skill, and the attacker gets to start a new combo on the new opponent!
Of course this requires that attackers save an Active Partner Skill specifically to counter Cross Burst and not use it to extend combos or blockstrings. Players need to make tactical decisions on whether to save their Cross Gauge and not use Partner Skills to make their combo Burst-safe or to sacrifice Burst safety to make stronger mixups.
Active Change Mixup
Since this changes who is point character almost immediately, you can create left/right mixups with Active Change by sandwiching the opponent between you and your partner. Do an attack with your point character, then immediately Active Change - the opponent now needs to block in the other direction!
By positioning your two characters correctly, you can also make some mixups safe against Reversal Actions by having your point character do a high/low/throw, then immediately Active Change - if the opponent Reversal Actions, then your former point character will get hit, but your new point character is out of range and can punish!
Input Buffer
Advanced Input
Hold an attack button to repeat the button input every frame for up to 4 frames. This will make difficult links are easier to do -- hold the button a little early and that 1F link usually becomes a 4F link!
Inputting a run within 4F of returning to neutral (such as near the end of an attack's recovery, blockstun, wakeup, etc.) will also have the same effect; regardless of any directional inputs after that, your character will begin running as soon as recovery ends! The same principle can be applied to backdash and airdashes.
Advanced Input makes timing things as fast as possible easier, and is even better when buffering both an attack and a run. The attack will activate as soon as possible while sliding forward! This technique is useful for linking together combos as well as punishing things after blocking. In fact, some combos rely on Advanced Input to work.
Super Flash Buffer
Some attacks briefly pause the game to make the startup of the attack more dramatic. This is known as Super Flash or Super Freeze.
When the opponent does an attack with super flash, commands inputted during super flash will be executed immediately after super flash ends.
Players often use this to execute an invincible attack (such as Reversal Action or super) to counter the opponent's super. This is because supers usually have a bit of startup even AFTER the super flash, which allows the defender to input an attack of their own risk-free!
Attacks with super flash list their startup values as:
startup pre-flash + (super flash duration) + startup post-flash
Ex: an attack with startup 5+(90 Flash)+5 has 5 frames of startup, then 90F super flash, then hits the opponent after 5 more frames for a total of 10 frames of startup.
- Supers With No Startup After Super Flash
Some attacks are special: they have no additional startup after the super flash. Super Flash Buffer is useless against these attacks - you can think of the super flash as just a formality, the attack has already become active!
Tager's Super Throw (Genesic Emerald Tager Buster
GuardThrowStartup10+(28 Flash)+0Recovery41Advantage-) is a prime example of this; you must already have some way to avoid Tager's Super Throw BEFORE the super flash or else it will be too late. You can identify such attacks in the frame data by looking at their startup post-flash, which should be 0.
Air Dash Option Select
j.5A+B will do a forward air dash, with forward defined by the direction the character is facing. During a High Jump, characters will automatically turn to face the opponent! Players can use these two properties to their advantage by using it againt an opponent's Recovery - regardless of whether they move behind or in front of you during their Recovery, you can always air dash towards them to keep close to them for Okizeme.
Throw Escape Option Selects
Due to there being several button combination actions in the game, it's possible to press three or even four buttons simultaneously to layer various options depending on the opponent's action. These option selects are often performed at a timing when you expect the opponent to have done something, and can help defuse more basic mixup or staredown situations where a throw attempt is possible but not guaranteed.
| Input | Opponent does nothing | Opponent attacks guard | Opponent grabs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ABCD | Reversal Action | Reject Guard | Throw Escape |
| 17ABCD | Instant Air Backdash | Reject Guard | Throw Escape |
| 171ABC | Instant Air Backdash | Nothing; continue guarding | Throw Escape |
| 171BC | Instant j.C | Nothing; continue guarding | Throw Escape |
| 1B~C | 2B | Nothing; continue guarding | Throw Escape |
