BBCF/Jin Kisaragi/Strategy

General Tactics

Jin is one of BB's closest examples to a "Shoto" character. He has tools to deal with just about any situation. His projectiles can provide light zoning and give him space to move. At a midrange he has great pokes like 5C, 3C, and j.C. In a close range, he can use solid normals like 2A to poke at his opponent. Jin's pressure is rather safe, though he can have a difficult time opening up opponents. Jin's gameplan is to use his midrange tools to establish pressure and open up his opponent. Once he's opened up the opponent, he can use his freeze to set up unique combos or tricky restands. He also has many ways to spend meter with his EX specials. For example, he can use 236D to reset pressure, or 214D for certain combos. Jin's Overdrive is an amazing tool that adds to Jin's offense. With a higher cap on his freezes, he can get very creative with how he combos an opponent.

Important Moves

2A: Catches rolls, good pressure tool
6A: Jin's only standing overhead
6B: Great callout and frame trap tool.
2C: Jin's anti-air. Slower than average, but great vertical reach.
j.C: Great poke tool and air to air
j.2C: Good jumpin button
623C/D: Jin's reversals. 623D costs meter, but hits in a much bigger area around Jin and is comboable.
236A: Jin's projectile. Good for keeping people on their toes

Blockstrings

Like most Blazblue characters, Jin's blockstrings (and general pressure) vary depending on the state of the game. Jin doesn't have many pressure resets, but he has strong stagger pressure (discussed below) and often relies on frame traps and jump cancels in order to continue pressure. These blockstrings are meant to give examples of concepts you can steal and use for yourself! You rarely want to do these blockstrings exactly. Strong opponents will blow you up if you default to the same strings without variation.

2A > 2A > 5B > 6B > 236A

A basic way to bait mashing from an opponent. 6B has good F invuln. 6B > 236A is a good way for Jin to disengage safely because Jin jumps backwards and sends out a projectile.

2A > 2A > jc > j.2C

A solid rejump option to show an opponent. People often expect more grounded normals or throws after 2A, so you can throw them off by jump cancelling it.

2A > 2A > 5B > 5C > 236D

Snowflake is a great way to reset pressure for the cost of 25 Heat. While snowflake locks an opponent down, you can run mixups like 6A, throw, or delayed attacks.

Stagger Pressure

Easy to execute and a very powerful tool. Jin's staggers at the start of his pressure generally consists of multiple 2A's delivered at different timings to create frame traps or reset pressure. It's hard to deal with since the opponent is forced to block in case of a frame trap timing stuffing mash attempts. However, Barrier Guard and Instant Barrier can push you farther away and make this lose effectiveness more quickly. So make sure to mix this with other block strings and moves.

Examples:

2A > delay 2A > dash 2A...

By using frame traps, you can scare your opponent off pressing buttons and start using throws, overheads, and jump cancels. Examples of frame traps:

2A > delay 2A (frame trap)
2A > delay 5B (frame trap) > delay 2B (frame trap) > delay 5C (frame trap)

With his arsenal of jump cancellable normals, Jin can jump barrier out of 2A, 5C or 2C and reset pressure with j.2C. It's best to go with 2A, as an opponent may expect you to jump cancel out of C normals since they usually end your pressure. The opponent may go for an anti air, but they can be baited by double jumping. If the opponent is standing, then you can go for j.2C > j.C > ground normal, which is nearly gapless. Once grounded, you get to start pressure again. After some conditioning, you can start incorporating throws i.e j.2c > j.C > dash up throw. 2A > 6A, or raw 6A is also an option.

Examples:

2A > jump cancel > j.2C > j.C...
5B > delay 2B > delay 5C > jump cancel > j.2C > j.C...
...2A > delay 2A > dash 2A...
...2A > 6A
...2A tick throw

You may also go for throws and pressure resets with 2A after 5B once you condition the opponent to keep blocking by utilizing 5B > 2B/5C frame traps.

Okizeme

In general, Jin has strong oki. He is able to cover a large set of tech option utilizing a few option select A technique where one command (or series of commands) will perform a different action depending on the circumstances, thereby allowing one action to be able to handle two distinct situations.s. In particular his 2A and 2B are extremely useful. 2A is very consistent at picking up forward roll and quick rise attempts, is a strong meaty option, and can OTG a portion of the cast. 2B is equally strong as it can catch most tech options and OTGs the entire cast, however its rather unreliable at catching forward rolls after the 214B~C ender due to its lower speed and active frames often missing the rolling opponent entirely or hitting them on the other side allowing the opponent to burst you into the corner.

A staple part of Jin's oki is using plinked normals in setups to autoconfirm if the opponent attempts to pick an option other than neutral tech. In most setups you press an initial button that covers various tech options and serves as a whiff frame kill A technique where specific attacks or inputs are used to "kill time" to make timing a specific setup easier. if they neutral tech. This normal is then plink Rapidly pressing one button after another, sometimes as quickly as 1 frame apart.ed into another (usually 5B or 5C) to automatically pickup the first button into a combo if they teched. This normal won't come out if the opponent neutral techs.

Combo Enders

214B~C: Staple combo ender for oki that ends in a hard knockdown. Can be comboed into from almost any grounded hit in one way or another, most commonly after 3C. Leaves you very close to the opponent making 2B unreliable at catching forward rolls. This knockdown allows Jin to safejump 9f and slower reversals should he choose to not waste time checking rolls.
623C: In heavily scaled combos the second hit of 214B~C doesn't connect, in those situations you have to finish the combo with 623C. Rehhyou ender can also be used to apply a soft knockdown to your opponent making them unable to roll before you act if they choose to not emergency tech as soon as they touch the ground.
j.214C: Air combo ender that ends with a hard knockdown. Midscreen this move is a reset to neutral which may or may not be desirable.
22C High air hit: Jin's best knockdown, usually accomplished by catching a falling opponent hit by 623C or after OTG 2B.

214B~C Oki

After 214B~C Jin can cover all tech options but not at the same time, by alternating between two different roll checks Jin can force respect from his opponent which will open up opportunities for the use of other mixup options and safejumps.

Back roll check

Microdash 2B~5B or Microdash 2B~5C
- This is the primary option to go for against opponents not mixing up their tech options. 2B will catch backroll, quickrise, and delay tech for a combo. It will also setup an autotimed meaty 2A if the opponent neutral techs.
- Forward roll is the only option this setup does not cover, which the next option does.

Forward roll check

2A~5B or 2A~5C
- This option is primarily used against opponents that like to forward roll and will pickup for a full combo. It also catches quickrise and sets up a fairly easy to time meaty 2A, needing only a slight delay.
- Delay tech for most characters and backroll will beat this option, but you will be safe and in fact plus, if your opponent does not tech you can just go for another 2A or 2B.

j.214C Oki

Midscreen j.214C ender resets to neutral, in the corner however microdash 2B~5B or 2B~5C covers every wakeup option and recovers in time for a meaty 2A should your opponent choose to neutral tech.

Forgoing a roll check for a Safejump

After the 214B~C or High air hit 22C ender you can forgo a rollcheck and go for a safejump/air dash mixup instead.

9 delay j.2C safejump
- Jin can safejump 9f and slower reversals from a neutral tech. Make sure to delay your air normal to be as late as possible and hold back after inputting the air normal.
- Both rolls will escape the safejump and delay tech can avoid it hence why establishing respect with roll checks is necessary.
- Can opt to go for an interuptible low to the ground airdash instead of safejumping to enable late air dash j.2C>j.D vs land 2B/Throw mix.
IAD j.2C safejump
- Safejumps 9f and slower reversals, while also covering backroll.
- If the opponent backrolls you may cross them up depending on when the j.2C is input.
- Delay and quick rise can both beat this option.

Snowflake Oki

Off of many knockdowns, using 236D is a powerful way to force your opponent to hold upcoming mixups. Popular options that can lead into Snowflake include air hit 22C, air hit 623C, and ground hit j.236C. There are other setups as well that can lead to Snowflake oki, so experiment and mess around!

Example of Snowflake Oki covering Different Tech Options

Ice Restands

Combining into 22C while your opponent is frozen can lead to strong restands and create strong reset situations. Because Freeze doesn't go away when they're hit with 22C, you can add damage to a combo and keep them frozen on the ground. By using moves that prorate heavily, you can end the combo prematurely and immediately transition into your pressure again.

Tips and Tricks

Use IB and IBB to gain meter quickly! It's especially helpful with Jin's defensive options
Overdrive is a strong combo tool for Jin. You're often better holding onto it to deal serious damage later on.