DBFZ/Goku Black

Overview

Goku Black has everything a player new to DBFZ is looking for. Alongside a very solid neutral, he has moves blessed with range and priority both at the air and at the ground, a simple combo structure, easy corner-carry, and a few cool gimmicks. On the other hand, he doesn't have much pizazz outside of those initially frightening moves, and against a competent opponent, they shine less and less, eventually beginning to dim. Nonetheless, he's a great lenient character that covers most of the bases a new player wants in order to win the game, and to also win it with style.

Goku Black Goku Black is a balanced character that dictates the flow of the game with ridiculous corner carry and magnificent moves.

Pros

Cons

Simple: Very low execution for his universal BnBs and straight-forward gameplan.
Great Neutral: Huge disjoints with 5LLGuardAllStartup9Recovery15Advantage-5, 5LLLGuardAllStartup14Recovery15Advantage-5, 5HGuardAllStartup14Recovery23Advantage-10 and 2HGuardAllStartup15Recovery28Advantage-15, far reaching aerial special moves in God SlicerGuardAllStartup13Recovery23Advantage-4 and Fierce God KickGuardAllStartup14Recovery19Advantage-1~-6, great ki-blasts and a standard beamGuardAllStartup18Recovery19Advantage-14 allow Black to dominate the pace of neutral very well.
Tricky Teleport Mixup: Black has very strong 50/50 setups with 214L/HGuardStartupTeleport 19, Appear 26Recovery3 (28 Total)Advantage- when air float is used while paired with an assist.
Corner Carry: The easiest corner carry in the game from anywhere with j.214HGuardAllStartup14Recovery19Advantage-1~-6 and j.236HGuardAllStartup13Recovery30Advantage-.
Neutral-Dominant Assists: AGuardAllStartup34RecoveryAdvantage+30, BGuardAllStartup20RecoveryAdvantage+29, and CGuardAllStartup50 [20]RecoveryAdvantage+32 all control big portions of the screen.

Straight-forward Neutral: While his options are strong in neutral, they are fairly one-dimensional and highly committal.
Solo Mix-up: Without assists, Black's mix-up is linear and requires heavy conditoning to open up opponents with competent defense.

Goku Black

Unique Movement Options
Instant Transmission
Fastest Attacks

Reversals

Normal Moves

5L

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block
5L	400	All		6	4	10	-2
5LL	700	All		9	3	15	-5
5LLL	1000	All	U3+	14	6	15	-5

5L is a standard jab.

An open-palm stab. A fair bit longer than most other standing jabs and can hit crouching opponents. You'll want to use this over 2L in neutral, but in pressure 2L is 0 on block making it a much better choice than the autocombo followups.

5LL autocorrects on side-switch.
Has the damage and scaling of a Medium.

Moves Goku Black forward a good distance and has great range, enough to completely close the gap if reflected. The outer part of his leg does not have a hurtbox but does have a hitbox, making it a fantastic disjoint. Will almost always connect after 5L, similar to Bardock but not as good. Additionally, 5L's speed and ability to cancel into this on whiff makes this a powerful button in neutral, especially since it has fantastic scaling.

5LLL consumes Goku Black's Smash on hit.
Always results in a Smash, regardless of whether or not Smash has been used up in a combo.
Pressing Light on hit will result in a Super Dash.
Completing the air autocombo immediately after this move will result in a Dynamic hit.
Autocorrects on side-switch.

Rising strike using Goku Black's signature Ki technique, God Slicer, that causes the ground to erupt with Ki. Both the blade and the Ki eruption have a hitbox, granting the move both extreme range and active frames. Often sees use in extended combos such as continuing a combo after Vanish or certain optimal corner routes.

5M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	All		9	3	18	-5

Jump cancelable on hit.

A gut punch that moves Goku Black forward. As basic as a 5M can get, though it is still important for extending combos without expending Black's Smash through a jump cancel. Use 5LL instead if possible.

5H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All	U1	14	3	23	-10

Consumes Goku Black's Smash on hit.
Wall bounces if Smash is available.
Pressing Heavy on hit will result in a Super Dash.
Can deflect Ki blasts.

A downward slash with a God Slicer that moves Goku Black forward. Has massive range both horizontally and vertically, giving Black an attack that can easily punish poor spacing. It can blow through all sorts of attacks thanks to the God Slicer's massive disjoint and ki blast deflection. In combos, it can be followed up with Super Dash mid-screen for good corner carry or it can be looped in the corner with the use of assists for big damage.

5S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 [600]	All		13	1	27	-6/+16/-3

[] is the Ki Blast.
The Ki Blast won't come out if the initial strike connects.
5S Ki Blast slowly accelerates forward, 6S makes it travels instantaneously.
Higher priority Ki blast so will beat most other ki blasts in the game

The strike hit has really good hitstun, can combo into 5H and 2H in midscreen or even Super Dash in the corner.

Goku Black slashes the air with his God Slicer, releasing a Ki blast that travels slowly at first but picks up speed rapidly. Slightly negative on block if the blade connects but the ki wave deals a large amount of blockstun, leaving Black positive even up close. This move's ability to deflect ki blasts and retaliate with a ki blast of his own allows Black to shut down any zoning done with low durability projectiles. Though the ki blast does less damage than the blade, the absence of poration on it makes it fantastic for boosting a combo's damage.

The projectile is plus on block and is a valuable pressure tool, though you will need to manually space it out to ensure the blade does connect as that is minus on block.

† Boomerang bug (Still working as of Patch 1.24): You can change the direction of the projectile by using Super Dash while facing the other direction. The projectile will go backward if it's still accelerating, but only turns around while continue to move forward after it's reached enough speed.

The only realistic situation where this can be utilized is: 5S > hold Vanish, SD. Though like most projectile, the hitbox goes away after it has touched the opponent, so you can't make this boomerang hits twice.

2L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	All		7 [6]	3	15	0

Value in [ ] is when being used as 2LL

Basic crouch jab that does not hit low, though it has a deceptively large hitbox. Having better range than 5L, as well as being 0 on block it is a fantastic staggering tool, crucial to his gameplan of staggering into 5S projectiles in blockstring. As of the August 2021 patch, 2L will now combo into 5LL at max range due to the 5LL startup buff, which improves the damage of combos started from this normal. Can now use 2L as a staggering tool due to being able to cancel into itself.

2M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	Low		11	3	17	-4

Goku Black's only low.

Leg sweep that hits low and moves Goku Black forward slightly giving it more reach than expected. 2M is the key to all of Black's mix-ups. Use it after doing Instant Transmission then time j.H so that the hit box doesn't come out for a deceptive empty jump low. One of Black's best starters in terms of damage and practicality, though thanks to his amazing 5LL this isn't his go to attack for following up vanishes like most of the cast.

2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All	U1+	15	3	28	-15

Consumes Goku Black's Smash on hit.
Deals extended hitstun if Smash is available.
Head attribute invincible during start-up and active frames.
Deflects Ki blasts.

Goku Black moves forward while doing an upward slash with a God Slicer. Infamous for having an extremely large hitbox with many active frames, arguably the best 2H in the game in when it comes to neutral. Like all other God Slicer using attacks, 2H has fantastic disjoint and can deflect ki blasts. Can be canceled into 5S for pressure resets or into Kamehameha to frame trap opponents who try to mash out of pressure. The Smash version is used in combination with EX God Slicer for corner-to-corner combos thanks to the height that it provides. Doesn't see much use in Black's optimal corner combos.

2S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
600	All		30		15	+5~+13

Uses the same animation as his j.S
Is plus on reflect

Forward advancing and plus on block, this is an excellent tool to establish respect for Goku Blacks gameplan. Threatening a j.M crossup, a dragon rush or using the positioning to do a 2L stagger into 5S, this normal opens a wide variety of ways for Goku Black to pressure the opponent. However it is fairly slow on startup and is ki blast property, so it is liable to be challenged with ki blast immune moves such as superdash. Goku Black can somewhat combat this by buffering a H Fierce God Kick during the 2S but you will lose your turn if you didn't get the read correct.

6M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	All		24	6	10	0

Same hitboxes as j.H.
Universal overhead.
Jumps over lows.

Goku Black does a short hop into a flip kick, hitting opponents overhead. Very basic, Black has other tools that can do the same job. Requires an assist or Sparking Blast to convert a successful hit into a combo.

j.L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	High		6	3	12

Double jump cancelable.
Cancels into itself.

Aerial chop that makes a good air-to-air normal due to its horizontal range. Its vertical range leaves much to be desired, resulting in whiffs during combos if the opponent is slightly below Goku Black. This also makes it difficult to hit short characters crouching and makes it near impossible for Black to set up fuzzies.

j.M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	High		9	3	15

Double jump cancelable.
Reverse beats into j.L.

Aerial roundhouse kick that serves as a decent jump-in attack but it is primarily used as combo filler. Hitbox works as a crossup button on all characters even if done from a point blank IAD.

j.H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	High	D1+ [D3+]	13	3	18

Knockdown state depends on Smash utilization.
Dynamic hit results in a wall bounce in the corner and produces a random Dragon Ball.

Flip kick with excellent range and damage, making it Goku Black's best jump-in and air-to-ground combo starter. Has fantastic synergy with his Instant Transmission where the timing of the input allows Goku to either complete the move and hit overhead or touch the ground before the hitboxes appear to shift into 2M for a low. Lastly, it shifts his hurtbox in a brilliant way that avoids more challenges that aren't anti-airs.

Can also be used to acquire Dragon Balls or summon Shenron if all the Dragon Balls have been discovered and Black has 7 bars.

j.S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
600	All		13	1	20

Single projectile.

Standard air ki blast that is angled diagonally downward. Used to end air combos with either the light or heavy version of God Slicer, the former for follow-up supers and the latter for a corner knockdown. Can poke opponents to button check them in neutral, leading into a combo on hit if vanish canceled. Be wary, this ki blast is beaten by higher priority projectiles, super armored moves, and Super Dash.

j.2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All	U1+	13	3	24

Double jump cancelable on hit.
Consumes Smash on hit.
Launches higher with more hitstun if Smash is available.
Press H to follow-up with a Super Dash.

Upward split kick used to extend air combos by using Goku Black's Smash to combo into Super Dash or lead into additional air normals by canceling the non-Smash version into a double jump. Doesn't hit overhead like Black's other air normals.

Special Moves

God Slicer

236L/M/H (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236L	250, 800	All		13	P (13) 4	23	-4
236M	200×4, 800	All	D1	20	P (4) P (4) P (4) P (13) 6	33	-5 at best	4-46 Air
236H	200×4, 1000	All	D1	13	P (4) P (4) P (4) P (13) 6	30	-5 at best	1-42 air
j.236L	250, 800	All		13	P (13) 4	23
j.236M	200×4, 800	All	D1	20	P (4) P (4) P (4) P (13) 6	33
j.236H	200×4, 1000	All	D1	13	P (4) P (4) P (4) P (13) 6	30

236L

Goku Black fires a Ki blast ahead while rushing forward and then follows up with an Ki-empowered stab.
All versions of this move puts Goku Black airborne immediately.

236M

Goku Black fires 4 Ki blasts ahead while rushing forward and then follows up with an Ki-empowered stab.
Causes a sliding knockdown.
Has superb corner carry if it lands on the opponent while in midscreen.
Can only be comboed into while in the corner due to slower start up unless used after a Vanish.

Against some characters in the corner, Goku Black can tack on an j.H for a smidge more damage. This tech is mostly useless as it removes your slide knockdown, but it can help if you have no meter and need to close the round.

236H

Costs 0.5 bar of meter.
Goku Black fires 4 Ki blasts ahead while rushing forward and then follows up with an Ki-empowered stab.
Has all the advantages of the Medium version combined with the speed of the Light version.

A staple of Goku Black's combos. Generally comboed into from j.S during air combos. The Medium version of God Slicer is a great move for ending combos in the corner since it deals good damage and causes sliding knockdown, while the Heavy version of God Slicer is especially noteworthy for being one of the best EX Specials in the game since it allows Goku Black to corner carry and cause a sliding knockdown no matter the situation for only half a meter. As stated, the move shoots multiple ki blast before the slash. This means that the start of the move can easily be beaten by a well timed Superdash. Additionally, if Goku Black has his back against the corner, a simple combo into Vanish > M God Slicer will switch his position with the opponent while still giving a sliding knockdown. The damage proration of the move was buffed in the August 2021 patch making it a much more favorable starter.

M and H godslicer serve as amazing extension tools using the special tag feature due to its long duration, allowing for things such as tagging on the startup of the move and letting the tagged in character dragon rush the opponent while the move is still hitting them.

Instant Transmission

214L/M/H

Version	Startup	Recovery	Invuln
214L	Teleport 19, Appear 26	3 (28 Total)	19-25 Full
214M	Teleport 19, Appear 26	3 (28 Total)	19-25 Full
214H	Teleport 19, Appear 22	3 (24 Total)	19-25 Full

214L teleports to the air directly in front of the opponent.
Can be used instead of Super Dash to followup a successful 2H.

214M teleports to the air slightly away from the front of the opponent.
Can be used after knockdowns for safejump pressure and to bait enemy anti-airs.

214H costs 0.5 bar of meter.
Teleport to the air directly behind the opponent.

One of Goku Black's main tools for opening up opponents. Black is free to move immediately after teleporting, allowing him mix-up opponents in a variety of ways including hitting overhead with j.H, empty-jumping low with 2M, or crossing-up with IAD j.M. Long start-up and airborne state means it is easy to react to and punish, so assists are needed to use this move safely. The new superjump properties of the move allow him to float over the heads of most of the cast. This enables Black's extremely ambiguous left right mix and makes his high low game far more threatening. Here an excellent video explaining how the mix-up works.

Fierce God Kick

j.214L/M/H

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block
j.214L	700	All		14	Until Landing (2f minimum)	19	-1~-6
j.214M	400, 600	All	U1+	18	Until Landing (2f minimum)	19	-1~-6
j.214H	400, 1000	All	U1+	14	Until Landing (2f minimum)	19	-1~-6

j.214L does not cause a knockdown.

A powerful mobility tool for Goku Black, though it is vulnerable to anti-airs. Requires a vanish or an assist to continue combos after. Probably the worst divekick in the game.

j.214M Smash version bounces opponents for combo extensions.
Wall bounces if Black reaches the corner before the ground.
Slower startup than the Light version.
Resets superdash count on hit

Can be comboed with certain assists, like Kefla, Gogeta, Zamasu, Trunks (near the corner) and Vegito, just to name a few.

j.214H Smash version bounces opponents for combo extensions.
Wall bounces if Black reaches the corner before the ground.
Same startup speed as the Light version.
Resets superdash count on hit

Can be followed up with dragon rush.

The medium and heavy versions are used for corner carry and optimal corner combos. The ground bounce version gives Black the best possible combo options so aim for it over the more limiting wall bounce. The medium and heavy divekick also have the special property that they reset Black's superdash and double jump count, allowing for more diverse combo routes.

Black Kamehameha

236S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
262×5	All		18	25	19	-14

Plows through ki blasts.
Has the same utility as other beams

Goku Black unleashes a Kamehameha that goes full screen. Cannot be angled or used in mid-air which limits its usefulness, but it recovers 2 frames faster than SSJ Goku's or Gohan's beams. This is Black's best zoning tool as well as a decent frame trap when it is used after a heavy on block.

Binding Black Kamehameha

214S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
310×5 [262×3]	Throw [All]	U2+	25	1 (7) 17	19	-13

[] is if the grab whiffs.
Whiff version scales like the normal Kamehameha, grab version is highly scaled like most grabs.
The whiffed Binding Black Kamehameha has less active frames, longer start-up, and 2 less hits compared to the normal Black Kamehameha.

Zamasu appears behind the opponent and grabs them while Goku Black fires a Kamehameha. Even if Zamasu misses the grab, Goku Black will still fire off the Kamehameha. As a full screen command grab, this move is an important tool in Black's mix-up game. Use sparingly as this move is fairly easy to avoid by either jumping or hitting Black during the long start-up.

Z Assists

Assist A

Black Kamehameha

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
200×5	All		34	25		+30

Same as Goku Black's Black Kamehameha.

Goku Black warps in and unleashes a Kamehameha that goes full screen. This beam assist is fantastic at controlling space, keeping opponents locked down, and for extending combos. Pairs well with Super Saiyan Goku's Kamehameha assist for double beam coverage. Goku Black's assist comes out faster and recovers slower than SS Goku's, leaving him vulnerable for longer after launching his attack.

Assist B

Godly Severance

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
800	All		20			+29	Head

MASSIVE anti air, great for combos and stopping super dash.
Around 40-45f of Hitstun.

Assist C

Fierce God Kick

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
800, 300	All		50 [20]			+32

Dive kick assist.
Has head property.
Can actually track the opponent anywhere on screen, but the tracking can be tricky to get used to.
Due to it being able to track, it can be a really good assist to use in neutral and can set up really stylish combos.

Somewhat mediocre compared to Black's fantastic other two options.

Super Moves

God Slicer Dance

236L+M (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236L+M	50×18, 1600~2000	All	UDV	9+4	26	50	-24	9-21 All
j.236L+M	50×18, 1600~2000	All	UDV	9+4	26	56	-30	9-21 All

Is Goku Black's Ultimate Z Change Super.
Minimum damage is the same regardless of how many ki blades land. Minimum is 810.
Cinematic follow up doesn't play unless at least one projectile hits the opponent.
Enters an uninterruptible cinematic animation on hit, making both Goku Black and his opponent invincible to any other attacks.
Unlike all of his other God Slicer attacks, the blade has no hitbox and doesn't deflect ki blasts.

Goku Black unleashes a barrage of ki blades that embed themselves in the opponent before detonating. The explosion's non-minimum damage depends on how many ki blades hit. However, the minimum damage is consistent so it is either 7*18, 720 or 5*18, 720. The projectile priority of this super is pretty low so it can be eaten up by other projectiles fairly easily. Doesn't provide a knockdown but it does more damage than his other level 1 super so use this whenever you are aiming for more damage without DHCing. If you are at a high height and wish to DHC, use his other level 1.

Holy Light Grenade

236H+S (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236H+S	1000, 1600	All	UDV	9+4	16, 23	29	-30	1-15 All
j.236H+S	1000, 1600	All	UDV	9+4	Until Landing, 23	29	-33	1-15 All

Minimum damage: 300, 480.
Goku Black jumps into the air to prepare the attack if he does this super on the ground.
Invincible on startup

Goku Black and Zamasu both create a sphere of Ki in their hands, then combine them into a more powerful sphere before dropping it on the enemy. Opponents trapped in it are carried all the way to the ground, making this useful for Ultimate Z Changes. Has one hit at the start from the grenade itself and a second hit at the end from the explosion as it hits the ground.

Risky as a reversal due to the obvious super freeze and from it not hitting on both sides of Goku Black, but helpful in a pinch when the enemy doesn't expect it. Is also great for combos because the new teleport aspect of the move makes Goku Black teleport to the opponent's location to always land this attack whenever they're in hitstun.

The Work of a God

214L+M (Air OK) or 214H+S (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
214L+M	4015	All	UDV	9+3	30	41	-38	1-17 All
j.214L+M	4015	All	UDV	9+3	30	33	-30	1-17 All

Minimum damage: 1703.
Invincible on start-up.
Results in a hard knockdown on hit.
Projectile clashes with other supers, beats ki blasts and other non-super projectile.

Goku Black forms the Sickle of Sorrow before using it to release a powerful wave of Ki across the screen that creates a dimensional rift upon damaging the opponent. Clones of Black then spawn from the rift and rapidly attack the opponent before he finishes off his flurry of attacks with another rift tearing strike. Inflicts a hard knockdown on the opponent giving Black the chance to do a safe jump and continue his offense, though the knockback makes it difficult to use outside of the corner. No longer Goku Black's only reversal, but it is still both expensive and risky so use it wisely.