SamSho 7 Character Primer

(v1.1)

Hi, I’m hundert from the european SamSho community. With a lot of people picking up the new Samurai Shodown (Samsho 7 for short) for the first time, I thought this would be a good time to make a “How to play X”-guide to get people started on the right foot when picking up a character. If you’ve read any other Character Overviews guide, you’ll know how this goes: I’ll provide each character with a short summary of their playstyle as well as their most obvious strengths and weaknesses. If you have any suggestions or things you want to add, feel free to send me a message on Discord (hundert#4294).

I’ll try to keep this primer updated with any balance updates or DLC releases. There’s a glossary at the Bottom of the document should you have questions about any specific terminology.

Controls

Just tell me who to play lol

Who’s a good beginner character?

Honestly, almost every character in Samurai Shodown is decently easy to pick up, even for beginners. Matches are usually much more influenced by the players themselves than by their choice of characters, so pick whoever you like the most!

If I had to nominate the characters I personally think, teach you the most about how to play the game, I would probably pick Haohmaru, Charlotte and maybe Genjuro or even Yashamaru.

What are everyone’s playstyles at a glance?

Well-Rounded: Charlotte, Galford, Genjuro, Haohmaru,
Jubei, Ukyo, Yashamaru, Yoshitora, Shizumaru

Rushdown: Darli, Genjuro, Hanzo, Shiki

Zoning: Charlotte, Earthquake, Jubei, Kyoshiro, Ruixiang, Tam Tam, Rimururu

High Mobility: Galford, Hanzo, Nakoruru, Shiki, Yashamaru, Rimururu, Shizumaru

Are there no grapplers in the game?

The current roster has no true grapplers in it, but some characters come close. Hanzo’s grab game is traditionally very powerful, especially when coupled with his slinky fireball and lightning fast mobility. If you’d rather play a slow, heavy-hitting character instead, try Earthquake, who plays somewhat like a big-body version of Street Fighter’s Dhalsim. His command grab isn’t as damaging as Hanzo’s, but he still gets a lot of mileage out of it.

Who are the best/worst characters currently?
Can I win playing Low-Tier in this game?

Most people would agree that Ukyo and Charlotte are some of the strongest characters in the game right now. Both can play a very oppressive neutral game with their great buttons and have only minor weaknesses. Rimururu on the other hand struggles a bit at the moment. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t win. System mechanics are very strong in Samsho games, so don’t be afraid to pick a character that is considered low-tier. A well-timed deflect or Lightning Blade attack can turn the tide of battle in an instant!

Haohmaru

Playstyle: Generalist

The original Samurai Spirit has mellowed out a little over the years, and while his notorious Heavy Slash might be a little more in line with the rest of the cast in SamSho 7, he still retains his hard hitting bait-and-punish playstyle, coupled with one of the very best normals in fighting game history.

Haohmaru has all the tools you might expect from a typical Shotokan-character. His Cyclone Slash projectile can be “faked” (think HDR Ryu) to bait the opponent into an ill-timed jump. He has two flavours of DP and a projectile-reflecting sake bottle that pulls double duty as a command overhead. Haohmaru also makes good use of system mechanics as well, with tricky recoil cancel options on his key normals and a long-range WFT that can be comboed into from throws.

While Haohmaru can hold his own in just about any area of the game, he is generally outclassed by more specialized characters if they successfully force their game onto him. His limited arsenal of mixups also requires you to play fairly honest most of the time. Fortunately, Haohmaru reaps big rewards from winning the neutral game, so it’s all good.

Strengths:

  • Amazing heavy slash, easily one of the best normals in the game
  • Balanced, easy-to-use toolkit
  • High overall damage output

Weaknesses:

  • Strengths are less pronounced than on other characters
  • Somewhat weak against specialists
  • Shallow bag of tricks

Recommended for players who like:

  • Strong, simple characters
  • A familiar playstyle
  • Mindgames

Genjuro Kibagami

Playstyle: Balanced/Rushdown

Haohmaru’s eternal rival and fan-favourite redhead Hitokiri, Genjuro is all about getting up-close and personal, forcing you into one of his numerous lethal mixups.

While his range might be slightly below average, once he gets in, Genjuro has all the tools he needs to positively ruin your day. His hanafuda card projectile can put you in prolonged blockstun, allowing Genjuro to move in for a free mixup. His rekka strings can also hit from the front or from behind. On top of this, he has a command grab which he can use once the opponent freezes up.

Defensively, he is no slouch either, as his DP is fast, recovers quickly and has a large hitbox to boot. Genjuro players need to establish themselves in the neutral game against overly aggressive opponents since all of Genjuros mixups require the enemy to stay still. Genjuro also struggles against heavy zoners, as he lacks a good anti-zoning tool.

If you are looking for an equivalent to Street Fighter’s Ken Masters in Samurai Shodown, Genjuro is your man.

Strengths:

  • Deadly mixups from close range
  • Very competent neutral game
  • Has a tool for every situation

Weaknesses:

  • Slightly below-average range.
  • Needs the enemy to respect him before applying his mixups
  • Can be kept out more easily than other characters

Recommended for players who like:

  • Rushdown
  • An aggressive character who doesn’t sacrifice on defense
  • “Playing dirty”

Yoshitora Tokugawa

Playstyle: All-rounder

The truest definition of a “Jack of all trades, master of none” -type character, Yoshitora comes loaded with specials for just about every situation and must make use of all the tools in his kit to be played to his full potential.

While every move in Yoshi’s arsenal has some use, there are a few stand-out examples: j.C is a powerful jump-in with an awkward hitbox making it very difficult to anti-air for some characters. On a good read, Yoshi can react to the enemy’s movements with Tsubaki, which has a guard point on it, or Nadeshiko, which catches people jumping away from you. Lastly, if you manage to use all your specials (or your SSM) during a round you get access to Yoshitora’s seventh and final sword - Yuuchouka. A towering, stupidly powerful full-screen projectile which makes enemy comebacks nearly impossible.

Yoshitora can be played in a variety of ways. He lacks a low-commitment approach tool from long range and loses a huge part of his kit when disarmed. Other than that, the Shogun is prepared for any situation.

 

Strengths:

  • Hugely varied playstyle with tons of options to choose from
  • Can play offense and defense equally well
  • Has a unique alternate win-condition in unlocking Yuuchouka

Weaknesses:

  • Basically turns into a declawed kitten when disarmed
  • Lacks a projectile or a safe, long-range move.
  • Easy to JD

Recommended for players who like:

  • Flashy, technical characters
  • A more traditional combo game with lots of cancelable normals
  • Switching playstyles at will

Charlotte Christine de Colde

Playstyle: Mid-range poking/Zoning

Charlotte plays a very effective low-risk poking game from half-screen, relying mainly on her 5B and 2B as well as her Bayonet Thrust and Tri-Slash special moves to chip away at, and frustrate the opponent. Once they try to jump, her Power Gradation DP is sure to take them out of the skies with style. Tri-Slash can also be delayed to cause people who try to jump it on reaction to land in the projectile’s hitbox instead.

She’s extremely good at sitting on a life-lead and acting as a defensive wall, as poking wars generally go in her favour. And while her gameplan usually favours traditional zoning over rushdown, she has one of the fastest jumps in the game and an immensely damaging crossup in j.C which gives her a very high-reward mixup from up close.

Charlotte’s mobility is not the best, so she has to rely on her buttons to keep the opponent off of her. This means that she is more prone to getting her weapon deflected than other characters, and with so much of her game centering around having great pokes, being disarmed is quite a price to pay.

Strengths:

  • Amazing pokes
  • Rock-solid defense
  • Great keepout

Weaknesses:

  • Struggles at close-range
  • Below-average mobility
  • Gets deflected easily if you’re too predictable

Recommended for players who like:

  • Defensive characters
  • Being in control of the match’s pace
  • Frustrating the opponent

Nakoruru

Playstyle: Hit and Run

Nakoruru has adjusted well to the new system, and with walkspeeds being universally slowed down across the cast in Samsho 7, Nako’s focus on movement, paired with her hit-and-run playstyle and strong whiff punishment tools from a range make her positively stand out in the neutral game.

Nakoruru usually plays a passive-aggressive game from just outside footsies range, where she has a variety of tools to react to her enemy’s movements. She has great anti-airs and a very annoying “projectile” in Mamahaha, that can lock down the enemy from a distance. Her short stature, coupled with her very unique mobility means she has a lot of ways to go around the enemy’s attacks and punish accordingly.

On the other hand, Nakoruru’s normals are very stubby, meaning she needs to create opportunities for herself to move in and deal damage. Her approach - while powerful - is also highly unsafe on block and requires the player to carefully gauge the opponent’s tendencies or else risk eating a huge punish.

Strengths:

  • High mobility
  • Fast buttons
  • Short hurtbox

Weaknesses:

  • Short range on her normals
  • Risky approach
  • Average mixups

Recommended for players who like:

  • Tricky, movement-based characters
  • Uniquely fast-paced gameplay
  • Pixie characters

Earthquake

Playstyle: Zoning/Big Body

Earthquake has strong control over the mid-range, with many of his key pokes knocking down on hit. His dangerous ranged lows force the opponent to crouch-block often, restricting their movement. On top of that, he has reliable and strong punishment tools from any range, and a great WFT to boot.

Somewhat surprisingly for a character of his statue, Earthquake is also remarkably difficult to pin down, as he has access to a wall jump, a teleport and even a weird pseudo-divekick that can alter his jump trajectory. His jumping normals are excellent, with j.C in particular being one of the most oppressive air-to-ground normals in the entire game.

On the flipside, Earthquake has some of the worst ground movement among the cast, forcing him to play a much slower paced game than other characters. His normals are also easy to jump over and Earthquake’s anti-air game is rather weak, so it takes some time to condition the opponent into respecting your buttons.

Strengths:

  • Long reach
  • Surprisingly okay mobility
  • Reliable Punishment

Weaknesses:

  • Slow walk speed, slowest run speed in the game
  • Big hurtbox
  • Weak Anti-Airs

Recommended for players who like:

  • Big Bodies
  • Unorthodox characters
  • Bullying the opponent from a distance

Ukyo Tachibana

Playstyle: Defensive/Mixups

Ukyo has everything you could ask for in a character: Fast movement, long reach, damaging punishes, reliable anti-airs, great mixups, you name it. He specializes in harassing the opponent from mid-screen with fast, high priority normals and punishing mistakes with his far-reaching strikes or a quickly executed TK Tsubame. Once Ukyo has scored a knockdown, he can employ his deadly mixup-game, which include an instant overhead, fast slide and a grounded cross-up.

While Tsubame is nowhere near the terror it was in previous games (most notably Samsho 2), it comes out in only 5  frames, granting him near unrivaled control over the airspace and making up for his unusually floaty jump. On the ground, 2B is fast and covers the space directly above your head, so jumping is almost always a bad idea against Ukyo. Like Haohmaru, he can also “fake” his Hiken Sasameyuki special to make the opponent commit to something stupid.

If you want a character who’s basically guaranteed to be strong in one way or another, look no further than Ukyo.

Strengths:

  • Great punishment
  • Great mixups
  • Ironclad grip over the airspace

Weaknesses:

  • Floaty jump
  • Lacks a traditional projectile
  • Weak lows

Recommended for players who like:

  • A simple, yet challenging defensive playstyle
  • Being rewarded with strong momentum off a knockdown
  • Iaidō characters

Hanzo Hattori

Playstyle: Mobility/Setplay

Hanzo is an extremely offensive character who comes equipped with some of the best mixup- and setplay-tools in the entire game.

While his normal slashes are mostly built for close-quarters combat, he can pester the opponent from full screen with his Baku'en Ryuu or throwing star projectiles. Fortunately Hanzo has nearly unrivaled mobility options which include multiple teleports, blisteringly fast run speed, a wall-jump and a great backdash. His running 66C overhead can cross up, which when coupled with his running slide or 66B and his running command grab, makes his approach extraordinarily powerful.

Once Hanzo has scored that crucial knockdown, things really go from bad to worse for the opponent as he can mix you up between his high- or low-hitting teleport slashes, his aforementioned running crossup or powerful command grabs. Hanzo struggles in the mid range since his anti-airs are rather mediocre and he lacks a good long-range 5C to control space with, so it is recommended you set up your vortex game quickly before falling behind on life.

Strengths:

  • Excellent mobility
  • Strong grabs
  • Best setplay in the game

Weaknesses:

  • Needs offensive momentum to be scary
  • Weak presence in the mid-range
  • Low damage outside his setplay

Recommended for players who like:

  • Superior mobility
  • Putting their opponent in the blender
  • Doing cool ninja stuff

Galford D. Weller

Playstyle: Mobility/Puppet

An american-born ninja and self-declared superhero of justice, Galford fights alongside his dog Poppy to create a signature blend of rushdown and keepout gameplay.

Being a real ninja and all, he has access to most of Hanzo’s toolkit including fast run speed, a wall-jump, teleports out of hitstun, a fireball and a command grab. Don’t get confused though, because Poppy’s the real star of the show. Galford can command the dog in one of four ways, with two of them hitting in a horizontal line and two hitting from above. You can use these specials to set up your mixups or keep the opponent from approaching, so both an offensive and a defensive playstyle are equally viable.

Galford’s damage is on the lower end of the cast and while his vortex is powerful, it is not quite as scary as Hanzo’s. Galford also prefers to have a bit of distance between him and his opponent when setting up, which makes him vulnerable to being pressured.

 

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

  • Relies on Poppy to create opportunities for himself
  • Easy to pressure
  • Low damage

Recommended for players who like:

  • Puppet characters
  • JUSTICE!
  • Switching between a rushdown and zoning playstyle on the fly

Tam Tam

Playstyle: Mixups/Keepout

Tam Tam is best described as a “gambling” character of sorts in that much of his damage output comes from putting the opponent in extremely risky 50/50 situations where they have to guess between his 2C sweep and powerful j.C instant overhead. Additionally, he has a slow, but powerful command grab, that opponents have to keep in mind as well.

Tam Tam’s zoning toolset is very competent too: 5A is a great and annoying fast poke. His high and low “fireballs” can chain into each other up to three times and Tam Tams’ flame pillars and fast, far reaching air-to-air normals can keep the air space locked down without much effort. Tam Tam’s mobility has also been vastly improved since Vsp, with a fast run and a backdash that’s actually usable.

Going into Samsho 7, the biggest nerf that Tam Tam got was to his damage, as he can no longer follow-up pursuit from his 50/50s. Tam Tam is also very reliant on being in control of the match at all times, since he can’t handle being on the defensive at all.

Strengths:

  • Fast ranged pokes
  • Damaging 50/50s
  • Strong zoning

Weaknesses:

  • Crumbles under pressure
  • Has to commit a lot
  • Low damage overall

Recommended for players who like:

  • Gambling
  • Momentum-based characters
  • A diverse, offensive playstyle

Jubei Yagyu

Playstyle: Defensive

Jubei has strong fundamentals which force the enemy to play on his terms. His basic “poke into fireball” cancel is one of the better neutral tools in the game and makes it really hard for a lot of characters to establish their effective range against Jubei. He’s remarkably safe on block for most of his moves while being able to deal significant amounts of chip damage, forcing opponents to take action against him.

If the enemy becomes too predictable with their offense, Jubei can utilize his set of counters to deal up to 45% on a good read. His quick dash and large hitbox on 66C makes it difficult for the enemy to approach him as well. On top of all that, Jubei has great, fast jumping buttons that can be used to catch opponents air-to-air.

With so many great defensive options, it should be no surprise that Jubei’s offense is… passable at best. He lacks real mixup, outside of universal overheads and run-up throw. His moves are also somewhat finicky in their application, which makes him one of the more challenging characters to pick up, despite his seemingly basic playstyle.

Strengths:

  • Great fundamentals
  • Unique counter moves with huge reward
  • Can force a lot of chip damage over the course of a match

Weaknesses:

  • Weak mixups
  • Has a difficult time coming back from a life deficit
  • Requires some knowledge about the game to be played effectively

Recommended for players who like:

  • Anti-aggression characters
  • A basic character that still rewards expertise
  • Big damage off a hard read

Kyoshiro Senryo

Playstyle: Zoning

Kyoshiro is a surprisingly traditional zoner with a variety of keepout tools and long-range normals that make it difficult for the opponent to approach him. His gameplay is generally more commital then the other zoners, which gives him a somewhat offensive feel.

His grounded Tsunami Crunch fireballs are very good at making the opponent want to jump, which is a bad idea, since Kyoshiro has some excellent anti-airs that can catch people from basically anywhere. Once the enemy respects Kyoshiro, he can employ his high/low mixups from a distance with 66B and 2B. If they are low on life, he can also chip them out with his Dance of Fire or EX Ragion special moves.

Unfortunately, Kyoshiro’s sluggish movement and abysmally floaty jump make it hard for him to escape being pressured. Kyoshiro needs to bide his time until the right situation arises and never let the opponent get the upper hand on him or the round might be over before it really started.

Strengths:

  • Great Zoning
  • Some decent mixups
  • High chip damage when in rage

Weaknesses:

  • Slow-ass movement
  • Very risky in general
  • Has a hard time getting the opponent off of him

Recommended for players who like:

  • A more offensive zoning playstyle
  • Being an immovable wall of pain
  • Weirdo-characters

Shiki

Playstyle: Heavy rushdown

Shiki is a relentless rushdown specialist, who can keep her opponents on their toes constantly between her great mobility options and simple, yet effective mixups from close range. She’s the most extreme of the rushdown characters in that she has almost no options from farther ranges, which means she has to constantly force her way in to apply her mixup game.

To achieve this, Shiki has access to some of the more unique tools among the cast. She is one of the few characters with a far special-cancelable button in 5B, which helps her neutral game immensely. Her teleports are fast and can be used as an alternate way of moving around the screen. Her SSM is also insane. It tracks anywhere on the screen, essentially giving her a free 65% punish on stuff most characters couldn’t even punish in the first place.

Playing the neutral with Shiki can be awkward, since she lacks range on her buttons and Shiki’s heavy slashes are very situational. While she is quite fast, she has no “get-in-free-card” she can abuse, so she is forced to bet the farm on a lucky jump-in or a reversal DP sometimes.

 Strengths:

  • Strong mixup game
  • Great mobility
  • Arguably the best SSM in the game

Weaknesses:

  • Has to get in to deal damage
  • Awkward normals with short range
  • Needs to take big risks constantly

Recommended for players who like:

  • Pure rushdown
  • An all-or-nothing playstyle
  • Assassin-type characters

Yashamaru Kurama

Playstyle: Balanced/Mobility

Yashamaru is a relatively straightforward character focused on fundamentals and aerial mobility. He is the only character in the game with access to a double-jump, which allows him to play his neutral game from the air as well as from the ground. His long-reaching, damaging strikes lend themselves naturally to a keepout playstyle, although he also has a basic, yet functional mixup between his 66C overhead and 66K low slide.

Different from other characters, all of Yasha’s special moves get powered up when in Rage. He also gets access to unique follow ups from 5C and EX Wintry Gust. It is not uncommon for Yashamaru to deal 40% damage or more when enraged.

However, with just 3 Special moves at his disposal, Yashamaru’s kit feels somewhat limited compared to the rest of the cast. His offense is also extremely unsafe, meaning he has to commit to hard reads from time to time.

 

Strengths:

  • Above-average reach on his normals
  • Very high burst damage
  • Makes great use of Rage...

Weaknesses:

  • ...which, in turn, makes Rage Explosion extremely costly for him
  • Limited toolset
  • Highly unsafe approach options

Recommended for players who like:

  • A high-risk/high-reward playstyle
  • Punishing mistakes with big damage
  • “Air-Footsies”

Darli Dagger

Playstyle: Slugger

Darli is a real powerhouse of a character. She feels most at home at the mid- to close-range, although she also has access to some light anti-zoning tools and a somewhat unconventional mobility-option in her Blade Surf special move.

Once Darli gets in, she can assert herself with her great normals and above-average grab game. She has access to an easy crossup in j.B which, when coupled with her fast jump, makes Darli’s close range game extra scary. She also has access to some truly monstrous unblockables which, while slow and honestly kinda gimmicky can end the entire round right there, should they connect.

Darli’s main weakness would be her versatility. While she is very good at playing rushdown, she can’t adapt to most situations as well as other characters can. Her supers (Both WFT and SSM) also suffer from extremely short range which makes it hard for Darli to punish her enemies effectively.

Strengths:

  • Scary up-close game
  • High damage
  • Unblockables
  • I want her to step on me

Weaknesses:

  • Needs to stick to her gameplan at all times
  • Very short range on both her WFT and her SSM
  • Somewhat easy to keep out

Recommended for players who like:

  • A no-nonsense rushdown playstyle
  • Big damage
  • Playing chicken with the opponent.

Wu-Ruixiang

Playstyle: Zoning/Traps

Ruixiang’s most defining features are without a doubt her ground traps, which make her a character for lab monsters who like to find crazy setups and stylish juggles, although she can also be played as a more traditional projectile zoner.

While her normals are surprisingly stubby and quite laggy, she has arguably the best projectile game out of the entire cast, with high, medium and low fireballs that become active very early in their animation. Her shield counter can also reflect projectiles, in addition to being a strong anti-aggression tool. Ruixiang’s WFT is fast and covers a huge area, making it risky for the opponent to challenge her zoning.

Her defense isn’t spotless though as she somewhat struggles with anti-airs and her damage is way below average without setups. Her slow movement and floaty jump also make it hard for her to position herself properly.

Strengths:

  • Strong projectile game
  • Nasty setups
  • Decent anti-aggression tools

Weaknesses:

  • Short reach on her normals
  • Low damage on her own
  • Slow movement

Recommended for players who like:

  • Spending more time in training mode than in actual matches
  • Heavy Zoning
  • Restricting their opponent’s options

Rimururu

Playstyle: Hit and Run/Traps

Rimururu specializes in being really, really annoying to play against. Like her sister, she’s quick on her feet, allowing her to quickly dart in and out of combat whenever she pleases. She has a wide array of trap and projectile specials, making it difficult for the enemy to give chase to her. Rimururus gameplan, therefore, is to get a life lead and sit on it for as long as humanly possible, increasing your advantage slowly and steadily with small punishes, until the enemy hangs themself.

Playing against Rimururu can be an exercise in frustration. Although her punishment is sub-par, she can condition the opponent to commit to high-risk maneuvers to beat her mixups, and make them pay dearly for guessing wrong. Her corner pressure is immensely scary, and almost all of her specials are still available while she’s unarmed too!

Unfortunately, Rimururu has very short reach on all of her normals, and her damage is on the low end of the spectrum. She usually has to work harder than most characters to get results, and even then, the enemy might just jump out of your oki and kill you for trying to press your advantage.

Strengths:

  • Strong mixups from knockdown, especially in the corner
  • Very mobile
  • Still scary while unarmed

Weaknesses:

  • Short reach
  • Below-average damage
  • Most of her mixups can be avoided by people who know the matchup well

Recommended for players who like:

  • Making their opponent foam from the mouth with rage
  • A mixup character that rewards creativity
  • Cute characters

Shizumaru Hizame

Playstyle: Balanced/Pixie

Shizumaru is a well-rounded, technical fighter who can play offense and defense equally well. His range is slightly shorter than most other characters but he makes up for it with big damage, great mobility and strong defense.

While Shizu can be played at any level and do very well, he has arguably one of the highest skill ceilings out of any character in the game, due to his Crazy Downpour special move. Holding down any slash (A, B, C) will charge the attack, with the strongest version taking a full 80 seconds to charge up. Experienced players will switch which button is held down regularly. Reading the situation correctly and changing your buttons on the fly is a big part of Shizu’s executional demand as a character.

The reward, however, is massive, and makes his damage potential some of the highest in the entire game - especially in round 3. He may feel a little outmatched on the ground sometimes but slip up once, and Shizumaru might just take the round from a single mistake.

Strengths:

  • Strong tools for any situation
  • Insanely high burst damage potential
  • Great mobility and a short hurtbox

Weaknesses:

  • Below-average range
  • Somewhat predictable on the ground
  • Requires decent execution and/or situational awareness to play optimally.

Recommended for players who like:

  • Explosive, yet well-rounded characters
  • Pixie characters
  • A demanding gameplan and executional requirements

Glossary

  • 2A/B/C/D        Crouching Attack.
  • 5A/B/C/D        Standing Attack, usually refers to the far version of any slash.
  • 50/50                A Mixup, where there are only two valid options to defend. See Mixup.
  • Anti-Air        Hitting the opponent out of the air while they are jumping towards you. Can be a standing attack or a jumping attack.
  • Crossup        A form of Mixup that can hit the enemy from the front of from behind.
  • Hitbox                An invisible box tied to your character, which needs to overlap with the enemy’s Hurtbox to deal damage to that opponent.
  • Hurtbox        See Hitbox
  • Issen                aka. Lightning Blade. Full-Screen, invincible attack, accessible from Rage Explosion. Does more damage the more RE time you have left.
  • j.A/B/C/D        Jumping Attack
  • Jab                A very fast, safe attack with short range that can be used to keep the opponent in check. Usually refers to a character’s light slash.
  • Mixup                A situation where the opponent has to guess which way to defend.
    (High or Low, Left or Right, Jump or Block, Jab, Reversal, etc)
  • n.5A/B/C        Near slash. Will automatically replace far slashes at close-range.
    n.2A/B/C
  • Overhead        An attack which has to be blocked standing
  • Pixie                Colloquial term for a character archetype with a small hurtbox and above-average mobility. Difficult to hit, but generally low damage output.
  • Poke                A safe, medium- to long-range attack which establishes your preferred range. Low-Risk, Low-Reward. Forms the backbone of the character’s  neutral game.
  • Pressure        Actively limiting the opponent’s valid options during the attack phase. Can be roughly translated as “offensive momentum”.
  • Punish        A powerful attack or combo which can hit the opponent while they are stuck in recovery, giving them no chance to defend.
  • Rage                Usually refers to the state a character enters after their rage bar fills. Has a 120% damage multiplier associated with it.
  • Rage Explosion        Sometimes abbreviated as RE. Acts as a one-time-use, more powerful version of rage. 140% damage multiplier, and access to Issen.
  • Reversal        Usually refers to some form of invincible attack which can be used to blow through the opponent’s offense and reset the situation.
  • Rushdown        An aggressive playstyle, usually fought from close-up, which frequently makes use of the character’s mixups and superior mobility.
  • Setplay        A Mixup situation which, when successfully executed, can be looped into itself. Also referred to as a Vortex sometimes.
  • Slide                Long-range kick attack. Knocks down on hit. Has to be blocked crouching.
  • Special        Special move. Usually performed by inputting a motion on the control stick, followed by a button press
  • SSM                Super Special Move. Slow attack, that is only available once per match. Does about 70% life on hit.
  • WFT                Weapon Flipping Technique. A powerful attack available during rage. Disarms the opponent on hit.
  • Zoning        Usually refers to a long-range or keepaway playstyle, where the player fights from a range where their opponent can’t retaliate.

Changelog

v1.1         Added primers for Rimururu, Shizumaru. Added Glossary.
        Updated some character descriptions to better match the 1.11 Balance changes.