Game Mechanics

Movement is on the stick or d-pad (WASD or the arrow keys). Pad buttons can be remapped per player in Controller settings. Some buttons also have shortcuts built from the attack buttons:

• Throw = L+U
• Style Cancel = L+M+H pressed together
• Burst = L+M+H+U pressed together. U has to be a fresh press, so a U you are still holding from an earlier attack cannot turn a Style Cancel into a Burst.
• Dash = 66 (and backdash = 44, or Dash while holding back)

L / M / H are the shared attack language that every character uses. U is the character's identity button: 5U, 6U, 2U and j.U do something different for everyone. S is a shortcut for specials. It is never a fifth attack strength and never replaces U.

Directions are written as numbers laid out like a keypad, with your character facing right:

7 8 9      up-back    up    up-forward
4 5 6      back     neutral   forward
1 2 3      down-back  down  down-forward

• 5L is standing L, 2M is crouching M, 6U is forward+U, 3H is down-forward+H, and j.H is H in the air.
• 236 is a quarter circle forward (down, down-forward, forward). 214 is a quarter circle back, 623 is a dragon punch motion, 22 is down twice, and 66 / 44 are double-taps.
• L+M means press both buttons together, and -> means "cancel or link into".

Every special can be done two ways, and both are always on. There is no mode select, and both versions deal the same damage, cost the same, and are the same move.

Strength rules:

• The Skill direction is read when you press S. 4, 1 or 7 gives 4S, 6, 3 or 9 gives 6S, 2 gives 2S, and anything else gives 5S. There is no 8S.
• You can press a strength with S or up to 4 frames after it. If no strength button arrives, you get the M version.
• If you hold several strengths, the highest one wins (H over M over L). The exception is L+M exactly, which reads as EX.
• S+H is a super only at 100 Style. Below 100, 5S+H and 2S+H are just the H specials.
• Some characters have motion + U specials (such as 22U or 214U). These have no Skill shortcut, because S+U is already EX.

Priority when several inputs complete on the same frame: Burst, then Style Cancel, then supers (236/214+M+H), then 623, 236, 214, 22, then Skill, then throw, then normals, then movement. A finished 623 always beats a 236, so a dragon punch input is never eaten.

Motion windows: 236 and 214 must finish within 12 frames and also accept the corner-cutting forms 2,6 and 2,4. 623 has 14 frames and also accepts 3,2,3. 22 can use the full 16-frame input history and fires once per button press. Holding 6 or 4 is not a motion, so holding forward and pressing a button always gives the normal.

• Buffer: any command stays live for 8 frames, including during hitstop, so you can press the next cancel early. Only one new action can start per hitstop.
• SOCD: on left+right, the last direction pressed wins. On up+down, up wins, so the input is a jump.
• Negative edge: off. Releasing a button never triggers an attack.

Autocombo is a setting and is on by default. You can toggle it in training (F6) and in Controller settings. It never locks you in, because any manual input takes over at once.

5L (tap L or M) -> 5M -> 5H -> auto ender (the character's M special) -> finisher

• Start: tap L or M from a standing 5L or 5M. Mashing L walks the chain, and mashing M starts it at the 5M step.
• Hit-confirmed: each step only continues if the previous hit landed. On whiff or block the chain holds at the current normal, so mashing in neutral or on block never walks you into empty air.
• Finisher: after the ender, one more L or M tap spends Skybound if you have 100 Style and have not used a super yet. Otherwise it spends the character's auto EX if you have 50 Style. Below 50 there is no finisher.
• Air route (manual): from 5H, press 2H to launch, jump, then do j.L j.M j.H yourself. After the j.H knockdown, hold or tap L (or M) while falling and the landing 5L or 5M OTG pickup comes out, then the auto continues 5M -> 5H -> ender -> finisher.
• After the ender with no affordable finisher, or once the OTG pickup is spent, further taps are plain normals until the combo ends. Each character's auto ender and EX are listed on their page.

You can cancel a dash or run straight into normals, U, specials, or a jump. Normals cannot be cancelled into a ground dash unless the character has a kit dash-cancel or you spend a Style Cancel.

Leaving the ground gives you 1 double jump and 1 air dash. Landing refunds both.

• Air dash / air backdash: 66 / 44 or Dash in the air. Double jump: 7 / 8 / 9 in the air.
• Air dash cancel: you can cancel an air attack into your air dash. In a combo this works once per attack, and the rest of the combo is prorated to 85%.
• Jump cancel: allowed only from moves flagged Jump Cancel, and only on hit. 2H is the universal one. A jump cancel leaves the ground on that frame with no prejump, and it always uses the normal jump arc, never the super jump.

Body type labels a character's movement package. Each character's exact speeds and heights are on their stats panel.

Every hit has a level from 1 to 5. L moves are 1-2, M moves are 3, H moves are 4, and U moves and specials are authored anywhere from 2 to 5. Level sets how the combo starts to scale (see Proration), how far block pushback reaches, and who wins when attacks meet:

• Clash: if two hitboxes of the same level meet, they clash and neither hits on that frame.
• Level difference: if the levels differ, the higher-level move wins and lands as a counter hit.

• Hitstun / blockstun are set for each move and listed in its frame data. There is no hitstun decay over a combo.
• Hitstop freezes both fighters on contact. On hit, each hit after the first in a combo adds 2 frames of hitstop, up to +8, and a counter hit adds 2 more. On block you get the move's listed hitstop only. Rapid multi-hit moves (beams) always use their listed hitstop.
• Air recovery: a juggled fighter gets control back in the air as soon as their hitstun ends, and the recovery needs no input. A hit that causes a hard knockdown holds them helpless until they land.
• Pushback: a fresh hit knocks the victim away and steps the attacker back slightly. A hit inside a combo carries both fighters forward instead, so combos move toward the wall. Launches, knockdowns, and some special sends set their own direction.

A hit counts as a counter hit if it lands during the first 4 frames of the defender's startup, or anywhere in their recovery (shown as PUNISH).

A counter hit adds +4 hitstun, +4 untech, +2 hitstop, and +2 Style for the attacker. Throwing someone during startup or recovery is called out as a throw counter.

• You guard by holding back while you are free to move. You cannot guard while attacking or in hitstun.
• You can switch between standing and crouching guard during blockstun, so a real high/low string can always be blocked.
• If a high breaks a crouch guard or a low breaks a standing guard, the HUD shows HIGH BREAK or LOW BREAK.
• Jumping normals are mids on every current character. Overheads are marked High in the frame data (currently some characters' 6U), and 2L, 2M and 3H are lows for everyone.
• Every block pushes the defender back, and the attacker is pushed back by half that distance. If the defender is against the wall, the attacker takes the whole push. A blockstring that doesn't move forward runs out of range after a few hits.

Tap back (4, 1 or 7) within 2 frames of the hit to Instant Block. The input has to be a fresh press, so holding back does not count.

An Instant Block gives you 2 fewer frames of blockstun (never below 1), a third more pushback, and +1 Style. The attacker gets 2 Style from an Instant-Blocked hit instead of the usual 1. Some characters' kit resources also build on IB.

• Normals never chip.
• Specials and supers flagged for chip deal 10% of their damage on block (minimum 1).
• Chip cannot KO unless it comes from an EX or super. Ordinary chip leaves you at 1 health.

• Strike invulnerability on reversals covers the move's entire startup. The frame data shows this as "Strike 1-N".
• Armor absorbs a strike during startup and active frames. The armored fighter keeps attacking and takes 20% of the damage, which cannot KO.
• Throws always beat armor. Lows beat armor too for characters whose armor loses to lows.
• In the current build, a move tagged Reversal can also be started straight out of blockstun, and in the last 2 frames of a knockdown wake.

A hard knockdown keeps you down for 60 frames. Your wakeup options:

• Quick rise: press any attack button once you are on the ground. Hold 4 to roll back or 6 (or 3 / 9) to roll forward. Anything else, including down-back, stands in place.
• Delayed rise: hold 2 (or 3) to pause the wake timer.
• You cannot be thrown for 6 frames after rising. There is no strike invulnerability on wakeup.

• Landing a hit: you gain the move's Style value (shown in its frame data), plus 2 on a counter hit. The first hit of a combo pays in full, and every later hit pays scaled by the combo's current proration, so long routes do not farm meter linearly.
• Getting hit or blocked: the defender gains +1 per hit taken. On block the attacker gets +1 (+2 on an Instant Block), and an Instant Block also gives the defender +1.
• Moves that cost Style (EX, Skybound, Awakening) build no Style or Burst for either fighter, on hit or on block.

Style caps at 100 and resets to 0 each round. Some characters also have a personal resource bar, which works separately from Style and is explained on their page.

When an EX, Skybound, or Awakening starts, the whole game freezes for an 8-frame cut-in. Measured startup does not count that freeze.

Cancel rules for spends:

• EX: any L/M/H special can cancel into any EX on hit. An EX skips the special cancel limit but still uses it up.
• Supers: supers are a separate once-per-combo resource. Spending your special cancel does not stop a special from cancelling into Skybound.

A Style Cancel costs 25 Style. It ends what you are doing, adds a 10-frame freeze, and gives you full control back. It also refunds your special cancel for the rest of the combo.

• Red cancel: out of an attack that connected, on hit or on block. You cannot Style Cancel a whiff.
• Blue cancel: out of a ground dash, backdash, or air dash, with no hit needed. In neutral it does not use up the once-per-combo limit.

Hold a direction as you Style Cancel to hop one dash length (in 8 frames, no gravity) in that direction:

• Up (7 / 8 / 9) always wins a diagonal. From the ground it counts as a new jump, so your air options refresh.
• Forward / back: 6 or 3 goes forward, and 4 or 1 goes back. Down works only in the air; on the ground, 2 is a plain cancel.

With no direction held, a blue cancel keeps the dash's own direction. You cannot act until the hop finishes, but attacks buffered during it come out on the first free frame. A down hop that reaches the floor lands with no landing recovery. Use it to chase a launch into an air chain (SDC8) or to chase a far send (SDC6).

Ground:  L -> M -> H -> 2H (launcher, jump cancel on hit)
Air:     j.L -> j.M -> j.H (knockdown) -> land -> 5L/2L/5M OTG pickup
Enders:  3H (sweep, low, hard knockdown) or a special -> super

Normals chain upward in strength: L into M into H into 2H or 3H. Most normal-to-normal chains work on hit, block, or whiff. Specials can be cancelled from 5L only on hit. Each move's cancel list on its character page shows exactly what it cancels into and when: h = on hit, b = on block, w = on whiff.

Damage scaling is stored per combo and shown live in training.

• Hit 1: always full damage. It also sets the starting scale:

• Each later hit: multiplies the scale by 0.95, down to a floor of 20%. A multi-hit beam counts as one hit.
• Damage floor: no hit deals less than 20% of its damage. The chain tax below is applied after this floor.
• Air dash cancel in a combo: multiplies the scale by 0.85 (once per attack).
• OTG pickup (new leg): multiplies the scale by 0.70.
• Style: the Style you gain from each hit is scaled by the same number.

The first magic series in a combo costs nothing extra. It restarts whenever a series normal (5, 2 or j. L/M/H, 2H, 3H) lands on a lower button than the last one, such as 5L after 5H or j.L after 2H. Every series normal in the restarted chain pays 30% per restart: the 2nd chain hits at 70%, the 3rd at 40%, and the 4th and later at the 20% floor.

Specials, U moves, supers, throws and Bursts never pay the tax and never restart the chain. This makes routes that extend with specials and resources hit harder than repeating 5L 5M 5H.

• OTG pickup: after a hard knockdown, a landing 5L, 2L or 5M (plus any moves a character adds) hits the downed opponent. The pickup has a magnet that pulls a downed body within 2.5 m into range, so it cannot whiff on spacing.
• Legs: each pickup starts a new leg, which resets your bounce, wallstick, and special cancel. A combo can have at most 3 legs (2 pickups).

• Wallstick: pins the victim to the wall they're being sent toward, but only within about 1.4 m of it. The victim is lifted slightly and slides down slowly for the length of the stick, and the next hit peels them off. An EX wallstick creates a fake wall and sticks even midscreen.
• Ground bounce: re-launches an airborne victim, once per leg.

• Startup: the first active frame. A 5f move hits on its 5th frame, so the frame bar shows startup minus 1 frames before the active frames. Total = startup + active + recovery.
• Hitstun / Blockstun / Untech / Hitstop: the move's listed values. On hit, counters and combo hitstop add to them as described above.
• Guard: High, Low, Mid, or Throw. Invuln: "Strike 1-N" or "Throw 1-N" means invulnerable through the whole startup. "Armor" means the move absorbs hits. "Full 1-N (warp)" means the fighter is fully intangible during a teleport.
• Style gain / cost: the Style the move builds per hit before proration, and what it spends. Chip: 1 means it chips on block, and 2 means the chip can KO (EX and supers).

On-hit and on-block advantage are not calculated by hand. The wiki runs each move in the real game simulation against a copy of the same character:

• Setup: the move starts at point blank. If it doesn't reach, the test is repeated at gaps of 0.4 / 0.9 / 1.6 / 2.6 m. Range is the gap where it connected.
• Guard: the blocking dummy crouch-blocks, and stand-blocks overheads.
• Result: advantage = (frame the defender can act) minus (frame the attacker can act). "Can act" means standing on the ground with no hitstun, blockstun, recovery, landing lag or wakeup left, so a positive number means you move first.
• KD: the hit caused a knockdown. The dummy never quick-rises, so the number includes the full 60-frame wake. Read it as the most time the opponent can give you, since a quick rise shortens it.
• Air: the victim was launched, so the number includes their fall.
• Air normals and air throws are not measured because the result depends on height, and throws have no block row.

The move viewer draws the game's own boxes, in meters, with the fighter facing right:

• Axes: x is forward from the fighter's center, y is up from the floor, and width and height are the full box size.
• Hurtbox (solid): the body hurtbox for the move's stance (standing, crouching, or air).
• Dashed hurtbox: the move's extra hurtbox, such as an extended limb. It exists from the first active frame through recovery.
• Hitbox: exists only on the active frames.
• Grey outline: the opponent's standing hurtbox at the measured range.
• Projectiles: the box is shown where the projectile spawns.

Some characters can reshape a hitbox with a live resource; the character page explains when.