Capcom vs SNK 2/Groove Subsystems

Groove Subsystems are major components of the Groove system in CvS2, rounding out the feature set of each of the six grooves. Most subsystem components are present in multiple grooves, making them less exclusive than unique features of the grooves but not as universal as the basic system functions of the game (movement, life meters, etc.) which are present with all grooves.

This page shows the technical information for each of the Groove Subsystems. Refer to individual groove or character pages for strategy considerations, as their use can vary.

Dash

As seen in: C-Groove, A-Groove, and P-Groove

Command: , rapidly

A dash is a rapid forward movement over a fixed distance. Although the speed, horizontal travel, and hop height of dashes vary by character, they all share the same properties:

• Execute a forward dash by tapping forward twice.
• Once started, you are committed to the dash until it ends, you are hit out of it, or you are thrown out of it.
  • You cannot jump out of, cut short, or cancel the dash with an attack.
  • You can tech throws attempts made on you during the dash.
• Once the dash ends, you can immediately begin to attack or throw the opponent.
• Although some characters dash by sliding flat against the ground, all dashes are considered airborne, but with the following properties:
  • If hit out of the dash with a normal attack, you will air flip out of it. In this situation, normal air flip out properties apply, allowing you to land safely and immediately block.
  • If hit with a sweep, you will be knocked down as if you were not dashing.
  • If hit with an attack that juggles, such as a fireball super, all hits will connect as normal.
  • Characters that dash along the ground can be thrown out of a dash, but can tech out of it.
• Dashes do not pass through or crossover standing, crouching, or airborne opponents.
  • Dashes can pass under an airborne opponent as long as the character pushboxes do not collide.
  • However, some characters hop high enough into the air during a dash that they can cross to the other side of downed opponents (aka the "Corpse Hop" or "Dead Body Hop") or even dash over ground fireballs. See the Dash Data Chart below for more details on which characters have this ability.

Backdash

As seen in: All Grooves

Command: , rapidly

A backdash is the reverse of dash, a rapid backwards movement over a fixed distance. Unlike the forward dash, the backdash is a universal system mechanic present in all grooves, even the ones that use forward runs. It is listed here due to its obvious connection to forward dashes, and the sake of listing backdash data with regular dash data in the Dash Data Chart below.

All the properties of the forward dash listed above also apply to the backdash.

Dash Data Chart

The table below shows the distance and height, in pixels, of all (non-boss) character dashes and backdashes. Characters that can corpse hop with their dash (14 pixels of height or more) are bolded• with one dot. Characters that can hop over ground fireballs with their dash (22.5 pixels or more) are bolded•• with two dots. The table columns are sortable, with the initial sort separating the Capcom and SNK characters and displaying them by the default roster order.

CvS2 Dash and Backdash Data

Character	Dash Horiz Dist	Dash Vert Height	Backdash Horiz Dist	Backdash Vert Height
Ryu	97	0	65	0
Ken	97	0	65	0
Guile •	101	14	85	14
Zangief ••	66	22.5	65	22.5
Dhalsim ••	69	22.5	58	22.5
E.Honda •	85	19.6	85	19.6
Blanka ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
Balrog (Bxr) ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
Vega (Clw) ••	112	22.5	113	22.5
Sagat	64	0	85	0
M.Bison (Dic) ••	102	23.9	89	0
Sakura	88	11.3	88	11.3
Cammy ••	113	22.5	104	0
Morrigan ••	118	22.5	117	22.5
Dan •	102	15.8	98	37.4
Eagle ••	113	22.5	132	18
Maki ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
Kyosuke	97	0	65	0
Yun ••	113	22.5	102	0
Rolento	99	0	100	0
Akuma	80	0	81	0
Kyo	101	11.7	118	11.7
Iori	102	0	119	22.5
Terry •	102	15	95	15
Ryo	88	11.3	88	22.5
Mai	101	9.6	102	22.5
Kim ••	88	22.5	98	22.5
Geese	65	0	72	0
Yamazaki	71	0	72	0
Raiden ••	96	22.5	96	22.5
Rugal	65	0	85	11.3
Vice ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
Benimaru ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
Yuri ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
King ••	88	22.5	96	22.5
Nakoruru ••	113	22.5	113	22.5
Joe	97	0	64	0
Todo ••	112	22.5	69	22.5
Athena ••	112	22.5	113	22.5
Rock •	102	18	102	18
Haohmaru	96	0	64	0
Hibiki	81	0	88	22.5
Chang •	57	16.9	40	16.9

Run

As seen in: S-Groove, N-Groove, and K-Groove

Command: rapidly, holding

A run is a sustained forward sprint along the ground. The run speed of the characters are different, but (with one exception) they all share the same properties:

• Execute a forward run by tapping forward twice, holding forward on the second tap.
  • The run lasts for as long as you hold forward and approach the opponent, even if you bump up into them.
  • CvS2 does not have a system backward run, only a standard backdash available in all grooves. See Dash/Backdash (above), or Maki's Saka Hayagake backwards command run.
  • If the opponent jumps or rolls past you, your run will automatically stop once you switch sides.
• Runs have a startup time of 4 frames.
• You can attack (any normal, special, or super), roll, or activate meter at any point after the run starts, including immediately after startup.
  • Any attack or meter activation will immediately stop the run in place. There is no forward momentum carried into actions performed in this manner.
• You cannot throw while running.
  • You can be thrown, and can tech out of a throw, while running.
• A jump during a run will always be a Superjump (even if attempting to execute a Small Jump).
• At the end of a run, there are 14 frames of recovery (skidding) before you come to a full stop.
  • This skidding animation is considered part of the run, and can be cancelled with any the above-listed actions you can perform during a run.
  • You must wait for the skidding animation to finish before you can attempt a throw, however.

Exception: Morrigan has a unique run that flies her forward and into the air at an angled trajectory. During this action she is considered airborne for the purposes of many of her special moves. See her character page for more information.

Run Speed Chart

The table below shows how many pixels forward per frame a character runs. The higher the number, the faster they run and the more distance they cover in the same period of time as slower running characters. The table columns are sortable, with the initial sort separating the Capcom and SNK characters and displaying them by the default roster order.

CvS2 Run Speed Data

Character	Run Speed
Ryu	8.2
Ken	8.5
Chun Li	9.0
Guile	8.0
Zangief	5.6
Dhalsim	6.4
E.Honda	6.9
Blanka	7.2
Balrog	8.8
Vega	10.1
Sagat	7.2
M.Bison	9.2
Sakura	8.0
Cammy	9.8
Morrigan	8.0
Dan	8.0
Eagle	8.2
Maki	9.0
Kyosuke	8.5
Yun	9.0
Rolento	9.0
Akuma	8.5
Kyo	8.2
Iori	7.4
Terry	8.8
Ryo	7.4
Mai	9.6
Kim	8.5
Geese	7.2
Yamazaki	7.2
Raiden	5.6
Rugal	8.5
Vice	8.0
Benimaru	8.8
Yuri	8.5
King	8.0
Nakoruru	9.2
Joe	8.0
Todo	7.4
Athena	8.5
Rock	8.5
Haohmaru	7.4
Hibiki	7.2
Chang	5.6

Rolling

As seen in: C-Groove, A-Groove, and N-Groove

Command: +

A roll is an invulnerable evasive action that allows a character to move forward through attacks and/or for positioning purposes, though at the cost of some vulnerability during recovery.

They universally have the following properties:

• To execute a roll, press Light Punch and Light Kick simultaneously.
  • This must be done in neutral. There is no way to cancel into a normal roll from any action (but see Counter Movement).
• Rolls are immediately full-body invulnerable from the first frame. Universally, this state lasts for exactly 27 frames during which time any physical attacks will miss.
• Rolls have a recovery phase where a character is (sometimes) partially and (always) completely vulnerable to attack.
  • Immediately after the full invulnerably phase, some characters have a few frames of upper-body invulnerability only. High attacks will still whiff during this phase, but sweeps and other low attacks can hit.
  • For all characters, at the end of a roll there is a phase of fully vulnerable recovery which lasts a few frames.
  • The length of these two phases vary by character. The Roll Data Chart below lists which characters have which recoveries and their durations.
• Every frame of a roll is vulnerable to throws, including recovery time. When thrown out of a roll, you cannot tech out of it.
• Rolls will pass through opponents regardless of their state (standing, crouching, down). When this happens, the player will turn around to face the opponent after recovering from the roll.
  • Exception: When an opponent has their back to the corner, a roll will not cross through them. They will stay on the same side they started on.
    • Exception to the Exception: If Player 1 falls into the corner in such a way where the 2P Crossup Glitch occurs, a roll by Player 2 into the corner will pass through and cross up upon recovery.
• Once started, you are committed to the roll until it ends, you are thrown out of it, or you are hit out of its recovery frames.
  • Exception: It's a big one! See below.

Roll Cancelling

If the game detects a roll input, but then detects the completion of a special move input within 3 frames, it will assume the player flubbed trying to execute the special move and will cancel the roll animation to perform the special move instead. The roll animation stops but its invulnerability does not, leading to invulnerable special moves, a.k.a. roll cancelling, CvS2's most famous bug. It can only be done in grooves with a roll, so it is noted in this section for ease of discovery.

See Roll Cancelling for more information.

Roll Data Chart

The table below shows roll data for all (non-boss) characters in CvS2. The columns show:

• Character Name
• Distance of Character Roll, in pixels
• Number of Fully Invulnerable frames in the Roll (this is universally 27 frames)
• Number of Upper Body Only Invulnerable frames, if any
• Number of completely vulnerable Recovery frames of the Roll
• The Total number of frames of the roll from start to finish. This is the "true" speed of the roll in terms of game frames.
• The "Apparent Speed" of the roll. This helps differentiate visually "fast" and "slow" rolls as a factor of distance covered over equal frame time.

The table columns are sortable, with the initial sort separating the Capcom and SNK characters and displaying them by the default roster order.

CvS2 Roll Data

Character	Roll Distance (Px)	Full Invul (Fr)	Upper Invul (Fr)	Recovery (Fr)	Total Frames	Apparent Speed
Ryu	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Ken	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Chun-Li	132	27	2	4	33	4.00
Guile	167	27	4	4	35	4.77
Zangief	120	27	4	4	35	3.43
Dhalsim	135	27	4	4	35	3.86
E.Honda	116	27	4	3	34	3.41
Blanka	135	27	4	4	35	3.86
Balrog (Bxr)	112	27	0	3	30	3.73
Vega (Clw)	102	27	2	4	33	3.09
Sagat	112	27	0	3	30	3.73
M.Bison (Dic)	116	27	1	3	31	3.74
Sakura	112	27	0	4	31	3.61
Cammy	112	27	8	4	39	2.87
Morrigan	135	27	4	5	36	3.75
Dan	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Eagle	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Maki	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Kyosuke	117	27	2	3	32	3.66
Yun	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Rolento	118	27	0	5	32	3.69
Akuma	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Kyo	136	27	4	4	35	3.89
Iori	132	27	0	2	29	4.55
Terry	112	27	0	4	31	3.61
Ryo	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Mai	113	27	0	4	31	3.65
Kim	98	27	0	2	29	3.38
Geese	135	27	4	4	35	3.86
Yamazaki	113	27	0	3	30	3.77
Raiden	116	27	3	5	35	3.31
Rugal	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Vice	84	27	0	4	31	2.71
Benimaru	113	27	0	3	30	3.77
Yuri	112	27	0	3	30	3.73
King	102	27	0	2	29	3.52
Joe	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Nakoruru	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Todo	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Athena	102	27	0	2	29	3.52
Rock	112	27	7	4	38	2.95
Haohmaru	120	27	2	4	33	3.64
Hibiki	120	27	6	4	37	3.24
Chang	120	27	13	3	43	2.79

Dodge

Dodges are 35 frames long, represented by: [18/13/4]

 All 35 frames are invincible, and the middle 13 frames can be cancelled into
 a dodge move.

Counter Attack

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Counter Movement

.

Air Guard

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Small Jump

Low jumps have the same start up time as regular jumps (6 frames in a low
 jump groove) but have 8 frames of recovery when a move is performed in the
 air. The recovery can be cancelled at any time after the first 2 frames with
 a special move or a super.

Tactical Recovery

Tactical Recovery (delayed get ups) add 15 frames to your rising animation.

Safe Fall

Safe Falls (tech rolls) are all 28 frames long, the first 17 of which are fully invincible.