Plasma Sword/Saturn

Introduction

Overview

(Insert brief description about character and how they play, other details)

Strengths

Weaknesses

236 K Drill: Saturn's Drill is one of the most annoying and potent mid-range pokes in the game, capable of crossing up standing and crouching opponents depending upon range, and is completely safe if blocked. It hurts pretty bad for a single hit special move and, if that wasn't enough, the air version has invincibility at startup. All versions are difficult to intercept, if not impossible for some characters, and it is one of the easiest to enact knowledge checks in the game. Standing super confirm: Saturn has a few good confirm strings into super, allowing him to play a safe and stable game if he so chooses. Or, he can spend his meter on... Doll Bomb: Doll Bomb is a powerful Plasma Field, as he can not only reap gigantic damage from it, but can also combo afterwards if he structures his Doll Bomb combo correctly. By doing this, Saturn will build back some of the meter he spent to activate Doll Bomb. Incredible mid range: Even without Drill, Saturn has a powerful set of mid-range tools like 3A, 3B, 2B, 5AAA, and more.

Stance-Swtching Step/4B: Saturn has to carefully keep track of his stance positioning in order to properly due to the fact that he has two very different steps depending upon whether he steps to his back or front. Furthermore, his 4B becomes altered when he's in closed stance, hitting later versus crouchers. This level of "what foot is forward?" complexity is comfortable for virtua fighter players, perhaps, but is an important hurdle to note for the way this character functions. 46B: Like Bilstein, Saturn is cursed with a bad 46B move that occasionally comes out when you mean to do something else. Though his is a little better due to speed and cancelability, it is still unsafe 236A+B Combo Stability at Range: There are some ranges where 236A+B's last hit won't combo correctly, and this can potentially hurt Saturn hard if his opponent is aware. Ground Movement: Saturn's non-hop sidestep (towards his front) is tied for the worst forward box-step cancel window in the game at 16 frames. Always try to keep track of what direction Saturn is facing and only step in the direction that gives him his hop animation. Weak To Meta: Saturn's relatively poor defense and reliance on a tool that can be reacted to with certain anti-airs means he is a sitting duck for basically everyone in S-tier. Having bad matchups versus everyone at the top is generally not a good sign for stability--and the character in S-tier he does best against, Zelkin, is probably the most niche pick in the tier. Unusually unsafe Plasma Field: To balance the extremely high damage and near-undroppability of Doll Bomb combos, Doll Bomb is almost twice as unsafe as every single other Plasma Field activation on block in the game.

Move List

Vertical Normals

5A

5A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	+7	+7	-	Ground
The incredible hit/blockstun on this move is held back by the fact it whiffs on crouchers, even big guys like Vector are able to duck this at certain ranges. Nonetheless, this is an important poke for Saturn/Prince due to its combability and range.

5AA

5AA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-21	-21	-	Ground
Pretty much only exists to either use in juggles/strings to 5AAA or to special cancel. Does not normally combo despite what the combo counter may tell you, but can frame trap with the end of the string.

5AAA

5AAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	X	+0	-	Ground
5AAA's on block safety justifies wailing on this string far more than 5AA's data would convince you you should. Just don't whiff it.

2A

2A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Low	12	-	-	-	-1	-4	-	Ground
Argubly Saturn's most important grounded tool since it is safe and has a string that combos into his super.

2AK

2AK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Low	12	-	-	-	+1	-11	-	Ground
Arguably Saturn's most important grounded tool and, because of Saturn's 236A+B combo, the reason Saturn is a higher tier than Prince. Few characters can punish this, and those that can have to both be ready and have labbed it. If the 2A gets stepped, the wide swinging arc of the 2AK can still hit steppers, and Saturn's forward movement tends to put him out of harm's way if someone jumps over him.

2AKA

2AKA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Overhead	12	-	-	-	X	+5	-	Ground
A very funny, gimmicky overhead with frame advantage on block. If the opponent is familiar with this slow move, it mostly just results in Saturn getting stepped or super'd on reaction, but if they've never seen it before it is a laugh-worthy way to catch them off guard. In reality, you should only ever see this if someone messed up 2AK,236A+B.

3A

3A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Mid	18	-	-	-	-1	-	-	Ground
A fantastic long range mid poke that can be special cancelled. Controls the air in front Saturn reasonably well and walls opponents out, but is painfully weak to step.

Sidestep A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

While Running A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Horizontal Normals

5B (Hand hit)

5B (hand hit)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	8	-	-	-	+2	+2	-	Ground
A fast, good range horizontal that hits crouchers when up close. (You can visually tell where that is: it's his hand that hits crouchers, not the yo-yo.) All things considered, one of the stronger 5B's in the game for the simple reason it can hit crouchers at all. The close range/hand hit version combos into 5BA but not 5BB, and vice versa for the long range/yo-yo hit version.

5B (Yo-yo hit)

5B (yo-yo hit)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	8	-	-	-	+5	+5	-	Ground
This is the long range hit of 5B that hits only with the yo-yo. It combos into 5BB and does so from quite far away thanks to its extra frame advantage.

2B

2B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	12	-	-	-	+2	+1	-	Ground
A great little crouching check to cover fast buttons and close range step.

3B

3B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	24	-	-	-	-5	-7	-	Ground
A premium "Dhalsim" type normal. It covers tons of horizontal space and can be special canceled, and it also does good poke damage on its own. This will force people to jump due to its absurd pushout on hit and block, which opens up 3A/PF use. Despite it being minus, the threat of Saturn's strong special moves makes striking after this easier said than done if its blocked.

4B (First Spin)

4B (first spin)
Stance Change Attack

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	16	-	-	-	+14	+14	-	Ground
The first spin of Saturn's 4B is an incredible frame trap and link combo tool, held back slightly by range/speed and an unusual step of stance-related properties. This will only hit crouchers if you are in open stance (the stance you start out in each round.) If you do this move, you switch to closed stance, and this spin will no longer hit crouchers until you switch back. It's a little annoying to keep track of, so always try to keep in mind what direction your body is facing (which is something you already have to do anyways with this character's odd step differences.)

4B (Third Spin)

4B (Third Spin)
Stance Change Attack

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	23	-	-	-	+21	+21	-	Ground
The third spin of Saturn's 4B is an incredible frame trap and link combo tool, held back slightly by range/speed and an unusual step of stance-related properties. This will always hit crouchers, but is considerably slower than the first spin. If you do this move, you switch to open stance. It is far easier to link off of this if you hit a crouching opponent, and it's probably the only spin that you'll be able to hit someone with when you're in closed stance.

Kick Normals

2K

2K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-5	-5	-	Ground
Saturn's low kick. The first frame it hits on is actually at his knee, before his foot is extended. Fast and special/super cancelable, and a great link off of stuff like 4B. While that's mostly useful for super confirms, he can also do stuff like 2KxDrill up close.

2K2K

2K2K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-31	-33	-	Ground
Saturn's low sweep off of 2K. Special/super cancelable, so while the hit/block adv looks bad, its there for a reason, especially when you consider how it mixes up with the canned overhead string.

2K6K or 2K2K6K

2K6K or 2K2K6K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	X	-6	-	Ground
A relatively safe and sneaky overhead. Knocks down on hit.

Jumping Normals

While Jumping A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

While Falling A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Special Moves

Shiden
236B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Shiden: Kai
214B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Byakko Hou
64K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

623A/B
Guren

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Ashura
222

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Gauge Moves

Engetsu
236AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Rasetsu Zan
214AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Revenge
AM

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Reflect
BM

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Field - Plasma Sword
BK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Miscellaneous

Throw
5AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Strategy

Combos