The King of Fighters XIII/Vice

Vice

In a nutshell

Vice is traditionally a grappler who excels in her grounded game with far-reaching normals to make up for her poor aerial control from her jumping normals. This time around Vice's hop arc is lower to the ground and her jumping normals have been switched up, giving her a valid jump-in and cross up. She still retains her fundamental normals but the range has been slightly shortened on some of these moves. However, Vice can turn almost any antiair into a full combo with her EX Decide (HCF+BD) so she can limit the opponent to a grounded approach. In addition her 'delay grab' from previous games is removed which takes away from her grappler oki, but to make amends for it she now gains an ambiguous roll opportunities, crossup setups, her standby meaty cr.B pressure, and an airthrow DM.

Move List

Normal Moves

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Standing Light Punch

kof.lp

25

chaincancel cancel

Standing Light Kick

kof.lk

30

cancel

Standing Heavy Punch

kof.sp

80

Close Heavy Punch

kof.sp

70

cancel

Standing Heavy Kick

kof.sk

70

Close Heavy Kick

kof.sk

70

cancel

Crouching Light Punch

d + kof.lp

25

cancel

Crouching Light Kick

d + kof.lk

30

low chaincancel cancel

Crouching Heavy Punch

d + kof.sp

70

cancel

Crouching Heavy Kick

d + kof.sk

80

low softknockdown cancel

Blowback Attack

kof.sp + kof.sk

80

softknockdown specialcancel

Jumping Light Punch

air kof.lp

Jump: 45
Hop: 40

high

Jumping Light Kick

air kof.lk

Jump: 45
Hop: 40

high

Jumping Heavy Punch

air kof.sp

Jump: 72
Hop: 70

high

Jumping Heavy Kick

air kof.sk

Jump: 70
Hop: 68

high

Jumping Blowback Attack

air kof.sp + kof.sk

Jump: 90
Hop: 80

softknockdown

Unique Attacks

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Dokken

f + kof.lp

70

high supercancel

Dokken (cancelled-into)

f + kof.lp

70

specialcancel

Throw

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Death Blow

f or b + kof.sp or kof.sk (while close)

100

throw softknockdown

Special Moves

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Mayhem

qcb + p

kof.lp : 60
kof.sp : 80
ex : 160

Splash

Mayhem, then qcf + p

100

airthrow drivecancel

Splash

dp + p

100

throw supercancel

Deicide

hcf + k

0

ex : anywherejuggle

Gorefest

hcb f + p

p 1st till 6th hit: 20x6
7th hit: 40
ex 1st till 6th hit: 25x6
7th hit: 70

throw

Desperation Moves

Name

Command

Damage

Special Properties (glossary)

Negative Gain

hcb hcb + k

220 ex 340

throw softknockdown maxcancel

Overkill

db qcf uf u d + p

220

airthrow softknockdown maxcancel

Awakening Blood

qcb hcf + kof.lp + kof.sp

450

softknockdown

Strategy

Combos

0 Bar, 0% Drive

• cr.B cr.B st.B/cr.B xx qcb+A qcf+A

Basic knockdown from low hitconfirm.

• cl.D f+A xx qcb+C qcf+C

Alternatively cancel into gorefest (hcb,f+A) for a stronger knockdown.

• hcf+B, hcb,f+A
• hcf+D, qcb+A qcf+A

You can link any of Vice's instant command grabs after Decide, or link Mayhem off the D version.

• cr.B cr.B hcb,f+A

Requires close proximity for the grab to connect, but sets up a stronger oki.

1 Bar, 0% Drive

• cl.D f+A xx hcb,hcb+B
• f+A xx hcb,hcb+B
• Antiair, then hcf+BD, cl.D f.A xx ...

You'll have to make a judgement call if EX Decide will catch an opponent before they touch the ground from the height you hitreset them.

• cl.D f.A xx qcb+BD, qcb+A qcf+A

0 Bar 50% Drive

• ...qcb+A/C (DC) hcf+D, hcb,f+A

Use to end a longer combo into Gorefest and set up her oki.

1 Bar 50% Drive

• ...qcb+A (DC) hcf+BD, cl.D f.A xx ender

HD Combos

• cr.B cr.B cr.B/st.B (HD) cl.D f.A xx [qcb+A (DC) hcf+D]x6, (hcf+D ender)

Adjust the finish according to your meter or wanted damage. With enough bars, you can continue the combo after the HD gauge is empty by using her EX Decide:

• ... (HD) cl.D f.A xx [qcb+A (DC) hcf+D]x5 qcb+A (DC) hcf+BD, cl.D f.A xx...

EX Decide could potentially be looped 5 times here.

Basic Strategy

Offense

• Vice's command throw, Gorefest (hcb,f+P), sets up for various oki and ambiguous setups.
  • Vice's jump arc has been lowered to a more standard KOF arc, meaning that now she can apply hopping pressure with her j.C for opponents vertically below her (similar to Iori's j.C), which opens up room for a high/low mixup between j.C and her long cr.B, as well as having the threat of empty hop into Gorefest.
  • j.B can now crossup an opponent, but you should use this cautiously since it can be meatied by a low attack if used by a poor angle due to its horizontal hitbox. Also if used too early against a standing opponent, they may recover before you land, giving them time to punish you with a close C or D. Experiment to find setups to keep the opponent crouching while getting a feel for when it will cross up.
  • Vice's cr.B is a staple of her offense. The poke has long range, chains into itself, and is cancelable meaning the opponent will really want to block strings of cr.B. As such, you can mixup between running forward and using more cr.Bs to make them respect you and block, or run forward into Gorefest to punish them for blocking. This situation alone makes it difficult for the opponent to escape as a poorly timed jump can be caught by a cr.B, and if they start alternate guarding delaying your cr.Bs can catch them as they're blocking high.
  • If the opponent tries to sweep you as you run forward into a low/throw mixup, the option of hopping in on them is now a legitimate threat from her j.C. Alternatively, you could read a sweep or jumpout attempt and frametrap into a far C, cr.D, st.B, or Decide (hcf+K).
  • Overall, Vice is not primarily a grounded, grappling character anymore and can conduct high and low mix-ups as well as jump-in/empty hop command throw mix ups. In comparison to a character such as Goro, Vice lacks a delay grab that has abundant active frames as she did previous games; but she is supplemented with some new tools to compensate and expand her game.
• Do shit

Neutral/Defense

• Vice's main goal when not on the offensive is to keep the enemy at bay with pokes which limits their grounded attempts of approach, and then be ready to antiair which can set up for her offense by a run-under or hop, score a knockdown combo from an anywhere juggle, or simply reestablish space.
  • Her sweep doesn't hit as high as it would appear to, but nonetheless it will still trip opponents who jump in with horizontal attacks. Her cr.B can also work in this situation, leading into a combo from a poor angled aerial normal from the opponent.
  • Her defense is significantly more scary if she's sitting on meter. st.A, far C, cr.C, far D, st.B, j.D, j.B - all of her fundamental antiairs and air-to-airs can net you an anywhere juggle into EX Decide (hcf+BD) into a full combo. Even her traditionally 'weak' cr.C can still net the juggle, and if a trade occurs it's still possible for it to be greatly in your favor.
  • With the air being a risky option, she can focus on zoning with far C and st.B which have long reach and also control the hop space in front of her well. If the opponent switches to using a low move (cr.B or cr.D), you can attempt to outmatch them with the range on Vice's own cr.B or cr.D, or read their low and hop over it with her lower hop arc and mount an offense.
  • Decide (hcf+B/D) is a great option for catching opponents running in or closing the distance on the ground, but it can be jumped if read, and while safe on block there is a significant gap if you attempt to zone solely with this move. It's also her safest move to cancel into as a frametrap, so buffering it into her sweep at times can catch opponents or cover space if whiffed.