The King of Fighters '98/Lucky

Introduction

This is three on three street basketball

If you wanna join in you gotta answer the call.

Call, short, pass, it don't make no difference it all

'Cause when the whistle blows it's a free-for-all.

Baby better slam it gettin' ready to burn

Take a three point shot make everybody's head turn.

That's just the way it goes

Yeah I'm the finest on the court and everybody knows.

Colors

Gameplay Overview

Though he has an unconventional playstyle and is most definitely not a beginner character, Lucky is a solid character once you understand the nuances of his moveset. An incredible battery, it's not at all unusual to gain upwards of 4 meters in a round with Lucky. What he lacks in combos, he makes up with an excellent poke and zoning game. Most of your damage is going to come from pokes, counter hits and forcing mistakes with his basketballs. Furthermore, Lucky enjoys the best sweep and teleport in the game.

In-depth Analysis

Movelist

	Frames	Advantage	Cancel	Block	Hitbox		Notes
Standing Close
	2/3/7			HL			Lucky elbows the opponent. Can be crouched, and has little range.
	3/4/7			HL			Cancelable, but does not hit low. Less useful than st.B as buffering a cr.B into cl.B and trying to get out his DM will give you a Lucky Vision instead.
	3/4/20			HL			The precursor to Makoto's infamous st.MP. Can be chained into f+B which can cancel into a DM, so this is his preferred close normal.
	7/4/16			HL			A knee to the chest that cannot be canceled or chained into anything. Stick with cl.C.
Standing Far
	2/4/5			HL			A basic st.A, good for stuffing hops and has a little extra range than others.
	5/4/12			HL			A high kick that looks similar to Benimaru's st.B, only with a smaller hitbox, making it not as useful of an option.
	7/3/21			HL			Whiffs crouchers due to Lucky being so tall, but works well as a preemptive hop stuffer
	9/4/24			HL			Ooh baybee! Lucky's longest poke that hits mid and reaches over a quarter of the screen. The startup is slower than far C, but it's the range you want to abuse on this poke. Great to open matches with.
+	18/5/18	KD/		HL
Crouching
	2/3/7			HL			Wide hitbox for a cr.A, and is cancelable. No reason to use instead of cr.B inside combos though.
	5/4/12			L			Decent range and can be canceled and chained into itself. It's alright, and confirming from cr.Bs into his DM is his primary way to score damage.
	7/3/21			HL			An uncancelable poke with longer range than his cr.A. Hits further than his st.C, however this can be crouched by some smaller characters. Inferior to the crouch D.
	9/4/24			L			A long range, cancelable sweep. While slightly shorter than his far D, it is one of the few sweeps that is cancelable on hit or whiff and beats many other sweeps clean (even Iori's). You will get a lot of mileage out of this.
Jump
	4/7/-	-/-		H			A downward chop. Hits fairly deep vertically,
	6/9/-	-/-		H			A flying knee similar to Kyo's j.B. Lucky's best jump-in attack.
	5/4/-	-/-		H			Downward punch that is fickle to hit deep with, making it not the best attack to jump in with.
	6/5/-	-/-		H			Has a long horizontal hitbox making it a good air to air and cross up. Your main jump attack the rare times you're in the air with Lucky.
+	9/4/-	KD/-		HL			Looks almost the same as j.D, only Lucky's foot is positioned at a lower angle. Tricky to hit crouches with but can air-to-air decently.
Neutral Jump
	4/7/-	-/-		H
	4/6/-	-/-		H
	6/4/-	-/-		H
	6/5/-	-/-		H
Command Normals
f+	16/4/20		S,Su	HL			A punt that is cancelable when chained into or when done alone. Best used when comboing into a super. Be warned that this does have a tendency to whiff; use sparingly.
j.d+	11/4/-	KD/-		H			Lucky does a flying dunk that goes straight down. Gives a hard knockdown on hit. Can be used during a backdash for extended backdash length, and can be used in EX Mode forward dashes to pressure.

Normal Throws

b or f + C - SLAM DUNK! Breakable, hard knockdown.

b or f + D - Lucky knees into the opponent in an overly fluid manner. Mashable, unbreakable; hard knockdown, opponent is thrown behind Lucky.

Lucky's throws are very important as both lead to untechable knockdowns and leave him in ideal positions for Death Dunks and Death Shoots.

Special Moves

Death Bound (qcf + P): Lucky summons a basketball from the sky that he bounces towards the opponent. The angle differs on the button version used (A-version slower and higher, C is faster and lower). While this has lengthy startup, the recovery is short enough that it is not only safe on block but Lucky can combo after. This won't win any projectile wars, but this shuts most hops down. If pushback would cause Lucky to miss the dropping ball, he'll instead throw a standing C instead that knocks down. In point blank range, this must be blocked low. In addition, here's a detail that is true for virtually every angled projectile in an SNK fighter: if it hits below the character's knee, it must be blocked low.

Death Dunk (qcb + P): Lucky jumps to intercept an incoming ball and bounces it downward off the ground and into the sky. Both versions create a "V"-shaped trajectory, only the D version covers a wider distance. It has slightly less startup than a Death Bound but more recovery. Lucky jumps high enough to evade most projectiles and being an angled projectile, the basketball is considered a low attack just before and just after it bounces. One of Lucky's main tools, the A version is the preferred version of this move due to it's trajectory. Great to use as a followup to a throw, as it'll be in perfect range for the basketball to hit low.

Cyclone Break (qcb + K): - Lucky swings his legs through the air, hitting up to four times. A very difficult move to land correctly. Works as a preemptive anti-air due to the enormous size, but the damage makes it not worth it. Slight disadvantage, but fairly safe on block. Combos from close C, but loses damage in the process. In the rare situations where you can catch someone in the back (e.g. if they attempted to roll past you) it'll chew them up.

Lucky Vision (qcf + K): - Lucky slides across the screen with afterimages trailing behind him. B-version has short startup and recovery, travels three-quarters of the screen and has upperbody invincibility while the D travels full screen, slightly more startup and recovery, and lower body invincibility. Either can cross up opponents that are not in the corner. Excellent for escapes, mixups and setting up rudimentary dash throws. Often used in conjunction with the crouch D. The B version is fast enough to enable combos after Death Bounds and Death Dunks from fullscreen.

Death Shoot (d, d + P / K): - Lucky sets a layup. The distance the ball falls down from depends on the version used, ranging shortest to longest from A to B to C to D. The closer versions, namely A and B, are the safer ones to use as if thrown too far out the opponent can walk forward and make the ball completely whiff leaving you absolutely free to retaliation. The A and B versions can stop forward progression, although the move's startup is slow. Of all Lucky's B-ball shots, this is the safest if used wisely. Note: If canceled into, Lucky will not set up a ball, but rather use his nj.B as he's at the peak of his jump. This kick will whiff crouching opponents, so it is a terrible idea to cancel into this move :(

Death Heel (dp + K): - This move hits twice; once on the way up, and then again as he does his downward kick. It is not a reversal, and is only good inside of combos (and even rarely at that). The downward kick whiffs standing opponents, so even gimmicks with the move are bad.

Desperation Moves

Hell Bound (qcf x 2 + P) - After pointing to the sky, Lucky points to the ground with a shout of "PLAY BALL" and the gods release dunk so mighty it creates a pillar resembling a chaos dunk. The C version is slower as Lucky moves forward before dunking and is only useful off of f.B. The A version will only combo off cr.B, or cr.A. Deals moderate damage, and can be used to anti-air jumps as the pillar has infinite vertical length.

SDM version is SLOWER and will not combo from anything. Don't use it.

Lucky Driver (qcf x 2 + K) - Lucky breakdances all over the opponent. It does not have any startup invuln, so keep it for the combo (Yes, one combo).

SDM version deals more damage and has a ballin' finisher.

Combos

• cr.B, cr.B, cr.B xx Hell Bound (A version). Can be done off two cr.Bs for safety, or you can do two cr.Bs after a jump-in.

• cl.C xx f.A xx Lucky Driver (B version). C version of Hell Bound will combo here as well, but for less damage. Note it's possible for the f.A to whiff if not in close enough at the beginning.

• Corner: cr.B, cr.B xx Death Heel (D). Outside the corner you can only combo into Death Heel off of one cr.B or cl.C.

• cl.C xx Death Heel (D). Meterless punisher.

• MAX: cl.C xx f.B xx SDM Lucky Driver (B version). Lucky's most damaging combo that deals about 70%, and is only practical off a stun.

The King of Fighters '98: The Slugfest