Ninja Masters/Karasu

Introduction

Unarmed	Weapon

Story:

Travels through many countries, working as a bodyguard, accompanied by crows and an evil sword that is said to human blood.

As the crows head for the cast as usual, he follows them without knowing what lies ahead...

+Long Range orthodox Shoto with long range normals
+Damaging Weapon Change attack
-Bad recovery for projectile specials
-Low defense and tall hitbox character

Move list

Normals

Standing

Far

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	10	-	-	-	-
Decently ranged poke. Starts pretty slowly but it's hard to counterpoke.

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	6	-	-	-	-
Pretty good range for its speed, but many characters can crouch under it and doesn't really lead to anything.

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	11	-	-	-	-
Barely slower than f5A but better range and damage. Pretty strong counterpoke, can also be used as an antiair for shallow jump-ins but it's tricky to time

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	11	-	-	-	-
Karasu's longest ranged normal. does huge amounts of stun but can be ducked by most of the cast.

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	6	-	-	-	-
Slightly less range than unarmed f5A but hits crouchers. Very little pushback on block, a great button for harassing opponents

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	10	-	-	-	-
Unlike unarmed f5B this can catch all crouchers, though the foot still whiffs so be careful. Pretty active but easy to counter-hit

Close

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP,CH	6	-	-	-	-
Not any better than c5C, but also it whiffs on crouchers. Maybe can catch someone jumping out of pressure but not really useful.

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP,CH	6	-	-	-	-
Same as the armed version but stubbier.

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP	11	-	-	-	-
Mediocre anti-air/combo fodder with big stun. Later active frames will whiff crouchers so don't use it meaty.

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP	11	-	-	-	-
Combo Fodder. Can't use this as an anti-air at all.

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	CH	6	-	-	-	-
A low chain starter, great for pressure and mix too. One of Karasu's best buttons.

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP	10	-	-	-	-
If you're gonna use a close heavy you probably wanna use this one.

Crouching

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	6	-	-	-	-
Fast and great range, use this button a lot in neutral.

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	5	-	-	-	-
Karasu's fastest button. very tight link into c5C

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	7	-	-	-	-
Similar to (a)f5B but faster and doesn't move your hurtbox as far forwards in exchange for worse frame advantage on block

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	11	-	-	-	-
Pretty mediocre range but leaves you absurdly plus. Use point blank on oki with 6A and 2D for an easy 50/50

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	low	no	6	-	-	-	-
Pretty nice, fast low. Use it to keep em blocking low.

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	low	SP	10	-	-	-	-
Standard sweep. Surprisingly safe.

Jumping

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	7	-	-	-	-
Long ranged, pretty good angle.

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	6	-	-	-	-
Stays out until you land. Difficult to combo out of but a good set up for a tick throw on hit, or high/low mix on block.

Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	9	-	-	-	-
Solid air-to-air and a crossup to boot.

Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	9	-	-	-	-
Pretty mediocre jump-in, doesn't really do anything better than other buttons.

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	6	-	-	-	-
Jack of all trades button, similar function to j.A but with worse range, and crosses up like armed j.B but but has a worse backwords hitbox. What this means is no matter what state you have access to those functions.

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	SP	9	-	-	-	-
Great jump-in. Good damage and stun, easy to combo from. Interestingly this is a cancelable button, which means you can combo into sword throw in some situations.

Command Normals

Arc Swipe
Armed
(far) +

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	14	-	-	-	-
Command Overhead. Great range for an overhead, and you can convert on a stagger pretty easily still. Despite how it looks this isn't a very good antiair

Low Beak
Unarmed
(far) +

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	13	-	-	-	-
Command Overhead. Less range than the armed version but a little faster. This also comes out on close +.

Waist Slice
Armed
(close) +

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	13	-	-	-	-
Command Overhead. early startup frames are fairly similar to standing, use with c5C for mix.

Double Slash
Armed
+

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid, mid	no	16	-	-	-	-
If you press this at the range the first hit will connect you'll get c.5B instead. Could maybe be used to discourage dashing in but there are better buttons for that

Universal Mechanics

+
Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP	8/14	-	-	-	-
Amazing button. Not only is it one of Karasu's fastest buttons AND one of the longest ranged cancelable buttons in the game but it can also be cancelled into from other buttons. 2 hits, switches you to Unarmed.

+
Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	SP	8	-	-	-	-
This is pretty much your best unarmed antiair, though still likely to trade. Less impressive than the armed version but still cancelable into and out of.

+
Armed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
8/14	-	-	mid	SP	-	-	-	-	-
-

+ +
Unarmed

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
10	-	-	mid	SP	10	-	-	-	-
These are mostly just worse versions of the standing draw/sheathe attacks, there's no real need to use them.

Throw
Close

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	-	no	-	-	-	-	-
Armed version drops them next to you for easy oki, unarmed sends them to the other side of the screen. strictly worse than the command throw.

Special Moves

Crow Return
Disarmed
+ +

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	-	no	26	-	-	-	-
Karasu snaps his fingers, causing his sword to turn into a crow and fly towards him. When it reaches his position AND a certain height it turns back into a sword and drops down for you to pick up or Catch. If it reaches you before its max height it will carry on in the direction it was going so it can fly past you. This prevents your opponent from camping your weapon or scrolling it offscreen, though it's pretty slow so be prepared to defend yourself while it's coming.

Catch
+

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	-	no	15	-	-	-	-
Catch the sword in the air as it falls. You're vulnerable until the animation ends but it's faster than waiting for it to hit the ground. The timing for the catch is kinda tricky; you need to wait for the sword to be about 1 head height above you but it's pretty lenient horizontally.

Command Grab
(close)
,,+

Tsumi (Armed)

Batsu (Unarmed)

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	-	no	1	-	-	-	-
Armed and unarmed are identical other than animation. Sends your opponent flying into the air about 3/4 of a screen away. Can't juggle but there's plenty of time to reach them.

Yami Karasu
+,

+,

+

-Shade

-Cruel

-Destruction

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid, mid, mid	no	17	-	-	-	-
Throw up to 3 crows, button strength determines speed of the crows. Pretty slow and has a lot of recovery even with one crow; at point blank one crow is unsafe on hit, and 3 can be punished with a full close button string even. Even so, the 3 crows do a lot of damage, and will win most fireball battles.

Hane Yaiba
In Air
+

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	17	-	-	-	-
Karasu pauses in the air and throws his sword at a 45 degree angle. Bounces off opponents and the wall. The EX version pierces and deals multiple hits, but only does more damage on 5 hits. Your jump trajectory resumes as it was after the throw but you can't act so tk-ing isn't advisable.

Karasu Yaiba
Armed
+

Version	Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
Light	-	-	-	mid	no	16	-	-	-	-
Heavy	-	-	-	mid	no	25	-	-	-	-
EX	-	-	-	mid	no	31	-	-	-	-
Karasu dashes forward and unleashes a huge vertical swing. Doesn't reach as far forwards as it looks but hits really far behind, making it great for deep jump-ins and crossup attempts. L barely moves you forward, H moves about a character length and EX moves a little under forward jump distance. EX is so slow that it's not really worth using.

Hayate Bane
Unarmed
+

Version	Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
Light	-	-	-	mid	no	14	-	-	-	-
Heavy	-	-	-	mid	no	19	-	-	-	-
EX	-	-	-	mid	no	23	-	-	-	-
Trades the vertical hitbox for horizontal range and distance, with the EX version reaching 3/4s of a screen length. Can be made safer and even plus when hit meaty. On hit you can juggle with f.5A for a flipout/oki setup or with 5B+C for a midscreen knockdown or a juggle combo in the corner. You'll want to use this a lot

Ridare Bane
Armed
+

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	14	-	-	-	-
A series of rapid stabs. L=6 hits, H and EX=12 hits. The heavy version misses the last hit against most characters, even at point blank. Risky to end a combo with it since it's always minus or even punishable, but it's good damage and great meter gain

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	14	-	-	-	-
-	-	-	low	no	14	-	-	-	-
Final big stab 50/50 ender that knocks down. Either can be interrupted or jumped out of during the startup so make sure you can keep them blocking.

Spirit Gauge

Power Move

Kikyo Shoheki
,++

Version	Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
Level 0	-	-	-	mid	no	22	-	-	-	-
Level 1	-	-	-	mid	no	22	-	-	-	-
Level 2	-	-	-	mid	no	22	-	-	-	-
Level 3	-	-	-	mid	no	22	-	-	-	-
Karasu folds his arms and is surrounded by an electrical field. this destroys projectiles and reduces karasu's hurtbox fairly significantly, though it can still be contested. Loses pretty hard to jumpins, so try throwing this into your pressure to catch them pressing buttons up close. levels 0 and 1 aren't really worth going for but 2 and 3 put them in juggle state and lead to big damage.

Combo Super

Kurui Yaiba
Chain Combo Ender
+

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	15	-	-	-	-
Summons a sword that rushes the opponent by itself with a big finishing uppercut. Can be done even when you've been disarmed. This barely does more damage than meterless combos from some starters but does at least give you a knockdown. This can whiff on crouchers so watch out.

Desperation Move

Onmyo Karasu
,++

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	mid	no	24	-	-	-	-
Fires a Big Crow. Too slow to be combo into but it's a good augment to your zoning, as the slow startup can easily catch a far jump-in if they're expecting a regular crow

Finisher

Karasu Jigoku no Mai
,++(hold)

Damage	Meter	Stun	Guard	Cancel	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block
-	-	-	high	no	70(...)	-	-	-	-
Sends Karasu's sword into the ground as a shadow, which creates a screen-height pillar of crows when you release the buttons. Afterwards the sword turns to stone and can't be picked up for about 15 ingame seconds. SOMEHOW this hits overhead! VERY slow but VERY high damage and you can even juggle with a jump attack after it hits for a reset.

Combos

Weapon Combos

Weapon Chain Attacks 
-------------------- 
Punch Starter        
````````````` 
LP close (*)--> HP        -----> HP         ----> HP (*)   -----> HP (E)
             |                                    f + LP (O, E)
             |
             |
             -> f + HP    -----> HK (*)     ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                LK           |   b + HP (E)       f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                             |   f + LP (O, E)    HK (E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LK+HP (U)  ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                             |                |   HK (E)
                             |                |
                             |                |
                             |                --> LK+HP (W)-----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                                    HP (E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LP         ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                                              |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                                              |   HK (E)
                                              |
                                              |
                                              --> LK+HP (U)-----> f + HP (SE)
                                                                  HP (E)


Kick Starter
````````````
LK close (_)--> HP        -----> HP         ----> HP (*)   -----> HP (E)
             |                                    f + LP (O, E)
             |
             |
             -> f + HP    -----> HK (*)     ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
             |  LK           |   b + HP (E)       f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
             |               |   f + LP (O, E)    HK (E)
             |               |
             |               |
             |               --> LK+HP (U)  ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
             |               |                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
             |               |                |   HK (E)
             |               |                |
             |               |                |
             |               |                --> LK+HP (W)-----> f + HP (SE)
             |               |                                    HP (E)
             |               |
             |               |
             |               --> LP         ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
             |                                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
             |                                |   HK (E)
             |                                |
             |                                |
             |                                --> LK+HP (U)-----> f + HP (SE)
             |                                                    HP (E)
             |
             |
             -> LK+HP (U) -----> HK (*)     ----> HP (E)
                             |                    b + HP (E)
                             |                    f + LP (O, E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LK+HP (W)  ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                             |                |   HK (E)
                             |                |
                             |                |
                             |                --> LK+HP (U)-----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                                    HP (E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LP         ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                                              |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                                              |   HK (E)
                                              |
                                              |
                                              --> LK+HP (W)-----> f + HP (SE)
                                                                  HP (E)

Unarmed Combos

Chain Attacks 
-------------  
Punch Starter
`````````````  
LP close   ---> HK (*)    -----> HP         ----> HP (E)
             |                  
             |
             -> HP        -----> HK (*)     ----> HP (E)
                LK           |                    f + LP (O, E)
                             |                    b + HP (E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LP         ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                             |                |   HK (E)
                             |                |
                             |                |
                             |                --> LK+HP (W)-----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                                    HP (E)
                             |             
                             |
                             --> LK+HP (W)  ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                                              |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                                              |   HK (E)
                                              |
                                              |
                                              --> LK+HP (U)-----> f + HP (SE)
                                                                  HP (E)

                                                             
Kick Starter
````````````
LK close (_)--> HK (*)    -----> HP         ----> HP (E)
             |                  
             |
             -> HP        -----> HK (*)     ----> f + LP (O, E)
             |  LK           |                    HP (E)
             |               |                    b + HP (E)
             |               |
             |               |
             |               --> LP         ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
             |               |                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
             |               |                |   HK (E)
             |               |                |
             |               |                |
             |               |                --> LK+HP (W)-----> f + HP (SE)
             |               |                                    HP (E)
             |               |             
             |               |
             |               --> LK+HP (W)  ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
             |                                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
             |                                |   HK (E)
             |                                |
             |                                |
             |                                --> LK+HP (U)-----> f + HP (SE)
             |                                                    HP (E)
             |     
             |
             -> LK+HP (W) -----> HK (*)     ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                             |   b + HP (E)       f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                             |   f + LP (O, E)    HK (E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LK+HP (U)  ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                             |                |   HK (E)
                             |                |
                             |                |
                             |                --> LK+HP (W)-----> f + HP (SE)
                             |                                    HP (E)
                             |
                             |
                             --> LP         ----> HP (*)   -----> f + HP (SE)
                                              |   f + LP (O, E)   HP (E)
                                              |   HK (E)
                                              |
                                              |
                                              --> LK+HP (U)-----> f + HP (SE)
                                                                  HP (E)

Page Progress: - Damage and advantage values to add, rework string notation?