Plasma Sword/Gerelt

Introduction

Overview

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

Strengths

Weaknesses

Incredible 2B: For all the faults of Gerelt and Claire have, they have one of the best anti-step lows in the game in the form of a i9, special cancelable 2B. Overall Speed: 66K,2B,and his Boxstep are all either among or the fastest moves of their type in the game. Gerelt's 236A+B is also i12, and considering the forward range it has, makes it one of the very best and most versatile punishment supers in the game. Easy Mid/Low: 2B/214+B allows Claire and Gerelt to run a continual coin flip on the opponent over and over again, and the risk/reward for both are pretty similar, making it difficult to choose how to block vs. them. Ground Mobility: Gerelt/Claire have some of the fastest box-steps in the game, allowing them to move quickly and evasively without the need of jumping. Good Safe Chip Special: 236A is a frustrating multi-part stab that is both a easy confirm and very safe on block special, only truly limited by its linearity. Combo Super Builds Back Meter: 214A+B can be used in juggles off of 3A, giving both characters a way to build back the meter they spend mid combo. Reversal Supers: Both Gerelt and Claire have 214A+B, reversal side stepping invincible supers that either go into a high damage cinematic on standing opponents or launch for followup juggles on airborne opponents. 214K String OS: While 214K is not a true reversal, its shrinking hurtbox and large hitbox allows the fencers to option select some string gaps in the game that would be safe versus other characters.

236A+B Hitboxes: Depending upon who you pick, you have to accept that both characters 236A+B supers have situations they just aren't very good in. Gerelt's supers are far worse at getting the full hits in neutral (but its better at whiff punishing in mid range), but they combo more consistently off his pokes, while Claire's will always hit fully off of 5AA but tends to leave her wide open on any off axis hit, including the majority of her other confirm options like BB. Dead Zones: There's a lot of polish issues with the hitboxes on these characters normals that you just have to learn to play around. 3A, for example, has a deadzone near Gerelt's chest, so despite being a upwards swinging launcher, there is a way for jumping opponents to just jump right through the arc. Painfully Weak to Zoning: Gerelt and Claire struggle mightly versus any character that can run away, not only because they lack anti-fireball tools, but because many of thier own tools tend to not combo properly at tip/off-axis. Anti-Airs: Despite looking like a anti-air DP, 214K is neither fast, invincible, or even good at hitting jumping opponents. In general, the only real way Gerelt/Claire can deal with jumping opponents is pre-emptively or with step. Given how strong their ground mobility is, it is generally better to just evade with box-step and take control from there. Auto 66KK: There is a bug with 66KK that causes the second hit to come out even if you don't input it. Currently known triggers for this are doing 236AK, 236AB, 66KK, or Gerelt's 214A+B super. You can "fix" this bug by doing 236A, 236AA, or doing 66Kx236A/236AA. However, it will break again if you do any of the triggers, meaning you'll have to "fix" it again, etc. Considering how vital 66K is to Gerelt's gameplan, this is an unfortunate and unavoidable thing a Gerelt player must keep track of.

Move List

Vertical Normals

5A

5A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	-5	-5	-	Ground
A standard vertical poke in speed and data, bolstered by being a sword normal.

5AA

5AA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	-19	-19	-	Ground
Natural combo from 5A. The data might seem dire but since this cancels into specials/supers, its fine. Has some funny strings attached to it, too, though you probably won't use them much,

5AAA

5AAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Low	11	-	-	-	-19	-19	-	Ground
It's a linear, non-comboing low after 5AA with bad frame data. At least it can be cancelled.

5AAAA

5AAAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	X	+7	-	Ground
A final vertical sword thrust. If your opponent mysteriously sits still for the whole thing, you are rewarded with some health frame advantage. Since the third and fourth hit has a large enough to gap to be stepped between, though, that's unlikely. The last hit can be cancelled, but the frame advantage is better than any reward you might get on hit.

5AAB

5AAB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	-19	-19	-	Ground
It's a horizontal with bad frame data that pushes out on block. Only really useful if your 5AA was stepped, and it's probably just better to do something like a forward moving cancel into 236/214A anyways.

5AABA

5AABA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Overhead	11	-	-	-	Crumple	-11	-	Ground
A jumping overhead that would be a lot more useful if it weren't linear, interruptable, unsafe, and just in general not worth the reward. Despite crumpling on hit, nothing is guaranteed after the crumple.

3A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	16	-	-	-	-	-6	-	Ground
Gerelt's primary whiff punish is a two hit, decent range launcher that is surprisingly safe on block. Learning to whiff punish and poke with this is key to Gerelt's otherwise paltry damage, as it consistently gives him real juggles. Held back almost exclusively by its input overlap with 46A. This also has a funny weakness where the second hit can technically be guard-cancel parried after blocking the first, though good luck finding the opponent that can do this consistently and on reaction.

While Running A

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

Horizontal Normals

5B

5B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	-5	-5	-	Low
Having a i11 anti-step move is quite good, though unfortunately, Gerelt/Claire swing it high enough that it simply whiffs versus a lot of lower-profile moves in the game. Be mindful of what characters you use this against.

5BB or 5AB

5BB or 5AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	-17	-17	-	-
Great combo starter for special/super, held back by its weakness on block/whiff/hit advantage. You're always going to want to do 5BBxSomething. QCF+A will whiff on block if you cancel it on the very first cancelable frame, as 5BB's second hit pushes the opponent off axis.

5BAB

5BAB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Low	11	-	-	-	X	-25	-	Low
A low sweep that isn't comboable or cancelable and has no real mixup aside from 5BAx214A. Probably one of the worst strings in the game.

5BAA

5BAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	11	-	-	-	X	-30	-	-
A jumping uppercut that doesn't combo. I really don't know why Gerelt/Claire have garbage 5B strings, but they do.

2B

2B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	9	-	-	-	-5	-7	-	Low
Safe on block and, more importantly, special cancelable, this fast low is Gerelt/Claire's primary lockdown tool and source of consistent damage. Almost single handedly makes up for how bad every other move using the B button is for this character.

Kick Normals

5K

K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-8	-	-	Ground
A fast, short range kick, primarily used as combo filler in juggles. It does confirm into string->specials easily in neutral, its just that the kick itself doesn't have a huge hitbox that is useful in footsies.

5KK

5KK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-7	-	-	Ground
Juggle filler and confirm into special/super.

2K

2K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	21	-	-	-	-2	-3	-	Low
A somewhat slow anti-step-to-one-side low with unusually good frame advantage for this game, and especially good given Gerelt's fast attacks. Will only catch step in the direction it swings towards if the opponent is late on step, but always catches step in the direction it swings from.

66K

66K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	7	-	-	-8	-	-	Ground
A very fast dashing attack that is special cancelable. Given the usefulness of QCF+A, it's hard to not want to abuse this. It also links after Gerelt's 4B, meaning you have an honest to god link into super at point blank range.

Jumping Normals

Early j. K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Gerelt's flip kick is notable for being able to hit opponents while on the ground from an instant input. This combined with his unusal flipping hurtbox makes this a valid panic button, as it knocks opponents away. Despite being an instant jumping attack, however, the flip kick is not an overhead.

While Falling A

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

Special Moves

Andelucia Storm

Andelucia Storm
236A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	i16	-	-	-	-3	-	-	Ground
Arguably the main reason to play as either of these characters, Andelucia Storm is one of the safest special moves in the game and allows the fencers to confirm from a variety of mid range pokes effectively. Because of its speed and range, its a valuable punish tool for a lot of moves other characters can't hit at all, and it also has decent use as a Ground Roll cancel.

Andelucia Arrow

Andelucia Arrow
236AK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Overhead (2nd hit only)	-	-	-	-	-	-14	-	Ground
-14 on block might seem too good to be true for a high damage combo ender for a rekka character, and you're right. The -14 assumes both hits are blocked, which is something of a rarity when range and crouching character height is considered. The second hit is an overhead, but the reality is it whiffs on many crouchers.

Andelucia Crawl

Andelucia Crawl
236AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Low	-	-	-	-	-	-26	-	Ground
This low sweep seems designed to beat people stand blocking after Andelucia Storm, but one look at the block advantage and you'll understand why you shouldn't use it.

Bloody Flamenco

Bloody Flamenco
214K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	21	-	-	-	-	-46	-	Ground
Only useful as a high risk anti-step, anti-string OS, and combo ender. It looks like it would anti-air or have invulnerability. It has neither. It does low profile highs, though, and sometimes goes over lows, so if you have a read on something like a high swinging 5B, there's a chance it might beat it. Its small lower hurtbox and forward movement also allows it to option select some specific strings in the game--a feature of which might trick one to thinking its invincible. Instead, use this as combo enders for meter or in very specifically labbed punishes.

214A

Flying Matador
214A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	Overhead	25	-	-	-	X	-5	-	Ground
Gerelt/Clair's special move overhead. It's awkward animation + ability to be canceled into make it annoying to block, particularly since it also safe.

Fourth Technique: Paired Shadow Gods

Fourth Technique: Paired Shadow Gods
214A

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

Ashura
222

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

Gauge Moves

Spiral End
236AB (Gerelt Only)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
One of the fastest supers in the game, with tons of horizontal range to boot, this super is capable of punishing many things other characters simply cannot deal with. However, it is held back by its frequent inconsistency in comboing with itself.

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 - Burst Mode

Plasma Field - Burst Mode
BK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Once you hit with Plasma Field on a standing opponent, your opponent is in a juggle-able state for 55 frames before they can tech off the ground. Your earliest action will come out on frame 44, and there is one frame of buffer (so earliest inputs register on frame 43.) This means you have 11 frames to squeeze a guaranteed move in. This pretty much only leaves Burst Mode A, 66K, and 2B. However, teching incorrectly also causes them to get hit by Burst Mode A (and really, anything that will hit them in the place they are teching,) and for some reason 66K is immune to the 1 frame buffering, making it very easy to connect with afterwards. In short, you have a choice: land the guaranteed but hard high damage Burst Mode A, or do the much easier 66K->Andelucia Storm combo and go for a reset. Vs Opponents that (perhaps wisely) stay on the ground, 2B will launch them, and will also catch tech, but generally leads to less damage.

Burst Mode A

Burst Mode: A
BK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Multi-stab with high damage, great chip, and juggle properties. This is what you're aiming for after activating Plasma Field. It is important to note that Burst Mode A is a different move from QCF+A(AAA...) and does much more damage.

Burst Mode B

Burst Mode: B
BK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Stuns a standing enemy and does good chip, also seems to ground bounce juggled opponents. Too slow to fit in the opening burst mode window, though, unless you managed to tag an anti-air Burst Mode.

Miscellaneous

Stand Throw
5AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Gerelt/Claire stab then slam the opponent into the ground. The oki in this situation is far better than other characters get for their normal throw oki: Gerelt can jumping late K and beat most non-invincible insta-stand options, and if the opponent ground rolls instead of insta-standing, he's simply minus and cannot be punished. For hard reads against ground rolls, Gerelt can twirl-step (his other sidestep is too slow, see the FAQ about box step speeds if you don't know what this means) into 3A and catch both ground side roll directions, only losing to insta-stand mash, ground roll->immediate step, and forward roll. In general, jumping late K is such a strong "catch all" that it takes a -very- aware opponent to actually do the exact ground tech options to hard punish it, that it should be what you lean on the most until you have a better read of your opponent. Since sidestep is also very safe, there's no real harm in just stepping and seeing what your opponent does, then deciding later whether to step->3A after a throw.

Strategy

Combos