Marvel vs Capcom 2/Iceman

Overview

Combos

Strategy

Resources

Story

Robert "Bobby" Drake, known by his hero alias Iceman, is a character from the X-Men series by Marvel. A mutant with the ability to lower his internal body temperature to absolute zero nearly instantly, Iceman can freeze both himself and the air around him, as well as manipulate water.

In Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Iceman is an accessible, simple, yet agile keepaway and zoning character who heavily leans on his solid normals and his Ice Beam special move for chipping and zoning. His normals are solid, with good range and speed. His main game is chipping while controlling the screen, as many of his specials do great damage even on block. An interesting thing to note about Iceman is that he takes zero chip damage from any energy based attacks, which does allow him to avoid many chip kill scenarios from some characters in the game. He's no slouch on hit though, as he can do great amounts of damage with a simple air combo into his super.

Unfortunately, Iceman is held back by the same thing that makes him so accessible in the first place. He doesn't have a lot of "ace in the hole" type setups or moves, which relegates him to a very predictable playstyle. In addition, with his movement being so poor, he doesn't have a great way to chase turtles or get away from rushdown. His specials and super (no "s", he only has one) are very simple, which again makes him a bit less flexible than most.

Still, Iceman is a good and easy character to pick up and play, with just enough tech to keep you interested. If you want to control the screen and play a long, slow game, then chill out with Iceman.

Gameplay

Iceman is a zoning and keepaway character who can use his large normals and great specials to chip the opponent down from afar. His main strengths are great normals and solid special moves but his weaknesses are his simplicity and no real way to change his playstyle.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Simple: Iceman is a very easy character to pick up and play, and has a streamlined toolkit for easy understanding. Zoning: Iceman is more than capable of zoning out characters due to his large normals and great specials. Solo Damage: Iceman can do great damage with an air combo into his super, off a hit or his punch throw. No Chip on Energy Attacks: Hadokens, beams, and Hyper Vipers do nothing to Iceman on block, as he takes no chip damage from any energy based attacks.

Simple: Simplicity is both helpful and hurtful, as it makes you more predictable. Poor Air Mobility: Iceman doesn't have a lot of ways to alter his momentum in the air. Lack of Mixup: Outside of low/throw, Iceman has very little in the way of opening his opponent up.

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Character Summary

Special Moves

---

Ice Beam (Air OK)

• + or

Ice Avalanche (Air OK)

• + or

Ice Fist

• +

Hyper Combos

---

Arctic Attack (Mashable)

• ++

Assist Types

---

Type α - Projectile Type

• Assist: Ice Beam
• Counter: Ice Beam
• Combination: Arctic Attack

Type β - Variety Type

• Assist: Ice Avalanche
• Counter: Ice Avalanche
• Combination: Arctic Attack

Type γ - Balance Type

• Assist: Ice Beam
• Counter: Ice Avalanche
• Combination: Arctic Attack

Moves List

Assists

Projectile Type

//

Ice Beam

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Alpha Counter	Team Hyper Combo
-	-	-	-	Ice Beam	Arctic Attack
Iceman's Projectile assist is his most popular assist choice, and for good reason. Ice Beam is already an excellent special move in a lot of regards, and having it as an assist only makes it better because now he's not even as open when he does it! Really solid choice that any character would like to have.

Variety Type

//

Ice Avalanche

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Alpha Counter	Team Hyper Combo
-	-	-	-	Ice Avalanche	Arctic Attack
Iceman's Variety assist is a little more niche compared to his Projectile and Balance assists. It has some pretty long startup, and not a whole lot of blockstun. It COULD be used like an additional hit to stop people from jumping away from your point character, but that's not as common of a situation as full screen chip and space control. Worth a shot, but don't feel bad if you can't get it to work with your team.

Balance Type

//

Ice Beam

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Alpha Counter	Team Hyper Combo
-	-	-	-	Ice Avalanche	Arctic Attack
Iceman's Balance assist might be a bit worse than Projectile simply because of just how long the startup of LK Avalanche is as a Variable Counter. You want something fast or big to get someone off of you, preferably both, and it has neither. Most people stick with Projectile for the added utility of the Variable Counter.

Normal Moves

-When grounded, Iceman has the Marvel type Magic Series, meaning he can follow the / > / > > cancel tree.

Ground Normals

Light Punch
5

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a quick jab in front of him. Probably the most uninteresting of his light normals, it's just a punch and nothing more. Very average.

Medium Punch
5 after a or connects

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a backward icicle stab. Combo filler medium.

Heavy Punch
5

This lasts 2 frames

This lasts 6 more

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does an overhand swing with a ball of ice. Pretty quick, good priority and active window, and has enough hitstun to combo into Ice Beam. Pretty good normal.

Light Kick
5

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does an icicle covered kick. Has really nice range for a light normal, and the same speed as all the other lights.

Medium Kick
5 after a , , or connects

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does an upward kick. Combo filler medium, but pretty underwhelming with the exception of comboing off of reverse hit 2LP.

Heavy Kick
5

The Wall

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman kicks up a huge spike of ice. GREAT range and damage, as well as a nice launch with enough hitstun to combo into Ice Beam. You'll be using this a lot in neutral with cancels into Ice Beam for great space control. One of Iceman's best normals.

Crouching Light Punch
2

Whoa, what's that doing there?

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a crouching elbow. The hitbox behind Iceman is due to programmer error, but it's a really nice thing to have! Because 2LP will hit on either side of you no matter when you hit it, this is fantastic anti-crossup tool that will even autocorrect when chaining out of it. Super solid move to have.

Crouching Medium Punch
2 after a or connects

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does another elbow. This one, unlike 2LP, is completely uninteresting combo filler.

Crouching Heavy Punch
2

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a sweep of ice across the ground. Unlike most characters, Iceman's sweep is on 2HP. Outside of it's admittedly very nice priority, it's not very notable.

Crouching Light Kick
2

Don't get cold feet

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman kicks low. Important because it's a low, otherwise it's pretty average.

Crouching Medium Kick
2 after a , , or connects

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a long range low kick. This will combo from any light normal chain, which is good! The problem is that there's not really anything to go into after that. At max range, even 5HK will whiff, and this doesn't have enough hitstun to combo to Ice Beam. Good, but awkward.

Crouching Heavy Kick
2

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a vertical icicle kick. Iceman's main launcher, though the short range is something to keep in mind. You can still two hit confirm into this from close range though, which is nice.

Air Normals

-When in the Normal Jump state, Iceman has the Marvel type Magic Series, meaning he can follow the / > / > > cancel tree.

Air Light Punch
j.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a quick downward punch. Air combo starter, and that's about all it's useful for.

Air Medium Punch
after a or connects

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a downward icicle stab. Combo filler medium.

Air Heavy Punch
j.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman swings a huge icicle in front of him. Air combo finisher, and your only real good jump-in, but the active window is pretty small.

Air Light Kick
j.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does an icicle covered knee. Air combo starter just like j.LP, pretty average.

Air Medium Kick
after a j., j., or j. connects

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does a longer icicle knee. Combo filler medium.

Air Heavy Kick
j.

They reused a lot of sprites, didn't they?

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman does an upward kick. Air combo finisher, and pretty average everywhere else.

Command Normals

Air Down Heavy Punch
Focus Shot (Lower Shot)
j.2

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	None	-	-	-
Iceman throws a ball of ice downward. Not a bad normal for controlling space, as it moves pretty slow and can cancel to specials.

Air Down Heavy Kick
Axe Kick
j.2

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	None	-	-	-
Iceman does an aerial slash kick. Really big hitbox and could be used for opponents approaching from above.

Universal Mechanics

Universal Launcher (Kick)
3

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
Launcher (away)	-	-	-	-
This move is technically a different move in the game, but in reality there are literally zero differences with 2HK. Just wanted to put something here for consistency.

Throw (Punch)
6 // 4 near opponent

Freeze!

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman grabs the opponent, freezes them, and tosses them away. This throw puts the opponent in a capture state like Magneto's throws do, so you can run up and get a full combo out of this. Really nice to have.

Throw (Kick)
6 // 4 near opponent

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman grabs the opponent and throws them onto a spike of ice. Gives no followup, so much less rewarding compared to punch throw, however it does swap sides while punch throw doesn't, so it's got some niche uses.

Air Throw (Punch)
j.6 // j.4 near airborne opponent

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman grabs the opponent, freezes them, and tosses them away. Does not result in a capture state, unlike the ground throw, but still good for snagging an opponent out of the air.

Raw Tag
+ // +

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Based off j.MK. Larger hitbox, but otherwise pretty unremarkable.

Snap Back
+ A1 / A2

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman's Snap Back is based on his 5HP. Pretty solid priority due to it being based on that normal.

Special Moves

Ice Beam
+ or (Air OK)

LP versions go straight

HP versions go at an angle

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman shoots a beam of frigid energy from his hands. Quite literally half your gameplan is this move. This special move is one of Iceman's key moves in gameplay, and many of his great pokes can be cancelled into this for even further screen coverage. Air versions will make you pause briefly in midair, giving some stall potential. Multihit makes it break armor, decent damage, and GREAT chip damage, this is a move you're going to want to do a LOT.

Ice Avalanche
+ or (Air OK)

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman summons a massive chunk of ice, then drops it onto the opponent. The LK version drops the chunk straight down, while HK puts it at a downward angle away from Iceman. Does a good chunk of damage as any boulder should and has a big hitbox, but the recovery can be a little long so this one sees just a bit less use. Still nice for screen control, but use more sparingly than Ice Beam.

Ice Fist
+

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman freezes a chunk of ice to his hand. This is a powerup special. After this special is completed, the next three punch normals that Iceman lands will do 33% more damage. This has an unlimited time limit, and the buff does not go away when you whiff. It does decrease by one hit when your attack is blocked, however. You have full access to your toolkit while this is active, so if you have a bit of downtime, or your opponent is turtling up, there's no good reason to not be doing this for a free damage buff.

Hyper Combos

Arctic Attack
+ + (Air OK) (Mashable)

The only super you need

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Special Property	Cancel	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard	Adv. Pushblock
-	-	-	-	-
Iceman powers up, then spews out a massive amount of ice particles that batter the opponent. This is Iceman's only super, but it's a good thing it's a good one. This can do really good damage when mashed fully, and can set up for DHCs with it's drag down property in the air. However, if you're looking for solo damage, a neat trick is to kara cancel Ice Beam into Arctic Attack, which will freeze you in place as you do the super, leading to much higher damage. Doesn't do as much chip as you'd like sometimes, but it's still a good one to have!

Taunt

"Yeah!"

Colors

First row: , , A1. Second row: , , A2.