Capcom vs SNK 2/Iori

Introduction

Iori is a very versatile character whose moveset lends him to a rush-down/mixup style with damage mainly coming from his Rekka combos. Coupled with that, he has very serviceable pokes, good anti air, and a good reversal DP for use in defense and neutral situations. He also has one of the best poke RCs in the game with his Rekka, is the shortest character in the game, and has the best roll in the game.

His drawbacks are getting in against dominant "big button" characters (Sagat, Blanka, Cammy, etc), a relatively low ceiling of one shot burst damage (his supers aren't very strong), and characters who duck and outpoke his Stand Roundhouse.

In CvS2, he is often considered a "high" tier character, just below the established top tiers. He is a staple on N groove teams, as well as one of the Best SNK characters in the game. Conventional wisdom is that he is one of the easiest characters to use, and recent Japanese tourney play features him on two of the best players' teams. In C and A grooves, even.

Data

Health	14000		Just Below Average
Stun	70		Average
Stun Duration	+60f		Poor
Guard Guage Recovery Rate	Fast Type		Best
Dash Length	102 pixels
Dash Duration
Dash Height	0		Grounded
Run Speed	7.4		Average
Roll Distance	132 pixels
Roll Duration	27f
Recovery Frames	3f		Best
Wakeup Speed compared to Ryu	0f		Average

Normal Moves

Far Standing Normals

5LP

Stand Jab

5LP

Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
300	4	RF/SP/SU	H/L	H/L	2	4	8	14	+5	+5	-
While sharing almost the exact same traits as the close jab, the standing jab doesn't have that many tactical uses; You're too far away to tick into throws, and Iori's walking speed is too slow for repeated walk up jabs to set up anything threatening. If you're at this range hit low strong instead.

5MP

Stand Strong

5MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
800	8	SP/SU	H/L	H	7	3	25	35	-5	-5	-
This move has the special property of being able to chain into Iori's f+strong. There's only one instance in which I use this move, and that's to combo after a connected Scum Gale. Even though it's a far reaching bufferable move, buffering into fireballs is not safe, and the move itself leaves much to be desired in terms of priority and speed. It reaches farther than the f+strong, but at that distance a fierce rekka ken will completely miss. Needless to say, a whiffed rekka ken will lead to a lot of hurt.

5HP

Stand Fierce

5HP

Heavy Punch

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1300/1400	13/14	SP/SU (1st part only)	H/L	H	7	5	26	38	-5	-5	-
Reading on the left of the commas refer to when Iori's head is going OUT. Reading on the right refers to when Iori's head is going UP. This move doesn't really have much tactical use since the distance to get the bufferable version of the fierce is really specific. However, the bufferable version happens to be Iori's most damaging bufferable move, and there's ONE useful set up to get it shown below (see Running Grab).

5LK

Stand Short

5LK

Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
500	5	SU	H/L	H/L	6	6	8	20	+3	+3	-
AKA "kickin 'em to da curb". Other than randomly whiffing it every now and then as a fake fireball, the only use for this move I have is for combos. See combo section.

5MK

Stand Forward

5MK

Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1000	10	SU	H/L	H/L	6	3	26	35	-6	-6	-
I probably don't use this move as much as I should. It's quick, has surprising range, and even more surprising priority. I'd use it against characters that can crouch the standing roundhouse if you can get into the range to use it. 6/13/03 - Some Japanese players like to punish whiffs with s.forward into super, but I find that whenever I bait a whiff I'm too far away to hit with a s.forward. I just do a low/standing roundhouse instead. I also noticed that Japanese players have set-ups for COUNTER HIT s.forward and buffer the super on reaction, but to me that's in-humanly difficult (the window to buffer is 3 frames long, 1/20th of a second). That super isn't one that you want to have blocked.

5HK

Stand Roundhouse

5HK

Heavy Kick

Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1300	13	X	H/L	H/L	9	7	22	38	-2	-2	-
Iori's best poke by far, despite having the distinction of being one of Iori's two crouchable moves. Any character bigger than a shoto is fair game, however. You can use it fairly liberally against the characters that cannot crouch it to slowly drain their guard meter and entice them into making a mistake that will get you the all-important knockdown Iori needs to get in. Be aware, though, that the move is not safe against a fast roll and that Sagat can punish you hard with a standing fierce into super if you whiff it. Crouchable by half the cast (every female character, Ryo, shotos, Rolento, Haohmaru, Vega, Yun, Kim, Rock, Iori) Treat this move like a budget Sakura or Yamazaki stand RH (yama speed/damage, but -2 instead of +2 on block)

Close Standing Normals

cl5LP

Close Stand Jab
Close
cl5LP

Close Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
400	4	RF,SP,SU	H/L	H/L	2	4	6	12	+7	+7	-
Iori's close jab is very useful for many reasons: ) Comes out in 2 frames, making it Iori's fastest move. 2 frames are as fast as moves get in CvS2 with the exception of Zangief's SPD, which is the only 1 frame move in the game. So what does this mean? Whenever you're in a situation where you have to mash a move, such as trying to avoid a throw, this is the move to mash. ) +7 advantage, also the most out of any of Iori's moves. 7 frames is a fairly huge advantage as far as CvS2 goes, meaning most links afterwards are brain-dead easy if the jab hits, and if blocked you have ample time to set up stuff safely like walk up to your opponent again and get another close jab. A perfectly timed close jab tick into Scum Gale (8 frames) is very difficult to reverse by jabs or throws. All tick throws can be escaped by jumps, however. ) At 400 damage, it's the most damaging out of all of Iori's weak attacks that can be chained together.

cl5MP

Close Stand Strong
Close
cl5MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

cl5HP

Close Stand Fierce
Close
cl5HP

Heavy Punch

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1200, 1100	12, 11	SP/SU, SU	H/L	H	3	6	24	33	0	0	-
For the commas above, the reading on the left refers to the first portion of the fierce, where Iori's fist is around his waist level. The second reading refers to when Iori's fist is over his head. Outside of combos, the main use for this move is for anti-cross ups. Close roundhouse is your main anti-cross up, but you'll want to use close fierce against characters with bigger jumps like Blanka.

cl5LK

Close Stand Short
Close
cl5LK

Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

cl5MK

Close Stand Forward
Close
cl5MK

Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

cl5HK

Close Stand Roundhouse
Close
cl5HK

Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1400	14	SU	H/L	H	6	3	21	30	3	3	N/A
Best used as an anti-cross up, only a few characters can get over this move that I can think of (Blanka and Chun Li). Also has the distinction of being Iori's most damaging move that can be buffered into a super. The link from a close jab is a one frame link though, meaning it's a little too difficult to do really consistently. How does Iori manage to kick so high with that funky little cord tying his legs together?

Crouching Normals

2LP

Crouching Jab

2LP

Crouching Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Because this version is 1 hit and has a lot of lower invincibility (not to mention lower recovery), it's best used in the neutral game or when the opponent is far from Iori.

2MP

Crouching Strong

2MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

2HP

Crouching Fierce

2HP

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1100	11	SP/SU	H/L	H/L	4	5	20	29	-1	-1	N/A
Iori's other crouchable move. It doesn't really matter, though, since you'll probably never use this move as anything except as an anti-air at the 45 degree angle. It works fairly well as anti-air as long as you stick it out early enough, but it does tend to trade with the really high priority jump ins. When you use it as anti air you can buffer it into a fierce fireball to make your opponent land on it, but I would recommend throwing a jab fireball instead so that you can run after it and use it as cover to attempt to get in.

2LK

Crouching Short

2LK

Crouching Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
200	2	RF/SP/SU	L	L	4	4	8	16	5	5	N/A
Used mainly as your low combo starter and as a roll punisher, this move is pretty self-explanatory. Low shorts x3 into rekkas whenever the opportunity arises. The +5 frame advantage also lends this move into being another good Scum Gale tick, with the added advantage that people tend to sit and block after blocking one low short... they expect two more. The main weakness of this move is its relatively slow speed at 4 frames. When situations arise where you need a fast move, mash on standing/low jab (depending on distance) instead.

2MK

Crouching Forward

2MK

Crouching Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
800	8	SU	L	L	5	4	20	29	-2	-2	N/A
I hardly ever use this move since low strong is just better all around. Also, the animation of this move is very misleading. Iori's entire foot doesn't have an active hitbox on it, making the move a lot shorter than it looks. Its actual range is nearly identical to Iori's low short, which is a lot better move to use in more situations. However, the move can only be canceled into supers, so if you're having a tough time landing B&B's into maiden masher due to accidental moves coming out, this could certainly help you out. You can also toss the move out and empty buffer the super behind it ala Chun in 3rd strike, but the hitbox on the move isn't THAT good.

2HK

Crouching Roundhouse

2HK

Crouching Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Air Normals

8LP

Jumping Jab
,,or +
8LP

Jumping Light Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Because this version is 1 hit and has a lot of lower invincibility (not to mention lower recovery), it's best used in the neutral game or when the opponent is far from Iori.

8MP

Jumping Strong
,,or +
8MP

Medium Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

8HP

Jumping Fierce
,,or +
8HP

Heavy Punch

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

8LK

Jumping Short
,,or +
8LK

Light Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

8MK

Jumping Forward
,,or +
8MK

Medium Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

8HK

Jumping Roundhouse
,,or +
8HK

Jumping Heavy Kick

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Special Moves

Rekka Kens

Deadly Flower / "Hyakunijuunanashiki Aoihana "
Rekka
214+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
1st rekka +	400/500/600	2	None	Mid	Mid	12	4	29	45	-5	-5	N/A
Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
2nd rekka +	400/500/600	2	None	Mid	Mid	12	4	37	53	-DWN	-13	N/A
Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
3rd rekka +	800/900/1000	5	None	High	High	16	8	40	64	-DWN	-13	N/A
THere's a 25 frame window to cancel the first rekka into the second rekka. From the second to third hit there's a 27 frame window to cancel. The different damage numbers correspond to different button strengths. Outside of its obvious use in combos, the rekka ken doesn't have much use. Start RCing it, though, and you have a different beast entirely. The result is a high priority (invincible, even), high damage (2200 if you get all 3), long range (Iori's longest ranged move, farther than his standing/low roundhouses) poke that enables Iori to compete with the Sagats and Cammys of the world. The catch? The move carries a ton of risk behind it. As much as a fireball, even. The move is most easily punished by either a straight up jump (which results in a full jump in combo since Iori conveniently moves right under them) or a well timed roll. The move can also be baited into whiffing and then easily punished also. As if that weren't enough, the move isn't even totally safe if blocked! As you can see from the data above, the move carries a -5 frame disadvantage, enough for a few characters to get a low forward combo in. However, the move is mostly safe if blocked around max distance, though. You can actually punish attempts to hit a well-ranged RC rekka ken with... another RC rekka ken! DO NOT fall into the habit of doing RC rekka ken, then another RC rekka ken, though. It's killed me more times than I care to remember. If your rekka ken is rolled through, try to get away from the opponent by doing the second and third rekkas. This works well if you're in the middle of field, but if you're opponent was in the corner you're not going anywhere. So given all those ways to punish the move, how does Iori go about using the RC rekka without getting killed? The first step is to punish your opponents attempts to stop the rekka ken; anti-airing straight up jumps with either standing roundhouse or a super, punishing rolls with Iori's easy assortment of damaging rekka ken combos. The second step is to try to not fall into patterns; even if you punish every single random straight up jump or roll that your opponent does you will still get killed if you fall into the habit of RC rekka ken'ing in the same situations every time. Once you've got your opponent grounded and playing the ground game with you, THEN you can throw in the RC rekka kens every now and then. The second and third rekka kens are obviously very unsafe, so do not continue the series unless you SEE the first one hit. Luckily doing the first rekka ken and then reacting to whether it was blocked or not is pretty easy, just watch your opponent's sprite and then continue if you see the sprite flinch. Aside from its usefulness as a powerful footsie tool, I also use the RC rekka ken to pressure fallen opponents in the corner, since you cannot cross them up with your rolls or jumps like you normally can. Meaty RC rekka ken (done from a good distance) is almost totally safe for the most part. If the opponent wakes up and does anything besides block he gets hit. This conditions the opponent to not wake up with uppercuts or supers, which in turn lets you do Iori's powerful mix ups on rising opponents. You can punish an opponent tech rolling rekka kens by running forward a bit and doing f+strong into rekka kens. It's great when you get it but it's a little difficult. People who get hit by that usually never tech hit again, though. Heh. After knocking an opponent down with the rekka kens you can either run forward a bit and superjump for the b+forward cross up, or run forward a bit and roll to cross up. For the most part the second option is better since it's really dificult for your opponent to wake up with an uppercut since the cross up happens so fast. However, doing a super jump cross up every now and then is recommended to keep your opponent on his toes with some cross up b+short into Scum Gale set ups. 6/13/03 - Unlike most cross-up setups, since Iori's rekkas have a good deal of recovery, the cross up b+short after a connected rekka series isn't meaty. In fact, your opponent has time to jump before you hit the b+short. C-Groove can air block it and land safely far enough away to be out of Iori's mix up range, but other grooves take the hit and bounce, allowing you to throw a meaty jab fireball they have to land on which also covers your run-in. That's even worse than blocking the cross up, so most non-C-Groove players will just get up and block the cross up. If you are playing against C-Groove, just do the roll mix-ups. Another thing to add about the b+short cross up on wake up, it's a lot more difficult to uppercut than other cross ups. Since Iori crosses you up late you cannot do the normal f,df,d,db method for cross up uppercuts. You have to actually wait till the last second and input the uppercut command in the other direction. 6/13/03 - Something to keep in mind: If you roll after knocking the opponent down with rekka kens and end up in FRONT of your opponent, you have a slight advantage since your roll ended just before your opponent gets up. However, if the roll ends up BEHIND the opponent, the opponent can actually throw you for free since it takes a bit longer to get to that distance. Mix it up. If you end up in front of your opponent and he's mashing on throw, you can easily get counter hit jabs/shorts into a combo. 6/13/03 - Something I forgot to add. Iori's rekkas (as well as Kyo's) do very little stun damage. A full triple-hit series gets you 2200 damage, but only does 9 stun damage on the opponent. This is one of the few moves that is the exception to CvS2's "stun = damage/100" rule. Man. That's a lot written about one move. It's a necessary move, though. It's like Iori's missing link.

Dragon Punch

Fire Ball / "Hyakushiki Oniyaki"
Uppercut
623+P

HP version

HP Version

HP Version

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	1700	17	None	Mid	Mid	4	10	38	52	DWN	-33	4 (full), 10(lower)
Footsies DP Because this version is 1 hit and has a lot of lower invincibility (not to mention lower recovery), it's best used in the neutral game or when the opponent is far from Iori.
MP +	700+1100	7+11	None	Mid	Mid	4	[3/9]	48	64	DWN	-42	7 full/ 9 lower
Best DP This version has the highest amount of total invulnerability, so it's the best wakeup reversal and anti air. Make sure to hit the opponent deep to get both hits, otherwise you're missing out on damage compared to LP.
HP +	400+600+1000	4+6+10	None	Mid	Mid	4	[2/2/5]	59	72	DWN	-51	6 full/ 7 lower
Most Damage DP This is the damage DP. Perfectly usable as anti air or reversals, but only when the opponent is point blank. Also the recovery is so bad, Iori loses okizeme opportunities by using it.

Fireball

Dark Thrust / "Hyakuhachishiki Yamibarai "
Fireball
236+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	800	8	None	Mid	Mid	12	-	45	57	-12	-12	N/A
MP +	900	9	None	Mid	Mid	4	[3/9]	48	64	DWN	-42	7 full/ 9 lower
HP +	1000	4+6+10	None	Mid	Mid	12	-	45	57	-12	-12	N/A
As far as ground fireballs go, Iori's is the second best in the game. That's not really saying much, though, since ground fireballs as a whole really suck and are vastly inferior to conventional air-based fireballs. Unfortunately, Iori's fireball is a very necessary tool for him, both as a footsie tool and as a means to get in. 3/4ths to full screen away throw a jab fireball and run after it to get in. 2/5ths to half screen away use it as a footsie tool. Any closer and you should never use it. NEVER buffer a fireball off of a normal move. Your opponent can easily roll on reaction and kill you. Also, since varying ground fireball speeds really doesn't get you anywhere, always throw jab fireballs since those you can follow easily. The other two speeds are unnecessary to the way Iori plays. One of the main reasons that Iori is dependant on his fireball is because CvS2 is a game where you cannot walk backwards if there is something on the screen you can block. Meaning, if Iori throws his fireball and runs after it, his opponent cannot keep his distance by walking backwards as he will go into his blocking animation. This is a very handy tool, especially when fighting characters who walk backwards stupidly fast like Vega, Cammy and Chun Li. The fact that the fireball is so essential to Iori and that it's a ground fireball is really bad. Characters that can easily punish ground fireballs like Bison, Blanka or Honda all give Iori a really hard time. RCing the fireball doesn't really make a difference either, since you never want to do the fireball up close, and if you RC it from far away the invincibility is gone by the time your opponent reaches you with a Psycho Crusher or Blanka Ball or whatever. Bleh.

Running Grab

212 Shiki: Kototsuki In / "Nihyakujuunishiki Kototsuki In "
Running Grab
236+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
LP +	1800	0	None	Mid	Mid	5	32	12	49	DWN	-18	N/A
MP +	1900	0	None	Mid	Mid	5	48	12	65	DWN	-18	N/A
HK +	2000	0	None	Mid	Mid	5	64	12	81	DWN	-18	N/A
The above frame data for the three button strengths represent what happens if Iori never makes contact with the enemy. For example, a roundhouse whiffed Running Grab has 5 frames start up, runs for 64 frames, then has 12 frame recovery. If at any time during those 64 frames of running Iori makes contact with his opponent, he then takes 4 frames for his arm to whip around, which has an active hitbox for 5 frames, and has a 29 frame recovery. Whew! Writing and explaining frame data isn't easy! Most of the time I wish this move simply didn't exist, since 90% of the times I use it is totally on accident screwing up the command for RC rekka kens. As the -18 frame disadvantage tells you, this move isn't anywhere near safe if blocked. It's also very vulnerable if the move whiffs completely also, unlike Kyo's. It does have its tactical uses, though. As stated above, the move does almost the exact same amount of guard bar damage as a jab uppercut (if you don't know, that's a lot), so if your opponent's guard bar is flashing and you can't get close enough to do a fierce into jab uppercut to guard break you can do f+strong into Running Grab instead. And again, guard breaking with a Running Grab just happens to leave you at the perfect distance to get a damaging far fierce into rekka kens. Another use for this move is to chip somebody to death. If you're not within fierce uppercut range to chip somebody (fierce uppercut does 325 points of chip damage), the next best option is to f+strong into Running Grab, as that does 300 chip damage. 2 Rekka kens only do 200 damage, and a fireball does 100. 300 damage from the running grab is enough to insure that you never fall victim to the "Magic Pixel" that has claimed many a player. RCing the move can be useful from time to time, like when you REALLY need that chip damage to kill the opponent but can't find a way to f+strong them, or to punish somebody buffering moves into a fireball. You could theoretically use an RC Running Grab as an anti-air from afar, but I wouldn't recommend it since the move comes out pretty slow.

Super Moves

Maiden Masher

Maiden Masher / "Sansennihyakujuuichishiki Yaotome "
Rush Super
23663214+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Level 1 +	2200	0	None	Mid	Mid	4:8	8	33	53	DWN	-10	8full/12upper
Level 2 +	3700	0	SP/SU	Mid	Mid	4:8	24	33	69	DWN	-10	14 full/ 22 upper
HP +	5000	0	None	Mid	Mid	4:8	24	33	69	DWN	-10	22full/ 30 upper
Your basic all-purpose super; functions as anti-air, anti-fireball, anti-poke, works in combos. There's a few unique things about it, though: the upper body invincibility granted to the move give it the ability to punish fireballs from much farther away. Other supers run out of invincibility if you do it too early, and if you wait long enough to go through the fireball the opponent has usually recovered already. The upper body invincibility also makes ths move great for punishing straight up jumps, even at level 1. 6/13/03 - If you try to anti-air with the super and your opponent didn't press anything they will be able to land and block it every time. Fortunately most people never jump up and down without pressing anything, and if they do you can just standing roundhouse them instead. Something to think about vs P and K grooves, though. On the down side, the super's damage is pretty low. Level 1 damage is the same as a set of fierce rekka kens, so you should only use level 1's as straight up jump anti-air. Level 3 damage is a below-average 5000. Not earth shattering, but still enough to warrant its use. One should note that a connected level 3 super switches sides with the opponent also. The range on the level 1 version of the super isn't nearly as long as you'd think it is. It's roughly the same range as a fierce rekka. Luckily, that's well within the range to hit Sagats, Blankas and Bisons jumping up and down. The range on the level 3 is obviously a lot better, and it has an added benefit: When you're throwing fireballs as a footsie tool and your opponent jumps straight up over it, sometimes when you try to anti-air their straight up jump with a level 3 they get pushed BACK into the fireball they just jumped over. This not only makes the super safe, it gives you frame advantage AND puts you right into point blank range for a free mix-up. Doesn't happen EVERY time your opponent jumps over your fireball, though. It's kinda random. =/ Whenever you hit with the level 1 super you get a free roll cross-up that's one of the most ambiguous out of all of Iori's set ups. Also, your opponent can't tech roll to safety since you can't tech roll supers. Run forward about half a second and roll. TOTALLY ambiguous. Makes up for the measly 2200 damage pretty well... justifying the use of a meter. Iori gets meter fast anyway. Unfortunately, hitting with a level 3 doesn't set up much of anything since your opponent is thrown really far away and Iori doesn't recover until the opponent is almost fully standing. Just throw a jab fireball as they're getting up and run after it.

Combos

No Meter combos:

Hit Confirms: cr.short x 3, qcb + fierce x 3 s.jab x 3, qcb + fierce x 3 s.jab, s.fierce, qcb + fierce x 3 s.short, s.jab, s.short, qcb + fierce x 3 cr.strong x 2, qcb + fierce x 3 cr.short x 2, cr.strong, qcb + fierce x 3

Non Hit Confirms (punish combos) s.fierce, qcb + fierce x 3 close s.fierce, hcb + roundhouse close s.fierce xx Fierce DP s.strong, twd.strong, qcb + fierce x 3

jump fierce, Cl. Fierce, DP+Fierce (optimal stun damage)

Low Jump strong/roundhouse-> DP+Jab

-cross-up-

b+short, s.jab, s.fierce, qcb + fierce x 3

Almost any Iori B&B combo can be started with hcb-twd + punch (Scum Gale).

Super Combos:

cr.short x 3, qcf-hcb + punch (any level)

s.strong, twd.strong, qcf-hcb + punch (any level)

S.jab, S.Fierce, qcf-hcb + punch (any level) (max damage)

C.forward kick xx qcf-hcb + punch (any level) (c.mk is super cancel only, easy to do)

Grooves & Groove specific strategy

C Groove

C-Groove Level 2 Cancel Combos-

Iori uses level 2 cancels pretty well. After his maiden masher is complete, Iori can cancel into any of his specials. The foremost being his Dragon Punch. Since maiden masher at level 3 only does 5000 damage, The cancels give Iori a much better damage/meter ratio, and allows him to use a meter for defensive purposes or be ready for another level 2 in a very short time.

Since Maiden masher is so easy to combo into, you'll get a lot of opportunities to land this.

Level 2 Maiden Masher

Cancel into

-Level 1 Maiden Masher (most damage, no tech roll)

-Fierce DP (1000 less damage, saves a level and 20 more stun) -Jab/Strong DP (even less damage, more time to setup or punish tech roll) -Level 1 wine cups, then Jump HP, HP, HP DP (Full combo can instant stun characters, cancel maiden masher early if combo will stun for more damage on post dizzy combo)

Matchups

Check here for matchup analysis, notes, and errata. Could be as simple as optimal punishes, safe jump setups, and effective counter pokes.

For example:

Blanka

Blanka ball punishes- Any level Maiden Masher, run a little and sweep (low HK), A groove activate sweep custom.

Colors

File:CvS2 Iori color selections.png

Iori Color Selections