Killer Instinct (2013)/Spinal

Overview Strategy Matchups Resources

Introduction

Spinal was once a human (duh), a bandit in ancient Babylon. Caught by the King while disrupting the city's supply lines, Spinal's flesh was burned off and his soul locked to the Mask of the Ancients as punishment. In the modern day, Spinal takes up the life of a pirate as he searches endlessly for the Mask, eventually becoming a pawn of Ultratech in the process.

Spinal PLACEHOLDER GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW

Character

Strengths

Weaknesses

Resource Denial: With his Searing Skull projectile, Spinal can stem the flow of shadow for his opponent, and even take away an entire Instinct. Anti-Zoning: Hate spamming? Power Devour forces opponents to come to you, and Heavy Skeleport completely bypasses their zoning wall. Potent rushdown: Spinal is able to keep himself at frame advantage almost constantly thanks to run cancels and M Searing Skull, allowing him to run a barrage of frame traps and mixups. This is further bolstered by his ability to turn the match into a bullet hell while he's in instinct. Vortex McGee: Thanks to skull setups, Spinal has simple and effective okizeme, especially off back throw and the 2MK HKD bug. Through these setups, Spinal gets access to dirty left/right and overhead/low mixups which can put the opponent back into the blender. The Cackle: Spinal lets out a hearty "Ya Ha Haa" with every run, teleport, and taunt. In Progress

Starts out every match at a disadvantage: Spinal needs skulls in order to access his potent rushdown and setplay that make his vortex so strong. Unfortunately, he starts every match at his weakest: with NO SKULLS. Horrible Anti-Airs: Spinal's anti-airs are stubby, awkward, and unreliable. This makes any matchup against characters with strong air mobility very difficult for him. In Progress

Character Data
Forward Walk Speed	79f to cross two large training mode squares
Backwards Walk Speed	110f to cross two large training mode squares
Forward Dash Duration	Has a forward run Cancellable into attacks after 12f
Backdash Duration	24f
Pre-Jump Frames	5f
Jump Duration	37f
Landing Recovery	4f
Advantage Post Grounded Combo Breaker	+1

Universal Mechanics

Instinct

Agent of Chaos: Spinal gets 3 skulls upfront and earns extra skulls off throws, Cr. HP, and Spectral Manuals. Searing Skulls bounce off walls, floors, and blocks. Spinal can recycle these bouncing Skulls with Power Devour.

Combat Traits

Spectral Manuals: Spinal can follow up any auto-double with a manual of the same strength. These manuals give Spinal a bonus skull and add a fair bit of Potential Damage.