Waku Waku 7/Slash

Overview Combos Matchups Strategy

Introduction

Slash is a monster hunter from the world of the monsters. His job is to punish the evil monsters who escape from their world to this one. He fights with a sword of light and likes wandering and eating bowls of rice with tempura.

Slash is a mixup/bait and punish character who controls midrange with excellent normals as well as his character-defining ability to teleport. He sports a deadly combination of being able to teleport behind his opponent and zero frame supers which must be blocked the correct way prior to the super flash. Most of his options are very minus even on hit, but mastering his crouch cancelable 5A opens up a multi-dimensional pressure, mixup and combo game.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Mobility: Slash can wall jump and teleport, which makes him the most mobile character in the game. Teleport is his most important character-defining tool and is especially great because of the invincibility frames in the middle. Crouch Cancel 5A: He can crouch cancel his 5A which gives him some of the highest damage confirms in the game as well as very strong block pressure/mixups. All of his supers are confirmable from 5A except for HaraHara. It is difficult to master but well worth it. Fantastic Supers: Every super of his has excellent utility. 623AB, 214AB and 641236CD are 0f post-flash. This means that if the opponent is not already blocking correctly prior to the super flash, they will get hit, which pairs incredibly well with the ability to teleport behind them. 236AB is good for situational punishes as well as corner stun combos. Great Normals: 6D is among the best normals in the game due to the amazing hitbox, long active frames, high momentum from run, and high damage wallsplat. It is punishable on block point blank, but it can be plus meaty. 6A, while not as rewarding, dominates the midrange. 2B is one of the most consistent anti airs in the game.

Poor Defensive Options: Slash's universal rising attack from knockdown is one of the worst in the game. The small hitbox and active frames leave him uniquely vulnerable to certain types of oki. His backdash is very slow and has little invincibility. His DP is also entirely useless as an anti air and is not invincible. Overall Poor Frame Data: Outside of the standout tools in his kit, many of Slash's attacks leave him punishable. Many are even punishable on hit. Teleports Are Reactable: Experienced players will react to teleports and use them as opportunities to land strong punishes. Effectively using them against experienced players will require good reads on what they're committing to.

Slash
Character Data
Forward Run Duration	96F to cross stage
Back Step Duration	42 frames (1~10F: invincible)
Pre-jump Frames	4 frames
Jump Duration	42 frames
Landing Frames	4 frames
Jump Height Apex	108
Forward Jump Distance	103
Backward Jump Distance	103
Back Step Distance	121
Knockdown Recovery	28 frames
Chain Series	Kick Series; also chain 5LP → 2P/K

Move List

5A

5A

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
13		Mid	5	y
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
5	2	15	-2	-6
This is Slash's crouch cancelable normal. It is central to his optimal combos and pressure. Input 66~4A to get dash momentum for longer strings. After a successful crouch cancel this move will be able to combo into itself, 2C, 214B, 623B or any of his supers besides HaraHara. Crouch cancel 5A is plus on block. Frame trapping with more 5A's, 2C or 236A is strong. Doing an overhead or teleport into grab are great mixup options from here.

5B

5B

Don't

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
33		Mid	10	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
10	2	37	-14	-24
Completely outclassed by 6B in terms of damage, range, and frame advantage and that move isn't too great either. Most characters can punish you for landing this at a close enough range so avoid using this.

5C

5C

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
16		Low	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
6	3	22	-8	-12
Tied with 2D as his slowest low option. Combos into 5D. The short range and lack or real advantage from this move makes it pretty useless in most situations.

5D

5D

Did You Whiff The Command Grab?

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
40		Mid	10	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
8	4	23	-2	-12
Can be used for a more lateral anti-air, but usually 2B is always the answer. Combos from 5C. Will wiff on crouching opponents. Ultimately doesn't see much use, since it doesn't knockdown you get nothing for landing this. At least you aren't super minus on hit like the standing B normals.

Crouching Normals

2A

2A

Did You Try To Crouch Cancel?

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
12		Low	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
5	2	18	-5	-9
Tied with 6C as his second fastest low option this one is much worse in comparison due to being minus 5 on hit. Avoid using it.

2B

2B

This is Your Anti-Air.

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
30		Mid	1	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
9	2	26	-3	-13
Your opponents will get very tired of jumping on you once you meet them with this. Much lower commitment as an AA (Anti-Air) than his DP; you have plenty of time to react to their next move accordingly after returning to neutral.

2C

2C

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
14		Low	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
4	3	18	-4	-8
The best low option to use at close range as well as his fastest low. Combos into 2D making it a reliable punish. A great abare option because of the speed and low profile. Be careful though because experienced players will punish it on block.

2D

2D

The World's Slowest Bushinslide.

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
36		Low	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
6	13	30	KND	-20
His farthest reaching punish that grants you HKD. However, no matter how late you hit it on block, it is still itself very punishable. Use with discretion. Because of how active and far this move reaches, it is your most reliable roll punish tool. At close range it needs to be blocked three times.

Air Normals

J.A

J.A

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
13		high	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
5	2	GND	-	-
Outclassed by j.2A in terms of damage. Has the same frame data regardless making this move irrelevant.

J.B

J.B

It's Not As Big As It Looks

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
33		high	10	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
8	2	GND	-	-
Slowest air normal he has, which combined with it's inconsistent hitbox makes it the worst air to air normal to use and in some cases isn't good for a jump in either.

J.C

J.C

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
16		high	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
6	3	GND	-	-
Outclassed by j.2C in every way except for startup.

J.D

J.D

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
40		high	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
7	15	GND	-	-
His best option for a jump in. Has enough hitstun to combo into 6D even when performed early enough to be falling on the opponent with active frames. This move's great horizontal reach allows you to fish for punishes after successful air blocks. Air blockstun recovers quickly so you can often punish moves that you've just air blocked with this normal.

Command Normals

WallJump

Wall Jump
7/9 (wall),j9

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
-		-	-	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
-	-	-	-	-
Good for getting out of the corner. Combine this with his teleport to show up at unpredictable spots. Can't be performed while air blocking

6.A

6A

Poke

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
17		Mid	5	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
5	1	16	0	-4
Air unblockable Good to keep opponents from pressing buttons at a distance but offers no advantage on hit, creating an inherent mixup for both players.

6.B

6B

Actually Just Don't

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
16+34		Mid, Low	10	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
6	2 (6) 2	34	-11	-21
Much like 5B this move is not great, although it's slightly better than that one. Because of the surprisingly high damage off of it using it as a quick punish to end the round is feasible but you better hope it does kill otherwise you will get punished for it.

6.C

6C

Poke But Low

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
20		Low	5	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
5	1	16	0	-4
His second fastest low and the best one to use at a distance. Is great at keeping opponents from pressing buttons but offers no advantage on hit, creating inherent mixups for both players.

6.D

6D

You Don't Knee'd Anything Else

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
43		Mid	10	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
6	9	13	WSL	-7
Air unblockable The wall slam makes it inherently better to use as a punish than most of his normals The range is slightly bigger than it looks making it good to just throw out Run momentum elevates this normal to absurdity. You can check most ground and air approaches by flinging into your opponent with the active frames of this move.

J.2A

J.2A

The Better Jumping A

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
17		High	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
5	2	GND	- -	- -
With higher damage and the same frame data, this move makes j.A obsolete.

J.2B

J.2B

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
37		High	10	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
7	4	GND	KND	- -
Not great as an air to air as the startup and active frames aren't great. If used as a jump in however it puts them in a juggle state where you can get a move out to combo if the move is fast enough. 6D and 214A are good for this. This only works if they are on the ground otherwise it causes a normal hard knockdown.

J.2C

J.2C

The Pogo

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
20		High	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
7	24	GND	- -	- -
Causes knockdown only when the opponent is in the air With only one more frame of start up and a lot more active frames, this move outclasses j.C in every way.

J.2D

J.2D

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
43		High	5	n
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
8	11	GND	WSL	- -
His best air to air normal. Wallslams opponents. Must be blocked twice.

Universal Mechanics

Throw

Ground Throw
4/6B

Kick Turn Throw

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
46		Thw	0	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
1	1	-	KND	-
Unblockable. Can be throw softened within 20F After Slash completes the backflip animation, around 21F, you can input any move that can be done in the air which includes his teleport. If the opponent throw softens teleporting in front of them will leave you minus but if they don't then it allows you to set up for oki. This applies to the air throw as well.

Air Throw

Air Throw
J.4/6B

Kuuchuu Kick Turn Throw

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
46		Thw	0	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
1	1	-	KND	-
Unblockable. Can be throw softened within 20F.

Command Grab

Command Grab
63214D

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
60		Thw	0	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
1	1	-	KND	-
Unblockable Universal command grab. An important part of Slash's game plan, use this as part of your mixup game and keep opponents on their toes trying to see where your attacks are coming from.

Universal Overhead

Middle Attack
A/B+C/D

Tatewari

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
33		High	5	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
21	2	26	KND	-13
Air Unblockable Can be used to get over most lows. Hits deceptively high up so it can be used to push offense while checking jumps.

Pursuit

Pursuit
When a opponent is down 8+any move

Kushizashi

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
40		Mid	0	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
46	2	63	KND	-50
Universal Pursuit mechanic. In general is not very used due to long start up and that your opponent can mash out of knockdown to get up quicker.

Rissing attack

Rising attack
When down, [8]

Kaeriuchi

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
37		High	20	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
15	6	24	KND	-15
Universal reversal mechanic Good to use when being down but can be punished if the opponent blocks it

Super mode

Super Mode
Any 3 buttons

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
37		Mid	50	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
16	17	20	KND	-26
1~32F: invincible.

Special Moves

236X

Slash Shot
236A/B, 236AB

236A (Stab)	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	17		Mid	5	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	13	1	49	KND	-35
256A (Orb)	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	26		Mid	30	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	23	-	39	-6	-18
236B (Stab)	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	60		Mid	5	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	13	1	49	KND	-35
236B (Orb)	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	29		Mid	30	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	23	-	39	-2	-14
Projectile (A: Tier 0; B: Tier 9) 11~12F: invincible. If your opponent blocks the stab and doesn't have to block the orb then they get a free punish. Make sure to space this move correctly
236AB	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	78~113		Mid	5/n	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	4!!2	5 (4) 44	14	+4	-13
Knockdown on cornered opponent. 26~28F: invincible.

214X

Slash Barrier
214A/B 214AB

214A	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	53		Mid	10	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	4	4 (5) 4	37	KND	-26
Air Unblockable. Can be a good situational anti air due to the far horizontal range and good damage. Leaves you plus enough to react to both wakeup attacks and rolls.
214B	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	59		Mid	20	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	5	4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4	48	KND	-37
Air Unblockable. His best meterless combo ender from crouch cancel 5A. Leaves you plus enough to react to both wakeup attacks and rolls.
214AB	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	89		Mid	50	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	4!!0	4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4 (5) 4	57	KND	-43
Air Unblockable. Hits on 17/20F of superflash. His bnb combo ender from crouch cancel 5A. If for some reason you use this as an anti-air, don't. You will be punished for it after you're done flailing.

623X

Slash Dynamic
623A/B 623AB

This is (Not) Your Anti-Air.

623A	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	53		Mid	15	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	6	2 (7) 1 (1) 8	38	KND	-31
15F: Air Unblockable. 15F: invincible. Applies to all versions of the move: This move has a hard time hitting opponents out of the air. At certain ranges opponents can fall out of this move and punish you for using this.
623B	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	59		Mid	20	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	6	2 (7) 1 (1) 6 (7) 3	48	KND	-31
15F: Air Unblockable. 15F: invincible.
623AB	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	93		Mid	30	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	2!!0	2 (11) 1 (1) 6 (7) 4 (5) 3	58	KND	-81
Hits on 20/20F of superflash. 20F: Air unblockable. 20F: invincible. His fastest option in his entire kit. This makes it his best punish option and also his best teleport into 0f reaction check cheese option.

421X

Slash Teleport
421X

"Here I Am."

421A	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	49	-	-
421B	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	49	-	-
421C	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	49	-	-
421D	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	26	-	-
5~22F: invincible. TELEPORTS for 18 frames. No attacks or inputs can be done after Slash appears again in the air. This applies to the air teleport as well: THE most important part of Slash's gameplay, utilizing his teleports is essential to Slash's mixup game. They are punishable on reaction however, so be sure to not be predictable with your teleports. Opponents moves that are inputted during the teleport will also autocorrect if you switch sides with them which also adds another risk. It's important to learn the spacing and when the right opportunity to teleport is. D teleport can force a back roll to act as a forward roll, turning the opponent around as they get up (Forcing the opponent to block cross-up against any sort of follow-up)

J.421X

Kuuchuu Slash Teleport
J.421X

"Here I Am." (Air Version)

J.421A	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	35	-	-
J.421B	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	35	-	-
J.421C	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	35	-	-
J.421D	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	-		-	-	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	-	-	46	-	-
3~27F: invincible. TELEPORTS for 25 frames. No attacks or inputs can be done after Slash appears again in the air.

DokiDoki

DokiDoki

Darkness Rush
641236CD

Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
111		Mid	50	-
Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
7‼0	52	1	KND	-36
Hits on 37/46F of superflash. Air Unblockable, but full super will not catch and causes 0 damage. If guarded, Slash still performs the first 11 ground hits before stopping. The Advantage on Guard shows Slash's disadvantage after that point.

HaraHara

HaraHara

Darkness Wind
22AB/CD

"I wasted a bar only for this move to fly 1/4s of the screen. I'm just disappointed

Slash Hit	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	163		-	0	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	122	9	46	WSL	-
Energy arc	Damage		Guard	Dizzy	Cancel
	106~142		-	10/n	-
	Startup	Active	Recovery	Adv. Hit	Adv. Guard
	136	26	15	WSL	-
Unblockable. 118~127F: invincible.

Palette options

Color 1

Color 2

Color 3

Color 4

Color 5

Notable Players

Name	Color	Location	Contact	Status	Notes	Example Play
SlashySlash		Israel	None	active	Has been playing Waku since forever, one of the strongest Slash players out there. You can always find him on the FC2 lobby.	Link
UltraYoshi		Yoshi's Island (U.S)	Twitter	active	Really good Slash player, has won a lot of tournaments but doesn't play in them anymore as he organises a Bi Weekly Series with Bee Chan.	Link