Introduction
General Shao’s Loyal Lieutenant
"Reiko was a boy when he and his family were captured during the Kafallah War. Though his family died, Reiko fought and survived. After spending months as a prisoner, Reiko was freed during a raid by General Shao. Despite his youth and small size, Reiko attacked his former captors and exacted bloody revenge. Impressed by the boy’s spirit, General Shao made Reiko his squire. Under his tutelage, Reiko learned the ways of war. He became an exceptional soldier and is now the General’s second-in-command. Reiko’s loyalty to General Shao is absolute. He will live and die by his orders."
Reiko is a grappler/brawler archetype that excels at enforcing up-close pressure/mixups through very short but oppressive interactions; he has two autoshimmy strings (s12, s21) that can be hit-confirmed as well as a safe Mid stagger with a confirmable launch (F12/F124). While his punch attacks have short range, he has several disjointed kick attacks with a long reach that are effective for playing neutral and/or anti-airing opponents, giving him potential to confirm into short kombos. His advancing “Charging Pain/Pain Knee” (BF3) launchers grant a Low side-switch or a same-side Mid (respectively) and can be used to start/extend kombos, while DB3 reversal is a damaging ender that grants oki. Reiko’s gameplan is designed around conditioning opponents with damaging, single-hitting mixup buttons that generally lead to a quick knockdown but can be converted into kombos with certain Kameo setups, such as his safe 16f Overhead F2 and 12f Low B4 that is +3 on block (as well as his 13f High B2 being +8). Conditioning the opponent to block these options allows Reiko to enforce his command grabs (BDF1/Air DF1) that can be used to convert into kombos with certain Kameo assists (i.e Tremor/Darrius) as well as to end/extend kombos; the EX versions cost 2 bars of meter but will Throw neutral-ducking opponents. His command grab Fatal Blow will tick-throw a grounded opponent after all crouching pokes, F12, and 434; holding Up during its startup changes its attack height to an unblockable air grab that will hit airborne opponents and tick-throw opponents who attempt to jump after D1 and D3.