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| Notation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| (Leave a space) cancel from the previous normal to the following. | |
| , | Link from the previous move to the following. |
| > | Cancel the previous move into the following special / super move. |
| ~ | Cancel special into set followup or plink previous attack into the following. |
| dl. / delay | Delay the following move. |
| whiff | Must whiff the following move. |
| land | Must land on the ground before the next move. |
| rejump | Must land then jump again before the next move. |
| j. / sj. | Move is done in a jump / superjump. |
| jc / sjc | Cancel previous move into a jump / superjump. |
| ia./tk. | Instant Air or Tiger Knee Special or Super Move. |
| XX | Any two attack buttons excluding S. |
| NXX | Dash / Airdash in N direction. |
| X+S | Any other attack button and S pressed at the same time. |
| AA | Anti-Air |
| [X] | Hold input |
| -X- | Release input |
| (N) | Connect with only the Nth hit of this attack. |
| (Move) | Move is optional. |
| [sequence] x N | Repeat sequence N times. |
Beginner Combos
- Work on all or nearly all characters.
- Require little to no resources (Meter, Assists, Character Specific Stocks).
- Need minimal adjustments for positioning or starter.
Beginner-friendly Zero combo that ends in Rekkoha rather than activating Sougenmu and transitioning into the highly-damaging but more difficult Lightning Loops. The link during the initial Air Combo sequence is a little awkward, but needed because Zero can not Buster-Cancel his j.H normals.
If Zero can carry to the corner, he can OTG into a solo relaunch with a j.236H > ]L[, j.623[L], land, 5S sequence. Midscreen, the L Lightning will not reach far enough for Zero to follow up without assist support. Despite this, it is an important extension to master, since Zero uses similar OTG setups for most of his assist extensions.
Zero can actually loop this relaunch twice, but on the third Air Combo, Hitstun Deterioration will be so high that Zero can not end the combo properly.
If you intend to go into Lightning Loops, then you can replace the ending sequence with j.5S, rejump, j.236H > ]L[, j.623L > 214XX to combo into Sougenmu activation.
Air-to-Air Confirms
Zero's ability to cancel most of his attacks into Level 3 Buster, which causes a Forced Soft Knockdown on hit, makes him very strong at converting air-to-air hits at any height or screen position, and so getting a grasp on his air confirms is an important skill to master.
The basic idea for the confirm is simple: Get any air hit - either an aerial normal like j.M or possibly even something like j.623M - then cancel into Buster release. Keep in mind that Zero can not Buster-Cancel j.H, so either chain into j.S or recover and link j.M afterwards before canceling one of those normals. After connecting Buster, quickly input j.214[L] to fast fall. Buffer a quick dash while landing, and then catch the opponent with 5M before they reach the ground. From there, continue into your normal BnB combo.
An alternative confirm is to connect Level 3 Buster like normal, but then input j.623L rather than j.214L. Air Lighting forces a True Soft Knockdown like Buster Shot while also bringing Zero down to the ground directly underneath the opponent, forgoing the need to time a quick dash. Then simply mash S to continue the combo. You can see an example here. The so-called "Buster-Lighting" is a little easier to pick up, but is considered a bad habit. Unlike j.214L Fast Fall, Lightning is a much more comittal option, especially once Zero does not have his Buster Cancel available. Where a j.214L will allow Zero to keep frame advantage even if he messes up the confirm, trying to follow up with j.623L can leave Zero at minus frames or even punishable, so it carries extra risk.
Core Combos
- Works against a selected set of characters.
- Can require adjustments for positioning and resources.
- Are expected to be consistently performable by a skilled player who main the character.
Lightning Loops
Basically all of Zero's combo routes are designed to carry the opponent into the corner, and then end with a j.623L Lightning canceled into Sougenmu activation. From here, Zero can repeatedly combo Lightning into itself, jumping and reactivating the attack while his afterimage covers his own recovery. The high base damage of Lightning when most hits connect, combined with Zero's naturally high minimum damage scaling, and effectively doubled due to Sougenmu, make this extremely powerful. Indirectly, Sougenmu is the most damaging level 1 hyper in the game. Just about any Zero combo that carries to the corner can transition into Lightning Loops, because they do not meaningfully suffer from Hitstun Deterioration.
There are several variants of the Lightning Loop, but this is the recommended version to learn and perform in-match. Repeated neutral jump L Lightning can be spaced so that all 10 hits (five from Zero and five from his clone) connect, maximizing damage output. It also is not particularly mechanically intensive, works equally well on both P1 and P2 side, and gives room to adjust for characters who fall faster or slower than normal.
The final Air Lightning happens after Sougenmu's duration has already expired. You can cancel that Lightning into another 214XX Sougenmu activation and go into a second Lightning Loop if necessary to kill very high-health characters. Otherwise, Zero has a few meterless enders he can perform to squeeze out some extra damage, the simplest being 623H.
| Notation | Damage | Meter | Location | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
j.623[L] > 214MH, jump back ]L[, j.623L~[H], TK j.62369L, TK j.62369L, jump back ]H[, j.623L~[H], j.62369L, etc. |
Corner |
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|
j.623[L] > 214MH, jump ]L[, j.623L~[H], neutral jump j.623L, neutral jump j.623M > ]H[, j.623L~[M], neutral jump j.623L, neutral jump j.623L, 623H > ]M[, j.623L, 623H |
577,000 after Sougenmu |
Builds ~0.45, costs 1 |
Corner |
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Buster Confirms
Level 3 Buster has fairly good priority and is very fast, so it can blow through many other grounded long-range options or be used as a ranged punish. Buster -> Sougenmu -> M Hadangeki combos even at full screen, and Zero can charge Buster during the Sougenmu activation screen-freeze, letting him almost immediately rebuild Buster. Being able to confirm a fullscreen buster makes Zero's long-range game much scarier, and Zero has very strong lockdown and chip-damage potential with Sougenmu active, so this is decent to try even if you do not get the confirm.
If the opponent is cornered, only one of the Sougenmu Busters will hit, but the opponent will remain closer, so only a short dash is needed. If the opponent is midscreen, they will bounce on both Buster shots, giving Zero time to perform a longer dash and make up the extra distance.
Getting to The Corner
Corner-to-Corner Routes
This combo sets up a solo relaunch into another full magic series that allows Zero to carry from one end of the stage all the way to the other end with no need for assists.
| Notation | Damage | Meter | Location | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
[L], 2M 5H 6H 5S sjc. j.M j.M j.H, j.M, rejump j.M j.M j.H, rejump j.M > ]L[, j.623[L], short dash 5S sjc. j.M j.M j.H j.5S, rejump j.236H > ]L[, j.623L > 214XX, etc. |
Corner-to-Corner |
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Side-Switch Combos
Zero has a large amount of potential to side-switch mid-combo. If Zero is closer to the corner than his opponent, it can be easier to use a side-switch route rather than carry all the way to the opposite end of the stage.
| Notation | Damage | Meter | Location | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
[L], 2M 5H 6H 5S sjc. j.M j.M j.H, (delay) ]L[ (sideswitch here), j.623[L], 5S sjc. j.M j.M j.H j.5S rejump j.236H > ]L[, j.623L > 214XX, etc. |
When Cornered |
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[L], 2M 5H 6H 5S sjc. j.2H, j.M > j.214M > ]L[, j.623[L], land 5S sjc. j.M j.M j.H j.5S rejump j.236H > ]L[, j.623L > 214XX, etc. |
When Cornered |
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[L], 2M 5H 6H > 214M > ]L[, short dash 5M 5H 6H 5S sjc. etc. |
When Cornered |
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Assist Extensions
Although Zero's solo damage is already exceptional thanks to Lightning Loops, Zero gains the following key advantages from using assists to extend his combos:
- Assists allow Zero to convert his throws into a full combo. Because all of Zero's throws consume his Buster Charge, and Zero needs Lvl3 Buster for his solo OTG pickup, he typically needs an assist to convert from a throw.
- Zero's combo routes build a large amount of meter, and an assist extension - even if it only gives Zero a few extra hits or one extra Raikousen - can generate a significant amount of free extra meter.
- Doing more damage with a longer combo pre-Sougenmu puts less pressure on you to perform the Lightning Loop correctly, since you will need fewer reps to kill.
This sample airthrow conversion shows the general idea for extending most Hard Knockdowns with an assist. Most reasonably-active assists can be called just before an OTG j.236H and keep the opponent in hitstun long enough for Zero to recover and continue the combo. The rejump loop here gives some extra damage, but with many assists you can just do jump + Assist, j.236[H], 5S and go into a normal combo.
If Zero is ever not the point character, his teammates have access to Ryuenjin assist as an invincible Alpha Counter. By inputting 214XX on the first hit of the uppercut, Zero can cancel into Sougenmu, remaining on the ground while the opponent is knocked airborne, leading to a free full combo.
This is expensive (1 bar for the alpha counter, 1 more to activate Sougenmu, and likely at least one more bar to kill off the combo) and is quite situational but can provide a massive momentum swing, especially if the alpha counter also catches the opponent's own assist character.
Zero May Cry (Zero/Dante/Vergil) reference video
Deadpool/Zero/Rocket
Strider Hard Tag to Zero Loops
Doom Hard Tag to Zero Loops
Comboing in X-Factor
Zero is almost always played as a Point character, and his damage and neutral game are strong enough that he rarely needs to utilize X-Factor. His most common use case is when any move X-Factor canceled into his 623XX hyper will win the match outright, to skip having to perform a longer combo that carries any risk of dropping. Benefits of X-Factor for Zero include:
- Zero can solo relaunch after a Hard Knockdown without assists or Level 3 buster by doing
j.236M, land, 2Lin any level of X-Factor. Video Example. This is mainly helpful for converting off throws. - In XF3, Zero can do a version Sougenmu Lightning Loops midscreen, instead of needing to be in the corner. Video Example. Basically any j.623X version will combo into itself as long as Zero has both XF3 and Sougenmu up.
- Also in XF3, Zero can do TK j.6239L Lightning Loops without needing Sougenmu active. Video Example.
Advanced Combos
- May only work on a few characters or in specific circumstances.
- Can have any amount of requirements such as meter, positioning, starter.
- Are not necessarily harder than core combos, but require more specific knowledge.
The "Dylnyan Extension" is a very optimized post-Sougenmu extension that deals high damage but requires several tough execution tricks. There is a short window where j.623H can be Buster-canceled before Zero begins to move, where the lightning will still come out. This lets you combo into H Lightning after Sougenmu has already worn off, because the Buster release will juggle them into it. After that, Zero can TK M Lightning very low to the ground, so that the opponent lands on it. All of this done perfectly gives Zero just enough time to build one more Buster Charge, for a DP -> Buster -> Lightning Ender.
Since Lightning Loops are already very highly damaging and meter-efficient, and because Zero can always loop Sougenmu back into itself by canceling the last j.623L, optimizing the post-Sougenmu part of the combo is not particularly important.
This extension is notable because it actually loops back into itself (against certain characters?). After the final j.623L, perform another TK j.6239M Lightning, then another 623M DP. If you re-held H Buster Charge immediately after releasing the last one, you can just barely rebuild a Level 3 charge, and repeat the process, leading to a meterless infinite.
