Killer Instinct (2013)/Eagle

Overview Strategy Matchups Resources

Introduction

Eagle PLACEHOLDER CHARACTER STORY

Gameplay

Eagle is a hybrid zoner/rushdown character that makes use of his bird companion to cover himself while controlling the screen with arrows. After landing a hit, Eagle can transition into a flurry of terrifying mixups and consistent vortex. Leave your opponent in the dust, but be careful when on the defensive.

Character

Strengths

Weaknesses

Bird is the Word: With a drop of a hat, Eagle can rewrite his framedata, lock down opponents from up close and afar, and perform asynchronous offense, all by utilizing his bird summons.
Was it High? Low? Nobody Knows: With access to several highs that can be set up in advance in the form of Rain Shot and db. HP, Eagle can create tricky, near-unblockable high-low setups that force opponents to take risks or overload their mental stack to block appropriately. Combined with a very good Hard Knockdown Ender which boasts great corner carry and plentiful setup time, you can expect the opponent to be holding several, hard-to-reversal mixups back-to-back, especially in the corner, before looping back to the same vortex.
Find the Gap: Combining the use of arrows with bird commands can allow for crazy lockdown sequences that require specific responses to escape.
Strong Midrange Presence: Eagle can combine his various arrow shot commands (such as b. HP, df. HP, st HP, j.HP) and the bird to control some specific angles that most characters may not have access to. Controlling these areas in neutral can mean a knockdown to set up Eagle's crazy vortex. Additionally, he has unconventional movement and harassment potential through the use of Bird Fling and Wingspan.
Solid Meter Gain: Eagle's Death by a Thousand Cuts approach often means he has meter stocked up, especially after getting the opponent to block a flurry of mixups in the corner. This pairs nicely with Shadow Ankle Breaker, which gives time for his bird companion to recover before using Sonic Screech, and restart block sequences to get that meter back.

Notoriously Bad Defense: Eagle's defense is among the poorest in the game, considering the lack of a true reversal, metered or otherwise, and a lackluster backdash. The closest thing to a reversal, the Divebomb, has a flawed activation that can be stuffed by meaties and throws. Additionally, his anti-airs are slow, have deadzones, and are low priority. Prepare to block for your life just as much as you force the opponent to.
Wolves Move In Packs: Eagle struggles to function smoothly once the bird has been put on cooldown. He often has to stall to get it back for functional offense, as his framedata and general moveset is quite bad without it. For the ground game, Eagle's normals are stubby and don't control the same amount of space that more traditional KI characters can hold down. He often must rely on the bird or other special moves to control the space, putting himself at risk.
The Worst Instinct in the Game: Eagle has hands down the worst Instinct mode in the game. Barring the non-existent comeback potential, the peck attacks are terrible in their tracking and general usage. Even worse, they can even sabotage some of the strong non-instinct setups that Eagle relies on. Total garbage at worst, a screen freeze with a debuff and funny combos at best.
Worst Damage in the Game: Eagle's damage is notoriously low. Along with all the enders not yielding much damage, much of Eagle's offense relies on starters with projectiles, which scales damage significantly in KI. Players may need to compensate by aggressively looping Eagle's vortex or incorporating potentially risky resets. This also means having to play the breaker game carefully, as players can be tempted to take the mixup and break quickly, as Eagle isn't particularly hard to break.
Projectile Machine Gun: Eagle's offense relies almost entirely on projectiles. While useful in some matchups, it's a detriment against those with direct meterless countermeasures or strong metered reversals (e.g Shadow Windkick) that must be accounted for at all times.
Still Has a Quiver: While not a significant weakness, Eagle's limited arrows puts a damper on the craziness of his vortex and midrange control. Additionally, he is left in a tough spot if he can't find the time or meter to retrieve his arrows.

Universal Mechanics

Instinct

Birds of Prey: Eagle's bird does a peck attack after melee normals.

Character Data

Forward Walk Speed	59f to cross two large training mode squares
Backwards Walk Speed	76f to cross two large training mode squares
Forward Dash Duration	24f
Backdash Duration	23f
Pre-Jump Frames	5f
Jump Duration	37f
Landing Recovery	4f
Advantage Post Grounded Combo Breaker	0