N-Groove is one of the six grooves in Capcom vs. SNK 2. It features a meter system with gauge "stocks" that can be used as a Level 1 super or activated on-demand to grant a damage bonus and access to Level 3 supers. It is a groove that has a little bit of everything, giving it movement and attack options that no other groove has. N-Groove is inspired by the Advanced Gauge meter system present in late 90s King of Fighters series games, starting with KOF'98.
N-Groove is the mid-tier groove in CvS2. It has a solid, well-rounded set of features but does not excel in any one area, giving up something to each of the top-tier grooves.
Groove Data
| Main Feature | Power Stock Activation for an On-Demand Damage Boost | |
|---|---|---|
| Groove System | Advanced Gauge & Special Move System | |
| Groove Subsystems |
| |
| Meter Length | 216 Units | (72 units × 3 stocks) |
| MAX Mode Duration | 150 Time Units | (15 seconds) |
| Guard Bar Length | 48 Units | Standard |
| Meter Bonuses | During MAX Mode: +20% damage | |
See Groove Subsystems for complete technical data on specific subsystems.
Meter System
The meter in N-Groove is a single bar, labelled "POW," with boxes for three meter stocks at its end. When the meter fills up, it adds a flashing red meter stock to the bar, after which the meter will reset to zero and the player can continue to build meter up for another meter stock. Any action performed that overfills the meter bar will rollover and contribute to the next stock after the meter bar resets.
When three stocks are stored, the meter bar will remain full and no additional meter or stocks can be gained. Additionally, the "POW" label on the meter bar will change to say "POWER UP!" instead. This is merely a label change and does nothing as far as increasing attack power or granting any abilities.
The player can use a Level 1 super or system ability (Counter Attack, Counter Movement) per one stock. If all three stocks are available, exhausting one will deduct the stock and reset the meter bar to zero, allowing the player to build up a stock again.
Players can also use a stock to activate MAX Mode by pressing 
+ 
. Doing so deducts one stock from the meter stockpile and displays a timer bar showing the time remaining in the current MAX Mode activation.
In MAX Mode, attacks do 20% additional damage and enable access to Level 3 supers if an additional stock (not the one used to activate!) is available. If in MAX Mode without an additional stock available, supers or system abilities will not be available since they always require a stock to use.
Meter cannot be gained during MAX Mode. Therefore, it is not possible to gain meter and an additional stock if just short of one after activating.
When performing a Level 3 super, the required additional stock will be consumed and MAX Mode mode will immediately end. (The MAX Mode 20% damage bonus does not apply to super attacks, since the mode ends before the super connects.)
Meter, which includes any stocks and any partial meter in the bar, is shared by the team and persists between rounds, win or lose. If a character was in MAX Mode at the end of a round, the MAX Mode state immediately ends; no meter will be recovered from any time remaining in the MAX Mode timer.
Unique Groove Abilities
MAX Mode
MAX Mode is a special meter ability in N-Groove that allows the player to activate a stored meter stock and give themselves on-demand access to a 20% damage bonus and potentially a Level 3 super.
(N-Groove MAX Mode is not to be confused with the MAX Mode in S-Groove, which has different features.)
After the player has stored at least one meter stock, MAX Mode can be activated with + . Stock activation must be done in neutral and on the ground, and cannot be cancelled into from any move or action.
The breaking a stock animation takes a total of 20 frames to complete, during which you are completely vulnerable to attacks. However, the animation can be cancelled out of by a special or super move after the 8th frame, the point at which the actual use of the meter to enter MAX Mode takes place. Due to this startup lag, it is possible to be hit out of the activation sequence before the stock is activated.
Upon a successful activation, a meter stock will be consumed and a timer bar will appear above the meter. This timer lasts 150 time units (about 15 seconds) with the benefits of MAX Mode remaining active during this period.
MAX Mode grants the player a flat 20% damage bonus to all normal/special attacks and throws. Blocked attacks will also do additional guard crush damage.
If the player has an additional meter stock available while in MAX Mode, any super performed will be a Level 3 super. This will consume the additional stock and also immediately exit MAX Mode; the 20% damage bonus will not be applied to the super.
It is not possible to perform a Level 1 super while in MAX Mode. Additionally, no super can be performed if no meter stocks are available after activation.
"Pop Trick" Level 3 Supers
Level 3 supers are not available to N-Groove players without first needing to activate a stock. This is in contrast to C-Groove, P-Groove, and K-Groove, which with the meter available can unload a Level 3 without needing to perform an intermediate action. However, in certain situations N-Groove players can go from their normal state "directly" into a Level 3 super in non-combo situations by exploiting the properties of the activation animation.
From start to finish, the activation animation lasts 20 frames. But after a startup of 8 frames, the remaining 12 frames of animation can be cancelled out of with a special or super move. This allows an N-Groove player with two stocks of meter available to unexpectedly go from a non-threat right into an activation (the "pop") and a Level 3 super (the "trick") in few as 12 frames (adding 4 frames of super startup) depending on the super being used and how quickly it can be buffered.
The most practical uses of this technique are:
- Punishes from a Distance - Supers that move across the screen quickly can catch out an opponent using special moves with long reach and/or slow recovery. Try to super through a fireball if they are predictable enough in throwing them and your character has a quick super!
- Anti-air Punishes - If a character has poor regular anti-airs, or the opponent is coming in at a trajectory that makes sense for it, there is usually plenty of time to activate directly into an appropriate super.
- Anti-air Trades - Characters with decent anti-air specials may sometimes not beat the opponent's jump-in attack cleanly. If the attacks clash in a way where you recover immediately but they pop back into the air, there may be time to activate into a super, providing your character has a good one for the situation.
- Character-specific Setups and Juggles - Some characters also have specific special moves and supers that give them loads of time to activate into super (Hibiki's counter), or buffer super inputs while activating (Akuma's Raging Demon/Morrigan's Darkness Illusion).
A related facet of the N-Groove meter system is having three meter stocks available when a Level 3 super only requires two of them. With an extra stock available, characters have options to use all three stocks of the meter to perform extraordinary actions.
This could mean comboing or juggling into a Level 1 super onto the end of their Level 3 super. (This can also be done in S-Groove during Red Health.) It is also possible for some characters in MAX Mode (the first stock) to perform a Counter Attack or Counter Movement (the second stock), then juggle the opponent or punish counter into a Level 3 super (third stock)! More information on how a characters can take advantage of these unique N-Groove features can be found on their individual character pages.
Counter Movement
Counter Movement is a set of tactical movement options that allows players to cancel out of blockstun and perform either a Counter Movement Roll or a Counter Movement Backstep. Although technically a Groove Subsystem and not a baked-in feature, Counter Movement is effectively a unique feature to N-Groove given that no other groove has it.
Cancelling out of blockstun in CvS2 is a special system action that requires the equivalent of one super level of meter to perform, which is one meter stock in N-Groove. Once out of blockstun, the player will do either a normal forward roll, or a normal backdash (backstep), as inputted during the Counter Movement command.
To perform a Counter Movement, input one of the following while blocking an opponent's attack:
+
+
for Counter Movement Roll
++ for Counter Movement Backstep
If successful, the player character will break out of guard and perform the desired action, costing a meter stock and 10 points of guard bar.
All normal properties of the counter roll or backdash apply. Rolls are subject to the regular invincibility, distance, and recovery properties of a character's regular roll. (Characters with faster/better rolls will have better counter roll opportunities.) Backdashes do not gain any special invincibility properties if used as a Counter Movement, meaning they are vulnerable to sustained or follow-up attacks.
Generally, rolls are the preferred Counter Movement action, as they allow characters to potentially punish safe blockstring enders (sweep into fireball, but counter roll off the sweep through the fireball) or other hard-to-punish special moves, escape A-Groove Custom Combos, and survive chip damage death situations, among other uses. The backstep version is almost useless in comparison, though it does have a few specific use cases.
This video has a full overview of what Counter Movement is capable of in CvS2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOplYaWP3NA
Groove Strategy
N-Groove is the mid-tier groove in CvS2. It has a good and plentiful combination of features that give it lots of options against top-tier groove and characters, and benefits greatly from aggressive, offensive gameplay. However, many of N-Groove's benefits turn out to be situational or weaker versions of the features present in the top-tier grooves, often leaving it lacking in comparison.
Strengths
Pressure On-Demand with MAX Mode - Of the three SNK grooves, all of which have timer-based meters granting advantages, N-Groove is the only one that allows the player to activate its benefit on-demand. This can help a player build or keep offensive momentum or put the brakes on an opponent's attacks by threatening a Level 3 whenever desired, especially compared to the unique—and sometimes inconvenient—ways meter is filled in S-Groove and K-Groove.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink - N-Groove has the most Groove Subsystems to work with, as well as its own unique features, giving players a myriad of movement and attack options. For example, it is the only groove with run and roll together, making running roll cancels only possible in N. Small jump in combination with rolling can create different spacing and crossups for opponents to deal with. Counter Movement can get you out of bad situations, and put you into extremely good ones.
Good Comeback Potential with Full Meter - When all three stocks are filled, firing off a Level 3 will leave you with one stock in the bag. At this point, only the build-up of another single stock is required to threaten another potential Level 3. This is the shortest fill of meter bar possible for consecutive Level 3 super attempts in CvS2 without having to be near death (S-Groove) or requiring you get hit a few times (K-Groove). Plus, having the option to execute a timely Counter Movement to escape chip death or bust through a laggy blockstring ender and potentially turn that into a super going the other way satisfies in a way that no other groove can provide.
Weaknesses
The Longest (and Most Deceptive) Meter Bar in CvS2 - At a chonky 216 units, getting all three stocks lit up takes longer than filling any other meter in CvS2. The bar is even longer than P-Groove's 192 unit monster. Of course to be fair to N-Groove, it only takes 144 units of meter to gain access to a Level 3 super, which is actually less meter than C-Groove's 168 units of meter bar!
Then again, the design of the meter in N-Groove makes it seem like the play is to fill it up and max it out, much like the meter bars of the other five grooves. The game even gives you a visual cue when doing this "successfully," changing the text on the meter to "POWER UP!" as if that does anything of significance (it does not). The most optimal way to use N-Groove round-to-round is actually to NOT fill the meter completely. If you do, you are wasting meter (and damage!) potential in the form of MAX Mode activations you aren't using and further meter stocks you could be gaining after MAX Mode ends. Even the best N-Groove players fall into the trap of sitting on full meter for too long, losing close rounds that they could have won had they activated for the damage bonus along the way.
Jack of All Trades, Master of None - N-Groove has the Kitchen Sink of movement and system abilities, but what it has in quantity, it lacks for quality. There is no single outstanding feature of N-Groove, particularly when you start to compare it to the top-tier grooves:
- The 20% damage bonus in N-Groove pales in comparison to the much more threatening up-to-35% damage bonus and corresponding defensive bonus you get while Raged in K-Groove. On top of that, the Rage damage bonus applies to supers (at +10%) in K-Groove; the MAX Mode damage bonus does not apply to supers in N-Groove. That the N-Groove player can choose when the damage bonus comes on is not that special, considering the Rage timer is longer than the MAX Mode timer, and that the K-Groove player will go into the Rage state and have a boosted Level 3 available two or even three times a round—without needing to manually activate beforehand.
- Access to Level 1 supers is great, but also you get those in C-Groove. C-Groove also gets Level 2s, plus Level 2 cancels, plus non-gimmicky instant Level 3s, plus Air Guard, plus insane meter efficiency out of a meter that is much shorter to fill for the damage output you get from it. In a way, C-Groove out Kitchen Sinks the Kitchen Sink groove!
- Activating in N-Groove is a good way to build or take back momentum in a round. But when A-Groove does it, it's invincible and leads into a often very damaging custom combo. If you want to talk about swinging the momentum of a match with an activation, A-Groove merely has to threaten it, causing their opponent to change tactics once the A-Groove meter is full. The activation benefit of N-Groove is a level or two beneath that, and beneath being Raged in K-Groove for that matter.
Unique Features and Character Gimmicks Aren't Enough - With the right characters or in the right situations, N-Groove can do what no other groove can do. Unfortunately, this is not nearly enough to bring N-Groove up to the same level as C-Groove, A-Groove, or K-Groove. N-Groove can do a lot, but it cannot do it often enough, or efficiently enough, or powerfully enough, for it to overcome what the top-tier grooves have in their arsenal. However, it still has a strong enough toolkit for the right player to make up the difference, cementing its position as a mid-tier groove in CvS2.
Character Considerations
N-Groove characters tend to be middle-in-the-pack among their best grooves. Some characters have N as their best groove because they synergize with the myriad of mechanics that N has to offer. Good N-Groove characters not only like the offensive mechanic, but the defensive mechanics (Roll, GC, GCR), and their generally good base tools are good enough to where N not having an overwhelmingly powerful mechanic is not an issue. These are picks that are really good for any N-Groove squad:
- Sagat
- Blanka
- Iori
- Chun-Li
- Honda
- Cammy
- Rolento
- Shotos
- Kyo
- Sakura
- Hibiki
- Morrigan
- Joe
- Yamazaki
Groove Comparisons and Matchups
The info in this section is for direct comparisons between grooves and generic groove vs groove matchups, which may apply differently to specific characters. For more detail on how a character plays in and plays against the different grooves, refer to their character info page.
