Overview
For starters, I want to break down his moves and their main use cases, to help build a rough gameplan draft you can use. I'll be using less objective wording here.
I'll be detailing his Plasma Combos and their use cases on his /Combos page later.
Assist Choice
Expansion
Hayato's Expansion assist is HP Shiden. He will always start from the wall behind you, so if you're closer to the wall in front of you, you'll need to call him pre-emptively due to the time he'll take to get to you. Because of this varying amount of 'extra' startup, you can't easily counter-call with this assist, but its possible and its two-hit combo can keep your opponent's assist on screen long enough for you to dash and punish them or double snap. Since you can call him early into combos, you can have him hit after of your specials (or supers) and keep the combo going off of his hit, giving you extensions that not many assists allow. If you don't mind Hayato risking losing health (or outright dying) from supers or a double Snap, you can also use this assist as a shield for your point character to run in behind or set up zoning more safely. With HP Shiden as its Alpha Counter, you can easily combo the first hit into all three of his supers, or if you have the screen space you can cancel the second hit into Engetsu. Rasetsu Zan is this assist's THC super, and since that super tends to drop on airborne opponents, it may not be the best use of meter unless your team's other THC supers keep the opponent grounded.
Anti-air
Hayato's Anti-air assist is HP Guren. Hayato starts behind you when he lands, but dashes ahead of you and rises straight upwards with three hits. Like with Expansion (and Balance) assist, the startup on this assist allows you to call him pre-emptively during combos before special or super cancels, and the long hitstun it provides when it connects can give supers with long startup like Maximum Spider enough time to combo off of it. *For whatever reason, the Alpha Counter for this assist (and Balance as well) functions similarly to HP Guren, but Hayato visually is in his Black Hayato form and he only hits one time, rather than three times. With Engetsu as your THC super, it's a better fit than Expansion's Rasetsu Zan in most cases, unless you're in the corner where most of it will whiff by continuing offscreen.
Balance
Hayato's Balance assist is HP Shiden, like Expansion. It has the same use cases as Expansion, but with Anti-air's Alpha Counter and Team Hyper Combo super. It can be preferred over Expansion if your team actually uses THCs but would rather have this assist's attack instead of Anti-air's.
Which assist you use can come down to either preference or simply what works best for your team. There isn't really a 'best' one, what each one offers is worth looking into, so try messing around with them.
Normals
Lights*
5LP and 2LP are both frame 8(to 10) pokes with nice range and both can combo into both of his MPs at any range. *4HP, however, hits on frame 7, its hitbox has a little disjoint at the tip, and it has less recovery frames with an extended hurtbox, so 4HP can be better if you're playing the poking game. Just be mindful that 4HP can only chain into the Guren #1 and #2 Plasma Combos, so your combo damage will always be worse than if you did 5LP > M > H > special. Hayato's LPs can also be used to hitconfirm into Black Hayato (especially 2LP as an OTG), since LP is the first input of that super. 2LP has noticeably longer recovery than 5LP and 4HP, but their visual similarities can lead to 2LP > delayed 2MK frametraps.
5LK is Hayato's fastest normal at frame 4(to 5), but the smear exaggerates the hitbox placement. It's a pretty high kick, and with only one hitbox, it can whiff entirely on short characters or crouch.
2LK is Hayato's first low. It hits from frames 5-10, making it his best choice for meaties and going for Juggles (one-frame OTGs). Its short recovery also makes it great at stagger pressure with 5LP.
j.LP is one frame slower than j.LK at frame 6, but it reaches a bit lower (but not low enough to instant overhead). The hitbox is only on the inner half of the sword, so its actually pretty short ranged and not at all disjointed. j.LK reaches much farther horizontally and has less recovery as well. They're both active for 10 frames, but j.LK's hitbox makes it a bit better of an air-to-air. On air hit, both of his air lights combo into air Guren and Plasma Field.
Mediums
5MP connects off of 5LP and 2LP even at max range, which is very useful for hitconfirming especially with his special moves moving him into range to connect. 5MP's lengthy 36-frame recovery period is one of a few moves that can be used to frame trap with specials or supers if they think they can punish you.
5MK is faster than 5MP, but also has more recovery frames with an extended hurtbox. It has much less recovery, though.
2MP has probably the longest range out of all of Hayato's normals, at the cost of the most recovery at 42 frames. Another laggy move you can use for frame traps if you're brave.
2MK is Hayato's second low, and at frames 5-8 its pretty fast for a medium. It has the least recovery of his mediums, so this'll be your go-to for opening people up after LPs when you aren't point blank (where LP, 2LK wouldn't reach)
j.MP and j.MK are both the usual air combo filler, but their horizontal range also makes them fine air-to-air conversions off of his air lights. j.MP hits from frames 10-13 with great range and a disjointed tip, while j.MK is faster at frames 6-13, with a very small disjoint on its hitbox despite being a kick. Like his air lights, his mediums combo into air Guren and Plasma Field on airborne opponents.
Heavies*
5HP is Hayato's go-to heavy for grounded combos into specials (and supers) when midscreen, while 5HK will be better for damage when you're doing corner combos and 2HP lets you air combo into Y-Boosted Plasma Fields for more time to follow up (more on that later.) A key OTG option of his, and its long range and disjointed end make it a solid button to whiff punish with. At max distance it combos into Shiden consistently.
- 4LP is a little slow at frame 13 (to 14), but its range is a bit farther than 5LP's. The option to chain into Suzaku Ranbu or Kegon #1/#2 is its main use, so you'll only really use this when you're familiar with those Plasma Combos. For example, you can use 4LP as an OTG and get some interesting setups off of the followups.
2HP is Hayato's launcher, and it's one of the widest in the game. Unfortunately, this is another button where the hitbox doesn't match the full sword trail: it only hits in front of him, but the top and outer parts are disjointed some. It's fast enough to combo off of his lights alone, but air combos will do more damage if they start with L > M > 2HP instead of just L > 2HP. You'll be using 2HP mainly to air combo > 623HP (2 hits) > air Plasma Field and to punish assists with launch loops.
5HK is a two-hit attack that you'll mostly only use in the corner instead of 5HP for more combo damage or buying time for an assist to hit. Each hit does less than 5HP individually, and if you aren't in the corner the first hit will send them too far for the second hit to combo. The first hit only has a hitbox along the floor, and the second hits around Hayato's center. On block, he only suffers regular pushback on the second hit, so special cancelling the first hit can keep Hayato close to his opponent.
2HK is Hayato's sweep, and third low. Its range is very slightly beaten out by 2MP, but the outermost 1/4th of 2HK's hitbox is disjointed, making it a great tool at range on top of its sweep property. It can combo off of 5MP and 2MP at most ranges except max, so if your combo started at a distance or you delayed your mediums, it can catch people off guard.
j.HP has a nice tall hitbox, even though it doesn't match the sword trail. Though it gives Hayato an extra hurtbox, the hitbox reaches down a fair bit with a lot of wide disjoint. Works well as a jump-in, but only by itself since it's too slow to combo off of a jump-in j.LP or j.LK. During a Super Jump, a landing j.HP > 623HP (2 hits) can be a unique setup into Plasma Field. With the right spacing, all three hits of 623HP can combo into Plasma Field, but two is more consistent.
j.HK is faster than j.HP and reaches the farthest of Hayato's air normals, with the farthest ~1/3rd of the hitbox being disjointed. Its long range and quick frame data (9-12) makes it a bit easier to use as a jump-in by itself, and it also combos off of jump-in lights unlike j.HP. The Super Jump overhead setup I listed with j.HP works with j.HK as well, but with j.HP's more active hitbox reaching farther down, it may be a bit harder to use j.HK for it.
Command Normals
6HP moves Hayato forwards slightly, and his hop gives him a high-profile hurtbox the whole time his feet arent touching the ground (frames 7-24). It can't be special or super cancelled, but on hit, it has enough frame advantage to let you link into 5LP, 2LP, 4HP, and even 3HP. Out of a dash, L > M > 6HP, 2LP can grant you some extra damage in your regular combos.
Dokoryuu (HP while dashing) and its followup Soryuu (HP after Dokoryuu hits) are a little unorthodox. On hit, Hayato is allowed to pass through his opponent, at which point Soryuu hits as a cross-up, but varying input timings can keep him on the same side or make it whiff entirely. Soryuu only being usable after Dokoryuu hits instead of on hit and on block prevents it from being particularly useful. Dokoryuu can actually restand airborne opponents, which is only really viable with assists since both it and Soryuu can't be cancelled into specials or supers. While Dokoryuu can be used to quickly cross the whole screen, it has a lot of recovery so it's not the best idea. One thing that's really useful about Dokoryuu however is that the forwards momentum lasting so long (as shown by the smoke at his foot) lets Hayato steal the corner if the opponent leaves it (ex: if an assist pops them upwards) or isn't hugging the wall.
j.2HK, like his other air normals, is an overhead, and can IOH if done fast enough. A few frames after it starts, Hayato comes to a complete stop in the air before falling straight downwards with a hitbox on his sword like Link. On hit, he'll bounce up and away from the opponent in a strange actionable state where:
- he can't use air normals, but he can use Guren or Plasma Field.
- if he Normal Jumps and uses j.2HK, he can still call assists after it hits. Since he's in Normal Jump state, he can't cancel Guren into Plasma Field.
- if he Super Jumps and uses j.2HK, he can't call assists after it hits, and he still can't cancel Guren into Plasma Field even though he was in Super Jump state.
It seems like j.2HK keeps Hayato in whatever 'jump' state he was in before he used it, but not being able to call assists and not being able to special -> super cancel despite having Super Jumped makes it strange (he should be able to do one or the other, but not neither...). j.2HK's downwards momentum can also apply downwards Y-Boost to Plasma Field, making it send downwards or knockdown outright, so be careful when trying to cancel.
3HP is 1 frame faster than 2HP, which lets it link off of 6HP if you're close enough. It has much more recovery though (39 opposed to 28), so in double snap situations, you'll be better off using 2HP repeatedly or 2HP > 623HP.
Throws
Hayato's grounded throw knocks the opponent back about fullscreen, and bit above Normal Jump height, which can make it a decent get-off-me as well as a setup for certain assists. Be mindful when using this in the corner, as the recovery is long enough that he can be hit by his opponent on the way down after they recover in the air.
His air throw can't be rolled, and he recovers a bit before the opponent. Hayato rolls a short distance backwards upon landing, but it leaves him in range for lots of his buttons to reach if they don't jump on wakeup, like 2LP, 4HP, 5HP, and 2HK. If they jump upwards or forwards, j.LP and j.LK can meet them if you jump forwards and j.HK can reach if you jump up.
Specials
Shiden
Shiden is Hayato's best special move for super confirms, since it combos into all three reliably. LP Shiden moves him forwards about half screen, while HP goes a bit farther. Both of their second hits will connect from fullscreen, but in most cases you'll be using HP for its higher damage. For super cancels, you'll want to:
- cancel the first hit into Rasetsu Zan, since that super hardly works on airborne opponents,
- cancel either hit into Engetsu, if you have the screen space. First hit Shiden into Engetsu is more consistent, but both hits into Engetsu can deal more damage if you cancel fast enough that the sword hitbox and pillars hit together. Cancel too slowly, and only the sword will hit and send them too far for the pillars to connect (which is a rollable knockdown, leaving you punishable),
- only cancel into Plasma Field when in or near the corner, ideally cancelling the second hit into it, so you get more time to follow up after it hits from them being in the air already. Don't cancel Shiden into Plasma Field midscreen, as Shiden's horizontal momentum will give Plasma Field's hit H-Boost, making them fly away from you too fast to follow up solo.
Guren
Guren has Hayato rise into the air with three hits. LP Guren goes straight up, and stops a bit before reaching Normal Jump height. HP has him dash forwards a bit before rising, stopping under Super Jump height. Guren can be done in the air, giving Hayato something of an air 'stalling' tool, but he's helpless on the way down. Your main use case for Guren is using the HP version to combo the first or second hit into Plasma Field (both when grounded and during air combos). Guren's upwards momentum will give Plasma Field a lot of Y-Boost and send them high into the air, which will give you ample time to OTG with something like 5HP into Black Hayato for big damage at the cost of one bar.
Byakkou Hou
Hayato's true (unblockable) command grab. While it doesn't start up instantly, it has incredible reward on hit. The range is also very short, but with the right normals (specifically certain ones in Plasma Combos) you can kara-cancel them to effectively give it 'more' range. The high knockback gives him plenty of time to decide how to follow up:
- you can stay on the ground and launch with 2HP or 3HP into an air combo (into 623HP > Plasma Field with meter),
- you can Normal Jump and go for an air reset into his air throw,
- you can Super Jump and go for a quick air combo (ex: j.LK > j.MP > j.HP) and have high/low mix on your way down (with a falling j.HK or landing then 2LK),
- or you can go for an OTG!
Hypers
Rasetsu Zan
Rasetsu Zan is Hayato's go-to super for damage and DHCs on grounded opponents, especially in the corner. He does seven slashes, the first two of which will whiff if he starts from fullscreen, but they all happen pretty fast if he doesn't make contact which can catch people by surprise. Each hit does chip, but the last hit deals two points of chip damage, giving it another (slight) edge over Engetsu. Against airborne opponents, this super basically won't work at all, so instead go for Engetsu midscreen or Plasma Field into a potential OTG attempt.
Engetsu
Engetsu is Hayato's best super for damage when midscreen, where all five of the projectiles have enough room to spawn (versus in the corner where they continue offscreen and miss completely). It isn't particularly fast to come out, and the projectiles don't travel fast or reach incredibly high either, so its susceptible to being Super Jumped over. Engetsu is best used in combos, and maybe against occupied opponents, or saving an assist in a pinch.
Plasma Field
Plasma Field is Hayato's most important tool, and his only air super option. On hit, it grants Hayato infinite meter for a little over eight seconds. He can use any supers except another Plasma Field, and he also can't DHC while the timer is on-screen (which also makes DHCing the initial hit a tight window), even if the timer runs out during a super. Comboing into Plasma Field is key for Hayato's damage output, since it gives him access to his level 3 for free, and it lets him turn most hits into 50+ damage at no additional cost through Rasetsu Zan and Engetsu.
Black Hayato
Hayato's Level 3 super and most important source of damage. Mastering Hayato means mastering using Black Hayato, and the best way to do that is being able to consistently combo and OTG into it, especially after Plasma Field hits, where it won't cost you any additional meter. Under the effects of Plasma Field, Black Hayato is the best super to combo into due to the damage difference. With the right timing, a followup HP Shiden can let you combo into Black Hayato a second time! Even though the strongest hit is the last hit, there's a very brief window where you can DHC as it hits and not lose out on any damage. Just be wary of what super you DHC into, because it'll start far from the opponent. Also, the trigger hitbox on Black Hayato lasts for only one frame, and it can OTG and basically waste the meter, so make sure you route into it properly.
Strategies
Always play a mid/close range game. Try to get the enemy cornered and knock him out. Use his combos and moves wisely (since they have lots of lag).
