Jataaka’s Curse/Blessing
“Jataaka’s Curse” (K) is an Ambush assist that calls Sareena onscreen in front of the lead character (facing in the same direction) to place a yellow/orange “rune trap” circle on the ground, tracking to wherever the opponent is standing; this effect lasts for 5 seconds as Sareena remains onscreen to perform the “curse” spell (unless she is interrupted). While the opponent is inside the circle, the debuff effect will both decrease their damage output by 25% and also gradually drain their Super Meter (as well as prevent them from gaining additional meter while affected); this assist will still affect opponents who are airborne and/or juggled above the “cursed” region, preventing them from avoiding the debuff by simply jumping straight upwards off of the ground. The effect depletes nearly one full bar of meter if the opponent remains in the circle for the full duration. This utility tool can be very useful for setplaying opponents with unique situations, such as calling the assist mid-kombo to prevent the use of Breaker, or removing the opponent’s ability to defend themselves by blocking during Chip Avoided or Last Breath.
“Jataaka’s Blessing” (D+K) is an Ambush assist that instead calls Sareena onscreen to face in front of the lead character wherever they are standing, placing a green circle beneath them instead of the opponent; this buff effect (which also lasts for 5 seconds) will both increase the executing player’s damage output by 15% and gradually increase their Super Meter by nearly one full bar. While the “Curse” rune trap can prove useful for depleting the opponent’s resources in the middle of a kombo or pressure sequence, the “Blessing” rune simply allows the benefit of doing more damage in certain kombos that would otherwise not utilize/require Kameos to extend; the meter gain also creates the potential to perform kombos that would otherwise not be possible due to lack of resources (i.e. 4-bar kombos).
These assists both cost half of the Kameo Gauge and will begin refilling at a moderate rate immediately after Sareena quickly vanishes offscreen. Sareena will be vulnerable to attacks from the opponent while she is performing either spell onscreen; hitting Sareena will disable the effect, as well as significantly delay her cooldown window before recharging the gauge (even after the standard “disabling” cooldown from hitting the Kameo has completed).
Kia’s Blades/Old Moon
“Kia’s Blades” (B+K) is a Summon assist that will throw two fast High projectile blades, which will then quickly return in a “boomerang” fashion hitting the opponent twice more on their way back. The Summon animation will lock the lead character in place for the first couple hits, but will recover on the third hit and allow the player to move freely before the fourth hit connects on the opponent. This allows easy hit-confirms into standing kombos for all characters, as the hit advantage from the final blade will allow players to link into a follow-up attack. These projectiles are also very plus on block, allowing the player to pressure their opponent and set up various frame traps. All projectile hits are Highs and will not jail after performing a Summon Cancel on block, making them easy to avoid by neutral ducking and interrupting with a crouching or low-profiling attack, but still giving the returning blades the possibility of hitting opponents who attempt to punish with a standing attack. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge and has a slightly delayed cooldown before recharging the gauge at a moderately slower rate.
“Old Moon” (F+K) is a Summon assist that will instead call Sareena out to throw a single fast High projectile, which is -2 on block up close but becomes more advantageous the longer it is active. The startup Summon Animation recovers much faster than Kia’s Blades, which can allow players to throw off an opponent who may be expecting the follow-up blades to come out. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge and has no cooldown window, refilling the Kameo Gauge at a very fast rate before Sareena can even throw out the projectile.
Demonic Dance
“Demonic Dance” (U+K) is a Summon assist that calls out Sareena to perform a fast Mid flipkick on the opponent, causing a knockdown that sends the opponent midscreen but will recover quickly and have enough hit advantage to allow for oki. This move is -3 on block, with 6 active frames allowing it to become +2 if it hits meaty. This assist gains invulnerability on its first frame when used as both a Getup and Reversal, making it a “true invincible reversal;” although it can still be stuffed during the startup Summon, its relatively faster startup speed compared to other kameo reversals makes this move one of the safest/fastest reversal options in the game. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge and has no cooldown window before recharging the gauge at a moderate rate.