JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future/Avdol

Introduction

Muhammed Abdul is the controller of the stand Magician's Red. Abdul's most basic specials originate from the "shoto" character style which itself was born from Street Fighter. Along with his standard Hadouken- and Shoryuken-style attacks, he's mainly a user of projectile specials and supers, some of which have mildly unusual effects.

Moves List

Notation

 Joystick Position
                  
       7 8 9      
       4 5 6      
       1 2 3      
            
a1 == Light Attack
a2 == Medium Attack
a3 == Heavy Attack
S == Stand button
T == Taunt/Start button
?a == Any attack button
?2a == Any two attack buttons (pressed at the same time)
?3a == All three attack buttons (pressed at the same time)                   

Normal Moves

Stand mode off

5.a1 - A simple forward jab. Quick and duckable. Can be used as a combo starter, but is far better used to add damage during Tandem Attacks.

6.a1 - A short shin kick. This has shorter range than the neutral a1 and a slight delay, but can be used as a mixup (as the move hits low and you don't have to crouch to perform it).

2.a1 - A quick, low jab that angles downwards. Basic crouching attack.

5.a2 - A medium-range kick. This has little start-up time but a fair amount of recovery time.

2.a2 - Magician's Red appears and raises his hand, making a largish flame. This has plenty of vertical range and an uppercut-style animation/hitbox, meaning that you may want to use it as an anti-air move if under pressure.

5.a3 - A wide swing with some start-up time. This move is also difficult to chain into.

6.a3 - Magician's Red appears and makes a blast with his hand. This does more damage than the neutral a3 and is slightly faster, and appears to have slightly more range as well. Is cancelable.

2.a3 - Magician's Red appears and sweeps. This is rather fast for a sweep, and can be used fairly effectively as a surprise counter if your opponent is getting too close.

Jumping a1 (a1 in air) - A diving knee attack. This doesn't have enough range to be useful.

Jumping a2 (a2 in air) - Same as jumping a1.

Jumping a3 (a3 in air) - A fairly quick sideways kick. This attack has a fair amount of range, but is nearly horizontal, making jump-ins difficult.

Dashing a1 - Same animation as neutral a2. Knocks the opponent down, and allows them to be juggled.

Dashing a2 - Same as dashing a1, but doesn't knock your opponent down.

Dashing a3 - Same as neutral a3.

Dashing crouching attacks - Same as regular crouching attacks.

Stand mode on

5.a1 - Magician's Red flicks his hand and makes a small blast. This has decent range and excellent speed, and it's quite possible to chain two or three of these into a heavier attack without getting pushed out of range. Probably Abdul's best combo starter.

6.a1 - Magician's Red makes a flame with his finger, similarily to 2.a2 out of Stand mode. This has more vertical range than neutral a1. The move may appear slow at first, but you'll soon notice that it's cancelable.

2.a1 - Magician's Red performs a low shin kick. It's impossible to chain more than one of these together, but the move makes a decent combo starter regardless.

5.a2 - Magician's Red performs a sweep with his arm, similarily to 2.a3 out of Stand mode. This is cancelable.

4.a2 - Magician's Red raises his arm and makes a blast. This hits multiple times and is an excellent anti-air move, but is generally a bit slow and isn't cancelable.

2.a2 - Magician's Red makes a medium-range blast similar to that seen in 6.a3 out of stand mode. This is cancelable.

5.a3 - Magician's Red makes a side kick. This can hit twice up close. It isn't cancelable, making it most useful during Tandem Attacks or as a simple combo ender.

2.a3 - Magician's Red makes an overhead swing, his arm trailing fire. This has good overall range and coverage, and can be used as a decent anti-air attack.

Jumping a1 (a1 in air) - Magician's Red makes a kick, angled downwards. This is a decent jump-in attack.

Jumping a2 (a2 in air) - Same animation is jumping a1. I may be wrong, but it appears that this attack does less (!) damage than jumping a1, and only offers the same amount of hitstun. Odd, I know. This move also sets your opponent on fire - purely a graphical effect - while jumping a1 doesn't.

Jumping a3 (a3 in air) - Similar animation to 2.a2. This doesn't hit low enough to be of much use against grounded opponents, and is best used as an air-vs-air attack.

Dashing a1 - Similar to neutral a2, with a faster animation and less overall damage. Fairly useful.

Dashing a2 - A long-range side kick that hits twice. Another generally useful move.

Dashing a3 - Same as neutral a3.

Dashing crouching attacks - Same as regular crouching attacks.

Special Moves

236+?a (Crossfire Hurricane) - a basic Hadouken-style projectile attack, with some start-up time and (with Stand Mode on) some recovery time as well. As with many JJBA specials, performing the move with Stand Mode off makes Magician's Red perform the move separately to Abdul, eliminating recovery time (and most of the start-up time) and allowing the player to move freely while the move is performed. In this state, the move is highly useful for pressure use and controlling space. With Stand Mode on, the player is subject to full start-up and recovery time, but the projectile has increased range. The attack button used to perform the move affects its range and movement speed.

623+?a (Fire Aura) - a Shoryuken-style uppercut attack. With Stand Mode on the move is a simple jumping uppercut (as per standard Shoryuken attacks) with height dependent on attack button pressed to perform the move. With Stand Mode off Magician's Red is again separated from Abdul, this time performing a dash before jumping in the a2 and a3 variations. The dash causes multiple hits on contact and does decent total damage if you can catch your opponent out with an a3 at close range. However, the move is rather predictable in this form, and Magician's Red is entirely vulnerable throughout. In both forms, the move hits with equal range on both the left and the right, and is an excellent anti-air move.

214+?a (Honoo no Tansaki) - This releases a slow, floating projectile that tracks your opponent for as long as you hold the attack button down. The projectile does no damage at all on contact - in fact, it goes right through your opponent - but explodes with rather good range when you release the button. Getting hit while the projectile is active will destroy it for no damage, as will allowing the projectile to be hit three times by your opponent's Stand or specials. This special has a great deal of start-up time and does little damage, but can be easily used as a combo starter or versatile link.

236+?a (in air) (Fire Eagle) - Magician's Red flies diagonally downwards with his leg outstretched. With Stand Mode off, Magician's Red separates from Abdul and then disappears (as per Abdul's other specials). This can be used as a medium-range poke. With Stand Mode on, Magician's Red still separates from Abdul, but is controllable alone from thereon (this is detailed below in the Stand Release section).

63214+?a (Jigoku no Gouka) - Magician's Red makes a short grab (this might initially look like a command throw, but is actually blockable). If the attack connects, he grabs the opponent by the face and roasts them until they explode. While this has some start-up time, it does decent damage, and is fairly easy to set up as a combo ender (particularly at the end of a Tandem Attack). Also of note is that it's impossible for your opponent to recover from the launching effect of the attack, leaving them wide open to a short juggle.

4+?2a (Stand Release) - This allows you to control Magician's Red on his own while leaving Abdul vulnerable. This has various effects, including the following:

• Magician's Red moves a lot faster than Abdul and can triple jump.
• Magician's Red has an unusual basic attack that moves vertically downwards (2+?a during super jumps or double/triple jumps).
• Magician's Red is still subject to the effects of the Stand Meter, and can be Stand Crashed if allowed to take too much damage.
• Attacks that hit Abdul when Magician's Red is any more than a short distance away will do enormous amounts of damage.

Magician's Red can be called back to Abdul by pressing the Stand button, but it still takes a fraction of a second for him to return, and Abdul is entirely vulnerable until then.

Super Moves

236+?2a (Napalm Bomb) - Magician's Red creates a large fireball that can juggle your opponent. Single-hit damage is very low, but hitting your opponent at point-blank range with this super so that they are juggled can do considerable damage. As with all of Abdul's supers, it isn't wise to perform this move at long range, as it's rather obvious and very blockable.

214+?2a (Crossfire Hurricane Special) - An extremely damaging super at close range, this involves Magician's Red projecting a large stream of fairly short-ranged Ankhs. This super has considerably more start-up time and considerably less range than the Napalm Bomb, but can do a vast amount of damage if used correctly. Again, the move is fairly obvious and rather blockable, so juggling or catching your opponent out with the super is imperative to landing it well.

623+?2a (Shokunetsu no Ankh) - This causes a large flaming Ankh to burst from the ground and juggle your opponent. Initially, the Ankh will appear directly under Abdul's position, severely limiting the move's potential. However, by holding down at least one of the attack buttons used to perform the move, the attack can be delayed until you release the button(s), allowing it to be used as a trap or surprise attack (the Ankh will appear wherever the move was originally performed, regardless of where Abdul subsequently moves). Regardless, this still has a lot of vertical range, very little horizontal range, and weak damage.

The Basics

Tactics

• Use of Stand Mode: As with many characters, an Abdul player should keep Stand Mode off when possible for extra mobility, and turn it on when blocking. Abdul doesn't have an enormous amount of combo potential in Stand Mode but his attacks are powerful enough to do considerable damage even if he only gets a few hits in.

• Defensive nature: Abdul isn't quite as effective at poking as characters such as Jotaro and Polnareff are (Crossfire Hurricane helps); however, like most JJBA characters, he still relies on opportunity to land his attacks. An Abdul player should stay on the defensive, make heavy use of pushblocks, and watch for opportunities to punish his opponent.

Combos

This section outlines some simple combos that may be useful for beginners, and some bread-and-butter combos that should be learnt by all players. Motions in bold are to be performed during the input period of a Tandem Attack (motion 874+S).

3 -> jumping a3 -> 2.a1 -> 5.a2 -> 623+a3

• This is a simple and fairly safe combo which is useful for beginners. It involves a short combo into a heavy Fire Aura. This is unlikely to work against defensively astute opponents.

3 -> jumping a3 -> 2.a1 -> 5.a2 -> 63214+?a -> S + 5.a1 -> 5.a2 -> 5.a3

• A slightly more difficult (but only arguably more useful) variation on the above combo.

6 -> 66 -> Dashing 2.a2 -> 214+S a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 -> 443 (super jump from dash) -> continuous 
5.a11 -> 1 -> jumping a3 -> 6.a3 -> 63214+?a -> S + 5.a1 -> 5.a2 -> 5.a3

¹In this section of the combo the super jump should take you over the head of your opponent, and you should continuously hit them with light attacks from behind as your stand pummels them in order to maintain the combo and get some extra damage. This is the classic "sandwich" Tandem Attack used in all competition play.

• This is one of the standard combos used in competition play. You may find it slightly difficult to chain the last few attacks together.

(stand mode on) 3 -> jumping a3 -> 6.a1 -> 5.a2 -> 214+S a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 -> 443 (super jump
from dash) -> ...

• This is a simple means of getting more hits at the start of the above combo.

Match-ups

Vs. Shadow Dio:

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure