KOF Combos
KOFXIII provides a very combo-lenient system compared to previous iterations of the series and even other fighting games. However, the basic combo archetypes and "bread and butter" flow are about the same as in previous KOF games. So how exactly do combos work in KOF?
Close Heavy Series
Take of any fighting game of choice and think: "How would one start a heavy punish after blocking an unsafe reversal?" The answer will vary by game and even by character. In Street Fighter IV a player may start with a Focus Attack, though Ryu might start a damaging combo with his 
+ 
, but Makoto will get more damage by using her 
+ 
command grab. Each game system contains a different solution.
Throughout KOF every character can start a simple, yet damaging combo from a Close Heavy attack. These close normals are also the fastest normal attacks in the game--even faster than a crouching light attack--and they're fully cancelable. Most characters also have command normals like in other fighting games, but in KOF it's possible to chain cancel into these command normals and then cancel them into specials or supers. Thus, a universal standard combo in KOF follows with a Close Heavy normal quickly canceled into a Command Normal which is then Special Canceled. Here's an example of how this would appear in shorthand combo notation, with Vice's meterless bnb as the example:
- cl.D f.A xx qcb+P qcf+P
The first requirement for these basic combos is to be close to the opponent. Sometimes the opponent may be close from using an unsafe move, but in other times a player can run forward and cancel their running animation with a Close attack when in range. Landing a deep hopping attack will generally put a player within close activation range, so getting in close isn't hard. Simply input the command normal after the close attack hits, and then input a special move or DM of choice. The resulting combo should flow like a chain combo; anyone familiar with Ken's 
>> 
+
target combo should have an idea how this combo series flows.
What's also notable is that these combos are hit-confirmable, meaning that a player can react to whether or not the first two hits connected before canceling into a special that would be unsafe on block, or confirming whether or not to activate HD Mode. However, leaving a command normal uncanceled will often put the attacking player at a disadvantage which limits one's options afterwards and which can sometimes be punished. The attacking player can cancel into a safe special move such as a projectile, but this can be punished if the blocking player reads the 2-in-1 with a Guard Cancel Roll. So though this combo series is fast, simple and damaging, it can end one's momentum, lacks a low mixup, and is more predictable on block.