Introduction
Krauser can do just about anything in the game. If you want fireball zoning, brutish normals, steel-tight safety on offense and defense, and some command grabs thrown in for good measure then look no further than this German Overman. Along with Iori, Krauser completes the top tier of 98UM.
Moves List
Throw
b or f+C - Breakable, rollable, leaves back turned if unteched.
b or f+D - Breakable, unrollable, leaves front turned.
The D throw will be the preferred option since it guarantees hard knockdown. If you can't throw a cl.D comes out instead having a botched C throw attempt cause cl.C to whiff.
Normal Moves
Standing A - Basic anti-air against short hop and cancelable.
Standing B - Looks promising, but whiffs on small crouching hitboxes.
Standing C - Reaches nearly half-screen but it whiffs crouchers. Okay as an anti-air or for tagging the startup of other standing normals/specials, but st.D is better.
Standing D - Actually reaches half-screen and hits crouching hitboxes! Highly reliable ground poke that's difficult to punish from max range. Leaves Krauser open to hops depending on the timing and spacing, but that's what st.CD and st.C are for.
Standing CD - The legendary 「GOD KICK」 and the most broken normal in 98UM. It's one of the fastest CD attacks in the game (with 0F of input lag compared to the usual 4F on normals) with a madly disjointed horizontal and vertical hitbox. If it somehow trades, it forces a knockdown. If you completely miss, you can still buffer rdp+K to come out on hit/block/whiff.
Close A - Like most Close A attacks, this hits mid and is cancelable. Chains into itself or into cr.A/cr.B.
Close B - A low kick which is cancelable into specials, though it can't be chained into anything else.
Close C - The only reason to use this move is if you fail a C throw attempt.
Close D - Krauser's staple close heavy move. It's not actually a low, and you'll be getting more mileage out of cr.C.
Crouching A - A lighter, chainable cr.C that's a little faster and more plus on block. Use in hitconfirms, cancel into a Blitz Ball or rdp+K, or ride the frame advantage for further offense.
Crouching B - Standard low kick. Chain into cr.A for a hitconfirm, use it to punish whiffed jump-ins, et cetera, et cetera.
Crouching C - Highly abusable grounded poke and good anti-air. The horizontal hitbox extends beyond Krauser's fist and the hitstun and recovery are great. Imagine Ralf's cr.C, only now you have good specials to cancel into on block or hit.
Crouching D - One of the crappier sweeps in the game. It doesn't even reach as far as his foot travels in the animation, so stick with cr.B or cr.C. Only use as a meaty or in the occasional frametrap/whiff cancel though it's easily hopped or bopped on startup.
Jumping A - Works as a jump-in, but his other jumping attacks are better.
Jumping B - A cross between a Jojo pose, the Captain Morgan stance, and a chicken dance. Has near ST levels of active frames, meaning that a super early hop j.B can still hit crouching characters. Doubles as a jump-in and air-to-air, just mind it's short horizontal range in air exchanges.
Jumping C - Body splash! Whiffs against the smaller crouching characters, but crosses up standing characters. You'll sometimes have to make them fear j.D and j.B before you can earn a cross up. Whiffing j.C into a command grab might work as a twitch bait, though the opponent can meaty you with a cr.B for a full combo.
Jumping D - Deep downward kick. Use early to stop grounded AA attempts (and gain frame advantage or ABC into a combo) or time it deeper to link a followup. Works as an instant overhead against mid height crouchers like Mary and Kyo.
Jumping CD - Finally, a horizontal jumping attack. Good for air exchanges or for controlling the low air space from a neutral hop. Must be timed very late to hit crouchers, but it's possible and once you've got it down j.CD becomes Krauser's best air normal for gaining the initiative from a (hyper) hop.
Special Moves
Lift Up Blow aka Raoh Punch - hcb,f+K - One of the most satisfying 1F throws in the game. Tosses the opponent behind Krauser for a hard knockdown which can set up a j.C cross up, safejump, ambiguous roll, or whatever you feel like. Works as a BnB ender when you actually hitconfirm something rather than converting off a random cr.C xx rdp+K.
Kaiser Suplex - hcb,f+P - A delayed, invincible commmand grab. A wonderful tool on oki or against mashy or roll/evade happy opponents. Forces hard knockdown and corner carries about half the stage.
Phoenix Throw aka Kaiser Dunk - qcf+P - Krauser's Fatal Fury counter which only catches jumping attacks. The reward for landing it is wrecked by the risk if you whiff it, so stick with st.CD for anti-airing.
Blitz Ball-Upper - qcb+P - High Tiger. Weak version has better startup and recovery while the heavy one's more delayed but travels faster. This will whiff on some crouching characters and you wont be able to toss another Blitz Ball until it gets off screen. Controls the hop space from a distance, so if you're outside sweep/slide/DM range you can force the opponent to stay stationary while you sneak in an ABC charge. Works as a meaty due to fuzzy wakeup hitboxes.
Blitz Ball-Lower - qcb+K - Low Tiger. Hits mid and behaves like the Upper version. Easy to use for zoning, blockstrings, and meaties, but leads to less awkward situations for the opponent than the Upper version. Can't be ducked underneath by DMs or slides, but is easily hopped when done outside of a blockstring. Once the opponent is looking for a Jecht Shot to hop over, you can start baiting them into diving into your st.CD or use their anticipation to get in closer.
Leg Tomahwak aka Blade Tomahawk - qcf+K - An odd Crack Shoot overhead. Prone to whiffing when done close to the opponent, so it's limited to mid and long range. Best used with Extra meter so that you can toss it out as a hail Mary anti-air/overhead, ABC it, and link a followup in the corner on hit or at the least gain frame advantage on block. You can link a cr.A reset off of it in the corner.
Kaiser Kick - dp+K - Another gimmick move, this time a drop kick. Knocks down on hit, but is incredibly poor on block since Krauser always falls on his back for a while. B version goes halfscreen, the D is fullscreen. If you perfectly space it (and maybe ABC the recovery) you might be safe, but chances are you will get punished for using this move.
Kaiser Duel Sobat aka HA HOO HOAW - rdp+K - A really overwhelming move! These kicks are super safe on block and are freely cancelable into qcb+P/K and qcf+K. The light version doesn't move forward, but it combos from lights and forces a hitreset. The Heavy version starts with a forward hop kick which has startup invuln, forces a knockdown. Doing cr.C or st.CD xx rdp+D is just about unpunishable and the D version's invuln beats CD counters and low pokes. The Blitz Ball followup can be GCAB punished, but since the sobat's safe on block you can always stop if you feel like they might roll. If that wasn't enough, the last kick's hitbox is amazing!
Super Moves
Unlimited Desire - qcf,hcb+P - As the name suggests, this DM lasts forever. Deals good damage as a ranbu super and even has a chunk of invuln on startup. SDM version ends with a Raoh Punch ender which will cause a side switch. Unsafe on block.
Kaiser Wave - f,hcf+P (hold P to charge) - Light version travels slower and recovers better, the heavy one's better for combos. Don't even think about jumping this. Pretty bad on block and rollable, but against anyone using Evade you can toss this out fullscreen safely. Quick Max combo ender of choice.
Gigantic Cyclone aka Gigatec Cyclone - hcb,hcb,hcb+P - You read that right: three hcb motions. Though difficult to land, it's a cool 1F command grab with good damage. The obvious setup is to buffer the motion during an empty jump or a roll/evade.
Combos
- cr.B/cl.A/cr.A cr.A xx rdp+B/hcb,f+K/qcf,hcb+P
rdp+B is safe on block and free cancels into qcb+B for a fireball meaty on hit. Go for the command grab if you can buffer it properly and want the knockdown. If you have meter, the DM nets great damage.
- cl.D/cr.C xx rdp+D/f,hcf+C/qcf,hcb+P
Since you wont be hitconfirming this, pilot into rdp+D unless you're guaranteed a punish and know either DM will connect.
- (counter hit) j.CD, st.C/cr.C/st.CD/j.CD/qcf,hcb+P
Unlike some other ranbus, Unlimited Desire can connect from a counter hit. Depending on spacing and meter, rehopping or taking the hit reset may be the safest option.
- (corner) (counter hit) st.CD xx qcb+B/rdp+K
Krauser's usual 2-in-1s can naturally convert into a short counter hit corner combo. Pretty neat.
- (Extra) cr.B cr.A ABC cr.C xx f,hcf+C
Staple Quick Max link into cr.C ender.
- (Extra) (anti-air) qcf+K ABC f,hcf+C
The DM is pretty finicky, so if you think it wont connect link a far C or D.
- (Extra) (Corner) qcf+K ABC st.CD/cl.D
You get a little more juice if you ABC the qcf+K, but you link a cr.A after it naturally in the corner.
The Basics
Advanced Strategy
Advanced Mode
Run
- Having added forward mobility doesn't hurt, but Krauser can manage without running. cr.C xx rdp+D combos from max range, so he can often get a full punish without needing to run in.
- Being able to run into a command grab or blockstring is a nice bonus, though.
Roll
- Leaves Krauser vulnerable to unblockable fireball setups.
- Allows for ambiguous roll setups from command grabs, rolling to avoid annoying DMs (Eiji's fireball DM), or the ol' abare roll into command grab/Gigatec.
Adv. Meter
- SDMs do little added damage so he could battery for another character or save up for GCCDs/GCABs/MAX mode.
- More likely to have meter stocked at any given time to land a DM.
Extra Mode
Dash
- Krauser has so much reach that you might not want to risk overextending yourself during run startup and instead may prefer the faster walkspeed and safety of Dash mode.
- Krauser is less reliant on dash punishes than other characters.
- Dash into command grab or normal throw is a good 50/50, especially after the opponent whiffs an attack.
Sidestep
- Incredibly safe and difficult for most of the cast to punish heavily.
- Offensive Sidestep Cancel could be used to extend combos.
- Easy, safe followup to Sidestep attacks (rdp+D).
EX Meter
- cr.B cr.A ABC cr.C xx hcb,f+C is his most damaging combo.
- Quick Max shenanigans (i.e. fishing for qcf+K juggles) plus early j.D can be ABC'd into a full combo.
- Plenty of guaranteed meter charge setups from knockdowns and meaty fireballs.
vs. Advanced
- Fireballs can be rolled through and potentially punished for a full combo.
vs. Extra
- You can fireball freely, especially with Kaiser Wave, since they will usually opt to sidestep which gains them little ground.