Important Things
Instant Air Dash (IAD)
Guide To Buffer Ice's Instand Air Dash (IAD
Passed down tech, here's a video explanation: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbpQK5QFgDE)
Ice gains access to an air dash while his Stand is ON, done by pressing 66 (forward) or 44 (back) during a jump. It’s fast and can be used to approach or retreat. The threat of an instant overhead or low from an IAD is scary since both can lead to full combos or even a touch of death (ToD).
Alternative Method:
You can also buffer the IAD by pressing 6 or 4 during a **Stand OFF** cancel. This installs the dash direction. To use it: - Jump - Turn Stand ON - Press the direction you installed (6 or 4) - You’ll dash instantly
Another Setup: Input: 6S → 9 → 5S → 6C This sets up an IAD by installing forward motion during Stand Mode. Jump, press 5S, then 6, and you’ll dash instantly.
Dookie Drop
One of Vanilla Ice’s best techniques.
The Dookie Drop involves turning Stand OFF during a midair jump, creating unpredictable movement. This messes with your opponent’s ability to tech-chase and can be tough to punish.
It becomes even more dangerous when you follow it with j.6B as Ice falls. The move delays his landing, adding a mix-up threat. If they respect it, you get pressure. If they try to counter-poke, you often escape with no extra damage.
Example Setup: js.669 (stay airborne) → Dookie Drop → j.6B
This makes Ice very tricky to deal with mid-air and on landing.
Important Tips When Playing Ice
Play it safe: Avoid unnecessary risks. Be aware of your opponent’s options and plan counters accordingly.
If your opponent has a life lead and is playing defensively: Approach carefully (walk forward in stand-on mode, ready to block/poke or turn stand off, dodge, and turn stand back on to avoid chip damage).
Against projectile users: Stay at a range where you can fully punish with Tandem. If you're ahead in life, avoid unnecessary approaches, but don’t corner yourself.
In neutral: Use moves like s2B, s2C, or s6C to disrupt approaches and check buttons, but don’t overuse them since they’re punishable. Unblockable setups: If your unblockables are blocked, either tighten the timing or mix it up (have 662A hit first or second).
Air-to-air combos: If you hit an opponent with 8A in the air, follow up with S.6C. If you're closer to the ground, use S.5C instead. If you hit with 7/9B, reposition yourself during their fall to set up for grabs or pokes.
Pressure wisely: Don’t rely too much on predictable moves like 2A, 6C, or 214C. Mix up your blockstrings (e.g., s2B, s2C) and avoid committing to something like 214C too early.
Airtech in stand-on mode: You have an airdash and double jump, so use them to reposition, either for a good attack setup or to retreat safely.
Neutral hop j.B: This is a strong poke since it can’t be easily punished by most characters. Use it with Ice’s stand-on normals to swat air-to-air or low-approaching attacks.
Wakeup Reversal: If you need to wake up with a reversal, use Ice’s Tandem (S.236AA). It has a lot of invincibility frames, costs only 1 meter, and leaves you safe. You’ll usually build that meter back quickly anyway. Don’t overuse it, but keep it in mind for key situations.
Habits You Should Avoid While Playing Ice
Dark Space (236x) Addiction
Spamming Stand on and Stand off Dark Space:
Spamming Stand-on and Stand-off Dark Space is a mistake that new Ice players often make, thinking it's a good strategy because it can confuse opponents. However, the move has a lot of lag at the end, making it easy to punish, from simple pokes to big punishes like Kakyoin's stand crash. It also gets stuffed by projectiles and good pokes because its hurtbox is bigger than the hitbox.
Stand-off Dark Space is even worse. It's always punishable if blocked or whiffed, and it only works if you predict the opponent’s move, which is rare. Even then, it's usually not worth using because there are better options.
Minor Upsides to Ball
There are a few rare times where Stand-On Dark Space is okay to use. For example, if the opponent tries to counter-poke too late, Ice can follow up with s.623AA. But if it whiffs, you waste meter and get punished hard.
You can also catch opponents doing unsafe moves—like dashing carelessly, switching from stand-off to stand-on while jumping, or blocking a cross-up wrong. If you notice a pattern, you can use Dark Space to punish and even combo into s.623AA. Just be careful—if they see it coming, you could get seriously punished, especially by characters with strong stand crash options.
Lastly, it can be used to escape across the stage by aiming forward, but recovery is very punishable depending on your height. Instant Air Dash is usually better since it's safer, faster, and gives you more control.
In short: Dark Space is still a weak move overall, but it has a few niche uses. Don’t rely on it, but don’t ignore it either. Know when it might actually work.
Using Roll to start a combo
New Ice players often overuse his roll because it feels fast and can start a combo with 2A. But experienced players know how to deal with it—it’s still reactable and punishable, just like every roll in the game. Some characters can grab him out of it, and even those who can’t might still hit him with a meaty when he rolls behind them.
Jumping
Ice’s jump is pretty bad with Stand OFF—it’s really high and easy to see coming. You can still use it for mixups, but jumping too much will get you punished.
With Stand ON, he has a floaty double jump and an air dash that helps him get in or out quickly. But if he gets hit in the air with Stand ON, he’ll be stuck in long blockstun until he lands.
Okizeme Options on Opponent's Wakeup
214 + A/B/C ...
Basic Sequence: 214+A/B/C → 662A → 2A → 6B → 214S
This creates a 50/50 mixup that, if timed properly, leaves only a 1-frame window for your opponent to switch their block. Which button you use depends on the spacing and which character you're fighting.
WARNING: THIS OKIZEME IS BANNED IN MANY TOURNAMENTS, DO NOT DO THIS IN TOURNAMENTS. YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED
Instead
Do a mix-up with 214+A/B/C that hits high-low or just high. For example, while the opponent is down, Ice can use 214+A/B/C to force the opponent to block, which allows Ice to superjump and follow up with j.A, a grab, or 2A. This beats buffered GCs/GCs on wakeup in general, if you time 214A correctly, most characters (if not all) can’t punish it with a GC. Since you’ll be superjumping over it, you can punish their GC with a full combo.
This setup is most effective against characters with wakeup speeds of 34 frames or slower. You can check character wakeup speeds in the System Info section.
Ice's Okizeme Option Against Petshop
214+A/B/C → 664 → 5B → UNCOMBO... This is likely unblockable since both 214A and 5B hit meaty. What you do after the "..." is up to you. It resets back to neutral and is the only unblockable you can use against Petshop.
Alternative Ice Okizeme
Dookie Drops
Dookie Drop into 9C 2A 6B 214S Good for characters that wake up really fast and you need to quickly pressure them.
Dookie Drop okizeme is a good option against characters with wakeups of 33 frames or faster (the 1-frame difference really matters in actual matches). However, some characters can still punish you if your timing isn’t perfect. In those cases, it’s usually better to just reposition instead of going for oki.
For more details on Dookie Drop, see the "Important Things" section.
Empty Dookie Drop into 2A 6B 214S Effective mixup if theyre expecting you to throw out 9C.
Empty Dookie Drop to bait out counter\super ... Good against people who are expecting the dookie
Dashing Dookie Drop to go over and cross-up slower wakeup characters
This is only useful after something like (in corner) 236AA or S.623AA (as they both leave you in stand on and in perfect position) and your opponent is blocking/GCing your 50/50 consistently for some reason
214+A 662A 2A 6C 214S (Midcombo AFTER 6 HITS 66A 2B)
Allows you to set up oki safely against characters that could punish you like Rubber Soul. Also the only way to knock down Petshop. If you're confused about (midcombo blah blah) basically you use 66A to combo into 2B as a combo ender after 6 hits in a combo and it should knock down instead of launching and let you recover faster than 2C, allowing you to oki rubber more easily
Instant Air Dash Okizeme
IAD 66C s.2B s.2C S+6C 214S
Easier in the corner, but still doable midscreen depending on distance, solid 50/50 that can be used if you don't want to look like a geek depending on near unblockables constantly
s.2B s.2C S+6C/S+6B 214S
Another 50/50 and also a decent meaty, use if your opponent knows your IAD shenanigans
IAD Side switch into another IAD 66C or s.2B s.2C S+6C
Somewhat of a mixup on those not expecting it, not very useful but looks cool if done
2C
Big fat juicy meaty with big reach, use if your opponent loves to wakeup super/counter, do whatever you want while they rethink their choices on the floor
