Her offensive ability is high and her zoning moves are powerful. Her overall safeness has been raised from OG.
You should generally use her zoners to seize the initiative at mid-range.
Final Edition Change List
Move list
Normal Throws
Command Moves
Special Moves
Desperation Moves
Normal moves
- cr.C – the hitbox faces upwards and has oddly good priority in that regard.
- st.C, st.D, and st.B – powerful as jump checkers. You should choose which one according to the situation.
- cr.A – longish reach, so you can use it in ground zoning.
- j.CD – the hitbox wheels from upward to diagonally downward, so it shines in air-to-air.
- j.D – acts as an overhead if you use it while ascending. The reach is long, so it’s okay to do this with rear jumps, too.
Command move
- Sliding Kick
- df + D
- Low-hitting move; if the very tip touches, you aren’t very open. It combos from strong attacks; it can only be cancelled when not cancelled into or by delaying the cancel.
Special moves
- Venom Strike
- qcf + K
- Projectile with a fixed distance to travel. Generally useful for decreasing the vulnerability from a combo.
- Double Strike
- qcf qcf + K
- Two Venom Strike projectiles in rapid succession. The second one has somewhat long reach. If your opponent reads you, it is easy for you to get countered, so you can’t use this very much.
- Trap Shot
- dp + K
- A quickie Ranbu special with a high-priority low-hitting hitbox. The startup is now faster, and you can use it to combo from weak moves. The reach is now longer, and the afterimage effect portion also has a hitbox. Even if blocked, King will retreat, so it leaves you only slightly vulnerable. In UM, it now leaves the opponent with a hitbox, so in the corner with a quick MAX, it is possible to juggle off it.
- Tornado Kick
- hcb + K
- A diagonally upward bicycle kick. Leaves you extremely open, but it has some invincibility, so you can use it for anti-air or interruption.
- Surprise Rose
- dp + P
- Kicks the opponent up, dispatching a multi-hit kick on the way down.
- In the corner, only when the weak version hits from the first step, it is now possible to juggle off it.
- Mirage Kick
- hcb + P
- The strong version can now do knockdown, and you can now use this in no-gauge combos.
Super moves
- Illusion Dance
- qcf hcb + K
- The weak normal version now no longer has the rear roll, and now combos from strong attacks. The startup for the strong version is extremely slow. The move has full-body invincibility until the hitbox for the jumping portion comes forth. You can use it for anti-air and interruption. The recovery for both weak and strong has been reduced, so it is now difficult to receive a severe counterattack.
- Silent Flash
- qcb qcb + K
- The follow-up motions only activate when the first step hits, but it does not lock the opponent. It combos from weak moves, so use it for combos.
Combos
Basic
- jump D > cl.D (2 hit) >> Mirage Kick (hcb + P) or hcb + K or weak Illusion Dance (qcf hcb + B)
- Basic combo. The hcb + A does the most damage but does not knockdown, hcb + D does a little more damage than hcb + P only if you are close enough for the 1st hit to connect, but is very unsafe on block. Mirage Kick (hcb + P) doesn’t leave you terribly open even without hit confirming, but try to do so anyway; if it’s blocked, use Venom Strike (qcf + K).
- jump D > cl.D (2 hit) >> df + D >> Mirage Kick (hcb + P) or weak Illusion Dance (qcf hcb + B)
- The Sliding Kick (df + d) will require a delayed cancel.
- (Point blank) cl.D (2 hit) >> qcb qcb + K
- Most damaging combo
- cl.B or (cr.B > cr.B) >> hcb + A (only on a quick cancel) or Trap Shot (dp + K) or Silent Flash (qcb qcb + K)
- Combo from low hits. Try this one for meaties.
- (corner) cr.B or cl.B or cl.D (1 hit) >> weak Surprise Rose (dp + A) > strong Tornado Kick (qcb + K)
- Higher metterless damage. Rarely used, but keep this at the back of your mind anyway.
The Basics
You want to constantly maintain the distance such that the very tip of st.D will touch; whenever you lose this spacing, you should return to it somehow.
The basic zoning moves are st.C, st.CD, and the now-cancelable cr.B. From those, you can zone with a (non-cancelled) Sliding Kick, then st.B. The st.B probably won’t reach, but that’s okay. The hitbox isn’t very good, but it doesn’t leave you open either: this is just for show. To actually touch the opponent, you would then use st.D.
When you are using st.D and st.C, the opponent may come in trying to sweep. In this situation, use Trap Shot to your best ability. If you do it skillfully and can catch them, then the opponent will have to think twice about sweeping you next time. Other unpleasant anti-sweep measures include the falling portion of Suprise Rose and whiffing st.CD (invincible to low hits).
In UM, King now has jump-checkers for all sorts of jumps, and somewhat safer anti-airs (e.g. weak Illusion Dance as psychic anti-air, strong Tornado Kick). They leave you open, and the gauge requirement and the risk are all there, so take careful aim to reap the benefits.
King is not a strong attacking character, so you have to be inventive. Basic up/down mixup is between the overhead ascending j.D and the low-hitting cr.B or Sliding Kick. The essential situation is when cl.D is blocked. Simply shooting off a weak Venom Strike would be safe in such a situation, but you could always be interrupted there, so sometimes delaying a bit and getting out Sliding Kick will be fine. Furthermore, you could cancel into moves: various moves like Surprise Rose or Double Strike, which won’t leave you open if blocked, will help prevent counterattacks.