TORNADO KICK
“Tornado Kick” (K) is an Ambush assist that slowly calls Darrius out to roundhouse the opponent with a Mid kick, inflicting 5% damage on hit and leaving the opponent reeling in a stun/crumple state mid-air, which can be converted into combos (often by interrupting moves that normally do not allow for follow-up hits or combos); this attack is also highly advantageous on block. Tornado Kick costs a full Kameo Gauge to perform; it also has a brief cooldown window after Darrius throws out the kick and slowly runs offscreen before refilling the gauge at a moderate rate.
Tornado Kick has several built-in follow-up attacks that can be performed only when the initial kick connects on hit or block (as long as the lead character is close enough to Darrius when inputting the commands). The primary follow-up option is “Double Whammy” (K, B+K), an armored launcher uppercut that hits Mid, does 4% damage, can travel midrange distance, and is neutral on block; the B+K input is able to be delayed briefly and performed at fullscreen, as well as performed even when the player character is on the opposite side of the opponent from Darrius (as long as he is right next to the opponent). This uppercut can be jump-cancelled without using any super meter, although unlike the universal D2 uppercut mechanic it does not provide the player character with 4 hits of armor on the way up from the jump and still leaves the executing player vulnerable to Breaker. Double Whammy can be useful for enforcing mindgames on an opponent who may attempt to steal their their turn back after blocking Tornado Kick, as well as granting additional kombo routes. Cancelling the Tornado Kick into Double Whammy will negate the Tornado Kick’s cooldown window, recharging the gauge at a moderate rate after the uppercut has come out.
Double Whammy also has two of its own additional follow-up options that must be dialed in after the B+K input— one is his “Twister Kicks” ability (a built-in ender version of his Summon ability performed with an additional B+K) which hits Mid, is -7 on block, and generally leaves the opponent at a midrange distance. Unlike the default Summon version, using this ender after Double Whammy will slightly refill the Kameo Gauge with each landed hit, instantly refilling the gauge to at least 50% if three of its hits connect. The other follow-up is his “Double Daegon Kick” (K > B+K > F+K), a High that sends both Darrius & the lead character into a flying kick towards the opponent; although this ender does not jail on block and can be neutral crouched, this move is -2 on block, totals 21% damage, and generally knocks the opponent back fullscreen (except in situational cases of a “glitch” where the dual-kick animation occurs too close to the opponent, causing them to cross over to the other side of the opponent right beside them, which can inadvertently grant the player side-switching okizeme). Using this ender will instantly drain 1 bar of super meter from the opponent. These built-in Double Whammy enders can only be used if the lead character is close enough to Darrius and on the exact same side. Using these enders will further reduce the cooldown window, recharging before Darrius has completed his final attack and slightly improving the recharge rate.
Tornado Kicks can also be followed up with his “Volleyballistic” ability by inputting F+K after Tornado Kick connects, retaining all of its normal properties; this must be performed on the same side as Darrius after Tornado Kicks connects. This move has a shorter cooldown window when used as an ender after Tornado Kicks (recharging as soon as the flipkick connects rather than waiting for Darrius to run offscreen), but in exchange will have a slightly longer recharge rate.
VOLLEYBALLISTIC/HEELTURN/ETC.
“Volleyballistic” (F+K) is a Summon assist where the lead character turns around and flips Darrius backwards over their head, kicking down onto the opponent as an Overhead if close enough to connect. This initial kick will cause a knockdown on hit leaving the opponent close, but can keep the player safe or plus on block, from -4 to +1 depending on the active frames (has 9 active frames, will mostly always connect on the 4th at earliest). The move has a built-in follow-up kick, “Eat Dirt,” which is an Overhead launcher that will come out automatically after Volleyballistic connects and is highly plus on block; holding the Kameo button will delay this attack or cancel it if held for the full 3-second duration. This can allow the player to use variable timings to set up hard-to-block overhead/low mix as well as strike-throw mindgames (enforcing a guess between stand-blocking the Overhead or neutral-ducking the Throw), while also making it hard for the opponent to hit Darrius behind them. Characters with stun or freeze abilities may be able to easily kombo into Volleyballistic as a kombo ender in order to guarantee this setup on oki. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge and will begin recharging at a moderately faster rate as soon as Darrius slowly runs offscreen; delaying and/or cancelling “Eat Dirt” will increase the cooldown window, waiting to recharge the gauge until Darrius has ran offscreen.
“Heelturn” (D+K) is an Ambush version of his “Eat Dirt” ability that calls Darrius onscreen behind the opponent to perform the same overhead kick animation; unlike other Ambush assists, this move can only be performed when the opponent is knocked down or launched. This version of the move only grants a quick knockdown instead of launching, although the overhead can still be effectively used to open up the opponent for a kombo if the player can execute a follow-up attack that connects fast enough before Heelturn knocks them down. This move can also be delayed/cancelled by holding the Kameo button, allowing players to adjust their timing
Holding Down with the Kameo button while delaying “Eat Dirt” or “Heelturn” and releasing the input will instead trigger “Ground Invitational,” a Low sweep that also quickly knocks down. This move may potentially whiff if Darrius uses “Heelturn” after a knockdown that sends the opponent fullscreen, encouraging the player to utilize attacks that knockdown at a closer range to better interact with Darrius. These moves are also highly plus on block and can be used to further Darrius’ potential for overhead/low mixups by allowing players to open up their opponent on oki with their desired attack height.
Holding the Kameo button to delay “Eat Dirt,” “Heelturn,” or “Ground Invitational” also grants access to his “Army of Two” ability which is performed by pressing Flip Stance (L2) while holding the (K) button when the executing character is close to Darrius. This move will automatically cause Darrius to perform the Ground Invitational low sweep instantly followed by the main character performing a High kick, the combination of which will launch and flip the opponent upside down in the air on hit, ending in a third hit where both of the characters will “sandwich” the opponent between their shoulders. This sequence is a natural kombo that does 20% damage and is +19 on knockdown with oki. On block, the third hit will not come out but the second hit will jail, preventing the opponent from neutral ducking the High after blocking the initial Low and leaving the player at +8 block advantage. Whiffing the initial Low sweep will prevent the full attack sequence from triggering and only cause the second High kick to connect; without interacting with the sweep, this High kick will have the same hit reaction/visual effect as Tornado Kick and will leave the opponent stunned briefly (allowing the player to follow up with a kombo). Tanking through a hit of armor with the initial Low sweep will also trigger this effect, which can nullify the opponent’s armored wakeup if timed so that the sweep absorbs the armor on the first frame, and the High kick interrupts the actual wakeup attack and/or connects with its hurtbox before the move hits the player; this makes the assist very useful for armor break setups that can condition the opponent to respect the move by blocking, leaving the executing player plus on block and enforcing mindgames with his Low/Overhead options.
Heelturn (as well as Ground Invitational and Army Of Two) has a slight cooldown window before recharging the gauge at a moderate rate. A successful Up Block against “Volleyballistic,” “Eat Dirt” or “Heelturn” will add 15 frames of disadvantage on block; successfully Up Blocking “Volleyballistic” will also prevent Darrius from performing “Eat Dirt” and cause him to immediately run offscreen, leaving the player at -19 on block and increasing the cooldown period before the Kameo Gauge begins refilling. These overhead attacks will all also auto-correct if the opponent is pushed just to the other side of Darrius while he is still out.
TWISTER KICKS
“Twister Kicks” (B+K) is a Summon assist where the lead character grabs Darrius by the arms and swings him in a circle to kick the opponent into a slight knockback— while this typically grants 3 hits, Darrius’ kicks also have a hitbox when swinging back around, allowing players to hit opponents who are behind them as well as execute certain kombos/setups to make Twister Kicks hit up to 5x (i.e. in the corner). This assist has very good range and can keep players safe at -7 on block with slight pushback, although it can be Flawless Blocked at any point of the move to nullify pushback, and Flawless Blocking the last hit will add 10 more frames of block recovery (-17). Twister Kicks gains invulnerability on its first frame when used as a Getup, although it is easy to interrupt and leaves the executing player vulnerable to successive/delayed attacks by exposing their back to the opponent during the startup animation. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge and will begin recharging at a moderate rate once Darrius runs offscreen.