Raise The Roof (“Up Punch”)
“Raise the Roof” (AKA “Up Punch”) is an Ambush assist that calls Goro out to punch vertically at the air with two fists at once. This assist can be directed either Close (K), Mid (D+K), or Far (U+K), which will allow Goro to connect this move from various points of the screen as the player sees fit. The attack will leave a grounded opponent standing on hit, but will launch/juggle an opponent who is technically considered to be in an airborne state; this may allow Goro to kombo off of certain moves at any point onscreen, some of which may not typically grant players a kombo opportunity (i.e. fullscreen projectiles or armored EX moves). This assist is neutral on block even when performed on its own, and although it is a High that will whiff against all crouching options, the Ambush property allows players to easily jail into the attack and leave them safe or at a slight advantage after almost any move executed on block. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge, and has a slightly delayed cooldown window after Goro jumps offscreen before recharging at a moderately slower rate. All options after cancelling Up Punch have a slightly delayed cooldown after Goro jumps offscreen, before recharging the gauge at a slower rate.
Shokan Stomp
Pressing the Kameo button once more after calling out any version of the Ambush will deplete the rest of the gauge to prematurely cancel the up-punch animation, and instead trigger Goro’s klassic “Shokan Stomp,” a tracking unblockable attack where Goro jumps up into the air offscreen before crashing down on top of the opponent wherever they are standing. Although this move can generally be avoided by characters walking/dashing forward or backward out of the way right before Goro comes down, Stomp can also be directed in front of the opponent (D+K) or behind the opponent (U+K)) to call out their attempts at moving out of the way. This attack can be used to create unblockable setups, some of which may be guaranteed. Goro may be technically vulnerable to attacks (such as jumping normals) during the animation where he descends towards the ground, although it may occur too fast to time out or react to successfully with such attacks. After Goro has landed on the ground whiffing the attack, he enters a quick “roaring/flexing” animation before jumping offscreen and entering cooldown; he can be easily punished by an opponent’s attack during this animation, making his big body absorb the hit and allowing the executing player to punish the opponent for punishing Goro, but also potentially putting them at risk of taking increased kombo damage from an opponent as a result of their Kameo being hit.
Punch Walk/Dead Weight
Pressing (F+K) or (B+K) right during the startup of Up Punch will also deplete the remainder of the Kameo Gauge and allow Goro to cancel the startup of the Ambush into Punch Walk or Dead Weight respectively, allowing him to use these Summon assists as Ambush Cancels for pressure, mixups, or kombos.
Punch Walk
“Punch Walk” (F+K) is a Summon assist that calls out Goro to punch at the opponent three times while slightly advancing forward. Landing any of these three hits will finish out the animation and add an additional three hits to the end of the move, resulting in an automatic kombo (totaling 6 hits at 120 damage if the first hit lands), which will knock the opponent back fullscreen and create space between the players. On block, this assist will inflict slight chip damage and mid-range pushback, although the frame advantage on block may slightly vary between -4 and -6 across the cast (with some characters altering the blockstun value depending on whether they block standing or crouching). All hits of Punch Walk are Highs that can be avoided by neutral ducking but the first hit will jail the opponent if blocked, forcing them to block the second hit; there is also a gap that allows third hit to be interrupted. Due to this Summon Cancel having a gap after most normals/strings on block which prevents players from jailing into Punch Walk against crouching opponents, it is recommended to cancel into this Summon on hit, allowing the Punch Walk to connect more reliably as a kombo ender that leaves the opponent at a distance; although some interactions against airborne or juggled opponents may cause one or more of the first three hits to whiff and drop the kombo, successfully landing the third hit will typically “recapture” the opponent into a standing state to guarantee the following three hits (with the final hit launching them slightly in the air before they quickly hit the floor).
When used as an Ambush cancel out of Up Punch, this move can be jailed into easily on hit and block. It is a highly effective strategy to call a version of Up Punch that places Goro behind the opponent who is being juggled or blocking, which will “sandwich” them between Goro and the player character. On block, this prevents the opponent from hitting Goro straight on and stuffing the assist’s pressure as easily (although it is still possible to take advantage of the Punch Walk gap using armor). On hit, the player can time attacks in sync with Goro’s hits to increase the damage output of the kombo, as well as trigger hit reactions that better interact with Goro’s attacks and keep the opponent on the ground during the sequence. The last hit of Punch Walk becomes a launcher that allows the player to further extend the kombo. The hit reaction of this final launching punch will usually always take priority over any hit that lands just before it connects; however it is possible to negate this launch by landing another attack with a conflicting hit reaction exactly on the same frame. While this may not necessarily reset the juggle value/gravity scaling of the kombo, it does appear to reset certain stun/crumple states and allow attacks with these properties to connect where they normally would not at the end of a juggle kombo (at least if one has not already been used in the kombo before Punch Walk connects). This assist gains invulnerability on its first frame when used as a Getup Summon Reversal, although this is can be risky against an opponent’s oki as the move comes out rather slow and can be easily stuffed by incoming attacks. Punch Walk costs half of the Kameo Gauge when used as a Summon, and has no cooldown when Goro jumps offscreen before recharging the gauge at a faster rate. Cancelling into the Ambush version from Up Punch costs a full gauge and will delay the cooldown period before recharging the gauge at a slower rate.
Shokan Stomp/Dead Weight
Pressing (F+K) or (B+K) after any punch of the Summon version (on whiff, hit, or block) will also deplete the full gauge and allow Goro to cancel any following hits and/or recovery into either “Shokan Stomp” or “Dead Weight” respectively, both of which have a delayed cooldown window and recharge the gauge at a slower rate (although Shokan Stomp’s cooldown when used after a Punch Walk is significantly longer than that of “Dead Weight,” as well as that of the default “Up Punch cancel” version of Stomp).
Dead Weight
“Dead Weight” (B+K) is a Summon assist that calls Goro onscreen to slowly jump in front of the opponent and perform an overhead grab, which can be used to condition opponents who attempt to crouch his (or the lead character’s) High attacks. This move’s attack height is listed as a “Throw” but will whiff against a standing opponent that is in a neutral or blocking state; it can also be avoided by jumping, walking/dashing in either direction, or by simply pressing/holding block when standing up. However, this throw will connect against a crouching opponent by itself whether they are blocking or neutral ducking; it will also still connect if the opponent stands up into the move too late without either blocking or moving. The grab also automatically connects on hit when cancelled into after almost any normal or string, allowing players to kombo into this move. Landing the grab successfully will toss the opponent to the other side of the player and launch them high into the air, giving the player enough advantage to perform a follow-up jump attack or aerial kombo. This side-switch property also makes this throw useful for escaping the corner, allowing players who may be cornered to launch their opponent backwards into the same corner they were previously stuck in (as well as perform their own corner kombo in retaliation). Due to the potential tendency of opponents to counter-poke through the gap created after most strings by performing a Summon Cancel into Punch Walk, it is possible to instead Summon Cancel into Dead Weight, which will automatically kounter the opponent’s counter-poke attempt as it is 4f faster on startup than Punch Walk. This assist costs half of the Kameo Gauge when used as a Summon, and has a delayed cooldown window after Goro jumps offscreen before refilling gauge at a slower rate.
Dead Weight can also be cancelled into after Up Punch or Punch Walk for the cost of a full gauge, which has the same slow cooldown and recharge rate. Cancelling into this move during the startup of Up Punch will allow the grab to be used as an Ambush that can be directed to the desired point of the screen; certain attack animations will allow the Ambush grab to connect against opponents who are visibly knocked down. This move can also be cancelled into after any three hits of Punch Walk whiff or connect on block, and after any of the six hits connect on hit, but will lock the player character in the Summon animation until the grab whiffs or completes its launch. On block, this grab will only land (or “tick”) on a crouching opponent after the second hit on block if the opponent remains crouching, which can easily be avoided by simply reacting to the cancel (indicated by a white flash) and standing up; the grab will whiff on block in all other cases, and in all whiff situations will leave Goro highly punishable (as well as the executing player character if the punishing opponent can get close enough). While this grab cancel may still catch an opponent who is neutral ducking the early hits of Punch Walk and is not expecting the player to cancel into Dead Weight, it is more recommended for players to use this cancel after performing Punch Walk as a kombo ender, as a way to switch sides, negate the pushback of the Punch Walk, and/or continue the kombo. Using this grab as an Ambush cancel, however, will allow the executing player to pressure a ducking opponent by jailing or frame-trapping them with moves that further condition them into crouching and potentially establishing a true tick throw that cannot be interrupted. While this may be highly situational (with many attacks still allowing the tick-throw attempt to be interrupted by poke or armor), it is also possible to call a version of this Ambush that will place Goro behind the opponent, which has the dual advantage of preventing the opponent from easily hitting Goro out of the grab as well as kountering/punishing a potential attempt to take their turn back with a counter-poke. Due to the high risk, cost, and cooldown of this grab, it is highly recommended for players who wish to make use of this grab assist— in order to add a grappler element to their gameplan— to extensively lab their options for setups that guarantee this grab will connect, so as to avoid punishment and/or wasting gauge.
