Plasma Sword/Zelkin

Introduction

Overview

• Zelkin is a close/mid range rush down character built entirely around his flight cancel on the "Sky Destruction" special move. He has high damage off anything that combos into his "Rising Blade" DP and his air maneuverability makes him a menace to catch if he decides to run away. On top of his oppressive options, he also randomly has normal health, meaning that he's a highly mobile, high damage, healthy top tier. He both uses meter very well, and builds it well thanks to his long combos and pressure always building chunks of bar. Mistakes in Zelkin's pressure or air movements do leave him open to whiff punish, however, making him a potential liability for those that aren't about spending some training mode time with his execution. Zelkin is for rush down sickos, top tier lovers, and combo aficionados.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Air Maneuverability: Zelkin can air stall, air dash, and has strong air-to-air normals in the form of an extremely active j.K and a strong late j.A hitbox. Attack Before The Round: Because Zelkin's flight has a hitbox, he's allowed to hit the enemy before the round starts if they aren't blocking. Flight cancel pressure: Every normal that can be special canceled is a flight cancel setup thanks to the cancelable properties of Sky Destruction. Because kicks cannot be parried, this means that Zelkin has ways to constantly cancel into unparryable pressure off of 2K and any string with his 6K overhead animation. Opponents can try to step this if they want to risk it, but 5BB/2B/3B will tag attempted steps. 5BB leads to full combo, 2B is safe and virtually riskless, and 3B's range and cancel options allow him to flight cancel again even in situations where he might get pushed out. In general, Zelkin can stick to opponents and frustrate/overwhelm them easily. High damage: Sub-optimal Zelkin combos off of 2K and 5BB still lead to roughly 50%, setup up which-way mixups, and in general always keep Zelkin one or two hits away from winning at all times. 3A PF-Cancel Bug: Zelkin has by far the most useful PF-Cancel bug in the game, allowing him to cancel his 3A overhead into Plasma Field. Theoretical Infinite: Zelkin (console version) has an infinite loop off his 2KKK in the form of 2KKKx(Flight Forward, Cancel) j.K. This is extremely difficult if not completely impractical, but it does exist and, if nothing else, illustrates just how bonkers both 2K and j.K are. In the arcade version, he has several infinites.

High Execution: Even sub-optimal Zelkin combos and pressure require flight cancelling or tight confirms to be effective, and messing up any angle on air dashes can leave Zelkin open for a whiff punish Polarized Range: Zelkin is best at close range, and though getting in isn't the hardest thing in the world for a character with an air dash at his disposal, it does mean that characters that do a decent job of keeping him out or simply out-footsieing him can give him a bit of trouble. Sub-Par Anti-airs: Zelkin's best anti-air is to either air-to-air or step and whiff punish. This is far, far worse than what many other characters get in the game, even those that are below him on the tier list. Ground movement: While this is largely a trivial point, Zelkin does have one of the worst forward box steps in the game in terms of cancel speed. Bad Alt Character: Eagle's super options cannot combo the way Zelkin's does, nor do they offer additional utility in neutral or in some other aspect of the game. Therefore, Eagle really doesn't do anything to help a Zelkin player's matchup spread, making him little more than a joke character with extremely good normals.

Move List

Vertical Normals

A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-4	-	-	Ground
Your primary non-low aggression poke. You'll mostly use this to lean in to 5AAA string, as the whole thing natural combos and is safe on block. This hit is also special cancelable, but only barely gives enough frame advantage to connect a second 5A after perfect flight canceling.

AA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-15	-	-	Ground
As you can see from the hit advantage, you never want to stop here without continuing the string or canceling into Sky Destruction. Flight canceling here is particularly good since 5AA always natural combos and leaves you closer than 5AAA on hit does.

AAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-7	-	-	Ground
5AAA is going to be a option you'll turn to a lot, as it combos for a large chunk of simple damage for a i10 move and can be canceled into Rising Blade/Sky Destruction. The Rising Blade combo is largely irrelevant, despite its damage output, as it requires both point blank spacing and fastest timing possible. However, the Flight Cancel from Sky Destruction is a vital part of Zelkin's pressure, and will be one of the first things you'll want to learn with this character. 5AAA's last hit tends to not combo the further away you are from the opponent, but with flight canceling, you won't really care much about that.

AAK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

AAKA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

AAKAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

AK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

AKA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

While Running A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

4A

4A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	9	-	-	-	+0	+0	-	Ground
An absurd jumping overhead that can be piloted mid air.

Horizontal Normals

5B

B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	-8	-	-	Ground
The tendency for this to whiff due to how high Zelkin swings is unfortunate, but this is still a must-use in certain situations due to the high damage it leads to + the fact it hits steppers. Awful frame data means you'll never want to just stop at 5B.

2B

2B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	10	-	-	-	+3	-	-	Ground
One of Zelkin's most important pokes. Ducking + i10 + anti-step properties means it is your go-to check in frame tight situations where you want to shut down multiple options at once with relative safety. Despite its frame advantage on hit, the complete lack of buffer afterwards + the push out on hit makes it more of a reset to neutral than anything else.

Kick Normals

5K

K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Hits lower than 5A, but far shorter range. Better than 5KK as far as cancel pressure since you can just use a single special move timing, but it doesn't lead to anything on hit.

5KK

5KK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Weird string. The second hit whiffs crouchers and the timing to input special moves varies wildly between contact/whiff, making it far riskier than 5K or 5AA. However, you can link off of 5KKxFlight Cancel on hit.

Jumping Normals

While Jumping A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

While Falling A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Special Moves

Sky Javelin

Sky Javelin
(any direction) A+K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	37	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Can be done up to two times. Primarily used for chip kills and crossing up opponents in oki situations.

Thunder Blade
46B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
This is a safe-on-block advancing horizontal. However, it's not a great move, as on whiff he is very punishable and, despite being considered a special move, he can't actually cancel it from anything. For long horizontal range, it's generally better to do 3B. Also has a tendency to whiff off-axis opponents at ranges it really shouldn't.

Thunder Wheel Combo
K(from Thunder Blade)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Can also be done from back turned.

Blue Storm
(Taunt)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Despite having the same name, this is not your super. This is a taunt with the additional property of pushing opponents away if they are on the ground, giving it the very niche application of securing a time-out victory if you have the life lead and your opponent can't jump to get to you in time.

Super Jump
28

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Zelkin's Super Jump. Useful for niche situations where your trying to air stall at a height other characters would not be able to get to for safety, such as dropped plasma field combos or Plasma Fields that require extra steps to be useful, such as Gamof/Gantetsu's Auto-Throw.

Sky Destruction
236+K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
This is a slightly-pilotable move that sends Zelkin into the air, then has him fall back down in a air-to-ground grab attempt. This function of the move is quite bad due to its ability to be stepped and ducked. However, Sky Destruction can be cancelled at any point with the M button, allowing Zelkin to go into free fall. During this fall, Zelkin can attack with any of his normal jumping moves. Because there is no height restriction on when you can hit the M button to cancel, you can effectively use this brief flight state to cancel the recovery of any cancelable normal, granting you frame advantage far beyond what you'd normally have.

623A
Rising Blade

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
This is a flying uppercut primarily used as combo extension off of 5BB/2KKK. Despite the input and upwards motion, it's quite bad at anti-airing due to its slow speed and forward movement.

Kuuchuu Dash
6M or 66 while in the air

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
This is Zelkin's air dash. Uniquely, it's also an attack, one of which is cancelable into air normals. Depending upon when you hit a button during Zelkin's air dash, you get wildly different speed and trajectories on attacks, all of which you should become familiar with. Generally, the earlier you hit the input, the faster Zelkin travels. Because j.K from this can also be cancelled back into air dash, Zelkin can effectively do Kuuchuu Dash->j.K as a loop until he touches the ground. This is quite difficult to do and messing up any part of it could cause you to land in a vulnerable state, but it is worth knowing it exists.

Gauge Moves

Crimson Phoenix

Crimson Phoenix
236 A+B (Zelkin only)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
A strange air-to-ground super with surprising safety. It cannot be parried, does good chip damage, and depending upon when and how its blocked can even be plus. Its great for sniping out whiffs on the ground, but your meter is generally better spent on Plasma Field and Blue Storm. The fact that a super this good is not useful to him says more about how good Zelkin is than how bad this super is.

Blue Storm

Blue Storm
214 A+B (Zelkin Only)

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
This is your primary combo ender off of Rising Blade combos.

Plasma Revenge
AM

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Reflect
BM

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Field - Transformation
BK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Zelkin becomes a pilotable missile. If the type of hit that connects leaves the opponent standing, you can use Zelkin's guided flight to try and hit the opponent crossup.

Miscellaneous

Throw
5AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Kuuchuu Nage
j.A+B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground
Zelkin is a rare possessor of an air throw in Plasma Sword. Because of his weak anti-airs, this has niche use as a fast option in matchups where the opponents do not have fast/far reaching/active air normals to bully him away from using this.

Strategy

Combos

Normal Combos

• 2K

2KKKxRising Blade, j.BxBlue Storm