My Main I'm Back Baby, Time To Relearn..... Everything Ohno

My main I'm back baby, time to relearn..... everything ohno

I'm so excited about Slayer in Strive I think I'm gonna fucking explode holy shit

I genuinely love him so much he's so fucking cool

Let's talk about why he's so awesome:

Probably the coolest part about Slayer (in Xrd at least) is the fact that he is playing a completely fucking different game mechanically from the rest of the cast. He is, I believe, the only character on the roster who has links between his moves. He has absolutely AWFUL gatlings, such as c.s only cancelling into two moves that are a guaranteed hit, and also being a move that you CANNOT gatling into, unlike most of the Xrd cast. However, because of the recovery and the frame data on Slayer's moves, you can link into them, where if you press a button with good timing (anywhere between 1-4ish frames,) you'll still get a true combo.

For example, you can do c.s>f.s>c.s>f.s, which is a true combo.

Additionally, his teleport dash is quite cool because it is completely intangible for several frames, allowing you to get out of frame traps or other positions that could be dangerous with good timing. You can also cancel the dash with a jump, and then cancel the jump with a special move to get the dash invulnerability on the move, which is fucking hard but super useful. It's also a cross-up. This sounds pretty busted, and while it is powerful, it is EXTREMELY committal, as Slayer can only cancel his dashes with a jump and not special moves or normals (you can YRC the dash, I think, but it's 25 meter and is seemingly only useful occasionally.)

Even beyond his mechanical differences, though, the way he plays feels fucking incredible. You might've heard that Slayer has insane damage, which he does absolutely have it's kind of insane. K Pilebunker (a followup from his rekka movement dash thing) does a whopping 80 damage. That's nearly 20% of a healthbar on a character with no guts and x1 defense, or an insane 104 (~25%) against Chipp's glass bones and paper skin. From one move.

This is balanced, however, by the fact that throwing it out in neutral is a pretty terrible idea, because it's -20 on block and puts you in range for a nice c.s from your opponent. This is why I think Pilebunker is so good at representing how Slayer is as a character: he's generally big risk, big reward. While, yes, he has a nasty mixup out of Under Pressure, going into Under Pressure can be difficult due to a vulnerability to 6Ps, lows, and sometimes even throws. Additionally, it's 0 on block, so some characters can mash out of a low.

This leads into my favorite thing about his mixup. While it's pretty standard 4-way guessing on a knockdown, in neutral it shifts to being a mental game. "Make the wrong guess and Slayer will have a feast," declares his entry on Xrd Dustloop, which is perfect for him. Using Dandy Step to go into Under Pressure and its numerous follow-ups can be very scary for an opponent, especially because mashing on a low can lead to a counter-hit It's Late, which is very bad to get hit by. However, in neutral, players might attempt to use a low against Under Pressure, or even attack during Dandy Step, which is where the mind games come in. If you condition an opponent to attack your Under Pressure starters, you can use Pilebunker. Which combos into itself on counter-hit. And does 80 damage. It becomes a game of "do I want to block the mixup, or should I risk a low?" For the Slayer player, it becomes a game of "do I want to risk Pilebunker being blocked for more damage, or do I want to risk being shut down with a low?" This is just. So much fucking fun.

Add onto that his short range, poor mobility, and steep requirements for his highest damage combos (not necessarily execution, but how you need to start it,) and you have a character that will shatter all of your bones if he gets the right hit off, but can struggle to actually get that hit.

Playing him is like injecting yourself with pure joy and happiness. It feels good to land a K Pile, good to take a chomp out of someone for the forced counter-hit, good to call someone out on a meaty with Burst Dead On Time for 175 damage (what the fuck were they thinking with that. That's genuinely fucking insane)

Is he for everyone? No. Is he undoubtedly one of the coolest fucking characters in the whole franchise? Yes. Absolutely.

I need him in his new form in Strive so bad. I'm gonna have a heart attack. He's too cool. Give me Ups And Downs NOW. ALSO LOOK AT NEW PILEBUNKER