| Steve |
|---|
Bread n' butter
Bread n' butter combos are juggles that:
- Work on as many different launchers as possible
- Work on all body sizes
Launchers that require unique combos go straight to § Staples.
- Regular launch (e.g. uf+2)
- f+3~1 df+1,2~1,B~1,d+1 S! df+1+2
- Crouching recovery (e.g. CH FUFT.3)
- combo here
Mini-combos
Staples
Staple combos are juggles that:
- Can be done consistently by a skilled player
- Either work on all body sizes, or the characters it does work on are comprehensively listed
- Are not strictly worse than another combo listed in terms of difficulty, damage, wall carry, and oki
- CH b+1,B
- [53] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! b+1,B FLK.1,b,3+4 ALB.2
- [52] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! df+1+2
- [52] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! b+1,B FLK.f+3 DCK.db ws1,2
- [50] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! b+3+4 FLK.1,1,b,3+4 ALB.2
- [50] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! f+3+4 PAB.f+2,1
- [50] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.f+3* DCK.f+2 S! ,EXTDCK.1 df+1+2[1]
- [49] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! ssr f+2,1,B FLK.f+3 DCK.1
- [48] EXTDCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! df+1+2
- [25] CH FLK.2
- [25] CH PAB.(1,2),1
- [22] CH PAB.2
- [20] uf+2
- [20] CH ws2,f+3 DCK
- [+49] DCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! df+1+2
- [+47] DCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! b+3+4 FLK.1,1,b,3+4 ALB.2
- [+47] DCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! f+3+4 PAB.f+2,1
- [+47] DCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.f+3* DCK.f+2 S! ,EXTDCK.1 df+1+2[1]
- [+45] DCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! df+1+2
- [+46] DCK.db ws1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.f+3* DCK.f+2 S! ,EXTDCK.1 f+3+4 PAB.f+2,1[1]
- [+44] DCK.db ws1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.1,d+1 S! b+3+4 FLK.1,1,b,3+4 ALB.2
- [+44] DCK.db ws1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.f+3 DCK.f+2 S! ,EXTDCK.1 df+1+2
- b+2
- [53] f+2,1,B FLK.1,B FLK.1,(1),d+1 S! df+1+2
- FC.df+2
- [66] df+2,f+3 DCK.1 df+1,2~1,B FLK.f+3 DCK.2,f+3 S! DCK.db dash df+1+2
- Crouching recovery (e.g. CH FUFT.3)
- combo here
Wall
- Regular carry (30% scaling)
- 3 LWV.1,1 DF+1+2
You need a really high splat for this to work consistently but if you get it, it has great damage and is easy to execute if you use button buffering to hit the Sonic Fang.
- DF+1,2 DF+1+2
A much easier, lower damage, but more consistent way to end a wall combo with Sonic Fang.
- 2,1~B B+3 SWY.1
- F+2,1~B B+3 SWY.1
The easy wall ender out of Flicker does good damage and is really easy. For situations where you can't get to the opponent in time to get 2,1 into Flicker, just use F+2,1 for less damage but WAY more consistency - this applies for all Steve's wall enders that require you to go into Flicker or Peekaboo.
- 2,1~F PAB.UF+2
- F+2,1~F PAB.UF+2
You don't see this one super often, but it's important to remember that Steve does have a flip-over ender if that's what you want to use.
- 2,1~B F+3 DCK.1+2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1
- F+2,1~B F+3 DCK.1+2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1
This is the reason you want to get a walled stage while playing Steve. Because each individual hit at the wall gets extra damage, Steve having a constistent ender with so many hits always leads to massive damage. To make this easier to land, hold the 1 input, and keep holding it during the ducking. Then, you can just hit 2 while still holding 1 to get the rush punches super consistently. After that, just practice the 1,2,1,2 rhythm until you can do it every time.
- FLK.1,1,1,2
Decent wall ender if you get a splat while in Flicker. This situation is likely to pop up if you splat with QCF+1~B and don't have time to crouch cancel to a standard wall ender.
- DF+1,2~1~B FLK.1,1,1,2
Big character-only wall ender for big damage. Can be a little inconsistent.
Float
- 1
- combo when you anti-air with jab here
Stage break
- Howard Estate
- big boy break all the walls combo here
Extras
Extra combos are juggles that are:
- Strictly worse than one of the § Staples; or
- Too inconsistent to be a staple; or
- Joke combos for style points.
Combo Theory
Common Starters
CH B+1
Up there with Steve's best moves, B+1 is a safe poke, keepout tool, frame trap tool, and mash button on occassion. Hold back when doing it every time, since this leaves you in Flicker stance, giving more safety on whiff and block. On counter hit, B+1 leads to extremely rewarding combos that can get 90+ damage depending on walls and distance.
DCK.2
If you can duck under a high poke and punish with this, you get decent reward. The launch is good enough to juggle with B+2 for good damage, then continue with a standardized route. It's unsafe on block but the opponent might not be ready for the pushback.
B+2
Steve's fastest normal hit mid launcher out of neutral stance, at 18 frames it works as a decent whiff punisher. However, the knockdown leads to an awkward juggle - you need to screw straight away to get the opponent in a normal position, either with B+1,2 for the easy but lower damage route, or with instant FLK.1,D+1 for more damage but a higher execution requirement.
PAB.DF+2
An important launcher for Steve since it's an elbow, meaning Peekaboo DF+2 can't be caught by most parries. At -10 it's reasonably safe too, and due to its speed the opponent will have to be sharp to nail the punish consistently. To easily standardize the combo, crouch cancel out of Peekaboo and do an instant WS+1, then continue to a standard juggle.
UF+2
A lesser-used launcher, Steve's "orbital punch" is a much worse version of Bryan or Leroy's orbital heel moves. Unlike those moves, this one is unsafe on block, being -14 at worst, and is relatively slow at i22 minimum. Still, if you know for sure that the opponent is going low, this will get much better reward than a low parry.
Low Parry
Obviously a universal starter, but especially important for Steve whose best low crush option is UF+1, which leads to no combos. Gives the same juggle as UF+2, where you can juggle with a quick DCK.1 into a standard combo.
Combo Filler
DF+1,2~1~B...
An almost universal juggling tool, almost all your combos should include this at some point. Good damage and extremely reliable even when off-axis, and also leaves you in FLK which gives you several options for getting tailspin or ending a juggle for carry, a few options seen below.
F+2,1~B In some further distance situations, you'll want to use this string to get into Flicker instead of the above one. It's also slightly more consistent than the DF+1 string due to its speed, but has lower damage. It has all the same follow-ups as the DF+1 string.
- FLK.1,D+1
- F+3 DCK.F+2
From Flicker stance, you have two options for getting tailspin which can be used depending on distance or combo choice. Flicker 1,D+1 is a quick and easy two-hit tailspin that gives you plenty of time to run up and end with whatever ender you can use based on scaling.
Since you can quickly cancel Flicker to any of Steve's movement stances, F+3 DCK.F+2 out of Flicker is a single-hit tailspin with a key property - you can cancel the ducking F+2 directly into another ducking just by holding F+3, and the tailspin gives you enough time to get an extended ducking 1 for very strong juggles.
- B+1,2
A much less-used tailspin option for Steve, but perfectly serviceable. It generally can be used in the same places as FLK.1,D+1 for easier execution but less damage. Better saved for use as your i13 punish.
- PAB.DF+1,2
There might be an obscure situation where you ended up in Peekaboo with the opponent floating - maybe you interrupted a hopkick attempt with your F+2,1 and autopiloted into Peekaboo. This string is a fine tailspin for those situations. You can also use it as an easy juggle after PAB.DF+2, but the juggle will be non-standard so make sure you know an optimized route specific to it.
Combo Enders
The combo enders presented below are vaguely arranged in order of consistency - the higher it's listed, the more reliable it will be later in juggles. Note also that there are many, many more ways to end Steve juggles - these are just a few common and consistent options.
- DF+1+2
Sonic Fang is one of Steve's best combo ending tools. It does great damage and juggles very high, allowing for consistent wall carry as well as good oki mid-stage. In addition, because both hits are so close together, the move will pretty much always work fully no matter what your juggle was. If you don't know how to end your combo, just do Sonic Fang.
- FF+2
A really easy combo ender that spikes, allowing the opponent to tech back up pretty quickly, thus limiting your oki options. Again, it's easy and does good damage but you should stick to better options usually.
- F+3 DCK.1
Ducking 1 is a fat mid that's consistent for ending juggles. It also is important as Steve's quickest access to a high float, making it great for near-wall situations to get a high splat where Sonic Fang might not work properly. The high float also gives great oki mid-stage since you have plenty of time to run up.
- FLK.1 B+3+4 ALB.2
Even super late in juggles, this sequence gives good damage and wall carry and is pretty consistent. The only trick is getting used to run up into instant flicker stance, which requires some practice.
- FLK.1,1 B+3+4 ALB.2
- B+1~B FLK.1 B+3+4 ALB.2
As above, but you do two flicker jabs instead of just one, or use B+1 to go into flicker then do the ender. The only difference is that the B+1 version does less damage but is much easier.
- DF+1,2~1~B F+3 DCK.1
- F+2,1~B F+3 DCK.1
For certain floats or juggles where you used tailspin early, this sequence when done quickly ends with good damage and a high float. As noted above, for later juggle situations you might have to use F+2,1~B to get into Flicker instead, then do the ducking 1 to end, since the F+2,1 has more movement and is more consistent thanks to its speed.
- EXTDCK.1 DF+1+2
Blue sparks into Sonic Fang is a good ender with great damage and carry, but is only really possible after using DCK.F+2 to tailspin to get the extended ducking in time. In the places where this juggle is possible, you'll usually need to add a quick forward dash after the EXTDCK.1 to get the Sonic Fang to connect fully.