Katarina neutral

Neutral is when both players can act freely. It makes up most of the game, so learning how to play it is critical. There's no point mastering all the combos and setups if you can't use them in an actual game.

This page contains a brief overview of this character's key neutral tools followed by advice for putting them together.

Basic Gameplan

Katarina excels at using small pokes to annoy and frustrate an opponent into pressing buttons. She capitalizes on this using her above-average movement to bait whiffs and punish them, and to bait counterhits. She gets rewarded for these with above-average combo damage. Most of her tools put her in frame-ambiguous situations (-3 to +3) where neither player has too many of their options restricted, especially related to movement. This requires her to read opponent tendencies well to capitalize on them.

Pokes

Katarina wants to use her poking tools to chip away at opponent health and pressure opponents into retaliating. Her key poking tools are:

1

basic i10 high jab which is +1 on block. Use it to keep up pressure and watch for opponent responses

1,1

basic jab string which has extensions to discourage opponents from taking their turn, even though it is minus on block (see Mental Frame Advantage). Use it to keep up poke pressure

1,1,2

high-extension to 1,1 which gives a whopping +7 on block, but can be ducked and launched. On block, d/f+4 is a common frame trap, but good opponents will simply backdash or sidestep if you try these flowcharts. The best option is to dash in and continue pressure

1,1,1

mid-extension to 1,1. Use it to discourage opponents from ducking 1,1,2

d/f+1

basic i13 mid-poke to prevent opponents from using big moves, and catching them ducking or using high-crushes. It is -2 on block, so a magic 4 will trade with retaliatory d/f+1s and CH-launch anything slower

d/f+1,1

high extension to d/f+1 to discourage opponents from pressing after d/f+1 on block. It is technically duckable, but is fairly quick so most players won't be able to

d+3

i16 standing low poke which is neutral on hit and -12 on block. Use it to chip away at opponents who are stand-guarding too much

d+4

basic i12 low which has amazing range for a move of its type, high-crushes and is minus on hit. Use it to chip away at your opponent. Also useful to enter FC for mixups (although you enter at minus frames, so be careful). Try playing around with the range you use it at to bait whiffs with a backdash.

1,4

high-low string which gives +1 on hit. Serves as a good round ender. The second hit can be low-parried even on hit, so don't get predictable.

Counterhits

Katarina wants to use her CH tools to catch an opponent disrespecting her frames. Use them after a plus on block move like a jab after keeping up pressure and forcing an opponent to stay still for a while. She can also fish for CHs using them if she has a read on her opponent's timing. Her main counterhit tools are:

4

standard i11 magic 4 which is -12 on block but has extensions so is typically not punished unless overused. Requires a tricky pickup with f,F+2 or f,F+4 for a full combo.

4,4

extension to magic 4 which allows for an easier pickup into a full combo. Can be sidestepped right, but this is tricky to do

d/f+4

standard i15 mid CH launcher. It is a knee, so it is unparriable by generic reversals.

d+2

long-range, somewhat slow (i20) CH launcher which is unsafe at -10, but can be used to transition into HAR with +-frames on block, which will evade the punish. Use it if you have a read on an opponent approaching you, or to switch up your timing on fishing for CHs.

b+4

long-range (i17) CH launcher which is very unsafe at -15, but has follow-ups (b+4,1+2 and b+4,3+4) which will catch opponents if they attempt to punish. It also has some pushback at tip range, which makes punish attempts whiff. Use it if you have a read on an opponent approaching you. b+4,1+2 gives +1 on block but is a duckable high, while b+4,3+4 risks a -12 WS punish (which isn't too bad, depending on the match-up). Use the latter at first if you want to discourage opponents from punishing b+4, then CH-fish with raw b+4.

Whiff Punishers

Katarina wants to use her above-average sidesteps and backdashes to cause opponent retaliation (from her poke pressure) to whiff and capitalize on these with some great long-range whiff punishers. Her main whiff punishment tools are:

1,1

use for small whiffs when in range, typically after jab or d/f+1 whiffs from a sidestep

2,2

use for medium whiffs, typically after a backdash. Be careful because this is -12 on block if you misjudge the timing, and a high-high, so the opponent might duck after whiffing.

3,3,3,3,3

an i14 mid string which can be hit-confirmed. Use it for whiffs out of sidesteps or backdashes. It is safe (-9) if you can hit-confirm and stop after 2 hits. If you stop after 3 hits (which is easier to do), you still only eat an i10 punish. This can lead to another ambiguous situation if you transition to HAR to evade the punish. This string can also be used as a poke, and it tends to clip steppers.

u/f+4,4

generic hopkick. Kat's hopkick has above-average range, so make use of it.

u/f+3

a big somersault which leads to great damage but is -15 on block. Use it only for the biggest whiffs.

f,F+2,4

this has great range due to the f,F input, so use it for long-range whiff-punishes. Beware of opponents ducking and launching the second hit if this gets blocked.

b+4,1+2

alternative i17 mid whiff punisher for when hopkick might not reach. The second hit can be ducked and launched, so be careful

Dealing with stepping

Katarina's key poking tools all have a common weakness - they can be easily stepped to the right. An opponent who knows how and where to step Katarina's tools can be difficult to deal with, and greatly limit her moveset. Kat has limited and low-reward tools to deal with stepping. Use these when you think an opponent might step. Kat's best tools to deal with stepping opponents are:

b+1,2

a safe i14 mid-mid string which tracks SSR. It has good range.

d/f+2

a safe i17 mid poke which tracks SSR. It has follow-ups to create mental frame advantage.

d+3

previously mentioned as a poke, also tracks both sides

d+4

previously mentioned as a poke, also tracks both sides

f,F+4

a slow homing move with decent range. It is -13 but has pushback which makes it mostly unpunishable except at the wall. Use it to discourage stepping at range 1.5, but beware of whiffing since it recovers very slowly.

Breaking Turtles

Katarina's poking arsenal lacks an effective tool to encourage opponents to duck. d+3 and d+4 do not do much damage, nor do they give Kat plus frames to continue her pressure. Her bigger lows are slow and very risky, and therefore inadvisable. Her best tools for this situation are her full-crouch mixup and Harrier mixup, the former of which can also be entered from Harrier. If an opponent is turtling or they've been sufficiently conditioned to respect your frames, you can enforce these mixups to get more damage.

FC Mixups

Katarina has a medium-risk, medium-reward FC mixup. Kat needs to stay at range 1-1.5 for it to be a threat, so ensure the opponent is sufficiently respecting you so that you can crouch in their face. Katarina's tools to use for her full-crouch mixup are:

ws4

i11 mid from crouch. Use it to test opponent responses from FC. If it catches them, you get +8 to continue pressure (and can try more rewarding mids from FC). If it gets blocked, you are only left at -3, allowing you to move freely. This makes it a very useful tool

ws3,3,3,3,3

similar to the standing version, use this to catch ducking opponents. Gives more damage than ws4, but needs to be hit-confirmed for safety

FC d/f+4

a chunky i17 low which is -16 on block. It is unseeable but risky, and the best option to use to encourage opponents to duck. This can be abused on characters who don't get a full launch if they block it (e.g. Steve, Marduk)

ws2

standard i15 launcher from FC. It is -13 on block, so use it only when you have a read on the opponent ducking (after using FC d/f+4)

Harrier Mixups

Katarina has decent options for mixing up opponents from HAR if they respect it. HAR mixups are somewhat dependent on how much the opponent knows the Katarina match-up, since the tools can be easily neutralized if they know how to. The risk/reward goes increasingly against Katarina the more your opponent knows the matchup.

Katarina can enter Harrier from a number of strings, and this affects the usefulness of her options from it. These are explained in more detail in the Harrier section. This section will just detail Katarina's tools to mix-up from Harrier, which are:

HAR cancel

a basic HAR cancel into FC can be great to test opponent responses to HAR. If they jab or d/f+1, use HAR 1 next time. If they duck jab, use HAR u/f+3 or HAR d/f+3 next time (or repeat the string without entering Harrier and low parry). If they SSR, use HAR d/f+2,3 or enter full crouch and use FC d/f+4 or ws4

HAR 1

use if you expect the opponent to retaliate; gives a 50 dmg mini-combo on CH, but can be ducked and launched, or stepped right

HAR 4

use if you expect the opponent to duck; gives a wall-bounce

HAR u/f+3

use if you expect the opponent to use a duck jab or low; it low crushes and launches on CH

HAR d/f+3

use as a low mix-up option from HAR; also low crushes and has a similar animation to HAR u/f+3

Panic Moves

Katarina doesn't have too many defensive options such as reversals or good backswing blows. Some moves which can serve as decent panic moves in a pinch are:

4

standard magic 4 which you can mash if your opponent is pressuring you. If their pressure happens to have holes in it, you might score a CH

b+3

i12 mid get-off-me move which gives a unique animation on CH creating space between Kat and her opponent. This also doubles as decent keep-out tool

b+3+4

Kat's backswing blow which high-crushes and has decent tracking to both sides. Use when an opponent is pressuring with highs. Despite being punishable at -14, it creates enough space on block that opponents cannot reliably punish it.

b+2

Kat's second backswing blow which launches. It doesn't create a lot of space before becoming active, so use it with care

f+3+4

standard mid power crush; punishable (-13) but can help you get out of pressure

Keep-out

Katarina is not designed to play keep-out and doesn't as such have great tools for this playstyle. Apart from fundamental jabs and d/f+1s, most tools you could use for keep-out need to be timed well, otherwise they could be baited and whiff-punished. Kat's best tools for playing keep-out are:

b+3

a mid-range mid poke with decent recovery, that pushes opponents back on CH

b+4

a mid-range CH launcher that can catch opponents rushing in

d+1

a mid-range mid poke with poor recovery that knocks down on CH

d/f+3+4

a long-range evasive low which is normally on the seeable side (i25) but can work for keep-out when the opponent is focused on getting in

Wall Game

Katarina has a flimsy wall game (which is unfortunate because she has great wall carry). She cannot apply adequate pressure at the wall. Her only safe splats are wr3, HAR 1 and HAR 4. These are very linear and slow moves that are hard to use for any serious wall pressure. At the wall offensively is also where her lows start to show their flaws as well. d/b+3, d/b+4, and d/f+3+4 will be reacted to. This means that your wall game is now limited to d+3 and FC d/f+4 mixed with unsafe non-homing non-splatting mids - the -13 f,F+4 or the duckable 3,4 or the unsafe d/f+2,2/4. Using d+2/b+1 with HAR 1 and 4 to try and score a splat while mixing in lows is key.

Okizeme

Kat's main oki-situation is from post-u/b+4 situations. The best option here is to use wr3 to get +5 for pressure.

Post-1+3 throw

Techroll

b+4, u/b+4

stays on the ground

d+3+4

Post 2+4 throw

forward roll

u/b+4, d+3