Spectral vs Generation/Orochimaru

Orochimaru
Health	500
Pre-Jump Frames	4
Play Style	All-Around
Dash Type	Run

Character Background

Race: Dragon
Motivation: To preserve order
Weapon: Rising Sun
Likes: Alcohol, Women, Fighting
Dislikes: Marriage

Gameplay Overview

Playstyle

Orochimaru (usually shorted down to "Oro") is the most neutral heavy character in the game. he relies on excellent positioning, great intuition and smart use of his stance to take advantage. he benefits from an easy execution for his optimal combos and good pokes. However, he is rewarded with extremely poor damage compared to everyone else for relatively high risk. Which, coupled with his lack of disjoints, projectiles and his very slow air speed, lands him at the bottom of all tier lists. Orochimaru is a character who excels in neutral, but sadly not much else.
Pros	Cons
Strong Neutral: Oro's neutral game is very powerful. Having good pokes in 5A, 2A and 5C to check his opponents, and a very powerful air-to-air in j.B which is very difficult for anyone to contest. Good Pressure: With his stance making his most common pressure options safe, his 236A being Seal Of Time'd and even having access to a command grab which you can combo from, Oro has surprisingly good pressure. Dustloop: Not a joke. Orochimaru has an actual Dustloop in this game. While being character specific (Earth, Erile, Hiro, Hiro2, Jadou2 and Ryuken), it's a very effective timer-scam method if you're consistent with your inputs.	A Plethora Of Serious Flaws: Unfortunately, Orochimaru has the biggest shortcomings in this game. Having the slowest air dash, no disjoints on his normals, useless buttons and chain combos, poor combo damage, weak reward off command grab, unsafe pressure options without meter outside of stance-cancellable options (and the list goes on), Orochimaru has the highest risk of any character while also having very low reward for pulling anything off. Zoning Woes: Because of aformentioned flaws, and the fact that he has no fireball himself, Oro suffers a lot from zoning and genuinely has a difficult time even approaching characters who can keep their distance without much worry. Really Weak Super Options: From a fire pillar super (214214X) which is your best combo ender but not only has poor scaling but also so much startup that you can't use it on reaction to jump-ins AND has a blind spot in the corner, a tornado super (236236X) which is so stubby you'll never find any way to properly utilize it in your gameplan, a counter super which is a contender for the WORST one in fighting game history alongside 3S Remy's Blue Nocturne SA3, and a LVL 3, while good, has a very awkward input. Orochimaru has very poor super options.

Normals

Far Standing Normals

5A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 15 Mid Specials - - - - Orochimaru does a light wide slice while having fast startup, it cannot combo into anything so 5B is generally more useful

5B	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 35 Mid Specials - - - - can cancel into stance Your main poking tool. very fast startup and one of the longest normals in the game

5C Making Haomaru proud Making Haomaru proud	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 55 Mid - - - - - Orochimaru does a heavy slash that slightly staggers oppnents on hit. it's very unsafe on hit so other than 5B>5C this is rarely used other than predictions

5D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 20 Mid Specials - - - - a quick kick, but better normals do the same job can not be added to BNBs and is outclassed by 5B in every aspect

Close Standing Normals

cl.5A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 15 Mid Specials - - - - Orochimaru taps the enemy with the pommel of his sword, has fast startup and recovery, allowing you to tick throw with this

cl.5B Bonk Bonk	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 35 Mid Specials - - - - very quick attack the most common close BNB starter alongside cl.5A

cl.5C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 55 Mid Specials - - - - can cancel into stance quick vertical slash with average range visually identical to 2C with a few differences

cl.5D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 20 Mid Specials - - - - 5D but a bit lower

Crouching Normals

2A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 15 Mid - - - - - very similar to 5A but he is crouching

2B	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 35 Mid Specials - - - - slash slightly longer than 2A

2C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 55 Low Specials - - - - visually identical to cl.5C with a few differences

2D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 20 Low Specials - - - - A short kick.

Jumping Normals

j.A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 15 High - - - - - Orochimaru pokes his sword out downwards until he lands.

j.B	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 35 High - - - - - completely horizontal slash Orochimaru's best air-to-air

j.C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 55 High - - - - - wide slash, Orochimaru's main jump-in good damage and can combo off of it if done low enough

j.D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 20 High - - - - - Air kick.

Command Normals

3B	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 40 Mid - - - - - stab that causes a hard knockdown. this is the most frequent and reliable way orochimaru gets knockdowns hits OTG

4D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 30 Mid - - - - - Orochimaru jumps in the air and kicks immune to low enough attacks

Chain Specific Normals

A -> B -> C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block B 17, C 28 High Specials - - - - 5B and 5C are faster than their non-chain counterparts

2B -> 2C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 28 High - - - - - 2C becomes an upward slash that slightly launches opponents. this property is yet to receive any practical use

Throws

A+D Forward Throw the 2nd coolest throw in the game the 2nd coolest throw in the game	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 60 Throw N/A - - - - Orochimaru grabs his opponent and headbutts them

B+D Back Throw the coolest throw in the game the coolest throw in the game	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 70 Throw N/A - - - - similar to A+D but instead they get throw behind fully untechable and can be followed up with OTG 3B

Sword Series Slash (Dust)

5B+C Standing SSS	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 150 High N/A - - - - Triggers an air chase when you press A. To complete the air chase you must do AAABBBCCCD > 236D.

2B+C Low SSS	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 145 Low N/A - - - - Same as standing SSS but hits low. Triggers an air chase when you press A. To complete the air chase you must do AAABBBCCCD > 236D.

Chaos Breaking (Parry)

A+B Standing Parry Standing Parry Crouching Parry Crouching Parry Jumping Parry Jumping Parry	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block - - - - - - - Dodges projectiles and counters any physical, non-grab attacks. The Standing and Jumping versions parry anything that can be blocked High, but is vulnerable to grabs. The Crouching version only parries lows and cannot be grabbed.

Special Moves

Fire Dragon Wave 236A/B/C

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block A 50 High/Low Super - - - - big move that can SOT cancel A version is stationary and is a single hit Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block B 51 High/Low Super - - - - big move that can SOT cancel B version is 3 hits and advances Orochimaru Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block C 56 High/Low Super - - - - big move that can SOT cancel C version is 4 hits and advances Orochimaru

Vertical Slicer 214A/B/C

Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block A 11 Mid Vertical Gale, Super - - - - short slash with somewhat slow startup Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block B 15 Mid Vertical Gale, Super - - - - short slash with somewhat slow startup Version Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block C 19 Mid Vertical Gale, Super - - - - short slash with somewhat slow startup

Vertical Gale Vertical Slicer ~> 214A/B/C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 24-27 Mid V Gale Dragon Crest, Readiness - - - - followup to 214A/B/C can cancel into stance

V Gale Dragon Crest Vertical Gale ~> A/B/C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 26-33 Mid Static Dragon, SoT - - - - final followup. can SOT cancel. D can be added for extra damage and a wallbounce it's possible to get a wallbounce and SOT at the same time if the inputs are done fast enough

Static Dragon V Gale Dragon Crest ~> D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 32 Mid N/A - - - - final followup. can SOT cancel. D can be added for extra damage and a wallbounce it's possible to get a wallbounce and SOT at the same time if the inputs are done fast enough

Unclean Killer 632146D	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 45 N/A N/A - - - - Command grab with decent range can be comboed off of but scales combos a lot

Readiness A+B After 5B/cl.5C/Vertical Gale On Hit/Block This Is The Stance This Is The Stance Forward dash Forward dash Back dash Back dash

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block N/A Mid N/A - - - - Stance that can be entered with 5B, cl.5C, or 214A/B/C ~> 214A/B/C Stance can also cancel into throw or (very difficult) command throw will disable automatically if no followup is selected Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block N/A Mid N/A - - - - Orochimaru hops forward a short distance has a fair ammount of end lag so the opponent can grab you first if you attempt to grab them Can side swap if you are close enough Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block N/A Mid N/A - - - - Orochimaru does a short hop backwards exits the stance

Reverse Fire Readiness ~> 5A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 50 High N/A - - - - quick overhead that causes a hard knockdown exits the stance

Dragon Slice Readiness ~> 2A	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 45 Low N/A - - - - quick low that causes a hard knockdown exits the stance

Fire Dragon Readiness ~> B	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 40 Mid N/A - - - - very fast and very damaging poke

Dragon Chop Readiness ~> C

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 80 Mid Super - - - - armored move that guard breaks on block or causes a knockdown on hit Will Combo into Single Slice Howling Gale on Hit/Block anywhere. In the corner it can combo into Reverse Blade Dragon Flash for more damage. is stopped by multihits and lows and parries needs further testing, but if attacked near the end of the animation orochimaru will attack instantly exits the stance

Super Moves

Level 1 Supers

Reverse Blade Dragon Flash 214214A/B/C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 131 Mid N/A - - - - fire pillar super with good reach has a very long startup. opponents can attack on the superflash but still recover and block in time aerial opponents can air dash forward on the superflash and end up behind you it is often used in long advanced combos but it scales damage a lot

Single Slice Howling Gale 236236A/B/C	Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 134 Mid N/A - - - - very very short attack that on hit initiates a sequence ending in a knockdown while it can be used as a reversal, it can't reliably punish jump-ins it's range is so short that most BNBs can't end with it

Emperor Dragon Thunder 236236D

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block - - N/A - - - - this breaks mizuumi guidelines but please never use this a parry super with tons of damage however : - if the opponent's attack is active during the superflash it will not counter it - it's beaten by lows - it's beaten by throws - it will almost never be timed correctly to punish a jump-in, since they can empty jump when they see the superflash

Level 3 Super

Seven Blades: Pegasus 214214214D Translation : you dead Translation : you dead

Damage Guard Cancel Startup Adv Hit Adv Block Chain Adv Block 339 Mid N/A - - - - a very wide slash that on hit initiates a short sequence the main damage comes from a single slash so it's not affected by scaling as much as other level 3s while one of the best level 3 supers,it is hindered a lot by it's 3 motion input, as it makes it very reactable when done raw and a bit hard to get used to doing it fast enough mid combo

Combos

Need help reading the combos? Check out the Glossary for explanations on notation and game specific terms!

Basic Combos

Combo	Total Damage	Notes
Meterless BnB
B+D >> 3B		Back throw combo.
9C >> 5A -> 5B -> 5C > 236A
9C >> cl.5C > 214B ~> 214B ~> B ~> D		Oro's most damaging meterless combo.
632146D >> (DU) 5A -> 5B -> 5C > 236C		Command grab starter, dash up to link 5A.
One Bar Combos
9C >> 5A -> 5B -> 214B ~> 214B ~> B ~> D (SOT) >> (DU) B+C		Extremely good corner carry. Run with the opponent when they're in SOT and it'll carry them to the wall.
9C >> 5A -> 5B -> 5C > 236A (SOT) >> B+C
Two Bar Combo
9C >> 5A -> 5B -> 5C > 236A (SOT) >> cl.B -> C > 236A (SOT) >> B+C
Three Bar Combos
9C >> 5A -> 5B -> 5C > 236C (3 hits) > 214214214D >> (OTG) 3B		You'll have to walk up to link 3B OTG outside of the corner.
632146D >> (DU) 5A -> 5B -> 5C > 236C (3 hits) > 214214214D >> (OTG) 3B		Command grab starter, dash up to link 5A. You'll have to walk up to link 3B OTG outside of the corner.
Burst
9C >> 5A -> 5B -> 5C -> 236A (SOT) >> cl.B -> C > 236A (SOT) >> Burst (whiff) >> [cl.B -> C > 236A (SOT)] x3 >> cl.B -> 5C -> 236B > 214214214D >> (OTG) 3B		Two bar burst combo. You'll have to walk up to link 3B OTG outside of the corner.