Ciel, outfitted to face Dead Apostles of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors class, using the conceptual weapon "Seventh Holy Scripture" broken down into individual causes of death. She makes constant use of the "Seventh Holy Scripture," a millennium-class holy relic. While it drains an enormous amount of magical energy, it is a viable battle style for Ciel, who has the magical power of a hundred magi. Her main attacks often use weaponry, in the style of "Blaze," "Blade," and "Break," and her heavy armament features both brute force and magical enhancements. Perhaps due to her specialization in destroying heretics, she is even more cold and unforgiving than usual. With the incredble firepower of the Seventh Holy Scripture and Idea Blood, Ciel is unrelenting, destroying her enemies down to their very souls.
Gameplay
Powered Ciel (PCiel) is a returning character to Melty Blood, released as free DLC alongside Mario Gallo Bestino on April 14, 2022. PCiel is a grounded rushdown character that trades some of her normal form's movement tricks and other strategies for a power-focused fighting style.
PCiel boasts a versatile kit for a vast array of situations both up close and at the mid-range. Large hitboxes on her C moves and special moves like her Blade rekkas (236B~B or 236A~B, or 236[B] for a unique, non-rekka version) and moving techniques such as her Blaze rekkas (236A~A or 236B~A, or 236[A] as a unique, non-rekka version) let her force her way in on the opponent before utterly bullying them in the close and mid ranges by mixing things up with her faster normals and her command normals, with her counter-zoning Lightning Blast (214X) letting her shut down careless approaches.
Her close-range combat skills are also helped by Break (236C), a feintable, counterhit-baiting backdash move with armor on its forward charge, and Shaft Lander (623X) as a traditional DP reversal. Her airthrow is a staple unique to her previous incarnation in Actress Again Current Code, giving her a meterless option to plant the opponent close to her after her (natively short) air combos or combo out of air throw to go for big payouts in damage.
The main weakpoint that PCiel has to work around is that her larger moves tend to have long recovery that can be punished on whiff or block. This is especially dangerous in the air due to her inability to chain air normals, forcing her to avoid air fights or play high-risk 'air footsies' with her bigger moves.
Keep your fundamentals clean and your feet (mostly) firmly planted on the ground, and PCiel will put in the work.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Large C buttons and some far-reaching specials allow her to cover a lot of space in both neutral and on the offensive.
Unique airthrow creates good oki positioning for her without resources, or allows her to extend into highly damaging combos by using Magic Circuit or Moon Skills.
Generally boasts fairly high damage even with low resources.
Armored moves allow her to bully through enemy offenses to continue attacking.
Good selection of command normals allows her flexibility in a variety of situations and cover many different needs in her gameplan, allowing her to bring enemies in close, approach from new air angles, or cover screen space in threatening ways.
High recovery on her bigger buttons and moves makes whiffs extremely dangerous.
Reduced air game with no air normal chains, no aerial blockstrings, and no double jumping after a whiffed j.A. She's forced to use more committal buttons to establish and contest airspace.
Ciel does a high kick. Gatlings into itself 3 times like one would expect and has surprisingly good reach. However, Ciel has better anti-air options as this one tends to clash or trade.
Utterly massive button that comes with a follow-up for combo and pressure extensions at any range. 2C > XAw allows PCiel to run in and throw opponents trying to Shield any follow-up pressure. Exceptional poke and works wonders punishing things from half-screen into a combo.
This is more a tool to leverage the threat of instead of use often, as it cannot be cancelled into any other normals or specials. Any B normal chained into 2[C] is close enough that it can be mashed out of, but it will hit after 5C and most likely be spaced out too far for A buttons to hit PCiel.
Excellent air normal for shutting down jumps. Its huge range means that anyone jumping within a half-screen of PCiel will be unceremoniously dragged back to the ground. The only button PCiel has that's fast enough to AUB in this scenario is usually 5A, which is limited in range.
j.[C] adds another swing of PCiel's weapon, adding more active frames and also a wallbounce for combos. Instant j.[C] covers a massive amount of air space, but keep in mind it hits above her first and is vulnerable to grounded approaches.
PCiel's non-3C launcher which lets her access j.3B for Bounce bonus. Be careful with this on block as there are no safe cancel options unless Ciel is point-blank.
5C~4C
5C~4C
> Add+
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Shares most of its properties with j.B, except for that it changes PCiel's momentum. Using j.3B sends PCiel at a downward arc, which makes it very easy to combo after with 2A or 2B.
Universal Mechanics
Rapid Beat 2
Rapid Beat 2
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PCiel rockets backwards after kicking upwards, making this move surprisingly safe. It has some strange special cancel properties but is considered airborne.
Allows for a brief extension due to how Ciel throws her opponent.
A more useful airthrow than most. As per tradition, Powered Ciel throws her opponent upwards which allows her to extend with special moves or just let the the airthrow go through in order to get a hard knockdown for okizeme. It's plus enough on hit that PCiel needs to slightly delay her jump for a safejump or even an empty low.
Special Moves
Seventh Holy Scripture - Blaze
Powered Ciel's gun-based rekka series. Fast on startup, its first and second hits are somewhat safe on block; the starter in particular can be used for slight pressure or to transition into the Blade II and III followups from her 236B series when 236B itself would whiff due to startup times.
The following moves from this series are also available during other rekkas:
PCiel uses the Seventh Holy Scripture as a gun and fires two shots. Very safe on block and opens up for decent corner carry off of certain stray hits, but not as useful in combos when compared to the charged version.
PCiel spins while firing the Seventh Holy Scripture. Covers a fair bit of distance, making it useful as the second hit of a confirmed rekka in order to get in closer.
A combination of Blaze and Blaze Turn. Sees use early in combos as it covers a lot of ground; with the proper spacing 5B and 5C are easy pick-up links after it.
Seventh Holy Scripture - Blade
Powered Ciel's slash-based rekka series. It trades the Blaze series' quick startup for a longer reach, more damage, and more space coverage, making it good for reaching enemies in the mid-range, but is much less safe overall.
The following moves from this series are also available during other rekkas:
PCiel whips the Seventh Holy Scripture around one last time. Only knocks down with Special Bonus, otherwise the opponent can air tech.
Seventh Holy Scripture - Blade (BE)
The charged version of 236[B]. The first two hits are overheads, making this a powerful low shield crush when used properly due to retaining the range of the normal Blade series.
Seventh Holy Scripture - Blade
+
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Chains together all 3 Blade rekkas with a slight forward advance. Has big range for an overhead, but does not allow for a combo without resources.
Seventh Holy Scripture - Break
A move that can be used either on its own or as an immediate followup to 236A or 236B, boasting an armored forward charge for blasting through most attacks and potentially acting as a powerful counter-zoning tool. It can also be charged up to change its properties and fake out an opponent expecting it to come.
PCiel hops backwards, then rushes forwards with the Seventh Holy Scripture. The rush part of the move has armor and leads to a decently damaging combo on hit with Special Bonus. Its main downside is that it is quite slow.
Seventh Holy Scripture - Break
+
or
+/ > Add
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PCiel hops backward, but doesn't doesn't move. Acts as a feint for 236C and is a great way to bait reactions out of people looking for it to come out during rekkas.
Seventh Holy Scripture - Break (EX)
A unique combo ender only available for use after the last hit of the non-charged Blaze or Blade rekka series.
Exists to let PCiel tack on more damage after certain rekka enders and get a hard knockdown. Good at what it does, particularly for corner carry, but only useful after Special Bonus has been used, as a meterless combo is generally preferred when possible.
Shaft Lander
PCiel's DP. While the B and C versions are the only ones that are actually invincible, the A version has a jump cancel point if it whiffs, allowing for some tricky feints if used cautiously.
Brings the opponent down right in front of you, excellent for either Moon Driving or going into 236BC.
Numerology Crest - Lightning Blast
PCiel's other counter-zoning special and a situationally useful okizeme tool. It has something of a slow startup, but can cover a great deal of vertical space and no small amount of horizontal space if used correctly, allowing PCiel to stuff a lot of mid-range attacks.
PCiel pauses briefly and fires a multi-hitting shaft of vertical lightning from the top of the screen to the ground.
All versions of this move shift PCiel backward slightly.
The normal A version hits a little bit in front of her; at round start position it strikes the middle of the screen.
The charged version hits fewer times but spreads the lightning strikes further forward; from round start, it will hit the middle of the screen and then go to the tip of where the opponent starts.
This move and its variants are another set of space coverage options for PCiel. The startup is a little slow so it's best used preemptively for space control, but it also sees use to tack on extra damage or act as an oki tool with good timing.
Basically 214A, but with more hits than either the normal or charged versions; it drops a little farther forward than 214[A]. For enemies that are at about midscreen or approaching it, this is a good shutdown tool.
Places a stronger version of 214A at a little bit shorter than 214B range. Has some tracking properties if the opponent is within about half a screen's range, making it a good way to end combos if you hit with far-off normals and need a knockdown.
Shaft Lander (Air)
Air versions of +. They all lack invincibility, but the tradeoff is that they're all jump cancelable on whiff, and act as bridges out of air throw into PCiel's highest damaging air combos.
Brings the opponent down to the ground with a high damage cashout. This move can be used to set up Arc Drive combos if you have the meter to spare afterward.
Numerology Crest - Lightning Blast (Air)
Air versions of +. They functionally serve similar purposes as their grounded version, but with some more recovery time due to falling from the execution area. The air stall they cause does, however, make certain types of counterattack from the opponent more likely to whiff in exchange.
PCiel skips straight to the Blaze Spin followup of her rekkas with faster recovery. Very easy move to simply throw out and see what happens, especially with Moon Drive clash frames; much like 236[A] you can link many A and B buttons on hit.
The slightly less committed way to get a combo setup into 236BC from an air throw or just to bring the opponent to ground, as it behaves similarly to j.236C.