He wakes up -- In order to free the girl from the chains of eternity that seal her fate. The
power burned within him, the "Void". The blade he carries, the insulator. Each day became
lost in a sea of banality, living under the threat of the Night. The Hollow Night approaches,
and where reality and fantasy meet, this young boy takes a stand... to reclaim everything,
and return it to nothingness.
An ordinary child from an ordinary high school, who is the protagonist of the story. He was saved by Linne, while under attack by a Void. As a result, he awakened to his power of EXS, and Linne has demanded his help. Since then, Linne has made Hyde's house hers, as well, having Hyde do her bidding. All the while, when the Hollow Night falls on the world, she acts on her own, not wanting to expose him to danger. In order to save her, however, Hyde takes matters into his own hands.
“
Her will... Everything she wanted,
I'm doing in her stead. That's all.
”
Gameplay
Being the protagonist of the game, Hyde has the usual "shoto" tools associated with the role (fireball, meterless reversal, etc). He performs well at all ranges with tools like Black Orbiter to cover his approach and Shadow Scare to counter zoners or other long range attacks, while moves like Vacant Shift help rack up damage and provide great corner carry to quickly put his opponent in the corner where Hyde truly excels with his strong rushdown game. His fast normals and varied ways to make himself safe or plus on block through rebeats or spending meter make him difficult to contest. On top of all that, his sword normals do chip damage, meaning that even if the opponent blocks all of your strings, damage will still rack up quickly.
On the flipside, he has limited ways of actually opening the opponent up. A decent spread of natural frame traps and an overhead in charged Strict Daze helps, but Hyde has undeniably subpar mixups, relying mostly on keeping the opponent locked down. In addition, the more knowledgeable the opponent, the more likely they'll use defensive options like shielding or Veil Off to invalidate Hyde's pressure and get themselves out of the corner.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Neutral: Hyde has a strong midrange game with 236X-236A and can fight characters with bigger buttons than him using tools like 22A and 22B. His fast backdash also allows him to whiff punish relatively easily.
Frame Advantage: Hyde's 5[C] > 2Aw rebeat is plus on block alongside metered pressure reset tools like 22C and 236C.
Defense: Hyde has a great meterless reversal with 623B and two strong anti-airs with 623A and 3C, the latter infamous for its massive vertical reach.
Corner Pressure: Hyde's throw gives him a meterless combo in the corner, making his offense that much scarier. Having great corner carry makes this even more threatening.
Limited Pressure: Hyde's late cancel windows are relatively small and his 2A is his only good rebeat whiff option.
Midscreen Reward: Hyde can’t meaty with 2A off of combos that end midscreen if the opponent techs backwards. His harder midscreen confirms are also awkward to perform consistently.
Linear: Hyde has a strong toolkit, but he must rotate his options to make up for his limited cancel windows.
Damage done by this attack. (x) denotes combined damage [x] denotes minimum damage
Guard
The way this move must be blocked. High = Can block standing Low = Can block crouching Mid = Can block standing or crouching Air = Can block in the air Air Shield = Can block in the air while shielding Unblockable = Cannot be blocked
Cancel
Actions this move can be canceled into on hit or block, unless specially noted. N = Normal Cancelable SE = Self Cancelable SP = Special Cancelable EX = EX/IW Cancelable CS = Chain Shift UNQ = Unique (See description) TH = Throw Cancelable J = Jump Cancelable (Hit cancelable only by default) (X) = Hit cancelable only -X- = Can additionally be cancelled during whiff
Property
Special properties this move has. Click on the property to navigate to an explanation.
Cost
The resources this move costs to use. GRD = GRD Blocks EXS = EXS Meter Vorpal = Vorpal GRD Break = Causes GRD Break
Attribute
Attributes of the attack. Mostly used in situations involving invul. There are two sets of attributes: Strike/Throw and Head/Foot/Dive/Projectile Every move has a Strike/Throw attribute, but doesn't always have Head/Foot/Dive/Projectile attribute. --- Strike = Strike (Anything that isn't a Throw is a Strike) Throw = Throw --- Head = Head (Most jump normals) Foot = Foot Dive = Some air specials Projectile = Projectile
Startup
Frame when the first hitbox is present. + denotes the frames before and after super flash.
Active
The amount of frames that this move will have a hitbox. (x) denotes frame gaps where there are no hitboxes is present. Due to varied blockstuns, (x) frames are difficult to use to determine punish windows. Generally the larger the numbers, the more time you have to punish.
Recovery
Frames that this move has after the active frames if not canceled.
Overall
Frames that this move takes from start to finish before the character returns to neutral.
Advantage
The difference in frames where you can act before your opponent when this move is blocked (assuming the move isn't canceled and the first active frame is blocked). If the opponent uses a move with startup equal or less than this move's advantage, it will result in opponent hitting that move. ±x~±x denotes a possible range of advantage. The left value is when the active frames hit sooner (generally worse) and the right value is for when the active frames hit later (generally better).
Invul
The frames where this move cannot be hit by an attribute. Full = Fully invincible Strike = Strike invincible Throw = Throw invincible Head = Head invincible Foot = Foot invincible Dive = Dive invincible Projectile = Projectile invincible
Hyde stops his dash with a large horizontal slash.
165 damage on chip (271 in Vorpal)
100 damage on shield (200 in Vorpal)
Causes crumple on hit.
One of Hyde's best moves, reaches far and leads to strong combos on hit.
Good for catching opponents at neutral from a distance.
Useful for confirming off far Orbiter hits and side-swap combos.
For a short period of the move, Hyde can pass through the opponents. This can be used to dodge certain reversals by passing through an opponent on wake-up.
Universal reversal that blows the opponent back on hit.
Airborne: 1~52, Standing: 53~59.
For Full Charge version: Airborne: 1~101, Standing: 102~108.
Requires at least 100 meter and puts you in Veil Off state which grants 20% more damage, but drains your meter at a slow rate.
Meter drains much slower when health is below 30% (orange health).
You can hold down A+B+C to delay activation and gain a few extra benefits, but doing so is highly unrecommended unless trying to run the clock as this move already has a long start up as is.
Can be used as an anti-air, but 3C is usually the better option since it's far less risky.
Can only whiff cancel upon landing.
On hit, can cancel into j.236C and can lead to a full combo if 623A is used as a starter.
First hit can also be EX canceled on hit or block. 236C and 22C are the best options there since they both make Hyde safe on block and can easily convert into a combo on hit.
Hyde stabs the ground, the eruption of flames appearing further ahead than the A version.
184 damage [56 from stab + 128] on chip (245 [61 stab + 184] in Vorpal)
Flame does 50 damage on shield (100 in Vorpal)
Slower startup.
Makes for a decent frame trap.
As of UNICLR, flames will spawn closer if the stab connects -- slightly past the tip of the sword -- allowing it to be used at closer ranges at midscreen.
Can be plus in the corner and at certain ranges midscreen if the sword and flames connect.
Disclaimer: This list is derived from community input and is in no way comprehensive or a form of ranking of any kind. Our community criteria can be found here.
Extremely active Hyde player in Japan. Regularly competes in tournaments and uploads matches to YouTube. Best known for their combos. Often posts tech and combos on Twitter.
Eve
Japan
Active
Eve plays other characters as well (Phonon, Mika), but his Hyde is very good. Great pressure and neutral compliment all-around solid play.
Known for making some wild plays. His playstyle and decision-making may seem unorthodox to the untrained eye, but speaks to a deep understanding of the fundamentals of the character that allows him to do said plays.
Has very good understanding of the character and is an equally strong player. Often streams sets on Twitch and regularly hangs around the Discord to answer questions.
Selo
Germany
Active
Very strong Hyde player in the EU. Has competed in multiple netplay tournaments and won the Evo 2021 side tournmanet for UNICLR. Frequently hangs around the Discord to answer questions.
Regularly competed and peformed well at many tournaments during the UNIST days. Hasn't streamed any UNICLR sets in awhile, but has a fair number of them archived on his Twitch channel.
Very well-rounded player. Has strong gameplans in most matchups that are easy to understand and learn from. Hasn't streamed much UNI since UNICLR was released (the majority of matches are from UNIST, so be aware some of the matchup dynamics have changed since that version if you watch any of the UNIST vods).
