Idol Showdown/Botan Shishiro

Special Forces La~Lion - Tactical Space Control

Introduction

Botan Shishiro is a tactical lioness who controls space on the battlefield with her vast arsenal of ballistic weapons. When faced with close-quarter engagements, however, Botan has no problem repositioning or taking initiative for herself.

Playstyle

Botan Shishiro is an evasive zoner that uses her grenades to lockdown the opponent, and capitalizes by forcing them to deal with her up-close pressure.

Pick if you like

Avoid if you dislike

Absurd Damage: Her main pressure tools convert easily into highly rewarding combos that can shave off up to half of her opponent's health while generating large amounts of meter. Space Coverage: When she's allowed to set up, her grenades and rifle shots make her a complete nightmare to approach, as they cover good angles and are hard to outmaneuver for much of the cast. Midrange Pressure: 5M leads to an hard to read strike-throw mixup with opportunities for resets and frametraps, and j.2H is a pseudo-divekick that leaves her plus on block and makes her air approaches ambiguous. Evasive Kit: The retreating hurtboxes in moves like 5M, 2H, 214L, and j.214H can make it a struggle to find a good hit on her. Chip Damage: Her specials deal a huge amount of chip if not instant blocked, which can lead into checkmate situations in conjunction with some assists.

Weak Projectile Keepaway: Her projectiles are quite slow to come out and leave her in recovery for a while, making them unsuitable for long-range spam and easy to punish up close. Instant Block Printer: Since her pressure is mainly reliant on multi-hit moves, smart opponents can turn this against her and get a good amount of Superchat Meter by IB'ing them.

Recommended Collabs

• Miko - Miko's 214S assist allows Botan to convert off her 22M/H overhead followup, and forces the opponent into uncomfortable situations where they can take huge amounts of chip damage. Her Off-Collab is great on defense as well, as it is uninterruptible and allows you to take your turn back immediately.
• Marine - Thanks to the large amount of multi-hit normals on her kit, the added chip during Marine's Off-Collab can be devastating for the opponent. Her 214S can make her zoning even harder to deal with as well.
• Kanata - Kanata's Off-Collab forces opponents right where Botan wants them: far away enough that she's allowed to set up her grenade pressure, or in the air, where they'll be easy to hit with either a throw or her air-unblockable 2H. Her 214S can make Botan's strike-throw pressure even scarier to deal with.

Gameplan

• Note: This gameplan was written shortly after the game was released to give newer players a sense of direction, it should be reviewed by an experienced player after the game develops more.

Botan is a zoner who has a myriad of tools for making it difficult for her opponent to approach her, as well as some scary offensive tools to take advantage of a knockdown should her opponent suffer a clean hit.

In neutral, Botan will generally try and stay at a long range from her opponents to allow her to set up her 236X grenades. These will restrict her opponents options, allowing her to take advantage of the situation. Due to these moves being quite slow, Botan should use her other strong long range options, such as 6M, 214X, 4H, etc. to prevent her opponent from using moves and forcing them to slowly approach and block, or risk taking damage. It's when her opponents are approaching slowly that Botan can set up multiple grenades.

Once Botan has her grenades on the field, her opponents will be prevented from taking some options. For example, if she has a 236M grenade bouncing on the ground, your opponent can no longer dash directly at you; they must block the grenade first. If they choose to do this, Botan can either set up another grenade (at long range) or dash at them and force them to block a normal (at closer ranges), allowing her to go into her close range pressure. If they instead choose some character specific option, or approach from air, Botan can account for this and think of what tools she has access to to stifle these options as much as possible. With grenades on the field, Botan will have to take less risks then her opponent, making her neutral even more powerful.

When Botan gets into close range in an advantaged way, such as when her opponent is blocking or has been knocked down, that is when she can use her 22M/22H to start becoming hard to defend against. Getting close range only on her own terms is much more preferable for Botan then taking a risk at close range.

Should her opponent successfully bridge the gap, it becomes Botan's turn to take a risk. Being a zoner, she has less tools then most characters on defence, and hopes to lose neutral as little as possible. Should you inevitably be put in the situation however, some good tools to keep in mind are 2L(as its your fastest normal) or 2M(it's long range can catch opponents trying to dash after a normal) when you spot an opening or predict your opponent to go for something slow. 5L is a good option if your opponent is going for a slow, airborne attack such as the universal overhead (although its hard to combo off of), and 22S has armour so it can be used to blast out of pressure if your opponent leaves a big enough gap. Keep in mind that you can use the universal mechanic Instant Blocking (IB) to create gaps in your opponents pressure if you are struggling to find them manually. Botan's goal here is to get some sort of combo or knockdown to buy her space to breathe, and get back to executing her neutral gameplan

Normal Moves

Standing Normals

5L

5L	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 30 Mid 6 3 - -1 +3 None Fast, high 5L. Does not whiff on any crouchers, and has a good range. Can still be low profiled.

5M

5M

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 30, 30, 30 Mid 10 2, (3), 2, (4), 2 - -3 -1 None Range not as good as it looks due to Botan leaning backwards during the move, but this also pulls her hurtbox backwards, allowing it to avoid a lot of moves and making it hard to contest while active. Gives access to 5M~M, making it a valuable combo and pressure tool sometimes.

5H

5H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 35, 35, 35 Mid 13 2, (2), 2, (2), 2 - -13 -7 None This move has a lot of forward movement, making it a potential combo tool and deceptively long in terms of reach.

Crouching Normals

2L

2L	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 30 Low 5 2 - -3 +1 None Her fastest normal, and a low. Ok range. Good for defence or mix-ups due to its speed.

2M

2M	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 70 Low 8 2 - -5 -2 None Good range for its speed. Can be used in pressure or defence at certain spacings to check your opponent, as well as after a dash as a neutral tool.

2H

2H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 100 Mid 18 3 - -16 +54 None Strange 2H, NOT jump cancellable like most 2H's and quite slow. Hard to use as an anti-air sometimes due to it's backwards movement, but the big hitbox and hurtbox movement can make it very reliable in the right situations. Air unblockable and important combo tool.

3H

3H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 90 Low 14 12 - -19 +19 None Sliding sweep. Goes very far and gives a good knockdown. Go-to meterless combo ender.

Jumping Normals

j.L

j.L	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 30 High 5 6 - - - None Very fast and high j.L. Whiffs on crouchers, so should primarily be used against airborne opponents.

j.M

j.M	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 55 High 10 4 - - - None Respectable hitbox at a 45 degree angle makes it a good jump-in tool when spaced right. Can be used alongside j.S and j.2H to make Botan very difficult to anti-air.

j.H

j.H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 85 Mid 11 8 - - - None Most notable for its crossup hitbox, allowing it to be used in ambiguous left/right mixups.

Command Normals

5M~M

5M~M	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 65 Mid 15 2 - -4 +4 None Very large forward movement and little knockback make this move a handy stabiliser for combos and respectable in pressure. Can be used even if 5M doesn't hit, and confirms even if only the last hit of 5M connects.

j.2H

j.2H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 30, 30, 30 High 12 2, (2), 2, (2), 2 - - - None Halts Botan's momentum and sends her straight down. Has a respectable hitbox and allows some very ambiguous mix-ups if used in conjunction with a forward jump.

6M

6M

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 85 Mid 17 2 - -10 -5 None Ridiculously long-range poke due to Botan moving significantly forward during the startup, but somewhat slow. It can be cancelled to keep the forward movement on hit or block, allowing combos and pressure, or left uncancelled to return to Botan's original postion safely. Will most likely be countered if used too predictably. Only cancels into 3H and special moves. 3H is the go-to follow-up on hit.

4H

4H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 50 Mid 21 - - +1~-12 -5~-18 None Whiffs on crouching opponents Can be cancelled into itself twice, for up to 3 total hits A lower commitment projectile that hits quite high, allowing it to sometimes hit jumping opponents at the cost of being easy to low profile. Decent option

Universal Mechanics

Throw

Throw L+M	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 140 Unblockable 7 2 - - - None

Air Throw

Air Throw j.L+M	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 81 Unblockable 7 2 - - - None Combo-able air throw.

Overhead

Overhead M+H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 60 High 26 3 - - - None Universal standing overhead

Special Attacks

236X

Poi 236L/M/H (High) (High) (Low) (Low) S.S.R.B S.S.R.B

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability L - - - - - - - None Botan may have more then 1 grenade out at any time, no matter which variant is used. Botan's grenade series help her zoning be a lot more oppressive. The light version is an anti-air grenade, flying up and away from Botan and tracking the opponent's currenct location. Due to the fact that this move tracks only on startup, it is not perfect at contesting the air, but it's initial angle can snipe many aerial approaches. M - - - - - - - None The medium version bounces along the ground at a slow and steady rate, making it a very good and long lasting check against characters that want to approach from the ground, and enhancing Botan's anti-air options as a result. H - - - - - - - None The heavy version is quite different from the standard variants; It shoots an array of explosions slightly above and in front of Botan's head. This is a very big and rather fast move that contests a lot of airspace and sends them far, making it useful as a twitch anti-air to react with.

214X

Quickscope 214L/M/H (Low) (Low) (High) (High) MLG Trickshot MLG Trickshot

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability L 90 Mid - - - - - None Grounded sniper shot. Absurd low profile at the cost of long startup make this move perfect as an "anti-projectile projectile", and with full superchat, it can lead to a good amount of damage anywhere on the screen. Use with caution as it can be jumped over on reaction. M 90 Mid - - - - - None Anti-air sniper shot. Shoots at a 45 degree angle and gives an incredible wallbounce on hit, making it confirmable at some very long ranges. High-risk high-reward anti-air that works best in conjunction with grounded grenades (236M) to cover it. H 120 Mid - - - - - None Botan leaps with her sniper rifle, and after similar startup to the other two variants, deals a hit at her opponent without any projectile spawning, no matter where they are on-screen. It's slow startup means it can't confirm off of everything, but due to it possessing a similar wallbounce as 214B on airborne opponents, it can be a very powerful combo extender or punish tool.

22L

Tactical Roll 22L

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability - - - - - - - None 2S performs this move. Botan rolls backwards. Botan cannot use standard attacks during this animation, but she has access to 3 followups, based on the button pressed during it. Moves her hurtbox quickly, but is otherwise rather sluggish, so it's recommended to cancel this move into one of it's followups more often then not. Anytime during the animation, Botan can press L to use 214L, M to use 214M, and H to use 22M. Her gun series from the roll seems to have faster startup, so they make a good reaction punish should you see your roll dodge an attack, and a good check if your opponent is running to punish your roll. H followup can be used to leap over attacks and punish opponents trying to wait and react, but otherwise it's rather risky.

22M/H

Lioness Leap 22M/H Functionally similar to Akuma's "Demon Flip" from Street Fighter. Functionally similar to Akuma's "Demon Flip" from Street Fighter. M Follow-Up M Follow-Up H Follow-Up H Follow-Up

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability M - High - - - - - None Botan does a slow frontflip. Botan cannot use standard attacks during this animation, but she has access to 2 followups, based on the button pressed during it. The hop has limited utility at going over moves, but otherwise finds the bulk of its use as a mix-up against opponents who block a lot. Her first followup comes out by pressing L and M, with an animation resembling j.M but much much faster in startup. This option hits high. Her second followup comes out by pressing H, and resembles her air grab, but it works on standing opponents. The mix-up is that the M and L follow-up must be blocked by blocking high, and the H follow-up must be avoided by crouching. This mix-up can be escaped by backdashing if it is done too far away, and simply reacting with 5L if done predictably in pressure, so it often find's its use after a blocked grenade or a knockdown, to prevent these options. H - Unblockable - - - - - None H leap is very similar to M leap, with one small change; It's follow-ups can be used extremely early, giving a mix-up thats terrifyingly fast. 22H~L/M is an unreasonably quick overhead that is plain unreactable, but should they somehow block it, you can start using 22H~H instead. While these options are very hard to play around, they are also expensive at 1 meter, and low damage as Botan cannot combo after them without assist setup, so it's most intuitive use is often to 'checkmate' low hp opponents

j.214H

Bullet Rain j.214H	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability - - - - - - - None A retreating attack where Botan sprays her guns to propel herself away from the opponent. Use it to bait out opponents that try to counter your aerial approach.

22S

Trials Ascending 22S

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability - - - - - -11 - None Botan's Idol Skill, increasing her Superchat meter by $25 when used. Somehow tracks the opponent even if they cross-up to opposite side. Uses 1 Star Meter. An advancing armored attack where Botan charges forward in her shopping cart. The shopping cart will absorb hits for Botan, so it is good for getting her out of a tricky situation.

Super Star Attack

Get To Da Choppa! 236S	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Adv. on Block Adv. on Hit Invulnerability 255 Air Unblockable 38 10 - - - None Anti-air super. Botan does a large leap that only hits airborne opponents, and a cinematic plays should she hit her opponent, doing large amounts of damage.

Combos

General

(WIP)

Legend [] means 'optional'

() means number of hits in a multi-hit attack when not all hits are used.

> means 'cancel'

, means 'link' to let the previous move finish completely and then combo

AA means 'Anti-Air'

dl means 'delay'

Please note that at the time of writing, the game is very new. Combos and Okizeme will most likely need to be re-evaluated by experienced players at a later date, as they are almost certainly not optimal.

Botan's Combos are quite range and position specific, primarily revolving around her various wallbounce and ground bounce limits. Combos can change both in difficulty depending on what you have access to and how close you are the corner, forcing the player to adjust on the fly.

Botan's damage output is fairly high but consistency and optimization can be tricky, so it's better to think of these combos as examples than hard rules to follow. Use your own experience and skill to experiment for what works for you. And remember, any damage is good damage instead of dropping a combo at a bad time.

Basic and Universal

These combos work on everyone and aren't too difficult.

Combo	Difficulty	Damage	Cost	Meter Gain	Location
[5L/2L] > 5M(3)~M > 2M > 5H(3) > 2H > dl 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Anywhere
Works from close range Starters. Basic BnB combo. 3H only needs to be delayed a little and it connects after 2H. Ending in 3H gives Botan her best knockdown for pressure and mixups. Youtube
[5L/2L] > 2M > 5H(3) > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Anywhere
When too far away for 5M to connect. If Botan's not close enough to the opponent, 2H will not connect. 5H can also be replaced with 6M if that feels more comfortable to use. Youtube
[5L/2L] > 5M(3)~M > 2M > 5H(3) > 2H > 214M, 5L > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > 2H, 6M > dl 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Midscreen
Variant of the first combo, incoperating a wallbounce for extra damage. The standard combo that most of the harder combos will be based on. Learning this will teach you the basics of optimizing Botan's combos. Youtube
2H, 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Anywhere
Basic Anti-air combo from 2H. Youtube
Air Throw > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > 2H, 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Anywhere
Basic Air Throw combo. Youtube

Midscreen

Keep in mind that if the combo starts too close to the corner, one of the wallbounces may have to be skipped and end the combo early as it risks bouncing the opponent out of the corner.

Combo	Difficulty	Damage	Cost	Meter Gain	Location
5L/2L] > 5M(3)~M > 2M > 5H(3) > 2H > 214M, 5A > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > 2H > 22LM, jump Air Throw > 5M(1) > 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Midscreen
Works from close range Starters. The standard combo that most of the following combos will be based on. Depending on skill and resources, it can be further optimized with meter or including 3H before the first Gunshot for extra damage. Depending on height and when 5L hits, it's possible to let all 3 hits of 5M hit airborne targets, but this can be inconsistent. If landing the air throw feels inconsistent, it can be skipped and go straight into 5L > 5M(1) instead. Youtube
[5L/2L]> 5M(3)~M > 2M > 5H(3) > 2H > 214M, 2M > 5H(3) > 2H > 22LM, jump Air Throw > 5M(1) > 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Midscreen
Basically the same as above, but with 2M instead of 5L > 5M(1). Doesn't work on Ayame due to her small hitbox. Youtube
AA 2H, 6M > dl 3C > 214M, 5L > dl 5M(3) > dl 5H(3) > dl 3C > 22LM, 5L > 5M(3) > 5H(3) > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Midscreen
Anti-air combo from 2H. Due to 2H using up the ground bounce at the first hit, it's not possible to use it again to extend the combo as it will just result in a knockdown. Due to the number of 3H in this combo, it hits the combo limit at the end and becomes a soft knockdown. Youtube
AA 2H > 22LM, 5L > dl 5M(3) > dl 5H(3) > dl 3H > 214M, 5L > 5M(3) > 5H(3) > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Midscreen
Variant Anti-air combo from 2H. Same as above, but going straight into 22LM can give consistency depending on screen position, especially as 22LM can be delayed to make the wallbounce work even close to the corner. Youtube
Air Throw > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > dl 3H 214M, 5L > 5M(3) > 5H(3) > 2H > 22LM, jump Air Throw > 5M(1) > 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Midscreen
Air Throw combo. Youtube

Corner

Combo	Difficulty	Damage	Cost	Meter Gain	Location
[5L/2L] > 5M(3)~M > 2M > 5H(3) > 2H > dl 3H > 236M, jump Air Throw > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > 2H > 236M, jump Air Throw > 5M(1) > 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Corner
Grenade loop. The 3H > 236M is necessary to make the first grenade work on small hitbox characters. The combo works even when at a distance where the first 5M whiffs the to the corner making 5H > 2H consistent even when spaced out.
Air Throw > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > dl 3H > 236M, jump Air Throw > 5M(1) > 5H(3) > 2H, 6M > 3H		???	0 bar	??? Opp: ???	Corner
Corner Air Throw combo. Due to the combo limit of connecting 3 Air Throws, a small variant of the combo can instead be done with only 1 grenade.

Okizeme

• 3H
  • • Our main meterless okizeme ender. Can be special cancelled at various timings for a meaty 22M setup, or left to recover for more options

• • Mixup A | 22M/22H High/Low/Throw
    • From 3H ender, you either manually time a 22M, or use 22L as soon as possible then use it's H followup, to put yourself in a position where
      • A: You can meaty with L/M followup
      • B: You can hit with H followup before they can respond with a normal
      • C: You land then use 2L option (Due to this option needing more time, it is recommended to use it from higher 3H knockdowns such as 2H > 3H)
    • How you set this up varies on how your 3H connects. A 6M > 3H knockdown will likely require 22L > 22M, whereas a 2H > 3H will require some sort of delay.
    • Example: https://youtu.be/ot5dpkVv2hM

• • Mixup B | j9 (Forward Jump) > j2H
    • From 3H ender, you let 3H recover, then do a forward jump, and use j.2H at different timings to appear on different sides. Then, you land and 2L.
    • Due to this option needing 3H to recover, it is recommended to use it from higher 3H knockdowns such as 2H > 3H
    • Example: https://youtu.be/-eYa3gi0ScE

Matchups

Vs. Aki

Matchup advice goes here.

Vs. Ayame

Matchup advice goes here.

Vs. Botan

Matchup advice goes here.

Vs. Coco

Matchup advice goes here.

Vs. Fubuki

Matchup advice goes here.

Vs. Korone

Matchup advice goes here.

Vs. Sora

236M (Ground grenades) become much harder to use due to her reflector (22M). 6M can be punished at a lot of ranges on block by 5M. Since zoning becomes more of a two-way street, this match-up requires a lot of patience and capitilisation on your knockdown oppurtunities to snowball the game.

Vs. Suisei

Matchup advice goes here.

External Resources

• Twitter Tech: #ISD_BOT

Colors

Original Outfit

Cosplay 1

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Yukihana Lamy (Hololive)

Cosplay 2

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Momosuzu Nene (Hololive)

Cosplay 3

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Omaru Polka (Hololive)

Cosplay 4

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Mano Aloe (Hololive)

Cosplay 5

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Dante (Devil May Cry)

Cosplay 6

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Noel (BlazBlue)