YomiHustle/Ninja

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Links

Profile

Ninja is a mix-up heavy rushdown character, capable of using her superior movement abilities and high number of options to force highly advantageous situations, while almost always having an escape option. As the only character with a projectile invincible attack, an invincible "reversal" in the form of Uppercut, and a frame 4 interruptible movement option, Ninja is capable of using her superior tools to alternate between forcing her opponent's hand, and explosive offense and punishes.

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Strengths

Weaknesses

Fast: Possessing the fastest dash in the game, an omnidirectional airdash, and two separate movement specials in Substitution and Store/Release Momentum, Ninja can rapidly create pressure and score hits where other characters may struggle, while constantly building meter. A tool for everything: Ninja has a tool to beat nearly every option an opponent has while in neutral and advantage. This is amplified at close-range, with Punch beating all offensive options and movement except for grab, and Drop Kick beating or evading all basic defensive options. Setplay: Sticky Bomb, Summon, and Shuriken are incredible tools to control space and force opponents into unfavorable guessing situations, frequently denying some options from being used. Resets: Ninja is able to use her various tools to keep pressure and extend combos, with Free Cancel enbling potent frame traps and callouts. High corner carry: From mid-stage, Ninja can consistently bring opponents into view of the corner from a single clean combo starter, especially on DI out. This enables her to loop pressure and constantly retain advantage. High reward for high risk: Ninja is the only character with moves possessing Initiative Bonus invincibility, beating offensive options outright if used before your opponent is acting. This opens the door for terrifying situations, as Ninja can simply power through a majority of aggressive options and convert into high damage combos, complementing her speed and pressure.

Small range (without meter): Without long range options, Ninja's threat range is the smallest in the game without dash momentum or projectile setplay. Quick Slash remedies this by being extremely long-range, but has low conversion ability against good DI, and costs 1 bar of meter per use. Setup reliant: Most character are able to move or control space in a way that denies Ninja her preferred point-blank range. Against defensive play and optimal spacing, Ninja may need to rely on setplay to get into range to begin pressure and mixups. High risk for high reward: The more oppressive an option Ninja has, the more punishable it is on read or on whiff, losing to simple defensive options and movement without pressure and conditioning to back up the play. This can lead to taking long combos or spending resources to make up for whiffs.

Ninja

Move List

Movement

Dash

Dash

Forward Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - - - 8-15 - - 0 - Can be interrupted when your opponent becomes actionable. IASA scales based on distance in neutral, but is always 8 in combos. Great way to close distance, being less committal than a Teleport and travelling further than Wizard's Dash. Can be paired with Store Momentum to create an even better approach/escape option for later.

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Back Dash

Back Dash	Back Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - 0 - 9 - - 0 - Does not become actionable if the opponent uses forward movement. A very fast and safe movement option, can be used to dodge attacks and react to their recovery. Often puts you out of range to punish, but can be used to get advantage to start your offense.
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Super Dash

Super Dash	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - - - 25 - - 0 - Interruptible on the opponent's turn.
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Jump

Jump	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - - - 8-15 - - 0 - Short jumps are 8f to act. Grounded large jumps are 11f to act, but are upped to 15f if jumping straight up or backwards. In the air, large jumps are always 11f.
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Super Jump

Super Jump	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - - - - - - 0 -
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Airdash

Airdash The other three wish they had something like this The other three wish they had something like this

Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - - - 8-15 - - 0 - Can be interrupted when your opponent becomes actionable. IASA scales based on distance in neutral. Airdashing backwards has +4 frames of startup and IASA. The movement option. It's as fast as a forward dash, except it's also omnidirectional. Opens up punish opportunities, escape routes, combo extensions, Airdash does it all. You only get two per air time, but most of the time it's more than enough to do whatever you need in any given scenario.

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Normals

Punch

Punch Ground version. A really fast and useful jab. Ground version. A really fast and useful jab. Air version. A situational air-to-air, or a combo extender. Air version. A situational air-to-air, or a combo extender.

Ground Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 300 4 2 14 - High 2 - Tied for fastest strike in the game. It's a regular jab in all of its glory. Not ideal as a combo starter, considering how harsh the scaling is, but with the right route you can get quite a bit of damage off a frame 4 low-commitment attack with surprisingly decent reach. Air Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 400 5 2 22 - High 0 - Something you throw out mid-combo to save more damaging moves from hitstun scaling. Sometimes it's even optimal, considering its less susceptible to ground DI compared to Air Kick or Chuck Spin. Also a decent way to stuff out predicted aerial approaches.

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Kick

Kick Ground version Ground version Air version Air version

Ground Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700 5 3 19 - Low 1 - The Shoto Kick. It's actually really great, all things considered. Fast, good reach, especially with momentum, gets slightly more damaging combos than Punch, due to both better Proration and higher advantage on hit. Also, it's a frame 5 low, meaning it is a good mixup option that doesn't leave you completely open for a punish in case they roll away or something. Also, a great restand. Air Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700 5 7 40 - High 0 - Sends the opponent downwards. Knocks down.

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Sweep

Sweep Damn he's gonna be in hitstun for years, huh? Damn he's gonna be in hitstun for years, huh?	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1200 7 2 29 - Low -1 - Usable in NunChuk stance. Special cancellable. Knocks down. A niche punish and combo tool. Has great damage and proration, and infinite hitstun until the opponent hits the ground, which turns your combo into a sandbox if the opponent DIs Up.
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SlideKick

Slide Kick The Leg The Leg

Slide Kick Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700 7 8 17 - Low 0 - Low Profiles and Projectile Invulnerable starting on frame 3. Does not hit cancel. Usable in Backsway stance. Minimum damage 150 (this basically doesn't matter) Very long and active poke, can be used to punish out of Backsway when Uppercut won't hit. Has a ton of forward momentum, and very low friction, which allows you to fly across the screen when used with some existing momentum. Due to the lack of hit cancel, it can be very hard to follow up on, unless you hit with the late active frames of the move.

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NunChuk

NunChuk NunChuk NunChuk NunChuk (High) NunChuk (High) Red Wave Red Wave Chuk Heavy Chuk Heavy Chuk Jump Chuk Jump

NunChuk Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 800 7 3 19 - High 0 - Enters into NunChuk stance (on hit or whiff) Fires Red Wave if used after Chuk Heavy. Very solid combo tool with decent damage and an easy followup in to Chuk Jump early in combos. NunChuk (High) Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1000(700) 6 3 19 - High 0 - Enters into NunChuk stance (on hit or whiff) Close hit does 700 damage and launches grounded opponents. Also able to fire Red Wave. An okay anti-air, but the best one Ninja has at range. Can be decent in combos due to high damage. Red Wave Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 900/800 6 - - - High 0 - Unparriable. Causes soft knockdown. Cannot be substituted to. Can be fired diagonally upwards. Has a weak hit on the back of the projectile. Minimum Damage 400/300. Extremely potent projectile that cannot be parried. Highly versatile, filling a wide array of niches from increasing damage in combos to forcing the opponent to take chip damage. Overall a very strong tool, but is held back by having to be charged via Chuk Heavy, leaving you very vulnerable without burning a Free Cancel. Chuk Heavy Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 350, 350, 500 7 2,2,2 16 - High -1 - Only usable in Chuk stance. All 3 hits increase combo scaling. First 2 hits have significantly smaller SDI and DI modifiers, as well as less knockback. 3rd hit has a slightly larger hitbox. Charges Red Wave. Decent in combos, but where this move really shines is in charging Red Wave. If the opponent is significantly far away, it may be worth it to whiff this in neutral to gain access to it. Chuk Jump Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1200 7 4 16 - High 0 - Can be performed in Chuk Stance, and in the air after Chuk Spin or another Chuk Jump.

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Chuk Spin

Chuk Spin	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700*3 6 4,4,3 40 - High 0 - Air only. Your standard air combo move, has good damage and is easy to combo off of, but usually needs a resource to combo off of on DI up. This is your best tool to combo into sticky bomb in air combos.
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Drop Kick

Drop Kick A live demonstration of why you should respect Ninja's grab game. Always. A live demonstration of why you should respect Ninja's grab game. Always.	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1100 11 5 22 - High 0 - Airborne frame 1. Wall Splats. A high damaging ground combo tool, but difficult to follow up on outside of the corner due to having high knockback.
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Dive Kick

Dive Kick Possibly inspired by the hit ps3 game, Divekick. Possibly inspired by the hit ps3 game, Divekick.	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 600 12 (6) Until Landing Until Landing+4 - High 0 - Has 3 possible angles. Startup is halved with Initiative. Special cancellable(Is now attack- and jump-cancellable) Stops vertical momentum on startup Useful for restanding opponents close to the ground, in combination with shuriken.
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Stomp

Stomp	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700 11 4 23 - Low 0 - Hits OTG. Jump and super cancellable. A useful combo tool due to its ability to continue combos on knockdown.
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Universal Mechanics

Throw

Grab	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700 3 3 15 - Throw 0 - Universal throw. Usable in Backsway and NunChuk Stance. Knocks down. Does 1100 damage as the first hit of a combo. Not free cancellable. Weak to DI down, but can often still be a combo starter due to Stomp OTG.
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Specials

Shuriken

Shuriken The shoto fireball, but now with angles and controllable speed! The shoto fireball, but now with angles and controllable speed!	Ground Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 400 6 - 13 - High 0 - Air Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 300 6 - 11 - High 0 -
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Grappling Hook

Grappling Hook The cornerstone of the Ninja Space Program™ The cornerstone of the Ninja Space Program™

Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - 7 - 14 - - 0 - Throw out a grappling hook that can stick to almost anything, players, projectiles, walls, and the floor. It has no hitstun, but once attached, you can toggle the pull option to pull yourself towards the hook. This allows for crazy movement mixups or combos that aren't normally possible. In particular, you can pull to an airborne target while using a grounded move to perform that grounded move in the air, which can really catch your opponent off guard, or allow for using powerful moves like palm strike in an air combo.

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Uppercut

Uppercut The only DP in the game The only DP in the game

Ground Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1200+600 4 2,4 40 - High 2 - Invincible during startup with Initiative. First hit is only cancellable with burst cancel. Second hit is not cancellable. Usable in Backsway Stance. Air Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1500 6 5 40 - High 0 - No invincibility. Only cancellable on landing.

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Jump Kick

Jump Kick "Block this overhead" "Block this overhead"	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 1000 11 8 Until Landing+15 (43 Grounded) - High 0 - Air OK. First 24 frames have projectile invulnerability. Special cancellable. Wall Splats. Useful in neutral due to its ability to (somewhat) safely get through more dangerous projectiles at the cost of a free cancel.
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Sticky Bomb

Sticky Bomb "Hey wanna think about another option in neutral?" "Hey wanna think about another option in neutral?"

Grab Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 400 10(16 on whiff) 4 Until Landing+4 (28 Grounded), 16 After Grab - Command Grab 0 - Detonation Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 800 (1000) 2 2 - - High 1(0) - Air OK. Grab knocks down. Ninja drops the Sticky Bomb at frame 16 if the command grab whiffs. Sticky Bomb explodes by itself after 120 frames. Can be detonated manually at any time when Ninja can choose an action. This move is a godsend. It ends combos with an amazing setup that makes the opponent second-guess every option they take, it is a gimmicky movement option that spawns a great substitution point, it even extends combos at will. If you can land this move, do it. It's always worth it. The manual detonation has lower damage and incredibly high proration however, which limits the damage potential of combos off this move.

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Summon

Summon Up Forward Up Forward Forward Forward Down Forward Down Forward Slide Slide

Kunai (Up-Forward) Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700x3 5+24 - 11 - High 0 - Air OK. Adds a slight upwards boost in the air. Ninja summons a clone below them which throws three pairs of kunais upwards at a relatively small angle. Generally used either as an aerial combo filler, because teleporting it straight into your opponent leads to good damage, or to just be annoying to someone very high up in the air. Kunai (Forward) Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700x3 5+24 - 11 - High 0 - Air OK. Adds a slight upwards boost in the air. Ninja summons a clone slightly above them which throws three pairs of kunais forward in a 45 degree radius. A decent way to cover up the general area in front of you. Can be substituted before throwing the kunais to cover grounded approaches. In combos you either use it the same way you would use an Up-Forward summon, meaning substituting right in their face, or you substitute with the lower kunai to get a little more corner carry or to continue the combo where it would've dropped for various reasons. It's pretty versatile as a combo extender in general, so feel free to cook up your own stuff. Kunai (Down-Forward) Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 700x3 5+24 - 11 - High 0 - Air OK. Adds a slight upwards boost in the air. Ninja summons a clone very high above them, which throws three pairs of kunais downwards in a wide radius. This is the neutral. The angles at which kunais are sent at make it really obnoxious to get in on Ninja, while they can just substitute to whatever one they desire in return. This move has an entire bible of knowledge checks associated with it, and you can definitely find another one if you scratch your head hard enough. Go nuts. It's really neat. Also the outer kunai's shallow angle makes it very good at restanding people. Slide Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 650 4 30 11 - Low 0 - Air OK. Adds a slight upwards boost in the air. Ninja summons a clone that falls down and initiates a slide upon landing. A really great combo extender. For some reason it was given 50 frames of hitstun on hit, and it leaves them standing if they land anywhere during that hitstun, leading either to a really comfortable air string (which Ninja appreciates a lot) or the easiest restand of your life. You have all the time in the world to setup the nastiest extension of your life if this hits. If it whiffs, however, you're kind of stuck without another summon for a pretty long time, which is not great, considering that this clone is not good for neutral purposes. However, can be used for setups as a really active lingering hitbox, or to simply teleport respectable distances if the situation is not pleasant.

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Store/Release Momentum

Store/Release Momentum The flex tape of the ninja community The flex tape of the ninja community

Store Momentum Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage N/A 1 - 11 - - 0 - Air OK. Unable to be used if you already have stored momentum. Saves your current speed and direction, and halts your movement. Occasionally useful to stop yourself from getting into a terrible spot or to get a better combo extension, because, being a special move, it can be cancelled into. However, this move's greatness is not what it does, but what it unlocks... Release Momentum Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage N/A 1 - 5 - - 0 - Air OK. Costs 1 bar. Only usable after Store Momentum ...which is arguably the best super in the entire game. Even looking at this thing at face value, its a busted mobility tool, which allows you to make up a ridiculous approach or a near-uncontestable escape at the cost of a single bar, which is something Ninja almost always has. If we dig deeper into it, it also opens up some new combo routes, because it can be cancelled into off of anything. Throw conversions even on DI Down, awkward routes becoming way more lenient, simply showing off - the sky's the limit, really. Even beyond that, however, this move's total duration is 4 frames. Four. Combined with its ability to be flipped, this quirky little trait means that any aggressive option your opponent can throw out, even at point-blank range, is either completely reactable, meaning they have to spend FC to enforce any kind of a mixup, or whiffs altogether, once again requiring an FC to not eat a punish. This move is insane. Make sure you have access to it whenever possible.

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Store/Release Momentum

Substitution So like, imagine Cowboy's teleport, except the commitment is gone. Yeah. So like, imagine Cowboy's teleport, except the commitment is gone. Yeah.

Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage N/A 6 - 10 - - 0 - Air OK. Swaps ninja with the most recently generated projectile within a certain range. Using flip will swap the direction of the swapped projectile. Can swap with the summon before the kunai projectiles are thrown. When multiple projectiles are thrown (kunai, caltrops) substitution will prioritize the lowest thrown kunai, or the farthest thrown caltrop. This is not affected by your distance to the projectiles. Reactivates the hitbox on a parried/blocked projectile. Yet another get-out-of-jail-free card in a toolkit thats already full of those. Although its a little slower than the other ones, swapping places only at frame 5, it more than makes up for it by being the most accessible escape option: as long as you have at least a single projectile anywhere in your vicinity (which, chances are, you do), you have a solid chance of escaping any potential threat the opponent can throw at you. Not to mention this move's great combo applications, both as a means to send something like a decently damaging Kunai into their face and as a means to reposition in case they're too far to follow-up normally. Basically, you have a million opportunities to spam this, and you should take at least 90% of them.

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Whip Wave

Whip Wave I'm not gonna sugarcoat it! I'm not gonna sugarcoat it!	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 800,400 11,13 2 15 - Low 0 - Only available in Chuk stance. Has an initial melee hit before the projectile comes out. First hit is only super cancellable. Projectile has knockdown and OTG.
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Backsway

Backsway Backsway Backsway Palm Strike a.k.a Pilebunker Palm Strike a.k.a Pilebunker

Backsway Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage N/A - - 12 - - 0 - First 9 frames are invulnerable with Initiative. Transitions into Backsway stance. Palm Strike Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 2000 3 5 30 - High 0 - Minimum Damage: 700 Not cancellable. Wall Splats. Usually a combo ender, since it resets to neutral, but has high minimum damage. Can be comboed off of with Caltrops for massive damage late in combos, however.

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Skull Shaker

Skull Shaker

Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 800 8 2 28 - High 0 - Always puts opponent grounded, does not launch. If it would have launched, the next hit launches instead. Wall Splats. Puts the opponent into a "dizzy" hitstun state where they cannot be grabbed (including by this move). An advancing hitgrab with adjustable distance. Allows for easy restands in combos due to its unique property to always put the opponent grounded. Has reduced DI influence, allowing it to combo more easily despite having low hitstun, but cannot combo into itself due to its dizzy hitstun state preventing grab followups.

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Supers

Quick Slash

Quick Slash THIS UGLY SON OF A #@!%$ IS USING 1 BAR TO COMPLETELY SKIP NEUTRAL. HOW? ...JUST WATCH. THIS UGLY SON OF A #@!%$ IS USING 1 BAR TO COMPLETELY SKIP NEUTRAL. HOW? ...JUST WATCH.

Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 400 7 1 41 - High 1 - Costs 1 bar. Air OK. Invulnerable frames 5-6 with Initiative. Interrupted sooner by landing. Damage increased to 1000 in neutral. Super cancellable. This thing has two main applications attached to it, and both of them are equally as good: it's either a cracked movement option, or a neutral skip. It's not great when attacking directly in combos due to low damage, limited followups, and being easy to DI. If you do use it in combo however, you can Inst. Cancel to get a better follow up than another Quick Slash. However, given enough hitstun, you can strategically whiff this super to get right in their face and still have enough frame advantage to follow-up, which allows you to get really good corner carry, damage, or both. It's also decent as an escape option with the potential to hit someone with it, but make sure you use a free cancel with it! In neutral, this button skips past a lot of threatening pokes to attack your opponent directly, with relatively low risk if you use a free cancel. However, its properties are adjusted in neutral to stop it from comboing, so it's more for resetting the situation and getting closer to your opponent than starting a combo. It can, however, combo if the opponent is airbourne or on counter hit.

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Caltrops

Caltrops These are the gray X of pain These are the gray X of pain	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage 500 6 - 21 - High(Airborne) Low(Ground, Unparryable) 0 - Costs 3 bars. Air OK. Incredible combo tool due to high hitstun. Can be used to set up unblockable situations with meaty grab.
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Hustle

Hustle Look at which finger i'm holding up. Look at which finger i'm holding up.	Damage Startup Active First Actionable Frame Advantage * Guard Proration Block Advantage - 13 - 45 - - 0 - Cancellable into NunChuk options on Frame 13. Builds 1 bar of super on frame 45. Useful to build meter in combos when your opponent is in a lot of hitstun, such as from an air kick launcher. Can be used to access NunChuk stance options faster than whiffing NunChuk.
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