Samurai Shodown/Earthquake

Earthquake
アースクェイク, Āsukweiku

Introduction

Earthquake has strong control over the mid-range, with many of his key pokes knocking down on hit. His dangerous ranged lows force the opponent to crouch-block often, restricting their movement. On top of that, he has reliable and strong punishment tools from any range, and a great WFT to boot.

Somewhat surprisingly for a character of his statue, Earthquake is also remarkably difficult to pin down, as he has access to a walljump, a teleport and even a weird pseudo-divekick that can alter his jump trajectory. His jumping normals are excellent, with j.C in particular being one of the most oppressive air-to-ground normals in the entire game. On the flipside, Earthquake has some of the worst ground movement among the cast, forcing him to play a much slower paced game than other characters. His normals are also slow to recover and easy to jump over, making mistakes very costly for him.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Long reach Surprisingly okay mobility Reliable Punishment	Sluggish normals Slow walk speed, slowest run speed in the game Big hurtbox

Data

• Damage Taken: 95%
• Rage Factor: 0.28
• Rage Duration: 10 seconds
• Jump: 48 frames (Slow)
• Forward Walk Speed: 0.15 (Extremely Slow)
• Back Walk Speed: 0.12 (Extremely Slow)
• Dash Speed: 0.55 (Extremely Slow)
• Back Dash: 27 frames
• Weapon Pickup / Drop: 40 / 70 frames

Gameplan

Similar to the Strategy section of the 5sp wiki pages. List Earthquake archetype, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Sample subsections could include Neutral, Okizeme, etc.

Setting up Command Grabs

Fat Bomber is a neat little addition to Earthquake's moveset that has a surprising number of useful setups. It only deals around 140 damage, but it has good range, recovers quickly and gives you a knockdown, which EQ can build momentum off of.

From A/B Chainsaw

Cancelling 5A into A Fat Chainsaw from tip range won't actually hit the opponent but it will move you into point blank range. Since Chainsaw recovers so quickly and because your opponent is probably looking for a block punish, you can sneak in a grab here. If your opponent knows about the setup, mix it up with B chainsaw.

From full screen, quickly whiff cancel 5A into B Chainsaw as a sort of pseudo-command dash. This will place you directly in front of the opponent - again, without actually hitting them. You can go into A chainsaw instead as a fake-out or into C chainsaw if you really wanna party (C Chainsaw is heavily punishable though - beware).

From 66C

66C works a bit like Zangief's f.MK in Street Fighter V - It's a very active forward moving attack that's unsafe on block but quick to recover. Because its hitbox is so tall, it also catches people trying to jump over you quite reliably. Once they respect 66C, go for the command grab.

From Fat Bomber

If you read the opponent's forward roll after a successfull Fat Bomber, do nothing and wait for your opponent to roll towards you. Rolls lose throw invulnerability on wakeup so you can do a meaty command throw and make them hate life.

From j.A/j.D

Not recommended. A deep j.A or j.D leaves you at a very small amount of frame advantage on block. This is usually enough to beat jabs with your own n.5A or 5D but not enough to get a true command grab mixup. Simply jumping will beat both options.

Normal Moves

Far Slashes

5A

5A

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 40 Mid 8 - - - -6 -5 - Yes - Yes No Premium jab with big range that's also special cancellable. Combos into A Chainsaw at close ranges. Hilliariously more unsafe on hit than on block. Nevertheless, this is a great button with a multitude of applications. Learn to piano 5A into each strength of Fat Chainsaw for easy access in the neutral.

5B

5B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 100 Mid 14 - - - -9 -14 - No - Yes No Pretty reliable mid-range poke with a nice balance of speed and range. Sadly -14, sou you'll usually eat a f.5B in retalliation if this is blocked. Causes a backflip against jumping oponents.

5C

5C footsies, lol footsies, lol	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 70*70*100 Mid 13 - - - -10~-8 -36 - No - Disarm No Your go-to punisher if the opponent does something stupid. Guaranteed followup after backthrow from midscreen. Be careful, since the 3rd hit can whiff on very close opponents making this button punishable ON HIT!

2A

2A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 40 Mid 8 - - - -5 -5 - Yes - Yes No Functionally identical to 5A. Also combos into A Chainsaw

2B

2B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 90 Low 13 - - - KD -17 - No - No No Decently fast knockdown low with great range, therefore extremely useful.

2C

2C Three hits Three hits	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 60*60*80 Low 15 - 54 - -21~-10 -36 - No - No No Like 5C, but a low. Slightly shorter and less damaging.

Near Slashes

n.5A

n.5A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 40 Mid 8 - - - -6 -5 - Yes - Yes No Also identical to f.5A.

n.5B

n.5B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 100 Mid 10 - - - -2 -12 - No - Yes No Similar animation to n.5A but does more damage. Although it can't be canceled, it can offer more upfront damage, in the case where the opponent is highly likely to burst, than n.5A cancel combo. Otherwise n.5A xx A Fat Chainsaw will do more damage.

n.5C

n.5C	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 200 Mid 12 - - - -4 -28 - No - Yes No Very fast for a heavy, at only 12f. Really nice punisher.

n.2A

n.2A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 40 - 8 - - - -6 -5 - Yes - Yes No Same exact move as f.2A.

n.2B

n.2B File:SS Earthquake n2B.png	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 100 - 8 - - - -5 -12 - No - Yes No Similar animation to n.5B. Has faster startup but does less damage.

Kicks

5D

5D Hits two times Hits two times	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed (20)(20) Mid, Mid 7 - - - -6 -9 - Yes - No Yes Earthquakes fastest normal, although not his safest as it can be punished on hit by some characters. Has decent range and hits twice. Very useful for hit-confirming into WFT.

6D

6D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 50 Mid 10 - - - KD -21 - No - No Yes Knocks opponent to the other side of the screen. Apparently a decent anti-air against characters with low jump-arcs. Very unsafe on block.

2D

2D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 30 Low 10 - - - -5 -8 - No - No Yes An OK get-off-me button. Notable for having longer reach than most other 2Ds but it's mostly outclassed by 66D in almost every way.

3D

3D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 70 Low 10 - - - KD -17 - No - No Yes Earthquake's pathetic attempt at a knockdown sweep. Your hurtbox actually moves quite far down during the animation.

Dash Normals

66A

66A Earthquakes worst normal. Earthquakes worst normal.	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 40 Mid 9 - - - -9 -42 - No - Yes No His worst normal. Slower than your regular 5A. -9 even on hit. Do not use 66A.

66B

66B [insert dummy thicc joke here] [insert dummy thicc joke here]	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 80 High 23 - - - KD -18 - No - No No Slow, long range overhead with hella active frames that knocks down on hit. Quite punishable, even at tip range so think twice before throwing this out.

66C

66C	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 130 Mid 11 - - - KD -15 - No - No No Medium-risk medium-reward button with deceptively short range. Works surprisingly well as a predictive anti-air. Since you recover relatively fast from this attack, you can try and whiff this on purpose to set up a command grab.

66D

66D Sliding into your DMs like Sliding into your DMs like	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 60 Low 6 - - - KD -9 - No - No Yes Long range, undeflectable, very fast knockdown low that is -9 at worst. Incredible normal.

Air Normals

j.A

j.A	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 30 High 8 - - - - - - - - - - Earthquake inherited all of his air normals from Samurai Shodown 6. If you've never played Earthquake in SS6, that's probably for the better. j.A is just your standard air-to-air jab. Decently large hitbox and quick to come out.

j.B

j.B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 100 - 9 - - - - - - - - - - Long range air-to-air with great horizontal range. Useful in certain matchups. Doesn't hit grounded opponents at all anymore.

j.C

j.C Three hits Three hits	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 50*50*60 High 12 - - - - - - - - - - Extremely annoying button. Huge range, safe (or sometimes even +) on block, highly damaging. Unfortunalely too slow to be used as an instant overhead. Abuse liberally.

j.D

j.D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 30 High 7 - - - - - - - - - - j.D is probably your most reliable anti-air due to its speed and generous hitbox, especially against characters with fast jumps such as Darli and Charlotte. It can cross up and it neatly sets up command grabs for you. Great multi-purpose button.

Unarmed Normals

u.5S

u.5S	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 50 Mid 7 - - - -5 -10 - - - - Yes

u.2S

u.2S File:SS Earthquake u2S.png	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 50 Mid 7 - - - -3 -8 - - - - Yes

ju.S

ju.S	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 50 High 6 - - - - - - - - - Yes Very similar to j.A, but even faster, and slightly more damaging. This is actually an incredible anti-air, so don't let people jump at you for free when you get disarmed!

u.66S

u.66S	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed - - - - - - - - - - - - Yes

Universal Mechanics

Guard Break

Guard Break (Throw) 4/5/6C+D Neutral Throw Neutral Throw File:SS Earthquake 4CD.png Forward Throw Forward Throw File:SS Earthquake 6CD.png Back Throw Back Throw	Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed Neutral - - - - - - - - - - - - - Universal throw. Can be followed up with an attack. Back - - - - - - - - - - - - - Universal throw. Can be followed up with an attack. Forward - - - - - - - - - - - - - Universal throw. Can be followed up with an attack.

Surprise Attack

Surprise Attack (Overhead) 5B+C File:SS Earthquake 5BC.png	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 60 - 20~21 - 61 - 1~2 -12~-11 - No - - - Universal overhead.

Dodge

Dodge 5A+B	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 0 N/A 1 16 22 - N/A N/A - N/A - N/A Yes Universal dodge. Avoids all attacks for a brief moment, and is mainly used to avoid throws. Complete invincibility from frames 1 to 10. Strike invincibility from frames 11 to 16.

Counter / Blade Catch

Counter / Blade Catch 236A+B Counter Counter File:SS Earthquake u236AB.png Blade Catch Blade Catch

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed Armed 0 N/A 2 11 34 - +35~+59 N/A - N/A - N/A No Universal counter. Allows you to follow up with a guaranteed attack of your own. The amount of time you have to followup depends on the strength of the attack you counter, with heavy attacks staggering the opponent for the longest amount of time. Additionally you counter a heavy slash or a running slash, your opponent will be disarmed. Disarmed 0 N/A 2 12 22 - KD N/A - N/A - N/A Yes Universal counter. While disarmed, your counter will disarm and knock away your opponent regardless of slash level countered.

Rage Explosion

Rage Explosion 5A+B+C File:SS Earthquake 5ABC.png	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - Unblockable pushback attack.

Lightning Blade

Lightning Blade (Issen) 5A+B+C during Rage Explosion File:SS Earthquake Issen.png

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed - - - - - - - - - - - - - Has projectile invulnerability and anti-airs. Damage scales up beased on reamaining health. Unfortunately earthquake has the shortest issen distance in the game, making it much more difficult to catch jumps at a distance. Get used to the range of his issen so you don't accidentally issen, only to whiff right in front of their face.

Special Moves

Fat Breath

Fat Breath 214S Totally not Yoga Flame Totally not Yoga Flame

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed A 100 - 18 - - - KD -11 - - - - Yes B 110 - 21 - - - KD -12 - - - - Yes C 120 - 24 - - - KD -15 - - - - Yes Fat Breath acts like a stationary multi-hit projectile on block, making it a very useful meaty in situations where your opponent can't roll out of its hitbox (i.e. they're in the corner). Each individual hit deals around 12~14 chip damage. Use A or C Fat Breath as an optimal followup after unarmed forward or backthrow respectively. A Fat Breath can also be used to be used to cancel out enemy projectiles, even multi-hitting ones.

Fat Bound

Fat Bound j.2S Token Caption (Optional) Token Caption (Optional)

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed A 30x3 - 7 - - - KD -22 - - - - Yes This is the most useful version. Can be done very early as a fast instant-overhead that knocks down on hit. B 30x3,30,30,40 - 7 - - - KD -23 - - - - Yes If your opponent keeps blocking and punishing A Fat Bound, use this version instead to catch their retaliation attempts. Last hit of the second bounce knocks down on hit. Characters with fast invincible moves can punish the A version and interrupt the B version. C 30x3,30x3,30x2,50 - 7 - - - KD -20 - - - - Yes Meme version of Fat Bound. Since the opponent can block in between the 3rd and the 4th bounce, this is completely free to punish unless the 3rd bounce actually kills.

Fat Chainsaw

Fat Chainsaw 6SS Sanicquake Sanicquake

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed A 20x3,30 - 10 - - - KD -13 - - - - No B 20x4,40 - 14 - - - KD -14 - - - - No C 20x6,40 - 19 - - - KD -29 - - - - No EX 15x9,50 - 10 - - - KD -35 - - - - No Chainsaw is a versatile, albeit somewhat wonky, special with a lot of interesting properties. All versions have brief invulnerability on startup (not frame 1!) before moving forward with the A version travelling the least distance and the C/EX versions travelling the farthest. A and B Chainsaw also recover surprisingly quickly, usually only allowing for a B punish afterwards. All versions knock down on hit.

Fat Replica Attack

Fat Replica Attack 63214D Bonk. Bonk.

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 100 - 41 - - - KD -59 - - - - Yes The flying body splash, which all big bodies are required by law to have. This one's actually a teleport. Earthquake disappears briefly before dropping onto his opponents from directly above them. While this might seem like an amazing recoil cancel at first glance, it is very slow, and takes ages to recover - enough for most characters to punish with SSM if they're ready for it. Use it as a hard callout, or against extremely laggy moves you wouldn't be able to punish otherwise.

Fat Bomber

Fat Bomber 236D Token Caption (Optional) Token Caption (Optional)	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 40,120 - 8 - 61 - KD - - - - - Yes Quick command grab with decent range. Allows for some pretty nasty oki, should the opponent decide to roll forward on wakeup.

Supers

Weapon Flipping Technique

Damned Earth 236B+C

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 408 - 8 - - - - - - - - - - 8f startup makes this tied for fastest WFT in the game. Has very good range and combos from A normals or 5D. On block, Earthquake will try to catch the opponent 3 more times, during which you can slightly reposition yourself and maybe mess up the opponent's punish. The gaps between hits allow the opponents an wide range of punishes going up to SSM.

Super Special Move

Earth Crisis 641236C+D	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Total Hit Adv Block Adv Guard Dmg Cancel Recoil Deflectable Unarmed 100*600 - 27 - - - - - - - - - - Stationary SSM with a decent amount of horizontal range. Tied with Kyoshiro for fastest startup SSM in the game which allows him a few more punish opportunities with SSM than the rest of the cast.

Combos

List combos, use numpad notation.

Videos

Link to Earthquake videos and specify year it was produced or patch version in brackets.

Example: Earthquake combo video by "name of content creator" (2019).

Colors

External Links

• Twitter hashtag: #SS_EA
• Earthquake frame data
• Earthquake frame data 2