As one of the bosses of GBA2, Hydra is one of the most unique characters in GBA2. His primary mechanic is the EMF Shield, which gives him the ability to blow past zoning with ease and completely ignore unblockables. Adding to this is his solid set of normals which lead to high damage confirms, particularly when his super is added. When combined these make him one of the best characters sitting on a life lead, but he's not without his flaws. His primary pokes are jointed, meaning he's vulnerable to characters like Rose, Tallgeese, and Master who have large disjointed buttons, forcing him to play far more risky in the neutral game. This makes his matchups highly polarizing, as while he can almost invalidate projectile reliant characters, he can find himself struggling to get anything started against more dedicated melee characters. Overall though, he's one of the best counter pick characters in the game and many characters can struggle to even land a hit on him.
Archetype: Footsies & Turtle
Strengths
Weaknesses
EMF Shield: Hydra uniquely has the EMF Shield, effectively an always active Shield. If they block any projectile or unblockable type moves, they won't take any chip damage and receive zero blockstun, forcing opponents to change their strategies against him and making him very annoying for dedicated zoners.
Huge Damage Output: Thanks to their super and high damage buttons, Hydra can consistently take out stocks in one or two hits.
Solid Normals: Hydra's normals have a good combination of speed and range, leading to strong conversions and decent plus frames.
Weak Zoning: While their ability to counter zoning is among the best, Hydra's own projectiles leave a lot to be desired. Beam Cannons (24P) are practically useless unless at very long range and their only other projectile is Buster Gun (26P), a good but expensive ammo projectile.
Bad Unblockable: Hydra's Beam Saber (624P) is punishable on hit and doesn't have the speed or range to make up for it.
Polarizing: Hydra is possibly the most polarizing character in the game, as the EMF Shield can let him near invalidate projectile reliant chars, but simultaneously if a character has stronger normals than him, his neutral options become severely limited. While he can work around some bad MUs, others such as Rose, Tallgeese, and Master are impossible for him to consistently win.
All damage values were tested on characters with 100% damage taken
Character Summary
Move list
Special Moves
XX - Special name: Quick description of a special move.
Super
26X+X - Super name: Quick description of their super.
Command Normals
6X - Command normal name: Quick description of the command normal.
Stats & vitals
Damage Taken = How much damage they take, their armor.
Walk Speed = Their walk speed number, note if it's faster than normal.
Dash Speed = Their dash speed, note if it's faster than normal.
Button + Button action = Their defensive action, Spot Dodge or I-Field
Backdash Type = What type of backdash they have, Hop, Thrusters, or None.
Any additional information that doesn't fit with the main description, such as it whiffing on certain characters.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Strategy
Neutral
Describe how a character plays the neutral game. Add sub-categories if necessary, these should usually be on how you use a specific move.
Offense
Describe how a character runs their offense.
Defense
Describe how a character defends themselves when they're on the receiving end.
Additional Resources
Links to any additional resources, delete category if there are none.
Additional Categories
Add any further categories as needed, just make sure they're worth a whole section.
Combos
Midscreen
Commbo Example (5WP > 2WP > 2SK)
Damage. Describe when to use the combo and how hard it is.
Corner
Combo Example
Combo desc
Matchups
Overall
Their general matchup spread, how good are they across the board. Do they have weaknesses against an archetype? Does they do especially well against a certain group?
Overview: Describe overall the flow of the matchup.
Neutral: How does neutral work in the matchup? Do any tools in particular affect it?
Offense: When you're on offense do they have tools to counter you? How does it flow, can you mix them?
Defense: When you're on defense do you have tools to counter them? How does it flow, how do they mix you?
Frame Data
Fill in frame data here, if it has an additional property that lasts for certain frames list it in Notes (i.e. XF~XF Invincible, XF~XF Armor). Delete this line when it's done.
KD - Knockdown
VA - Variable
*UV - value(s) marked with "?" in the table is/are unverified
x~yF - a period from frame "x" till frame "y"
Fill in the character's chain options, similar to a Guilty Gear wiki Gattling Table. Make sure you get everything. Delete the specials section if the character has no cancelable specials. If a character has a whiff/block cancelable special, add [+] after it (i.e. 5WP[+], 2WP[+]). If a move is only cancelable on a specific hit, specify it (i.e. 5SP (First Hit Only) or 5SP (Second Hit Only)). Delete this line when it's finished.
Chains
WP
WK
SP
SK
Special Cancel
5WP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2WP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
5WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
5SP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2SP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
5SK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
2SK
-
-
-
-
No
Air Chains
WP
WK
SP
SK
Special Cancel
j.WP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.2WK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.SP
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.SK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
j.2SK
-
-
-
-
Yes/No
Specials
Cancel Options
XP
XP, XK
XP
XP, XK
Special Name (Input), Special Name (Input), and Special Name(Input) cannot be special canceled into.
X = X is available on hit
X[+] = X is available on hit, block, or whiff
Trivia
Add any fun facts about the character worth noting.