Rose is one of the best characters in the game, with a dominating neutral game, incredible rushdown and pressure, and the best mixup tools in the game. He's very adaptable, having no particularly bad matchups and even the tougher ones are very winnable. This is thanks in large part to him having the best normals in the game, with his punches being giant disjoints that convert into full combos even from a range. His j.SK divekick is a 20F overhead that leads to full combo and his unblockable attack is giant and unreactably fast. You can't go wrong with Rose, ensuring his position as one of the best legal characters.
Archetype: Footsies and Mixup
Strengths
Weaknesses
Big, Disjointed Punches: Rose's punch normals are fast, disjointed, cover every angle, and humongous. Many characters can't contest him at all and if they lack a zoning game they have to find an alternative way to get in. He can even cover all wakeup options with his 5SP.
Excellent Conversions: Rose can convert into full combos from almost any hit at almost any range, adding a serious threat to his aforementioned normals. This means even stray hits from Rose have to be avoided. It is worth noting though that his damage is only average.
Diverse and Strong Mixups: Rose's j.SK is a 20F IOH divekick that can convert into full combo. On top of that, his unblockable is very hard to react to while also being huge, making it hard to avoid especially when you're looking out for his long range normals. He even has Rose Bits (624K), effectively a funnel, further helping him lockdown the opponent on pressure.
Anti-Zoning: Unless a character has a particularly good projectile game like Heavy Arms or Sandrock, Rose's Lightening Shoot (24P) will almost entirely block off their zoning capabilities and allow Rose to either get in or force the opponent to come to him.
No Particular Weaknesses: While Rose isn't as specialized in some areas like zoning or defense, his base toolset allows him to deal with any situation and win any matchup, even against other top tiers. His only somewhat notable weakness is that he can struggle dealing with high priority projectiles, but few characters have good ones.
Character Summary
Move list
Special Moves
26P (Air OK) - Vulcan Guns: Quick and fast tracking projectile, uses ammo and number of shots depends on button strength.
24P (Air OK) - Lightening Shoot: Quickly creates a projectile wall. Does no damage but blocks any projectile type moves.
426P (Air OK) - Kick & Saber: Rushes forward with flurry of thrusts. Knocks down, good combo ender.
626P (Air OK) - Saber Rise: Low profile DP with very fast startup but no invuln, also a combo ender.
P During 626P (Air OK) - Saber Lunge: Multi-hit stab followup to Saber Rise, combo ender but doesn't knockdown.
624P - Saber Rondo: Very fast and long ranged unblockable attack.
426K - Rose Bit Dispatch: Summons Rose Bits, functionally a very fast and low recovery but ground only funnel.
26K with Rose Bits out (Air OK) - Rose Bit Attack: Commands Rose Bits to attack. Shoots two volleys with a small gap.
Super
26X+X - Rose Hurricane: Creates a flurry of roses. High damage and plus but short ranged.
Command Normals
6SP - Step Up: Disjointed poke into upwards slash. Good combo tool.
j.2/8SP - Hurricane Slash: Shoots a wind projectile upwards or downwards.
All damage values were tested on characters with 100% damage taken
* = remove 2 less frames of hitstun when hitting a standing opponent
Normal Moves
5WP
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
8
High/Low
5
2
14
+7*
+3
-
Long range, disjointed poke and also one of the fastest buttons in the game. However, it whiffs against most characters crouching and even some standing, limiting its uses in many MUs. Very good dash cancel and abare option.
Obscenely big anti-air button that also OTGs for some godforsaken reason. After knockdowns, this is Rose's main oki option as if it's timed right, it'll cover every quick rise angle and OTG if they delay rise. This is incredibly good at sniping aerial opponents. Just make sure to not do it during pressure as it's very punishable on block and cancel it into something on hit.
Long ranged hop kick with a ridiculous amount of active frames. Good counter poke but because it's an aerial it'll bounce up on block, making it always minus. Converts into Kick & Saber (426P).
Incredibly long ranged low poke that converts into full combos. One of the longest range normals in the game while also being fully disjointed, going further than 5WP. It's also used in his mixup as it's his fastest low. Good dash cancel option. Also used for abare when 5WP won't hit.
Rose shoots a small wind projectile. For zoning and neutral it's mediocre, although it is a good air to air. For the uses on it's upwards and downwards version, check out j.2/8SP.
The best divekick in the game and a good tool. This move is great for jump ins as it immediately removes all of Rose's momentum and goes straight diagonally forwards and down. This helps with getting back to the ground faster after thrusts and also for offensive aerial angles. On top of that, it doesn't bounce back on block or hit, ensuring it's always plus and will go into a full combo on hit. When done as an IOH, it's one of the fastest and most rewarding in the game at 20F.
Rose steps forward with a disjointed poke, then slashes upwards with his 5SP, launching the opponent. This is the move that allows for many of Rose's confirms. It can be comboed into from 5WP and 2WP even from long distances. It can then be special canceled, usually into Kick & Saber (426P), for a combo into knockdown. It can also be used to poke at opponent's from a distance thanks to it's huge amount of active frames, disjoint, and large amount of pushback on block, although some supers can punish it.
Rose's j.SP but angled upwards and downwards respectively. The upwards version can be used to hit at opponents attempting to stall or jump in, and the downwards version can be used for midrange control and approaches. TK j.2SP is plus on block, allowing for pressure continuations, and it caan even lead to a high low by doing a well timed j.SK after it recovers and mixing that with landing and doing 2WP. Just be careful as it's considered a projectile so Shields and Hydra can go through it.
Rose's ammo attack. As far as Vulcans go, it's one of the weakest in the game, only doing 1 damage per shot. The fire rate and recovery aren't anything special either. However, it gets the job done.
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
1x5
High/Low
20
-
Total 73
0*
-2
Ammo, Projectile
WP version. Rose shoots 5 vulcan shots. Uses 25 ammo.
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
1x10
High/Low
20
-
Total 97
0*
-2
Ammo, Projectile
SP version. Rose shoots 10 vulcan shots. Uses 50 ammo.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Lightening Shoot 24P (Air OK)
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
-
-
13
-
Total 35
-
-
High Priority Projectile
Rose creates a projectile wall that does no damage but blocks other projectiles. This is key for helping Rose deal with zoning. Be careful against other high priority projectiles like Deathscythe's 24P, as it won't be destroyed and will clash with it instead.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Kick & Saber 426P (Air OK)
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
6x5
High
12
2(8)2(8)2(11)6(7)6
17
KD
-2
Aerial
Rose rushes forward with a flurry of slashes. Rose's main combo ender as it confirms off 6SP while giving a knockdown and decent damage. It also has use as an overhead, although it takes a bit to hit crouching opponents and is not rewarding, as well as a situational anti-air and sudden rush attack from neutral.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Saber Rise 626P (Air OK)
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
12
High/Low
6
19
43
-44
-48
-
DP-esque move with no invincibility of any kind, although it's his second fastest move. The hitbox is nice and active but there's really little reason to ever use the move. It's only purpose is to be misinput when trying to get Kick & Saber.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Saber Lunge P after Saber Rise (Air OK)
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
4x5
High/Low
6
27
Until Landing
VB
VB
-
Follow-up to Saber Rise that adds more damage and makes it slightly safer, albeit still unsafe on hit, block, or whiff.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Saber Rondo 624P
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
10x5
N/A
23
22
11
+2*
-
Unblockable
Contender for the best unblockable in the game. It's unreactably fast, goes incredibly far, has dummy active frames, and does decent damage. This is a very potent mixup tool and with Rose Bits added in, he has unblockable setups that force the opponent to take the hit or spend their boost. While it's 0 on hit, thanks to Rose being a 5F character, most of the cast can't contest him after it.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Rose Bit Dispatch 426K
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
-
High/Low
-
-
Total 46
-
-
Funnel
Rose's funnel attack. Summons 3 small funnels. Unlike most funnels, it can only be done on the ground. However, this comes with the benefit of having half the total frames of a normal funnel attack, making it relatively easy to get out in neutral and after knockdowns. Can't be used while super is active, and vice-versa. Like most funnels, they can be destroyed by projectile attacks.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Rose Bit Attack 26K
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
3x6
High/Low
48
-
Total ~145
-
-
Projectile
Attack command for Rose Bits. Can be executed at any time while they're out, even during hitstun. Shoots 3 shots, with the second volley ~50F after the first (frame 101). Fairly typical funnel attack, works very well in supplementing Rose's neutral, offense, and defense.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Super Move
Rose Hurricane 26X+X
Damage
Guard
Startup
Active
Recovery
Adv Hit
Adv Block
Properties
4x36
High/Low
4
138
Total 99
+45
+42
Projectile, Invincible 1F
Rose unleashes a flurry of Rose Bits, dealing high damage. Fairly mediocre super as the range is short and damage is nothing special. Has use in allowing for extra long knockdowns, giving time to set up Rose Bits, as well as extra high damage corner combos, but those are a bit situational. It also can be used as a reversal but it's not fantastic at that. It's considered a projectile so it will block any projectiles that aren't high priority or transcendant. Cannot be used while Rose Bits are out and vice-versa.
Toggle Hitboxes
Toggle Hitboxes
Strategy
Neutral
A lot of Rose's neutral is based around poking with 5WP, 2WP, and 6SP. Generally you want to dash in and start poking at a range the opponent can't contest, then give them no space to breath with continuous dash normals. If a character can contest him, such as Altron or Deathscythe, j.2SP can be very effective although generally you just want to outspace them, usually by letting them whiff a normal then doing a dash normal. To deal with aerial opponents, 5SP is a massive anti-air that'll get a lot done for you. 5WP can also intercept regular jumps and lead to a full combo. If the opponent boosts, you can chase their landing or try to air to air with j.WP or j.SP, which is especially needed against characters that like to stall. When dealing with zoning, you generally want to look for an opening then dash in with a long range normal. Lightening Shoot also helps a lot dealing with many projectiles, but it's somewhat matchup specific as transcendant projectiles like Deathscythe 24P and Sandrock 24SP will go through it regardless. You can also jump and/or boost in then land with j.SK, which many characters will struggle to anti-air. You can also do some air stalling of your own with j.24P. Be prepared to have to play patiently while waiting for the opponent to make a commitment in a few MUs. If the opponent is playing particularly passively in neutral, you may be able to throw out a 624P, but don't count on it. Rose's Vulcans (26P) aren't great but you should still use them for harassment and anti-air stalling from time to time. If the opponent is playing particularly passive or you block a long projectile, you can elect to get out a Rose Bits (426K) rather than approaching. This can help supplement your offense or cover an approach. Generally though, you want to rush down from any opportunities. Super has niche uses in some matchups for providing a wall against projectiles, but there's usually no reason to use it.
Offense
Rose generally runs a hit/unblockable mixup thanks to his incredibly fast unblockable. Sine he can control space so well, it's very easy to condition opponents to respect you, leaving them open to a long range 624P. He also can run a high low thanks to IOH j.SK. It comes out at frame 19 and leads to a full combo, but you need to be close to the opponent and generally people will just chicken block. Rose Bits also does a lot to supplement his offense. You can get Rose Bits off any 426P or 2SK ender at the cost of good oki, or you can spend meter on an OTG super and time a Rose Bits for just when the super ends and have enough time to get good oki and Rose Bits. To use Rose Bits on offense, you activate and then go into unblockable, forcing them to take the hits or spend boost meter, which may leave them open to more unblockables later. You can also go into a high low instead but this can be chicken blocked. Additionally, you can do an unblockable then activate Rose Bits after you start, letting you get a full combo off it. When dealing with knocked down opponents, your main options to chase techs are 5SP and j.8SP. 5SP will cover basically every option but launches upwards on block and hit. j.8SP in turn pulls the opponent towards the ground but requires better spacing and doesn't cover every option. When combined with Rose Bits, you can activate them at the same time as your tech chase and lock them down. This is especially good with j.8SP, since they'll be pulled down into unblockable range, forcing them to spend more boost or take the hit. j.2/5/8SP can also be used as a long range pressure reset since it can be made plus, but there's not much reason to do this mosst of the time.
Defense
Rose has fairly good defensive options. 5WP is one the game's rare 5F buttons, letting him interrupt some pressure others can't although it whiffs on crouchers. 2WP is pretty good too, with even more range but 7F startup. 626P looks like a dp but it's not invincible and is fairly punishable, so it's generally not worth using. Up dodge into j.SK is a very annoying option for most characters to deal with and is high reward when it hits. Super is decently fast and ok reward, but it's generally not worth spending on defense.
Additional Resources
Link to vods will be added eventually.
Combos
Any combo can end with OTG super.
Midscreen
5WP > 2WP > 2K > 2SK
31.54 damage. Incredibly basic chain combo for starting out.
5WP/2WP x 1-3 > 6SP > 426P
37.4 damage. Main bnb combo. Has an annoying execution aspect in that if going from 2WP to 6SP, you need to delay the cancel to avoid getting 26P. Otherwise, it's a fairly easy combo for good damage and knockdown.
5SK > 426P
41.89 damage. Combo for when you find 5SK hits in neutral, generally from taking advantage of it's long active frames.
66 OTG Super, Delay 426K
When you add OTG super to the end of a combo, you generally want to micro dash first to get as many hits as possible. Because it launches opponents high into the air, it's possible to get a well-timed Rose Bits and still have the time to tech chase or unblockable setup. This is valuable for forcing the opponent to hold a mix up.
With Rose Bits Out 624P, Delay 26K, 5/2WP...
Combo off unblockable by using Rose Bits. It's fairly easy to time, just active them a tiny bit before it first hits. This makes the unblockable threat even more powerful.
Corner
2WP x 1-3 > 26X+X, (66 j.SK, 2WP x 2 > 26X+X) x 1-2, 66 j.SK, 2WP x 2 > 6SP > 426P
75.24 damage, 92.68 damage, Overheat. Easy corner super combo. Does high damage and can be looped but is only really worth using 1 super. Can overheat with 2 supers from j.SK starter.
Overheat. Rose twitter combo. Highest damage combo Rose can do, usually overheating with 1 super outside of a few starters. However, this requires a standing opponent and is very hard, albeit humanly viable.
Matchups
Overall
Rose has very few losing or even matchups, and those are generally against characters who can both contest him and out-damage him. If a character only does 1, they can probably fight him, but if they do neither, then Rose wins hard. One of his main strengths is that he's adaptable for any situation, so even his bad matchups like Heavy Arms are very workable. The main exceptions to this are the banned boss characters, as Rose has no way to out-damage them without constantly putting himself at high risk. This also somewhat applies to Neue Ziel, but to a lesser extent.
Overview: Neue Ziel is annoying for Rose. His damage output isn't spectacular, meaning he hass to be more careful about taking hits as it's harder for him to make them up.
Overview: Rose beats every aspect of Hydra's neutral, and he can't really do much to contest Rose's punches. He does hurt when he gets a good hit but it's near impossible for him to find that hit.
Overview: Rose can do more to counter Epyon than some other chars can but be still just doesn't have a good way to fight Epyon Crusher. On top of that, Epyon's normals are almost as good as Rose's.
Overview: Rose doesn't have a good way to exploit Dark's low defense and since he's a footsies focused character, he doesn't have the capability to try and zone him out either.
Overview: Her zoning game can get around Lightening Shoot but aside from that she gets beaten out in almost every neutral interaction. She can play the risk reward game but her fast options aren't as rewarding, making it not worth it most of the time. (Needs more research)
Overview: Hygogg's lack of abare and reward off hits means he has to constantly take risks against a character who's very good at covering all angles and mixing up his approach. Homing Missile won't do much for him either thanks to Lightening Shoot. (Needs more research).
Overview: GP-02A basically can't do anything to beat Rose in neutral besides just catching him blindly running forwards with a projectile. As long as Rose is playing even mildly patient, it's over. (Needs more research)
Overview: FAZZ is simply too slow to deal with Rose in midscreen and close range and his zoning isn't even close to rewarding enough to balance it out. (Needs more research)
Overview: Ball is really annoying as his movement makes him hard to anti-air and catch in neutral, and his hits hurt. However, with good positioning and taking advantage of Rose's huge normals, he can be caught and destroyed effectively.
Overview: Zeong being an air specialist isn't that hard for Rose to deal with thanks to his strong anti-airs and air to airs, and once he's pinned down, it's incredibly difficult for him to get out of pressure. He can be effectively bullied.
Overview: Sazabi's above average range normals don't do much for him in this MU and the risk reward of every situation is heavily skewed towards Rose's favor, making this a very rough for Sazabi.
Overview: Rose is very good at consistently beating RX-78's neutral options, especially since he's forced to play Rose at his own game. However, RX-78's incredibly high reward off anything skews this somewhat so that he always has a chance.
Overview: Zaku II just doesn't have much going for him he can use against Rose. He's stubby with poor movement and can't effectively zone, so the best he can do in neutral is try to read a DP. However, this isn't too effective because of Rose's disjoints. (Needs more research)
Overview: v Gundam's rifle is annoying but aside from that this matchup is pretty good. Rose's normals are very effective at beating out ν Gundam's and Rose doesn't care much about his funnels. You do need to watch out for DP but the risk reward is in his favor.
Overview: IIS' better movement speed, extremely plus pressure, and explosive damage output make it not quite as terrible a MU, but Rose is still very good at stuffing him out in neutral and winning most interactions.
Overview: Rose is very good at stuffing out Arms tools and locking him down once he gets in. Additionally, Lightening Shoot helps a lot with dealing with homing missiles and his super. However, just like anyone else, Rose can get zoned out hard and it requires a lot of patience to find the openings and work your way in. However, once he does, it's very easy for Rose to make a comeback with his good mixups and setups.
Overview: Sandrock is able to fight Rose fairly effectively thanks to his good projectile game and strong counter pokes, but at the end of the day he still struggles to fight off Rose in midrange and deal with his punch normals. His super needs to be watched out for since it's fully invincible.
Overview: Rose isn't great at dealing with his zoning but Lightening Shoot helps, and being able to contest it from midrange into a combo helps a lot in making the risk reward good for him. Once Wing is on defense, he's very easy to deal with as his fastest button is very commital and his super is easy to avoid. However, working your way in is difficult and it's easy to get caught by surprise sweeps.
Overview: Altron has a few annoying buttons but besides that this matchup is pretty solidly in Rose's favor. The risk reward is heavily in favor of Rose and Altron doesn't deal particularly well with pressure. Altron's pressure also isn't anything scary and is fairly easy to get out of.
Overview: Both characters are neutral masters, albeit in slightly different ways. His projectile can be a little annoying but it's nothing too hard to deal with. Just be careful to avoid his j.WP and try to fight him with your superior normals. (Needs more research)
Overview: Dragon has some strong projectiles that aren't easily gotten around and some annoying normals, but Rose has the toolset to deal with them. He also gets a lot more damage from conversions than Dragon does. His pressure is more knowledge checks than anything else.
Overview: Rose has the tools to deal with the invincible dash but he's not particularly effective at stopping it entirely. This means that Burning is one of the few characters who gets to contest Rose in neutral. However, the risk reward is in favor of Rose off most dash interactions, so generally you just want to play it safe. The exception to this are big hits into super, which can overheat. This allows Burning to keep up with Rose most of the time. His mixups are mostly reactable so it's a lot of just blocking lows and mids.
Overview: Maxter doesn't have much that can get past Rose's punches without hard committing, so Rose can mostly play it safe and space him out while running his usual pressure game when he finds a hit. Just be careful as Maxter can easily take off stocks in the blink of an eye.
Overview: Rose being able to whiff cancel his WPs is very effective at dealing with invul dash along with 5SK, and while the infinite can be scary, it's easy to maneuver around. The divekick can be annoying but having a 5F punisher and good movement to outspace it makes playing around it not too hard and highly rewarding. Not much else of Zeta is of note besides his rifle, which can hurt, but that's just a matter of staying on your toes.
Overview: The-O has powerful mixups and strong neutral tools, but Rose's punches allow him to get around many of those tools and can generally play very disrespectful against him. Once The-O is under pressure, there's not much he can do, so it ends up with himm getting bullied a lot of the time.
Overview: Qubeley doesn't have much to beat Rose in neutral with besides her projectiles and funnels, which aren't that scary. It's very easy for Rose to charge her down and start oppressing her. (Needs more research)
Overview: Hamma Hamma does have a few normals that can somewhat contest Rose, but not effectively and for little reward. His super is intimidating but it can be interrupted, and Lightening Shoot will delete them. Just watch out for sweeps.
Neutral:
Offense:
Defense:
Frame Data
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"
