Lethal League Blaze/Controls
Input Notation
Directional inputs are notated in a variant of numpad notation made to best suit Lethal League Blaze's controls and system mechanics. This form of notation will be used throughout the rest of this wiki.
Directions are notated as follows, assuming the player is facing to the right. If you have a number pad on your keyboard, you'll see that it matches the arrangement of the numbers on it.
Of note: Unlike most fighting games, grounded swings are NOT notated with 5 or 2, as there is no distinction between the two. If the button S is written alone, assume it means 5S.
7 8 9 ↖ ↑ ↗ 4 5 6 ← · → 1 2 3 ↙ ↓ ↘
7/4, 9/6 - Moves you backwards and forwards respectively. Unlike more orthodox figthing games, Lethal League Blaze has a dedicated jump button instead of using up to jump, and so for horizontal movement 7 can be seen as the same as 4, and 9 the same as 6.
1, 2, 3 - Causes the character to crouch. If done while walking, this will cause you to slide on the ground a short distance.
J / j. - The jump button, which—as one may be able to assume—allows your character to jump. In notation, j. means the action is done while airborne (or in a jumping state).
[X] - Hold down button X.
/ - Or
~ - This means two buttons are pressed in rapid succession. Due to this game's often quite lenient buffer, you can also treat this as meaning pressing two buttons simultaneously.
! - Indicates that a button is pressed during hitstop.
The RPS System
One pillar of Lethal League Blaze's decision tree is the rock paper scissors interaction between three of the primary options:
- Swing beats throw.
- Parry beats swing.
- Throw beats parry.
- (Bunt loses to everything).
Buttons
The three core buttons for this game are Swing, Bunt and Grab. The rest will be noted below.
S - Swing. Pressing this option causes the player to enter a swing animation. Swinging at the ball is context sensitive based on the directional input and is used for neutral swings, smashes, and spikes. A successful swing is called a hit, which is also context sensitive based on the directional input as the ball is released. If the swing button is pressed during hitstop (while the player has a full special meter) the player will perform a special (e.g. j.6S~S!).
B - Bunt. Pressing this option causes the player to enter a bunt animation. Bunting the ball is context sensitive based on the directional input as the ball is released and results in you bunting the ball in one of four directions. If the bunt button is pressed during hitstop the player will perform a parry (e.g. j.6S~B!).
G - Grab. Pressing this option causes the player to enter a grab animation. In the ball is throw it has a minimum base speed of 42. If a parry is thrown a parry throw animation is performed. In addition, this is the only move in the game to not have frame 1 startup, becoming active on frame 4. If the grab button is pressed during hitstop (while the player has a full special meter) the player will perform a special (e.g. j.6S~G!). This is helpful for buffering special and mandatory at low ball speeds.
J - Jump. Pressing this option causes the player to enter a jump animation, sending them airborne. All characters have a double jump, except for Sonata who has a triple jump. The jump button can continue to be held after the apex of the jump arc to cause the player to "slow fall", the effectiveness depending on the properties of the character.
T - Taunt. Makes the player taunt. The stick can also be tilted in one of 4 cardinal directions for a special taunt message. Certain characters (e.g. Switch) also use this as part of their kit.
E - Emote. Makes the player emit one of four special taunt messages. Certain characters (e.g. Sonata) can use this for niche interactions.
Basic attacks
All characters in the game have the same basic attacks with (mostly) identical frame data. Where these moves vary the most however is in the angles associated with them.
Swings
- Neutral swing
- Neutral swings are done with S on the ground and j.5S while airborne. All neutral swings in the game have 3 angles associated with them: a neutral up angle (S8/j.5S8), a straight angle (S/j.5S) and a neutral down angle (S2/j.5S2).
- Spike
- One of two air-only swings, this one is done with j.2S. Like neutral swings, these have three angles associated with them: a forward spike (j.2S6), a down spike (j.2S) and a back spike (j.2S4),
- Smash
- The other air-only swing. This one is done as j.6S. Unlike neutral swings or spikes, however, all spikes only have one angle per character which makes them the easiest swing to catch. Its benefits are primarily in building up ball speed quicker than the other two swings.
Bunt
Bunts are the safest way to catch the ball and like swings are able to be done grounded or airborne. They're also a core component of ball control as they're a very good way of keeping the ball confined to one part of the screen. They also find some use in corpse juggling if one's interested in flexing on their opponent.
Bunts can be done in 1 of 4 directions: up/normal bunt (5B/8B), forward bunt (6B/9B), back bunt (4B/7B) and down bunt (1B/2B/3B).
Miscellaneous Techniques
Lethal League Blaze, while very simple to understand, does in fact have some more esoteric techniques for higher level play. Granted, many of these are very niche, but are nonetheless important to know.
- Jump Recovery Low Profile is an interaction involving the landing frames from jumps where the player is considered crouching for 5 frames. This can lead to interactions where the ball appears to phase through the player, but in reality they simply ducked under it.
- Smash parry, done as j.6S~B!, is often called smash parry, smarry or smashma. Like almost all techniques in the game, it's frame 1, effectively meterless (due to how meter works in this game) and extremely strong at most skill levels. It's a common technique to counter aggression from a swing-happy player.
- Pivot, a mechanic where you can bypass the turnaround animation while walking by inputting 987 or 789 to turn around instead of just doing 4 or 6. This can also be done in the air, where it's known as airturn.
