Shaman King: Spirit of Shamans/Faust VIII

Johann Faust VIII (ヨハン ファウスト - VIII世) >
Player Character: Eliza Faust (エリザ ファウスト)

Introduction

SMP: 240
OSP: 80
Initial Spirit Percentage: 83%
GP: ???

Go easy on me...
Character Voice (Faust): Takehito Koyasu
Character Voice (Eliza): Yuka Komatsu

Johann Faust VIII is the descendant of Johann Faust I, also known as "Johann the First", who practiced the secretive and taboo art known as necromancy. Johann Faust VIII lived a happy life and ran his own medical clinic together with his wife, Eliza Faust, until she was murdered in a tragic scene at their home. Johann Faust VIII enters the Shaman Fight because he believes the Great Spirit can grant him the power to revive his late wife.

Overview

Johann Faust VIII, more commonly referred to as Eliza or just 'Faust' (refers to both) is an extremely weird character that doesn't quite play like anyone else in the game. Armed with the bizarre ability of converting specials that trade into chains for devastating damage, unusual combos that make for some of the most corner carry possible in the entire game, and very long but "specialized" normals, Faust makes for an unintuitive-to-learn oddball character that is highly rewarding and terrifying in the right hands.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Poleaxe: Faust has many unusual, decent damage and very long-ranged attacks; arguably some of the longest in the game that are properly "physical". Bone Zone: Faust's 3 specials are very unique for a lot of reasons; they continue even if Faust takes damage during them, they do as much damage as some supers, and 6SP in particular can be converted into a full combo off of a trade-hit. The boney boys make it possible for a single bad button press from the opponent to lead to certain death. Dash Attack Prowess: Faust's Forward Dash Attack is possibly one of the best in the entire game due to its incredibly high range, good damage, low recovery and immense combo potential. Because of said low recovery, it is a key part in almost all of Faust's combo routes from corner carry to max damage punishes. Good Neutral: While Faust does not have a projectile, they can play neutral pretty well thanks to j.S being a great air-to-air, explosive punishes with specials and good buttons for counter-poking / whiff-punishing / being annoying. Spirit Percentage: Faust has the 2nd highest starting Spirit Percentage in the whole game at 83% (only shy of 1st by 1%), which means that Faust can get access to buffed special moves and instant reflector incredibly fast. Oh, and 5SP / 6SP both do 110+ damage at 100%, so you really do not want to get hit by that. Undead Menace: Faust is tied for 3rd highest OSP in the game, at 80, which allows Eliza to tank more hits than other characters before SMP starts draining; this is particularly great due to how strong trade-hit specials are.

Bone Gamble: Trade-hit specials and confirming off of them are one of the most powerful, dangerous things available to Faust but they are incredibly high risk and if the opponent sees it coming, the fattest punish is coming Faust's way because of their long pose animations. 14-Ton Sad Giant: Faust's super is one of the weakest in the game in-terms of damage and one of the worst in general usage, being slow enough to be reflectable on reaction with any Spirit Percent and for some reason doing over 20 less damage than 5SP / 6SP. It is, atleast, a consistent anti-air though. Bad Mix-ups: Faust, unfortunately, has very little going in the way of mix-ups outside of universal options like empty-jump low and such, having no grounded overhead or Instant Overhead options - j.W can IOH in some match-ups, but it is highly dependent on character and far from consistent. Bizarreness: Faust is one of the most unintuitive characters to play and learn in the game, and it can take a lot of play to understand how their combo theory works and how to utilize all of their options to their fullest potential.

Move List

Startup DOES NOT include the first active frame.
Damage values are based on the characters initial Spirit Percentage.

Moveset

Standing Normals

f.5W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 6 All Eliza does a rotating slash with her poleaxe. A pretty fast, good ranged button that confirms into chains easily, however f.2W is a bit longer which makes f.5W more frequently used as just chain filler - still not a bad poke at all though.

c.5W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 6 All Eliza bunts with the pummel of the poleaxe. Very, very weirdly long proximity normal, has about the same speed as f.5W but is very safe on block. Very commonly used in juggles after W chain ender, specifically in-between forward dash attacks.

f.5S

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 All Eliza reels back and does an executioner's chop with her poleaxe, swinging downwards. This normal isn't good at anything - it's not a counter-poke because its hitbox is too short, it's not a combo tool because any time you try to use this in a chain the opponent can block it, it's not an anti-air (despite how visually high the axe goes)... If you want to counter-poke, use f.5W or f.2S instead. If you want to anti-air, use c.2S instead, avoid using this normal.

c.5S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 All Eliza does a two-handed bludgeon with the pummel of her poleaxe. This normal is also quite safe on block, with the added bonus that if it hits instead of being blocked it does more damage than c.5W or c.2W. Very deceivingly small hitbox vertically, but all around good move.

Crouching Normals

f.2W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 6 Low Eliza does a small slash with her poleaxe. This move has longer recovery than f.5W but a bit more range, which makes it Faust's go-to poke. Can be confirmed easily on hit, and due to its longer range is also very useful in midscreen juggles into 2SP.

c.2W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 6 Low Eliza does a bunt with the pummel of her poleaxe while kneeling. Essentially the exact same move as c.5W, but it hits low now.

f.2S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 Low Eliza reels back and does an overhead chop while kneeling. While still pretty slow when used as a traditional poke like f.5S, this normal has a significantly bigger hitbox and does not extend Eliza's hurtbox on start-up, which makes it a great counter-poke. Has a decent vertical hitbox so it can sometimes catch jumps.

c.2S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 Low Eliza does a scooping cleave with her poleaxe, swinging upwards. This is Faust's only consistent anti-air, and while it is quite slow for an anti-air, it has a huge hitbox so it won't miss if it comes out. Can be confirmed after when hit as an anti-air. Pretty fast for chains on the ground and does a lot of damage.

Chain Enders

W ender	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 ? Eliza jumps into the air before bashing her opponent in the head with her poleaxe's pummel. This is the chain ender you want to use in almost all scenarios, as it is very easy to follow up with a f.5W, f.2W or Forward Dash Attack, which all lead into solid damage combos.

S ender It looks cool It looks cool

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 ? Eliza does a twist-slash aimed low to the ground. This ender, unlike W Ender, can be directly cancelled into any of Faust's specials, which is essentially the only reason you would want to use this ender over the W one. Even still, having a special-cancelled 5SP or 6SP properly connect after landing this ender is very inconsistent, and having it whiff means an incredibly large punish for the opponent. Not a terrible move, but W Ender is preferable in almost all cases.

Jump Normals

j.W	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 6 High Eliza does a bunt with the pummel of her poleaxe in the air. Can Instant Overhead some characters, but the timing is extremely strict and it completely whiffs a lot of smaller characters. Otherwise very unnotable normal, and is usually outshined by j.S, but is more consistent as a jump-in than j.S.

j.S	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 High Eliza does a rotating cleave with her poleaxe, counter-clockwise. A huge range, very fast air-to-air that can also easily be confirmed off of when hit in an air-to-air situation. It isn't a very good jump-in as you have to wait till extremely deep in the jump arc to have it actually connect, but is otherwise an incredibly good aerial move.

Dash Normals

Forward Dash Attack	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 -3 All

Backward Dash Attack	Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 9 All

Special Moves

Stone Ancestors (スタインソセン) 5SP

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 47, 47 (94) 10 All Johann reanimates a set of skeleton remains as Eliza poses, which does a short charge forwards after rising and collapses. A ridiculously high damage move, dealing over 100+ damage with 100% Spirit Percentage, with the notable feature of the skeleton counting as a projectile which means it'll continue to rise and have an active hitbox even if Eliza gets hit. This makes intentionally going for trade scenarios extremely favorable for Faust. Hits twice and knocks down.

Bone Dead Reborn (ボーンデッドリボーン) 6SP

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 45, 45 (90) 10 All Johann reanimates a set of skeletal remains, much like 5SP, but instead of flopping over the skeleton will charge ahead, limping quickly across the screen until it collides with the opponent. This is better used for juggle or round-ending hit-confirms, as it's easier to combo into due to the skeleton charging forwards and starting a farther distance from Eliza than 5SP, but it does not knock down the opponent and leaves Eliza unsafe on hit vs. a grounded opponent. The skeleton will still rise and have an active hitbox even if Eliza gets hit, just like 5SP. The most notable thing about 6SP in comparison to 5SP is that it's even better when intentionally used to trade, as the non-KD property of it allows you to hitconfirm one of your longer pokes like f.5W/f.2W after it into a chain into a full combo, which can situationally do as much as 260+ OSP; a ToD on the entire roster. A high risk, but truly terrifying special move.

Skull Scrummage (スカルスクラム) 2SP

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 10, 10* (20) 8 All (*Damage numbers are per individual skeleton, each skeleton hits twice, and multiple skeletons can potentially hit in a single use of Skull Scrummage.) Johann reanimates a line of 3 skeletons, which proceed to uppercut one after another before crumbling. The move continues even if Eliza gets hit, just like the other skeletons, but getting hit stops the rest of the skeletons from rising if they're not all out of the ground yet which usually results in only getting the first skeleton uppercut. This move is, notably, the weakest special that Faust has in-terms of damage, but it is still quite good for other reasons; it can be used as a combo ender to tack on damage and corner carry to juggles where 5SP or 6SP would not hit, it is the safest special that Faust has on block, and it's a pretty formidable space control tool as it isn't the easiest thing to reflect on reaction when not at 100%, aswell as granting a knockdown on hit which allows Faust to close in safely.

Super Moves

14-Ton Calcium Giant (12730キロのカルシウムの巨人) 214SP Lorem Ipsum Lorem Ipsum

Damage Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv Guard 32, 32 (64) All Eliza points as Johann uses dozens of skeletons' remains to construct a gigantic creature of bone, before it comes crashing onto the opponent. Second hit can OTG. This move can be used as a pretty formidable anti-air (and is actually Faust's best anti-air interms of speed and size), which is a fair use as Faust's high Spirit Percentage allows him to Spirit Burst and use it frequently. Aside from that, this super is one of the worst in the game as it has practically no combo application, is death on block, can be reflected on reaction, and does mediocre damage. This super should be used very sparingly, and never randomly, but it's worth remembering that it exists due to its anti-air potential.

Combos

Temp

Midscreen

Temp

Corner

Temp

Strategy

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