The Rumble Fish 2/Aran

Introduction

Gender	Male	Blood type	B(Rh+)	Birthday	April 12th	Fighting Style	Martial Arts	Birthplace	Italian	Height	181cm	Weight	76kg	Voice Actor	Shikase Hajime

Fun fact: Can free dive deeper than 100m and perform most sports accurately. He makes his own original cocktails (Although it doesn’t seem like they’re popular?) as a hobby.

Gameplay

Aran is one of the best and easiest characters to pick up, as his fireballs are great for zoning and oki, his rekkas destroy lifebars and guard gauges, and he even has a dp! He takes the spot as the scrub killer AND scrub enabler of the game.

Pros	Cons
Extremely solid all-rounder	Straight-forward offense. Can be easily IB'd
High guard crush capabilities	Lacks jumping moves that punish G.Dodge
5	6

Version Differences

Removed a special invincibility check in the second half of ground recovery (v1.1)

Move Set

Standing Normals

5LP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 4 - - 0 - - Rapid fire-able. Has proration. Hits fairly high, making it hard to use against grounded opponents, but good for tech-chasing.

5SP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 8 - - -9↑ - - Has slightly longer reach than 2SP, but also longer start up and recovery. Generally stick with 2SP.

cl.SP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 6 - - -7 - - Generally worse than 2SP, but has forward momentum. The momentum carries into other moves, helping combo into moves that whiff often such as cl.SK.

5LK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 6 - - -2 - ✓ Slow, hits mid, short ranged, slight disadvantage, and can't rapid fire. However, it has no proration, and it stops G.Dodges. Good if you read a G.Dodge after throwing someone with Accelerator Strike.

5SK

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 7 - - -9↑ - - Has very good vertical and horizontal reach. Can anti-air almost anything outside of a few early jump-in moves. Useful to keep the opponent at bay even on the ground, and for tech chasing. Since it's a high-reaching attack, it will lose to dash LKs. Recovery is fairly high, so be careful of whiffing and G.Dodges.

cl.SK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 6 - - -9↑ - - 2 hits. Aran's highest guard damage move. It's possible for it to whiff if you are not right next to the opponent, especially when cancelling out of 2SP. In that case, try to delay the cancel a bit.

Crouching Normals

2LP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 4 - - 0 - - Rapid-fire. Has proration. Very standard 4-frame jab.

2SP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 7 - - -3 - - Fast, long reaching, good hitbox, and fast recovery. Can punish moves that other characters' S moves cannot. Useful in all kinds of situations. It cannot stop G.Dodges, so be sure to keep the threat of a low move on the table or you'll eat a full combo.

2LK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Low 6 - - 0/-1 - ✓ Rapid-fire. Approximately 80% proration; worse than Aran's other moves. Slower than the average 2LK. Not great, but it's a low, so it'll still help mess up IBs and stop G.Dodges.

2SK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Low 9 - - -9↑ - ✓ Very long reaching sweep. Long recovery, so be careful not to whiff. Can start combos if you hit it close to the opponent, but the scaling is a bit harsh.

Jumping Normals

j.LP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - High - - - - - - Short ranged, but reaches fairly high and comes out quick. Fairly usable as an air-to-air. Can combo to, for instance, j.SP on the way down.

j.SP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - High - - - - - - About as fast as j.LK, and reaches higher than 5SK. j.SK>j.SP will combo on the majority of characters. Can also be helpful in tech chasing.

j.LK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - High - - - - - - Aran's only cross-up move, but it's not very reliable. Useful as a long ranged air-to-air. Jumping straight up with this move can prevent the opponent from jumping to avoid 2SP and 5SK. Useful as an anti-air on reaction as well.

j.SK

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - High - - - - - Only during high-jump Reaches extremely far horizontally, and decently far down to boot. Does a lot of guard gauge damage. Only stops G.Dodges during high jump, with the exception of Bazoo, who can still get hit during normal jump. j.SK>j.SP will combo on the following characters: Garnet, Orville, Viren, Aran, Sheryl, Bazoo, Lud, Greed, Hazama, Beatrice.

Command Normal

Blow Lancer 6P	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - High 23 - - -8 - - Aran's overhead. Moves forward. Slow, but the subtle animation makes it hard to see coming. Special cancellable on guard, and AA cancellable on whiff, so you can cover all your bases.

Special Moves

Vanishing Strike 236P	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 13 - - -9↑↓ - - LP and SP versions move at different speeds. Very vulnerable to anti-airs, and unsafe on hit when very close to the opponent.

Vanishing Strike Low 236K	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 15 - - -8↑↓(L), -9↑(S) - ✓ Very similar to the normal Vanishing Strike, but can stop G.Dodges. Good to mix in occasionally during pressure or if you can't land Accelerator Strike.

Accelerator Strike 41236P

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 32(L), 41(S) - - +6(L), +9(S) - - Slow start up, but incredibly fast recovery. LP version starts up faster, but has more recovery, and the projectile moves slower. +6 is still extremely good, so there aren't many reasons to use the SP version instead. Having this on the screen gives Aran a lot of control. You can use it after a knockdown for good pressure or a guaranteed Jolt Attack.

Vanguard Strike 214P ==First Strike== 214P ==First Strike== 214P ==Second Strike== 214P-214P ==Second Strike== 214P-214P ==Third Strike (Middle)== 214P-214P-6P ==Third Strike (Middle)== 214P-214P-6P ==Third Strike (Low)== 214P-214P-2P ==Third Strike (Low)== 214P-214P-2P ==Third Strike (High)== 214P-214P-4P ==Third Strike (High)== 214P-214P-4P ==Phantom Phase== 214P-214P-214K ==Phantom Phase== 214P-214P-214K

Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P - Mid 10(L), 19(S) - - -4 - - Start of Aran's Rekka. Light version is fast enough to combo out of light normals. Strong version can't be used in combos, but it moves forward very far and has slight upper-body invincibility. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-214P - Mid 10 - - -3 - - Second Strike. Cancellable to Third Strike on hit or block. Can only be punished by throws and 3f moves. Cancellable into OA. It is possible to time it such that only throws and invincible moves beat it after IB. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-41236P - Mid 18 - - -2 - - Second Strike (Straight). Same animation as Third Strike (Middle), but doesn't send the opponent flying. Slightly higher damage and safer on block than Second Strike, but cannot continue to Third Strike. Slightly better option if you are looking to combo into OA. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-6K - Mid - - - - - - Second Strike (Feint). Even if you cancel as soon as possible, you will still get hit by up to 6f startup moves. A nice little addition if you read the opponent's IB or if they are blocking too much. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-214P-6P - Mid 22 - - -9↑ ✓ - Third Strike (Middle). Sends the opponent flying across the screen and knocks down. Can use I-Blow, but there's no real reason to. Highest damage and O-Gauge gain of the Third Strikes. If this move is the 4th hit or less in a corner combo, an cancelling into OA will land all hits, doing far more damage than cancelling from Second Strike. Very unsafe on block; a delayed OA cancel will give the opponent something to think about, but it's best to avoid being blocked at all. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-214P-2P - Low 21 - - -9 ✓ ✓ Third Strike (Low). Combos after Second Strike and is a true block string. Knocks down on hit. If this move is the 3rd move or less in a combo, cancelling into OA will land all hits, but this is very difficult to hit confirm. Very punishable on block. Same as before, a delayed OA cancel can help. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-214P-4P - High 29 - - -2 ✓ - Third Strike (High). Does not combo after Second Strike, but fast enough that it can't be interrupted by jabs. Only throws, invincible moves, and G.Dodge can get through it. On hit, causes a ground bounce before knocking the opponent down. Can cancel into OA, but outside of the corner, you have to be very quick. Far safer on block than the other Third Strikes, being only punishable by throws. Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-214P-2LK - - - - - - - - Third Strike (Low Feint). Feints with a low blocking animation. About the same stats as Second Strike (Feint). Version Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge 214P-214P-6SK - - - - - - - - Third Strike (High Feint). Feints with a high blocking animation. Works the same as the other feints.

Vertical Strike 623K	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 9 - - Very Negative First Hit First Hit Press SK during the SK version of Vertical Strike for a follow-up. SK version has longer invincibility. Both versions are punishable on hit if you do not I-Blow and the opponent Quick Recovers. I-Blow can lead to big combos.

Phantom Phase 214K	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - - 5~6F? - - - - - A dodge move. LK version is upper-body invincible, SK version is lower-body invincible. Can be cancelled into Vanguard Strike, Vertical Strike, and OAs when successful. The long start-up makes it difficult to use.

Vanishing Strike (Feint) 22K	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - - - - - - - - Typical projectile feint, but it's very slow. Practically useless.

Universal Mechanics

Throw 4/6SP	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - - - - - - - - At disadvantage on hit. Throwing someone into the corner is essentially throwing yourself into the corner.

Phantom Shift LK+SP/LP+SK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - - - - - - - - Seiei Enbu time. Creates a shadow of Aran that trail behind his every move. The shadow cannot throw projectiles. While not practical in a real match, it can be used to pull off a 99-hit combo.

Jolt Attack (air OK) LP+LK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Unblockable 23 - - - - -

Advancing Attack SP+SK	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 5 - - - - -

Super Arts

Strike Burst 236236P Offensive Arts Offensive Arts

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 6/0 - - Very Negative - Just the laser at the end Absurdly fast start-up, invincible, and cannot be reacted to after the super flash. Takes about 40% of the opponent's guard bar. Useful in combos, countering IBs, abare, and guard crushes. Like all OAs, it grants a hard knockdown, which can lead into pressure using Accelerator Strike. If blocked, the opponent has all the time in the world to punish with an air-dodge starter.

Strike Back -Cross- Offensive Arts Offensive Arts	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 5/7 - - - - - Slow start up, but fully invincible. Moves forward, does an uppercut, then throws a multi-hitting projectile. Advantage on both hit and block. However, you have to land Phantom Phase first. Sometimes good for countering projectiles, especially against Greed.

Strike Back -Double- Offensive Arts Offensive Arts	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 5/8 - - - - - Slow start up, but fully invincible. Moves forward and does two uppercuts. Same start-up as Cross, but gives a small launch on hit. However, it's unsafe on block. Basically useless unless you're fighting Greed.

Strike Edge 41236P While Guarding Defensive Arts Defensive Arts	Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 5/7 - - - - - A guard cancel with fairly slow start-up. The opponent can react to the super flash with an invincible move or ground dodge. A Double IB costs the same as this and can grant you a full combo.

Infinity Strike 2363214P Critical Arts Critical Arts

Damage Guard Startup Active Recovery Frame Adv I-Blow OK Punishes G.Dodge - Mid 5/8(Lv1),39(Lv3) - - -9↑ - - Aran goes flying across the screen. At disadvantage on block, but you pass through the opponent. You can charge it up to increase the number of hits. Damage ranges from 50% to 70%. If cancelled into immediately after a guard crush, you can land the full charge, but Guard Crush>Rush Combo>Vanguard>Second>CA will do more damage. Since CAs ignore guts and combo scaling, you can get a ton of damage even if you cancel out of Vanguard. Proration will still apply, so be careful when using light starters.

Combos

General Combos

• 2SP > 5SK > 214LP > 214P > 2P or 6P

Aran's bread and butter. Can be started from jump-ins and light attacks, though lights should be avoided due to proration. Delay the 5SK slightly, or else you'll get cl.5SK, which will whiff.

• 2SP > 5SK > 214LP > 214P or 41236P > 236236P

Offensive Art flavored bread and butter. Can follow up with Accelerator Strike for okizeme. The 41236P route is better if you can do it. If Second Strike gets IB'd, cancelling as fast as possible into the OA can catch the opponent.

• 2SK > 2SP, 214LP > 214P (> 236236P)

Low starter. Good for calling out IBs, or stopping Viren, Kaya, and Bazoo's DAs. While difficult, if you delay all of the attacks, you can get a hard knockdown, and even follow up with an OTG 2SK. Outside of the corner, you can do OTG 2SK and slightly delay into Accelerator Strike to put pressure on ground recoveries. In the corner, you have to mess with the timing and spacing. The damage is a bit low due to air combo scaling, and if you mess up the timing, the opponent can Quick Recover out.

• 2SK > AA > 2SP > 214LP > 214P or 41236P

Useful if you're too far way to do 2SP after 2SK directly, or if you went into 2SK from 2SP. Best to cancel into 214P without much delay. 41236P reaches farther than 214P so it's a bit more reliable.

• Third Strike (High) > 236236P

Can be landed anywhere on the screen, but you need to cancel quickly when outside of the corner. Third Strike (High) can be hard to land, so make sure you cancel into super to take all the damage you can get.

• (2 Hits or Less) > Third Strike (Low) > 236236P

Useful if the opponent IBs Vanguard Strike but then gets hit by Second Strike. Another good situation is when aiming for guard crush. If the opponent blocks Second Strike, whether or not they block Third Strike (Low), you win. You need to cancel into 236236P as fast as possible.

• Jolt > j.SK > j.SP > AD.SP > 2SK > 2SP > 214LP > 41236P

Extremely hard to land reliably, and maybe does not work well in the corner. It may be possible to improve this one. A few tips:

- Do the j.SK > j.SP the same way as the corner jolt combo (see below).

- Delay the AD.SP very slightly, but such that you're still doing it on the way up

- Do everything after the 2SK as fast as possible

Corner Combos

• BD Activation > (Normal Move) > 214LP > 214P > (cl.SP > cl.SK > 214LP > 214P)xn > 2P or 6P

The shadow allows you to combo into normals after Second Strike. As long as the opponent is in the corner, you can fit a normal move in before the first 214P, or even activate BD after a jump in and then continue into the combo. If you can adjust it such that the BD ends after Vanguard or Second Strike, you can activate another BD and continue the combo. Keep doing this, and you can reach 99 hits. However, the damage scaling kicks in pretty hard, so it's mostly only good as a timer scam.

• (3 Hits or Less) > Third Strike (Mid) > 236236P

If Third Strike(Mid) is within the first 4 hits of the combo, 236236P will land all hits. Any higher, and the gravity scaling will cause the last hit to whiff. A good starter, for example, could be 6SP > 214P > 214P. That comes out to exactly three hits, and off of an overhead. You need to delay the super cancel slightly; preferably just after the wall bounce. Gains more meter and does more damage than Second Strike > OA, so try to land it when possible.

• Jolt > j.SK > j.SP > 41236LP > 2SP > 5SK > 214LP > 214P

Only the part of the combo after j.SP is "corner only", so you can do it a bit outside of the corner. Grants a hard knockdown and can't be Quick Recovered when done correctly. You need to do the j.SK while rising, and then delay the j.SP so it lands on the way down. If you don't delay enough, the 41236LP will not connect. Doing a 2LP before the 2SP makes the combo easier, but it gives the opponent a chance to Quick Recover.

Non-Corner Combos

• 623SK (I-Blow First Hit) > Delay SK Follow Up >> Dash 2LP > 2SP > 5SK > 214LP > 214P

Much easier to land as an anti-air or off of a counter hit. If the opponent is too close to the corner, the dash 2LP will whiff. I-Blow-ing the second hit will launch the opponent higher, but they can Quick Recover out if they have the meter. You really have to delay the follow up as much as you can. Depending on your distance from the corner, you may need to adjust the combo after the follow up. For instance, you might need to skip the 5SK or use 214SP. Skipping 5SK is more reliable, if you don't mind the decrease in damage.

Strategy

Accelerator Strike Okizeme

Examples of setplay after a hard knockdown.

• Meaty Accel: Walk back slightly > 5LK > 41236LP

The walk back 5LK is to get out of the opponent's throw range. How far you can walk back depends on the character you are facing, but it generally does not change that much. The timing on the 41236LP also changes depending on the opponent's wake-up speed and the start-up of their moves. The main characters you need to watch out for here are Zen and Aran (a bit early), and Mito (very late).

Do not go for this against the following characters: Hikari, Boyd, Orville, and Kaya. They have very fast command grabs.

• Meaty Accel > jSK > jSP > Land and do whatever

You know how I said above this that you shouldn't go for Meaty Accel against Orville? Well, actually, you can if you use this route. If you jump immediately, he won't be able to grab you in time. This does not apply to the other three.

This route is really good against other characters as well. For instance, after landing, you can do a rush combo into 214LP > 214P > 6P to get a guard crush. It is easy to IB, but the guard bar damage is absolutely insane. Just keep a DP ready in case they IB.

• Meaty Accel > Jolt > Combo

A guaranteed Jolt. Once the opponent blocks the Accel, they'll be forced to block the Jolt. However, this will still lose to invincible moves, and if the opponent backdashes, the Accel will hit them and the Jolt will hit them in the air, making it near impossible to combo afterwards. You can't do the Jolt on reaction to the opponent blocking, making this a hard read.

Vanishing Strike (Low) Okizeme

Alternative setplay against Hikari, Boyd, and Kaya.

• Walk back slightly > 5LK > 236LK (> Dash LP, etc)

Doesn't give as much advantage as Meaty Accel, but keeps you out of range of command throws. Try to get the projectile to hit a bit late, so that it's hitting them in the back. Kaya can beat this using her OA, so keep an eye on her meter. Boyd may also use his DP cancel to get out of it. In general, be careful when using this.

External Links

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