Them's Fightin' Herds/Nidra/Strategy

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Neutral

(WIP)

Important Normals

• 5A: Fastest button. Good for abare and quick punishes.

• 2A: Fast low. Complements Nidra's overheads.

• 6A: Anti-air. Has high vertical reach and forward movement, can be used in pressure for rebeats and frametraps.

• 5B: Ground poke. Useful in pressure for its safety on block and high blockstun when cancelled.

• 2B: Faster than 5B and has many active frames. Hits above Nidra with a disjoint, maybe can anti air!

• 5C: High damage mid that leads to an overhead/low mixup.

• 2C: Very active advancing low. Important low for mixups.

• jA: Low commitment air-to-air. Fast startup and recovery.

• jB: Main jump-in normal. Has the best horizontal reach, with many active frames and can cross up.

• jC: When done instantly from a jump, will hit crouching opponents faster than is reactable! Has the best downwards vertical reach, but launches opponent on hit.

General gameplan

Mix u up (WIP)

Offense

Nidra's offense involves the usage of many high/low mixups in close range. She can also use stagger pressure effectively, with a fast dash and with 5B as a -2 reset point.

5A (-1), 2A (-2) and 5B (-2) are your main stagger point normals. They are fast, have good frame data and recover quickly with plenty of cancel options available.

Overheads

Overheads are a core part of Nidra's offense. She has a lot of them, and contrary to usual fighting game standards, her overheads are quite safe on block!

• 236A is a 23 frame overhead that is -3, and leads to a full combo on hit. This is very fast and very safe. To do it safely, cancel into it from 5B, 2B, or 6A. Doing these will frametrap a reversal 5A from the opponent. If Instant-Blocked, 5B > 236A and 2B > 236A can be interrupted by 5A, and 6A > 236A will trade with 5A. 236A is also -6 if Instant-Blocked.

• ms.C is a 7 frame overhead that can only be done in Moon Stance. Moon Stance is most easily accessed by doing 5C on hit/block. This overhead is -3 on block and sometimes pushes back a lot more than 236A, and leads to a full combo on hit. Like 236A, it can be interrupted if the opponent Instant-Blocks the 5C, or punished if ms.C is Instant-Blocked.

• j.C is a 14 frame air normal that will hit crouching opponents on its first active frame, making it effectively an unreactable instant-overhead that does not require a fuzzy-guard setup. It leads to combos if the opponent is close enough and Nidra cancels into 214A Dream Drop. It is unsafe on block, being punished by 6A even if cancelled into Dream Drop.

Nidra has other overheads available but they seem not as useful. 236B is much slower, is unsafe on block, and leads to no combo if it hits. ns.C is a hop that can high profile and punish normals, but if it is blocked, Nidra is left in the air and has to block the opponent's response (or frametrap them with a funny air super).

Lows

Lows. What is an overhead without a good low? Nidra's overheads are surprisingly safe, with a weakness against Instant Block. Her complementary lows are not quite so simple, requiring very specific actions to safely disengage.

• 2A is the safest low and has the lowest reward. It also cannot be cancelled into, which means the opponent must be scared into blocking so Nidra can reset her blockstring. It is a good start to her pressure, though, having many active frames and good range.

• 2C is the fastest low that Nidra can cancel into during later blockstrings. This one is fast enough to frametrap players who are trying to Instant-Block her 5B, 2B, 6A, and 5C cancels into overheads, which makes it very very important to represent, both as a low threat and as a frametrap! However, the situation on block is very awkward. 2C is unsafe on block and leaves Nidra in Star Stance, which has many followups that are too slow to frametrap reversal 5As!

In order to make 2C respected, Nidra needs to do very specific options. Cancelling 2C into 214A Dream Drop will leave her +1 and is safe against Instant Block. This costs 1 full stock of Magic. This is the only way to make 2C truly safe. If she has no magic, she can use 2C into D to enter Night Stance, after which she can use ns.1/3D Toss/Turn as a safe frametrap. Cancelling Toss/Turn into blocking will leave her at disadvantage, but she will not be punishable outright. If the frametrap hits, the reward is a full combo. However, if the 2C is Instant-Blocked, this string will become interruptible, which is why 2C is only truly safe if Dream Drop is used. Any other followups from 2C are interruptible by reversal 5A.

At farther spacings or in the corner, Nidra can use the 4D input to move backwards while entering Night Stance. This is especially useful in the corner, as many of Nidra's attacks have unusually high pushback when the opponent is cornered. This includes 2C and ms.C, making them both safer on block, but harder to convert from on hit.

• ss.C can be done from 2C. Doing so will allow a frametrap into ns.A, or a turn steal by cancelling Night Stance into blocking/dashing. However, ss.C is interruptible and requires the opponent to be respecting after blocking 2C.

• ns.A is a long-range low with extreme low profile, but it is too slow to safely use in most blockstrings. The only strings that cannot be interrupted are from 6A and 2B, or the aforementioned ss.C. If the normal is IB'd, these strings can be interrupted. ns.A itself cannot be punished on block, despite being -8 when immediately exiting stance, because Nidra can block while exiting Night Stance.

Just like her overheads, Nidra has a couple more lows that are harder to use and potentially not as useful. ms.A/B is a low that can be done after 5C to mix with its overhead, but it is unsafe on block with no cancel options besides super, and loses to Instant-Block interrupts, which 2C does not. 236C is a safe low, but it is very slow and will not frametrap, making it hard to use if you want your mixup to be "true".

Night Stance

1/3D frametraps, or is a true blockstring, from every normal.

Nidra’s safest stancel is from 2B, at -8. However, despite being -8, Nidra’s in blockable recovery for 3 of those frames, and the other 5 are invuln. Because of how exiting night stance works, every stancel is functionally safe on block, unable to be punished. The same is true for both of her dashes in night stance.

In night stance alone, Nidra can threaten a pressure resets (ns.8 or ns.66 > 5/2A), safe blockstring ender (ns.8 or ns.66 or ns.44 > block), spacing traps (ns.44 > 2A/B, or a distance ns.B > 2B/delay 2A), and frametraps (ns.1/3D).

She can also do these same options from ns.A, with ns.1/3D connecting at roundstart distance.

From ns.3D, she has these same options yet again. She can frametrap with ns.D if you have the magic, although this is usually 5A punishable (any button other than 5A will get frametrapped by a cancel into 236A, limiting the answers of characters with short jabs). She still can safely end pressure, or go for a reset, with any of her exit options. She can go for the same spacing traps.

Example Strings

Wow! That's a lot to keep in mind! Let's look at some example strings to get a better understanding of how the pressure flows:

5B/2B/6A:

• 5B 236A: Overhead frametrap.
• 5B 2C D ns.1/3D ns.7 (Exit Stance): Low frametrap, with mostly-safe followup frametrap to keep 2C safe.
• 5B 2C 214A: Low frametrap, with safe frametrap to become +1. (Costs 1 Magic).
• 5B 6A 5B 2B 236A: Extended rebeat string into overhead frametrap.
• 5B 6A 5B, 2A: Stagger pressure reset into low from 5B's -2.
• 5B 6A 5B, j.C 214A: Stagger pressure reset into "instant-overhead" from 5B's -2.
• 5B 2B D ns.A: Low frametrap, only a frametrap from 2B (or 6A).

5C Moon Stance Mixups:

• 5C ms.C: Overhead frametrap from 5C.
• 5C 2C D ns.1/3D ns.7 (Exit Stance): Low frametrap with mostly-safe followup frametrap to keep 2C safe.
• 5C 2C 214A: Low frametrap, with safe frametrap to become +1. (Costs 1 Magic).
• 5C ms.66: Sneaky crossup pressure reset. Very unsafe, use with caution!
• 5C ms.1: Do nothing and exit stance. Leaves Nidra -6.

Throws can also be useful. Nidra can combo out of her forward throw, even in midscreen, by dashing forward into 2B.

In summation: Without Magic, Nidra's overheads and -2 reset points are the safest way for her to pressure. 2C can frametrap as a low, but can be unsafe without Magic. Most importantly, Nidra's overhead strings are all weak to Instant Block. This means she must use 2C to force respect by punishing Instant Block users.

Okizeme

• Midscreen

Nidra can use j.B and j.C to cross up the opponent. j.B has 12 active frames, allowing it to cover many tech timings.

(WIP)

• Corner

If Nidra wishes to, she can use ns.4D or ss.B to drag the opponent out of the corner before a Hard Knockdown, so that she may cross them up.

During SKD situations, Nidra can plant a Dream Drop to cover various tech options.

(WIP)

Defense

Nidra's Cross Canter is bugged. Most Cross Canters are active on frame 23, and this frame has strike invincibility, preventing CC from trading. However, Nidra's first active frame is frame 26, which does not have any invincibility. This means her Cross Canter is slower than everyone else's, and can trade with attacks.

Nidra has the unique ability to alter her wake-up timing by pressing 5D. This can only be done on a Soft Knockdown, and only if Nidra does not tech. By doing this, her wake-up timing is 12 frames faster, and gives her access to her stance attacks 1 frame after that! This means that she can do ns.5D, an invincible move that is usually locked behind her stance, as a wake-up option. Just remember: there is still 1 frame where Nidra can be hit before she can get her invincibility, so attentive opponents can call out this option!

Night Stance 5D is also special and super cancellable on block. The opponent can be mixed up by either cancelling into Level 1 Super as a frametrap, or by doing nothing and stealing the turn.

However, this only applies on Soft Knockdown. Otherwise, Nidra's only unique defensive option is her Super. It is invincible, fast, and does a lot of damage on counterhit (1400+), but is very unsafe on block.

Matchups

Arizona [Character Page]

Seems quite tough. Nidra has a lot of low profile on her stances, but Arizona's stomps all hit low. Nidra's jump is short and slow, and her air normals are stubby, which means she may not be able to reliably call out stomps from mid-range. Arizona can prevent Nidra from gaining magic by threatening with dashes and 22C. If Nidra puts out a Dream Drop, the neutral becomes more manageable, but Dream Drops can be destroyed by attacks, and Arizona 6A and Stomps can both destroy it if well-timed.

Oleander [Character Page]

Oleander's projectiles and 5A all can be avoided by Nidra's Night Stance, making it difficult for Oleander to run her zoning. Once Nidra gains Magic, she can use Dream Drop to really halt Oleander's zoning and move in! Epilogue can be destroyed with a single Dream Drop! Additionally, Oleander's j.B is the only air normal that can reliably avoid getting anti-aired by Nidra's ns.A. Another matchup quirk is Nidra's ms.14 recovering fast enough to block Oleander's 22D! Nidra's unique Night Stance SKD wakeup interacts favorably with Oleander's trap oki. Oleander's traps take 1 frame to "detonate" when touching an opponent. This means that Nidra's 1 frame of vulnerability will trigger the trap, but she will not take damage if she uses ns.5D immediately after.

Paprika[No Data] [Character Page]

Pom[No Data] [Character Page]

Tianhuo[No Data] [Character Page]

Velvet[No Data] [Character Page]

Shanty[No Data] [Character Page]

Texas [Character Page]

Nidra's short, slow jumps and poor range on her normals make this a difficult fight in neutral, as she will often get clipped by Texas's 2C when trying to jump, and other normals outrange hers. She has access to many armor-breakers, two of which are important mixup tools, making Texas's Run less of a concern during her pressure (she has more problematic things to worry about, see below). She cannot low profile under ranged Texas 5D, and Texas's stomps will hit her. Texas's Texas Smash is 4-frame startup and prioritizes in trades due to being invincible on its active frame, effectively making it a 3-frame interrupt against frametraps. The following strings that were listed as frametraps in the above section will lose to reversal Texas Smash even with no Instant-Block. 5C ss.C 2C ms.1/3D 5B 236A 2B ns.A This means that Nidra loses any safe overhead presence from 5C or 5B, and cannot keep 2C safe without Magic for Dream Drop. She also loses the option to use ns.A from 2B, forcing her to use 2C. Nidra's 6A is the only normal to not lose any of its frametraps. Nidra needs magic to keep her pressure safe against Texas Smash, but she cannot build it safely in neutral because of Stomp and cowbells. Not fun!