YomiHustle/Actionability

A player is considered actionable on a turn if they can perform at least one action that is not a burst or cancel. Players are, in general, inactionable during the startup, active, or recovery frames of a move, or during hitstun after being hit by their opponent. By default, using a move will cause the player to be inactionable for the duration of that move; however, there are a number of ways in which the player can cancel the animation and become actionable again earlier:

• Most melee attacks are hit-cancelable, meaning that landing a hit will make the player actionable again.
• If the player parries an attack, they will become actionable before the block animation is complete.
• If the Free Cancel switch is toggled when an action is performed, the player will become actionable as soon as their opponent does.
• Some moves, known as interruptible moves (mostly movement actions), will allow the player to become actionable as soon as their opponent does, effectively having a built-in free cancel.
• If the player performs a Whiff Cancel, they will become actionable with a limited moveset 1 frame later.
• As a Cowboy, if the Draw switch is toggled when an attack is performed, and that attack misses, the player will become actionable and enter the gun drawn stance during the active frames of the attack. If the attack lands, the player will get a proper hit cancel.

Hit Cancel

Most melee attacks will cancel their animation and make the player actionable upon landing a successful hit. Below is a list of melee attacks that are not hit-cancelable:

Attack	Character
Slide Kick	Ninja
Upper Cut	Ninja
Whip Wave	Ninja
Palm Strike	Ninja
Time Splitter	Cowboy
PING	Robot
EARTHQUAKE	Robot
SPIN CYCLE	Robot

For many attacks, a successful hit cancel will limit the actions that can be performed by the player. These limitations range from simply not being able to use the previous move again, to significantly shrinking the moveset size (as is the case with Ninja’s Quick Slash). However, these limitations can be removed with an Instant Cancel or a Burst Cancel.

Instant Cancel

Performing an Instant Cancel will give the player access to their full moveset 1 frame later, for the price of one Level meter. This can be useful in cases where the opponent’s DI makes it impossible to continue a combo with any available attack.

Burst Cancel

Performing a Burst Cancel will perform an offensive burst and give the player access to their full moveset, for the price of a full Burst meter. Burst Cancels are slightly faster than regular Bursts, meaning they can be used instead of an Instant Cancel if the player suspects their opponent will Burst.

Free Cancels and Interruptibility

Many moves are interruptible, meaning the player will be actionable as soon as their enemy becomes actionable. For example, Robot’s Drive is 9 frames long, but it is interruptible. Thus, if Robot uses Drive and their opponent becomes actionable 4 frames later, Robot will also become actionable 4 frames later, despite using a 9-frame move. Below is a list of interruptible moves:

Move	Character
Dash	Ninja, Cowboy, Wizard, Mutant
Back Dash	Ninja, Wizard, Mutant
Super Dash	All Characters
Jump	All Characters
Super Jump	All Characters
Air Dash	Ninja, Cowboy, Mutant
Hustle	All Characters
Walk	Cowboy
Back Walk	Cowboy
PROPEL	Robot
DRIVE	Robot

In addition to interruptible moves, most melee attacks can be free canceled by toggling the Free Cancel switch while performing them. This costs one Free Cancel if the player has one, or one Level meter if they do not. Free canceling a move effectively turns it into an interruptible move. Note that in the case that a player performs a free-canceled attack and chooses to hold that attack instead of switching to another move, the attack becomes uninterruptible, and the player still uses a Free Cancel. However, if the player lands a hit or gets hit during the animation of a free-canceled attack, it no longer uses a Free Cancel. In fact, if the player lands a hit with a free-canceled attack, they receive a net gain of one Free Cancel.

Whiff Cancel

If the player performs an action that is not interruptible and is not free-canceled, they will get the option to Whiff Cancel as soon as their opponent becomes actionable. They will also get the option to Whiff Cancel if their opponent becomes actionable before them again after the player held a free-canceled attack instead of switching to another move. Whiff Cancels require 75% of the player’s Burst meter. Whiff Canceling allows the player to use melee attacks after 1 frame. This 1-frame delay is significant, because the player is unlikely to be able to counter their opponent’s fastest move. For example, suppose two Ninjas are fighting, and on a given turn, Ninja 1 punches and Ninja 2 whiff cancels. Due to the 1-frame delay and the lack of a block after whiff canceling, Ninja 2 will be completely vulnerable to Ninja 1’s punch. The only way for Ninja 2 to get out of this situation is by using an attack that moves them away from Ninja 1’s punch. If such an attack exists, it is often a flipped variant, so it is worth checking all of these.