Black Polnareff is an offense-based character all about precision and movement, focusing on finding that one hit he needs in order to begin his highly damaging combo loop.
| pros = * Great Normals: He has a lot of good normals with strong hitboxes, including 2 jabs with 1f of startup.
- High Damage: Using his signature loop, Black Polnareff can inflict very strong damage with his loop.
- Tech Chaser: Tools like 4S and the Polnareff j.B allow Black Polnareff to capitalise from anti-airs and launches.
- Good Okizeme: If he can score a knockdown, Black Polnareff has many ways to perform oki, including a 50/50 on slower wakeups for a two-touch situation.
- The Strongest Stand: Black Polnareff is one of three Anubis characters, giving him access to the "I've learned it!" parry special that can shut down entire gameplans with Anubis Guard Cancels.
- Skinny: Black Polnareff's standing hurtbox is slim enough that some characters, including himself, have to make adjustments when performing combos lest they drop.
| cons = * Passive Stand: Without the ability to turn Stand ON, Black Polnareff cannot avoid hard knockdowns or chip damage. This also means he doesn't have access to a Tandem or Custom Combo.
- Mediocre Movement: While his hop angle is good and fast, Black Polnareff's ground speed is less than stellar, giving him an obstacle when fishing for whiff punishes.
- Poor Safety: Black Polnareff's frame data isn't the best, leading him to receive full punishes for the smallest mistakes, on whiff or block.
- Linear: Without a knockdown, Black Polnareff's pressure and mixups are incredibly straightforward, so he has to take major risks to open up a patient player.
- Inconsistent Okizeme: While his mixups during an oki situation are strong, they're highly punishable if guessed right, and inconsistent with faster wakeup speeds.
- Zoned Out: Being a character focused almost entirely on melee attacks, Black Polnareff deals with zoners incredibly poorly.
- Mediocre Supers: Despite his amazing meter build, Black Polnareff's supers aren't the best, with 236AA's poor scaling and hitbox, and 214AA's very slow speed.