The King of Fighters 2002/Kusanagi

Movelist

Command Normals:
1. Geshiki: Naraku Otoshi - d+C(air)
- Kusanagi does an overhead smash with both hands, that has good priority
- can crossup fairly well, and stuns longer than other jump attacks
- overhead
- hard knockdown if it hits an opponent in the air

2. Geshiki: Goufu You - f+B
- does a two hit kick forward, the first hit coming out very fast unlike Kyo's version of the same move
- does a lot of damage and insane amount of guard damage if it is not cancelled into
- cancellable on the second hit if cancelled into
- overhead on the second hit

3. 88 Shiki - df+D
- a two hit low attack that comes out very fast
- low attack on both hits. Hits low even if cancelled into
- free cancellable out of on both hits

Special Moves:
1. 108 Shiki: Yami Barai - qcf+P
- Kusanagi throws a ground projectile. qcf+C travels faster than qcf+A

2. 100 Shiki: Oniyaki - dp+P
- Kusanagi does a rising uppercut with flames surrounding him. dp+C goes higher but has more recovery time than dp+A
- dp+C does not knock the opponent down on the first hit if he is on the ground, thus it is not recommended to be used unless opponent is in the air
- has autoguard from the moment this move is entered, until he jumps into the air. dp+C is the ideal anti-air against jump attacks
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of on the first hit

3. 101 Shiki: Oboroguruma - rdp+K
- Kusanagi jumps diagonally into the air, kicking. rdp+B does one kick, while rdp+D does 3 kicks, flying diagonally across the screen
- rdp+D is a hard knockdown on the third hit
- free cancellable into

4. 75 Shiki Kai - qcf+K K
- Kusanagi jumps into the air with a kick. If K is pressed again, he will do a second kick
- the second kick can be delayed such that you get a frame advantage on block. The opponent can crouch block the second hit unless Kusanagi delays it. The second hit always whiffs crouching Choi and Chin
- if the opponent stand blocks this move, it doesn't push Kusanagi back, allowing him to have a frame advantage and do a close C. If they are crouching, Kusanagi gets pushed back, out of close C range
- qcf+DD allows you to juggle with anything after, but only very few things juggle if qcf+BB is used
- free cancellable into
- evades low attacks

5. 212 Shiki: Kototsuki You - hcb+K
- Kusanagi dashes forward quickly. If he connects, he grabs them and blows them up. If it's blocked, he still does the grab animation and can be punished if the opponent runs up to combo
- if he whiffs, he stops running, having pretty much no recovery
- hcb+D goes full screen while hcb+B goes half screen
- free cancellable out of on both hits if blocked, and on the first hit if it connects

6. 910 Shiki: Nue Tsumi - qcb+P
- Kusanagi begins punching upwards. If he is hit before this punch actually occurs, he will execute a counter, either Ryuu Iri or Tora Fuse, mentioned below
- if the counter does not activate, the punch he does can still hit the opponent. This punch is very difficult to punish
- the counters activate against any normal attack that isn't a jump attack. The punch itself is invincible to many attacks, including jump attacks

6a. Geshiki: Ryuu Iri - as a high counter
- Kusanagi does an elbow attack that knocks the opponent over but doesn't do a hard knockdown

6b. Geshiki: Tora Fuse - as a low counter
- Kusanagi does an overhead punch pounding the opponent to the floor
- hard knockdown

DMs:
1. Ura 108 Shiki: Orochi Nagi - qcb hcf+P (can be held)
- Kusanagi holds a flame in his hand and releases it. This move can be delayed by holding the attack button used
- qcb hcf+C comes out faster than qcb hcf+A
- qcb hcf+A is invincible to low attacks, while qcb hcf+C is invincible to jump attacks, as well as high and mid-level attacks

SDMs:
1. Ura 108 Shiki: Orochi Nagi - qcb hcf+P (can be held)
- Kusanagi's body becomes surrounded by fire. The flames can hurt and knock the opponent. The flames surround on Kusanagi while he is holding P
- the flames when thrown, can do three hits. It is possible to juggle the opponent if only first and second hits connect

HSDM:
Saishuu Kessen Ougi Reishiki - qcfx2+AC
- Kusanagi creates a huge pillar of flame in front of him, then does a combo on the opponent ending in an anti-air uppercut
- if blocked, this is very punishable. However, it does more damage than any other move in the game, about 70% of a full health bar
- difficult to combo into, combos well from weak attacks but they require you to use shortcuts to actually get the move to come out (otherwise you get dp+P)

Notes:
- cancellable normals are close A, far A, crouch A, close B, close C, far C, crouch C, close D, crouch D
- CD is cancellable into specials and DMs
- close B is a low attack
- close C, f+B does not combo against Leona, Ralf, Clark, Benimaru, Robert, Kensou
- far D can evade low attacks

Combos

Anywhere:
1. Crouch B, Crouch A, df+D - 15-20%
2. Close C, qcf+D D, hcb+D/qcb hcf+P - 35%/45%
3. Close C, f+B, rdp+D/hcb+D - 40%
4. Close C, f+B, qcb hcf+C - 45%

Corner:
1. Close C, qcf+D D, rdp+B, dp+C - 35-40%
2. Close C, qcf+D D, qcf+B B, dp+C - 30%

Maxmode:
1. Close C, f+B(1), BC, run Close C, f+B(2), hcb+K(1), (C)dp+C(1), (C)qcf+D D, (hcb+K, (C)rdp+D)/qcb hcf+P/(qcb hcf+AC(2), dp+C, corner only) - 53%/70%/90% (standing opponents usually, omit the two f+B's)
2. Close C, df+D, BC(Buffer:qcb+BC), qcb hcf+C(Buffer:qcf+C) - 50% (if Crouch B, Crouch A is used instead of close C, then DM doesn't combo)

Attack Strings:
1. Crouch BBB, Far B
2. Close C, f+B, qcf+P/qcf+KK
3. ~(Crouch BB) Crouch D, qcf+C/qcf+DD
4. Close C, qcf+DD(delayed second D), repeat any attack string string above including this one
5. Jump d+C, f+B

Strategies

Kusanagi is a very versatile character. He has a great zoning fireball, one of the best anti-airs in the game, useful counters, a good high/low mixup game and damaging combos.

Kusanagi's keepaway game is quite strong. His fireballs have decent recovery, and if you can force the opponent to jump over them, you have a free anti-air with dp+C. Of course, you don't want to be predictable with them, otherwise the opponent will jump over them the instant you throw them, which most likely won't give Kusanagi enough time to anti-air. Make sure that you have a distance between you and your opponent equal to that of high jump or longer. Toss a slow one and begin running forward. If they jump, immediately dp+C, toss another fireball and repeat until you get right up to them. if they roll, you can try to hit them with a df+D if they were rolling from far away. If they rolled right in front of you, you can land any combo starting with close C. If they stand there, then the opponent basically let you get in, so you can now change to Kusanagi's offensive game, which is quite solid as well.Kusanagi has great offensive tools as well. His f+B is an extremely good move, especially if it is not cancelled into. The first hit comes out fairly fast, and the second hit is an overhead. This move also does a lot of damage by itself, almost 20% if both hits connect. The best thing about it though, is it's ability to guardcrush if not cancelled into. Assuming the opponent has a full guardcrush meter, the following attack strings will lead to guardcrush:

1. hop d+C, f+B, hop d+C, f+B(guard crush on second hit), BC, run up and combo
2. f+B, hop d+C, f+B, hop B, close C(guard crush), (f+B, BC, run up max combo)/(qcf+DD, qcb hcf+P)

The f+B is also a good poke, which has the potential to stop jumpins that are in front of him (but not too high), or stopping hops. Using this move, as well as far B pokes, can usually get most people to jump, which means free dp+C anti-air.

The hop d+C is a fairly high priority jump attack with crossup potential and can guardcrush fairly well (although nowhere near as good as his f+B). It block stuns fairly well too, allowing you to followup with f+B, a hyper hop B which will be difficult for the opponent to punish, or mixup with a crouch B, crouch A, df+D. Not that the df+D is fairly safe if both hits are blocked, but if the last one whiffs, or the opponent guard rolls it, he can be punished.

Another useful mixup is to use close B, f+B. As explained in the system section of the faq, if you cancel a normal late, into a command move, the command move does not lose it's properties but does not gain the cancellable property. Since his close B hits low and is cancellable, you can do close B, late cancel f+B. Not only will the opponent have to block low, then high, but the f+B being blocked will aid you in the guardcrush process. This can further be mixed up by cancelling the close B to f+B normally, letting you cancel the f+B to qcf+P or qcf+DD. Be careful when cancelling to qcf+P, you don't want to execute the qcf+P fireball if they guard rolled through at some point during the string. The Close B/Close C, f+B, qcf+DD can be useful at times because the first hit whiffs and the second hit connects a bit late. It works great as a surprise and is difficult to punish without just anti-airing it as it comes out. In addition, if the last hit of qcf+DD connects, you can combo hcb+D or qcf hcb+C.

When Kusanagi is on the defensive, he should be readying a dp+C in case the opponent jumps. The autoguard on the dp+P is just too good. As long as Kusanagi is not high in the air when he makes contact with the opponent's jump attack, all high priority moves will be cleanly beaten by the autoguard. In addition, the autoguard will blast through Yuri air fireballs, as usually it is difficult to counter Yuri when she is jumping forward with an air fireball, landing in front of you. It's also great against high priority, hard to counter moves such as Billy's f+A, Kim/Choi qcf+K(air) and Kyo's rdp+K, assuming you have the reaction speed to see it coming and counter.

Jumping backwards with C or D is also quite advantageous against people who do multiple jump attacks in a row or are jumping over you attempting to crossup. Jump C comes out faster than Jump D, but lacks horizontal range.

His qcb+P counters should not be taken lightly. If the opponent loves to poke, such as Kula users with crouch B and far B, then qcb+P will counter them, forcing them to think twice about sticking out pokes. If the counter does not activate but the opponent blocks the uppercut punch, he is almost always safe (with the exception of some character, like Leona who can punish him on block with a crouch D). The punch attack can also beat out high priority moves such as jump CDs, but it should not be used on reaction to counter them, because Kusanagi has to have his elbow extended (or perhaps almost extended) for this invincibility to actually work. As long as you are within range of the move not whiffing, it is reasonably safe to attempt the qcb+P if they are poking alot. This move should not be spammed.

His df+D should be used to punish whiffed normals and other fairly difficult to punish moves, since it comes out very fast and does decent damage.

On wakeup, he should always be readying a dp motion. If they do some move on the ground and you see it, immediately do a dp+A. If they lift off the ground, do a dp+C. The reason dp+A is not used if the opponent is on the ground, is because dp+C doesn't knock down on the first hit. Regardless, the autoguard on his dp+P will allow him to go through all of these attacks. The only exception to using dp+C on the ground is when you are in maxmode for whatever reason. In that case, you can cancel a wakeup dp+C into qcf+DD and followup with a combo. Of course, if the opponent moves out of the way making the dp+C whiff, then you can't cancel to qcf+DD and should expect to get comboed.

UNFINISHED