Garou: Mark of the Wolves/Kevin Rian

Introduction

To come.

Character Colors

Gameplay Overview

Kevin is the most versatile character in the game. Builds meter really fast with his special cancels. He can play offensively or defensively and still control the match. He has some of the longest combos in game. He also takes hits really well cause of his vitality. Once Kevin has P super, the match becomes his to control. The opponent must fear and respect Kevin with full super, even if its an inexperienced Kevin. Even without meter Kevin can still be scary with his command grab, guard crush corner loop and high/low options.

Move List

Command Normal Moves

Poli Kick: +

Special Command Moves

Command	Move	Weak Damage	Strong Damage
+	Hell Trap	19	19
+ (Break)	Hell Trap	9	9
+ lv1	Hell Rotor	14	15
+ lv2	Hell Rotor	20	19
+ lv3	Hell Rotor	26	23
+	Hell Arrest	19	22
+	Creeper	0	0
---	Creeper: Low Follow Up	20	NA
---	Creeper: Overhead Follow Up	20	NA
---	Creeper: Cancel	0	0
+	Abide Mine	0	0
+	Hell Snipe	15	16
, +	Lucky Strike	28	48
, +	Gattling Freezer	21	36

Attributes

When a move can be canceled, it can either be canceled into a special/super/feint. Some moves that can't be canceled when they hit can be canceled when the opponent blocks while some moves that can be Special/Super canceled cannot be Feint Canceled.

Command	Cancel on Hit	Cancel on Block	Feint Cancel
Far	O	O	O
Far	X	X	X
Far	X	X	X
Far	X	O	O (on block)
Close	O	O	O
Close	O	O	O
Close	O	O	O
Close	X	X	X
	O	O	O
	X	X	X
	O	O	O
	X	X	X
jump	NA	NA	NA
jump	NA	NA	NA
jump	NA	NA	NA
jump	NA	NA	NA
hop	NA	NA	NA
hop	NA	NA	NA
hop	NA	NA	NA
hop	NA	NA	NA
+	NA	NA	NA
+ +	O	X	O
+	X	X	X

Frame Data

Legend :
Command = the input for the attack.
Start Up = How many start up frames a move/attack has.
Hit = When the attack hits.
Block = When the attack is blocked.
+ signifies how many advantage frames the attacker has.
- signifies how many disadvantage frames the attacker has.
KD means the attack will knock the opponent down.

Command	Start Up	Hit	Guard
Close	4	+2	+2
Close	4	+2	+2
Close	6	-9	-9
Close	11	-9	-9
+	7	-2	-2
Far	3	+2	+2
Far	9	-6	-6
Far	11	-11	-11
Far	11	-9	-9
	4	+2	+2
	5	+2	+2
	6	-7	-7
	7	KD	-12
+	22	-6	0
+ +	8	0	+6
+	14	-1	-1
+ lv 2-3	14	KD	-14
+	20	KD	-8
+ ,	7	KD	-11
+ ,	16	KD	-10
+	8	KD	NA
+	9	KD	NA
+	10	KD	-22
+ (Break)	10	KD	+11
+	14	KD	-25
+ (Break)	14	KD	+9
+	15	0	-1
+	18	KD	NA
	10	KD	-15
, +	4	KD	-9
, +	4	KD	-25
, +	12	KD	+1
, +	0	KD	+3

Data from Howard's Arena

Attack Notes

Hell Trap

+ (Break)

Kevin will move forward with a low attack, followed by a grab. This move is going to be important for corner lock downs as its his break, and he recovers very fast from it. The first hit goes low, and if blocked can be canceled with the break input. If it does hit, the grab will automatically grab them. The second hit of this move is a grab, but it registers as a normal attack, so you can trade with other attacks. its not a good idea to do this, but it will happen occasionally in battle. Since its an attack, it can be JD and punished.

Hell Rotor
+

This move has 3 levels. The version hits mid, while the is an overhead. The version comes out a bit slower, but can be worth it for mix ups as many would expect Kevin to do his + attack. The version is the best follow up to his break, but it must be timed correctly, other wise it will whiff. This move has three levels, a level 2 must be done in order to hit after break. Doing this move by itself isn't the best thing to do, but it can be done every now and then to throw off your opponent. This move also leads into all of his advanced tricks with cancels. For more about his cancels read Kevin Cancel's

Hell Arrest
+

Close range command grab that will throw them away from Kevin. This is a great move, especially since many people never see it coming. Throw it in with your mix ups, empty cancel into it, tick into it, however you want to do it, just be sure the opponent doesn't always use the throw escape bugs on it. if they do it once, try not to use the move unless they're out of T.O.P and have no meter.

Creeper
+

Kevin crawls on the ground like a commando and can follow up with an overhead, or a low attack. Since's hes on the ground, attacks that don't hit low-mid or low will not touch him. He also has some invincibility frames which allow him to get out of bad situations. His follow-up will got low on the opponent. it doesn't come out very fast, but it can be affective at times. The follow-up is an over head, which comes out slower that his follow-up. If blocked Kevin is in trouble, but if it hits, he scores a knockdown. Use both of these moves sparingly, and remember to mix it up with them, don't stick to one follow-up. You can also do a follow-up which will get Kevin off the ground, and is another trick to build meter with him, but not anywhere near as fast as doing it with his cancels.

Abide Mine
+

Kevin will do a roll that takes him about two character lengths ahead of where he was. This move sounds great since its a semi invincible roll, but its recovery isn't the best, and once used a few times, it becomes quite obvious to a seasoned player when it will be used again. Many people tend to use this move to escape from the corner, but if the opponent short hops backwards and sticks something out, Kevin will get hit and it can lead to some nasty damage. Try not to abuse this move or rely on this move too much. This move can lead to a decent wake up game, but you will be thrown more often than anything else. Use this move wisely.

Hell Snipe
+

An arching air attack. This move can be a decent anti-air if the opponent is at the right height, but its best not to rely on this. Its a great follow up after his + break. it doesn't require any special timing, and as long as you are close enough the version will hit them 100% of the time. The version is also -1 on block, so it is very hard to punish. The version travels higher and further, and it will not hit grounded opponents, it is pretty useful on getting to the other side of the opponent as it recovers almost immediately when landing. Don't rely on it to get you out of a jam.

Lucky Strike
, +

Both supers come out in 4 frames and do a fair amount of damage, but overall they shouldn't be used much, as Kevin should save super for his super. This will go through some moves, but all leaping + will stuff this out while its coming out. It can be done after a corner + , but it has to be timed right, otherwise the super will whiff the last few hits. A + (Break) can be followed by this super, but its very risky, and will not always hit.

Gatling Freeze
, +

Damage on this super is very low, but this is easily one of the best supers in the game. When hit, the opponent will be frozen for a couple of seconds, which allows Kevin to continue with his onslaught. The version comes out slow, and should never be thrown out randomly as it doesn't have a good hit box and can be stuffed out easily. Two can be connected in the same combo, or one followed by an super. The version comes out instantly and is easily the best move for juggling. The overall best option is for Kevin to sit on his meter until he can throw out a version in a combo.

Combos

Kevin has perhaps the most damaging combos in the game; he is 2nd to non in this field. While not all of his combos may be posted as of this writing, the ones given may suffice for even the most amateur of players. All combos can be preformed anywhere unless noted.

Note: damage is based on the majority of the cast. All combos will do slightly less on Grant and Tizoc and slightly more on Jenet, Hotaru and Hokutomaru

Basic

These combos require no feinting, and can be preformed by all skill levels.

• s, + (break), + 24 damage
• s, + (break), + 30 damage
• s, + (break), + 28 damage
• s, + (break), + 34 damage
• s, + (break), , + , 50 damage
• s, + (break), , + , 67 damage
• s, , + , j, s/c, , + , 77 damage
• s, , + , s/c, , + , j, s/c, + (break), + 86 damage
• s, + (break), + , , + , 74 damage (Corner)
• s, + (break), + , , + , 82 damage (Corner)

Intermediate

These combos implement feinting

Corner only

1- Jumping HP-->St. HP-Feint->UAA-->QCF+LK, Break-->QCB+Hold LP then release-->QCFx2+LP-->QCB+Hold LP then release-->QCFx2+LP-->QCB+Hold LP then release
2- Jumping HP-->St. HP-Feint->UAA-->QCF+LK, Break-->QCB+Hold LP then release-->QCFx2+LP-->QCB+Hold LP then release-->QCFx2+LK-->QCF+K, Break-->QCB+Hold LP then release
3- Jumping HP-->St. HP-Feint->UAA-->QCF+K, Break-->QCFx2+HP
4- Jumping HP-->St. HP-Feint->UAA-->QCF+K, Break-->QCFx2+HK-->QCF+K, Break-->QCB+Hold LP then release
5- Jumping HP-->St. HP-->QCFx2+LK-->Jumping HP-->St. HP-->QCFx2+LK-->Jumping HP-->St. HP-Feint->UAA-->QCF+LK, Break-->QCB+Hold LP then release

Notes:
You will notice that in a number of combos here and in Anywhere, you will have to Hold LP for his special move to hit. Your best bet is to hold it for a split second to get it's Lvl. 2 ver. In addition, you can 'buffer' the QCB during Kevin's recovery from attacks then when holding LP, you most likely will get the Lvl. 2 ver. immediately.
Finally, only his Lvl. 2 & 3 ver. of his QCB+P will hit a juggled opponent.

2- For the QCFx2+LK to connect easily, you must hit your opponent with the 2nd QCB+LP somewhat 'early' this will knock them high enough for the super to hit them.

3- The difference between adding in the QCF+K and not, is approximately 7 points of damage.

4- You can get some energy for your power gauge by doing QCB+(LP+HK) then QCF+LK, Break-->QCB+Hold LP then release. This method makes it so that the QCF+K will connect easily, however you might need to practice this method as it requires performing the QCB+(LP+HK) as soon as Kevin recovers (attempt the buffering trick mentioned previously).

T.O.P. Notes

Kevin's T.O.P attack is a charging roll which has 10 frames of start up and is -15 on block. The attack doesn't have many uses outside of combos, but Kevin has plenty of options in combos that would lead to more damage and better wake up options than this attack.

Overall Strategy

To come.

Matchup Notes

To come.

Advanced Tactics

Kevin Cancel's

SNK added a cancel to Kevin's + . If you press anytime during the move, it will canceled. If you press it right as you preform the move, you will get + , later in the move will produce a s. .

This leads to a few things, the main being meter building. Canceling the move into a s. builds meter very fast, and is the easiest way to build meter with the cancels. You can also cancel the move into itself ( + into + or vice-vera), but its a bit tricker to do it consistently, but we'll get to that later, for now we'll show how to do the simple and safer cancel.

When doing the + you can hit any button with and it will cancel into the button that was pressed with , for instance, if you were to do the move then press + you will get a s. . So the easiest option for building meter in this situation is to cancel the special with + or ++. These will result in a s/c which comes out and recovers the fastest.

The more complex way of building meter isn't too hard. You do + then piano , , this will lead one special into another special, and Kevin will never leave his charge animation but build twice the meter in the same amount of time . The meter build can continue from there, for example: + , , , , , ...and so on. If done right, Kevin will never leave his hunched anymation. This has to be done right, otherwise it will lead to Kevin being open for an attack. Once you have this down, the safest thing to do would be to cancel into one special, then a s/c. . It may seem tempting to keep going and build your meter, but it isn't the safest thing to do since the opponent can rush in during the middle of the cancels.

His cancels can be used for more than just meter building. Combos, mind games, and more can be done with the cancels.

Many people seem to have trouble doing his cancels in T.O.P mode, especially anything involving +. People usually get his T.O.P attack to come out instead of a attack. The way to fix this is to throw in an extra button when you do the cancel. So if you wanted to do two s. 's using the cancels in top, you would have to do it like: s. , +, , ++. Adding the extra button will make it so the T.O.P attack doesn't come out, and instead you get the input you wanted.

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