Capcom vs SNK 2/Iori

Introduction

Overview

Strategy

Combos

Matchups

Story

Iori Yagami (Japanese: 八神 庵, Hepburn: Yagami Iori) is a character from SNK's The King of Fighters video game series. The character first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team, as the initial enemy and later rival of Kyo Kusanagi. Iori is the heir of the Yagami clan, who use pyrokinetic powers and sealed the Orochi devil along with the Kusanagi and Yata clans. Iori suffers from a curse – "The Riot of the Blood" (血の暴走, Chi no Bōso) – under which he becomes faster, stronger and wilder, exhibiting a deadly tendency to indiscriminately attack everyone in close proximity. In this state, Iori is commonly called "Wild Iori" or "Orochi Iori" (月の夜大蛇の血に狂う庵, Tsuki no Yoru Orochi no Chi ni Kuruu Iori, lit. Insane Iori with Blood of Orochi Under the Night of the Moon).[3] Aside from the main series, Iori appears in several other media series, including spin-offs, crossover video games and comic adaptations of the series.

Iori was created as Kyo's rival; his name and abilities were designed to relate him with the legend of Yamata no Orochi. The designers ended up liking him so much they are careful of the character's development as the series expands. As a result, Iori sometimes helps Kyo to have the opportunity to fight him. Finding his design appealing, new outfits presented the SNK staff with difficulties as they devised new appearances for the character that would retain his popularity.

Video game journalists have praised Iori Yagami as one of the most powerful characters in the series. Reviewers have also cited Iori as one of the best characters from the games, labeling him as a veteran character and praising his appearance as one of SNK's best creations. "Miss X", Iori's crossdressing form from SNK Gals' Fighters and the additional female one of SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, also received attention for its humor. A series of collectible items based on Iori's likeness, including key chains and figurines, have been manufactured.

Gameplay

Iori is a very versatile character whose moveset lends him to a rush-down/mixup style with damage mainly coming from his Rekka combos. Coupled with that, he has very serviceable pokes, good anti air, and a good reversal DP for use in defense and neutral situations. He also has one of the best poke RCs in the game with his Rekka, is the shortest character in the game, and has the best roll in the game.

His drawbacks are getting in against dominant "big button" characters (Sagat, Blanka, Cammy, etc), a relatively low ceiling of one shot burst damage (his supers aren't very strong), and characters who duck and outpoke his Stand Roundhouse.

In CvS2, he is often considered a "high" tier character, just below the established top tiers. He is a staple on N groove teams, as well as one of the Best SNK characters in the game. Conventional wisdom is that he is one of the easiest characters to use, and recent Japanese tourney play features him on two of the best players' teams. In C and A grooves, even.

Iori's what? Since people play better and more focused when they have a set goal in mind rather than "uh...imma just hit guy and win! And do combos!", it's good to know what your character's main objective is before playing. A kind of a fighting game thesis, if you will.

Iori's objective is to get within point blank range of his opponent.

(Simple, right? It's supposed to be)

Why?

Simple. When you're up close you have the threat of the Scum Gale grab, which lends itself to high damage 50/50 mix ups, all of which knock down the opponent and set up another mix up.

How is this objective accomplished? In order of best method to worst method: 1) Knocking the opponent down 2) Getting 3/4ths to full screen, throwing a jab fireball and running after it 3) Establishing Iori's strong mid-range ground game, which drains the opponent's guard bar. The draining of your opponent's guard bar entices him to make mistakes that enable you to achieve method 1). 4) By trying to roll through or jump/low jump over your opponent's moves.

Since 1) is hard to do on a good opponent and the distance for 2) can be difficult to establish, Iori spends most of his time doing 3).

Groove Selection

Best - N/C: N-Groove is Iori's best Groove for a few reasons. Iori has one of the best rolls in the game, and a great special to roll cancel with his rekkas. N-Groove gives him run and hop to aid his mixup and rushdown, and while the meter isn't great, level 1 Maiden Masher is an easy and simple confirm for a damage increase anyway. C-Groove is only a little behind, as while he gives up run and hop, he gets a very damaging level 2 combo in exchange that can be easily combo'd into. Air block and Alpha Counters are also helpful in a lot of situations.

Useful - A/K: A-Groove is a little behind, and Iori is usually ran on point. Custom Combo is powerful and useful, and Iori has a decent one. Lack of run or hop hurts his offense a bit, but it isn't a huge tradeoff, and he still has roll. K-Iori is a higher risk Iori, with a major downside in the missing roll. Rage makes him scary though, as one good hit confirms into level 3 Maiden Masher for big damage, and he can usually punish something after a JD.

Worst - P/S: P-Iori isn't bad, he gets good meterless reward after all. However, just like K-Iori, the missing roll is very hard to deal with as it's important to his gameplan. S-Groove isn't that bad for Iori, but it does make him lose his much needed roll and Level 3 super confirms for damage because of the constant need for charge, while he has the basics in run, hop, and dodge. Just that you will almost never have meter for a Level 3 Maiden Masher, but still; even getting a Level 1 Maiden Masher from any hitconfirm can be nice while Iori is in desperation mode.

Iori is a powerful rushdown vortex character, with great mixups from his hard knockdown rekkas. His neutral is also solid, with good pokes and one of the best RC specials in rekkas. He just has to be in range to utilize them. Iori is best in N-Groove and C-Groove. Difficulty: Medium Tier: A+
Pros	Cons
Vortex: Amazing rushdown and mixup, with overheads, a command grab, a great low confirm, and a dedicated crossup command normal that all lead into a hard knockdown and another mixup Pressure: Great pressure with his very useful jabs and mixing up with his rekkas Strong Fireball: The best grounded fireball, as it recovers quite fast making it useful for pressure Top Tier Roll: A stellar roll that recovers very very fast, allowing even for ambiguous crossups after some knockdowns, alongside an amazing roll cancel with RC rekkas Simple: Easy to learn and a simple gameplan	Risk/Reward: Iori has to win neutral and begin his offense to secure the round, forcing him to play either patient and hunt for a hit or very risky to try and force the hit Low Damage Super: Maiden Masher is easy to combo into but tends to do less damage than other supers of it's kind Situational Pokes: His main poke, 5HK, can be ducked or low profiled, forcing him to rely on riskier or worse normals

Players to Watch

Name	Country	Groove	Accounts	Notes
GAO	Japan	C-Groove	N/A	One of the best players in the world. His Iori isn't insanely nuts like his Ryu, but he consistently closes games with him easily. Sample Match
UWB	Japan	C-Groove	N/A	Fundamentally sound and never makes a big mistake. Sample Match
GAN	Japan	A-Groove	N/A	A player who even gives BAS a run for his money. Lands Iori's customs like it's no challenge at all. Evo Japan 2019 Champion. Sample Match
Gene Wong	USA	A-Groove	Twitter: @genexiii Discord: + 𝔇𝔢𝔩𝔭𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔬 +#1838	Once a prodigy of the game taught by John Choi. His execution makes you think that there might be robots living in our world. Sample Match
Izumi	Japan	P-Groove	Twitter: @IzumiSgroove	Izumi uses P-Iori with extremely strong fundamentals despite no roll. Has a threatening shorthop game and strong parry punishes. Sample Match
Tsugunosuke	Japan	N-Groove	N/A	The best N-Groover in Japan with a dominant Iori to match. Plays very aggressively. Sample Match
Buktooth	USA	N-Groove	Discord: buktooth#8799	Old school player, one of the OGs. Wrote the original CvS2 FAQs. Sample Match
Yane	Japan	K-Groove	Twitter: @yanechudan	A secret weapon of his. Though Iori is not a consistent mainstay on his team, he still uses K-Iori extremely well. Sample Match

Normal Moves

Far Standing Normals

5LP

Stand Jab
Far Light Punch
5LP / Far LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	300	4	RF/SP/SU	Mid	Mid	2	4	8	14	+5	+5	None
While sharing almost the exact same traits as the close jab, the standing jab doesn't have that many tactical uses; You're too far away to tick into throws, and Iori's walking speed is too slow for repeated walk up jabs to set up anything threatening. If you're at this range hit low strong instead.

5MP

Stand Strong
Far Medium Punch
5MP / Far MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	800	8	SP/SU	Mid	High	7	3	25	35	-5	-5	None
This move has the special property of being able to chain into Iori's f+strong. There's only one instance in which I use this move, and that's to combo after a connected Scum Gale. Even though it's a far reaching bufferable move, buffering into fireballs is not safe, and the move itself leaves much to be desired in terms of priority and speed. It reaches farther than the f+strong, but at that distance a fierce rekka ken will completely miss. Needless to say, a whiffed rekka ken will lead to a lot of hurt.

5HP

Stand Fierce
Far Heavy Punch
5HP / Far HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1300/1400	13/14	SP/SU (1st part only)	Mid	High	7	5	26	38	-5	-5	-
Reading on the left of the commas refer to when Iori's head is going OUT. Reading on the right refers to when Iori's head is going UP. This move doesn't really have much tactical use since the distance to get the bufferable version of the fierce is really specific. However, the bufferable version happens to be Iori's most damaging bufferable move, and there's ONE useful set up to get it shown below (see Running Grab).

5LK

Stand Short
Far Light Kick
5LK / Far LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	500	5	SU	Mid	Mid	6	6	8	20	+3	+3	None
AKA "kickin 'em to da curb". Other than randomly whiffing it every now and then as a fake fireball, the only use for this move I have is for combos. See combo section.

5MK

Stand Forward
Far Medium Kick
5MK / Far MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1000	10	SU	Mid	Mid	6	3	26	35	-6	-6	-
I probably don't use this move as much as I should. It's quick, has surprising range, and even more surprising priority. I'd use it against characters that can crouch the standing roundhouse if you can get into the range to use it. 6/13/03 - Some Japanese players like to punish whiffs with s.forward into super, but I find that whenever I bait a whiff I'm too far away to hit with a s.forward. I just do a low/standing roundhouse instead. I also noticed that Japanese players have set-ups for COUNTER HIT s.forward and buffer the super on reaction, but to me that's in-humanly difficult (the window to buffer is 3 frames long, 1/20th of a second). That super isn't one that you want to have blocked.

5HK

Stand Roundhouse
Far Heavy Kick
5HK / Far HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Far	1300	13	None	Mid	Mid	9	7	22	38	-2	-2	-
Iori's best poke by far, despite having the distinction of being one of Iori's two crouchable moves. Any character bigger than a shoto is fair game, however. You can use it fairly liberally against the characters that cannot crouch it to slowly drain their guard meter and entice them into making a mistake that will get you the all-important knockdown Iori needs to get in. Be aware, though, that the move is not safe against a fast roll and that Sagat can punish you hard with a standing fierce into super if you whiff it. Crouchable by half the cast (every female character, Ryo, shotos, Rolento, Haohmaru, Vega, Yun, Kim, Rock, Iori) Treat this move like a budget Sakura or Yamazaki stand RH (yama speed/damage, but -2 instead of +2 on block)

cl5LP

Close Stand Jab
Close Light Punch
cl.LP / cl5LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	400	4	RF/SP/SU	Mid	Mid	2	4	6	12	+7	+7	None
Iori's close jab is very useful for many reasons: ) Comes out in 2 frames, making it Iori's fastest move. 2 frames are as fast as moves get in CvS2 with the exception of Zangief's SPD, which is the only 1 frame move in the game. So what does this mean? Whenever you're in a situation where you have to mash a move, such as trying to avoid a throw, this is the move to mash. ) +7 advantage, also the most out of any of Iori's moves. 7 frames is a fairly huge advantage as far as CvS2 goes, meaning most links afterwards are brain-dead easy if the jab hits, and if blocked you have ample time to set up stuff safely like walk up to your opponent again and get another close jab. A perfectly timed close jab tick into Scum Gale (8 frames) is very difficult to reverse by jabs or throws. All tick throws can be escaped by jumps, however. ) At 400 damage, it's the most damaging out of all of Iori's weak attacks that can be chained together.

cl5MP

Close Stand Strong
Close Medium Punch
cl.MP / cl5MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	800	8	SP/SU	Mid	High	7	3	25	35	-5	-5	None
Identical to 5MP. Can be a useful punish normal when used this close, but you would rather use cl.HP.

cl5HP

Close Stand Fierce
Close Heavy Punch
cl.HP / cl5HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	1200, 1100	12, 11	SP/SU*	Mid	High	3	6	24	33	0	0	None
For the commas above, the reading on the left refers to the first portion of the fierce, where Iori's fist is around his waist level. The second reading refers to when Iori's fist is over his head. Outside of combos, the main use for this move is for anti-cross ups. Close roundhouse is your main anti-cross up, but you'll want to use close fierce against characters with bigger jumps like Blanka.

cl5LK

Close Stand Short
Close Light Kick
cl.LK / cl5LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	500	5	SP/SU	Low	Low	3	4	10	17	+3	+3	None
Iori sticks out his leg at the opponents feet. Standing low, making it useful for mixups, and Iori's highest damage light, though it pays for these strengths by not being mashable.

cl5MK

Close Stand Forward
Close Medium Kick
cl.MK / cl5MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	1000	10	SU	Mid	High	6	3	26	35	-6	-6	None
Identical to 5MK.

cl5HK

Close Stand Roundhouse
Close Heavy Kick
cl.HK / cl5HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close	1400	14	SU	Mid	High	6	3	21	30	3	3	None
Best used as an anti-cross up, only a few characters can get over this move that I can think of (Blanka and Chun Li). Also has the distinction of being Iori's most damaging move that can be buffered into a super. The link from a close jab is a one frame link though, meaning it's a little too difficult to do really consistently. How does Iori manage to kick so high with that funky little cord tying his legs together?

2LP

Crouching Jab
Crouching Light Punch
2LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	300	3	RF/SP/SU	Mid	Mid	3	4	8	15	+3	+3	None
Decent 2LP, but it is entirely outshined by Iori's cracked cl.LP and 2MP. Since he has those two moves, you'll only really use this when mashing on defense if you don't want to stop blocking low.

2MP

Crouching Strong
Crouching Medium Punch
2MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	900	9	SP/SU	Mid	Mid	4	6	9	19	5	5	None
A great move to throw out every now and then or to build meter, as it has high priority and recovers fast enough to be nearly impossible to punish on reaction. As the frame data shows, this move links into itself. Although it's a one frame link, 2 low strongs into fierce rekka kens does a whopping 4000 damage without a power up. That's clearly enough damage to be an incentive to go for the combo when the opportunity arises... particularly situations where you can throw out the low strong meaty, therefore making the link much easier in the process. Also, the +5 frame advantage basically insures the next move you throw out will not get beaten by your opponent and will actually produce a lot of counter hits. This makes guard crush strings like low strong, low strong, standing roundhouse possible. The basic rule of thumb is if you're close but not within point blank range, hit low strong. It will beat most anything, and if blocked you can immediately do a standing roundhouse after for a nice big chunk of guard bar. Whiffing it intentionally can also be pretty good against certain characters, as it tends to beat a lot of long range moves... especially the low ones. Blanka's low fierce and slide, Dhalsim's limbs, shotos' low forwards... they all get beat cleanly by this move. 6/13/03 - the move also makes for Iori's best and safest meter builder in a pinch. I really wouldn't make turtling and building meter a core strategy with Iori, though, since he builds meter so much faster just by playing normally. However, if you're a few slivers away from having that 2nd meter, by all means mash on low strong. 6/13/03 - Sometimes your opponent will randomly be able to block a rekka ken after a max range low strong. Even worse, sometimes it whiffs completely for no apparent reason. 99% of the time it works fine, but sometimes the low strong x2 combo goes awry.

2HP

Crouching Fierce
Crouching Heavy Punch
2HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1100	11	SP/SU	Mid	Mid	4	5	20	29	-1	-1	None
Iori's other crouchable move. It doesn't really matter, though, since you'll probably never use this move as anything except as an anti-air at the 45 degree angle. It works fairly well as anti-air as long as you stick it out early enough, but it does tend to trade with the really high priority jump ins. When you use it as anti air you can buffer it into a fierce fireball to make your opponent land on it, but I would recommend throwing a jab fireball instead so that you can run after it and use it as cover to attempt to get in.

2LK

Crouching Short
Crouching Light Kick
2LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	200	2	RF/SP/SU	Low	Low	4	4	8	16	5	5	None
Used mainly as your low combo starter and as a roll punisher, this move is pretty self-explanatory. Low shorts x3 into rekkas whenever the opportunity arises. The +5 frame advantage also lends this move into being another good Scum Gale tick, with the added advantage that people tend to sit and block after blocking one low short... they expect two more. The main weakness of this move is its relatively slow speed at 4 frames. When situations arise where you need a fast move, mash on standing/low jab (depending on distance) instead.

2MK

Crouching Forward
Crouching Medium Kick
2MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	800	8	SU	Low	Low	5	4	20	29	-2	-2	None
I hardly ever use this move since low strong is just better all around. Also, the animation of this move is very misleading. Iori's entire foot doesn't have an active hitbox on it, making the move a lot shorter than it looks. Its actual range is nearly identical to Iori's low short, which is a lot better move to use in more situations. However, the move can only be canceled into supers, so if you're having a tough time landing B&B's into maiden masher due to accidental moves coming out, this could certainly help you out. You can also toss the move out and empty buffer the super behind it ala Chun in 3rd strike, but the hitbox on the move isn't THAT good.

2HK

Crouching Roundhouse
Crouching Heavy Kick
2HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1300	13	N/A	Low	Low	9	4	36	49	DWN	-16	N/A
In my opinion, use of the low roundhouse is what makes or breaks an Iori user. The move is usually essential to get in against an opponent with good defense since you can't always rely on low jumping, rolling, or guard crushing your way in. How is the move used? Well the best application of the move would be to punish a whiffed move that you baited out. The less recommended use would be to catch somebody standing from roughly 1/3rds screen distance away. This works most often against footsie-reliant characters like Chun Li or Cammy since they're generally never crouching unless you're right next to them. The move has tremendous recovery, meaning throwing it out without being SURE it's going to hit will certainly be the death of you. At max distance it's generally safe if blocked, but most any level 3 super will punish it fairly easily. If it's whiffed, well... you're gonna get hurt. Bad. A connected roundhouse rewards you with the all-important knockdown that insures Iori's way in. After a successful low roundhouse you can either walk forward a bit and go for cross up/non-cross up roll mix ups, or run forward a bit and go for a jumping cross up. An opponent that tech rolls the low roundhouse is impossible to punish, unfortunately, so the best thing to do if this happens is to throw a jab fireball and run after it. 7/5/03 - SOMETIMES you can punish a tech-rolled low roundhouse with another run-up low roundhouse. Doesn't really work if the first low roundhouse was at the absolute max distance, though, and it works a lot better on big characters. Try to low roundhouse tech rolls on reaction, rather than guessing. However, of all the times that I've whiffed a low roundhouse against an opponent who didn't tech roll, I don't recall being punished for it once. In fact, I've hit several uppercuts on people who've tried to punish it. Hrmm... to be safe, though, I'd recommend RC rekka'ing instead of doing uppercuts after the whiffed low roundhouse.

8LP

Jumping Jab
Jumping Light Punch
j.LP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	600	6	None	High	High	3	22	0	27	Varies	Varies	None
I don't use this personally, but I've seen many good Iori users use this as their preferred jump in. It has pretty good priority and sticks out for a long time, too. Low jumping and immediately pressing jab is an overhead on every character in the game, but you might as well use jumping strong if you're gonna do that. 7/5/03 - This probably Iori's best option if you want to jump directly on top of your opponent's head. Jumping roundhouse and strong also work well for that purpose, but I've noticed that this move beats a lot of anti-airs meant to hit directly above the opponent's head. Use this when jumping on an opponent in the corner.

8MP

Jumping Strong
Jumping Medium Punch
j.MP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	900	9	None	High	High	4	7	0	11	Varies	Varies	None
Probably Iori's highest priority jump in, also a decent air to air due to its high speed. Range is a little lacking, though. Low jumping and immediately pressing strong is also an instant overhead on every character in the game. Do it while jumping backwards to make it safer. Low jumping forward and hitting strong gives the overhead surprising range, though; you can still connect it after doing three low shorts. 6/13/03 - Dunno why I didn't add this before, but low jumping BACKWARDS and doing overhead strong still works, and is a whole lot safer. You do have to be quite a bit closer, though. It works after doing one jab/short.

8HP

Jumping Fierce
Jumping Heavy Punch
8HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	1300	13	None	High	High	11	3	0	14	Varies	Varies	None
Iori's highest damage jump in, so this is the one to use when your opponent is dizzy. It comes out painfully slow, but not slow enough so that you can use it for fakes to land a Scum Gale.

8LK

Jumping Short
Jumping Light Kick
8LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	500	5	None	High	High	4	22	0	26	Varies	Varies	None
Solid reach and lots of active frames make this a decent air-to-air, but it sees no real use otherwise

8MK

Jumping Forward
Jumping Medium Kick
8MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	900	9	None	High	High	5	10	0	15	Varies	Varies	None
Similar kick to j.LK, but trades high active frames for damage. Same as a good air-to-air, and also sees very little use otherwise.

8HK

Jumping Roundhouse
Jumping Heavy Kick
8HK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
//+	1200	12	None	High	High	7	8	0	15	Varies	Varies	None
Iori's furthest reaching jump-in. Useful for when you jump over fireballs to ensure you reach, or just for air poking in general. Makes a decent air-to-air just like his other jump kicks.

Throws

Sakahagi (Punch)

Sakahagi
Punch Throw
Near Opponent, 4/6HP

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close /+	1800	0	None	Grab	Grab	3	1	13	17	DWN	Grab	None
Iori grabs the opponent and tosses them away with a quick scratch. Standard punch throw, 3 frame startup makes it useful for punishing tight gaps and moves that are only slightly negative, but it does lower damage than his slower kick throw.

Sakahagi (Kick)

Sakahagi
Kick Throw
Near Opponent, 4/6HK

Wait, why does he have this twice!?

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
Close /+	2000	0	None	Grab	Grab	5	1	13	19	DWN	Grab	None
Iori does a throw exactly like his punch throw. Despite being the same animation and sharing a name, this does have the standard kick throw difference of being slower but higher damage. Useful for throw mixups, but since Iori has a very rewarding command grab, you'll usually only go for this when you can't do the input for command grab fast enough.

Command Normals

Ge Shiki: Yumebiki

Ge Shiki: Yumebiki
Lunge Punch
6MP

File:CVS2 Iori 6MP.PNG

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	800	8	SP/SU	Mid	High	8	7	24	39	-8	-8	None
Iori reaches forward for a punch. On it's own, not a bad whiff punish thanks to the forward movement and cancel. You can easily cancel this into 214HP Rekka for a combo or a blockstring. This also is a Target Combo from 5MP, which would be awesome for confirms if 5MP was a move you used for confirms often. This means it's mostly used raw as a whiff punish. Make sure you always cancel into either a rekka or a fireball, as you leave yourself -8 if not.

Ge Shiki: Gofu-in 'Shinigami'

Ge Shiki: Gofu-in 'Shinigami'
Overhead
6MK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1000	10	None	High	High	33	3	17	53	0	0	None
Iori winds up before dropping an axe kick on the opponent. Sadly slow overhead, but still useful as a meaty since it's 0 on block while most overheads tend to be slightly negative. Used from neutral however, it's more than likely that your opponent will reversal through this, mash out, or just escape the situation, none of which are good for Iori. This risk makes the 1000 damage reward pretty low, so outside of a meaty overhead mixup, you won't use this much.

Ge Shiki: Yurioki

Ge Shiki: Yurioki
Crossup
j.4LK

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
In Air +	500	5	None	High	High	5	12	0	17	Varies	Varies	None
Iori sticks his leg out behind him. Stellar crossup, and a key part of Iori's signature vortex. Unlike the KOF games, your input is actually reversed when jumping over the opponent, so you will always do this as j.4LK on both sides. Since it's a light hit, combos from it require a pretty deep connect. Usually you'll get cl.LP, cl.HP > Rekkas, which is more than enough of a reward, but if you hit them around head height it won't combo to much of anything.

Special Moves

Rekka Kens

Deadly Flower / "Hyakunijuunanashiki Aoihana "
Rekka
214+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+ 1st Rekka	400/500/600	2	None	Mid	Mid	12	4	29	45	-5	-5	N/A
+ 2nd Rekka	400/500/600	2	None	Mid	Mid	12	4	37	53	-DWN	-13	N/A
+ 3rd Rekka	800/900/1000	5	None	High	High	16	8	40	64	-DWN	-13	N/A
There's a 25 frame window to cancel the first rekka into the second rekka. From the second to third hit there's a 27 frame window to cancel. The different damage numbers correspond to different button strengths. Outside of its obvious use in combos, the rekka ken doesn't have much use. Start RCing it, though, and you have a different beast entirely. The result is a high priority (invincible, even), high damage (2200 if you get all 3), long range (Iori's longest ranged move, farther than his standing/low roundhouses) poke that enables Iori to compete with the Sagats and Cammys of the world. The catch? The move carries a ton of risk behind it. As much as a fireball, even. The move is most easily punished by either a straight up jump (which results in a full jump in combo since Iori conveniently moves right under them) or a well timed roll. The move can also be baited into whiffing and then easily punished also, this can be negated by completing the entire rekka set and leaving you far from your opponent, hard to punish if they are ready for it. As if that weren't enough, the move isn't even totally safe if blocked! As you can see from the data above, the move carries a -5 frame disadvantage, enough for a few characters to get a low forward combo in. However, the move is mostly safe if blocked around max distance, though. You can actually punish attempts to hit a well-ranged RC rekka ken with... another RC rekka ken! DO NOT fall into the habit of doing RC rekka ken, then another RC rekka ken, though. It's killed me more times than I care to remember. If your rekka ken is rolled through, try to get away from the opponent by doing the second and third rekkas. This works well if you're in the middle of field, but if you're opponent was in the corner you're not going anywhere. So given all those ways to punish the move, how does Iori go about using the RC rekka without getting killed? The first step is to punish your opponents attempts to stop the rekka ken; anti-airing straight up jumps with either standing roundhouse or a super, punishing rolls with Iori's easy assortment of damaging rekka ken combos. The second step is to try to not fall into patterns; even if you punish every single random straight up jump or roll that your opponent does you will still get killed if you fall into the habit of RC rekka ken'ing in the same situations every time. Once you've got your opponent grounded and playing the ground game with you, THEN you can throw in the RC rekka kens every now and then. The second and third rekka kens are obviously very unsafe, so do not continue the series unless you SEE the first one hit. Luckily doing the first rekka ken and then reacting to whether it was blocked or not is pretty easy, just watch your opponent's sprite and then continue if you see the sprite flinch. Aside from its usefulness as a powerful footsie tool, I also use the RC rekka ken to pressure fallen opponents in the corner, since you cannot cross them up with your rolls or jumps like you normally can. Meaty RC rekka ken (done from a good distance) is almost totally safe for the most part. If the opponent wakes up and does anything besides block he gets hit. This conditions the opponent to not wake up with uppercuts or supers, which in turn lets you do Iori's powerful mix ups on rising opponents. You can punish an opponent tech rolling rekka kens by running forward a bit and doing f+strong into rekka kens. It's great when you get it but it's a little difficult. People who get hit by that usually never tech hit again, though. Heh. After knocking an opponent down with the rekka kens you can either run forward a bit and superjump for the b+forward cross up, or run forward a bit and roll to cross up. For the most part the second option is better since it's really dificult for your opponent to wake up with an uppercut since the cross up happens so fast. However, doing a super jump cross up every now and then is recommended to keep your opponent on his toes with some cross up b+short into Scum Gale set ups. 6/13/03 - Unlike most cross-up setups, since Iori's rekkas have a good deal of recovery, the cross up b+short after a connected rekka series isn't meaty. In fact, your opponent has time to jump before you hit the b+short. C-Groove can air block it and land safely far enough away to be out of Iori's mix up range, but other grooves take the hit and bounce, allowing you to throw a meaty jab fireball they have to land on which also covers your run-in. That's even worse than blocking the cross up, so most non-C-Groove players will just get up and block the cross up. If you are playing against C-Groove, just do the roll mix-ups. Another thing to add about the b+short cross up on wake up, it's a lot more difficult to uppercut than other cross ups. Since Iori crosses you up late you cannot do the normal f,df,d,db method for cross up uppercuts. You have to actually wait till the last second and input the uppercut command in the other direction. 6/13/03 - Something to keep in mind: If you roll after knocking the opponent down with rekka kens and end up in FRONT of your opponent, you have a slight advantage since your roll ended just before your opponent gets up. However, if the roll ends up BEHIND the opponent, the opponent can actually throw you for free since it takes a bit longer to get to that distance. Mix it up. If you end up in front of your opponent and he's mashing on throw, you can easily get counter hit jabs/shorts into a combo. 6/13/03 - Something I forgot to add. Iori's rekkas (as well as Kyo's) do very little stun damage. A full triple-hit series gets you 2200 damage, but only does 9 stun damage on the opponent. This is one of the few moves that is the exception to CvS2's "stun = damage/100" rule. Man. That's a lot written about one move. It's a necessary move, though. It's like Iori's missing link.

Dragon Punch

Fire Ball / "Hyakushiki Oniyaki"
Uppercut
623+P

HP version

HP Version

HP Version

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1700	17	None	Mid	Mid	4	10	38	52	DWN	-33	4 (full), 10(lower)
Footsies DP Because this version is 1 hit and has a lot of lower invincibility (not to mention lower recovery), it's best used in the neutral game or when the opponent is far from Iori.
+	700+1100	7+11	None	Mid	Mid	4	[3/9]	48	64	DWN	-42	7 full/ 9 lower
Best DP This version has the highest amount of total invulnerability, so it's the best wakeup reversal and anti air. Make sure to hit the opponent deep to get both hits, otherwise you're missing out on damage compared to LP.
+	400+600+1000	4+6+10	None	Mid	Mid	4	[2/2/5]	59	72	DWN	-51	6 full/ 7 lower
Most Damage DP This is the damage DP. Perfectly usable as anti air or reversals, but only when the opponent is point blank. Also the recovery is so bad, Iori loses okizeme opportunities by using it.

Fireball

Dark Thrust / "Hyakuhachishiki Yamibarai "
Fireball
236+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	800	8	None	Mid	Mid	12	-	45	57	-12	-12	N/A
+	900	9	None	Mid	Mid	12	-	45	57	DWN	-12	None
+	1000	4+6+10	None	Mid	Mid	12	-	45	57	-12	-12	N/A
As far as ground fireballs go, Iori's is the second best in the game. That's not really saying much, though, since ground fireballs as a whole really suck and are vastly inferior to conventional air-based fireballs. Unfortunately, Iori's fireball is a very necessary tool for him, both as a footsie tool and as a means to get in. 3/4ths to full screen away throw a jab fireball and run after it to get in. 2/5ths to half screen away use it as a footsie tool. Any closer and you should never use it. NEVER buffer a fireball off of a normal move. Your opponent can easily roll on reaction and kill you. Also, since varying ground fireball speeds really doesn't get you anywhere, always throw jab fireballs since those you can follow easily. The other two speeds are unnecessary to the way Iori plays. One of the main reasons that Iori is dependant on his fireball is because CvS2 is a game where you cannot walk backwards if there is something on the screen you can block. Meaning, if Iori throws his fireball and runs after it, his opponent cannot keep his distance by walking backwards as he will go into his blocking animation. This is a very handy tool, especially when fighting characters who walk backwards stupidly fast like Vega, Cammy and Chun Li. The fact that the fireball is so essential to Iori and that it's a ground fireball is really bad. Characters that can easily punish ground fireballs like Bison, Blanka or Honda all give Iori a really hard time. RCing the fireball doesn't really make a difference either, since you never want to do the fireball up close, and if you RC it from far away the invincibility is gone by the time your opponent reaches you with a Psycho Crusher or Blanka Ball or whatever. Bleh.

Running Grab

212 Shiki: Kototsuki In / "Nihyakujuunishiki Kototsuki In "
Running Grab
63214+K

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1800	0	None	Mid	Mid	5	32	12	49	DWN	-18	N/A
+	1900	0	None	Mid	Mid	5	48	12	65	DWN	-18	N/A
+	2000	0	None	Mid	Mid	5	64	12	81	DWN	-18	N/A
The above frame data for the three button strengths represent what happens if Iori never makes contact with the enemy. For example, a roundhouse whiffed Running Grab has 5 frames start up, runs for 64 frames, then has 12 frame recovery. If at any time during those 64 frames of running Iori makes contact with his opponent, he then takes 4 frames for his arm to whip around, which has an active hitbox for 5 frames, and has a 29 frame recovery. Whew! Writing and explaining frame data isn't easy! Most of the time I wish this move simply didn't exist, since 90% of the times I use it is totally on accident screwing up the command for RC rekka kens. As the -18 frame disadvantage tells you, this move isn't anywhere near safe if blocked. It's also very vulnerable if the move whiffs completely also, unlike Kyo's. It does have its tactical uses, though. As stated above, the move does almost the exact same amount of guard bar damage as a jab uppercut (if you don't know, that's a lot), so if your opponent's guard bar is flashing and you can't get close enough to do a fierce into jab uppercut to guard break you can do f+strong into Running Grab instead. And again, guard breaking with a Running Grab just happens to leave you at the perfect distance to get a damaging far fierce into rekka kens. Another use for this move is to chip somebody to death. If you're not within fierce uppercut range to chip somebody (fierce uppercut does 325 points of chip damage), the next best option is to f+strong into Running Grab, as that does 300 chip damage. 2 Rekka kens only do 200 damage, and a fireball does 100. 300 damage from the running grab is enough to insure that you never fall victim to the "Magic Pixel" that has claimed many a player. RCing the move can be useful from time to time, like when you REALLY need that chip damage to kill the opponent but can't find a way to f+strong them, or to punish somebody buffering moves into a fireball. You could theoretically use an RC Running Grab as an anti-air from afar, but I wouldn't recommend it since the move comes out pretty slow.

Scum Gale

Kukukaze
Scum Gale
632146+P

Whiffed

Landed

Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
0	0	None	N/A	N/A	8	1	32	41	+12	N/A	N/A
Iori's famous side-switching command grab. This special is what makes Iori's offense so deadly. It's not only an unblockable command grab, but the opponent is stuck in hit stun after the grab, allowing you to combo off of it. This move is deadly because Iori has a very rewarding strike/throw mixup, as both lead to a good knockdown and damage. Mix that up with his crazy good jab and his roll and this move becomes very powerful. The only weakness this move has outside of having fairly lengthy startup for a command grab (8F) is that it switches sides, so you give up the corner for a mixup. It's still around 3.7K damage you're getting so it's not too bad. You can even try to command grab them again after they recover from the hitstun of the previous command grab, although in most contexts you just want to get the damage. There are usually two main follow-ups from the command grab, a max damage one and a safe fall bait one. Max Damage Route: (Grab), 5MP > 6MP xx Rekkas / Ranbu This is the optimal damage follow-up on a command grab, utilizing Iori's 5MP > 6MP target combo. It's really easy as well. If you have the resources, you can also combo into Iori's ranbu super off of this. Safe Fall Bait Route: (Grab), Microwalk 5MP xx LP DP, 2HK if opponent safe falls This is a route that's usually done to specifically kill safe falls. LP DP gives Iori enough time to walk forward and do a sweep if the opponent safe falls, but of course in the corner he gets a better punish. Against non safe-fall grooves always go for optimal damage, but even in the case of safe fall grooves this should only be used if the opponent is just spamming safe falls.

Super Moves

Maiden Masher

Maiden Masher / "Sansennihyakujuuichishiki Yaotome "
Rush Super
23663214+P

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	2200	0	None	Mid	Mid	4:8	8	33	53	DWN	-10	8full/12upper
+	3700	0	SP/SU	Mid	Mid	4:8	24	33	69	DWN	-10	14 full/ 22 upper
+	5000	0	None	Mid	Mid	4:8	24	33	69	DWN	-10	22full/ 30 upper
Your basic all-purpose super; functions as anti-air, anti-fireball, anti-poke, works in combos. There's a few unique things about it, though: the upper body invincibility granted to the move give it the ability to punish fireballs from much farther away. Other supers run out of invincibility if you do it too early, and if you wait long enough to go through the fireball the opponent has usually recovered already. The upper body invincibility also makes ths move great for punishing straight up jumps, even at level 1. 6/13/03 - If you try to anti-air with the super and your opponent didn't press anything they will be able to land and block it every time. Fortunately most people never jump up and down without pressing anything, and if they do you can just standing roundhouse them instead. Something to think about vs P and K grooves, though. On the down side, the super's damage is pretty low. Level 1 damage is the same as a set of fierce rekka kens, so you should only use level 1's as straight up jump anti-air. Level 3 damage is a below-average 5000. Not earth shattering, but still enough to warrant its use. One should note that a connected level 3 super switches sides with the opponent also. The range on the level 1 version of the super isn't nearly as long as you'd think it is. It's roughly the same range as a fierce rekka. Luckily, that's well within the range to hit Sagats, Blankas and Bisons jumping up and down. The range on the level 3 is obviously a lot better, and it has an added benefit: When you're throwing fireballs as a footsie tool and your opponent jumps straight up over it, sometimes when you try to anti-air their straight up jump with a level 3 they get pushed BACK into the fireball they just jumped over. This not only makes the super safe, it gives you frame advantage AND puts you right into point blank range for a free mix-up. Doesn't happen EVERY time your opponent jumps over your fireball, though. It's kinda random. =/ Whenever you hit with the level 1 super you get a free roll cross-up that's one of the most ambiguous out of all of Iori's set ups. Also, your opponent can't tech roll to safety since you can't tech roll supers. Run forward about half a second and roll. TOTALLY ambiguous. Makes up for the measly 2200 damage pretty well... justifying the use of a meter. Iori gets meter fast anyway. Unfortunately, hitting with a level 3 doesn't set up much of anything since your opponent is thrown really far away and Iori doesn't recover until the opponent is almost fully standing. Just throw a jab fireball as they're getting up and run after it.

"One-For-The-Road" Blast

"One-For-The-Road" Blast
Pillar Super
21441236+P

Charging

Traveling Hitbox

Version	Damage	Stun	Cancel	Guard	Parry	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Adv Hit	Adv Block	Invul
+	1400	0	Non	Mid	High	5:1~60, 21	Traveling	50	77~136	Freeze	-15	1~9 (Full)
+	1600	0	SP/SU	Mid	High	5:1~60, 21	Traveling	50	77~136	Freeze	+29	1~15 (Full)
+	1800	0	None	Mid	High	5:1~60, 21	Traveling	50	77~136	Freeze	+29	1~23 (Full)
Iori tosses a fireball that then explodes into pillars. Each level gets more pillars, with level 1 only getting one and not traveling far, level 2 getting 4 and traveling a little over a third of the screen, and level 3 getting 8 pillars and traveling well beyond fullscreen. On hit, these cause a unique flame freeze effect. The opponent will be coated in Iori's signature purple fire, and will slowly take hits of damage. The level 1 version hits 4 times before knocking down, the level 2 version hits 5 times, and the level 3 version hits 6 times. During this frozen time, Iori can hit with any move, though this will instantly end the freeze. You always want to wait a few hits to maximize the damage, preferably until the last hit that doesn't knock down. This super can also be charged, hence the double value on the startup time. However, regardless of minimal charge or not, comboing into this is impossible in most situations outside A-Groove. It lacks much neutral utility outside of gimmicky callouts, and the cost is fairly high. Maiden Masher is overall a MUCH more useful super in almost every situation, and you would almost always rather save the meter for that than spend it on this. Note: The opponent can mash to leave the freeze state faster, you can't get a jump in combo on a level 1 grounded freeze if mashed.

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