The King of Fighters 2002/Yamazaki

Movelist

Command Normals:
1. Bussashi - f+A
- Yamazaki does a two hit downwards punch
- cancellable on both hits if cancelled into
- overhead on both hits
- free cancellable out of on both hits

Special Moves:
1. Hebi Tsukai (Joudan) - qcb+A (can be held)
- an appendage comes out of Yamazaki's sleeve, moving diagonally upwards. If the opponent is close, this move does two hits
- works well as an anti-air
- hard knockdown if it hits an opponent in the air
- can be delayed by holding the attack button, and cancelled by hitting D
- free cancellable out of on both hits

2. Hebi Tsukai (Chuudan) - qcb+B (can be held)
- same as his qcb+A, except this move comes out horizontally about half screen
- hard knockdown if it hits an opponent in the air
- can be delayed by holding the attack button, and cancelled by hitting D
- extremely good for punishing hard to punish moves like Yamazaki dp+C, Kim qcb+D, Iori qcb+P, etc
- whiffs against many crouching opponents unless they are in blockstun/hitstun, in which case only some can still crouch under
- free cancellable out of on both hits

3. Hebi Tsukai (Gedan) - qcb+C (can be held)
- same as his qcb+B, except this move comes out diagonally downwards about reaching about half screen
- hard knockdown if it hits an opponent in the air
- can be delayed by holding the attack button, and cancelled by hitting D
- comes out slightly slower than qcb+A and qcb+B, thus not comboable from weak attacks
- free cancellable out of on both hits

4. Sabaki no Aikuchi - dp+P - Yamazaki takes out his knife and slashes the opponent. dp+A does two hits, dp+C does 4 hits
- dp+C has less recovery time (unpunishable against almost all moves) than dp+A, each hit of dp+A does more damage than each hit of dp+C
- supercancellable on the first hit. Use dp+A for supercancels since the first hit does more damage and moves him forward more (preventing the supercancel from whiffing)
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of on all hits. Free cancelling on the last hit if it connects makes him whiff

5. Yakiire - dp+B
- Yamazaki does a vertical high kick, then hits you with the back of his boot as his leg comes down
- hard knockdown on the second hit
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of on both hits. The move you cancel into will only connect if cancelled on the first hit

6. Sunakake - dp+D
- Yamazaki does a vertical high kick, not as high as his dp+B. This move only does one hit
- cancellable into Hebi Tsukai qcb+P/B
- stuns longer than other special moves. If you cancel it to the Hebi Tsukia qcb+P/B and then cancel that move with D, you can combo after it
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of

7. Bai Gaeshi (Kyuushuu/Dan Hassha) - qcf+P
- Yamazaki waves his hand upwards. Works as anti-air, but not that fast - qcf+A can absorb projectiles while qcf+C absorbs them and sends back a red projectile which absorbs other projectiles
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of

8. Sadomazo - hcf+K
- Yamazaki sticks out his tongue in a pose. If he is hit, he performs an unblockable counter
- hcf+B makes him stay in his pose for less time than his hcf+D. There is no reason to use the hcf+D
- counters any mid/high normal attack, some low attacks (such as Iori/Seth's sweep), and almost all special attacks, including DMs and HSDMs. It cannot reverse some special moves such as Maxima's qcb+P (this will get you counterwired). It cannot reverse throws
- depending on what move this counter counters, it is possible for the opponent to recover first and roll out the way or counterattack
- supercancellable if the counter activates
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of if the counter activates

9. Bakudan Pachiki - hcb f+P
- instant throw
- hard knockdown

DMs:
1. Akumu...soshite kyouki - qcf+ABCD
- Yamazaki runs up to the opponent, takes out his knife and stabs
- unblockable
- this move is unstoppable unless he is hit before the flash of the super. It will beat everything on wakeup except possibly throws
- hard knockdown on the last hit

2. Guillotine - qcfx2+P
- Yamazaki does an uppercut into the air. He comes down, grabs the opponent by the neck and drags them across the screen
- the first hit acts as an anti-air. It is possible for the first hit to connect but the remaining hits (after the opponent was grabbed by the neck), to miss. If he misses the neck grab, he will not perform the rest of the move and is open to attack
- hard knockdown on the last hit

3. Drill - hcbx2+P
- instant throw
- as the opponent is on the floor, before Yamazaki has actually begun attacking, you can mash the punch buttons to get different versions of the move to come out

SDMs:
1. Guillotine - qcfx2+AC
- acts the same as his qcfx2+P DM version but does more damage
- hard knockdown on the last hit

2. Drill - hcbx2+AC
- instant throw, acts like his hcbx2+P DM version but does more damage
- as the opponent is on the floor, before Yamazaki has actually begun attacking, you can mash the punch buttons to get different versions of the move to come out

HSDM:
...!! - hcbx2+BD
- delayed throw
- does alot of damage but not comboable

Notes:
-cancellable normals are close A, crouch A, close B, close C, crouch C, close D(1)
-CD is cancellable into specials and DMs
-close B is a low attack

Combos

Anywhere:
1. Crouch BAA, qcb+B - 25%
2. Close C, dp+D, qcb+B - 25%
3. Close C, dp+C - 30%
4. dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), Crouch C, qcb+B - 30%
5. dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), dp+A(1), (S)qcfx2+P - 45%

Counterhit:
1. hcf+K(counterhit), qcb+A/qcfx2+P - 30%/40%

Maxmode:
1. Close C, BC, run Close C, dp+C(3), (C)dp+B(1), (C)dp+C(3), (C)dp+B(1), (C)dp+A(1), (S)qcfx2+P/AC - 80%/95% (100% with jumpin)
2. Close C, BC, run Close C, dp+A(1), (C)dp+B(1), (C)dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), dp+B(1), (C)dp+C(2), (C)dp+B(1), (C)dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), dp+A(1), (S)qcfx2+P - 100%
3. Close C, BC, run up Close C, dp+B(1), dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), dp+B(1), dp+A(1), dp+B(1), dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), dp+B(1), dp+D, qcb+BD(hold), dp+B, qcf+ABCD(on opponent's wakeup) - 90% (100% with jumpin)

Strategies

- Yamazaki doesn't really build stock too fast, as his main zoning weapon, qcb+P/B, hardly increases his stock bar when used. Since a lot of his gameplay involves landing the qcf+ABCD and the fact that his max combos do huge amounts of damage, it is best to keep him as the second or third character.

- Yamazaki has great poking normals. His crouch B and crouch A, especially his crouch A, are very good. After poking the opponent a lot with a combination of these pokes, most opponents will probably be tempted to use a jump attack or possibly some special move once they are out of range of the pokes. Thus, you want to mixup your crouch B and crouch A pokes with far A. Far A has very good range (moreso than his crouch A), comes out very fast and stuffs ANY jump attempts the opponent makes, as well as many special moves that the opponent might try after getting poked. qcb+B is probably a better poke when it comes to range and damage as well as mindgames, but it can be punished severely if the opponent predicts you will use it. In addition, qcb+B whiffs against some crouching opponents, so it shouldn't be used as often. Stick to far A's, staying just outside of the range of your opponent's best pokes.

- To punish anything that isn't right in front of you, use qcb+B. This move can punish moves that are generally deemed to be unpunishable on block, such as Yamazaki's dp+C, Kim's qcb+D and Iori's qcb+A. Punish everything else (such as rush DMs, and other very punishable moves) with Close C combos, since Yamazaki's close C is relatively fast.

- Always use hcf+K ON REACTION to something the opponent does that is counterable. Do qcb+A immediately after the counter in case it happens to counterhit, as it will combo. If you have good reaction ability, you can hit qcb+A or qcfx2+P on counterhit, although it should be done as early as possible. Not that it is possible for the opponent to evade the counter in some cases, like if the opponent recovered fast enough to be able to roll before Yamazaki's uppercut connects. Some characters can hit Yamazaki with very fast rising moves (such as Iori's dp+C) or invincible moves (such as Whip's qcb hcf+P) right before the uppercut connects, but rarely will this situation occur.

-crouch C is a fairly solid anti-air, has respectable range and is cancellable. This is a great normal to abuse on the ground as well. A good trick is to cancel it into the qcb+B, then hold and cancel, greatly reducing the recovery time. In addition, if the opponent happens to roll while you are doing the crouch C, you can use the qcb+B trick while whiffing the crouch C, to prevent the opponent from punishing you. The qcb+B trick is also good if you did the crouch C expecting the opponent to jump, and he didn't.

- Yamazaki has many options when the opponent is waking up. The most guaranteed option for damage is to use his qcf+ABCD DM. The move is unstoppable if it is timed as a meaty attack just as they get up. It will beat out all fast reversal moves on wakeup except possibly throws. The only option is for the opponent to roll the first frame of their wakeup. If the opponent does happen to roll, Yamazaki recovers first from the whiffed DM and can immediately throw (using the normal f+C/D throw, hcb f+P or hcbx2+P).

His hop D is a great high priority jump attack since it hits very low to the ground and the fact that it is so vertical allows him to land right above the opponent, evading or outprioritizing anti-air attempts assuming they were able to get it off. If they blocked it, you can either do the qcf+ABCD DM, a series of crouch B, crouch A and far A pokes, or a close C immediately cancelled with qcb+BD. Jumping backwards and hitting D the moment you leave the ground, acts as an instant overhead. This can be used either on wakeup, or immediately after landing from a forward hop D.

dp+D cancelled into qcb+BD is yet another option. Due to the extremely fast recovery of this move, you can follow this up with a run up throw (hcb f+P or hcbx2+P) or a crouch C, qcb+B(cancelled with D if the crouch C was blocked).

His Close B hits low and is cancellable. If the opponent gets hit and was crouching, cancel it to hcb f+P for a combo and a hard knockdown. If the opponent was not crouching, then you should do a crouch AA, qcb+B combo. If the close B is blocked, you should either do a series of crouch A's and far A's or cancel to qcf+ABCD or cancel to f+A, qcb+BD. It is possible for the opponent to get hit by the f+A even if they blocked the close B. If the f+A does hit, then cancel to qcb+C. You can also try cancelling into the f+A late, such that it keeps it's overhead property. If that overhead hits, you can go for a BC combo.