The King of Fighters 2002/Kim

Movelist

Command Normals:
1. Neri Chagi - f+B
- Kim does an axe kick which has decent range, greater than all of his normal attacks
- cancellable if cancelled into. If cancelled into, it will often do two hits
- overhead

Special Moves:
1. Sanren Geki - qcb+A3
- Kim does two kicks, the first angled upwards, while the second one is horizontal, then finish with a two hit Neri Chagi
- each input can be delayed
- supercancellable on the last hit
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of on all hits

2. Sanren Geki - qcb+Cx3
- Kim does two kicks, the same as his Sanren Geki qcb+Ax2. On the third qcb+C, he will do two kicks in the air
- very punishable if the last qcb+C is performed
- each input can be delayed
- supercancellable into qcb hcf+BD SDM on the last hit
- free cancellable into
- free cancellable out of the first two hits

3. Sankuu Kyaku - qcb+P uf+K d+K
- Kim does an upwards angled kick, then jumps and kicks high when uf+K is input, then does an overhead smash as he comes down
- each input can be delayed. This chain is generally hard to punish normally and impossible to punish on block, if the d+K input is delayed
- qcb+C does almost double the damage of qcb+A
- supercancellable into the qcb hcf+BD SDM on impact of uf+K
- the d+K is an overhead hard knockdown

4. Haki Kyaku - d d+K
- Kim stomps the ground, creating a yellow aura around him
- d+D is a hard knockdown while d+B does not knock over the opponent
- hits low
- can negates ground projectiles
- supercancellable
- there exists a bug that allows him to cancel this move when he has less than two stocks and not in maxmode, by doing qcb hcf+BD when it hits. He will flash as if doing a maxmode cancel, yet this cancel does not require being in maxmode. In addition, if done Kim has two stocks or more, he will simply supercancel the move into the DM, which is probably not desirable. To actually make use of this, the d d+B should be cancelled after a close crouch A, or by itself, but not after a close C since you get pushed back too far to followup with anything useful

5. Hishou Kyaku - qcf+K(air)
- Kim flies angled downwards at his opponent. qcf+B is angled 30 degrees while qcf+D is angled 45 degrees
- if this move is blocked, Kim rebounds from the opponent and can followup with D
- if the opponent is this with this move, Kim does a series of kicks and bounces off, knocking the opponent over

5a. Tsuika Kougeki - D (after Hishou Kyaku qcf+K(air))
- Kim does a kick that looks the same as his jump D
- this move does no damage even if it hits

6. Hien Zan - _d u+K
- Kim does a backflip kick into the air
- _d u+B comes out very fast, hits behind Kim and can do two hits on counterhit, while _d u+D does multiple hits but lacks priority like _d u+B has
- _d u+D not a good idea when the opponent is not int he air, since even if the first hit makes contact with opponent, the rest of the hits can still whiff
- supercancellable on the first hit. There is a bug that results in it being supercancellable in the air, but only if one of the hits connects with the opponent behind Kim
- _d u+D can be followed up by d+D on the last hit
- free cancellable into
- _d u+D is free cancellable out of on the first hit on the ground

6a. Tenshou Zan - d+D after Hien Zan _d u+D
- Kim does an overhead kick as he's coming down from his Hien Zan _d u+D
- hard knockdown
- overhead

DMs:
1. Hou'ou Hiten Kyaku - qcfx2+K
- Kim does a fast vertical anti-air kick, which has some startup invincibility
- qcfx2+B knocks the opponent back a bit, while qcfx2+D hits them straight up

2. Hou'ou Kyaku - qcb hcf+K
- Kim dashes across the screen quickly. If he connects, he combos the opponent with a series of attacks. If this is blocked, he does nothing and can be punished easily
- qcb hcf+B makes him go about 3/4 screen, while qcb hcf+D is full screen
- hard knockdown on the last hit

SDMs:
1. Kuuchuu Hou'ou Kyaku - qcb hcf+BD(air)
- Kim flies across the screen. If he connects, he does a series of attacks. Otherwise, he will land in front of the opponent and be open to attack
- it is possible to supercancel into this move from the ground, but it is difficult. The bug involves inputting the motion as qcb hcf+ABCD, then D one frame after, as opposed to just qcb hcf+BD. If done correctly, ground supercancellable moves like qcb+B, qcb+Ax3 and _d u+D can be supercancelled on the ground, into this move

HSDM:
1. Zero Kyori Hou'ou Kyaku - qcb hcf+ABCD
- instant throw

Notes:
- cancellable normals are close A, crouch A, close B, close C(2), crouch C, close D, crouch D, jump A
- CD is cancellable into specials and DMs

Combos

Anywhere:
1. Close C, qcfx2+D, _d u+D d+D/qcb hcf+K - 45%/50%
2. Close C, qcb+B, (S)qcfx2+K, qcb hcf+K/(_d u+D, d+D) - 70%/65%
3. Crouch B, Crouch A, qcb+P, uf+K, d+K - 30%

Corner:
1. Close C, qcfx2+K, _d u+D(1), (S)qcfx2+D, _d u+D(1), (S)qcfx2+D, _d u+D, d+D - 90%

Maxmode:
1. (~Crouch A, Close C(2))/f+B, BC, run Close C(2), qcb hcf+ABCD - 65%
2. Close C(2)/f+B, BC, run Close C(2), qcb+Cx2, qcb+D, _d u+D, d+D - 50%
3. Close C(2)/f+B, BC, run Close C(2), qcb+Cx2, qcb+B, (S)qcfx2+K, _d u+D(1), (S)qcfx2+K, _d u+D, d+D - 95% (Corner, 100% with jump strong attack)
4. Close C(2)/f+B, BC, run Close C(2), qcb+Cx3, (S)qcb hcf+BD - 80%
5. Close C(2), qcb+B, (S)qcfx2+D, BC, qcb+Cx3, (S)qcb hcf+BD - 90-95% (Corner, 100% with jump strong attack)

Counterhit:
1. CD(counterhit), _d u+D d+D - 35% (Corner)
2. CD(counterhit), _d u+D(1), (S)qcfx2+K, _d u+D(1), (S)qcfx2+K, _d u+D d+D/qcb hcf+K - 80% (Corner)
3. Jump CD(counterhit), qcf+K(air) - 20%

Normal Links:
1. Crouch A/Close A, Close C
2. Close D(2), Far A

Attack Strings:
1. (Crouch B, Crouch A)/Close C(2)/Crouch D, qcb+C, uf+K(delayed), d+K(delayed)
2. Crouch D, d d+B/qcb+C
3. Crouch B, Crouch A, Crouch D, d d+B/qcb+C
4. ~Crouch A, Close C(2), qcb+P/f+B(delayed)

Strategies

- Kim has a very high abundance of pressure strings and high/low mixups that can result in some serious damage. Most of these strings should be started with Kim's close C, simply because it comes out extremely quickly and it does two hits, allowing easy hit confirmation.

The first thing that must be learned by any Kim player is his close C, qcb+C, uf+K, d+K. This string will cause guardcrush after about 3-4 repetitions. In addition, it is generally safe against most opponents. The only thing to worry about when using it is that some characters like Iori, have really fast normals that could punish it. Throws can also counter it on block. This is where delaying comes into play. If the uf+K and d+K are delayed, then Kim not only recovers faster but is pushed back further, preventing the opponent from being able to punish this on block in any way. In fact, Kim will gain a frame advantage and be able to stick out a crouch A. The only main disadvantage to delaying the uf+K and d+K is that it gives the opponent a window to pull out a fast attack such as Kim's _d u+B. However at the same time, delaying the moves results in mindgames. You can decide to do close C, qcb+C, then wait a fairly long time, making the opponent think you might not even followup. Not following up after the first qcb+C is safe anyway, but if they think you won't followup and you do so anyway, you will hit them. The uf+K will also stop jump attempts.

You can exploit the bug that allows you to cancel a command move late after a normal and have it not lose it's properties. In Kim's case, cancelling his close C to f+B, where the f+B is delayed will have it hit as an overhead at the cost that it will not be cancellable. If you have two stocks, you can attempt to cancel the delayed f+B into maxmode and do a max combo, although this is somewhat difficult here since Kim has a long way to run forward (but possible). Opponents tend to block low after they have already blocked a strong normal, so this will usually hit them. Cancelling the close C to d d+D is a great mixup here because it hits low and requires the opponent to change his block height right after a close C, in addition to the fact that the d+D and f+B are both reasonably quick. Assuming the opponent is aware that the f+B can lead to some major damage, he may block high more than low after a close C, which means the d d+D will have a higher chance of hitting.

- Kim's wakeup game is very solid, for a few reasons. Firstly, most of his moves hit as hard knockdowns (his d d+D, qcb+C uf+K d+K, _d u+D and qcb hcf+K being the moves you will most likely be using), thus you will get many opportunities to mixup on the opponent's wakeup. Secondly, he has useful crossups as well as fast high/low moves that lead to rediculous damage.

His jump A is a very good crossup that can beat a wide variety of anti-airs as well. Using a hyper jump can make the crossup look more ambigious. You can try mixing it up with a normal jump that will/will not crossup. Either way, on the opponent's wakeup, it is far too risky for them to try to anti-air assuming the jump A is about to hit them the moment they get up.

If the opponent gets crossed up and is getting up in the corner from a hard knockdown, then you can do a high forward jump D deep into the corner. What will happen is, even though the opponent is in the corner, they will be facing the opposite way. If they try to block towards the corner, their character will instead walk in the direction of the corner and be unable to block. In addition, their input would get messed up. If the opponent attempts to do a dp+P, the move will come out but it will be directed towards the corner.

His f+B overhead is very fast and can lead to any of his very damaging max combos. You don't even have to do it from that close, due to it's great range. Even if done from far away, Kim can activate maxmode and run up fast enough to do a close C, qcb hcf+K, although this requires some practice to be done from far away. Unfortunately, it is not possible to do some of his more damaging max combos, as it requires Kim to run up after activation and be very close to the opponent. One useful mixup is to do an early whiffed crouch D close to the opponent, and whiff cancel it into the f+B. Since the crouch D whiffs, the f+B does not lose the overhead property.