Movelist

Throws

1. Kubikime Otoshi - b/f+C

Kim grabs the opponent and knocks them down in front of him
hard knockdown
opponent will be facing with their back turned when they get up
lots of time to setup an offense after the throw

2. Sakkyaku Nage - b/f+D

Kim throws the opponent in the opposite direction that he was facing
the opponent gets up with their back turned, but they can recovery roll it
Kim only has time to setup a good offense afterwards if he throws the opponent into the corner while he is cornered

Command Normals

1. Neri Chagi - f+B

Kim does an axe kick which has good range and is faster than most other overhead command normals in the game
overhead if not cancelled into
does one hit if executed by itself, and two hits if cancelled into

Special Moves

1. Sanren Geki - qcb+Ax3

Kim does two kicks, the first angled upwards, while the second one is horizontal, then finishes with a two hit Neri Chagi
each input can be delayed
the last hit of the third qcb+A is an overhead and supercancellable
free cancellable into
free cancellable out of on all hits

2. Sanren Geki - qcb+Cx3

Kim does two kicks, the same as his 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 of the third qcb+C
free cancellable into
free cancellable out of the first two hits
first hit of qcb+C does more damage than first hit of qcb+A, even though they have the same startup speed, hitbox and recovery

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 with d+K
each input can be delayed. This chain is generally hard to punish
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 negate ground projectiles, including Mature's qcf hcb+P
supercancellable
there exists a bug that allows him to cancel this move into a neutral stance 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

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 hit with this move, Kim does a series of kicks and bounces off, knocking the opponent back
cannot be executed during a hop, only a normal or super jump

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 in the air, since even if the first hit makes contact with opponent, the rest of the hits can still whiff
D version is 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, doing some good damage
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
opponent can be juggled while in the air

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
hard knockdown on the last hit
it is possible to supercancel into this move from the ground, but it's 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

HSDMs

1. Zero Kyori Hou'ou Kyaku - qcb hcf+ABCD

Kim grabs the opponent and does an auto combo ending in a flash kick that knocks the opponent far away
instant one frame throw

Notes

cancellable normals are close A, crouch A, crouch B(last frame, not useful), 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%

Strategies

Overview

Kim is definitely one of the best characters in the game, and I'd rate him on the highest tier alongside Athena, Billy and Choi. He is very offensively oriented, and requires some decent execution ability to be able to execute most of his combos. To fully master Kim's stomp glitch pressure, the player will need very good execution and lots of practice.

Kim works well in any order - first, second or third. If he has no meter(or one stock), he can utilize the stomp glitch which makes his rushdown even more dangerous. In addition, he can make full use of some strings when the opponent has no stock. As a character with stock, he can do huge damage off of almost everything, including his f+B overhead, which is why he is a great character wherever he is placed on the team.

Pros:

very damaging combos that result in good positioning
safe guard strings for the most part
very good normals and jump attacks that cover all situations, as well as a great crossup
very fast overhead that leads to damaging combos
a number of anti-airs for different uses

Cons:

needs to get in to do damage

Pressuring

The Attack String

One of the first things any Kim player needs to learn how to execute and use the close C, qcb+C, uf+K, d+K combo/attack string. On block, it causes a lot of damage on the guardcrush bar, effectively guard crushing in 3-4 repetitions. The string itself, when not delayed, is safe against many characters that don't have very fast normals or one frame grabs, but by delaying uf+K and d+K hits in the string, you can reduce the recovery of the final hit and push Kim back enough to be out of range of those punishes.

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 reversal attack in between. At the same time though, delaying the moves results in mindgames. You can decide to do close C, qcb+C, then wait a fair bit, making the opponent think you might not even followup, or to bait them into doing one.

Also keep in mind that if the opponent has stock, then they can punish the string if they guard roll the qcb+C and you continue by doing uf+K. If they have meter, you should stop after the close C or the qcb+C and try to bait out a guard roll, in which you can do a meaty close C on top of them when they come out of the guard roll.

Other Tools

A great tool for Kim to get into range where he can start/continue pressuring, is his hyper hop C. The hitbox is very wide, covering grounded opponents as well as opponents trying to jump at you or away from you. It's very difficult to deal with. To best make use of this, Kim should do it early in the jump since the move itself has some startup delay.

The other great pressuring tool is his run up close C. It has a 2 frame startup and a large activation range (meaning that Kim has to be further than normal in order for the far C to come out instead of close C). The run up is a useful frame trap after they have blocked a poke such as crouch B, crouch A or far A.

Kim's f+B overhead is a big threat for a number of reasons. His pressure strings involve jumpins, fast dash in close C's and low attacks, and a fast overhead, all of which can lead to high damage combos.

So to summarize some of the options he has for pressure:

1. far A -> hyper hop C

This keeps the pressure on them after doing a far A, especially if they think the pressure has ended after your far A and want to either jump away or jump towards you.

2. crouch B/crouch A/far A -> run close C

Very useful frame trap, especially if you can hit confirm the close C after into qcb hcf+K

3. crouch B -> crouch A -> run up b+C throw

This is useful when you think the opponent feels afraid. Run forward and then hit b+C, in order to do a normal throw as fast as possible from a run. If you screw it up, a close C/far C will come out, which isn't really a bad thing.

4. crouch B -> [crouch B] -> f+B

You can either do one or two crouch B's, followed by his f+B overhead. They will generally not want to move if you have imposed fear into them using the frame traps with close C.

5. crouch B -> crouch A -> delayed f+B

This setup is different than the above. If crouch A is cancelled in it's later frames, then f+B comes out as if it was not cancelled into. This is the "late cancel" glitch.

6. close C -> delayed f+B

This is similar to the above except uses close C. close C must be cancelled during the late frames of the move, making it come out as an uncancelled f+B overhead rather than a cancelled into f+B (which is not an overhead and comes out slow). Practice is needed until you get down this time.

7. close C -> d d+D

This is a complimentary setup to the above one, ending in a low stomp instead. It only works if Kim is standing right next to the opponent, otherwise the d d+D stomp will whiff. Watch out if the opponent has stock to guard roll, as whiffing the stomp is not safe.

8.

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 or jump A 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, even though Kim is still landing in front of them. In addition, their input is reversed. If the opponent attempts to do a dp+P correctly, the move will come out but it will be directed towards the corner. If the opponent tries to roll out of the corner, Kim will land first and should be able to easily punish the roll with any combo. The nasty thing about this setup is that it doesn't always happen, and sometimes Kim actually lands into the corner, which is even more bizarre. Take advantage of this situation as much as you can because it's far too advantageous for Kim.

If you get the opponent in a combo with their back turned, try to end the combos in moves that do not "fix" the direction that they are facing. For instance, his qcb hcf+K DM, will make them face the correct direction, if you did it to them in a combo with their back turned. If their back is turned, I'd recommend using his bread and butter Close C, qcb+C, uf+K, d+K combo, or his C, qcfx2+D, _d u+D d+D, both of which will make the opponent get up with his back turned again. You can also create a back-turn setup from a f+C/D throw, as both of them make the opponent get up facing the wrong way.

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 if the f+B hits from fairly far away, as they require Kim to 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. Of course, doing this gives the opponent more time to react to this using a reversal attack, but it does make it much more difficult to block. Another nice trick with his f+B is to do f+B, d d+BC. This effectively does f+B, BC, then d d+B stomp, which can then be cancelled into other moves (preferably qcb+B, supercancel qcfx2+K in the corner, or qcb+D, _d u+D if you don't have enough meter to supercancel or are outside the corner). If done right, the d d+B will combo after the f+B, and the opponent is required to block high initially, then immediately low. Kim is also safe if the opponent guard rolls the f+B or the d d+B stomp.

One troubling thing I noticed with most players is that they will start using the f+B and its mixups, only when they have enough stock to do a max combo for it. Even worse, they usually go for this setup the moment they do have stock, making it fairly obvious. I'd try to be a bit less predictable with this, and possibly make use of it even if you do not have enough stock to go for a max combo (of course, you should take into consideration whether the opponent has a fast reversal attack that can be supered, as the risk/reward will be very much in favor of the opponent).