Super Armor
Charging/Explaining Super Armor
When Heart performs his jC, he will have one hit of super armor during the attack. If you land while charging jC without having the attack go off, Mr. Heart will store its single hit of super armor. This does have some caveats, however. The armor will go away if:
- Mr. Heart takes chip damage (this includes ANY source, such as normals when under the effects of Seieikou)
- Mr. Heart uses another armored move such as 623C, 5C, BD Throw, etc.
- Mr. Heart is hit after the round ends, before it continues to the next round.
Along with this, the armor will not protect you from:
- Any sort of special move/super move
- Any type of projectile
- Any unblockable attack (Fully charged Banishing Strikes are not affected by this and can be armored through)
Despite all of these exceptions, this armor is incredibly important for Mr. Heart and you should have it stocked whenever possible.
Using Super Armor
Because Mr. Heart doesn't generally have the option of using movement to set up favorable situations in neutral or pressure, using super armor to set up favorable trades is a crucial skill. Armoring through an IAD attack with 5A or 623A for a guaranteed anti air, trading with an opponents mash with 2B to convert into a Banishing Strike combo, or in some cases armoring through one attack and countering the next, superjumping into an opponent and armoring through their air button to air throw them, etc.
Super armor is quite important for Mr. Heart's extended pressure as it can negate anti airs during airdash strings. It can also allow you to use some less orthodox moves you couldn't make use of otherwise, such as using Heavy Strikes or fully charged Banishing Strikes.
It's uses are too versatile to list entirely in this section, but these are common examples that you can work into your own gameplay.
Pressure and blockstrings
5D Pressure
While short ranged, 5D is a great tool for Mr. Heart's pressure game, being a jump cancellable normal with a large amount of blockstun. Most of your extended pressure will revolve around this move and No Escape. The most common, basic strings with these concepts are:
- 5A 5D IAD jD, for a high option
- 5A 5D IAD (whiff)jAC, 2B for a low option
- 5A 5D IAD (whiff)jAC, 4/6C throw or Heart's A
The whiffed air throw is used to end your airdash early, so you can fall faster.
No Escape
No Escape pressure strings work similarly and will force your opponent to mash/spend Aura to get you off of them. While all cancels into No Escape are technically minus even with the fastest cancel into 5A afterwards, any opponent that knows how to fight Mr. Heart will likely be hesitant about mashing into super armor, as they might eat a 2B and lose the round. This is the strength of No Escape pressure; the more scared the opponent is, the more 5D IAD mixup or 63214A>Throw chances you get. On the other hand, the less scared the opponent is, you have more opportunities to armor through their mash for a favorable trade.
Some example strings are:
- 2B 5D 63214A, 2A 5D IAD
- 5A 5D 63214A, 5A(1) 63214A, Throw/Heart's A
- 2A 2A 2B 63214A, 5A(1) 63214A, 5D IAD
If they're very scared, you can force a Guard Break with
- 5A 5D 63214A, 2B 5D IAD jD 5D 63214A 2B 5B 214B
While a Guard Crush is unlikely due to how many gaps there are in this string, most opponents are likely to respond at some point during it, giving you a chance to counter or trade through their mash.
Once the opponent starts disrespecting your pressure, you can work delayed Earthcrush and counter off of 5D to crush mashing and take a star.
214A Guard Cancel
214A, while extremely powerful, has some flaws to take note of when trying to use it.
- 214A will commonly clash with attacks, such as multi hitting normals like Raoh's jD or during strings such as Rei's IAD jB jC.
- 214A has less invincibility than a normal Guard Cancel
- Thanks to its unique input, 214A can be baited by low attacks or delayed strings that will force you to use its counter version, leaving you vulnerable.
While 214A may seem like a simply better version of the universal Guard Cancel, your standard 6CD Guard Cancel should not be forgotten entirely as its utility is in fact quite different from 214A.
- 6CD can allow you to easily escape from Juda's unblockable setups, while 214A will often clash with his Banishing Strike or simply lose outright
- 6CD is much more consistent at combatting multi hit attacks and spaced out normals
- 6CD's screen freeze will often catch opponents in the startup of their next normal, forcing them to be hit unless they committed to a hard callout option.
- 6CD is faster and easier to input than 214A
