Combos
Black Polnareff can link most of his normals into most of his S moves, the exception being 6S which has some start up before the move actually hits. None of these combos make much damage, and leave Black Polnareff open for a counterattack.
Even though most of Black Polnareff's combos can be started off his jumping normals, they do require hitting pretty deep into the jump though, the most consistent normal for this being j.B. Black Polnareff's BnBs and longer combos require the use of his rekka special. He also has a lot of very difficult links which can lead to some devastating combos.
Basic Combos
Here we will cover all of Black Polnareff's links before heading into his combos:
5A, 5A, 2B - Two jabs link into 2B.
2A, 5A, 2B - Crouching low jab into standing jab into 2B. 2A into 5A is quite tight so you could just go into your B rekka from 2A alone.
2A, 2A - Two crouching jabs. Quite tight, plus you need to cancel into 236B really fast.
5A, 2C - Standing jab into quickdraw slash.
2C, 5B - Quickdraw slash into toe kick. Not too difficult and quite useful.
2C, 5C - Frame perfect link.
2C, 6C - Slightly easier than the one above, but note that 6C has shorter range than 5C.
d.2C, 5A - Two frame link, quite useful. You can add more attacks after 5A if you want.
d.2C, 2A - You can follow up with 2A after a dashing 2C.
5A, CrC 5B - Requires a trick known as Crouch Canceling. By holding down during the duration of 5A, you can cancel a lot of the recovery frames with the crouching animation. Releasing down will allow you to combo into standing normals faster than it'd be normally possible to do.
5A, CrC 5C - Same as above. One frame link.
Black Polnareff is filled to the brim with frame perfect links, turning a very simple character into an insanely difficult to play beast. Fortunately, he can still do the basic stuff for decent damage as he can pretty much combo into his rekka special off any normal. His primary BnB looks like this:
(combo starter) xx 236+B/C>236+B/C>236+S, d.5C - Rekka into Chariot Spit into dashing C which either launches or causes hard knockdown depending on the combo count. If done to early, the 236S will hit the opponent before they can be knocked down, launching them. Basic, simple, does high damage and builds a lot of meter. DO NOT USE 236+S AGAINST CHARACTERS WITH STAND ON UNLESS YOU CAN STAND CRASH THEM. They will not be knocked down with the final hit regardless, and that can lead to an easy punish.
You can either go for the links mentioned above or just link into the rekka special off any normal. It's up to you.
Some other combos you might find useful:
(combo starter) xx 623+A/B/C - Can be safely used on characters with their Stands On. It might be hard to perform with Light attacks. Just don't use the A and B variations in longer combos against characters with Stand On as they won't be launched and will recover from hitstun almost instantly.
(any normal) xx 4S - There are a lot of ways to combo into Black Polnareff's 4S launcher. The most useful is after an anti air 5A. Depending on the animation that Black Polnareff plays out, you may be able to combo a j.B or j.C after they get launched, with j.B being a lot more consistent but doing less damage.
5B/5C/6C/2C/d.2C xx 214+AA - These normals can combo into Black Polnareff's devastating super for some really high damage.
5B/d.5B/5C/6C/2C/d.2C xx 236+AA - These normals can combo into Black Polnareff's other super. Not as strong but still quite flashy.
j.A/B/C xx j.S - Simple midair combo, best used when hitting the opponent while they're lower than you are when backjumping: other jump arcs are inconsistent due to j.S's trajectory and hitbox.
Combo Loop
Before we go into the loop into detail, Black Polnareff can combo into the loop or just the BnB from a lot of starters. The notation is also added here:
2A, 2A (or 2A) xx 236+B>236+B>236+S;
2B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S;
5B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S;
5C xx 236+B/C>236+B/C>236+S (use 236+B if in corner and 236+C if midscreen, 5C is usually used from a bit far);
j.A/B/C, 2A/2B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S (j.A is not pretty useful, stick to j.B and j.C)
j.C, 5B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S;
d.2B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S;
d.2C, 2A / d.2C, 5A CrC 5B / d.2C, 5A, 2B (or 2A) xx 236+B>236+B>236+S (d.2C can link into rekka itself and into more normals; 2A route leads to rekka while 5A needs to be CrC'd into 5B for it to confirm into the rekka; 5A can also link into 2B or 2A);
Black Polnareff can loop his basic combo as long as he keeps close to his opponent. It is very difficult to do, but possible on most characters. It's also much easier to perform in a corner, as you will stick closer to the opponent, but, it's still possible outside of it. Note that 5A which is essential in this combo will whiff some of the shorter characters in the game. There is an alternative version of the loop which might work against them.
Here's how the basic CORNER version of the loop looks like: (combo starter) xx 236+B>236+B>236+S, d.j/hh.A/B/C, 5A, 5A, CrC 5B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S and repeat.
As you can see, after recovering from 236+S, you should instantly go for a hyper hop to recover distance and get closer to the opponent. Try to get as close so that you can land two jabs and a crouch canceled normal right after it. If done right, you won't drop the combo and Silver Chariot will recover from Chariot's Spit in time for you to go for the rekka again and repeat the whole process.
Now, here's where the hard part of this starts, while this should also work outside of the corner, Chariot Spit is quite heavily range-dependent, meaning that fewer hits from it might cause your jump-in to fail, which is why it's not as good outside of the corner. Still, if done right, it is possible against most characters in the game, which makes it a really overpowered tool, as looped once, it does over 40% damage if not more, and it can lead to a Stand Crash, too.
- Note that with Avdol or B. Pol itself, you CAN'T use j.c if you're out of the corner, or otherwise the 5A's will whiff. The loop has a different timing on they too, so watch out.
Some alternative loop versions which you might want to try out:
(combo starter) xx 236+B>236+B>236+S, dash, d.2C, 5A, 5A, CrC 5B xx 236+B>236+B>236+S and repeat - Recommended only against characters with wide hitboxes (some characters with Stand On like DIO), as 5A, 5A link can whiff easily otherwise.
(combo starter) xx 236+B>236+B, 2A xx 236+B>236+B and repeat. - Works against Iggy, Alessi, Devo and Khan only for some reason. 2A into 236+B is very tight. Has a tendency to go out of range after a few loops, but can be easily done without the corner. Very useful in those particular matchups, considering these four can duck under 5A.
Now that the loop has been detailed, you need to end it in something. There are three main enders for the loop:
j.C, 5A, 5A CrC 5B xx 236+AA (the main ender, also the flashiest);
d.5C (the easiest one, does the least amount of damage and it's unsafe on stand on characters);
j.C, 5A, 5A CrC 5B xx 623+C (contester to 236+AA, probably as good if not better. It doesn't require meter).
Crouch Loop / Alternate Loop
This alternative loop is used for characters that can duck under 5A, therefore 5A not hitting them.
For example: crouching characters (Alessi, Khan, Devo, Iggy and other characters that have a low profile when crouching).
Due to not being able to loop with the 5A, 5A CrC 5B, there is another way to perform the loop on these characters:
(combo starter) xx 236+B/C>236+B/C>236+S, d.j.C, 2C, 5B xx 236+B/C>236+B/C>236+S and so on. The only characters that can be looped midscreen (while crouching) with this loop method are: Shadow DIO, DIO, Iggy, Devo, Alessi, Vanilla Ice, Hol Horse/Hol Horse & Boingo, Mariah, Black Polnareff, Kakyoin, Avdol, Chaka, stand on Midler. It mostly depends on the character's hurtbox and it may work on more characters than those who are written here. Some of these characters can also be looped with the normal CrC loop even if they're crouching because of their tall hurtboxes. These loops can be ended, as usual, with any of the enders.
In the corner you gotta wait a bit before jumping. The visual cue would be doing 236+B/C just as 236+S fades away when you start repeating.
Note: For Devo's loop, in corner, you need to wait a bit more because 236+S hits more times.
