Combos
You can start most of these combos from j.A/j.B/j.C/j.S. Note that 5A and 2A can be interchangeable. Assume the opponent has a full stand gauge unless stated otherwise.
Shadow DIO's Loop
... 1A 5C 5S 66 ... - The combo you must learn.
66 dash into 1A the most important thing you need to learn with Shadow Dio's combos. This is a dash cancel. In order to perform it tap down+back (1) after performing any dash. A very useful thing, not only for Shadow Dio. This is Shadow Dio's "infinite" in its simplest form. All of Shadow Dio's normals activate IPS, therefore it's not a real infinite: eventually it will proc and drop the combo. Most tournaments limit this to 3 repetitions, and even if that were not the case it's much better to end it at the second or third rep to get the guaranteed knockdown instead of gambling for some minimal extra damage.
Some alternative loop versions that work only in a corner, useful for Stand Crash combo setups:
- ... 5A 2A 5C 5S 66 ... - Instead of using down+back dash cancel, this requires a properly timed dash to land 5A. Shadow Dio's forward and back dashes are very specific in that depending on how long you hold down the direction, his dash will expand. Release the dash button at a proper moment and tap back. Be careful not to perform d.5A/d.2A by accident as it will end the combo leaving you wide open due to the S attack still recovering.
- ... 1A 2A 5C 5S 66 ... - Adds a bonus 2A to the mix. Possibly easier than the combo above.
- ... hh.A/B/C 5A 2A 5C 5S ... - Uses a hyper hop instead of the dash. Very difficult timing but also most optimal, not recommended for beginners.
Loop Combo Starters
- 2A 5C 5S 66 ... - The basic one starting with a single jab. Works anywhere!
- d.5C 5S 66 ... - d.5C comes out really slow, best to avoid it unless it's used during a stand crash reset.
- d.2C (1 hit) 5S 66 ... - Your second best alternative from a very powerful low hit.
- 41236A/B/C d.5C/d.2C (1 hit) 5S 66 ... - In case someone fails to punish your knife throw on the ground.
- 214AA d.5C/d.2C (1 hit) 5S 66 ... - Random 214AA most likely won't work, but you can combo after it nevertheless in some situations. You're supposed to use it after a hard knockdown.
- 5A (crouch cancel) 5C 5S 66 ... - Crouch cancel variant, not recommended for beginners.
Loop Combo Enders
- ... 1A 5C 5S 3C - Ends with Shadow Dio doing his slide attack. Won't work too well against characters with Stand ON, so try to crash their stands first before using this.
- ... 1A 5C 5S d.2C - In case you need a launcher, however, depending on combo's length might still just ground the opponent instantly or launch them.
- ... 1A 5C 5S 1A 2A d.2A - Finishing the string with a few jabs sets you up for a possible tick grab.
Alternatively, you can just not continue to do the string after landing 5S and fall back or do other stuff in hopes of a reset.
Stand Crash Setups
Stand Crash setups can be divided into two categories: those who crash the stand while The World is out, and those who don't. Due to the amount of stand gauge damage 5S and its variations do it's much easier to stand crash someone with them, in fact just looping three times will stand crash even large gauges; the downside is that, since your stand is out during the crash animation, you can't follow up with specials or supers. You can get around this by using specific routes depending on your opponent's stand gauge size and in the case of small and medium gauges with no additional difficulty. It is important to note that just because you can do these setups that doesn't mean you should and indeed most of the time it's just better to stand crash with 5S, take the knockdown and go for okizeme.
The route for small gauges is:
- 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C !SC ... - Simply looping three times will crash their stand on the third 5C. Can start from a j.A or j.B, but j.C will make the second 5S stand crash early.
- 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S 66 j.C !SC ... - If you ever want to switch sides mid combo, you have enough time to land and hit 2A for a third rep. Not that you ever will.
Medium gauges have these routes:
- (j.x) 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S d.2C !SC ... - Standard setup. If you start with (any) jump-in you'll get a guaranteed knockdown thanks to launch scaling, otherwise they can tech once the hitstun from the crash ends.
- 2A 2A 5C 5S hh.B 5A 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C !SC ... - Corner only, prone to IPS due to going over the 9 hit mark.
And finally large gauges:
- j.C 5A CrC 5C 5S 66 4A CrC 5C 5S d.2C !SC ... - Very impractical because of the crouch cancel, not worth going for. The j.C is mandatory.
- 2A 2A 5C hh.B 5A 2C 5C hh.B 5A 2A 5C !SC ... - Corner only, watch out for IPS. Not as difficult as the previous combo, but still only useful for styling.
Stand Crash Enders
From these you can continue your combo with:
- ... 41236C 632C - If you stand crash someone with 5C you can combo into knives. Not practical.
- ... 236AA - Due to the multi-hit nature of this super it always does unscaled damage, which is useful for securing the round when they're almost dead. You get no okizeme from this super, so you have to decide if the extra damage is worth the sacrifice. Recommended against Ice since his fast wakeup makes him immune to your most rewarding oki options.
- ... A6C4S - From 9 hits onward d.2C (2 hits) !SC will guarantee a hard knockdown, making a timestop safe against slower wakeups. In case the second hit of d.2C kills the opponent you may go for a TS glitch and win the next round instantly.
- ... d.5B 2S 5A - Works even if you crash their stand with 5S. A 2 frame link, you have to hit them with 5A before 2S lands to make it connect even though you press it later. Gives you a lot more frame advantage, opening up new oki possibilites. For this reason it's arguably one of the more useful enders, though not required.
- ... d.5B 41236S 5A ... - Style only, 41236S 5A uses the same principle as the 2S 5A above. You can hit them with 3C right after the final hit of 41236S for a knockdown, or hit them with a button in the same frame the final hit connects and keep going for more style points.
In summary, if you value damage over oki you may go for 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C !SC 236AA with small gauges and 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S d.2C 236AA for medium, large gauges require impractical setups. Otherwise you may keep looping and end the combo with ... d.5B 2S 5A after the crash.
Unblockable Stand Crush Resets
Shadow Dio can extend his combos through an unblockable reset using the Stand Crush mechanic. This technique lets him reset the loop count and damage scaling, dealing up to 90% damage with a single combo. The idea behind this is to purposefully drop the combo when their stand gauge is low and hit them with 5S immediately after, causing a Stand Crush: this allows Shadow Dio to reset scaling and follow up with a myriad of options, like an additional 3 loops for example. While it is possible to achieve this through a delayed 5S after a 5C, you can take advantage of the fact that 5B has reduced hitstun compared to 5C. The gap between 5B and 5S drops the combo and gives the opponent a 2 frame window to escape, which gives them two options: they can turn off their stand and block the 5S normally or reversal and punish. Characters that have iframes when switching to stand off (Avdol, Kakyoin, New Kakyoin and Polnareff) can do the former and iframe through the 5S instead of blocking it.
Common routes for small and medium stand gauges are:
- 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S 66 1A 5B 5S !SC ... - Usual confirm from your crouching jab. You can start with a j.x against medium gauges, but with small ones you'll crash their stand before the reset.
- d.2C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S 66 1A 5B 5S !SC ... - Dashing low starter. For small gauges you can replace d.2C with d.5C.
Routes for large stand gauges are harder and/or less practical:
- j.C 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S 66 1A 5B 5S !SC ... - Unlike the previous route, j.C is not optional.
- 2A 5C 5S 66 1A 5C 5S hh.B 5A 2A 5B 5S !SC ... - Corner only, prone to IPS.
While it is true that this reset is escapable, the small window to do so makes it quite safe and indeed the optimal route for damage. It is possible to go for a true, unavoidable reset by replacing 5B with d.5B. Since d.5B brings you closer to your opponent, 5S reaches them faster and lands in the block-only frame post-hitstun, leaving them with no choice but to eat a guaranteed Stand Crash/Crush. Keep in mind that 2A d.5B is a difficult 1 frame link, so the usual 2A 5B routes are recommended even if they're technically not a true combo.
Another point to consider is that even though the drop does reset damage scaling, it does not reset IPS unless the opponent chooses not to block (see IPS retention). It's not a rare ocurrence to have your combo drop (and possibly punished) after the reset even if it's below the 9 hit mark, so weigh your options and decide if the risk is worth taking. You can opt for hh.623x instead of looping for an IPS-free followup that goes into a safe 214AA in the corner, for example.
Other Basic Combos
- 5A 5A 5A - You can chain up to 3 jabs.
- 2A 2A 2A - Low slap slap slap.
- 2A 2A 5B - If you'll ever need it, it can combo. But you probably won't.
- 5A 5A (crouch cancel) 5B - Similar to the one above but even more useless.
- j.A/B/C j.5S - Only combos on airborne enemies! Any jumping attack canceled into Stand attack.
- d.2C 5S 3C/d.2C - In case you gotta knockdown/launch someone quickly for whatever reason. Useful when you're not sure if d.2C will land.
- 41236A/B/C 236AA - The only way to combo into your super besides Stand Crash. This combo happening in a real game is very unlikely as it requires knives to hit the opponent at a specific range to work and the timing is rough, but it's a thing.
- 41236A/B/C 643214A - In case you want to ground your opponent after hitting them with knives at long distance. If they are hit in midair and block, you may attempt to charge your laser to the unblockable version.
- 214AA 236AA - This also requires a specific setup to work properly. Also, the bits from Charisma may go in random directions, so it's probably better to use other means of damaging opponent after 214AA resets.
- 5B/d.5B 41236S 5A 5C/3C - Somewhat useful combo after 5B. Requires you to use 5A right after using 41236S and before its first hit connects. You can add some bonus hits like 5C in between The World's hits or just time your 3C to get a hard knockdown, it's not necessary though.
- d.5C 41236S d.2A 5C/3C - A completely useless combo considering you can just combo into 5S from d.5C. Requires some crazy timing and isn't really anything good, but it exists.
Time Stop Setups
Shadow Dio's time stop is unique in two ways when compared to the other characters with this ability. First of all, it only requires minimum 2 meters of super to activate. Secondly, it does not have a super flash during activation, which in some situations makes it harder to react to.
In order to properly setup a time stop you'll need a stand crash and a sufficiently high launch scaling, 2ee the Stand Crash Setups section for more details. Alternatively you can attempt it after a command grab, but it's very situational and depends on the character, their wakeup speed and if they have meter or moves to escape (like Ice's or Iggy's teleports).
Things to do during the Time Stop:
- 64214C - Fullscreen laser, useful when time stopping with a low amount of meter, try charging it for even more damage.
- 623AA - Use it only when time stopping with low meter and when the opponent cannot be hit by the laser due to their lower hitboxes.
- d.5C/5C 5S 5C 5C 5S 5C 5C ... - Bash opponent with your strongest normals. Roughly 50% damage with Max meter. Useful when you don't have too much meter and you don't know what else to do. The damage may scale poorly in some cases.
- 41236C 632C 41236C 632C 41236C 632C (jump behind the opponent) 214AA - 3 full sets of knives into Charisma from the other side. One of the most damaging combinations. Requires Max meter. Around 70% damage if done properly, however, the damage may scale poorly in some cases.
- 41236C 632C 41236C 632C 41236C 632C 41236C 63214C 63214C - The highest damaging setup we could figure out. The damage may scale poorly in some cases.
- 214AA (whiff) - If you don't hit your opponent during stopped time you'll be able to act immediately after it ends. Charisma can be used in this way to set up a nearly instant unblockable, letting you follow up as long as you didn't hit the opponent during the time stop or they didn't jump/evade just as it ended. It also works great if an opponent jumped in the air or became invincible before time stop happened: they will be hit once the time stop ends.
Note: You can land a 5S attack just as the time stop ends. Position yourself properly and hold 5S to land it for bonus damage. There's also a P2-only glitch that lets Shadow Dio attack right after the time stop.
