Introduction
About Karin
Karin is an offensive footsie-oriented character who aims to batter the opponent into submission with powerful tick throws, whiff punishes, and confirmable pokes. Her Right Leg of the Forbidden One is one of the most infamous normals in the game, with good range, a long confirm window, and great reward for landing it. On top of this, she has excellent mid pokes in 5MK and 5HK to keep the opponent sitting still at her preferred ranges, a great tick throw from 5LK, and long-range whiff punishes with 2HK. Her V-system is very straightforward, with nearly every Karin defaulting to VT1 and VS1 for their simple combo conversions and poking ability. Accessing the best parts of her gameplan is reliant on good execution, requiring not only use of her just-frame tenko for optimal combos, but good reaction speed as well to hit confirm her delay-cancellable pokes. Her anti-air options are also middling, with limited options to stop opponents jumping at close range. Overall she's a very powerful character with a simple gameplan that can be deceptively tricky to execute well.
V-System
V-Trigger 1: Guren No Kata
Gives Karin access to a rekka sequence that's great for safe poking and decent for combos. Has a lot of gimmicks alongside as well as some consistently useful pressure tools, in particular a plus on block elbow and a safe on block backdash. Easy to quickly burn through without doing too much with it, but the tools it gives are straightforward and good.
V-Trigger 2: Tenha No Kata
Gives Karin access to a 2f parry vs strikes that can be cancelled into from any of her grounded special moves to counter an opponent's punish. Very gimmicky if used that way, but it does reliably catch highs/mids/lows and the reward for catching a low is massive. Not used very often since it can't be used proactively, but it's sometimes picked vs divekick characters and it can counter V-reversals.
V-Skill 1: Myo-Oken
An unsafe advancing palm attack that can be charged for better range, damage, and frame advantage. Used for poking, VT activation, and as a combo ender for corner carry. Active frames nullify projectiles, but the move isn't used for this very often. Typically seen as the default pick for all matchups.
V-Skill 2: Fudo Sosho
A safe short range palm attack that can be charged for better damage, frame advantage, and the ability to special cancel. Crush counters, giving a launch on uncharged and a crumple on charged. Used for combos, pressure, and meaties. Can also be used to nullify fireballs. Not picked as much since the VS1 combos and the VT activation are both much more universally applicable.
Final Patch
Players to Watch
- AFG
- Justin Wong
- Bonchan
- Phenom
- Mago
- Punk