Advanced Movement
Wavedashing
For most character's dash animations, the initial part of the dash is significantly faster. The character then slows down over the course of the dash, before coming to a complete stop. Thus, if a character were able to repeatedly perform only the initial part of their dash, and skip the slower part, they could move much faster than they otherwise would.
The most basic way to do this is referred to as "Wavedashing", sharing a name with a similar mechanic in other fighting games like Tekken and Super Smash Bros. Wave dashing utilizes the fact that most character's ground dash can be canceled at any time by crouching, which is an instant action. You can then immediately dash out of the crouch, getting the initial burst of speed again. Looped repeatedly, the input for a forward wavedash looks like this:
The input for a backwards wavedash might look something like this:
4L+M > 1 > 4L+M > 1 > 4L+M > 1 > 4L+M > 1 > 4L+M, etc.
Note that you do not have to use the L+M input to dash; any of the standard two-button combinations will work. You could also wavedash using the double-tap input, but it is significantly more difficult.
Wavedashing and Backwards Wavedashing Tutorial by Sajam
Wavedashing is not only faster than dashing or walking normally. When mastered, it gives you much more precise control over the ground movement of characters who can utilize it, allowing you to quickly reach the exact positioning you need. Not every character can wavedash. Some characters, such as Hulk and Dr. Doom, have fixed-duration ground dashes, which can not be canceled early with crouches. Also, it is not possible to wavedash while airborne, because you can not crouch in the air.
Plink Dashing
"Plink dashing" is a more advanced variation of wavedashing using the same principle: repeatedly cancel your dash early so that you only use the fastest part of its movement. Unlike wavedashing, plink dashing cancels each repetition of the dash using an attack, instead of with crouching. An observant reader might see the issue: attacks have very lengthy animations, and usually can't be dash-canceled on whiff. So how does plink dashing work?
Fighting games often give the player a lenient window to perform certain actions, allowing some room for error or sloppiness because human players are not machines. A common leniency provided is for simultaneous two-button inputs (such as the input for a dash in UMvC3). If a player presses one of the two buttons slightly (as in 1-2 frames) earlier than the other, the game will still allow the player to dash. Utilizing this two-button leniency intentionally is called "p-linking" or more commonly just "plinking", and was popularized with UMvC3's contemporary, Street Fighter 4.
Suppose a player is dashing, and then during their dash they press the H button. One frame later, they also press M, so that both buttons are now being pressed as in a simultaneous input. This would be written in notation as H~M+H. The game logic interprets these inputs in the following way:
1.) The game sees that an attack was input. It cancels the character's dash animation so that the startup of the attack can begin.
2.) On the next frame, the game sees the second attack button, and realizes that the actual input being sent by the player is a two-button dash input.
3.) The game attempts to correct the "mistaken" attack input. It cancels the attack it just started, and has the character start to dash instead.
The end result from the player's perspective is that each dash is seamlessly canceled into the next. The input for a forwards plink dash may look something like this:
Plink dashing can be done with any combination of two or three attack buttons, but plinking in the direction of stronger button -> weaker button is recommended. If done correctly, the character will seem to glide forward in continuous horizontal motion, and you may repeatedly hear the character's voice line for the attack you use to plink.
Plink Dashing Tutorial by Spartan Throne Part 2
Plink Dashing Tips by Priest
Mastery of plink dashing commonly separates intermediate-level players from high-level or tournament-level players, as it provides several significant advantages. Sufficiently fast plink dashing can avoid attacks that slower players have to block, or to punish moves that would otherwise be safe. Plink dashing can even enable new combo routes, such as Spider-Man's "Web Throw" loop combos, which require him to plink dash in-between throws to close the distance.
Most characters can cancel their dashes starting from frame 5, and so "optimal" plinkdashing for most of the cast would be a consistent five frame gap between each plinkdash input. However, you do not have to be anywhere near this precise or fast to benefit from plinkdashing as a movement option.
Although more mechanically difficult, plink dashing offers several advantages over wavedashing:
- Plink dashing is noticeably faster than wavedashing, and some characters can move at truly incredible speeds with well-executed plink dashing that would not otherwise be possible.
- Plink dashing can be used to option select a throw or other attack while moving, an option which is not built in to a wavedash.
- Note: You can not cancel a dash into a throw directly, so a Throw OS is only built into the first dash in a set of plinks, not the subsequent ones.
- You can crouch at any point while plink dashing to make your next dash OS a throw.
- Wavedashing can sometimes overlap with "22" style inputs for characters who have them, such as Wolverine's Berserker Charge 22XX hyper. Plink dashing avoids this issue (although an improper plink dash input will cause your character to attack with a normal instead).
- Plink dashing can be done in the air, whereas wavedashing can not. This is especially important for characters with flight and 8-way airdashes, such as Magneto. These character's gain enormous amounts of mobility by plink dashing while in flight mode.
Triangle Dashing
Triangle Dashing (also sometimes called "Triangle Jumping" or "Tridashing") is an additional type of advanced movement performed by repeatedly jumping in the air and then airdashing back towards the ground. It is called a triangle dash because the movement path of the character performing it visually resembles a triangle. Triangle dashing is most useful for characters like Dr. Doom, who have a slow, fixed-duration ground dash, but it can be utilized by any character with an 8-way airdash or similarly functioning movement option. The inputs for a typical triangle dash may look something like this:
The specific speed at which you input the jumps and airdashes will depend on the character. It is important to not input the airdash until your character is above Minimum Airdash Height, which for most characters is ~10 frames after the initial jump input.
Although not necessarily very fast compared to other forms of movement, triangle dashing does provide one very powerful advantage. Because a triangle dashing character rapidly switches between being grounded and airborne, they have fast access to both their aerial attacks (which often hit overhead) and their grounded attacks (many of which hit low). A character triangle dashing towards their opponent may press a j.5M attack on the way down, which needs to be blocked standing, or press nothing until they land and go for a 2L attack, that can not be blocked standing. Thus, even characters like Magneto who have faster movement options may triangle dash towards their opponent to increase their offensive potential.
Block Dashing
Normally, dashing forward on the ground requires holding the stick in a neutral position, or holding forward. A small bug allows you to additionally perform forward dashes while holding back, using a specific input. To "block dash", switch from a standing block (4) to a crouching block (1) while simultaneously inputting a dash. The input would be written as 41XX.
If you perform this correctly, your character will dash forward - despite holding back the entire time - then come to an abrupt stop. This is because you are holding down-back, and thus have crouch-canceled your dash. If we return to holding straight back once that dash has begun, your character can complete their entire forward dash animation, all without ever letting go of block. Thus, the input for a full block dash could be written as 41XX4.
Block dashing is primarily useful for characters who have a special input with a charge motion, such as Frank West (Hammer Throw), Hulk (Gamma Wave) and Shuma (Mystic Stare). Block dashing allows these characters to move forward without sacrificing their back charge.
Flight Cancels
Any character with a Flight Mode can cancel their grounded or aerial normals into Fly or Unfly, giving them an additional fast cancel option. Flight causes the character using it to hover in place in an airborne state (unless the player gives them a command to move). Thus, flight cancels can be used to suddenly halt a character's aerial momentum, to recover from a whiffed attack faster than normal, or to quickly become airborne by fly-canceling a grounded attack.
Even among characters with access to flight mode, fly and unfly times differ. Morrigan has particularly powerful flight cancels. Not only are her fly/unfly moves very fast (flight is 11 frames, and unfly is only 1 frame), Morrigan can fly cancel her special moves in addition to her normals. This means that any move in her arsenal can have effectively 1 frame of recovery, provided she is already flying when she uses it. Other characters can use flight cancels in a similar way with varying levels of effectiveness.
Advanced Offense and Defense
Chicken Blocking
Air blocking is particularly powerful in UMvC3, as it removes the threat of high/low mixups, and there are no "air-unblockable" style attacks, like in many other games with air blocking. When defending against attacks, players usually want to retreat to the air as soon as possible to take advantage of this. In addition to this, blocking in the air at a low altitude can make it possible to punish attacks that are otherwise safe, as landing again will immediately end your guard stun.
If you hold up-back (7) on the stick, your character will begin to jump while still blocking. Jumps have three "pre-jump" frames where the character is still considered to be on the ground, and during these frames your character will stand block as normal. On the fourth frame, your character will be airborne, and instantly able to air block. There is no gap between the standing block and air block, so any character can escape to the air safely in this way. If you hold up-back while currently in blockstun, you can continue to stand block the opponent's pressure and - as soon as there is even a small gap in blockstun - your character will automatically begin to jump towards safety. Doing this is referred to as "Chicken Blocking" and it is an extremely important defensive tool.
Although chicken blocking is very strong, it is not infallible. If playing an opponent who regularly makes use of chicken blocking to escape your offense, consider trying to exploit one of these weaknesses:
- Although the chicken block input allows a character to block during the start of their jump, they can only stand block, not crouch block. Players attempting to chicken block are vulnerable to low hits until they make it to the air. If you suspect that your opponent is trying to chicken block, something as simple as a 2L will catch them in the act.
- Chicken blocking, like any other jump, puts the character on a fixed trajectory through the air. In addition, blocking any attack while airborne instantly removes all of their upward momentum, leaving them stuck in place. It's fairly effective to pursue a chicken-blocking opponent with an airthrow or anti-air command grab. Characters that do not have double-jumps or airdashes are in particular danger, they have almost no way to stay out of range of these throws, but any character is vulnerable to this type of offense.
- When a character is airborne, such as during a chicken block, they are unable to change their left/right facing. In comparison, a character on the ground automatically changes facing if they switch sides with the opponent. Most attacks are aimed primarily in the direction that the character is facing, so if you switch sides with an opponent who is airborne, they lose most of their ability to fight back. Intentionally dashing underneath an airborne opponent to attack them from behind is called a "Cross-Under" and is detailed further down the page.
Throw (Tech) OS
Throws, as discussed on the controls page, do not have a whiff animation. If a throw is input on a frame where one is not possible, (opponent too far away, opponent in hit/blockstun, etc.) then the character will instead perform an attack corresponding to the button pressed. Since throws are input with the H button, this usually means the character will perform a Heavy attack. This also applies to Throw Breaks; if you input a throw break without being thrown, your character will attack instead.
If your character has a particularly strong Heavy normal or command normal, you can make use of this "Throw OS" to attempt throws or throw breaks with very little risk. For example, Wolverine's divekick command normal is input at j.2H. If a player is airborne with Wolverine and inputs "j.3H", he can option select throw (or throw break) with divekick. If the opponent is in throw range, the game will take the "forward" part of Down-Forward Heavy, and Wolverine will perform a throw. If the opponent is not throwable, the game will instead use the "down" part of the same input, and Wolverine will perform his divekick attack instead. Many of the game's strongest characters have high-power attacks that OS a throw or throw break, much gives them a huge advantage in neutral. This is especially powerful when combined with Chicken Blocking, because airthrows are one of the primary ways to combat it.
If your character has a move attached to the S button that you would prefer to use for a Throw OS, that can be done by inputting 4H+S. The S button has higher Input Priority than the H button, so an S attack will come out instead of an H attack, but you can still perform throws and throw breaks. However, it is not possible to option-select a throw with a special move (for example, by using a 236H motion). Even though a special move motion may overlap with a throw input, special moves have higher Input Priority than throws, so the special will come out instead even if the opponent is in throw range. This also means that characters that have a special move mapped to H+S (such as Haggar's "Lariat") can not OS Throw with H+S either. That said, they can still perform throw breaks with H+S.
Comboing Multiple Characters: "Happy Birthdays" and "Merry Xmas"
When an assist character is called on stage, they are vulnerable to attacks in the same way that the point character is. Moreover, assist characters can't block, use aerial recovery, or defend themselves at all in the way that the point character can. It is possible to "snipe" an assist character as they are called with certain attacks, doing significant damage to them. It is also possible to attack both the point character and an assist character with the same combo. In the game's community, this is called a "Happy Birthday". In the extremely rare circumstance that all three characters on a team are caught in the same combo, players will call it "Merry Christmas".
Hitting an opponent's assist character is a great opportunity to deal huge damage and possibly secure a victory, but there are several important rules that govern this mechanic:
- Assist characters take 150% damage from attacks. However, all damage done to an assist is done as Red (recoverable) health; if not killed outright, they will retreat off-screen and eventually regenerate all damage dealt. Damage Scaling applies to hits on assist characters just as it does to point characters (and attacks that hit both characters increment the combo counter twice as fast).
- Most attacks are able to hit two or even three characters at once with no penalty. However, not all attacks behave this way. Some attacks can only connect with one character; they will hit either the point or assist character in a happy birthday, and the other character will escape. Additionally, some multi-hitting attacks will split their hits between the characters caught in them.
- Point characters are forced to stay within a certain lateral range of each other, determined by the camera zoom. Point characters are not allowed to move horizontally outside of the maximum zoom of the camera, and will be stopped by an invisible wall if they attempt to move that way (or are pushed that way by an attack). This restriction does not apply to assist characters, who can be knocked off-screen. An attack that causes a Wall Bounce will make the point character bounce back towards you for additional hits, but the assist character will simply be blown away, unable to be comboed further.
- Assist characters can not break TACs, and you can freely TAC them as much as you would like if you are in an Air Combo state, racking up forced ground bounces, wall bounces, or launchers. However, landing a TAC on an assist character does not award meter, drain the opponent's meter, apply bonus scaling, or cause you to switch characters.
- If there is no point character on screen (because they died or were snapped out), there is a hard limit of three seconds to deal damage to any assist characters on screen. After this time, the assist will become invulnerable until they recover and exit the stage, allowing the next point character to properly enter.
- There are no Soft Knockdowns against assists. Any attack that knocks an assist down will be a hard knockdown. Since they can't perform aerial recoveries, this means that any attack that hits them while airborne always causes a hard knockdown.
If both your point character and your assist character are being comboed, there is little you can do except pray that the opponent makes a mistake. However, if your assist character is being comboed alone, your point character can act and attempt to interfere. In this situation, keep calm, pay attention, and do not foolishly charge into the hits of your opponent's combo. Try the following techniques to rescue your assist before they die:
- Jump towards the opponent without attacking, block one of the hits of their combo, and use pushblock to force the opponent away from you and your assist.
- Repeatedly dash underneath (or above) your opponent in order to cross up their inputs and make it more difficult for them to execute the attacks they want.
- Use a projectile or other attack with good reach and lockdown potential, such as Magneto's Magnetic Shockwave (236XX) hyper, to keep the opponent occupied while your assist recovers.
Cross-Ups and Cross-Unders
As mentioned in the Blocking section, the left/right direction held for blocking an attack is based on your opponent's position relative to you. This doesn't just apply to blocking, but also the motion input for specials, command normals, and most attacks that require a left/right directional input. If you switch sides with an opponent, you effectively reverse their controls, which can make it difficult for a human opponent to defend correctly.
Intentionally switching sides with an opponent while attacking is called a "Cross-up", and is intended to make the attack harder to block properly. Most cross-ups used at high level are "ambiguous", meaning it is not immediately clear whether the attack will connect before or after the side-switch occurs, so that even an opponent expecting the crossup will not always be able to block it. A specific variation of a cross-up where one player moves underneath an airborne player (typically as they land) is called a "cross-under".
Besides making it more difficult for the opponent to block, cross-ups - and especially cross-unders on an airborne opponent - can be used to evade enemy attacks. Most attacks are primarily aimed in the direction that the character is currently facing, and airborne characters do not automatically change their left/right facing in the air. If you cross-under an opponent and they try to attack, the attack will be pointed in the direction the character was facing when they jumped, and will most likely whiff. However, special moves do cause a character to turn around in the air, so an opponent can still attack you after a cross-under using special moves, provided that they mirror their motion input to account for the new facing.
Unblockables
An "unblockable" is a type of layered attack in UMvC3 that can not be blocked. They are closely related to Guard Break setups, in that they are both a type of offensive setup that is either extremely difficult or impossible to defend against once started. Most unblockables fit in one of two categories:
A high/low unblockable is done by using an assist that hits either Low or Overhead in conjunction with an attack from the Point character that hits in the opposite way. A grounded opponent cannot simultaneously block a Low and Overhead attack: crouch-blocking the low hit will get them hit by the overhead, and stand-blocking the overhead will get them hit by the low. This type of unblockable can be done by any character, but requires a low or overhead-hitting assist, while most of the game's strongest assists hit Mid. Additionally, this type of unblockable does not work on airborne opponents, since air blocking works against overhead and low attacks equally. Finally, to be a true unblockable, both attacks need to hit on the same frame, which is difficult to accomplish.
Some attacks in UMvC3 are simply tagged as being unblockable. This is different from being a throw or command grab; those types of moves do not work on a character in hitstun or blockstun. An unblockable attack is a regular attack that simply can not be blocked. This includes Firebrand's fully charged "Demon Missile" 623H special, C.Viper's fully charged Focus Attack X+S special, and the follow-up of X-23's "Silent Kill" level 3 Hyper. These characters can use an assist that causes a large amount of blockstun, such as Dante's "Jam Session" or Amaterasu's "Cold Star" assist, to hold the opponent in place while they move into range and activate these unblockable attacks. Setups like these are particularly strong as Oncoming Mixups, and can be inescapable if done correctly.
Advancing Guard Delay Evasion
Advancing Guard replaces the blockstun you were currently taking with a fixed (21 frame) recovery called Advancing Guard Delay. The earliest point you can initiate Advancing Guard is after 1/3rd of the move's guard stun has passed; typically this will result in a total that is higher than normal guard stun, however for moves that cause very high amounts of guard stun, timing an advancing guard as early as possible can actually reduce the time you are stunned.
Alternatively, a pushblock input intentionally done as late as possible can significantly increase the time you spend in blockstun. This can be useful to evade certain throw or command grab setups, by keeping yourself in blockstun while the throw is active, you remain unthrowable. This is quite dangerous, as advancing guard delay becomes throwable much earlier than regular blockstun, and thus only works when well-timed. This can also be applied to escape crossup situations, where the opponent intentionally leaves a small gap in their string before going for a left/right mix; pushblock delay can be used to keep yourself in stun so that auto-blocking covers you.
Advancing Guard delay will be negated in favor of normal guard stun if you guard another attack(common with multi hit moves) before it ends.
Oncoming Mixups
When a character dies, or is snapped out, another character on the team must take their place as the point character. This character enters the stage as an "oncoming" character. Oncoming characters always enter the fight in the same way. They appear from the edge of the screen at roughly jump height, as if they leapt into the fight. An oncoming character is throw immune (this includes regular throws and command grabs) until they perform an action or touch a ground. In this context, "action" means attacking, blocking, or performing any kind of aerial movement such as a double jump. Outside of this one temporary benefit, oncoming characters receive no special protection and need to defend themselves as soon as they appear on screen.
Because oncoming characters always appear in a fixed position, experienced players can prepare dangerous attacks that will connect with the opponent exactly as they arrive on screen, before the next character can mount any defense. "Oncoming mixups" often force the incoming character to block meaty projectiles, ambiguously crossed-up aerial attacks, and assists that hold them in place while the point character performs multiple attacks. These are, as you would expect, extremely dangerous, with the most oppressive teams sporting oncoming mixups that are effectively impossible to fully block. Getting hit during one of these will usually snowball into a full combo, a dead character, and another oncoming mixup, so they are a huge source of momentum.
Instant Overheads
Most aerial normal attacks are overheads, meaning that grounded characters must block them standing, not crouching. However, characters do not have access to their aerial normals on the ground. The process of jumping into the air, completing most of a jump arc, and then attacking with an aerial normal on the way down takes a long time, enough that even inexperienced players will have no trouble standing up to block the attack in time.
An "instant overhead" is an aerial normal that can hit on the way up at the start of a character's jump, instead of waiting until they come back down. While not "instant" in the literal sense (you have to wait through prejump frames and the startup of the move), instant overheads are usually extremely fast compared to any other overhead attack, and rarely reactable. Note that, for an attack to work as an instant overhead, it needs to be able to hit a crouching opponent on the way up, and crouching opponents usually have hurtboxes lower to the ground. Very few attacks are both fast enough and low-reaching enough to work this way, although see Fuzzy Guard immediately below for a way to circumvent this limitation.
"Big Body" characters, such as Hulk and Nemesis, have larger hurtboxes and, importantly, taller crouching hurtboxes. These characters are more susceptible to instant overheads than normal-sized characters, and thus need to be especially careful on defense.
Because of the large and flexible cancel windows available to most normals in UMvC3, instant overhead attacks can often be confirmed into a combo by canceling them on hit into a command normal, air special, or air hyper. In some cases, a player may use X-Factor to cancel an instant overhead, turning an otherwise unconfirmable hit into a high damage combo.
Fuzzy Guard
Note: The term "fuzzy guard" in infamous in fighting game communities. It's found in many different fighting games, but often refers to something completely different depending on the game or community being asked. On this wiki, fuzzy guard refers to the following:
In UMvC3, grounded characters can block either standing or crouching. Even while in blockstun, a defending character is free to switch between standing and crouching to suit the attacks coming their way. A character that is crouching usually has a smaller, shorter hurtbox than a standing one, meaning fewer attacks can reach them.
If a character stand-blocks an attack, they will keep their standing hurtbox for the duration of that attacks blockstun, even if they switch to crouching immediately after the attack connects. This is called "Fuzzy Guard"; the character is crouching for the purposes of block direction, and they may even visually appear to be crouching, but their hurtbox will be the one that they normally have while standing.
Fuzzy guard can be used to set up Instant Overheads that would not otherwise possible. Approach the opponent with an aerial attack, which they will block standing. As you land, the opponent will usually switch to a crouching block, expecting you to use one of your grounded, low or mid attacks. Instead, immediately jump again and press an attack as soon as your pre-jump frames end. Your rising attack will connect with the opponent's standing hurtbox, but since the opponent is inputting a crouch block, they will be hit.
Alpha Counter Cancels
When an assist character is brought in as a Crossover Counter to perform their assist attack, the attack behaves as if it were a normal special performed by a point character (even if the assist is not a normally performable special move). This means that the incoming character can immediately cancel their alpha counter into a Hyper. If a character's assist corresponds to a special that has other cancel properties, the incoming character can freely perform those cancels as well. For example, X-23's "Crescent Scythe" 623H special can be canceled into any of her aerial "Talon Attack" 236X specials, and Crescent Scythe is one of her assist choices. If X-23 is brought in as an alpha counter using her 623H, she can then cancel that reversal into 236L and confirm into a combo.
Example Video - Morrigan flight-cancels Alpha Counter Shadow Blade to start a combo
Example Video - Spider-Man cancels his Alpha Counter into Web Zip to start a combo
Additionally, the hyper-cancel window for an alpha counter starts as soon as the new character appears on screen. This means that a character brought in as an alpha counter can instantly activate one of their air hypers, as long as they have an air-OK hyper and two meters (one for the alpha counter itself, and one to perform the hyper).
Bugs, Glitches, and Engine Quirks
Note: Despite the negative connotations associated with words like "Bug" or "Glitch", all of the techniques listed below are legal, and even encouraged, for competitive play. Many of these have improved the depth or balance of the game by allowing otherwise weak characters to utilize additional offensive or defensive tools to even the playing field against top tier characters.
Second Note: Many bugs or engine quirks in UMvC3 only meaningfully apply to one or two characters that can utilize them. This page is intended for ones that are fairly universal and can be utilized by most of the cast. Character-specific bugs, such as Vergil's "Round Trip Glitch" or Spencer's unscaled "80k" up-grapple, are detailed in their character breakdowns.
TAC Glitch and TAC Infinites
When a TAC is landed during an Air Combo, Hitstun Deterioration is temporarily disabled until the attacker touches the ground. This is done to allow the newly brought in character to at least complete their basic air combo before the opponent can tech out, but also allows for some extended combos with characters that have lots of aerial combo tools. This, by itself, is not a serious problem. All characters have limited aerial mobility and a limit to how many special moves they can perform in the air. Eventually, they must touch the ground, and then HSD resumes as normal.
However...
If a character lands on the ground while in the active frames of an air attack, they enter what is called "landing recovery", abruptly ending the air move they were previously doing. Landing recovery can be jump-canceled to go back into the air, and if a character does this, the game does not consider them to have ever landed on the ground. If a character mid-TAC combo can get to a position where they can land-cancel an air attack, jump cancel the landing recovery, and then hit the opponent again, HSD never resumes. The comboing character gets back all of their air specials and aerial mobility, and can continue their extended combo. If a character can do this repeatedly, then you have a TAC Infinite.
Just about every character in the game can perform a TAC infinite in theory. In practice, some characters have a much easier time performing one than others. Characters with flight or air-dashes typically have the easiest time. The route for a TAC combo, especially an infinite one, depends on screen position (corner vs midscreen), direction of TAC used to start the combo (up, side, or down) and can also vary based on the character being comboed. Despite their strength, TAC Infinites are difficult to perform, even ignoring the difficulty of landing a TAC in the first place. Moreover, the TAC glitch disables hitstun deterioration, not damage scaling, so TAC Infinites can take a very long time to kill, building 5 meters for both players in the process.
Example TAC Infinite with Dante
Example TAC Infinite with MODOK
Characters with (practical) TAC Infinites or extended TAC combos have them listed on their character page.
TAC Wrong Side Incoming Glitch
When a character drops a TAC combo and is punished before landing, their state does not get reset properly. If the character is then KO'd or snapped out, the next character will come in from the wrong side. This will persist through multiple snaps/KOs until a character on their team lands in a neutral state.
TAC Cancel
When a TAC is initiated, the opponent is granted a 15-frame window to attempt a single TAC counter. If this counter fails (the opponent guesses the wrong direction), they are locked out of performing any TAC counter for a fixed duration. If a player wants to perform a specific direction of TAC but suspects that their opponent will break that direction, they can use a TAC Cancel to bait the opponent and place them in lockout.
To perform a TAC cancel, first input a TAC in a direction other than the one you actually want. After the TAC "flash" appears, but before the attack connects, cancel your TAC's startup. Now, input another TAC, this time in the direction you actually want. The opponent will still be locked out from failing to break your canceled TAC, and unable to contest the real one. There are two primary ways to cancel the startup of a TAC. The first is a universal option for the entire cast - canceling the startup with X-Factor.
TAC Cancels are primarily used against opponents that always break TAC in one particularly valuable direction. They are especially effective against Phoenix teams, as Phoenix players will consistently break Side TAC to avoid having her meter stolen. Using TAC Up or Down -> Cancel -> TAC Side allows you to circumvent this defense and prevent the Phoenix player from reaching 5 bars.
Additionally, there is a second way to TAC Cancel which does not require X-Factor, but is only available to a small portion of the cast and is more difficult to perform. If a TAC is performed while in a neutral state, some characters can cancel the TAC's startup into an airdash:
Note that you can not kara-airdash-cancel a TAC unless you are in a neutral state. If Zero chains j.M directly into j.2S, he will not be able to airdash-cancel no matter how quickly you mash. Using a Buster Cancel and recovering to link j.2S is required for the tech to work.
In total, five characters are known to be able to perform a non-XFactor TAC Cancel. Video Guide
- Zero - use Level 3 Buster Cancel to link TAC, then airdash-cancel.
- Chun-Li - Doublejump-cancel any air normal to link TAC, then airdash-cancel.
- Morrigan - Fly-cancel any air normal to return to link TAC, then airdash-cancel.
- Spider-Man - Link TAC after Web Swing, then airdash-cancel.
- Shuma-Gorath - Can only land a TAC in a neutral state if he is brought in mid-combo from another character's TAC.
Hard Tag Scaling Reset
As mentioned in the Damage Scaling section, throws and command grabs apply a significant amount of initial scaling to any combo they start. Whether intentional or due to an oversight, this scaling only applies to the character that performed the throw. Using a Hard Tag to bring in another character can circumvent this scaling and allow a throw to be converted into a much higher damage combo. Note that Hard Tags do not reset damage scaling or hitstun deterioration from any source other than a throw, although Hard Tag combos may still be useful in other cases regardless.
There is no special execution trick to perform this, but combos that include a hard tag can be difficult to pull off; the actual hit of a hard tag can rarely be followed up on. Some teams have methods to convert a throw into a move with a large amount of hitstun, such as a Crumple or Hard Knockdown, giving them time to whiff a hard tag to another character, who picks up where the previous point character left off.
Ground Bounce Reset Glitch
Ground bounces (and wall bounces) are normally limited to one instance of each per combo. A glitch, or possibly multiple glitches, allows this limit to be circumvented in specific circumstances. Unfortunately, this glitch is not well-documented or well-understood at the time of writing. Currently, there are two known ways to perform a Ground Bounce Reset:
- After a ground bounce has already been consumed, perform a ground-bouncing attack (such as Haggar's j.2H). Simultaneously hit the opponent with Spencer's Slant Shot assist. Once the opponent has be re-stood by Spencer, hit the opponent again with any attack just before they would recover from hitstun. Future ground bounces in the follow-up combo will now work properly. Video Example using Frank West Video Example using Haggar.
- Hit an opponent with an attack that causes a Forced Ground Bounce (such as the final hit of Nemesis' 236XX Bioweapon Assault hyper. Immediately cancel or interrupt this attack with another attack, so that the opponent is not bounced. Future ground bounces in the follow-up combo will now work properly. Video Example using Dante
These methods may be related or may be unrelated glitches that happen to cause the same effect, and the possibility to reset ground bounce may become more generalized in the future as understanding is gained. Please wait patiently.
Guard Breaks (and Guaranteed Resets)
A guard break is a generic term for a set up that is not possible to defend against, or where the solution to defending against it is unintuitive, impractical, or character-dependent. Guard Breaks are most common as Oncoming Mixups, because the defending player is forced to a specific location and the attacking player is given time to set up. It is also possible to construct a combo that ends with the opponent performing an aerial recovery into a guard break, which is called a "guaranteed reset". Unblockables are a type of guard break if the opponent is locked in place during their startup, so that they cannot avoid them. Some common types of guard break are detailed below:
- Hit/Throw Guard Break: Throwing an opponent on the same frame that an attack is blocked will make the throw untechable. This can be set up fairly easily using assists, but due to the precise timing requirement, is difficult to execute in a real match. Still, a layered hit/throw offense is difficult to defend against even when not a literal guard break.
Example of this type of Guard Break by MrBackoftheBus
- Advancing Guard Throw Punish: Pushblock includes a recovery window which is throwable. Moreover, there is a small portion of that throwable window where the pushblocking character can not tech throws either. Alternatively, the pushblock recovery can be punished with a command grab.
Example of this type of Guard Break by Xero18
- Throw Immunity Bypass: Oncoming characters are immune to all throws (including command grabs) until they land or perform an action, but blocking an attack counts as an action. Thus, it is possible to force an oncoming character to forfeit their throw immunity by making them block a fast attack, and then using a command grab (or just a regular throw) as they recover from blockstun. A common way to set this up is to dash at an incoming character and perform an air attack (which the opponent blocks), then cancel the attack into a hyper. As the hyper's startup ends - but before the connects with the opponent - DHC to a character with an anti-air command grab hyper, such as Spider-Man's "Ultimate Web Throw" 63214XX, or Frank West's "Funny Face Crusher" 623XX.
Compilation of Guard Breaks using this technique by Xero18
Unfly Glitch
As the input for flight mode (and also unfly) is 214S, it overlaps with many specials that have a 214X input, and can cause errors. For example, Magneto may try to perform j.5H -> 214S unfly -> j.5H in a combo. If he presses the second H input too quickly, the game will combine the 214 from the unfly input with the 5H input and interpret it as 214H, causing Magneto to perform Hyper Gravitation instead.
This can be circumvented using a technique called the "Unfly Glitch". If the unfly input is completed on the same frame as a normal attack button (as in 214S+X), then the character will unfly and then immediately perform the attack specified. So in the Magneto example above, one could input 5H -> 214S+H. This quirk allows flight mode characters who have j.214X specials to circumvent the input overlap and get unfly normals sooner than would otherwise be possible. Additionally, it allows any character with flight mode to get an unfly normal as soon as possible.
Video - MarlinPie explains the Unfly Glitch
Unfly also has one additional quirk. If the Unfly Glitch is performed during hitstop (for emphasis: this is hitstop, not hitstun), then the character will not perform the attack used in the unfly input. They will simply cancel their flight and return to a neutral state, nullifying the input. This is useful if you want to avoid an overlapping 214X special but do not want the attack to come out instantly. For example, many Doctor Doom TAC combos have him unfly close to the ground, then connect a falling j.5L. Doing this normally, at what should be the correct timing, will cause Doom to perform his j.214L special. If you do a normal Unfly Glitch instead, Doom will attack with j.5L too early, and the following combo will drop. Performing the Unfly Glitch during hitstop instead will allow Doom to manually time his followup attack, without worrying about any kind of overlapping input.
"Kubota" Escape
The Kubota Escape is a glitch that allows a player to temporarily remove all of their characters from the stage. Activating the glitch costs nothing but has somewhat strange requirements, making it very situational. To use the Kubota Escape, the player must have exactly one dead character (so two characters remaining alive, not one or three), the opponent must activate a hyper (or anything with a super flash), and the player must be in a position where they are able to hard tag (grounded, not currently taking any action like attacking).
Kubota Escape Tutorial by Heefnoff
Performing a Kubota Escape has two steps. First, hold down the assist of your dead character as soon as the super flash starts. Holding the button too early or late will result in failure. If timed correctly, the announcer wall call out "Crossover Counter" as in a usual hard tag, during the super flash. Second, input a snapback (236A, either assist will work, but using the assist button you didn't hold in step one is a little easier). If this is all done correctly, your point character will "tag out" as the super flash ends, replaced with your dead character, who will not appear in his place. After about three seconds (enough to avoid most hypers), the next character in your team order will appear as an oncoming character, just as if the tagged in dead character had only just died.
The primary use of the Kubota Escape is to evade taking chip damage from hypers which last a long time, such as Storm's "Hail Storm" 214XX hyper, or Amaterasu's "Okami Shuffle" 236XX hyper. Because it forces an oncoming, it is a poor choice against faster-recovering hypers. The opponent will recover before the Kubota Escape ends, and get an oncoming mixup on your character (this may still be preferable to dying to chip damage).
Character Switch Bug aka "Maluk Shield"
Holding down a combination of assist buttons during the pre-match loading screen will switch the order of your team when the match begins. This can also be done between rematches by holding down the assist buttons while pressing the "Rematch" button.
- Holding down Assist 1 will cause the character in the second slot to switch places with the point character
- Holding down Assist 2 will cause the third character to switch places with the point character
- Holding down both assists will cause the second and third characters to switch places
This feature is intentional, and not a bug, mirroring a mechanic also featured in earlier Marvel vs Capcom games. It could be used to trick an opponent who is expecting one point matchup with another, but this has limited value. Also, although switching characters after a win is not usually allowed in competitive play, switching team order is usually allowed, and this is a convenient way to do that.
As detailed in the Comboing Multiple Characters section (author's note, I haven't finished writing that section yet, but it will be detailed there, if it isn't yet). When a non-piercing attack hits more than one character simultaneously, the character hit is determined by the slot order of those characters as they were picked at character select. Using the character switch feature at match load can allow you to manipulate your team order without affecting their slot order. Intentionally putting a valuable character in the lowest-priority slot, where they are most likely to be protected, and then using character switch to move them to their proper position on the team, is called "Maluk Shield".
Maluk Shielding is an extremely esoteric practice and any advantage it grants is both highly situational and, depending on the team, arguably completely negligible. Despite having no cost to perform, Maluk Shielding is almost never seen even among the highest level players. It is included in this guide mainly for the sake of completion.
Esoteric: Slot Priority in Happy Birthday Combos
Xbox 360:
Player 1 - Slot 2 > Slot 1 > Slot 3
Player 2 - Slot 1 > Slot 3 > Slot 2
PS3:
Player 1 - Slot 3 > Slot 1 > Slot 2
Player 2 - Slot 3 > Slot 2 > Slot 1
PS Vita:
Player 1 - Slot 3 > Slot 2 > Slot 1
Player 2 - Slot 3 > Slot 2 > Slot 1
PS4:
Player 1 - Slot 2 > Slot 3 > Slot 1
Player 2 - Slot 3 > Slot 2 > Slot 1
Xbox One:
(Unknown at this time)
PC:
(Unknown at this time)
Throw Same-frame Trades
If a throw hitbox collides with another hitbox on the same frame, there is no "priority" system in the game to handle this. Depending what the other move is, you'll get the following:
- Throw/command throw vs other throws/command throw/cinematic unblockable: Both attacks get nullified. For normal throws, your character's H attack will still come out afterwards.
- Throw vs Normals: Chaining properties on the normal will be lost.
- Throw vs Snapback: The snap will hit, but the character will not be snapped out.
