On The Ground

There are a number of different ways in which you can get end up on the ground. You can either get knocked down by your opponent's attack or throw, or even your own attack which may leave you recovering on the ground. This section will introduce the different options available to you once you're on the ground, as well as unique ways to attack a grounded opponent.

In broad terms, you have two ways in which to get back up off the ground. After taking the fall you can rise normally off the ground with an optional mid or low kick on wake-up, or if the conditions allow, you can perform Fall Recovery as you hit the ground to get back to your feet quickly.

Rising(top)

When you're knocked down to the ground, and don't (or can't) perform Fall Recovery to instantly get back up, you're forced to rise in the conventional way. While you are laying prone on the ground, you have a number of options to choose from in deciding how to rise. You can either rise in place, or after a side roll or back roll. Additionally, you can choose to perform either a mid or low level a rising attack.

The constant factor with all rising techniques is that once you're knocked down on the ground, there's a set amount of time that you'll be stunned for and unable to move. You can reduce this amount of stun time by rapidly entering any Joystick/Button inputs, enabling you to rise much quicker.

Also note that once you exit the ground stun and start moving, you can stop trying to "wake up" and instead concentrate on whether or not you want a rising attack.

In Place(top)

While you are knocked down on the ground, not entering any inputs will default you to rising in place.


Speed-up: You can speed up the time for you to rise up by circling the Joystick and pressing rapidly. It is often in your best interests to rise as quickly as you can, which can sometimes prevent your opponent from attempting a Down Attack or Down Throw.

Side Roll(top)

While you are knocked down on the ground, tap repeatedly while holding to side roll into the background, or to side roll into the foreground.

Back Roll(top)

While you are knocked down on the ground, hold and tap repeatedly.

Rising Attacks(top)

While you are rising in place, with a side roll or back roll, you can choose to perform a rising attack which hits either mid or low. While you are rising, enter to perform a Rising Mid Attack, or to perform a Rising Low Attack.


Rising Attacks are dependent on your initial knock down position, and whether you choose to rise in place, with a side roll or back roll. In general, the frame situation for all Rising Attacks are as follows:

Guard

-6

Guard (after back roll)

-15

Normal Hit

+3

Counter Hit

+6

As you can see, having your Rising Attacks, Mid or Low, guarded after a Back Roll leaves you at -15 frames disadvantage. This is very unsafe and leads to some guaranteed attacks and potentially lots of damage!

While the majority of the cast exhibit the universal rising attack properties as shown above, there some additional rules and exceptions to be aware of:

• Most rising attacks are circular in nature, meaning that they cannot be evaded. However, depending on the knockdown position, the class of the rising attack may change (e.g. half circular or linear), which makes it possible to evade, reverse, or sabaki as the case may be. In the VFDC Command Lists, refer to the Esc column under Rising Attacks for this information, however, the general rules are spelled out below in the Down Positions section.
• One exception to the above is that Akira has no full circular Rising Attacks! Most of them are half circular, so you can always evade, reverse, or sabaki, as appropriate.
• Another exception is that some characters have "special" Rising Attacks depending on the knockdown position. Some of the "special" Down Attacks may produce a Foot Crumble, or otherwise Knock Down, rather than giving frame advantage on hit. Consult the VFDC Command Lists for character specifics.

Fall Recovery(top)

Fall Recovery, as the name suggests, is a technique used to instantly recover from a fall. You can either choose to recover In-Place or with a Side Roll.

Performing Fall Recovery is essential if you wish to avoid further attacks or combos that may connect while you're on the ground. In the figure below, Akira knocks down with which doesn't ordinarily float high enough for any follow-up hits. However, if the opponent fails to perform Fall Recovery, then they will be susceptible to further attacks while on the ground. In this case, Akira successfully follows up with (hit) .


Fall Recovery can also, but not always, eliminate the portion of damage associated with the ground impact resulting from an attack, throw, or reversal. On rare occasions, however, Fall Recovery will increase combo damage. If you attempt Fall Recovery during a float combo before being hit by a guaranteed very low hitting attack, the float damage modifier may be reset causing extra damage.

You cannot perform Fall Recovery from every type of knock down such as most Crumples and Bounce attacks.

Finally, there are risks associated with Fall Recovery, depending on the knock down position. If you perform the wrong Fall Recovery technique at the wrong time, you could expose your side or back and be vulnerable to a hit and unable to guard. These will be explained further in the relevant section below.

In Place Recovery(top)

To perform In-Place Recovery, enter the moment you hit the ground.


When you perform In-Place Recovery, you transition through three states:

1. Down: In the first phase you're considered to be Down and the opponent is able to execute Down Attacks. Since you're getting up in place, the chances of a Down Attack hitting you are high, but if your opponent was attempting a ground combo then you can avoid/guard it.

   Tip: To instantly guard the Down Attack during your In-Place Recovery, when you enter , release and and remain holding . This will let you instantly guard a Down Attack.

2. While Standing: In the second phase you will undergo a transition from crouching to standing. During this phase, you can choose between a standing or crouching, with or without guarding. Obviously, this is a guess on your part, and for the opponent trying to attack you.
3. Recovery: In the third phase you recover in the state you chose in the While Standing phase. If the opponent times an attack on you such that it's active the moment you recover, you cannot Evade it. You either have to guard it or get hit. If you anticipate a low attack or throw after recovering in-place, then hold to either guard or make the standing throw miss. For a mid attack just hold out of recovery to guard it.

If you perform In-Place Recovery from a Face Down, Feet Towardknock down, then you briefly expose your back in a crouched state, and will be unable to guard a low or mid attack from the opponent, if it's timed right.

Side Roll Recovery(top)

To perform Side Roll Recovery, enter or the moment you hit the ground roll into the background or foreground respectively.


When you perform Side Roll Recovery, you transition through three states:

1. Down: In the first phase you're considered to be Down and the opponent is able to execute Down Attacks. Depending on the direction you roll in, the chances of a Down Attack hitting you could be high, but if your opponent was attempting a ground combo then you can avoid/guard it.

   Tip: To instantly guard the Down Attack during your Side Roll Recovery, when you enter or , release and and remain holding . This will let you instantly guard a Down Attack.

2. Crouching: In the second phase you're considered to be in the Crouching state.
3. Recovery: Once you recover in the third phase, you are still considered crouching. If you do nothing but hold then you'll gradually end up standing with a guard. So, if the opponent attempts to high throw you immediately, it will miss because you're not yet fully standing from the crouch, however, characters with low throws could get you here! Similarly, if your character has an attack that requires them to be crouching first, then you can immediately execute that attack when you recover by omitting the component. For example Akira can enter immediately after a Side Roll Recovery and perform his Byakko ().

If you perform Side Roll Recovery from a Face Down, Head Toward knock down, then you briefly expose your side in a crouched state. While no attacks are guaranteed, a wrong choice on your part could lead to big trouble! For example, many character's when connected against a crouched side turned opponent will guarantee a standing punch or side throw. Add the danger of close proximity with a wall and there's the potential to lose lots of life!

Exact Recovery(top)

There are various timings allowed for the input of Fall Recovery. In general, you should time the input with the very moment you're hitting the ground. This can be tricky to judge, especially with some knockdown animations. If you time the input perfectly, you will perform Exact Recovery. Exact Recovery will not result in any sound being heard from the ground impact, and is usually the requirement to avoid extra damage from ground impact. Without this perfect timing, Fall Recovery results in the 'thud' sound being heard from ground impact. While mashing inputs is possible when performing a Fall Recovery technique, you will never achieve Exact Recovery, so expect to practice this technique a few times before you get it down consistently.

Wolf's Giant Swing is an example of a throw from which you can perform Exact Recovery to avoid additional damage. You can still perform regular Fall Recovery but you'll receive the full damage. In the figure below, the first frame shows the maximum damage dealt by Wolf's Giant Swing (fastest input) at 80 pts. The second frame shows the reduction in damage, by 10 pts, if Exact Recovery is successfully performed.


Not all throws with damage from ground impact can be reduced in this way, so consult the VFDC Command Lists for further information.

Down Positions(top)

When you've been knocked down, you already know what your next move is -- to get up! In fact, you have no choice in the matter since the game will force you to get back up eventually if you decide to do nothing.

But how much thought do you give to how you get up?

As shown in the previous sections, there are a number of ways to either recover or rise from a knock down which can prevent you from taking more damage. But aside from just getting up as soon as possible, what else do you factor into how you get up?

A factor you probably consider when performing Fall Recovery is your proximity to a wall or the edge of the ring. Usually, you'd choose to roll away from the perimeter of the ring to reduce the threat of a ring out or wall combo.

Similarly when you're rising normally, you may choose to side roll or back roll away from a potential threat, and find that your opponent is pressuring you by sticking close. Do you perform a rising attack? If so, a mid or low one?

Before you commit to any one of these decisions it might be useful, or even critical to your survival, to consider your Down Position first.

There are four possible Down Positions:

1. Face Up, Feet Towards
2. Face Up, Head Towards
3. Face Down, Feet Towards
4. Face Down, Head Towards

Each of these will be detailed in the sections below along with their typical vulnerabilities when performing Fall Recovery or normal Rising. Note that there may appear to be other variants of Down Positions resulting from lying sideways (or perpendicular) to the opponent, however, your rising position will still default to one of the four mentioned above, whichever is closest as determined by the system.

Face Up, Feet Towards(top)

This is the default and probably most common Down Position. If you imagine your opponent falling away from you, landing flat on their back, then they will be in this down position.

In-Place Fall Recovery

no major vulnerability

Side Roll Fall Recovery

no major vulnerability

Rising Mid Attack

full circular mid kick, cannot be evaded

Rising Low Attack

full circular low kick, cannot be evaded

Face Up, Head Towards(top)

This Down Position occurs after a Spinning Knockdown, is common to some character throws such as Vanessa's Canyon Dive , and also occurs after a Foot Crumple knockdown.

In-Place Fall Recovery

guaranteed back hit

Side Roll Fall Recovery

no major vulnerability, but side exposed

Rising Mid Attack

half circular mid kick, evadable to the back only

Rising Low Attack

full circular low kick, cannot be evaded

The figure below illustrates a key vulnerability when attempting to perform In-Place Fall Recovery from the Face Up Head Towards position. After the foot crumple which puts the opponent in this knockdown position, Kage performs a to refloat for additional hits. As the opponent attempts In-Place Fall Recovery, Kage places a well-timed mid attack to connect, and is unguardable.

Face Down, Feet Towards(top)

This Down Position is common to some character throws such as Brad's Elbow Slash .

In-Place Fall Recovery

guaranteed back hit

Side Roll Fall Recovery

no major vulnerability, but side exposed

In-Place Rising Mid Attack

linear side kick, evadable to the back or front

Side or Back Roll Rising Mid Attack

half circular mid kick, evadable to the back only

Rising Low Attack

full circular low kick, cannot be evaded

Face Down, Head Towards(top)

This Down Position occurs after a Head or Stomach Crumple, as well as some character throws such as Brad's Body Knee Crush .

In-Place Fall Recovery

no major vulnerability

Side Roll Fall Recovery

no major vulnerability

In-Place or Back Roll Rising Mid Attack

full circular mid kick, cannot be evaded

Side Roll Rising Mid Attack

half circular mid kick, evadable to the back only

Rising Low Attack

full circular low kick, cannot be evaded

Down Attacks(top)

Once the opponent is in a knocked down state, special Down Attacks become available to use. These may often share the same input as a regular attack, but since the opponent is in a knocked down state, the Down Attack will execute instead.

Down Attacks come in three forms:

1. Light Down Attacks
2. Heavy Down Attacks
3. Down Throws

and are explained in the following sections.

Note that a "knocked down state" does not just refer to the opponent lying on the ground. It also applies to an opponent that has been launched in the air, or reeling in a crumple.

Light Down Attacks(top)

Light Down Attacks are commonly performed with or . They do 13-15 pts of damage. Check the VFDC Command Lists for character specifics.

As noted earlier, the "knocked down state" also applies to the opponent launched in the air. Problems can then arise with continuing a combo with a command that may share the same input as, say, a Light Down Attack; instead of the desired attack you get a Down Attack instead!

To alleviate this problem, using as an example, you must ensure that the direction prior to the is not neutral since tapping the direction directly from neutral () will result in a Down Attack. You can achieve this by either rolling from an adjacent direction ( or ), or by momentarily holding the direction in advance of pressing the button (hold then ).

Heavy Down Attacks(top)

Heavy Down Attacks are performed with . The character leaps into the air and jumps onto the grounded opponent with an attack. Pounces are classified as mid level, so if you're in the process of getting up, you need to be able to stand and guard by the time the hit frames become active in order to block it. Heavy Down Attacks do approximately 25 pts of damage. Some characters have other attacks that can also serve as a Heavy Down attack. Check the VFDC Command Lists for character specifics.

Down Throws(top)

Some characters can throw grounded opponents. Commonly done with or . Down Throws pick the grounded opponent up giving the throwing character frame advantage or cause damage, often more powerful than a Heavy Down Attack. Down Throws can be escaped by entering in the same command as the throwing character ( or ) during the escape window.