(Ken Notes; EVO Edition)

(Ken Notes; EVO Edition)

236A/B is safe on block with Persona follow-up. Start up makes it questionable as a punish for zoning tools suck as Yukari's arrows, or Rise's scan ray. Multi-hit projectiles still trade, and in the case of Rise; this leads to to unfavorable situations in neutral where she is free to throw her disc special out and prevent you from doing much of anything. To top this off, you can jump it on reaction, which leaves Ken wide open if doge isn't covering him. There is no dead zone

Instant overhead theory is false. Start up and angle just barely misses crouchers, though j.B>j.2B pressure is still legit on jump-in when mixed with doge pressure.

2B is a good anti-air, though it's real strengths lie in it's horizontal coverage, as well as the fact that it actually hits twice. First low, then mid. Only the second hit is air unblockable though.

On that note, all of Ken's grounded B normals are incredibly unsafe if not canceled by either his other B normals, or 236A/B. Another option includes using doge for pressure.

On whiff, 5B will perform a follow-up swipe above Ken's head. Serves as a decent whiff bait, but it isn't active for terribly long. Second hit is indeed cancelable by 2B as well for a confirm.

214A/B heals both Ken and Doge. Being hit during will cause him to lose a persona card. It has no other real properties that I noticed, and seemed to be poorly advised unless you've knocked them far away and need to get doge up ASAP. Speaking of, using Mediarama will lower the countdown for doge's revival significantly

On that note, doge moves are as follows;

5/6C sends Koro-chan into the air somewhat, then forward a set distance as a moving hitbox. This is the move you use to potentially eat projectile, while also punishing on badly used specials. CH allows for easy follow ups.

2C has Koromaru run forward a slight amount, before performing an upward slash with his knife. Mainly used for repositioning him for cross-up/through mix up, and combo fodder. Against certain projectiles such as Yukiko's fans, it can be used to snipe her underneath from it, which allows for a pick up if you're mindful of your situation. OTG-capable.

236C/D has doge prep briefly, before doing three slashes in front of him. Each one sends him a little bit forward, and is capable of quite a bit of lockdown on block. Combo potential is high, though I was unable to test it's damage scaling sufficiently.

214C/D has Koro-chan lean into the air and start spinning slowly, with him acting like a constant hitbox. Mainly used for lockdown after finishing combos.

5D desummons Koromaru from the field, where he slowly begins to regain health. When he returns to the screen, he'll do so from Ken's side of the screen in a manner similar to a Marvel 3 tag-in. Unknown if comboing afterwards is possible just yet, and it does NOT hit high.

If hit at any point, Koromaru will stop whatever move he was doing and move back towards Ken. If hit with any move, he will stay in a knocked down state until Ken is out of hitstun.

You can NOT call Koromaru during a whiffed special.

Super 1 (The one where Ken swings his staff around him with green lightning) is purely for damage. While a certain amount of invuln isn't out of the question, it's use is questionable as a reversal, as it's rather unsafe.

Super 2 (Maragidyne) is the basic ender for his auto combo, and also combo fodder after spiking down with j.2B. It sends a giant hitbox out in front of Koromaru, regardless of position. Can use for sneaky punishes after repositioning doge using C normals.

Super 3 is the upward slash into an animation (Awakening Super). Can combo into it if the first hit of furious action connects (Untested by me, but confirmed by Atlus Representative). Supposedly has a good amount of invuln, but I didn't get to test it nearly enough to determine if it's wise to use consistently. For what it's worth, it seems quite punishable without OMC.

Instant Kill has slow start up; chance at viability in actual matches extremely low. One thing of note, however? Is that if Ken does is while Koro-chan is on the other side of the opponent, it will come towards the enemy wherever the dog is placed. Maybe useful for gimmicks?

Grounded A normals have garbage range and speed. Lack of a decent jab is going to hurt Ken in the long run.

Kyoko Kirigiri color (DanganRonpa reference) is too damn stronk.

Doge Health seemed to last about 10 Kanji 2A hits. Shadow Koro-chan was the same.