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Jaina Stormborne

The Reckless Flame

“Jaina Stormborne is reckless, rebellious, and a bit of a showoff. That’s exactly why Master Midori taught her archery, as a way to instill some patience. She wields a magical bow with an endless supply of flame arrows. [...] Jaina is a bit of a paradox in that she combines patience and recklessness in her own unusual style.” [...]

Joining DeGrey, Valerie, and her brother Grave in the world of Smash as a Fantasy Strike representative, Jaina is a reckless, fast-burning flame with the deadly precision of a disciplined marksman. Her signature style involves using her ranged arrows for keep-away, but at the same time aggressively harassing and pressuring opponents with these same arrows in combination with melee strikes. If Jaina herself is under pressure, though, she can find it hard to keep a level head and escape the situation. Since her only non-meter-consuming reversal deals self damage, Jaina is often forced to damage herself to get opponents out of her face.



Stats

Height / Weight
Lucina

Grounded Jumps / Wall Jump
Pikachu

Midair Jump / Air Movement / Falling Speed / Gravity
Roy

Run Speed / Traction / Airdodge
Toon Link (very good airdodge frame data)

Walking Speed
Fox

Jaina is a very mobile character, thanks to her fiery, aggressive spirit. Her ground and air movement are among the swiftest in the game, and from the ground, Jaina can achieve a good jump height. Her midair jump is low, but combined with her extreme falling speed and gravity, this actually allows her to return to the ground quickly after double jumping. She can use this to fake out an opponent by leaping in at high speed, baiting an anti-air, and then bounding over it with her midair jump, only to return back to the ground and punish. If the foe sees this coming, however, there is a risk: Jaina is now forced to land without a double jump left.



Special Moves

Neutral B: Flame Arrow



In Smash, Jaina of course retains her signature Flame Arrow. However, it works a bit differently here than it does in Fantasy Strike, since Valerie kind of stole its original functionality for her own Neutral B. Tap B, and Jaina loads a Flame Arrow and begins charging the shot. After that noticeable startup lag, Jaina is free to move across the ground at her very fast walking speed, as well as perform her grounded jumps and drift side to side in midair, while still drawing the Flame Arrow.

Press A or flick the c-stick to fire the arrow in literally any direction. You can snipe any foe like this, but you need good aim! You can buffer the arrow shot by pressing B (to start the stance) and then immediately pressing A, in which case Jaina fires it straight forward as soon as possible.



Firing as quickly as possible, though, is not always the best idea. The longer Jaina waits before firing an arrow, the stronger it becomes – so patience is key. The base arrow, or Yellow Arrow, deals 5% and weak flinching. All three Flame Arrow types fly through the air at the speed of Falco’s laser, and travel 3.5 platforms in a straight path.

Hold a Flame Arrow for one second, and it charges into an Orange Arrow, which deals 7% and mild Sakurai Angle knockback. Additionally, the Orange Arrow has trample priority, meaning it eats through any other projectile and ignores enemy attacks that try to swat it out of the air. For this reason, it can act as a somewhat safe approach. Against projectiles such as Grave’s wind-powered cloud, which can eat opposing projectiles, both it and the Orange Arrow simply phase through each other. Notably, the Orange Arrow, and only the Orange Arrow, can jab lock, and at nearly any percent.

Finally, charge for another second to get a Red Arrow, which is a real beast of a projectile. Packing 11% of damage and knockback that launches opponents a decent distance away, a Red Arrow also has the deadly property of ignoring shields! And it has the trample properties of an Orange Arrow. So an opponent pretty much just has to evade it with a dodge or jump, or attack Jaina during the charge time. Landing a grab is usually more rewarding than punishing a shield with a Red Arrow, but the grab is also punishable on whiff.

Another property of Red Arrows is that firing one in midair gives Jenna recoil momentum, a pretty sizable amount in fact. It goes in the opposite direction of the shot itself, so you can get a boost upward, downward, forward, back, diagonal, whatever you want. Even if Jaina has full aerial momentum, she can cancel all of it by shooting an arrow in that direction and recoiling the other way, almost like a B-reverse.

Note that unlike some characters, Jaina is not forced to release this move once it reaches full charge. So you can hold a Red Arrow for as long as you want, in order to threaten with it or to wait for the perfect moment to strike.



At the cost of some self damage, Jaina can press the B button while charging an arrow to “pump” it, much like the mechanic of the same name from the Yomi card game. This card game features the same characters as Fantasy Strike, including Jaina herself. (But not, unfortunately, any blind ninjas who wield rope kunai.) In Yomi, certain attack cards can be “pumped” with other cards of specific types, meaning that you discard one or more cards from your hand to power up that attack card.

In Smash, Jaina can pump her Flame Arrows to immediately boost them to the next level up, at the cost of 4% of self damage per pump. This lets her gain access to Orange or Red Arrows in a pinch for certain setups, but should not be used excessively.

You can buffer one or two pumps during Neutral B’s startup, along with buffering the shot itself if you so wish. So you can (from a normal, idle stance) B,B,A to instantly fire an Orange Arrow, or B,B,B,A to fire a Red Arrow, at the cost of 4% or 8% of self damage respectively. An instant Red Arrow allows Jaina to extend her pressure game, since it bypasses shields. You might also pump a Red Arrow while recovering and use the recoil momentum from firing it as a last-ditch recovery effort.

By the way, this is all inspired by Jaina’s signature character ability in Yomi, which lets her retrieve used cards at the cost of dealing self damage. This ability pops up a little bit later on, too. In fact, every time Jaina takes self damage, red, stylized text which reads “+X DAMAGE” pops up above her (where X is the amount of damage she took).



Firing the arrow does have a little bit of lag attached, and of course, holding a Flame Arrow prevents Jaina from using her normal attacks. Luckily, she can cancel the charge at any time by shielding or airdodging, but cannot store the charge for later use. If you shield-cancel the charge, you can roll, jump, grab, or do whatever just like you normally can from a shield. So charging a Flame Arrow is very low commitment for Jaina. The only catch is that she must wait at least thirty frames after beginning the charge before she can cancel it.

As for airdodging, Jaina actually has a special technique known as “bowdodging.” If she uses her airdodge to cancel her Flame Arrow charge, Jaina can interrupt the airdodge’s intangibility period with any regular midair attack, or any of her four Special Moves. Not only does this allow her to use attacks out of a charge, but it also grants a unique “pseudo-counter.” Dodge an attack, and then immediately use an aerial!

The thirty-frame delay does mean that you cannot bowdodge immediately on demand, without already having an arrow held. Instead, you might use it as a defensive option for when a long-ranged charge does not work out. Or you might jump at the foe, and then charge a Flame Arrow early with the specific intent of an aggressive bowdodge. In this way, Jaina can use the same technique for either her patient zoning game, or for her aggressive rushdowns.



Another very handy trait of Flame Arrow is that you can B-reverse it at the very start of the charge. Combined with bowdodging, this can be a powerful movement mixup indeed! One fun thing you can do, though not very useful, is first B-reverse a charge, then bowdodge it into another Flame Arrow charge. B-reverse that charge, then cancel it into another, repeat until you land. You just reverse your momentum back and forth, which looks kinda funny. And in terms of practical uses, you could do it maybe a couple times to really throw off an opponent as to where you will land.



Arrows from Jaina’s bow, including those from other moves, can become embedded into the stage, or even into opponents (unless blocked or dodged). Note that even if a Flame Arrow has been charged, it will always be embedded as a Yellow Arrow. Embedded arrows last for four seconds before disappearing.

If Jaina touches an embedded arrow while charging up a Flame Arrow in her bow, including other moves besides Neutral B, she will add it to that shot for good measure. It acts as a second projectile which trails behind the move’s original projectile and always behaves like a regular Yellow Arrow. The exception to this is that with Neutral B, Jaina can pump even these embedded arrows by pressing B! (It raises the level of all held Flame Arrows at once.) So you could have a volley of multiple Red Arrows at once, for example… scary. Extra arrows added to Neutral B do not charge up over time, so pumping is the only way to access this threat.

By using extra arrows, you can tack extra damage and stun onto a shot. Jaina can add potentially as many arrows as she wants using this method, but the despawn time does limit this. If you embed the same arrow twice or more, then from the second embed on, it only lasts for one and a half seconds.

Jaina can tactically “miss” her shots and embed them into key areas of the stage, as a deliberate plan. Alternatively, she might just improvise and take advantage of arrows that just happen to miss, and wing it from there. And arrows embedded into opponents encourage Jaina to go on the aggressive and get up close, in order to use the arrows in bow attacks. Try using them mid-combo! By combining embedded arrow combos with buffered pumping, you can unleash 11% Red Arrows in rapid succession for truly devastating combos, practically unheard of in Smash!



With a character like Link, charging an arrow is a commitment of patience. He benefits from charging an arrow as an opponent is about to land, scaring them into double jumping, and then finally hitting them with the charged arrow. Jaina, however, mixes the art of archery with her own brand of aggression. Because she can move around with the threat of a projectile, her Flame Arrow is really more similar to Link’s bombs than to his Hero’s Bow. The opponent must worry about not only Jaina’s projectile, but also the chance that she might instead bowdodge into an attack! Charging an arrow is a commitment, however. Jaina limits her mobility (no dash, no midair jump, no B-reverse) and removes immediate access to most of her attacks by charging an arrow.



Up B: Dragonheart



Jaina moves forward a short distance on the ground with invincibility, then spirals upward with the fury of a dragon in a fierce, fiery uppercut. Dragonheart deals 8% and moderate horizontal knockback throughout most of the move’s height. However, the sweetspot at the start of the move, which almost always is the one that hits grounded opponents, deals 15%. The strong hitbox can KO off the top at decent-ish percents, and sets up for a juggle situation at lower damage levels.

Dragonheart is Jaina’s best get-off-me tool, period. It grants her invincibility on startup, so it is almost impossible to interrupt unless the opponent has good timing, or a move with enough range to reach Jaina during the fiery uppercut. Any old Up B can be used out of shield by jumping, then canceling the jump into the Up B. As a unique quality-of-life change, Jaina is allowed to just use her Up B straight out of shield, without having to jump. Dragonheart is amazing to use out of shield due to its invincibility, plus the lunge forward which allows her to punish even many well-spaced moves, so this change is a welcome one.

When facing the edge of the ground she is standing on, Jaina can use Dragonheart and actually step off of the platform with the lunge forward. This does not interrupt the move’s animation at all. Instead, Jaina simply falls down during the startup before going through with the normal leaping uppercut. At the ledge, this is risky and leaves her in a bad position on whiff (but she will still survive by grabbing the ledge after the move ends). In exchange, the sweetspot will cover the area next to the ledge – a devastating two-frame punish! Use the invincibility to more easily two-frame recoveries with pesky hitboxes. Of course, if the foe hangs for too long on the ledge and loses invincibility (or has no invincibility due to regrabbing the ledge after a ledge trump), Dragonheart can basically do the same thing and hit them as they dangle from the ledge.



Dragonheart has two big weaknesses. Its long startup lag means that opponents might be able to begin shielding before it comes out. Since Jaina enters special fall and cannot act before landing from her Up B, the move is very unsafe on shield, so it does not work as an approach, and must be used carefully.

Another factor that encourages Jaina to use this move with caution is the fact that it damages herself every time she uses it, for 6%. This might seem like a big drawback – and it is, since Dragonheart is her get-off-me move. Keep in mind, however, that as a keep-away character who can zone her opponent out with projectiles, Jaina loves having even a flawed get-off-me move. Especially one with the invincibility, range, and power of Dragonheart! If Jaina manages to live past 100%, Dragonheart stops dealing self damage, so she can go wild with it as a desperation attack – but do mind the lag, still.

Dragonheart, kind of like bowdodging, can be used for offense as well as defense. Jaina could use it to trap an opponent’s landing after their double jump has been expended, since it protects against attacks with its invincibility while also putting out as hitbox. She can also combo into it at low to mid percents with some of her moves, making for a solid finisher with good damage. However, Jaina must always decide carefully when she wants to use the move, and whether or not it is worth the self damage.



In the air, Dragonheart is a bit more of a “typical” recovery move. It entirely lacks the invincible startup period, meaning that it comes out instantly. The whole move now deals the 8% sourspot with horizontal knockback that can stage spike or send opponents further offstage. Dragonheart travels much farther in the air than on the ground, nearly as high as Dolphin Slash! It also now deals only 2% of self damage, which is still a weakness for Jaina offstage but not a huge deal – especially since the self damage stops after Jaina reaches 100%. Just like on the ground, Dragonheart causes special fall when used in the air.



Side B (Ground): Red Dragon



Red Dragon is Jaina’s other uppercut reversal in Fantasy Strike, consuming her Super meter in exchange for lacking the self damage of Dragonheart. In Smash, it works differently, to avoid redundancy with Dragonheart.

On the ground, Side B takes the form of a special, amped-up Flame Arrow which takes one whole second to charge up and fire in a canned animation. Once Jaina looses this arrow, it bursts into a serpent made of flames, like the one that flies past at the end of Red Dragon’s animation from Fantasy Strike. Red Dragon travels as slowly as Ryu’s slowest Hadoken variation, and only one can be active at a time. Red Dragon travels straight through walls and any other obstacles. (Ryū ga waga teki wo kurau!)

This projectile is extremely wide, meaning that opponents cannot easily jump over it. If they do, they will likely expend their double jump in the process, which Jaina can take advantage of. Red Dragon also deals three hits to any opponent in its path, for a total of 11% followed by moderate knockback. If you block those three hits, you can safely drop your guard, and the Red Dragon will have no further effect on you – even if the full body has yet to pass by. However, even blocking the Red Dragon gives Jaina an advantage, as she can rush into close range and begin her pressure! If the opponent blocks Red Dragon, that also gives Jaina a good chance to line up her unblockable Red Arrow to bypass the shield.

Red Dragon is an awesome move to complement Jaina’s regular Flame Arrows, in terms of her long-range zoning game. If a foe tries to jump over Red Dragon, Jaina can snipe them out of the air using a Flame Arrow, for example. And by chipping away at the opponent’s shield with these projectiles, Jaina can slowly but surely open them up for a shield poke. Red Dragon is only available on the ground, but on stages with platforms, Jaina can use the high ground to cover the air with the wide projectile.

Because this move is so powerful, Jaina must wait before she can use it again, a lot like Grave’s Side B. After the projectile leaves the screen, a there is a three-point-five-second cooldown, the end of which is signified by Jaina flashing red.

Embedded arrows come in handy with Red Dragon. While the main projectile still travels slowly, the embedded arrows simultaneously fly forward at their normal, faster speed, adding another layer to this ranged pressure and zoning tool.



Side B (Air): Spiraling Dragon

In the air, Side B is quite different, but its animation is still based on Red Dragon from Fantasy Strike (the same move as the grounded Side B). Jaina punches forward in a spiral of flames, kind of like a horizontal Dragonheart. She travels the distance of Pit’s Upperdash arm, and then enters helpless. Like the Upperdash Arm, Spiraling Dragon is pretty punishable due to ending and landing lag. On hit, it deals 12% throughout the whole move, and launches the opponent at a semi-spike angle.

Jaina can use Spiraling Dragon when recovering and snap right to the ledge, covering horizontal distance and avoiding the tiny bit of self damage from Dragonheart. Its large hitbox also makes it sometimes tricky to edgeguard, but foes can hit Jaina during its brief startup lag with good timing. Also, Jaina will often try to fall far enough to be level with the ledge before using Spiraling Dragon, kind of like Fox and Falco players tend to do with their side special moves. So that pattern can get predictable and punishable.

If Jaina hits at the very beginning of Spiraling Dragon, it triggers a special animation where Jaina finishes the move with an uppercut. The uppercut deals 6% of additional damage, comboing at low percents and KOing at high percents with vertical knockback that scales a lot with damage. This animation also allows Jaina to avoid special fall, and even use Spiraling Dragon again! Try catching airdodges using this powerful sweetspot. It is tricky to land, and risky due to the special fall. But risk is Jaina’s specialty.



Down B: Scatter Arrow

On the ground, Jaina leaps backward at a 45 degree angle, traveling as high as her full hop but with more “floatiness” to the jump. She can interrupt this leap at any time into an aerial attack or Special Move, but not into an airdodge. Down B’s jump is very useful for mobility mixups, since it has zero commitment and offers a floaty alternative to her regular fast falling.

Jaina has an automatic follow-up which she uses after leaping off the ground with Down B, or more specifically when she reaches the peak of the jump (without canceling the jump prior to that). You can activate it early by pressing Down B again, and this follow-up is also what happens when you use Down B in the air. The aerial version has noticeable startup lag, and on the first use, it halts Jaina’s midair momentum.

For the follow-up, Jaina fires a Scatter Arrow down at a 45 degree angle, which has the blue color of an intense flame and deals 8% and pops opponents up. It has none of the special effects, such as priority and shield piercing, that you get from charging a normal Flame Arrow, but its knockback and angle are incredibly useful for starting or extending combos. Due to ending lag, it is punishable on close-range shields. Its range is absolutely huge, so try using it for edgeguards.



Whenever it hits a surface, the Scatter Arrow, well, scatters into four small, yellow arrows dealing 4% each along with flinching. They cover a wide area, scattering at angles of 30, 40, 50, and 60 degrees relative to the ground, and travel up to 1.25 platform distances before disappearing. You can use them to open up an opponent for approaches as a sort of ranged anti-air, or just cover a lot of potential options.

One of the most devastating ways to use a Scatter Arrow is actually landing it right at the opponent’s feet, causing all four arrows to bounce up into them. This deals a total of 16%, and deals lots of flinching to the opponent! Even if the foe is shielding, they still have four hits of shield hitstun to deal with. And this also leaves the opponent with four whole arrows embedded into them, which Jaina can take advantage of quite powerfully.

You can grab an extra, embedded Flame Arrow or two with Scatter Arrow, in which case it simply trails behind the initial blue arrow. It acts exactly like a normal Yellow Arrow, dealing 5% and flinching. It also bounces off of the ground at a 45* angle, and travels as far as the scattered arrows do before disappearing.



Standard Attacks

Dash Attack



Jaina leaps off of the ground from her dash, attacking with a decisive knee strike that comes out very quickly. Dash Attack deals 11% and can hit both high and low opponents, with knockback similar to Pit’s dash attack. On whiff or on block, Jaina suffers endlag as she is forced to land before she can act, so Dash Attack is punishable if spammed. If Jaina hits the opponent directly, though, she can act immediately afterward, canceling the attack into any midair action. And even if they do block it, you can cross up most shielding opponents by starting the move at very close range.

Dash Attack is a cornerstone of Jaina’s aggressive rushdown game, thanks to its speed, reach, and ability to start an advantage state. Jaina cannot connect with guaranteed follow-ups after Dash Attack, most of the time. Instead, the name of the game is trapping landings. By charging a Flame Arrow, Jaina can threaten to punish opponents if they try to airdodge, for example. She can cancel Dash Attack into a midair jump to chase a foe who jumps away, or cancel it into a quick aerial to cover some other options.

Just be careful to control your aggression here, since Dash Attack is punishable. More patient ways to use Dash Attack include as a confirm off of an Orange or Red Arrow, as a way to punish jumping opponents, or as a tech chase. To mix up your more aggressive play, try using extended dash dances and the like to confuse the opponent.



Forward Tilt



Jaina roundhouses the opponent, which has great reach even though Jaina does not slide forward like she does in Fantasy Strike (unless you combine it with a perfect pivot). It deals 10% and moderate launching knockback, able to force a tech at mid percents. Forward Tilt has moderate lag on both ends, and is just about safe on shield if spaced well. At anything but the very end of its range, though, the roundhouse is punishable by most characters with something like a dash attack.

Speaking of out of shield, Forward Tilt is an alternative to Dragonheart as a way to punish slow moves at a slight distance away, without committing to the Dragonheart. It and Dash Attack are both handy for this purpose. In exchange, neither offers nearly as big of a reward as Dragonheart with its sweetspot, and also lack the invulnerability that that move offers.



Down Tilt



With a swift kick to the opponent’s shin, Jaina deals 4% as well as very weak Sakurai Angle knockback to the opponent. Down Tilt is a rapid-fire move, almost as fast as Ness’s down tilt. Like that move, the ending lag is reduced if you chain it into another Down Tilt. In other words, it is quicker to use another Down Tilt than to use any other option. On shield, Jaina can take advantage of this property for deadly shield pressure, or as a way to aggravate the opponent. Unlike Ness, however, Jaina can only connect with one or maybe two Down Tilts if she just regularly hits an opponent, since the move sends them too far away. Also, it can never cause a trip.

Down Tilt is excellent at catching two-frames or hanging opponents at the ledge, forcing a quick ledge option lest the foe lose their ledge intangibility and get hit by Jaina’s rapid kicks. It works similarly to Marth’s down tilt, in this way. In terms of follow-ups, you could connect something like Forward Tilt at certain percents – but the real prize is connecting with Dragonheart. At a certain percent range, Dragonheart both KOs the opponent and is a true combo off of Down Tilt! But the percent window is small enough that Jaina risks getting it wrong, and effectively wasting the 6% of self damage.

The other weakness here is that Down Tilt’s range is very, very short, so she must get into the opponent’s face to attempt this devastating confirm. For this reason, Down Tilt is also very situational out of shield – which is a shame, since its quick startup would otherwise make it a decent tool for relieving pressure. In terms of shield pressure, Jaina can start harassing a blocking foe after finding an opening via a projectile, such as making the opponent shield a Flame Arrow or Red Dragon.



Jab



Jaina hooks the opponent with a clenched fist, a close-range strike for 4% which keeps the opponent in place like most first-hit jabs. It comes out on frame two, which is really fast! In exchange, Jab 1’s range is cripplingly short; Jaina must be right in the opponent’s face. Like Down Tilt, this range limits its use as a defensive tool. It can find a place in Jaina’s shield pressure, though, thanks to quick ending lag. Jab has a second hit to it, but quite uniquely, Jaina can use any regular attack in place of the second hit without having to worry about accidentally using Jab 2 instead – except for another Jab 1.



After the hook, press Jab again to throw your bow a tiny distance ahead of yourself, spinning like a boomerang. It basically becomes a tiny hurricane of fiery rage, dealing many rapid hits that add up to 8%. The bow floats forward and then back toward Jaina during the course of the move, and the final hit launches opponents up and away with weak knockback, similar to Roy’s sweetspot jab.

Jaina has rather low ending lag after Jab 2, so she can use it for shield pressure and can land follow-ups if it hits. If the opponent airdodges after Jab 2, you can try using Dragonheart to punish. Jab 2 has an extremely long duration, however, meaning that opponents can jump over and punish from above or behind if she misses, or use a roll to bypass it. Jab 2 also has transcendent priority, so while it can pass through other moves, there is absolutely nothing stopping opponents from intercepting Jaina with a disjointed move (like a sword) or a projectile. And since Jaina must use Jab 1 before gaining access to Jab 2, opponents can actually shield a raw Jab 2 on pure reaction.



Up Tilt



Up Tilt is a leaping uppercut with Jaina’s bow arm! The bow itself turns briefly into an arc of flames, and Jaina continues to grasp it as she delivers her fist to the opponent’s lower jaw. Up Tilt has big reach upward, and Jaina’s actual fist at the center is a sweetspot for 13% and strong vertical KO knockback. If the opponent is directly above Jaina, or is too far away for that up-close sweetspot to connect, the bow instead hits them for 7% and moderate diagonal knockback.

Jaina commits to a big risk upon using this move, since its ending lag is on par with that of the Mega Upper – that is, the Blue Bomber’s up tilt. Jaina’s uppercut is weaker than that move across the board, but makes up for it with the large “safety net” sourspot. Additionally, Jaina’s sweetspot continues throughout the whole vertical range of the move, so it can serve as a strong, risky anti-air kill. If the opponent airdodges past the punch, however, Jaina will eat a punish.



Grab Game

Grab

Jaina’s grab is pretty standard – she reaches forward with her free hand. Its range is distinctly short, but in exchange, it has quick frame data. So in order to grab an opponent, Jaina has to get into close range, but she excels if she manages to do so. At very low percents, Jaina can follow up Jab 2 or Down Tilt with a guaranteed grab. You might also want to use it after shooting an arrow at an opponent, either on hit or on block. Jaina’s dash grab gives her lots of forward momentum, much like Falcon’s does, meaning she can slide across the ground mid-throw to more effectively combo.

When she does land a grab, Jaina holds the opponent by the collar. Like Wii Fit Trainer’s grab, Jaina’s grab always forces the opponent to be in the “aerial” grab state, where their feet dangle downward – even if they should realistically be able to touch the ground. This means that it will always force an air grab release when the opponent breaks out of the grab, unless Jaina forces a grounded grab release by pummeling. Jaina can uniquely take advantage of this, since Dragonheart is one of only three grab release confirms in the game! Its step forward at the beginning helps you “chase” the grab release’s trajectory. The other two are Crescent Slash, one of Marth’s / Lucina’s custom special moves, and Rosalina’s Luma up smash, which requires precise Luma spacing. Like with these two confirms, you must use the air release, not the ground release. Pummeling is risky here, since if the foe breaks out during a pummel, it triggers the ground release.

This is not particularly useful, due to the 6% of self damage and the fact that Jaina actually has some quite good throws, but it can situationally come in handy. If Jaina is over 100% damage, the self damage does not happen, for starters. And it basically gives Jaina access to a semi-spike throw to set up for edgeguards, since Dragonheart’s sourspot deals horizontal knockback. At low percents, it can even force a tech on platforms. Since grab release distance does not scale at all with percent, this combo works at absolutely any percent, and regardless of rage.

As her pummel, Jaina delivers rapid-fire punches of flame, dealing only 1% but at a very quick rate. This allows Jaina to tack on the right amount of damage for any situation, rather than having to always commit to a lengthy pummel and risk the foe breaking out. Also, the pummel’s short duration allows Jaina to easily force a high chance of being ground released, since the foe has little window to break out in between the pummels. This does not true combo into Dragonheart, but if the opponent is not ready, you can catch them off guard with it – and in this case, the strong KO sweetspot will connect!



Forward Throw



Jaina hurls the opponent in front of her, dealing 8% and launching opponents at a semi-spike angle with moderate power. Forward Throw almost always forces a tech when used offstage, except at very low or very high percents. So try tech-chasing, and punish the opponent’s tech option. Dash Attack in particular is handy for punishing techs away.

Above low percents, however, the opponent is launched so far away that teching away becomes unpunishable by Dash Attack, for most characters. You can fix this by using Jaina’s sliding dash grab to carry momentum through the throw animation. This slide allows you to catch up with the opponent even during the throw itself, and then start running again and use Dash Attack!

Even without a dash grab, Forward Throw can be handy. Its main use is resetting neutral, and allowing Jaina lots of time to start charging a Flame Arrow or use Red Dragon. Alternatively, you could dash in and close the distance to try and apply more pressure. So Forward Throw is a solid tool to reset neutral as a reversal out of shield. If Jaina goes for Red Dragon, foes might try to tech roll in and punish Jaina during its startup, which often beats out Red Dragon’s slow start. In that case, though, Jaina can instead punish the tech roll in with another move!

One more thing – if the opponent completely fails to tech, Jaina can jab lock by quickly pumping Orange Arrows. This takes a few quick inputs, but luckily, the arrow will always hit the opponent in this case without you having to angle the shot down.



Back Throw



Jaina turns around, still holding the foe above the ground, and quickly pierces their gut with a Flame Arrow. Back Throw has a very quick animation, and deals 5% while launching the opponent a moderate distance. Like any bow attack, you can use embedded arrows in a Back Throw, whether embedded in the foe or in the ground at Jaina’s feet when she uses the throw. This adds one hit of 5% per arrow (the same as with any embedded arrow boost), and uniquely to Back Throw, adds knockback too. With two extra arrows, it becomes a respectable kill throw!

Back Throw launches the opponent at a rather annoying angle. They usually just barely come out of hitstun early enough to jump or attack, so it does not force a guaranteed tech. Airdodges and aerials, however, will always trigger landing lag due to how close the foe is to the ground, and many aerials will not even get a hitbox out in time. Midair jumps, meanwhile, allow opponents to escape away from Jaina. Thing is, now the foe is without a double jump, and is not that far from the ground – so welcome to Landing Punish City, population you. In this way, Back Throw actually has uses that it would not have if the opponent were forced to tech!

One good tactic against this kind of knockback is A-landing. A-landing is a technique involving autocancel frames, which are frames during an aerial’s animation where you cannot act but will have no lag on landing. These are usually at the end of an aerial, but many moves have one or two at the beginning. And select attacks, like Ness’s down air, have lots of these startup autocancel frames. A-landing, then, is using an aerial like Ness’s down air right before landing, in order to land with no lag.

You can A-land out of a normal jump to confuse the foe with the animation or just look stylish, but the main use is out of tumble. Normally you will enter a prone state when landing from tumble, unless you tech. However, tumble does let you jump, airdodge, or use an attack. So you can use an A-landing move out of tumble, right before landing, to land with no lag and avoid prone! This is strong against a move like Jaina’s Back Throw, since it lets you land instantly and shield, or use another option. Shielding is most common, however. Luckily, Jaina can pump her Flame Arrow twice to instantly gain access to a shield-bypassing Red Arrow!



Up Throw

After kneeing the foe with great force to deal diagonal launching knockback and 6%, Jaina takes aim with her bow and looses a Flame Arrow directly at the opponent! This arrow deals the same 5% as a regular Yellow Arrow, but travels very quickly and launches them similarly to the laser in Falco’s back throw. Up Throw is handy for creating space, and deals solid damage altogether.

Jaina, unlike Falco, aims her shots so that the opponent cannot DI out of the way. However, the foe’s hitstun always ends just soon enough so that they can actually airdodge out of the way! The foe cannot attack or jump, though, since airdodge is the quickest option out of hitstun. So to avoid the arrow, the foe has no choice but airdodge.

Luckily, right after throwing the opponent, Jaina becomes able to cancel the throw animation into any other action! If you let the arrow come out, then Jaina will not be able to cancel the ending lag after that. So this means that you can choose to do nothing and let Jaina fire the arrow, which hits the foe unless they airdodge. But you can also cancel the throw, dash in, and cover the foe’s landing or punish the airdodge directly! This is much like a traditional 50-50.

For best results, you might want to cancel the throw into a dash a split-second before Jaina fires the arrow, to give the foe less time to react. But if you are certain that the opponent will be scared of the arrow and mash airdodge preemptively, you can punish that by canceling it early. That way, Jaina has a head start in her punish!

If you use an embedded arrow or two in this throw, Jaina fires them in a semi-rapid succession. She chases the opponent for each individual shot, meaning that if the opponent moves up or down after she fires the first arrow, the next one follows that movement and has a different angle than the first arrow. With two extra arrows, this volley actually lasts long enough to hit an airdodge during its ending lag! So if she wants, Jaina can cover literally every option by continuing the throw, and does not have to worry about manually punishing the airdodge. The foe’s best option is still to airdodge, though, since it lets them avoid two of the arrows… so you could use this as the ultimate fakeout!



Down Throw



Jaina lifts her opponent up and over her head, which does not look comfortable for the victim but “feels” really fun to use. She then spins and slams them into the ground in front of her with brutal might, dealing 10% and upward knockback at a slight forward angle that works wonders for combos. Medium-low base knockback, low knockback scaling… a combo lover’s dream. Jaina can connect with an aerial attack after this throw, or pressure with grounded moves to punish an airdodge. There are no guaranteed kill confirms, however. One good strategy here is to use a sliding dash grab, since if the foe DIs away, the momentum helps Jaina still keep close with her follow-ups.



Smash Attacks

Forward Smash



Forward Smash is a series of flying spin kicks! Charge up, then release as Jaina steps forward and leaps into the air, her feet engulfed in flames. The first three kicks each deal 3%, and the fourth deals 6% while launching the opponent diagonally upward as a kill move. (Note that these damage values are for the uncharged version; this applies for all damage values listed for Smash Attacks.)

This move is one of Jaina’s premiere kill options, able to finish off stocks with ease while boasting sizable horizontal reach and vertical coverage. The lower half of Jaina’s body is invincible during the kicks, meaning she can beat out many other aerial attacks unscathed, and its trample priority means that no grounded move can ever beat it out via clashing. In exchange, Forward Smash loses hard to defensive strategies, as its high ending lag makes it unsafe on shield and on whiff. And thanks to long startup, blocking or dodging this move is not hard.

You might be tempted to use Forward Smash randomly when the opponent is at high percents, since it “feels” so good to use and will finish off the opponent if it hits. However, this is not the way that Jaina wants to finish off stocks, since Forward Smash is punishable and not worth the risk. Instead, you need to have patience and find other ways to finish off the opponent, kind of like how Jaina practices archery to control her arrogance. You could use Forward Smash’s high “priority” as a rare anti-air against a predicted approach, trap landings with its high reach, use it to follow up on projectile pressure, punish a tech, or punish jumps out of shield. But just desperately throwing it out in hopes that a foe will walk into it is not what this move is meant for!

Still feeling extra feisty, though? Try pumping a Smash Attack! Just like her Flame Arrow, Jaina can pump a Smash Attack to full charge by pressing B mid-charge… at the cost of self damage. Forward Smash in particular deals a huge 14% of recoil damage when pumped, so use it sparingly. Of course, it has massive knockback to make up for that!



Up Smash



Jaina draws a Flame Arrow and aims it skyward at a small forward angle, then releases it. Up Smash is kind of like Snake’s up smash from Brawl, in that the Flame Arrow flies sky-high and then falls back down. However, the trajectory of Up Smash is always set at a slight forward angle, and the maximum charged height is only two-thirds as high as that of Snake’s move. (The minimum height is the same.)

Up Smash has an up-close sweetspot at the moment Jaina fires the arrow, which deals 11% and upward knockback that can kill at very high percents as a decent kill option in a pinch. Its strength is nothing remarkable, though. Notably, if Jaina hits an opponent with this melee hit, the projectile (which normally disappears on hit) keeps on going. Sometimes, usually at lower percents, the foe is forced to airdodge to avoid the arrow!

The projectile itself deals 5% at its base, and does not scale linearly with percent. Instead, it acts like a Neutral B arrow in that it can upgrade to an Orange or Red Arrow at half-second increments, behaving the exact same as in Neutral B. The crucial difference is that each arrow now deals increasing amounts of slight downward knockback, allowing Jaina to drag foes down into her grounded pressure! It also has applications for edgeguarding, of course.

As described in Forward Smash, Jaina can pump this attack straight to full charge (Red Arrow), at the expense of 7% of self damage. This has limited applications, but is useful for a quick edgeguard against high recoveries. And since the Red Arrow pierces shields, it also acts as a trump card against a foe who is shielding on a platform.

This move excels at creating delayed traps for Jaina to utilize. The arrow itself obviously falls as a delayed hitbox, useful in situational combos or frame traps. Another big use of Up Smash is essentially creating longer-lasting embedded arrows. Since the arrow does not immediately hit the ground, its despawn timer starts later on – so Jaina can use the arrow a while after she actually deploys it.



Speaking of which, using embedded arrows in Up Smash has her fire each new arrow in a different arc, up to three different arcs. One embedded arrow adds an arrow below the standard arc, and the next one adds an arrow that’s fired straight up. The third and onward add to the existing paths, trailing behind the first arrow in each path, with an order of neutral → down → up → etc.



Down Smash

Jaina charges up and then forcefully puts her palm to the ground, covering an area 1.25 platforms wide with brown, cracked magma terrain. Down Smash has an initial hit for 10% which launches opponents diagonally toward Jaina, creating space but not giving any special advantage. The lingering hit deals 7% of damage and pops the opponent straight upward, to start a juggling situation as the foe is launched upward.

In the Yomi card game, Jaina’s ability “Smoldering Embers” hits exclusively dodging opponents for a small amount of damage. In Smash, this attack behaves similarly, since its long duration outlasts any dodge in the game. It lasts for half a second! Down Smash also has barely any actual ending lag, in that Jaina can act almost immediately after the hitbox ends.

Other tactics counter Down Smash quite effectively, however. If you shield Down Smash at any point, you may immediately release the shield with no fear of getting hit by the lingering hit, like Link’s Spin Attack. So this is your chance to punish Jaina’s lengthy animation. Additionally, due to its inward knockback, Down Smash’s initial hit pulls shielding foes inward, to make punishes even easier. Finally, Down Smash only works against grounded opponents, so jumps are safe.

Down Smash, then, is made to punish certain options which the opponent might use to escape. In advantage state, Jaina can use this move to punish rolls behind her, spotdodges in front of her, or airdodges into the ground when the opponent is trying to land. Down Smash punishes these options very hard, since its late hit has very favorable combo / juggling knockback and outstandingly low ending lag. However, Jaina must be careful about when she uses this move, since it is very punishable if the opponent prepares appropriately.

One way to make Down Smash a bit safer is by using an embedded Flame Arrow, since hitting one with Down Smash propels it into the air to deal the normal 5% and flinching. Full grounded jumps usually surpass its height, but no shorthop can circumvent it.

When pumped, Down Smash jumps instantly to full charge, at the expense of 4% of self damage. This is not particularly useful, since Down Smash is important for its utility, not its raw strength – but the low amount of self damage means that it might be worth it.



Aerial Attacks

Forward Air

Jaina grips one end of her bow with both arms like a curved sword, then delivers a decisive strike which looks kind of similar to the first hit of Link’s forward smash. She learned this move from her brother, but never mastered the invincibility part of it… Forward Air has long startup, but in exchange, it deals a whole 12% and strong horizontal kill knockback!

This is Jaina’s primary midair kill option, used for hard reads after Jaina has pressured an opponent with her aggressive zoning. Try punishing a jump out of shield using this move, for example. After using Up Smash as an anti-air against a high-altitude opponent, Jaina can threaten a Forward Air to force a hasty reaction. And combined with a bowdodge from Neutral B, Forward Air becomes a powerful pseudo-counter!

As far as spacing goes, despite its range, Forward Air is only situationally useful. It has long landing lag, and the startup means that foes can often escape before Jaina has a chance to hit their shield. If spaced on a shield at the very tip of the bow’s range, Forward Air is safe on shield thanks to its shield hitstun and shield pushback. Any closer, and Jaina is too close to escape out of shield punishes from most opponents.

Jaina’s ability to punish jumps with Forward Air indirectly makes some moves safer to use. One big example is Down Smash. Foes can easily jump over that move normally, but might not want to if Jaina can also threaten to KO them mid-jump with Forward Air!



Down Air



A classic fighting game move, Jaina goes for a leaping divekick at a shallow angle. It deals 10% and moderate downward knockback at the very start, while the rest of its rapid descent hits opponents for 5% and moderate Sakurai Angle knockback. Compared to something like Valerie’s down air, Jaina’s divekick is a bit closer to a traditional Smash Bros. stall-then-fall. Down Air travels quickly to the ground, but still covers relatively little distance with its hitbox.

One noteworthy property is Jaina’s ability to jump out of Down Air if she hits an opponent with it, and then combo or pressure from there. Note that this does not trigger upon hitting a shield, so if Jaina uses this move when she does not have a clear opening, the opponent can shield and punish its landing lag. The best time to use Down Air is during Jaina’s advantage state, such as when she is pressuring an opponent with a Red Arrow. In this case, Jaina forces the foe not to shield by holding her block-piercing Red Arrow, then bowdodges into a quick Down Air. This move also works handily as a combo extender.

Try using Down Air out of the grounded Down B jump! Since the Scatter Arrow fires diagonally downward, opponents might try dashing underneath Jaina and then punishing her landing, avoiding the arrow entirely. But by instead choosing to use her divekick, Jaina might be able to catch foes who hastily dash underneath her, unless they shield in time.



Neutral Air

Jaina spins her bow around herself rapidly like a sword, becoming a hurricane of intense flames! This is kind of similar to Grave’s neutral air, but with no special movement buffs. Neutral Air has similar coverage to Bayonetta’s neutral air, and like that move, Jaina can hold A to extend the duration. It deals multiple hits of 2%, adding up to 8% if you simply tap A, or potentially more if you hold A and keep the opponent trapped. The final hit when you release A launches diagonally, similarly to Pikachu’s back air, and can set up for potential juggles, or even combos at low percents.

Neutral Air is a decent option for spacing around an opponent, kinda similarly to Bayonetta’s move. In exchange for the dragging power of a multi-hit, though, it has longer startup and landing lag than Bayonetta’s attack, and also has a much stricter autocancel timing. In order to autocancel this move, in fact, Jaina must use both her full grounded jump and her midair jump! From a full grounded jump, Jaina can act before landing with a jump or other action, but will have the Neutral Air’s landing lag if she does not use another action.

As a bowdodge, Neutral Air can come in handy thanks to its long duration. It also offers a nice reward on hit thanks to its multi-hit nature, allowing you to drag the foe across the stage to some extent.



Back Air

Similar to Link’s back air, Jaina attacks with a series of roundhouse kicks behind her. The first and second kicks each deal 3% of damage, with decent range and nice speed. The first kick true combos into the second kick, but the second kick actually does not deal much knockback; it keeps the opponent nice and close. This is because Jaina actually adds a third kick to the move, with more noticeable startup lag. Her leg becomes engulfed in flames, and the kick deals 9% with a pretty strong semi-spike! It forces techs at low percents, and can KO at high percents near the ledge.

The thing is, the third kick is a little bit slower to come out. For this reason, the second kick does not true combo into the third. The opponent has just enough time to airdodge out, but any other option is too slow. Near the ground, Jaina has a handy way to counter this: she can fastfall the Back Air and land right after hitting with the second kick. Back Air’s landing lag is low enough that she can punish the airdodge’s landing lag with a dash grab!

Back Air’s lag on landing increases significantly if Jaina lets the third kick happen, so it really is a 50-50 between kicking and not kicking. The foe can jump out if Jaina fastfalls and tries to grab, but cannot jump out if Jaina goes through with the third kick. The foe can airdodge safely if Jaina goes for the third kick, but not if she goes for a dash grab.

This move also has similar applications on shield, since the opponent will not know exactly when to drop their guard. If they guess right, though, punishing Jaina should not be hard at that point. And on the topic of shields, Back Air against a grounded opponent at low percents does not pop them into the air, so they can essentially shield instead of airdodge – in which case Jaina can still punish with a grab.



Up Air



Time for a fiery finish! Crossfire Kick is Jaina’s Up Air, and it covers a big area in front of, slightly below, and slightly above Jaina. Up Air deals 9% and upward knockback that juggles with ease, along with having very quick frame data. As a juggler, its disadvantage is that it does not have much coverage above Jaina, so she must position herself to where the opponent is directly in front of her. Bowdodging helps with this, since it gives Jaina intangibility until she is ready to Up Air, avoiding potential aerials from the opponent.

In the Yomi card game, Crossfire Kick’s unique feature is that it can be pumped for huge damage, but only by using up more of itself (more kings, which are Crossfire Kicks). In Smash, repeated Up Airs are similarly strong as a repeated juggle, or as a ladder combo if the stage has platforms for Jaina to land on. Its sheer speed also means that Jaina can use it as a frame trap against airdodges, forcing the foe to airdodge the first Up Air and then catching the dodge’s ending lag with a second Up Air (or with a Neutral Air, or Air Side B).

Up Air also combos phenomenally well into certain attacks depending on DI. Neutral Air has wide coverage to catch a few different DI options, Forward Air catches foes who airdodge after the Up Air out of fear, and Back Air offers its mixup if the foe DIs backward. Try using Up Air right before landing to scoop up opponents! If you do this, Back Air’s mixup benefits a lot from the close proximity to the ground.



Playstyle

Slow Burn, Fast Burn

To know how to play Jaina, you must know how to take risks, as well as how not to take risks. Jaina is a projectile character to a large extent. Her Flame Arrow, Red Dragon, and Up Smash create an effective, three-pronged toolkit for ranged pressure. Unlike some other characters, however, Jaina does not benefit massively from simply zoning out the opponent. Her base Yellow Arrows deal very small damage, and do not strongly open the opponent up on hit or on block, so the foe can simply shield. And a charged Flame Arrow, as well as Red Dragon, is too slow to be a surprise. In other words, the foe always has time to react appropriately. Even her unblockable Red Arrow suffers from taking two seconds to charge.

Jaina is instead about the contrast between this zoning game and her aggressive, risky play. Opponents can counter Jaina’s standard zoning quite easily by falling into almost a sort of rhythm: wait for Jaina to shoot an arrow, and then shield it. She can take advantage of this conditioning by countering the opponent’s shield with, for example, a quick dash grab to start a combo. Or she could pump a Red Arrow and fire it immediately. Jaina also has ways of punishing other options that the foe might use to avoid a Flame Arrow, such as Forward Air to punish jumps.

Each of Jaina’s stocks is like the fuel in a furnace. She can burn it slowly for mileage over time, patiently spacing away from the opponent and conditioning them with Flame Arrows while keeping herself safe. Or she can go for a fast burn, aggressively dealing lots of damage at once at the cost of self damage or the risk of being punished. The struggle to learning Jaina is getting a sense for when to switch between these two modes. It is also vital to control your urge to rush in with Jaina’s powerful offense. It might “feel” good to pump a Red Arrow and fire it, but that costs 8% of self damage. And while Dash Attack can start lots of combos, it is unsafe on shield most of the time.

And if you go on the aggressive at the wrong time, you will really begin to feel the effect of Jaina’s poor reversal options. She has no quick aerial that can truly escape combos. Up Air has fast frame data, but does not cover all around herself. And out of shield, Jaina suffers from a short grab range. So if a foe hits her shield, her only options are a laggy, self damaging Dragonheart for foes in front, or a non-disjointed Back Air for anyone who manages to cross her up. In this way, Jaina takes risks even when defusing a situation… but compared to neutral and advantage state, the odds are stacked far less in her favor.

A skilled Jaina, nonetheless, is a force to be reckoned with. She flip-flops between conditioning at a distance and punishing up close, and the opponent never knows when she will flip that switch. Every loosed Flame Arrow serves a purpose. It might be to condition a habit, set up a shot with embedded arrows, or sometimes even to hit the opponent. Every opening leads to big damage, positional advantage, or a KO, and the unfortunate victim finds it difficult to escape Jaina’s vortex of fiery hitboxes. And yet, at any moment, Jaina could find herself trapped in shield or in a juggle situation and take a lot of damage and pressure. Every moment spent in advantage state must yield results. So take risks, land every shot, and master the paradox of the reckless archer.



Matchups

vs. DeGrey

DeGrey benefits a lot from punishing an opponent’s mistakes, thanks to his Counter-Hit mechanic and powerful combos. For Jaina, that spells a bit of trouble, since a big struggle of playing her is learning not to get too hasty and make mistakes. Also, even charging a Flame Arrow now has more risk to it, since during the start of the charge, that counts as something that DeGrey can Counter-Hit! He might use his grounded Final Arbiter, for example, to fly in from across the stage and punish a midair charge. DeGrey’s Ghost is transcendent, so Jaina cannot use Fire Arrows or Red Dragon to counteract it. And that Ghost can also force Jaina to block, beginning a blockstring.

In this matchup, Jaina’s gameplan revolves around exploiting DeGrey’s disadvantage state. Up Air, Neutral Air, and Back Air all love exploiting his lack of a quick, combo breaking aerial attack. Meanwhile, Jaina’s Red Dragon, Flame Arrows, Back Air, and Down Tilt can pressure DeGrey’s shield and exploit his poor out of shield game.

Jaina’s reckless, unbridled passion clashes with DeGrey’s cool, calm, and collected patience. He can predict her overly-aggressive plays and punish them powerfully. But if she plays wisely, Jaina can overwhelm DeGrey and put him out of his comfort zone.



vs. Valerie

Valerie and Jaina are similar in many ways. They both like pressuring opponents with unrelenting aggression, and they even both shoot arrows on Neutral B. Valerie’s strong shield pressure, however, is especially strong against Jaina due to her famously bad out of shield game. If Jaina gets her shield painted, Valerie can really go to town, as Jaina has little in the way of aggressive options out of shield. Dragonheart is her saving grace, and the lunge forward can help when Valerie’s attacks often deal lots of shield pushback on a painted shield. However, since Jaina must damage herself in order to use this move, Valerie essentially puts Jaina into her worst spot without breaking a sweat.

To get around this deadly shield pressure, Jaina must play more carefully but also more aggressively. Every risky move is even riskier due to this threat, but going on the defensive puts her in an even bigger disadvantage. So Jaina really likes weaving around Valerie’s Paint Arrows and ranged brush attacks, using her quick mobility, B-reversed Flame Arrows, and bowdodging to her advantage.

If there is one thing that Jaina knows best, it is the risk of aggression. So if Valerie ever goes for something too ambitious, such as trying to paint-break at the wrong time or to punish Jaina’s crafty mobility, Jaina is prepared to strike.



vs. Grave

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vs. Doomfist

Doomfist has, situationally, The Best Defense in the game. His super armor is passively active without him having to commit to anything. For this reason, Jaina must be especially careful when in disadvantage state. With that said, Flame Arrows provide a good way to counteract Doomfist’s passive in certain situations. Immediately after being launched far away, Jaina can fire a Flame Arrow to snipe Doomfist and eat up his single hit of launch resistance. If Doomfist tries to avoid the Flame Arrow, such as by shielding or dodging, Jaina can punish with a grab. Or, failing that, she can at least get back to solid ground more safely. At close range, a double Down Tilt might be quick enough to eat up The Best Defense depending on how slowly Doomfist attacks.

With that said, Doomfist still hits like a truck, and his amazing advantage state quite enjoys dealing with Jaina, who has a poor disadvantage. For this reason, Jaina truly must make every neutral exchange count, and sneakily wind her way around Doomfist’s large hitboxes with quick movement. Though he is largely a melee character, he also has Hand Cannon and Down Tilt’s shockwave to threaten from a distance, so keep that in mind during your zoning game.

Outside of some trickery with The Best Defense, Doomfist is really characteristic of many of Jaina’s heavyweight matchups. He has huge hitboxes for her to weave between, a strong advantage state, and a troubled neutral and disadvantage. So Jaina really needs to do a decent job in neutral, which as always means a balance of patience and passion.