========================================================= T H E K I N G O F F I G H T E R S X I ========================================================= OSWALD IN-DEPTH STRATEGY GUIDE AUTHOR: Xero_0 / kamikaze NOW _________________________________________________________ Date Started: February 12, 2006 Last Updated: December 11, 2006 Version 1.1: Read through Xero_0¡¯s FAQ, and modified certain bits in describing all of Oswald¡¯s normals. Wrote up the section on all of Oswald¡¯s specials, and added a section about using various Ace Finish/Joker setups. I would say that this covers nearly everyone I would be able to personally tell you. Any improvements or mistakes? Please notify us by email. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. Disclaimer: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, this is the boring part of any guide I believe, but you must know that I'm writing this guide for the sole interest of this character, therefore; I'm putting in all my time and hard work at this so please don't reproduce this guide in ANY way you can think of and keep it intact. This guide may be printed out for personal use and may be viewed on the websites which are authorised to. I am in no way associated with SNK Playmore, NeoGeo, or any of the parties which produced this game. Please avoid plagiarism as it will not be tolerated. Check next section for more details. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ II. Borrowing from this guide: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have a website which really needs this on, then please email either myself at shadowflame7@hotmail.com or George at kamikaze_explode@hotmail.com. Please use a reasonable subject title with "Oswald Guide" or something like this so I wouldn't automatically delete it for spam. This also goes for asking questions which are NOT covered in this guide. Any questions asked which has the answer to in this guide will be disregarded. Sorry to sound harsh but it isn't fair if I keep answering the same question over and over. I'll make an FAQ section if the same question was repeated from many readers, so keep looking for updates. Finally I would like to point out that if you want to email me, please present your enquiries in a well written form (English is not my first language either but I try my best to write the best I can). I definitly don't want to see this: "Hllo i wAnt 2 ask 4 teh OswalD move wen he ds teh move wit teh slsh atak....." ^_^; The websites which are authorised to post this: A) www.gamefaqs.com B) www.cyberfanatix.com *Ask for permission and you'll have your site on here.* Without further ado, LETS GET THIS SHOW RUNNING! ========================================================= T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ========================================================= A. Introduction B. Why Oswald? C. Attack Frames 'in-depth' D. Special Moves 'in-depth' E. Desperation Moves 'in-depth' F. Recommended Attack Patterns G. Regular Combos H. Ace Finish section I. Joker section J. Quick-Shift section K. FAQs section L. Credits ________________________________________________________ Note: To find the section you wanted to quickly jump to, please use the 'ctrl+f' search function. You may want to jump to the Desperation Moves section for example so highlight 'E. Desperation Moves 'in-depth'' as it is and use the search function to jump straight to that section without a hassle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A. Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now alot of people may have seen this character and went nuts all over it (just like my first impression ^_^; ) but its quite sad that many people who pick him doesn't use him properly or make up some chains without properly considering the variety of options you can have when starting his combos. This guide is made to appreciate what I consider the best KOF character to appear for a while now. I hope you find this guide useful and I hope it makes you feel the sheer pleasure of playing as Oswald, like I do. Contributions are most welcome and credit will be given where its due. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B. Why Oswald? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Xero_0: And my answer to this is "Why not Oswald?". Because he's cheap? Because he's strong? Because he's S- rank according to Arcadia? Because he looks cool? Because... because... because... I'll let you decide the ultimate answer, but in my case, its to get a winning streak. An effective Oswald user can destroy anything in his way. I'll prove this in this guide, so sit back, relax, and get ready for one hell of a ride. kamikaze NOW: Considering that I personally always go for the most top-tier characters in any fighting game, I find Oswald a must-have character, and I'm sure many like- minded players would agree with me (in case you're wondering, my current team in KoF XI is none other than KGO, but out of the 3, I consider Oswald the most fun to use). Once you get good at Oswald, you will be pulling some extremely high damage combos that very few other characters could match. So...read on to see how these are done. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C. Attack Frames 'in-depth' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oswald has many useful frames which you will need to sit and study for a while. I would suggest going to your local arcades a bit early where there are not many people around to play KOFXI and sit down and study his attack frames. You will want to check out their range and reach. This is very important because the combos you will be using will rely alot on your attack range and how far you are (or close) from your opponent. More importantly, different advanced combos from Oswald require him to be at specific locations on the screen. I will cover every single frame he has in detail but its your job to check them out. Read on. Legend: _______ cr. = crouching f + A = forward A df + A = down-forward A I. Standing close/far A _______________________ Oswald reaches out one hand straight while slashing with a card. This attack frame has a very nice reach and can stop short-jumpers who like to pressure. Cancellable. II. Standing close B ____________________ Oswald kicks upwards with his knee. Can distract short jumpers but not as accurate as his standing A frame. Still quite useful. III. Standing far B ___________________ Oswald kicks upwards with his leg. This frame takes the cake amongst anti-air frames because of it's wonderful reach. Can be used to stop short and high jumps. IV. Standing close C ____________________ Oswald slashes upwards with a card. Think of it as Iori's standing close C. Works exactly the same way and can cancel to his f+A or df+A follow-up. This move has medium recovery, so always cancel it with f + A. This can be used as an anti-air but doesn't have as much reach so stick with standing A or B. Use close C, f + A as his normal combo string to start his special chain. Cancellable. V. Standing far C _________________ Oswald slashes directly in front of him with a card. This is a very good frame which pulls out fast and has good recovery. Use it to disrupt other characters' frames and don't worry about missing much because of its quick recovery time. Use this as his standing poke. VI. Standing close D ____________________ Oswald slashes with 2 cards (though only hits once) directly in front of him. It has BAD recovery so always cancel it to his f+A follow-up. Use close D, f + A as his normal combo string to start his special chain. Cancellable. VII. Standing far D ___________________ Oswald crouches slightly and slashes with a card above him. This is very useful as an anti-air sometimes (but doesn't beat a quick standing A and B) but this needs to be used in the right time in order to get a deep hit. Recovery time is slightly higher than standing far C so don't abuse as much. VIII. Crouching A _________________ Oswald crouches and slashes directly in front of him with a card. Has the same range as his standing A and same recovery. Use cr. B, cr. A as Oswald's normal combo string as you can connect Spade (Qcb + A/C) and Diamond (Qcf + A). Please refer to section F for his attack patterns and combos associated with this frame. Cancellable. IX. Crouching B _______________ Oswald crouches and hits low. This has about the same reach as his cr. A. It is uncancellable into any move, but you can do is follow-up a cr. A after it and THEN cancel into Spade (Qcb + A/C) and Diamond (Qcf + A). X. Crouching C ______________ Oswald crouches and slashes slowly in front of him. Try your best to avoid using this as it has HORRIBLE recovery, which leaves him open to cross-up attacks! It is cancellable, but it is better to use his close C or close D instead. XI. Crouching D _______________ Oswald crouches very low and slashes two times with his cards. This move is 2 hits, think of it like Guile's (Street Fighter II) crouching Hard kick. The first hit is cancellable and the second hit knocks down your opponent upon contact. This move covers A LOT of range, and also hits opponents just behind Oswald. Use effectively, but do not abuse as it has slow recovery. However, you could cancel it (only after the first hit) into f + A to make it recover instantly. XII. Short and long jumping A _____________________________ Oswald attacks downward with a card slash. Pretty medium-ish reach but VERY useful when jumping WITH your opponent. This can be effective when your opponent short jumps from a distance and you perform a long jump and hit A to interrupt his attack. Like all jump attacks, it hits overhead. XIII. Short and long jumping B ______________________________ Oswald kicks right above him. Think of it like Clark's jumping D. This kick is VERY useful when it comes to air-to-air battles. If an opponent long jumps at you, just short jump towards him and use this kick to attack him from below. Like all jump attacks, it hits overhead. However, this move usually doesn't hits standing opponents. XIV. Short and long jumping C _____________________________ Oswald slashes with a card below him. This is the most important jumping attack in his arsenal. In fact, this is also considered to be one of the easiest cross-up attacks in the game, because it hits directly below Oswald. Its easy to catch with and also its quite risk-free. Use it with crouching or guard-type players who like to spend most of their time blocking. Like all jump attacks, it hits overhead. XV. Short and long jumping D ____________________________ Oswald attacks diagonally straight and above him. This is also one of his best air-to-air frames which is quite useful. use it when jumping below your opponent to hit him from below or use it right when your opponent jumps. Another method is to jump backwards while your opponent jumps towards you and use it. The attack pulls out a bit slow so press D a bit earlier after jumping and before you plan on hitting. XVI. Standing E _______________ Oswald jumps in the air and performs a split kick. This attack has disasterous recovery, but the good thing about it is that it hits in front of him (duh...) and it hits behind him as well (ahaaa...). Not a very useful move by itself. Always knockdown. XVII. Jumping E _______________ Oswald kicks diagonally below him. This is a decent air-to-air or air-to-ground attack. However, as an air-to-ground, it doesn't allow any combo after it due to the knockdown. The attack comes out faster than jump D, so it is a quicker air-to-air attack. Always knockdown. XVIII. Down-forward + A (10) _____________________________ Oswald slashes diagonally with a card. This is a follow up which can be used after standing close C, crouching A, standing close D and crouching D (by cancelling its first hit). If it is cancelled from the above normals, it has very quick recovery. Cancellable. Using this move as stand-alone leads to A LOT of nasty setups. However, the recovery is much slower, and has much more recovery. Almost all of Oswald's Ace Finish combos require use of this move as a stand-alone in some way (see Ace Finish section). XIX. Forward + A (J) ____________________ Oswald stands straight and throws a card downwards in front of him. Its his standard follow-up so use it after standing close C, standing close D and crouching D (cancel his first hit). Always cancel the above normals into this move for instant recovery. Cancellable. This frame stand-alone has disasterous recovery time, and is not cancellable, so NEVER use it as a stand-alone. XX. Throw - C or D close to opponent (2) ________________________________________ Oswald sticks a card into your opponent and pulls it out quickly with a slash. Opponent falls directly on the floor. No knock- back effect like some other throws. Regular throw. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D. Special Moves 'in-depth' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oswald's specials work together by imputing one special after another to get a chain combo. For Oswald, he could link together three of his special moves together, provided that certain restrictions aren't met. These are: - Spade or Diamond is not used twice in a row, if this happens, Oswald does a forward slash and no more specials could be chained (e.g. if you use Spade, and then Spade again, Oswald does a dash slash, and a forward slash, and you can't add another special) - using Ace at any time would finish the chain combo - failing to imput the next special before the previous special recovers The properties and recovery of each special are all slightly different depending on whether you use them as the 1st hit, 2nd hit or 3rd hit of the chain. For each special, the difference between these are listed. Legend: _______ Qcf = quarter circle forward (down, down-forward, foward) Qcb = quarter circle backward (down, down-back, back) Hcf = half circle forward (back, down-back, down, down-forward, forward) Hcb = half circle backward (forward, down-forward, down, down-back, back) Dp = dragon punch (forward, down, down-forward) Rdp = Reverse dragon punch (back, down, down-back) (hold) = hold this direction for given duration I. Spade - Qcb + A/C ____________________ Oswald runs towards your opponent and slashes 2 times. When using it with the C button, Oswald runs further than its A counterpart. if done close to opponent, the dash is considered a hit, and then the second hit is a regular slash. If the opponent is not very close, only the second hit will connect. Good combo starter, very cancellable, could Super Cancel to any of Oswald's DM or LDM. Best version to use: A version, only use C version for Joker setups. 1st part: Can chain into Diamond, Club, Heart, or Forward Slash. Slow recovery. SC'able. 2nd part: Can chain into Diamond, Club, Heart, or Forward Slash. Slow recovery. SC'able. 3rd part: Can only chain into Forward Slash. Slow recovery. SC'able. II. Diamond - Qcf + A/C _______________________ Oswald slashes upwards with his card and if you perform the move again Oswald slashes downwards with another card slash. Total of 2 hits. A is VERY quick but the C version is very slow and has long recovery time. You may start it with C and then follow up with A in order to speed up his recovery. The first Qcf + A/C can be used as an anti-air. If opponent blocks the first slash, it can give him an opportunity to attack, so you can delay the follow-up in order to keep your opponent blocking as it will move him further away from you. Could Super Cancel to any of Oswald's DM or LDM. Best version: A version, DON'T EVER use C version. 1st part: Can chain into Spade, Club, Heart, or Forward Slash. Moderate recovery. SC'able. 2nd part: Can chain into Spade, Club, Heart, or Foward Slash. Moderate recovery. SC'able. 3rd part: Can only chain into Forward Slash. Instant recovery. SC'able. Ia/IIa. Forward slash - Qcb + A/C or Qcf A/C twice __________________________________________________ Oswald does a forward cut, ending his chain combo. This move only comes out if you use Spade/Diamond twice in a row, but technically, you should consider this a seperate move because its properties are different to both. This move could be chained into any part of the chain after Spade or Diamond. Moderate recovery. III. Club - Qcb + B/D _____________________ Oswald jumps and slashes downward. D version makes him jump further, has its uses in combos. If used stand-alone it will hit your opponent normally like any frame. But if done in the end of a combo, it knocks down your opponent. If used stand-alone, hits overhead. Best version: B version as stand-alone, but D version is better to link combos after (though few combos require Club as a starter). 1st part: Can chain into Spade, Diamond, or Heart. Moderate recovery. 2nd part: Can chain into Spade, Diamond, or Heart. Moderate recovery. 3rd part; Can't chain into anything. Instant recovery. IV. Heart - Qcf + B/D _____________________ Oswald slashes directly in front of him with an upward position. He then poses for a second regardless if the move hit or not. This move has 2 properties. When done stand- alone, it hits your opponent and pushes him/her slightly away from you. If done in a combo, say after Spade, it critical wires the opponent (opponent flies to wall, hits it and bounces back to you). This can be followed up with Diamond, or Ace (Qcf/Qcb + E). D version of this move makes Oswald move backwards slightly. Instead of using a move follow-up, you may want to wait for your opponent to pass behind you and use his df + A frame and then follow it up with a Club. Best version: depending on which setup you are going for, and what location you are on the screen. Different advanced combos requires different versions. 1st part: Can chain into Spade, Diamond or Club (but not Ace). Reflects projectiles (and some DM projectiles). Moderate recovery. SC'able. 2nd part: Can chain into Spade, Diamond, Club, or Ace. Causes critical wire. VERY SLOW recovery. 3rd part: Can only chain into Ace. Causes critical wire. VERY SLOW recovery. V. Ace - Qcf or Qcb + E _______________________ Oswald jumps straight up as he spins and slashes his opponent multiple times, while he makes his way above the opponent. Now the difference between the Qcf and Qcb commands is the direction Oswald spins! When you perform the Heart move and get the wire-frame effect to happen (look above), your opponent will bounce back at you and eventually will pass behind you if you don't do anything. Now, if your opponent comes in front of you, you have to use the Qcf command so many hits can register. If you use this command after your opponent passes you, you won't get as much hits. Therefore, you must use his Qcb command when your opponent is behind you. If this move connects but doesn't lead to an Ace Finish (see below), your opponent recovers SLIGHTLY faster than you, so you could get punished. If this move whiffs (something which should NEVER happen) there is a VERY SLOW RECOVERY. If the opponent is directly above you, either version works fine. Va. Ace Finish _________________ When Oswald reaches the top of your opponent while slashing in his Ace move, he follows up with a HUGE slash downwards and deals MORE damage than the actual combo itself! There is no "additional command" to imput to get Ash Finish, but there are two strict requirements for it to connect: a) Oswald must hit dead-center of the opponent with his Ace. That is, the opponent must be directly above him. This is based on your timing. b) The opponent must be at correct vertical height so that after Oswald does his upward spinning slash, he is just above the opponent. This is based on what setup combo you used, only certain setups lead to it. This move always have hard knockdown. Read the "Ace Finish" section for specific setups. VI. Queen - Dp + A/B/C/D _________________________ Oswald throws a card in the air, then it quickly slashes down- wards on the floor. A version is the closest landing spot to Oswald, while D is the furthest away (other end of the screen). Very useful move for mind games. As long as Oswald doesn't get hit in the duration where he throws the card up, it will not disappear. Can negate normal projectiles. Best version: the best use of this is not as a projectile, but to throw the card after a hard knockdown, so the card hits them on wakeup (preventing them from doing reversal anti-airs). So consider based on your distance. VII. King - Rdp + B/D ______________________ Oswald pulls out a card and holds it until an opponent hits him. If an opponent successfully hits him, the screen goes black and he reappears behind him. B version makes Oswald reappear standing directly behind the opponent, while D version makes him reappear in the air behind his opponent. Think of this move as a counter. However, it DOESN'T work against low attacks! Best version: hard to say, it is a move mainly to confuse your opponent, so whatever works. Most players don't use this, because it is very hard to predict what your opponent does next as this move doesn't counter low. If you use the B version to counter, link a cr. B, cr. A. If you use the D version to counter, link a jump C while you're still airborne. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E. Desperation Moves 'in-depth' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. Four Suits - Qcf, Hcb + A/C ______________________________ Oswald spins and moves forward slashing while he performs an auto-combo. Think of it like Ryo's Ryuko Rannbu. The last hit frame looks like his Heart move. A version makes him attack automatically upon contact, while C version makes him spin for a few seconds (while slashing) and then he performs his auto-combo. You may hold the A or C button at the start and Oswald can spin in his place. This makes him REFLECT normal projectiles and some DM projectiles! This could be Super Cancelled from Oswald's Spade or Diamond. When he spins in the C version, it will reduce your opponent's health when he blocks, but the A version will not. You could use the C version to chip your opponent. The main way to connect this move is either close D, f + A and then Four Suits (A version), or Super Cancel it from a Spade or Diamond (C version so it "catches" the opponent to grind them). However, this DM is not a very often used, because most players use Oswald's LDM as a "rush" super instead, which is better than Four Suits in EVERY way. II. Royal Flush - Hcb, Hcb + A/C ________________________________ Oswald makes a huge circle of cards around him which acts as a barrier. Its the best to use as an anti-air and it comes out so quick, and has an invincibility moment, and especially because Oswald doesn't have a high priority anti-air. However, this move has slow recovery, so don't use it unless it connects. This DM does a single, powerful hit of damage, but if blocked, it does several hits of chip, so you could also use this DM to chip the opponent to death. There is actually a VERY short moment between the DM flash and the actual hit, so don't choke yourself if your opponent does a quick hit and stopped your DM from coming out (don't worry, this happens very rarely). III. Leader DM - Joker - Back (hold), forward, backward, forward + E ________________________________________________________ Ladies and gentlemen, the one that you've all been waiting for. Oswald dashes forward and pins the opponent onto the wall (like Rugal's God Press). The screen blackens, and Oswald unleashes his entire deck onto this opponent. This move is an "anywhere juggle," which means so you catch the opponent with it after any normals connect on an airborne opponent. This move also has extremely fast startup, and could reversal a lot of moves you originally thought were un-punishable. During the startup flash, Oswald is immune to low attacks. I would personally rate it as the one of the top 5 LDM in the game (but that's just me). Read the "Joker" section for specific setups. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F. Recommended Attack Patterns ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enough with the jibber-jabber and lets start with the real talk. Now, you know all the moves, their properties, and all you need to know now is how to effectively put them into your aggressive/defensive pattern, however; if you plan on playing a defensive play-style then Oswald is not your best of choice. Oswald can be considered all all-out attacker type due to his speed. Oswald's main form of attack is from his cross-up jump C. Once that connects, you could link to the rest of his combos. And considering that Oswald has a lot of nasty combos which involve the use of Ace Finish or Joker, letting him get a hit on you usually means losing a lot of life. Against a skilled Oswald player, once he gets a clean hit on you, he's really not gonna stop until he juggles you a few times and then finish his combo with an Ace Finish/Joker. Even if you couldn't get an Ace Finish/Joker combo, just knock your opponent down. Then, before he gets up, throw a card (dp + A), and continue rushing him down. If you could repeated rush him down like that, it's not gonna be easy for him to escape from it. But that's not to say Oswald is a character that can't defend himself. Using slow air-attacks against him, and you would end up getting hit by his Royal Flush DM (hcb, hcb + P) Use a move with every the smallest bit of recovery, and he reversals with his Joker LDM. However, this is generally not as good of a way to play Oswald as playing him offensively (against the likes of Gato, Kula, Duck, Kyo or another Oswald, staying on the defense is really not a good idea). Because Oswald has good uses of his Royal Flush and Joker, I would consider it better to use him as 2nd/3rd character of the team. However, even if you use him as 1st character, he could still always go for an Ace Finish combo, and it would prove to be quite useful as well. My personal preference just involves Oswald having every DM stock he needs, yours may be different. The general idea to playing Oswald is to go for the offense, and get a hard-hitting combo everytime you break your opponent's defense. If he makes any mistake, punish him with Royal Flush, Joker, or an Ace Finish combo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ G. Regular Combos ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. Normal combo string ====================== The standard formula for King of Fighters involve a normal hit, cancelled into a command normal, and then into a special. Having good normals is important for a top-tier character, because normals are where your combo starts. So let's review on Oswald's combo-starter normals. __________________ a) close C, f + A b) close C, df + A c) close D, f + A d) close D, df + A e) cr. C, f + A f) cr. C, df + A __________________ This is essentially the same normal combo. Oswald does a stand slash, and then a command move slash. This string doesn't hit overhead, nor does it low. Consider this is normal way to cancel to Oswald's special chains. I personally use close D, f + A over the other ones, but whichever one works for you is best. Cancel to Spade: If you chain this move into Spade (qcb + P), the Spade only hits once. The distance it moves by is fairly large (this is important to consider when using Heart). g) cr. B, cr. A _______________ This is Oswald's crouching low-hitting normal series. There is one distinct downside to using this: the hit-stun on cr. A is very short, so you could only combo cr. A into Spade if Oswald is right next to the opponent. If, after the cr. B, cr. A, Oswald is not very close to the opponent, the Spade will not combo from cr. B, cr. A. Cancel to Spade: If you chain this move into Spade (qcb + P), the Spade will hit twice. The distance it moves is moderate (this is important to consider when using Heart). h) cr. B, cr. A, df + A _______________________ Similar to the above, except it suffers from the same problem. If Oswald is not next to the opponent after the cr. A, df + A, the special chain will not combo after you cancel it. Cancel to Spade: If you chain this move into Spade (qcb + P), the Spade only hits once. The distance it moves by is fairly large (this is important to consider when using Heart). Side note: You can't combo cr. B, cr. A, f + A. The f + A only combos from hard attacks. i) cr. D (1st hit), f + A _________________________ This is possibly the best Oswald normal string in terms of range. The cr. D covers a very large range, and by cancelling after the 1st hit into f + A (which also covers a large range) you could start a low-hitting combo from a good distance. And it is VERY safe, if the opponent block the cr. D, just cancel into f + A and he could not punish you with anything. Cancel to Spade: If you chain this move into Spade (qcb + P), the Spade only hits once. The distance it moves is slightly different. If the cr. D hits from far away, it moves the opponent a fairly large distance. If the cr. D hits from very close (e.g. after cross-up), it moves the opponent by a very small distance (this is important to consider when using Heart). j) Using jump C _______________ Oswald's best air-to-ground attack, and one of the best cross-up attacks in the game. Like all air-attacks, it is an overhead hit and once you get it to connect, slap one of the above normal strings after it. Depending on where you land after your attack hits, you should use different follow-ups: - If your jump C hits, and you land in front of the opponent, you could use is either D, f + A (or any ground combo string) or cr. D (1 hit), f + A. * D, f + A (or a similar combo string) * cr. D (1 hit), f + A - If your jump C hits, and you land in front of the opponent and is very close to him, you could use either: * D, f + A (or a similar combo string) * cr. B, cr. A * cr. D (1 hit), f + A - If your jump C hits, and you land behind the opponent, you could use either D, f + A (or a similar combo string), cr. B, cr. A, or cr. D (1 hit), f + A. * D, f + A (or a similar combo string) * cr. B, cr. A * cr. D (1 hit), f + A To summarise, unless you either land VERY close to the opponent or behind them after the jump C, you could NOT use the cr. B, cr. A normal series to cancel into his special chain. But that does NOT mean you should always use the other two options when you get a hit. All of Oswald's advanced combos require strict knowledge of distance. This is why I stated the distance how much each normal string moves the character by. Read below for more on these combos. II. Oswald's BnB combo ====================== Enough with all the talk on the properties of each normal string (I'm sure many people wouldn't quite understand all of that, but you will eventually get what I mean after checking each one out). Here is something a little more easier to understand: the specific combos. NOTE: the move which you could punish after it comes out is marked by an asterisk (*). a) Spade (qcb + P), Diamond* (qcf + A), Club (qcb + B) ______________________________________________________ This is what most people call: "Oswald's BnB combo." Oswald does a Spade (dash slash), followed by a Diamond (stand slash), and hits the opponent before they land with a Club (hop slash). This is the main Oswald combo to use if you don't (or can't) do a combo which leads to Ace Finish or Joker. The main advantage of this combo is that it does good damage, and has hard knockdown. After the opponent falls, throw a card at them before they get up (dp + A), and keep the rushdown going. However...only use the BnB combo if your normal string connects first. It's well known by many good players (hell, I myself said it for many countless times at GameFAQS boards). Using Club as the 3rd part of the chain is a no-recovery finish, but there is a short moment, after you used Diamond, before Oswald does his Club slash. So you may get hit by a move before your Club slash comes out to hit. Here are a few things that are well-known to be able to break Oswald's BnB: (Note: For all of these moves, do your counter after Diamond hits, but before Club comes out.) - an "instant reversal" move (i.e. a move that starts up instantly) - evade the Club with a roll, and command grab - a quick anti-air move (requires good timing though) - a move with invincibility/autoguard To summarise: DON'T USE YOUR OSWALD CHAIN COMBO IF YOUR NORMAL STRING DIDN'T HIT. But even good players mess up and accidentally do it sometimes (for me, sometimes I didn't see the distance for cr. B, cr. A correctly, and end up using a Spade which didn't combo). If you found yourself using Oswald's Spade, but it doesn't combo, instead of always finishing with the BnB combo, try finish with something different. b) Spade (qcb + P), Diamond (qcf + A), Forward Slash* (qcf + A) _______________________________________________________________ Like Oswald's BnB combo, except instead of using a Club slash, Oswald just does his Forward Slash, or a Spade and then a Forward Slash. If the opponent blocks the Forward Slash, he is knocked back a little. Technically, you could substitute this for Oswald's BnB, because the Forward Slash still combos if the rest of your moves combo. But, this is more for those times you did Oswald's BnB, but it didn't combo, so you should quickly go for a "less vulnerable" finish. However, this combo really isn't "less vulnerable." In fact, the recovery time on Forward Slash is worse than Club. But the Forward Slash comes out immediately, so people expecting the Oswald BnB would not be ready for this (they might be ready to use an anti-air after your Diamond, but it won't come out because you hit them with a Forward Slash). To punish this combo, you need to use something a bit different. There are two ways to punish this combo: (Note: For all of these moves, do your counter after the Forward Slash hits.) - a quick rush/ranbu move that covers enough distance - jump E (I think it works for some, but not all characters) So again, this really isn't the safest option for you. The main thing is that if your opponent is expecting you to use the Oswald BnB combo, use this combo instead. And if they expect this combo, use Oswald's BnB combo. The timing to punish Oswald's BnB is that you need to use an attack after the Diamond (2nd part of the chain), but to punish the above combo, you need to use an attack after the Forward Slash (3rd part of the chain). Not only is the timing different, but you also need to use different moves to punish this combo, so don't always go for the same finish if your chain combo didn't combo. c) Spade (qcb + P), Diamond (qcb + A), Spade (qcb + P), Foward Slash* (qcf + A) ______________________________________________________________ Like the above combo, this finish with a Forward Slash, so the same rules for punishing this combo apply. However, if your Spade, Diamond connected, the next Spade won't hit, so bear that in mind. ___________________________________________________________________ d) Spade (qcb + P), Diamond (qcf + A), Forward Slash (qcf + A) *QS* e) Spade (qcb + P), Diamond (qcf + A), Spade (qcb + P) *QS* f) Spade (qcb + P), Diamond (qcb + A), Spade (qcb + P), Foward Slash (qcf + A) *QS* ___________________________________________________________________ This...is the ONLY way to string your special chain so that nothing could punish you: Quick-Shift out after the hit. However, if you just randomly threw this combo, and QS out of it, you are mis-using your shift stock...as I say, just DON'T USE YOUR OSWALD CHAIN COMBO IF YOUR NORMAL STRING DIDN'T HIT. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H. Ace Finish 'in-depth' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because being a good Oswald player requires you to know how to land these setups, I would go through a bit of info to describe how these work. Most people constantly think there is some "hidden secret" to getting this one to connect, but in reality, it usually just depends on the specific combo you use. There are some combo which no matter how hard you try, you can't get an Ace Finish to connect. So lemme state again the two requirements for an Ace Finish to connect: ===================================================================== a) Oswald must hit dead-center of the opponent with his Ace. That is, the opponent must be directly above him. This is based on your timing. b) The opponent must be at correct vertical height so that after Oswald does his upward spinning slash, he is just above the opponent. This is based on what setup combo you used, only certain setups lead to it. ===================================================================== If both of these conditions are met when you use Ace, Ace Finish comes out automatically at the end. Of course, you could just do any combo, and you may get lucky so that the opponent flies at just the right height when he comes back at you. But that is NOT the reliable way to do Ace Finish, just consider that "a lucky hit." There are, generally speaking, two different types of Ace Finish setups: ===================================================================== a) [far from the corner] df + A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) ===================================================================== Oswald does his df + A slash, and then chases after the opponent, hits them with Spade, then Heart (notice that this Heart hits higher than it normally hits), and then does an Ace while the opponent is directly above him. If you use the df + A on a standing opponent, this combo works nearly 100% of time. If the opponent is in the air, hit him with df + A when he is fall lower than mid-body level (you may also need to delay the timing of the Spade after it). Tip: If you can't get it the Spade and Heart to connect at the right level, delay the Spade slightly after df + A. ===================================================================== b) [in the corner or close to the corner] Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) ===================================================================== Oswald does a Heart slash, then a Diamond slash, and then another Heart slash. The opponent moves a little higher after each slash (so again, the final Heart hits higher than it normally hits), and then does an Ace while the opponent is directly above him. The first Heart must also hit the opponent while he's in the air. This type of Ace Finish setup is slightly harder to time correctly. Tip: The best sort way to do this one is to stand with a bit of distance from the corner. Have the first Heart hit just before opponent lands, then use Diamond and the next Heart as fast as possible. Now, let's get onto the specific examples: __________________________________________________________ 1. df + A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) __________________________________________________________ Type: (a) Position on screen: anywhere far from the corner As I said, this combo works nearly 100% of the time against a standing opponent, so long as Oswald is not near the corner. And Oswald must not be very close to the opponent (just enough range for his card to touch the opponent). However, df + A by itself has horrid startup and horrid recovery, so randomly throwing this move out only leads to disaster. The best use of this combo is to punish your opponent after he misses a move with a lot of recovery. Or you could use it after you stun an opponent, normal tag to Oswald (if he's not already out), and use this combo. _____________________________________________________________________ 2. df + A, Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (b) Position on screen: cornering the opponent, but not too close (still works, but easier if it's not too close) Again, this setup for Ace Finish works nearly 100% of the time against a standing opponent. The df + A puts the opponent in a juggle-state, and the Heart, Diamond, Heart combo moves them up to the right level so that the 3rd Heart hits at the right height, allowing you to land an Ace Finish. Again, because of the use of df + A as a stand-alone, the only real use of this move is to punish or to launch a punishing combo after you stun the opponent. _____________________________________________________________________ 3. [cross-up jump C], cr. B, cr. A., Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A) , Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (b) Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner This is the first "Diamond whiff" combos I will talk of. Normally, Oswald's "rule of 3 special" works by having the 3rd hit of your chain (Diamond) hit the opponent as he flies back. However, if you are far enough, the Diamond whiffs, leaving the opponent still in a juggle state, allow you to finish them with a different combo. The reason cr. B, cr. A is used as the follow-up normal string is to move a small distance away from the screen. When they fly back (note that now, they are behind you, so change your sense of "forward" direction), hit them with a Heart when they are close to the ground, then quickly do another Diamond, and Heart. This should elevate them to the right height for an Ace Finish. However, be careful when you use the first hit of Heart. If you use it too quick, the 2nd Diamond would hit, but the 3rd Heart would whiff, and Oswald would be left standing there like an idiot (3rd part of chain, can't use another move) and your opponent would recover before you if he rolls. _____________________________________________________________________ 4. [cross-up jump C], cr. B, cr. A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), Club (qcb + B) , Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (b) Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner cr. B, cr. A into Spade allows the Spade to hit twice, and moves the opponent a little, so you need to move back a little with Heart (D version). Use Club as fast as possible. Now, the Club will move you a step forward (now, there is a bit of distance between you and the end of the corner). And the Club always whiffs against a wired-opponent. The moment your Club recovers, use Heart, and then use Diamond and Heart as soon as possible, elevating the opponent to the right height for Ace Finish. The advantage to this combo is that the timing for Heart, Diamond, Heart is much easier. The moment your Club recovers, your opponent is very close to the ground. So it is easier to get the timing right instead of waiting for them to fly to the right level. Even in a competitive match, I could get this combo to work 90% of the time when I have very crappy execution, so you should be able to get it right with practice. _____________________________________________________________________ 5. [cross-up jump C], cr. B, cr. A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), Diamond (qcf + A) , df + A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (a) Position on screen: closer to the back edge of the screen than the forward edge of the screen, but not near the corner Another "Diamond whiff" combo. The cross-up jump C, if it hits, should land you closer to the back edge of the screen. cr. B, cr. A moves you slightly forward, and Heart (D version) moves you slightly back, so the Diamond now whiffs. After they fly behind you, wait till they fall about mid-body level and use df + A (if you do it too high, the rest of the combo won't connect). Oswald then dashes after them, and use Spade, Heart and then Ace. This combo is for landing a cross-up when you are not near the corner. However, you must land closer to the back end of the screen than the forward end (around 1/3 screen away from the back edge, 2/3 away from front). _____________________________________________________________________ 6. [cross-up jump C], cr. D (1 hit), f + A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A) , df + A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (a) Position on screen: closer to the back edge of the screen than the forward Edge of the screen, but not near the corner Same as the above "Diamond whiff" combo. The cross-up jump C, if it hits, should land you closer to the back edge of the screen. But using cr. D, f + A after a cross-up jump C moves the opponent less, so use Heart (B version) instead. _____________________________________________________________________ 7. [cross-up jump C], cr. A*, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), Diamond (qcf + A), , df + A (quickly roll cancel forward), df + A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (a) Note: the cr. A could be replaced with close C, close D, or cr. C. But it must only be one hit normal, and don't cancel into f + A or df + A. Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner. The reason only one normal is used is that you want yourself to be in the VERY back part of the corner after this move, hence the use of Heart (D version). After the Diamond whiffs, do a df + A (note that your direction hasn't changed, because you're in the back of the corner), then AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, roll cancel forward, and then quickly use df + A, and then into Spade, Heart, Ace. The roll cancel and second df + A must be done extremely quickly, because of the slow startup and recovery on df + A. _____________________________________________________________________ 8. [cross-up jump C], cr. A*, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), Diamond (qcf + A), , df + A (delay for a while), Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Ace (qcf + E) _____________________________________________________________________ Type: (a) Note: the cr. A could be replaced with close C, close D, or cr. C. But it must only be one hit normal, and don't cancel into f + A or df + A. Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering The opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner. Similar to the above, except you don't need the roll cancel. However, you Must delay your Spade hit so it hits right and the next Heart connects, which IMO is actually harder than using a roll cancel to connect that combo. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. Joker 'in-depth' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Ideshou...omiseshimasu yo...Karnoffel no shinzui o!!!" - Oswald "What a Royal Flush..." a friend of mine [Note: Royal Flush is Gambit's Super Move in Capcom's "Marvel fighter series," where Gambit throws his staff and unleashes a deck to slice his opponents. Some players still jokingly call Oswald's LDM "Royal Flush" despite him actually having another DM called "Royal Flush."] Before I describe the combo, here's a quick revision on the three main properties of Joker: ===================================================================== 1. Joker is an ANYWHERE JUGGLE, which means provided your opponent is physically in the range of it, they would get hit (the only exception is if they got hit by hard knockdown), even if they are not in a juggled state. 2. Joker is a INSTANT STARTUP move, which means once you imput the command, it starts up instantly. There are a lot of moves which are normally safe, like Gato's Rei Kiba, Ralf's Unblock, Elizabeth's Coup de Veine, Kula's Ray Spin, Eiji's Kikou Hau*, etc. Note: You must use a trick to reversal Eiji's Kikou Hau. Crouch with Oswald, And Eiji's blast goes over your head. The split second the blast disappears, use Joker. If you stand up too quickly, the blast hits you and puts you into blockstun. 3. After Joker hits, Oswald goes into the card throwing animation for a long time. During this time, the judgement bar moves very slightly per hit, and your skill stock bar fills by roughly 1/3 to 1/2 (depending on where you hit, and remember 1st fills faster than 2nd bar). There are two consequences to this: a) If you use Joker as a Super Cancel, you will gain back half of the skill stock you used. b) If you connect a Joker when there are less than 4 seconds left on the
clock, the player who has more judgement will win (unless it is roughly
even, then Oswald wins).

There are many times I forgot, and used a Joker which could've killed the
opponent, but time runs out before Joker finishes (therefore, no killing
blow), and I lose by judgement. Don¡¯t let it happen to you!

=====================================================================

So let's go through all the ways to use Joker: (Note, some of these combos
could be substituted by Four Suits or Royal Flush. If I didn't specify
this, it means they can't be substituted.)

_______________________________________________________

1. (anti-air) [hold back] far A, Joker (b, f, b, f + E)

2. (anti-air) [hold back] far B, Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
_______________________________________________________

Position on screen: anywhere

The infamous "JAB + LDM" combo. The far A/B couldn't beat out a jump hit
which already came out, but if your opponent short hops too predictably,
use the jab to hit them before their jump hit comes out. Technically, you
could also use far C or far D, but those can't be used as a quick 
pre-emptive
anti-air.

__________________________________________________________

3. (air-to-air) [hold back] jump B, Joker (b, f, b, f + E)

4. (air-to-air) [hold back] jump D, Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
__________________________________________________________

Position on screen: anywhere

This is another WTF Oswald Joker combo. Oswald beats the opponent with
an air-to-air attack, lands before the opponent, and then catches them
with a Joker. Although you need to hold back, you could still jump forward,
then hold back, and wait until your opponent nearly lands to release Joker.
Oswald could use jump A or jump C, but these two aren't as good for
air-to-air attacks.

_____________________________________________________________________
5. [jump C], D, f + A*, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B) , Spade (qcb + A) [hold back], *SC* Joker*
(b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Note: You don't need D, f + A, any other normal string works.

Note: You may also use Four Suits (C version) or Royal Flush instead of
Joker. To Super Cancel either of those, imput your command immediately
after the Spade (3rd part of chain).

Position on screen: anywhere except when you are in the corner

Oswald's normal Spade, Heart combo. Since Heart is your 2nd part of the
chain, you could use another move after it. Use a Spade (hold back), and
Oswald chases after the flying opponent. Wait till the opponent lands,
and hit them with a Joker.

This is the easiest Joker combo to use for rushdown, and since it works
anywhere on the screen, many people considering getting hit by Oswald's
Spade equals getting hit by his LDM (and saving shift out).

_____________________________________________________________________

6. [jump C], D, f + A*, Spade (qcb + A) [hold back], Heart (qcf + B) [hold
back], Diamond (qcf + A) [hold back], Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Note: You don't need D, f + A, any other normal string works.

Position on screen: anywhere

A variation of the above, but more difficult. Instead of chasing them with
a Spade and then Super Canceling to a Joker, Oswald just hits them with
a Diamond as they fly back, but before they land, he uses a Joker. You
must hold back after the Spade, and then quickly hold back again after
Heart and Diamond (after you imput the qcf motion). If you held back for
long enough, the Joker comes out.

Sometimes, the Joker comes out as a Super Cancel, but sometimes it doesn¡¯t,
depending on the timing when you imput your final motion for Joker.
_____________________________________________________________________
7. [cross-up jump C], cr. B, cr. A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), 
Diamond
(qcf + A) [hold back] , far C,
Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Note: you may replace the far C, Joker, with Royal Flush, hitting as they 
fly back

Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering
the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner.

A very weird-looking corner Joker combo. Oswald moves to the VERY back
of the corner, and then whiffs his Diamond. He then slashes the opponent
with far C (far D works as well), and then chase after them with a Joker.

_____________________________________________________________________

8. [cross-up jump C], cr. B, cr. A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), 
Diamond
(qcf + A) , df + A, Club
(qcb + B), df + A, Club (qcb + B) [hold back], close D, Joker
(b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering
the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner.

Note: you may use df + A, Club (B version) twice, but it may not work all
the time. If you want to be safe, only use it once.

Note: You may substitute [close D, Joker] with Oswald's Four Suits (C
version) or Royal Flush (to be tested). But if you already used close D,
you can only link it with Joker.

Another infamous Oswald combo. Oswald does his whiffed Diamond, then df
+ A and Club juggles his opponent, and finally he finishes with a close
D, Joker.

_____________________________________________________________________
9. [cross-up jump C], cr. B, cr. A, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), 
Diamond
(qcf + A) , df + A, Club
(qcb + B), df + A, Club (qcb + B) [hold back], Spade (qcb + A) [hold back],
Diamond (qcf + A) [hold back], *SC* Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering
the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner.

Note: you may use df + A, Club (B version) twice, but it may not work all
the time. If you want to be safe, only use it once.

Note: instead of finishing with Spade, Diamond, Joker, you may also finish
with Spade (qcb + A) [hold back], *SC* Joker (b, f, b, f + E). You may
also use Four Suits (C version) or Royal Flush instead of Joker. To
Super Cancel either of those, imput your command immediately after the
Spade or the Diamond.

Similar to the above combo, except you add in a Spade, Diamond, and then
Super Cancel into whatever DM you prefer. If you don't want to waste a
Skill Stock just for the extra hits, stick to the other combo.

_____________________________________________________________________

10. [cross-up jump C], cr. A*, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), Diamond
(qcf + A), , df + A (delay
for a while), Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A) , df + A,
Club (qcb + B), df + A, Club (qcb + B) [hold back], close D, Joker
(b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering
The opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner.

Note: you may use df + A, Club (B version) twice, but it may not work all
the time. If you want to be safe, only use it once.

Note: the cr. A could be replaced with close C, close D, or cr. C. But
it must only be one hit normal, and don't cancel into f + A or df + A.

Note: You may substitute [close D, Joker] with Oswald's Four Suits (C
version) or Royal Flush (to be tested). But if you already used close D,
you can only link it with Joker.

Note: Instead of dashing after the opponent and use df + A, you may also
chase after him with a Spade, Diamond (then Super Cancel), or a Spade,
Heart (but the Heart may not connect, depends on your timing), then follow
with another Spade after he flies behind you (then Super Cancel to LDM).

A variation of Oswald's 100% life (on Counter Hit?) combo. The first part
is similar to one of the Ace Finish combo listed before. But instead of
finishing with Ace, use another Diamond (when the opponent is directly
above you), which would whiff because the opponent is too high. Chase after
him with df + A, Club to juggle, and then finish off with Joker.

_____________________________________________________________________
11. [cross-up jump C], cr. A*, Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + D), Diamond
(qcf + A), , df + A (delay
for a while), Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A) , df + A,
Club (qcb + B), df + A, Club (qcb + B) [hold back], Spade (qcb + A) [hold
back], Diamond (qcf + A) [hold back], *SC* Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________

Position on screen: when you are in the corner, or if you are cornering
the opponent, and get a cross-up jump C, and land in the corner.

Note: you may use df + A, Club (B version) twice, but it may not work all
the time. If you want to be safe, only use it once.

Note: the cr. A could be replaced with close C, close D, or cr. C. But
it must only be one hit normal, and don't cancel into f + A or df + A.

Note: instead of finishing with Spade, Diamond, Joker, you may also finish
with Spade (qcb + A) [hold back], *SC* Joker (b, f, b, f + E).

Note: You may also use Four Suits (C version) or Royal Flush instead of
Joker. To Super Cancel either of those, imput your command immediately
after the Spade or the Diamond.

Note: Instead of dashing after the opponent and use df + A, you may also
chase after him with a Spade, Diamond (then Super Cancel), or a Spade,
Heart (but the Heart may not connect, depends on your timing), then follow
with another Spade after he flies behind you (then Super Cancel).

If you use Spade, Diamond, *SC* Four Suits, *DC* Joker, this becomes the
Oswald 100% life (on counter hit?) combo. It is like the above Joker combo,
except with an extra few hits for Super Cancel.

_____________________________________________________________________

12. [any "Type a" Ace Finish combo], Spade (qcb + A) [hold back] *SC* Joker
(b, f, b, f + E)

13. [any "Type a" Ace Finish combo], Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B),
, Spade (qcb + C) [hold back]
*SC* Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
_____________________________________________________________________
Position on screen: see Oswald Ace Finish section

Note: You may also use Four Suits (C version) or Royal Flush instead of
Joker. To Super Cancel either of those, imput your command immediately
after the Spade (1st or 3rd part of chain).

You may choose to use a Joker instead of an Ace Finish for any sort of
Ace Finish combo that involves df + A, Spade, Heart. You may use a Super
Cancel a Joker after the first Spade. Or you may have the Spade, Heart
hit, and then wait until the opponent flies behind you (to roughly mid-body
level), then hit them with a Spade (because they are flying very high,
you may need to use Spade (C version) to dash further for the slash). After
the Spade, Super Cancel into Joker.

There are many more Oswald Joker combos, try to find whichever one suits
you!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Quick-Shift section
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Quick-Shift to Oswald

Most people do either two things when they quick-shift to Oswald: an Ace
Finish combo or a Joker combo.

=====================================================================

ACE FINISH

- if your opponent is on the ground, QS in with Oswald's jump D (most
horizontal range), and:

* df + A, Spade, Heart, Ace [if opponent is not in the corner]
* df + A, Heart, Diamond, Heart [if opponent is in the corner]

- if your opponent is in the air (you QS in from a juggle), don't attack
with Oswald when you come in, and:

* df + A, Spade, Heart, Ace [if opponent is not in the corner]
* Heart, Diamond, Heart [if opponent is in the corner]

View the "Oswald Ace Finish" combo video I have in the end to see how to
do these. While all of those may look fancy, they are all actually just
[df + A, Spade, Heart, Ace] or [Heart, Diamond, Heart, Ace], but all
slightly different.

=====================================================================

JOKER

- if your opponent is on the ground, QS in with Oswald's jump D (most
horizontal range), and:

* whichever Joker combo works, if they are on the ground

- if your opponent is in the air (you QS in from a juggle), don't attack
with Oswald when you come in, and:

* far C, Joker (b, f, b, f + E) [if opponent is not in the corner]
* Joker [if opponent is NOT in a juggle-state]
* df + A, Club (qcb + B) [hold back], close D, Joker (b, f, b, f + E)
[if opponent is in the corner]

Note: for [far C, Joker] from a juggle, you MUST hold back before you
actually Quick-Shift. This makes it difficult to use this combo for QS
from certain moves (e.g. Kula Ray Spin juggle combos, which requires you
to press f + D, and then QS).

Note: Because Joker is an anywhere juggle, you could QS it from moves which
normally don't connect. For example, you could use Eiji's Kiritetsu
Kamakiriken DM, which knocks the opponent upward but isn't a juggle. Hold
back while Eiji uses the ranbu, then QS after the last hit, and make Oswald
catch the falling opponent with a Joker.

=====================================================================

2. Quick-Shit from Oswald

QS from Oswald is something not many people do. The main move that you
may QS out from Oswald would be Spade or Diamond, so try this combo if
you want:

- Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B) ,
Spade (qcb + A) *QS*

You may follow this move with a rush/ranbu DM, to catch the opponent before
they land.

- Spade (qcb + A), Heart (qcf + B), Diamond (qcf + A), *QS*

For this quick-shift, you could still use a rush/ranbu DM, but this time,
it must be an anywhere juggle to connect. For example, you could quickly
dash in the corner and use Gato's Tatsu Kiba DM, or Kim's Hiden Houou Kyaku
LDM, after the Diamond hits.

Do these combo look somewhat familiar? Yes, you are actually using a
Quick-Shift, followed by a rush DM to finish Oswald's combo, much like
how you would normally use a Super Cancel Joker to finish off your combo.

For a list of anywhere juggles, refer to the FAQS.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
K. Frequently Asked Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q: I can't do cr. D (1st hit), f + A! I always end up doing a Diamond after
the first hit!

A: Yes, I know, it took me a while to learn this one at first. Instead
of holding down, and imput cr. D, hold either down-forward or down-back.
If you hold down-back, quickly move to f + A in a "Sonic Boom motion" (i.e.
go from back to forward, don't move to the down position). If you hold
down-forward, just move your stick slightly so it gets to the for position.

But you need to cancel it very quickly. Don't wait for the 1st hit on the
cr. D to come out, and then cancel it. Do the f + A before you see the
1st hit actually strike. Otherwise the cr. D connects, and you cancel after
it, but it doesn't combo. Cancel it to f + A as FAST AS YOU CAN.

And remember, hit confirm it into Spade only if the f + A hits.

Q: What is Oswald's "unblockable?"

A: If you KO'ed a character, use a df + A against your opponent's next
character when he comes out. This attack is UNBLOCKABLE. And because df + A
leads to either Heart, Diamond, Heart, Ace [in the corner] or Spade, Heart,
Ace [not in the corner], if you use the Oswald unblockable, it is like
getting a free Ace Finish/Joker whenever you KO the opponents character with
Oswald.

This move is banned in most (if not all) tournaments, such as Tougeki. Use
of this move would provoke your opponent to calling it a cheap trick. I
personally don't think it's that cheap (after playing X-Men vs Street
Fighter, I consider NOTHING to be cheap), but I do warn you...don't use this
move...unless your opponent is even cheaper, and uses it first. ;)

Q: You mentioned there are alot of things that could counter the Oswald
BnB combo, could you tell me specifically what they are?

A: Here it is:

- an "instant reversal" move (i.e. a move that starts up instantly)


* Gato: Rei Kiba DM
* Kula: Crow Bites (C version)
* Oswald: Joker LDM
* Terry: Buster Wolf DM
* Malin: Mizuchi LDM
* Eiji: Kiritetsu Kamakiriken DM (not really an instant reversal, but the
ranbu is fast enough to connect)

- evade the Club with a roll, and command grab


* Clark
* Tizoc
* just about any other grappler really

- a very fast anti-air move (requires good timing though)


* Kula: Crow Bites (C version, which is an instant reversal)
* Kyo/Iori/Shingo: Oniyaki (A version, C version is slow)
* Ash's Nivose (B version, D version is slow)
* Ryo: Kohou (A version, C version is slow)
* B.Jenet: Aurora DM
* Elizabeth: Noble Brass LDM

- a move with invincibility/autoguard


* Kula: Freezing Execution LDM
* Oswald: Royal Flush DM
* K': Crow Bites (C version)
* Shen: Tatsu! Gekiken DM (C version for high level invincibility)
* Ralf: (autoguard) Super Argentine Backbreaker
* Gai: Gai Spider (dodge the Club, then grab)
* Mary: Backdrop Real (dodge the Club, then grab)

I am sure I missed out many more, but the point is, MANY characters have
ways to counter Oswald's BnB combo, so if your opponent knows what he's
doing, always using the BnB combo to finish is not a good idea.

Q: What is an "anywhere juggle?"

A: Put it simply, certain moves leave the opponent in a "juggle state,"
(e.g. Kula's Ray Spin, Sit special) where you may juggle them before they
land. However, an "anywhere juggle" is a move which would connect on an
opponent even if they are not in a juggle state (there are still some
exceptions). Oswald's Joker is one of the most infamous example of such,
hence you could link a Joker from an anti-air far A or B (in fact, you
could link it from anything which hits the opponent in the air). Most
anywhere juggles could be used like:

- (air-to-air) any normal, [land], use an anywhere juggle
- (anti-air) any normal, use an anywhere juggle
- sweep, use an anywhere juggle [before they land]


* Gato: Tatsu Kiba DM
* Kula: Freezing Execution LDM
* Oswald: Joker LDM
* Kim: Hiten Houou Kyaku LDM
* K': Minute Spikes, Chain Drive LDM
* Elizabeth: Coup de Veine DM
* Kasumi: Tenchi Shuuten
* Benimaru: Raikou Ken LDM

Q: Why didn't you include some of the Ace Finish/Joker combos listed in
the combo video?

A: Because I have tested out these ones, and they are not very likely to
connect in an actual competitive game (i.e. not reliable enough), but if
you would like to tell me how to make it connect more easily (probably
more than 70% of the time would be considered "reliable" by my standard),
I would include it and give ya credit for it.

Besides, I know there are many other Ace Finish/Joker setups. Once you
understand the two types of Ace Finish combos and how to connect them,
you could try to improvise your own, and tell me your one. As for Joker,
it IS an anywhere juggle, so there would be countless interesting ways
to connect it, try it out for yourself.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
L. Links
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are two combo videos I would consider to be most useful for
understanding more on Ace Finish and Joker setups:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4HQnR5IRg8

Oswald's Ace Finish combos. See if you could understand how each type of
Ace Finish works in Quick-Shift combos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrqabq3wNl0

A lot of very BS Oswald combos. See what you could learn from these! A
lot of the combos I understand but can't use to a reliable level, if you
could use them effectively, please email me and tell me how it works!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
M. Credits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Xero_0:

Credits go to SNK-Playmore for making this game and giving
us a new KOF every year. Sammy for their wonderful new board
which runs this game. Credits also goes to Khaled
and Qutaiba for being the best of the best challengers over
at our local arcades, and for showing me some of the Oswald
stuff that I didn't know of. Especially Qutaiba for his hard
work finding new things for this character everyday. Special
thanks to the other guys at 'Burj' just simply for being splendid
pals. I thank you all for your support and encouragement in
making this FAQ (you know who you are).

kamikaze_NOW:

- SNKP for making this game. Looking forward to KoF XII.
- Galaxy World, Town Hall, Sydney, for having the crappiest management
ever! Well, at least they got KoF XI, and until I get the PS2 version I'm
gonna have to go there to test out new combos.
- Everyone who play this game at Galaxy World (especially Allen), who I
play against. Interesting fact is that all of them are Oswald users!
- Tel's FAQ, where I got the names and properties of a lot of moves.
- GameFAQs and CJC of course, for making this site and posting all FAQs.

=========================================================

The King of Fighters XI and other related games are a trademark
of SNK-Playmore. This document is not associated in any way with
this company.

This also happens to be a free FAQ. If you paid for this, then
you simply got owned. Go get your money back.


Copyright (c) 2006 - Xero_0/kamikaze NOW

=========================================================