Use a ‘blast attack’ before using the ultimate!

The ultimate skill can deal massive damage, but as you use up all of your PG, you won’t be able to use escape, and that could lead to the opponent’s counterattack. The opponent would gain about 1 PG from getting attacked by the ultimate, so they can calculate a counter by using escape. That’s why most people use their ultimate as their last attack — when the ultimate can K.O. the opponent.

However, some fighters can gain the upper hand in the mind game about using escape after the ultimate skill. This is only possible with the fighters that have a blast attack skill — it’s the blast attack-ultimate combo. If you use your blast attack before your ultimate, the blast attack is still there even after the ultimate animation. When the opponent escapes the blast attack, you can continue attacking with your next blast attack.

Practical use of the blast-ultimate-blast combo

The principle is simple. You just need to acknowledge that the two fighters’ positions are fixed as well as the blast attack’s position during the ultimate animation. The moment you use your ultimate, the moving blast attack stops and starts moving again after the animation. If your opponent doesn’t use escape or rolls backward, they get hit by the blast attack. If they roll forward, use the blast attack again to induce them to escape or connect a combo to keep the initiative.

Since there’s a slight delay before you use your ultimate after the blast attack, you need at least 3.5 PGs. You can use this combo when you have 5 PGs, but it’s recommended that you use the blast-ultimate combo with about 3.5 PGs. Since the first blast attack is used in MAX mode, the damage is 50% lower. If the opponent evades the first blast attack with escape, they will be hit by the second blast attack and suffer bigger damage — they escaped the 50% blast attack and got hit by the 100% one. The attacker gets the upper hand in the brain battle.

For some fighters, if you use the ultimate too late, you might not be able to control the speed of the blast attack. For example, if you use the blast attack, go into MAX mode, and then use the ultimate, the blast attack would already have gone past the opponent. You have to use MAX mode first, use the blast attack, and then use the ultimate right away to connect the combo. With Mature on the PC version, for example, you can press Z + EF and then use E again after the ultimate animation.

Fighters that can use the blast+ultimate combo

For every fighter, the speed of the blast attack is important — if it’s too fast, it’s no good. For example, the projectile of Orochi’s Q is too fast, so you can’t do the blast+ultimate combo. At the moment, there are only seven fighters that can use the blast+ultimate combo. Iori, Athena, and Mature can use the combo most easily and cleanly. After the ultimate animation, you can continue hitting blast attacks, and you can also deal damage over time by delaying the ultimate timing a little bit. However, the blast attack of Mature can miss if you use the ultimate too late.

For Kyo, King, Yuri, Rugal, and Heidern, you can’t delay the ultimate, but you can make a combo. If you use your blast attack a bit later, you can induce the opponent to escape. However, since there’s a slight delay, if the opponent reacts quickly or sees the attacks thoroughly, they can counter.

If you use your blast attack right after the ultimate animation, two blast attacks will overlap. You can deal damage consecutively, but both blast attacks could be evaded with escape. In this case, you have to keep attacking as the opponent’s escape would be on cooldown.