Brian is an interesting character whose main strength is his unique air mobility. Brian's air spin move allows him to become an incredibly active hitbox in the air and carry the momentum from whatever put him airborne with him. This means that he can choose a lot of different speeds and angles to traverse the air with, to make anti-airing him difficult for the opponent. The spin can be combo-ed into as well, and in many circumstances Brian can even combo out of it. On the ground, Brian is your classic big-bodied character, with access to some large pokes to control neutral, the fastest overhead in the game, and a guard point attack that launches on hit. Brian is a character best played with the Extra mode dash, as he can do his air spin from it and gain extra mobility. Brian's weaknesses include a lack of a real invincible reversal, few fast close-range options, and his big body making him more susceptible to getting hit.
Changes from Previous Versions
98 to 98UM
Normals:
f.A's hitbox has been lengthened
f.C starts up 2 frames faster and has 10 less frames recovery; it is also now an overhead and is no longer cancelable
j.A is now cancelable
j.2C can no longer be done during a step dash
Specials:
41236K has 4 frames less startup, 3 more active frames, and 5 frames less recovery
41236K now causes a juggle state on hit
Supers:
236236P now has increased invincibility
2141236P now travels faster and destroys projectiles
98UM to 98UMFE
Normals:
c.C no longer whiffs on short crouchers
j.C is now special cancelable
Supers:
236236B now has faster startup
Normal Moves
Close
c.A: Quite useless button. Slow for a panic button and whiffs on crouching opponents. Use c.C instead. Chainable and cancelable.
c.B: Brian's fastest button, at 4f, but is even on hit and negative on block, and cannot chain into anything for a confirm. Another not-preferred button. Cancelable.
c.C: The main button you would use in close range. 5f start up, hits crouching opponents, 2 hits, and cancelable on both hits with a wide input window.
c.D: Worse c.C. Has more range than c.C, but it being CLOSE button, that doesn't mean much. Cancelable.
Standing
f.A: A pretty far-reaching keepaway button. Decent anti-hop anti-air. Whiffs on crouching opponents.
f.B: A little slower and shorter version of f.A. Can hit crouching opponents.
f.C: The fastest overhead in the game, at 15f of start up. Solid neutral tool.
f.D: 8f start up anti-air. Has big recovery.
Crouching
2A: One of his better buttons. Cancelable.
2B: Slow but long-range low starter. Chainable and cancelable.
2C: Useful as an antiair and also as a grounded poke thanks to having more horizontal range than you might expect. The first part of 2C is special cancellable so you can do 2C > 41236B to put pressure on the opponent
2D: Very long-reaching low. Another of his better buttons. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.
Jumping
j.A: Handy for combo-ing into his j.2C command normal. Has a lot of active frames. Cancelable.
j.B: Good air-to-air normal with a lot of reach and good active frames. Does not have a lot of priority.
j.C: Great jump-in button that also crosses up very well. Cancelable into j.236P but not j.2P.
j.D: Good air-to-air normal that has more priority than j.B.
CD Normals
5CD: Not so great. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.
j.CD: Decent for blockstun pressure or to air-to-air with, though his other air-to-air buttons are better.
Throws
Atomic Drop:4/6C (close)
Regular throw, techable. Brian picks up the opponent and smashes them against his knee making them fly almost full screen. causes soft knockdown.
Rock Buster:4/6D (close)
Regular throw, techable. Brian picks the opponent up and tosses them to the opposite side making them fly full screen. causes soft knockdown
Command Moves
Buster Tomahawk:j.2C (in air)
Can be combo-ed into from j.A.
Special cancelable into his spin move.
Hits overhead.
On grounded hit it acts as a normal hit, on aerial hit it causes hard knockdown.
Like other characters with aerial command normals like Kyo or Mai, Brian can extend the distance of his backdash by immediately doing j.2C (input as 441C), this is useful for creating space quickly
Special Moves
Brian Tornado:41236A/C
Brian spins horizontally towards the opponent hitting them 3 times for A version, and 5 times for the C version.
Both versions only combo after heavy attacks, and they have poor recovery on block.
On hit, both versions causes a soft knockdown.
Hyper Tackle:41236B/D
A shoulder tackle that has a brief amount of start-up, which knocks the enemy upwards in a juggle state.
The B version is safe on block, while the D version has slow recovery. The D version also moves further.
Both versions deal the same amount of damage.
Both versions have some guard point, but the D version has more.
The B version launches the opponent higher, allowing for easier combos after.
Screw Body Press:j.236A/C (in air)
The core of Brian's neutral. Brian spins in the air as if he's skydiving, hitting multiple times and staying active until he lands.
This move follows the velocity, both horizontal and vertical, you had upon use. It also reduces the effect of gravity on Brian, allowing him to keep that velocity for longer. Therefore, each direction and type of jump, as well as forward and backward dashes, give him different paths, and the point in the jump/dash where he activates it also changes its trajectory.
You can also tiger-knee the motion, shooting Brian into the sky very fast to the point of being offscreen for a couple seconds.
The C version is active for a longer duration than the A version.
Can cross the opponent up while they standing.
Can be canceled into from cancelable air normals.
Leaves the opponent standing and gives Brian a fair amount of advantage on hit, allowing him to combo out of it if he lands close enough.
Has bad priority below it, making it more easily anti-aired from below.
This attack is stronger when used from a forward step dash or a hyperhop, but doing it from a regular jump or superjump to mix up your angle or to cross up the opponent can also be good.
Rocket Tackle:623B/D
Brian's sort-of DP. The B version doesn't have any invincibility, but the D version seems to have an autoguard frame during its startup.
The B version only hits standing opponents, whiffing on crouchers, while the D version whiffs on both. Point-blank, if the opponent is walking towards you, the D version will hit.
However, both versions combo from light and heavy attacks.
Not very reliable as an antiair. Fairly slow and hits really high up making it whiff easily unless the opponent did a regular jump or superjump. It's better to use 2C or 5A for antiairing
Reliable combo ender.
Brian Hammer:214A/C
Brian swings his arms like hammer. Causes hard knockdown on hit (unless canceled into its followups) and safe on block.
Starter for Brian's rekkas.
Stopping it just here can be a correct choice, since the follow ups may whiff on certain distance.
Double Hummer:214A/C (during Brian Hammer)
Brian does another swing. Second swing doesn't have any knockdown and is very negative on both hit and block, don't stop here no matter what.
DDT:214A/C (during Double Hummer)
Ender that ends in a hard knockdown. Least likely to whiff at range of all the followups.
Tiger Driver:41236A/C (during Brian Hammer)
Piledriver.
Samurai Bomb:22A/C (during Tiger Driver)
Another piledriver, and another hard knockdown. This gives Brian massive frame advantage, allows him some oki games.
Shoulder Back Breaker:222B/D (during Tiger Driver)
Brian does another grapple.
Buster & Bomb:28A/C (during Shoulder Back Breaker)
Ender for Brian's longest rekka chain. It does massive damage and of course is a hard knockdown.
Desperation Moves
Big Bang Tackle:236236B/D
Brian does a DM version of his Hyper Tackle with him skating to one side of the screen to the other.
If blocked he will just go through them, but the opponent will need to block toward every opposing direction. If hit up close, the opponent will be juggled by the 3 rushes.
American Super NOVA:236236A/C
An anti air throw. Brian reaches for the sky (A version not very far, C version, he touches the life bars), then grabs the opponent, performing a DM version of his Shoulder Back Breaker sequence.
Unfortunately, Brian is unable to juggle into this.
MAX version does more damage.
Galaxy Cyclone:2141236A/C
Kind of a psycho crusher move that has really bad recovery if blocked (he doesn't end up on the other side of the opponent). If it hits, Brian will end up on the other side and the opponent will be hardknocked down, for a possible okizeme attempt. Has a single Projectile Collision property on it, thus he can nullify one hit of projectile.
A version travels 1/2 of the screen, while C versions is fullscreen. A version is preferred midscreen as it gives Brian a 50/50 opportunity with a same side/cross-up j.C, as well as a more traditional Roll mix up. C version is better when using it as an anti-projectile tool due to its increased range.
MAX version does more damage.
Combos
General Notes
You can combo into j.d+C or qcb,hcf+P after any hcf+B hit.
If you're in extra gauge, you're in red health, and need access to the SDM version of qcb,hcf+P: you can simply quick max hcf+B during your combo.
Meterless
Low
cr.Bx2~3, cr.A
Reliable low confirm.
Mid/Jump-In
cl.C(1), qcb+P > hcf+P > d,d,d+K > d,u+P
His strongest BnB. You can try d,d+P instead of d,d,d+K>d,u+P for better oki instead of damage.
cl.C, qcb+P > qcb+P > qcb+P
Version of the above for both hits of cl.C. You can stop at first qcb+P for hard knockdown as well.
cl.C(1, 2 if really close), hcf+B, j.d+C
Another hard knockdown combo with higher damage. You can dp+D for higher damage but lose hard knockdown.
j.qcf+C, cl.C(2), hcf+B, j.d+C
A combo you can do after crossing up with Brian's air qcf+P from a normal jump or superjump.
Make sure to do the air qcf+P when Brian starts descending
With Meter
cr.Bx2~3, cr.A, qcfx2+K
Low confirm into DM. Quite unstable depending on distance.
cr.Bx2~3, cr.A, qcb,hcf+P
Another low confirm into DM, also unstable with distance.
j.qcf+C, cl.C(2), hcf+B, qcb,hcf+P
With Quick MAX
cr.Bx2~3, cr.A, ABC, qcb,hcf+P
Better stability than the meterless version.
cl.A/cl.B, ABC, cl.C, hcf+B, j.d+C/dp+D/qcb,hcf+P
cr.Bx2~3, cr.A, qcb,hcf+ABC
Allows Brian to combo into qcb,hcf+P from max distance.
j.qcf+C, ABC, cl.C(2), qcb,hcf+P
Easier version of Brian's cross-up combo from air qcf+P. Quick maxing the last hit before Brian hits the ground makes linking the cl.C afterwards a lot more lenient.
Step Dash
ff > qcf+C, ABC, cr.C, qcb,hcf+C
Quick max combo from Brian's air qcf+P. Try to delay the qcf+C a little bit after the forward dash otherwise you'll end up going up and over the opponent.
Try to quick max the last hit of the air qcf+C before Brian hits the ground. This is a bit of a tricky timing but can be gotten with practice.
SPIN TO WIN
