Samurai Shodown VI/Chample

Introduction

When I was a kid everyone played Pokémon and absolutely nobody cared about Digimon. I had an Agumon plush and like everyone thought it was Charmander, and it pissed me off because it wasn't Charmander, it was Agumon goddammit.

Chample is a cute monster capable of transforming into a powerful beast, but before you do that you must take a fair amount of hits. Chample is the smallest character in the game but is still incapable of blocking thanks to being locked into VII Spirit like the other animals, so unless you are a master at Mikiri dodges and know how long to delay your wakeup against your opponent you're going to get Raged pretty quickly. In the meantime Chample is capable of firing arrows from an imaginary bow and then catching the opponent's jumps with a surprising amount of anti-air options. Chample can also reflect fireballs, catch slashes with a counter and leap from the wall, among other gimmicks.

Data

• Dash type: Run
• Damage taken: 110%
• Rage retention: 240
• Rage duration: 9 seconds

Gameplan

Using this little fella is probably not a good idea in any competitive setting, but I guess it's nice to know what Chample does. As for ground threats Chample has a forward lunge in 5C, a low then overhead in 6B and fireballs in 236S. Chample can also punish with a headbutt (623S) or WFT. To complement this Chample has a decent assortment of anti-airs, including an uppercut (n2C), a diagonal lunge (6D) and a workable air-to-air (jC). In additon to 6B's knowledge check Chample has a running mixup between an overhead (66B) and a low (66D), additionally sporting a slide (3D) which covers a fair amount of distance. jB and jD are capable of crossing up. Chample can reflect fireballs (214S) and counter slash attacks (632146D) but these attacks are slow and must be done very early, if at all. Chample can run away a bit with wall dives (421S) and teleports (22A/B/C/D), but both of these options leave Chample vulnerable.

Normal Moves

Far Slashes

• 5A - A forward jab.
• 5B - Chample waves fans for an attack.
• 5C - Chample rushes forward about halfscreen for a tackle.
• 2A - A crouching headbutt.
• 2B - Identical to 2A.
• 2C - A sweep as Chample drops a leaf. Hits low and knocks down but if you're in range to land this you will usually end up performing n2C instead depending on the matchup.

Near Slashes

• n5A - A dig to the shins.
• n5B - A boxer's punch. Pretty good physique on the little fella.
• n5C - Chample pulls out a leaf. Somewhat slow but chains from n5B.
• n2A - Same as far version.
• n2B - Same as far version.
• n2C - A Shoryuken for up to three hits.

Kicks

• 5D - Upward kick. This is your best chain starter. Don't even think about anti-airing with this.
• 6D - Chample takes to the sky for five hits. Potential anti-air.
• 2D - Low kick. Does the worst damage out of all of Chample's normals but it hits low. And given Chample has to run VII Spirit, 2D can start combos.
• 3D - A low slide which covers a nice amount of range.

Dash Normals

• 66A - Chample shakes his arms around in fear for up to four hits. This only does one hit of damage a piece. Best used as a combo starter.
• 66B - Chample jumps up with the hat then falls straight down for one overhead hit. This knocks down.
• 66C - Chample becomes a Mina arrow and lunges forward for five hits. Useful as a ranged punish as it maintains forward momentum.
• 66D - Chample trips over holding a leaf. This is a low which knocks down.

Air Normals

• jA - Forward punch.
• jB - Two hits as Chample spins around. This can crossup.
• jC - Hat attack for a decent amount of damage. Chample's best air-to-air.
• jD - Diagonal kick. This can crossup.

Command Moves

6B

• Chample slides forward for a low, then lunges for an overhead. It's a knowledge check and it doesn't matter in matches against other VII Spirit users, but every little bit counts. Most useful as a chain ender.

Special Moves

Arrow Slash. - 236S

• Chample mimes drawing a bow then fires an arrow. Strength makes a bit of a difference as to where the arrow lands, but it will always fly straight before being brought down by gravity. You shouldn't think about using this up close due to the long startup and the bad recovery, but it gives Chample a means of pressuring from over halfscreen.

Head Crush. - 623S

• Chample lunges headfirst in a rainbow arc. Strength determines how far and high. Despite appearances this is not an overhead. This can go over lows and will cause a soft knockdown after launching the opponent far back.

Hat. - 214S

• Chample pulls out a hat for protection. Strength determines the startup. This deals no damage on its own but will reflect fireballs. However, not even 214A will come out in time to reflect 3B spam from Mina.

Ground Crush. - 632146D

• Same deal as the move above, but the hat glows a bit. Instead of reflecting fireballs, this move is a counter which will catch any slash. Of course, it can also be thrown. The main problem with this move is its slow startup, but outside of Mikiri this is another means of defense for Chample.

Back Run. - 421S

• Chample runs away. Strength determines how fast. This is a ghetto Tiger Road with no real mixup opportunity, but it does have its use as a gimmick.
• Fly Beat. - S during 421S, near wall
  • If you are close to the wall then Chample will leap off of it. Strength determines how far Chample flies. This is an overhead/crossup for good damge, but instead of causing a knockdown Chample simply bounces off from the opponent.
• Cancel Back Run. - D during 421S
  • Chample stops running.

Warp. - 22A/B/C/D

• Chample escapes into a magic zipper, then emerges in one of four places on the ground across the stage. 22A to 22D will go from left to right respectively. This move has slow startup and slow recovery, making it situational at best.
• No, this is not a reference to anything.

Supers

Transformation. - 236AB

• Chample transforms into its true beastly appearance, charges forward a bit, swipes its front paw upward then reverts. At most this does six hits of damage, but most of the damage comes from the final hit. None of Chample's normals are special cancellable so this is strictly a punish tool.

Combos

S.C.S Samurai Combination System (VII)

• 66A 5D/2D 5B 6B - 5D does more damage than 5A and 2A. 2D is your least-damaging starter but it hits low.

Colors

External Links

• Seesaa wiki