The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Clark Still

Introduction

Clark is the purest grappler in the game (perhaps any game), and as such his whole gameplan revolves around scoring a knockdown and then running his scary strike-throw oki over and over until the opponent is dead. In neutral Clark has to play a solid fundamental game using his decent normals and movement to try and get in on the opponent; he has no real anti-zoning measures, so he has to rely on careful decision-making to close the distance. Once Clark is in, he has an impressive vortex game with a large suite of command grabs and strong normals, where each move he lands will do a solid chunk of damage and lead to a hard knockdown and another mixup situation. Clark requires more mindgames and reads than most other characters, as he always has to be one step ahead to choose the correct measure against the opponent's defensive decisions, but the upside of this is that he is never more than a couple of good guesses away from taking the entire round.

Changes from Previous Versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• st.D's recovery is 1 frame longer, and its priority is reduced

• cr.D starts up 3 frames faster and recovers 3 frames longer

• st.CD has 7 frames faster startup

Specials:

• Mash P can now be cancelled with ABCD to stop it, and it can also be cancelled with dp+A for an ender

Supers:

• Added hcbx2+K, an anti-air grab DM

98UM to 98UMFE

Normals:

• cl.B now has less recovery

• cr.D's recovery reduced by 4 frames

Normal Moves

Close

• cl.A: Same as st.A.

• cl.B: Clark's fastest normal at 2f so useful when you're up close and need the speed. Chainable and cancelable.

• cl.C: Very fast at 3f and his main heavy combo normal. Good for meaties due to its long active frames. Cancelable on the first hit.

• cl.D: Looks like a big anti-air, but Clark has better options in that department. Has low invincibility from startup until after the active frames, so it can be good for blowing up lows on a read.

Standing

• st.A: Has nice priority and a decent amount of active frames so it's good for stopping hops. Chainable and cancelable.

• st.B: A decent poke as it has good speed and priority.

• st.C: Lite version of Ralf's. Reaches really far but whiffs on most crouchers.

• st.D: Hits low crouchers, has better priority than st.C, and is faster, but it doesn't reach as far.

Crouching

• cr.A: Pretty standard. Could be good for tick throws if you cancel dp+K out of it. Chainable and cancelable.

• cr.B: Your main low combo starter and a core part of his mixup and pressure game. Not cancelable, but you can link Super Argentine Backbreaker out of it. Chainable.

• cr.C: Has less range than his standing pokes, but has pretty fantastic frame data, with lots of active frames in particular. Can be used as a shorter ranged poke or as a meaty. Sadly not cancelable.

• cr.D: Fast sweep with decent range. As of this version it's decently safe if spaced.

Jumping

• j.A: Your main jump-in button for combos, thanks to its downward angle. Comes out quite fast.

• j.B: Fast air-to-air normal, good for hitting characters straight in front of Clark.

• nj.B: Another air-to-air normal, with about the same range and priority as the non-neutral version.

• j.C: His most damaging air to air normal, so good for max damage punishes, but outclassed in other situations.

• j.D: Great air-to-air normal that hits above Clark. Especially good when done with a short hop.

• nj.D: Pretty slow air normal with a hitbox more suited to a jump-in, despite its neutral jump requirement.

CD Normals

• st.CD: Has a large hitbox that essentially creates a wall in front of Clark, but it has quite a lot of startup. Good for whiff canceling.

• j.CD: Your main jump-in normal for pressure. Big hitbox, great angle.

Throws

Gallanting German: b/f+C (close)

• Regular throw, techable. Clark goes behind the opponent and performs a release suplex, sending them full screen away with a soft knockdown.

Fisherman Buster: b/f+D (close)

• Regular throw, techable. Clark picks the opponent up and suplexes them behind him, causing a backturned hard knockdown.

Death Lake Driver: b/d/f+C/D (close, in air)

• Air throw, not techable. Clark grabs the opponent in the air and throws them down to the ground in front of him causing a hard knockdown.

Command Moves

Stomping: f+B

• Mostly used after a meaty cl.C, though it won't combo into anything else after this due to the pushback of it. Doesn't really do anything as a result. Cancelable.

Special Moves

Super Argentine Backbreaker: hcf+B/D (close) ($)

• Clark's 1-frame command grab, and a staple of his mixup and combo game. Pretty much his entire gameplan relies on either landing this or making his opponent scared that he's gonna land it.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

Frankensteiner: dp+B/D (close) ($)

• A slower command grab with full invincibility until the grab comes out. Clark's second-most important special move.

• Great move to catch people trying to wake up with a button or reversal, as your invincibility frames will allow you to go through those.

• Staple move of his mixup game, as this will catch people trying to mash out of or reversal through your oki. Punishes your opponent for trying to escape your pressure.

• Causes a backturned hard knockdown.

Vulcan Punch: press A/C repeatedly

• Clark delivers a series of quick punches angled upwards. The punches have 2 alternating hitboxes, one angled upwards and one angled in front of Clark.

• This move isn't great as an anti air, as it can be hard to time and even the upwards hitbox isn't that great.

• Can be made safer on block or whiff by cancelling it with ABCD.

• Can be cancelled into dp+A on hit for a combo.

Super Arabian Burglary Backbreaker: hcf+A ($)

• A running command grab that puts the opponent behind Clark with a hard knockdown.

• Has a nice amount of low invincibility when Clark has started running.

• Certainly not bad, but outclassed by hcf+C in pretty much every situation where you'd want to use it.

Rolling Cradle: hcf+C ($)

• A running grab where Clark rolls around with the opponent backwards.

• Clark runs further with this version compared to hcf+A and this version has more corner carry as well. Also does more damage.

• Has a nice amount of low invincibility when Clark has started running.

• Can be followed up with qcf+P for added damage and oki.

• Causes a face down hard knockdown giving Clark more time to put pressure on the opponent on their wakeup compared to hcf+A.

Napalm Stretch: dp+A/C ($)

• An anti air grab designed to catch people trying to jump out of his grounded command grabs.

• Not great as an anti air since its priority sucks, so Clark will get hit out of it if the opponent has an attack out.

• Pretty hard read, Clark has less risky options for dealing with jumps.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

Flashing Elbow: qcf+A/C (during ($) moves)

• An OTG followup to a variety of Clarks specials.

• Adds extra damage and gives him great oki opportunities, so it's advisable to always go for this followup.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

Desperation Moves

Ultra Argentine Backbreaker: hcbx2+A/C (close)

• DM version of hcf+K, does more damage but is otherwise extremely similar.

• Causes a backturned hard knockdown.

• MAX version does more damage.

Running Three: hcfx2+B/D

• DM version of hcf+P. Hard to combo into.

• Has some startup invincibility.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

• MAX version has a bit more startup invincibility and does more damage. Clark's most damaging DM, and one of the more damaging DMs in the game.

Napalm Strike: hcbx2+B/D

• DM version of dp+P.

• Still not great as an anti-air, but good for making a statement with hard reads.

• MAX version does more damage.

Combos

General Notes

• You should always cancel into qcf+P if you are able to do so, as it improves Clark's damage and oki while sacrificing nothing.

• In general, Clark's combo options are very limited, and his combos with meter in particular can be very difficult to execute.

• If you have the resources, hcbx2+P can always be replaced with the MAX version in combos.

Meterless

Low

cr.B, (cr.A), hcf+K > qcf+P

• Clark's main low combo. You can either chain into a cr.A and cancel that into the command grab for slightly more damage and an easier confirm, or you can link the command grab directly after the cr.B, which is less difficult and works from slightly farther out.

Mid/Jump-In

(j.A), cl.C(1), hcf+K > qcf+P

• Clark's BnB for punishes and meaties. Can be combo-ed after j.A for Clark's best jump-in combo.

cl.B, cl.C(1), hcf+K > qcf+P

• Clark can link cl.B to cl.C. Normally it's a 1-frame-link so rather difficult to time, but the link can be made easier if cl.B hits meaty. cl.B has 5 active frames so this is a good combo to convert off a cl.B meaty on the opponent's wake-up.
• Not recommended to try this after a jump-in since it's very easy to push yourself out of cl.B's range.

Other

cr.A, mash A, dp+A > qcf+P

• Corner conversion from a light button. Fairly situational.

st.CD/j.CD, dp+A > qcf+P

• Your go-to conversion from a counterhit CD. Can be inconsistent depending on the exact range that you hit.

With Meter

Low

cr.B, (cr.A), hcbx2+P

• Confirm into DM from a low. You can either chain into a cr.A and cancel that into the command grab for slightly more damage and an easier confirm, or you can link the command grab directly after the cr.B, which is less difficult and works from slightly farther out.

Mid/Jump-In

(j.A), cl.C(1), hcbx2+P

• Combo into DM for punishes and meaties. Can be combo-ed after j.A for Clark's best jump-in combo.

Other

st.CD/j.CD, hcbx2+K

• Combo into DM from any counterhit CD. Even more inconsistent than the meterless version, but it's there. MAX version also works here.

With Quick MAX

Low

cr.B, cr.A, ABC, cl.C(1), [hcf+K > qcf+P]/hcbx2+P

• Requires a small walk after the quick max
• Ending with hcf+K > qcf+P is recommended as it only does slightly less damage than ending with hcbx2+P, but it keeps you in max mode and gives you better okizeme, plus it's easier to execute.
• However, if you're in red health and have SDM available, then ending with SDM hcbx2+P will add a sizable chunk of damage.

Mid/Jump-In

(j.A), cr.A, ABC, cl.C(1), [hcf+K > qcf+P]/hcbx2+P

• Requires a small walk after the quick max

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King of Fighters 98 UM FE: Clark Guide by Mash It Out