The King of Fighters 2002/Leona Heidern

Movelist

Throws

1. Leona Crush - b/f+C

• Leona grabs the opponent, then knocks them back in the direction she was facing

2. Ordeal Buckler - b/f+D

• Leona grabs the opponent and throws them away, in the opposite direction that she was initially facing
• hard knockdown

3. Heidern Inferno - b/f+C/D (air)

• Leona grabs the opponent in the air and knocks them back
• Leona recovers very quickly, allowing her to setup another offense, including an earring toss

Command Normals

1. Strike Arch - b/f+B

• Leona performs a hopping kick that has some startup delay
• overhead if not cancelled into
• can go over some low attacks, though the startup delay prevents it from being useful in that sense
• cancellable into air attacks

Special Moves

1. Vortex Launcher - _b f+P

• _b f+A makes Leona stand in place and create a green orb in front of her, which has good recovery
• _b f+C makes Leona jump forward a bit before creating the green orb, therefore having much longer startup time
• _b f+A makes a good pre-emptive anti-air that is generally pretty safe with a few exceptions (characters with low attacks that can go under it)
• also does good chip damage though there are a number of characters that can crouch under the orb
• it's possible to cross up _b f+C on the opponent's wakeup
• it's possible to juggle the opponent after both versions of this move

2. Ground Saber - _b f+K

• Leona runs forward and if she reaches her opponent, she will do a slashing attack. If she doesn't reach him, she will just stop running
• the move executes slow, making it not possible to combo into from strong attacks, but recovers quickly
• it is possible to juggle the opponent after this move
• _b f+B makes her run about half screen distance while _b f+D goes full screen
• _b f+D can be followed up with a f+D attack, listed below

2a. Gliding Buster - f+D (after _b f+D)

• Leona leaps into the air while doing another slash. If the opponent was hit mid-air, the slash will do more than one hit
• if blocked, this move has extremely bad recovery and overall, should never be attempted
• supercancellable
• free cancellable out of

3. Moon Slasher - _d u+P

• Leona performs a very quick slash with her hands that covers the area around her, including from behind
• the A version is performed from where she is standing, while the C version makes her move forward slightly, giving her more horizontal range
• while this move is very fast, it has no invincibility and she can be hit out of it if the opponent performs a meaty attack on her

4. X Calibur - qcb+P(air)

• Leona throws a blade diagonally downwards
• the A version has a steeper angle than the C version, and comes out slightly faster
• executing this move can keep Leona suspended in mid-air for a slight period of time, in which case afterwards she bounces backwards rather than keeping her initial jump trajectory
• generally this move is pretty punishable and has little utility
• free cancellable into

5. Earring Bakudan 1 - qcb+K

• Leona takes out her earring, and tosses it forward, causing an explosion
• the D version has a long parabolic trajectory while the B version's trajectory is shorter. The earring will bounce a few times if it hits the ground
• this move has very long startup and can be punished fairly easily unless done from long range

6. Earring Bakudan 2: Heart Attack - rdp+K

• Leona performs a short ranged attack in which she attempts to attach a small bomb onto the opponent
• if the opponent fails to block, the bomb is attached and will explode about three seconds after
• the explosion can be avoided by rolling

6a. Kibaku - rdp+K (after initial rdp+K has been planted)

• once the bomb has been planted on the opponent, it can be detonated without waiting three seconds by input rdp+K again
• when detonating, Leona stands in place for a while, making her vulnerable to attack

7. Kakusei - u d u d u d+BD

• Leona will transform into Orochi Leona, taking off half of her current health
• the transformation process has no recovery and has some invincibility, allowing you to go through some meaty attacks

DMs

1. V-Slasher - qcf hcb+P(air)

• Leona quickly flies diagonally downwards and if she connects, does a high damaging attack in the form of a V
• Leona is invincible the entire path of this move, until she hits the ground
• the A version has a narrower trajectory than the C version
• if the A version is blocked, she is usually fairly safe, though the C version is easy to punish

2. Rebel Spark - qcb hcf+K

• Leona dashes forward and if she connects, grabs the opponent and detonates them
• can be punished easily if blocked
• this move has some startup invincibility, but the startup delay usually allows characters to recover before this move connects, if they were doing weak attacks

SDMs

1. V-Slasher - qcf hcb+AC(air)

• acts the same as her C V-Slasher but does more damage
• there is a delay after this SDM connects, before the damage is dealt, unlike the DM version - if you have landed her rdp+K right before, it will detonate right after the SDM does damage

HSDMs

1. Rebel Spark - qcb hcf+BD

• this move can only be performed in Orochi Leona mode
• Leona runs forward (using her Orochi Leona low dash) and if it connects, grabs the opponent and detonates them doing high damage
• if blocked, Leona will bounce back and be safer than if performing the DM version

Notes

• cancellable normals are close A, crouch A, close B, close C, far C, crouch C, close D, jump B, jump D
• CD is cancellable into specials and DMs
• far D can evade low attacks