The King of Fighters XV/Kyo Kusanagi/Strategy

Neutral

236A covers a lot of space. So much so it commonly tags backdashes by accident. It also tends to cover the hop space but it won't catch people who hop higher than normal like Benimaru. If it hits you can confirm into 236A 236P K for a soft knockdown. This won't work at further ranges so make sure you get accustomed to when you can and can't. Kyo steps forward during 236A so if someone jumps behind you then you move away from them and probably recover safely. If someone rolls through it you're usually safe for the same reason. By this same token Kyo often steps into lows during rekka startup.

CD moves Kyo's body back and then back in with a huge hitbox. It makes a great counterpoke. Press it around the max range of your opponent's pokes and it often whiff punishes for you. The wall stick makes it really easy to confirm and you can usually combo off trades. Your enemy can punish it by neutral jumping. You can whiff cancel CD into 236A to extend the range on 236A. This is useful in juggles.

Far B is a quick low commitment poke. It doesn't do damage but it stops people from running at you and hits hops sometimes. It's useful for a few punishes and you can make those count with quick max if need be.

Sweep is useful as a whiff punish because of its speed and reach. You might find people pressing 2Bs preemptively to beat 236A. You can use sweep to discourage this. Whiff canceling sweep into 236A will make it more difficult to punish if you miss. However if you're fighting characters where 236A won't them for hopping over your sweep, you should probably be more conservative with your sweeps.

Far D is a decent substitute mid height poke vs characters who punish 236A consistently like Nakoruru.

Neutral hop D is great for walling off space with little commitment.

3D goes under a lot of attacks. It's great for a lot of punishes. You want to make contact with the first hit because only that one is special cancelable. This makes it really rewarding. This goes really far for a low so it can hit people for walking sometimes. If the opponent jumps you are likely getting punished.

Kyo's dp moves forward so make sure you have some space before you launch it so the opponent falls into it. If you're too close you go under them and miss. This happens really commonly if you're cornered. If you're cornered and the enemy jumps into the corner above your head, they're baiting dp. You would have to walk under them and then dp, inputting it towards the corner. Light dp is a little faster so it's more reliable when trying to react to hops. Heavy dp is invincible for longer so it's easier to time vs someone doing a full jump with a really active button. Either can be cancelled into supers for more damage and a hard knockdown. EX dp travels really far forward so it punishes a lot of things.

Kyo's close C is great for hitting people over his head and even behind him sometimes. A couple of characters can make it over this but it's often really useful for stopping people from jumping over you to crossup or leave the corner. This is also good if someone hops at you while you're running at close range.

Kyo's 2C is situational. He stands up while he does this and often stands up into enemy attacks. Your goal with this move is to beat the enemy to the punch. You use this to counterhit hops at close range. If you press this as soon as you see their feet leave the ground then you should hit them before they have a chance to get their attack out. A successful CH can be confirmed into ex upkicks and you can continue juggling from there.

Safe jumps

All safe jumps listed here work vs 4f reversals unless noted otherwise

• 624K > super jump

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Kyo Safe Jumps