Brian is an interesting character whose main strength is his unique air mobility. Brian's j.qcf+P move allows him to spin 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 in his st.C, 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 j.qcf+P from it and gain extra mobility. Brian's weaknesses include a lack of a real invul 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:
st.A's hitbox has been lengthened
st.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.d+C can no longer be done during a step dash
Specials:
hcf+K has 4 frames less startup, 3 more active frames, and 5 frames less recovery
hcf+K now causes a juggle state on hit
Supers:
qcfx2+P now has increased invincibility
qcb,hcf+P now travels faster and destroys projectiles
98UM to 98UMFE
Normals:
cl.C no longer whiffs on short crouchers
j.C is now special cancelable
Supers:
qcfx2+B now has faster startup
Normal Moves
Close
cl.A: Quite useless button. Slow for a panic button and whiffs on crouching opponents. Use cl.C instead. Chainable and cancelable.
cl.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.
cl.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.
cl.D: Worse cl.C. Has more range than cl.C, but it being CLOSE button, that doesn't mean much. Cancelable.
Standing
st.A: A pretty far-reaching keepaway button. Decent anti-hop anti-air. Whiffs on crouching opponents.
st.B: A little slower and shorter version of st.A. Can hit crouching opponents.
st.C: The fastest overhead in the game, at 15f of start up. Solid neutral tool.
st.D: 8f start up anti-air. Has big recovery.
Crouch
cr.A: One of his better buttons. Cancelable.
cr.B: Slow but long-range low starter. Chainable and cancelable.
cr.C: Simply put, this is budget Daimon df+C. Works as some kind of anti air and ground poke.
cr.D: Very long-reaching low. Another of his better buttons. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.
Jump
j.A: good to use for comboing into his j.D+C 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 jumpin button that also crosses up very well. Special cancelable.
j.D: Good air to air normal that has more priority than j.B.
Blowback
st.CD: 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:b/f+C
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:b/f+D
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:d+C (in air)
can be comboed 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.
Special Moves
Brian Tornado:hcf+A/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:hcf+B/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:qcf+A/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 easily anti-aired. So don't use it from a high jump.
Rocket Tackle:dp+B/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.
Reliable combo ender.
Brian Hammer:qcb+A/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:qcb+A/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:qcb+A/C (during Double Hummer)
Ender that ends in a hard knockdown. Least likely to whiff at range of all the followups.
Tiger Driver:hcf+A/C (during Brian Hammer)
Piledriver.
Samurai Bomb:d,d+A/C (during Tiger Driver)
Another piledriver, and another hard knockdown. This gives Brian massive frame advantage, allows him some oki games.
Shoulder Back Breaker:d,d,d+B/D (during Tiger Driver)
Brian does another grapple.
Buster & Bomb:d,u+A/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:qcfx2+B/D
Brian does a super 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:qcfx2+A/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 super version of his Shoulder Back Breaker sequence.
Unfortunately, Brian is unable to juggle into this.
MAX version does more damage.
Galaxy Cyclone:qcb,hcf+A/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.
MAX version does more damage.
Combos
General Notes
Meterless
Low
cr.BxN, cr.A
Reliable low confirm.
cr.BxN, cr.A, qcfx2+K
Low confirm into super. Quite unstable depending on distance.
cr.BxN, cr.A, qcb,hcf+P
Another low confirm into super, also unstable with distance.
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.
