Iori is a versatile character that leans towards rushdown and mixups due to his great access to hard knockdowns. at further ranges he has a fireball and a good poke in st.D as his main tools. When Iori really starts to shine when he lands a hit into his hard knockdown rekka. He has plenty of mixup options like a good crossup, a command grab that lets him combo afterwards, good low confirms and an overhead. Most of these options will allow him to combo into rekka again and repeat the situation. On defense he has access to a great dp for reversals and anti airs and a good super that can low profile and anti air well. Ioris main weakness is that a lot of his buttons aren't that great so his grounded poking game can feel a bit lacking.
changes from previous versions
98 to 98UM
Normals:
cr.A hurtboxbox became taller
cr.B hurtbox became taller so some projectiles can no longer be low profiled
Specials:
dp+C now hits consistently even against airborne opponents
The time that the hurtbox for qcb+P becomes lower is reduced by 3 frames
hcb,f+P startup 3 frames faster but invincibility frames are reduced
Supers:
qcf,hcb+P is no longer hard knockdown
qcb,hcf+P changed, now deals damage at once when it hits but none when the opponent is stunned also reduced stunned time
98UM to 98UMFE
f,f step (Extra mode) - distance moved is longer
Specials:
hcb,f+P more recovery after the throw so it's harder to connect attacks afterwards
Normal Moves
Close
cl. A: mostly just useful as light combo filler. Chainable. Cancelable.
cl. B: has short activation range. Hits low. Cancelable.
cl. C: Ioris main heavy combo button. Hits higher up so can catch close range jumpouts. Cancelable.
cl. D: Hits high up so can catch jumpouts but it is not cancelable so it's not as good as cl.C.
Stand
st. A: hits too low to stop hops well. Great short ranged button as it gives Iori a bit of frame advantage and has a nice hitbox. Chainable.
st. B: short to mid range poke with some decent priority, has longer range than st.A.
st. C: Nice longer range poke since it's Cancelable on contact or whiff. Has nice priority.
st. D: good longer range poke. His best normal for stopping hops.
Crouch
cr. A: Good for combos or blockstrings. Chainable. Cancelable.
cr. B: standard low move for low combos or blockstrings. Chainable.
cr. C: not great at anti airing. Has some forwards priority so could be a decent closer range poke. Cancelable on contact or whiff.
cr. D: Has long range but terrible recovery.
Jump
j. A: has a lot of active frames. Can be used as an air to air or jump in
j. B: fast air to air with good range.
j. C: jumpin button that can cross up but landing it is hard. Has quite a lot of startup so needs to be done early or it will whiff. Due to this it can be used as a good jumpin fake by doing it late.
j. D: Good air to air that can also hit grounded opponents.
Blowback
st. CD: Has good priority and fairly fast startup speed for a st.CD so it makes for a decent poke. Cancelable on contact or whiff.
j. CD: Has good priority forwards so can be a good air to air.
Throws
Reverse Skinner: (close) b/f + C
regular throw, techable. Iori claws at the opponent sending them flying almost full screen forwards with a soft knockdown.
Double-reverse Skinner: (close) b/f + D
regular throw, techable. Iori sneaks behind the opponent and then claws at them sending them flying almost full screen to the other side with a soft knockdown.
Command Moves
Dream Blast: f + A, A
Iori does a strike forwards.
can combo from lights and heavies.
the second hit will whiff there was too much pushback before the first hit, it will for example whiff after a cl.C f+A or cr.B cr.A f+A.
Therefore it's best to just use the first hit and skip the second one.
Cancelable on both hits raw and when cancelled into.
this move is key for Ioris combos.
Thunder Axe Shadow Reaper: f + B
A slow overhead that can be canceled from if canceled into.
Lily Breaker: (in the air) back + B
A very good crossup kick that can be comboed into.
Will whiff on short crouchers.
Special Moves
Fireball: qcf + A/C
A ground travelling projectile.
A version travels slow, while C version travels much faster
combos from lights and heavies.
can be hopped over.
good for the projectile war or to use as a longer ranged poke.
Can be made unblockable with his command grab thanks to the unblockable projectile bug.
Deadly Flower: qcb + A/C (can be entered 3 times in a row)
Iori does a series of strikes that carries him forwards.
He can input this special up to 3 times in a row and each hit will be a bit different. The first two hits are mids and the third one hits overhead.
Ioris main combo special. The light version combos from lights and the heavy one from heavies.
Causes hard knockdown and gives Iori plenty of time to set up whatever offense he wants afterwards.
All the 3 hits of both the A and C rekka are negative and unsafe on block point blank. At further ranges they are still unsafe but the opponent will need a fairly fast good long range move to punish.
The A rekkas on hit knock the enemy back a bit, while the full C rekkas make them land right next to Iori (hard knockdown), setting up a few wake-up options.
Has pretty decent priority so can also be used as a poke in neutral.
Dark Thrust: dp + A/C
Iori creates some flames and jumps into the air with a spin. Ioris dragon punch move.
A version has startup invul but none on the active frames.
C version has invul on startup and on the first active frames so can be used as a reversal.
Both versions work well for anti airing. The A version is faster so it's better to use on reaction while the C version has more invul and longer reach so it's better to use against obvious jumps.
Both versions are punishable on block.
Scum Gale: (close) hcb, f + A/C
Iori grabs a hold of the opponent and shoves them behind him.
A command grab that lets Iori follow up with a combo afterwards.
has some startup invul but not all the way to the grab part.
Good for mixups as it lets him do a full combo afterwards that leads to another mixup.
Has longer startup than most command grabs while also not being fully invul, but despite this it's still good.
Dark Crescent Slice: hcb + B/D
Iori runs forwards and hits the opponent. If successful he takes them to the ground and blows them up with flames.
B version runs a shorter distance than the D version.
Has low invul during the run.
will combo from heavies but only at close range.
Can be used as a decent longer range punish.
unsafe on block.
Slash Talon Comb: dp + B/D
Iori does a leap forwards and hits with his flames.
B version travels shorter than the D version.
can be cancelled into his qcb+P on contact.
unsafe on block and since his qcb+P is also not safe on block
can go over some lows.
Has a little bit of startup invul.
overall not very useful as it's unsafe and only really beats lows.
Desperation Moves
Maiden Masher: qcf, hcb + A/C
Iori crouches low and dashes forwards with a ranbu like super.
Has some low profiling so can go under some airborne projectiles.
can be comboed into from lights and heavies.
causes soft knockdown.
MAX version has slower startup so can not be comboed into.
One For The Road Blast: qcb, hcf + A/C (can be held)
Iori sends out a big blast of flames.
The A version only reaches a bit in front of Iori while the C version travels a bit more than half screen.
On hit the opponent gets frozen in place and Iori gets a followup combo.
This move hitting is one of the few ways you can actually combo into the MAX Maiden Masher.
The projectiles size is only as big as his regular fireball so it can be jumped over and even hopped over with good timing.
The MAX version creates a series of pillars that go from Iori to the other end of the screen. These pillars reach all the way to the top of the screen.
