Heidern is a pretty unique character to kof in that he's almost entirely charge based. His moveset is geared towards zoning with big projectiles and anti air moves to catch people trying to jump in on him. His normals are big and excellent for controlling space both on the ground and in the air. For up close mixups he has access to a command grab that steals health from the opponent and an overhead. He also has a command move that sends him flying into the air and it can catch people both on the ground and in the air. He also has a super version of it that steals health from the opponent if it hits. Heiderns biggest weakness is the lack of a good low confirm as his cr.B is not cancelable or chainable.
Changes from previous versions
98 to 98UM
Normals:
cr.A now hits all crouchers
cl.C first hit can now be cancelled, second hit has 2 frames more recovery
Far C 1 frame less startup
Far D 13 frames less startup
st.CD hitbox increased in size
GCCD now uses his cl.C animation
C throw no longer sideswitches
Specials:
b~f+P more startup, less recovery, heavy version travels faster
d~u+P less startup, hitbox size increased
hcb+B 15 frames less startup, hcb+D 18 frames less startup. both versions got 6 more active frames
Supers:
qcb,hcf+K less startup and less recovery. light version can now connnect from lights, heavy version has less invincibility
98UM to 98UMFE
Specials:
d~u+C longer invincibility, but longer recovery
Normals
Close
cl. A: same as st.A
cl. B: has a lot of recovery so not a very useful normal. Only really chainable into cr.B. Cancelable.
cl. C: a two hitting normal. Your main heavy combo normal. can stop close range jump outs. Both hits are cancelable.
cl. D: Cancelable. Starts up the same speed as cl.C but only does one hit. Has long recovery. Cancelable.
Stand
st. A: good anti hop button. Whiffs on all crouchers. Chainable.
st. B : Covers about the same range as st.C but is faster. good for stopping hops. Whiffs on regular crouchers.
st. C: Long ranged poke with a lot of priority. Good for catching hops or full jumps from far away. Whiffs on regular crouchers.
st. D: long ranged preemptive anti air tool. Has long startup but a lot of priority upwards. Whiffs on regular crouchers.
Crouch
cr. A: Heiderns main button for blockstrings and light combos. Has good range. Chainable. Cancelable.
cr. B: a long ranged low poke but can't be used for many combos as it's not cancelable. Heiderns fastest normal.
cr. C: good closer ranged poke with nice priority. Cancelable on contact and on whiff.
cr. D: long ranged sweep. Cancelable. Especially good to cancel into his command grab to cut down on the recovery of the sweep.
Jump
j. A: good air to air normal with a lot of active frames and good forwards priority. whiffs on short crouchers.
neutral j.A: fast startup and while it's range is low it has good priority for air to airs.
j. B: very fast air to air with long reach and a good hitbox in front. whiffs on regular crouchers.
neutral j.B: good air to air hitbox.
j. C: great crossup jumpin.
j. D: a better regular jumpin than j.C as it has more downwards priority. Can also crossup but it's a lot harder than with j.C
neutral j.D: long startup but good hitbox both for air to airs and air to ground,
Blowback
st. CD: Heiderns finger guns. has long startup and the hitbox isn't very big, but this move does have major style points. cancelable on contact or whiff.
j. CD: An amazing air to air normal with really fast startup for a j.CD. Essentially presents an air to air wall in front of Heidern. can also be used for blockstun pressure.
Throws
Backstabbing: b/f+C
regular throw, techable. Good recovery and leaves the opponent closeby with a hard knockdown.
Lead Belcher: b/f+D
regular throw, techable. Switches sides, but it's a soft knockdown so it leaves you with no advantage.
Critical Drive: air b/f+C
Air throw, switches sides. Can be executed with the stick in db position which allows you to charge both specials at the same time.
Command Normals
Steiner's Knuckles: f+B
2 hits, combos from heavy attacks.
Normal version is overhead on both hits, cancelled version is no longer overhead, but cancellable on the first hit.
Disadvantage on both hit and block (warning some chars can punish this on hit).
Special Moves
Cross Cutter: b~f+P
Heidern creates a big X shaped projectile that travels full screen.
a high flying projectile so it can be low profiled by some characters/moves.
Can only be comboed from s.C [1 hit].
Can be made unblockable with hcb+P.
C version moves faster and has faster recovery.
Disadvantage at point blank range but if it travels a slight distance first you will be at advantage.
Can combo afterwards if it counterhits someone out of the air.
Moon Slasher: d~u+P
Heiderns does a big arching slash over his head and around his body.
Both versions combo from lights, moves forward slightly.
Cannot be used as a reversal.
Horribly unsafe on block.
C version the hitbox takes longer to travel around Heidern's body thus it is better anti air but won't combo properly from lights.
Neck Roller: d~u+K
Heidern launches himself into the air and tries to hit the opponent. On successful hit he spins around the opponents neck dealing damage.
Possible to combo from s.C [1 hit] (not that you'd ever want to though).
Cannot be recovery rolled.
B version will bounce over the opponent if blocked. D versions bounces back if blocked.
Can hit opponents out of the air but the hitbox is only near his hands so it isn't good for that.
Horrible recovery on block.
Storm Bringer: hcb+P
Heidern grabs the opponent and sucks their life force out.
1 frame command throw
combos from lights and heavies.
The opponent can mash to reduce the damage, but you can counteract their mashing with your own.
Leeches life from the opponent.
Kill Bringer: hcb+K
Heidern strikes a pose and gets ready to counter the opponent. If successful he brings them over his head and sucks the life force out of them.
Counter move. Counters anything that hits the active hitbox e.g. jumping normals, normals, command normals, physical specials and DMs. Moves forward slightly.
on succesfull counter it leeches the opponents life.
The counter is active at the second frame so can not be used as a reversal.
DM
Final Bringer: qcfx2+P
Heidern does a high jumping attack towards the opponent.
Combos from light or heavy attacks with the right spacing e.g. s.C [1 hit] midscreen or anything in the corner.
Leeches life from the opponent.
A version bounces behind the opponent on block. C version bounches forwards on block.
Can grab the opponent from the air but again the hitbox is only near his hands.
Max versions leeches more life.
Heidern End: qcb,hcf+K
Heidern stabs the opponent in the stomach and then explodes them.
B version combos from light attacks, D and SDM versions combo from heavy attacks or f+B [1 hit].
D version runs forward slightly further before activating. Unsafe on block.
Heiderns main combo super.
NB: Moon Slasher Bug
Whiffing a Moon Slasher will increase the damage dealt by both Storm Bringer and Final Bringer, but does not effect the life gained. The effect will last until you are hit or thrown (blocking attacks is fine however).
Combos
Meterless
cr.Ax1~3, cr.B
j.C, cr.Ax2, d~u+A
j.C, cl.C [1 hit], hcb+P
With Meter
j.C, cr.Ax1~2, qcb,hcf+K DM (you can use 2 cr.A's on crossup only, on a non crossup use only one cr.A)
(quick dodge combo with quick max, activate quick max after first hit of f+B then time the quick dodge right after the second hit of f+B, then go into the dodge attack and the super)
Misc
j.CD counterhit, qcb,hcf+B midscreen or d~u+P/qcfx2+P corner
Notes
far s.A/s.B/s.C/s.D and s.CD all whiff on crouchers.
j.C is an amazing crossup and can be option selected with his air throw. j.D also crosses up.
Despite how it looks, j.CD does not hit behind him. Regardless it is still a good AA.
c.D is fast startup and cancellable on hit/whiff into specials/command normals.
s.C has long active frames which makes it good for late cancel f+B (late cancel f+B also works from c.D).
Most of his normals are poor on block, except s.C and c.C which are only at slight disadvantage.
s.D has changed from OG 98 and now doesn't have the massive startup/step forward at the beginning.
His GCCD animation has been changed from s.CD to s.C
Choi & Chin can crouch under his fireballs, and Leona & Chris can run underneath them.
