Daimon is a classic big-body grappler, with plenty of scary mixups up close and some good normals to fight with in neutral. His pokes are large with some good hitboxes on them, and his anti-air game is also strong. He's also got a fast fullscreen unblockable that hits standing opponents that he can use to deal with fireballs. Up close, Daimon has access to a 1f command grab, a invincible command grab, an overhead, a low, and some strong pokes to pressure with. Daimon also has access to a command roll that lets him quickly get in for a mixup at shorter ranges. Daimon's main weaknesses are his big size and his lack of an invincible reversal.
Changes from Previous Versions
98 to 98UM
Normals:
f+A now hits overhead, but its damage was lowered from 25 to 18 points
GCCD has increased recovery
st.B has reduced priority, the hurtbox is now in front of the hitbox
st.C has reduced priority
st.D has reduced priority
j.C has reduced priority
df+C's first hitbox has reduced priority
Specials:
dp+A's startup has been reduced from 28 frames to 20 frames
dp+A OTG bug has been removed
hcb,f+K comes out faster and has a shorter back-turning motion
98UM to 98UMFE
Normals:
df+C's first hit now has its original hitbox back.
Specials:
hcb,f+K's throw hitbox comes out faster
Supers:
hcfx2+K super flash activates after the counter move connects, has more recovery on whiff, and has damage adjusted so that the third hit does the most damage
Normal Moves
Close
cl.A: Good for stopping hops if you were too close for st.A. Whiffs on short crouchers. Chainable and cancelable.
cl.B: Decent for stopping hops or jump-outs, but it's too slow to be very useful. Whiffs on short crouchers. Cancelable.
cl.C: One of Daimon's main heavy combo buttons. It comes out fast and can be inputted as hcb+C to buffer a combo into his command grabs. Cancelable.
cl.D: Another one of his good heavy combo buttons. Hits higher up than cl.C, so it can catch jump-outs too. Cancelable.
Standing
st.A: Good anti-hop button. Whiffs on short crouchers.
st.B: Decent longer-range standing low that can be used to set up his qcb+K mixups. Cancelable.
st.C: Long-range poke. Occupies a lot of space in front of Daimon. Has a lot of active frames. Whiffs on short crouchers.
st.D: Good preemptive anti-air, but has very little priority now, so it can trade easily. Whiffs on short crouchers.
Crouching
cr.A: Decent for blockstrings or to chain into from cl.A. Cancelable.
cr.B: A low. You can link a hcb,f+P after it for a combo.
cr.C: Slow and not cancelable but a serviceable mid range poke for situations where st.C will whiff.
cr.D: A fast but short-range sweep. Cancelable.
Jumping
j.A: A good jump-in normal with a lot of active frames, making it a very consistent option. It's also his fastest air normal, so it's good for air-to-airs when you need to prioritize speed.
j.B: Has a crazy amount of active frames, making it a good air-to-air and jump-in. Can crossup.
j.C: An okay crossup button.
j.D: His best jump-in for damage. Generous hitbox and fast startup make this a solid space control button on top of its uses as a jump-in button.
CD Normals
st.CD: Slow startup, but has a nice hitbox in front of Daimon. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.
j.CD: Slow but has a decent hitbox in front of Daimon. Has a small blind spot close to him.
Throws
Drag-Down Slam:f/b+C (very close)
Hold throw, not techable. Can be mashed for more damage. Daimon grabs the opponent in a chokehold and chokes them a couple of times. Causes a hard knockdown.
Crucifixion Press:f/b+C
Regular throw, techable. Daimon picks the opponent up and slams them to the ground, causing the to slide on the ground. Causes a hard knockdown.
Sliding Foot Takedown:f/b+D
Regular throw, techable. Daimon picks up the opponent and then sweeps their leg away while throwing them behind him. Causes a soft knockdown.
Command Moves
Ball Basher:f+A
An overhead with fairly long range. Loses the overhead property when canceled into.
Good for mixups, especially when late-canceling into it, as this maintains its overhead property.
Causes a hard knockdown on hit.
Cranium Cruncher:df+C
A good anti-air normal with a nice hitbox diagonally above Daimon.
Can also work as a close-range poke.
Can be cancelled into for combos and blockstrings.
On counterhit, you can juggle after it.
Special Moves
Minelayer:dp+A/C
Daimon pounds the ground so hard that it sends an instant shockwave fullscreen, causing standing opponents to fall down.
A version does the ground pound, which is a full screen attack that hits standing opponents. As it is not really a physical attack, it does not do any blockstun to crouching or airborne opponents.
C version is a feint you can use to make people jump at you so that you can anti-air them.
Great to use against fireball users, as they can't crouch while throwing a fireball and the pound recovers fast enough for Daimon to block the fireball if it still came out. Daimon crouches below some high-traveling fireballs as well.
Can also be used as a surprise fullscreen low attack if the opponent likes poking a lot.
Super Ukemi:qcb+B/D
Daimon does a roll forwards.
B version only has a little bit of startup invincibility. D version is slower but has more invincibility.
Cannot/should not be used like a normal roll; instead, the idea is that you cancel pokes into it to quickly approach from neutral and set up Daimon's grab mixups.
Gets beaten out by mashing, so you may need to condition the opponent to not mash beforehand with frametraps.
Cloud Tosser:hcf+A
Daimon reaches up into the air and grabs, if he hits the opponent he slams them down to the ground.
A hitgrab, not an anti-air command grab.
A dedicated anti-jump tool to use when the opponent starts to jump out of your command grabs.
Can also work decently as an anti-air as it has a big hitbox with loads of priority. Daimon's hurtbox is actually at his waist when he does it, so his whole upper body is invincible.
Great for combos after a counterhit df+C, and other juggle situations.
Has a lot of recovery, so it's a guaranteed punish on block or whiff.
Stump Throw:hcf+C
Daimon grabs the opponent low to the ground and slams them down on the other side.
Another hitgrab, that also hits OTG.
Has low invincibility from the startup until the end of the active frames.
Has a lot of recovery, so it's a guaranteed punish on block or whiff.
Useful as an OTG ender to combos.
Super Ohsotogari:dp+B/D (close)
Daimon does a leg sweep on the opponent.
A slow command grab with invincibility on startup.
Good to beat people trying to mash at close range.
A core part of his close-range mixup game, as it will beat people trying to mash out from his hcb,f+P.
Earth Mover:hcb,f+A/C (close)
Daimon throws the opponent into the air and lets them fall to the ground.
A 1-frame command grab.
The core of Daimon's mixups, combos, and close-range punishes.
Can act before opponent hits the ground allowing for Max Mode activations for extra damage, ground pounds to build meter, or a time to set up offense.
Root Countermaneuver:qcf+B/D
A high and mid counter move.
Becomes active on frame 2, so you can't reversal with it.
Can work as an anti-air or as an anti-poke tool.
Reverse Drop:hcb,f+B/D
Daimon runs forwards and tries to grab the opponent. When in range, he grabs the opponent and slams them behind him, causing a hard knockdown.
Both B and D versions have Daimon running fullscreen when attempting the grab.
B version's grab comes out slower, but it has a lot of low invincibility while running. D version's grab comes out sooner but has no low invincibility while running.
If the opponent is not throwable, Daimon turns around for a bit, leaving him open for backturned combos.
Can be useful to tick throw into from some stuff, like a st.B, but is mostly too risky to use much.
Desperation Moves
Heaven-to-Hell Drop:hcbx2+A/C (close)
Daimon picks the opponent up and repeatedly slams them into the ground.
A 1-frame command grab DM.
Useful for when you want higher damage mixups, combos, and close-range punishes.
MAX version does more damage.
Stormy Mountain Uprooter:hcfx2+B/D
A counter DM that has followups if it connects.
MAX version does more damage.
Super Stump Throw:hcf+B/D (during hcfx2+B/D)
Followup to hcfx2+K. Only comes out if it connects.
Radical Reverse Throw:dp+B/D (during hcf+B/D after hcfx2+B/D)
Followup to hcf+K followup.
Super Earth Mover:dp+B/D (during hcf+B/D after hcfx2+BD)
Followup to hcf+K followup, exclusive to MAX version.
Combos
General Notes
In any metered combo, replace hcbx2+P with hcbx2+AC if you have the resources.
Meterless
Low
cr.B, hcb,f+P
Mid/Jump-In
cl.B, dp+K
(j.X), cl.D/cl.C, hcb,f+P
(j.X), cl.D/cl.C, df+C, hcb,f+P
Requires either a very close cl.C/cl.D connect or a very good jump-in angle.
Anti-Air
df+C, hcf+A
df+C, qcb+B, df+C, hcf+A
Requires a counterhit df+C.
Overhead
f+A, hcf+C
With Meter
Mid/Jump-In
cl.B, hcbx2+P
(j.X), cl.C/cl.D, hcbx2+P
You can do this as (j.X), hcb+C, hcb+P for an easier cancel.