Iori is a highly versatile character that can do just about anything, but leans towards rushdown and mixups due to his great access to hard knockdowns. At further ranges, he has a fireball and a good poke as his main tools, but 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 he can combo out of, 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 DM that can low-profile and anti-air well. Iori's 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 hurtbox is taller
cr.B hurtbox is 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 is 3 frames faster, but invincibility frames are reduced
Supers:
qcf,hcb+P is no longer a 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
Extra mode step dash distance moved is longer
Specials:
hcb,f+P has 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 and cancelable.
cl.B: Has short activation range. Standing low. Cancelable.
cl.C: Iori's main heavy combo button. Hits higher up, so it can catch close-range jump-outs. Cancelable.
cl.D: Hits high up so can catch jumpouts, but it is not cancelable so it's not as good as cl.C.
Standing
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 hit, block, and whiff. Has nice priority.
st.D: Good longer-range poke. His best normal for stopping hops.
Crouching
cr.A: Good for combos or blockstrings. Chainable and cancelable.
cr.B: Standard low move for low combos or blockstrings. Has limited low-profile properties. Chainable.
cr.C: Not great at anti-airing. Has some forwards priority, so it could be a decent closer-range poke. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.
cr.D: Has long range but terrible recovery.
Jumping
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: Jump-in button that can crossup, but landing it is hard. Has quite a lot of startup, so it needs to be done early or it will whiff. Due to this, it can be used as a good jump-in fake by doing it late.
j.D: Good air-to-air that can also hit grounded opponents.
CD Normals
st.CD: Has good priority and fairly fast startup speed for a st.CD, so it makes for a decent poke. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.
j.CD: Has good priority forwards, so can be a good air-to-air.
Throws
Reverse Skinner:b/f+C (close)
Regular throw, techable. Iori claws at the opponent, sending them flying almost fullscreen forwards with a soft knockdown.
Double-reverse Skinner:b/f+D (close)
Regular throw, techable. Iori sneaks behind the opponent and then claws at them, sending them flying almost fullscreen 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 if 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.
Both hits cancelable both raw and when cancelled into.
Key to Iori's combos.
Thunder Axe Shadow Reaper:f+B
A slow overhead that can be canceled from if canceled into.
Lily Breaker:b+B (in air)
A very good crossup kick that can be combo-ed into.
Will whiff on short crouchers.
Special Moves
Fireball:qcf+A/C
A ground-travelling projectile.
A version travels slowly, while C version travels much faster.
Combos from lights and heavies.
Can be hopped over.
Good for projectile wars, 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 (x3)
Iori's rekka. Does a series of strikes that carries him forwards.
The first two hits are mids, and the third one hits overhead.
Iori's main combo special. The light version combos from lights and the heavy one combos from heavies.
Causes hard knockdown and gives Iori plenty of time to set up whatever offense he wants afterwards.
All 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 long-range move to punish.
The A rekkas knock the enemy back a bit on hit, while the full C rekkas make them land right next to Iori with a hard knockdown, setting up a few wakeup options.
Has pretty decent priority, so it 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. Iori's DP.
A version has startup invincibility, but none on the active frames.
C version has invincibility on startup and on the first active frames, so it 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 invincibility and longer reach, so it's better to use against obvious jumps.
Both versions are punishable on block.
Scum Gale:hcb,f+A/C (close)
Iori grabs hold of the opponent and shoves them behind him.
A command grab that lets Iori follow up with a combo afterwards.
Has some startup invincibility, but not all the way to the active frames.
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 invincible, 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 invincibility 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 a shorter distance than the D version.
B version can be cancelled into his qcb+P on contact, while D version is cancellable into any special move.
Unsafe on block, and since his qcb+P is also not safe on block there's no real way to reduce risk. However dp+D qcf+A is a fairly safe option.
Can go over some lows.
Has a little bit of startup invincibility.
Main use is for baiting guard cancel CD. Just cancel your normal into dp+D and go into qcf+A if there is no guard cancel. If there is a guard cancel you can react and either cancel into maiden masher or rekkas.
Desperation Moves
Maiden Masher:qcf,hcb+A/C
Iori crouches low and dashes forwards, doing a ranbu on hit.
Has some low-profile startup frames, so it can go under some airborne projectiles.
Can be combo-ed into from lights and heavies.
Causes soft knockdown.
MAX version does more damage but is much slower.
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 halfscreen.
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 qcf,hcb+AC.
The projectile's size is only as big as his qcf+P, 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.
