The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/King

Normal Moves

Standing

• st.A : standard standing jab with good range and priority. Great for stopping hops. Chainable. Not cancelable.

• st.B : Has low invulnerability when she's off the ground. Good for stopping hops and but is prone to trading as an anti air against jumps. Not Chainable. Not cancelable,

• st.C : very fast and active poke at 4f that can catch hops and function as a anti air from further away. It also works well against grounded opponent in footsies, though it won't hit crouchers other than the large ones and is susceptible to getting hit by lows. Not cancelable.

• st.D : another good poke, hits a bit lower than st.C. Works well for Anti airs at long range where you hit with the tip of her shoe. Not cancelable.

Close

• cl.A : whiffs on tiny crouchers. Chainable. Cancelable.

• cl.B : this is a fast standing low. Not Chainable. Cancelable.

• cl.C : Hits above king so can be used as a close range anti air. For combos cl.D is the better choice. Whiffs on tiny crouchers.

• cl.D : the first kick hits straight and the second one upwards. This is your main combo option from jumpins, the two hits makes it easy to hitconfirm. Both hits are cancelable.

Crouching

• cr.A : A standard crouching jab. Decent for blockstrings. Chainable. Cancelable.

• cr.B : This is your main low combo option alongside cl.B Chainable. Cancelable.

• cr.C : one of kings best anti airs as it has nice priority and hits the space above King. On hit you can cancel it into her B fireball to force your opponent to block it as they're coming down. Hit and whiff cancelable.

• cr.D : this is a pretty bad sweep as it has about the same length of her cr.B. It does have a lot of active frames though. Not cancelable.

Jumping

• j.A : a fairly standard j.A that gets outclassed by her other jumping buttons.

• j.B : one of your two go to air to airs alongside j.CD. Use j.B when you think j.CD will be too slow to come out.

• j.C a strong jump in normal. Can be used for crossups.

• j.D : another good jump in normal. comes out very fast and can be used as an instant overhead. When used as a jump in attack delay the button press so that you hit them deep.

CD Attacks

• st.CD : great close range tool as it has low invulnerability and is cancelable so you can cancel it into fireballs on block. Makes for a good meaty. Slightly plus on block. Hit and Whiff cancelable.

• j.CD : this is great as a air to air as well as air to ground as it goes from top to bottom in an arc. One of kings best air to air buttons and great to use as a jump in for pressure.

Throws

Hold Rush: b/f + C

• Regular throw, Techable. King delivers a knee strike and an uppercut that sends the opponent almost full screen away.

Hook Buster: b/f + D

• Regular throw, Techable. King grabs the opponent with her legs and flips them behind her leaving full screen away.

Command Moves

Sliding Kick: df + B

• a low slide.

• This move allows King to low profile attacks, good to use as a ranged poke and to go under aerial fireballs.

• You can cancel it into a special move like fireball for pressure or Mirage kick for a combo. Safe if spaced out, but punishable if done too close and not cancelled.

Special Moves

Venom Strike: qcf + B/D

• King throws a fireball using her legs.

• B version goes 1/2 screen and D version goes almost full screen but will not hit opponents at the end of the screen.

• Has a large amount of low invulnerability.

• fairly slow for a fireball, especially when it comes to recovery so you should be careful when throwing these. Always be ready to anti air after throwing one as the opponent is likely to jump over them.

• They are hoppable.

• Double Venom Strike: qcf, qcf + B/D

• Kings sends two fireballs out instead of one. The first projectile will be the same as the singular venom strikes and the second one will fly a bit further than the first.

• The two fireballs comes at the cost of an even heftier recovery period so this move is even more susceptible to getting jumped. It works well for blockstrings though and the second projectile can catch people trying to take an action after blocking the first or hop/jumping over the first one if they were only expecting one.

Trap Shoot: dp + B/D

• King does a backflip while kicking. If it hits the opponent gets comboed and eventually kicked away.

• On block it has a lot of pushback making it fairly safe. Not good as an anti air despite how it looks as it will lose or at best trade against jump in attacks.

• Causes soft knockdown.

Tornado Kick: hcb + B/D

• King does a series of kicks diagonally upwards in the air.

• The B version is Kings go to reversal as it has invulnerability on startup and on the first few active frames.

• The D version is a good combo ender in most cases. Does not make for a great anti air unless done very late. On block or whiff it is very punishable. Causes soft knockdown.

Surprise Rose: dp + A/C

• King does a rising kick into a backflip into a series of diagonally descending kicks.

• The second grounded hit launches the opponent into the air so they can be hit by the rest. If the second hit whiffs the opponent stays on the ground while King does the rest of the move.

• C version travels further than the A version but other than that they're the same.

• It has 2 frames of startup invul.

• A hard move to punish on block and can therefore be used for some safe chip damage, but if the opponent reacts they can stop the move with an anti air. Causes soft knockdown if the opponent was launched into the air.

Mirage Kick: hcb + A/C

King runs forward and delivers a series of kicks.

• Both versions can combo from lights.

• the A version leaves the opponent standing but the C version knocks them down.

• Safe on block in most cases.

• It has low invulnerability on startup. The C version has longer startup but has more low invulnerability.

• C version causes soft knockdown.

Desperation Moves

Illusion Kick: qcf, hcb + B/D

Kings ranbu style super.

• In the B version King goes directly into the ranbu and delivers a series of hits. In the D version King jumps backwards and then goes into the ranbu.

• B version is a good combo tool and will combo from her heavy normals as well as a slide when close enough. D version is too slow to combo outside of specific scenarios.

• It also can be used as a decent anti air option.

Silent Slash: qcb, qcb + B/D

• King does a backflip kick and then a followup that goes straight upwards. If this hits on a grounded opponent the opponent gets sent straight upwards with king.

• This is mainly useful as a combo tool from cl.D.

• Though it looks like it could anti air it's awful for it, because if it hits an opponent in the air the followup will not combo, not even when they're in the corner.

Combos

cr.B cr.B/cr.A/st.B hcb+D/dp+D

meterless combo from low starter, hcb+D does more damage but dp+D is safer if blocked

(j.C/D) cl.D (1) df+D hcb+D/C

meterless combo from close starter or jump in.

(j.C/D) cl.D(1) df+D qcf,hcb+B

metered combo from close starter or jump in.

(j.C/D) cl.D(2) qcbx2+K

(j.C/D) cl.D(1) df+D dp+A hcb+D

corner combo using surprise rose for a combo extension. Use cl.D(1) if you started the combo from a jump in.

Quick Max combos

cr.B ABC hold forward cl.D(1) df+D qcf,hcb+B

quick max combo from low starter

(j.C/D) cl.D hcb+C ABC hcb+D

quick max combo in the corner that leaves you with max activated.

(j.C/D) cl.D(1) df+D hcb+C ABC qcf,hcb+B

the same combo as above but with a super ender

cl.D dp+D ABC qcf,hcb+B

another option for a quick max corner combo.

Videos

King of Fighters 98 UM FE: King Guide by Mash It Out