The King of Fighters XV/Nakoruru/Strategy

Neutral

Nakoruru's goal is to get in and crack you open with her great pressure and mix. Her normals are as stubby as always, with farC being her longest poke, and her longest reaching special (Annu Mutsube/236P and Amube Yatoro/236K) both come with great risk. None the less, her great speed, small size and choice of options makes sure she doesn't struggle too much.

• Pokes like farC, 2C, farA and farB are all special cancelable. farA can become a frametrap.

Rera Mutsube

Her DP has a uniquely long range, which makes it not just good for defense, but to barge into the opponent's space. You'll mainly be using 623C and 623AC for that intent, but as usual if you don't get the hit, you die. With such high risk, its best to use this option only as a reaction to something (like them throwing a fireball or jumping).

• EX Rera is tied for fastest DP in the game (4f).

Kamui Rimuse

Whilst she isn't the only character with a reflect, and hers isn't the best due to the slow startup. Nakoruru's great speed and small size makes it incredibly strong to hijack a fireball as a shield to let her in and start the pressure.

Annu Mutsube

Out of all her options, this is the most explosive and dangerous. Both versions require spacing to be made safe, which can be ruined by the opponent, and 236A has a long recovery in general.

• Both moves gain a juggle on Counter.
• Far Range farC and Max Range 2C make 236A mostly safe.
• 236C becomes safe at around 2/3 screen distance from the opponent, and in general is the more advantageous option as it can become even and plus, but that rarely happens.
• 236C's short recovery and lower hurtbox can make it a psuedo escape option, but needless to say its not the most optimal option for that.

EX Annu cannot be made safe with spacing at all, but its a great punish tool as it hits full screen and causes a small launch.

Cling to Mamahaha

Essentially a stance, Nakoruru can use it for many things. In terms of neutral, you can use b8K to close the gap with a jump in.

• b8BD makes the jump track, acting like Whip's j214AC. Allows for essentially full screen jumps.

Pressure

Nakoruru's pressure involves her many frametraps and mixup tools. This adds a great deal of risk if the opponent knows when to DP out of it, but an even greater payoff thanks to the sheer overwhelming amount of options she has.

• 3A is your most important blockstring ender. Leaves you close to start the pressure anew, its safe, cancelable and it will sometimes be a frametrap.
• Buttons like far/clB, 2C and clC will hit attempts to hop/jump after a blockstring.
• 6A on block or hit, cancel or not, is a great pressure tool. It can't combo or start them, but it's sure to cause a panic.

Frametraps

Action	Notes
clA, clC	2f gap, very dangerous but requires pointblank range like the link version.
clA, 2C	4f gap, not as dangerous but more reliable thanks to 2C's range. Will hit jumping opponents.
Max Range Normal > 3A	When canceling into 3A from further ranges, it tends to leave a small gap. Its a double edged sword as it means you can randomly get DPed mid blockstring.
6A	The cancel version cannot combo, so it is a purpose built frametrap that keeps the pressure going. It can be jumped out of (not hopped), but this puts them in risk of getting hit.
236D	Only works after clC > 3A, and without a jump in. This is the most unreliable trap she has due to the limited uses. If done from too far away they can jump over Mamahaha with ease.
236BD	Unlike 236D, this is a rather useful option as it can start combos, reliably works and always hits jump attempts. If they try to roll out of it towards you, you have just enough time to do a throw.

Cling to Mamahaha

Cling is a very interesting pressure tool, thanks to it's abundance of options.

• b4K baits out most DPs in the game, allowing for a swift punish.
• b8K allows you to use air normals on the way down, but it's her slowest option.
• b2D is her fastest reset to where she started, but it's dangerous due to that same fact.

This is without mentioning the more offensive tools like her normals, which can catch attempts to hit her. However Cling has 1 major risk to it, which is the fact you are in a Counter state for the entire time. Use it carefully.

Defense

With such an abundance of offense and utility, Nakoruru also has a lot of great defensive options. None does everything, but they all excel in what they can.

• far/clB is a great Anti Hop button, use it when needed.
• 2D can Anti Air...it's not something you will use a lot but it's there.
• 236C can be an escape tool but it's too slow to be used in many occasions.

Rera Mutsube

Nako's DPs are some of the fastest, longest ranged ones in the game. As such, they also make for great defensive tools.

• 623A gains a juggle on Counter, but the reward depends on the height.
• All versions share a brutally long recovery on block and whiff, as well as a deadzone directly above her.

2C

This is essentially a flash kick, except its a normal. Even with the lack of any invul, this is a diabolically good Anti Air tool.

• Not only does it hit above her, it hits behind her.
• It lacks invul and is still slower than most of her DPs, so its not quite a GBVSR level of absurd power.

Okizeme

Safejumps

General Notes
These have been tested with Kyo's EX DP.

Action	Notes
236C, jump	Works after hits that result in a side switch (close hits and meterless combos). Won't work in occasions where it has less recovery.
623A, hyper hop / hop	Works in and out of juggles. The hyper hop requires some practice due to her recovery, but it gives better reward than a normal hop. It stops working if they get high up, so its best used after combos.
214C ~ P, hyper hop, hyper hop	Works anywhere, very deceptive.
236236P, (farA), hyper hop	Always reliable.
j2D, (farA/clA), hop	Safejump after a j2D/b2BD knowckdown.

Crossups

General Notes
Her crossup setups almost always break VS Big Characters (Maxima, KoD, Antonov, etc.).

Action	Notes
236C, 66, jump	Basic but can be hard to guess.
juggle 3A > 623A, hyper jump	Extremely reliable after 214AC, can be done after other juggles too but it suffers from similar issues to its safejump counterpart.
236236P, 66, hyper jump	You will have to eyeball this one, but its another deceptive one.
214B > b8K	Use this if they stand still a lot, otherwise its a very flimsy setup.