Critical Art

Heavy Hammer

Startup	5
Active	2
Recovery	–
Guard Level	HL
On Hit	D
On Guard	–
Cancel	–
Damage	350
Stun	0
Meter Gain	-900

Heavy Hammer Second and Third

Startup	27/49
Active	2/3
Recovery	46
Guard Level	HL
On Hit	D
On Guard	-25
Cancel	–
Damage	230(100+130)
Stun	0
Meter Gain	-900

Heavy Hammer: Alex lunges forward with three swiping punches, like a multi-stage Flash Chop. If the first swing connects, Alex transitions into a Critical Art cinematic and deals full damage. If the first swing misses, he still swipes twice more. The second and third swipes have high juggle potential, so there are situations (like after crouching HP or juggling with Flash Chop or Slash Elbow) where you might try to juggle the Critical Art too early for the first hit to start the cinematic, but the second and third hits still pick up good damage.

You can lead into Heavy Hammer from any connected Flash Chop or Slash Elbow. Plus, Heavy Hammer’s first hit is on the fifth frame after activation; it’s very fast with six initial frames of total invincibility. This makes it Alex’s only true reversal attack. Its fast speed means it can be used for very Third Strike-esque confirms into Critical Art, like doing Lariat or standing MP to look for a hit, then just tacking on a linked Heavy Hammer when successful.

If the opponent has low health, you might also consider dumping your EX meter into a chip-heavy poke for the K.O., like a blocked poke canceled into LK Slash Elbow or LP Flash Chop into Heavy Hammer.