Special Moves

LP Yoga Fire ]

MP Yoga Fire

HP Yoga Fire

EX Yoga Fire

Yoga Fire: Yoga Fire sees a major update in Street Fighter V, no longer traveling slowly along a normal horizontal plane. Now, Dhalsim spits normal versions of Yoga Fire along a parabolic arc up-forward so that they ascend, cover jump-height airspace above the playing field, and then fall back down. The version you use dictates the trajectory of the fireball: LP Yoga Fire peaks about where Yoga Anvil strikes, then falls half a screen away. MP Yoga Fire peaks in the air above where the LP version lands, then descends about 80 percent of the way across the playing field. It’ll miss a standing opponent at full screen, but just barely. HP Yoga Fire flies faster and along a slightly lower arc than the other versions, finally landing a full screen away. LP and MP Yoga Fire stay on screen occupying space for the same amount of time, but HP Yoga Fire is quicker, striking the ground 20 frames earlier.

Normal versions of Yoga Fire are intended to control jump altitudes and stage mix-ups against opponents standing where the fireballs fall. You can simply poke at them, comboing if the fireball hits and holding them in blockstun (while building EX Gauge, chipping them, and pushing them back) if it’s guarded. For a more aggressive approach, when Yoga Fire is just about to strike a grounded target, perform an instant “tiger knee” Yoga Teleport just off the ground to warp directly next to the enemy (see the Yoga Teleport description for more specifics). Depending on your timing and the side you pick, the Yoga Fire may or may not hit as a cross-up. But either way, it allows you to continue with aerial before Dhalsim lands. This is a bit like Nash using Sonic Boom and then following up with his Sonic Move V-Trigger to create a cross-up (or to fake a cross-up), except it doesn’t cost Dhalsim any resources.

EX Yoga Fire is a more conventional two-hit horizontal projectile, a crucial way to spend EX Gauge to bolster Dhalsim’s lateral space control. It was already one of Dhalsim’s best moves in Street Fighter IV, and it’s even more important here since his other versions of Yoga Fire no longer serve the same purpose. If you want horizontal fireball coverage, it’s EX Yoga Fire or nothing.

Although you can use Yoga Fire in combos, it isn’t usually good for this in and of itself, partially because it’ll whiff over characters in crouching hitstun. But more importantly, it doesn’t knock down, and it leaves Dhalsim at -6 on hit! Instead, MP Yoga Flame should be your usual combo ender. But Yoga Fire can be good in combos that lead directly into Dhalsim’s Critical Art because it doesn’t push the victim as far away, so Yoga Sunburst won’t be prone to miss as it sometimes can from Yoga Flame cancels. EX Yoga Fire in combos is a different story since it leaves Dhalsim at +4 on hit, allowing for a link into crouching EX Yoga Flame if close enough.

LP Yoga Flame

MP Yoga Flame

HP Yoga Flame

EX Yoga Flame

Yoga Flame: Dhalsim’s classic Yoga Flame is a sudden blast of fiery air that billows directly in front of him, knocking down anyone it hits. The fireball is a projectile, so it will cancel out incoming projectiles, but it will also dissipate instantly if Dhalsim gets hit. The lighter the version, the quicker it hits; the heavier the version, the more damage it does, and the more advantage Dhalsim has when blocked.

LP Yoga Flame is most useful as a quick fireball neutralizer from long range, as an occasional “poke” from mid range, and as a chipping blockstring ender up close. You can think of the flame gust as an invulnerable limb, since it doesn’t have a hurtbox. Blocked, LP Yoga Flame leaves Dhalsim at -3, safe against all but the fastest punishers and likely too far for three-frame jabs to connect. LP Yoga Flame can also be used in combos, but MP Yoga Flame works in the same places as the LP version, while dealing more damage and leaving Dhalsim with less disadvantage when guarded (-2).

MP Yoga Flame is Dhalsim’s staple combo finisher canceled into from Yoga Upper, Divine Kick, or crouching . Combos into MP Yoga Flame can also lead to Yoga Sunburst for huge damage, but this can be inconsistent unless you start combos from point-blank range or lead into MP Yoga Flame from Yoga Upper ().

HP Yoga Flame has the longest startup and won’t combo off his cancelable attacks, but it actually leaves Dhalsim with +3 advantage on block. If your offensive opening (the most basic being a low-altitude aerial Yoga Teleport into jumping , then grounded Divine Kick) is guarded, you can cancel into LP Yoga Flame to score a little chip damage without a frame gap, or HP Yoga Flame to leave a tiny gap before doing more chip damage while keeping tempo advantage. The small gap gives opponents a chance to react poorly, thus eating point-blank HP Yoga Flame. HP Yoga Flame is also the best version to use meaty, like over a foe’s body on wakeup or under an enemy falling from air recovery, about to land on their feet. When HP Yoga Flame hits, the adversary is jugglable afterward (see Combo 6).

EX Yoga Flame is the fastest and most damaging version, and it behaves a little differently. Dhalsim sweeps his fiery gust from a downward to upward angle, searing and juggling anything in the way. EX Yoga Flame is actually several projectiles—instead of one sweeping projectile, it’s a new projectile about every 15 degrees along its arc of attack—but the timing for the gusts makes this inconsistent for actually clashing with incoming multi-hit projectiles. In combos near corners, EX Yoga Flame allows for an immediate juggle with jumping EX Yoga Gale.

LP Yoga Gale during neutral or forward jump

MP Yoga Gale during neutral or forward jump

HP Yoga Gale during neutral or forward jump

Air EX Yoga Gale during neutral or forward jump

Yoga Gale: Brand new to Street Fighter V, Dhalsim has a version of Yoga Flame that can be performed in midair. You can perform it normally during neutral and forward jumps, as well as after Yoga Float and air Yoga Teleport. Yoga Gale is a short-range airborne gust of flame that extends down and in front of Dhalsim, after which he falls back to Earth with the momentum he had before. (In other words, he drifts forward on the way down from a forward jump and falls straight down after a neutral jump.) LP Yoga Gale is a bit faster and deals a bit less damage, HP Yoga Gale is slower but slightly more damaging, and MP Yoga Gale is in between. All versions of Yoga Gale cause heavy stun damage, more than any other Dhalsim attack except HP Yoga Flame.

Non-EX Yoga Gale has a variety of uses. It can preemptively control airspace and alter Dhalsim’s jump arcs, and it has a wide enough hitbox to nail grounded characters if Dhalsim jumps and executes Yoga Gale just off the ground with a tiger knee-esque motion of (pause)(though this shortcut doesn’t work for the EX version and will produce Yoga Teleport instead if you try it). “Perfect” tiger knee Yoga Gales are quick, low-crushing, anti-throw-tech attacks that even hit crouchers and leave Dhalsim at positive frames when blocked, like a flaming low-altitude dive kick. You can also use Yoga Gale as a plus-on-block knockdown hit after low-altitude air Yoga Teleport, or after drifting a bit post-Yoga Float.

EX Yoga Gale’s flame arc sweeps upward like the grounded version’s, and its primary use is after grounded EX Yoga Flame near corners to cap a juggle combo with a high-stun hit. It’s also higher-priority than normal Yoga Gales. If the opponent extends a high-priority attack into regular Yoga Gale, Dhalsim can get counter-hit out because his hurtbox actually extends in the air over where the fire gusts. The EX version’s hurtbox only extends slightly beyond Dhalsim’s head, though, so it’s more consistent air-to-air or as a low-altitude pseudo-poke. In order to poke or juggle at low altitude with “instant” EX Yoga Gale, you can’t use the tiger knee shortcut; instead, you must simply jump forward and then perform the motion as fast as possible.

Yoga Teleport or or

Air Yoga Teleport or or while jumping

Yoga Teleport: Perhaps Dhalsim’s signature maneuver, Yoga Teleport is vital for unpredictability, aiding both his tricky overhead offense and his runaway defense. Dhalsim seats himself lotus in midair and winks out of existence, reappearing across the screen. Use to cross to the far side of your foe, or use to remain on the same side. (If the enemy is cornered, won’t cross beyond them into the corner.) Yoga Teleport can be performed left or right, both on the ground and in the air, with slightly different properties.

Grounded Yoga Teleport is immediately strike and projectile-invincible for three frames before becoming fully invincible for a while. Think of it as Dhalsim’s reversal, allowing him to escape from tight situations as long as the opponent doesn’t go for a throw right away. Dhalsim is punishable again once he arrives at his destination, though, so savvy foes will try to bait your defensive Yoga Teleport, then quickly move into position to punish its recovery. Your backward ground Yoga Teleport actually has five extra frames of landing recovery to help facilitate this approach for aggressors. (Of course, if you read that they’ll back off a bit, reading YOUR desire to teleport, you can just do nothing, since their attempt to be ready to punish a teleport means they’re momentarily not actually pressuring you.) But depending on distance and character matchup, adversaries often simply won’t be able to reach Dhalsim post-teleport, and you’ll want to exploit this maneuverability advantage whenever possible.

Air Yoga Teleport isn’t invincible until the sixth frame but takes up fewer frames overall. Also, most importantly, it can end with Dhalsim just above the opponent, either in front of them or just over their heads in cross-up position. This opens the door to various aggressive tactics, as well as working with Yoga Float to give Dhalsim air control. And, just like grounded Yoga Teleport, air Yoga Teleport can be used to reinforce Dhalsim’s movement potential. From a close-range or mid-range neutral standoff, tiger knee backward air teleport just above ground height, then poke with air or out of the teleport, creating lateral space and asserting air control.

To play Dhalsim well, it’s crucial that you master the “instant” Yoga Teleport. Input or , hold the upward diagonal input just long enough for pre-jump frames to elapse and for Dhalsim to become airborne and drift upward a handful of frames, then press (swapping sides if possible) or (not swapping sides). After a forward air Yoga Teleport, you’ll almost always want to attack with jumping ; after a backward air Yoga Teleport, you’ll usually want to extend far-reaching pokes with jumping or .

You can Yoga Float and then Yoga Teleport, but you cannot Yoga Teleport and then Yoga Float.