V-System

V-Skill

Meioken

Meioken LV.2 (hold)

Meioken: Karin’s V-Skill palm strike. She steps forward and cracks the air about a dash’s distance in front of her with a projectile hitbox that extends past her vulnerable hand and into the disturbed air in front of it. Her hand and extended knee have vulnerable hurtboxes while striking, but these extended limbs are at least projectile-invincible, combining with her sound barrier-breaking projectile hitbox to help punch aside incoming fireballs. On hit, Meioken knocks the target down, giving you some V-Gauge and earning Karin corner push. There are two versions of Meioken, depending on if you tap or hold them. Tap them for the quicker Meioken, which hits in 14 frames and leaves Karin at -5 if blocked (though this can be relatively safe from the tip, depending on your opponent’s reach and resources). Hold them for lv.2 Meioken, which hits in 21 frames for a bit more damage, stun, and V-Gauge gain and is safe on block (-1). Lv.2 Meioken’s projectile hitbox is also a bit taller and farther-reaching, as evidenced by the larger wind disturbance produced. You can use lv.2 Meioken as a powerful poke from mid range, aimed to hit with the wind effect in front of Karin’s hand. On block, canceling from lv.2 Meioken to her Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata V-Trigger is her strongest V-Trigger blockstring starter at +15. The quicker version of Meioken can serve as a deterring counter-point to attempts to beat the relatively slower charged version, but unless you expect to counter a projectile’s startup, it’s quicker and safer to use standing as a fast, long-reaching interruption move. Fast Meioken is also great for easy juggling after Tenko launches, sacrificing the positional advantage after juggling with Mujinkyaku instead for V-Gauge gain and juggle reach.

V-Reversal

Yashagaeshi

Yashagaeshi: Karin scissors her arms apart in front of her while strike and projectile-invincible, knocking down anyone who happens to be in the way. As a V-Reversal that knocks the victim down up close, this can be very useful for resetting tempo in your favor when playing Karin. This is especially true if you don’t want to spend EX Gauge or risk whiffing using EX Ressenha defensively. As long as you use your first V-Reversal as soon as you get the stock, you’ll almost certainly still get enough V-Gauge to use V-Trigger before the current round ends. Karin is a momentum-based offensive character, so it can be worth taking back control whenever possible.

V-Trigger

Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata

Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata: Karin briefly glows and the screen freezes, signaling her powered-up state, and she then gains access to a new special move that leads into amplified versions of all her other specials. This state lasts for 2000 frames, depleting slowly. (An extra 300 frames are consumed each time you use Guren Ken; 500 frames are consumed for using Guren Kyoho; frames are not consumed for using specials branching from Guren Ken.) With during V-Trigger, you’ll execute her Guren Ken double-punch. This special move can be canceled into a whole suite of powered-up specials, so vast mix-up and combo potential is built right into Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata. You can also use the initial activation to enhance a single hit-check, letting you safely fish for a combo up close with standing or .

Guren Ken

Guren Ken: A forward-lunging two-hit punch. Like with Meioken, Karin’s extended arm and knee are strike-vulnerable but projectile-invulnerable, and her punches have projectile hitboxes. The invincible portion extending in front of her hand is even farther-reaching than with Meioken. With various inputs during Guren Ken, you’ll make Karin proceed to one of her follow-ups. Performing Guren Ken without transitioning to a follow-up move leaves Karin at -6 when guarded, a punishable disadvantage. On block, you’ll usually at least want to end relatively safely with Guren Chochu (+1 blocked).

Guren Hosho during Guren Ken

Guren Hosho: This adds a third hit to the Guren Ken double-punch. It knocks down targets with an attack that looks just like Meioken but lacks the anti-projectile properties; this is just a normal strike hitbox here. On block, it’s -9, so it’s unsuitable for continued pressure when Guren Ken is guarded. For easy hit-confirm combos during Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata, you can cancel into Guren Ken from starters like crouching , standing x2, or crouching standing , then input for Guren Hosho if it’s hitting, or for Guren Chochu if it’s blocked. Guren Hosho also easily ends any juggle after Tenko launches.

Guren Senha during Guren Ken

Guren Senha: This attack greatly resembles Ressenha but is superior, with wheel punches that extend forward past Karin’s vulnerable hurtbox and force the opponent to guard standing. If they eat Guren Senha, you can link afterward with four-frame attacks, giving Karin confirmable combos from a tricky overhead during V-Trigger (see Combo 4). Like most overheads, this is -6 when blocked, but it’s still worth going for thanks to the payoff when you’re successful. Since adversaries must respect Guren Senha as an overhead from Guren Ken, they can’t just rely on crouching block like they can against Karin’s normal mix-up between Senha Resshu high throw vs. Senha Kusabi low slide; they must think about being ready to guard high. Guren Resshu then becomes a real threat against foes who plan to just block standing against a potential overhead.

Guren Chochu during Guren Ken

Guren Chochu: This short-ranged elbow strike is mostly used to make Guren Ken safer on block after failed assaults because it leaves Karin at +1 instead of Guren Ken’s -6. You can also use it in grounded hit-confirms as a kind of reset; instead of ending a combo with Guren Hosho or continuing from Guren Chochu to Guren Hochu (either of which causes a knockdown), simply stop at Guren Chochu (+2 on hit) and go for a walk-up normal throw, standing , crouching , or crouching . This can work when you’ve got the opponent preoccupied looking out for Karin’s other mix-up tools.

Guren Hochu during Guren Ken

Guren Hochu: A follow-up to Guren Chochu in which Karin passes through the enemy, completely invincible for a time, before hitting them from behind with an Orochi-like shoulder strike. While you’ve got the opponent worried about normal Guren Ken follow-ups from the front and Guren Chochu into walk-up throw/low, you can mix in an occasional Guren Hochu to transition into a cross-up knockdown. Like with using overheads, this is something you should do either sparingly or when you have a read on the challenger’s poor defensive habits. It’s -11 blocked, a far worse situation than if you’d simply stuck with traditional jumping cross-ups. When performing juggle combos during Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata, Guren Ken Guren Chochu Guren Hochu is one of Karin’s strongest enders, and you can cap it off with Hadorokushiki Critical Art for big damage, EX Gauge-permitting (remember that you have to input the Critical Art motion from the new direction). When juggling an enemy into a corner, you might still opt for Guren Ken Guren Hosho to finish juggles to avoid swapping sides and getting Karin cornered after Guren Hochu.

Guren Resshu during Guren Ken or Chochu

Guren Resshu: The Guren Ken follow-up version of Karin’s normal Ressenha throw option. This is much better after Guren Ken than it is after Ressenha because you can create a real guessing game between overhead Senha, low-hitting crouching , and anti-standing block Resshu. If you show someone you can confirm a Guren Senha hit into a combo, they’ll be extra inclined to default to standing guard, allowing Resshu to grab them.

Guren Kusabi during Guren Ken or Chochu

Guren Kusabi: The V-Trigger version of Karin’s post-Ressenha slide kick. The difference between this one and the normal version is that Guren Kusabi has projectile-invulnerable, low-profile frames. Normal Senha Kusabi can be counter-hit at standing height, even though it appears that Karin is low to the ground; Guren Kusabi actually ducks under high-hitting attacks and passes through incoming projectiles. It’s still horribly unsafe if guarded early, like Senha Kusabi, though it has one fewer frame of recovery and is slightly easier to make safe by hitting from max distance with just the last active frame or two. Between the double-hitting projectile hitbox of Guren Ken and the projectile-dodging slide of Guren Kusabi, this can be a decent but gimmicky engagement from long range into close range against zoners who are throwing repeated projectiles. If what you want is a low mix-up after blocked Guren Ken, use crouching Guren Ken instead.

Guren Kyoho during Guren Ken

Guren Kyoho: Apart from Guren Ken itself, this is the only entirely new move available to V-Trigger Karin. With this movement special, she transitions directly from Guren Ken’s double-punch into a quick backward dash that travels an extra character length farther than Karin’s actual backdash. Using Guren Kyoho also depletes 500 remaining frames of Kanzuki-Ryu Guren No Kata duration, making its use the fastest way to rapidly deplete her V-Trigger timer. It can be worth the price, though, since opponents may choose to avoid the decision-making involved with defending against Guren Ken follow-up variations by simply using an invincible or armored reversal immediately after they block Guren Ken. A move like shoto MP Shoryuken, the Critical Arts of many characters, or even Karin’s own EX Ressenha will blast through the beginnings of all of her follow-up Guren specials, while also punishing Guren Ken on block.

When you suspect an opponent is eager to just cut through all of Karin’s shenanigans with a reversal, that’s the time to cancel Guren Ken into Guren Kyoho. From there, just wait and see what happens. If you scouted them correctly and they do indeed sail harmlessly into the air with a big reversal move, step forward and position Karin to punish it as hard as you can. If they remain passive or poke into the space Karin just vacated, counter-poke with standing , move right back in with Guren Ken, or dash forward and attempt a normal throw when they’re being overly turtlish in the face of Guren Ken’s enhanced options.