V-System

V-Skill

Psycho Reflect

Psycho Reflect (Projectile) (hold)

Psycho Reflect: Historically, M. Bison’s weakness has been projectiles. This V-Skill changes that. Tap the medium normal buttons to trigger Psycho Reflect, which becomes active after six frames, for a seven-frame absorption window. Like Zangief’s Iron Body and Ryu’s Mind’s Eye, any single-hit attack that overlaps with Psycho Reflect’s active period will be absorbed, and M. Bison will gain a little bit of V-Gauge.

If you hold the medium buttons down, M. Bison will transition into his projectile follow-up after a successful absorption. He throws one of the fastest fireballs in the game back across the screen, a purple two-hit blast of plasma that knocks down on hit. In common sequences where a projectile zoner might throw fireball after fireball, you can reflect the first one, and Psycho Reflect’s projectile will plow through their next fireball. This knocks the adversary down and gives you a window to dash/jump forward freely. If you worry that your opponent might plan for Psycho Reflect, throwing a bait fireball and then waiting for you to reflect it so they can jump in over your follow-up, you can simply absorb the fireball. Then, you can be ready to anti-air them if they jump in prospectively.

Psycho Reflect works on both strikes and projectiles. However, it can be hard and risky to try applying it this way, except against thoroughly scouted stuff like an obscenely telegraphed Nash Moonsault Slash.

V-Reversal

Psycho Burst during guard

Psycho Burst: M. Bison explodes in a burst of psycho energy all around him. The hitbox for this is what it looks like, so it will win unambiguously against jump-ins or ground attacks anywhere close to M. Bison, causing a knockdown in the process. However, because it covers his body and doesn’t extend much beyond that, it can end up whiffing against cross-ups that leave the enemy standing a step or two away, or against their long-reaching pokes. You’ll want to save this for engagements where you expect the adversary to strike flush with M. Bison.

M. Bison’s three-stock V-Trigger is game-changing and worth saving for, but you may feel compelled to use Psycho Burst defensively because of M. Bison’s general lack of good defensive options. Against airtight pressure and quick characters, he can get badly rushed down up close if you aren’t careful, and V-Reversal is a way of trying to take back tempo advantage before things get out of hand. It can also save M. Bison from being dizzied if you time it well and get him away from danger.

V-Trigger

Psycho Power

Psycho Power: M. Bison unleashes the full scope of his strength during this power-up state. His warping forward dash becomes even longer and faster, and also much more invincible, increasing from normal dash’s three fully invincible frames all the way to eight, followed by another five frames of strike and projectile-invulnerability. During Psycho Power, with good timing, it’s feasible to dash straight through incoming fireballs and attacks. Furthermore, up close, M. Bison will pass through opponents during the warping portion of the dash, switching sides.

Like most V-Trigger activations, you can use the beginning of Psycho Power as part of a hit-check combo. Examples include crouching Psycho Power standing etc., confirm into HK Double Knee Press Psycho Power crouching V LK Double Knee Press, and so on. Since it can interrupt any grounded normal, you can also use it to make your long-range crouching slide safe, V-Trigger-canceling it on contact. Some specials are also V-Trigger-cancelable; you can link into V-Trigger after Double Knee Press, or cancel into V-Trigger and then dash straight through the opposing character after blocked (or meaty) Psycho Inferno.

Psycho Power lasts 25 seconds, and you lose 2.5 seconds of duration whenever you use a special move. Like during Necalli’s V-Trigger transformation, when you cancel into a special move from a normal, charge is no longer required. You can cancel crouching into LK Double Knee Press simply by tapping . With no charge needed and access to a pass-through dash, it’s possible to fish for safe ground cross-up combos by dashing through them, and then going for one or two light attacks canceled into V Psycho Blast. You just tick and tap the command out after the dash-through cross-up. Not only does charge become unnecessary, but grounded V-specials can be canceled into any other V EX special. The best combo example, pound for pound, is likely that you can hit-confirm into V Double Knee Press V EX Psycho Inferno V EX Head Press (canceling the specials together as quickly as possible), but there are many possibilities.

All of M. Bison’s special moves are enhanced with new properties during Psycho Power.

V Psycho Blast Charge ,

V EX Psycho Blast Charge ,

V Psycho Blast: There’s only one non-EX version of V Psycho Blast. It has more range and a better hitbox than non-Psycho Power versions, and it’s only one frame slower on startup than regular LP Psycho Blast. V Psycho Blast leaves M. Bison at +1 when blocked. This becomes an all-purpose go-to in short hit-confirms and blockstrings during Psycho Power.

V EX Psycho Blast travels faster and farther than normal EX Psycho Blast. During mid-range to long-range neutral game staring contests, you can break the ice with V EX Psycho Blast V EX Head Press, which allows M. Bison to close in almost totally safely at the cost of two EX stocks. Up close in combos, V EX Psycho Blast can actually juggle into itself repeatedly, though this is a showy, inefficient use of EX Gauge.

V Psycho Inferno

V EX Psycho Inferno

V Psycho Inferno: Like with V Psycho Blast, all non-EX versions of V Psycho Inferno are the same move. V Psycho Inferno hits as fast as the normal LP version, launching the opponent into a jugglable position on hit. You can catch them with V EX Double Knee Press for great damage with only one stock spent. If guarded, V Psycho Inferno leaves M. Bison at -5, better off than the normal versions.

V EX Psycho Inferno hits on both sides at the same speed as the normal HP version, with the longest active period of any Psycho Inferno by far. This version leaves M. Bison at +4 when guarded. V EX Psycho Inferno is most useful for adding tons of punch to hit-confirms using V Double Knee Press. It’s also a relatively safe move to throw out in the mid-range game when you think suddenly controlling a lot of space might be appropriate, like against Dhalsim trying to Yoga Teleport in.

V LK Double Knee Press Charge ,

V MK Double Knee Press Charge ,

V HK Double Knee Press Charge ,

V EX Double Knee Press Charge ,

V Double Knee Press: Psycho Power versions of Double Knee Press have a fully invincible period that begins on Frame 6 (Frame 4 for the EX V-version) and lasts five to 10 frames, depending on the version. Because of this extended invincible startup, V Double Knee Presses are actually a little slower than normal versions, striking three to four frames later.

If you’re attempting to use this invincible period in mid-range footsies, stick to the HK and EX versions. (The EX version leaves M. Bison at +3 when guarded.) Compared with the LK and MK versions, it’s like the difference between trying to dash through stuff with M. Bison’s normal dash versus his buffed V-dash.

In combos, you’ll have to use lighter versions than normal. You’ll have to cancel from standing to MK V Double Knee Press, and from crouching to LK V DKP. (And note that LK V DKP hits too slowly to combo from light pokes, unlike normal LK Double Knee Press; use V Psycho Blast when canceling from standing or crouching .)

V Head Press Charge ,

V EX Head Press Charge ,

V Head Press: During V Head Press, M. Bison leaps upon the enemy and smacks them with a harder hit than normal Head Press, causing an unrecoverable knockdown on hit. If blocked, M. Bison is left at between +1 and +3, depending on the height of the block contact against a standing target. M. Bison simply lands after blocked V Head Press and doesn’t bounce off; there is no V-Trigger version of Somersault Skull Diver. You can transition to V Devil Reverse with a input before the hit, forgoing V Head Press altogether.

V EX Head Press is strike-invincible for the first four frames of startup before going airborne on Frame 8 and then disappearing completely on Frame 19. M. Bison reappears above the opponent’s head on the 26th frame of startup and plunges downward with his most powerful Head Press variant. On hit, M. Bison enters a brief cinematic where he knocks the adversary down and then teleport-stomps them again, dealing heavy damage and causing an unrecoverable knockdown. If blocked, depending on the height of the defender, M. Bison is at +2 or +3 after landing. V EX Head Press is its own distinct attack and cannot transition into any version of Skull Diver or Devil Reverse.

V Devil Reverse Before Head Press hit/guard,

V EX Devil Reverse Before Head Press hit/guard,

V Devil Reverse: Activate this after starting V Head Press but before it hits. Both the normal and EX version lead to M. Bison warping to the other side of the opponent in midair before plunging downward with his usual Devil Reverse punch. The hitbox/hurtbox ratio for V Devil Reverse is much improved compared with normal Devil Reverse, making M. Bison less susceptible to having this attack cleanly interrupted by, well, anything. Non-EX V Devil Reverse hits a little faster than the EX version; the EX version takes longer to swap sides and warp but stays invincible a bit longer and does far more damage and stun on hit. One weird quirk with V EX Devil Reverse that’s worth pointing out is that M. Bison warps and swaps sides to just above and behind the adversary for a single vulnerable frame before becoming invincible. This isn’t true for non-EX V Devil Reverse, which becomes invincible on M. Bison’s starting side and then swaps sides. This means that there are very specific situations in which V EX Devil Reverse might run M. Bison directly into an on screen threat where V Devil Reverse would not.

If V Devil Reverse is blocked, it leads to a great landing situation for M. Bison, just like with his other aerial V-specials. Depending on height and velocity when V Devil Reverse is blocked, he can be between +5 and +10 upon landing. For V EX Devil Reverse, this potential frame advantage jumps to between +12 and +15.