Strategy

Long Range

Nash’s Sonic Boom is the cornerstone of his overall gameplay, not because of its chip damage threat, but because of its ability to let Nash attack on his own terms. Against most characters at long range, you’ll want to use HP Sonic Boom for a slow-traveling, way-paving projectile that allows you to trail it with your forward dash or Moonsault Slash. For instance, if you’re up against an immobile character like Zangief near full screen, you can freely throw HP Sonic Boom. As soon as Nash releases it and has recovered, dash forward. At this point, you can react to most answers. If your adversary jumps at you, you can anti-air with standing , air throw, or EX Sonic Scythe. If he blocks, you can engage into mid or close range, or even go for a frame trap/throw setup.

To mix it up, you can start using LP Sonic Boom since its travel speed is faster. However, it’s not that hard to deal with because of the fact that Nash releases his projectiles near his body (as opposed to how Ryu lunges forward before firing off Hadoken). This gives the opponent much more time to deal with the projectile, making Nash’s zoning much weaker than Ryu and Ken’s. This is the reason it’s much better to be aggressive as Nash (or at least around mid range) rather than staying at full screen chucking Sonic Booms. Additionally, you’ll have a hard time holding ground due to Nash’s lack of invincible anti-air (also, his anti-air normal attacks do not knock down).

If you do choose to apply a zoning game, you can bait out badly timed forward jumps from the opponent by changing up your Sonic Boom timing or by using different Sonic Boom versions. For instance, if you’ve been pelting your foe with LP Sonic Boom, you can fake them out with HP Sonic Boom, potentially getting them to jump onto it and then leading into a possible juggle with MK Sonic Scythe, MP Tragedy Assault, or Knee Bazooka (within range). Otherwise, you can use a crouch/stand animation fake-out to trick adversaries into jumping into your air throw. Since Sonic Boom is performed with a motion, you have to make Nash crouch before throwing it. You can exploit this by tapping , then go back to neutral state, followed by a whiffed jab. This can signal to your opponent that a Sonic Boom

is coming and cause them to instinctively jump at Nash, handing over a free anti-air punish for you.

Against other zoning characters, Nash has a leg up at long range with his Bullet Clear V-Skill. When you absorb projectiles, you gain 100 V-Gauge, getting you closer to a free escape in your V-Reversal or for your valuable Sonic Move V-Trigger mix-ups. The downside is that you have to wait until the opposing projectile is close to Nash, meaning you’re giving up advantage to your enemy if they choose to advance. Instead, you can opt to just trade projectiles to build meter in these situations. If you can gain a projectile advantage and force an opponent to trade with your HP Sonic Boom, you can react to a late fireball trade and punish their limbs with MK Sonic Scythe or . For instance, throw out HP Sonic Boom against Ryu; if he decides to trade with Hadoken while it’s near him, you’re free to act, and you can nail his hands with your MK Sonic Scythe.

Alternatively, if you’re in a fireball war, you can try for MK/HK/EX Moonsault Slash to punish a well-read projectile. If your opponent is predictable with their fireball patterns, feel free to go for a Moonsault Slash to hit them during their projectile recovery. If you’ve conditioned your adversary to look for Moonsault Slash, you can use LK Moonsault Slash to bait out a punishable anti-air. For example, throw out LK Moonsault Slash from full screen against a Ryu player looking to nail you with MP Shoryuken; he’ll miss Nash because he’s too far, potentially rewarding you with a reversal punish counter-hit combo.

Just past mid range (about half-screen distance), you can use Spinning Back Knuckle to deter opponents from walking in or throwing projectiles. If you manage to land a counter-hit Spinning Back Knuckle at max range, you can catch the crumpling enemy with HP Tragedy Assault, siphoning half a stock of EX Gauge. Otherwise, you can go for forward jumping from around this range for a long-distance jump-in attempt into Combo 6c.

Mid Range

Almost all of Nash’s unique attacks involving a input are effective at mid range (with being the exception). While crouching isn’t special-cancelable, it’s one of the most annoying mid-range attacks for opponents to deal with thanks to its range. The downside is that since Nash’s walk speed is abysmal, it’s difficult to implement a whiff-punishing footsie strategy. To complement your crouching , you can start using Step Kick once you’ve pushed your enemy outside of crouching range. It has a decent hitbox-to-hurtbox ratio because Nash lifts his front leg up, potentially avoiding crouching kick attacks while extending a midsection kick to the croucher’s face.

Alternatively, past your crouching range, you can go for your low-crushing Jumping Sobat attack. This inches Nash forward while being invulnerable to lows. On counter-hit, you can go into Combo 14. This is the safest mid-range attack to stick out in most cases, as it’s -3 on block and Nash is normally too far to be hit with three-frame jabs at mid range. If you want to start mounting a close-range offense, you can instead use Knee Bazooka () as a quick and unexpected gap-closing attack.

If you want to take your attacks into the air from mid range, use LK Moonsault Slash. From within half a screen’s distance away, LK Moonsault Slash makes for one of the better aggressive options. It’s ±0 on guard and deals almost 20 points of chip. Plus, it’s difficult to react to, as it doesn’t necessarily look like a jumping attack. Your opponent must be specifically looking out for it in order to punish with an anti-air attack. Abuse this move as much as possible until your foe starts to interrupt Nash out of it. Even if they do, Nash is only hit out of the air and not in

danger of a full grounded combo. From farther out, you can use MK Moonsault Slash for its increased range and additional guardstun (+1 on block).

From about Spinning Back Knuckle range, you can safely chip your opponent with MK Sonic Scythe. It’s -8 on block, but if you can manage to space it correctly, you’re even safe from Ryu’s Shinku Hadoken reversal punish. Also from range, Nash’s forward dash will cover enough distance to get in range for a throw attempt. This can be a powerful technique if you sense hesitation from your foe, or if you can find a hole in their footsie game. It’s an extremely aggressive maneuver, but you’re sure to surprise many players with this line of play.

For a safer chip damage alternative, you can use Sonic Boom from mid range as an extension of Nash’s limbs without sticking out vulnerable hurtboxes. Mix up chipping the opponent with LP, MP, and HP Sonic Booms, as they have varying startup times that make them difficult to read. Of course, you’ll have to worry about your enemy guess-jumping over and punishing you heavily, so keep that threat in mind and gauge how your adversary reacts. If you can bait out a forward jump, go for an air throw, standing , or EX Sonic Scythe anti-air punish.

If Nash is within range, you can try for forward jump cross-up to keep the enemy on their toes. On hit, you can go into Combo 4 or Combo 5. For instance, after a close-up blocked sequence, go for a forward jump cross-up for another close-range engagement.

Close Range

While Nash is strongest at mid range, his close-quarters combat is serviceable, especially with his standing HP Sonic Boom frame traps and re-engages with standing LK Moonsault Slash. His throws are uninspiring, but his forward dash from far out allows him to get into range for them easily.

For a low-check combo, his Combo 1 is easy to execute. For example, after a dash-in from mid range, go for crouching standing , and upon hit-confirming, cancel into LK Sonic Scythe. On block, you’re at +2, leaving you a window to stick out another attack. You can immediately input crouching in an attempt to out-poke your opponent. Now that Nash is at mid range, you can then engage again with LK Moonsault Slash, Jumping Sobat, or Knee Bazooka (or just start chucking Sonic Booms).

As for frame trap setups, you have a couple of options available. Off of a blocked forward jumping , for instance, you can walk all the way up flush to your foe and go for a delayed crouching . It’s +2 on block and +6 on hit, so you can readily link into another standing for Combo 3. Another frame trap sequence you can apply at close range is standing . On a successful counter-hit, you can potentially land a fat Crush Counter combo (see Combo 12a). HP Sonic Boom is only -1 on block, so this blockstring is rather safe to use. Alternatively, you can substitute the HP Sonic Boom with EX Moonsault Slash. This will also link on a Crush Counter standing , as seen in Combo 13.

Standing is a unique attack in SFV—on block, it causes virtually no pushback (its pushback on hit is normal). This gives you a medium attack tick into a possible throw or frame trap as you’re still in range. Additionally, you’re left at ±0 on block. The downside is that standing doesn’t naturally link into other attacks, unless you score a counter-hit with it (see Combo 10). What you can do, however, is use a two-level hit-check with standing , such as a preceding cross-up forward jumping , affording you time to confirm into Raptor Combination. For details, see Combo 5.

If you gauge your opponent’s playstyle as overly defensive at close range, you can start going for your Chopping Assault overhead. It’s not particularly fast, but it does crush most crouching low kicks and must be blocked high. It rewards you with 60 points of damage against unsuspecting foes while instilling the fear of an overhead when Nash is within range (potentially opening up crouching pokes). This move is exceptionally useful to K.O. a low-stamina enemy.

One of Nash’s primary weaknesses is his lack of invincible reversals. To further exacerbate the issue, he doesn’t have a three-frame jab (his light attacks all have a four-frame startup). If you’re under heavy pressure and in blockstun, you may just have to use a stock of V-Gauge to teleport out of trouble with Sonic Move – Avoid. With a two-stock V-Gauge, you’re likely to gain back enough for Sonic Move – Hide/Blitz Air/Steel Air as long as you have enough stamina left (or if you can connect with a Crush Counter).

Since Nash doesn’t have a great meterless anti-air for the area directly above his head, you might have trouble defending against air attacks from the ground. With preparation, you can use Air Jack against close jumping attacks, such as a cross-up attempt. If you don’t have time to meet your enemy in the air with Air Jack, you’ll have to either block or dash forward under the airborne opponent.

Sonic Move Setups

Nash’s V-Trigger is one of the most difficult to master and use efficiently. It doesn’t power him up, nor does it actually trigger an attack. The positive aspect is that it’s extremely versatile in what it can do to swing matches back into your favor.

Offensively, you can use it for left/right mix-ups when combined with a slow-traveling HP Sonic Boom (or with EX Sonic Boom whiff-cancels).

Here is an example setup using an MK Sonic Scythe finisher: Crouching , immediately follow up with , then immediately execute for a cross-up Sonic Boom hit into Combo 6b.

The alternative is to go for OR . With the mix-up, you get a cross-up Sonic Boom, as well as a full-on jumping combo as the enemy reels into Nash off of the Sonic Boom hit. If you opt for a same-side mix-up with , you generally won’t be able to combo from the Sonic Boom hitstun, unless your opponent is cornered. In that case, you can go for a falling jumping to connect with for a medium-damage combo.

Additionally, you can do these with other combo enders, like Nash’s knockdown target combos (which are great since they leave you at such a high knockdown advantage) and HK Sonic Scythe (albeit not as effective since the enemy has much more time to react and jump out of it).

One of the best ways that foes can avoid Nash’s Sonic Boom/Sonic Move setups is to forward jump as soon as they see the screen freeze from his V-Trigger. This can nullify your entire V-Gauge. To combat this (if you know that your opponent knows about this escape), you can go for a frontal Sonic Move into a neutral jumping juggle. You’ll hit your adversary out of the air with a potential juggle follow-up combo.

The other method for an enemy dealing with these cross-up setups is to simply hold forward when they see the screen freeze. Of course, this is just purely guessing, but it does limit the amount of damage Nash can do, as the frontal mix-up doesn’t afford him as much combo opportunity (unless he’s cornered). If you (as Nash), think the opponent will block your Sonic Boom after you’ve used (Sonic Move – Steel Air), you can go for an “empty jump” crouching . Instead of attacking in the air, simply fall, and then immediately go into a crouching standing hit-check combo. This can be extremely difficult to block since your natural inclination against an airborne opponent is to guard the first attack standing.

Another less convoluted setup is to just force a Spinning Back Knuckle block, canceled into any one of your Sonic Moves. For example, the sequence of , falling jumping cannot be jumped out of. Your opponent must either use an invincible reversal special or guard the correct way. You might not get a powerful combo using a frontal mix-up, but against certain players, it might be more effective because astute challengers will likely hold forward after a Sonic Boom into screen freeze sequence.

Although Nash’s V-Trigger has excellent offensive functionality, its defensive and reactive uses should not be underestimated. It’s invincible on the second frame and puts Nash behind the opponent by the 12th frame. This means that if you can react to a normal attack, you can most likely punish its recovery from anywhere on the screen. This has major implications in many matches, especially other zoning characters (like Dhalsim, F.A.N.G, Ken, Rashid, Ryu, etc.). For example, if you’re fast enough, you can Sonic Move – Hide past Dhalsim’s standing poke and punish with a jab into LK Sonic Scythe (using sharp reactions and good anticipation). Otherwise, you can whiff-punish with crouching or standing and cancel into Sonic Move – Hide for a follow-up standing HK Sonic Scythe combo.