Unique Attacks

Opening Dagger

Opening Dagger: Necalli pounces forward a small distance into a downward swipe attack. As with most overhead attacks, Opening Dagger is largely unsafe on block (at -4). However, it does have Crush Counter properties on counter-hit, which is a unique trait for an overhead attack. With Necalli’s crouching being one of his primary pokes from mid range, Opening Dagger is an invaluable tool since it gives you another avenue in cracking your opponent’s defense. See Combo 13 for a possible Crush Counter combo off of Opening Dagger.

Road of the Sun at apex of forward jump

Road of the Sun: Road of the Sun is akin to Akuma’s dive kick from older SF games (like Street Fighter Alpha 2 and SFIV); it can only be executed during the apex of a forward jump, but its active duration lasts until landing. Like most dive kicks, its advantages on hit and block are determined by the height of impact with the enemy. On hit, it’s possible to link into standing or crouching for a combo (see Combo 10).

Although this dive kick can be guarded while crouching, it’s an exceptional aerial attack that suits Necalli’s aggressive playstyle well. With its ability to drastically change Necalli’s jump arc and angle of attack, you can use Road of the Sun in a variety of ways, including baiting out ill-spaced anti-air attacks or as a frontal mix-up to your forward jumping cross-up.

Sacrificial Altar

Sacrificial Altar Follow-Up

Sacrificial Altar: Initiated from standing , Sacrificial Altar is a three-hit target combo ending in Necalli’s Culminated Power V-Skill. You can cancel into the succeeding and on hit or block, but as with most target combos, advantage on the second and third attacks is penalized (second hit blocked is -8, while third attack blocked is -9). You’ll want to ensure that your first standing is a successful attack, or else risk being heavily punished.

This target combo is meant for building V-Gauge without sacrificing stamina. However, in most cases, if you’re in position to score a Sacrificial Altar combo, you could have used a more damaging link combo. Essentially, you’re trading potential damage for extra V-Gauge. See Combo 5 and Combo 9 for examples.

Interestingly, Culminated Power in this target combo rewards 150 V-Gauge when you combo into it, due to scaling. Otherwise, it rewards 188 (for instance, if your opponent blocks standing and then walks into the follow-up ).

Unlike using Culminated Power on its own, you can actually V-Trigger and Critical Art-cancel the final portion of Sacrificial Altar. This opens up more combo opportunities, allowing you to juggle into Ceremony of Honor or Soul Offering. This unique trait also allows you to keep up frame advantage for a powerful momentum-based play, using your whole target combo canceled into Torrent of Power.