Editing Kazuya (SSBU)

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Masanori Shinohara, Kazuya's voice actor since ''{{iw|wikipedia|Tekken 4}}'', reprises his role in ''Ultimate'' in all regions.
Masanori Shinohara, Kazuya's voice actor since ''{{iw|wikipedia|Tekken 4}}'', reprises his role in ''Ultimate'' in all regions.


Kazuya ranks 11th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him at the top of the A+ tier. Kazuya possesses various strengths, the most significant being his deadly punish and combo game. He has a plethora of combo starters, including down throw, uncrouching attack, down-back tilt, and [[Electric Wind God Fist]], the latter being one of the best combo starters in the game; likewise he has many powerful combo finishers, including up smash, [[Devil Wings]], and [[Dragon Uppercut]]. As he also has a high overall damage output, this means he has several [[zero-to-death]] combos that are usually difficult to escape when perfectly executed. In addition, his damage output is increased when [[Rage (Kazuya)|Rage]] is activated, which not only increases his damage output but also grants him a stronger variant of [[Heaven's Door]], [[Rage Drive]]. All of these strengths makes Kazuya one of the deadliest, if not the deadliest, character to fight on the ground.
Kazuya ranks 11th out of 82 on the current [[tier list]], placing him at the top of the A+ tier. Kazuya possesses various strengths, the most significant being his large moveset, having more than double the moves of a usual fighter thanks to his diagonal inputs. He has an excellent grounded combo game courtesy of moves such as down throw, uncrouching attack and down-back tilt, all of which allowing him to keep opponents locked in vulnerable animations for long periods - the most notable of them is [[Electric Wind God Fist]], a near frame-perfect attack that rewards him with high amounts of [[intangibility]] and one of the best combo starters in the game, which can also be combo'd into. He also has high overall damage (which can be further boosted when under the effects of his character-specific [[Rage (Kazuya)|Rage]] buff at 100%) and a wide array of powerful finishers fitting his heavyweight status, and most of them are able to be combo'd into. Overall, this grants him reliable [[zero-to-death]] combo potential uncharacteristic of a heavyweight once his inputs are mastered, with some such as Electric Wind God Fist being almost inescapable. His moveset has significant utility in other areas: [[Crouch Dash]] grants a safe approach option, double dash attack acts as the strongest [[Reflection|reflector]] in the game, down smash is a fast [[meteor smash]], [[Gates of Hell]] is a harsh [[semi-spike]] that can [[gimp]] opponents with poor recoveries, up throw is one of the strongest of its kind, and most of his attacks have [[intangibility]] on parts of his body. Kazuya's special moves carry good utility as well, with [[Devil Blaster]] being effective for edgeguarding, [[Devil Fist]] granting a burst option and combo starter, [[Devil Wings]] being a powerful [[out of shield]] option and good vertical [[recovery]] that does not cause [[helpless]]ness, and [[Heaven's Door]] allowing him to punish shielding opponents, which is further boosted under the effects of Rage (which turns it into [[Rage Drive]], granting it [[super armor]] and extremely powerful KO potential). Finally, Kazuya has excellent staying power due to his heavy weight (being the 8th heaviest), [[passive armor]] which lets him shrug off very weak attacks, [[armor]] during his smash attacks, and a surprisingly good recovery for a heavyweight courtesy of his high [[double jump]] and Devil Wings, allowing him to make use of Rage even more. Combined, this makes Kazuya very dominant on the ground, as he is able to perform very damaging, difficult-to-escape combos from one opening.


However, Kazuya suffers from several polarizing weaknesses, the most significant being his poor frame data, extremely slow mobility, and poor defense. Almost all of his attacks, from combo and KO moves, come out on at least frame 12 and have very high ending lag, making most of his attacks unsafe on shield. He is also among the slowest characters in the game, possessing slow ground speed, air speed, and mobility if he is not constantly using Crouch Dash. When coupled with his low range and very slow jumpsquat (which is uniquely 7 frames instead of the universal 3 frames), this forces Kazuya to actively approach with grounded options and gives him a poor disadvantage state, due to his jump being a poor disengagement option while also lacking effective aerial combo breakers. His advantage state is also mediocre, as he primarily relies on connecting combos to succeed: if his combo drops halfway, he usually has to win neutral again, and his offstage abilities are sub-par due to his slow speed and few aerial options, which prevents him from netting early kills offstage outside of certain ground combos. Rage also has its drawbacks, as it can be lost after Kazuya takes enough damage, enough time passes, or too many uses of Rage Drive are attempted. Lastly, Kazuya's recovery is relatively exploitable due to its overall high lag, allowing opponents to punish him if he is careless.
However, Kazuya suffers from several polarizing weaknesses, the most significant being his poor frame data, extremely slow mobility, and poor defense. Almost all of his attacks, from combo and KO moves, come out on at least frame 12 and have very high ending lag, making most of his attacks unsafe on shield outside of grab or Electric Wind God Fist (which come out at frame 7 and 8 respectively). He is also among the slowest characters in the game, possessing slow ground speed, air speed, and mobility if he is not constantly using Crouch Dash. When coupled with his low range and very slow jumpsquat (which is uniquely 7 frames instead of the universal 3 frames), this forces Kazuya to actively approach with grounded options and gives him a poor disadvantage state, due to his jump being a poor disengagement option while also lacking effective aerial combo breakers. His advantage state is also mediocre, as he primarily relies on connecting combos to succeed: if his combo drops halfway, he usually has to win neutral again, and his offstage abilities are sub-par due to his slow speed and few aerial options, which prevents him from netting early kills offstage outside of certain ground combos (such as down throw into multiple neutral aerials). Rage, while powerful, gets lost after he takes enough damage, enough time passes, or too many uses of Rage Drive are attempted. Lastly, Kazuya's recovery, while somewhat flexible and able to be stalled with Devil Blaster and Heaven's Door, is exploitable due to its overall high lag allowing opponents to punish him if he is careless.


Overall, Kazuya's attributes provide a unique gameplay style in ''Ultimate'': mastering his kit grants access to a hard-hitting ground offense with heavy punishment and comeback potential, and similar to his appearances in ''Tekken'', his combos can often be long and heavily-damaging and he offers significant KO potential. However, his own weaknesses mean that if he misses an opening, he can find himself struggling to regain footing, while his sluggish frame data and poor disadvantage makes him equally as vulnerable to being overwhelmed. Utilizing him at his strongest is difficult due to the technical skill required and his large moveset, though Kazuya's strengths have been showcased through excellent results from players such as {{Sm|Riddles}} and {{Sm|Tea}}. Kazuya's strong strengths and "touch of death" punish game have led some to call for his ban, although this has not affected his legality outside of certain local regions.
Overall, Kazuya's attributes provide a unique gameplay style in ''Ultimate'': mastering his kit grants access to a hard-hitting ground offense with heavy punishment and comeback potential, and various ways to find an opening. Like in ''Tekken'', his combos can often be long and heavily-damaging and he offers significant KO potential, though his own weaknesses mean that if he misses an opening, he can find himself struggling to regain footing. Utilizing him at his strongest is difficult due to the technical skill required and his large moveset, though Kazuya's strengths have been showcased through excellent results from players such as {{Sm|Riddles}} and {{Sm|Tea}}. Kazuya's strong strengths and "touch of death" punish game have led some to call for his ban, although this has not affected his legality outside of certain local regions.


==Attributes==
==Attributes==
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All in all, like other characters of his weight class, Kazuya functions as a bait-and-punish type of character akin to how he plays in ''Tekken'', though uniquely with plenty of combo routes and punishment options that differentiate him from other heavyweights. His ability to dish out extreme amounts of damage, sometimes more than characters heavier than him, combined with his ability to close the gap with some of his moves, such as his Crouch Dash, forces the opponent to stay on their toes against Kazuya. Once he is able to close the gap, it is often hard for the opponent to keep up in damage. However, Kazuya himself is very prone to combos and his rather sluggish startup on his attacks means that he must pick his spots well; coupled with his mediocre aerial abilities and ''Ultimate''{{'}}s heavy focus on aerial combat, he can easily get overwhelmed on certain stages or against opponents with strong air games. Regardless, his high skill ceiling and formidable grounded abilities supplements this a lot, making him a very rewarding character when played in the right hands.
All in all, like other characters of his weight class, Kazuya functions as a bait-and-punish type of character akin to how he plays in ''Tekken'', though uniquely with plenty of combo routes and punishment options that differentiate him from other heavyweights. His ability to dish out extreme amounts of damage, sometimes more than characters heavier than him, combined with his ability to close the gap with some of his moves, such as his Crouch Dash, forces the opponent to stay on their toes against Kazuya. Once he is able to close the gap, it is often hard for the opponent to keep up in damage. However, Kazuya himself is very prone to combos and his rather sluggish startup on his attacks means that he must pick his spots well; coupled with his mediocre aerial abilities and ''Ultimate''{{'}}s heavy focus on aerial combat, he can easily get overwhelmed on certain stages or against opponents with strong air games. Regardless, his high skill ceiling and formidable grounded abilities supplements this a lot, making him a very rewarding character when played in the right hands.
Despite his overall high learning curve and complexity, Kazuya has seen tournament success thanks to the efforts of players such as {{Sm|Riddles}} and {{Sm|Tea}}, both of whom have won majors using the character. The general consensus is that Kazuya is a high-effort, high reward character who can stuff out approaches and even cause zero to deaths over one mistake, but has a poor disadvantage state that makes it possible for himself to be killed off of one mistake. As it stands, the general consensus considers Kazuya to be top tier, with many also arguing for his ban due to the character's polarizing strengths.


==Update History==
==Update History==
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On the other hand, opponents to a ban argue that Kazuya has noticeable flaws that can be crippling to the character, such as his poor disadvantage state and linear recovery, and the difficulty of executing such zero-to-death combos in high pressure tournament settings. They also point out how Kazuya's representation at a top level is lower compared to other characters perceived as "broken," with Riddles being the only player who saw consistently strong results with Kazuya, and even then he not only still maintained {{SSBU|Terry}} as a co-main, but was also still prone to random upsets and underwhelming performances.
On the other hand, opponents to a ban argue that Kazuya has noticeable flaws that can be crippling to the character, such as his poor disadvantage state and linear recovery, and the difficulty of executing such zero-to-death combos in high pressure tournament settings. They also point out how Kazuya's representation at a top level is lower compared to other characters perceived as "broken," with Riddles being the only player who saw consistently strong results with Kazuya, and even then he not only still maintained {{SSBU|Terry}} as a co-main, but was also still prone to random upsets and underwhelming performances.


While no serious Kazuya ban has been implemented nationally, every power ranked local in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas region has banned Kazuya (along with Steve) as of April 16th, 2023, for, as they claim, "the health of their competitive scene" following a large amount of Kazuya and Steve results.<ref>https://twitter.com/tourneylocator/status/1647723550936035330</ref><ref>https://twitter.com/Odyssey_Smash/status/1647723339106902020</ref>
While no serious Kazuya ban has been implemented nationally, every power ranked local in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas region has banned Kazuya (along with Steve) as of April 16th, 2023, for the health of their competitive scene following a large amount of Kazuya and Steve results.<ref>https://twitter.com/tourneylocator/status/1647723550936035330</ref><ref>https://twitter.com/Odyssey_Smash/status/1647723339106902020</ref>


=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: Fighting Fists with Fists==
=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: Fighting Fists with Fists==
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==Trivia==
==Trivia==
[[File:SSBUxKazuya.jpg|thumb|240px|The European ''Super Smash Bros.'' website saying "x KAZUYA" instead of "x TEKKEN".]]
[[File:SSBUxKazuya.jpg|thumb|240px|The European ''Super Smash Bros.'' website saying "x KAZUYA" instead of "x TEKKEN".]]
*Kazuya's internal codename is "demon", a reference to his demonic heritage as a result of the Devil Gene being inherited across his family line.
*Kazuya's internal codename is "demon", a reference to his demonic heritage of inheriting the Devil Gene across his family line.
*Kazuya is coded to have a rapid jab alongside its finisher in [https://rubendal.github.io/ssbu/#/Character/Kazuya his character scripts] (named Attack100 and Attack100End), but they go unused due to him having no animations for them.
*Kazuya is coded to have a rapid jab alongside its finisher in [https://rubendal.github.io/ssbu/#/Character/Kazuya his character scripts] (named Attack100 and Attack100End), but they go unused due to him having no animations for them.
*In Kazuya's character presentation, Sakurai noted that Kazuya's inclusion was difficult as he wanted to capture the essence of ''Tekken'' in ''Smash'' despite fundamental differences in their gameplay. This reflects a previous comment Sakurai made about Heihachi, whom he turned down in ''Smash 4'' for similar reasons.
*In Kazuya's character presentation, Sakurai noted that Kazuya's inclusion was difficult as he wanted to capture the essence of ''Tekken'' in ''Smash'' despite fundamental differences in their gameplay. This reflects a previous comment Sakurai made about Heihachi, whom he turned down in ''Smash 4'' for similar reasons.
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*Despite using orthodox inputs, Kazuya's neutral attacks, forward tilt, up tilt, down tilt, and dash attack are all simply referred to as [[command-input move]]s in the [[Tips]], likely due to overlap with unorthodox inputs.
*Despite using orthodox inputs, Kazuya's neutral attacks, forward tilt, up tilt, down tilt, and dash attack are all simply referred to as [[command-input move]]s in the [[Tips]], likely due to overlap with unorthodox inputs.
*Kazuya, [[Dark Pit]], and [[Wii Fit Trainer]] are the only playable characters in ''Ultimate'' that do not appear in a [[Nintendo Switch]] game outside of ''Ultimate''.
*Kazuya, [[Dark Pit]], and [[Wii Fit Trainer]] are the only playable characters in ''Ultimate'' that do not appear in a [[Nintendo Switch]] game outside of ''Ultimate''.
*Masahiro Sakurai showed pre-release material of Kazuya in a [[YouTube]] video<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKQ2v9kno9I&t=402s Odds and Ends of Supervising <nowiki>[Graphics]</nowiki>]</ref> and showcased several changes made before the final version:
*Masahiro Sakurai showed pre-release material of Kazuya in a [[YouTube]] video<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKQ2v9kno9I=402s Odds and Ends of Supervising [Graphics]]</ref> and showcased several changes made before the final version:
**Kazuya's eyes and eyebrows were pulled upward to look more angry.
**Kazuya's eyes and eyebrows were pulled upward to look more angry.
**Sakurai decided to use a unique knocked down animation that resembles Kazuya's knocked down animation in the {{uv|Tekken}} series.
**Sakurai decided to use a unique knocked down animation that resembles Kazuya's knocked down animation in the {{uv|Tekken}} series.
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**The story mode for ''Tekken 7'' was used to inspire [[Final Blaster]] almost 1 to 1.
**The story mode for ''Tekken 7'' was used to inspire [[Final Blaster]] almost 1 to 1.
**Kazuya's wings during Final Blaster were initially too rounded and Sakurai suggested they be made more angular.
**Kazuya's wings during Final Blaster were initially too rounded and Sakurai suggested they be made more angular.
**Kazuya's wings during [[Devil Blaster]] were adjusted to catch the wind during startup, release the wind, and the flutter upon activation.
**Kazuya's wings during [[Devil Blaster]] were adjusted to catch the wind during startup, than release the wind and flutter upon activation.
**Kazuya's wings during [[Devil Fist]] were repositioned so players could see the punch connect.
**Kazuya's wings during [[Devil Fist]] were repositioned so players could see the punch connect.
**Sakurai suggest adding a line that goes through opponents during Devil Fist to add atmosphere.
**Sakurai suggest adding a line that goes through opponents during Devil Fist to add atmosphere.

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