SOUL CALIBUR: Mitsurugi Movelist version 1.1 By Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong (jeffwong@li.net) Version 1.1 Added a whole new section to playing down and dirty with Mitsurugi at end of faq. Added more information to the strategy section. Added a small list of Soul Charge unblockable attacks. Added some mindless notes that could be helpful. Version 1.0 Basic movelist of all the moves. Strategy hints at end. The information of this faq has been borrowed _heavily_ from from Mark Griffin's Soul Calibur faq. You may know him as Mr MG. You can find his faq at www.gamefaqs.com or www.fighters.net. Without his faq, this faq would not have been possible and so all credit for the moves provided goes to him and the people kind enough to help him compile his faq. I'm simply adding some information to each individual move for Mitsuragi. I have never written a faq before so I have no idea what rules I'm breaking in creating this. The faq is currently very unfinished. Please give info and comments for missing moves :) This FAQ uses many notations to make reading the FAQ easier and to keep it simple when printing the file. Please check these notations as they may be different from what you as used to. Also note that some characters have their own notations for items such as stances. ub u uf Joystick directions. b n f u - up d - down b - back f - forward db db df n - neutral G - Guard A - Horizontal Attack B - Vertical Attack K - Kick A - Throws Air (avoided by not jumping (duh!)) H - High (blocked standing or avoided ducking) M - Medium (blocked standing) SM - Special Medium (blocked low or medium) L - Low (blocked low or avoided jumping . - Moves also hits Grounded Opponents [G],u - Jump [d] - Crouch G+A - Genric Throw (break with A) G+B - Genric Throw (break with B) A+B+K - Soul Charge (See Game Elements) A+B+K,G - Spirit Charge (See Game Elements) [x] - Hold button/direction 'x' x+y - Press x AND y at the same time x,y - Press x THEN y x/y - Press x OR y x~y - Press y as soon as you have pressed x but not both at the same time - While Standing up from a crouch - While you are fully crouched Mitsurugi ********* Name: Heishiro Mitsurugi Weapon: Katana Weapon Name: Shishi-Oh Style: Tenpo-Kosai-Ryu Kai Age: 25 Birth date: June 8th Family: Parents and Brothers, all taken by disease Birth Place: Japan Height: 5ft 7 Weight: 143lbs Blood Type: AB === Moves === --- Notations --- - Mist Mitsurugi has his sword up by his shoulder, the tip of the blade pointing toward his opponent. - Relic Mitsurugi has his sword in its scabbard, sheathed, which is by his hip. His back is almost to his opponent. --- Throws --- Move Name Break G+A Sea of Madness A Mitsurugi does several slashes at his opponent's torso area. G+B Pulling Ivy B Mitsurugi does a jumping upward slash where he flips in mid-air, bringing his sword down across his opponent's back. ,throw Gate of Hell A/B Mitsurugi knocks you to the ground by kick out the back of one of his opponent's legs where he then stabs his sword through his opponent's body and twists the blade a bit for heavy damage. ,throw 8th Bill of Punishment A/B Mitsurugi does a quick body check with his back and stabs his sword right into his opponent's side. ,throw Divine Gift A/B Mitsurugi kicks out the back of one of your legs which will cause them to fall to one leg and then slams the blade down on his opponent's chest. --- Attacks --- Move Name Height Damage Note: A,A Samurai Slashes H,H Mitsurugi does two high horizontal slashes. It can be easily ducked. Comes out quite quick and is pretty effective. f,A Calm Breeze H Mitsurugi takes a step forward and does a horizontal slash at the opponent's head. Also very quick. f,[f],A Sudden Gale M A powerful horizontal slash where Mitsurugi takes a step forward and slashes at his opponent's waist. It comes out a bit slow though but can't be sidestepped. df,A Splitting Gold M It looks almost like a stabbing attack rather than a slashing one. Mitsurugi slashes at his opponent's waist. Similar to his Sudden Gale, f,[f],A, but from the opposite direction. Has a very short range but stuns on counter hit. d,A Knee Slice SM Mitsurugi does a low horizontal slash at his opponent's knees. Can be blocked high or low. Comes out fast and is a very good attack at slowly whittling away an opponent's energy. Not much range though:( db,A Shin Slicer L A powerful low horizontal attack where Mitsurugi goes into a crouching position and pivots on one foot, slashing at his opponent's shins. Holding down the A button delays the attack, making it even stronger as it's delayed longer. Pressing the B button will make him fake a Shin Slicer and go into a uppward vertical attack. Very useful if your opponent is excepting a low attack instead. b,A Drawn Breath M Mitsurugi does another variation of a horizontal slashing attack at the opponent's waist. Pressing forward on the joystick makes go into his Mist stance. b,[b],A Vacuum M A slow but very powerful horizontal slashing attack. If it connects, expect it to inflict heavy damage. Holding down the A butting will makes Mitsurugi go into his Relic stance. Useful because the attack pushes the enemy back so the transition into his Relic stance will be uninterrupted. [G],u,A Stump Banish L Mitsurugi does a little hop before executing a horizontal slashing attack at his opponent's legs upon landing. Although hard to predict, it leaves Mitsurugi vulnerable because he will be in mid-air for a split second, leaving him open for juggles. u,A Stump Cross H Mitsurugi hops into the air and does a horizontal slashing attack at his opponent's head. Not too useful. It's better to use the ub,A version. ,A Silent Step Slash M Mitsurugi does a rising horizontal slash. Pretty quick and can be used without much rish. However, getting into the crouching position will put you at risk ;) B,B Forced Prayer M,M A very quick and effective combo where Mitsurugi does a downward vertical slash followed by and upward veritcal slash. Unless your opponent likes to sidestep, this is very useful. Pressing forward on the joystick afterwards will make him Mitsurugi go into his Mist stance. B~A Mountain Divide M A very very effective move. Its range is usually underestimated. This move has quite a bit of range to it. Mitsurugi extends his sword forward and slash at his opponent's chest in a horizontal slash. With this move, people who sidestep a lot will get wrecked because this attack almost destroys an opponent's sidestepping game:) B,f Mask H Mitsurigi does a very quick downward vertical slash where he takes a step forward and straikes at his opponent's head. Its speed will usually catch people off guard. Although very fist, it can be ducked. However, due to its speed, its very hard to anticipate this attack. f,B Wind Hole M Another very useful attack where Mitsurugi extends his sword forward and stabs at his opponents stomach. He takes a small step forward, giving this attack a decent range. It comes out very quick and is hard to sidestep due to its speed. However, if it IS sidestepped, because you take a step forward, you're going to be in trouble;) f,B,d Low Wind Hole L Very similar to the above attack except Mitsurugi will stab at the opponent's feet. Very useful and usually catches people off guard. However, the range isn't as great because he doesn't take a step forward even though it comes out quite quickly. f,B,u High Wind Hole H Another variation of Mitsurugi's Wind Hole, but this time, he stabs at his opponent's face. This attack looks like a one-attack kill move. It looks leathal and very deadly. It dishes out a decent amount of damage. Too bad it has the same range as the low version and can be ducked. Try not to use this one often. f,[f],B,B Heaven Dance M,M Mitsurugi takes a step forward, bringing his sword up in an vertical slash, following up by doing it against, hopping up into the air for added pwer behind his slash. Very powerful, even if one of the slashes connect. The range for this attack is unbelieveable and usually catches unsuspecting opponents. This move should be exploited. f,[f],[B] Heaven Dance to Relic M,M It's just like the move above except instead of following up with the second upward vertical slash, holding the B button will cause Mitsurugi to go into his Relic stance. This is probably the coolest looking move in the game, what with the transition into that stance. df,B Heaven Cannon M A GREAT floater where Mitsurugi does a cool looking upward vertical slash that will float his opponents. It comes out very quickly and does decent damage. This move, although short ranged, is very effective due to its speed. Use this one often. db,B Cloud Divide M Similar to the above move except Mitsurugi takes a step forward. It comes out just as quickly and is every bit as effective. However, it doesn't float your opponent. This move is very effective to use during a juggle. b,B Wind Hole Vortex M A EXTREMELY useful and effective attack. Mitsurugi takes a step back, as if going into his Mist stance, the inintial backstep usually allowing you to dodge an incoming attack, and then extends his sword forward and simultaneous taking a step forward to thrust at his opponent's chest. This is probably one of the most effective moves Mitsurugi has, especially against button smashers;) Quick and pretty effective. The damage isn't all that great, but its speed makes up for it. Pressing forward on the joystick before he attacks makes him go into his Mist stance. b,[b],B,B Forced God M,M A poweful combo where Mitsurugi takes a step forward and does a downward vertical slash followed by an upward vertical slash, launching your opponent. Although powerful, the first attack comes out a bit slow and can be countered. d,df,f,B Samurai Thrust M A NASTY and EXTRELY powerful attack. Mitsurugi holds sword in front of him, the blade facing his opponent, pressing a hand on the back of his sword and takes a step forward toward his opponent, seemingly shoving the upright blade right into the opponent's sternum and face. The damage this attack dishes out is GREAT. Holding the B button down will make him delay his attack, making the attack even more powerful, as if it wasn't powerful enough!! [G],u,B Dragon Fly Slash M Mitsurugi does a little hope and does a downward vertical slash at his opponent on his way down. Pretty useful due to its speed. Not much range to the attack, not unless you want to do the [G],uf,B version. u,B Stalk Cutter M Mitsurugi does a different variation of the above attack. Doing the uf,B or ub,B version is better depending on whether you play defensively or aggressively. However, the u,B is still very effective. ,B Pocket Pick M A great floating attack where Mitsurugi does an upward vertical slash that will launch his opponent high into the air for some great juggling combos. ,df,B Time Hole M A rather odd looking attack considering its joystick execution. You would think he slashes at his opponent's feet. However, while crouch, he will lean forward and stab his sword toward his opponent's neck. Seeing this connect will almost make you wince because you know it's got to hurt;) ,db,B,B Cloud Divide to Cold Stich M,M Mitsuragi does a quick and powerful upward vertical slash that will launch his opponent into the air where he will bring the tip of his sword down right into his opponent's chest as the land. The first attack to this combo is perhaps one of the best launcher because it is extremely quick. Even if your opponent blocks the first attack, the second attack, since there is a slight pause, can sometimes catch at incoming opponent expecting to counter your failed launching attack. K~B Obedience M,M A GREAT ground attack where Mitsurugi does a a quick downward slash, does a half somersault forward, following through with his blade in another downward slash. The second slash takes off quite a bit of damage and is very useful against opponent's lying on the ground who wait for you to get close so they could do a rising attack. Teach them a lesson:) Also very useful for juggles. f,K Wheel Kick H A somewhat powerful wheel kick. Very effective and should be used pretty often, especially with juggles. It's pretty slow though but it does a decent amount of damage. df,K Front Kick M This is more like side kick toward the opponent's stomach. Very effective but it's execution is a bit slow but not as slow as the above attack. f,[f],K Rising Knee M A great and often underestimated attack where Mitsurugi takes a step forward and does a rising knee attack toward his opponent. Great for closing in the gap if you wish to play a close-combat game. Can usually be followed up with his Bullet Cutter, b,K,B, for a cool combo. d,K,B Stalk Shaver L,M A weapon's version to Paul Phoenix's falling leaf combo. Misturugi pivots on one foot and sweeps his opponent's legs out from under them and then pivots back, bringing his sword upward in a vertical slash, launching his opponent into the air. This is supposed to be a great juggle starter, but I find myself unable to follow up this attack for some reason. Pressing forward on the joystick afterwards makes Misturugi go into his Mist stance. db,K Hem Stich L A quick and effective kick toward the opponent's legs. Should be exploited, but for some reason, it isn't:( b,K,B Bullet Cutter M,M This move should definitely be exploited. A very quick and easy to execute combo where Misturugi does a front snap kick, letting his weight carry him forward, following through with a downward vertical sword slash even from his leading foot touches the ground. Use this often because of its speed and ability to catch many people off guard. It's got a long range and can quickly close the gap between you and your opponent. ,K Front Kick M Misturugi does a front kick as he comes out of his crouching position. Nuff said. [G],u,K Outer Snap L Misturugi does a little hop and sweeps his opponent's legs out from under them the moment he lands. Not that useful because you will be vulnerable while in mid-air, which could end up leading you to being juggled. u,K Shadow Kick M Misturugi hops into he air and does a little kick. Pretty useful but not all that quick. You might want to stay away from this. A+B Steel Slicer M,M This move is probably the one move what makes Misturugi leathal. This is where Misturugi does an upward vertical slash followed by another upward vertical slash. Basically, if the first attack connects, you're going to get hit by the second one and expect to lose a chunk of energy. Very hard to sidestep for some reason, comes out quick, and a quick recovery. This moves should/is exploited;) f,[f],A+B Phoenix Tail M If you connect this move, your opponent can kiss a HUGE chunk of energy goodbye. This is where Mitsurugi takes a step forward and does a extremely powerful downward vertical slash at his opponent. It's lack of speed it made up for by its huge range. Hard to connect, but when it does, your jaw will drop at the damage inflicted. Too slow to be exploited:( The move can be cancelled by pressing the G button, where you can step in and throw when your opponent is expecting to block the attack since they will be standing. d,A+B Cold Stich M A pretty useful attack where Mitsurugi does a small downward slash, jabbing the tip of his sword into the ground. Very useful against opponents lying on the ground especially. It takes off a good amount of energy and comes out quickly that you shouldn't have much problem getting it to connect after your opponent lands from a juggle. u,A+B Wheel Slash M Mitsurugi jumps high up into the air and does a wicked downward vertical slash on his decent. It takes off a good amount of energy, but it's range is short and the attack can be seen from a mile away, leaving you open to having your attack parried/deflected and counter attacked. ,db,A+B Shin Banish L Mitsurugi does a powerful sword sweep while he is in his crouching position. It's not too useful because it comes out faily slowly and it lacks range. Because it is slow, you can easily get knocked out of this attack. A+K Dividing Thrust M A great poking attack, probably the best poking attack Misturugi has because if can be modified into a throw by pressing forward on the joystick when it connects up close. It comes out very fast, and even if it's sidestepped, you recover quick enough to block incoming heavy attacks. Only sidestepping followed up by some quick attacks will get past this move. Use this move often. You'll be very surprised at how effective this move is. B+K Autumn Requieum M Mitsurugi does a wickedly powerful downward vertical slash that take off a huge amount of energy. If you connect while your opponent is in close, it will automatically switch to a modified throw that will take off an A LOT of energy. df,B+K Driving Stich M Mitsurugi does a close range side stab. It seems like he's hitting you with the hilt of his sword. It takes off big damge though:) b,B+K Parting Thrust H Mitsurugi does a small crouching dash before bringing the hilt of his sword up at his opponent's chin. Very powerful even though it can be easily dodged. f,A+B Mist Misturugi bring his sword up toward his shoulder, the tip of the blade facing toward his opponent. You know that in this stance, he's just itching to stab the hell out of his opponent:) b,A+B Relic Misturugi sheaths his sword! I dunno about you, but if someone has a weapon pointed toward me, and I have a katana, I will not sheath it. Anyway, in this position, Misturugi looks like his asking to get hit. Don't be fooled, in this position, he is absolutely LEATHAL! f,df,d,db,b,A Half Moon Death Misturugi holds his sword up high over his head while the blade becomes fiery. Pressing the A button again makes him execute an unblockable horizontal slashing attack. Because it is so powerful and unblockable, it takes quite a while for this move to be executed and leaves you wide open. It has quite a bit of range. f,df,d,db,b,B Full Moon Death Similar to the above move. Pressing the B button again will make him do an unblockable downward vertical slash. This move is better to use because it seems to have more range. f,df,d,db,b,[A] Fake Moon Death H You simply go into your Moon Death stance, your sword getting fiery, but you don't attack. That's why it's called a Fake Moon Death;) d,df,f Silent Step You do a crouching dash forward. Pressing the B afterwards might be prudent becaus he will execute his powerful Samurai Thrust. --- Stances --- ---> Mist Move Name Height Damage Note A Mist Stab H Misturugi does a quick poking stab. A,A,A Mist Stab Fury H,H,H Misturugi does multiple quick poking stabs. B Dividing Thrust M Misturugi does a longer ranged thrust. If this connects while the opponent is close, pressing forward on the joystick will make him do a modified throw where he twists the sword several times while its embedded in his opponent's stomach before pulling the blade back out. K Water Mist Kick L This is a very quick and effective low sweep. Use this often, especially if you go into the Mist stance while the opponent is close. This move comes out so quick that your opponent won't have time to block unless he anticipates it, which will be unlikely because the Mist stance seems to TELL your opponent that Mitsurugi is going to do some poking around which needs to be blocked high:) A+B Divide M EXPLOIT THIS MOVE NOW!!! Misturugi take a step forward, his sword by his side, and then brings it in a downward vertical slash with great force for some great damage. Why should you exploit this? Well, while stepping forward, Misturugi is invulnerable to any regular attack, whether high, medium, or low. You see him take the blow, for no damage, and then slash his opponent as they're in the recovery animation of their attack. There are ways around this move though, like sidestepping, throwing, and comboing. However, when you see Misturugi taking a menacing step toward your character, his sword at his side and not in front of him, you're bound to seize the opportunity and attack him. Boy, will you be in for a surprise;P [f]/[b] Mist Walk A slow slow walk, as in inches per hour;) f/b,n Mist Dash A dash forward or backward. Very quick to close the gap or widen it. [uf]/[u]/[ub] Mist Hop A hop. What else;) B+K Relic Misturugi bring his sword by his side and sheaths it, his Relic Stance. ---> Relic Move Name Height Damage Note: G False Purification G,M,M,M Misturugi brings his sheathed sword in front of him and pulls the blade out slightly. This is a reversal for horizontal attack. If he blocks and incoming attack, he will unsheath his sword and and swing it around like the number eight for some good damge. However, it's harder to do this reversal than it seems because the window for a reversal is small. This moves oozes style:) A Cross Sword Steal H Misturugi brings his scabard and whacks his opponent in the head with it. It does quite a bit of damage, considering it's just a scabbard. B Slash Sword Steal M Misturugi will do a different version of the above move, attacking his opponent with the scabbard from the opposite direction. K Low Relic Kick L A quick little shin kick. Not too effective because of its lack of range. The Mist,K version is better. [A+B] Bill of Fire H Unblockable! Misturugi pivots on the balls of his feet, pointing his back toward his opponent before unsheathing his sword and executing a upward horizontal slash. Just tape A+B to execute this. [A+B] Ticket to Hades M Unblockable! Misturugi pivots on the balls of his feet, pointing his back toward his opponent before unsheathing his sword and executing a upward horizontal slash. Hold this down for the entire time. No need to release. [A+B] Path of Damnation L,L Unblockable! This is the BEST move. It dishes out an incredible amount of damage and its range is unbelieveable because Mitsurugi will take two steps forward, one for the first horizontal slash, and another step for the second horizontal slash. It even hits downed opponents. Good luck getting out of the way when he executes this move;) Hold down A+B for about one and a half seconds before releasing to execute this move. B+K Mist Mitsurugi brings his sword up by his shoulder, the tip of the blade facing his opponent. [f]/[b] Relic Walk A very slow walk. However, it looks VERY cool the way he does walk while in this stance:) f/b,n Relic Dash A quick dash to close the gap or widen it. ---> 8 Way Run (ARS) Move Name Height Note: df/f/uf,A Sudden Gale M Mitsurugi takes a step toward his opponent and does a horizontal slash. f/b,A Drawn Breath H Mitsurugi pivots on one foot and does a horizontal slash. Pressing forward will make him go into his Mist stance. f,A Vacuum M A quick horizontal slash at the opponent's stomach. Holding down the A button will make him go into his Relic Stance, which is probably what you want:) db/ub,A True Vacuum L Mitsurugi pivots on one foot and executes a sword sweep attack. Powerful and effective but comes out a bit slow. df/f/uf,B,B Heaven Dance M,M It's his f,[f],B,B attack where he does an upward vertical slash followed by another upward slash, doing a little jump as he bring his sword up. Holding the B button down after pressing it once will make Mitsurugi go into his Relic Stance. d/u,B Hell Flash M Mitsurugi executes a downward vertical slash that takes off quite a bit of damage. Very useful and effective. However, if your other opponents is also in their 8-way run, don't use it that often. db/ub,B,A,B Peak of Flames M,H,M A pretty decent combo where Mitsurugi does a quick downward vertical slash followed by a high horizontal one and finally followed up by a powerful downward vertical slash for big damage. Although powerful, the second attack can be ducked and the third attack seems to take forever to come out. b,B,B Forced God M,M Mitsurugi does downward vertical slash followed by an upward one. Good for launching an opponent. However, the first attack seems to come out a bit slow. df/f/uf,K Rising Knee M Exactly like his f,[f],K attack where he brings his knees up at his opponent and lunges forward. You'll be surprised at how effective this move is. You can usually follow this move up with his b,K,B attack for some good damage. d/u,K Wheel Kick H Mitsurugi pivots on one foot and executes a wheel kick. Pretty good again sidestepping opponents, but it comes out a bit slow. db/b/ub,K,B Bullet Cutter M,M This is the move where Mitsurugi kicks forward, bringing all his bodyweight with him, and doing a downward vertical slash even before his leading foot touches the ground. This moves is probably going to be used most often because it is very effective and fast. A+B Phoenix Tail M Mitsurugi does a powerful downward slash where he does a little turn, arcing his sword overhead and bringing it down on his opponent. Although slow in execution, the amount of damage it dishes out is GREAT. Pressing the G button cancels the attack where you can step in an simply throw:) B+K Trooper Roll M Mitsurugi does a forward roll and thrusts his sword forward at his opponent's stomach after he finishes his roll. The roll goes under high attacks and has quite a bit of range. A~B Mist Mitsurugi moves into his Mist stance. B~A Relic Mitsurugi moves into his Relic stance. Helpful hints. Mitsurugi is probably the best character in the game. He's very strong and very fast. His A+B, Steel Slicer attack, should be exploited because it dishes out a lot of damage and is very quick in execution. His poking game is also very formidable. By mixing between his b,B and f,B,d and A+K attacks, your opponent will be having a hard time trying to get close to you. And when he does, simply do his d,K,B to knock them back out of range. Either that or do his df,B floating attack for some damaging juggles. Learn to execute his Path of Damnation, the double low unblockable attacks, Mist stance,[A+B]. Get the timing down. They will be one of your best attacks because it is VERY powerful and had a HUGE amount of range to it. If you think your opponent will jump over the slash, don't worry. There's a good chance they won't because the first thing they will do when they see you in your unblockable animation is double dash backwards, only to get hit with the second part of the attack :)I realize that the move is unparryable, so the only way to avoid it is to simply jump over the second attack. All you have to do is simply press and hold the G button and press up on the joystick. Use his stances. They're great, especially his Relic stance because of his unblockable. However, learn the transition between the two stances. Heck, the transition between the Mist and the Relic has it where Mitsurugi takes a step back, allowing you to evade an incoming attack, which will leave your opponent open for a good whack upside the head with Mitsurugi's sheathed sword:) The best way to get into his Relic stance is his f,[f],[B] attack. The attack, when it connects, will push the opponent back, allowing the transition into the Relic stance to take place without being attacked. Plus, it looks WICKED. The best way to get into his Mist stance is to simply use B,B,f. That way, if your opponent wants to retaliate and takes a step toward you, hitting the K will make Mitsurugi sweep him for some decent damage. Or perhaps you can press the B and stab a sword the your opponent's gut, pressing forward on the joystick to change it into a modified throw for some more damage. Don't neglect Mitsurugi's kicking game. He's got good kicks that should be used often. Like his b,K,B attack. It's very very quick and has a lot of range. Heck, after that attack, you might be able to connect a K~B attack on the opponent as he's lying on the ground. And don't forget his d,K,B. Since most people tend to guard high, the sweep will catch them off-guard, and the sword attack will be an easy follow-up, which could also making your opponent ring out. Play Mitsurugi aggresively. Poke with him a lot. He's great at it. Just don't try to poke Nightmare because he has the better poking game;) When poking, make it an effort to always press forward on the joystick because, sometimes, you can get a modified throw which is more damaging. If you don't wish to poke, and want to get the round over with quickly and humiliate your opponent, use his double low unblockable. You should be able to connect that unblockable at least once during the round on every round. It's that easy because he moves into his Relic stance so quickly and is already charging up for his double low unblockable before you opponent has time to react. By then, the unblockable will have connected for some heavy damage. Learn some juggles also. Nothing fancy is really needed. Just try out your own. Something like, d/f,B to juggle, f,K the K~B will suffice and will cause quite a bit of damage. You don't even need to worry about landing combos with Mitsurugi. Some of his moves are so damn strong, like that double low unblockable, that it will easily turn the tables, which shouldn't even be that way if you're playing Mitsurugi right:) Use his A+B attack often. You have no idea how effective it is. If the first hit connects, the second one will connect automatically for some heavy damage. You can't really sidestep it so it's pretty useful to use whenever you want. And if you are fighting someone that likes to side step, do his B~A attack, which'll eat up sidesteppers for some heavy damage. Also, if you play against a very agressive opponent, just do his A,A combo and it would pretty much knock your opponent out of any attack since it's so fast. The same thing goes for using his f+A attack. Above using his A+B attack, also use his Mist,A+B attack also. Since he can brush off any regular attack and then counterattack, you don't really have to worry about getting countered. The best way to execute that move is f,A+B,A+B. He will almost immediately execute that move as soon as he moves into his Mist stance. I only use this move to show just how powerful Mitsurugi is to my opponents. Most of the time, I would use his B,B combo and hold forward on the joystick to make him go into his Mist stance where I would then go for the sweep by hitting the K button. However, I sometime get hit out of his attempted sweep because my opponent is quicker than him. Instead, I would do his A,A,A poking Mist attack, which will always catch incoming opponents that expect to knock me out of my attempted sweep. Also, while in his Mist stance, don't forget to do his B attack from time to time, which can be turned into a modified throw if you hold forward on the joystick. That move would land if your opponent expects you to do a sweep because they would be blocking low and that move attacks mid-level. If you're feeling a bit cocky, try and end the round with his Relic reversal. Simply move into his Relic stance, b,A+B, and then press the G button when you think your opponent is going to attack. The reveral looks awesome. And while you're in that stance, if you feel like it, make your opponent panic by pressing A+B to do the quick unblockable. If you're fighting a button masher, poke him to death. Simply do his b,B and A+K attack all day and he will quickly fall. Just don't outright beat the crap out of him and perfect him because then he won't come back for some more beatings;) Mitsurugi is probably the best flagship character. Why? Great speed. Great strength. And that kickass samurai A button costume of his. Heck, you have to give him some respect when he's in that awesome Relic stance. In that stance, I think he's oozing more style than Ivy and her 'cool as ice' stance anyday, but that's just my opinion. Here's the lowdown and DIRTY way to fight with Mitsurugi: A short while ago, I pitted my Mitsurugi against a pretty formidable Hwang opponent. To make things short, although I ended up winning the majority of the matches, it made me realize that I could improve upon my Mitsurugi skills because on almost all of the matches, I found myself coming close to losing everytime. Heck, I even ended up losing quite a bit in the beginning because I couldn't get used to fighting a decent Hwang. Anyway, upon realizing this, I decided to change the way I used Mitsurugi. Instead of playing Mitsurigi the way I usually do, which is using very simple well-timed attacks and the occassional parrying, I decided to becomes extremely aggressive....I mean EXTREMELY aggressive. Now, if you are not worried about being called cheap, here is the best way to exploit Mitsurugi's attacks. The soul charge is a VERY useful power-up. That's his A+B+K,G move. It makes several moves unblockable, like his A+B attack. Even so, don't use that all too often. Use his K~B attack. There is absolutely no way for your opponet to block that attack. It comes out very quick and is very hard to side step. And let's just say your opponent decides to play it safe by playing keep-away, hoping you would whiff with his K~B attack where he would then go in for the counter attack. Well, don't worry about that. Doing Mitsurugi's d,df,f,B attack would utterly destroy them because it has great tracking and would close the gap between you and your opponent. That's just ONE of his powerhouse moves that you can use. If you have a constant sidestepper? Don't worry. Power-up, and then beging your sidestepping game. While in the 8-way run, use his u,B attack. Since it's unblockable, there's noway for your opponent to block it. However, the problem with using that move is that it doesn't always land especially if your opponent constantly side-steps because it has poor tracking. Instead, I would recommend using his 8-way run, db,B,A,B combo instead. The third attack to the combo will be unblockable while the second attack would have stopped your opponent from side-stepping. There is one problem with using this move though, in order for the third attack to the combo to be unblockable, you're going to have to power-up completely, which is pretty hard since you have to worry about your opponent attacking. So far, I have found several unblockable moves when you do the soul charge. A+B K~B f,[f],A+B d,df,f,B While in his 8-way run: u,B or d,b ub,B,A,B Mist, then A+B I'm pretty sure there are more and forget to list them out. Having trouble landing your unblockables? Heh, that can be easily solved. By now, after having read through this faq, you are probably well aware of which moves are considered Mitsurugi's most effective attacks. Well, then I guess I won't have to tell you that his db,A attack is great for tripping up your opponents. However, after executing and landing that attack, immediately do Mitsurugi's Half Moon Death unblockable. That's his f,df,d,d,b,A,A attack in case you don't want to scroll up to find its motion. Anyway, expect this move to land often because it would land just as your opponent is getting up. The only way to avoid it is to do a rising attack, which is highly unlikely because the first thing your opponent would attempt to do is block before they realize it is too late and that it can't be blocked, or stay flat on their back until the unblockable whiffs. Frankly speaking, VERY few people would do that because they are constantly expecting you to attack them while they are on the ground, which usually causes them to do the quick recovery after being knocked down. Don't use this strategy too often because you don't want your opponent getting smart and knocking you out of landing an easy unblockable. Me, I usually stay on the ground extra long. Who cares if you get kicked while on the ground a few times? Think of how much more damage you would inflict when your opponent whiffs a power attack and you do a rising attack. The trade off is worth it. Now go out there and kick some ass with Misturugi. You should have little or no probably racking up the win streaks with him. If you are having trouble, switch to Nightmare:) I hope this faq was helpful and will get you interested in Mitsurugi. Once again, the information of this faq has been borrowed _heavily_ from Compiled Mr MG (Mark Griffin)mrmg@fighters.net. Thanks goes to Tom Cheng(tkcheng@icaen.uiowa.edu)for clearing up several moves I had mistaken for another.