DBFZ/Frieza

	Unique Movement Options
	Double Airdash (in Golden Frieza)

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Overview

Overview

The ruler of the largest intergalactic army in the cosmos and Emperor of Universe 7: Frieza... is currently training inside a Hyperbolic Time Chamber to find his identity. In DBFZ, Frieza's toolkit is half the size of an average character's kit, and the tools themselves are janky and mediocre. He's not sure if he should be a zoner, a rushdown character, or maybe an Install character to make the craziest 1v3 comebacks. Hurting himself in his confusion, he ends up doing none of those things very well.

You can still find a lot to love about Frieza. His 5SGuard:
AllStartup:
9Recovery:
25Advantage:
-4 is one of the best in the game that shoots out extremely fast Ki Blasts with piercing property. Death SaucerGuard:
AllStartup:
33Recovery:
Total 61Advantage:
+2 or "Discs" are unique returning projectiles, great for neutral and blockstrings. And of course, the famed Golden FriezaGuard:
Startup:
34+0Recovery:
Advantage:
greatly enhances his movement, pressure and damage output.

If you enjoy a hybrid playstyle between screen control and rushdown, polluting the screen to keep the opponent at bay then turning Golden to deal huge burst of damage, then the Emperor is for you. If you're looking for a character who does one thing and does it better than everyone else, you won't find that in Frieza.

Frieza

Frieza can control space, can pressure, and can coat himself in gold. He's one of the characters of all time

Pros

Cons

Powerful Space-Control: Loads and loads of projectiles to keep the enemy at bay.
Incredible EX Move: EX Death SlashGuard:
AllStartup:
14Recovery:
20Advantage:
-5 is an instant screenfiller that only costs half a bar and is safe.
Good Pressure: Solid framedata, especially on 2MGuard:
LowStartup:
10Recovery:
14Advantage:
-2, and a pressure reset in Death SaucerGuard:
AllStartup:
33Recovery:
Total 61Advantage:
+2 that simultaneously enables tricky mixups.
Golden Frieza: Golden FriezaGuard:
Startup:
34+0Recovery:
Advantage:
is a very important tool to keep in mind, enabling for terrifying and deadly comeback potential thanks to its speed, damage and reverse beat. Sparking also pauses its timer, and switching resets it!

Mediocrity: Zoning is outclassed by a grappler. Pressure and Install are outclassed by some monkeys.
Support Value: True to the show, Frieza seems to care about nobody but himself. His assists are all lacking and his synergies with other characters are very few and far between.
Anti-Airs: Frieza's ability to stop people from jumping over his projectiles is limited to his 2SGuard:
AllStartup:
12Recovery:
24Advantage:
-3 and its variations. He's also terrible once airborne with few options to air-to-air with.

Normal Moves

5L

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block
5L	400	All		6	3	13	-4
5LL	700	All		10	4	16	-6
5LLL	400 / 0,1000	All	U3+	13	3	23	-5

5L

Standard 5L.

5LL

A far reaching 5LL that's -2 when blocked at max range.

5LLL

Tracks fullscreen.
At very close range, the explosion sends them outward. Otherwise, it sends them inward.
No longer counted as a ki-blast so this will beat superdash.

Often useful after a vanish extension.

5M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	All		13	5	17	-6

Strange, proximity-based normal
Allows Golden Frieza to combo off of 5S at far ranges

Very odd 5M compared to most. At close range it functions the same as all the others, but farther away Frieza will automatically dash forward and then attacks either once he's close enough to the opponent to hit or after going nearly fullscreen length. Hops over a few lows, and otherwise has the same uses as other 5Ms in combos and blockstrings. Although difficult to space due to the nature of the normal, it's possible to make it up to -3 if Frieza hits from max range.

5H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
150, 100×8 / 300, 100×8	All	U1	13	5(8)P×8	Total 55	-13 ~ -3

Goofy, inconsistent, held together by duct tape. 5H serves as a typical blockstring filler and horizontal launcher for combos, and still somehow managed to suck at that.

It can be used similar to a beam for things such as controlling the ground and clearing Ki Blasts. However, the rocks won't start moving until frame 26, so it's slower than a typical beam while losing to beams. Rocks will also instantly evaporate if Frieza cancels into Vanish, so it cannot jail into Vanish. Finally if all that wasn't bad enough, there's a punishable gap between the rocks appearing on screen and them moving forward. This allows the opponent to visually attack Frieza through the wall of rocks.

On block, frame advantage varies depending on spacing and how many rocks make contact. In most cases like when used after 5M or 2M, it'll be -12 to -8.

Smash on the first hit and wall bounces, comboable into SD in midscreen and 214S in the corner. Even then, the rocks can spawn behind the opponent and fly offscreen if used too close to the corner. When this happens, at best he loses out on some damage, and at worst it completely messes up the combo.

Rocks spawn on frame 9 and can clash with other projectiles even while their active frames are deactivated


If 5H clashes with another projectile before it hits the opponent and causes a Smash hit (happens more often than you'd think), the move will just fail and oftentimes decide not to give Frieza a proper wall bounce. Has both properties of a physical attack and a projectile, to make sure Frieza is screwed over by all types of invulnerablity, guardpoint and armor. For example, it will lose to Android 16's strike armored 5HGuard: AllStartup: 15Recovery: 21Advantage: -8, and also to his projectile guardpoint 236MGuard: ThrowStartup: 26Recovery: 28Advantage: .

5S

(Hold OK)

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
300×6	All		9	2 [(11)1×6]	25	-4

Hold or mash S to shoot all 6 Ki blasts.
Sixth hit launches and wall bounces.
Fastest Ki blast in the game.

Can be followed up with 236M > Vanish. More useful than some other Ki Blasts due to how it pierces opponents, potentially stopping assist calls. Other than that, it's pretty average and loses to Z Broly.

2L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	Low		7	3	13	-4

Low-hitting 2L. Not the best range, but quite useful as a low nonetheless.

2M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
600×2	Low		10	4(10)4	14	-2

Frieza's main low normal.
Being -2 on block makes it extremely useful for stagger pressure.

2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	All		15	5	29	-18

Leaves a blind spot over Frieza's head

Despite looking like it and his 5HGuard:
AllStartup:
13Recovery:
Total 55Advantage:
-13 ~ -3 firing projectiles, this is not treated as a projectile. While there's still a gap over his head, it has huge horizontal range, which can be useful in some mid-range scenarios. It also acts as a very strong followup if the opponent gets hit by Frieza's Death SaucerGuard:
AllStartup:
33Recovery:
Total 61Advantage:
+2, as you are likely already crouching - enabling a full followup with SKD afterwards.

1S / 2S / 3S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700	All		12	1	24	-3

1S shoots almost horizontally, 2S shoots at a 30 degree angle, 3S shoots at a 60 degree angle.
1S, 2S, and 3S can cancel into eachother.

Good range and covers some useful anti-air angles, can also be cancelled into 2H even on whiff making this very safe to use when the enemy is jumping in neutral.

Good combo and neutral tool.

6M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850	High		24	6	10	0

Universal overhead.

j.L

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
400	High		7 [6]	4

Hits at a downward angle, useful for IAD-pressure.
Ridiculously fast as an IAD crossup, can be converted off of with j.2S into a superdash combo.

j.M

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
600×2	High		7	2(7)3

First hit has no range at all, second hit has much longer range.
Great air-to-air normal.

The first hit has the same startup as his j.L, making it excellent for combos. Be careful using on smaller characters for IAD overheads or pressure, the first hit will miss.

j.H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	High	D1+ [D3+]	13	5

5LLLLLLL

Dynamic hit can wall bounce.

j.H

Is a Heavy with a fairly good reach.
Smash hit causes sliding knockdown.

j.S

(Hold OK)

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
500×3	All		12	6

Hold or mash S to shoot all 3 blasts.
Piercing projectiles that also beat Super Dash, sending the opponent full screen.
Third hit wall bounces.

† Despite being a projectile, can be anti-air'd by Head invulnerable attacks.

j.2H

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
850 / 1000	All	D1	18	5

Command normal that causes sliding on air hit and an immediate tech on ground hit.

Mainly used after j.2S or j.S in the corner for sliding knockdown, will keep the enemy quite close to Frieza. Can also be used as a third sneaky overhead in an IAD string, use sparingly though as it can be 2H'd.

j.2S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
600	All		14

Fires a ki blast in a downward angle.

The angle isn't really great, is mostly used to combo off of an IAD j.L or into j.2H for knockdowns.

Special Moves

Death Slash

236L/M/H

Version	Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block
236L	1100	All	14	5	26	-4
236M	1100	All	18	5	23	-2
236H	1000×2	All	14	9	20	-5

236L

Explodes the ground in front of Frieza.

Frieza's main way of safely ending blockstrings.

236M

Explodes the ground on the other half of the screen. Doesn't reach fullscreen.

Can be used after a long-range 5H or 5S to tack on some additional damage either by itself, or can be vanished for even more damage.

236H

Creates 2 explosions that covers the entire screen.

A good way to catch people trying to do anything. Can be casted 2 times in a row to combo in itself.

You might not survive this time

236S (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236S	300,300×4 / 0,400,850	All	U2+	13		24+6L	-5
j.236S	300,300×4 / 0,400,850	All	U2+	13		Total 51	-11

Smash at point blank, the opponent will be locked inside the ball before it starts traveling, explodes once it touches the wall.
On Smash hit, becomes full invulnerable until after recovery.
Cancelling the move will cause the ball to explode early.
Breaks out of move when Frieza takes damage.
Hold 4 to make the ball move slowly.

Good as a combo ender before going into Supers, can be spammed in the air if you want your opponent to be annoyed.

Death Saucer

214S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
700×2, 700×2	All		33		Total 61	+2

Throws 2 discs forward that comes back after traveling off screen.
Discs merely launch going forward, but cause a sliding knockdown to the opponent on the way back.
The return trip discs can friendly fire and hit Frieza and his assists. Friendly fire discs scale less and deal more damage to Frieza than they do to the opponent (700+560 to foe and 700+630 to Frieza).
Can be crouched under, including L+S Ki Charge.
Disappear if Frieza's hit or tagged out, but not if he blocks.

Frieza is always plus after using this in a blockstring, so it's a very strong blockstring ender. Use 5L afterwards to catch jumps/vanish ect. This move also doubles as a good combo tool in the corner, or even midscreen with assists.

Warp Smash

22S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
900	All		34	5	31	-3	4-19 All

Teleports a set distance forward, auto corrects. Can pull the opponent out of the corner.
Invulnerable from frames 4 to 19.
Causes a ground bounce on the opponent when they're either standing or in the air.

Can be used as a reversal, but it's very inconsistent on actually punishing the opponent since it tends to miss. It also doesn't have frame 1 invulnerability.

Z Assists

Assist A

Death Slash

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
800	All		23	5	58	+23

Hold 1 to have it hit the close distance of the L version. By default it will hit the medium distance of the M version. Hold 3 to have it hit a farther distance than that.
The damage buff from Golden Frieza applies to this assist as well.
Has a minimum distance, stunting its use.

Extremely annoying assist. Forces the opponent to respect you in neutral because of how huge its hitbox is.

Assist B

You might not survive this time

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
250, 175x3	All		19	31		+11

The damage buff from Golden Frieza applies to this assist as well
Large enough hitbox to catch vanishes.
Hold 4 to make the ball move slowly.

A projectile assist that is quite fast and difficult to punish. It is good as an approach tool, working almost like Guile walking in behind a fireball for your point. It has a lot of hitstun at 51f, but has the lowest blockstun in the game for "normal" assists. The blockstun, or lack thereof, makes it nonexistent for blockstring pressure, but handy for tick throw set-ups. Your opponent might also just respect it because it looks like it has far more blockstun than it actually has.

Assist C

Psychokinesis

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
60, 42x8, 700 / 42x8, 700	All		20			+24 ~ +31

Fast start up
Good screen carry
Same properties as 5H

It isn't much, but it's to be noted that the assist does an extra hit and extra damage while used at point blank range.

Super Moves

Death Ball

236L+M (Air OK) or 236H+S (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
236L+M	20*N, 2600	All	UDV	8+4
j.236L+M	20*N, 2600	All	UDV	7+4

Costs 1 Ki Gauge.
L+M version throws towards the middle of the screen, H+S version throws towards the edge of the screen.
Minimum damage: 4*N, 754.

A useful level 1 super that does additional damage if done from big heights. Because of how slowly the ball travels, some characters can DHC and then get an extension afterward, usually in the form of air DR or j.H.

If Frieza is hit with Death Saucer in the middle of this move, he can then combo into You must die by my hand! without suffering from super scaling, as he hasn't entered neutral stance.

Nova Strike

214L+M (Air OK)

Version	Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
214L+M	4200	High	UDV	11+1			-26 [+42]
j.214L+M	4200	High	UDV	11+1	Until Landing			1-6F after landing All

Costs 3 Ki Gauges.
Minimum damage: 1680.
Inconsistent frame advantage on hit, based on which one of the two hits the ground first.

High damaging level 3. Is only one hit, which means an opponent in Sparking won't get any regeneration done during the animation, making it an excellent combo ender.

Can also be used as a reversal, though it has a tendency to go straight over the opponent in this case so this is generally not recommended.

You must die by my hand!

[H+S] while knocked down

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
480×10	All	UDV	39+2	45		-68 [+35]

Costs 3 Ki Gauges.
Minimum damage: 208*10.
Only invulnerable during active frames.

Not a good wakeup option compares to the 2 other Lv3s he has. However, the insanely high minimum damage means it's the best combo ender, used after getting hit by his own Death Saucer. (which is kind of ironic if you think about it)

Oftentimes used in Golden Frieza TOD's

Golden Frieza

214H+S

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
			34+0				1-34 All

The Emperor comes to reclaim his throne. Just don't run out of time.

Costs 3 Ki Gauges. Can only be done once per match. Inputting 214H+S again will deactivate Golden Frieza.
During Golden Frieza, gains a 20% damage buff, a second air dash, access to full reverse beat, and increased movement speed.
Lasts about 21 seconds when he's the point character, won't deactivate until he returns to neutral ground stance. The timer is paused when he's in Sparking, as well as resetting the timer whenever he's tagged out or an enemy's character dies.
Raw startup is long, but autoguards and recovers instantly after the super flash. Startup during combos is fast, so you can go Golden Frieza mid-combo.
Can be used to tank raw supers and instill fear into your opponent
Has ~1 second of Ki gain cooldown.
Reverse beat gives him access to unpredicatable DR in blockstrings
LOOPS

Sorbet's Ray Gun

S when Golden Frieza ends

Damage	Guard	Smash	Startup	Active	Recovery	On-Block	Invuln
1200	All	UDV	8+0

Costs 1 Ki Gauge.
Minimum damage: 840.
Has some invulnerability and hits opponent during timestop.
Crumples grounded opponent, causes a sliding knockdown on airborne.

Does hit off sliding knockdowns but since the shot is small and goes quite high up, it requires strict timings.

By timing the shot as late as possible into Frieza's crumple animation, you can get enough frame advantage for extra followups like Supers or even just run up 5L. Comboing after this Super doesn't receive Super scaling.

One of the most satisfying and fun ways to combo into You must die by my hand!, easily achieved by using 214S>2M>214H+S (cancelling out of golden) followed by pressing S when the second Death Saucer hits the opponent, and then clicking H+S for an easy and extremely high damage end to a Golden Frieza combo in the corner, sometimes even resulting in a TOD due to You must die by my hand!'s high minimal damage.