Azrael is a big, heavy-hitting offensive character. Armed with a teleport dash, Azrael needs to patiently get around the screen, and try to get in on the opponent. Once Azrael makes his way in, he has to use his pokes and various specials to get started with his Drive. Azrael's Drive gives him the ability to apply weakpoints. "Consuming" them give his Drive attacks and special moves bonus properties. This opens up new combo routes and lets Azrael deal heavy damage. While Azrael may struggle in neutral against more evasive opponents, he has several tools at his disposal to overwhelm anyone unprepared.
Azrael's Drive attacks reveal "weakpoints" when they hit the opponent. Weakpoints are active for 1000F (roughly 17 seconds) before disappearing if not used.
- Upper Weakpoint Moves: 5D / 6D / j.D / 236D / 214214D
- Lower Weakpoint Moves: 2D / 3D / j.2D / 214D / 214214D
Azrael's Drive Attacks and weakpoint system receive several buffs:
- Weakpoints are revealed even on block
- Azrael can now special-cancel his Drive normals.
- Weakpoints are not used up when they are triggered, opening up even more combo routes for big damage.
- Weakpoints do not disappear as long as OD is active. If their timer runs out during Overdrive, they will expire as soon as Azrael leaves Overdrive
Normal Moves
5A
- Lv2 Button, meaning it has more block/hitstun than usual jabs
- Cancellable into normals from frame 12
A very short-range uppercut, cancels/links into itself. One of the very few 5As that need to be barriered in the air. Hits crouching, and functions well as an anti-air
5B
- Cancellable into normals from frame 16
- Whiff cancellable into 5BB
Jump-cancelable. A strong anti-air due to its hitbox, it's also air unblockable
5BB
- Cancellable immediately on hit/block, like normal
Knocks aerial targets to the ground. On CH ground bounces. Useful for relatively easy hitconfirms.
5C
- Fatal Counter
- Excellent proration values
- Hitbox fully extends on frame 18
- Cancellable into 6C (and specials) immediately on hit/block
- Cancellable into 6D/3D from frame 23
A yakuza kick, has long reach and a fantastic combo starter if you get a counterhit. One of the few long range moves Azrael has. 5C > Black Hawk Stinger is an unblockable setup if both weakpoints are applied.
2A
- Cancellable into normals from frame 12
Extremely slow 2A, but hits low. Typical go-to move to pick up if your opponent doesn't tech.
2B
- Cancellable into normals from frame 21
A swinging strike at their feet. Used as a link in various combos.
2C
- Cancellable into normals from frame 27
Has head invuln, but an awkward hitbox for an anti-air. Pickup that can be followed up by 5B/6D. More often than not combo filler. Counts as a projectile.
3C
- Frame advantage listed is for point-blank range.
- Can only be special-cancelled into Sentinel Dump (downed 22C version).
A Kanji-like dropkick, hits low, knocks the opponent away. This is a basic part of Azrael's crouching combos.
6A
- Frame Advantage listed is for point-blank range.
A shoulder tackle, similar to Slayer's 6P from Guilty Gear. Wall bounces near corner or on CH. Can blow through a lot more moves than you'd expect, most importantly most mid-hitting pokes, and will even clash with most, if not all, DPs.
6B
- Can be cancelled into normals and forward dash from frame 30, including on whiff
- Can be jump/special cancelled from frame 30 on hit/block only
A big uppercut that launches the enemy. Can be dash canceled during the part where he spins around after the uppercut. Possibly useful against expected cross-ups or as a delayed anti-air. It is very unsafe though, which means you have to cancel into something or you'll be easily punished.
6C
- Fatal Counter
- Frame advantage listed is for standing opponent.
- Looks like an overhead, but isn't.
A swinging kick after a short jump, similar to Terry Bogard's Crack Shoot. On FC against opponents in the air the move will ground bounce. Can be followed up on FC with various moves. Because Azrael hops during this move, it will beat many low poke attempts.
j.A
An average j.A. Nothing special but can be used for a very tricky mixup with 3C>RC>j.A.
j.B
- One hit max.
Azrael swings his jacket downward, hits behind him as well. This is probably one of Azrael's best normals. Can easily cross-up opponents.
j.C
An upward kick. Typical follow-up to Hornet Bunker/Chaser. Used in the middle of almost all of Azrael's more advanced combos after air dashing then landing from it.
j.2C
Azrael stops for a moment, then falls down with a divekick, knocks down on raw air hit. Landing j.2C after Hornet cause them to spin and you are able to continue the combo. Does not function the same as divekicks in other games (e.g Street Fighter). Instead, it's often best to use this divekick as a way of delaying a jump-in
Taunt
- Azrael Taunt.png
This is a thing, apparently.
Azrael's Taunt can deal damage for some reason, so it's included here for completeness sake. It's unsafe even on hit so your opponent will also tech from it while you're still recovering and do whatever they want to you.
Drive Moves
All of Azrael's Drive moves have Same Move proration if used more than once in a given combo. Weakpoint and non-weakpoint versions are counted separately.
5D
- Leads to massive damage with weakpoint
Fast Overhead that applies/consumes upper weakpoint. Can be followed-up on CH without weakpoint. Staggers with weakpoint. Lands before it goes active, so it can lose to throw attempts. Use this move to catch an opponent off guard. With RC, you can apply lower weakpoint immediately afterwards.
2D
Hits low, applies lower weakness. Can be followed-up on CH without weakpoint. Hard knockdown with weakpoint.
3D
- Shares the same animation as 6D from frames 1-9
Stomps at the enemy’s feet. Very deceptive startup to the animation. Hits low, applies lower weakness. Can be followed-up on CH without weakpoint. Ground bounces with weakpoint. Great to use when your opponent has been conditioned with 6D
6D
- Shares the same animation as 3D from frames 1-9
A heel kick. This is your typical ender/extender for BnB combos to get a weakpoint/with weakpoint. An overhead, applies upper weakness. Can be followed-up on CH without weakpoint. Ground bounces with weakpoint.
While it forms a 50/50 Mixup with 3D, but can be mashed out of at neutral, so instead use it for this as a meaty during oki to remove that disadvantage.
j.D
An aerial smash. This is your typical air combo ender without weakpoint. With weakpoint, it functions as a combo extender. Overhead, applies upper weakness and smashes the opponent away from you. Ground bounces with weakpoint on air hit, staggers with weakpoint on ground hit.
j.2D
A horizontal roundhouse, causes knockdown, wide crossover range making it good for jump-ins. Overhead, applies lower weakness and smashes the opponent below you. Most of the time in combos you will be using j.D instead, but if you have or want a lower weakpoint this is what you'll use instead. Ground bounces with weakpoint on air hit, staggers with weakpoint on ground hit.
Universal Mechanics
Forward Throw
5B+C
- 100% Minimum Damage
An uppercut, blows the enemy about one step forward. Can be followed up with an aerial combo or special, but it doesn’t wallbounce in the corner. Can guarantee a weakpoint is applied or followed up with Tiger Magnum all the way to Leopard Launcher.
Back Throw
4B+C
- 100% Minimum Damage
Azrael knocks the enemy down behind himself. Can be special-cancelled. Can guarantee a weakpoint is applied or followed up with Tiger Magnum all the way to Leopard Launcher.
Air Throw
j.B+C
- 100% Minimum Damage
Grabs the opponent and slams them straight to the ground. Simple follow-up would be 2A>Tiger Magnum~
Counter Assault
6A+B while Blocking
- 1-20 All invul
- Frame Advantage listed is for point-blank range
- 180F Heat Gauge Cooldown
Azrael does a shoulder tackle move similar to his 6A.
Crush Trigger
5A+B (Chargeable)
- Can be charged
- 180F Heat Gauge Cooldown
Can be used with 25% to guard crush your opponent. Can be barrier blocked to not cause guard crush. Adds some more combo-ability to combos, as well as increases damage.
Special Moves
Gustav Buster
236A
- Start-up listed is for point-blank range
- Can only followup on CH
- Can be used during a forward dash to "cancel" it
Azrael's premier gap closer/pressure ender. Its huge range and fast startup make it great for catching out an opponent and/or starting pressure. The slight frame advantage on normal block means you'll beat out most 5A mashes with your own 5A. If your opponent can't IB this move reliably, you can essentially snatch neutral at any time. If your opponent IBs you can backdash after safely most of the time.
Tiger Magnum
236C
A backfist blow with short reach. Relatively fast, especially if you do it after a cross-up teleport dash. Goes into Azrael's "rekka chains": Tiger>Cobra>Leopard, Tiger>Cobra>Valiant and Tiger>Cobra>Hornet. These chains are delayable. You can cancel into Hornet Bunker or Valiant Charger immediately after Tiger Magnum, but this is much less common.
Cobra Spike
6C during Tiger Magnum
Follow-up to Tiger Magnum. Usually followed by Leopard Launcher, but can also be canceled into Valiant Crush or Hornet Bunker to lead into a high/low mixup or to capitalise on the appropriate weakpoint during some combos.
Leopard Launcher
6C during Cobra Spike
Slides on midscreen, wallsticks in the corner. Can often combo into other moves, especially near/in the corner.
Growler Field
214B (Chargeable)
- Projectile guard point until recovery
- Can be held to extend the length for which the move can absorb projectiles
- Phalanx Cannon stock goes up by 1 for each P property attack received during GP frames(Maximum 3)
- Becomes fully invuln until the end of its recovery upon absorbing a projectile
- Can cancel into Phalanx Cannon
- Azrael's fastest move, but not a reversal.
Azrael's anti-projectile zoning move. Projectiles he absorbs can be used for the powerful Phalanx Cannon attack. It also has a hitbox of its own that becomes active very quickly and blows away the opponent if it hits. However, it very punishable if blocked.
This is a key move when dealing with long ranged characters who like to keep away from him, basically making reckless projectile spam a liability. Similarly, recklessly using this move is also a liability because of the huge recovery. It's not a cure-all solution to ranged characters but it is an extremely useful tool in some matchups. Keep in mind that Azrael is safe as long as he absorbs a projectile with this move.
Phalanx Cannon
236B after absorbing projectile with Growler Field
- 3 stock max.
Fires a considerably fast projectile with surprising damage. You can use this after you absorb a projectile with Growler Field. This move has a lot of priority over other projectiles and will blow right through most of them. Can combo into itself or even Black Hawk Stinger. Can be used to extend some combos and deal good damage, but you'll mostly spend these trying to suppress projectile spamming.
Sentinel Dump
214C 22C near downed opponent)
- 1-10F Guard Point
- 22C version tracks the opponent, up to a max range, when in a downed state
- 214C makes Azrael jump about 2 character spaces forward
- Can cross up if opponent is crouching
- Has a hitbox on both sides
- Technically a projectile
- Loses cleanly to multi-hitting moves or rapid fired jabs
Azrael jumps and slams to the ground, sitting on top of the opponent. On a not-downed opponent, it launches them in place and hits them as they land. 214C can be used for oki to beat tech rolls, and is + on block if they do block it. A common misconception of this move is that it only GPs one attack. In reality, the GP frames are so short that most 5A mashes will hit Azrael out of 214C on the second jab.
Panzer Strike
623B
- 1-20 full invul, 21-29 head invul AKA it's a meterless reversal
- Counterhit state for duration
- On contact with something, you can RC at any point. RCing while rising will retain the launching momentum.
- Cannot emergency tech second hit.
- You can hold 6 during the move to slightly alter the trajectory, used mostly in combos.
- Can be low-profiled
They gave the gorilla a DP. This serves as another reversal alongside Growler. The main benefit of using this move is Rapid Cancelling it. Because you can RC at any time, you can opt to reset back to midscreen, or RC during the falling portion to catch your opponent off guard.
Valiant Crush
236D (Chargeable)
- 11-(active~6)GP
- Can be charged. Fully charged version forces a Fatal Counter
- Retains GP during charging
- Weakpoint applied causes a special type of knockback
- Can be followed with Valiant Charger on hit if weakpoint is applied
A kick that blows the enemy away. Overhead, applies upper weakpoint. On hit, it'll consume a previously applied upper weakpoint and blow the opponent back, leading to Azrael's famous Valiant Charger combos. These provide big damage and huge corner carry. Its guard point can be used to catch an inattentive opponent, but it's extremely unsafe in pressure.
Valiant Charger
6 during Valiant Crush w/ upper weakpoint applied
- Can be cancelled into from any normal non-drive move while the Valiant Crush knockback is in effect.
- Can be cancelled into any normal move.
- Special knockback persists if follow-up from Valiant Charger is not a D move or a special (Gustaf Buster and Phalanx Cannon are exceptions)
- Normals used during Valiant Charger can be canceled with Valiant Charger
Charges at the enemy and allows you to loop the same move over and over by cancelling back into this move while your opponent remains in Valiant Charger tumble state. Can also do jump attacks mid-followup. This is the core of Azrael's damaging combos and what you should be trying to go for most of the time.
Hornet Bunker
214D (Chargeable)
- 10-(active~9)GP
- Can be charged. Fully charged version forces a Fatal Counter
- Retains GP during charging
- Applied weakpoint causes same type of knockback as Valiant Crush.
- Can be followed with Hornet Chaser on hit if weakpoint is applied
Azrael launches the enemy. Hits low, and applies lower weakpoint. Weakpoint disappears after hit if it was already applied. Can be followed up on CH with a regular combo. Situational anti-air. Awful recovery on whiff and on block, don't use this for mixup.
Hornet Chaser
8 during Hornet Bunker w/ lower weakpoint applied
- Special knockback persists if follow-up from Hornet Chaser is not a D move
- Normals used during Hornet Chaser are not affected by normal revolver action restrictions and are air-dash cancelable (excluding D moves)
A homing jump, like after Dust attacks in GG. Almost always followed-up by multiple j.Cs>j.2C>~
Distortion Drives
Black Hawk Stinger
236236D
- 7th frame All invul. OD version 7-13 All invul.
- Applied weakpoints make move unblockable for that attribute, high weakpoint makes it hit low, low weakpoint makes it hit overhead, having both on makes it unblockable, but hitstun and damage do not change
- 180F Heat Gauge Cooldown
- OD Version has an extended superflash.
- Minimum damage: 1050 OD: 1480
Basically a super version of Gustav Buster; it's a long distance rush followed by a punch, covers lots of space, has quick start-up and is mostly used as a combo ender for extra damage because of its generous minimum damage. Can't followup without additional meter. Standing unblockable with upper weakpoint and crouching unblockable with lower weakpoint. Unblockable on the ground if both weakpoints are applied; can still be air barrier guarded though. Overdrive BHS CH leads to huge damage if near the corner.
Scud Punishment
214214D
- 1-18 All invul
- Applies both weakpoints on hit
- 180F Heat Gauge Cooldown
- Short range jab.
- Damage is somewhat low
- Minimum damage: 525 OD: 810
- For 1000F (about 16 seconds), Azrael will appear to have an afterimage. After your opponent recovers from any hitstun during this time (Including the combo from Scud Punishment itself), both weakpoints will be reapplied for 1000F (about 16 seconds).
An interesting move that trades damage up front for the chance to get much more damage later by ensuring both weakpoints are available for any combo you are able to start. Not recommended to be used as a reversal in most cases due to its poor recovery. Panzer strike is a much safer option if you already have 50 Heat to make it safe. On counterhit it is possible to get a decently damaging, if short, combo. Can be very useful when combined with Black Hawk Stinger due to it being unblockable when both weakpoints are active. It's somewhat unnecessary to stack this with Overdrive due to their similar effects.
Exceed Accel
Full Spartan
A+B+C+D during Overdrive
- Swaps Sides.
- Otherwise behaves the same as every other Exceed Accel.
- 320/671 Minimum damage.
While Azrael's EA is among the most damaging in the game, it puts him in an unfavorable position in most match-ups (takes people out of corners and places opponents across the screen).
Astral Heat
Patriot Apocalypse
632146C
Can be combo'd into very easily and has an abnormally large vertical hitbox.
Functions as a hail mary reversal due to its crazy active frames, invulnerability and huge hitbox, so will beat out pretty much every reversal attempted against it, no matter how late (Unless they have a guard point instead of invulnerability). Comically unsafe on block but Azrael is not in a counterhit state in this time, so the best response to this move is simply to block it if you can.
Can also be comboed into from literally anything, including 5A.
Colors
External References
- Character Video Thread
- Oki Guide
- Beginner's Guide
- DanteRedgrave's Video Guide - Most recent video guide
- Part 2 of this Guide - More in depth regarding pressure and handles Frequently Asked Questions
- Bojack's Video Guide
- Azrael MU playlist
- Basic Combo Theory
- Meterless Combo doc
- Japanese Name: アズラエル
- Japanese Wiki
- Japanese BBS
- Arcade Profile Dan Rankings
- Color Palettes on https://blazblue.wiki
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Essentials
• HUD •
Controls •
FAQ •
The Basics
• Movement/Canceling •
Offense •
Defense •
Gauges •
Universal Strategy •
Detailed & Advanced Information
• Damage/Combo •
Attack Attributes •
Frame Data & System Data •
Misc •
Archived Information
• Patch Notes • Tier Lists •
- Active Flow
- Advanced Input
- Attack Attributes
- Attack Level
- Astral Heat
- Auto Heat Gain
- Burst
- Barrier Block
- Barrier Gauge
- Bonus Proration
- Clash
- Combo Rate
- Counter Assault
- Counter Hit
- Counter Hit Carry
- Crush Trigger
- Danger State
- Distortion Drive
- Exceed Accel
- Fatal Counter
- Guard Cancel Overdrive
- Guard Crush
- Guard Bonus
- Hard Knockdown
- Heat Gauge Cooldown
- Instant Barrier
- Instant Block
- Negative Penalty
- Overdrive
- Overdrive Cancel
- Purple Throw
- P1, P2
- Rapid Cancel
- Same Move Proration (SMP)
- Starter Rating
- Super Flash Buffer
- Throw Reject Miss (TRM)
- Ukemi/Tech (Air)
- Ukemi/Roll/Emergency Tech
- Untechable State