DNFD/Launcher/Strategy

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 Launcher
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Neutral

Launcher's approach to neutral is unique. Every move has a specific purpose for different situations and as such you must get used to knowing which move to use for any given situation. Your goal is to make use of her various frame traps and bait the opponent into guessing incorrectly during their approach.

2A and 5A are great pokes that can check opponents carelessly rushing in. 5A has better range while 2A is faster and better for staggers. Because of each of those buttons hit a downwards angle often you'll find people trying to approach from the air for an easy whiff punish. This is where 2S callouts come into play which can lead to some of her highest damaging routes.

2A > 5A > 5AA is a good blockstring to push yourself out and create distance. Once you space yourself to max 5AA range set 2B to make ground approaches difficult. You can whiff cancel 2B into 6S to stop jump ins over 2B. From here you can choose to play:

  • Defensive. Throw out another 5S or 6S before setting 2B again. Continue this cycle of 2 projectiles per 2B whenever you need to stall for mana regen or annoy your opponent into action.
  • Aggressive. Run on top of 2B and follow up with either 5A or 5B, whichever will reach first. This will start your pressure midscreen.

Another strong aspect to Launcher's neutral is threatening 5B near full screen. 5B reaches about 3/4 of the screen, is quick and when paired with 6MDNFD Launcher 236M.pngGuardAllStartup30Recovery39Advantage+28 at max distance can create unrollable and unjumpable sequences. Rolls however will still cover the entire duration of held 5B so be careful using this when not at least max distance.

Offense

Blockstrings

Launcher has very few true block strings. She instead relies on using frame trap An offensive technique where the attacker leaves a small opening in their offense, goading the defender into performing an attack. This opening is designed such that the attacker can easily counter the defender's attack with their own.s to captilize on opponents eager to get past her zoning.


6S frame trap

5A > 5AA > 6S

Will catch rolls, jumps and back dashes from round start distance.


2B > 4S roll bait

2A > 5A > 2B (whiff) > 4S

Will catch rolls but loses to back dash midscreen and Hit ThrowAn attack that animates like a throw if it hits you, but is blockable like any attack style moves. If you catch a roll attempt with 4SDNFD Launcher 4S.pngGuardLowStartup18Recovery25Advantage-17 then 2B will be auto timed for a soft knockdown A knockdown that puts the character into a state that may allow the character to get up off the ground earlier than a Hard Knockdown, giving the offender less options for continuing offense. that can be followed up with a meaty 5A.


2B > 2S frame trap

2A > 5A > 2B > 2S

Catches jumps and can catch rolls but they must be reacted to. The timing for reacting to rolls differs depending on the character.


5B > 5M frame trap

5A > 5AA > 5B > 5M

Will beat everything except rolls.


5A > 5A stagger pressure

2A > 5A > 5A > 5AA

A good stagger pressure sequence that will catch mashing. Loses to jumps and midscreen back dash.


5B > 6M frame trap

5A > 5AA > 5B > 6M

A very good pressure sequence that will cover most options that aren't projectile invulnerable moves or full screen pokes. From round start distance it will catch immediate rolls, jumps and back dash. For delayed rolls Launcher will recover fast enough to punish recovery frames with 2A.


jS > 5A frame trap

jA (whiff) > jA > jS > 5A > 5AA

Mostly used in oki Short for "Okizeme" Attacking an opponent about to wake up after they were knocked down, usually with meaty attacks or mix-ups. situations. jS is blocked low enough to the ground to make the follow-up 5A plus and will catch rolls with 5AA. You can also bait rolls 2A > throw or 2A > 2A after jS.

The setup loses to DP reversals on the second jA and 5A if not spaced correctly.


5S > 6M frame trap

2A > 5A > 2B > 5S > 6M

A good option to use if you find yourself too close for comfort and need to create space. The gap between 5S and 6M is short enough to beat projectile invulnerable moves like  Striker's 6MDNFD Striker 236M.pngGuardAllStartup18Recovery28Advantage-8 or  Crusader's 5MDNFD Crusader 5M 1.pngGuardMidStartup15Recovery64Advantage-14. However, it loses specifically to  Inquisitor's 2MDNFD Inquisitor 623M.pngGuardMidStartup10Recovery42Advantage-26.

Mixups

Conversion mixups listed further down

Spriggan follow-ups

SprigganDNFD Launcher 4S.pngGuardLowStartup18Recovery25Advantage-17 is Launcher's main combo ender and gives a hard knockdown. There are several options available after this move:

j.S

4S > 236M > 5S x2 > 4S > j.S > 2B
Can be used to squeeze in an extra bit of damage and regen mana if you haven't reached the hitstun decay limitA game mechanic where the character who is being hit in a combo will suffer increasingly less hit stun as the combo gets longer. After a while, the hit stun will be so low the combo will drop..

2B

An excellent oki option outside of the corner. From most positions on the screen the grenade will automatically land on the opponent and hit them meaty right after Launcher recovers, creating a situation somehow similar to a safe jump where you can block for an instant to avoid any DP and then resume your offense. The only way the opponent can try to escape this is by backdashing, which leaves them far away at a disadvantage. You can prevent backdashing by inserting a micro dash just before 2B, however it will no longer hit meaty and leave you open to grabs. In the corner the grenade will go past the opponent and explode after they wake up. You can delay 2B slightly to make it hit meaty in the corner.

Quantum Bomb setups

You can act after this frame
You can act after this frame

Quantum BombDNFD Launcher jM.pngGuardAllStartup124RecoveryTotal 26(+5 Landing)Advantage- briefly halts Launcher's air momentum. She can act starting from the very frame she throws her hand forward.

What you follow up with depends on your position/advantage. For example in oki Short for "Okizeme" Attacking an opponent about to wake up after they were knocked down, usually with meaty attacks or mix-ups. situations you can dash up and cancel j.M into a meaty Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals. 2A/5A or grab, creating a threatening strike/throw mixup that is especially effective against opponents in awakening.

In most cases you can use 2B as either an air reset Purposefully ending a combo early in order to perform a mixup in order to deal more damage. or frame trap An offensive technique where the attacker leaves a small opening in their offense, goading the defender into performing an attack. This opening is designed such that the attacker can easily counter the defender's attack with their own. to setup j.M with the least amount of risk.

Here are some scenarios in which you can safely setup nuke pressure, which leads to either big damage, big guard damage or massive guard break sequences:



2B resets/frametraps

j.A > j.SUseful in guard break scenarios

2A > 5A > 5AA > 5S > 236M > 5S x3 > 236M > 2B (whiff) > j.M > 2B (hit) > j.A > j.S > j.M (hit) > 5S x3 > 4S > 623M
This setup always leaves a gap between j.S and j.M that can be rolled or DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion.'d. However, because you get all hits of j.S on block this setup becomes more effective in guard break scenarios.

Against characters with Hit ThrowAn attack that animates like a throw if it hits you but is blockable like any attack DPs you'll need to cancel the landing recovery of j.M with a whiffed jS to avoid a DP punish. You'll have to react to any roll/jump/throw attempts afterwards albeit with the added pressure of j.M on your side.

Midscreen 4S setups

Run up j.M

Defense

Launcher's primary defensive tools are 2ADNFD Launcher 2A.pngGuardLowStartup7Recovery22Advantage-6, 2BDNFD Launcher 2B.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery40Advantage-15~+10, 2SDNFD Launcher 2S.pngGuardAllStartup16Recovery31Advantage-6, and 623MDNFD Launcher 623M.pngGuardAllStartup18Recovery45Advantage-32 as well as making good use of universal mechanics like Dodge Roll (6 + G), Conversion (B + S) and Guard CancelDNFD Launcher 4S.pngGuardAllStartup23Recovery44Advantage- (6 + B + S).

Being one of the characters on the lower half of the health spectrum and having an average guard value you'll be put into 2 touch and guard break scenarios often against most the cast. While it may sound obvious your best defense is to avoid getting hit, as that immediately puts you at a disadvantage with Launcher's weak defensive options. Luckily Launcher's enormous range allows her to challenge certain setups and pressure sequences where other characters simply cannot contest ( Inquisitor's 214MDNFD Inquisitor 214M.pngGuardMidStartup40Recovery30*Advantage+166 or  Dragon Knight's 5MDNFD Dragon Knight 5M 1.pngGuardMidStartup18Recovery10Advantage+18 calls for example).

When it comes to using dodge roll in oki Short for "Okizeme" Attacking an opponent about to wake up after they were knocked down, usually with meaty attacks or mix-ups. situations always assume your opponent has a roll safe setup before weighing other options such as DP or simply just blocking. Take the time to study your opponent's block strings and habits so you can more easily find gaps in pressure to escape and either reset to neutral or steal your turn back.

Anti Air

j.A

CH j.A > dl.j.A > j.S > 236M > 5Sx4 > 236M > j.M > j.S (whiff) > 5S > 6S > j.M (hit) > 4S
While not a traditional anti-air, j.A is a great air-to-air option for sniping jump ins. Technically Launcher's fastest anti-air at 4 + 7 frames total startup at best. It has great recovery and solid range while leading into full combos when canceled into j.S.

Conversion

Neutral

Launcher's slow zoning, long recovery and extended hurtboxes make it easy to whiff punish her, especially with jump ins. Using conversion in neutral eliminates this weakness and allows you to zone much more effectively.

Mixups

2B > 4S > CV Strike/Throw

2A > 5A > 5AA > 2B (whiff) > 4S > CV > 66 > 5A or throw
Without a single overhead in her toolkit Launcher's mixup potential leaves much to be desired. The only type of mix she has is strike/throw which can still be effective in kill range.

In this example you can safely run up for a throw since 2B will immediately punish any retaliation from the opponent outside of teching the grab.

Combo Conversions

Launcher is able to combo efficiently without the use of conversion. As such it can be used to make certain links easier or to string together moves that would otherwise be impossible to link.

5A corner DP Punish (~777 damage AS ender)

5A > 2S > 214M(2) > j.M > CV > 5S > dl.6S > j.M > j.S(whiff) > j.S > j.M > j.S(whiff) > 4S > dl.4S > AS
Gold cube is required.

Universal 5A DP punish.


2S DP Punish (~905 damage AS ender)

2Sx4 > jc > j.M > CV > 2S > 214M(2) > dl.j.M j.S(whiff) > j.S > dl.5S > 214M(2) > j.M > j.S(whiff) > 4S > dl.4S > AS
Gold cube is required.

A touch of death A single combo that will defeat the opponent even from full health. combo on  Enchantress and  Swift Master.

Matchups

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