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Articles
[The World of 2P: An Ode to +R Sol Pressure]
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- TODO LIST:
- Record and notate some non 5D6 combos
- Transliterate the Machaboo article
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The Three Styles of Slayer
Slayer is a character that is somewhat infamous for his "gorilla" playstyle, but in reality Slayer can be played in a few fairly different ways depending on the matchup and your own preferences. While he excels in close and medium range, how you play out these effective ranges can be handled differently between players.
Style 1: The Aggressive (Rushdown, Mixup, Vortex)
- Slayer excels at being right next to his opponent, so this playstyle leverages that to create an unpredictable and exceptionally fast offense. The goal here is to stay glued to the opponent and bully them with Slayer's superior hitboxes and frame data.
- 5K, 2P, and c.S will keep Slayer right next to his opponent and keep opponents blocking. From here you can high/low mix with 6K/2K or go for a normal throw or Bite.
- 6H, IAD j.H/j.K, and P Dandy > It's Late act as solid pressure resets due to either being slightly plus or +0. Use these to keep your opponents sitting still. Undertow or P Dandy > Pilebunker will cause people to think twice about attempting to abare. 2P and 6K are similarly plus.
- 2S, 2H and 6P are your frametrap buttons, each of which carries exceptionally high reward on counterhit. Using these in your pressure is great for keeping opponents blocking for long periods of time.
- In neutral, this Slayer enjoys bullying opponents back with 5K, j.H and 2H. Meter is best saved for accelerating your gameplan through FB Dandy > Crosswise Heel for midscreen conversions into corner carry, or BBU for big counterhit conversions. 2H is a low crush for stomping out abare attempts and leads into BBU in the corner for preposterous damage.
- On offense, this Slayer likes to do lots of small mixups into big reward conversions, such as 6K > 5K > 6P FRC > Combo in the corner. The goal is to make opponents flinch, either by baiting them into a response with a minus move, stagger pressuring to call out mashing, or resetting pressure/going for a throw. 2S and air throw will keep opponents from jumping out of the corner. Mappa and 6K can both be feinted into a throw. Mixups include:
- 6K/2K High/Low
- Stagger Pressure, such as 5K > 5K or 2P > delay 5K
- Plus Frames (P Dandy > It's Late, 6K, 2P) into Frametrap (6P/2H/FB Pilebunker)
- Mastery of BDC is important for this playstyle, as it allows Slayer to be belligerent with his neutral and blast through the opponent's buttons. Using BDC S Dandy can swoop around opponents with a lot of invuln. BDC K Mappa, lots of forward dashing and airdashing, and the occasional FB Dandy to chase opponents down are all necessary for keeping the threat on.
- This playstyle excels against mobile zoning opponents or people who like to play in midrange against Slayer. The major weakness of this style is it's over-reliance on powering through stuff and being quite deliberate. Opponents who are very patient can simply wait for a good opportunity to counterhit you and start their own offense. As well, opponents with powerful approach-subversion tools like
Faust (with his 5K, 2H and items) or 
Sol (with f.S, 5K, 2D, Volcanic Viper and Ground Viper) excel at shutting this kind of Slayer down.
Style 2: The Patient (Defensive, Anti-Air, Fundamentals)
- Slayer has excellent buttons for controlling space defensively. This playstyle allows Slayer to be very defensive and reactionary, forcing opponents to come to him. The goal here is to stay at midrange or further and watch the opponent, before responding with a strong anti-approach tool and going into a combo.
- Slayer's anti-airs are fantastic. 5P is a reactionary anti-air for catching low approaches, 2S is a fantastic anti-air that leads to a full combo and more on hit, and 6P is an infamous counterpoke with massive invulnerability frames.
- Many of Slayer's pokes, like 2S and 5K, gain lots of value in this playstyle. Proper use of them will encourage dashblocking, allowing you to keep opponents just outside your anti-air range.
- BBU doubles as a combo-starting anti-air, and 6H can catch opponents who like to jump back and IAD forward. For okizeme, this Slayer likes to play it somewhat safe and use 6K on knockdown to bait DPs. While this option isn't flawless, it does reward him well.
- In Neutral, the Patient Slayer waits. After establishing himself with his low-commitment poking game, Slayer waits for a big establishing move from his opponent and then punishes accordingly. His anti-air buttons and high reward on counterhit facilitate this. If an opponent makes a mistake, he can punish with gusto. This can often scare opponents into respecting Slayer's neutral despite his lack of long-range options. Simply put, sitting completely still and just waiting can be a great way to scare opponents into making an overly aggressive play while keeping yourself mentally primed to respond.
- This Slayer uses BDC to bait opponents into making mistakes. BDC P Dandy gives this Slayer lots of time to react with Crosswise Heel, or respond with j.P or j.K. BDC Bite is an excellent reversal that can really mess with your opponent's head, and BDC DOT is a true reversal. Backdash in general can be a good way to respond to people who like to run at Slayer with sweeps. Use BDC defensively instead of improving your own offense.
- This playstyle excels against opponents who are extremely aggressive and hold the advantage in neutral. Opponents who charge towards Slayer and constantly press buttons in his face will be blasted back by his counterpokes and anti-airs. However, this playstyle is weak against people who enjoy playing at long ranges or playing slow. Opponents who are keen to Slayer's defensive options can score a life lead and force him to approach, and this playstyle in particular can be really difficult against long-range characters like
Axl or 
Dizzy.
Style 3: The Dandy (Reads, Big Damage, Counterhit)
- The last major way to play Slayer can only be described as "disrespectful". This playstyle focuses on leveraging Slayer's counterhit game to the absolute highest heights it can go and abusing his teleports. Dandy Slayers establish themselves through massive damage counterhits, making blocking optional, and overall looking for the biggest reward they can get.
- Slayer is built for counterhits. Pilebunker is the counterhit tool, having a huge hurtbox and massive reward even on normal hit. FB Pilebunker is even better, giving Slayer access to his best combos in the corner. If opponents press buttons against this, they die.
- This Slayer enjoys making his opponents taste the pain. Counterhit buttons like 5H and j.H have great hitboxes and lead into incredible damage on hit. Depending on RISC buildup, Slayer is more than capable of killing any character in the game bar Potemkin with a counterhit starter. Using moves that naturally lead into P Dandy are good, such as 6H moving Slayer forwards.
- Once Slayer has made his opponents fear counterhits, he can weave in "less rewarding" mixup options like Bite or throw. This Slayer also enjoys sacrificing good oki for damage and mindgames, such as Knockdown > S Dandy > It's Late/Pilebunker at midscreen.
- This Slayer likes to make blocking as optional as possible by abusing BDC. BDC Backjump is a fully invulnerable backjump that can escape all kinds of pressure, while BDC Bite is a surprise reversal. Wakeup FB Dandy is also fully invulnerable and can be followed up with Crosswise Heel or Pilebunker for a reversal. Crosswise is foot invulnerable after 3f, while Pilebunker is 3f startup.
- If Slayer really wants to mess with his opponent, 66/44 teleport crossups are possible off of a variety of Slayer's buttons but are very unsafe and throwable. This is essentially bragging to your opponent that you've got them sitting still.
- Other wacky options for mixups include IAD j.D > Up and Close Dandy, and delaying your Dandy Step followups to try and catch people mashing throw. In particular, the latter can be conditioned through Dandy Step > Throw.
- The goal with this playstyle is to unsettle your opponents into making mistakes. You don't want them to feel safe at any point in the round if you're next to them, because either a) they are about to get mixed in some unspeakable way or b) they are about to get counterhit into oblivion. Keeping your options rotating is an absolute must.
- Using unconventional but strong options for navigating neutral is a great way to make your opponent flinch. Throwing out S/H Dandy Steps, BDC K Mappa, and midscreen DOTs when you see them pushing buttons is the way to victory.
- The biggest and most obvious failure of this playstyle is how unsafe it is. Doing this style can be rewarding against opponents who don't know what is happening or have weak mental, but patient opponents will sit there, block a counterhit button, and then respond with a punish. It also requires you to be very good at hard reads, which can be difficult to keep pace with in a game like +R.
Overall, Slayer is best played by rotating through these playstyles and never sticking to one. You should adapt your playstyle based on opponent habits and matchups accordingly. Sticking to one will not get you far. Try to think to yourself if the opponent you're fighting has the neutral advantage or not, and then examine how they react to certain options in-match.
- The Aggressive Slayer is great against keepaway characters like
Chipp and 
Testament. - The Patient Slayer is great against aggressive rushdown characters like Sol,
Order-Sol and 
A.B.A. - The Dandy Slayer is great against individual players who do not like to stand still.
Ultimately, Slayer is versatile enough that he can handle any matchup and situation if you play correctly. Learning to adapt and understand the matchup is key to finding success.
Video Examples
| Examples of Slayer Archetypes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive | Patient | Dandy | |
| , | VOLUME WARNING | ||