Morrigan Aensland/Vampire Savior moveset information

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Morrigan Aensland Vampire Savior face portrait

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Below is information on Morrigan's move set from Vampire Savior, the third game in the Darkstalker series, released in 1997.

Normal Moves

Standing

	LP [ Startup: 5 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 | Renda: H:+9 B:+8 ] Hair poke. The hitbox is somewhat high which makes it whiff most crouching characters. Advantageous on hit/block and gains a renda bonus. Primarily used for keeping people from dashing/hopping in, or for guard breaking.
	n.LP [ Startup: 5 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 | Renda: H:+9 B:+8 ] Light Chop. Despite it's appearance it's basically identical in frame and function to the far version.
	MP [ Startup: 6 | Hit:+3 | Block:+2 ] Side Chop. Good long hitbox, cancelable, and good frame advantage on hit/block make this rather ideal for general midrange poking. Your basic go-to move when at a distance.
	n.MP [ Startup: 8 | Hit:-3 | Block:-4 ] Drill. Nearly worthless, try to avoid using this. The hitbox is deceptively high and small so it will whiff crouching characters and it does not make for a good anti-air either. The frame disadvantage on this move is terrible as well. It's one saving grace is that it's canceable and chainable, so be prepared to cancel it if you ever use it.
	HP [ Startup: 9 | Hit:-1 | Block:-2 ] Needles. Pretty good hitbox, but not very good frame advantage. This is sometimes used due to the long active duration, which allows one to buffer DI easily during it. One could use it as a meaty due to it's long active hitframes, but in general it's only very sparsely used.
	n.HP [ Startup: 9 | Hit:+3 | Block:+2 ] Upper Spikes. This is the preferred move to use when attempting to input a throw, since accidentally getting this is way better than accidentally getting n.MP. Although it's not special cancelable it has decent frame advantage and a rather bizarre/interesting hitbox that avoids a lot more attacks that it appears like it should avoid. Really great move for kara-cancelling into command throw as an option select, and if you get this move on block you can still chain into c.HK. In general it's a great meaty for anti-jumping, which is why it's so good as a throw/anti-jump option select, best used against habitual chicken blockers.
	LK [ Startup: 6 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 | Renda: H:+9 B:+8 ] Shin kick. Has a lower hitbox than LP which makes it more commonly used against grounded opponents. This move is unfortunately deceptive because it does not gain a renda bonus, while the close version does, yet both moves look identical.
	MK [ Startup: 6 | Hit:+5 | Block:+4 ] Boot. Good hitbox. Slightly better advantage than MP. However it is not cancelable. Due to the total worthlessness of close MP it's sometimes a good idea to use MK in order to avoid accidentally getting close MP.
	HK [ Startup: 11 | Hit:-3 | Block:-4 ] Scythe. Despite it's slow startup and appearance this move is pretty decent as an anti-air or general poking tool. Unfortunately it's not cancelable/chainable and it is somewhat disadvantageous on hit/block, so use with caution.
	n.HK [ Startup: 8 | Hit:-5 | Block:-6 ] Spinner. Because this move is multi-hit, it makes for a good hit-confirm into DI, since you have plenty of time to both buffer the input and confirm the hit. Unfortunately, like the far version, it's both uncancellable and disadvantageous on hit/block, so ideally you would cancel to DI regardless if it hits or not.

Crouching

	c.LP [ Startup: 5 | Hit:+7 | Block:+6 | Renda: H:+10 B:+9 ] Two-hit jab. Hits mid, so it's high blockable. It's one way to confirm into DI, as chaining or linking crouching jabs into themselves begins the LI input naturally.
	c.MP [ Startup: 6 | Hit:+3 | Block:+2 ] Wing Blades. Hits mid so it's high blockable. Kind of a relatively crappy move. Her c.MK has better range, has faster startup, hits low, and much better advantage. Fortunately it's not disadvantageous and it's cancelable, but generally speaking her other moves are superior.
	c.HP [ Startup: 9 | Hit:+1 | Block: 0 ] Wing Whip. An essential move for comboing DI. Typically chained into and then cmd-super canceled into DI. It's neutral on hit/block making it pretty decent even if not cmd-super-canceled. It's only mildly useful as a poke though, typically players only use it during chains.
	c.LK [ Startup: 5 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 | Renda: H:+9 B:+8 ] Low Short. Hits low, cancelable, good frame advantage. A typical low short. Not as advantageous as c.LP, but still pretty good and also gains a renda bonus. This will be your basic mixup too to hit low, varied with dashing highs and empty dash throws.
	c.MK [ Startup: 6 | Hit:+5 | Block:+4 ] Low Forward. Hits low, cancelable, decent frame advantage. It's a nice poke and a general purpose move. The main advantage is that it's only one frame slower startup than her light attacks, which means it's a ridiculously fast move for a decent range low-hitting medium-strength attack.
	c.HK [ Startup: 8 | Hit: Knockdown | Block:-5 ] Sweep. Hits low, sweeps. This move is slightly disadvantageous on block, but "slightly" means "sorta safe". It's a good move to end with during chains, even on block. The main advantage this move has is it's exceptional range and startup speed.

Jumping

	j.LP [ Startup: 5 ] Needle. Typical jumping jab. Her fastest startup for a jumping attack. Sometimes used together with j.LK to confirm into DI.
	j.MP [ Startup: 6 ] Blades. Decent j.MP. The hitbox extends downwards somewhat which is good for startup a jumpin airchain, such as j.MP j.MK.
	j.HP [ Startup: 8 ] Spike shield. This move has a pretty good hitbox, making it a general purpose air-to-air or air-to-ground move.
	j.LK [ Startup: 5 ] Knee. Typical jumping short. Useful in air battles or after chicken blocking. Also useful to stuff some anti-airs.
	j.MK [ Startup: 6 ] Leg Thrust. Has crossup potential. Also useful in air-to-air battles since it extends quite a ways forwards. Pretty good after airblocking as well since the startup is quite fast and the reach is good.
	j.HK [ Startup: 7 ] Air boot. Good range. Generally it works a lot like j.MK except less crossup potential and more forwards-hitting potential.

Command Normal Moves

P Throw: Hip throw. Pretty good when option selected with HP. OK damage, typical for a throw. Avoid using MP.

K Throw: Rocket punch. Also decent option select with MK and HK. Damage is about the same. Throws the opponent much further when midscreen than punch throw.

Air Throw: Spinning Piledriver. Quite good as an airthrow. Good damage and range. Reliable with her jump arc.

Pursuit: Drill stomp. Not a particularly useful pursuit for actually hitting with, since you sacrifice your okizeme potential if you actually hit with it. It's better to whiff with, or simply not do at all.

Movement

Walk: Fast walk speed, tall stance.

Dash: A ground-to-air dash, aka "flight" dash. Both her forward and backward dashes take her into the air where she can perform jumping attacks. A major tool for high/low rushdown. Another advantage to this kind of dash, apart from very fast overheads, is that it can dodge low attacks and if you're hit out of the air you will be reset rather than getting full-comboed. If you cross the opponent up during this dash you will auto-correct your direction to face the opponent, which also makes it extremely useful for left/right mixups as well as high/low. Morrigan's dash is also somewhat controllable, as you are able to input an upwards direction to modify her trajectory to a more vertical angle. The use of changing trajectory to the vertical dash is mostly for timing and positioning purposes on okizeme. Should you knock the opponent down the upward dash can keep you in place horizontally for a moment after a forward or backwards dash, that can allow you to land a meaty attack, and because it auto-corrects like her normal dash you can potentially cover multiple ground tech directions.

Upward Dash: Similar in nature to her ground dash. However this is done by inputting down then up (2 8). She also has a forwards or backwards version, like her ground dash. Her backwards version must be done by inputting 7, while her forwards one can be done by pressing either 8 or 9, after pressing any downwards direction. During this version you can press a horizontal motion to change her trajectory, if doing the forwards one you can press forward to change to that trajectory, if moving backwards you must press backwards. The use of this is somewhat limited, though it can take you higher on the screen than a normal jump which can be useful for positioning air Soul Fists or escaping pressure momentarily.

Jump: Average jump arc. Decent for airthrowing.

Specials

	Soul Fist - 236P (air): Standard fireball. On the ground the strength determines the speed and distance it fires, and nothing else. In the air the soul fist fires downwards and alters Morrigan's jump trajectory. Pretty good zoning tool and safe on block. Actually, all normal versions on the ground are -1/-2 at point blank, the further away from the opponent you are (the more distance the fireball travels) the more advantageous it becomes. (L Version) Short distance and slow speed. (M Version) Medium distance/speed. (H Version) High distance/speed. (ES Version) Adds more hits and damage. This version gains huge amounts of advantage on block, but is GC/Tech bait.
	Shadow Blade - 623P (GC): Dragon Punch, uppercut. Unlike many of the uppercuts in the game, Morrigan's actually has a noteworthy amount of invincibility. The normal versions have 5 frame startup and 7 frame invulnerability. The downside is that it's air blockable, so it's not a particularly good anti-air. And the 5F startup, while small, is baitable. Although it's tempting to use her pursuit after a successful DP, it's not recommended to do so as you lose your okizeme opportunity (unless the pursuit would kill the opponent). The other downside is that it has a 4 frame landing recovery, making it ground combo punishable, unlike Demitri's. (L Version) Short. (M Version) Medium. (H Version) High/Long. (ES Version) Adds multiple hits and a significant chunk of damage, and is invulnerable for 10 frames. This is well worth the meter if you know it will connect, however it's also significantly more punishable since Morrigan travels much higher. (GC Version) Identical in form and function.
	Vertical Dash - 28 A command dash that moves her more vertically than horizontally. Any downwards direction into any upwards direction causes this command dash to occur, if 7 is input then she will glide slightly backwards, if 8 or 9 is input she will glide slightly forwards. During either version you can press forwards or backwards (depending on which direction you're gliding) to switch to her normal dash. During her normal dash you can also transition into the vertical dash by pressing upwards, which is useful for okizeme.
	Vector Drain - 624P (close): Command grab. One of the better and more useful command throws in the game. The startup is 5 frames which is about as fast as a jab, however it also has 4 frames of startup invulnerability. Combined with close HP negative edge kara-throw input option select, this throw is extremely threatening. The basic option select is to input the throw using HP and slide to MP then tap 2HK, if the opponent is on the ground and in a throwable state she will perform the throw, but if they jump or they are not throwable you will do a close HP instead, if the opponent is hit or blocks the close HP you chain to c.HK. Plus, the damage is good. (M Version) Spinning pile driver. (H Version) Same. (ES Version) Adds a little bit of damage, otherwise the same. Generally not worth the meter if you're spending stocks on DIs and ES moves, but certainly if you have an excess of meter you might as well use this version.

Supers

	Valkyrie Turn - 624K ~K (air): Drill. Morrigan will zoom off the screen, then return at a height that corresponds with the button pressed. She will float down to the ground until a kick is pressed, once pressed she will perform a drill attack that does quite a few rapid hits and causes moderate damage. This move has really slow startup so it's not a combo-type move, it's mostly a gimmick that is used very sparingly, either as a run-away or time-stall tactic. On the bright side it's advantageous on hit/block and difficult to GC.
	Darkness Illusion - LP LP 6 LK HP (air): Raging succubus "DI". The main combo-super because it's a command super and therefor breaks cancel rules. Extremely fast startup, combos off just about anything, even good as a reversal in some situations. Excellent punisher as well. However, learning to combo this off a chained c.HP is a staple of Morrigan gameplay. If you're not consistently landing DIs in combos you're playing her wrong.
	Finishing Shower - MP LP 4 LK MK: Bullet barrage. The startup on this move is incredibly poor, making it not a combo-type move. Thus, like the Valkyrie Turn, it's mostly used as a gimmick from fullscreen or off a knockdown to either stall for time or do chip damage, and not much else. If you're landing Valkyrie Turns and Finishing Showers on your opponent, then they suck. There are specific moves that it can punish such as low projectiles that leave the opponent recovering for a long period of time. Some notable ones are Jedah's Finale Rosso, Bishamon's Enma Seki, LeiLei's Gong and Bulleta's Cool Hunting at max range. However, Morrigan still has to make a good read to directly beat these moves using this super.
	Cryptic Needle - 6 HP MP LP 6: Bizarre rocket punch. There isn't much to be said about this super, other than it looks and sounds weird. It whiffs small crouching characters, but it does shoot full screen. And, if it hits, it does a fair amount of damage. There aren't many situations you would use this in lieu of a DI, though it's useful to remember she has it for those rare moments when it can actually hit. Certainly, it is worth the damage if you manage to land it as it does the same raw damage as DI, except that DI also adds a bit of recoverable damage in addition to the raw damage.

Dark Force

Illusion Attack: Astral Vision - Same strength P + K

• (Any Version) Morrigan creates a double which mirrors her moves. The position of the double is relative to the opponent's position, or rather, relative to your distance from the opponent. Risky due to it's punishable deactivation recovery. Can be used as a combo tool or an escape tool, but generally not a move you want to do often, if ever.

Normals

Move	Startup	Hit Advantage	Block Advantage	Meter Whiff/Block/Hit	Guard	Cancel	Notes
n.LP	5	+6	+5	0/ 3/ 6	Mid	Yes/Rapid	Renda+: H:+9 G:+8
n.MP	6	-3	-4	3/ 9/15	Mid	Yes
n.HP	9	+3	+2	6/15/24	Mid	×
n.LK	6	+6	+5	0/ 3/ 6	Mid	Yes/Rapid	Renda+: H:+9 G:+8
n.MK	6	+5	+4	3/ 9/15	Mid	×
n.HK	8	-5	-6	6/ 8+2x3/11+5x3	Mid	×
LP	5	+6	+5	0/ 3/ 6	Mid	Yes/Rapid	Renda+: H:+9 G:+8
MP	8	+4	+3	3/ 9/15	Mid	Yes
HP	9	-1	-2	6/15/24	Mid	×
LK	6	+6	+5	0/ 3/ 6	Mid	Yes/Rapid	Renda+: H:+9 G:+8
MK	6	+5	+4	3/ 9/15	Mid	×
HK	11	-3	-4	6/15/24	Mid	×

Move	Startup	Hit Advantage	Block Advantage	Meter Whiff/Block/Hit	Guard	Cancel	Notes
c.LP	5	+7	+6	0/ 3+3/ 6+6	Mid	Yes/Rapid	Renda+: H:+10 G:+9
c.MP	6	+3	+2	3/ 9/15	Mid	Yes
c.HP	9	+1	0	6/15/24	Mid	×
c.LK	5	+6	+5	0/ 3/ 6	Low	Yes/Rapid	Renda+: H:+9 G:+8
c.MK	6	+5	+4	3/ 9/15	Low	Yes
c.HK	8	Down	-5	6/15/24	Mid	×

Move	Startup	Meter Whiff/Block/Hit	Guard	Cancel	Notes
j.LP	5	0/ 3/ 6	High	Yes
j.MP	6	3/ 9/15	High	Yes
j.HP	8	6/15/24	High	×
j.LK	5	0/ 3/ 6	High	Yes
j.MK	6	3/ 9/15	High	Yes
j.HK	7	6/15/24	High	×

Specials

Move	Startup	Hit Advantage	Block Advantage	Meter Whiff/Block/Hit	Guard	Notes
236LP	18	-1	-2	12/16/21	Mid	Knocks down airborne
236MP	18	-1	-2	12/16/21	Mid
236HP	18	-1	-2	12/16/21	Mid
236PP	20	Down	+22	0/ 0/ 0	Mid
j.236LP	19	x	x	12/16/21	Mid	Knocks down airborne
j.236MP	20	x	x	12/16/21	Mid
j.236HP	21	x	x	12/16/21	Mid
j.236PP	18	Down	x	0/ 0/ 0	Mid
623LP	5	Down	-17	22/26/31	Mid	7F Inv startup
623MP	5	Down	-20	22/26/31	Mid	7F Inv startup
623HP	5	Down	-33	22/26/31	Mid	7F Inv startup
623PP	5	Down	x	0/ 0/ 0	Mid	10F Inv startup
624MP	5	Down	x	12/21	Throw	4F Inv startup
624HP	5	Down	x	12/21	Throw	4F Inv startup
624PP	5	Down	x	0/ 0	Throw	4F Inv startup

Supers

Move	Gauge	Startup	Hit Advantage	Block Advantage	Guard	Notes
624K~K	1	Variable	+10	+9	Mid	(*1)
LP LP 6 LK HP	1	4	Down	-23	Mid	1F landing Suki
MP LP 4 LK MK	1	47	x	x	Mid
6 HP MP LP 6	1	31	Down	-11	Mid

Notes:

1: 1F landing suki. Invulnerable until Morrigan returns to the screen.