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As a One-Shot Type, Nagoriyuki aims to catch enemies at a disadvantage and dish out heavy punishment. Enemies not fast enough can find themselves meeting their doom with a single powerful slash from this warrior vampire. Players who want to master Nagoriyuki will have to follow some tips to enjoy his brutally-efficient toolkit.
10 Domination Through Pressure
Being a One-Shot character, Nagoriyuki capitalizes on bringing in as much pain as possible as often as possible. Armed with a massive katana and pure bloodlust, he pressures opponents into submission through combos that deal massive damage despite costing him the least movement.
A natural powerhouse at mid-range, Nagoriyuki switches aggression stances depending on his objectives. On most instances, Nagoriyuki dominates the neutral space through pressuring special attacks - almost never allowing mix-ups from opponents. Alternatively, Nagoriyuki may use massive normals to bring in the pain and finish fights quickly. Thanks to his cancelable Specials, Nagoriyuki can change battle strategies quickly.
9 King Of The Waiting Game
Despite his intimidating natural, Nagoriyuki is built to adapt to situations. His strong but flexible toolkit demands precise mid-match adjustments to accommodate different enemy strategies. Given his slow nature, players can only dictate the flow of battle by punishing enemy movements.
Unfortunately for Nagoriyuki, moving too slow or reacting the wrong way can give a fast-enough character the right room to punish Nagoriyuki. This is especially the case with opponents like Giovanna that rely on speedy pressuring to avoid any escapes from foes. Thanks to Nagoriyuki’s Fukyo, players can apply necessary tactical readjustments and help Nagoriyuki reassert his spatial dominance.
8 Keep The Pressure In Neutral
Nagoriyuki players can easily notice how his base attacks already give him room to dominate the neutral space. His Normals give him impressive poking potential, often punishing approaches. A lot of his Normals either move quickly to react to opponents or occupy a large area to threaten an enemy’s advance. Notable Normals include:
HS: His Neutral Heavy Slash covers a lot of horizontal ground at a full animation. When used with Blood Rage, this slash nearly covers the whole screen. D: Albeit a regular Dust, Nagoriyuki’s version gives him access to a “double jump” during the launch sequence. Jump + Dust: A trickier variation of the Dust mechanic, this is a diagonal upward poke that can become its own version of an anti-air move. Interestingly enough, this move very slightly stalls Nagoriyuki’s air momentum. Players who want to confuse foes with Nagoriyuki’s downtime can use this Jump + Dust move to reaffirm control. fS and Down + Slash: His Far Slash and Down + Slash will move Nagoriyuki forward, giving him free room to attack and be a step closer to foes at the same time.
7 Mind The Blood Rage
Like other characters, Nagoriyuki has his own special gimmick - that being the Blood Rage Gauge. This gauge fills up whenever Nagoriyuki uses a Special, and fills up much faster whenever he cancels them. Representing Nagoriyuki’s bloodlust, the Gauge does enhance the overall range and attack power of his Heavy Slashes.
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When filled to the brim, Nagoriyuki enters a state of Max Blood Rage. In this state, Nagoriyuki’s Heavy Slashes all have extended range and firepower, almost reaching the entire stage. Sadly for him, Nagoriyuki in this state can’t use his Specials and depletes his HP constantly. This state essentially ends when Nagoriyuki loses half his HP - not a good thing in a speed-reliant game like Strive.
6 Blood Rage Plays Like Another Character
Imagine Zato-1, where the human Zato can dish out mix-ups while Eddie can tank most attacks - effectively two playstyles merged in a single character. Nagoriyuki acts much like the same way, given his active Blood Rage mechanic. With the right use of Blood Rage, Nagoriyuki players can use different sets of the same move that need different evasion mechanics.
Cancellations work with Blood Rage. Remember, Normal Slashes and Heavy Slashes, Command Grabs, and Supers can deplete the Blood Rage Meter. If Nagoriyuki cancels any of these attacks into a Special, players can reduce the Blood Rage cost of enhanced attacks. Bait opponents into Blood Rage attacks. When Nagoriyuki gets “enhanced” Heavy Slashes with his Blood Rage, they differ depending on how much he has in his meter. Meaning, Nagoriyuki essentially has a variation of one Heavy Slash normal at zero Blood Rage, one Blood Rage bar, and two Blood Rage bars - all of which demand different defensive approaches to deflect or evade.
5 Capitalize On Limited Movement
Similar to Potemkin, Nagoriyuki not only lacks a predominant Dash mechanic but also has naturally slow moves. To counteract this caveat, Nagoriyuki can primarily rely on his attacks to reach opponents from afar - something not many characters can achieve.
As players know, his Far Slash and Close Slashes alone let him move forward while attacking. Thing is, Nagoriyuki has other moves in his arsenal that give him other opportunities for limited movement - while still leaving more than enough room for combos.
Fukyo. Nagoriyuki’s bread and butter in terms of movement, Fukyo is a teleport move that effectively replaces Dash. While Dash predominantly gives away a combatant’s favored direction, Fukyo moves Nagoriyuki without changing his pose. This factor alone can make Fukyo a confusing move to predict. Players can Fukyo forward to whiff out a poke, or even Fukyo backward to create space. Kamoriyuki . This Special is a spinning lunge that dishes out decent damage at mid-range. At its core, a successful hit from Kamoriyuki can knock down an opponent - giving Nagoriyuki room for a Forward + Heavy Flash. In terms of movement, Nagoriyuki can cancel Kamoriyuki into airborne Normals through Roman Cancels.
4 Maximize Special Cancels
Unlike other characters, Nagoriyuki has the advantage of being able to cancel his own Special Attacks. This does risk filling up the Blood Rage Gauge much faster. However, the Special-on-Special Cancel can invite quite the interesting mix-ups, depending on the Specials used. Aside from Fukyo and Kamoriyuki, here are other Special Attacks to note:
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Zarameyuki. Nagoriyuki sends a copy of himself to slash at an opponent. He can use this to follow up with a fiercer attack or Fukyo backward to create space. Shizuriyuki. This is an upwards slash that serves as a decent anti-air attack. If the opponent gets hit by its second slash, Nagoriyuki will send that opponent to the ground.
3 Enter The Punisher
Despite all characters sharing means to punish opponents, Nagoriyuki’s moveset seems specifically tailored to counteract a lot of enemy gimmicks. When used properly, a Nagoriyuki player can punish multiple approaches through his Normals alone. Notable Normals that can become punishers include:
cS: His Close Slash lifts opponents upon hit, which can theoretically score chains on its own given the right timing. Given its speed, players can use cS as an anti-air in case of extreme emergencies. Down + HS: Nagoriyuki kneels and gives an upward slash, covering a huge diagonal space in front of him. This is a natural anti-air, albeit without the upper body invulnerability that these moves typically offer. Down + Slash: Nagoriyuki gives a mid-range low slash that boasts a quick startup and low recovery. Given its quick animation, players can use this multiple times - such as punishing opponents who try to do anything tricky from down below. Forward+HS: His Forward + Heavy Slash is a great on-the-ground tool. When used as a combo finisher, Nagoriyuki can punish opponents who try to use his rather slow up-take by attacking them off-guard.
2 Lifesteal And Taunt Into One
Nagoriyuki possesses a unique Command Grab in the form of Bloodsucking Universe. When triggered, Nagoriyuki can grab an opponent and bite them, stealing a portion of their life to refill a bit of his. Nagoriyuki has throw invincibility during this move, making Bloodsucking Universe great against reversal throws.
Players can also maximize this Command Grab through its taunting potential. Just threatening with Bloodsucking Universe can tempt gaud players into mashing or jumping. And with the right strings, Nagoriyuki can punish opponents who bite the bait quite easily.
1 Bring Out The Blood
As players know, Blood Rage is a risk-reward mechanic that Nagoriyuki plays into the more he gets aggressive with his attacks. And given how temptingly powerful his Overdrives are, it makes sense for players to want to capitalize on them as soon as possible. Provided players understand the need to balance his Blood Rage, Nagoriyuki can count on two Overdrives to dish out heavy damage:
Wasureyuki. This Overdrive is what anyone would expect from a samurai - a series of powerful slashes. As a reversal, Nagoriyuki can use this Overdrive in a variety of means. Its most popular variant is becoming a combo finisher, but creative Nagoriyuki players can string Wasureyuki into combos or as a counter. Zanetsu. This Overdrive serves as the best option players have to escape Max Blood Rage. At its core, Zanetsu is a huge slash that boasts incredible power and range - but might not always be worth getting into Max Blood Rage to maximize. Players who want to use this can proc it from something as mundane as a Slash attack, making it very tempting to use.
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