HolyCarp
[14] Master
I was lucky enough to play the latest build of SC6 this weekend (20th-22nd July), so I thought I'd share what I found. The majority of this won't be new to returning players since she plays so much like her previous iterations, so I'll try to focus on changes and SC6-specific stuff.
First, I’ll get the subjective part out of the way and give my opinion on Sophitia based on initial impressions in this build. As usual, she feels like a really solid character with no obviously exploitable weaknesses. In her current state, she’d probably be similar to how she was in previous games, in that she isn’t exactly broken, but thanks to her wide variety of high utility, low risk tools and incredible punishment game, she should have good matchups across the board.
They've toned some of her tools down, such as TAS B now being unsafe and not half life at tip range, but it still serves its purpose for punishment. Not to mention her guard damage is amazing and she generally just has an answer for everything.
Note that everything in here is subject to change, given that this write-up is based on an incomplete, pre-release build.
Punishment
I actually just assumed her key punishment tools (AA, AS B and TAS B) would be the same as in previous games and didn't explicitly test the impact frames. Therefore, some of these numbers are not confirmed and may be off by 1 frame.
i12: AA
i13: KK (this is a NC that does more damage than AA)
i14: AS B
i15: TAS B
Pressure
4B: this move is as cheap as ever. It racks up the guard damage and is incredibly safe on block, where Sophie still has plenty of options such as movement into whiff punish (backstep TAS B can yield a LH even against a whiffed 2A), GI, 6A+B aGI, jumps, or even, y’know, blocking.
1K: chip damage and general annoyance poke, KND on CH. This move also seems to pass the “guts” threshold, or is less affected by it, so 1K can close out rounds where 2K wouldn’t be enough to KO.
66B: huge guard damage, -2 on block with pushback, really strong delayed option to punish panic GI attempts.
4B: I know I already mentioned this one but honestly, it's worth listing twice.
44A: mid horizontal with TC frames, which converts into a lot of damage vs step, and is only -4 on block.
GI: Having access to such a high damage i15 gives Sophie a very strong GI game.
Pokes: AA, BB, 2A, 6K (i16 with CH combo) 22K, 7_8_9K, 3K, 4K, etc.
Oki
1K: catches all roll directions
3K: catches all roll directions (looks like Pyrrha’s 4K)
4B: catches left rolls, safe enough that you won’t get punished if it gets rolled
66B: catches right rolls
Mid-range game
Sophitia has really good movement in general, and the fact that TAS B gets LH as a whiff punisher is very oppressive. Your opponent will be forced to play more conservatively at range, giving you more freedom to dictate the spacing and pace of the match.
66A: Advancing mid horizontal with TC, -11 on block (not much pushback), enemy is BT on hit.
Lethal Hits
TAS B: whiff punish vs horizontals
66A+B: anti-backstep (maybe CH in general?)
44B: post-GI
1[K]: anti-GI
A+B: anti-GI
TAS AB: anti-GI
AS K: vs ducked highs
44B+K: (whiff punish??)
66A+G: After 5 successful GIs
Soul Charge buffs
TAS B: more range and safer
2BB: second hit gains SC TAS B properties
B+KB: second hit gains SC TAS B properties
44AB: second hit can be manually inputted and is a GC
4AB: second hit is a GC
BBBB: Last hit is a GC
4A+BB: Last hit is a GC
236AAB: same as Pyrrha's 236A BE (not sure if this also applies to 4AAA)
Combos
66B, TAS B, 4B
66B, 662BAK (slightly better oki but less meter build)
CH 44AB, TAS B, 4B
Basically anything that sends them somewhat upwards, TAS B, 4B
CH TAS AA, AS B:4
LH TAS B, AS B:4
Misc:
TAS still has STC frames, but they felt less reliable than in SC4 to me
TAS B is now -14, you may now need to actually think before throwing this move out
TAS K is now + on block
BB still has ridiculous tracking to one side
6BB and 6AA may have some useful applications to aGI the second part of certain strings. This would allow you to get guaranteed damage if they complete the string, but still punish (if not cause a force block) if they don’t complete the string.
4AB is now a NC, but the second hit is ~-16
The second hit of TAS AA (and TAS AB) can be stepped to your right, but shhhh
66B+KAB ROs to your left (without a followup). You get this string for free if you can 6A+B aGI a 2A.
B+K seems slightly less evasive than before and is -13 on block
After 22A+B (her old 33B), the BT B+K requires a slight delay. Press it too early or late and it won't carry them backwards as far.
Bit of an info dump, but I tried to organise it with headers.
Hope that helps!
First, I’ll get the subjective part out of the way and give my opinion on Sophitia based on initial impressions in this build. As usual, she feels like a really solid character with no obviously exploitable weaknesses. In her current state, she’d probably be similar to how she was in previous games, in that she isn’t exactly broken, but thanks to her wide variety of high utility, low risk tools and incredible punishment game, she should have good matchups across the board.
They've toned some of her tools down, such as TAS B now being unsafe and not half life at tip range, but it still serves its purpose for punishment. Not to mention her guard damage is amazing and she generally just has an answer for everything.
Note that everything in here is subject to change, given that this write-up is based on an incomplete, pre-release build.
Punishment
I actually just assumed her key punishment tools (AA, AS B and TAS B) would be the same as in previous games and didn't explicitly test the impact frames. Therefore, some of these numbers are not confirmed and may be off by 1 frame.
i12: AA
i13: KK (this is a NC that does more damage than AA)
i14: AS B
i15: TAS B
Pressure
4B: this move is as cheap as ever. It racks up the guard damage and is incredibly safe on block, where Sophie still has plenty of options such as movement into whiff punish (backstep TAS B can yield a LH even against a whiffed 2A), GI, 6A+B aGI, jumps, or even, y’know, blocking.
1K: chip damage and general annoyance poke, KND on CH. This move also seems to pass the “guts” threshold, or is less affected by it, so 1K can close out rounds where 2K wouldn’t be enough to KO.
66B: huge guard damage, -2 on block with pushback, really strong delayed option to punish panic GI attempts.
4B: I know I already mentioned this one but honestly, it's worth listing twice.
44A: mid horizontal with TC frames, which converts into a lot of damage vs step, and is only -4 on block.
GI: Having access to such a high damage i15 gives Sophie a very strong GI game.
Pokes: AA, BB, 2A, 6K (i16 with CH combo) 22K, 7_8_9K, 3K, 4K, etc.
Oki
1K: catches all roll directions
3K: catches all roll directions (looks like Pyrrha’s 4K)
4B: catches left rolls, safe enough that you won’t get punished if it gets rolled
66B: catches right rolls
Mid-range game
Sophitia has really good movement in general, and the fact that TAS B gets LH as a whiff punisher is very oppressive. Your opponent will be forced to play more conservatively at range, giving you more freedom to dictate the spacing and pace of the match.
66A: Advancing mid horizontal with TC, -11 on block (not much pushback), enemy is BT on hit.
Lethal Hits
TAS B: whiff punish vs horizontals
66A+B: anti-backstep (maybe CH in general?)
44B: post-GI
1[K]: anti-GI
A+B: anti-GI
TAS AB: anti-GI
AS K: vs ducked highs
44B+K: (whiff punish??)
66A+G: After 5 successful GIs
Soul Charge buffs
TAS B: more range and safer
2BB: second hit gains SC TAS B properties
B+KB: second hit gains SC TAS B properties
44AB: second hit can be manually inputted and is a GC
4AB: second hit is a GC
BBBB: Last hit is a GC
4A+BB: Last hit is a GC
236AAB: same as Pyrrha's 236A BE (not sure if this also applies to 4AAA)
Combos
66B, TAS B, 4B
66B, 662BAK (slightly better oki but less meter build)
CH 44AB, TAS B, 4B
Basically anything that sends them somewhat upwards, TAS B, 4B
CH TAS AA, AS B:4
LH TAS B, AS B:4
Misc:
TAS still has STC frames, but they felt less reliable than in SC4 to me
TAS B is now -14, you may now need to actually think before throwing this move out
TAS K is now + on block
BB still has ridiculous tracking to one side
6BB and 6AA may have some useful applications to aGI the second part of certain strings. This would allow you to get guaranteed damage if they complete the string, but still punish (if not cause a force block) if they don’t complete the string.
4AB is now a NC, but the second hit is ~-16
The second hit of TAS AA (and TAS AB) can be stepped to your right, but shhhh
66B+KAB ROs to your left (without a followup). You get this string for free if you can 6A+B aGI a 2A.
B+K seems slightly less evasive than before and is -13 on block
After 22A+B (her old 33B), the BT B+K requires a slight delay. Press it too early or late and it won't carry them backwards as far.
Bit of an info dump, but I tried to organise it with headers.
Hope that helps!
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