Strategy Making use of iaSB

[NKZero]

I'm not a regular poster here so I won't give this a prefix. I'll leave it up to a mod to decide. Anyways after watching 16 Bit play recently and just seeing some of Starcharger's play, I've noticed that these two, and perhaps others (apologies if I didn't mention you) make great use of iaSB.

iaSB for those who don't know is short for instant air square boost aka. the ass. I think at it's quickest it's an 18 frame move and it serves as a great way to get in, especially against characters who don't have quick travelling horizontal (and spammable) projectiles. I saw Starcharger use it against Smoke, it's only -5 on block and puts you right up close.

Am I right in thinking that at it's lowest height it can't even be neutral ducked?

Anyways this isn't ground-breaking but I'm seeing it being used more and more and I'm sure it benefits Kitana in MU's where she needs to fight up close e.g. Smoke, Freddy etc. The EX one has great use as well to break through Kenshi zoning via. armour for example so both versions can be used in the match.

What do Kitana players or people in general think of this?

 

[Smarrgasm]

I think it can be quite useful in the right MU's. Wakeup EX-boost is also incredibly underused against characters that pressure on wakeup with either normals or zoning. EX ass is fully invincible and even has a hit of armor if i remember correctly. It does its job by getting you close to a zoner or away from a character that is better up close. Very similar to EX-arc kick with sonya. Only needs to be used at the right times however.

 

[NKZero]

I think it can be quite useful in the right MU's. Wakeup EX-boost is also incredibly underused against characters that pressure on wakeup with either normals or zoning. EX ass is fully invincible and even has a hit of armor if i remember correctly. It does its job by getting you close to a zoner or away from a character that is better up close. Very similar to EX-arc kick with sonya. Only needs to be used at the right times however.

Can you AA her while she's travelling horizontally? I think it's abusable in the Smoke MU for example as long as she does it in a range where she will hit him otherwise it can be whiff punished. EX is invincible and armour yeah which is why I think it's useful against Kabal, Kenshi, Freddy and other heavy zoners like Noob. As you also said, if you need to get away it's also useful. The fact you can modify the height makes this move really good and underrated imo. At different heights you can use it for different purposes.

 

[BillStickers]

Not really underrated; it's ok in moderation. Smoke can full-combo punish iaSB as can a lot of other characters.

 

[NKZero]

Not really underrated; it's ok in moderation. Smoke can full-combo punish iaSB as can a lot of other characters.

That's why I was asking if you can AA Kitana while she's moving horizontally. Otherwise how else can you punish if done at a close-ish range where she never falls back to the ground? It's safe on block so...

 

[BillStickers]

That's why I was asking if you can AA Kitana while she's moving horizontally. Otherwise how else can you punish if done at a close-ish range where she never falls back to the ground? It's safe on block so...

Yep. Smoke can d1~smokebomb.