Zabuza (SCON4)

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Zabuza Momochi
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HP	230
Guard Gauge	1840
Jab Speed	Frame 15
Jab Height	High
Backdash Type	Normal

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Summary

"The demon of the hidden mist" felt like an afterthought in Vanilla GNT4 due to being generally inferior to his fellow swordsmen, Kisame. Both were characterized by their big hitboxes, big damage, and slow attacks, though Zabuza lacked his counterpart's crucial chakra drain. In Super, Zabuza is one of the more dramatically re-worked characters. Compared to Kisame, Zabuza benefits from better movement options, such as and teleports, superior strings on block, his anti-KNJ, and a reversal. A moveset befitting a master of stealth and murder.

Press at Character Select.

Press at Character Select.

Gameplay

Moveset

Basic Moves	Notes
	15 frame high jab
	Low crush
	Low sweep with follow-up strings
	Guard frame attack. Slow and mediocre compared to other 4B's.
	Sliding elbow high crush
	Launches and pushes on block. Turns Zabuza around.
	Descends straight down and creates a shockwave around Zabuza. Spinning launch and good combo filler.
Special Moves
	Overhead sword slash
	Arcing sword slash from front to back. High crush and spinning launch. Catches both and KNJ. Hits on-the ground (OTG) following , which may also catch a substitution. May whiff on short/child characters.
	Sword sweep
	Teleports behind the opponent. Vanishes f19, reappears f43, actionable f55 post-reappearance. Can be delayed at the cost of chakra by holding . Can change side by holding .
	Horizontal sword slash. Chargeable. 1 charge deals massive guard damage. Later charges deal massive amounts of damage. 3C is a hard knockdown.
	Running teleport
	Swordsmen jump slash. Staggers on hit. Hitting just before or as Zabuza lands will result in frame advantage due to the attack auto-cancelling from landing. There is a one-frame window to "phantom sword" and results in an unblockable attack.
Throws
	Normal overhead throw. 20 damage.
	Slam throw. 40 damage.
Super Moves
	One of the rangiest supers in the game and good active frames.
	Spinning multi-hit attack. Requires 75% but uses all available chakra. Can punish substitutions but loses to "baseball slide" KNJ's. Will also lose out top an early KNJ.
	Reversal hit-grab. Has invulnerable frames to highs and mids. Can be followed by OTG hits.

Strategy

• can be considered the signature swordsmen attack for both Zabuza and Kisame. Its big, vertical hitbox controls space and is useful for both approaches and defensive retreats. When it connects with the oppponent's guard as Zabuza descends, it frequently results in frame advantage because the attack animation is automatically cancelled once Zabuza lands on the ground. Zabuza can use this frame advantage to perform a strike/throw mix, made more potent due to Zabuza's high damage slam throw.
• On hit, staggers, also resulting in a strike/throw mix, though Zabuza can combo with an attack if he desires.
• The phantom sword glitch gives Zabuza access to an unblockable aerial attack if the user has good timing.
• Defensively, is one of the strongest counters in the game to opposing strings which lift Zabuza into the air.
• Zabuza can jump back and to punish opponents attempting to take back their turn following a Zabuza blockstring.
• For okizeme, if the opponent uses neutral get up or wake-up-kick (WUK), Zabuza can jump over the opponent and then double jump back to the front side and , crossing up their guard or punishing WUK.
• Both swordsmen have a faster backwalk than most other characters. This allows them to walk backwards out of some strings where other characters cannot.
• Zabuza's combo game has some advantages by walls, corners or on small stages, gaining access to combos which utilize , , , and .
• can be used during guard pressure to threaten a guard break.

Combos

Combos	Notes
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Changes from Vanilla

(May be outdated, please let wiki editors know if there are further updates)

• All non sword attacks do -2 damage (except 5B and 5B(B))
• 5B: elbow hitbox does not show up on the first frame
• 5B(B): appears and disappears one frame later
• 5B(A): changed to be RA
• 6B: turns back turned opponents around on hit
• 5BBB(B): can be delayed
• 2B: Now does a custom animation, taken from Bloody Roar: Extreme. Hits as a low sweep with string follow-ups
• 8B: has less endlag; transitions to A faster; more lift; can transition on whiff
• JB: ground hit stuns longer; grabbable
• 5A: hitbox appears one frame sooner as an untechable bounce as a high hit; frame 3 to the end does not bounce; hilt hitbox does not appear on the two frames
• 5AAA follow ups changed:
  • A does vanilla; is a hard knockdown
  • 2A does vanilla B follow up
  • B follow up changed to be a custom 8A teleport
• 6A: charge is faster, 1C breaks guard easier, other charges do less guard damage; 3C is a hard knockdown
• 4A: window improved
• A4A: teleports and recovers quicker
• 2A: Lift reduced
• 2AA: Added with B follow up
• 8A: Instead performs Kisame's A4A attack, a big, arcing flash from front to back. High crush and spinning launch.
• JA: phantom sword works with both players; has one more active frame
• J6A: added as a new move
• 5Y: made overhead throw
• 2Y: is slam throw
• 4X: Reversal hit-grab with high and mid crush frames
• 2X: is immune to highs and mids on startup, requires 75% meter, links better on air hits, damage reduced; hilt hitbox on first revolution is slightly bigger

Resources

Guides and Info

• Zabuza video guide

Gameplay footage

• Paradise's run in BlueMageWhen's SCON #2 Online Weekly (10/4/22)
• Dark Tournament 2: Hebrew vs Taleon , Kandle vs Dope , Hebrew vs LilyHV