Leonardo (TF)

Leonardo
Height	5'8"
Weight	170 lbs.
Eyes	Black
Age	16
Birthplace	McMahon's Pet Emporium, Chesapeake Bay
Weapons	Twin Katana
Favorite Activities	Meditating and Yoga
Ultimate Goals	His only motivation is to prove he's the best fighter.

Introduction

Leonardo is the traditional shoto character of the game. He possesses quite a rounded moveset, but is slightly on the slow side. He has decent combo ability yet he works best when played carefully. Knowing when to throw his powerful projectiles (and learning not to use Endless Screw so much in neutral) is critical. HP button is a really good overall button except for possibly his crouching punch. His Far HP is a great poke, Close HP has a lot of range and can combo, Jumping HP is great for air-to-air, but Crouch HP is quite slow as an anti-air despite having some priority. Leo is the worst turtle of the four. He is not a fully-flawed character, but compared to Raphael he certainly becomes overshadowed. What Leo lacks in offense (and defense, to some degree) he has in tremendous space coverage. Far HP can be used to stuff projectiles before coming out. His DP can be used in just about any situation. A successful jump-in can lead to a dizzy. Playing Leo requires a great understanding of the neutral game and knowledge of pressure strings. Mixing up block strings helps keep the opponent on their toes, or you can turn a combo into a string with close HP not comboing. Throw it out after a few kicks, and see if they try to jump your projectile or block your DP. Depending on the spacing, sometimes you can catch their jump with Shining Cutter. In any case, the pushback of a heavy hit can be combined with a backflip to quickly create space. Raphael can get in relatively free compared to Leonardo. Despite Leo's lower damage output, once he gets in he can become just as scary. Unlike Raph & Mike who are capable of zoning from afar, Leo likes to get in close with his projectile. With increased stun and a fast startup, Leo's gameplan when understood deeply is actually quite different than the average shoto character as it revolves around pushing 50/50 situations with his lethal shining cutter and access to 2 anti-air normals in LP & HK allowing for single button reactions. He may not be able to punish dizzies as hard as his brothers, but he can be quite good at creating dizzies to begin with when played properly. Leo is an easy character to grasp a basic concept of, but difficult to play at higher levels due to a combination of unintuitive attributes and game mechanics. Abuse Leo's J.HP, it's his only truly ignorant move when spaced meticulously.

Quirks & Tech

If you hold down any button, you can prevent yourself from inputting accidental Roto Cutters. This allows Leo to push forward while using his shining cutters against a backed or cornered opponent. Typically, L or R is used, but you can hold LP or HP, do the motion, and release, to utilize negative edge Shining Cutters.

It is possible to pull off Shining Cutters with just down, forward. Similarly, it is possible to do Roto Cutter with forward, down, forward.

Data Arsenal

Pre-jump Frames                        :  2 frames (Hi-Speed 1)
Dizzy                                  :  640 points

Movelist

Legend N = Normal chain ok S = Special cancel ok C = CPS Chain ok [] = frames between next active hitbox

• = After active frame(s) For calculating total move time

Advantage is on hit and block, respectively

Standing Normals

Standing Light Punch	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 6 1 7 96 0/+3 C/N/S This attack only combos in normal speed on P1 side due to hitstun differences. Good anti-air for close-range scrambles without commitment.

Standing Light Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 1 8 96 -1/+2 C/N Your go-to poke move up close.

Close Light Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 1 8 96 -1/+2 C/N Same as the far version, but a low.

Standing Heavy Punch	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 10 8 13 128 -6/-3 It works to stuff some projectiles, but it's decent as a semi-random poke. The distance makes it safe in mid ranged situations, just watch for jump-ins.

Close Heavy Punch	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 7 5 21 224 -11/-8 S The proximity required for this move is extremely lenient. From max distance combo options are limited.

Standing Heavy Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 7 5 13 224 -3/-0 A working anti-air that every turtle has.

Close Heavy Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 7 5 7 192 +3/+6 Another anti-air. Slightly worse, but with better recovery.

Crouching Normals

Crouching Light Punch

Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 7 2 14 96 -7/-4 S It is possible to chain into this attack, but its startup stops this from comboing from other light moves. The interesting thing to note is this move's increased stun and dmg compared with other lights making it more of a "medium" normal. This move has a VERY specific purpose specified in the combos section below. Has a rather risky whiff, but proper spacing and reaction should mitigate it sufficiently.

Crouching Light Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 1 9 84 -1/+2 C/N/S Despite doing the same lower damage as his brothers, he has less reach. This button works to end combos by cancelling into special after two kicks. For Roto Cutter, hold forward before going into this move.

Crouching Heavy Punch	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 12 10 9 224 -4/-1 It looks like it would be a good anti-air, but require positioning with its picky hitbox. Worse priority than suggested. It also whiffs on certain crouchers.

Crouching Heavy Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 9 5 12 192 KD/+2 S The sweep. Not as much range as you'd like, BUT you can cancel this move into a backflip to create space and follow up with a shining cutter, HP, Leo's super or simply reset to neutral after it is blocked to bait your opponent into something afterward.

Jumping Normals

Jumping Light Punch	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 6 infinite N/A 96 N/A The sword itself doesn't hit, but rather the elbow. A bug gives this move infinite active frames even when the move appears to have ended.

Belly Flop (Down+LP)	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 3 infinite N/A 96 N/A The universal command aerial all turtles have. It's the best lingering aerial they have though its priority can be questioned.

Neutral Jump Light Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 3 infinite N/A 96 N/A Tons of active frames on this one.

Jumping Light Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 3 infinite N/A 64 N/A A short-range move with low priority that all the turtles have. JHK, JHP, and belly flop should be used instead.

Jumping Heavy Punch	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 6 10 N/A 192 N/A Not as much stun as jHK, but when spaced right, this move can be amazing. Wins many air-to-airs, can confirm into SC combos to create dizzies, even capable of straight up BEATING Arm & Mike DPs when spaced immaculately. This is easily Leo's BEST move, USE IT!

Neutral Jump Heavy Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 5 N/A 160 N/A Same animation as Neutral Jump LK. More damage but fewer active frames than its LK counterpart. The high hitbox makes it extremely situational, working for uncommon situations like War's DFA.

Jumping Heavy Kick	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 10 N/A 224 N/A Great for crossups, and has better stun than jHP, so you should use this for dizzy punishes to get your opponent as close to another dizzy as possible afterwards.

Special Moves

Shining Cutter (Light) 236LP	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 7 N/A 34 352 -5/-2 Use this one over heavy in most cases as it's faster to recover. The advantage shown is from point-blank range.

Shining Cutter (Heavy) 236HP	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 12 N/A 37 352 -8/-5 Safer from far away, but still punishable from a read. The advantage shown is from point-blank range.

Endless Screw 214K

Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 1[12]... 1[2](repeat) 10 256 KD(first hit) +1/+4(even hits) +4/+7(odd hits) Both versions have identical data except that Heavy has an additional spin and one extra frame of recovery. First hit knocks down. First back spin does not have a hitbox. Past the second possible hit, only every other hit connects. Use almost exclusively for dizzy punishes as the heavy version after a J.HK > close HP will leave Leo in great mixup positioning to readily hunt for another dizzy. Can also be used as an anti-cross up, being that it hits high and if it whiffs, Leo is often retreating from the situation and escapes being punished.

Roto Cutter (Light) 626LP

Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 3 30 256 KD/-10 A rather unimpressive DP that you should only use as a "crutch". Establish a gameplan without this move and surprise your opponent with it to win out tight or last hit situations. For avid Leo users, always develop a habit in letting go of L/R when knocked down so you can utilize this as a reversal when need be.

Roto Cutter (Heavy) 626HP	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 5 3 38 256 KD/-18 The DP you shouldn't use in any situation. Less horizontal reach, and with no extra damage to compensate. NEVER use this!

Ultimate Attack

Thousand Flurry	Guard Level Startup Active Recovery (whiff) Recovery (hit) Hitstun Advantage on Hit Cancelable? 25 180 35 -??/-13 Be careful using this as Leo can be hit out of the startup. Every projectile counts. This will either do serious chip damage or dizzy at least once with plenty left over. Advantage data is based on point-blank range.

Combos/Punishes/References

J.HP > cr.LP > Shining Cutter(This is your "fishing combo", which means as you're throwing out J.HPs in the neutral, you react accordingly and follow with the rest of the combo upon connecting. This is to setup a dizzy for the combo below.)

J.HK > Close HP > HP Endless Screw (This is a good damage and consistent dizzy punish that leaves Leo in a GREAT position, even being able to cross up on the downed foe. If you choose to do so, be wary of the opponent's wake-up options and cross up accordingly. NOTE: You may need to cross up your J.HK vs Aska & War due to their weird hurtboxes as the Endless Screw may whiff if performed normally.)

Dizzy setup & punish vs Raph/Mike https://www.twitch.tv/yartarr42/clip/BrainyPlumpBillMau5-JkyvebWxkuIOLw7K?filter=clips&range=7d&sort=time

Dizzy setup & punish vs non-Raph/Mike https://www.twitch.tv/yartarr42/clip/PunchyThirstyOrangeANELE-hTyeOBPaSz8YNuO4?filter=clips&range=7d&sort=time (Note that you can get a dizzy by using a J.HK instead, but it is often preferred to opt for J.HP and worry about landing a light move after since J.HP not only provides much more priority, but can be performed of neutral jumps as well. There is also the idea of using close HP instead of cr.LP, but the problem is not only the riskier whiff, but the lesser range to connect the Shining Cutter off of due to it's pushback.)

If you want to rack on ever so slightly more damage than the above dizzy punish, you can try this one below.

Cross up J.HK > close LK > standing LK > cr.LK > Endless Screw (This combo is harder to perform and also doesn't leave Leo in as much of an easy position to cross up after as the above punish. That being said, the slight damage increase is negligible in the eyes of most) https://www.twitch.tv/yartarr42/clip/SuaveFlaccidKuduM4xHeh-GFpdL7fe5sYcFfbt?filter=clips&range=7d&sort=time

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters
Aska	Chrome Dome	Donatello	Armaggon
Karai	Leonardo	Michelangelo	Raphael
Rat King	Shredder	War	Wingnut

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