Sailor Moon S/Sailor Venus

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Sailor Venus
link
link
Full name Minako Aino
Age 15
Height 5'2"
Blood type B
Hometown Shiba Koen, Minato ward, Tokyo, Japan
Likes Volley ball, singing, video games, proverbs, boys, Artemis, +31 on block, Simon Belmont
Dislikes Romantic mishaps, being corrected after misquoting proverbs
Special skills Leader of the Inner Senshi, fluent in English, fires balls of energy straight into the air & other Pop Idol things

Character Overview

A secret member of the Belmont clan, Venus excels in the mid and close range. Her standout feature is the Venus Chain Wink Sword, an upwards moving projectile with negligible recovery, done with a flash kick motion. She also has a fast DP and a few unique whip normals that give her extra range and a large disjointed hitbox in exchange for slow startup. On the other hand, her slow walk speed and bad traditional fireball make her one of the worst members of the cast at long range; you'll almost always have to approach your opponent. If you like unique moves, setups and looping okizeme, Venus just may be the character for you!

Pros Cons
Upball: Upwards moving projectile with massive frame advantage (+30 and up) that lends itself to great pressure, setups, and potential combos

Great normals: All of her normal attacks either have great range or frame data and lend themselves to a lot of mix up potential, which make Venus particularly deadly at close range

Short crouch: Her crouching animation is very low and, combined with some moves like cLP, allows her to dodge certain moves and projectiles

Good defence: With her DP, Upball, desperation move and disjointed buttons, she has good guard cancel options, anti-airs and ways to keep the opponent's offence at bay

HP throw: One of the best throws in the game, only techable for six frames, can be option selected and does good damage

Very slow: Venus has the second slowest walk speed in the game, just above Jupiter's, which gives her a lot of trouble approaching

Bad at full screen: Her slow movement paired with a not-so-great jump arc and a below average fireball makes her the least threatening character from across the screen

Movement

Speed Forward: 1.192/1F

Speed Backwards: 1.064/1F

Jump: 51F

Jump Speed: 2.000/1F

Jumping Distance: 82

Back Dash
44
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
N/A 1 N/A N/A 16 N/A N/A

Strike, projectile, and throw invulnerable for 1~15 frames. Move Distance: 90

Although backdashes in this game are very strong, you'll only want to use Venus' if you feel you have no other alternative. This is because Venus has a bad full screen game. The only time you want to be full screen is if you're timing someone out. If you're already close to the corner, backdash doesn't put you in a much worse position necessarily, but your opponent could be baiting it...


Throws

Knee Machine Gun
6HK
+
Range Damage Techable Advantage
40 (Left: 39) 20 No +41 (2P: +42)

A very standard untechable throw. Not a bad throw, but Venus' P throw is better in almost every way.


Hurricanrana
6HP
+
Range Damage Techable Advantage
48 (Left: 47) 22 Yes +18 (2P: +19) on tech

Venus' preferred throw. A throw with a very short tech window (only 6 frames!!). Throws opponents far. In the corner, puts them at a perfect distance for a setup, making it loopable. You can also go for the corner crossup if you happen to prefer, but most of the time, Venus' specialized setups will work better. Another great reason You can perform an option select between this and HP DP by inputting 6236HP or + , making it a very strong option in corner setups.


Normal Attacks

Standing Light Punch
5LP
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 5 6 14 +6 2 / 3 / 3 / 3 / *

It can be a situational anti-air, but overall, her other lights outclass this.


Standing Heavy Punch
5HP
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 17 13 17 46 -1 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / *

Chain normal. While it looks good for poking, most of the cast can duck this. However, because it's tall, it can occasionally catch a jumper while trying to throw.


Standing Light Kick
5LK
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 5 6 13 +6 3 / 4 / 5 / 5 / *

Not a bad poke but also kinda outclassed. The range is pretty good though and you can use it while you hold forward. Not always the best idea due to all the guard cancels though.


Standing Heavy Kick
5HK
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 14 7 17 37 +5 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / *

Slow and not as good an anti-air as the hitbox may make you believe. Whiffs everyone crouching. Although it goes over low moves, you'll whiff as well and they can recover faster and punish you. Good only for combo fanatics as you can use charge buffering to make damaging combos with Chain Link Sword.

Some say it's the perfect combination of offense and defence.


Crouching Light Punch
2LP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 5 6 14 +6 2 / 3 / 3 / 3 / *

While not bad for pressure, it also shrinks Venus' hurtbox, making it a good anti-air at certain angles.


Crouching Heavy Punch
2HP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 16 12 13 30 +4 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / *

Much better than standing HP. All the range advantages, hits all crouchers, and better frame data! One of her best pokes. Also hurtbox shrinkage means you can even go under some fireballs; the hitlag from connecting this move will prolong the smaller hurtbox!


Crouching Light Kick
2LK
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 5 6 14 +6 3 / * / 5 / * / *

Great poke! Look at that hitbox! Hits low, and has the great frame data her other lights have. Use often, and confirm into crouching HK for knockdown!


Crouching Heavy Kick
2HK
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 7 12 9 28 +8/D 7 / * / 11 / * / *

Another great poke that hits low. Big hitbox and long range. Since it knocks down, it trades favorably in many situations. After landing this at most distances, you can make a setup if you have charge, but party time truly begins in the corner.


Jumping Light Punch (Vertical)
j.LP
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 All All All +7~+14 3 / 4 / 5 / 5 / *

Basically the same as below.


Jumping Light Punch (Moving)
j.LP
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 All All All +6~+14 3 / 4 / 5 / 5 / *

It's ok for jumping in at certain angles. While it's not bad as an air-to-air, jump HK is almost superior there.


Jumping Heavy Punch (Vertical)
j.HP
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 5 11 8 24 ~+14 9 / 12 / 14 / 15 / *

See below.


Jumping Heavy Punch (Moving)
j.HP
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 5 11 8 27 +4~+14 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / *

This notorious chain move is Venus' instant overhead. Use it with caution though, it's unsafe in many situations. Outside of that, the ridiculous hitbox on this move can stuff many anti-airs, especially when used early in your descent.


Jumping Light Kick (Vertical)
j.LK
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 All All All +3~+14 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / *

Below.


Jumping Light Kick (Moving)
j.LK
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 All All All +3~+14 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / *

Venus' cross-up. Handy when you need it.


Jumping Heavy Kick (Vertical)
j.HK
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 5 11 6 25 +6~+14 7 / 9 / 11 / 12 / *

And below.


Jumping Heavy Kick (Moving)
j.HK
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 5 11 6 24 +6~+14 8 / 10 / 12 / 14 / *

A great air to air hitbox. Sometimes good to come down with on a jump-in as well. Learn the angles.


Special Attacks

Venus Wink Chain Sword (LP)
[2]8LP
(charge) +
30 frame charge time
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 20 Projectile 3 23 +34~ 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / 2

Commonly called upball, this is a staple of Venus play that can be used in many situations due to it's ludicrous amount of plus frames. Fantastic pressure tool that also has incredible combo potential. Just upball.

Detailed upball notes are covered in the strategy section.


Venus Wink Chain Sword (HP)
[2]8HP
(charge) +
30 frame charge time
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 24 Projectile 7 31 +30~ 12 / 16 / 18 / 20 / 3

HP upball has slightly less plus frames but has more range and does more damage. By mixing up between close and far range upball, you can dissuade jump ins while keeping up pressure through pokes. Just upball.

Detailed upball notes are covered in the strategy section.


Venus Love-Me Chain (LP)
623LP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 4 4X6 20 47 -15~+1 6 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 1x6

A strong guard cancel or regular anti-air option with slight cross up protection. Safer and faster than the HP version.


Venus Love-Me Chain (HP)
623HP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 6 5X6 29 65 -29~-9 8 / 10 / 12 / 14 / 2x6

Higher damage guard cancel option that also has slight cross up protection. You can perform an option select between this and the HP throw by inputting 6236HP or + .


Crescent Beam (LP)
236LP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 11 Projectile 36 47 +1~ 8 / 10 / 12 / 14 / 2

A very subpar fireball. Not used very often besides as an occasional punish option or combo tool. Sometimes necessary for pressure or to throw out at long ranges.


Crescent Beam(HP)
236HP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 15 Projectile 51 66 -14~ 10 / 13 / 15 / 17 / 2

It travels very quickly, so it's mostly used for very specific long range punish options. Incredibly long recovery, so don't try to do this anywhere near your opponent.


Desperation Attack

Chain Explosive
4123632HP
+
Guard Level Startup Active Recovery-Whiff Motion Advantage Dmg/Face/Counter/Both/Chip
link 14 6*6*8*21*3 30 88 +7/D 48 / 62 / 72 / 72 / 12x5

One of the stronger desperations in the game. Can be combo'd into with upball. Very strong on counterhit, as anti-air or for corner chip kill setups; it does multiple hits on chip, but is not safe in the corner to backdash, outside of Chibi Moon or player 2 double backdash. Even can see use as a guard cancel in some matchups. Contrary to what many people thought for a long time, it cannot hit for 100% of health on counterhit.


Strategy

As you become comfortable with Venus, it is essential that you learn to walk briefly before release upballs. Directional inputs are stored for a long time in this game(15 frames!); charge moves are no different! This will help your microspacing in midrange and pressure, as well as giving you an extra tool to help yourself get in.

Upball is your strongest tool which can be used in three main ways: corner pressure/mixups, fireball wars, and zoning in neutral.

In the corner, you have several options on how to mess with people with your upballs.

You can jail people in the corner by doing an upball that'll either whiff while the opponent as they're getting up, or meaty them. You can even time an upball to whiff on their crouch but hit their stand! Another whiff option is to whiff it right in front of them. If your ball whiffs, you can do your throw OS (6236HP), the DP catching reversal backdashes for multiple hits. If you get the throw you can loop into another upball setup. Meaty upballs to go into other options like another upball (great for baiting guard cancels!), crouching LK or HK (low options that let you get another setup, may catch backdashes), instant overhead jumping HP, or a super.

In a fireball war, you can slowly advance forwards by walking up forwards after charging and then releasing the upball to gain space. This is especially effective when you negate their projectile with it. You can also use it right after blocking to stop pushback (which is large in this game). Alternatively, if you don't have charge, you may want to negate the pushback by doing a 236LP. It can be better than to lose your ground.

In neutral, you can use upball in combination with HP chain Castlevania pokes and low hitting long range kicks to maintain space and discourage jump ins. Upball used properly can discourage mid range fireballs from opponents; punish them with a sweep! Again, microwalking before releasing your upball can adjust your spacing, adding that extra few pixels of range can make all the difference!

On defense, your guard cancel DPs can discourage pressure from opponents. Guard cancel upballs are also useful in certain situations. If they negate a projectile up close, you're good to punish, also great if they happen to make contact with your opponent on hit or block. Backdashes are to be used more if you're closer to the corner or as a desperation move; a Venus at full screen is usually not a Venus that's winning.

Venus is blessed with many great anti-air options. 2LP is strangely her best AA normal! Her air-to-air options are fast and have great hitboxes (jump LP and HK). 623LP and HP gets only one hit, but it does knockdown. Upballs will anti-air people with premature use. Lastly, Venus' desperation super will leave an immediate impression with its unfair damage.

Match-ups

Vs. Sailor Moon

Moon has one of the best fireballs in the game. Getting into a fireball war will put you at a disadvantage. The good news is that her anti air yell is a flash kick, meaning she has to give up charge for a moment to throw her fireball.

Still, her fireball and excellent hitboxes can give you problems in neutral. In addition, her forward dash means she can sideswap pretty easily when you make her block. Punish her attempts to dash from far away! Use whiff upball oki, in order to not give her an opportunity to guard cancel out of the corner. If you can hit her, 2HP and 2HK will duck her fireballs due to the extended hitlag (the projectiles still move over Venus' head). While full screen is Moon’s advantage, it’s usually not so bad if she escapes, unless she has a big life lead.

On the other hand, Venus’ ridiculously small crouch and DP/GCDP options that hit on both sides can shut down her Heart oki. Be aware of your options or this vortex may kill you.


Vs. Sailor Mercury

A fun if not exhausting matchup to play, Mercury possesses amazing ground tools. Shabon Spray is hard to negate and advance untouched due to Mercury’s great recovery and fast walk speed.

Strong Mercury players will know the spacing you want to try jump-ins and have the tornado ready to rip. Stay disciplined! Your spaced 2HP and 2HK can hit through tornado attempts!

Corner oki in this match is funny to me on both sides. I prefer whiff upball oki for this matchup. Tornado, has invincibility on startup. The good news is that if you time your whiff fireball correctly, it will NEGATE the tornado granting you a punish.

If Mercury tries to wall you with repeated tornadoes in the corner, wait patiently for an opportunity and let your upball negate it, while nabbing a quick punish (usually a sweep).


Vs. Sailor Mars

A difficult matchup for Venus that will test your patience. Mars has unparalled zoning ability with high and low fireballs that knock down on hit. Luckily, she lacks strong guard cancel special moves, so you have high reward once you get in!

While you can take risks to approach such as jumping HP which Mars has trouble anti airing, I don’t like the consequences of suffering a knockdown. Just be patient. Negate those snakes with your upball and walk forward (even better if you sneak in a quick walk before releasing it). You don’t want to be pushed back from blocking if you can help it, so if you don’t have charge, throwing a light fireball to guard cancel and hold your ground can be useful.

Be aware when she has super and don't plan to take more than one hit on block from Mars' super. It's fine to backdash, chances are her life is low if she has super and you won't need much to close it out.

It’s easier said than done, but this matchup is quite winnable. Experience and adaptation really comes into play!


Vs. Sailor Venus

Stay just out of upball range in neutral, then when she freezes up or whiffs something, do a slight walk forward before using it. If not for this MU alone, I highly recommend learning the technique for it.


Vs. Sailor Jupiter

While Jupiter’s wall of defensive options and strong offense present numerous problems for Venus, her weak forward movement gives Venus opportunities to put on the pressure.

Jupiter plays neutral by being a defensive wall, often having to move backwards or stand still. Your goal like most matchups is to get her to the corner, but because of how Jupiter operates, it works a little differently than most matchups. Here are many of her neutral options and how Venus can circumvent them.

If Jupiter goes for a Dragon Head fireball, Venus can crouch it and press any button during that time as well without any issue. So any fireball thrown within 2HP range deserves to be smacked! In addition, another option you have you can opt to stand to block the fireball, taking advantage of the stored charge to guard cancel your upwards fireball. This will get you moving faster than if you ducked it.

Jupiter can attempt the pillar from a backdash or jump. A Jupiter strong with backdash pillars will concede some space to you, but the pillars will come out quickly. Stay alert as you make your approach vs a grounded Jupiter. If Jupiter goes for jumps, this can be a key opportunity. Judge where the pillar will come out and choose whether to walk forward, jump to meet her in the air, or stay still.

If Jupiter jumps forward in neutral though, that’s great! Air to air can lose out, but Venus’ DP and up fireball will have you covered.

Jupiter’s lariat and command throw are powerful defensive tools. In neutral, space out 2HP and 2HK to play just out of their range. Avoid reckless (most) jump-ins that will result in getting hit with an anti-air guard cancel that will send you full screen. During your corner oki, you can play mindgames with a Jupiter player’s tendency to guard cancel these moves, purposely having her block a fireball while maintaining your spacing. If they don’t bite, you have your incredible frame advantage to continue your offense or go for the situation again. Punish with a knockdown if they take the bait.

And my personal favorite anti-Jupiter strat. When you get knocked down if they go for their crossup oki into lariat, I simply duck and take the hit. From this position, they are surprisingly limited! They can’t combo it into sweep. Venus’ crouch will duck under Jupiter’s lariat from any position, leaving her wise open to punish! At worst, I’ve taken a couple of lights and blocked a heavy. At best, they whiff a lariat and you get a free punish! Better than risking a wrong guess into losing all your life. Just beware of a potential command throw.


Vs. Sailor Chibi Moon

Be aware that her backdash can be looped for full invinciblity in the corner. Against Chibi's that go for this, Venus' j.LK crossup can disrupt. If you land a throw, this is also your preferred oki setup.

Be aware of her slide range. Her fireball is pretty bad, but stay aware it goes under yours.

Be careful when crouching within range of her hip drop. It's quite punishable on block though!


Vs. Sailor Uranus

The toughest matchup.

You CANNOT pressure with fierce upwards fireballs in this MU. Forward dash will punish you and you will get hit with an infinite. For the most part, stick to pressuring with lights.

You CANNOT do reckless jump-ins. You get 360’d for that. See Jupiter. Your best shot at jumping in is spacing a j.HK, but you may be vulnerable to anti-airs. An anti-air from Uranus is a potential left/right/throw mixup.

Be very careful in neutral. Abuse the hitboxes on 2LK, 2HK, and 2HP, the latter 2 can beat her slide.

Her forward dash is only invincible when done as a wakeup reversal. Be on your toes, even stuffing it with a light is far better than letting her get in uninterrupted. Between that and her GC 360, most of your regular corner oki is useless.

From Koushun: If Uranus throws a far screen fireball, do not block it. Instead, jump straight up or backwards. She will be at big frame advantage if you block it and she closes the gap. If you jump, any attempt at dashing forward can be interrupted with a safe jump-in. Jumping forward may put you at risk to getting anti-aired by slide.

Slide is risky to GC until she performs an action.

Some setups you have to backdash out of to avoid getting thrown.

The risk vs reward of this matchup is heavily skewed. Normally, a character with most of these tools would be manageable, the fact that a grounded punish means an infinite will limit what you can safely try. On the other hand, if you wait too long, you can get snatched for massive damage and another hit vs throw mixup. Yet your payoff is so pitiful; you corner party is cancelled even if you get there. Good luck.

DO NOT ASSUME THEY WILL MESS UP THE INFINITE BUT DO BE READY JUST IN CASE THEY DO.


Vs. Sailor Neptune

I enjoy playing this matchup! Many Neptune players love to abuse their LP DP but Venus has great tools to play around it! Since her chains have no hurtbox, you can throw out spaced 2HPs that she can’t stuff or guard cancel DP punish!

You can also trick the Neptune player by jumping and throwing an early j.HP while high up, this will beat her DP because she won’t reach you before her invincibility runs out! It is risky because a Neptune player that blocks can punish, but the knockdown situation vs Neptune isn’t necessarily as bad as much of the rest of the cast (just be aware of her overhead). Not something to abuse, but can be good here and there.

Regarding corner oki, you risk losing your turn going for your whiff fireball oki, but similar to Jupiter, you can space your upwards fireball while she blocks from a range she can’t reach you with her signature guard cancel. Unlike Jupiter you have to watch out for her fireball GC, but if they try that option, start abusing your frame advantage with the tip of 2HK or spaced 2HP to make them reconsider!


Vs. Sailor Pluto

Venus has a nice advantage here.

She can crouch Pluto’s standing overhead which shuts down a lot of her mixup options.

Pluto does have a strong anti-air and long range normals of her own. Her fireball doesn’t go full screen but your fireball is so bleh that the fireball war isn’t too great here anyway. Play solid and stay crouching. Your crouch will go under her super a well, but the recovery is fast, so be careful.

Colors

Player 1
Player 2


Frame Data

External Links

A lot of this information is out of date, so please tread with caution and cross-verify information. Roughly ordered by level of practicality/difficulty from most practical/least difficult to least practical/most difficult to perform in a match.

Sailor Moon S
Sailor Chibi Moon Sailor Jupiter Sailor Mars
Sailor Mercury Sailor Moon Sailor Neptune
Sailor Pluto Sailor Uranus Sailor Venus
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