Relax guys my goodness gracious. Anyway here is the write-up for Blade.
Blade - The Indigo Warrior
Ace Form
Pros
+ Uses a sword (Blay Rouzer) for strong attacks. Disjointed hitbox that's not attached to his body.
+ Rider Art is a good punish for half a bar.
+ Air dash gives him added mobility and another way to approach.
+ Lightning Slash special gives him a power boost, which increases damage and guard damage.
+ Solid damage even in Ace form
+ Weak punch sets up for combos and Climax Finale
Cons
- All chain combos are unsafe
- Very straight forward and basic gameplay
- Tackle is worthless. Slow start-up and very unsafe
Notable Moves, Chains and Specials
Rider Art + Sp - Good punish. Only takes half a bar. Use it when your opponent whiffs something or you block anything with alot of recovery.
Lightning Slash - Power up special. Blade lives and dies by his normals so this is a must for his footsies. Makes him more threatening up close
In Air + R - Air Dash. Good for getting in quickly
W - Weak punch. Safe, good speed and causes huge hitstun. Can link after this hits. Climax Finale will link after this as well
S,S,S,S - 4 hit sword chain. Good damage. Great guard damage
F + W,S,S - 3 hit chain. Good hit confirm. First hit is fairly safe on block and causes long hit stun while the second hit comes out fast. Good chain to use to get breathing room
Hit Confirms/Combos
W ~ Rider Art/Climax Finale/S,S,S,S - Weak punch linked into w/e. Rider Art for non recoverable damage. S chain for good damage and meter. Finale for huge damage/the KO.
W,S, RC, S,S,S,S - Start with Blade's main hit confirm then Rider Cancel into Strong chain.
General Strategy
Blade is all about his normals. Lightning Slash should be active when you want to stage an offense. The main goal should be to get your opponent off you and knocked back so you can build meter for the power-up henshin/or activate Lightning Slash. Unfortunately Blade has a wild and reckless style befitting of his hot-blooded temperment. Many of his attacks and moves are unsafe on block and easily punishable. So you need to focus on what IS safe so you don't get put down easily. His basic W punch will be a corner stone of your close range offense. It's safe and causes huge hit stun so its very easy to confirm off of. On block just stop attacking then backdash or side step to stay slippery and on the defensive. If it hits you have options. His basic S chain is solid damage and knocks them back so you can build meter. You can Finale if you have the meter and they don't have guard guage. Rider art is a solid option for some decent damage. Or you can just complete the chain with S,S. If you get your opponent to whiff something or you block anything with alot of recovery remember to punish with his Rider Art. When facing Gunner Riders remember a well placed air dash can be the perfect way in. Not all that much to Blade. Remember to avoid Tackle because it's trash. Try not to Rider Cancel alot as well. You need to conserve meter so you can transform or set-up for a Finale.
Jack Form
Pros
+ Increased damage, defense, guard damage and meter gain
+ Has BlayRouzer for strong chains. Disjointed hitbox
+ Has an air combo
+ Lightning Slash special boosts damage and guard damage
+ Air Dash
Cons
- Still has alot of unsafe attacks
- Lightning Sonic special does terrible damage
- Weak punch loses alot of hitstun. Can't link after it in this form.
- Rider Art is a Rider Jump. Garbage.
- Flight is terrible
- Lightning Slash special can only be done out of Flight and is easy to block or dodge on reaction
- Meter deficit created by needing 3 bars to transform
Notable Moves/Chains/Specials
F or B+Sp - Lightning Slash power-up. With this active, Jack form's power output is near equal to King form.
In Air+R - Air dash is a good way in. Also good for dodging ground projectiles and beams.
S,S,S,S,S - 5 hit sword chain. Great block pressure and good damage.
W,S,S - Good chain. Not quite as good in this form but still a solid hit confirm
D+W,S Jump W,S, Sp - Air combo. Good damage. Good punish up close if you have meter
Hit Confirms/Combos
S,S,S RC, S,S,S,S,S - Main guard pressure Rider Cancel chain.
W,S RC, D+W,S Jump W,S,Sp - Hit confirm into Air combo. Decent damage but that's two bars worth of meter
W,S RC, S,S,S,S,S - Safest pressure chain as it starts with a safe hit confirm on the first hit.
General Strategy
Jack form is Ace form 2.0. Actually more like 1.5. Blade loses about as much as he gains here. He loses his set-up into Finale because W does alot less hitstun. He loses his Rider Dash as his Rider Art so punishing is harder. It's replaced with a Rider Jump and Flight which is useless. His special version of Lightning Sonic has abysmal damage as well. On the plus side he gets buffed stats and damage. The gameplan here is just to go in. Get Lightning Slash activated and then go for the beat down and Rider Cancel combos. Eliminating your opponents guard guage so you can attack without getting blocked is the gameplan. If your opponent does something rash that leaves them open and you have the meter, punish with a Finale. Gameplay wise this form doesn't really difer from Ace form aside from lacking a good punish option at mid/long range and losing a Finale set-up which can end games.
King Form
Pros
+ Great damage and meter building
+ Royal Straight Flush (energy wave version) is good at mid range and a great combo ender.
+ KingRouzer for S chains. Disjointed hitbox
+ Has a stun combo and a hit confirm he can link out of
+ Doesn't need alot of meter to deal out solid damage
+ Rider Art is a good punish
+ Guard Run lets him get past projectiles easier
Cons
- Lots of unsafe chains
- Most of his normals are on the slow side
- RSF (energy wave) is unsafe on block and leaves Blade open if it's dodged
- Meter deficit created by needing 3 bars to transform
- Loses air dash
Notable Moves/Chains/Specials
L+Sp - Rider Art version of Royal Straight Flush. Good punish
Sp - Energy Wave version of Royal Straight Flush. Good midrange tool and combo ender. Hits twice up close but only once on block. Good guard damage and great damage if it hits twice. Gives 1 1/2 meter if both hits connect
W,W - 2 hit chain. Stun combo. Set-up for Sp or Finale to end the game. Last hit is pretty safe.
S,S,S,S - 4 hit sword chain. Good damage and guard damage. Good meter build. Main hit confirm. Good range since Blade lunges forward with an upward slice for the first hit. First hit is pretty quick as well.
F+W,S,S,S - 4 hit chain. Decent hit confirm. Third hit does alot of stun so Blade can link a W,W after it and then combo from the stun. Slow start-up though.
Hit Confirms/Combos
F+W,S,S ~ W,W ~ Sp - Basic hit confirm to go for as a punish when someone is wide open. Does around 40% for no meter
S,S,S,S RC S,S,S,S - Basic Rider Cancel guard pressure string. Due to King Form's high meter building you won't be down by alot on meter after it's done.
W,W ~ Finale, Sp - Stun combo set-up. Finale for the KO or RSF for damage.
General Strategy
Blade gets a bit of a revamp and he changes his style up, but make no mistake. He is still a rushdown monster. He loses the air dash so his mobility on the ground takes a hit. Instead he gets the Guard Run letting him plow through projectiles. He gets a large boost in pure power and guard damage. His fighting style remains largely unchanged however. Blade wants to go in and go for the throat. His chains aren't incredibly long but do lots of damage/guard damage and he builds good meter. He is still unsafe on most of his chains so intelligence and good hit confirming skills are needed. But since he builds meter fast and does alot of gaurd damage, most likely his opponent will parry him or backstep once they block him making his safety less of an issue. He can do really good damage with just one bar. A simple S,S,S,S RC Sp can do around 35% and since Sp hits twice up close you will get back the meter you spent on the RC plus half a bar more. Sp itself is strong at mid range though if avoided with a jump or by anyother means it can leave Blade open to punishment. Still its a strong containment tool useful for shutting down hasty approaches and strafing. As far as punishment goes Blade has his Rider Art to fall back on and F+Sp. Both do decent damage though Rider Art is faster. His win condition is clear and not hard to achieve. Use his immense power and damage to annihilate his opponents guard guage then go for the kill with a W,W stun combo and link to Climax Finale. Even if you can't do that Blade does alot of damage with basic RC combos and hit confirms. His gameplay is simple but effective.
Overview
Blade in any form has one goal. Rushdown. His gameplay is not complicated, but he suffers because he isn't that effective. That is unless he is in King Form. It's getting to King Form that's the issue. Blade in his Ace form can do ok, but he is just a little too simple so getting the meter to transform can really be an issue. Jack form isn't really worth the meter either because this form isnt really better then Ace form. Just slightly different. Both of those forms are probably mid tier in my opinion. The fact that they are unsafe without anything to truly mitigate that weakness is an issue. King form is a different beast. This form of Blade is also unsafe, BUT getting a new special thats useful for different things and a huge damage boost helps to check that weakness of being unsafe in general. Plus as long as King form has at least a bar, his safety isn't that much of an issue since an opponent knows that bar will be enough to allow Blade to keep pressuring and they will likely parry or guard cancel backstep, knowing they will lose the guard gauge anyway. King Form is no more complicated then his other forms but is much more effective due to stat boosts and a movelist change. He is also alot more fun because he is rewarded more then his other forms. King form imo is around middle/lower top tier. He is not insanely versatile but he is powerful and good at what he does. EVOLUTION KING!!!!!
Guys I will let you choose one of the two riders for my next write-ups. Who are we nominating?