So I tested alot of stuff vs my friend. The top tier in this game make low tiers look like a joke. My new top ten and I doubt it will change much from this point on is Kaixa, Eternal, Faiz, Drake, Saga, Shadow Moon, Kabuto, Leangle, Delta, Fang/Joker.
The top 5 are pretty much a lock though the order could be rearranged I dont see any one of them leaving the top 5. After the top ten Decade, Dark Kabuto, Skull, Kick/Punch Hopper, Sasword, V3, TheBee, Odin and Meteor are very good as well.
Kaixa is number 1 MAYBE number 2 at worst. Dude DOES have a true ground loop. If you can't burst you will eat a full life loop combo into Gold Smash (Climax Finale). Ground re-bounce loop is just Strong, Strong over and over. Don't mash. Time it and you can net usually 8 hits easy. You can go as high as 12 then link into Finale. Timing will be tighter though. Does massive damage. Will kill any char with low defense. Higher defense chars will get away with barely 15% of their health or less. Ridiculous. Combined with this other advantages and he is monstrous.
The two chars I chose to do a write-up on were Decade and Blade. I will do Decade first as he was the char I thought had potential and boy was I right. In the past he was weak because he couldnt cancel his hand wiping after a combo. Now he can. He also gets meter if you let him actually complete it. This is one of things that drew me to him. Please keep reading as Decade has a very interesting play style.
Decade - The Destroyer of Worlds
Form Change Style
Pros
+ Can hold his own at any range thanks to his specials. Blast is good at mid/long range while Slash is a great punish at mid range.
+ Stun combo sets up for Climax Finale and combos.
+ Guard Run lets him get in on gunner riders quickly.
+ Great versatility. He can use other Rider forms and gain another special. This changes his fighting style and helps keep opponents off balance.
+ Has some extremely safe combos
+ Decade charge (his meter gain when he rubs his hands) makes him the best non-Assualt style meter builder.
+ Aerial Slash acts as a dive attack. Very fast and safe. Gives him a great offensive tool.
+ Rider Art is good for closing in at long range
Cons
- Short combos in base form. Poor for hit confirms.
- In form change mode Kabuto and Faiz are the best options, but you don't have access to their super speed modes.
- Damage in base form is low to average.
- Aerial Slash Dive does have a little recovery that can be take advantage of when it is avoided or baited. Also chars with strong air games like Saga can shut this move down.
- Lacks good Rider Cancel chain options
Complete Form
Pros
+ Buffed stats, combos, damage and specials.
+ W,W,W,W,W combo sets up for Climax Finale
+ Air dash gives him great mobility and tricky oki.
+ Strong at mid range due to air normals becoming blasts attacks as well as his down strong. His side special becomes a beam blast. Great for guard pressure and blows through alot of projectiles.
+ Strong chains use his sword which is a disjointed hitbox thats not attached to his body.
Cons
- Beam Blast leaves him wide open if side-stepped
- Loses Dive Slash from his base form
- Give up three bars to transform creating a meter deficit
- Loses Decade charge
Notable Moves and Chains
Base Form
In Air + SP - Decade's Dive Slash and the corner stone of his rushdown offense. Great move and safe on block especially when spaced well.
Rider Art + SP - Great punish for only half a bar.
SP, SP - Decades Rider Slash. Good punish at mid range. Strong footsie tool.
Forward or Back + SP - Rider Blast. Multiple hits and will overpower many other projectiles and bullets from other Riders since this is technically multiple shots at one time. Good for stopping an opponents attempt to rushdown or get in your face.
Forward + Weak, Strong - Safe chain. Knocks back on hit. Both hits are safe on block. Good for getting some breathing room.
Forward + Strong, Strong - Safe chain. Second hit is safe. Knocks back on hit. Another good chain for resetting your spacing.
Complete Form
On the Ground + SP, SP, SP - Does three hits now. Second hit is fairly safe and good for hit confirms. Covers really good distance. Great for footsies.
Rider Art + SP - Good punish when farther away
In Air + Weak or Strong - Does an air blast shot. Knocks down if all of them connect. Stagger stun if it grazes the opponent. Stagger is a good set-up for combos.
Forward + Back SP - Beam Blast. Good for shutting down frontal approaches and good for guard damage. Leaves you wide open when side stepped.
Weak, Strong, Jump, Weak, Strong, Sp - Decade's launcher combo. Good damage.
Weak, Weak, Weak, Weak - Good chain that ends in a double axe kick. Axe kick ends in a ground bounce that is untechable and sets up for combos or Climax Finale. First two hits are very safe and last hit is safe vs chars with slow normals in terms of start-up. For the first hit Decade takes a pretty big step forward and he attacks fast making it a great punish/footsie tool at mid/close range.
Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong - Good hit confirm due to number of hits. Only sword combo that doesnt end with him wiping the blade. First hit is a fast down swing good for stuffing other normals. Good damage and guard damage.
Hit Confirms/Combos
Base Form
Down + Weak, Strong ~ Climax Finale
Down + Weak, Strong ~ Dive Slash
Complete Form
SP, SP, ~ Weak, Weak, Weak, Weak, ~ Climax Finale/ Forward or Back + SP
Strong, Strong, Strong, Strong, Rider Cancel, Weak, Weak, Weak, Weak, ~ Forward or Back + SP
SP, SP ~ Weak, Strong, Jump, Weak, Strong, SP
Jump Weak or Strong (Stagger Stun) ~ Weak, Weak, Weak, Weak, ~ Climax Finale/ Forward or Back + SP
General Strategy
How you play Decade will change slightly on whether he is Form change Style or Power-Up Style. In Form change style Decade can choose an extra form and an extra special. The form he can choose are the forms of the previous main riders that came before him. The specials are the Final Form Rides they each have. I won't mince words. Kabuto and Faiz being top tier and overall having the best tools out of the forms you can choose makes them the best choices. You might say what's the point of being Decade then? Well Decade has very strong rushdown but more on that in a bit. You can also choose a Final Attack Ride. I would suggest using Ryuki, Kuuga or Agito as your Final attack Ride. Kabuto and Hibiki are counter moves. Faiz is good but its too easy to dodge and doesnt knockdown so if your opponent is close they can punish you. Kiva shoots a single arrow that can be blocked or dodged fairly easily. Kuuga and Agito have you jump on them and rush the enemy while you are invincible. Damage is low but it lets you blow through moves and regain control. Ryuki shoots a single fireball from off screen. Good for pressure and to force your opponent to deal with something. This special is good for control type players.
Decade has the tools to play a versatile game, a heavy rushdown game or a mixture of both. Ideally you want to control and limit your opponent. Constantly pushing them back while aiming for the knockdown. Decade's rushdown is strong thanks to his aerial dive slash special. It has a good downward hitbox that stays out for awhile, does good damage/guard damage and knocks down, and its pretty darn safe especailly when spaced well. The hitbox is insane. It can hit the opponent for the entire time its out. This includes the time when Decade lands and the sword is at his side. Even then if the sword touches his opponent, they will go flying backwards and take the damage of the attack. This means you can space out the attack so it hits after Decade lands making it much safer and harder to stop/punish. This makes it great as a meaty attack. A meaty is an attack done as an opponent is getting up so they wake-up into the attack. For this reason they are also called wake-up attacks. Even if they tech roll you have time to maintain your offense. If they side step the same holds true. If they eat the attack and they are in the corner Decade recovers fast enough to combo. You could even do a Climax Finale if you are fast enough at reacting. Overusing the dive slash can lenbd itself to predictability however so use it intelligently. That said its hard for many chars to deal with so, as long as its not spammed unintelligently and its spaced well, it will be an invaluable tool in your gameplan.
As far as regular footsies go Decade is in really good shape. He has some solid buttons and while they arent damaging he is a pretty safe character. Forward Weak, Strong and Forward, Strong, Strong are both completely safe on block. Then add that after a succesful knockback combo he can do decade charge, you have a char that can quickly build meter while putting himself in an advantageous position. His Blast special is good for shutting down frontal approaches and people who try to mindless rush in while his Slash special is good as a mind range punish and to stop strafing. His Rider art is great as a longer range punish when you avoid a move at a distance as well. His stun combo Down/Up Weak, Strong makes him a threat for opponents with no guard. Decade builds alot of meter fast and his air dive lets him apply good safe pressure. Those factors give him his win condition where he actively seek to get a guard break then a stun combo. From there Climax Finale to end the game or gain the life lead. His win condition is solid and consistent thanks to his tools.
In Complete form his versatility increases. All his stats go up as all powered up forms do compared to their base forms. His strong combos use his sword, which is great because that means more range and priority. His attack speed and gaurd damage goes up as well and he becomes safer on block with better hit confirms. He loses his dive slash so his aggression isnt the same, but he gains an air dash so his mobility is greatly increased. He also loses Decade charge, but that isnt so bad since power up forms get increased meter gain. In this form his jump attacks become blasts that knockdown but, do heavy stun if they only graze an opponent. Good for combos. His specials become more powerful. Blasts turns into a beam and can blow through alot of projectiles. Slash becomes 3 hits and the second is pretty safe and its good as a hit confirm into itself. Think Fei-Long from Street Fighter and his Rekka punches. Complete form has what I call "Power Rushdown". It's the rushdown style that pretty much all power forms use in this game. They all do great damage, guard damage and build lots of meter fast. So this allows them to essentially go wild and pressure with strings, fishing for a guard break while abusing Rider Cancelling. Sooner or later your opponent must guard backstep, parry, or burst if they get hit. All good no matter what because your goal is bring down the guard gauge. As long as your intelligent, getting parried or backstepped isnt really too much of a hindrence. His win condition is the same. Combo set-up into Climax Finale. His Weak, weak, weak, weak, weak will set-up an untechable ground bounce that can link into Climax Finale or Beam Blast if you don't have the meter. His Climax Finale does huge damage as well. His main weakness is really just that Beam Blast special leaves him wide open when blocked and of course the usual power up weakness of having to give up 3 bars to attain that level of power.
Overview
Decade is very fun, interesting and rewarding no matter how you decide to play him. Few chars boast such strong offense or solid mid range games. His versatility is strong no matter if you use Form change style of power up style. His rushdown in his base form is among the best in the game and makes you feel like you are playing a different game then many of the other chars. Form change lets you have access to a whole diff rider which can completely throw off your opponent. Final Attack Rides give Decade another way to turn the tide of a fight or throw his opponent off. Power-up Style allows him to hit another power level and come out swinging. In this form he can fight any type of opponent without any real issue. His mobility is great in this form allowing him to quickly close in if he must. No matter what form his win condition is clear and consistently attainable which is huge if a character is going to be successful at a high level. If you want a character that can play alot of different ways and is very rewarding then give Decade a try. After playing him I can attest that calling him The Destroyer of Worlds is not an understatement. The man is a monster.
