Yuri Sakazaki/Move List

Overview
Yuri is a Rushdown Shoto-style character. Much like her brother, she is a simple character with an easy to learn playstyle in most cases.



In The King of Fighters series, she retains her simple moves, but she also contains many... "quirks" from other characters in The King of Fighters, as well as some characters from other fighting game series outside of SNK.

Starting with The King of Fighters XIII, she returns back to her classic Art of Fighting-styled moveset, but with some new additions. Notably, she has the Houyoku, a Demon Flip-styled command jump that allows her to vary her approach between a leaping overhead that knocks down on hit (or in KOF XV, gives her a combo outright), a divekick that gives her plenty of plus frames to work with, or even a throw to intercept any attempted anti-airs.



Thanks to KOF XV allowing the ability to perform EX Moves outside of MAX Mode just like in KOF XIII, Yuri is also more than capable of some very solid burst damage for 1-1.5 Bars thanks to EX Saiha and EX Hien Souha, and her signature Hien Houou Kyaku. Helping with that is an impressive plethora of cross-ups to keep the opponent on their toes with, and a nice array of anti-air options to shut out any attempts at jump-in whilst also being quite rewarding on top of that.

Compared to Ryo or Robert, however, one of Yuri's most consistent weaknesses is the stubbiness on her Normals; they're not particularly good. Most of them barely touch the opponent past neutral range, with her regular sweep and Shien (formerly Shiyoku - +) being the best options she has past close range. She does have a very solid overhead with good reach in her signature bum bash, Enyoku, but its rather slow startup and the fact that it doesn't cancel into anything on hit (be it by itself or after a normal on it) leaves much to be desired.

Her defensive options are also quite limited. She has one of the weakest standing Blowbacks in the game, which has next to no horizontal range and as a result, severely hinders its usage after a Guard Cancel or a Shatter Strike in KOF XV. The best she has up close or after a knockdown is EX Kuuga, which, being a dragon punch style move that is extremely risky to use on block and on whiff, carries all of the downsides that one might expect from such a move.



Overall, for a very aggressive, mix-up and mobility-oriented take on the Kyokugenryu style, and if you're looking for a reliable Point (1st) character, Yuri will definitely do wonders to teach you the Art of Fighting...

Trivia

 * Many of Yuri's moves throughout the series are a(n albeit friendly) Tit-for-Tat parody of the Ansatsuken-style moves from the Street Fighter series as SNK's response to Dan Hibiki.
 * Her Yuri Raijin Kyaku apes Akuma's Tenmakujinkyaku.
 * Hien Senpuu Kyaku is a parody of the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku.
 * Yuri Super Slash parodies Ryu's Joudan Sokutogeri.
 * Houyoku is her equivalent of Akuma's Hyakkishu, also known as the Demon Flip.
 * Chou! Ryuuko Ranbu parodies Dan Hibiki's Hissho Buraiken, which in itself is a parody of the Ryuuko Ranbu.
 * Shin! Chou Upper is her answer to Ryu's Shin Shoryuken.
 * On that front, Hien Rekkou is similar to Ken's Shoryureppa or Akuma's Messatsu Goshoryu.
 * Some moves are also a bit of self-parody on SNK's part.
 * Hien Senpuu Ken bears a striking resemblance to Terry's Burn Knuckle.
 * Yuriori is exactly the same as Iori's version.