A

A
Used By	Oswald
Attack Type	Special Move
Appears In	The King of Fighters series: The King of Fighters XI The King of Fighters XIV

Ace (stylized as A) is one of Oswald's Special Moves in the King of Fighters series, first appearing in The King of Fighters XI.

Input

KOF XI	+ after a Suit-chained ♥
KOF XIV	+ after a Suit-chained ♥

Description

Oswald jumps vertically while spinning, slashing an airborne opponent with a pair of cards while then slowly spinning back down to the ground afterwards. This can only be performed off of a ♥ that inflicts a wallbounce (chained into from any other Suit-based move), as it cannot even be input if ♥ is done standalone or chained into from a normal/command normal.

If the victim suffering from the wallbounce that the Suit-chained ♥ inflicts is within a specific distance from Oswald when the attack finishes (preferably just above him at the right spot), he at the peak of his leap (with the screen darkening) performs an additional downward slash (via his jumping animation) that sends them back down.

Strategy

As the primary finisher to a Suit-chain ending in Heart, Ace is by far a rewarding attack to master once the sweet-spot is nailed down, but like most attacks of its caliber even if it's not a true DP-styled reversal of sorts, it is very punishable if mistimed despite the foe needing a while to get back up from the ground if they cannot recovery roll, but often under very rare circumstances.

Even if improperly landed, landing at least one or a few hits of Ace prevents it from being punished regardless. And regardless of how high the victim is from the wallbounce from any version of Heart, so long as Ace nails the foe just directly below the victim just above Oswald at the right time, the perfect version will always trigger.

While extremely potent in damage in KOF XI, said damage has been notably nerfed a bit in KOF XIV.

Trivia

• In KOF XIV, despite performing this off of the ♥, Oswald wields an Ace of Clubs and Ace of Diamonds in his hands during the attack instead of the prior Ace of Hearts and 7 of Hearts.
  • When landing the perfect version of this attack, the finisher slash has various images of all 4 Ace cards trail the said slash.