Vice, Revivified (pt.2)
(Original post date: January 2, 2025.)
Recommended supplement: Infil's Fighting Game Glossary. I'll be linking it liberally throughout this article when I mention new terms, so take a gander!
There is also a brief reference to numpad notation, so here's a handly guide to explain it. The King of FIghters XV is a 4-button game (Light Punch, Heavy Punch, Light Kick, Heavy Kick) and the initialisms LP, HP, LK, and HK see use throughout the article.
So this is largely a companion piece to the Vice, Revivified piece I wrote a bit ago, with some extra seasoning from having actually Played Some Vice In The King of Fighters XV recently. We're going to talk about three major things in this one--first is where Vice fits in amongst all the grapplers in KOF XV, followed by a more in-depth look at the benefits to the moves she's gained, which I touched on a bit in the previous article but can more properly explain now. And then, finally, we'll talk about her supers, and how they tie everything together (and get tied together in turn.)
Let's get right to it, yeah?
KOF has generally trended itself away from exclusively big body grapplers relatively early on in the franchise, and has often given them other tools in addition to grabs to help them stand their own in KOF's high movement environment, what with short-hops, hyper-hops, and the like being universally available. Goro Daimon and Clark Still held it down in the big body category for KOF '94 and '95, with big (if slightly slow) normals to help them control space against short-hops and hyper hops, alongside other striking techniques to round out their selection of moves, until Vice joined in KOF '96 and both Shermie and Orochi Yashiro came along in KOF '97. Granted, Daimon was already a bit of a trendsetter in '94 due to his Super Roll special move, which he could use to cover ground either on his own or cancel into after contacting an opponent with a normal attack, but even with KOF's movement systems being as they are he was still relatively slow. Vice's introduction in '96 changed things up since she's a bit faster than both Clark and Daimon, but Shermie really did things differently by focusing on mobility to a degree that no grappler before her did, alongside amazing normals that let her control space remarkably well, while Orochi Yashiro was a bit slower than her but retained normal Yashiro's amazing normals and added a huge arsenal of throws to the mix for resets, okizeme, and more.
With these general establishments in mind, grapplers in KOF have generally fallen on the spectrum of "fast grappler or slow grappler" over the years, and usually lean into a combination of mechanics to help entrench their position or allow them to make up for the failings of whatever their position is. For example, Clark's general ability to get in has increased over the years by virtue of gaining a command move simply named Step that allows him to do a large hop forward and cover a fixed distance from cancelable normals, as well as a dashing hitgrab called Mount Tackle that has multiple followups to help him establish his game; Ramón, introduced in KOF 2000, is a lucha libre wrestler with the Tiger Road special move, a rapid dash forward or backward that has several followups for variety. Even Shermie, already very quick just by virtue of her running speed and hop trajectory, gained a rushing command throw, the Shermie Shoot, which allows her to dash forward and stomp the opponent into the ground if the throw connects.
In KOF XV, Vice basically trends toward the middle of that grappler spectrum, as she has before--she is faster than King of Dinosaurs and runs somewhere in the same bracket as Clark (to an extent, since Step does wonders for his ground mobility) and Orochi Yashiro, but is still slower than Shermie and Ramón. However, she also shares two notable strengths with a few of these characters with an additional one of her own. Much like Shermie and Orochi Yashiro, her normals are fantastic, boasting a fair amount of reach for both light and heavy normals. These stabilize both her combos and her hop-checks to a large degree, but unlike Orochi Yashiro and Shermie, she further benefits from an amazing Blow Back Attack, a universal move available to all members of the cast; Vice's animation for her Blow Back Attack is a straight thrust punch with a forward step, which gives her Shatter Strike and Advance Strike universal moves the same animation and lets her cover a big horizontal space directly in front of her. She also shares one of Clark's most fearsome traits, primarily thanks to her moveset expansion in KOF XV--much like him, she specializes in okizeme and setting up vortexes after hitting the opponent with a command throw, as all of hers cause hard knockdowns which prevent the opponent from rolling back and away from her after hitting the ground. This lets her approach the opponent while they are getting up and attempt any number of actions while they are rising--a meaty normal, normal throw, or command throw, a short hop normal, or simply doing nothing at all.
Combining these two traits with one of Vice's signature special moves, the sweeping snake-arm hitgrab Deicide, makes her a particular menace both at close and mid range, as she can strike and poke from ranges that slightly exceed most of the other grapplers thanks to Deicide and has a fairly easy time using her normals to help cover the most active spaces in KOF play.
Special moves aside from Deicide--specifically the restored moves that Vice gained in KOF XV--also help to round out her toolkit. While this did come up in the previous blog, the practical experience I've had since my initial eyeballing of Vice's preview videoes has revealed some really interesting stuff.
To set the stage, let's talk in brief about Vice's KOF XIII and XIV movelists, which are largely the same and are very stripped-down versions of Vice's older movelists from before KOF XIII. Aside from Deicide and Splash, which we've covered already, Vice's special moves in KOF XIII and XIV consist of a close-range command grab that drags the opponent forward for corner carry (Gorefest) and a shoulder tackle which launches the opponent that can be optionally followed up with Splash (Mayhem). While this stripdown of her toolkit made Vice very straightforward to play, it also tended to centralize her gameplay on Deicide and Mayhem, to the detriment of other interesting strategies that she could have had. KOF XV adjusts this by keeping all of these moves and restoring three of Vice's older moves: a launching target combo from Vice's close standing Heavy Kick, a powerful slamdown command grab (Blackened), and a diagonal version of Deicide borrowed from Capcom vs. SNK 2, Deicide - Avatar.
Starting with Blackened, its return is vital to really re-establishing a multifaceted threat from Vice's command throws. Blackened is slower than Gorefest, but in exchange is invulnerable for part of its animation, turning it into a potent counterattack against slower attacks and setting Vice up for something even more punishing on success (which we'll talk about when we discuss Deicide - Avatar). Grapplers in a lot of fighting games generally have a difficult time on the defensive because they tend to lack strong invulnerable moves without spending super meter, so Vice gaining this property on Blackened gives her a measure of defensive strength that she didn't have before.
Blackened's return also forms a sort of triangle with Vice's other two command throws; in situations where a tick throw is more useful, Gorefest is a good option because of its speed, especially if the opponent is expecting a normal throw as a tick throw and not a command throw. If Vice knocks the opponent down, and they attempt to use an Advance Strike to attempt to counter a meaty throw or command throw (such as a meaty Blackened or meaty Gorefest), Splash will get around it due to Vice taking to the air and avoiding the counter-throw properties of the Advance Strike; alternatively, if Vice is feeling particularly bold, she can choose to stand just a bit out of range before pouncing with a Splash, going over most attacks that don't hit high enough to knock her out of the air. Once the opponent is then concerned about these options, Vice can approach them with her longer normals as meaties, or potentially sneak in another Gorefest or Blackened once they become too afraid to aggress back against her, leading to a vicious cycle of okizeme setups.
Deicide - Avatar is moreso a combo tool, though if one has a knack for hard callouts it can also act as an anti-airing tool. The Light version of Deicide - Avatar simply slams the opponent down in front of Vice on hit, while the Heavy and EX versions cause a groundbounce for further combos. The target combo I mentioned earlier happens to be a useful setup for Heavy Deicide - Avatar, as the Heavy version is the slowest animation of all three versions and Vice can directly cancel into Heavy Deicide - Avatar from the target combo, which negates that drawback. Another very big thing to keep in mind is that Deicide - Avatar is a guaranteed followup from a successful Blackened; it defaults to the Light version unless Vice uses EX Blackened, at which point it gives the groundbounce of the Heavy and EX versions. This means that if the opponent isn't careful, they'll set themselves up for Vice to run okizeme from a successful Blackened.
Additionally, Light and EX Deicide - Avatar are both usable after both Heavy and EX Mayhem with very careful timing, which allows Vice to get okizeme and combo extensions without having to spend as much meter whenever she lands either of those versions of Mayhem. An example comes from using the basic KOF string of 2LK 2LP 2LP, often used to fish for a hit confirm at a safe distance, to lead into EX Mayhem before manually timing an EX Deicide - Avatar for a groundbounce, then using another well timed Light Mayhem and directly canceling that into a Splash. If Vice wants to conserve meter instead, she can opt for Light Deicide - Avatar after EX Mayhem and force the opponent to land directly in front of her for okizeme. This only becomes more intricate when factoring in EX Deicide, since EX Deicide allows Vice to always combo into any version of Mayhem she wants so long as the move hits. Additionally, EX Deicide retains its anywhere juggle properties from KOF XIII and XIV to give her deadly combo extensions in the most unexpected situations. This lets her get fantastic combo setups from any situation where she can launch the opponent and get EX Deicide out in time afterward--her standing Blow Back is infamously good at this, as it is directly cancelable into EX Deicide and so becomes a guaranteed combo into EX Deicide once Vice has the opponent close to the corner, but EX Gorefest is a great setup for this as well (e.g., EX Gorefest > close 5HP > EX Deicide > Heavy Mayhem > Light Deicide - Avatar, or even canceling into EX Gorefest from one of Vice's close normals).
And it is precisely that "meter efficiency" which leads to our final section.
Vice's supers (or Super Special Moves, as KOF XV calls them) are pretty straightforward, but are the biggest beneficiaries of both her moveset expansion and the system changes of KOF XV, making her absolutely deadly once she has the meter to use them.
First off, Overkill. Previously bearing the wonderously soupy input of j.1236982P (basically jumping into the air, doing a diagonal half-circle forward, up, then down + any punch), it has been changed to simply j.236236P--in other words, jumping up and doing two quarter-circles forward before pressing punch. Overkill shares the same anywhere juggle status that EX Deicide does; in any situation when Vice is in the air and has hit with a cancelable normal or special move, or even if the opponent is in a hit state whilst Vice is in the air, if Vice has 1 super meter in stock, can cancel into Overkill, and is in range for Overkill to hit, Overkill is a damage opportunity. Vice hits with jumping LP, jumping HP, or jumping Blowback? Overkill. Vice hits the opponent with standalone Splash? Overkill. Vice hits the opponent with Light or Heavy Mayhem into Splash? Overkill. The simpler input makes this much easier to pull off reflexively, which just makes it all the more threatening.
Her other super, Negative Gain, has picked up one very critical property in KOF XV that it did not have previously; when super-canceled into, it gains an off-the-ground property that pulls the opponent up so that the super is guaranteed to hit. This--this is why Deicide - Avatar, Blackened, and even Overkill itself are all deadly once Vice hits with them and has meter on hand afterward. Any situation in which Light Deicide - Avatar lands and Vice has the meter is an opportunity for her to cash out with Negative Gain. As noted before, a successful, non-EX Blackened has an option to get a guaranteed hit with Light Deicide - Avatar, which makes it an opportunity to cash out with Negative Gain. If your hands are fast enough, you can even cancel directly into Negative Gain from Vice's close normals, or after a successful, non-EX Deicide. And cashing out with Negative Gain is even circular with Overkill itself thanks to KOF XV's Advanced Cancel mechanic.
You see, every Super Special Move in KOF XV has a normal version and a MAX version, and every character can cancel the normal version of one super into the MAX version of a different super that they have. While most characters generally need to pick a specific order of which super to use first before Advance Canceling into the second depending on circumstances and damage optimization, Vice is one of the characters for whom it doesn't really matter. Normal Overkill can be Advance Canceled into MAX Negative Gain the moment Vice lands from stomping the opponent into the ground, and similarly, normal Negative Gain can be Advance Canceled into MAX Overkill after Vice stomps on the opponent during the last hit of Negative Gain. This is also true of Vice's Climax Cancels, which are just canceling specials, Super Moves or MAX Super Moves into Vice's Climax Super Special Move, Disgrace. Vice's non-Climax supers are both cancelable on their last hits only, which means that she does not have to sacrifice any extra hits from either a normal Super or MAX Super in order to Climax Cancel into Disgrace.
In practice, this basically means that if Vice has hit the opponent with either of her super moves and has two more super meters to spend, it's a bad time for them. Any Mayhem can lead into a Splash which can lead into Overkill which can lead into either MAX Negative Gain or Disgrace. A Light Deicide Avatar or a basic combo of light normals can lead into a Negative Gain, which guarantees in turn a MAX Overkill. And if Vice has set up with MAX Mode before starting a combo, it's entirely possible for her to do either Overkill or Negative Gain into the MAX version of the other, before Climax Canceling the MAX super into Disgrace. This is not unique to her per se, but the overarching threat imposed by one slip is especially frightening given the flexibility of her routing, a flexibility she did not have before.
Given that she now has so many ways to set up Negative Gain or Overkill, as well as the benefits of just having meter on hand for EX Deicide, EX Mayhem, and EX Deicide - Avatar, this is what makes Vice especially deadly as mid or anchor in team position. KOF XV, like its predecessors, is a 3-on-3 fighting game, and every time you lose a character, you both gain one super meter bar and increase the maximum number of super meters you can stock. Your point (1st) character can only stock 3 at most, while your mid (2nd) character can stock 4 and your anchor can stock 5. You can only use Advance Cancels by spending meter in some form or another (either directly spending 2 super meters to cancel from a Super into a MAX Super, or burning 2 meters to activate MAX Mode, then using 1 extra meter while in MAX Mode), so Vice really and truly shines when she has meter to spare, and even as a mid character she has enough to be threatening since she can afford to mostly reserve meter for party-starter moves like EX Mayhem and cash out meter with super cancels from the likes of Light Deicide - Avatar or Mayhem > Splash instead.
Now, all this said, Vice still has her flaws. It is still very hard for her to get in on opponents that have projectiles or other tools for keeping her out, and while she does move faster than the big bodies she still has limits on how fast she can move, even with hops at her command. Additionally, her cancels into Overkill from Splash and offhand jumping normals can be a bit tight, as is doing her Advance Cancels into MAX Negative Gain during Overkill, as manually timing Deicide - Avatar during certain combos can be. In terms of getting damage for effort, she takes a bit more work than Shermie, who has slightly less flexible combo routing and pickier buttons but generally outputs more damage with less complex input requirements, and has something of an easier time pushing forward on opponents than Vice does, as do both Orochi Yashiro and Clark.
However, in the overall, she stands as a real and proper grappling threat in KOF XV's generally more aggressive gameplay environment thanks to the changes she's received, and personally works well for breaking bones and crushing heads. It's pretty cool, honestly, and I like it a lot; between that, and the future of the Fatal Fury franchise as previewed by Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, I'm feeling pretty confident about what SNK has to offer for fighting games in the future.