SSBU/Sora/Combos

Use the navigation/TOC on the right for convenience

= Intro =

The purpose of this guide is to teach players the general combo tree of Sora's combos. Sora's combo structure relies on a few key moves, and he can follow up, extend, or shorten combos in multiple ways. Damage scales with how good your execution is. This page is an attempt of displaying Sora's combos in comprehensive manner regardless if they are simple or advanced. This is to make it easier to not only execute the combos, but also understand where you may fail.

If you are a novice or not confident in learning Sora because of his skill ceiling, don't concern yourself with what you should or shouldn't learn. Take things one step at a time, get comfortable with the character, and slowly develop how much you push your Advantage and combo/punish game. The character is flexible in playstyles, and many players with different playstyles have all seen success playing how they want to push the character.

If you want a general overview of how Sora combos tend to operate in a video format, watch Dusty_Carpets combo video. It is a well made, cohesive piece of information on Sora's combo game that can give you a great idea of where to start. You can find his video in the resource tab under "videos".

Still here? Alright.

Terminology
Here is some common terminology you should familiarize yourself with:


 * This is referring to the first of three
 * This refers to the second of the three
 * Refers to the third and final.


 * This is referring to the first of three
 * This refers to the second of the three
 * Refers to the third and final.

For clarity sake, "Fastfall" will be mentioned whenever it occurs. Just keep this in mind when discussing this with other Sora players when communicating through other forums, chats or discord. The exact same applies for.
 * /: Refers to hitting both and  in quick succession, akin to just holding down the attack button.  and  will be written separate when there is more timing, or for combo recipes. It is very common to say "Nair12-> UpSmash" when talking about Sora. What they are referring to is that there is a fastfall after . It is impossible to gain enough frame advantage from doing  and  rising from a SH just to normal fall into an  for a true combo. You need proper timing from  too  and fast fall within the startup frames.

An example of the aforementioned combo "Nair12->UpSmash" will be written as: >>FF> in this page


 * Aerial Sweep:


 * Sonic Rave:


 * IDJ: IDJ:, or Instant Double Jump. Very important to learn if you want to push this character to its limit.


 * L: Refers to when landing normally without fastfall


 * FF: FastFall, when using this acronym it is always assumed for this page that Sora will land before he can do anything else.


 * FS: Footstool. For this page, Phantom footstool will just be referred to as "Phantom-FS"


 * FH: Full Hop


 * SH: Short hop

Note for SHR: Most of the SHR starters can also be interpreted as just landing from a platform, or from doing grounded footstools. The most common timing to use are the SHR starters, and inconsistencies may lie in using the other two.
 * SHR or FHR: Refers to rising short hop or rising full hop.


 * SHA or FHA: Refers to when doing the move at the apex of a specific jump.

Most combos will have difficulty levels. They range from ,, and . Some of these combos are very unintuitive to learn at first, but a lot of people have gotten these combos at least once or twice. The sky is the limit.

= Combos =

Core Moves
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 * Title     =
 * Oneliner  = Combo Tools to be Aware of
 * Difficulty =
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 * Video     = Sora_Nair_gaming.gif
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Combo Starters
is Sora's core combo tool. This move enables not only a great punish game, but also a great neutral game. Any part of can start a combo, what combo you can start depends on a number of factors that will be covered later.

while falling can lead into other aerials such as, or into  itself. At high percents, this loses its combo potential and becomes a kill/setup option instead. This is Sora's most reliable combo ender as well due to its consistency both in frames and hitbox wise.

Is another important combo tool that helps to complete certain combo routes that would otherwise be impossible. It is less flexible than for combos, but that doesn't make it less impactful. Mastering this move is just as important as mastering. This is the move Sora uses to dragdown his opponents for certain combos. Great for ending combos due to how effective it is at unstaling.

is Sora's main grounded combo starter or extender. It can also be a kill confirm. Just be wary of how the opponent DI's, as it will change what followups you can go for.

at low percentages is useful as it pops the opponent up in place for a rising or. At medium it can still consistently combo into.

Firaga's first hit leaves the opponent in significant amount of hitstun, enough for a and. Sometimes you can even connect this into  or. This is only true from the first fireball, since the second in succession will have significant less hitstun, which will give the opponent enough time to shield.
 * Firaga

Combo Finishers
Up Smash is one of Sora's most important combo finishers. A lot of extenders sends the opponent upwards, making this a flexible kill option for finishing his combo.

Sora's strongest knockback move. is the least flexible combo ender due to the routes setting the opponents hurtbox up and away from Sora.

The second most flexible kill confirm option after. Although DI can make this move kill later, Aerial Sweep is a consistent Combo Ender which has a lot of routes that end into it. There are some routes that exclusively can only end with due to its range. }}

Combo Theory
But to understand more deeply, look at this image made by WhyDo (@WDBTHtGP on Twitter) that could make things easier to understand.
 * As mentioned above, is one of Sora's core combo tools. You could almost say it is the "key" to his combos.  spins his sword all around him, and it shines for a multitude of reasons. Because the move has a lot of hitstun, you can both rise and fall with  and get a follow up afterwards. Second, because of the moves range and relative safety on shield along with mixups of how you land on the opponents shield, the can be used in neutral with below average risk. There are a lot of combo starters in this game that are not great neutral tools because of their lack of safety or flexibility. Sora's  is able to satisfy both of these conditions.



For reference, "Nooping" is the art of looping someone with just and  over and over again. "Foops" also exist, but are even more niche.

The point of the image is that there is a world of difference between each hitbox. Technically, there are way more hitboxes with different values in angles, hitstun and knockback other from just these. The hitboxes displayed have actually the least amount of hitstun out of any of the other hitboxes in, which is 18 remaining hitboxes! The main reason this is highlighted is because it is the first frame which is very common to connect with. WhyDo's image also highlights a "garbage hitbox". This hitbox is typically unfavorable due to its low knockback angle and low hitstun preventing it from confirming into certain moves, like. This hitbox stands out from all other of Sora's hitboxes, the "garbage hitbox" gives significantly less hitstun, and puts the opponent in a weird angle.

In terms of hit advantage, at low percent (i.e having no rage), against an opponent with 0 percent, the hilt hitbox in WhyDo's visual is 18 frames, 17 frames at the tip, and 12 frames in the middle. The remaining hitboxes after the first frame of are between 19-23 frames. These values are hit advantage from landing right after you connect them. Even if you connect with the "garbage hitbox" you can still connect with, the question is if you can get the timing and spacing right, both for reacting properly with and connecting it so you can get the desired followup. How you land these hits will determine the followups.

There is also an important thing to consider regarding execution of the combos. Rage and opponent percent are equally important to consider. Some combos get easier and harder the higher these factors are. WhyDo is correct that you can't DI Sora's at frame 1. There are a lot of similarities with as well, there are exceptions though, since some parts of the move does send into tumble. The back hit of will always send into tumble, and others like parts of  will only send into tumble at high percent and rage.

As a general rule of thumb, avoid hitting hitbox 2 (the garbage hitbox) as much as possible. There are cases where it can be useful, but they are not the norm. It is also not easy to avoid it at all times, since it is in a very convenient spot to hit with. Now that we have learned some intricacies of, it's time to move to its cousin,

, while not as versatile as, it is still very important. It is because of it's ability to dragdown the opponent. When mentioning dragdowns it's also very important to know that not all hitboxes have the same angles. The important hitbox for dragdowns is the tipper hitbox which is hard to hit. Sometimes it's okay to hit the middle hitbox of for some characters due to their fallspeed and character model. The reason why dragdowns are important for Sora, is that most of his moves send the opponent up. With a way to bring the opponent back down, you could almost "loop" the opponent in a way for extra damage. The most difficult, and high damaging combos Sora can do; builds on this principle. A simple way is just to use after a dragdown, or even  them. Both of these leads into high damage. However managing to get > FF after  would be a massive step for Sora's combo game if he can do that. The most common way to get > DD > FF is from first landing  > FF. When Sora hits an opponent with his he does a bounce, and with a shorthop, his "lowest jump" he is still way to high to get any meaningful hit advantage after hitting. This would be a dead end if IDJ didn't exist. The irony about Sora's DoubleJump, is that while it is a mobility tool, it makes his combo game exponentially better due to its mechanics.

Employing an IDJ before either or  will allow Sora to hit the opponent with barely any vertical gain. IDJ solves the issue of extending Sora's combos due to hitboxes and hurtboxes not connecting. Not only does IDJ help with getting the proper vertical height for landing after, but also for hitting afterwards when done with an IDJ.

Other than for connecting into  and vice versa, IDJ can also be used with  to loop an opponent for an extension. This also referred as "nooping" an opponent, and isn't exclusive with just IDJ. The only limit for these "Noops" is that at some point the opponent will be too high up for extended noops. Inputting the noops are easy in comparison to getting the spacing. The hurtbox shifting from the opponent makes Noops difficult to get consistently on the entire cast. (There is still research to be had on which characters are optimal to be nooped).

Earlier it was mentioned that had 18 other hitboxes not shown in the picture. The general "norm" of these hitboxes is that their knockback angle will usually center the opponent in front of Sora. The exceptions are the final hits of which send backwards with tumble. This is important to note regarding the ladder combo routes, which sometimes gets more mileage from the hitboxes not amongst the earliest frames.

The Resource page has a google spreadsheet for and  hit advantage. The most important observation is that only has 9 frames of hitstun (with optimal vertical spacing) with no additional rage or percent factoring in. This part is what necessitates Sora's need for IDJ's for getting true follow ups beyond this extension for more damaging combos. The spreadsheet can also give other ideas, one of them being the difficulty on the combos.

Short combo theory summary
→ and  function differently in terms of hitstun and knockback angles. → is important to consider for practice → Some routes become more consistent as a result due to positioning → Other routes can use IDJ as an extension for more damage → Fallspeed and character models along with their hurtbox shifting decides which followups are true other than percentages and rage.
 * Sora's and  does not send into tumble
 * Certain hitboxes have different purposes
 * IDJ is an important component for optimizing Sora's combo game
 * Certain characters are more prone to certain combos than others.

BnB's
These combos are pretty easy, and are excellent at teaching you the timing of when to FF after using. You want to fall for a while, enough so that the keyblade has almost turned 450 Degrees (360 + 90) before inputting the >FF. You can also look at other part of Sora's animation and come up with your timing in response to an animation. Looking at his shoes, where his head is, are also ways to figure out when to fast fall. These are decent clues to look for when building intuition on the timing. When this becomes second nature, along with getting the and, you can start implementing  as a combo ender, or even extend with  by dragging them down to the platform with the right spacing and timing. Floaties are harder, or impossible to dragdown on platforms for followups.

When you start getting more comfortable with Sora's Nair and how to hit it, Sora can start going for slightly more advanced combos. These are still not fairly difficult, but they lead to more damage and kills at earlier percent's and should be prioritized if possible.

Common Kill confirms
When rising, normal or fastfalling, Sora's or  make him bounce on the opponent. However, when fast falling within startup, these moves don't bounce. Usually Falling has enough hitstun for either  or, it mostly depends the angle they are being sent at. Get familiar with the angles! Front, low and back hit of ! If you are unsure on hitting either, you can always use. This move has a lot of coverage, and will still kill at high enough percent. If you land this and just want damage, is another way of confirming for easy damage. It still sends far, so it can help setup a good situation for minimal effort. Keep in mind, when landing with, you need to be aware if you are hitting the "worse" hitbox or not. It is the only one lacking in significant hitstun! You also don't have enough frames to react when you get the hit because of 2 frames of hitlag, so you have to preemptively guess!

There are also confirms for starting with rising > FF >. Technically you can also start these confirms with, and then do a followup or a straight kill move like /. Results do vary on which hitbox you are getting!

Platform extensions
Because Sora pops his opponents up, if you are under a platform the opponent will sometimes land on the platform in combos. This is not a problem, as Sora can continue the combo by Full Hopping with onto the platform. This allows Sora to threaten kills both on flat stages and on platform stages. Because of the added height, Finishers like, and  will kill earlier. Sometimes even is possible. You can use the example in the box below, and replace the with whatever is more rewarding while having decent successrate.

What makes some of these combos more difficult than than grounded combos is that you have to adjust to the timing of Fullhops for FHR > or FHR >.

Firaga
Sora's most versatile spell. It is also fantastic for combos. Firaga can both extend and start combos or confirms. Most important thing to understand is that it mostly true combos with only the first fireball, each fireball in succession has the same, but less hitstun than the first. To get the better hitstun back, you need to rotate back to it through Thundaga and Blizzaga.

Firaga > is the fastest confirm you have from Firaga, and it is true at all percents. In terms of similar simplistic inputs, Firaga > is it's cousin which can be used while in the air. It does true combo, deals more damage when connecting all hits, but it is slower. You can get or  if you are close enough, or if you dash and jump in after the Firaga. You can even get Firaga>. Some of these combos become more or less possible due to being able to drift in the air while using Firaga. When you use Firaga in the air, you can drift slightly back and forth. Some of these, like, may require this drift in to work. There is also the case of initial dash, where you may only want to dash in for less than 5 frames and not 6 (where you will be stuck in the dash animation, and only able to jump or ).

Throws
Sora has a pretty good set of Throws. Down Throw can true combo into Nair at 0 and from low to middle percents. can set up for offstage play near the ledge. DI matters against throws a lot, for example: Good DI for is poor DI for  and vice versa. This is mostly specific to by ledge in particular (since then the option selects are less useful)  will be a kill confirm when the opponent chooses to DI in with FHR>. starts taking stocks by ledge at around 130 to 140 percent on Middle weights. killing most middle weights at around 180 percent.

Side B
can confirm into some interesting setups. All thought niche, it is also a combo starter at high percent at the late hit of. It can also combo into the other parts of, but sometimes will fail to connect because of a lack of range due to proper DI or improper spacing.

IDJ Up-Air
As mentioned earlier, Sora's is a combination of kill power and a combo tool. No one thought it could be this versatile without the double jump. As you can see on the visual to the right, there are a bunch of combo enders. Some of these does vary from dealing damage, to actually killing depending on stage, characters and percent. The recipe above is the most consistent way of getting a hit after the IDJ, but it will whiff in certain scenarios as shown. It is still the safest option since even if you do whiff the first hit, there is still chance for a followup.

The other options are more tight. It is important to remember that is active for 9 frames, and hitting the later parts will give you more hit advantage. DI also plays a very large role, if you mess up your drift in the initial stages of the double jump, you will get 0 true followups. Some of these confirms also become impossible if the opponent has competent DI. If you see the opponent mash SDI, and it is not away or in, you can try to exploit it by doing this combo instead of another combo.

The simple variation, and a way of getting the kill confirms more consistently, is to hit the top or back hit of by hitting a tech option after setting up a tech situation on a platform. When you do it this way, you are much more in control how much time you have, since doing SHR>>>FF>IDJ> can often make you hit an unsuspecting hurtbox that can mess up your hit advantage and make your ender whiffing.

For instance, you don't want to whiff, especially at kill percent.

Alternatively, you can use to get back to stage more quickly. Sometimes you can hit your opponent with it while they are airdodging and set up a strong presence after.

Sora_IDJ_Up_Air_sheet.png

Ars Arcanum
Not discovered, but primarily explored and optimized by Limon (@Limon1211zzz at twitter). Ars Arcanum is Sora's deadliest combo route. There are technically 3 variations of Ars Arcanum: Mostly, when people refer to "Ars Arcanum, Ars, Ars Arc, Arshu Arcanum, or AA (this one is within Soracord mostly, since AA means Anti-Air otherwise)" they are referring to Version 3. All of the versions have their own place in terms of education, execution and development/discovery history. For the sake of continuiety and clarity, "Ars Arcanum" in this wiki page will be referring to the version 3 variation.
 * Ver1: No IDJ's
 * Ver2: IDJ on
 * Ver3: IDJ on both and

The reason for this is because that while harder, Version 3 has a higher chance of connecting if you are good at doing the combo. If you combine the percent, Rage and hitboxes together, it's sometimes harder to get the Version 2 right than Version 3. Version 2 still works on some characters, but it's more encouraged to learn version 3 due to it's consistent nature.

What's more is that IDJ removes the SH multiplier. Meaning that more dealt will be dealt. So it is more rewarding to learn in terms of damage output for the same opportunities.

There are other variations in terms of what extensions or enders that come when you end a chain, and they will just share a common name right next to "Ars Arcanum". This are some examples: Ars Arcanum - Platform extension Ars Arcanum - Smash attack ender

There are also some characters, like that allows you to slingshot>SHR> in order to not run out of space. You can go from one part of the stage to another part with this combo. This is not the same for most characters.

What makes this combo hard is a series of micro movements along with IDJ at every rising aerial. You always need to be moving forward in this combo. Sometimes you need to be precise depending on what extension you want to have and whatever is possible.

As explained before, The IDJ's are the glue that holds this combo together. It makes landing faster possible, and possible to hit certain hurtbox shifting.

Some finishers are:
 * can be used after an IDJ >FF if the opponent is low enough to the ground
 * can be used either after an IDJ >FF or IDJ >FF.
 * can be used after both >FF and will typically start killing at higher percents.
 * IDJ>>. While it is hard to get this true sometimes, and often is escapable with good DI, it is hard to DI properly since good DI vs is terrible DI vs IDJ>>

Please refer to the chart for possibilities. It is mostly correct. Some possibilities, have yet to be experimented upon. The chart provided here created by Dusty_Carpet and Limon, two of the most prominent and impactful Sora labbers.

To elaborate on the tiers:
 * "No" refers to Characters that cannot be comboed with Ars Arcanum or IDJ> properly. You may be able to get other easy enders such as or.
 * The one above, are just characters with f1 escape options, and require the Sora player to be very precise. There are excersizes that are for non-trainingmodpack users that allow you to practice Ars Arcanum, even for characters with f1 escape options. There will be a link in the resources tab.

Sora_Ars_Arcanum_Chart.png

What about strings ?
Refer to the "setplay" page for more information. A lot of these combos does setup good situations for other types of reads and setups, whether they are after, or mid combo.

Escape options charts
These charts are here just to provide a visual in terms of difficulty when it comes to executing combos/strings and



WIP:

Need more video examples Fix chart PNG's Check grammar Make better headers/titles Video examples for all combos More Ars Arcanum Variations Ars Arcanum training mode video with no modpack

Ken and Kazuya pages contain a lot of structured info on structure. Use those formats? What about others?