SSBU/Sora/Combos

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, watch Dusty_Carpets combo video. It is a well made, cohesive piece of information on Sora's combo game that can give you a visual idea of where to start. You can find his video in the resource tab under "videos".

Still here? Alright.

Here is some common terminology you should familiarize yourself with:


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


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

For the sake of clarity, this page won't use this type notation. "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: and, including dragdowns
 * /: Refers to hitting both and . When these are coupled together like that in notation, it is often implied that you will be fast falling unless stated otherwise. It is very common to say "Nair12-> UpSmash". it 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 a certain timeframe.

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


 * Aerial Sweep: Up B


 * Sonic Rave: Side B


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


 * FF: FastFall, when using this symbol 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.


 * SHL or FHL: Landing. Will mostly be used in regards to notations when landing occurs as a requisite. Fastfalls count as landing, and for the sake cluttering, combo notations will not include L and FF right next to eachother. L is used for cases when just normal landing. When landing from specific heights without fastfall, that's where SHL or FHL will come into play.

In addition, most combos will have difficulty levels. They range from Beginner, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Godlike difficulties. 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.

Core Moves
{{TheoryBox
 * Title     =
 * Oneliner  = Combo Tools to be Aware of
 * Difficulty =
 * Anchor    =
 * Video     = Sora_Nair_gaming.gif
 * Recipe    =
 * content   =

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 option instead.

Is another important combo tool that helps to complete certain combos that would otherwise be impossible. It is less flexible than, 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. This is also a common combo finisher that is very good for unstaling moves.

like Nair, will often lead into the imagination. Low percent combos, Kill Confirms, this move can do it all. Just be wary of how the opponent DI's, as it will change what combos you can go for.

at low percents is useful as it pops the opponent up in place for a rising or  at medium percents, which then can be extended upon as seen fit. At medium it can still consistently combo into. Will kill at high perecent if the opponent DI's in.

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.
 * 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 good option for taking stocks.

Sora's strongest knockback move. If you can confirm into this, you can take stocks earlier than usual.

Flexible confirm option. Although DI can make this move kill later, Aerial Sweep is a consistent Combo Ender that can be routed into easily.

}}

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 inflexibility. Sora's  is able to satisfy both of these conditions.



For reference, "Nooping" is the art of looping someone with just 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, and that is 18 remaining hitboxes! WhyDo's image 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.

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. As mentioned, 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. Some, like 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. Unless you are familiar with Sora, avoid hitting hitbox 2 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 mention that not all hitboxes have the same angles, and the one you are looking for is the tipper hitbox which is hard to hit against some characters. Sometimes it's okay to hit the middle hitbox of for some characters. 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. But what if you can do >FF after ? The most common way to get >DD>FF is from first landing >FF. So if we can somehow land >FF after >DD>FF, then it will be a neverending, non-DI'able combo, right? That is correct, but there is one problem. 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, and it does. What's ironic is that Sora's DoubleJump, or "DJ" is better suited for combos rather than mobility. It's unsure if this is an oversight or not, but that's not why you are here. If you employ an IDJ before, you will be just slightly above the ground. And if done correctly, you will have enough hitstun for a bunch of his options. This includes. As mentioned before, it isn't easy to land the tipper hitbox of, but with IDJ it becomes a lot easier. The only issue again is that you will be hitting "too high" with and will whiff in some cases. That's fine, because again, IDJ will remedy that issue. (IDJ) will be able to hit in most cases since then the startup of the is closer to the ground. Reason for that phrasing is because there are exceptions. This is the "peak" or most "godlike" thing you can do with Sora. Doesn't mean its the only thing.

To summarize:
 * Certain hitboxes have different purposes
 * dragdown combos. IDJ for optimal dragdowns
 * You need to adjust to certain timings and spacings
 * Certain characters are more prone to certain combos than others.
 * Despite DI being a non factor, not all combos will work on everyone.

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. 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.

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.

Simple 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 >.

Other options that can help with these combos or even start them include:

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.

IDJ Up-Air
As mentioned earilier, 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

Edgeguarding

 * Naturally, a character than can go offstage as far as Sora can would be very strong at Edgeguarding. His Aerials all have general hitboxes and are good from stopping the opponent from getting back onto the stage. In particular, Back Air, Fair, and Nair are good because they have large hitboxes that send the opponent away from the stage. Back air can be done a numerous amount of times offstage due to its endlag, and Fair and Nair have auto followups in case the first attack hits. You can also use the initial hits of Fair and Nair and choose not to use the Finisher, as Sora can often drag opponents with worse recoveries offstage and end up gimping them.


 * Magic is also a tool that Sora can use. Thunder on the ground goes farther, however in the air it covers a space closer to him faster. All three spells suspend your air movement, allowing you to float in the air even more while sending out projectiles for the opponent to navigate around. All three spells can gimp the opponent, but Blizzaga and Firaga are particularly useful on characters with mediocre recoveries as it stops their horizontal momentum and in the case of Blizzaga, can freeze them in place and make them fall. Thundaga can sometimes not fully connect on all three hits and gimp the opponent, but it can also outright kill opponents off the top. Going offstage to use these in combination with your aerials can make offstage seem like a minefield for the opponent.


 * Counter is a tool that Sora can use quite liberally. It's recovery is not as much as other characters, like his Magic his momentum is stalled in the air, and because he is a floaty character with a large Double Jump he can whiff counter offstage numerous amounts of times before needing to recover back to stage. Unlike most counters, Sora's counter actually stops the opponents attack on contact and stuns them before attacking. This makes it much better at stopping moves that continue past other counters like  and  ,   , and   and   . The only caveat is that Sora's counter often does not activate behind him. Certain disjointed moves that can hit through him can activate it, but for the most part Sora must be facing the attack for the counter to activate. If countering a recovery that is hugging the ledge, Sora has to be right next to the stage in order to stop it.


 * Aerial Sweep can kill opponents that are close to the Blast Zone, so if Sora ends up burning his resources and needs to go back to the stage, using Aerial Sweep as one last chance to hit the opponent before using Sonic Rave after to go back to the stage can be useful.

Ledgetrap

 * Sora has many different options he can rotate while Ledgetrapping to force the opponent into picking certain options. Simply sitting at roll distance and rotating through spells can be enough to scare an opponent, as if spaced Thundaga can hit a ledge hang. Blizzaga and Firaga can be used to catch ledge drops, hit jumps if they run into the projectile, and keep Sora safe if they getup into the projectile and shield. Ftilt can be used to catch neutral getup on reaction. Back Air is also a strong option at ledge because it has a hitbox reminiscent of, just on a floatier character. The move is also safe when spaced, and because Sora has a longer airtime duration due to his floatiness, he can delay if or when he presses Back Air by a significant amount. Nair1 also has a hitbox behind him, so if you are ledgetrapping and they end up behind you, getting hit by Nair1 means they may be brought in front of you for a combo.

Notes on 2 Framing
 * Sora has a variety of options when it comes to 2 framing the opponent. His Dash Attack, Ftilt, and Down Smash are all grounded options that can hit the opponent while recovering to ledge if timed right. Down Smash in particular has a generous window and leaps into the air, making it difficult to counterpoke him. Ftilt and Dash Attack are quicker, and therefore can be done in reaction to opponents recovery easier and can be more ambiguous. Thundaga can also be used as an active pillar hitbox that prevents the opponent from grabbing the ledge of timed right, and will generally start threatening kills once above 100%. Landing Nair and Fair can also be used to catch ledge hangs or 2 frame, however they are much harder to use and time in comparison to Ftilt and Dash attack. Although they require you to be in the air and time a FastFall, if the attack connects you can go into Forward Smash for a very strong kill option at the ledge.

Common Set-ups

 * Sonic Rave is solid when the opponent is at middle to high percents, as hitting the first hit of Sonic Rave under a platform often forces them directly above it. This forces them into a tech scenario, and Sora in particular can cover most options extremely well. If they miss a tech, Up Smash has a big enough hitbox to cover most of the platform. If they tech, you can either try to cover their tech option with Up Smash and center yourself to where they are most likely to go, or can use Up Air to cover a majority of the platform

Escape options charts


WIP:

List of videos required: Firaga>Usmash and other Firaga confirms Simple combo confirms. IDJ uAir More Ars Arcanum Variations Ars Arcanum training mode video with no modpack

Modifications: Make Theory boxes prettier (like Pit or Kens page) Finish edgeguard section