The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Billy Kane

Introduction

Billy is a midrange character that excels at zoning with his long-reaching normals and strong pokes. He has good anti-airing options, such as a fast counter and a dp to help with his zoning. In addition to this, Billy can also rush down to push the opponent back into the corner, where his pressure is strong and he has access to some highly damaging combos. Billy also has access to some decent mixups in the form of lows, an overhead, and an untechable throw. Billy has a fairly unique weakness in that most of his long pokes have very bad priority, where the hurtbox extends further out than the hitbox, meaning he can get hit from further ranges than most characters.

Changes from Previous Versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• A new hitbox added to st.C, it now hits diagonally upwards as well as in front
• Hitbox of cr.A lengthened
• New animation to cr.D, the staff now hits twice instead of one staff hit and one sweep
• Raw f+B is now an overhead

Specials:

• The reach and maximum number of hits of mash C increased
• Both hits of dp+C now launch, both hits will also hit airborne opponents now

98UM to 98UMFE

Normals:

• cl.C no longer whiffs on short characters
• cr.D now cancels into special and super moves
• f+A's second hit should no longer whiff on short characters

Specials:

• Startup of qcb+K shortened to 2 frames
• hcf+P's A version has 6 frames less recovery, C version has 10 frames less recovery
• You can now cancel the animation of mash A/C by pressing ABCD together

Supers:

• For qcfx2+P, if the second hit connects in mid-air, the third hit should connect easier, and Billy's hurtbox has been shrunk downwards

Normal Moves

Close

• cl.A: Has good vertical reach. Decent point blank anti air. Whiffs on short crouchers. Chainable and cancelable.
• cl.B: Staple combo tool when chained into from cr.B. Chainable and cancelable.
• cl.C: One of Billy's main combo tools. It has a lot of active frames so it can be a good meaty. Cancelable.
• cl.D: Whiffs on regular crouchers and lower. Can be a decent close range anti air. Cancelable.

Stand

• st.A: Decent poke. More active than st.B. Whiffs on tiny crouchers. Cancelable.
• st.B: Can be useful for anti-airing hops. Whiffs on short crouchers.
• st.C: Long-range poke with two active parts, the first diagonally above Billy which can stop jumps and the second in front of him. Like many of Billy's longer pokes, it has very bad priority.
• st.D: Very slow move with some low invulnerability and decent hitboxes for stopping jumps. Very risky due to how slow it is. Should be used with caution.

Crouch

• cr.A: Long-range poke, very useful for checking grounded movement from the opponent. Bad priority.
• cr.B: Billy's main low combo tool. Chainable and cancelable.
• cr.C: Very fast move which makes it an excellent combo tool, can also be used for anti airing or as a poke since it also has nice forwards priority. Has a lot of recovery on whiff. Cancelable.
• cr.D: Long-range sweep that is whiff cancelable. Has good priority making it a good poke as well. Cancelable.

Jump

• j.A: Very fast, making it excellent for air-to-airs.
• nj.A: Long-reaching forward poke that can be good for air-to-airs. Bad priority.
• j.B: Good jump-in that also works as an instant overhead.
• nj.B: Mostly the same as j.B, but with a different animation. Not an instant overhead.
• j.C: Long-range poke with a lot of active frames. Bad priority.
• nj.C: Downwards-hitting long poke with good priority, making it a good anti-air and air-to-air tool.
• j.D: Good for jump-ins and crossups.
• nj.D: Pretty much the same as j.D, but with a different animation.

Blowback

• st.CD: Great long-range poke with nice priority. Whiff cancelable.
• j.CD: Great jump-in attack with good priority.

Throws

Drop into Hell: (close) b/f+C

• Hold throw, not techable. Billy picks the opponent up on his pole and shakes them around a bit, then slams them down, sending them fullscreen away with a hard knockdown.

Skewering Toss: (close) b/f+D

• Regular throw, techable. Billy picks the opponent up with his pole and slams them down behind him, sending them fullscreen away with a backturned hard knockdown.

Command Moves

Wide Revolving Kick: f+A

• Two-hitting move with great priority on both hits. One of Billy's main pokes and combo tools.

Pole Vault Kick: f+B

• Slow overhead move that travels forward a lot. Has good priority.

Special Moves

Midsection Club Cruncher: hcf+A/C

• Billy thrusts his pole forwards. The A version starts up faster but recovers slower than the C version.

• The A version is your go-to combo tool, as the C version is too slow to combo.

• The C version is the better choice for neutral use, as its faster recovery makes it a bit safer to whiff.

• Has a ton of priority, so it can almost be considered a projectile in use.

> Flaming Midsection Club Cruncher (during hcf+P hit): qcf+A/C

• Followup move to hcf+P. Billys extended pole erupts into a burst of flames that knocks down

• Will only come out at about 3/4ths of the move's range, so it won't come out if you hit them at the tip.

• Only comes out on hit.

• Causes a soft knockdown.

Whirlwind Cane: press A repeatedly

• Billy spins his cane around in circles. Can be canceled at any point by pressing ABCD.

• Can nullify projectiles.

• Does a lot of hits and good damage if you catch the cornered or backturned opponents with this.

Focus Continuous Beat Canes: press C repeatedly

• Billy sends his pole out in front of him at a rapid fire pace. Can be canceled at any point by pressing ABCD.

• This move pushes the opponent far out, which makes it a good move for getting opponents out of close range and into zoning range.

• Unlike the A version, this move does not nullify projectiles.

Soaring Crackdown Cane: dp+B/D

• Billy pole vaults into the air and comes down about a half screen away from the starting position of the move.

• Launches the opponent on hit, allowing for followup juggles.

• The B version is faster but leaves the opponent closer to the ground when it finishes, leaving less time for followups.

• The D version is slower and harder to combo into, but leads to better juggles.

• Neither version combos from lights but both combo from heavies.

• In the corner, this move is extra deadly because you can combo a super afterwards for big damage.

Pursuing Fire Dragon Cane: qcb+B

• Counters high attacks.

• Very fast, with only has one startup frame, making it a good reaction anti-air tool.

Pursing Water Serpent Cane: qcb+D

• Counters mid/low attacks.

• Comes out at the same speed as the B version, and is therefore good to catch grounded pokes.

Slicing Spiral Cane: dp+A/C

• Billy spins his pole and jumps up into the air.

• Though this looks like a DP, it only has startup invincibility and is not a true reversal.

• Can be used as a good anti air, the C version is slower but has better anti air hitboxes.

• The A version is faster, but the first hitbox of the move is not good for anti airing so it needs to be done a bit earlier than the C version to have good chances of success.

Desperation Moves

Super Fire Wheel: qcf,hcb+A/C

• Billy spins his pole around, creating a ring of fire; he spins it in place for a while and then sends it flying forwards.

• Both A and C version are fairly similar, they mostly have different timing for the hits.

• Mostly used for a corner combo after dp+K.

• MAX version does more damage.

Big Fan: qcfx2+A/C

• Billy swings his pole upwards and then back down again.

• Good combo super and longer-range punish.

• In the MAX version, Billy slams the pole down multiple times, dealing more damage.

Combos

0 Stock

Anywhere

• cr.B cr.B st.B f+A/dp+A

Hit-confirm into f+A for more damage, or dp+A for soft knockdown.

• (j.X) cr.C hcf+A qcf+A

Midscreen jump-in combo

• (j.X) cr.C qcfx2+A

Jump-in combo into super. Good to use close to the corner because further out the second hit of the super will whiff.

• cr.C dp+B [C]

Midscreen juggle after dp+B ending in his mash C move.

1 Stock

Anywhere

Corner

• (j.X) cr.C dp+B qcf,hcb+A

Corner combo juggle into super.

Quick MAX

Videos

King of Fighters 98 UM FE: Billy Kane Guide by Mash It Out