The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Chin Gentsai

Introduction

Chin is a tricky character that has slow mobility and short reach. To compensate for this, Chin has a lot of tricks up his sleeves, with two stances and a variety of mixup options when he gets close. Chin's stances allows him to fully dodge either low or high attacks, and he has a couple of forward-moving special moves out of them that can help him get in. Up close Chin has a nice overhead, a hold throw, a command grab super, a two-hitting j.C, a nice crossup, and a good low, so when he gets in he can make it count. While Chin's normals have poor reach, most of them do have good hitboxes and frame data on them. Chin's combo damage is also solid, and he has access to a variety of powerful supers that make him a lot stronger when he has access to meter.

Changes from Previous Versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• st.D has 6 frames less startup

• f+A can be cancelled when done raw

• Second and third hitbox of cr.C has been removed

Specials:

• hcf+K's recovery, by itself and as a followup to his stances, got reduced

• hcf+K can now be canceled on hit or block into his d,d+K stance

• During his d,d+K stance, if you lie down long enough (about ticks on the timer), Chin will start regaining life until he gets up or the opponent hits him

Supers:

• qcfx2+K added

• hcbx2+P added

• qcf,hcb+P startup decreased, can now combo from lights

98UM to 98UMFE

Specials:

• hcf+B is +3 on block

• hcf+D is +1 on block

• qcb+C reduced pushback on first hit

• dp+A now has faster startup

Normal Moves

Close

• cl.A: Slower startup than his other lights, so not very useful. Chainable and cancelable.

• cl.B: Fast startup, making it nice for tick throws. Chainable and cancelable.

• cl.C: His main heavy normal for combos. Has a lot of active frames so it's good for meaties. Cancelable.

• cl.D: Two-hitting normal. Has long startup so it's hard to combo into. Has a good amount of low invul. Cancelable.

Standing

• st.A: Decent anti-hop button and short-ranged poke. Has nice priority. Cancelable.

• st.B: Good speed and good priority. Cancelable.

• st.C: Decent poke. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.

• st.D: Nice priority. Has low invul while the kick is active.

Crouching

• cr.A: Good for light confirms. Chainable and cancelable.

• cr.B: Hits low. Good for light confirms, not very good on block so chain into cr.A to make it safer. Chainable, not cancelable.

• cr.C: Decent anti-air button. Has a ton of recovery so always try and cancel it. Cancelable on hit, block, and whiff.

• cr.D: Standard low sweep. Has a lot of recovery.

Jumping

• j.A: Nice downwards hitbox. A good jump-in when you want something more reliable than j.C.

• j.B: Decent air-to-air normal.

• j.C: A two-hitting jump-in normal that's a core part of Chin's mixup game.

• j.D: Useful crossup button.

CD Normals

• st.CD: Long startup, but has a nice hitbox in front and a bit above Chin. Cancelable on hit, block, or whiff.

• j.CD: Decent for blockstun pressure and as a crossup.

Throws

Sake Slammer: b/f+C (close)

• Hold throw, not techable. Chin climbs up on the opponent and forces them to drink. Can be mashed out of to reduce the damage. Leaves the opponent lying in front of Chin with a hard knockdown.

Reverse Leg Launcher: b/f+D (close)

• Regular throw, techable. Chin flings the opponent behind him to the other end of the screen, causing a soft knockdown.

Command Moves

Staggering Sake Gourd Attack: f+A

• Went from being the worst command normal in Vanilla 98 to being an amazing one.

• It moves him forward, hits overhead if done raw, combos from heavy normals, and is cancelable both raw and if canceled. Combine this with Chin's ability to stance cancel, and it can be a crucial part of his pressure.

Special Moves

Gourd Attack: qcb+A/C

• The A version is unchanged from how it was in Vanilla: a far-reaching attack that deletes fireballs, good to cancel far C into just as a poke string. Not very safe to use against a cornered opponent though.

• The C version, however, was significantly buffed as a combo tool compared to Vanilla. The first hit keeps the opponent in place, and the second hit knocks down. Keep in mind that because the first hit of the C version has less reach than the A version, the first hit of the C version won't connect when you cancel far C into it at further ranges.

Fire Blast: qcf+A/C

• A slow-ish upward sake spit. Deletes fireballs, knocks down, and can be crouched under.

• C version lasts longer than the A version.

• It's best use is as an anti air, but it's not the best for it on the account of the speed. Chin has better anti airs.

Burning Sake Belch: dp+A/C

• Chin flails around like the old drunken geezer he is and smacks the opponent around as he travels in an arc.

• The A version works well as a reversal and as an anti air, while the C version gives Chin the ability to get really good damage and corner carry off of light normals without spending any meter.

• It combos from heavy normals up close too, but it may fall out at some ranges.

• Both versions are really unsafe, so don't just throw it out at random.

Rolling Punch: hcf+B/D

• Chin rolls forward and then does a punch at the end of the roll, knocking the opponent down.

• The B version rolls a shorter distance than the D version, but it comes out faster. Neither version can be combo-ed into.

• During the forward roll, Chin will low profile attacks, meaning he can basically only be hit with lows and things that touch the ground, like Iori's fireball. A pretty great move for going under things like Daimon far C and Takuma's fireball.

• This move was also significantly improved in comparison to Vanilla 98, as the punch itself has significantly less recovery on block, and it can be canceled into Mochizuki Intoxicator (d, d + B/D) on block or hit.

Drunken Twister: d,d+A/C

• Can be canceled with ABCD.

Butterfly Fishing: f+A/C (during d,d+A/C)

Rolling Punch: f+B/D (during d,d+A/C)

Mochizuki Intoxicator: d,d+B/D

• Chin can move forward or backward during this stance.

• Can be canceled with ABCD.

Serpent Adversary: u+B (during d,d+A/C)

Carp Can Can: u+D (during d,d+A/C)

Rolling Punch: f+B/D (during d,d+A/C)

Desperation Moves

Invitation to the Furnace: qcf,hcb+A/C

Thunder Blast: qcfx2+A/C

Super Sake Slammer: hcbx2+A/C (close, press A/C repeatedly)

• Command grab DM, mash to increase damage. MAX version will immediately stun the opponent.

Stumbling Hermit Bombast: qcfx2+B/D

• OTG move with long animation.

• If finished the whole way through the opponent loses 1 bar. MAX version makes them lose all bars.

Combos

General Notes

Meterless

Low

cr.B, st.B, dp+C

Confirm from a low.

Mid/Jump-In

(j.X), cl.C, f+A, qcb+C

Meterless punish/neutral combo. Can be done off of a jump-in.

(j.X), cl.C, f+A, dp+C

Stronger version of the above that only works at closer ranges. Jump-in version requires a deep jump-in that leaves you close to the opponent.

With Meter

Low

cr.B, st.B, qcfx2+C

You can do this as cr.B, qcf+B, qcf+C for an easier cancel.

Mid/Jump-In

(j.X), cl.C/cr.C, qcfx2+C

(j.C), cl.C, f+A, qcf,hcb+AC

Jumping C must hit crossup if it is used.

Corner

(j.X), cl.C, f+A, qcfx2+C

Videos

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