The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Clark Still

Introduction

Clark is the purest grappler in the game and as such his whole gameplan revolves around scoring a knockdown and then running his scary knockdown mixups over and over until the opponent is dead. In neutral Clark has to play a solid fundamental game using his decent normals to try and get in on the opponent, he has no real anti zoning measures so he has to rely on good mood movement and decisions to get in. Once clark is in he has an impressive vortex game where each move he lands will lead to a hard knockdown and another mixup situation. Clark requires a lot more mindgames and reading than a lot of other characters as he always has to be one step ahead to choose the correct measure against the opponents defensive decisions.

Changes from previous versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• Far D recovery is 1 frame longer
• Far D priority reduced
• cr.D starts up 3 frames faster and recovers 3 frames longer
• st.CD has 7 frames faster startup

Specials:

• Mash P can now be cancelled with ABCD to stop it. It can also be cancelled with dp+A for the aerial grab.

Supers:

• added hcbx2+K, an anti air grab super

98UM to 98UMFE

Normals:

• cl.B now has less recovery
• cr.Ds recovery reduced by 4 frames

Normal Moves

Close

• cl.A: Same as st.A.
• cl.B: Clark's fastest normal at 2f so useful when you're up close and need the speed. Chainable and cancelable.
• cl.C: Very fast at 3f and his main heavy combo normal. Good for meaties due to its long active frames. Cancelable on the first hit.
• cl.D: Looks like a big anti-air, but Clark has better options in that department. Has low invul from startup until after the active frames, so it can be good for blowing up lows on a read.

Stand

• st.A: Has nice priority and a decent amount of active frames so it's good for stopping hops. Chainable and cancelable.
• st.B: A decent poke as it has good speed and priority.
• st.C: Lite version of Ralf's. Reaches really far but whiffs on most crouchers.
• st.D: Hits low crouchers, has better priority than st.C, and is faster, but it doesn't reach as far.

Crouch

• cr.A: Pretty standard. Could be good for tick throws if you cancel dp+K out of it. Chainable and cancelable.
• cr.B: Your main low combo starter and a core part of his mixup and pressure game. Not cancelable but you can link Super Argentine Backbreaker out of it. Chainable.
• cr.C: Has less range than his standing pokes but has a lot of active frames, so it's good for meaties and comes out fairly fast. Also recovers really fast. Can be used as a shorter ranged poke.
• cr.D: Fast sweep with decent range. As of this version it's decently safe if spaced.

Jump

• j.A: Your main jump-in button for combos, thanks to its downward angle. Comes out quite fast.
• j.B: Fast air to air normal, good for hitting characters straight in front of Clark.
• j.C: His most damaging air to air normal, so good for max damage punishes, but outclassed in other situations.
• j.D: Great air to air normal that hits above Clark. Especially good when done with a short hop.

Blowback

• st.CD: Has a large hitbox that essentially creates a wall in front of Clark, but it has quite a lot of startup. Good for whiff canceling.
• j.CD: Your main jump-in normal for pressure. Big hitbox, great angle.

Command Normals

Stomping f+B

• Mostly used after a meaty cl.C, though it won't combo into anything else after this due to the pushback of it. Doesn't really do anything as a result. Cancelable.

Throws

Gallanting German: b/f + C (close)

• Regular throw, techable. Clark goes behind the opponent and flings them behind him, sending them full screen away with a soft knockdown.

Fisherman Buster: b/f + D (close)

• Regular throw, techable. Clark picks the opponent up and suplexes them behind him, causing a backturned hard knockdown.

Death Lake Driver: b/d/f + C/D (in the air)

• Air grab, not techable. Clark grabs the opponent in the air and throws them down to the ground in front of him causing a hard knockdown.

Special Moves

Super Argentine Backbreaker: hcf + B/D (close) ($)

• Clark's 1 frame command grab and a staple of his mixup and combo game. Pretty much his entire gameplan relies on either landing this or making his opponent scared that he's gonna land it.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

Frankensteiner: dp + B/D (close) ($)

• A slower command grab with full invul until the grab comes out. Clark's second-most important special move.

• Great move to catch people trying to wake up with a button or reversal as your invul frames will allow you to go through those.

• Staple move of his mixup game as this will catch people trying to beat some of your other options like cr.B or a meaty. Punishes your opponent for trying to escape your pressure.

• causes a backturned hard knockdown.

Vulcan Punch: press A/C repeatedly (can be cancelled by pressing ABCD simultaneously)

• Clark delivers a series of quick punches angled upwards. The punches have 2 alternating hitboxes, one angled upwards and one angled in front of Clark.

• This move isn't great as an anti air, as it can be hard to time and even the upwards hitbox isn't that great.

• Can be made safer on block or whiff by cancelling it with ABCD.

• Can be cancelled into dp+A on hit for a combo.

Super Arabian Burglary Backbreaker: hcf + A ($)

• A running command grab that puts the opponent behind Clark with a hard knockdown.

• Has a nice amount of low invul when Clark has started running.

• Can be followed up with qcf+P for added damage and oki.

• Certainly not bad, but outclassed by Rolling Cradle in pretty much every situation where you'd want to use it.

Rolling Cradle: hcf + C ($)

• A running grab where Clark rolls around with the opponent backwards.

• Clark runs further with this version compared to the A version and this version has more corner carry as well.

• Has a nice amount of low invul when clark has started running.

• Can be followed up with qcf+P for added damage and oki.

• Causes a face down hard knockdown giving Clark more time to put pressure on the opponent on their wakeup compared to hcf+A.

Napalm Stretch: dp + A/C ($)

• An anti air grab designed to catch people trying to jump out of his grounded command grabs.

• Not great as an anti air since its priority sucks, so Clark will get hit out of it if the opponent has an attack out.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

Flashing Elbow: qcf+ A/C after ($) moves

• An OTG followup to a variety of Clarks specials.

• Adds extra damage and gives him great oki opportunities, so it's advisable to always go for this followup.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

Desperation Moves

Ultra Argentine Backbreaker: hcb,hcb + A/C (close)

• Super version of Clark's 1f command grab.

• Causes a backturned hard knockdown

• MAX version does more damage.

Running Three: hcf,hcf + B/D

• Super version of Clark's running command grab. Hard to combo into.

• Has some startup invul.

• Causes a hard knockdown.

• MAX version has a bit more startup invul and does more damage. Clark's most damaging DM.

Napalm Strike: hcb,hcb + B/D

• Super version of Clark's anti air grab.

• Still not great as an anti air, but good for making a statement with hard reads.

• MAX version does more damage.

Combos

• cr.B (cr.A) hcf+B qcf+P

Clark's main low combo. You can either chain into a cr.A and cancel that into the command grab, or you can link the command grab directly after the cr.B.

• cr.A [A] dp+P qcf+P

Corner combo with the mash punch and the followup.

• (j.A) cl.C (1) hcf+K qcf+P/hcbx2+P

Clark's BnB for punishes and meaties. Can be combo-ed after j.A for Clark's best jump-in combo.

Videos

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