The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Shermie

Command List

Introduction

Shermie excels at close to medium range. At medium range she has a fast far reaching st.C poke and very reliable cr.C anti air to control a lot of space. Her jump arc, speed and buttons allow for aggressive approaches in the air. Her j.C may be the easiest crossup in the game. At close range her options include command grabs, a low confirm that combos into said command grabs, an overhead and the before mentioned jump/hop pressure. What Shermie lacks are long confirms and a solid reversal to get her out of pressure herself. These are minor weaknesses since the confirms she has work well enough and thanks to her reach and anti air she can still hold her ground when cornered.

Changes from previous versions

98 to 98UM

Normals:

• cl.C now hits further below
• st.C has 5 frames less startup and 8 frames less recovery
• st.D recovers 2 frames faster
• cr.B recovers 4 frames faster, you can now link her 1 frame command grabs after it
• cr.D recovers 5 frames faster
• j.Ds active frames are 3 frames shorter
• neutral j.Ds active frames are 2 frames shorter

Specials:

• Shermie cute(qcf+K followup to her command grabs) now hits correctly even in the corner

98UM to 98UMFE

Normals:

• cr.B easier to combo into itself
• cl.C no longer whiffs on short characters
• j.D faster startup

Specials:

• hcf+K Travels further, does more damage
• qcb+P Bigger collision box

Normal Moves

Close

• cl.A: Same as st.A (no cl.-version)
• cl.B: Same as st.B (no cl.-version)
• cl.C: Special cancelable combo filler. Same damage as cr.C. Your main heavy normal for combos.
• cl.D: Same as st.D (no cl.-version)

Stand

• st.A: Whiffs on most crouchers and not much range. Can stop hops but useless otherwise. Cancels into A/B-normals and specials.
• st.B: 2 hits, first one is cancelable into specials, second one is not cancelable and safe on block but whiffs on a lot of crouchers which leaves Shermie open for a punish.
• st.C: Covers an arc in front of Shermie. Very good range, speed and active frames. Amazing poke in general.
• st.D: A little more range than cr.C but slower. Good anti air but only if used early enough. Whiffs on crouchers.

Crouch

• cr.A: Fast but not much range. Cancels into A/B-normals and specials.
• cr.B: Very fast and good range. Nice low poke. Links into hcf+P if close enough. Cancels into other A/B-normals but not specials.
• cr.C: Very reliable anti air! Special cancelable. Same damage as cl.C.
• cr.D: Good range, a little more than cr.B. A bit slow but active for longer than a typical sweep.

Jump

• j.A: Nice air to air. Hits a bit above Shermie.
• j.B: Also a great air to air and still viable as a jumpin.
• j.C: Fantastic jumpin. Easy to hit on all crouchers and just as easy to cross up.
• j.D: Another great jumpin. Deals a little more damage than j.C and has more horizontal range. A little harder to cross up with.
• nj.D: Most horizontal range of her jump-normals together with j.CD. Okay as a defensive air to air.

Blowback

• st.CD: Has no lower hurtbox, just as it looks. Cancel window is not generous so it is hard to confirm a counter hit.
• j.CD: Same great horizontal range as nj.D. A bit harder to hit crouchers with compared to j.C and j.D.

Throws

Shermie Flash Original: b/f+C (close)

• Throws forward. Causes hard knockdown. You can use this instead of hcf+P if you do not want to throw the opponent out of the corner.

Front Flash: b/f+D (close)

• Throws behind Shermie. Can be recovery rolled.

Both of Shermies regular throws leave the opponent too far away to apply pressure afterwards, except when thrown into the corner.

Command Moves

Shermie Stand: f+B

• Does 2 hits. Both hit overhead. Slow but good range. First hit whiffs on small crouchers. Second one can hit from half screen away.
• Loses the overhead property when cancelled into. Makes the last hit cancelable into specials, which is not useful.

Special Moves

Shermie Spiral: hcf+A/C (close)

• 1f startup command grab. Your main combo and mixup tool. Combos from any cancelable normal (except f+B) and links from cr.B. Throws behind Shermie and leaves the opponent on the back facing away from Shermie.
• No difference between A and C version.
• Only use Shermie Cute if it kills, ommiting the follow up gives you enough time to pressure the opponent afterwards.

Shermie Whip: qcb+A/C

• A hit-grab type move. Useful thanks to its speed and hitbox as it can "suck in" an opponents whiffed move. Leaves the opponent face down behind Shermie facing her. Can also catch opponents out of the air. Combos from special cancelable normals but deals less damage than Shermie Spiral, recovers slower and is unsafe on block (probably not punishable by all characters due to distance). Use with caution.
• A and C deal the same damage. C starts slower. Both have some startup invulnerabilty but not enough that it matters.
• Always use Shermie Cute after this because it doesn't allow for pressure afterwards anyway, so just take the extra damage.

Shermie Shoot: hcf+B/D

• Forward moving command grab. Deals more damage than Shermie Spiral without Shermie Cute follow up and leaves opponent in front of Shermie. Risky since the opponent can react to the startup animation and sound. Still useful as a whiffpunish or after long conditioning. Or if the opponent simply can not react to it.
• Combos from cr.C or cl.C if cancelled fast enough. Usually not after a jumpin due to pushback, except if it is a crossup.
• Can be whiffcancelled from st.CD or cr.C to make it harder to react to.
• B and D deal the same damage. B travels about halfscreen. D travels fullscreen.

Axle Spin Kick: qcb+B/D

• Shermie spins while jumping forward in an arc and does a kick after landing. Full invulnerability until Shermie reaches the apex of the jump. The kick itself is safe on block but Shermie can easily be hit out of the air before she can land to do her kick. Can get you out of some situations but not very useful.
• D goes further than B and deals a good chunk more damage.

Shermie Clutch: dp+B/D

• Anti air command grab. Sounds cool in theory but loses to any decent jumpin. Too slow to react with. As a hard read however, like if the opponent jumps away expecting a command grab, it will mentally break the opponent when successfully hit. Leaves the opponent on the back in front of Shermie facing away from her.
• B and D deal the same damage.
• Only use Shermie Cute if it kills, ommiting the follow up gives you enough time to pressure the opponent afterwards.

Shermie Cute: qcf+B/D (after Shermie Spiral, Shermie Whip or Shermie Clutch)

• A follow up move to the moves mentioned. Trade some potential wake up pressure for some extra damage.
• Has to be input in the direction the opponent will be thrown in.
• No difference between B and D.

Desperation Moves

Shermie Carnival: hcf, hcf+A/C (close)

• Fully invulnerable command grab with slow startup. Leaves the opponent face down facing Shermie.
• SDM deals more damage. Leaves the opponent face up facing away from Shermie.
• Both DM and SDM throw the opponent back.

Shermie Flash: hcb, hcb+A/C (close)

• 0f startup command grab. Can be comboed into from special cancelable normals (except f+B) or linked from cr.B.
• SDM version lets you and the opponent MASH for more or less damage. Damage if not mashed against is ridiculously high.
• Both versions leave the opponent on the back in front of Shermie facing her.

No difference between A and C versions for both of these desperation moves.

Combos

General Notes:

• Use the qcf+K follow up after hcf+P for extra damage if it would secure the kill, otherwise take the wake up pressure.
• Using qcb+P instead of hcf+P when cancelling is possible but worse in damage and wake up pressure.
• cr.C can be used instead of cl.C (same damage) if you find it easier to input.
• The cr.B, st.B route is situational because the second hit of st.B whiffs on many crouchers and there is nothing 100% safe you can cancel the first hit into. This leaves you open for a punish. So only use this against characters on which it does not whiff, who can not punish it or confirm on the first cr.B before pressing st.B, which is harder to confirm than cr.B, (link) hcf+P.

Meterless

cr.B, cr.B, cr.B: Basic low string.

cr.B, (link) hcf+P: Basic low confirm into command grab. Since this is a link it should give you enough time to confirm the hit.

cr.B, st.B(1st hit), hcf+P: Situational as mentioned above but does that one hit more damage.

cl.C, hcf+P: Your default punish or jumpin combo filler.

cl.C, hcf+K: Punish for when you don't want to switch sides, works after a crossup but not a regular jumpin.

Meter

cr.B, (link) hcb, hcb+P/AC: Low link into DM or SDM Shermie Flash. Since this is a link it should give you enough time to confirm the hit.

cr.B, st.B(1st hit), hcb, hcb+P/AC: Situational as mentioned above but does that one hit more damage.

cr.B, st.B(1st hit), hcf, hcf+P/AC: Situational as mentioned above but lets you confirm into Shermie Carnival.

cl.C, hcb, hcb+P/AC: Cancel into DM or SDM Shermie Flash as a punish or jumpin combo filler.

EX Meter

cr.B, ABC, cl.C, hcf+P: Low quickmax link to cl.C into command grab.

cr.B, ABC, cl.C, hcb, hcb+P: Low quickmax link to cl.C into DM command grab.

Videos

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