PLAYSTYLE

Use movement techniques and odd-angled pokes the shave opponent’s health.

Bruno is a character that uses attacks with strange angles to either open the opponent up, or score many counter hits. Bruno has no main mode, instead changing from S-OFF to S-ON depending on his needs. In S-OFF, he focuses on pokes and mobility. His zipper slide (63214 or 41236A) gives him the ability to fly across the stage both towards or away from the opponent. From this move, he can cancel into different moves based which LMH slide he did, including a high priority kick, teleport, or throw. 236A throws out a zipper arm, that comes out at different angles both on ground and mid-air. It’s his best poke/counter-hit move.

When Bruno wants to go on the offensive and pressure his opponent, he switches to S-ON. He has great air normals, especially jM, which is a great cross-up tool. His specials include a 236A rapid punch that can be done mid-air, projectiles, and a long range zipper arm. 22A is a particularly good projectile because LMH causes it to instantly appear at different ranges. At the wall it can be PC canceled on opponent’s wake-up to trap them as he jumps in.

S-ON is where his bigger combo damage comes from, so many players just stick with that. This does Bruno a disservice, as it is critical to be able to move and poke in S-OFF to force the opponent to be defensive. The counter-hits he scores add up very quickly and slides and teleports can make an opponent second guess their actions even from across the screen. Bruno has many useful moves, but at the same time he is very ‘honest’. His most powerful moves are unsafe on block, so he doesn’t have anything spammable. Instead, he must choose the right move for the right occasion. Bruno also doesn’t have a reliable reversal move. Despite needing good sense and spacing, he’s a good character for players looking to get into Stand characters.

PROS

  • High number of usable tools.
  • Very high mobility in S-OFF.
  • Zipper slide is multi-use: punishment, combo ender, anti-air, cross-up(L), safety. Goes under projectiles.
  • Strong spacing/poking game in S-OFF.
  • Strong wall pressure in S-ON with jM and 22L.
  • Decent damage on top of the counter-hits.
  • Largely safe, if played with restraint and spacing.

CONS

  • ‘Honest’ character, no spammable moves.
  • All his S-ON specials and most S-OFF specials need Stand rush or PC cancel to be safe, so it’s important to not over extend himself.
  • As a result, you have to be very careful with meter.