PLAYSTYLE

Use mind games to get in, then destroy the opponent with devastating multi-branching rekkas.

Lisa Lisa’s playstyle revolves around your ability to get in the opponent’s face and keep pressure on them. Stringing together mixup after mixup, she’s able to deal massive damage before the opponent knows what hit them. This requires intimate knowledge of her rekkas, initiated with 236A, j214A, 6H, and 6R (axis rotation button). Afterwards, she can use various inputs to string together a variety of rekka moves, then ending with one of three different enders.

Reading and conditioning your opponent is paramount to playing Lisa Lisa, since the majority of her rekka moves do not combo into each other and are instead a complex series of mixups between highs, lows, and a throw. Lisa Lisa doesn’t have many routes for real combos, but doesn’t really need them - for a single meter, her standard combo does upwards of 450 damage, aside from the fact that her cornerstone hop combos do 300+ damage for only a tenth of a meter.

However, Lisa Lisa isn’t without drawbacks. Most combos requiring more than one meter aren’t worth it, only doing marginally more damage, and the meter is better spent performing two more standard one-bar combos. She has few tools to get in where she wants to be, with j214A knife throw being her best option but forcing into her rekka state which makes her highly vulnerable if the knife throw didn’t connect. Her normals are mediocre at best, and her moveset lacks an anti-air of any kind, forcing her to play evasively when on the defensive and struggling in neutral. While it’s tempting to mash buttons during her rekkas, this will only get you moves you don’t want and free combos for your opponent. Additionally, all of Lisa Lisa’s rekka mixups are prone to being Stylish Dodged, and are highly telegraphed, meaning variety alone won’t be enough to prevent opponents from making their way out.

PROS

• Able to cause massive damage in relatively few interactions.
• Easily takes advantage of matchup unfamiliarity.
• Requires little meter to deal damage.
• jM is one of the best cross-ups in the game.
• Many moves have invincibility frames that allow her to power through opponents trying to break out of her rekkas.
• Can cancel any part of rekka into GHA counter.

CONS

• Combos are more difficult on a number of characters and simply don’t work on a couple.
• Struggles to get out of pressure and lacks an anti-air.
• Must use meter to cancel dropped rekkas or enter a lengthy recovery animation and risk being punished.
• Clever opponents can easily identify and avoid her mixups due to being very telegraphed.