The Complete Killer Instinct Guide by Infil

Blade Demon, a forward-traveling spinning attack, cruses low attacks and is safe on block, making it her go-to block string move while grounded. Widow's Bite and Widow's Drop are her openers from the air. Heavy Widow's Bite throws a diagonally downward projectile which pulls Sadira close on hit or block; it can be punished on block (including via shadow counters), so mixing it up with LP and MP versions, which do not pull Sadira towards the opponent on contact but rather send her at different angles, is important to keep the opponent tentative. Widow's Drop is her +MK vertical dive kick which can transition directly into auto-doubles on hit, but is very unsafe on block. When used as a left-right mixup with her jumping HK, Sadira's aerial approaches can be even harder to predict.

Sadira is primarily an aerial fighter, so she has a few different ways to launch an opponent into the air. Comboing off both forward and back throws with a juggle is perhaps the most common way, and since Sadira is commonly jumping and being in the air is a good strategy to bait throws, Sadira's throws are particularly tricky to defend against. Shadow Recluse is fast but not fully invincible before the freeze, but if you manage to hit one in neutral, as an anti-air, or as a combo ender, you can perform follow-up juggle hits. Fang is her +HK command normal, which acts as a strong anti-air. Both the neutral version and the target combo that starts with standing MP will lead to more juggles.

Recluse is her most damaging linker, but unfortunately it starts up slow, which doesn't allow her many reps during lockouts, but it is more difficult to break as all hits from any Recluse linker come in fast succession during a single backflip. Blade Demon will push the opponent closer to the corner. If you're in instinct mode, you're able to jump cancel your auto-doubles and linkers, which means you can jump cancel and land a tiger kneeA tiger knee motion allows you to perform an aerial special move very quickly after jumping off the ground. Perform the special move's motion while grounded, then immediately input jump + the attack buttons (if your motion is a quarter circle, it helps to continue rolling the joystick to up-forward or up-back, rather than straight up). If your timing is correct, your air special move will come out very close to the ground. version of Widow's Bite mid-combo. HP Widow's Bite will very quickly max your KV, so you're recommended to stick with shadow Widow's Bite in this situation, which does considerably more damage and raises the ender level faster than her only grounded shadow linker, shadow Blade Demon.

Sadira's enders are pretty limited. She has no battery ender, which means she has to work for her meter through normal means, and has no wall splat ender, so being in the corner does not gain her any strong combo advantage. Her Blade Demon ender will launch the opponent, which allows for similar follow-ups in the air to some of her neutral launcher starters (like a throw). The Recluse ender will switch sides and cause a hard knockdown, but will not allow for a juggle. Use this ender if you are looking to set up some tricky setups involving double jump crossups or instinct mode webs. Like many characters, Sadira has two damage enders, one that uses a bar of shadow meter and one that doesn't, but in Sadira's case, they are split between two different moves. Use the shadow version of Recluse if you want to cash out heavy damage and earn yourself a juggle opportunity, or if you are looking to cash out the damage from a previous juggle. Use Widow's Bite if you're looking to save a bit of meter.

In addition to being able to jump cancel all her grounded normals and special moves, Sadira gets to place visible web traps on the screen by pressing HP+HK. These large traps are just permanent hitboxes that only the opponent can run into, and if they get hit by one, they become ensnared by it, allowing Sadira to combo. If the opponent can avoid the web, it will eventually disappear on its own, but Sadira can only have one web out at a time. The webs cannot be combo broken, and Sadira can immediately place another web once the first one expires. This ability coupled with Sadira's multiple jump arcs and double jumps make her mixup game incredibly strong. Even if you correctly block a web, Sadira will put another one down on top of your body, forcing you to stay in block stun until you finally get opened up. If she knocks you down, she'll place one over your rising body, forcing you to gamble on a reversal or block repeated mixups. Sadira in instinct is very much a set playSet play is used to describe offensive sequences (usually after a knockdown) that have been studied in training mode meticulously and force your opponent to take highly unfavorable risks to avoid. It is the opposite of playing by feel or by instinct; your opponent's tendencies often don't influence the set play's effectiveness, you just do it because you know it works. character, and it requires a bit of practice and lab time to find new Sadira setups or implement those found by other players, but once it is part of your gameplan, it is very difficult to escape.

When forced to stay on the ground, Sadira is equipped with a decent set of footsies pokes and is far from helpless. She can pester with a decently long-range, low-hitting crouching MK, cover the space well in front of her with standing MK, or make her hitbox less susceptible to lows with crouching LK. Both crouching and standing HP are good at occupying space in front of Sadira and are useful when fighting against armored characters.

• PDF Guide to Sadira: Written by Vertigo, this in-depth guide teaches everything about Sadira, from basics to advanced techniques.