DOA5LR "YAHOO!!!" Sarah's Slip & Slide Shenanigans V1.2 The "No Escape" Edition

[Lulu]

Disclaimer.
So I came back and optimized the guide to factor in Stagger Escaping.... There is "No Escape".... lol Unfortunately I didn't add any combos. lol.

Introduction
Despite what the title says Sarah's Forward Slide and her Backward Slide are more than just Shenanigans. You can craft a very intricate strategy around it using these two stances exclusively and that includes Critical Burst set ups and Juggles. It also has an interesting set of Counter Offensive options. And without Further a do:

Getting Started
You can enter Forward Slide raw using . You can not enter the Backward Slide without going through the forward Slide First under any circumstances and you can only Backward Slide by cancelling the Forward Slide... in other words you can not Forward Slide and attack/block/sidestep/hold/etc. and then attempt to Backward Slide right after doing any of those, you always enter The Backward Slide by cancelling the Forward Slide so the input for the Backward Slide looks like this :

The Forward Slide Cancel from a String.
You can cancel 5 of Sarah's attack Strings into a Forward Slide by pressing at the right time, there are no single attacks that you can Forward Slide from.

Here they are.... with some Frame Data of course : [on Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun)]

1.* The Flash Piston Punch

(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (+2/+2/+28)
Recovery Difference: +10
Properties & Nuances:
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2.

(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-5/-2/+7)
Recovery Difference: -1
Properties & Nuances:
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3.The Wind Knuckle

(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-12/+7/+7)
Recovery Difference: -6
Properties & Nuances:
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4.

(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-4/+22/+22)
Recovery Difference: -1
Properties & Nuances: The High Kick will actually Float the Opponent if it Connects on Counter Hit or in a Critical Stun.
​

5.

(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-7/+25/+25)
Recovery Difference: -4
Properties & Nuances: This move will only Float if you use it at Critical Level 2 or higher.... and it will only Float if you use both Attacks.​

As you can see, only the 1st String, the Jab String, will give you positive frames on block, its also the only string where Forward Slide Cancelling gives you more advantage, Forward Slide Cancelling all the other strings actual gives you less advantage than if you had simply just let the string end, you can lose up to -1~-8 advantage on those strings because of Forward Slide Cancelling, use them only if the Jab String gets countered.

Another thing you'l notice is they all end with Punches.... you can not Forward Slide from a kick because apparently its hard to slide on one Foot... Haha.

Oh.... almost forgot, in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th String you will not get the Forward Slide at all by holding down for the entire string... you must press then release it while you do the string then press again to get the Forward Slide Cancel.

This one is new.... notice how the Forward Slide command is instead of ..... that means you can dial it in like the rest of the string, surprisingly this does not work for the Backward Slide..... that one always requires you to actually be in a Forward Slide state first before it will register the input.
Okay.... moving on....

The Forward Slide.
Here's what you can do from the Forward Slide Stance:

1.

Startup: i12
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-1/+4/+31)
Properties & Nuances: Yep... thats the same one two punch over and over and over again and Sarah is Forward Slide Cancelling between every two punches, the first punch is actually a jab and it hits high, the 2nd punch comes 14 Frames afterwards and hits mid... you can do this string forever as it only initiates a stun on counter hit, on normal hit you can just keep going until you get tired.... and you should, if you stop Forward Sliding then you're going to lose your safety on block and your advantage on hit because you are exactly -5 Frames Slower Without the Forward Slide.... so Keep Sliding and Keep Punching if you do happen to catch a counter Hit then your Advantage is +31, it will be less if you slide again after scoring the Counter Hit.
​

2. Neck Chopper

Startup: i16
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-3/+24/+24)
Properties & Nuances: This is a nice hard Back Knuckle thats hits High. As you can see it's nice and safe on block and gives you a Face Stun on Hit. Awesome move.
​

3. Altro Stilleto

Startup: i23
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-6/+16/+16)
Properties & Nuances: This mid kick is all kinds of awesome, its very slow at on Start Up but its actually completely safe on block because it pushes the opponent back 2 Meters (Sarah's Has a reach of 1.5 Meters) and it gives you a crumple stun on Hit. You can use this from a Raw Forward Slide at a distance, its much better than Stiletto for spacing.... Actually the Power Blow, :[p+k]: Sharp Stilleto does the same thing but it cause a knock down on hit and its slower.
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4. Serpent's Tail

Startup: i21
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-18/KD)/KD)
Properties & Nuances: This low sweep also happens to be a slow sweep as it turns out (it does have tracking).... its also very unsafe and can be punished by Strikes..... Don't use this kick more than 3 times in a row, or you will regret it. As it turns out, its also a stance specific sweep, if the opponent techs the knock down immediately then the stance will affect the amount of advantage you get. Its +2 if in Open Stance (if your sweep hits them from the front) and +8 if in Closed Stance (if your sweep hits them from behind).... perhaps you can use that some how, she does have a 7 Frame Throw after all and it goes active on the 8th frame..... its just an idea.
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5. Serpent's Bite

Startup: i37~i38
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (Doesn't Even Matter/It really doesn't/+15SDS)
Properties & Nuances: Use this Mid Kick when ever you get chance, its slow on start up and its just absolutely fantastic whenever it connects, it only sucks if you miss or it gets held. As you can tell by the command, its a strike that allows Sarah to perform a throw on hit, except for Sarah it also works even if the opponent blocks it . You need to time it properly though, you won't get the throw if you press before the kick actually connects, so practice this move, you'l be glad you did. And in case you were wondering, its actually safe at -2 on block and forces the opponent into a non-critical crouch stun at +3 on hit.... in case you were wondering, this kick is identical to Sarah's Mellow Heel Kick, and has all the same properties, meaning it will grant her a Sit Down Stun on Counter Hit. You can still get the throw on Counter Hit.
​

6. Wild Cat

Startup: i26
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (+6 /KB/KB)
Properties & Nuances: Its very slow at on start up and since Sarah is so so stall and her ass is higher than usual the Butt Slam is classified as a High Kick.... it Guard Breaks on block (obviously) and leaves Sarah BT with a +6 Advantage... no Guarantees. It causes a 3~5 Meter knock back on hit depending on if the opponent decides to tech or keep rolling, it will trigger Dangerzones/Wall Splat within 3.0 Linear Meters. Just like other body attacks it has no animation when held and instead grants the opponent a side step hold and its unsafe at -13.... she also screams "YAHOO!!!" Every time she does it . Feel free to annoy as many people with that as you can.

​

Its important to note that I don't actually know if those move's start up frames are accurate because I don't know if they factor in the duration from the Forward Slide as well. I'l try to test it somehow but I can't make any promises it will be successful.

Also, listen carefully, you have to to input your attacks while Forward Sliding..... if you hear the distinct sound of Sarah's boot clomping the floor, that means you completed the slide and any inputs registered after that sound will not be part of the Sliding Stance..... you also don't hear the sound when you cancel into Backward Slide..... makes you wonder how she does it.

The Backward Slide.
Now Sarah's Backward Slide by its self has some interesting properties. Its actually a punch parry. It only parries High and Mid Punches... and the amount of advantage you get varies depending on a variety factors that are currently beyond my comprehension, but as far as I can tell, Against a Sarah vs. Sarah mirror match, the minimum advantage I was able to get was +8 and the maximum was a whopping +20 .... to be more specific, when I Parry Sarah's i11 mid Elbow I get +8~+19 advantage.... but when I parry her i10 high jab I get +10~+20.... I tested it with the Flash Piston Punch. And it seems like the sooner you cancel into Backward Slide, the more advantage you will get.... but the Later you cancel into Backward Slide, the less Advantage you will get BUT you also get Counter and High Counter Bonus for Parrying in the later frames. I'm gonna have so much fun testing this parry.
Anyway.... moving along... you perform the Backward Slide by cancelling the Forward Slide. In other words: during FS.

1. Snap Back Knuckle

Startup: i15
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-2/+28/+28)
Properties & Nuances: This High Back hand is nice and safe. On hit it grants her an awesome Face Stun that lets you connect all kinds of slower moves, like a Critical Burst.... assuming you could actually somehow bring an opponent to Critical Threshold using this attack.
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2. Spinning Elbow

Startup: i21
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-5/Faint Stun/Faint Stun)
Properties & Nuances: This High Elbow is Sarah's hardest elbow.... and its weird, sometimes you can follow the Faint Stun with a jab and sometimes you can't.... I don't know why yet. .
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3. High Angle Knee

Startup: i18
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-7/+15)/+15)
Properties & Nuances: This is Sarah's mid knee and it grants her a Gut Lift Stun. As you can see, its semi-safe so be ready to break i5 Frame Throws, and Beware of "The Grappling Four".
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4.

Startup: i21
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (-15/+2/+2)
Properties & Nuances: This very slow Low Kick (does not track) grants a Trip Stun on hit. as you can see it does not guarantee anything and if your opponent sees it coming, you'l regret you ever tried it, use with caution.
​

5. Middle Spin Slicer

Startup: i21
(Dis)Advantage On Block /Hit/Counter Hit (Critical Stun): (+17 GB/KB/KB)
Properties & Nuances: This mid tracking kick is slow... but thats okay, if opponent are slow to react then this shouldn't be a problem, you just need to watch out for Holds. This Hard kick will break an opponents guard and cause them to step back 1.8 Meters and grants an Advantage of +17.... On hit you get a 3.5~5.5 Meter Knock back depending on if they tech or keep rolling, it will trigger Dangerzones/Wall Splat within 3.5 Linear Meters.... Personally, I like the Wild Cat Guard Break from her Forward Slide alil more.

​

So.... unlike The Forward Slide, you can still get Backward Slide Attacks to come out even after you hear the sound of her boots clomping the floor for a short duration. so you can move at whatever pace you feel comfortable... familiarise yourself with the differences and try not to get confused between the two.

Don't feel obligated to attack out of the Backward Slide, even if you successfully parry a punch. its perfectly fine to just use it as a fake out or spacing tool. you can also use it to gather information on your opponent's tendencies in the heat of battle.

When Sarah Forward Slide and Backward Slide, She can and will be beaten by the Infamous Low Punch, how fitting is it that Sarah is weak to VF tactics. And when she Backward Slides, she are essentially vulnerable to kicks of any kind.... Ironic isn't... you beat the master Kicker by Kicking Back.

Conclusion.
If you spot any mistakes, inaccurate details or would like to contribute these tactics with some Media, then please let me Know, I'l make corrections and updates as soon as I can.

If you found this helpful then feel free to check out the Sarah's hidden Step Cancel and Some of her hidden Kick Cancels into Flamingo.

Happy Sliding Yall !!!

 

[Lulu]

* Strategies, Mind Games and Shenanigans.
As promised: I'l be discussing what you can use the various Forward Slides Options for in an actual fight. I haven't yet tested this against Stagger Escaping so keep that in mind.... perhaps I will get around to it and make the necessary adjustments.

So, Sarah has a i10 Frame Jab so you should expect slower characters to try and high Crush this jab against Sarah in the neutral game and at disadvantage, so for these guys I would recommend entering the Forward Slide using her Elbow string which is an i11 Frame Mid and leaves you at -1 if you Forward Slide Cancel on hit, remember, they're slow, don't worry about being counter Jabbed.... even though they technically can do it.

For the faster characters who have no compunction about using jabs against Sarah then I reccomend using her Flash Piston Punch to start your Forward Slide which will leave you at +2 on block and hit. And with that advantage you can cancel that into FS with alot more security.

And with those formalities out of the way.... lets get started on your FS Infinite No Mix Up-Mix Up. Its absolutely satisfying just to do this high punch mid punch one two combo all day, and despite how trolly it looks it does have a function. The primary purpose of this infinite loop is to Fish for counter hits, once you confirm a successful counter hit then keep doing the loop and you can bring the opponent to critical threshold without knocking them over.... once you reach this point, what you want to do his stop at the One Two Punch.... even though you are -5 if you don't Forward Slide Cancel, you are even more negative if The Forward Slide animation completes without you cancelling into a Forward Slide Attack, anyway, after that you are free to proceed with a critical burst or whatever launcher or knock down you see fit...... However.... if you want to stay true to the Tradition of Sliding, you can perform the Forward Slide Combo on every weight class: [/] you can probably get alil more/less out it on Slanted Surfaces... you can get more on lighter characters.
They type of Counter Hits you are looking for are slow attacks such as kicks... but you can also score one from opponents attempting to Side Step, it can be succsefully side stepped and crushed but its kinda hard to do and very risky if they don't know the data of this assualt. See how long it takes your opponent to break free from the Infinite Loop and how they did it, theres a good chance that your other Forward Slide Options can counter it some how.

Your Opponent might go for a hold attempt to stop this from happening.... actually thats exactly what they're going to do if you keep poking at them with the same move over and over again.... remember, this is if you have already gotten your counter hit to get the stun...... you can use FS Altro Stilleto to keep the stun going, I think this will grant you falling crumple stun.... your other option is to let the forward slide end and go for a High Counter Throw.... you can try using her other command throws but you better be sure you have the timing right because if you input ,or before Sarah clomps her boots then you are going to get a Backward Slide.

So what do you do if you never get the Counter Attack ?
As it just so happens, The FS Loop is not much use on block or on hit without the counter hit.... what you can do in that scenario is use her safe FS Elbow to get a deeper stun on hit or her FS Altro Stilleto to either get a deeper stun on hit or use it to push your opponent back on block so you can make your retreat.

You can also use Closed Stance FS to get a +8 advantage if they tech after the low sweep to set up an i7 Frame Throw, depending on the distance.
But Heel Sword Is Faster than the slow sweep and it hits mid.....you probably already recognize this Kick, its Sarah's Mellow Heel Kick from her normal stance and it has all the same data, safe on block, +3 on hit. But when you perform it in your Forward Slide it gets a game changing hit throw property and it works on block AND on hit.... so long as you time the Throw command Properly on contact. That should trip up the Turtlers.
Can't get the timing down ? Don't fret, my dear.... there is an On Hit Option Select... I mentioned earlier that this kick causes a Non-Critical Crouch Stun, this means the opponent is forced to crouch for a short duration (3~5 Frames) and since its not a Critical Stun, fast characters can perform a crouching throw on the opponent immediately afterwards if they don't do anything... so how do we use this information ?
Like this: FS .... as you can probably tell, thats not the actual hit throw command, however pressing down throw on time still gives the hit throw.... if you miss the throw but the kick does hit the opponent then the two command down throws pressed one after the other should only cause it to come out once, its important that you don't get the throw animation twice because Sarah's down throw is an Advantage Throw that grants her +10 advantage and if the down throw animation comes out twice then you will lose that advantage.... if the opponent is standing when you miss the down throw the first time because the kick got blocked or they were blocking AFTER they got hit then if another Down Throw comes out you will be at a greater disadvantage.... so make sure you don't get two throw animations... now what you want to do after missing the down throw is perform a low punch then make your retreat..... the Down throw is a nice way to go under high strikes just incase you miss time the hit throw.... alternatively you can skip the down throw Shenanigans altogether and just do this: FS .... now whats going to happen here is if you miss the hit throw but the kick is successful, even if the opponent is in Crouch Stun then the neutral throw can still connect for some reason.... if its blocked then the opponents that are too slow to punish will get thrown and if they do punish then you can break the neutral throw punish..... if they go for a command throw then it needs to be 7 Frames or less for it to beat your neutral throw because you are at -2 on block..... oh one last thing, if some how you land this kick on Counter Hit or in a Stun then you will get a Sit Down Stun.... the above strategy is for Normal Hit. damn I went way offcourse explaining this one.... where were we again ? Ah yes the Forward Slide.

Theres a 14~17 Frame Gap in between your FS Assualt so keep that in mind that on hit, even with a +4 advantage.... a i9~i11 Frame Jabs can stop you in your tracks.... and thats exactly what you want . Now you can use you Backward Slide Punch Parry. But before we get to that.... I mentioned earlier that Both Slides get beaten by low punch no matter what.... the only solution to this problem is not to slide..... once opponents catch on to your Sliding Shenanigans then they can Low Punch everytime they hear and see Sarah Telegraphing the Slide everytime she does it, she makes a very distinct sound when she does it.
What you can do here is not Slide Cancel anything at all even when you're already in the middle of your No Mix Up-Mix Up so try to avoid hitting this input after your strings. Do this instead: :[H]: or :[H]:from your neutral stance strings and FS:[H]:from your slide string..... whats going to happen here is you can stop with just enough disadvantage to block the Low Punch.... and what you do after that is very character specific since you might get different Data from blocking different character's low punches..... this is going to severely cripple the entire Sliding Strategy.... but the good news you finaly found away to get the Low Punch to come out.... and thats where Sarah's Flamingo Fake Low Punch Parry comes into play.... I won't be covering Flamingo Tactics in here.... perhaps I'l bring it up in the Stickied Combo Threads. One thing you can try though is Sarah's Crescent Kick Cancel into Flamingo Fake right after a one of the FS Cancellable Strings....

Using The Raw Forward Slide should be reserved for when you're at a safe distance..... but you can go in close if you think you know exactly whats coming.

And now we can move on to the Backward Slide......

 

[Lulu]

Okay... so... the Backward Slide.
Before we get started I should note that theres pretty much nothing guaranteed from the Backward Slide unless you parry a punch or if the opponent holds in the middle of a stun, consider the fact that your opponent might be neutral by the time you initiate an attack from the Backward Slide Stance, making it vulnerable to all kinds of things.

So you're opponent has figured out that your Forward Slide One Two Punch Loop has a gap in it that allows a fast jab.... now you got them right where you want them, if you know for sure they are going to jab you then parry with The Backward Slide.... at this point you need to choose which Backward Slide attack to use based on how much advantage you have. You can use the Interface as a guide... if you see High Counter Hold underneath Sarah's Life Bar then that means you parried at the earliest possible moment (this happens if you cancel the Forward slide in the later threshold) Sarah always completes the Backward Slide Before she attacks so parrying early means you are actually losing advantage during the Backward Slide Animation.... so if you see High Counter Hold that means you parried early and your advantage is somewhere in the +8~+11 Range and you should probably go with the BS High Knuckle, Confirm this attack before you continue, it does give you a nice Face Stun if its successful giving you plenty of time on how to proceed, the last thing you want is to accidentily continue an unsafe follow up on a safe blocked attack... that kind of mistake could haunt you.... anyway, Sarah doesn't have any Backward Slide Attacks that are fast enough to fit within that window so you won't reap the 50% damage benefits of your precision High Counter Parry .... I know.... I feel your pain.

Now if you see Counter Hold, thats a sweet spot you should be going for and this will net a slighly higher advantage at around +11~+16, you could probably guarantee the BS High Knuckle at this point and you have some lee way to get the BS Mid Knee.... and you could probably get your 25% Percent Damage Bonus if you can fit an entire combo with in the window of this parry.

And Lastly, if you Backward Slide and parry as late as possible you will have the highest advantage at around +16~+20 or even higher.... this happens when you parry near the ending animation of your Backward Slide meaning you are alot closer to recovering from that Slide and thats what gives you the higher advantage. At this point Sarah's BS High Knuckle and Mid Knee are pretty much guatanteed so these are safe choices.... you could also... maybe.... just maybe.... guarantee Sarah's BS High Elbow, Hit Confirming this move can be difficult because it gives a Feint Stun and that limits the number of moves you can follow that up with. You can guarantee a high avantage Parry by always cancelling the Forward Slide into a Backslide As Early as Possible... this reduces the possibilities of the punch getting parried in the early frames of your Backward Slide animation, thats just Advantage going down the toilet. So try to Slide Early.

Sarah's BS is slow and unsafe so even in a Successful Parry you might not get this to connect, but even if you do get this to connect it doesn't give you enough advantage to link your other attacks to sustain the stun..... you should probably only use this when the Mid Spin Slicer Stops working.... or if you can some how get a counter hit on a slippery surface.

So.... what is the Middle Spin Slicer ? Its Sarah's BS.....Don't worry about trying to guarantee this kick on hit.... its actually alot more Valuable on block since its Sarah's most powerful Guard Break attack... outside of the Power Blow ofcourse. It grants you the same Advantage of an Active Power Blow which is +17 Frames... but unlike the Power Blow... it causes the opponent to step back 1.8 Meters..... perhaps with the help of a wall you can reduce the knock back distance. Okay I found one move to connect to this guard Break.... its which as it just so happens is one of Sarah's Forward Slide Cancel Strings.... its poetic really if you think about, you can use a Backward Slide move to start forward Sliding Again.... BUT before you you celebrate, theres a catch, this knee is only guaranteed if you initiated the Forward Slide at Point Blank, right in the opponents face, if you initiate the forward slide from further away then the guard break will send them further back and your knee will reach them but It will be blocked or it will just flatout miss... however there is something else you can try, a late Forward Slide Cancel. Cancelling the Forward Slide late allows you to get closer.

 

[Lulu]

I think I'm going to Optimize this guide for Stagger Escaping.

Edit: aaaaaaand Done.... Check out the title.

 

[Calintzsan]

For someone who said not long ago that he picked up Sarah recently, you sure have done your homework, lol. Nice job.

 

[Lulu]

For someone who said not long ago that he picked up Sarah recently, you sure have done your homework, lol. Nice job.

LoL.... I actually did this before I started using her..... but I since I'm playing Sarah now I update it whenever I can.

 

[Calintzsan]

LoL.... I actually did this before I started using her..... but I since I'm playing Sarah now I update it whenever I can.

Oh, well great job. I'm sure many Sarah users will appreciate the work you've done.