Matchup Summary (Win Condition and Game Plan)
Charizard vs Sephiroth gets ugly if you keep contesting sword tip range honestly, but the matchup changes once Flamethrower and aerial drift force Sephiroth to react at closer layers. Sephiroth is light and much less durable up close, so one clean hit into juggling or ledge pressure gives Charizard real payoff despite losing the long-range spacing war. Your kills are more reliable from pushing Sephiroth to the ledge and covering his recovery with Bair, Fair, Up Smash, or Dair than from throwing out giant center-stage smashes. Even after One-Wing appears, the answer is still to win position first and swing second; panic big buttons only send you back into the range Sephiroth wants.
Full Move Frame Quick Reference
| Opponent Move | Startup | On Shield | Charizard OOS Candidate Moves | Barely Missed Moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jab 1 | 5 | -19 [-19] |
|
|
| Jab 2 | 5 | -25 [-24] |
| |
| Jab 3 | 7 | -23 [-22] |
| |
| Forward Tilt | 14 | -15/-11/-14 [-13/-8/-12] |
|
|
| Up Tilt | 10/13 | -32/-21/-19/-18 [-31/-18/-16/-14] |
|
|
| Down Tilt | 9 | -25 |
| |
| Dash Attack | 14 | -20(-22) [-16(-19)] |
|
|
| Forward Smash | 24 | -33/-29/-32 [-31/-26/-30] |
| |
| Up Smash | 23 | (-29/-31 front)/(-23/-25/-24 back) [(-26/-29/-30)/(-21/-23/-25)] |
| |
| Down Smash (1) | 21 | -20/-22 [-17/-20] |
| |
| Down Smash (2) | 21 | -24 [-22] |
| |
| Neutral Air | 9 | -5 [-4] |
|
|
| Forward Air | 13 | -10 [-9] |
|
|
| Back Air | 15 | -11 [-10] |
|
|
| Up Air | 16 | -17 [-17] |
| |
| Down Air | 19 | Normal: -27 [-25] | Landing: -19 [-18] |
|
|
| Neutral B | 41 | -28 |
| |
| Side B | 16—42 | -17 — -15 |
|
|
| Up B (1) | 25 | -27 [-26] |
| |
| Up B (2) | 36 | -63 — -61/-47 [-62 — -60/-45] |
| |
| Down B (1) | 38 | -25 [-25] |
| |
| Down B (2) | 7 | ** | ||
| Grab | 7 | — | ||
| Dash Grab | 10 | — | ||
| Pivot Grab | 11 | — |
Win Condition Checklist
- Use Flamethrower to interrupt charge time and retreat space so Sephiroth has to jump or shield before you close in
- Do not fight tipper Forward Tilt on purpose; punish only the clearly unsafe windows like Fair, Bair, Dash Attack, Down Tilt, and the landing from Up B
- After launching Sephiroth, stay under him with Uair and Up Smash so his light body and thin landing paths turn into repeated juggle chances
- At the ledge, center your kill game on Bair, then cover Sephiroth’s Up B angle with Fair or Dair instead of overcommitting early
Actions to Avoid
- Staying outside forever and trading your own big swings into Sephiroth’s Forward Tilt and Fair
- Seeing One-Wing and immediately forcing Fair or Forward Smash, then dying to the whiff punish
- Escaping too early toward the blast zone against Gigaflare or Shadow Flare and giving Sephiroth a cleaner edgeguard line