Character Overview
TinyTorgue says that Android 18 is a snowball character. She doesn’t play very aggressively but instead capitalizes on an opponent’s mistakes to put them into her deadly pressure.
17 isn’t influenced by what 18 is doing; you call him like any other Special Move.
Best Buttons
The most notable buttons for Android 18 are:
- 5L hits low and has a good range. Since 18 also has low 2L and 2M (with nice frame data), her general stagger pressure is extremely potent.
- 5M got its range buffed, so now it’s a good poke.
- 5S — while her Ki Blasts are average, they’re very useful since 18 doesn’t really approach people but keeps them away until they make a mistake.
- j.M hits both in front and behind. It’s invaluable for the mix.
Special and Super Moves
Android 18’s most powerful tool is definitely 17’s Barrier, j.214S. It doesn’t block only Supers and grabs. Unless your opponent is sniping your landings with Dragon Rushes, they can’t approach you, especially if you have assists. Anytime 18 is near the ground, you have to consider the Barrier. Hit it to punish and put the opponent into a blender — all while gaining the meter to do so.
214S cause 17 to shoot Ki Blasts while 18 can move around freely, which is helpful in neutral if your opponent jumps for no reason.
17’s Medium Support (214M) is notable thanks to its versatility in combos and pressure.
214H keeps 17 on screen for 5 seconds. During that time, he immediately blasts the enemy with a tracking attack if they call an assist or tag out. Android 17 disappears if you get hit or call your own assist. On paper, this is great for neutral. But in practice, this hardly makes it easier for 18. She’s outmatched by many characters in 1v1 neutral, so the only reason to use 214H for neutral is for 1v2 or 3 — to even the playing field for her. It is much more useful for Oki because you can call 17 again, and he’ll attack. This basically secures pressure and adds several extra layers to her Oki, which makes her lockdown even scarier.
Light Command Grab (214L) is unreactable, with 17 frames of startup.
Android 18’s Level 3 is one of the best, if not the best, Level 3 in the game. It does good damage and can hit multiple characters at once. But most importantly, it gives you a 50/50 mixup anywhere on the screen, which usually leads to a dead character if they guess wrong.
Strengths And Weaknesses
Strengths of Android 18 are her pressure and Oki.
The neutral game is a weakness for this character. Her buttons (except for 5M) are pretty short, and 18 doesn’t move forward very well.
She requires the meter for ending her combos with her Level 3 and making the opponent spark or guess.
Assists
18’s assists are a bit flawed.
A Assist, Barrier, cannot be used to extend combos. It is only there to punish aggressive players and to make patient ones think twice before taking their turns. It also hides the green Dragon Rush flash!
B Assist, Destructo Disc, is generally applicable like any projectile assist. The issue is that it has slightly less blockstun than average and that the hitbox starts low to the ground, which may cause Destructo Disc to whiff when you need it the most.
C Assist, Support Attack, isn’t even worth running. It’s there only because they had to give every character one.
Pressure with Android 18
In this section, TinyTorgue gives details on blockstrings and general pressure with the character.
18’s basic blockstring is:
- 2L5LL 2M5M 5S5H and then either call an assist followed by 214M to continue your offense or just 214L to return to neutral.
18’s frame data is good, and she has three lows in her blockstrings, so you can stagger well with her.
Once you add a Ki Blast to the string, you need to guess whether your opponent is going to reflect, mash or block.
You can Super Dash at an opponent in the corner, then call for an assist to keep you safe between the Super Dash hitting and your high/low mix: late Air Dash -> j.M for the high option; land and 5L for the low one.
Android 18’s Command Grabs are deadly when used sparingly. 236L is unreactable, but you need to be close to the victim and delay it slightly, or else it will whiff.
2S is slow but plus on block, so you can steal turns back with it.
Treat 214M like any other assist. 17 always leaves you +27 on block.
BnB Combos with Android 18
Android 18’s combos in DBFZ are:
- Basic BnB: 5LL > 2M5M > jMLL2H > delay j214M > SD > jMLL2HjcLLL
- With Assist: 5LL > 2M5M > jMLjcLLL > Assist > delay j214M > 66 2M5M > jMLL2H > same ender as before (j2H at the end can whiff, just skip it in those cases)
- 5H Route: 5LL > 5M2M > 5H > SD > jML2HjcLLL (no knockdown, either end in jcLL > Level 3 or jcLLL > j214L > Special Tag)
- 5H Rejump: 5LL > 5M2M > 5H > delay SD > 66 jM > 669 jLL2HjcLLL
- Corner BnB: 5LL > 5M2M > 5H > 214M > 96 jH > 5H > SD > jLL2HjcLLL > Assist > delay j214M > DR > 236L
- Corner Loops: 5LL > 5M2M > 5H > 2S > { 5L5H delay 5S > 236S }x2 > 5L > jLLjcLLL > Assist > delay j214M > DR > 236L
- Easier Corner Loops (less damage): 5LL > 5M2M > 5H > 2S > { 5L5S > 236S }x3 > 5L > jLL2HjcLLL > Assist > delay j214M > DR > 236S > Level 3
- No Assist Loops: 5M2M > delay 236S > { 5L5S > 236S }x2 > 5L5S(4)2H > delay j214M > SD > jMLLjcLLL
- Optimal Corner BnB: 5LL > 5M2M > 5H > 214M > 5LLL > sjLMH > j214L > jLLjcLMH > j214L > jLLL > Assist > delay j214M > DR > 236L
Oki
Any time an opponent is in a knockdown, you do Dash Jump -> 214M -> an assist. Then do any mix you want. Instead of 214M, you can call the Barrier, which prevents them from mashing, making your mix harder to see. It’s also a great reflect bait.
Your other Oki setup is to call 214H after your combo and then call Android 17 again when you land. This costs one bar but covers everything. If you feel they are going to reflect, you can simply call 17’s Barrier instead.
18’s Level 3 Oki gives you a left/right 50/50 mixup anywhere. For the same side, you want to just instant Air Dash -> j.M. For the crossup, you do a tiny dash before the IAD.
Gameplan
Android 18’s neutral isn’t exactly aggressive, so she likes to lure the enemy into a trap.
She requires the meter to access her strongest mix, so ideally, you play her on Mid or Anchor.
You want to pay attention to who has the health lead. 18 is scariest when she's in the lead because an opponent has to approach her, which is hard. If you find yourself in a solo 18 situation, your best bet to win neutral is to use 17’s Ki Blasts when an opponent is about to land at a safe distance.
Your goal with 18 is to gain a health lead, make an opponent commit a mistake, and punish them for it.
T8
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