Tekken 7 is the latest game in the globally popular Tekken series. Its titles have been around for almost thirty years, and for the majority of its lifespan, it was an example of what 3D fightings should be. Nowadays, it’s one of the most regarded titles worldwide and is respected by the fans of even the most traditional 2D games.
One of the reasons for such success is the gameplay of Tekken and how many different styles it’s able to incorporate. The characters have become iconic at this point, and every new addition tries to push the envelope even further.
Eliza first appeared in Tekken Revolution, a free-to-play spin-off largely based on Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Back then, she was primarily a regular Tekken character except for having projectile attacks with 2D-style quarter-circle inputs. However, in Tekken 7, this unique aspect of the character was properly fleshed out with special meter, EX moves, 2D-style jump, and more special moves, like divekicks and DPs.
While Eliza was overlooked initially, after years of exploration, she went up in tiers and is now recognized as one of the stronger and more competitively viable characters.
The Best Buttons are simple inputs that, in many ways, form the identity of the character. They're likely to be your best tools for grasping any particular fighter.
1 - Eliza's jab is somewhat notorious. Since she's a 2D character, her jabs have less recovery on whiff, making it difficult to punish. Outside of that, it's pretty standard, with +1 on block and +8 on hit. If you manage to get a CH, a regular 1,1 jab check can turn into a full combo. Another valuable element of her jab is doing 1,1 and canceling into qcb2 slash, which is also a launch on CH.
1,2 - Typical 1,2, not especially remarkable but plenty useful.
1,2,4 - CH launcher.
1,2,3 - Normal hit mid launcher. Good option if your opponent tries to duck the highs or interrupt but be careful as it's easy to punish on block.
df1 - Decent df1, tracks well to one way, and both follow-ups are natural combos.
df1,4 - Safe, high extension.
df1,2 - Unsafe mid extension but can grant a guaranteed follow-up attack if only the mid attack CHs.
4 - Eliza's magic 4 is very strong thanks to its homing property and knockdown, even on a normal hit. This is a great button to press if you think the opponent will step, tries to approach you, overextends their pressure, or tries to challenge you when you're plus.
ff2 - Great attack as it's a safe on block wall-splatting mid. However, hold back after landing it; otherwise, Eliza will start sleeping.
b2,3 - Quick and safe string, and it becomes a CH launcher if the second attack is a counter hit.
ff4,2 - Normal hit launcher if canceled into a light fireball. This string has a weakness of being interruptable on block but using EX fireball cancel covers this gap. Ideally, you want to be confirming this string. If the first two hits land, you do a fireball, and if not, you either stop or do the EX fireball.
ff3 - Homing move with great range and some useful extensions.
ff3,4 - Normal hit launcher.
ff3,3 - If your opponent tries to duck under 3,4, you can hit them with this mid option which also launches if both hits connect.
WS2 - Great move that gives you a guaranteed heavy divekick on hit and becomes a full launcher on CH. If you don't have the execution for that, d4 is also a good option. You can also make this a launcher with meter by going for EX divekick.
Lows
d4 - One of Eliza's main lows. It can be launched on block but has great range, launches on CH, and is decently plus on block, allowing you to check mashing opponents with something like WS2.
d3 - This will be one of your primary low pokes as it can be canceled into any of Eliza's special attacks. It becomes especially threatening at the wall since, on Clean Hit, it will combo into heavy DP or EX Slash. You usually want to use this poke to harass opponents, and if they try to punish it, you can start utilizing special cancels to score CH, enabling an extra layer of mind games.
Moonglide
MG1 - High attack with a fairly delayable follow-up. If the second hit CHs, the third hit becomes a natural combo.
MG1,4 - Only -12 and a natural combo on normal hit; it can also wallsplat.
MG2 - Basically ff2 out of the stance. You can use this to approach your opponent and hit them from range.
MG4 - Low launcher if you have meter for EX divekick. Without meter, you can instead go for qcb2 or tiger knee divekick and chase down after it.
Divekicks
The cornerstone of Eliza's gameplay. She has three different divekicks. The 4 version is key for pressure as it can provide frame advantage depending on how low to the ground it hits.
You can get an extra edge by doing a tiger knee divekick, which is done by inputting qcb, ub, u, uf, 4. If you do that, you will execute the divekick as low to the ground as possible, giving you a better frame advantage and making you a massive threat at the wall.
The 3 version, or heavy divekick, is significantly less safe, often making it punishable unless spaced well. Why would you want to use it then? Because it's a counter-hit launcher. This divekick works well in conjunction with Eliza's 2D jumping mechanics. Instead of backdashing, you can jump back away from the opponent, and if you see them attack, you can whiff punish with a heavy or EX divekick.
If you combine all these tactics together with her poking and special cancels, Eliza can be a fairly frustrating character to fight against. She can be played very rushdown heavy with mixups and scary wall game. However, you can also play very defensively, especially on infinite stages. Kirakira is an excellent example of that. He would often utilize jump back while building meter and waits for opponents to make mistakes.
Wall game - With divekick mixups she has some of the best wall pressure in the game.
Punishment - Eliza can get amazing damage even off of her jabs and can punish slightly minus locks with crouch jab into DP.
Wall carry - Her combos will often cover a good distance even without specific wall carry routes.
Combo damage - Combining some of the previous points, Eliza gets a considerable amount of damage whenever she scores a launch.
Eliza's Weaknesses
Lows - Most of Eliza's are not that great and often have low damage or bad frame data on block.
Conclusion
Eliza is a very good and versatile character with lows being the only thing that really holds her back. However, to access some of her greatest strengths you will need to polish up your execution, making her harder to pick up for beginners and those not familiar with 2D style inputs.
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