Funny Valentine

**PLAYSTYLE**

900HP

Play mind games using the corpse parts, turtling, jukes and tricks to keep offense going.

Valentine is a very cerebral character that requires creative use of his odd moveset to ‘trick’ the opponent into giving away free damage, both on offense and defense. His main mode is S-ON, which has a good assortment of normals and specials to poke and harass with, including strong anti-airs. It is his main source of combo damage as well. S-OFF is the weaker of the two, instead providing an assortment of flag tricks to create ‘illusionary okizeme’ where the opponent can’t rely on their senses, and instead has to guess what happens next. Valentine can pick up corpse parts, and each part adds to his defense. Collecting all three gives him Love Train, which buffs all his S-ON specials and makes him immune to projectiles. Opponents that know that will try anything to stop Valentine from picking them up, so it’s up to him to exploit that with mind games.

Valentine must make use of his full moveset, but S-ON 214A is his best move. It can be used as a long range poke (L), to extend combos (L or M), wall carry (H), or okizeme (M). The problems with Valentine revolve around his weaker S-OFF moves, particularly his near worthless counter and 236A. 236A fires a series of bullets that normally add damage, extend combos, and give enough block stun for Valentine to run away at mid-range. However, many characters can duck under them, or are even small enough to not be hit by them on hit. While it isn’t his best move, it is a crucial part of his S-OFF game and this flaw can create bad matchups for him. Lastly, Valentine does good damage, but he is very vulnerable on wake-up, allowing mistakes to snowball into rapid defeat. That being said, he’s an advanced character that benefits greatly from solid play, and his tricks are fun and effective to pull off.

**PROS**

* Strong mid range pokes can cover many situations, while keeping him safe.
* Able to create unseeable flag okizeme, forcing the opponent to guess.
* Love Train is a huge buff, including immunity to projectiles.
* Strong turtling and mind games.
* With the right meter, and practice, can convert openings into good damage.
* Decent counter HHA, unblockable GHA.

**CONS**

* S-OFF counter isn’t very good and unreliable.
* S-OFF 236A is linear, and not very useful in some match-ups.
* S-OFF 421A teleport is VERY situational.
* Has only the basic defensive systems to rely on in S-OFF, especially on wake-up.
* Throw recovers slower than other characters.
* S-ON 214M will whiff at the wall and on S-ON characters.

"Holy Corpse" - Like all Steel Ball Run characters, Valentine has access to parts of the Holy Corpse. Up to three parts will spawn in random locations in the stage. Parts are picked up by standing relatively close to one and tapping any down direction or crouching. A part is lost every time you are knocked down. Valentine is granted buffs depending on how many parts he carries.

One Part: Guard gauge depletion is reduced when guarding 20%.
Two Parts: 10% overall reduction to damage taken.
Three Parts: 17% overall reduction to damage taken and activates Love Train.

"Love Train" - A barrier of light engulfs Valentine upon gathering all three corpse parts, enhancing all of D4C's special attacks and granting Valentine a general immunity to projectile attacks. Details on enhancements are below.
Well, now you've done it!: Attack gets invincibility on its start-up.
I'll dispose of you!: Attack speed increased so follow-up attacks now combo.
Dojya~~~n!: Attack speed increased and the hit is now Middle instead of High.
Projectile immunity:

"Back from the other side" - Valentine replaces himself with an alternate self from a parallel dimension, completely restoring his health at the cost of destroying his heat gauge and being unable to use heat for all remaining rounds. Valentine will also drop any corpse parts he's carrying back on the stage when using this move. The heat gauge won't be destroyed and corpse parts aren't dropped unless the replacement is successful, though the heat required to use the move is used on activation. Requires max heat.
214+AAA: Can be cancelled into from normals.

#### Combos

Stand Off:
J.H>2L>5L>5M>2H: 6 hits/118 dmg

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A: 11 hits/172 dmg

Stand On
J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+H: 15 hits/175 dmg

J.H>5M>5H>623+H: 6 hits/179 dmg \*Love Train On\*

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>214+H: 7hits/180 dmg \*Love Train On\*

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>214+M>rush>chop one>J.M>chop two>2L>5L>5M>2H: 13 hits/252 dmg \*Love Train Off\*

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>214+M>rush>chop one>J.M>chop two>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A: 19 Hits/298 dmg \*Love Train Off\*

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>214+M>rush>dash>both chops>2L>5L>5M>2H: 12 hits/241 dmg \*Love Train On\*

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>214+M>rush>dash>both chops>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A: 17 hits/283 dmg \*Love Train On\*

1 Meter Combos

Stand Off:
J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A>PC>J.H>2L>5L>5M>2H: 17 hits/260 dmg

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A>PC>J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A: 22 hits/298 dmg

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A>PC>dash>Stand On>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+H: 24 hits/264 dmg

J.H>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A>PC>dash>Stand On>2L>5M>5H>214+M>rush>chop one>J.M>chop two>2L>5L>5M>5H>236+A: 28 hits/355 dmg \*Love Train Off\*