Alessi

## Introduction

**Alessi** (アレッシー *Aresshī*) is a minor antagonist featured in *Stardust Crusaders*. He's a cowardly assassin and one of the *Egypt 9 Glory Gods*attempting to assassinate Polnareff and Jotaro in Luxor as Mariah battles Joseph and Avdol. His Stand is *Sethan*, a rejuvenating shadow.

Alessi is a rather straightforward character with a not-so-straightforward gimmick of turning his opponents into their younger version (or Jojo References) for a limited time to unleash high damaging attacks on their heavily weakened forms. He's also a Weapon Stand character, meaning he gains access to the Custom Combo super, but unlike the other characters, his Custom Combo is different due to his lack of chain combos in Stand On.

His Stand is also very unique in that it's a shadow on the floor. When activating the Stand, Alessi can expand it by holding the Stand button which changes the points where his attacks start.

### **Pros & Cons**

+ Solid normals in both modes, able to function at almost any range with fast counterpokes and big pokes
+ Decent supers
+ Good cross-up and cross-under game
+ Fast Guard Cancel that can be canceled
+ Short hurtbox
+ His shorter combos are fairly simple and deal acceptable damage, the more advanced dash loops are flashy and practical
+ He has a unique gimmick of transforming other characters

- His poking game is weak in Stand OFF
- Bad at approaching and opening up his opponent, reliant on good neutral and punishes
- Stand On normals have bad hurtboxes, meaning they are low priority and easy to punish on whiff
- Some characters have annoying, hard to combo transformations
- Most of his combo damage comes from Alessi Mode, which isn't always guaranteed
- Some of his attacks and gimmicks are very hard to be properly used
- Bad air and anti-air game

## Movelist

### Stand OFF

#### Command Normals

4C/6C (Close) - Sethan grabs the opponent, moves them away from Alessi, and Alessi chops the opponent with his axe. Recovery time is instant. Cannot be punished. Decent throw, though it forcibly sets Sethan to be slightly stretched out which can be pretty inconvenient.

```
- - (Hit/Block)

```

### Stand ON

Holding S after activating Stand ON will make Sethan grow taller in size and effectively increase its range. However, this may leave a gap between Alessi and Sethan where the opponent cannot be hit by most of your attacks. Exception being s.2C and your dashing normals, which will come out at the same distance no matter how large Sethan is. Going Stand OFF and turning Stand back ON when neutral (5) will turn it back to normal size. Turning Stand OFF then ON while holding 6 or 4 will keep the added size. Doing s.63214x will also revert this size change. Expanding your stand can be useful to allow you to punish certain moves better in some matchups, especially since you can enlarge it safely between rounds.

**ALL OF ALESSI'S STAND ON NORMALS HAVE DECENTLY SIZED TO EGREGIOUSLY LARGE HURTBOXES THAT ARE ACTIVE BEFORE THE HITBOXES BY A FEW FRAMES. DO NOT TRY TO BEAT OUT MOVES WITH LOTS OF ACTIVE FRAMES WITH STAND ON NORMALS.**(This also includes Stand OFF 2C and j.C, though they are nowhere near as bad.)

#### Dashing Normals

All Stand ON dashing normals' recovery is dependent on how fast you're moving, the slower your speed, the less recovery the move has. Additionally, all dashing normals will have Sethan's limb appear as close to Alessi as possible, and are unaffected by stand length.

Alessi does not have dashing lows in Stand ON.

### Alessi Mode

Alessi Mode is active when the opponent is in child form. Alessi stands a little taller and gets completely different Stand OFF normals in this mode. He also loses access to special and super moves. Jumping and Stand ON normals are mostly the same, but a.s.j.A will now inherit the properties of the last Alessi Mode move performed. Child opponents hit in the air cannot be damaged until they land again.

## Combos

### Notes

What Custom Combo (CC) chains you use makes no difference, the real purpose of the ones listed is to maximaze the use of CC time in order to end up with consistent timing for links out of the chain, and also to do as much stand gauge damage as possible, in order to end it as soon as you get a stand crash. The optimal chain changes depending on the opponent's remaining stand gauge at the start of the CC. The strings involve close s.on normals unless specified. (Far s.5A is fine, but far s.5B can whiff easily.)

All combos that go into 5C and close s.5C can then go into CC.

s.665C combos are significantly easier in the corner, as the opponent won't get pushed out of close C range by s.665C. Still possible mid screen. Alessi's highest damage combos, with a standcrash, right starter, chain and ender they can do up to 90 damage.

Combos involving the hold and release special move will work only if you hold the buttons enough to charge to first or second stage, at higher charges it will not work
and cause the move to whiff because of the deadzone right in front of Alessi;

Canceling into gun or shrink is easier if you use negative edge, as most of the time the button you will be canceling out of matches the version of the special to combo into;

Custom Combo conversions are versatile but need 63124+A/B/C depending on the range, effectively if the last normal in the chain was far or a close C, C version works, if it was a close B, B version works, if it was a close A, A version works. Other combinations are inconsistent;

Alessi can combo into either of his supers (preferably 214AA) instead of s.63214 to end a CC, but it adds very little damage. Saving your meter is much wiser option 90% of the time.

For help on loops and basic standcrash, refer to Kain's tutorial .

### Punish combos

*S OFF*

**5A, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

**663A, 5A, 2C**

**663A, 5A, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

**663A, 5A, 663A, 5A, 663A... (loop)**

**2B, 2B, 2C** - Point blank only. At all ranges where a single 2B hits, 2C always combos.

**2B, 663A, 5A, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

**663C, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

**663C, 663A, 5A, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

**663C, 2C** - Good at max range if you're not MAN enough to loop, or against skinnier characters where loop would not work.

*S ON*

All combos that go into a point blank 5A can go into close s.5C;

Ex: **663A, 5A, s.5C xx 63214+C OR 41236+C**

**s.5A (close), s.5C (close) xx 63214+C OR 41236+C**

You can also punish with raw 214+S on reaction to certain specials or after pushblocking long range unsafe normals: **214+S (CC) 5C(far) 5C(far) 5C(far) 5C(close) 63124+C** (May need to remove a far 5C for an A if you are too close to get one)

**s.5A [AB], s.5C xx ]AB[ xx 214+S(chain + ender)** - Midscreen, only works on a few, wider characters, like Stand ON DIO, Stand ON Midler, Iggy, Alessi, Devo, Hol Horse/Hol Horse and Boingo. Works against everyone in the corner.

### Confirm combos

All previous combos function as confirms. Here are some others:

*S OFF*

**5C xx 214+S(chain + ender)** - Combos at all ranges, chain may need to be changed when too far away.

**663C xx 214+S(chain + ender)**

**j.A, 5A, 663A, 5A, 663A... (loop)**

**j.A, 5A, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

**j.C, 2C**

**j.C, 663A, 5A, 5C xx (n.edge)41236+C**

*S ON*

**j.s.A/B [AB], s.5C (close) xx ]AB[ xx 214+S(chain + ender)**

**s.66C (closest possible connect), s.5C (close) xx (n.edge)41236+C OR 63214+A/B/C**

**s.66C (closest possible connect) [AB], s.5C (close) xx ]AB[ xx 214+S(chain + ender)**

### Custom Combo chains and enders

**(Starter) 214+S (CC), 5A, 5A, 5A, 5B, 5C xx 63214+C**

**(Starter) 214+S (CC), 5A, 5A, 5A, 5B, 5B (End CC), 5A, s.5C xx 63214+A/B/C OR 41236+C**

**(Starter) 214+S (CC), 5A, 5A, 5A, 5B, 5B (End CC), 5A, 663A, 5A, 2B, 663A, 5A, 5C, 214+S... - CC loop, does not add much damage for the meter it takes, but can help squeeze out a kill.**

### Standcrash confirms

**663A, 5A, 663A, 5A, 5C xx 214+S(CC), 5A, 5A, 5A, 5B, 5B(End CC) 5A, s.5C (STAND CRASH)j.s.A/B [AB], s.5C(close) xx ]AB[ xx 214+S (CC), 5A, 5A, 5A, 5B, 5C xx 63214+A/B/C** - All variations of this combo follow the same pattern as this one, and can go into any other ender. The most important part is ending up after the chain with the opponent having 26 or less stand gauge, as close s.5C does exactly that amount. This means the combos can vary in effectiveness between characters.

**...(STAND CRASH) s.665C (closest possible connect), s.5C (close) xx (n.edge)41236+C OR (n.edge)63214+C**

**...(STAND CRASH) s.665C (closest possible connect) [AB], s.5C (close) xx ]AB[ xx 214+S(chain + ender)**

**s.j.A [AB], s.5C (close) xx ]AB[ (STAND CRASH), s.665C(closest possible connect) [AB], s.5C (close) xx ]AB[ xx 214+S(chain + ender)**

Every time you get a 2C knockdown, you can cancel on reaction to gun and get free chip damage. This is also a practical way of setting up the spacing for the unblockable: you can start moving the gun reticle from behind them towards you as they wake up and you start shooting, so that the first hits have a chance of being unblockable. The damage doesn't really change, as you always will get about 10 to 12 damage in hits/chip, but if the opponent is right about to die you can get a free win off of a 2C.

**Alessi Mode BnB**

**665C, 665C, 665C, 665C S+5C / xx 41236+C** - Theoretical best combo. The opponent could jump away on the first hit, but if they fail, you can hit them 3 more times then spam a full gun on them. This can be inconsistent (discussed in the general strategy section), so as a rule of thumb, if you get a grounded hit, you can go for another one or react and cancel into gun. Normally after you hit the opponent out of the air, a properly timed dashing attack will then hit them grounded, so it is more common to end up getting 2 or 3 hits into a gun finisher. More consistent on bigger transformations, like Rubber Soul and Khan.

You can hit your opponent with your taunt in Alessi Mode: it has a hitbox right on Alessi's finger. Highest mental damage BnB.

## General Strategy

Alessi should be taking advantage of his normal moves trying to control space as much as he can. Both Stand ON and Stand OFF. Your stand off standing normals are embarassingly stubby, but function as fast counterpokes that you can confirm into your BnBs out of.
5C is your main confirm tool: it's 4 frames startup, and has an abnormally long cancel window, so it combos into Custom Combo from most ranges. 2B is also 4 frames startup and confirms into 2C and your loop, as well as building meter really fast. 2C itself is absolutely fantastic, 6 frames startup and 5 active, safe on block and it keeps your low crouching height: it can also be canceled into 41236+C on reaction giving you absolutely free chip damage.
j.A crosses up with ease and can be used to set up ambiguos crossups after a 2C knockdown, j.C is best used when hopping to space it properly on the ground, and to air to air or even as instant overhead: both are nice to tick-throw with.
5C, 2B and 2C are all good to interrupt strings after pushblocking, but should be used smartly and not mashed. Your dashing 2A and 2C are an important spacing tool, as they can be spaced so cleanly it is difficult to beat them. They also confirm into pretty much everything. Using your run to then dash back in with them or set up jump-ins/tick-throws/counterpokes/stand on pokes can be enough to win in neutral.

When Stand ON, the range of his attacks is enough to keep the opponent away cutting off their offensive tactics. s.5C is 8 frames startup, big and safe. s.665C covers more space, and can be made really + on hit, letting you combo if close enough or simply press s.5C again with impunity. If it gets whiffed, you can be punished on reaction. Don't abuse it too much. s.5B is a great anti-air. The only disadvantage is that it can't be used in close range. It must be done at a sweep distance, which is almost half of the screen. s.6B is a reliable overhead and you should use it, get used to switching to an instant s.6B to surprise people holding down-back.

Although Alessi has several "Stand" attacks (meaning they can break Kakyoin and New Kakyoin's 214 nets, Mariah's 623 wire, and slow down Abdul's 214 projectile) only s.j.A is useful for "Stand" purposes, really. If you are in proximity to hit the other ones the benefits aren't gonna matter at that distance, and even for nets where it would show promise, either of the Kaks would already be in range to either block the hit and prevent it from destroying the net, or get hit and have it disappear anyway. The only real situation where you could use the proximity normals to break stuff is if the opponent is jumping and within proximity, so good luck applying those...

Keep in mind your opponent can use any fast counterpoke with enough active frames to easily hit you out of the startup of these normals, so remember to not be predictable and whiff punish.

Alessi's Movement options are pretty good, his run and dash can be canceled into blocking and crouching at any point, giving him a much more fluid and precise spacing game than other characters, which is important for him given his set of normals: most of them keep your forward/backward momentum, so remember to always account for that, or to crouch cancel. Be particularly careful to not mistakenly input half circle motions while dashing around, as unwanted specials will leave you open for a long time.

41236+C should be used occasionally when the opponent is waiting for you to make a move. You have to be at a near full-screen spot in order to safely shoot the enemy. It does the same damage on block and hit. Don't use it often, or you'll get punished.

Alessi's biggest damage comes from CCs. This is what you'll be using every chance you get. The best part about it is if you find a Stand Crash method against different characters, you should be able to do another CC right afterwards.

Alessi also has a good guard cancel. So when your opponent is trying to pressure you, don't be afraid to use it. It'll come to good use if you don't want to pushblock.

You are quite limited when it comes to anti-airs, jumping back and responding with a normal or timing a sweep to low profile their jump-in can work decently well, though. If you are a true *galaxy brain* you can dash back and use s.63214C: it can be effective, especially because it is air-unblockable.

Alessi's faults really come to light when fighting against a character that can easily stop dash-ins, hops and can counterpoke his stand on normals. In these matchups he unfortunately can be pretty helpless, because aside from loose frametraps and ok tick-throws he really struggles to create himself an opening. His restricted aerial presence can be a limiting factor as well, as he can have immense difficulty getting within reach of his opponent with his low jump height and bad anti-airs.

### Alessi Mode

The majority of child forms have 1 frame jump startup, meaning it can be difficult to time your attacks to keep them on the ground and not in an invincible falling state. Some children are so small they can dodge certain attacks, sometimes only at specific distances.

When Stand ON moves that go in Alessi Mode DO NOT guarantee damage on the transformed opponent depending on the character. For example, if you transform the opponent with a s.63214 outside of Custom Combo, the recovery is enough that some characters will be able to jump away and press buttons to stop Alessi from approaching altogether: in these cases, you can wait and try to whiff punish them but if they attack jumping, it becomes very difficult especially against some child forms. It is then recommended to transform these characters with an s.63214 while still inside 214S to skip recovery and foregoing links out of it.

It is best to try to use s.66C and s.[AA] to hit them from far away. [AA] is always worth holding if you plan on using stand on normals to chase a child form opponent as it has
the best chance of hitting while they jump. If you land an anti air with s.[AA], the extended falling animation becomes a great opportunity to go Stand OFF and catch up before they land. The characters that can fight back best in transformed form are Avdol, Midler, Polnareff, Young and Old Joseph, Chaka, and Black Polnareff.
It is up to you to gauge the risk/reward of the situation: if getting extra damage while chasing an opponent in Alessi Mode is feasible even with less time available then the right decision is to link out of CC to optimize. If the opponent may run away if you give them the time and distance, then opt for a command grab during the CC
or for a link into gun instead.

## Matchup Strategy

#### Black Polnareff

214AA whiffs on a crouching Alessi, allowing you to easily punish. If you are holding 1, you will block it instead of duck, so make sure you are fearlessly holding 2 or 3. If he learns either your 2A, 2B, or any dashing low, all 5 will be learned.

#### Chaka

Chaka's s.5B will whiff when you are holding 2 or 3 or when getting hit, too, but I would advise just doing 2C instead of sitting there and not blocking. If he learns either your 2A, 2B, or any dashing low, all 5 will be learned.

#### DIO

Laser whiffs on a Alessi even while standing, it does hit him dashing, however. Nukesaku (his child form) has an extremely slow jump allowing you to hit 4 axes every time easily.

#### Hol Horse

Shoot this bitch down if he ever dares to do air glass. You can duck under his 5C too. Your quick projectile, long stand on pokes, and custom combo are all very useful to punish his zoning. Your durable stand and small hurtbox help out with getting in. Even if your roll is slow, you can punish his grab on hit with j.C, 663A into a full combo.

#### Hol & Boingo

2C and 214S are good to punish his 5S "frametraps". When midscreen, his normally powerful truck super will often times not do full damage on you due to your small hurtbox. See Hol Horse as well.

#### Khan

If he learns either your 2A, 2B, or any dashing low, all 5 will be learned. Try to go for at least 3 axes in a row on his child form.

#### Polnareff

When you are backdashing against the wall, C Shooting Star will whiff.

#### Shadow Dio

Laser whiffs on a Alessi even while standing, it does hit him dashing, however.

#### Rubber Soul

You can deny Rubber's best jump-in, j.A, with 2C, 5C or simply crouching and waiting then punishing with any button you want. He can counter this by using j.B or j.C, but these moves' hitboxes aren't as horizontally oppressive, allowing you to jump back and air to air to great effect. Wide, slow child form that you should be able to combo a lot of axes on to boot.

#### Vanilla Ice

Very annoying child form, if he holds jump during the transformation it is protected by iframes, making it impossible to meaty him on the ground. If he has the life lead and really wants to, he can cheese you the fuck out with his floaty aerial mobility when stand on, as seen in the first set here: https://youtu.be/q4e15P\_hAOA

#### Young Joseph

If he presses 5B/C as soon as he gains control of his child form, it will be active on the same frame he becomes vulnerable, leading to a trade if you try to "meaty" with a d.a.5A/B/C

## Extra

### Wacky Shit

* 236S/Guard Cancel Cancel: Alessi can cancel his GC or 236S into a Custom Combo. This exists, but its viability is arguable: to perform, you need to first whiff a s.[AA]. Then, and only then, can you cancel into Custom Combo during the startup of 236S, or at any point of a Stand ON Guard Cancel. Another problem is that you can't hit or get hit while Stand ON, or the install will be lost. Here it is in action: https://youtu.be/jVG0IepHTMM?t=111 https://twitter.com/otojojo/status/1201489778312527872

* Double Stand Attack Glitch: When Alessi is Stand ON and dashes, if you press a button on the last frame of the dash, and then press another on the frame after, Alessi will do both attacks just as the dash ends. The first button you press will come out as the dashing variant, and the second will be the standing version. This is important if you use s.5B with this glitch and/or if your stand is extended. This also means your second normal can be any grounded move you want, including command normals and crouching moves. Recovery on moves when using this glitch is much faster than normal.
Demonstration: https://youtu.be/9rmeQzB6qm0

* On stages with foreground elements, Alessi can conceal himself partially or even entirely while crouching. Here's an example of this in a really good set that you should watch anyway: https://youtu.be/1L45Qx3IUd0

### Some Japanese Matches

* https://youtu.be/xUf3sIvzV1Y - Great match vs Yoshida (Polnareff) with some screaming casters. Demonstrates a lot of what Alessi can do (good usage of normals, a variety of confirms, Alessi mode bnb, even a Custom Combo loop!) in one short match. I implore anyone who wants to pick up Alessi to watch this. (Can also be found at http://sp.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm5080205?ss\_id=9e3c63dc-3a64-4401-81de-8ef89b2a8320&ss\_pos=5&&cp\_in=wt\_srch)

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARXIqfUEepo&feature=youtu.be&t=441 - Matches against an Abdul, Alessi, and strangely Khan that showcases some incredible usage of s.63214C. A very good example of defensive Alessi play.

* https://youtu.be/c5jFXZkjNKA - Earrape ass, flaky VCR ass recording of an actually great match! Featuring Tonkotsu vs SQ, a more offensive Alessi who displays multiple stand crash combos.
* https://youtu.be/3eAPyONm7e8 / https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm19450472 - A demonstration of all the child forms using the special mode in the Dreamcast port.

### Hitboxes

*Collected by guruslum*
https://imgur.com/a/KboJi3T

### Baby Forms

#### Baby Hitboxes

*Collected by guruslum*
https://imgur.com/a/1qCfabg