Shoto Aizawa

Artwork from One's Justice 2.

Shoto Aizawa is a technical hero obtainable from rolls.

## Quirk Skills & Special Action

#### Quirk Skill α "Binding Cloth: Capture"

Sends a binding cloth to restrain the opponent. After binding an opponent, push the button again to draw them in. Send out the binding cloth while in the air to land a drop kick where it hits. The drop kick produces shockwaves when landing on a surface or on opponents. Opponents can be hit out of the binding cloth's restraint if they are hit by your allies (or another enemy team).

#### Quirk Skill β "Powerhouse Kick Barrage"

A dash attack with a series of kicks in a straight line. This can be used to traverse through the air.

#### Quirk Skill γ "Binding Cloth: Serpent"

An area attack that manipulates countless binding clothes like whips. Holds opponents in place until the final hit and blocks some incoming attacks.

#### Special Action "Erasure"

Stare down an opponent to block their Quirk Skill. Erasure will block all opponents' quirk skills, but not their Special Actions.

## Strategy

Aizawa has a unique playstyle compared to the rest of the characters. Effectively, he is an offensive support that disrupts the enemy team through his Alpha and Erasure. His kit specializes in ambushing opponents in a 1v1 setting. You should avoid larger team confrontations unless supported by your full team.

Communication with your team will be key, as to maximize the effectiveness of Aizawa, you will need the whole team to be positioned correctly to flank opponents and stay out of the middle of larger team fights. Aizawa should start out fights with a good line-of-sight on opponents to disable them with Erasure.

### Binding Cloth: Capture

This ability is as important to master as Erasure. If you prioritize Aizawa's mobility and more flexible damage, then you should prioritize leveling Alpha quirk first.

#### Grounded α

Use the grounded version to pull unsuspecting enemies in and combo them. You can follow up with your Gamma for the most consistent damage (higher Gamma levels can guarantee a shield break) or full Melee combo while Gamma is down or trying to conserve it (make sure to hold forward *after* hitting the first melee to guarantee the full combo). Beta quirk right now is too unreliable to effectively use after pulling in, as the hits barely connect.

If your teammates are nearby, you can almost certainly down an enemy if everyone is playing right. If your teammates are shooting the enemy in the position where they were binded, don't pull in the enemy and let them get off as much damage as possible. If your team is more melee oriented and around you, then you may want to pull them in as soon as possible. This will all depend on your teammates' and enemies' position, as well as how your teammates typically attack.

While recent patches fixed a fair amount of the bugs with this ability, it still sorely struggles when sloped terrain is involved. This can shorten or all-together negate the pull distance, letting the opponent escape. It may also just 'hit' the opponent (without doing any damage). This phantom hit may also occur if your opponent just finished climbing over a wall and is no longer 'eligible' to be pulled. Unfortunately, there are no work-arounds to these bugs aside from being mindful of your terrain and opting for another option to punish the opponent.

#### Aerial α

The aerial version has two primary uses - mobility and damage. Aerial Alpha will be your best source of mobility as it lets you grapple to terrain. Note that unlock other grapples like Uraraka's or Midoriya's, Aerial Alpha will bounce you off terrain, so keep that in mind. Use Beta quirk's mobility to help you finish getting on top of vertical terrain like buildings or the Mountain Zone.

Aerial Alpha also deals a great amount of damage to opponents, especially if you hit them with the Binding Cloth which guarantees full damage. The shockwaves that the skill produces can also hit nearby opponents, so this can also be used to disrupt opponents clustered up. That being said, Aizawa does not have the resources to take on whole teams by himself, so use discretion when jumping to multiple opponents.

### Powerhouse Kick Barrage

The primary use you'll get out of this move right now is for mobility / positioning. Use it to fly into a more favorable position or in junction with Alpha quirk to scale vertical terrain. The hits do not consistently hit enough to justify seriously relying on it for offense, especially when this can be used to reposition effectively. Only rely on it if you're attempting to save a nearby teammate from getting finished (and Alpha quirk isn't available / wouldn't work) or if you have no other options.

Beta can definitely be the last quirk to prioritize leveling up.

### Binding Cloth: Serpent

This ability can be used as both a combo starter and a finisher. You can start a combo with Gamma, then pull an opponent back in with Alpha, then do a full melee combo. This is Aizawa's most damaging combo, but requires the flat terrain and no interruptions. In high-stress / make-or-break times, don't rely on this combo.

The most consistent use of Gamma is to use after landing a grounded Alpha quirk. This combo can severely weaken or even break the shield of the opponent, depending the level of your Gamma and how much shield they have.

Gamma is also Aizawa's only true Area-of-Effect attack, allowing him to consistently hit multiple opponents in a cone-area in front of him. Gamma, however, freezes Aizawa, meaning another enemy can hit him out of it and deal a good amount of damage. Use this quirk wisely when multiple enemies are afoot. Gamma quirk will also block most projectiles while being used. Despite this, it is discouraged to use Gamma purely as a shield, as it has a long start up, leaves Aizawa completely immobile, and is a good source of damage.

Prioritize leveling up Gamma if you'd like to improve the damage for Gamma's combo routes, consistently break shields, and down shield-less opponents.