Differences from MK3 Jade did not appear in MK3 Move List Basic Moves The female ninja uppercut is average, nothing to write home about, their standing HK is great for far away jumpers trying to stay out of range for anti air HPs, it doesn't have as much height as some other characters, but the collision detection is a good distance from their body hit box, so it has good priority. Their LP jabs hit lower than most so they can run jab Stryker when he's ducking and blocking, and they good range. HP jabs have average range, sweeps are silent which is a plus, and they have some distance to them, however are slow on recovery compared to the fast sweepers leaving them potentially open. Ducking LK has some decent pointiness and distance, standing LK hits a bit lower than usual. Their roundhouse is very close range, better off going for a standing HK on jump ins, but the RH can often be used in run underneath jump in situations because the placement is perfect for that. Their jump punch has limited range and is close to their body, bad for cross ups on ducking blocking opponents.
Special Moves Dash Kick D, F, LK 11.5% Damage The Dash Kick is fast, in fact sudden, and is also extremely safe in many situations that it shouldn't be. There are very few close range attacks that can hit Jade while she's in her recovery frames, but projectiles always work, however the start up time for most projectiles is too long to capitalize even if done immediately from too far away. The best way to counter her dash kick is to anticipate it, not block it and run in with a counter combo, or just simply uppercut. This move can be used repeatedly, similarly to Nightwolf's shoulder tackle, and it has a limit of one hit before it is disabled, two can be done in a row in a combo. It's range is about half screen, and best used when you are very close to your opponent as it's very difficult to block upon reaction. After her autocombo is blocked, you can stick in a dash kick to counter a rush down, or you can use it against crossovers sometimes. It can hit some characters who are ducking like Kabal and Shang Tsung, and sometimes you might want to stick in a ducking LK after her 4 hit combo, then a dash kick as they are getting up, it's either going to hit as they are getting up, or be blocked, and is relatively safe, except against Kabal for instance. Use the dash kick to counter virtually any attack if you block because it's that fast. This is all part of her pitbulling strategy. Occassionally stick in dash kicks after run jabs in the corner, specifically watch for openings when they are about to jump, setting up small juggles. You can also glitch cancel it to 2 hits before it, for example, aaHP, aaHP, dash kick, however not useful. Boomerang Upward: B, F, HP Horizontal: B, F, LP Downward: B, F, LK Return: B, B, F, LP 12% Damage The Boomerang is used for zoning. She has 4 types, straight across, upwards, downwards, and a straight across return which is the best one to use, but remember to watch for players who will expect return spamming and just duck, so stick in a downward one, or on jump aways stick in an up one. Jade is not so much about damage, but chipping away and this move makes certain of that. You can spam the boomerangs for eternity so long as you time them right, remember to not abuse them against teleporters and watch for opponents who will trade a hit like an uppercut and use it to remove the recovery. Against characters with containments they can do the uppercut, get hit by the return boomerang, and then freeze/harpoon, etc, creating big damage. Mix up the usage of the boomerang, don't depend on it, make them make mistakes. Throw in dash kicks here and there against some characters while using return boomerangs to keep them guessing. Projectile Protection B, F, HK 0% Damage The Projectile Protection is very useful in it's intuitiveness. Jade is temporarily immune to all projectiles except Sindel's scream, Kitana's Fan Lift, Sindel's air fireball, and a few other special case situations. You can use the PP to remove recovery time from push back in the corner with juggles, increasing damage slightly if you are ever in the situation where a ninja teleports and winds up in the corner. You can also use it to stop the push back on triple run jabs in the corner. This way your opponent will try to get out and capitalize, but you will instantly recover and can counter-counter them with a dash kick, standing HK, sweep or autocombo and set up further tactics.
Finisher Moves Fatality 1 RUN, RUN, RUN, BL, RUN (Next to) Jade uppercuts her victim up high, and holds her staff to her side, it glows, then her victim falls right on the staff. Fatality 2 U, U, D, F, HP (Next to) (Hold Block) Jade is stick her staff into her opponent and starts to shake the staff and opponent up and down. She does it so fast that her opponent blows up. Friendship B, D, B, B, HK (No Block in Winning Round) (Past Sweep) Jade uses her staff as a pogostick. Animality F, D, F, F, LK Jade turns into a cat and lets out a big growl she jumps up and runs around on you. Making her opponent spin so fast that her opponent is spun to pieces. Babality D, D, F, D, HK Mercy Hold RUN, Wait 1 Second, D, D, Release RUN (Round 3) (Past Sweep) The Basics Strategy As Jade Jade is lower end mid tier character ranked roughly around 16. You're going to want to stay on the ground with her, abuse her return boomerang, projectile protection whenever needed or even as a distraction, run jabs, ground combo chip, but throw in pauses and then stick in a standing HK to get people who rush when they suspect you are stuck in a broken combo. Throw out her dash kick every now and then as it is very safe in many situations except the obvious ones, ie: vs characters with containments. Always does her 4 hit HP HP D LP D HP combo, and add an unblockable sweep after it on everyone, which will do more total damage than her 7 hit combo which is nerfed for human players for some reason, doing 10% less than the CPU. On some characters you can stick a standing LK after the 4 hit combo, like Jax and the Robots, on Sheeva you can stick in a standing HK, and even on Jax with rigid timing. Her overall juggling and combo ability is extremely limited, she has no useful or damaging juggle combos, although huge, impossible to set up, theoretical, corner combos for her do exist. Just remember to abuse the suddenness of her moves and stay on the ground. Double dash kick counters are fun to do for 22%. Also there's the weird hit boxes the female ninjas have which can make certain juggles harder to do on them. Many characters cannot do their HP beginning to a combo if they get a starter, lowering their overall damage effectiveness helping her out slightly but not a whole lot. Double run jabs in the corner are great, watch for openings to get her combo.
VS Jade Combos Basic Juggles: 1. jump punch starter, HP, HP, D LP, D HP, standing HK 6 hits 40%, standing LK, or sweep will do less damage but connect on more and more characters respectively. 2. (for a punisher) aaHP,HP, aaLP, boomerang, 4 hits 30%
Jade has no useful advanced juggles, but here's a few that can work if you are in the right situation. 1. (in corner against opponent trying to jump out) Dash kick, Dash kick, LK 3 hits 35% or sometimes HK for 37% 2. (opponent in corner) RH, dash kick, HK, 3 hits 43% 3. (as a corner punisher) aaHPHP, PP, JK, RH, HK 5 hits 60% 4. (Jade in corner) run under a jump, RH into corner, dash kick, RH, HK 4 hits 60%