78 Sephiroth
Final Fantasy VII (1997 - PS1)
Sephiroth is a mobile swordsman that possesses enormous range coupled to a great launch power in most of his moves. This makes him even scarier to fight against. In return, his moves are very slow, and most of all he is quite light. That’s why, with Sephiroth, a perfect spacing is required because any mistake can be deadly.
Characteristics
Strengths
- Enormous range
- Great kill power
- Great mobility
- The winged mechanic
- Ledgetrap
Weaknesses
- Slow moves
- Not good OOS options
- Very light weight
Matchups
Favourable
Unfavourable
Stages
Favourable
- Needs enough space
- Goes through the ground or the platforms
Unfavourable
- Hard to survive on a small stage
- Lacks platforms
Skills
Pro Tips
Features
The slash attacks have their sweet spot around the middle of the blade, while stab moves will hit harder at the tip. Furthemore, Sephiroth can stick himself on a wall if he uses a Forward Air against it. Finally, his most particular mechanism is his wing, that deploys itself when Sephiroth takes too much damage, or faster if he is behind his opponent during a match. It boosts all Sephiroth‘s attributes: his speed, he has an extra jump and some super armor on his smash attacks. A true comeback mechanic, although the wing disappears when you take a stock or when you lose one.
Best moves
SIDE B
Sephiroth can load this move and place up to 5 orbs around his opponent that will hit him after few seconds. A very great tool for pressuring a shield and to conditionate your opponent to react since the move deals massive damage to a shield and around 30%. A great way to easily dominate neutral while creating setup opportunities for combos or kill confirms.
FORWARD AIR, BACK AIR
Although they are quite slow, those are great neutral tools for Sephiroth. Forward Air comes out the fastest and is useful for hurting the opponent from far away, explaining why is is useful on an edgeguard situation. It also is a combo starter that can create a tech chase situation. Back Air is slower, but has a bigger hitbox and usually is a combo finisher, according to its great killpower. Those moves are also interesting for ledgetrapping.
NEUTRAL AIR
It can be hard to use it, but it offers a lot of advantages. It is a fast move, that doesn’t have a lot of endlag while having a correct hitbox. Most of all, Neutral Air can lead into lots of combos, dealing around 30% or leading to a kill near the ledge. It is also his best out of shield option, although it remains quite slow. Then, when you get pressured on your shield, you should better run instead of attacking back.
NEUTRAL B
This move can be loade, increasing or decreasing its damages and range. The first charge is obviously the fastest, and can be used in neutral in order to bother your opponent. Meanwhile, the two other charges will mostly be used to ledge trap, since it covers almost all of the opponent’s options. You simply have to use an Up Smash or a Forward Tilt with it to prevent the opponent from getting back up.
UP AIR, UP SMASH
These are two pretty slow moves that cover a large area around Sephiroth. The Up Air is less slower, which makes it threatening in a juggle or a ledgetrap situation. However, these are still two risky options that need to be used only when you are pretty sure it will hit your opponent.
FORWARD TILT
Forward Tilt can also be named since it possesses a great range and applies great pressure on the opponent’s shield. It is an excellent way to push back grounded approaches, knowing that it can be combined with a pivot cancel in order to have an even greater range. A very useful move for starting a tech chase into a grab, or for punishing a roll out.