Sayaka Miki is a character from the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica. She lives in Mitakihara Town and is an eighth grader at Mitakihara Middle School. She’s a very normal girl. Or at least, she
was. After she and her friend Madoka met a strange being named Kyubey and were offered to have one wish granted in exchange for becoming Puella Magi (or Magical Girls), Sayaka accepted the offer, though not without some hesitation. She wished for her crush--a very talented violinist who paralyzed his hand in an accident--to be healed, and lo and behold, it happened right away! Of course, she also became a Puella Magi. Here, let me get you a new picture:
There we go. Sayaka is now a Puella Magi. That means she has to fight witches and use the Grief Seeds they leave behind when defeated in order to keep her new Soul Gem pure. Her soul is contained within that Gem, and if she doesn’t keep it pure, something bad might happen. Sayaka formed the contract with Kyubey not knowing all these details, and considered it worthwhile to be able to fight evil in exchange for a wish. Seems like kind of a win-win deal if you look at it that way. She’s fierce in her devotion to justice, but can also be irrational and headstrong. Beneath that facade, though, she’s a tender girl whose feelings are surprisingly fragile.
But enough about personality and feelings and things. You don’t really care about all that, right? You want to know how she fights. Sayaka’s weapon of choice is a cutlass (in case I lost you there, or you already forgot what the above picture looked like, a cutlass is a kind of short sword), which she can even produce multiples of in the heat of battle. Because her wish was related to healing, she also has remarkable regenerative powers. She can take hits like you wouldn’t believe before really going down for the count.
Well, I think you know all you need to. Let’s dive into some moveset stuff!
SIZE: SEMI-TALL. She’s almost the same height as Link. She’s significantly thinner, though.
WEIGHT: ABOVE AVERAGE. Sayaka may not actually weigh much, but her defensive powers keep her on her feet pretty well.
GROUND CONTROL: GREAT. She moves quickly along the ground, thanks to her athletic build and the powers of the Puella Magi. She also has good traction.
AIR CONTROL: GOOD. Sayaka has comparatively good air movement, and falls at an average speed. Her first jump is also rather high.
Sayaka’s pretty agile, as you can see. She doesn’t struggle to move around the stage, whether on the ground or in the air. All in all, she seems to have a lot going for her here. But you know, you can never totally trust stats. Let’s get on to what you really want to hear.
Neutral Special ~ Sword Circle
Sayaka pulls her cape around her, and it magically grows to fully envelop her. She appears to be spinning inside there for as long as you hold the control stick, after which she’ll throw her cape back behind her, revealing a circle of swords about the width of Bowser that appear stuck into the ground around her. This move is unusable from the air. This can be held for a period of time similar to charging the average Smash Attack, and doing so will form 10 blades around Sayaka. Holding it for a lesser amount of time will spawn a smaller number of swords, which appear in increments of two. Using this when 10 swords are already in place on the stage will take two at a time from the oldest location the swords had been spawned at. In other words, you can spread your swords around the battlefield to give you easier access to them at the cost of having fewer in a single location.
These short swords can be grabbed by either Sayaka or an opponent and used as a standard battering item—at least for the opponent. Sayaka can’t perform typical item attacks with the swords, as they’re busy enhancing her existing moves. Anyway, as a battering item, they deal small amounts of damage, roughly half that of a beam sword, but are a very quick item to swing. If thrown or dropped, they will disappear upon hitting the ground. Additionally, swords in a character’s hand still count toward the maximum of 10 that can be present on the stage.
Forward Special ~ Blade Spin
Sayaka charges this move in a similar way to Ike’s Forward Special, and can hold it at full charge the same way. Upon release of the charge, she’ll rush forward a short distance (about half a Battlefield platform’s length, and slash her sword, dealing 6% damage and weak forward knockback. Depending on the charge, she will perform this action anywhere from one to five times, each subsequent time spinning around quickly and rushing forward into another slash. This causes this attack to combo almost perfectly into itself. If you’re holding another sword, she’ll slash at twice her normal frequency, but travel half the distance with each slash. She can complete all five slashes (or ten, if you have another sword) in about the time it takes a Warlock Punch to execute, and suffers minimal end lag. If you finish the slashes in the air, you will lose access to both this move and your Up Special until you land on the ground again, but you can continue using any Aerials you like.
If Sayaka is on the ground and within an arm’s reach of any swords when she slashes (even a slash in the middle of the attack, if you reach the swords with your earlier slashes), she will not rush forward, but will instead grab one of the swords, spin around, and throw it forward as a fast-moving projectile. It moves directly horizontal, unaffected by gravity, and will travel indefinitely, slicing straight through any opponents it hits and giving them 7% damage. She can’t repeat this quite as fast as the normal slashes, but it’s still quick. This version of the attack can’t be used if you’re holding another sword, or any item, for that matter. If this attack is possible and you want to dash forward instead of throwing the swords, you can hit the Special button again to force Sayaka to use the dashing version of this attack.
Down Special ~ Regenerate
Sayaka kneels down and clutches her soul gem for a second, healing 20% damage as she then stands back up. This move can only be used on the ground. If you are interrupted, you won’t recover the damage, but pressing the Special button again as you take the hit will cause Sayaka to brace herself against the hit, adjusting the knockback so that she will instead slide backwards along the ground. The stronger the attack, the more precise your timing has to be to redirect the knockback this way, although the slide will be longer for more powerful attacks. You will slide a distance equal to the knockback you would have taken, and will continue past edges. However, if you can use a move that changes your momentum, you can slow your skid or even negate it entirely.
In addition to all that, using this while within a circle of swords (any number will do) will add a counter-attack to a well-timed block. Sayaka will swing her free arm forward as she slides back, and two of the swords will jump up and flip around backwards, slicing the opponent for two successive hits each equal to half the damage dealt to Sayaka by the foe’s attack. If you’ve only got one sword there because someone plucked up all the rest, you’ll only score half the damage back on your foe. These slashes deal only flinching knockback.
Up Special ~ Rebound Jump
Sayaka quickly leaps straight up into the air, travelling upward for about the distance that Lucario does with his Up Special, at about the same speed. She suffers considerably less lag than Lucario, though. She then flips over so her head is pointed toward the ground below, and pushes off an invisible wall to propel herself downward. Hit the Special button before she reaches the full height of this move to stop prematurely and automatically move on to this part. This is the only slower part of the move, and takes almost as long as Fire Fox does to execute. By default, she shoots down at a 45 degree angle in the direction she’s facing, but you can tilt the control stick to alter the angle by 30 degrees in either direction. While shooting down at the same speed she moved in the earlier part of this attack, she holds her sword in front of her, and will slash at anyone she contacts, dealing 10% damage and fairly strong knockback in the opposite direction than the one she’s travelling in. She will travel indefinitely unless you hit the Special or Shield button to cancel her movement, which you can only do after she’s travelled at least equal distance to whatever she travelled upward at the beginning of the attack. Cancelling in any fashion will result in Sayaka going into helpless. If you let her strike the ground, she suffers moderate end lag.
The most notable use for this move, aside from recovery, is to control your momentum after using the block from your Down Special. Use this as you start sliding backward to make Sayaka jump up, stop the upward movement quickly, then rush either forward to try and intercept your opponent if they’re coming in for another hit, or straight down if you just want to get your footing again. Sayaka’s priority during the rush is very high, so you can often beat out opponents who rush at you in this way.
Neutral Attack ~ Quick Slash
In an extremely fast motion, Sayaka slashes her sword vertically, covering a decent range and dealing 2% damage and flinching knockback. She then suffers some ending lag. That’s it…
…unless, of course, you’re standing near any of your swords. In that case, you can repeat this as many times as you have swords to do it with. Sayaka will grab a sword each time you use the attack, as if you were just picking up the item, and immediately perform the slash. She’ll then toss the sword behind her if you choose to grab another one. This can go through all your swords pretty quick, but you can also rack up quite a bit of damage if you use them all. After the final slash—when you run out of swords or whenever you decide to stop—Sayaka will hold onto the last sword used, so you’ve still effectively picked up a sword, though the others used will all have vanished from the battlefield.
Down Tilt ~ Interruption
A quick slice low to the ground deals 7% damage and trips opponents who are close to Sayaka. This is a lower-range attack than most of Sayaka’s sword swings, but has very good priority, and will outdo most attacks it collides with. If you’re carrying a second sword, you can continue the attack with the same button input to cause Sayaka to take a step forward and bash her opponent over the head with the hilt of the other sword for 4% and weak knockback straight down. Of course, normally that’ll just put them on their back, but if you can handle the ledges right, it’s a decent help for scoring a KO.
Forward Tilt ~ Sweeping Slash
Sayaka steps forward and swings her sword upward in a large arc. This deals 5% damage and weak upward and backward knockback. If you have two swords, you can use this in rapid succession for as long as you like, and the attack combos into itself easily if the opponent is at lower percentages. Be aware of your limitations, though, as once you they’re out of those lower percentages, they’ll be knocked directly over your head, so if you’re not ready for that, they’ll punish you easily.
Up Tilt ~ Skyward Stab
A swift upward stab similar to Marth’s Up Smash deals 11% damage and good upward knockback. A second sword allows you a second part to this move that involves Sayaka leaping up a short distance and giving an overhead slash with the other sword. This deals another 8% and good upward knockback again. This will only be able to connect at lower percentages or on heavy characters, but is a good way to push them further into the air to force aerial combat, since the attack also leaves Sayaka in the air.
Now, a note concerning all three of these tilts. You can chain the first hit of all of them together like Marth’s Dancing Blade, obliterating the already-low end lag they have to allow you to combo rather effectively. Whenever you use the second portion of any of these attacks, you lose the ability to continue to chain them together, though the two hits of the Forward Tilt be used repeatedly for as long as you like. For the most part, you’ll use the Down Tilt to outprioritize opponents’ attacks, then the Forward Tilt to knock them into the Up Tilt, and begin aerial combat from there.
Dash Attack ~ Rushing Strike
Upon pressing this input, Sayaka will begin dashing at nearly Sonic’s dash speed. She will do this for as long as you hold the button, or until she’s travelled half the length of Final Destination, then immediately slash wildly in all directions around her. She performs 3-5 swings, each dealing a random amount of damage between 4% and 8%, with flinching knockback. You’re unlikely to hit with all of them, but you should be able to hit with at least a couple if you stop the dash near an opponent. After performing all the slashes, Sayaka will finish with a forward lunge that deals 10% damage and decent upward knockback, and moves her forward a short distance. This attack primarily serves to close gaps between you and your opponent quickly, since you aren’t really much of a distance fighter.
Berserk
”You’re right! If I do it this way…it doesn’t hurt at all!”
By now, you’ve perhaps noticed that Sayaka is pretty good at piecing together combos. A lot of her moves naturally chain together or at least set up very well for another move. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, though. You just wait until she gets going. By scoring a lot of hits, Sayaka enters a sort of berserker mode. This happens faster the closer the hits are together, the more of them you score without getting hit, and the higher Sayaka’s damage percentage is. In fact, your damage percentage is central to this. At 0%, Sayaka cannot enter berserk mode, while if she gets over 200%, it will happen after only two quick, consecutive hits. At lower percentages, this can take a fair measure of skill to pull off, but by the time you take some damage, Sayaka is ready to show her opponent who’s really the top fighter here. When this berserk mode kicks in, Sayaka will have a faint red-black aura around her (she will also have a faint red-only one around when she’s a single hit away from entering berserk, to let you know to get that next hit in quick), and will move at 1.5x her normal movement speed. In addition, start and end lag on all her attacks is almost completely nullified, allowing you to combo with even more ease. Knockback and damage for all attacks are increased by a small amount (3-5%) as well. And opponents’ attacks? They’ll deal one-fifth their normal damage and knockback. Yep, you read it right; Sayaka’s a beast once this activates. Just combo, combo, combo, and you’re on your way to tilting the fight way in your favor. By the way, using your Down Special while in berserk mode will pull you out of it rather than heal you, but…why would you want to do that? You’re so much more powerful this way! Using the Down Special before getting there in order to heal will also cancel any progress you’ve made toward going berserk, so be aware of your healings.
Forward Smash ~ Lightning Slash
Sayaka charges with her sword held behind her, then rushes forward at blinding speed for a distance determined by your charge. She can move as short a distance as one Battlefield platform, or as long as half of Final Destination. She moves at almost Sonic’s dash speed during this attack, and will slash quickly at anyone or anything she crosses paths with along the way, dealing 10-20% damage and strong diagonal knockback. This becomes a potent KO move starting at around 100% damage. She can slash through any number of obstacles, and will always travel the full distance, even if it means going over a ledge. If she does so, she’ll automatically start falling when the move is over, but if she’s on the ground, she suffers some end lag. Continue holding the control stick forward, however, and you’ll considerably reduce that end lag and move quickly into a dash instead.
If Sayaka crosses a spot where she has swords while travelling, she’ll grab one and throw it up at roughly a 45 degree angle, before immediately continuing forward. The animation is almost impossible to notice—it’s so blindingly fast—but the sword is certainly hard to ignore, since the angle it’s thrown at corresponds to the area opponents are getting knocked into. The flying sword deals 15% damage and decent diagonal knockback. This won’t combo for high-damage or lightweight opponents, but you can rush past your swords anyway to throw them into the air in an attempt to hit them, even if you don’t connect with the main part of this attack.
Up Smash ~ Rising Thrust
After charging, Sayaka performs an upward thrust similar to that of her Up Tilt, though at a slightly forward angle. She jumps at the same time, quickly rising about twice her own height into the air. Anyone her blade comes in contact with during this time suffers 12-26% damage and strong diagonal knockback. This is Sayaka’s most powerful KO option, and starts becoming dangerous for the foe at around 80%. Unfortunately, it’s also a bit hard to aim because of the forward angle she jumps at combined with the fact that she’s not swinging the sword around. This move has some start lag, but quite a bit less end lag as Sayaka starts falling, allowing you to possibly follow up a miss quickly with an aerial instead.
If you’re having trouble landing this attack, you can try charging it from within range of your swords. During the charge, Sayaka will repeatedly grab swords and throw them into the air at angles slightly off from the one she’s going to charge upward at. She can throw a maximum of four swords, each of which deals 8% damage and weak knockback. By doing this, you can often force your opponent to either get hit by the swords, or by Sayaka’s powerful thrust.
Down Smash ~ Twister Attack
Sayaka charges up, then spins around rapidly with her sword outstretched three time. This covers a decent amount of area, and deals multi-hit damage that can reach up to 12%. As she comes around to the finish, she’ll pause briefly before a powerful final swing completes her rotation. This swing deals 10-17% damage and strong diagonal knockback. This, of course, will only hit opponents in front of Sayaka, but the earlier part of the attack can be used to damage foes behind her as well. This is an okay KO option, but not as much so as either of your other Smash Attacks, only becoming a real threat at around 125%.
Neutral Aerial ~ Continuous Slash
Sayaka slashes her sword forward horizontally, covering very little vertical distance but good horizontal range. This deals 7% damage and flinching knockback. If you hold the button down, she’ll continue to repeat the action with little lag. The slashes after the first can also be angled in any direction by tilting the control stick. She’ll perform two slashes per second, and they all deal the same damage and knockback.
If you’ve got two swords in your possession, the rate of slashing is doubled. No other changes are made to the attack, but this leads to easy mid-air damage-racking, and scoring lots of successive hits like that will certainly help you enter berserk mode faster.
Forward Aerial ~ Air Rush
Sayaka performs a quick, short-ranged slash which deals only 4% damage and flinching knockback. Due to the fast nature of this attack, you can spam it pretty well against opponents with similar falling speeds to rack up damage and hits. However, if you’re carrying a second sword, Sayaka will follow the slash by rushing forward through the air a Battlefield platform’s length with that sword in front of her, dealing an additional 10% damage and flinching knockback to anyone she hits. She suffers very little end lag on this, so it can be used in recovery to punish potential gimpers.
Backward Aerial ~ Reverse Air Rush
This is precisely what it sounds like: a mirrored version of the Forward Aerial. No, seriously, it’s exactly the same, but Sayaka slashes behind her, then rushes backward if you have a second sword. Of course, that makes for some brutal aerial comboing against foes who fall at similar speeds to you, and a way to avoid permanently moving in a direction you don’t want to by going back with a second hit. She’ll flip around and face the same way she was before after rushing back, so you’ll be using the Forward Aerial to hit your opponent after this attack.
Using either of these moves repeatedly in a single aerial session will cause the distance they travel to decrease with each use, further promoting switching between the two and limiting the recovery potential of the moves, though they are still helpful for recovery and aerial approaches.
Up Aerial ~ Blade Twirl
Sayaka tosses her sword a short distance into the air, where it spins around rapidly a few times before falling back into her hands. She continues falling, albeit at a slightly slower rate than normal, during the spin, so the drop is a little further than the upward throw was. The spinning sword deals multi-hit damage that can reach as high as 16%. This is one of Sayaka’s slower moves, if only for the waiting time while the sword is spinning.
You can negate that with a second sword, though! Sayaka will instead throw the spare up, then swing her personal sword in an upward arc, rocketing the spare upward at high speed. Since she’s no longer waiting to catch a sword, Sayaka becomes controllable immediately after doing this. The sword flies up at high speed, and does 11% damage and weak knockback to anyone it hits, travelling straight through them as it does. Naturally, you lose your other sword by doing this, but it can be helpful if one of your set-up attacks knocks your opponent too high for you to reach.
Down Aerial ~ Power Drop
After a very brief stall, Sayaka drops straight down at twice her normal fall speed. If she lands on anyone on the way down, she’ll jump off their head, dealing 4% damage and weak downward knockback. If she hits the ground, she’ll immediately spin in a full circle with her sword outstretched, dealing 11% damage and pretty good diagonal knockback to anyone she hits.
If you rush down into the center of some swords you’ve placed, the landing attack is a bit more powerful. As she spins, Sayaka will knock each sword from its place, sending them flying a moderate distance as projectiles. Each sword deals 7% damage (you’re likely to hit with at least a couple, though) and decent upward knockback. This is perfect for forcing opponents back into the air after some good aerial combat ends.
Grab Attack ~ Beat Down
After grabbing (Sayaka’s grab is very normal), hitting the grab button again will cause Sayaka to let go of her opponent as she slams the blunt end of her sword over their head. This deals 4% damage and can be repeated at a rather fast rate. However, unlike typical grab attacks, you are unable to throw after using this attack. Just keep hacking at your opponent until they break your grip. Although they’re out of your hands and lying on the ground, they still break the grip of your grab as they normally would, which will cause them to roll backward away from you. This is a great way to score multiple hits and activate your berserk mode.
Forward Throw ~ Huge Slash
Sayaka raises her sword above her head, then brings it down through the foe’s body with incredible force. This deals 10% damage and good forward knockback, but is enhanced even more if you’re in a circle of swords. All the swords near Sayaka will lean forward to bash the opponent with their hilts at the same time she slashes. Each one adds 2% damage and no knockback to the hit. It’s very difficult to hit with all the swords, but one shouldn’t have much trouble hitting with half of them or so, for an extra 10% damage, and several hits. This is a great way to switch into berserk mode easily, or even to score KOs at high percentages. The swords will tilt upright again automatically a couple seconds later. Until then, they can still be grabbed and/or used for every attack except this one.
Backward Throw ~ Backstabber
Sayaka tosses her opponent behind her for a measly 5% damage. If you’re not standing near any of your swords, that’ll be all. If you are standing near them, directly following the toss, two swords will raise up out of the ground and shoot backward in a stabbing motion, each striking the opponent for an additional 4% damage and weak backward knockback. The sword attack functions independent of your grab, so Sayaka is free to move while the opponent is being pushed back. This can be useful if you’re one of those people who likes to play fair and wants to keep space in between you and your opponent so you can use your Down Special and heal instead of just going all-out so you can win the fight. On the other hand, since this does score three hits, it can be useful for berserk players, too.
Up Throw ~ Overhead Set
Sayaka tosses her opponent upward for 7% damage. If you’re near any swords after that, two of them will shoot upward quickly, homing in on the opponent and stabbing them for an additional 3% damage each, with flinching knockback. Although this sets up perfectly to pull off your Up Smash as a finishing blow, higher damage opponents may end up too high up for you to reach, so figuring out your KO margin against different characters is important if you plan on using this finishing combo.
Down Throw ~ Slam
Sayaka slams her opponent to the ground for 8% damage. At lower percentages, players can chaingrab with this attack, but after that, it doesn’t serve a whole lot of use unless you’re just trying to keep your opponent close to you for further attacks. That, and if you’re not near your swords, this is more damaging than any throw except the Forward Throw.
Final Smash ~ Relentless Rush
Sayaka glows a bright blue, then starts dashing madly around the screen. She moves at Sonic’s dash speed, and can turn on a dime—just tap the control stick the direction you want her to go. She’ll slash her sword upon contact with anything for 20% damage and very good knockback. She’s invincible for the duration of this Final Smash, which lasts 10 seconds.
Playstyle
”This is easy once you know the trick! I don’t think I’ll ever lose this way!”
It’s really not that hard; I’m sure you can figure it out. You’ve got tons of moves that chain into each other, knocking opponents into the perfect area for your next attack. You can set up your sword circle in a single place on smaller stages, since you don’t have trouble with mobility and forcing your opponents close to it. Spread things out a little more on larger stages, obviously. You’ll probably find a balance of air-based combat and quick ground-based combat most effective, due to how many of your ground attacks knock opponents into the air and how gravity has a tendency to bring you back down again. The bottom line is, the faster you activate berserk mode, the better, since that’ll seriously reduce how much you have to worry about getting hit amidst all that comboing. What? You want more playstyle? Sheesh… Well, it’s kind of like
this video, in which the audio is slightly off for some reason.
. . .
Oh, my… Something seems wrong… Are you all right, Sayaka?
Grief
”I’ve been such a fool.”
Hmm… It seems you’ve pushed Sayaka beyond her limits. I warned you she was a very emotional girl, didn’t I? She masks it pretty well, but it’s hard when you basically sold your soul for the boy you love, then watching one of your best friends come and take him from right under your nose. It gets her a bit frustrated, especially when she’s losing a fight. I mean, she can still fight for justice and all, and just try to get over the boy, but when she starts getting hit, she just starts to feel a little desperate, you know? And despair is a very bad feeling for a Puella Magi to feel. Unfortunately for you, it’s the very thing causing Sayaka to enter her berserk mode.
Next to your damage percentage is a small meter with a number 100 below it. That’s Sayaka’s Soul Gem power. The 100 is essentially the Gem’s health. Now, while you’re in berserk mode, the Gem will take 2 damage per second. But so what? I know you’re doing the math and noticing that still means you can spend almost a minute in berserk mode and be okay. You’ll just use that Down Special to get out of it when you don’t need it anymore, right? Well, it’s not all that simple. Remember how you take one-fifth of your opponents’ attacks’ damage when in berserk mode? Guess where the other four-fifths go? Yep, straight to your Soul Gem. And what’s more, once the Gem is below 50 HP, you can’t exit berserk mode. The grief in Sayaka’s soul is irreversible at this point, so all that’s left to do is fight your hardest till the gem runs dry.
When that happens, the second you touch solid ground, Sayaka will collapse, falling into the background where no one can hit her. An animation lasting about a second shows her body dissipate into a dark cloud, which then rushes at the nearest blast zone, KOing Sayaka. Your Soul Gem is re-purified at the start of each new stock.
Real Playstyle
”Don’t act like it’s okay to get hurt just because you can’t feel it!”
Okay. Let’s really get down to business now! Obviously, you can’t blindly rush in there and go ballistic on your opponent like you thought you could. You have what’s essentially a secondary stamina meter to be careful with. Luckily, foes can only touch in when you’re likely to have the upper hand, but the fact that it also whittles itself away makes going berserk far more dangerous. You have to know when to go into berserk mode and how to stay out of it the rest of the time.
This turns Sayaka into more of a hit-and-run character than the up-close supercombo character she’d be otherwise. Early on in the match, you don’t need to worry as much about going into berserk mode by accident, as it will take several hits. In fact, until you take damage, you don’t have to worry about it at all, so the very beginning of the match is when you should really take advantage of all of Sayaka’s most elaborate combos. Use your Dash Attack or Forward Smash to close the distance between you and your opponent, and force them into the air for a repetition of the Forward and Backward Aerials. Sayaka’s grab game is also much better early on, as it provides you several ways to rack damage.
Should you enter berserk mode early in the match, before your opponent is ready to be KO’d, you’ll want to get out of it as soon as possible. Attacks like the Down Smash or a Down Aerial into a sword circle can clear the space around you well and allow you to pull off your Down Special, and you don’t have to worry about the hits you’re scoring, since you’re already losing Soul Gem power. Good setup with your Neutral Special will ensure you have attacks to keep opponents at bay long enough to pull yourself together and stop Sayaka from falling into the trap of her own emotions.
However, you’re much better off to see it coming and prevent berserk mode before you go into it. This will take some practice and getting to know roughly how many hits you can score, but once you do, you can use those same attacks earlier to clear space and then use the Down Special to calm Sayaka down. If you find yourself really pushing the limits of berserk mode, be judicious about whether you want to use those attacks and potentially push yourself over the edge—hopefully only to recover from berserk mode a moment later—or if you’d rather keep your distance another way. The same attacks you use for approaching can help you get away if you know you won’t hit your opponent, and the Up Special can also be useful for making a quick break. Of course, there’s also the option on large enough stages (or at low enough damage) to just use your Down Special where you are, then time a block right and use it again while sliding backward, away from your opponent.
Sayaka’s biggest weakness may be clear by now. Opponents with highly-spammable projectiles can cause her to take early damage and make it difficult to use the Down Special. For these types, moves that continue to push them away are often your best bet when you need the Down Special. The Backward Throw buys a little more time for Sayaka than most moves, assuming you can get close enough to grab, or you can fight projectiles with projectiles. Sayaka’s best projectile, of course, is the Side Special after using the Neutral Special, so this can be difficult to pull off amidst a relentless opponent’s attacks, but hey, you’ve got to do something! Or, y’know, if you’re feeling desperate enough, you could just rush in there like a maniac and hope you kill them before you kill yourself.
As far as scoring KO’s, Sayaka relies primarily on her Smash Attacks. All three are viable KO moves, but the Up Smash will get you KOs the soonest. The Forward Smash, Up Throw, Dash Attack, and Up Tilt (which can be easily preceded by a Forward Tilt), all push opponents into the air while leaving you on the ground, so mix up between these to move into the Up Smash, or you can wait a little longer and just use the Forward Smash—which is much easier to hit with—for a later KO. The Down Smash isn’t as useful as the others, due to not covering as much space and not having as much knockback, but against opponents who like to dance around you, it could be your best option.
Now, sometimes you’re on the defensive/recovering end of a battle. That’s a dangerous place to be with Sayaka, but you’ve got to know how to handle it best. Opponents who are trying to predict your recovery can be frustrated if you’re high enough to pretend to rush toward the opposite end of the stage, then cancel near the edge you’re already near—or don’t if they seem to be hovering near that ledge in anticipation of such a move. The best way to turn a battle in your favor, unfortunately, is to activate berserk mode. Don’t stay in it any longer than you have to, but use it to rack up damage fast and get your opponent to high enough percentages for KO’s. You really want to avoid this, though, since you won’t get back that lost Soul Gem power without losing a stock. If you can get ahead of your opponent enough in the game, you can use the Down Special as a means of healing damage and preserving a stock of yours a bit longer. This is easy to do immediately after scoring a KO, and as mentioned, you have plenty of ways to create space between you and your opponent. Just don’t forget to do it amidst the pleasure of beating on your opponent.
That's why. And SOME of them really don't do anything in the way of attacking.
However, there's one big flaw and a couple smaller ones with the way you pulled it off. First off, the whole imaginary fire points thing is a bad idea, because there's not much way you can gauge how many you have until you accidentally burn a segment using one of your attacks. It'd be much better just to have the multiply thing work automatically, with you getting a new segment every so often. Also, I think it'd have been nicer to see a second aspect to the play style beyond "grow really big and cover the stage with fire". For example, Fire Snake doesn't really have much focus in the way of killing or gimping the opponent, beyond "This move can kill at X%." It's a bit of a pity, since down tilt could have given the perfect focus in that regard, once you get large enough, start creating an enormous inferno in one spot, and try to ferry the foe into it. The grab game is probably the weakest part of the set, since none of the options are that interesting, aside from up throw, which really doesn't fit as a throw. That's the primary reason I tend to use rather unconventional grab games, it's really difficult to come up with 4 useful unique options for a character when they have the opponent in helpless.
) The whole switch between chain and normal spear is really more of a sidenote, as attacks will switch on their own if they require a different mode, but nonetheless, I'm glad you worked out incorporating both differently as far as how the length can affect her moves. That's really the centerpiece of this moveset, is Kyoko's manipulation of her own range, extending it at the cost of losing up-close options. I admit, I had some preconceived notions from playing Grief Syndrome--in which she's the epitome of a glass cannon character--but I like this better than that idea. Kyoko is a skilled fighter with a complex weapon. In the hands of a novice, said weapon would just be a typical spear. To a novice player, it's basically the same; they'll keep using the spear at lowest length because it's comfortable, and miss Kyoko's real strength--chaotic spacing. Lengthening the spear is risky, but rewarding, and I like that. Anyway, I obviously like going deep on these Madoka characters, but I should stop myself before too much of that. There were a handful of moves I found a little boring, I'll admit, and thought they could have been a little more elegant and elaborate what with Kyoko's weapon of choice (she is a bit of a show-off, after all), but all things considered, I was pleased with how you made her moveset turn out.
