As the title says, we know Tusk his coming.
Now that he’s upon us, and with at least a week until we see him in action, I figure we could deal with some healthy speculation.
So, how does he play?
Obviously, he uses a big sword. My guess is that this big sword does big damage, and probably good reach too. As far as playstyle, there’s a good chance he could be like old Tusk, i.e. Like Jago without a fireball. While Fulgore and Shadow Jago have more zoning tools and mobility than Jago, i suspect Tusk would be the up close brute of the Shotos. He could be like a mix of Jago and Thunder, with tools to get in but generally slower heavier build. Without long range pressure, he instead takes the opposite approach to Shago/Fulgore and specializes in being right in your face and knocking you down/up.
As such, i suspect he’ll be relatively easy to pick up, since his gamelan would be “first i DAH, then i charge in and uppercut you”
I think he will be close to KI 2 but unfortunately they gave his kick to Jago due to Jagos old wind kick did not work well with the new game engine/design. SO he may not have his boot kick in the same way we remember it. It may be gone totally and we only get the skull buster flaming sword smash move.
Parry Move: Tusk had a parry in KI2. If Tusk is somewhat of a heavy-hitter, not all that fast like Orchid as a Rushdown character, maybe a parry would be a good idea for him to give him an opening.
Pressure Move: This is the move where Tusk spins forward with a horizontal slash, and then a sweeping slash. As a close-up melee fighter, a good pressure move would be nice to have in his arsenal.
Special Moves:
Web Of Death: This is an awesome opener move. Unlike Jago’s and Spinal’s spinning sword moves, this one moves Tusk forward and he also slashes downwards instead of upwards.
Boot Kick: This is pretty much just like Jago’s Wind Kick, and I can completely understand if this move doesn’t return. However, because Tusk is an up-close melee rushdown fighter, he needs a move that propels him towards the opponent. So either this move should be replaced or be re-imagined to look different from Jago’s.
Skull Splitter: This kinda propels Tusk forward, dashing forward and slashing his blade into the ground. The Meter/Shadow version of this made him summon fire pillars from the ground, not sure if that is necessary in his new iteration, but would be cool if it did! And there was a Fake version of this as well, which could be good to trick the opponent into blocking, yet still making Tusk dash forward, enclosing that space.
Back Stab: Works a bit like Sabrewulf’s cross-up mov where he spins around the opponent and slices the opponent in the back. A really good move, imo, and I hope it will return.
Conqueror: This is his uppercut where he spins backwards with his sword in an upwards slash, and ends in smashing the opponent down into the ground again if doing a Heavy version. This MUST return! One way or the other. Awesome anti-air, hits multiple times and the last smash could work as a Recapture.
He’s not going to have the wind kick for a start. This makes sense, since he’s going to need to find a way in, instead of having a free full-screener.
He did have a few other dash-across-the-screen moves too, and these I believe will be changed a bit, so they are only used mid to short range.
Will the shadow DP hammer the opponent back down for a bounce juggle or a recapture?
What else will be changed or new about him?
Will he have some elemental control or maybe power buff due to an element?
One big consideration: Will he be given the Skyrim trope and use “Dah” as a thume? I suppose it would be a Dune trope, since the Fremen used weaponised voice how long ago now? 1980 was when the movie was made, but…
I think his Skull Splitter will vary in how far his dash will go, and maybe the Shadow version will have the fire pillars, as in him dashing forward and slash down once, and then 4 fire pillars shoot up - a bit like Orchid’s Shadow Ichi.
I can also imagine only the Shadow version of Conquerer will have the final smash which could be a Recapture.
And no, he shouldn’t have a dash that switches side. He has the Back Stab move which does that. And that’s already Sabrewulf’s schtick.
I picture the backstab being a normal for some weird reason. Remember Chun’s SF2T normal where she flips over the opponent and knees them in the head? That’s how I picture it.
Not him humping over them, just dashing past like in KI2, but I deffo think it’ll probably be a normal.
Would the skullsplitter be unblockable just like Orchid’s fully charged Ichi?
Huh, that could be an idea for the Back Stab move, definitely.
As for the Shadow Skull Splitter… Hmm, I dunno, maybe that would be too OP. Maybe just do good chip-damage.
Oh yeah, this would be neat! Then he could cash in on it afterwards… maybe if the fire pillars have some kind of stun effect so he could follow up with a combo or something…
Oh, you want a man wielding a two-handed greatsword to also be a wrestling grappler?
I… would personally not want him to be a grappler. Maybe like, as you said, Siegfried and Nightmare who can stab their swords through the opponent and lift them up like that, but I wouldn’t want Tusk to make German Suplexes or Spinning Pile Drivers though.
Well Alex is a grappler, what I meant by Alex is part of his story into Tusk. I mean you know Alex’s story on how he wants revenge on Gill? Plus some of his design.
He gained a rivalry with Ryu. Perhaps Tusk will have a rivalry with Jago?
