Pleasure's Eliza Guide

PleasureCutWind · Jan 14, 2017

Hey everyone!

I’ve noticed that we don’t have a general Eliza guide, so with the help of @TheLivingMeyMey and @fenster I decided to make one. I'm not claiming to be the best Eliza or anything, I just want to share what I know about her. Keep in mind that some things said in this here are my opinions, so feel free to disagree. That being said, please limit replies to this thread to improving this guide through discussion and suggestions. If something belongs in another thread, I probably won't include it here (aside from OC). I am not perfect, so if I made a mistake please do point it out so we can make this guide better. (Credit for the hitbox images goes to @Stuff, I stole them from his thread :v)

Note that this guide will be updated as time goes on, especially if there's something to add or something that needs to be fixed.

"/" = "or"
"()" = optional move depending on situation, or important notes about something
> = next move
iad = instant air dash (upforward>forward or upforward>pp)
j.* = jumping move
cr.* = crouching move
st.* = standing move
qcf.* = quarter circle forward
qcb.* = quarter circle forward
adc = air dash cancel
jc = jump cancel
tk = tiger knee

Edit(1/26/17): I updated "Reset" section, fixed a few typos, and finally included add a reset video for reference to most things listed there.

Frame data: http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Skullgirls/Eliza

It can hit up to 3 times in succession. Even though it’s your fastest normal, its not a good poke in most situations because it can be low profiled and goes over some crouching characters (its only faster than st.lk, cr.lp, and cr.lk by 1 frame). Doesn’t have too much utility in neutral, but is better for towards the end some combos to add a bit of damage once scaling is maxed. I highly discourage it, but you can sometimes stuff your opponent’s iad>overhead because of its speed and hitbox; if you’re feeling lucky, you can try to give that Filia some of that mash-lp tech and it might beat the iad>lk :v (or you’ll eat the counterhit like a dumbdumb)

Really good anti-air, and is a good tool for some setups for resets; it’s also jump cancelable on hit, so you can do some fun combos/resets with that. If you successfully anti-air with it, you can cancel into Dive of Horus to get an easy conversion. Like most of Eliza’s big normals, it’s also a hurtbox after its active frames end, so be careful throwing it out. It’ll give a lot of characters an easy target to hit (bella’s j.hp vs st.mp = ded)

Can hit up to 3 times, and the last hit is an overhead. The last hit of these rekkas will send your opponent upforward, but only the first time you use it in a combo. This means you can start a combo into HP x3 in the corner and get more damage at the end of the combo. It’s slow and leaves you vulnerable, so it’s main use is in combos. The 1st and 3rd swings’ hurtbox are completely disjointed, meaning you can do some weird burst baits without getting hit from the burst. You can also karra/whiff cancel its startup for spacing. For example, kara Dive of Horus can keep you from whiffing Horus on Squigly if you're too up close.

Pause video before closing tab

Decent as a poke in neutral, but cr.lk or cr.lp are better pokes with identical startup. The only thing that makes it better than other pokes its 50 damage (st.lk does 325 vs cr.lk’s 275) and its disjointed hitbox , which you can see below . Still, it hits mid and has short range, so cr.lk is still better. It’s mostly just used in combos to link after a l.spiral. If you need to punish something with a fast move, use this move to start the combo if you want 50 more damage.

Not much to say about this one. Can hit twice (separating the first hits and the last) and pushes you opponent on block or hit, so don’t use it outside of a combo (easy to pbgc against). Note that the last hit will knock your opponent away if they’re in the air, pretty much always messing up your combo (basically only use the last hit if the opponent is grounded). You do, however, want to use it in combos once you have max scaling to add extra damage. I substitute it in place or cr.mk in the corner after scaling is maxed.

Hits up to 2 times, but the 2nd hit causes an untechable, sliding knockdown (if otg wasn’t used). Some people use it as part of their combo, but the hard knockdown is its main utility (remember that it’s special cancellable, so you can cancel into taunt for free!). If you want some oki, just end your combo with this move. If you notice, the startup of this move cause you to move forward, meaning you can do karra setups with this for some dank yomi.

Hits up to 2 times and leaves you frame positive on block for both hits. It’s good for poking, tick throwing, and frame trapping, but has the same startup and frame advantage on block as cr.lk. Cr.lk hits low, making it a better poke, so you would only use cr.lp instead because it can hit twice (making it easier to hitconfirm too). I’ve found it useful in combos to get restands in the corner when your opponent might be too high in the air after an air string.

Hits up to 2 times, but the 2nd hit is a projectile (and bella can reflect it :v). Hits low only for the first hit (which also vacuums a bit), but it is a very good frame trap and can catch people trying to pushblock/pbgc. Of course, you can confirm into st.hp/cr.hp/st.hk(and technically cr.hk, but don’t be a silly willy) and get a combo off it. Note that it’s also more ideal to poke with cr.lk>cr.mp(1-2) rather than cr.lk>cr.mk because it’s less negative on block (-6f compared to -12f). It also connects faster than cr.mk at max distance because it reaches full length the first frame its active.

Hits twice and is jump cancelable on the 2nd hit, which also launches your opponent. This will be your launcher in most of your combos, and can help you set up a few resets. Keep in mind that the 1st hit vacuums, which makes it better than st.hp in most situations if you get a hitconfirm from far away. Sometimes if I get a happy bday midscreen, I use this instead of st.hp and cancel the first hit before l/h.spiral to make sure the assist doesn’t fall out (this vacuums them in).

Low-hitting, far-reaching combo starter that will be your best poke, anti-chicken block move, and tick thow tool (+3 on block). This is the move you should be sticking out if you want to get any combo started, cancelling into either cr.mk or cr.mp depending on the situation. The fact that it’s +3 makes it good for baiting a low block, then going for a grab or an iad j.lk>j.hp

Hits twice (regardless of when it connects), both hits are low, it stays active for 16 frames, and it moves you forward. Most people start their combo with cr.lk>cr.mk because of these properties, and the pressure it applies. It’s a good otg tool because it has half the startup frames of cr.hk(12f vs 24f), making it useful when cr.hk is too slow for confirms. Also does 50 more damage than crmp(both hits).

Your ticket in when fighting a zoner, but it comes with a price. It has hyper armor against projectiles and it’s also a sweep that moves you forward, so you can glide through peacock’s projectiles, for example. BUT, it’s a risky move in almost any situation. Only the active frames of cr.hk have armor, meaning you can get counterhit on the 24f of startup by anything. You can cancel it into any special, so it’s possible to kara into Dive of Horus, upperkhat, etc to close the gap. Regardless, if you commit to using it as a movement option, you’ll always be vulnerable to non-projectiles while approaching AND if you don’t cancel into a special or if you whiff the special, you’ll just be asking for an easy punish. Moral of the story, use it when you need to in neutral, but be smart about it or you might regret it. That being said, it should definitely be used when needed.

In combos, it’s a great otg that can cancel into h.upperkhat to convert into an air string. If used early in a combo, you’ll get a lot of damage off it because scaling will be lower, of course. If you do use it as an otg (which is the ideal way to use it in a combo), MAKE SURE YOUR OPPONENT IS ON THE GROUND FIRST. You’ll never be able to convert cr.hk>h.upperkhat(or any followup) if it’s not a true otg; this also applies to raw cr.hk which can't be comboed off of.

A very important tool for neutral. It has 18 frames of duration, a disjointed hitbox (can stuff Gregor of course ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), and it shrinks your hurtbox. It’s what you should use if you want to stop an airdash short for the sake of movement. More importantly, it's your best air-to-air at the cost of limited its conversion potential. You're more likely to win an air-to-air with this compared to j.lk. Aside from neutral, it’s also a great reset tool for crossunder setups and certain air strings because it gatling into j.lk.

Only active 3 frames, so its not that great of an air poke if not timed correctly. You can use it to confirm off of an iad j.lk and it’ll make you fall faster than j.hp, making it a little better at applying pressure (but doesn’t hit on crossup). Even trickier, you can iad j.lk and whiff a crossup j.mp, letting you sneak in a fast cr.lk from the other side (I found this out by accident by being bad). There are better ways to do this by fast-falling with jhk, but it is an option. Besides that, it’s just combo filler. Best used to confirm off a j.lk air-to-air.

The one, the only, J.HP! This move is why a lot of people hate Eliza, and why you should love her. It has crazy reach and a great amount of hitstun and blockstun, letting you get in easier and confirm overheads from seemingly too far away. If you hit your opponent in the air, you’ll knock them back and won’t be able to confirm midscreen; basically, don’t use it as a raw air-to-air. Also, watch them little fingers because you can get hit wherever they appear as shown in the picture.

Arguably her best tool for opening someone up. Hits at her feet, crosses up, and comes out really fast, so you’ll be using iad j.lk a lot. You can confirm into j.hp (and j.mp or j.mk), to cofirm into a combo. Because it’s so fast and doesn’t hit your opponent away, it’s actually a great air-to-air too (you can confirm j.lk into j.mp > combo).

This air normal has crazy reach, and a lot of active frames (12f). Like her other big normals, be careful sticking this move out too much, it’s an equally big hurtbox. You can bully the hell anyone who’s in range of it though, especially if you j.mk>adc>j.mk (only do this occasionally, or you'll be an easy target for anti-airs). You can confirm into hp.sekhmet in some situations(like a midscreen grab) to let you confirm in the air from far away. J.mk is what you’ll use for your basic resets, which are also your strongest. Low altitude jmk is an amazing reset tool into a high/low/grab in any combo, something every Eliza player should know.

I think it’s a situational move, I rarely use it in neutral outside of certain matchups. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use it, just remember that it’s slow and j.mk is usually better(it does have better range than j.mk though). If you do land a hit, you’ll be able to dash in a bit but you’re opponent will still be able to groundtech away from you (unless close to the corner, in which case you can get a combo). You can adc right when it hits to make it safer, making it good for burst baits when ips is triggered in the corner. Also, if you’re close enough to the corner, you can (and should) use it to convert off a grab easily without using sekhmet (grab>h.upperkhat>j.hk>adc>whiff grab>otg>etc).

Ground (lp+lk):
Her grounded grab's range is above average to say the least, probably only shorter than Big Band's, I may be wrong. Dashing into this grab is the Skullgirls equivalent of Command Pro, so don't take it lightly. You can dash>grab from j.mk resets or preemptively when you expect an assist to be called in neutral(risky but effective). Comboing off this grab is unique. Midscreen, you need to do grab>h.upperkhat>j.mk>j.qcb+hp>otg>etc, or if close to the corner you have to do grab>h.upperkhat>j.hk>adc>whiff j.grab>otg>etc. There are various combos you can do off grab in the corner, look in the combo section for the one I use.

Air Grab (j.lp+lk):
This grab also has really good reach and brings you really close to the corner in most cases. Although it's possible to combo off it on the way down after the wallstick, I'd recommend just using your otg. Also, if you use your otg make sure you do a followup combo that doesn't use one otherwise it will drop.

Eliza’s only meterless reversal; hits 3 times with lp, 2 times with mp, and once with hp (all at different ranges). It’s strike invincible from frame 1 until it’s active(only the 1st frame it’s active), but you can get grabbed easily during its 17 frame startup. It seems like a good reversal, but it’s really only useful as one if you get a hard read(outside of pbgc). Keep in mind that the first hit of lp.upperkhat only hits up to Eliza’s elbow, so it usually whiffs on airborne characters and it doesn’t autocorrect if you get crossed up (two more reasons why it’s not that great of a reversal). The recovery is also painfully long, so don’t think you can get away with failing to land the hit. If you don’t land it with the first hit of lp/mp upperkhat, after the first hit, don’t try to hit with the remaining pillars. Your opponent will most likely be expecting you to do this, and by not doing it, you might be able to get away with whiffing it. Your opponent will be hesitant to punish in anticipation of the followup hit(s), and the recovery frames will be longer.

Its best use defensively is to pbgc into it and confirm accordingly. This is more practical than mashing it on defensive because it’ll catch your opponent while they’re throwing out attacks. For combos, it’s can be an alternative to cr.hp as a launcher. If it hits your opponent or your opponent’s assist, it will become jump cancelable on the last hit as long as it doesn’t get blocked on the last hit. This lets you jump cancel it into other special moves like Dive of Horus, which is useful in some combos. For example, optimized combos usually use upperkhat>jump cancel>Horus somewhere. I've found jump canceling upperkhat useful in my A-Train corner combo to gain more meter by whiffing an extra l.spiral (dp>jc.l.spiral). Note that each pillar is technically a projectile.

Keep in mind that if it connects with armor on the last hit, it will still be jump cancellable. This is important in neutral against characters like Big Band who might rely on brass knuckles. For example, you can hit brass knucles’s armor with upperkhat and hold upback to instantly block (not so great against A-train obviously).

Note that it’s fairly difficult for most characters to punish a blocked h.upperkhat. It’s still not the best idea to rely on it, but it can be useful as long as you don’t whiff it. I’ll mention all of this again in the “Neutral” section.

Eliza snaps her finger and Albus or Horus will dash across the stage pushing the Throne of Isis. This chair can be destroyed if any normal or non-projectile hit connects with it. While it can’t be destroyed by projectiles, it also can’t destroy projectiles making it both good and bad against zoners depending how you use it. Usually used as a tool against zoners, in oki, and sometimes after blockstrings if you're being cheeky. Against some matchups, certain characters (or even players) may be forced to respect the chair, which results in Eliza being able to apply pressure. However, you must note that the Throne has a really unsafe startup which certain characters can mash out of free. It’s long startup is compensated with it being frame positive on block, with said frame advantage varying on where you are relative to the end of the screen behind you. Note that Throne does a nice amount of damage, and is used towards the beginning of some optimized combos for less scaled damage. It’s not all that practical in most combos because of it’s long startup, but if you can make it work you’ll be the cool kid on the block.

Eliza snaps her fingers and summons Horus from the top of the screen. Horus is an overhead projectile that descends diagonally from above Eliza. On hit, Horus causes a ground bounce relative to how high he hits the opponent. Once the opponent makes contact with the ground again, they are subjected to an otg conversion, usually cr.hk>h.upperkhat. You can choose whether or not to use otg if you convert in the air before your opponent lands on the ground (after the bounce). On descent, Horus can body-block any single hit before leaving the stage. Horus is mostly used in optimized combos and anti-air conversions, including of s.mp of course. I advise NOT to use Horus in predictable blockstrings unless your opponent does not expect you to use Horus. If you do plan on using him in a blockstring, you have to practice being unpredictable by calling him early. Horus in blockstrings can be easily beaten by mashing (reversal or a quick normal) and armor. When Eliza is up close to the enemy Horus is actually negative, which forces you to block if they block Horus (most likely you'll get punished though). The enemy can also dash up grab, and render the Birdman useless. The best defense against Horus is land-canceling his blockstun, making it noticeably more punishable; this is possible on reaction if you chickenblock as soon as Horus comes out. By all means, you may utilize him as a frametrap, stagger pressure tool, or in a blockstring ender. However, you must know the risk you’re taking. If you’re too used to using Horus at the end of a blockstring, try substituting l.spiral in if you want to be safe. You’ll be -2f and they can pushblock you easily, but it’s a much safer option (free chip damage ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪).

Eliza taps her scythe on the ground twice to summon Albus from the ground underneath wherever the opponent is. Albus proceeds to grab the opponent and slides them across the ground towards Eliza. Keep in mind that your opponent has to jump or dash to avoid getting grabbed, unlike in previous patches when they could walk out of its range. Albus is considered a command grab and causes a sliding knockdown if landed. Eliza can proceed to either use OTG or set up for oki. You should always take the otg conversion in my opinion because it leads into your resets anyway, instead of not taking the damage and relying on your oki mixup to succeed. However, if Eliza is hit before Albus grabs, Albus’s grab won’t come out because you didn’t bring him any pineapple pizza. While slow, it can be useful in matches where the opponent is playing keepaway while doing obvious zoning patterns. The more distracted you’re opponent is, the more likely it will land. For example, M/H.A-Train assist keeps them from jumping and makes them focus on Big Band; while they try to work around the assist, they’re more likely to get snatched by WoA. Rule of thumb, the more stuff on the screen, the more likely you can pull this move off. It is also used in some resets/pressure strings if the opponent is consistently down-backing.

Eliza spins her Scythe around her, revealing a bit of Sekhmet. Multi-hit special series that are used in combos. Deal a really good amount of chip. Note: You cannot loop l.spiral more than twice. If you try, your opponent will recover faster than usual and you won’t be able to link a lp or lk. Interestingly enough, I’m sure there’s some reset potential to that at the cost of being predictable (if someone knows you can’t combo after the 2nd spiral).

L.Spiral (214LK/QCB+lk): Eliza spins her Scythe around, hitting twice. Usually used in every combo, but also used for resets and ending blockstrings. On hit, l.spiral is +11 and on block it is -2. Be careful on block, for you are still negative. If the opponent knows this and reacts with a fast button you can get counterhit. However, if your opponent fails to press a fast button or misses the window, you can usually get the counterhit. Ideally you shouldn’t try to press a button after l.spiral, but you can get away with it more often than I’d like to admit.

M.Spiral (214MK/QCB+mk): Eliza spins her Scythe around, revealing a bit more of Sekhmet. Hits four times and is +6 on hit and on block it is -5. To be frank, there really no use for this move. If you want a better reset setup, use l.spiral. If you want more damage, use h.spiral.

H.Spiral (214MK/QCB+hk): Eliza spins her Scythe around, revealing Sekhmet’s upper torso, hitting eight times. -1 on hit and -9 on block. Used as a finisher in combos and an assist. Notice how high the last hit sends your opponent. This can sometimes make Lady of Slaughter miss in the corner after the last hit, so you might want to cancel into LoS before the last hit if you’re worried this might happen. The last hit needs to land if you want Our Lady of Slaughter to hit both characters during a happy birthday. Even if you do it correctly, they could still fall out depending on the assist you're hitting. Be sure to look at how amazing its hitbox is; this along with its long active frames is why it’s such a good assist. Really unsafe on block, so avoid using it in blockstrings. It does a stupid amount of chip damage though, which can give you chip kills if you can force your opponent to block it when they’re almost dead (it’s hard for them to pushblock you away due to the multiple hits, so they have to pbgc into an invincible move to counter it). For example, you can snap in a low health character and do a left-right 50/50 on incoming with this move. It’ll either hit or kill with chip damage, but it can be beaten out by air blockbusters.

Eliza can transform into Sekhmet, the parasite skeleton inside her. When you turn into the spooky skeleton you’ll have unlimited hyper armor, meaning that you’ll never take normal hitstun from hits/combos (but each time you get hit your movement will pause a bit, kinda like when big band parries). The price you pay for that is that you can’t block, you still take (reduced)damage from hits you absorb, you passively use dramatic tension (if you run out of meter, you’ll be forced in back into your body), you drain more tension for every attack you use, and can get snapped back into your body into a free combo. On top of that, getting hit by grabs and hitgrabs will send you back into your body (and of course, can’t be blocked).
So what’s so good about Sekhmet then? There are multiple resets that you can do with her, you can go through a lot of moves using your armor (including blockbusters). Sekhmet also gives more combo potential/damage, and lets you convert off things you might not be able to otherwise (such as midscreen grabs). You can also cheese most people out by doing your low attack into carpenter’s axe, or just catching someone trying to grab you while you’re airborne with Carpenter's Axe.

https://twitter.com/x/status/801562200468955137

Think of Sekhmet as an extra moveset rather than another character. She 3 ground normals, 3 air normals, and 1 command normal (only one that hits low). There are 6 ways of summoning sekhmet which all count as special moves, so you can cancel normals into them.

Return to body after summon: qcb/214+lp/mp/hp/lk/mk/hk
You can cancel into body return on any grounded hit.

-first 2 hits: -10 on block, last hit: -17 on block
-can hit between 1-3 times depending on how many times your press lp/lk
-drain more meter per swing
-if you want to back off or return to your body, try doing two light hits to trick your opponent into anticipating followup attacks while you retreat

- (-10f on block)
-Always hits multiple times unless cancelled into hp/hk early
-As an assist: useful because its hyper armor beats out almost everything, but wastes a ton of meter and kills your damage potential because of scaling (making it not worth using in some cases). It’s utility as an assist is debatable and can be better or worse based on your team or your opponent’s team, but the fact that you always get pressure or a combo from it connecting weighs out its faults. For example, a peacock is probably better off using h.spiral as a barrier for zoning because it accomplishes the same thing while not using meter. Filia, however, might find it more useful to use butcher’s blade because it lunges out to force a block midscreen. In addition, the hyper armor makes it hard to contest because pbgc’s will most likely lose to butcher’s blade (meaning they have to hold those high-low mixups). A battery character like Filia can afford to spend the meter needed to run this assist as well. In the end, it purely comes down to preference.

Grounded(qcb/214+hp or hp/hk as Sekhmet):
-Hyper-armored, aerial overhead ♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
-Tricky assist because it’s an hyper-armored overhead(yes I said it twice), and is usually more useful as a reset tool rather than lockdown. It has lockdown potential, but it’s only one hit even though it’s an armored overhead, so if they block it then you wasted meter on one hit. Don’t get me wrong, just like butcher’s blade it has its place and can be really scary with the right team or setups. Basically, it’s good but somewhat predictable without the right yomi or usage.

Airborne(j.qcb/j.214+mp or j.mp/j.mk as Sekhmet)
-visually the same as hp/hk(on the ground) but starts in the air
-if you want a delayed overhead, do a low altitude j.mp/j.mk summon near the end of an air string
-you can cancel into hp/hk (because you land the ground) for the double axeroni, but you should get punished for sure if you commit to it and it gets blocked. There’s not much you can do to protect yourself if this gets blocked, so your options are: delay/don’t delay the st.hp/hk, or back off if you think they won’t contest in anticipation of the hp/hk (you can then unsummoning or go for a low>axe mixup if you succeed with making them block)

-1 hit lunge attack, has a slight delay to it making it ambiguous at times.
-can be used to convert off of a far-reaching j.mk into j.mp/j.mk or j.hp/j.hk(<-sekhmet moves). It’s hitstun is small and will sometimes not connect with followup air normals unless you do the right conversion. I use this move for a meaty chip setup into j.hp/j.hk.

-most useful of all sekhmet’s moves because it lets you convert of grabs and a few other situations (pretty much just grab and awkward combos). It also has a huge hitbox.
-wallbounces no matter where it hits, so you can’t convert/combo from it if you’re too close to the corner
-can be used to contest the air in neutral, and is rather safe it it’s blocked at max range. Matchups where you have trouble with air-to-airs can be made easier with a well timed (j.lp/./lk>)j.hp/j.hk.

-visually the same as j.lp/j.lk with similar startup
-only sekhmet move that HITS LOW ˙ ͜ʟ˙
-can't be comboed/gatlinged into, but can gatling to medium or heavy hits
-works well as a sudden low if already out of your body because everyone tries to chickenblock sekhmet (down+lp/lk>hp/hk is the best option from here). If you ever accidentally summon Sekhmet and can't return safely, using this 2 hit mixup is very effective

For one bar of drama/meter, Eliza reels back before sending Sekhmet out at the opponent. This move is a hitgrab and deals a decent amount of damage, with the last hit always doing 800 unscaled damage. Once finished Sekhmet remains outside of the Sarcophagus, meaning you must manually input (or drain all your meter) in order to become Eliza again. On block it is really negative and can easily lead into a snap/grab punish against you. On whiff you remain as Sekhmet. Only use this move as a finisher, never as a reversal. It has an extremely vulnerable startup window so using it as a reversal is really risky and unlikely to work (unless you a busta). The only time you’d use it otherwise is to get a super hard read on an armored move (including another sekhmet, they can't block hitgrabs remember?). Unfortunately, this blockbuster tends to drop happy birthdays sometimes, so make sure to end with the last hit of h.spiral if you don’t want this to happen.

For one bar of drama/meter, Eliza displays blood wings, before descending upon the opponent. Also a hitgrab, like LoS. On hit it sends the opponent high into the air before slamming the opponent into the ground, causing an untechable hard knockdown on the last hit. On whiff and block it is negative as hell so use this as a counter to things with armour (if you’re real) or as a combo ender when undizzy is full in the air. Can lead into oki setups, so it can be useful at times if you’re one of THOSE Elizas. ˙ ͜ʟ˙
Note that it’s really fun to crhp>tk.Nekhbet, it’ll never whiff no matter how low you do it. This is actually useful if you can kill a character with this move rather than LoS because it gives less meter (similar to how robos end with that magnet blockbuster thingy).

For three bars of drama/meter, Eliza turns into a scarab and carries the opponent across the screen (from corner to ~midscreen.) Used as a reversal/mash tool or a combo finisher at the end of a combo. Just like upperkhat, it's best used in a pbgc if you want it as a reversal. Really negative on wiff/block so remember to only use it if you're confident it'll hit. Does a very reasonable amount of damage, even after being nerfed.

It’s best attribute is the corner carry it provides, combined with the fact that it easily carries assists if they get caught by it too. You will need to preserve your otg if you want to combo off it, which is possible anywhere on the screen (as shown in the combo section). If you’re close enough to the corner, you can cash in your level 3 early in the combo and convert into a corner combo ending in Lady of Slaughter for about at least 10k damage(4 bars) without an assist or sekhmet.

Snapback (qcf/236+[mp+mk]/[hp+hk]): reaches far, but has a little dead zone underneath it, so make sure you catch the bounce timing if you want the otg snapback. Other than that, it's just a snapback

Raw Tag ([mp+mk]/[hp+hk] as assist):
Kinda like bella's, but a seems a little slower and definitely more punishable. Hits mid, not high. Only use as a hard read, but still not recommended.

Eliza is a high/low monster with amazing grab range (especially with dash momentum). She’s just a little slower than Filia or Fortune, making up for it with better range on her normals. The more deceptive or less predictable you are, the more likely you are to break down your opponent’s defenses. Because of this, getting comfortable with her air mobility is a must. You should feel like you’re swimming in the air.

Eliza’s greatest strength is her range combined with her speed. The way I would describe her is a slower Filia with better neutral (I think I heard SonicFox say the same thing once, but don’t quote me on that because I’m probably wrong). You could be half a screen away and air dash in out of nowhere with a iad->j.mk. Not to mention that your upperkhat gives you the ability to punish whiffed moves at a greater distance than most characters.

This is where the real magic happens. Get good at using these approaches as tools to open your opponent up like a can of pineapple.

From here you’ll want to use cr.lk->cr.mp(1-2) to poke. If you feel the need to cancel into something, you can cancel to either Dive of Horus(somewhat risky) or light spiral (Throne of Isis or Weight of Anubis if you a crazy busta). You can end your blockstring with st.hp/cr.hp, but you’ll end up being more vulnerable when you get pushblocked. It also makes it easier for your opponent to pbgc. This is pretty much all you’ll do to if you want to hit with a low.

To hit high, you have a few options. The most effective of these is the classic instant air dash (iad) j.lk>j.hp. If you delay the j.lk a bit, the j.hp will crossup, so shoot for that if you can. You can also go with the slower iad j.hp where you delay the j.hp so that it will cross up for sure. Last option is good ol Dive of Horus. If you noticed earlier, I explained how Horus is a risky blockstring ender. So here’s a family secret, if you see that your cr.lk>etc blockstring isn’t working, you can cancel into Horus early because everyone expects Horus to come out later and won’t see it coming. It’s extremely hard to see coming if you do something like cr.lk>(cr.mp>)Horus without delay.

To keep yourself from becoming less predictable, you want to practice using stagger pressure to mess with your opponent. In other words, hide your true intentions by being less direct with your high-low mixups. For example, if i want to land an overhead you can do a quick cr.lk before an iad j.lk>j.hp. This is the same idea behind tick throws, where you do a quick lp/cr.lp/cr.lk to get your opponent to block (whether or not it hits) with the intention to land the grab. In this case, the cr.lk makes them block low so that you can land and overhead. This can also be done with neutral jump j.hp>j.hk-fastfall>cr.lk, neutral jump j.hp>j.hk-fastfall adc>j.lk>cr.lk, or iad j.lk, neutral jump j.hp adc>j.lk>j.hp.

Something really important to Eliza is hitconfirms. You HAVE TO be able to recognize whether you landed a hit or 2-3 hits/pokes (maybe 4), and this is something worth practicing in training mode (just set the training dummy to block randomly). If it takes you 4 or more hits to confirm, you’ll either get pushblocked away, pbgc’d free, or punished if you have a habit of doing Horus to end a block string. For example, iad j.lk>j.hp>cr.lk should be a basic pressure tool that you should be able to hitconfirm off of. This could be the difference between getting pushblocked away and turning a blocked cr.lk into a tick throw/overhead attempt.

This distance is what I would define as being close enough to connect with an iad j.mk. When midrange from your opponent, you want to be looking for a good chance to start applying pressure or fish for a hit. However, if you go full unga-unga you’ll be more predictable than a one-sided coin. If you don’t believe me, just try to fight a good double and see how many times you’ll eat an h.lugar shot. Remember that j.mk’s great range also extends your hurtbox, so just be careful if you choose to use it. If you’d rather play it safer, get a little closer and do iad j.lk instead. If your opponent is in the air, you can meet them with an airdash>j.lp; if you don’t get hit, you’ll be in the perfect spot to start your high-low game (whether or not the j.lp hits or gets blocked)

You can also just ground dash in and cancel the dash with a cr.lk, it’s faster than you think and cr.lk reaches pretty far. You have to be almost close range to do this though, but this tends to catch people off guard or make them act more defensively, which is exactly what you want. Just, again, please make smart decisions when going in. I play Eliza very aggressively, but I still try to look for the right time to turn on the switch.

There are a few more tools you have at your disposal that you should consider. Dive of Horus can smack almost any approaching character that isn’t blocking low or in the air, but it’s definitely a riskier option because of its recovery, especially if it whiffs. It can be used as an anti-air or to fish for a hit when your opponent is just out of range of cr.lk. The only reason you would want to use Dive of Horus as an anti-air rather than st.mp is if st.mp wouldn’t hit high enough, because st.mp is faster. If Horus does hit, you have all the time in the world to confirm.

The other move you’d want to use is H.Upperkhat due to its crazy disjointed hitbox and other properties. For the most part, it’s difficult for a lot of characters to punish it on block. At the same time, it’s super negative on whiff so make sure you’re confident that it’ll at least connect if not hit. Against armor, it’s extremely useful because even if it gets absorbed by armor, you can still jump cancel it and block right out of jumping. For example, you could use to to pressure a Big Band and not get hit by brass knuckles. You could also use it to anti-air cymbal clash and j.lk.

The last thing to note is the usefulness of sekhmet normals in neutral. Certain matchups are very difficult without sekhmet, mostly against painwheel and beowolf. They have air moves that you can’t trade with due to armor or hitboxes. What you can do is throw out heavy sekhmet call in the air when you suspect they’re doing something other than blocking. Even if you tank hits, you’ll almost never lose the trade unless you get beat out by a hitgrab (a very possible reaction from a good painwheel player). If they do end up blocking the hit, it’s really difficult to punish sekhmet j.hp on block and you probably won’t get punished.

Eliza is an aggressive, rushdown character and doesn’t gain anything from being this far away. The only time you should find yourself here is if you need to take a breather to figure out how to get in, or you’re baiting out an assist to get in while it’s on cooldown. All you can really do here is attempt a Weight of Anubis to keep them on their toes (which you can combo off of) or throw out a Throne of Isis. Both of these options are painfully slow and aren’t likely to work unless there’s a ton of confetti flying everywhere to distract your opponent. If you find yourself this far away, try to at least get in midrange as soon as you can do so safely. You can karra in with cr.hk>a special, but be careful.

Reversals:

When getting attacked, you can pbgc upperkhat (almost always light or medium, but sometimes heavy depending on spacing). If done properly it is almost sure to lead to a combo unless your opponent has armor, invincibility, or an assist that’ll punish you. Outside of pbgc, upperkhat is a huge risk even though it’s your only reversal besides Khepri Sun. Only use it if you’re sure you’re opponent is going to go high or low in front of you. It’ll most likely whiff on crossup attempts, in which case you’re screwed.

Your strongest reversal is obviously Kehpri Sun. It’s as risky as it is rewarding because you can convert anywhere and get a lot of happy birthdays if an assist is out(the invlunerable startup and multihit is hard for an assist to beat). Take time to learn Kehpri Sun conversions, it could be the difference between winning and losing a game. Best used out of pbgc’s.

Not really a reversal, but if you want to poke defensively, use cr.lp into a delayed 2nd cr.lp. Do this only if you feel the need to press a button when upclose to your opponent to see if you can ease off some pressure. It’s rare that you would do this, but it does occasionally come in handy if you want to risk getting counterhit.

I've said all this before, but it's all you really need to know.

Dealing with Projectiles:

The projectiles you’ll have to learn to deal with are from peacock’s items, robofortune’s beams, double’s lugar, and fukua’s fireballs. Any other projectile is easy to deal with if you deal with these.

Peacock: Surprisingly one of the best tools to use against peacock is Weight of Anubis. Think about it, as long as you don’t get hit on startup and peacock is throwing out items, it’ll hit; at the very worst you’ll get a sliding hard knockdown if it hits while you get hit by an item or George. This of course won’t work if you’re already blocking a zoning pattern, but if you can find a window to use it, then you could get a free combo. The other obvious tool is cr.hk because you can go through everything and cancel into upperkhat. You just have to consider the startup frames and that you’ll probably get punished if your approach gets blocked.

Robofortune: This matchup is trickier than the peacock one, mostly because Weight of Anubis is a bad idea. Beams come out too fast to get a Weight of Anubis or cr.hk started in time unless done strategically. In addition, robo likes to be in the air for beams and getaway j.hk making your usual options even worse. Honestly, you just have to inch your way in by jumping forward while holding backwards to block beams (which you should pushblock to avoid getting pushed back). There will be a time when robo will try to approach you when you get close enough. That’s when you should consider air grabs and raw-horus anti-airs.

Double: Lugar shot is always annoying and acts as a great anti-air against moves like j.mk. Don’t use cr.hk because you’re not likely to get anything out of it. Just like robo, don’t try to hard to counter it, just work around it.

Fukua: Same thing as double, except you have the added grace of seeing when she can throw a fireball or not. Fireball recovery is when you should use your airdashes to close the gap. Just be careful of shadows, especially m.shadow because it’ll beat cr.hk.

All of these combos except for the midscreen bnb are ones I've created myself (if not, then that's pure coincidence); I also tried to make a combo for every non-character specific situation I could think of. My goal in creating these combos was maintaining practicality without sacrificing damage. In other words, almost everything you'll find here is universal and will help you in real matches. I'm sure there are combos out there that can do a little more damage in the same situations, but these combos are reliable once you get them down and practice the timing on different characters. There are no difficult links, at the most there are jump cancel I encourage you to look at the Eliza combo thread to see what other combos are out there.

You don't need to memorize all of these combos. In most cases you can just convert into your bnb one you get a familiar string started (be careful not to trigger ips though). These are just more optimal combos/conversions for different scenarios, and can simply serve as a reference for what you might want to do. I usually just start a conversion as I see fit, then make up the rest up until I get to a reset point or end the combo.

General Combo Tips

st.hp to st.hp can be delayed without dropping your combo. You should get in the habit of delaying between the first two hits because it makes followup l.spiral>lp/lk easier, and sometimes keeps assists from falling out of happy bday combos
For the basic air string j.mp>j.hp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>j.hp, your opponent should always restand. This is something you'll definitely need to practice for all characters, otherwise your combo could drop. Yeah, you can get away with not doing it for most cases, but i garuntee you that it'll eventually make you drop a combo and all the cool kids will laugh at you.
Same air string: j.mp>j.hp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>j.hp will not work after cr.hp on double or robo unless otg was just used. This also happens with upperkhat against the same two characters
st.mk and cr.mk are interchangeable in the corner. Remember to only use st.mk if your opponent is grounded. The best way to make sure they land is to do cr.lp>delayed cr.lp>st.mk if possible in the combo. If you are every unsure about your opponent not restanding, just use cr.mk instead
The motion to "jump cancel"(jc) upperkhat into a special is upperkhat>jc>special. Upperkhat jc into Horus can be done with a "tiger knee"(tk) motion: 8236(normal jc) or 12369(tk). TK feels more fluid for gamepad and stick players, but it's really just preference
To convert off st.mp>Horus, just continue from the same point in the midscreen bnb

I made one video with every combo to avoid uploading a bunch of separate ones. Each tab has the notation and links to where the combo starts in the video. (there were audio sync issues I couldn't fix, so I left out the original sound)
Full Video:

cr.lk>cr.mk/cr.mp(1-2)>cr.hp>Horus
dash>cr.hk>h.upperkhat>jump
j.mp>j.hp>adc(slight pause)>j.lk.>j.mp>j.hp
cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>l.spiral>st.lk>cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.lk>cr.mk/cr.mp(1-2)>st.hp(x3)>Horus>
cr.hk>h.upperkhat>
j.mp>j.hp>adc>j.lk.>j.mk>j.hp
cr.mk>st.hp(x3)>l.spiral>st.lk>st.mk(2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.lk>cr.mpk/cr.mp(1-2)>st.hp(x3)>h.upperkhat>
j.hk>adc(slight pause)>j.hp>j.hk>
st.hp(x3)>l.upperkhat(x3)>tk>Horus
cr.mk(before they touch ground)>st.hp(x3)>l.spiral>cr.lp(x2)>st.mk(x2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.lk>cr.mk/cr.mp(1-2)>st.hp(x3)>h.upperkhat>
j.hk>adc(slight pause)>j.hp>j.hk>j.qcb.mp>hp/hk(sekhmet)>body return
cr.mk(before they touch ground)>st.hp(x3)>l.upperkhat(x3)>tk.Horus
cr.lp(x2)>st.mk(x2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.mk>st.hp(x3)>Horus>(slight pause)st.hp(x3)>l.upperkhat(x3)>
j.hk>adc(slight pause)>j.lk>j.mp>j.hp
cr.lp(x2, delayed between hits)>st.mk(x2)>st.hp(x3)>l.spiral>
st.lk>st.mk(x2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.mk>st.hp(x3)>(slight pause)l.upperkhat(x3)>tk>Horus>
neutral jump(slight pause before depending on character)>j.qcb.mp>hp/hp(sekhmet)>return to body
cr.mk(before they touch ground)>st.hp(x3)>l.upperkhat(x3)>
j.mp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.lp(x2, delayed between hits)>l.spiral>st.lk>st.mk(x2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

grab>h.upperkhat>jc>j.mk>j.qcb.hp>
return to body>cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>l.upperkhat(x3)>
j.mp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
st.lk>cr.mk>l.spiral>cr.lp(1-2)>cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.mk>cr.hp>Horus>
dash>cr.mk(before they touch ground)>st.hp(x2)>l.upperkhat(3x)>
j.mk>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.lp(1-2)>cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>l.spiral>st.lk>cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

grab>h.upperkhat>jc>j.hk>adc>whiff air grab>
cr.mk>st.hp(x3)>Horus>
m.upperkhat(x2)>j.mp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.lp(1-2)>st.mk(2)>l.spiral>st.lk>st.mk(2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

To fit in a Lady of Slaughter at the end, you need to have 4.5 meter before Khepri Sun. If you don't and can't kill, then you have to go for a reset at some point.

Khepri Sun>m.upperkhat(x2)>j.mk>j.qcb.hp>
mp/mk(sehkmet)>hp/hk(sehkmet)>return to body>
cr.mk(before they touch ground)>cr.hp>
j.mp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.lp(2)>cr.mk>st.hp(2)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

Can also be done from a raw Khepri Sun, does less damage of course.
Read the "Extra Info" because you can do this from midscreen if you crossup Khepri Sun after Horus
Needs 3.5 meter before the combo to have enough for at the end LoS

cr.lk>cr.mk/cr.mp(1-2)>cr.hp>Horus>
dash>st.mp>Khepri Sun>
cr.mk>st.hp(x3)>l.upperkhat(x3)/m.upperkhat(x2)>
j.mp>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.lp(2)>st.mk(2)>st.hp(x3)>l.spiral>
st.lk>st.mk(2)>st.hp(x3)>h.spiral>Lady of Slaughter

cr.lk>cr.mk>st.hp(x2)>l.upperkhat(x3)> [this first string can be anything into cr.hp or upperkhat, this is just an example]
j.mk>adc>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.mp(1)>m.upperkhat(x2)>
j.lp>j.lk>j.mp>
cr.mk>m.upperkhat(x2)>j.hk>adc>whiff air grab>snapback

anything into cr.hp>
st.lp(1)>cr.mk>cr.hp>repeat

This section only has the resets that I use. Many of these resets are already known, so I apologize if I don’t give credit to their creators (I’m not going to hunt down every existing reset video). This is also for the sake of adding information to previously known resets.
None of these will be using assists. If you want to see more resets or resets with assists, there is a whole thread dedicated to resets and setups here: http://skullheart.com/index.php?threads/eliza-setups-and-tech-thread.3627/. I highly recommend you look at that thread, there's likely to be useful information in there that you won’t find here. I will update this section if I feel the need to.

You can really just open people up by doing the following iad options below. These setups are useful, but your best option is to pressure with ambiguous attack strings. I honestly win games just with the following “j.lk>j.hp” variations from simple resets, so don't underestimate them. This is my original idea for the reset compendium:

Any iad “j.lk>j.hp” reset option can be substituted with the following for trickier approaches:

iad>

j.lk>cr.lk
j.lk>j.hk(fastfall)>cr.lk (can crossup)
j.lk>j.hp>j.hk(fastfall)>cr.lk
j.lk>land>neutral jump j.hp>adc>j.lk>j.hp (first j.lk is for the sake of tricking someone into blocking low in anticipation of a cr.lk)
j.lk>whiff j.mp on crossup>cr.lk (this one can usually only be done on shorter characters, but it’s basically the same as j.lk>j.hk(fastfall)>cr.lk)

UNIVERSAL MIDSCREEN RESETS

j.mp>j.hp>adc>j.lk>j.mk (can be done after any launcher or air confirm, such as cr.hp) [fundamental reset]

j.hp>adc>j.lk>j.hp
iad>j.lk>j.hp
cr.lk>cr.mp(1-2)
cr.mp(1-2)
Rejump airgrab

cr.hp/upperkhat>j.hp>adc>air grab

Not my favorite reset because it’s predictable for two reasons. 1: a lot of people use it so it’s easy to tech against once you see her air dash animation, 2: if you commit to this reset, there is no 50/50; you will either land a grab or they’ll tech it. You’ve already used your airdash, so your only option is to grab or throw out a move that will get YOU grabbed from the opponent’s attempt to tech a grab they were expecting. Use this one sparingly or just when you’re deep in your opponent’s head)

cr.hp/upperkhat>j.lp>adc>air grab (harder to do but way more effective)

The same as the previous one but way faster and more effective. Your opponent will have an extremely small window to react, meaning it'll be harder to tech the grab or mash a reversal.

cr.hp>j.lp>falling j.lk (very delayed, hits on the way down)

a basic vortex that can go a long way, but loses to reversals so don't get predictable with it
can cross up or not depending on how you time j.lp rising
ridiculous reset potential with adc>j.lk>j.hp added to the end

cr.hp>adc>j.lk(falling)

st.mp>st.hk(1)>Weight of Anubis (credit to @Midiman because I saw this from him once)

cr.hp>

l.sehkmet call>lp/lk(1)>hp/hk>return call
m.sehkmet call>hp/hk>return call
delayed j.grab
cr.mp(1-2)

Both sehkmet calls cross under and use about the same meter. The difference between light and medium calls is the light one is harder to see because you duck under the opponent off-screen. However, it's a little slower than the medium variation. It's really just preference, but medium is probably better because your opponent has less time to try and double jump out of the setup.

cr.hp/upperkhat>iad>j.lp>land> (this vortex will always lose to any mashing)

cr.lk>cr.mk(1-2) (basic crossunder reset, prevents chickenblocking)
iad>j.lk>j.hp
neutral jump>j.hp>adc>j.lk>j.hp
grab(better as a tick throw with cr.lk/cr.lp before)
cr.lp(1-2)>cr.mk/cr.mp(1-2) (crossunder reset that doesn’t hit low, but is easier to hitconfirm off of and can hit sooner)
st.mp>Horus (riskier than previous, but better damage on followup combo. also very punishable and probably the worst option in this vortex)

UNIVERSAL CORNER RESETS

Just do the same high/low/grab mixups like from j.mk reset simple points, it's really that simple (tick setups are the best here, don't underestimate them)
Low altitude j.qcb.mp>hp/hk on the way down from an air string

CHARACTER SPECIFIC MIDSCREEN RESETS

st.mp>h.sehkmet call>return

works on everyone but Big Band and Beo
May have to space yourself away from your opponent before st.mp against characters like squigly and her skinny ass (hurtbox ˙ ͜ʟ˙)

cr.hp>h.sehkmet call>return (only works on beo or band, pretty impossible to block against unless your opponent knows this specific reset)

otg cr.hk>h.upperkhat>j.mk>adc>j.lk>j.mp>st.mp>Horus (hits on the other side, but only if done correctly. Only works on small lights like Filia, really strict timing. Input Horus facing forward even though he goes in the other direction)

Ground Burst:

(any combo that used j.lk after stage 2) >restand>upback rising j.lk>backwards iad j.lk [burst]
(any combo that used j.lk after stage 2) >st.mp>backwards iad j.lk>j.mp/j.mk [burst]

Air Burst:

(any combo that used st.lp/cr.lp after stage 1) >cr.hp>j.lp>j.lk>j.mp>j.mk>st.lp[burst]>cr.mp (dodge burst)> [punish]st.mp>Horus

Air Green Burst:

cr.hp(at full undizzy)> iad lp: punish with st.mp>Horus
cr.hp(at full undizzy)>j.hk>adc backwards>whiff grab: punish with st.mp>Horus or h.upperkhat (in or near corner)

Holding backwards block while dashing will make you block autoblock non-low hits during your dash; a very useful tool against zoners. This works for some other characters too fyi.
I mentioned it briefly, but using j.hk to fastfall is an amazing tool that I rarely see anyone use (if ever). In some situations it doesn’t give you much frame advantage, but in many cases it causes not only deceptive mixups, but also frame traps to bait/punish bad pushblocks.
When controlling space in the air, you can throw a move out and adc either forward or backwards into j.lp/j.lk to avoid exposing you hurtbox during recovery frames. Can only be done when if you haven’t used your airdash of course
During your resets when you expect a reversal or any button press, you can attempt to mess up their input timing by adding a st.lp/cr.lp at the end or your combo (or after the combo ends for tick throws/frametraps). This is mainly used right after an air string, and works with or without a restand. For example, I use this method to mess up charge timings when I expect a Parasol to pillar when they land. Works best with throws, but you should go low/high as well.
You don’t need to do cr.lk after confirming off iad j.lk>j.hp. There’s enough hitstun to combo into a cr.mp/cr.mk as long as you’re decending and not too high off the ground. This’ll make your combos do more damage (and can save a little undizzy?). Getting in the habit of doing this is very important imo, and also a perfect example of what I mentioned earlier about confirming off 2-3 hits
You can always choose which way to do Khepri Sun after Horus. If you want to go behind you, dash under your opponent as soon as you can, then input Khepri Sun facing forward and it will come out backwards before they hit the ground.
On opponent's incoming, you can do st.mp>Horus and if timed right, could be an ambiguous 50/50 crossup
The family secret: If you ever use Our Lady of Slaughter and it leaves them with a pixel in the corner, (as sekhmet) do a meaty j.lp/j.lk>j.hp/j.hk to chip them out. There’s almost nothing you can do against this setup due to the air crossup

TheLivingMeyMey · Feb 1, 2017

Well done Pleasure! Glad I could help in the early phases of the guide.

(buy his book)

Dhoppler · Feb 11, 2017

I'm so down for this. Thanks for the guide.

uimreggie · Feb 27, 2017

I can actually play this character now, Not just air dash l.k and pray.

Dagwood · Feb 27, 2017

Here are some dumb eliza crossups (Most of these weren't discovered by me, but yeah):

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Pleasure's Eliza Guide

PleasureCutWind

Nice And Pleasureful

TheLivingMeyMey

Mey

Dhoppler

Forsaken by grains. Hated by the food industry.

uimreggie

I sold my soul to Eliza

Dagwood

Well-Known Member