Break Cancel

When breaking Kragg’s rock it is recognised as a static object for the duration of hitpause and for 1-2 frames afterwards. This happens regardless of whether it is grounded or airborne, however a rock that is broken in midair takes 1 extra frame to begin breaking and change to a static state, preventing you from being able to interact with it under normal circumstances. As a result, break cancelling is only possible on grounded rocks, as you are able to stand on them while breaking them to remove the ground beneath you, and by doing so cancelling the remainder of the move.

Kragg has two aerials which he can use to break cancel with, and three grounded attacks which will automatically break cancel anytime Kragg is standing on top of the rock. Let’s take a look at how to perform each of these and how they look in action.

Aerials Copied to clipboard

Aerial break cancels are performed immediately after throwing a rock downwards from a grounded position. By timing an aerial after the rock throw it is possible to land on the rock on the same frame that you break it. Although you do not appear to become grounded in this situation, your character registers as grounded on the 2nd frame of the 10 frames of hitpause. Once the shards have spawned you will become airborne again in an actionable state one frame later.

Nair 1 Copied to clipboard

By buffering a fastfall after the throw and then immediately using Neutral Air you can land on the rock with the first hit of Nair to achieve the most well-known form of break cancelling. The inputs for this can be strict, especially if you want to buffer a double jump to move with the shards for a potential followup, so practice using your right stick to throw the rock downwards so you can quickly input the fastfall and reset the left stick to the neutral position before inputting your Nair. The Nair 1 break cancel will only work if you begin the Nair and queue the fastfall on the first actionable frame after the throw, so this will require some practice to get consistently. The angle that the shards spawn at are strong for air coverage, with possible followups against opponents with poor DI and even some uses in your recovery to free up the ledge. The Nair 1 break cancel is by far the most commonly used of the options listed here, and inarguably the most useful to learn.

Nair 2 Copied to clipboard

You can also break cancel using the 2nd hitbox from Nair, however there is no method of buffering the inputs to consistently perform it from a rock down throw. The easiest method known for the Nair 2 break cancel gives you only a two frame window to land on the rock. This is achieved by once again buffering your Nair for the first actionable frame after the throw and then timing the input for your fastfall either 4 or 5 frames later. This positions you on the rock for the break cancel with Nair 2, which will spawn the rock shards to travel in a more vertical angle than Nair 1 to cover a different aerial space. Due to the 2 frame execution barrier on this one it is currently not commonly seen in competitive play.

Down Air Copied to clipboard

From a rock down throw you can use Dair for a much more simple form of break cancelling. Input the aerial as quickly as possible and do not fastfall to land on the rock on the first active frame of the attack, which causes the rock shards to travel directly downwards as you cancel out of the move. This is mostly used for a fast and non-committal way to launch shards downwards at a recovering opponent.

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Grounded attacks with a hitbox that extends low enough to hit and break rock provide another method of break cancelling which doesn’t require timed setup from down throw.

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Down Tilt sends shards at a slightly shallower angle than Nair 1. This can be an easy way to get a similar effect to Nair 1 break cancel without the tighter timing that it requires.

Spacing the Dtilt to reverse the shards can be a tricky way to catch an opponent off guard. This is most easily performed by cancelling jab into the Dtilt.

Down Special Copied to clipboard

Although the setup for this break cancel is a little different to the options we’ve discussed so far, it is also possible to break cancel using the first spike of Down Special while standing on the rock. Space yourself on top of either edge of the rock, spawning the spikes towards the opposite side so that the first spike is able to destroy the rock beneath your feet. After the 10 frames of hitpause you will be able to act from frame 28 of Down Special. While this is only slightly faster than the usual FAF of 32, as you are airborne you will be able to double jump immediately as opposed to being forced into jumpsquat on the ground. This results in some small benefit to using this break cancel, with some combo potential whenever your opponent is in range of the the third spike. One further advantage of this break cancel is that it allows you to use Down Special more freely in neutral, with the rock shards being used to dissuade or shut down any parry attempts on the reactable third spike.

Down Strong Copied to clipboard

Finally, Down Strong sends shards straight up.