Scorpion is fairly simple to play due to the amount of zoning and keepaway moves he has that will keep opponents on their toes. Due to the amount of variations and moves you can make for each character, we will focus only on Scorpion’s Tournament variations: Deathly Sting and Hellish Inferno. For the first half we’ll look at Scorpion’s Deathly Sting variation then we’ll look at Hellish Inferno’s moves.
Legend
Front Punch = FP
Back Punch = BP
Front Kick = BP
Back Kick = BK
Important Basic Attacks
Gut Slice (Back + FP) – it’s a long-ranged sword slice that does a mid-hit. With it’s long-range you can set yourself up for some easy combo potential if you use Hell Port right after.
Rising Cut (Back + BP) – A Two-Slice attack with a surprisingly long range that starts with a mid-hit and ends with an overhead. It’s a great mix-up if an opponent is crouching and is blocking hits. Also it makes for a great anti-air if they’re jumping towards you. Additionally, you can cancel after the first hit into any special move such as Hell Port and Spear to start off a Kombo.
Flip Kick (Back + FK) – An overhead kick that with a slow start-up, but jumps over low hits. Ideally an opponent who is attacking low will be vulnerable to this.
Special Moves
Hell Port (Down, Back, FK) – With Hell Port Scorpion teleports behind the opponent and does a quick hit. When Amplified, it does an extra hit that will send opponents flying in the air, meaning that they’re vulnerable to a quick Front Kick. You can also get away with doing a Rising Cut or activating a Fatal Blow right after the Amplified hit.
Also with the Deathly Sting variation you can hold forward during a teleport to simply dash backward, giving you some space between you and your opponent. You can also hold down during a teleport to simply port in front of an opponent without doing the hit. It’s recommended that you do this if the opponent is blocking, as they might be ready for a counter-attacks.
Hell Port (Air) – It’s the same as Hell Port, but can be used in the middle of a jump. You can generally activate this any time in mid-air, but if you can get a quick jump-kick in before activating, you can guarantee that the opponent will be vulnerable if they didn’t block the kick.
Spear (Back, Forward, FP) – Yell at the opponent to get over here and you’ll grab them via chain, hit them and switch sides. It’s a fairly slow projectile, but the payback is that it gives you plenty of time to readjust yourself after the last hit. When Amplified it replaces the side-switch attack with a shove that makes the opponent vulnerable for another Kombo attack.
(Air) Demon Slam (Down+Grab) – It’s an air grab that does a large amount of damage when activated. You can grab an opponent who is jumping towards you for some surprise damage. Also you can combo into the grab if you do a swift kick in mid-air.
Important Kombo Attacks
Haunted (Back, FP, BK, FP) – a 4-hit Kombo that starts with a mid-hit, two low-hits, and ends with another mid. The recovery time after this attack can be punishable, but the range in which you can start this Kombo can be beneficial if you need to get close.
Dark Soul (BP, FP, BP) – a quick two-hit combo with the final punch hitting mid. The final hit is what you’re going for if you want to trick opponents who rush too much. If they’re blocking, try to stop after the second hit as an opponent can easily hit you after blocking the first two strikes. It’s also a great move if the opponent decides to use slow attacks to hit you here. Also the move’s Krushing Blow can be activated at the end of a Kombo with 8 or more hits. This means it makes for a great Kombo-ender for massive damage.
Soulless (Forward, BK, BP, FK) – Scorpion’s only Kombo attack string that starts with a Low Attack. This is a great mix up as it goes from low-hit, overhead, then medium-hit. Unfortunately it can be predictable since it’s Scorpion’s only low-hit-starting Kombo so try to stop if the player blocks the second hit.
Hellish Inferno Variation
Wrath (BP, FP, BP+BK) – Wrath is a Kombo attack that starts with a high hit, to mid hit, and ends with a grab that puts the opponent in front of you. This is another Kombo-ending move that can be used right after an amplified Hell Port after taking a step forward. Also It can also easily be used after an amplified Spear.
Hack And Slash (Forward, FK, BP) – a 3-hit kombo move that goes from mid, overhead, and low. On its own, it makes for a decent mix-up with that overhead hit but you can’t combo off of it as your recovery time is a bit low. You can however cancel from the second hit to any of your special moves such as Spear and Hell Port. You can also use the move after an amplified Spear Throw, which works as a great combo-ender.
New Specials
Death Spin (Down, Forward, BK) – Scorpion spins his spears around doing 4 mid hits that knock the opponent back. This is an important move to the Hellish Inferno Variations as it serves as a great zoning move against opponents as it has a decent range and covers plenty of ground. Amplifying this moves increase the attack to 6 mid hits. Ideally this move can be used at the end of a Kombo string to add more damage while making space between you and the opponent. For Example; you can Kombo from an Amplified Hell Port to an Amplified Death Spin for a Kombo that will keep the opponent in the air and knock them back
Burning Spear (Down, Back, BK) – This move adds a fire buff to Scorpion’s Spear attacks, ideally in this variation it can be used in conjunction to any combos that involve attacks using Scorpion’s Spear. For ideal activation, do a combo that ends with a knockback such as Falling Ashes (Forward, FK, BK) then quickly end with a Burning Spear to gain the buff.
When the move is amplified, it emits a burst energy that deals a Mid-Hit from Scorpion at a very short range. You can end The Damned (FP, FP) with this attack as it doesn’t push back, additionally if the opponent is pushed into a corner, you can end a combo with this move amped for extra damage.
Scorpion Kombos
Typical Kombo setups for Scorpion involve continuing off of a two-hit Kombo with an Amplified Hell Port, then you can do a quick hit that will lead into an Amplified Spear and you can do basically whatever. The Amplified spear will allow players to do more damaging Kombo attacks such as Dark Soul or Soulless.
A simple Kombo you can do as Scorpion involves a simple The Damned (FP, FP), to Amplified Hell Port (Down, Back, FP), FK, to Amplified Spear (Back, Forward, FP), then Dark Soul (BP, FP, BP). If done correctly this will activate Dark Soul’s Krushing Blow dealing massive damage.
Additionally, you can replace The Damned (FP, FP) with any other two-hit moves such as Eternal Vengeance (Back+FP, BK) which uses the first two hits of The Haunted (Back+FP, BK, FP), Banished (BP, FK) as it does slightly more damage than The Damned or Inner Demon (Forward+BK, BP) since it does the most damage and the Low to Overhead hit will mix-up opponents with the first two hits.
You can also replace the Front Kick with a quick The Damned (FP, FP) or Banished (BP, FP) but you will have to move forward a or else you will straight up miss.
Scorpion is also capable in chaining two Spears or two Hell Ports in a single Kombo.
For example; a Kombo with two Spears would involve The Damned (FP, FP), Amplified Spear (Back, Forward, FP), The Damned again (FP, FP), another Amplified Spear (Back, Forward, FP) and end with Dark Soul (BP, FP, BP) . If you have the Hellish Inferno Variation you can also replace Dark Soul with Death Spin (Down, Forward, BK), Hack and Slash (Forward, FK, BP), and Wrath (BP, FP, FP+BP). These moves can deal increased fire damage while Burning Spear (Down, Back, BK) is activated.
A Kombo with Two Teleports will involve Banished (BP, FP), to Amplified Hell Port (Down, Back, FK), Front Kick, Amplified Hell Port again (Down, Back, FK) and, end with Falling Ashes (Forward, FK, BK). This will also do a large amount of damage while pushing the opponent back. Also with Hellish Inferno you can also end this Kombo with either a Death Spin to push them back, or just use Spear to end it with some space in between you two.
With these tips and combos I hope that you have a better understanding of Scorpion’s playstyle.
