General Strategy, Page 3
Ranged Options:
Storm has ranged options to cover a variety of situations, but her options themselves are quite limited and also linear. Storm’s options tend to shine for their oftentimes singular intended purpose and are not super flexible. Knowing the different situations that call for different ranged attacks is key to exposing Storm to as little risk as possible, but remember: not all situations that allow Storm to use a ranged option should force Storm to use a ranged option. Every time Storm uses a ranged attack, she is fully committing herself to that action and when situations are capable of changing or reversing quickly, Storm has relatively few outs to keep herself safe.
Storm’s primary ranged attack is Whirlwind. The damage, the chip and the incredible durability properties of this move make it largely uncontested as a projectile in a head-to-head firefight. The speed, linear motion and recovery frames, however, spin a different tale and should encourage caution when employing this move at any height. Proper use of different Whirlwind strengths and different Whirlwind heights is essential for optimizing use of this move. Whirlwind 
and :h: are your primary offensive tools, but you can use Whirlwind :l: to establish some mid-range spacing and to destroy projectiles that are close to you; if an opponent throws a projectile, Storm can fire Whirlwind :h: to destroy it and travel across the screen to hit the opponent, but if the opponent can recover before Whirlwind :h: reaches the other end of the screen, Storm is now at risk. Using a Whirlwind :l: in this situation can destroy the projectile without burdening Storm with heavy recovery frames for a projectile that wouldn’t hit the enemy anyway, keeping Storm safe and in the fight with less risk. When adjusting Storm’s Whirlwind height, keep the matchup in mind; if Storm is in a firefight with an opponent that has a low ground projectile, Storm can indeed fight with Whirlwind :h:, but instead of fighting the enemy on their terms, Storm can use Whirlwind at a height such that she can hover over the enemy’s projectile while throwing her own fullscreen projectile, effectively telling the opponent that they now have to change gears if they wish to fight Storm.
Double Typhoon is definitely not a go-to move by any means, but has some uses in Storm’s overall gameplan. Mostly a matchup dependent move, Double Typhoon is best used in conjunction with assists and camera tricks. By using an assist to make the opponent block, Storm can usually get enough time to fire off a Double Typhoon to deal some decent chip damage; aside from the chip damage, however, Storm is sending a message to the opponent that reads, “Don’t move.” Especially useful against characters who have low air mobility or can’t cancel their ground dashes, Double Typhoon is used less for damage and more for keeping an opponent in place (preferably away from Storm), where she can fire off her other ranged options to actually deal damage. Large characters or characters with low mobility will also find Double Typhoon frustrating if Storm lifts the camera such that the enemy isn’t visible anymore. By doing so (and in conjunction with an assist), Storm can make the opponent guess if the Double Typhoon will appear where they are currently or where they want to be (estimated based on their mobility options, of course) and low mobility characters will be hesitant to move forward knowing that blocking during movement is not an option that is as readily available to them as it is for other character types.
Lightning Sphere is where Storm’s ranged options get a little more complex. Storm can use tiger knees, Flight and air dashes to adjust the three basic angles from which she throws this projectile. This projectile has a plethora of uses, but its speed and size stop it from being an overwhelmingly convincing option. Best used when at a positional and situational advantage (that is, when your position on the screen doesn’t leave you incredibly vulnerable for the projectile’s duration and when you are not fighting through overwhelming pressure or through poor frame advantage), Lightning Sphere is the tool that will allow Storm to move forward behind it thanks in part to its durability and in part to its ability to negate pushblocking. Clever use of tiger knees, especially, will give Storm interesting anti-air and normal jump height options that do not carry the general risk that Whirlwind does while offering Storm more angles of attack.
Lightning Attack technically isn’t a projectile, but its ability to reach the other end of the screen and yield a full combo on hit, makes this a fantastic ranged option and serves as a situational mid- to full screen meterless whiff punish. You can use Lightning Attack as a punish primarily horizontally, but from mid-screen, diagonal Lightning Attacks can also punish well. Don’t forget to turn to safety if you can confirm that the opponent is blocking.
Elemental Rage is Storm’s metered anywhere punish (from the ground to just under normal jump height). This move is critical to Storm’s punishment game and primarily tells your opponent to be more cautious when near the ground. As long as Storm has meter, she can punish anything that is -8 or greater on block (the most popular example being Magneto’s EM Disruptor). While the meter spent and the damage dealt usually isn’t worth it if your opponent is persistently calling your bluff on whether you will use the move or not, if Storm has a teammate that grants a combo or the ability to raw tag from Elemental Rage’s spinning knockdown or wall bounce, then Storm can make it worth her while to commit to the punish.
Cross-Ups, Mixups and Setups:
By herself, Storm has zero crossups. The closest you’ll get is some wonky footwork using j., but that’s hardly reliable or consistent. Storm can, however, make use of assists in conjunction with her fantastic air dash to create faux cross-up opportunities on which she can capitalize. Storm can take this tactic to the next level by using slow assists or assists that are multi-hitting without being a true blockstring and perform several cross-up air dashes in a row to further confuse the enemy’s blocking.
While Storm does not have a standing overhead, she possesses a powerful mixup tool with Float. By canceling into Float from any jump-cancelable normal, Storm can perform overheads while still being close enough to the ground to perform empty Floats into low attacks and have the timing be similar enough for the two tactics to be ambiguous. Tridashing and Float are critical for opening up opposing players who are not afraid of j.:l:. Float is a strong mixup tactic for Storm and is made even better by the fact that most Float aerial attacks that you will perform for your overhead (j.:h: and j.:s:) give great starting proration to combos where a j.:l: or c.:l: would otherwise have scaled Storm’s already low damage down even further. Standard tridashing tactics apply to Storm’s mixup game, giving her high/low/throw options when in close proximity to the opponent.
Most of Storm’s setups involve convincing the opponent to block instead of risk moving out of the way of her attacks, granting her the advantage of some meter and some healthy chip damage. Storm does have some interesting full damage setup potential with Foul Wind and Lightning Sphere, however. Especially against incoming opponents, Storm can employ Foul Wind to yank the opponent past her and into a helpful assist with the hopes that the opponent, if they are blocking, would be blocking the wrong way after Storm crosses under the opponent. Lightning Sphere’s powerful anti-pushblock property also gives some interesting guard break setups. By using Lightning Sphere , Storm can convince an opponent to block the projectile while she moves forward and can then jump up and snatch the opponent with an air throw for a short combo–remember that on incoming, characters are usually immune to grabs until they perform an action, including blocking. By forcing the block and moving up to the opponent during blockstun, Storm can time her air throw to pick the opponent out of the air as soon as she is able to. If the opponent decides not to block, Lightning Sphere will yield a short combo by using j.:h: and j.:s: to bring the opponent to the ground.
Resets:
Storm is a very low damage character and also does not build very much meter in her combos. As such, it’s very difficult for Storm to always justify spending meter at the end of her combos for Hail Storm or Lightning Storm. Under these circumstances, resets become an enticing option for both conserving meter while taking a shot at more damage. Storm’s main reset tools are j.:l:, j. and s. and her main reset combo pickup tools are j.:s: and air throw.
The strength Storm has when it comes to resets is that because her combos almost always have hitstun pushed to the brink, she is capable of fitting in a reset attempt at almost point in a combo. Having many unpredictable “breakpoints” in a combo where resets can be employed keeps the opponent on edge and forces them to expend lots of energy focusing while they’re being comboed instead of letting them mentally prepare for when the combo is done; furthermore, the opponent has to be ready to guess at a moment’s notice AND they need to guess right or be tossed right back into another combo.
The weakness Storm brings to the reset game is that one of her main reset tools, j.:l:, requires precision timing and spacing to apply properly due to its small hitbox and low hitstun and that resets, in general, put Storm at significantly high risk, especially when the opponent has reversal assists available to them. If the opponent guesses right on your reset attempt and blocks your attack or evades your air throw, Storm has to quickly find a way to get to safety while avoiding the opponent’s mashed out reversal assist.
