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Red Hood Character Guide written by Crusty

Crusty

Crusty

Retired forever; don’t ask for games.

Index
  • Introduction
  • What is Red Hood?
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Normals and Strings
  • Dashes and MB Roll
  • Jump Normals
  • Specials
  • Trait: Electric Hammers
  • Ground Mine Utility
  • Zoning & Counter-zoning
  • Pressure
  • Chip Damage
  • Setup Theory
  • Combos
  • Useful Threads
  • FAQ
  • Other Stuff
Introduction

Red Hood, also known as Jason Todd. To play Red Hood, you must accept the fact he won't click with you right away, especially if you're a newer player. You're not going to get easy wins with Red Hood, he's a character that requires immense dedication, but it's very rewarding once you commit to him, because once he gets his momentum going, it's hard to stop him.

Red Hood is a character that has tools to contest with almost anyone in the game, an answer for everything, more or less. However, the downside is he lacks playstyle longevity and its very easy to lose with him if you resort to falling back on one particular playstyle, (i.e. become predictable, complacent, and not proactive). Everything he can do, someone else excels at it; he may do everything, but you gotta know how to do everything to get mileage with him. The purpose of this guide is to teach you what his tools are, his holes, and how to take advantage of them against the opponent.
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What is Red Hood?

Red Hood is, more or less, a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none character. This means his whole gameplan is different from character-to-character. He can zone and rushdown some, building meter and chipping out the opponent in the process, but he specializes at neither of those things and can't do them for long. However, the amount of control and advantage that he has over the match once you know how to use his ground mines allow you to get away with virtually anything; that is the true strength of this character.

To put differently, the better you are at using the mines, the better off you'll be playing Red Hood.
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Strengths
  • Great chip damage.
  • Great forward movement.
  • Good zoning and counter-zoning.
  • Good setups & oki.
  • Fast normals.
  • Decent rushdown and footsies.
  • Has some of the most diverse and versatile special moves in the game.
  • Has a low-profiling B3.
  • Gadget character.
Weaknesses
  • Mediocre damage (unless its the corner).
  • Terrible backward movement.
  • One of the worst d1s in the game (thanks NRS).
  • Heavily meter dependent.
  • Notable recovery on some of his special moves.
  • Must sacrifice damage to maintain momentum.
  • Has a hard time establishing respect.
  • Criminal whiffing issues.
  • Lack of combo potential after resets.
  • Useless air grab.
Normals and Strings
1 - 7 frame start-up at -2 on block, making it his fastest standing normal; however, it's a universal high and its range is pathetic so you're never going to use this by itself.

b1 - 9 frame start-up at -5 on block. It hits high, but it is a somewhat consistent anti-air against certain characters jump-ins. Works well when spaced correctly.

d1 - 6 frame start-up at -3 on block, making it his fastest move. It's one of the worst d1s in the game (like bottom 5 maybe bottom 1), but cons aside, it's rather serviceable when it needs to be. Amusingly it is a situational anti-air as well

2 - 9 frame start-up at -3 on block. It's a standing mid that has a hitbox behind as well, where his elbow is. It's a good stagger and recovers quickly. You're gonna be using this a lot up close.

b2 - 14 frame start-up at -6 on block. His slowest normal, but it is an advancing low that has great range and is only 20 frames of recovery on whiff. A decent stagger that you can cancel a good amount of stuff for different applications.

f2 - 9 frame start-up at -2 on block. An advancing high with good range. You can jail this after the opponent blocks a mine explosion and you can get away with it once in a while if they respect your mids. Can be cancelled into a bunch of stuff.

d2 - 9 frame start-up at -16 on block. It's an alright d2, not the best in the active frames department but not terrible. Doesn't cover behind his head and sucks on whiff, and best used on reaction. You can do d2 xx mine as an optimal but try not to use it middle of your combo unless it’s for swag as the scaling is very bad.

3 - 10 frame start-up and -5 on block. It's a standing mid and your best normal for going into his trait with, as well as his best normal for enforcing pressure with in general. Jails into a couple of things. Decent range and all around good.

b3 - 26 frame start-up and -4 on block. It's one of the best b3s in the game in terms of range. It low profiles just like Catwoman's (though not as many things) making it better at trip-guarding a lot of characters. Just be very careful spacing though as it's death on whiff and combined with how bad his backdash is, you can get punished for canceling it. You can mb it to add one hit of armor.

f3 - 28 frame start-up and neutral on block. Universal overhead. It has average range. There is this annoying side switch/whiffing problem during combos with mb close ground mine in the corner though, so its not the most consistent followup after it.

d3 - 11 frame start-up and -5 on block. It's a deceptively long sweep, though I wish it could be a bit faster to compliment his bad d1. You can combo off this with a mine under the opponent if you want swag points. Nothing else worth noting here.

11 - Hits mid and -11 on block. The first hit is a high but can be used for your fastest punish. It's got this uniqueness to it that causes him to jail his a lot of stuff off it for guaranteed chip. However, you're better off using f23 or b23 if you plan on doing that.

112 - Hits mid and -11 on block. The first hit is a high and this is a hard knockdown that can be special cancelled. However, since this moves suffers from terrible gravity scaling, you're better off using it outside of a combo to make good use of it. Stops delay wakeups, allowing an almost free htb. An alright string.

b13 - Hits mid and +2 on block. The first hit is a high and it's more of a combo ender than anything. There are ways of making it more plus (and it can go to +15 if done right) such as spacing it and using it on oki. However, since this move has a lot of pushback, followups are rather inconsistent and unreliable in most instances, making this a rather niche option. It's an okay string.

22 - Hits mid and -6 on block. It's a decent stagger and useful for continuing juggles but that is just about it. Very good for punishing a lot of moves.

223 - Hits mid and -7 on block. There is a gap between the 2 and 3 that you can backdash. You can use this as an ender for an ambiguous cross-up with his j3 since it is a hard knock-down. Useless for mine setups since it's not special cancellable but alright for pressure. Other than that, nothing special.

b23 - Hits mid and -5 on block. It knocks the opponent away and becomes full combo launcher in the corner. Great for catching people in neutral, especially if they love to just walk back. It also is decent for oki assuming the opponent doesn't tech roll it.

f23 - Hits overhead and -12 on block. A rather versatile string: it jails into a lot of stuff, decent for whiff punishing, a nice tool for a safe and short htb setup, etc. The first hit is a high but considering the ground mine explosion allows you to jail it, it's not the biggest problem in the world. It's death on whiff so don't be over-zealous using it.

f231 - Hits low and -6 on block. This string doesn't have a use. It doesn't provide a hard knockdown and cannot be special cancelled. Its only redeeming quality (if you want to call it that) is that it's decent for saving yourself from getting whiff punished if you got over-zealous with f23, as he ducks during recovery, has only marginally better recovery, and the last hit has deceptively long range

32 - Hits mid and -7 on block. A decent stagger but suffers from horrible whiffing issues against female characters. His most damaging punishing string.

323 - Hits mid and +2 on block. Has a gap between the 2 and 3 that you can backdash and armor. Good for starting pressure but since you’re not that plus, it’s not uncommon for people to disrespect you afterwards, making invoking respect difficult. It used to be his go to hard-knockdown but now it can be tech rolled and because of that, it has since lost its purpose. It’s a decent string.

Grab - Something that is a game changer if you establish a mindset. His grab has decent range sends the opponent full screen. It's worth noting that mb far lunge meaties after you land his back grab so it catches a lot of people off guard. A decent option to punish if you don't wish to expend resources, or simply don't have them.​

Dashes and MB Roll

Forward Dash - While it does have only average distance, taking four to close in from full screen, his forward dash recovers very quickly as you're able to machine gun it very easily.

MB Roll - His MB Roll is an offensive-oriented one and closes the gap easily. You can use lunge in place of this if you really want the invincibility at the cost of not being able to attack the opponent.

Back Dash - While it does make him travel away, the recovery is a garbage. On top of that, he doesn't get away quick enough against certain attacks despite having universal frame 1 invincibility. Use carefully as Fatal Drop is marginally better.

Here are videos of his movement



Jump Normals
For those new to the game, universally all jump attacks in Injustice 2 are mid on the way up and overhead on the way down. Red Hood's jumps are as follows.

J1 - 5 frame startup. Has pathetic range but it's great for air-to-airs. Hitting someone with this in the air makes their hurtbox float a bit at a 45 degree angle. Can be trip-guarded very easily so be careful with it.

J2 - 10 frame startup. It has below average range but the active frames are deceptively large. Jails into almost all of his normals after a jump in.

J3 - 11 frame startup. It has average range and it is his most damaging jump in. Also, it's his only air normal that can cross up. Situationally good for air-to-airs because of his jump arc. Knocks down


J1 and J2 have different properties than J3 when they land. While J1 and J2 say they are unsafe, if you 'cancel' them into a string after you land them, your string will come out, even if you do it on block. If you wait for the J1/J2 to land then do your string, it will come out late and you'll get punished. As soon as you see the J1 or J2 collide with the opponent, immediately do your next string without hesitation. The full string will come out, but there will be situations where you can still get punished but those are few and far between.

Red Hood's j2 is the greatest in terms of his cancel advantage as I was able to jail most of his strings on reversal Fists of Flurry. His j1 can jail stuff too but it's much better for air-to-airs than jumping in.

On the other hand, J3s cannot be cancelled neither on block or hit. If you try to use the approach where you do J1/J2 in the air and input the string, even if you haven't landed, they will come out for J1/J2 but not J3. Doing so will only allow the first input to come out.

This is not exclusive to Red Hood, all characters jumps work like that.
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Specials


Ground Mine (bf1) - Easily his best move, has four different distances. Really versatile: jails into your highs, good for zoning/counter-zoning, allows decent setups and, since the explosion from it grants a lot of blockstun, it allows for decent rushdown. Stays on the screen for a couple seconds before exploding and establishes a good degree of control, both real and artificial, as you recover as soon as it hits the floor. Doesn't travel fullscreen. I'll talk more about this below.

MB Ground Mine - His only combo starter at the cost of a bar. It explodes immediately upon landing, and it's +1 on block. Almost all other properties carry over from the regular ground mine. Scales a lot for a launcher, and can make your f3 whiff in the corner in certain instances should you followup with it.

Spin Parry (db1) - One of the slowest parries in the game at 8 frames. Parries mids, overheads and highs normally, and lows by pressing down after the regular input. Knocks the opponent away after it lands, and has a lot of active frames - and consequently recovery. However, it's one of the worst parries in the game as you're not gonna use this intentionally in most instances due to its startup and recovery. If you get an input error and get this, the opponent has all day to whiff punish you.

Spin Parry MB - Has all the properties of the regular parry, but sends the opponent full screen to establish zoning. Can be used for unclashable damage, but that's it. You're better off saving the bar unless it kills, tbqh.

Gotham Stars (bf2) - A decent high projectile with alright recovery. It jails after a mine explosion for decent meter-build and off certain strings.

MB Gotham Stars - Throws three more stars, one high and two mid if you're close, after the initial one. Useless for zoning, but carries the jailing off strings part from the regular version for good chip damage.

Up Gotham Stars (db2) - An anti-air version of the original. Similar to Batman's up batarang, only not as great in the recovery department and it moves him backward slightly. Can be used on a read and decent against certain characters as he ducks during recovery.

MB Up Gotham Stars - Throws three more stars after the first one just like the regular version. His go-to combo extender in the corner. While being plus is a nonfactor, its whiff recovery is almost nonexistent as you can move as soon as he throws the last star. Allows for a full b3 followup at the correct range midscreen.

Akimbo Blaze (db2 in air) - Multi-hitting projectiles that hit overhead. It has almost no travel time and does decent chip damage. While it is unsafe on block and whiff, the move is safer depending on the distance and height, as well as where it hits the opponent. Requires precision though so almost not worth attempting unless you know you won't get punished for it. Good for zoning and counter-zoning.

Akimbo Blaze MB - Fires a few more shots after the regular version, with the last hit being a mid. It knocks the opponent down on hit and does a great mount of chip. Good for htbs and end-game scenarios. It's consistently less than -20 at lower heights and requires less precision. Watch video below for visual.


Fatal Drop (db3) - A 1 frame back dive that is his only invincible wakeup. It is only marginally better than his terrible backdash, doesn't damage the opponent, has like 60 frames of recovery, and is only semi-invincible. However, it's one of the better midscreen wakeups when used diligently, able to get away against certain characters oki midscreen, but it is completely garbage in the corner. My only problem is how offensively slow the retreat speed is, allowing Red Hood to be hit out of it before he even starts retreating. As a wakeup, it could be worse though.

MB Fatal Drop - Fires six high shots as he retreats. It can still be stuffed if the opponent expects it though, and you waste a bar of meter at the expense of waking up and putting yourself in a position you don't want to be sometimes. Jails off certain strings for chip.

Lethal Lunge (df3) - A fast 9 frame tackle - easily a scrub's worst enemy and something any character has to watch out for when within its range. Unsafe on block and whiff, it becomes safer if the opponent blocks a ground mine afterwards. Can go under projectiles when timed and spaced correctly. Not invincible but decent for waking up with since its fast.

MB Lethal Lunge (Far) - Fires two mid hitting shots as he closes the distance. While the frame data says -9, that's assuming you are closer and hit the mb button late. It's actual advantage depends on how far you are and when you press the MB during the animation, being safe at the furthest and earliest of those, respectively. This also allows it to jail strings on hit since that changes too depending on the distance and delay; you can jail b2 from fullscreen if you time it correctly. Watch video below for visual.


MB Lethal Lunge (Close) - Fires three overhead gunshots after the lunge collides with the opponent. Does ~4% and pretty much unpunishable on block. A necessary evil to establish respect in neutral along with mines.

Vendetta Slam (d + grab in air) - An air grab that serves no purpose. Easily the most useless move he has. You can't meter burn it, unlike other air grabs. You can end combos with it but that is it; use it if you want to sacrifice practicality for swag.

Super - Gotham's Outlaw - 15 frame startup, requires 4 bars of meter, and does 34-38% by itself depending on the character. Can do more damage if you press 3 during every hit and less if the opponent presses 3 on every hit. Has universal super armor, hits mid, moves him backwards, and +5 on block. Don't use it unless it kills.

Moves highlighted in light red are your main wakeups. It's important to know you can always change your wakeup timings with delay, tech roll or simply wakeup backdash. In other words, it's not wise to wakeup blindly; change up your timing and options to keep the opponent guessing.​

Trait: Electric Hammers
Before I explain the trait itself, it's worth mentioning that it is one of the weakest traits in the game with cons far outweighing the pros. It doesn't have much depth to it, doesn't provide much mileage by itself, and as a trait has almost nothing going for it in a vacuum. If Red Hood is using his trait constantly, he is going to get hilariously outgrinded.

To make effective use of his trait, treat it as only a minor asset to his up-close meta, not something his meta revolves around. Mix it up with all your other options, especially when your opponent expects something else.

Red Hood's trait is a stance that gives him two options. Put simply, it is a high-risk, low-reward mixup with decent chip damage; can be used as a combo extender.

Press 4 to enter the stance. Press 2 afterwards to fire a fast 10 frame invisible gunshot.
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Contrary to popular belief, the gunshot isn't that good - it has notable recovery on whiff and is negative on block and hit. While it does compliment his other zoning tools, it doesn't build meter on whiff, only block and hit. Jails after a blocked mine explosion.

Pressing 3 instead starts his trait string. The full string is 4 332, starts with an 11 frame mid that is -10, -8 and -13 on block on the first, second and third hits, respectively. The string is gapless and it has the following enders.

4 332 d2 - a low gunshot that is -11 on block. It comes out at 14 frames and only marginally better than 332 u2 in hit advantage. Mix this up with the overhead.

4 332 u2 - an overhead slam that is -13 on block; comes out in 16 frames. It's more unsafe than the low option but due to the tremendous pushback and odd blockstun, not everyone can punish it. Go for this most of the time.

4 332 grab - a high command grab that is 21 frames. It's his most damaging meterless ender but also the most punishable as it's full combo punishable on whiff. Okay to sneak in on occasion but don't use it unless it's on a punish and/or need a side switch, or if you like being risky.

4 332 grab mb - you can spend a bar to restand the opponent, and be +20 on hit at sweep distance. Real talk: for a large assortment of reasons, don't use this move, it's borderline useless and not worth spending the bar unless it's a closeout. It's viability ranges from stage dependent to borderline useless, so save your bar.

4 332 mb - hits the opponent few more times and is -1 on block. Does good chip damage. There is a gap between the last two hits that can be backdashed or supered so just be mindful of that. If you don't want to commit to the mix, this is your best option if you have the bar.
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Lastly, you can press 1 after 4 to cancel the stance. It's good for throwing the opponent off if they expect you to do something afterwards. It's only a gimmick as it only recovers very quick, and cancelling it isn't plus, so try not to do this, at least often.

It's also important to know, that strings cancelled into trait have gaps in them, which can be read right here.​
Ground Mine Utility

The core to all aspects of Red Hood's gameplan is his Ground Mine, and warrants its own section. The use of mines is what makes or breaks a Red Hood player. Since it has different distances, it goes without saying that it has different applications and meta at each of those distances.

The frame data for the mine is a bit tricky. It acts independently from him when it hits the floor, stays there for a couple seconds before exploding. The explosion has a fixed but large amount of block stun, at least 28 frames worth of it through some empirical testing as I was able to jail a F3 afterward the explosion while attempting to get out a 6 frame normal.

In fact, the mine is so great that all of his highs will jail regardless if the opponent is blocking low or not. This includes high projectiles and normals. Not to mention his mine doesn't go away on hit.

This means up-close Red Hood can cancel into ground mine during pressure. While that is very unsafe to do, if the opponent doesn't react quick enough or at all, they'll get clipped and if they block it, free pressure. Against smarter players, you have to study your opponents patterns and punish their attempted escape from the bomb, something that is harder to do in the corner than midscreen. I'll elaborate more on this in the Pressure section.

When it comes to zoning, Red Hood controls a good amount of space. The ground mine compliments his other projectiles because it acts as something that occupies space for a decent amount of time. Depending on how the opponent chooses to act, you have a surprising degree of control on their actions. See Zoning/Counter-zoning for more details.

Lastly, you can end your combos and place a mine on your opponent to maintain momentum on the opponent. While this can seem straightforward at a glance, surprisingly not a lot of people understand oki, especially when it involves placing a mine under the opponent before they wake up. So I'll elaborate this on this more into the Setup Theory Section.
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Zoning & Counter-zoning
His zoning options, especially combined with his Ground Mines, allows him to control a ton of space and establish a lot of control. Before I elaborate on the gameplan, I want to cover the specials and their utility.
  • Gotham Stars: Decent high projectile, does more damage than most others in the game and has alright recovery. Used at any range
  • Trait Gunshot: A high hitting invisible gunshot that moves him backwards after executing it. Sucks on block, whiff and hit so use sparingly. Used mostly fullscreen.
  • Upward Gotham Stars: Use as an anti-air read; because of the recovery and trajectory, it's best used preemptively. MB grants a full combo.
  • Ground Mine: Use this to occupy space, meaning be strategic on where you place it. Can be used for anti-zoning as well. Can be used to jail all your high projectiles. Has four different ranges and each range has their own function.
  • Akimbo Blaze: Does decent chip damage and primarily used for anti-zoning. Travels at a 45 degree angle and knocks down on MB. Use around mid to far range.
  • Lethal Lunge: The projectile pretty much nobody thinks about. While it is unsafe without meter, with a Mine out it becomes noticeably safer. Use if you have to establish respect and don't fear punishment since most of the time people forget it's there.
Long read


For the range game, starting from fullscreen you want to alternate between the Gotham Stars and Trait Gunshot. It is important to note that the former builds meter just for using it while the latter builds meter only on impact, but they both build around the same amount of meter on hit. You can mix up the timing with the gunshot.

When it comes to his Ground Mine, since it doesn't travel fullscreen, you want them to come into its range. It has four different distances. If you place the Mine wherever the opponent is standing then throw any high projectile afterwards (this includes MB Fatal Drop), they are forced to block both the Ground Mine and the projectile ie) it jails. This is very good for immense meterbuild as Red Hood is very meter dependent to pull his shenanigans off.

If you place it in front of the opponent, you force them to deal it with and slow down. If you use your projectiles to clip them in case they dash or jump, you're basically controlling their next action.

The idea of placing a close Mine is to act as a makeshift shield/combo breaker around jumping distance. Everything about controlling your opponent's next action and baiting them applies here, should the correct conditions apply: as in best case scenario, they respect the Mine and worse case can range from trading to avoiding it.

For placing a Mine behind your opponent, you can meter lunge in, knocking them into it and (if you recover in time) can convert off it. In the close to max mid range, the lunge makes it a nightmare for people getting in, even though it is unsafe on block. Blocking a Lunge then blocking a Mine builds half a bar and is relatively safe.

Bear in mind, the point of his zoning isn't to fully keep someone out, it's to build valuable meter to apply his reset potential on. So build as much meter as you can to make dealing with Red Hood in the later stages of the game notably difficult. Remember, Red Hood without meter isn't that scary, Red Hood with meter is pretty scary.​

Pressure

Red Hood has a rather unorthodox form of pressure that revolves around mixing up your options when it comes to his strings. Let's use his main pressure string 323 as an example and show your options after it

Off his 32 string you can,
  • Finish the string with 323 and be +2 on block. There is a gap that can be backdashed and armored through, though the latter is character dependent as sometimes Red Hood can block. It's not uncommon for people to disrespect after 323 so a d1 check is mandatory to let them know it's your turn.
  • Cancel into his Electric Hammers. There is a gap that can be backdashed and parried but not armored through as the 33 will eat the opponent's armor. It stops his pressure but it keeps the opponent on edge.
  • Cancel into a Close Mine for pressure and control. Since Red Hood can't block until the Mine hits the floor, depending on the character. It's more effective the more respectful the opponent.
  • Stagger the string, to bait the opponent out of blocking. Can potentially lead to nothing if the opponent is overly respectful.

That’s the fundamental concept for his up-close game. The options seem weak by themselves at first glance, but unpredictability is your friend if you want to maintain momentum. Doing so will keep the opponent pinned down and afraid to try something: conditioned to block and just getting away with so much more in the long run. To make effective use of this, you have to understand your opponent’s options, risk/reward and their tendencies as a player.

The above options can be applied to his other strings as well, and if you mixup what to do and when, the opponent will feel Red Hood is more oppressive than he actually is. Aside from the above options, Red Hood can potentially sneak in chip damage if he has the resources to do so, which I’ll cover in the next section.​
Chip Damage
Red Hood has pretty good chip damage, second only to probably Aquaman. During any point of fighting Red Hood, there is always the threat of chip damage nearby, which is more deadly in the late game. The following specials and their chip values are below. Damage is dependent on Character, hence the ranges.

  • Lethal Lunge MB: 4%
  • MB Gotham Stars: 6%
  • MB Fatal Drop: 8%
  • 4 332 D2/U2: 6%
  • 4 332 MB : 8%
  • Akimbo Blaze: 4% (9% if MB)
If the last hit of 4 332 MB is backdashed, the chip damaged is reduced to 6-7%.​

The practical application for these moves are as follows.
  • Any normal or string cancelled into Lunge has no gap.
  • There is an entire thread dedicated to the gap sizes between the normal/string and is electric hammers. Read here
  • MB Gotham Stars jail off the following normals/strings, while MB Fatal Drop only jails off the strings with an * at the end.
    • 3
    • B2
    • B1 & F2 (if stand blocked)
    • 11*
    • F23*
    • B23
  • Niche note: His gunshot jails off his 11 as well, lol.
Additionally, his Ground Mine does 2% chip. His MB Fatal Drop, which has high-hitting shots, jails if you do it as the Mine explodes. Additionally, this combined with his Akimbo Blaze and Lunge for htbs causes the chip to accumulate very quickly. Some examples.​

For Hard to Blockables and/or Chip. The damage is the max damage you can get off the situation on hit, while the chip assumes the opponent has very good defense.

Mine + Akimbo Blaze (13%) (does 6% chip)
Mine + MB Akimbo Blaze (19%) (does 11% chip)
Mine + F23 xx 4332 D2/U2 (19%) (does 6% chip)
Mine + MB Fatal Drop (15%) (does 10% chip)
Mine + MB Lunge (16%) (does 6% chip)
​

Setup Theory
This is gonna be a bit of a long read.


Like the Hadoken from SF, Red Hood's mine is something that covers space (albeit briefly), allowing him to do whatever he wants for the most part with the explosion's blockstun covering him.

Since the mine doesn't move and doesn't do anything until it explodes, this allows for interesting applications. As stated above, the move grants at least 28 frames worth of block stun and since Red Hood can move before the explosion, this makes for effective oki pressure.

Depending on the ender you use, you can go for a htb, a fake mixup or simply continue applying pressure to maintain momentum. After knocking the opponent down, they have to be wary about the mine, taking it into consideration before making their next move. The effectiveness of this oki varies from character-to-character, but the general idea is the same: just study your opponent's wakeup habits, capitalize on them and punish accordingly.

What happens next is player dependent: 1) if the opponent delays, you can do something with quick recovery and simply attack them when they do wakeup with the Mine covering your tracks. 2) They may want to wakeup to escape, but what you have to do something that will either stuff the wakeup or completely avoid it, depending on how the wakeup is, or simply block and punish if the wakeup is unsafe.

The benefit of the Mine is that it allows Red Hood to punish certain wakeups that are normally safe, something that becomes more problematic for the opponent the more you understand their tendencies, allowing you to make more educated reads on them. The best way to understand how much advantage you have after a knockdown is to set the AI to jump and jump yourself to see whoever can move first similarly to how you can find out if moves are safe or not on block.

Red Hood only has three hard knockdowns: D3, 223 and 112. The first two can't be special cancelled and 112 suffers from horrible gravity scaling as an ender. That being said, when used raw 112 is very good for catching people who love to delay wakeup. Never use 112 as an ender if your opponent is aware of it.

One little trick some Red Hood players like to do is do 112 xx MB Mine, causing the opponent to get hit by the MB Mine if they don't expect it on knockdown. It catches a lot of antsy people on wakeup, but it is a gimmick as it can be woken up out of and punished by certain wakeups.

Before the February patch, 323 was his go to knockdown ender, since it was a hard knockdown on airborne opponents. However, while it can be now be techrolled, if the opponent isn't aware of that, you can still get away with it on occasion.

Lastly, midscreen if you end your combo with a BGB, you get probably the greatest hard knockdown in the game that every character gets access to. Unequivocally this is his best ender midscreen with the caveat being that it can be easier to escape since it is midscreen after all.

This is a basic understanding of Red Hood’s oki. Use this knowledge, go to the lab and play some matches to come up with your own setups as I can’t cover every possible scenario because it would take far too long. The best enders you want to go for outside of BGB are 32 xx Mine, B2 xx Mine, B23 xx Mine (on occasion even J2 xx Mine), or pretty much whatever string you want outside of 112 (which is better used raw).
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Combos

Damage is done in percentage on characters with 1050 HP. Characters with 1200 HP take the least damage and the combos would have a 1-4% variance depending on how long the combo is. HP categories would take the most to least damage, 1050, 1100, 1400, 1150, 1250, 1200.​

Midscreen Meterless

Starters in this section (from least to most damaging) are D1, B2/B1, 11, 22/F23 and 32.

Standard BnBs​

Starter xx 4 332 D2 (14-19% DoS)
Starter xx 4 332 Grab (16-22% DoS)
B23 xx Lunge (17%) (If you MB it, 21%)
​
Doing 4 332 MB nets about 5% more damage than the D2 option. Worth mentioning that 4 332 U2 and D2 do the same damage.You you can substitute it for that if you'd like. Just know you sacrifice a bit of frame advantage doing that.​

Midscreen 112 xx Mine Setup

Note: 112 by itself does 10%. Just bear in mind that people can wakeup out of this, but in that case read the wakeup and punish accordingly.

If you decide to B2 to check the opponent and it hits while the opponent has the mine placed underneath them:

B2 -> mine explodes -> 32 xx 4 332 d2 (22%) (24% for grab ender)
B2 -> mine explodes -> F2 -> 32 xx 4 332 d2 (23%)
B2 -> mine explodes -> B23 xx Lunge (21%)
​
If you decide to use F23 as a for a htb route while a mine is underneath the opponent.

Mine explodes + F23 xx 4332 D2 (19%, 23% for grab ender) ( you can be safer and will do 6% chip)
​
If you use J2 or J3 for htb with a mine out. Just know depending on what hits first, the damage can vary, but damage range is from 23-30%.

Mine explodes + J2 (or J3) -> 22 -> 32 xx Lunge
Mine explodes + J2 (or J3) -> 32 xx 4332 D2
Mine explodes + J2 (or J3) -> 32 xx 4332 Grab
​
You can use 112 as an ender as well, but I really don't recommend it since you can get hit by certain wakeups before the mine comes out. There is a little gimmick where you can do 112 xx MB Mine and it'll hit the opponent if they don't expect it, but you can still be hit out of it.

​

Midscreen Metered

Starters in this section (from least to most damaging) are B2/B1, 11, 22/F23 and 32.
Standard BnBs

Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> 32 xx 4 332 Grab (32-36% DoS)
Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> 32 xx 4 332 D2 (31-34% DoS)
Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> F23 xx 4 332 Grab (31-35% DoS)
Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> F23 xx 4 332 D2 (30-33% DoS)

Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> 22 -> 32 xx Lunge (31-35% DoS)
Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> 22 -> B13 (30-34% DoS)
​
side switch

Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> Dash -> 22 -> 323
​
Midscreen Ambiguous J3

Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> J1 -> 223 (28-32% DoS)
​
If you hit the opponent and land on the opposite side.

J3 -> 22 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (31%)
​
If you land on the same side.

J3 -> 22 -> F23 xx 4332 D2 (29%)
J3 -> F23 xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> 32 xx Lunge (37%)
​
Mine Setups

After a long combo, if you want to go for a setup, just end with something like 32 xx Mine, B2 xx Mine etc, sometimes J2 xx Mine depending on what you're looking for. If you want to go for 323 as an ender, go for it, but refrain from using it if they start techrolling it.The combo would be.

Starter xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> F2 -> 323 -> Mine (29-32% DoS)
​
From here, you can take advantage of the opponent being knocked down and apply pressure or go for a htb, though I recommend going for the former often to maintain momentum and safety as the latter can be avoided by delay wakeup. Go for the latter when you wish but realistically it's not consistent to land in a real match, so I won't mention htb combos after a long combo.

​
MB B3/F3

MB B3/F3s have two damage values, you do more damage if the armor isn't hit.

MB B3 -> J3 -> 32 xx 4332 Grab (40%, 35% if hit)
MB B3 -> J3 -> F2 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (39%,34%)
MB B3 -> J3 -> 22 -> B13 (37%, 34%)
MB B3 -> J3 -> 22 -> B23 xx Lunge (40%, 34%)

MB F3 -> F2 -> 32 xx 4332 Grab (36%, 31%)
MB F3 -> F2 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (34%, 28%)
MB F3 -> F2 -> 22 -> B23 xx Lunge (36%, 30%)
MB F3 -> J1 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (33%, 28%) (if you do the grab ender, values are 36% and 30%)
​
Midscreen Conversions

At a distance, if a mine is on the screen, and you manage to hit the opponent with the far MB Lunge, then these are the optimal conversions. Bear in mind, these are basic conversions.

MB Lunge -> mine explodes -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (28%, 30% if you do the grab ender)
MB Lunge -> mine explodes -> F23 xx 4332 D2 (27%, 29% off the grab ender)
MB Lunge -> mine explodes -> D1 xx 4332 D2 (25%, 27% off the grab ender)
​

Corner Combos

Off B23

meterless

B23 -> D1 -> 112 xx Lunge (26%)
B23 -> D1 -> 323 -> Mine (22%)
B23 -> D1 -> 32 xx Lunge -> (25%)
B23 -> D1 -> 32 xx 4 332 D2 (28%) (31% for grab ender)

B23 -> 22 -> 323 -> Mine (25%) (add D1 after 22 for 2% more dmg)
B23 -> 22 -> 32 xx Lunge (28%) (add D1 after 22 for 1% more dmg)
B23 -> 22 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (31%) (inconsistent asf tho)

B23 -> 32 xx 4 332 D2 (27%) (31% for grab ender)
​
meter (1 Bar)

B23 -> D1 -> 22 xx MB Up Stars -> 32 xx Lunge (37%)
B23 -> D1 -> 22 xx MB Up Stars -> B13 (36%)

B23 -> D1 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 32 xx Lunge (39%)
B23 -> D1 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> B13 (37%)
B23 -> D1 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 323 (37%)

B23 -> D1 -> D1 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> B13 (38%)

B23 -> 22 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 32 xx Lunge (41%)
B23 -> 22 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> B13 (40%)
​
For simpler conversions:

B23 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 323 -> Mine (37%)
B23 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 32 xx Lunge (38%)
B23 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> B13 (37%)
​
Off 112

112 xx MB Up Stars -> F3 -> 323 (35%)
112 xx MB Up Stars -> F3 -> B23 xx Lunge (38%)
​
Off MB Mine

From slightly midscreen to corner.

Starter xx MB Mine -> F3 -> F2 -> 22 -> 323 (26-30% DoS)
Starter xx MB Mine -> F3 -> J1 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (27-31%)
Starter xx MB Mine -> F3 -> F2 -> 22 -> 32 xx Lunge (27-32%)
​
From being directly in the corner.

Starter xx MB Mine -> J2 -> 22 -> 323 (23-27%)
​
Goes without saying, end in 323 if the opponent doesn't techroll it. If they do start techrolling switch your ender to 32 xx Mine, or B23 xx Mine depending on the opponent and wakeup options.

Off 112 xx Mine Corner

Just like midscreen you can use 112 xx Mine raw and either do a B2, F23 or J3 afterwords for oki. Not gonna list damage because there are a lot of combos you can derive from these. And the damage can vary depending on which hits first, but the range from 20-37% depending on the amount of resources you spend.

Using B2 to catch someone on knockdown.

B2 -> mine explodes -> 22 -> 323
B23 + mine explodes -> D1 -> 323
​
Using F23 to do a htb.

Mine Explodes + F23 xx 4 332 D2
Mine Explodes + F23 xx MB Up Stars -> 323
​
Using J3 as a htb.

Mine Explodes + J3 -> 22 -> 323
Mine Explodes + J3 -> 32 xx 4332 D2
Mine Explodes + J3 -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 32 xx Lunge
​
Using MB F3

MB F3 + mine explodes -> 323
MB F3 + mine explodes -> 32 xx MB Up Stars -> 32 xx Lunge
​

Anti-Air and Air-to-Air

Off D2

For simple conversions:

D2 -> J1 -> F2 -> 323 -> Mine (17%)
D2 -> J1 -> 32 xx 4 332 D2 (20%)
​
For optimal conversions:

D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion-> B3 -> J3 -> B23 xx Lunge (25%)
D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion-> B3 -> J3 -> F23 xx Mine (22%)
D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion-> B3 -> J2 -> 32 xx Mine (21%)
D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion-> B3 -> J3 -> B13 (24%)
D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion-> B3 -> J3 -> B1 xx 4 332 D2 (23%)
D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion -> B3 -> J3 -> 32 xx Lunge (24%)
D2 xx Mine -> F2 -> explosion -> B3 -> J3 -> B23 xx Mine (23%)
​
Off B1

meterless

B1 -> 22 -> 323 -> Mine (19%)
B1 -> 22 -> 32 xx Lunge (22%)
B1 -> 22 -> 32 xx 4 332 D2 (25%)
B1 -> 22 -> B13 (20%)
B1 -> 22 -> B23 xx Lunge (28%)
B1 -> 22 -> F23 xx 4 332 D2 (23%)
​
meter (1 bar)

B1 xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (31%)
B1 xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> F2 -> 32 xx Lunge (29%)
​
Off MB Up Stars

All stars hit, distance

MB Up Stars -> Stars (21%)
MB Up Stars -> Dash x2 -> F23 xx 4332 D2 (27%)
​
All stars hit, close

MB Up Stars -> Dash -> B3 -> J2 (or J3) -> F23 xx Lunge (35%,37% with J3)
MB Up Stars -> Dash -> B3 -> J2 (or J3) -> 32 xx Lunge (36%, 38% with J3)
MB Up Stars -> Dash -> B3 -> J3 -> B13 (35%)
MB Up Stars -> Dash -> B3 -> J3 -> B23 xx Lunge (39%)
​
First star whiffs, close

MB Up Stars -> B3 -> J2 -> F2 xx 4332 D2 (28%)
MB Up Stars -> B3 -> J3 -> F23 xx Lunge MB (32%)
​
Last star whiffs, close

MB Up Stars -> Dash -> F23 xx 4332 D2 (26%)
​
Air-to-Air

meterless

J1 -> F2 -> 32 xx 4332 D2 (20%)
J1 -> F2 -> 22 -> 323 (22%)
J1 -> F2 -> 22 -> B13 (22%)
J1 -> F2 -> 22 -> B23 xx Lunge (25%)
​
meter (1 bar)

J1 -> 32 xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> B13 (32%)
J1 -> 32 xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> F23 xx Lunge (30%)
J1 -> F23 xx MB Mine -> B3 -> J3 -> B13 (30%)
​

These are just some of his common, optimized BnBs. Mix them up, make more, and use them to create your own combos and gameplan, there are literally hundreds of combos you can do off interactibles and BGBs and other stuff. Know your stages as I can spend all day covering every situation but that'd be over complicating things.

Things to know while doing combos with RH:
  • All his starters link into his MB Close Ground Mine, meaning it doesn't work on the other ones.
  • 32 is his most damaging starter.
  • 22 and F23 do the same damage, however 22 is a punisher string and F23 is an advancing high-mid that can be used for a variety of things.
  • B2 and B1 do the same damage. However, B1 is more of an anti-air and a high while B2 is an advancing low.
  • You can substitute MB Ground Mine with DB MB if you're want to do a lot more damage.
Useful Tech

FAQ

I can't do B2 xx Close Mine for the life of me, help.

You don't have to input B2 xx BF1 B. You can just do input B2 xx F1 B and it should come out. Easy as cake.
​
Why don't all the attacks for his trait come out after I've inputted them?

It's rather deceptive but the way you want to go about inputting his trait string is not input like a string. What I do is input it as I watch him do it and it seems to come out easily. Takes a bit to learn but becomes second nature.
​
Is cancelling strings into mines on block safe?

As I mentioned above, it isn't. Red Hood cannot block until the Mine hits the floor. People can punish you, in theory, but the less predictable and obvious you are doing it, the better. It honestly depends on the opponent.
​
What are the options off Red Hood's restand, I never hear you talk about it?

Only three strings are guaranteed because the restand leaves you at sweep distance, not closer. Everything else is either a gimmick or just escapable. Tradeoff is not worth it unless you have additional bars of meter which you are better off using for something else.​
​
What's wrong with Red Hood's d1, you bitch about it constantly?

...Not a true mid, poor range, terrible hitbox, susceptible to low profiling, forces him to respect certain characters more than they deserve even when they're minus. If you want to go on an aesthetic level too, bad animation.
​
Why do I sometimes get hit out of J3?

Jump 3s in Injustice have no cancel advantage unlike J1 and J2. However, like I said, the frame advantage for it depends on how deeper you land the J3. If you go higher, you have less so. If you're unsure if you have enough frames to work with, a d1 check or OS (On Stand) backdash works.
​
Why does using F3 in the corner whiff after MB Mine?

You have to time your F3 slightly before letting it rock after MB Mine in the corner. Otherwise, doing it earlier will make you switch sides and whiff. A slight walk back slighty alleviates this but it's still hella inconsistent. You're better off doing simpler conversions after MB Mine in the corner without F3.
​
I think the mu is X-X or Y-Y or what's this mu?

Send me a direct message on here and we can talk. Alternatively, just post on the mu discussion thread.
​
Should I watch Sonicfox play and go from there?

Yes and no; watch them to be curious about what he's doing and test it yourself as well as ways it can be blown up, but don't blindly expect to follow him and be better overnight. But be wary of any Pre-February 2018 footage as Red Hood's gameplan has been drastically changed since.​
​
How good is he? Was he ever top? What do you think?

Red Hood is mid tier (high mid tier if I'm being optimistic). At the start, he was like 9-10 because other characters did what he did but better. He became top 3 out of consequence after the Evo 2017 patch. After February 2018 he dropped by a lot now that his best tools were taken away.
​
What character did you use for the damage and how did you use percentage?

Characters with 1050 HP because they take the most damage. I used Superman as my dummy and thanks to a damage conversion calculator by @Insomniac FGC, I was able to convert from character to character without doing hard labbing. I converted the damage done on Superman into percent and did unbiased rounding. If you want to convert the damage, just know that characters with 1200 HP take the least damage, so the damage differential ranges from 1-4% depending on how long the combo was. Everybody else takes more than that. Combos that do like less than 10% is like little difference, 20% like 1-2% difference, 30% 2-4% etc. You can find his damage converter
here

​
Honorable Mentions

Special Thanks to:
Other Stuff

If you guys have any questions, comments or concerns, or if you want me add something that I may have missed, please send me a private message.​
 
Last edited:
Krankk

Krankk

Smoke & Noob & Rain
Thank you for the in-depth guide. I'll check it out once I'm at home.

Here is a question, which is probably not answered:

I'm a complete beginner with zero fundamentals and fighting game muscle memory. My reactions are also horrible, since I'm not used to playing fighting games.
Red Hood is my favorite DC character and pretty much the only character (character, not function) in Injustice 2 I really, really like. But for a beginner he seems way too technical and overwhelming.

Are there ways / playstyles to ease myself into Red Hood? What I find the hardest are the complicated inputs and timings for his mines, which seem to be what he is mainly based around. I love the character, but hate trying to do combos with him, since he feels so hard to master.

I played Injustice 1 for a while and that game had Nightwing, my second favorite. But he was also rather hard to play with his stance cancelling and weakness to zoning. So all I did was to spam Low Gunshots with Deathstroke and EX Shoulders with Doomsday. But playing fighting games like that kinda sucks. And I would like to avoid that now in Injustice 2 with Red Hood and Smoke (*fingers crossed*) in MK11.

Any advice and input are greatly appreciated.
 
Crusty

Crusty

Retired forever; don’t ask for games.
Krankk said:
Thank you for the in-depth guide. I'll check it out once I'm at home.

Here is a question, which is probably not answered:

I'm a complete beginner with zero fundamentals and fighting game muscle memory. My reactions are also horrible, since I'm not used to playing fighting games.
Red Hood is my favorite DC character and pretty much the only character (character, not function) in Injustice 2 I really, really like. But for a beginner he seems way too technical and overwhelming.

Are there ways / playstyles to ease myself into Red Hood? What I find the hardest are the complicated inputs and timings for his mines, which seem to be what he is mainly based around. I love the character, but hate trying to do combos with him, since he feels so hard to master.

I played Injustice 1 for a while and that game had Nightwing, my second favorite. But he was also rather hard to play with his stance cancelling and weakness to zoning. So all I did was to spam Low Gunshots with Deathstroke and EX Shoulders with Doomsday. But playing fighting games like that kinda sucks. And I would like to avoid that now in Injustice 2 with Red Hood and Smoke (*fingers crossed*) in MK11.

Any advice and input are greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
The answer to any of that is just practice honestly.

I would recommend starting to do the simpler combos with his trait first before working your way up into using his mines.

As for his mines, I personally hate the inputs myself but what I did was started doing regular mine and then go from there to build my muscle memory over time. Just practice bf1 and its variants. It’s noticeably easy to do after throwing his stars for me. As for combos, I’d just practice them for like an hour.

If you want to hone your reactions, I recommend getting games online. Due to current problems, I find myself unable to play at the moment but be sure to check my matches in the Red Hood video thread.
 
Crusty

Crusty

Retired forever; don’t ask for games.
Invincible Salads said:
so, how real is canceling into mines from block strings? does that actually make up part of his gameplan?
Click to expand...
That's the whole point of his gameplan. Just don't be predictable when you do it, otherwise you risk a potential escape if not obvious punish. Like I said, unpredictability is your friend.
 
Invincible Salads

Invincible Salads

Seeker of knowledge
Crusty said:
That's the whole point of his gameplan. Just don't be predictable when you do it, otherwise you risk a potential escape if not obvious punish. Like I said, unpredictability is your friend.
Click to expand...
can't characters punish your for canceling tho? like i'd imagine superman with his f23 can punish if he reads your gonna cancel into mine.
 
Crusty

Crusty

Retired forever; don’t ask for games.
Invincible Salads said:
can't characters punish your for canceling tho? like i'd imagine superman with his f23 can punish if he reads your gonna cancel into mine.
Click to expand...

Read the guide before asking me questions.

Crusty said:
Is cancelling strings into mines on block safe?

As I mentioned above, it isn't. Red Hood cannot block until the Mine hits the floor. People can punish you, in theory, but the less predictable and obvious you are doing it, the better. It honestly depends on the opponent.
Click to expand...
 
Crusty

Crusty

Retired forever; don’t ask for games.
Thread updated. If you guys have any questions/comments/concerns, please send me a private message as I could've missed something. I'd like to keep this thread clean, please.
 
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