MachinayRequiem
Noob
Soul Shatter War Club (BF3) is a default Special Move that comes with Spawn's Tournament Variation 1 (From Hell) and Tournament Variation 3 (Hellspawn). His Tournament Variation 2 (The One) replaces it with Charging Hellspawn (BF3) which is a launcher. I don't think the move is bad, but I do think Charging Hellspawn is superior.
All damage listings in this write-up are in a 'about' range and not exact.
Soul Shattering War Club and Breaking Wake-Up Fatal Blows
This is only really viable against beginner (which you shouldn't have a problem beating anyway) and some intermediate players. In order to use Soul Shattering War Club to beat a wake-up Fatal Blow, you have to make a read. This grants you anywhere from 29%-35% (In order to get 35% you have to spend 2 bars of offensive meter) depending on if you use armor and which combo route you decide to choose. In Variation 2, you have to make a read also. When they are waking up with a Fatal Blow, you simply block and punish for a 35% combo (With only one bar of meter) into a restand. The only problem becomes if they decide to breakaway from the Charging Hellspawn launcher which deals around 22% and back into the same OKI situation.
This same applies if the opponent wakes up with U3, except in Variation 1 and 3 you get a launch which the opponent can then breakaway from back into the same OKI situation. In Variation 2, neutral is reset.
Now, you could be asking, "What if I just do Soul Shattering War Club by default every time on my opponents wake up. Well, a Foward Roll will easy make you stop doing this because it leads to any combo of the opponents choosing after the roll. This leads me back to my first point in it being a read for all variatons. The take away here is in Variation 2, you use less resources when being in the exact same situation.
Variation Damage Differences
In Variation 1 and 3, after 11/F21/F413 you can cancel into Amplified Fatal Phantasm (DB3) for around 25%. B12 - 34 xx Amp DB3 gets your around 30% and leaving the opponent in a range where you can dash in and be in the range you want to be with Spawn. This is the better damage you get from these two variations which you can also get in Variation 2.
Variation 1 gets just a slight bit less with B12 - 34 xx Amp BF1, but leaves the opponent at full screen which is trash so don't ever go for this combo.
In Variation 1, you can also end any starter with Amp DB1 for around 22%, but then again, why ever do this when you get more damage ending with DB3 into a RESTAND.
Now lets say you do Charging Hellspawn after a combo starter and the opponent does a breakaway. They can breakaway right before the Amplified part of Charging Hellspawn hits, but no one ever does this. They always breakaway after they are launched which deals 22% into an OKI situation where you are right next to your opponent. That is just a few percent less than Variation 1 and 3's most damaging combos off of anything but B12.
Variation 2 gets so much more damage from Charging Hellspawn and so little less when they breakaway it clearly outweighs the benefits of Soul Shattering War Club. Not to mention, you can always get the same unbreakable damage as Variations 1 and 3.
The Actual Benefit of Soul Shattering War Club But Not Really
After B12 connects and an opponent tries to breakaway you can immediately do Soul Shattering War Club and you will launch the opponent for a combo that does 29% restand if you decide not to spend the bar or 35% if you do spend the bar. If you do spend the bar that is 2 bars of meter you just spent for 35% damage. On top of that, you are in a OKI situation where Variation 2 plays in by default anyway.
In Variation 2, if the opponent does a breakaway after B12 (10-12%) you are standing right next to them into a pretty nice OKI situation since the opponent will not have any defensive meter and the next combo you do will be at least 35% into another restand.
Bonus
The Mix-Up
There is a mix-up that I see people doing with Variation 1 that is B12 (Mid into Overhead) or B1 xx DB1 (Mid into Low) (Can Amplify the low or not for an extended mix-up). You can do the same mix-up with Variation 2 by doing B1 xx DB3 so I still see no benefit there of Variation 1 over Variation 2. Variation 3's mix-ups are a little better because the DB3 is safe when you Amplify it and he has the command grab. All of these are still able to be fuzzy guarded and should not be your main strategy. As a matter of fact i rarely go for this mix-up.
Charging Hellspawn Benefit:
Is it is another way to whiff punish certain moves that Spawn normally can't in Variations 1 and 3.
Soul Shattering War Club Benefit:
Safe on block at -7 with huge push-back.
Flawless blocking the amplified 2nd hit can only be punished by opponents who dash forward and then flawless block it, making it -12. Even then it requires a long range normal 11f or faster (e.g. Jade's b2) or a 12f advancing special reversal (Johnny's shadow kick).
Unless you're Sub-Zero. No dash required for him.
-Provided By Sage Leviathan
After A Fatal Phantasm Restand:
B4 will almost guaranteed jail if they are trying to mash a button because only a 6 or 7 frame move will beat it out and there is only a 1 or 2 frame gap for the 6 frame or 7 frame move to connect. Online, this is near impossible to do. Most of the time you will even be able to micro step back and whiff punish the opponent for a full combo (Please wake up D2 and watch your life bar get deleted. I love D2 spammers).
The opponent can jump out of this, but once you know they know they can do this it becomes a 50/50. After a restand with DB3 and they try to jump and you read it, you can F413 into full combo back into a restand and into the same situation. And of course, you always have the trusty grab after they are conditioned to block the sweep If they don't want to guess to jump out or not and just hold block, you could always F4 stagger into grab. F4 will also work as the B4 does, but is even better because it is 1 frame faster (only punished by 6 frame pokes) and the stagger pressure and hit confirmation it has. B4 hits twice and surprises some people. You could also short hop if you really have them conditioned to block low.
Conclusion And Final Thoughts
The character is extremely based around spacing and baiting and contrary to popular belief, he is NOT slow. A 12 frame low, 13 frame mid that are both hit confirmable. A 7 frame punish with 11 that is +2 on block, and a 7 frame poke that is +15 on hit that jails into your 11, or F4 that up close allows you to pressure back into your offense. Pressure as in: Staggers with 1/11/11HoldB2 (grab after any one of these except the KB string), F4 grab or at any time on hit you can confirm F413 and 11 into huge damage (if they breakaway you are in a low risk OKI situation since you can just stop the combo and the opponent will have no meter).
This is my reasoning why I think Soul Shattering War Club isn't that great and why Charging Hellspawn is a better move. In fact, this alone is why I think The One is his best variation. This may have turned into a bit of a guide in some sorts, but in any event I hope it helps people have more of an understanding for Spawn and maybe I can get some feedback if I've missed anything.
If anyone has a different opinion, I'd really enjoy hearing it and reading other people's point of view. If you can prove me wrong about any of this or change my mind, then I'm more than open to it because I'd love being able to play Variation 1. Right now I just think the Guns are useless and Soul Shattering War Club is sub par. Variation 3 and it's gimmicks are fun so even though it isn't as good as Variation 2 either, I still am able to enjoy playing it.
All damage listings in this write-up are in a 'about' range and not exact.
Soul Shattering War Club and Breaking Wake-Up Fatal Blows
This is only really viable against beginner (which you shouldn't have a problem beating anyway) and some intermediate players. In order to use Soul Shattering War Club to beat a wake-up Fatal Blow, you have to make a read. This grants you anywhere from 29%-35% (In order to get 35% you have to spend 2 bars of offensive meter) depending on if you use armor and which combo route you decide to choose. In Variation 2, you have to make a read also. When they are waking up with a Fatal Blow, you simply block and punish for a 35% combo (With only one bar of meter) into a restand. The only problem becomes if they decide to breakaway from the Charging Hellspawn launcher which deals around 22% and back into the same OKI situation.
This same applies if the opponent wakes up with U3, except in Variation 1 and 3 you get a launch which the opponent can then breakaway from back into the same OKI situation. In Variation 2, neutral is reset.
Now, you could be asking, "What if I just do Soul Shattering War Club by default every time on my opponents wake up. Well, a Foward Roll will easy make you stop doing this because it leads to any combo of the opponents choosing after the roll. This leads me back to my first point in it being a read for all variatons. The take away here is in Variation 2, you use less resources when being in the exact same situation.
Variation Damage Differences
In Variation 1 and 3, after 11/F21/F413 you can cancel into Amplified Fatal Phantasm (DB3) for around 25%. B12 - 34 xx Amp DB3 gets your around 30% and leaving the opponent in a range where you can dash in and be in the range you want to be with Spawn. This is the better damage you get from these two variations which you can also get in Variation 2.
Variation 1 gets just a slight bit less with B12 - 34 xx Amp BF1, but leaves the opponent at full screen which is trash so don't ever go for this combo.
In Variation 1, you can also end any starter with Amp DB1 for around 22%, but then again, why ever do this when you get more damage ending with DB3 into a RESTAND.
Now lets say you do Charging Hellspawn after a combo starter and the opponent does a breakaway. They can breakaway right before the Amplified part of Charging Hellspawn hits, but no one ever does this. They always breakaway after they are launched which deals 22% into an OKI situation where you are right next to your opponent. That is just a few percent less than Variation 1 and 3's most damaging combos off of anything but B12.
Variation 2 gets so much more damage from Charging Hellspawn and so little less when they breakaway it clearly outweighs the benefits of Soul Shattering War Club. Not to mention, you can always get the same unbreakable damage as Variations 1 and 3.
The Actual Benefit of Soul Shattering War Club But Not Really
After B12 connects and an opponent tries to breakaway you can immediately do Soul Shattering War Club and you will launch the opponent for a combo that does 29% restand if you decide not to spend the bar or 35% if you do spend the bar. If you do spend the bar that is 2 bars of meter you just spent for 35% damage. On top of that, you are in a OKI situation where Variation 2 plays in by default anyway.
In Variation 2, if the opponent does a breakaway after B12 (10-12%) you are standing right next to them into a pretty nice OKI situation since the opponent will not have any defensive meter and the next combo you do will be at least 35% into another restand.
Bonus
The Mix-Up
There is a mix-up that I see people doing with Variation 1 that is B12 (Mid into Overhead) or B1 xx DB1 (Mid into Low) (Can Amplify the low or not for an extended mix-up). You can do the same mix-up with Variation 2 by doing B1 xx DB3 so I still see no benefit there of Variation 1 over Variation 2. Variation 3's mix-ups are a little better because the DB3 is safe when you Amplify it and he has the command grab. All of these are still able to be fuzzy guarded and should not be your main strategy. As a matter of fact i rarely go for this mix-up.
Charging Hellspawn Benefit:
Is it is another way to whiff punish certain moves that Spawn normally can't in Variations 1 and 3.
Soul Shattering War Club Benefit:
Safe on block at -7 with huge push-back.
Flawless blocking the amplified 2nd hit can only be punished by opponents who dash forward and then flawless block it, making it -12. Even then it requires a long range normal 11f or faster (e.g. Jade's b2) or a 12f advancing special reversal (Johnny's shadow kick).
Unless you're Sub-Zero. No dash required for him.
-Provided By Sage Leviathan
After A Fatal Phantasm Restand:
B4 will almost guaranteed jail if they are trying to mash a button because only a 6 or 7 frame move will beat it out and there is only a 1 or 2 frame gap for the 6 frame or 7 frame move to connect. Online, this is near impossible to do. Most of the time you will even be able to micro step back and whiff punish the opponent for a full combo (Please wake up D2 and watch your life bar get deleted. I love D2 spammers).
The opponent can jump out of this, but once you know they know they can do this it becomes a 50/50. After a restand with DB3 and they try to jump and you read it, you can F413 into full combo back into a restand and into the same situation. And of course, you always have the trusty grab after they are conditioned to block the sweep If they don't want to guess to jump out or not and just hold block, you could always F4 stagger into grab. F4 will also work as the B4 does, but is even better because it is 1 frame faster (only punished by 6 frame pokes) and the stagger pressure and hit confirmation it has. B4 hits twice and surprises some people. You could also short hop if you really have them conditioned to block low.
Conclusion And Final Thoughts
The character is extremely based around spacing and baiting and contrary to popular belief, he is NOT slow. A 12 frame low, 13 frame mid that are both hit confirmable. A 7 frame punish with 11 that is +2 on block, and a 7 frame poke that is +15 on hit that jails into your 11, or F4 that up close allows you to pressure back into your offense. Pressure as in: Staggers with 1/11/11HoldB2 (grab after any one of these except the KB string), F4 grab or at any time on hit you can confirm F413 and 11 into huge damage (if they breakaway you are in a low risk OKI situation since you can just stop the combo and the opponent will have no meter).
This is my reasoning why I think Soul Shattering War Club isn't that great and why Charging Hellspawn is a better move. In fact, this alone is why I think The One is his best variation. This may have turned into a bit of a guide in some sorts, but in any event I hope it helps people have more of an understanding for Spawn and maybe I can get some feedback if I've missed anything.
If anyone has a different opinion, I'd really enjoy hearing it and reading other people's point of view. If you can prove me wrong about any of this or change my mind, then I'm more than open to it because I'd love being able to play Variation 1. Right now I just think the Guns are useless and Soul Shattering War Club is sub par. Variation 3 and it's gimmicks are fun so even though it isn't as good as Variation 2 either, I still am able to enjoy playing it.
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