Avalon

Avalon
Avalon is a Zoner/Rushdown Class in Black Magic II: Phantom's Causatum. Avalon has 800 HP, making it a squishy class along with Virtue, though it has good combo potential, and can do good damage if rushing and zoning are done properly.

Pros

 * Great combo potential.
 * Has a breakout ability, which is incredibly useful if you have enough heat.
 * Great zoning tools.


 * Good rushdown tools.
 * Guardbreak can be used as a replacement of Assailant's breakdown. In other words, Avalon has both a Breakout and a Breakdown.
 * Some combos can do a very good amount of damage.

Cons

 * Low health (800/80% of Assailant's health)
 * Although the guardbreak itself is very good for combos, it hasn't got much range comparing it with Assailant's guardbreak.
 * Certain moves are useless in some matchups.
 * Requirement of heat along with having to farm for heat, which is bad considering Avalon's great ULTs, which makes him depend moderately on heat.
 * Some hard links which require a bit of delay/timing.

Passive and all non-special/combos
Passive: Avalon does not have a Heavy autocombo. Instead, Avalon will do a stance, using up half a bar of heat, but at the same time, giving the user a 3D outer line of their character. This effect will change specials 1, 2, and 3, and will disappear after usage. (Fun fact: the effect color is equal to the current color of your heat bar)

Execution: If killed with Special 4, the camera will zoom in on the enemy, getting a good slow-mo glimpse of the bullet decapitating the enemy, just as they fall down defeated. If activated with guard break, the camera will move behind the enemy, able to see the enemy fall down in front of Avalon.

LC : After a wind-up, Avalon moves slightly forward, pushing enemies in front into the air. (This is really good for certain skills)

Breakout : (Costs 3 heat) When getting attacked, use this to ”breakout” of the combo, knocking the enemy away.

Guardbreak : (Costs 2 heat) after a wind-up, the user shoots a close-range shot in front of them, knocking enemies to the ground. Has no iframes nor armor. The move is very good combo starter, but thanks to its lack of range and wind-up, the Guardbreak is bad compared to most other Guardbreaks, because you can simply dodge it by back dashing/countering.

Light Auto Combo
J.AC1 - The user swipes forward.

J.AC2 - The user kicks the enemy, causing them to flinch, along with getting closer.

J.AC3 - The user does another kick, just for damage.

J.AC4 - The user shoots the enemy, knocking them back a small distance. A clone will then appear behind the enemy, and shoot them back towards the user. (Recommended to use a move after the clone shot, the launcher is a good idea. SP4 is also a good idea if your enemy is locked on.)

J.AC5 - The user sweeps the enemy to the ground (You can’t combo with much after)

J.AC6 - The user dashes forward, kicking the enemy and knocking them even farther. (Special 1 good for afterward)

Heavy Auto Combo
Sadly, Avalon hasn't got any HACs. Instead, the move is replaced by a clone creator (see Passive for more info).

Air Auto Combo
J.AC - The user does a punch aimed downward. (Refer to Ryu and Ken’s down air from SSBU)

J.AC2 - The user kicks the enemy.

JH.AC- The user does a front flip kick, dealing damage and knocking the enemy downwards.

Heavy Air Auto Combo
H.AC - The user kicks in the air almost making a wheel. (Spamming this while in the air can actually slow your fall)

EX Specials
Special 1 - The user shoots 3 bullets, each bullet does not need to travel the same way. The third bullet launches the enemy a distance. This can be used with half cooldown and can be aimed up and down with modifiers.

SP.1 + X - The user summons a clone to shoot out 3 bullets each in the same direction. 3rd bullet launches. This takes half cooldown and you can use this twice in a row. (Possible that it can be modified, not sure)

SP.1 + X + Used after launcher - A clone will be summoned to grab the enemy Mid-Air, and slam the enemy down a certain distance away.

SP.2 - The user does a flip kick forward, dealing 2 hits of damage. Its hitbox is huge, but it can be countered easily. This can be used on an Avalon about to use SP.8

SP.2 + X - The user summons a clone that does a flip kick. Can be combo'ed with Special 6 if close. This can be used on an Avalon about to use SP.8

SP.3 - The user winds up and strikes forward,  using witch time and/or za warudo  dealing damage and slowing down time for the enemy. The enemy will move and do everything slower for a period of time. This has a wind up and good end lag, so use it at the right time.

SP.3 + X - The user will do the same thing, but the clone will take form as an lingering orb, which can do the same effects has the normal special, but you have to knock the enemy into it. It has about the same size as SP4

SP.4 - The user summons a sphere-shaped reticle at their cursor, summoning their mech, the R.A.W.A.N 01 to stay and snipe any enemy that goes in it. Takes 0.5 seconds to activate, and using a modifier will make the reticle higher than where it’s supposed to be. Can activate Special 7 and execution.

SP.5 - (Can only be used in the air) The user summons their mech to stomp the area as the user dashes back. If hit, the mech will kick the enemy towards the user, a bit farther where the user dashed.

SP.6 - The user summons their mech to pull the ground in front of them, creating a circle connected to chains of the mech's gun that rapidly does small damage along with slowing the enemy down quickly. The circle will then explode, dealing damage and launching enemies a short distance. While doing so, the user will stand still and if hit by a magic/projectile attack, they will dodge and activate the explosion early. Still weak to physical attacks though.

EX Specials
SP.7 - (Costs 3 Heat) - The user creates a circle around them then stomps the ground, dealing very low damage, and knocking enemies to the ground (ignores shields). The enemy will have a mark on them (not even visible to you), and if hit with Special 4, the bullet will deal heavy damage, along with a cutscene exactly like the execution, but without the head removal. (removes the mark afterwards)

SP.8 - (Costs 3 Heat) - The user charges up their hand with edgy looking energy and then dashes forward (steerable, will get interrupted if hit during charge, ignores shields). The enemy hit will get knocked back from the user and have their hands clamped together by a clone behind them as they struggle to escape. The user walks towards them and then shoots them once per leg, making them fall on their knees as the user delivers a skull-shattering kick to their head, dealing damage. (Also has cool gray vision effect for the kick)

Strategy
Avalon has two main roles in battle: Zoning and Rushdown.

Zoning
You will surely find yourself doing this pretty often while in a battle. This is technically the first thing you want to do when a neutral starts. Avalon's zoning is pretty good against most rushdown characters. However, you should remember that you're not a pure zoner and that you have a lot of stuff to make a rushdown strategy.

Avalon's main tools for zoning are SP1 and SP4. Try using SP4 only when your enemy is not moving, or at least not running in a way that your SP4 will miss. You can also try putting custom traps, but you will need to unlock-on to do so. After SP4, you can try doing a timed SP1 to push the opponent back a bit.

If your opponent blocks a lot, try doing an SP4 combined with an SP1. If that doesn't break his shield, he will have only 20-10 defense points, enough for you to simply continue with the Zoning until his shield breaks.

If your opponent tries to rushdown you, back off by doing an SP5. Try to time it so it hits your opponent. If it's on cooldown, try to keep as most distance as possible with your enemy until SP5 recharges.

Rushdown
Avalon's rushdown tools are pretty good, too. Although his combo potential is not as good as Assailant's or Kurai's, he still has some really good combos you could try. (See Basic Combos for more info.)

You should only switch to Rushdown if either the opponent is too close or you simply don't need to zone any more thanks to an attack you did (SP5, Broken Guard).

Your main tool to switch a neutral to a combo is AirDash j.AC. It's similar to Assailant's (maybe even a bit faster) and you can use it to start a full L.AC. AirDash j.AC can still fail thanks to a timing mistake, because you want to do the j.AC as close to the ground as possible in order for the j.AC to be possible.

If you screwed up anywhere on a combo or the AirDash AAC got blocked somehow, you can always do an SP6 to put pressure on a shield. Still, remember that this move is quite risky and can end in you getting combo'ed if the combo doesn't start with a ranged attack. You can also do SP7 to mark your enemy since this attack bypasses shields.

Autocombos + Specials Combos Edit
L.AC4 SP4 L.AC6 - Probably the easiest Avalon combo that exists. You will need to be locked on your enemy for SP4 to be placed correctly.

L.AC4 LC Mod1SP1 - Knocks the opponent back a bit more, but does less damage.

L.AC4 SP4 SP1 - A combination of both combos above. You can do SP6 afterward to do a bit more damage, but it depends on where the enemy falls.

L.AC4 SP4 LC SP2 Mod2SP1 - Really good combo if you want to do a lot of damage but you don't wanna do hard links. SP1 may or may not require a bit of a delay (mostly depends on the server ping).

L.AC4 SP2 SP3 S+V SP6 - Does a lot of damage. I don't know if I should consider this a BnB, but who knows.

L.AC4 SP4 (wait) SP5 - You need to wait a bit before the SP5 so it works. A very good way to switch to Neutral.

SP7 (wait) L.AC4 SP4 (wait) SP6 - Does a ton of damage, but it costs a lot of heat too. Both SP7 and SP6 are okizemes, so you need to time it a bit.

'''SP2 L.AC..... '''- Another way of starting an Avalon combo. Extremely useful against Kurais who like to SP2 a lot.

L.AC4 LC jump JH.AC SP4 SP2 L.AC4 LC GB SP3 - A pretty easy combo if you practise it and a great way to get some early damage.

Special Only Combos
SP3 SP6 - SP6 will work perfectly if SP3 is done beforehand. Your opponent won't be able to get close, and if he does a ranged attack, you can just dodge it automatically.

SP2 SP8 SP4 - Probably the only way of linking SP8 into a combo. Does a ton of damage as you would expect.

Loops Edit
L.AC4 LC SP2 SP4 GB L.AC4... - The only known Avalon loop. Has some holes, but does the job. Still, you can only do it up to 3 times thanks to the heat limit, so the loop isn't actually a "loop".

Assailant
He will try to rush you down a lot. Rushdown could work with him, but if he knows what he's doing he will surely counter all your attacks with either SP1s, SP5s or ACs. Try to keep your distance with SP5 if he gets too close. Remember to always block his ults (if he's one of THOSE Assailants) and to never stop moving. If he catches you, expect the fight to be extended a lot with his SP3 unless you do a Breakout. However, not everything is bad, as you can do a trap inside yourself (simply do a trap then enter the trap), which is practically a move that will make Assailant useless (unless he does an SP4, which you can easily block). If he countered you by any means, either do an SP5 or block; you barely have any chances against someone who has 3 times your speed after a counter.

Virtue
Probably your easiest matchup. SP6 is your main tool here. Virtue can't do anything about it, especially if he's far enough from you.

Still, Virtue can do some very stylish TODs that can leave you either at 5% health or straight up kill you. That's why you're aiming to dodge everything here.

Kurai
Oh yes, your worst enemy.

You're banned from using SP1 outside of true combos here, as Kurai will easily counter it with an SP4 (Unless they don't know how to use it). You can only do it if you know that Kurai's SP4 is on cooldown or if they dont' know how to use it. He can't sadly do anything about zoning thanks to his lack of ranged attacks, but he's still able to rush you down very hard. If he's a Kurai who likes to spam SP2, do an SP2 then start a combo. If you're on a certain distance, beware of any SP1 that he may do and block them. Remember that Kurai's autocombos have a lot of range.

[Don't trust anyone, not even yourself.]
A fight consisting of punishes. If he does an SP2, do an SP2 (after he's done with the SP2, of course). If he does an SP1, do an SP4, etc. Remember that you can block most of his attacks like SP4. Try to rushdown as most as possible to add some pressure, or switch to zoning for a more calm, stable playstyle. You choose.