Johnny is a stylish swordsman who excels around the midrange with his signature Hirofumi sword style. What he lacks in defensive options, he makes up for with his ranged and often disjointed pokes that allow him to play a safe neutral game and keep opponents at a distance.

Johnny’s neutral revolves around his pokes. His f.S is remarkably fast and his 2S has enough range to challenge many options while keeping Johnny at a safe distance. Due to having a step dash, approaches are committal and getting close to the opponent is generally discouraged without a knockdown. Mist Finer’s many variants are capable of punishing neutral approach options, while its forwards dash grants the range necessary to check zoners. Johnny is able to convert many of his long-range pokes into knockdowns, using Deal to set up powerful okizeme options from far away. His lackluster defensive options mean that maintaining control of the neutral game to keep the opponent out is key to success.

Once the opponent has been knocked down with a card nearby, Johnny’s powerful offense can begin. His unique Turn Up mechanic allows Mist Finer to beat mashes, reversals, backdashes, and more from afar while otherwise leaving him plus on block. Johnny is capable of using this fact to his advantage in mix-ups, allowing him to use IAS S Mist Finer to form oppressive high/low mix-ups with rewarding conversions on hit.

With a wide variety of neutral tools and a few card tricks up his sleeve, this outlaw can offer unique answers to whatever your opponent throws your way.