Move Lab: fighting game moves on a leverless controller

The nut punch. Tap back, then down with Front Punch. He drops into the splits and punches up.

His flying kick. Tap back, then forward with Front Kick. He sails across the stage foot-first.

Tap back, then forward with Front Kick. He flies across the stage head-first.

Forward, release to neutral, down, then down-forward and 2 on the same frame.

Evo 2004. Daigo taps forward to parry all 15 hits of Chun-Li’s super, the last one in mid-air, then punishes for the win. A historic sequence to watch and understand, not a practice drill; the arrows are a summary.

Tap down, then back with Front Kick. He vanishes and reappears behind the opponent.

Forward, then a half-circle from back to forward, with 1 at the end. Six presses rolled across three fingers.

Quarter-circle forward, then punch. On leverless it is a finger roll: down, add right, let go of down.

The Electric motion with 4 instead of 2, then 1 for the left hook. Its full name is Spinning Demon to Left Hook.

Tap down, then forward with Front Punch. A hit freezes the opponent in place.

Tap back, then forward with Front Kick. He slides in low and takes the legs out.

Quarter-circle forward and 2. Players call it the Deathfist. Same motion as a Hadoken.

Hold back to charge, then forward with punch. Same input as Sonic Boom.

A full circle is four buttons: back, down, forward, then Up with punch.

Forward, down, then down-forward with punch. On leverless that is index, middle, then index finger again, with Down still held for the last press.

Hold down to charge, then hit Up with your thumb and kick together.

Hold back to charge, then press forward with punch. On leverless your ring finger holds Back and your index finger taps Forward.

Tap back, then forward with Front Punch. Two quick taps on leverless.

Hold down to charge, then Up with kick. Same input as the Somersault Kick.

Quarter-circle forward, then kick. The Hadoken motion with a kick instead of a punch.

Quarter-circle back, then kick. The mirror of the Hadoken roll: down, add left, let go of down.

Quarter-circle back, then kick. He swings in on a web line, feet first.

Four cardinal presses ending on Up. No diagonals needed, which makes command grabs far easier on leverless than on a stick.

Two separate taps, not a roll. Most Mortal Kombat specials are tap, tap, button.

Hold Back with one finger, then tap Forward with another. Keep them clean: Back + Forward together is neutral.

Hold Down with the left hand, then tap Up with the right thumb. The charge motion behind flash kicks and Spinning Bird Kicks.

Forward, let go, Down, add Forward. The Mishima crouch dash behind the Electric and the Hell Sweep.

Two quarter-circles back to back. The input for most supers, done as two quick finger rolls on leverless.

Forward, Down, then add Forward again. A zigzag of three presses that powers every Shoryuken-style uppercut.

The half-circle the other way, from Forward to Back: index, middle, then ring finger in one roll.

One roll across all three left-hand buttons, from Back to Forward. Used for command grabs and many supers.

The same roll the other way: Down, add Back, let go of Down. The motion behind Tatsumaki kicks and many command moves.

Two fingers, three game inputs: press Down, add Forward, let go of Down. The base of most fireballs.

Hold Down the whole time and tap Forward twice. An anti-air straight from a crouch.

Two fingers on one button: slide the middle finger through Forward, then the index finger.

Two fingers on the Down button, one after the other, with the attack on the second. Orie's Sealing Hoplon (22A/B/C) is the example.

Forward, Down, Forward, punch. Street Fighter 6 accepts it with no diagonal at all.

Hold Forward, press Back and Down together (it reads as Down), then let go of Back and punch.

Forward round to Back, then Forward again. Make a clean switch from Back to Forward at the end.

Press all three for a moment in the middle. Back + Down + Forward reads as Down, so the Down input cannot be skipped.

Hold Forward. Tap Down, then tap Up right after it and let go fast. Down must be released before Up lands.

Hold Back and tap Forward. You keep blocking while the backdash comes out.

Hold Forward and tap Back. Back + Forward reads as neutral, so the game sees Forward, neutral, Forward.

Tap Forward three times, letting go between taps, then press the attack one frame after the third tap while Forward is still held. The example uses 2+4.

Keep Back held. Tap Up with the thumb, then tap Forward. Fails on characters who backflip on Up-Back.

Keep Back held the whole time. Tap Down, then tap Forward, one at a time, never together.

Tap Back, let go, roll Down-Back to Back, let go. Each loop cancels one backdash into the next.

Slide one finger across Forward, Down, Back, then press Up + punch with the right hand.

Slide Forward, Down, Back; tap Up; slide Back, Down, Forward; punch. Tap Up fast or you will jump.

Hold both horizontal directions and the controller sends neutral. That is how the MICRO and SWORL come set up, and this one rule powers most leverless tricks.

Hold Down and press Up and the controller sends neutral; let go of Down and the Up comes through at once. That is how the MICRO and SWORL come set up.

Charge on Down-Back so you block low the whole time, then let go and press Forward + punch.

A quarter-circle that ends on Up-Forward, with the attack pressed right after Up so the move comes out as you leave the ground.

Hold Forward, tap Down, and punch as you let go. An uppercut without ever stopping your walk.

Hold Forward, tap Back + Down twice, then attack. Documented for Street Fighter V, so check it in your game.

A crouch dash cancelled straight into another. Forward, let go, Down, add Forward, then back to Forward.