Billy Kane overview & gameplay guide

A series staple, Billy Kane’s gameplay in CotW is largely intact from earlier installments; he’s a bully character who is defined by his long reach coupled with surprising mobility.

Billy sports a unique moveset full of long-range pokes, closing the gap with his command normals, and high-damage knockdowns. When put together, it really lets Billy freestyle his offense and overall gameplan, giving him good neutral, pressure, and conversions, and letting him pick fights at ranges where the opponent effectively struggles to fight back. He even has no problem comboing into his Ignition Gears thanks to having solid confirms like a four-light sequence. Billy even hangs in tough with fireball users, as well; he can outtrade fireball users with his pokes, negate them entirely even when Overheated with his staff twirl (623P), or use his Redline Gear (236236D) to punish them outright.

All this control and offense comes at a price, though; Billy’s defense is downright terrible. With no meterless reversal or reliable anti-air beyond his Dodge Attack, Billy is very vulnerable to being pressured when knocked down, and it’s not uncommon to see one mistake from Billy turn into him getting mixed and pressured straight to a round loss. Not to mention, while Billy’s neutral is intimidating, it is not flawless, as his moves have long recovery on whiff and leave a large extended hurtbox for the opponent to hit with a Wild Punish.

With all that said, Billy is definitely a quirky character who is absolutely ruthless in the hands of a studied player. If wearing down your opponent until they crack is your style, consider sticking it to your enemies with Billy.