Wolfgang Krauser overview & gameplay guide
Character specification
Season 2
Character Trivia
Ruled the sinister underbelly of society as the Emperor of Darkness, until he fell in battle to the resilient fang of the Hungry Wolf—or so the rumors, spread by his own offspring, would have the public believe. Now, years later, the son of the sovereign has a fighting tournament of his own; for Krauser, whose ruthlessness has only grown with time, it is the perfect chance to strike. The stage is set—not a requiem for the fallen, but an overture to revenge.
Difficulty
ADVANCED star star star
Fighting Style
Mixed martial arts
Wolfgang Krauser Gameplay Trailer
PDF Command List
Gameplay Overview
A memorable villain who last appeared in KOF '98 UM, Wolfgang Krauser is a well-rounded bully character who is defined by his screen presence, big damage, and ability to completely overwhelm his opponent.
Krauser has a bit of an unusual moveset, with fireballs reminiscent of Sagat's Tiger Shot, an anti-air grab, armored command grab, a pair of advancing specials, and long-reaching normals, which seems simple enough on paper. But where they truly shine are in their collective ability to completely overpower opponents' responses to them. Krauser can charge his fireballs to simply beat opponents' projectiles, his anti-air grab can't be Just Defended, and above-average damage on his normals means he simply wins trades; alas, challenging Krauser directly is tantamount to chiseling your own gravestone. If Krauser gets a clean hit, he can hit incredibly hard with his high combo damage, ending with a hard knockdown to continue his assault, whether it be up close or even from afar with a charged Blitz Ball or Kaiser Wave.
Krauser may thus seem like an unstoppable force at first, but look closer and you will see this emperor's flaws. None of his special moves are invincible instantly, forcing him to rely on his valuable meter for an invincible reversal. As a character on the slow side with poor reward from his lows, he lacks the ability to stop an opponent from moving around the screen to evade his big attacks. This stacks with being a big body, giving faster characters ample opportunity to strike if he commits to one of his bigger attacks.
All in all, Krauser is a solid character, perfect for players who enjoy simply overpowering their adversaries. With his simple game plan, easy-to-execute combos and dominant neutral, he's also a great choice for new players.
Pros & Cons
thumb_up PROS
- Omnipresent: Krauser is a constant threat from anywhere on the screen. He can zone with fast fireballs from long range, overpower other characters' projectiles with his own, duke it out in mid-range with his massive normals, pressure the opponent up close with his multiple tools, and everything in between, and in all of the above cases, he has tools to simply overpower the opponent's response.
- Absurd Damage: Krauser's combo damage is absolutely massive, with light-to-heavy links, above-average damage on many normals and special moves, and intense counter hit routes; it's possible to hit 700 damage in a combo even on a normal hit.
- Unstoppable Anti-Air: Krauser is the only character in the game whose main anti-air option cannot be Just Defended. As an anti-air grab, Kaiser Claw (623P) prevents the opponent from resorting to the simple answer of jumping over his fireballs or normals, as doing so puts them in a hard knockdown.
- Says No to REV Blow: With an air-invincible grab, a command grab with guard point, good light strings, and a reasonably quick super, Krauser has an easy time shutting down REV Blows, even outside of S.P.G.
- REV Gauge Buildup: Krauser has multiple ways to drive up the opponent's REV Gauge when he has the advantage, with multiple plus-on-block specials and long-reaching moves, not to mention a hard knockdown into charged Kaiser Wave putting a whopping 70% REV buildup or more on the opponent's wakeup.
thumb_down CONS
- No Meterless Reversal: Krauser's only invincible reversals are Gigantic Cyclone and his Hidden Gear, meaning he will struggle to deal with pressure and mix-ups. While his unique command grab has fast guard point to break frame traps, the grab itself is too slow to be a reliable defensive option on top of being a high risk low reward option.
- Unrewarding Lows: Krauser's only low starter is his 2B and he has a singular hyperspecific way to convert into REV moves from it, making his low presence usually very underwhelming without a conversion into super.
- Somewhat Slow: Krauser doesn't move very quickly; his walk and dash speeds are slower than your average character. More nimble characters can throw him off his game as he can't quickly reposition to keep opponents where he wants them.
- Vulnerable to Whiff Punishes: The hurtboxes on Krauser's longer pokes stay out for a while on whiff, leaving him more vulnerable to Wild Punishes than many other characters.