Normals

Kensou has a crazy amount of anti-airs including normals, specials and supers.
His normals are better vs hops as they’re less risky. he has cr.C, far B, far D, far C and close D.
Far B and close D are the most consistent from my experience, far B is for further hops and close D is his XIII stand D which covers the area right above him pretty well.
his C normals in general are iffy as they don’t have many active frames and cr C’s hitbox fails at times.
He also has j.B and j.CD which are great for air to airs.

LP “Light Punch”

• Crouch :
• Stand :
• Far :
• Hop :
• Jump : same

Notes

LK “Light Kick”

• Crouch :
• Stand :
• Far :
• Hop :
• Jump : same

Notes

HP “Heavy Punch”

• Crouch :
• Stand :
• Far :
• Hop :
• Jump : same

Notes

HK “Heavy Kick”

• Crouch :
• Stand :
• Far :
• Hop :
• Jump : same

Notes

HPHK “CD Blowback”

• Stand:
• Air:

Notes:

Command Normals

? LP “name”

• Overhead

Specials

Kensou has a crazy amount of anti-airs including normals, specials and supers.

His anti-air specials and supers are better for normal jumps, but you can anti-air hops too if you’re quick enough.
Anti-air specials are Rdp+K, dp+K and hcf+C.
Rdp+K is his signature upside-down DP, light is invincible and 3 hits. Heavy has a dash before it and it’s not invincible but has more hits.
EX is B’s speed with D’s extra hits and height.

Dp+K is a slow upkick, moves a bit forward before he does the upkick part. Has a guard point but not from frame 1, it’s active around when he lifts his legs up.
Can be used to anti-air but needs to be done super early, otherwise you can autoguard the jump-in but they’ll have enough time to land and block.
Can combo into EX dp+K.
EX pops up and useful in corner juggles. Can combo A fireball after it into more stuff.

Hcf+P is his OG triple attack, Ryuurenga. A version goes horizontal, his best meterless combo ender. If the first hit whiffs he won’t finish the sequence but he still has some recovery.
C version is vertical, has autoguard and is mainly to cover the area above him where Rdp+B won’t reach.
Both versions are not safe so don’t do them unless you know for sure that they’ll hit.
EX is similar to the C version, can be used in some corner combos.

He also has anti-airs with meter, EX fireball super and qcf hcb+D.
These are obviously more rewarding but generally you need to be anticipating the jump to do them and they’re harder to do on pure reaction.

P “name” [EX]

• Poke/anti/counter/grab
• S5,A20,R14
• It’s…
• EX is…

Notes:

P “name” [EX]

• Poke/anti/counter/grab
• S5,A20,R14
• It’s…
• EX is…

Notes:

P “name” [EX]

• Poke/anti/counter/grab
• S5,A20,R14
• It’s…
• EX is…

Notes:

Supers & Climax

x2 P “name“ [Max]

• Type
• Max version is..
• .

K “name”

• A

x2 KK “name” Climax

• Notes

Best Combos

Optimal x bars 

Pole Position

• H
• damage

Mid position

• damage

Anchor

• K
• 471 dmg

Videos

Strategy

Kensou’s playstyle revolves around his fireball, and his ridiculous amount of anti-air options to keep the opponent grounded.
Having vastly different fireball speeds to harass his opponents and cover his offense, as well as now having mixup options with his f+A overhead.

Kensou imo is one of the best point characters, mainly because he doesn’t need meter for his gameplan to work and it helps his zoning if the opponent doesn’t have meter to spend either. He gets to abuse his fireball zoning and pressure more and a lot of characters have to hold that.
There’s also that his MAX combos are kinda booty outside of the corner.. But that got fixed with the 1.03 patch.

The other part of Kensou’s gameplan is based around his fireball.
A fireball is a slow fireball with long startup and fast recovery.
C fireball is a fast fireball with quick startup and slow recovery.
Knowing when to use which fireball is important and takes practice.
A fireball is generally the go-to, you recover quick enough to run behind it and start your pressure with the fireball as your cover. The slow travel time is also useful to bait stupid stuff once people see you closing in and there’s a fireball on the screen as well.
This way you can also be close enough to punish escape attempts from the fireball like roll or a neutral jump.
It’s in Kensou’s favor whether people decide to respect the fireball and block or if they try to avoid it and jump/roll.
If they respect it you run in after it and start your pressure with hops, f+A/cr.B mixup, poke them with cr.D, push them to the corner with CD/j.CD etc.
if they jump it should practically be free damage for you, punish with Rdp+B/hcf+C or with a super if you have the bar.
C version is for fullscreen zoning and to throw off their escape timing, it’s also easier to combo into and works as a low risk blockstring ender.
Keep in mind that there’s a small gap if you cancel into A version but you’re even (or sometimes plus if you’re far enough) if they block it. C fireball leaves no gap but you’re negative after.
EX is a super quick fireball that eats other projectiles. Knocks down. Nothing special but it can help against some zoners.

Other than fireball and anti-airs, Kensou has some decent pokes.
Far B is neat, not 98 far B but it’s useful as a poke and a hop “check”.
Far D is basically a slower, more damaging far B.
His CD moves him forward and has a nice hitbox, you can also combo into C fireball from anywhere if it hits. EX fireball super and Climax also combo from anywhere.
Cr D is his furthest reaching and imo best poke, cancellable too. Cr D xx A fireball will make it hit meaty if they tech roll.
It’s only downside is that it’s open to hops so don’t completely rely on it.
His j.CD deserves a mention mainly coz of it’s crazy hitbox, it’s a tad slow but once it’s out that thing is a beast. Neutral hop j.CD is a nice, low risk, annoying poke. If you’re quick enough on CH you can combo EX fireball super or even Climax.

His air to airs are j.B and j.D, j.B is horizontal and j.D is closer and somewhat vertical. Both can cross up as well but it’s tight.
J.C is his main jump in alongside j.CD.

His air qcb+P is a dive that stops him in the air for a bit, can combo off of it in the corner.
Need to be spaced otherwise it’s not safe.
EX is hella hits and leaves them standing, but you can’t combo/link after it. It’s also safer.

His main super is the fireball one, can be used to cover regular fireball and EX can punish a lot of projectile attempts from fullscreen on reaction.

Other super is his OG super, starts with a Ryuurenga. B goes forward and D upwards. D version can be used as a high risk/high reward anti-air, just make sure it hits coz if it doesn’t you’ll pay for it.
EX is same as D but more hits/damage.
In the corner he can safejump after it (whiff stand A into neutral hop j.B)

His Climax is his XIII qcf+K animation.
mainly a combo ender or to punish fireballs, it can also anti-air in some situations but you have better, less expensive options that can do that.

Kensou’s combos aren’t complicated, he now has legit midscreen MAX stuff as well so here goes

-Cr.B cl.B f.A hcf+A
-Cr.B cr.B f.A hcf+A
-Cl.C f.A hcf+A
-f+A MAX cl.C f.A Super
-Cl.C f.A MAX cl.B dp+B EX dp+K super
-Cl.C f.A cl.C EX dp+K EX hcf+P Rdp+B xx super
•Corner:
-(f+A or cl.C f.A) MAX cl.D f.B qcb+C EX dp+K qcb+A Rdp+B xx super
-(f+A or cl.C f.A) MAX cl.D f.B qcb+C EX dp+K EX hcf+P Rdp+B

Hcf+A ender can be replaced with qcb+C which is cancellable into super if you want more damage for some meter.

Extra:
-Cr.B wasn’t mentioned but it’s really good. Has crazy range.
-Cl.B is a low, he has better lows but it’s good to keep in mind
-Anti-air fireball can combo into EX fireball super or Climax if you’re quick enough.
-Can’t combo from throw anymore, but that’s universal as no one can afaik.

Safe jump with mixup

Frame Data