Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is one of Blanka's special attacks, introduced in Street Fighter V.

Description
Executed by performing a half-circle backward motion and pressing punch, Blanka springs and pounces toward his opponent. If lands very close to his opponent, he grabs the back of the heel and pulls back; getting them off-balance and causing them to land on their back. Blanka then mounts on top of his opponent and delivers a barrage of claw slashes to their face. After the fourth slash, Blanka grabs his opponent by the sides, lifts them off of the ground and tosses them across the stage. He unleashes a vicious roar as his opponent crashes on their back for a second time.

If Blanka connects with the EX version, then her performs an additional claw slash before tossing his opponent away.

Tactics
This move allows Blanka to punish projectiles, allowing him to leap over fireballs and inflict a decent amount of damage at the same time. The Wild Hunt is an effective way to approach the opponent. While this move has a slower startup compared to his Backstep Roll, this command grab is his most damaging special move. By mixing up Wild Hunt with his Surprise Forward command dash, Blanka can keep his opponent on their heels with his unorthodox attacks from different angles.

The startup, range, and damage output are determined by the strength of the punch button pressed. The Light version has the fastest startup. It also allows to Blanka jump and land just in front of where he originally was. The Medium version has Blanka leaping and landing about halfscreen length. The Heavy version has the longest startup. During this version, Blanka comes down about almost fullscreen.

The EX version allows the player to control the jump while airborne. During EX Wild Hunt, Blanka can move forward or backward to adjust his position to make it easier to land his command grab. The EX version also comes out much quicker than the other versions. It also inflicts the same amount of damage as the Heavy Version If Blanka is trying to finish off the round from a distance, he can use EX Wild Hunt to surprise his opponent.

Blanka can also use Wild Hunt after putting his opponent in an Air Reset after hitting them with Wild Lift from his V-Skill. After resetting his opponent with Standing Heavy Punch, he can use Surprise Forward for a potential crossup, or he can sneak in his command throw and inflict some good damage.

Even though it is one of Blanka's most deceptive tools, it is difficult to connect. Because the strength of the punch button determines the move's range, Blanka has to guess the correct spacing between himself and his opponent. If the wrong kick button is pressed, Blanka can undershoot his opponent, leaving him vulnerable for a counterattack. On the other hand, he can also overshoot his opponent and completely jump over them, setting himself up for their punishes.

Additionally, Blanka is vulnerable in a Counter Hit state during the startup frames of this attack. It has a lot of recovery frames if the command throw whiffs. Blanka can risk taking heavy damage if his opponent is either anticipating or successfully avoids this attack. Also, even if Blanka does hit his opponent with Wild Hunt, he tosses them almost 3/4 of the screen, making it difficult to maintain pressure after the command grab.