Soul Punish is one of Rose's special attacks, introduced in Street Fighter V.
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Description
Executed by performing a quarter-circle backward motion and pressing punch, Rose creates an orb filled with Soul Power and summons it to a specific area in front of her. The orb's flashes gradually increase until it explodes; releasing the energy from within. The orb also explodes if it is hit by the opponent's projectile. The EX version summons a bigger orb with more potential energy stored inside.
This move is basically similar to Menat's variation of Soul Spark.
Tactics
Soul Punish serves primarily as a multi-dimensional tool. Successfully summoning the orb on the screen makes Rose a huge threat in the neutral game. She can use it as pseudo-wall while approaching her opponent. As long as the orb is on the screen, her opponent is forced to respect it while Rose maintain offensive pressure. Even if Rose performs an unsafe move, the explosion gives allows her to retain frame advantage and separation from her opponent.
On the other hand, it's very useful against other zoning characters who rely heavily on projectiles to keep Rose at a distance. If Rose manages to get the orb summoned in front of her, she can hide behind the projectile to momentarily protect herself against one of her opponent's fireballs. If the the orb is hit with another projectile, such as a Sonic Boom or Hadoken, the orb explodes while still maintaining its hitbox.
The strength of the punch button determines the placement of the orb. The Light version places the orb just in front of Rose; about 1/4 of the screen away. The Medium version put the orb about halfway of the screen. The Heavy version places the orb almost 3/4 of the screen. It takes 38 frames for the orb to appear. Once on the screen, it detonates after a couple of seconds. However, the hitbox doesn't appear until the orb explodes, which means that the opponent still has time to counter before dealing with the detonation.
The EX version requires two punch buttons to be pressed. The orb's placed is also depending on which two punch buttons are pressed. The enhanced Soul Punish is hits twice; putting the opponent in a juggle state on the second hit. This allows Rose to follow up with another special move for additional damage. Unlike the regular version, the hitbox appears once the opponent makes contact with it. When dealing with the EX Soul Punish, the opponent is forced to respect the orb on the screen. This also means that Rose can reapply pressure to her opponent; either safely approaching them or hide behind the orb as she zones them out with projectiles.
Gallery
Trivia
- Soul Punish originally appeared as Soul Bubble in OMEGA Mode. In contrast to its later incarnation, Soul Bubble only appeared in front of Rose and disappeared without exploding if it came into contact with the opponent. The EX Version passed through the opponent before exploding, making it more akin to Menat's Soul Spark and Soul Punish.
- Soul Punish's pose is an homage to Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, where Rose creates a ball of energy and swipes in a Z-shaped formation.