Strikeborn Variants: How to Trigger Air, Directional, Counter, and Black Flash Versions

In Strikeborn, a skill variant is a different attack produced by the same skill slot when you change the conditions around the input: being airborne versus grounded, holding a direction, being mid-dash or mid-launcher, or whether an incoming attack connects. Every slot is effectively two or more tools in one button — if you only use a skill grounded and neutral, you are using half the tool. To trigger variants correctly: jump before the skill for air variants, hold S (or tilt the stick back) as you press the skill for back variants, and watch for counter slots that only behave as counters when they connect with an incoming attack.

Air variants and how they trigger

Some slots change when used airborne. The August 27, 2026 full showcase clearly demonstrated air variants for slot 1 and slot 4 on the showcased character, and Guts showcases called out air variants of those same slots. Triggering one simply requires being airborne when the skill is used, though some air versions carry extra conditions:

• Guts' Ground Splitter air variant requires a certain height — used too low, it can fall back to the ground version, because some air variants do not trigger if the game reads a grounded or low state.
• The air variant of Guts' slot 1 was used in recorded routes after a backdash.

Directional and hold variants

Holding a direction while pressing a skill changes at least some moves. The most common pattern is holding back (S on keyboard) at the same time as the skill:

• Guts' Repeater drops a bomb when used while moving backward.
• Guts' Arm Cannon has a hold-S variant that steps back then launches forward.
• Guts' Ironclad Thrust has a hold-jump variant — you must hold jump, not already be airborne, during the move — plus a backdash variant added in the first update.

On controller, directional variants mean a deliberate stick tilt at the same time as the skill input.

Counter and state-dependent variants

At least one slot functions as both a counter and a normal skill depending on whether an attack connects. Guts' slot 4 was shown acting as a counter if it hit an incoming attack and as a regular swing if it did not — a wrong guess is not a complete whiff. Target state also changes moves: one recorded clip shows Yuji's Cursed Beatdown turning into a different move when used on someone already on the floor.

Dash-jump and Black Flash variants

Variant conditions extend outside the skill bar. Front and back dashes both have jump variants that do something different — jumping during a back dash sends you airborne quickly (with end lag risk), while jumping during a front dash cancels it.

Separately, Yuji's Black Flash stack system transforms several moves: at one stack, his normal slots 1, 2, 4 and aerial down slam become Black Flashes; at two or more stacks, M1s, front dashes, and air slot 3 also become Black Flashes. Guts' moves also have Black Flash versions — Ironclad Thrust deals roughly double damage on a Black Flash, and only the last Repeater bolt can Black Flash. Damage figures here come from creator footage and should be treated as approximate, since the first update retuned Ironclad Thrust, Arm Cannon, and other moves.

Character examples

Yuji

• Divergent Fist (slot 1): normal ground version, an unblockable air variant (grab-and-dunk slam when close), and a Black Flash variant at one stack.
• Side kick / Slide kick (slot 2): sets up air combos; has a Black Flash variant.
• Cursed Beatdown (slot 3): air variant is a drop kick instead of the punch; using it on a downed target turns it into a different move.
• Manji Kick (slot 4): active counter in the first frames; after the counter window it still fires as a normal kick.
• Awakening kit: Dismantle has a hold-S variant (a world-cutting slash for less damage); Onslaught's air variant is stronger than the ground version.

Guts (Black Swordsman)

• Ground Splitter (slot 1): air variant that requires being reasonably high in the air (reachable off an air launch); unblockable slam.
• Ironclad Thrust (slot 2): hold-jump variant (hold jump during the move; launcher), a Space variant that tosses the enemy up for a follow-up, a backdash variant added in the first update, and a Black Flash version.
• Repeater (slot 3): side-dash variant that throws a dagger, and a hold-S / moving-backward variant that places a bomb — the bomb explodes near players or when hit by moves or M1s (roughly 35 damage when triggered by a hit, creator-reported).
• Prosthetic Arm Cannon (slot 4): jump variant (leaps up and forward) and a hold-S variant that steps back then launches forward; point-blank use deals more reported damage.
• Recorded air route: 3 M1s into downslam, walk forward and connect the next hit, backward variant of move 4, backdash while keeping the target in the hit, side dash back to restart.

One Guts variant remains unverified: the trigger for his front-dash uppercut variant. An early explanation (holding backward during the front dash) was later retracted by the same creator without a fully confirmed replacement, so test it yourself rather than assuming a settled input.

Wild Hunter (Gon)

• Janken Rock (slot 1): punch with a hold/charge variant (much higher unblockable damage), an air variant (slam down), a jump-cancel feint (Space cancels the hold; A/D after Space steers left or right), and an up-tilt-follow variant that hits a launched target back down.
• Janken Scissors (slot 2, added in the first update): forward lunge with a base attack, an air variant, a hold variant that lunges further and breaks hyper armor (~23 damage reported), and a jump-press variant that teleports the player forward.

Gon's kit is still incomplete (two base moves as of the first update), so this list may not represent his final variant set.

How to lab-test variants yourself

Work through one condition at a time from a fixed distance and record what each result is — launcher, counter, movement tool, or finisher:

1. Grounded, neutral: use slots 1–4 and note each animation.
2. Grounded, hold forward: repeat slots 1–4 and compare to neutral.
3. Grounded, hold back (S): repeat slots 1–4 and compare.
4. Immediately after a side dash: repeat the slots.
5. Jump, neutral: repeat all four slots.
6. Jump, hold forward/back: repeat.
7. After an uppercut (mid-air): repeat the slots that looked useful.
8. Against a dummy attack: test slot 4 if it is a counter slot.
9. Write down what each result is, and never test a new air variant for the first time in a real fight.

Notation for your notes

Strikeborn is a paid early-access game that receives frequent patches — variant inputs, knockback, and damage were retuned in the September 2026 first update — so re-verify every variant in the live client after each character update before relying on it in matches.