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Health Double Jumps/Airdashes Dash Type
9,500 (CT-CPEX)
10,000 (CF)
1 Hop
Overdrive Duration (in frames)
100 – 90% 89 – 80% 79 – 70% 69 – 60% 59 – 50% 49 – 40% 39 – 30% 29 – 20% 19 – 10% 9 – 0%
180 210 240 270 300 390 420 450 480 600

Carl Clover is a character who works in tandem with Nirvana to confuse and pressure the opponent with frame traps, mixups and even unblockables. Once an exploitable opening presents itself, it can and often will lead to lengthy and unbelievably high-damage combos. Carl also has a smaller hitbox, causing characters to use specific combos against Carl.

Carl is the character with the lowest HP in the game (9500). He has the lowest Guard Gauge in the game and very low damage when he fights alone. His Negative Penalty can be gained relatively quickly. None of his supers have any invincibility. He has bad mobility since his dash is a hop with awful recovery. Carl has limited defensive options and poking options due to lack of range/priority/speed. He has risky anti-air options and limited, safe ways to start pressure without Nirvana nearby, and Nirvana is slow and only blocks projectile hits. Though this overall gives Carl one of the more unorthodox neutral footsies games out of the entire cast, as he is very space-dependent.

And to top it all off, Carl has a high learning curve that requires players to know how to use the Negative Edge feature present in many other fighting games. He, despite his high damage potential, has his damage in the form of long combos with Nirvana’s aid; the damage output on his attacks in single bursts (even Nirvana’s damage alone) tends to be in a small amount, so he often relies a lot on long combos to get out his damage capacity, especially with meter available.

Carl’s Drive, Automaton (オートマトン Ōtomaton), allows use of the D button and directional inputs independently to control Nirvana, which is fairly complicated to learn. All of Nirvana’s attacks can be performed while Carl is in the air. Most of her attacks are cancelled if she is hit or if Carl is hit/blocks.

His Overdrive is Synchro High Speed (シンクロハイスピード Shinkuro Hai Supīdo), which powers up Nirvana by making her gauge recover faster, giving her increased walkspeed, less recovery time on her moves and new properties on said moves. Carl as a nod to his Unlimited form in the previous installment(s), also during his Overdrive gains access to his own version of his father’s Vol Tedo attack, the Arpeggio of Oblivion (忘却のアルペジオ Bōkyaku no Arupejio), enabling Carl once more to have more powerful combo potential, due to having brand new combo finisher with nice damage.

Command list[]

Basic moves[]

Input Damage Heat gain
A 300 124
BBCS (Carl 5A) Carl’s little robot punches in front of him.
Standard 6F startup, but very short ranged.
Use to punish since it prorates less than 2A. Cannot chain into itself for rapid-fire.
BBCP: Can now rapid-fire chain into itself, but it usually allows only two hits despite its low pushback.
Input Damage Heat gain
B 430 178
BBCS (Carl 5B) Carl’s robot stabs in front of him with a flagpole.
Decent reach and speed.
Pretty easy to punish on whiff.
Input Damage Heat gain
C 620 256
BBCS (Carl 5C) Carl’s robot stabs the floor with a pike while sitting on a horse.
Probably the longest reaching move Carl has, but is a bit unsafe due the the hitbox not being disjointed.
Input Damage Heat gain
2A 300 124
BBCS (Carl 2A) Carl’s robot punches low.
Hits low. Short ranged and standard startup. Cannot cancel into itself.
Can now rapid-fire chain into itself, but it usually allows only two hits despite its low pushback.
Input Damage Heat gain
2B 400 161
BBCS (Carl 2B) Carl’s robot stabs forward low with a flagpole.
Reaches about the same length as 5B except with less recovery.
Use this for closer range poking if you need something faster than 5C.
-0 on block so also good to end block strings with.
Input Damage Heat gain
2C 600 248
BBCS (Carl 2C) Carl’s robot’s horse does a dual hind kick into the air.
Hit box is pretty vertical on this one so its only useful in 2C8D loop.
Do not try it as anti air, it has no invincibility. Has a Fatal Counter property as of BB: CS.
Input Damage Heat gain
6A 480 198
BBCS (Carl 6A) Carl’s little robot takes off his hat and hits with it on top of him.
Launches on ground hit.
While it is head invincible throughout the whole move and can be used as an anti air, it only has 4 active frames and a really small forward hitbox.
Using it against people with further jump in reach will probably get yourself killed.
Easily punishable on whiff.
Input Damage Heat gain
6B, BB or 2BB 580 240
BBCS (Carl 6B) Carl’s robot sweeps the ground with a flagpole while Carl himself does a turn.
Hits low, part of your basic combo as it can also be done from his 5B or 2B alike (but said normals must connect first).
One of his farthest normals.
On CH, it will pop the opponent up a bit in the air and towards you, untechable until they hit ground.
In pressure strings with opponent in between Carl and Nirvana, using this will put Carl closer to his opponent so the pressure is harder to escape, but it does not hurt the guard gauge as much as 5C so the choice is yours.
On IB, this is punishable if timed well.
In CS:EX, it is no longer jump cancelable.
Input Damage Heat gain
6(C) (Hold to charge, A to cancel) 550 (No Charge), 1000 (Partial Charge), 1100 (Max Charge) 227 (No Charge), 414 (Partial Charge), 455 (Max Charge)
BBCS (Carl 6C) Carl’s robot’s horse stomps down.
Overhead and chargeable, full charged = unblockable and ground bounces.
Startup is pretty slow (feels like a whole second, remember to not hold the C) and telegraphed.
If this lands, they are in crumble stun for a while, long enough to follow up with 5B/2B.
Range is not that great so use mainly off pressure strings.
In CS:EX, it gained floor bounce property after charging for a certain amount of time. Uncharged, it knocks the opponent to the floor.
In CP, it can crumple on uncharged hit, while in CP Ver. 2.0/Extend, Carl can now cancel the attack with pressing A while charging the attack, allowing him to feint and reconsider options (though cancelling it has a bit of a prior delay).
Input Damage Heat gain
3C 590 244
BBCS (Carl 3C) Carl’s sweep, where his robot horse slides on the ground with him with pike pointed forward, as Carl does a slide kick in conjunction.
Low profile, but unsafe on block or whiff.
Use mainly as part of combos or if you are 100% sure you will slide under their attack.
Input Damage Heat gain
A (in the air) 300 124
BBCS (Carl jA) Carl’s robot punches forward.
5F startup so you can try to use it as your anti air, but its reach is really short so it is a risk to take. Can cancel into itself, making it a decent hit confirm, and due to air trajectory physics, unlike his 5A and 2A it can chain into itself more than twice under certain circumstances (such as from a forward air dash).
Input Damage Heat gain
B (in the air) 510 211
BBCS (Carl jB) Carl’s robot swipes in front with a flagpole.
Pretty good range.
Use this preemptively to prevent people from jumping in. A slow move, but one of Carl’s main air-to-air tools.
Crosses up and can reverse chain into j.A.
Input Damage Heat gain
C (in the air) 660 273
BBCS (Carl jC) Carl’s robot swipes vertically downwards with a pike.
Your main jump-in attack.
Not so good as an attack via airdashing in because the hitbox is not too big under nor in front of him and this sometimes whiffs on certain crouching characters.
Main air combo finisher as it plummets foes down on it and can set up for quick hard-to-tech Nirvana juggles or okizeme, depending on the height of the air combo.
Has a small cross-up hitbox.
Input Damage Heat gain
2C (in the air) 640 289
BBCS (Carl j2C) Carl mounts on his robot horse a bit and falls vertically down with his robot’s pike first.
On hit/block, Carl bounces.
On whiff and you hit the ground with horrible recovery.
If you do this low to the ground and cancel into 214C, Carl does not bounce and drops to the floor with no recovery.
This is your 2nd overhead option. In CS:EX, it can now only be used once per jump and it is no longer unblockable.


Throws[]

Input Damage Heat gain
BC 0, 1400 0, 496
BBCS (Carl FThrow) Carl slams the enemy into the ground in front of him. Special cancellable. Has a ton of untechable time, plenty of time to teleport Nirvana in for a combo. Overall, this should be chosen instead of back throw.
Input Damage Heat gain
4BC 0, 1400 0, 496
BBCS (Carl BThrow) Carl flips the opponent over his head, and they bounce off the ground behind him. Special cancellable. Can use Vivace (236A/B) to get in position to continue the combo, but this throw is only recommended to use if you’re in the corner and just want the opponent to be in the corner instead.
Input Damage Heat gain
BC (in the air) 0, 1400 0, 538
BBCS (Carl AThrow) Carl throws the opponent at the ground and they bounce back, high into the air. Plenty of time to teleport Nirvana and do a combo.
A purple air throw as a combo ender can be used against Tager: if the combo ends with the two of you high enough in the air, do a purple air throw and then do Fermata (214214D) if he breaks it, which is completely air unblockable. If the setup is done correctly, he has no options to escape.


Counter Assault[]

Input Damage Heat gain
6AB 0 0
BBCS (Carl 6C) Uses Carl’s 6C animation. Fully invulnerable frames 1-20. 180F Heat Gauge cooldown. If Nirvana is behind the opponent after Carl uses a Counter Assault, you can continue a combo out of it, such as with Volante or 3D.


Crush Trigger[]

Input Damage Heat gain
AB 1000
BBCP (Carl CrushTrigger) Carl’s robot twirls its pike, then tosses it down to the ground in front of Carl for a tremor in front. Possible to charge. Staggers on ground hit and floor bounces on air hit, and tends to add a lot more to Carl’s already-scary mixup game. 180F cooldown.


Drive[]

Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
D オートマトン Ōtomaton Automaton -- --
Carl Clover (Sprite) Activates Nirvana, holding 369 moves her forward, 147 moves her back. Very quick recovery if she is hit out of this move.
Input Damage Heat gain
4D 320, 880 132, 364
BBCS (Carl 4D) Nirvana does a 2 hit flailing move in a lifting dance spin. Quick startup and first hit has super armor throughout.
2nd hit wall bounces and allows Carl to do follow up, including gear super. Before CS:EX, it used to remove a Guard Primer on hit.
BlazBlue: Chronophantasma: The first hit now no longer sends the opponent flying across the screen; instead it launches them upwards, while the second hit causes spin on ground hit.
In CP Ver. 2.0, it now does 3 hits instead, with all 3 hits counting as low attacks.
Input Damage Heat gain
6D 860 356
BBCS (Carl 6D) Nirvana does a punch forward. Decent startup and range.
Your main move for pressure strings/loops.
Takes out a good chunk of guard gauge. In CS:EX, it causes corner blowback on air normal hit, wallbounce on air counter hit.
Input Damage Heat gain
2D 920 505
BBCS (Carl 2D) Nirvana will slam her fist down on the ground. Slow overhead that ground bounces opponent high into the air for follow up combo.
Proper use with Carl creates an unblockable. Breaks one Guard Prime on block.
Input Damage Heat gain
8D 620, 550 380, 231
BBCS (Carl 8D) Nirvana claps her hands in the air and creates a circular shockwave. 2 hit move.
1 hit on the shockwave, 1 hit near her hands.
The shockwave still exists even if Carl is hit.
Unblockable aerial. The shockwave breaks one guard primer on block.
Input Damage Heat gain
3D 300x4 82x4
BBCS (Carl 3D) Nirvana spin sweeps the ground. 4 hits in total and hits low.
Lots of active frames and useful for tech punishing. In CS:EX, causes ground bounce.


Overdrive[]

Input Japanese name English name English localization Damage Heat gain
AB
CD
シンクロハイスピード Shinkuro Hai Supīdo Synchro High Speed Synchronized High Speed -- --
BBCP(Carl Overdrive) Increases Nirvana’s strength and gives her moves new properties. Makes her attacks much faster and increases her gauge recovery speed.


Exceed Accel[]

Input Japanese name English name English localization Damage Heat gain
AB
CD
(during Overdrive)
慟哭のシンフォニア Dōkoku no Shinfonia Symphonia of Lamentation Symphony of Lament 2000
4000 (Active Flow)
BBCF Carl Symphony of Lament New move in Centralfiction. Carl sends out his little robot which jumps up and down on the opponent lots of times, Carl then finishes it with dropping a big metal contraption on top of the opponent, causing them to wall bounce.


Special moves[]

Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
236A/B ヴィヴァーチェ Vivāche Vivace -- --
BBCS (Carl Vivace) Carl strides forward in a turn to dodge attacks and move past the opponent. Moves a fixed distance. 236A is a short distance roll (about 1/3~1/4 of the screen) that passes through opponents and Nirvana.
8F of full invincibility at the beginning but easily punishable since there is a lot of recovery.
Do not use this without a plan.
236B is a longer distance roll (about 2/3 of the screen) that passes through opponents and Nirvana.
18F of head invincibility makes it a good escape mechanism for jump-ins.
Recovery is still horrible so do not use it if it will stop in front of your opponent. Often used for crossups and for repositioning if used in the middle of a joint combo with Nirvana.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
623C カンタービレ Kantābire Cantabile 0, 1200 0, 41
BBCS (Carl Cantabile) Carl sends a robot on the ground, on hit it then launches and drags opponent towards Carl via a gesture. Drags a certain distance only so if it hits too far, follow up is impossible.
Useful sometimes to extend blockstun for Nirvana.
Reaches very far but whiff punishable, so only throw it out when Nirvana is nearby to protect you.
Punishable on block if you do it too close.
Also whiffs if done too close to your opponent.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
214C (in the air) アレグレット Areguretto Allegretto 150*6 ?*6
BBCS (Carl Allegretto) Multiple strike-stabs forward with Carl’s robot via its pike. Slow startup but good range and priority once its out, so you can use it for preemptive air dashes.
Main use is to end air combos with.
On hit, knocks pretty far away with lots of hitstun.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
22D ラカンパネラ Ra Kanpanera La Campanella -- --
BBCS (Carl 22D) Nirvana teleports behind Carl. Quick and cannot be interrupted once startup is over.
Chronophantasma: Overdrive version cuts the move’s recovery down to 42 frames.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
46D コン テネレッツァ Kon Tenerettsa Con Tenerezza 780, 920 ?
BBCP (Carl 46D) New move in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma. This move resembles a faster version of 4D, where Ada quickly reels backs and then strikes the opponent twice with whipping arms as she draws back. Useful as a poke, combo tool, can be combined with backdash for a pseudo-reversal. Has a vacuum effect on standing hit and causes floor bounce on air hit.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
623D コン ブリオ Kon Burio Con Brio 1520 ?
BBCS (Carl 623D) Nirvana extends her “nails” at an angle. Aerial unblockable, quick startup and far range makes it a good “prediction” anti air.
Has super armor.
Not so good as a reaction close anti air because the angle is not high enough.
Useful in combos. Breaks one Guard Primer on Block.
BlazBlue: Chronophantasma: Now does one hit and has less hitstun.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
63214D コン アニマ Kon Anima Con Anima 0, 0, 2000 0, 745
BBCS (Carl 63214D) Nirvana’s command grab where she walks forward a very far distance and grabs your opponent. Slow startup and long recovery.
Breakable regardless of hit/block stun.
Do not use without a plan since its recovery is really long.
BlazBlue: Chronophantasma: No longer a command grab, and is now a regular attack that can be comboed into. Knocks the opponent down, can be followed up. Now a Fatal Counter.
Hakumen cannot counter this attack with his Drive, oddly enough, especially since it counts as a grab.
In CP Ver. 2.0, Ada now gains super armor/auto-guard/guard points during this move, and altered Fatal Counter properties.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
41236D コン フォーコ Kon Fōko Con Fuoco 280*7 115*7
BBCS (Carl 41236D) Nirvana’s arm drill. Takes a slow delay to wind up then leans in for multiple hits. Slow startup and long recovery but moves quite a bit and lots of guard stun/damage if it lands.
Use with caution as it can be jumped over and then you’ll be alone without Nirvana for a good while.
Can be interrupted before startup. Breaks one Guard Primer on block in the BlazBlue: Continuum Shift games.
In CP Ver. 2.0, Ada now moves more forward during this attack, covering a lot of distance. This attack also does more damage per hit.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
421D ヴォランテ Vorante Volante 860 356
BBCS (Carl 421D) Nirvana launches a projectile. Has some time where Nirvana must charge. Possesses bounce properties. Great for getting distance between opponent, but not to be used when opponent is close or they will know Nirvana out of the attack. Once the projectile is launched however, it will not stop unless Carl gets hit. Goes slow then gradually gets faster.


Distortion Drives[]

Input Japanese name English name English localization Damage Heat gain
632146C 麗しのカンタータ Uruwashi no Kantāta Cantata of Loveliness Laetabilis Cantata 200*20 0
BBCS (Carl LaetabilisCantata) Carl’s gear super. Does not have any invincibility, does not hit directly in front of Carl, so do not use on wakeup unless you’re planning to trade hits with a far poke.
Great to bait bursts as it stays even if Carl is hit.
Carl recovers slightly before the super ends so it can be used to set up unblockables in the corner.
Blasts away on hit allowing for follow up combos if opponent caught in between Carl and Nirvana.
Input Japanese name English name English localization Damage Heat gain
236236D (Ok in midair) 追憶のラプソディ Tsuioku no Rapusodi Rhapsody of Reminiscence Rhapsody of Memories 200*6, 300*2, 350*2, 500 (OD: 200*12, 300*4, 350*2, 500) 0
BBCS (Carl RhapsodyOfMemories) Nirvana’s 11 hit punch sequence. Has super armor throughout and does about 2k damage only but very quick startup. Can be activated in midair.
Quick enough to be used as a good wakeup option if Nirvana is nearby.
Lots of guardstun so you can do a lot of mixups during this 11 hits.
11th Hit wall bounces and allows you to follow up with an air combo or gear super.
Can be used to burst bait since it will result in opponent blocking if they burst.
Does not combo in the air. Breaks one Guard Primer on block.
Mix-up options described later. In Extend, its startup is slower, because Carl does a very brief pose before the super flash occurs.
In BlazBlue: Chronophantasma: When in Overdrive, Nirvana’s barrage of punches is extremely increased in speed, and aside of a two-handed smash, the ending strike is Fermata, sending the foe high into the air.
Input Japanese name English name English localization Damage Heat gain
214214D (Ok in midair) ゲネラルパウゼ Generaru Pauze General Pause Fermata 3000 0
BBCS (Carl Fermata) Nirvana’s powerful upper. Links off Carl’s 2C and 3C if timed right.
Good way to finish off your opponent since it can hit through bursts and it does good damage even at the end of a big combo. Hard to interrupt since the windup lasts for the whole super flash.
Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
632146D (during Overdrive) 忘却のアルペジオ Bōkyaku no Arupejio Arpeggio of Oblivion 800, 4500 0
New move in BlazBlue: Chronophantasma. Nirvana’s version of Ignis’ Vol Tedo. Mainly used as a high-damage combo finisher and is often worth the heat spent.


Astral Heat[]

Input Japanese name English name Damage Heat gain
64641236D デウスエクスマキナ Deusu Ekusu Makina Deus Ex Machina Death 0
BBCS (Carl DeusExMachina) CT, CS: After a countdown from ten, Nirvana sets off a huge explosion. If this attack should miss Nirvana will be unusable for the rest of the battle. In BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, the countdown speeds up the closer the opponent is to Nirvana.
CP: If this attack should miss Nirvana will be unusable for the rest of the battle. Nirvana will trap the opponent and Carl will shroud them in his cape. Then, a purple curtain opens with the foe caught in a mechanism of large gears. The gears will close in and do massive damage, finishing the foe.


Navigation[]

Command list
Ragna the Bloodedge · Jin Kisaragi · Noel Vermillion · Rachel Alucard · Taokaka · Iron Tager · Litchi Faye Ling · Arakune · Bang Shishigami · Carl Clover · Hakumen · ν-No.13- · Tsubaki Yayoi · Hazama · μ-No.12- · Makoto Nanaya · Valkenhayn R. Hellsing · Platinum the Trinity · Relius Clover · Izayoi · Amane Nishiki · Bullet · Azrael · Kagura Mutsuki · Kokonoe · Yūki Terumi · Celica A. Mercury · Λ-No.11- · Hibiki Kohaku · Naoto Kurogane · Nine the Phantom · Izanami · Es · Mai Natsume · Susanoo · Jūbei
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