Jamie

Jamie is a close-range fighter that specializes in poking, footsies, and harassment, with quick normals that he can use once he's in. He also benefits from a powerup system that allows his damage potential and flexibility to snowball the more chances he gets to power up.

Jamie's key mechanic is based on taking drinks. By using his forward throw, The Devil Inside, the Freeflow Kicks ending to his Freeflow Strikes special move, or certain target combos, Jamie can increase his Drink Level, up to a maximum of 4. Each time he drinks, his damage increases, bringing him to standard damage at Drink Lv. 2 and putting him above it at Drink Lv. 3 and higher. He also unlocks more target combos and special moves at specific Drink Levels, gradually opening up the complexity of his moveset and increasing his flexibility significantly; his most notable special move unlocks, in ascending order from Drink Lv. 1 to 4, are his aerial special move Luminous Dive Kick, his anti-projectile and super cancel bridge Bakkai, the command throw Tenshin, and the super-cancelable follow-up to his advancing move Swagger Step, the Swagger Hermit Punch. Jamie can also temporarily boost himself to Drink Lv. 4 (if he isn't already there) by using his Lv. 2 Super Art, The Devil's Song; if he already has 4 drinks, it instead becomes a tool to quickly replenish Drive Gauge and lets him keep up the pressure.

As far as his selection of normals and specials go, Jamie has 5MK, 2MK, and 5HK as strong cancelable pokes, as well as a grounded overhead in 6MK. He can use these moves, as well as careful uses of Freeflow Strikes and Swagger Step, to pester the opponent at close and mid range until they make a mistake. He also has 2HP and Arrow Kick as anti-air options, with Overdrive Arrow Kick explicitly serving as a reversal against aggressive opponents. Successful hits with sweep, Freeflow Strikes, Punish Counters, or any moves that knock the opponent down and away will give Jamie more time to drink without fear of repercussion, especially against opponents that aren't able to establish strong enough ranged pressure to stop Jamie from drinking when he's farther away from them.

In exchange for how powerful drinks make Jamie, though, it is no exaggeration to say that his gameplan is very much reliant on getting them, even if he doesn't make it to Drink Lv. 4 in a given round. Without drinks, Jamie lacks a lot of his most powerful tools, in addition to missing out on damage; it becomes an uphill battle to keep up unless he's gotten a few sips in, even with The Devil's Song acting as a Hail Mary option to close the gap in emergencies. It is also worth noting that Jamie's Drink Level does not carry over between rounds, meaning that he has to be prepared to get set up all over again, but once he gets going, he's a real menace. If you're looking for a bit of breaking and swaying alongside an infighter that only gets stronger when he's loaded up, then Jamie is your man.