Grave Blade

Grave Blade, known in Japan as Rock Crushing Blade, was originally 's down special move in Super Smash Flash 2 prior to Beta, where it was replaced by Rising Falcon.

Overview
When performed, Lloyd would hold the Vorpal Sword behind him for a moment before slamming it onto the ground in front of him, sending out a red shockwave. While the sword itself had no effect on opponents, opponents on the same horizontal level as Lloyd when he slams the sword would be dealt 6% damage and decent upward knockback. It would also deal a considerable amount of hitstun, which was intended to start combos as Lloyd could then follow up with one of his aerial attacks. This move could not be used in midair, and the considerable amount of startup lag combined with the ease of dodging the move made it very easy to punish.

Origin
The Grave Blade arte has only made a single appearance in the ' series, being an attack usable by Lloyd Irving, Kratos Aurion, and Zelos Wilder in '. The arte itself is an Earth-elemental variant of Fierce Demon Fang, an upgraded version of Demon Fang in which the user slams their weapon to the ground, creating a shockwave that damages enemies in a wide arc in front of them. Grave Blade is a more powerful arte that also causes rock shards to fly forward. It can only be used in place of Fierce Demon Fang when the user has used Fierce Demon Fang at least 200 times total and has an Earth-elemental enchant in use.

Trivia

 * Prior to v0.8a of the SSF2 Demo, Lloyd's down special move was instead Guardian. It was changed to Grave Blade to better fit with his playstyle.
 * Since Beta, Lloyd uses a move that looks very similar to Grave Blade for his down smash; however, the two moves are not the same.