Haomaru is a signature character in the samurai shodown series. In Amakusa's Revenge, he is a powerfull all rounded character that is very popular amongs newer players, but who also offer a wide range of extended possibility for advanced players. His good balance in speed, attack, defence and throw recovery, along with an interesting arsenal of moves adapted to all kind of situations make him one of the few member of the cast that is not much affected depending on who he is fighting against. He does have additionnal combinations on large character and those who are pushed very close during a throw, and thus, characters such as Kyoshiro, Gaira, Amakusa, and several others should be carefull when fighting against him (jump C after a pull throw). Haomaru's speed allow him to run and jump around a lot, he's defenetly a character suited for rushing games. He's also a good grappler and can snap his opponent while running, altought his poking game is very limited. He does have his standing B at medium range, which actually have a better priority than most peoples who refrain from using it would think (Sogetsu standing B), he can even exange hits with charlotte at medium range. He can also cancel it into his tornado for adding to his keep away game. At close range, he also have his standing A that can put up in most case, but which is quicky overrun by the like of Galford ducking A. His crounching D can stop him being thrown but it you shouldn't spam it in hope that il will stop an aggressive grappler, it does come out fast enought to stop someone dashing at you but it does have a delay between two of them, so it's wise to not push your luck, and hop back or jump to a safe position. His far standing C does quite a lot of damage, especially powered. It's not usefull in many case but it does can take by surprise someone who is using the ground and run around a lot, like Ukyo. It is not chainable but you can cancel it near the end with a low tornado in order to prevent someone who would dash at you after guarding it. Run + C is very fast and swift, and can be used to quickly counterattacking on guarded/parried moves.

     Thank's to his speed in air, Haomaru can usually retaliate with a falling C after he successfully small jumped to avoid a throw while the opponent character is still in it's missed throw animation. His low uppercut can also proove to be very usefull to counter a grab attemp as haomaru try to land a jump (altought it is still a risky move, as if it have been predicted your opponent will be able to retaliate. It's kind of a move "to save the day" but to be used effectively and keep your opponent guessing it's wise to mix it with the small jump and the sidestep). He also have some nasty setup to throw his opponent in confusion as to what to expect next (close weak tornadoes or down D immediatly followed by a dash grab, jump C sidestep - uppercut/throw or another sidestep). Altought haomaru have a pretty good rushing game, his tornadoes also allow him to zone his opponent and going for a turtling game, mixing low uppercut with jump C as his opponent try to jump to retaliate. His jump C have a good priority and it's speed allow him to use it effectively as a reaction move. On some matchup he can spam it and try to kill several attemps of his opponent to use the sky, altought if it become predictable it will be most likely punish by a well timed hit of similar nature but with higher priority (basara, jubei). Both the repeated use of his tornadoes and jump C can be usefull to create a temporary wall between the two opponent, allowing the haomaru player to catch his breath for an instant and thinking of his next strategies. Both version of Haomaru have an interesting beef up at POW max but he sure don't depend on it to win his fight. His 14 hitter have a decent range and both version super are usefull and go trought fireball alike moves (especially usefull while getting up, altought Bust super have a limited range compared to Slash). Haomaru overhead hit is also very good and can be chained with his low uppercut (nasty set up when mixed with ↘ + D as your opponent get up) . Since haomaru combo capability varie depending on his match up, it can proove to be usefull so waste a throw and use the 14 hitter to get powered.

     As for the mode specificities, Bust seems to be more popular, and for good reason. Bust Haomaru have an incredible variety of usefull moves and powerfull combos. His super have a limited range but it come out very fast (can be hard to predict) and haomaru recover from a missed attempt pretty fast. It's also one the super that inflict the most considerable amount of damage. His tornadoes can be juggled at bust and his reverse uppercut (←↓↙ + S) can also be juggled with a few moves. Reverse uppercut also does pretty well against a character that keep poking you, and can be followed by a big puirsuit. His qcf + D have a good chipping damade to finish a near dead opponent who keep guarding. His tackle allow him to chain a wide variety of moves, but it's wise to refrain from using it as a standalone move (should most of the time be used after canceling with CD or B, or after a stunning C). Bust haomaru throwing you at corner is always trouble, and you can pretty guess that he'll use his juggling multislash with his tornadoes juggled in air, and forcing you into a mind game as to what he'll do next (going for a throw followed by the same combination or a immediate hit as you land, which will most likely involve the reverse uppercut juggled with low uppercut, and you'll end up crying in pain).

     As for Slash, altought he most of the time live in the shadow of his counterpart, he still have his strenght. Actually, someone particulary good at mind/guessing game would have advantage to play his at Slash. It happened to me a few time to win entire fight just by mixing his (←↓↙ + S) with ↘ + D. People can't really react to that overhead move but only try to anticipate it. Altought that move can be usefull in the right hand (and controlled by the right head), it is still a risky move, as your opponent will be able to retaliate if he anticipate it. Altought his super can be cancelled with the rage explosion and inflict less damage than his bust counterpart, it is still usefull and also possible to chain it very consistently over a throw on any other character of the cast. I have also used it several time to punish someone who would try to throw something at me as I was getting up (go right trought their move). Slash haomaru also have in several case better mean to retaliate than bust after a push throw at mid screen with his false CD canceled with (←↓↙ + S).

     Conclusion: Haomaru is a thug in ss4, well balanced and consistent character with both good basic moves and special. He can compete with any other character without too much problem (don't really have some anti-char, altought a few character does have some combos that works only on him and a few other, mostly because he is thrown at close range and his relatively slow time recovery). He also have a standart size and sprite alignment, combined with a very good recovery time on throw. He have a good learning curve and is intuitive to play, altought Bust would require more experience if the player want to unlock his most powerfull combinations.