Samurai Shodown veterans may remember umbrella-wielding swordskid Shizumaru Hisame, known for dominating Samurai Shodown V Special tournaments alongside Kyoshiro, Ukyo, and Kusaregedo.

Welp, he’s back in 2019’s Samurai Shodown via a 16th September update. Unlike Kyoshiro however, he’s anything but nerfed.

Things are looking good for the parasol-wielding kid meta-wise. Imagine if your shoto fighter (ala Haohmaru) is slightly short and can delay his airtime multiple times during jumps. And has a pretty hard-to-react overhead. And a move he can charge and instakill anyone if it’s held for over 80 seconds ala SF’s Boxer. That’s Shizumaru in a nutshell.

And based on these finds from notable fighting game folks, he’s a force to be reckoned with. I used him like Haohmaru (run + A, run +B & uppercut, etc.) and got a good number of wins online. However, the following videos prove that I’ve only scratched the surface…

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh #SAMURAISHODOWNhttps://t.co/uLIwx1KfwA pic.twitter.com/PlLuYwa7oJ

— Lex (@FoxLex_) September 16, 2019

This character is strong. #SS_SZ #EmbraceDeath #SamuraiShodown pic.twitter.com/fBO02mTZqz

— sonicsol (@sonic_sol) September 16, 2019

… Oh no…#EmbraceDeath #SamuraiShodown #SS_SZ pic.twitter.com/9adysgdpZ3

— Benji Buckley (@BenjiTopaz) September 16, 2019

#SAMURAISHODOWN Shizumaru can keep charging while unarmed. Simple FYIhttps://t.co/x31CSUSUER pic.twitter.com/TqSoSEuqtR

— Olaf / ??? / #MusclesForMary / #??????? (@OlafRedland) September 16, 2019

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#????????? #SS_SHhttps://t.co/HACYuMFH0F pic.twitter.com/b8hm7YYfb9

— Reversi14452 (@Reversi14452) September 16, 2019

It’s too soon to tell whether Shizumaru’s truly reclaiming his top tier status since Samurai Shodown V Special since he just came out yesterday. But hey; he’s a free DLC character. Can’t complain about that, right?