Sand Blast

A fast-traveling projectile whose startup and reach scale with button strength. While too unsafe to throw raw at neutral, it shines when canceled from normals — the backbone of Luke's pressure and Drive Gauge management.
Heavy Sand Blast is especially strong: -2 on block, +3 on hit, and HP-cancel naturally turns into a true block string. The OD version knocks down and acts as a corner-carry combo piece.
The drawback: Luke can't make his projectile safe-on-block at neutral, which is one of the reasons his Drive Gauge recovery is among the weakest in the cast.

The standard usage is canceling normals into Sand Blast.

• HP cancel 236P: From a tip-range HP, the cancel is safe; on block it's a true block string and DI rarely leaks out. Luke's safest pressure tool.
• 2HP cancel 236P: Easy to defend even if the confirm fails. Used to push opponents toward the corner.
• Corner-range Medium / Heavy Sand Blast: +1 to +3 on block — a starting point for continuing pressure.
• OD Sand Blast → Fatal Shot: A two-projectile carry sequence. Fatal Shot is slow and -21 on block, so it only comes out in confirmed punish situations.

Distance-based decisions

At light/medium Sand Blast range, the spacing tends to favor Luke. Mashing parry just bleeds your Drive Gauge.

• 0 to mid: Parry → Drive Rush to close the gap.
• Mid range: Neutral jump to whiff over it, then poke after landing.
• Far range: Forward jump. Luke can't make his projectile safe, so jump-ins are easy to land.
• Raw Heavy Sand Blast: 20F startup with long recovery — at Drive Rush range you can punish him outright.

Bait DI on HP-cancel 236P

Luke's most common pressure string is "HP → 236P." A tip-hit HP is unpunishable even with the cancel, so Luke players spam this as their go-to safe option.

• See HP, buffer DI: If the cancel comes out, it converts into DI. The block string is tight enough that DI rarely whiffs.
• Some characters can break it with a fireball-invuln OD reversal — clean win if you have one.
• Look for Perfect Parry: At close range, buffer a Drive-Rush attack to maximize reward.

Luke's counters to your DI bait are OD Sand Blast (236PP) and Heavy Flash Knuckle → SA2 (236236K), but both are Drive-heavy and rare.

OD Sand Blast / Fatal Shot read

• OD Sand Blast alone: -2 on block, no real punish window.
• Fatal Shot: -21 on block — full punish if you read it. But it costs 2 Drive bars, so it's rare.

There's a yomi where Luke uses OD Sand Blast to beat your DI bait, but Drive-cost makes it a bad option for him to spam — you can mostly ignore it.

In the corner, hold forward-jump on HP-cancel 236P

When pinned in the corner, holding forward jump against HP-cancel 236P means the projectile catches you in the air, often giving you a confirmed punish from the air-hit recovery state.

• "HP → ?" in the corner — feel free to mash forward jump.
• If HP just lands clean, crouch block.