Author: Elias "Mechanica" Darling

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Escape Pressure and Block Difficult Mixups with Fuzzy Blocking in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

You’ve likely heard of “fuzzy guard” setups by this point. The premise is that when you block something standing—like an air normal—you have a set amount of time where your character is stuck in a standing block animation. While you can change your input to crouch block, you’re still stuck in a standing animation while the blockstun finishes. During this time your standing character is vulnerable to “instant overheads” using jump normals on the way up.

A quick video example from Ibuki in Street Fighter V:

After the cross-up, if you were to crouch block you’d get caught by the instant jumping light kick.

Fuzzy blocking utilizes this concept as a defensive perk. In Guilty Gear, it’s something akin to the usefulness of the jump back + throw tech option select in SFV. It can escape throws while also covering several high/low mixups.

While blocking, you go from down-back, to up-back (+two buttons for Faultless Defense), to back, to down-back.

In number notation: 1, 7+PK, 4, 1

How long should you hold the Faultless Defense for? It mostly depends if you went airborne or not, but if you have meter to spare it can of course be useful for its pushback function.

Here’s an example against a few mixups from I-no, who has some of the scariest high/low pressure in the game:

Considering your typical pressure timing: most characters lows start up in about 5 frames, while their command overheads are typically closer to 20 frame startup. (If all they have is standing Dust, that’s usually closer to 25 frames.)

Starting with low block covers the timing for a typical meaty low. If they put you in blockstun, you won’t be able to jump and you will then just be high blocking for a moment. If they did not put you in blockstun, you will jump out. This will cover many basic mixups: going low immediately, a low followed by an overhead, a (command) grab instead of any normals, etc.

It’s best used after you’ve shown your opponent you’re willing to block when on the defense. If you use it immediately on your wakeup, a basic gatling with a delayed low (2P > 2K) or multiple lows (2K > 2D) is going to hit you. Using it later in a pressure string can be more effective. Know your opponent’s options: what they can gatling into, how many lows they have, etc.

Once you’ve conditioned them to try higher levels of mixup, though—this is a good time to apply this. This strong defensive option is also useful when you suspect a command throw might be coming.

Another example vs I-no, but this can be applied to many airdash pressure strings:

A common way for I-no to extend her pressure is Chemical Love YRC air dash forward. The mixup used here is airdash j.S, j.HS into j.D (for a third overhead), or land and go low. Because the low comes out fast compared to when the j.D hits, this option used right after the j.HS covers both options.

It should be noted that if she’s using other strings like j.S j.K j.S off the airdash that this is much harder. Those strings require closer spacing though, so you can use FD (Faultless Defense) to push her out of range of j.K, giving you an out.

The timing of this technique takes some practice to get used to, but it’s well worth learning.

Fuzzy blocking is quite an asset. It takes some practice to find the timing and where it’s applicable. It’s not infallible, though. If it’s obvious you’re doing it every time you get knocked down, it can be easily countered. Used wisely, however, this can get you out of a lot of difficult pressure situations, including mixups you may not be able to react to.

Sources: SpabRog; keeponrockin; dustloop.

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Setplay While You Set Swords with Ramlethal with Advanced Setups in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

For Ramlethal to be successful, she often needs to be one step ahead of her opponent. Having limited defense options and some lackluster normals means she needs to be ready for the opponent’s attempts to escape her pressure. Below is a collection of ideas to expand that repertoire.

A burst-safe airdash string off command grab. Rather than instant air dash j.KSD, using j.KPSD allows for an easy burst bait:


If your opponent is anti-airing your jumping sword sets, come down with a blitz shield. Kakkou illustrates here that when successful, using command grab essentially sets up her unblockable. They either blitz and get grabbed, or they don’t and the sword launches them:


A simple way to beat high blitz after a corner combo:


If you time a meaty 6K just late enough, it will allow you to still block slower reversals. For instance, Sin & Jacko’s DP:


Using FD to cancel your run makes you slide, effectively giving you more command grab range. This is a relevant option for any character whether you’re using normal throw or a command grab:


Midscreen safejump on Leo:


Punishing Bedman’s bedslam optimally requires jumping into it and instant blocking. Daiji takes the optimization to new levels here:


Stun combo setup versus I-no:


If you’re doing dash up 2k against Axl, this shows it can be useful to input 1k with down-back instead. It will option select his crossup move, with her slide counter hitting for a full combo. Highly situational, but good to know for when it happens:


Instant air dash loop on Potemkin, reminiscent of Jam’s IAD loops in older iterations of the game:


Awesome setplay concept using a tech trap to air throw reset while covered by a swinging sword:


Sources: Daiji; Kakkou; chikin5922

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Study High-Level Play with Hours of Character-Specific Match Footage in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

YouTube user Mdesilva is a must-follow for any Xrd player. Here we have footage focusing on particular Japanese players, many of which are several hours of footage for a single character. This is an excellent resource for learning a character or match-up study.

Even if you don’t see your main among the recent uploads below, this may still prove useful as several of the descriptions include a list of the characters played in opposition.

Kakkou’s Ramlethal

Zadi’s Raven

Nage’s Faust

Kazuki’s Dizzy

TopGaren’s Zato

Samitto’s Chipp

2rio’s I-no

FAB’s Potemkin

Maruken’s Bedman

Roi’s Sol

Source: Mdesilva

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Grasp the Basics of Sol Okizeme with VrRaiden’s Sol Tutorials in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

With the recent sale for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- on the PlayStation Store — it’s $17.99 until the morning of Nov 29th —  there’ll hopefully be an influx of new blood. If you’re new to Guilty Gear or anime fighters in general, Sol is a great choice — he’s a strong, straightforward character.

Sol player VrRaiden has always been supplying a wealth of combos, setups, and other various tech in concise formats. His more recent tutorials are no exception, covering both basic grounded and Gun Flame okizeme.

While these two videos focuses on the utmost basics of okizeme for Sol, VrRaiden supplies everything from combos — basic, situational, character-specific — to option selects, safe jumps and more. His playlist of well over 70 Sol-specific videos can be found here. You can also follow his YouTube page to stay up-to-date for future tutorials and make sure to check out his Gunflame YRC tutorial, if this level of information is helpful.

You may also want to follow his Twitter, which includes reposted videos from Japanese players that one may not easily stumble across. For new players especially, make sure you also check out the in-game tutorials and challenges, as they are leagues above most other fighting game tutorials. The character-specific ones are useful even for more experienced players.

Source: VrRaiden

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Don’t Sleep on Bedman: A Collection of Various Combos and Setups in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Guilty Gear is known for its creative and diverse cast, and Bedman is no doubt keeping that dream alive with his unique design. Being the only character with an 8-way airdash, ground dashes with autoguard, and two walkspeeds to choose from, maneuvering him can be difficult.

It’s important for such a bulky character with a lack of reversal options to keep his flow going. Bedman main TiamatNM continually provides a helpful collection of tech for this character.

From high damage corner carry combos off 6H:

To simple unblockable sheep super setups:

To safe jump setups:

We see some simpler concepts and combos above. Beyond that, there’s time stamped match videos of notable players, hard reads off a predictable opening gambit from Jack-O, and more.

For players who might be hitting a skill plateau with the character, there’s great ideas for some of the struggles of getting to higher level play:

Burst baits that cover several different burst timings:

Counter-poking and converting into extended combos:

Converting anti-airs at a lofty height into complete combos ending in knockdown:

Source: TiamatNM

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Over Six Hours of MadKOF Beasting in The King of Fighters XIV

As always, MadKOF is grinding away in online matches, streaming and uploading. This 2012 KOFXIII Evo champion wreaked havoc on that year’s brackets along with his CafeId crew, taking up four of the top eight spots. Around that time, he would stream playing online matches as random select. His knowledge of the KOF series extends to every character, and there’s always something to pick up from watching him play a character you like.

You’ll see him play the likes of Meitenkun, Kukri, Leona, Mian, Terry, Robert, K’, King, Athena, Angel, and tons more. Setups, simple combos, max mode combos, blockstrings, frame traps, you name it. Watching a player of this caliber is a great learning resource.

Follow his Twitch channel to catch these streaming sessions live, or subscribe to his YouTube channel below to find many more archived sessions.

Source: MADKOF LKN

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A Humorous Look at Why Laura Struggles in the Chun-Li Match-Up in Street Fighter V

Rocwell amusingly threw together a video displaying his character Laura’s shortcomings against Chun-Li, titled “I got the 7-3 blues.”

He starts by displaying her limited options off light attacks—an intentional balance choice in the character design of Laura. We then see, however, her main frame trap failing to convert into damage because of pushback issues. Chun-Li’s 3-frame jab then illustrates how disruptive it is so many of her other pressure choices. And also her jabs just whiff on crouching Chun’s hurtbox for whatever reason.

Past that, some other issues we see include a demonstration of how Laura is negative when dashing in after a knockdown. Chun can simply react to the dash and press jab, and it will stuff Laura’s offense attempts. For a momentum-based character, this is especially rough against a character with such strong, long-ranged pokes. If Laura opts to meaty from max range, she nails a crush counter but we see that she’s out of range to convert into much damage without committing to spending meter.

We end with a plea to Capcom on behalf of Laura players to address her weaknesses, as Aretha sings us off.

Source: Rocwell

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Learn Your Best Options Against R. Mika in Street Fighter V with an Anti-Mika Lecture from MTLSF

During Montréal’s previous weekly Street Fighter V event–Tatsumaki Tuesday–notable R. Mika main VerySausageMan delivered a short anti-Mika lecture to help out anyone struggling against the blonde-haired wrestler. [Timely, considering the results of Canada Cup 2016. – Editor]

He started this lecture discussing what to do when Mika gets you in her vortex. Once Mika gets momentum going with her brimstone (hcb+K) command grab, her two options are generally going to be dash brimstone again, or dash s.mp. He recommends just eating a few grabs until they suspect you will try to escape and go for meaty standing medium punch. If blocked, it’s now your turn. The gap will be a minimum of 5 frames which leaves you time to stick out a medium button. Mika essentially loses momentum off her EX giant swing (hcb+PP).

A jump can be anti-aired, a dash into a normal button can be counter-poked for free. Don’t automatically respect her options here. Charged dropkick can be very easily jabbed out before its active frames so don’t let her do it for free.

VerySausageMan then delves into deeper ideas—the ideal range for Mika (what range to avoid), common defensive choices from Mika players and how to beat them, how to effectively use V-reversal and even V-trigger activation to avoid some deadly mixups, and more.

Source: MTLSF

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Don’t Miss This Weekend’s Major Japanese Tournament Toushinsai, Featuring Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- and More

This weekend is Toushinsai 2016, a Japanese major tournament featuring a multitude of titles. There’s a focus on anime games, but it includes Ultra Street Fighter 4 as well as Tekken 7. This is a huge tournament, notably, for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, heavy hitters such as Ogawa, Nage, Ain, Kedako, Samitto, FAB, and more.

The main stream is over on ToushinsaiOfficialTV. This will have all the Blazblue, Guilty Gear, UNIEL matches (and Tekken 7 on Sunday).

Be sure to also keep an eye on Jonio’s stream, Joniosan, for side events:

On Friday (8:00 JST), we’ll see a first to 7 grudge match of Samitto vs. TopGaren; a Japan vs. Korea runback of a late-stage Evo match from earlier this year.

On Sunday, cheer on US players Mynus, and PG|MarlinPie as they try their hand in this exhibition.

Here, we have a translation for the epic Guilty Gear bracket on Saturday:

Next is a translated tournament schedule. Do note that these are Japanese Standard Time (JST), and thusly 16 hours ahead of the US west coast:

Stay tuned to 2djazz on Twitter to stay updated on other translated brackets and info as it springs up.

For those who can read Japanese, the official website can be found here, and information about the 23-on-23 exhibition here.

[Editor’s note: Japanese readers can also check out the brackets here. Thanks to Patrick for the tip.]

Source: 2djazz

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Improve Your Punish Game with Potemkin in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Japanese Potemkin player Doshin has put a lot of time into his #PlayPotemkin series. Using a grappler character in such a fast-paced game means you really need to capitalize on your opponent’s mistakes. Often times a knockdown or two from Potemkin will incite a risky defensive choice. Instill maximum fear in your opponents with this collection of optimized punish combos.

Punishing Axl‘s unblockable using flick:

 

If Axl tries to gatling into 6H, punish with instant block into 6P counter-hit:

Punishing Bedman‘s bedslam:

Punishing Chipp‘s super:

Two instant blocks and clever use of YRC allows Potemkin to avoid Dizzy‘s Imperial Ray super:

Punishing I-no reversal Chemical Love:

Punishing Elphelt‘s 5H:

Elphelt’s 5H can be a great spacing tool—especially against a huge character like Potemkin—but it also has a large hurtbox. Crouch under it for a counter hit 2H into very high damage.

It’s more likely, however, that Elphelt will use 5H from a much further range. This shows a way to utilize Hammerfall YRC to get close enough:

If Elphelt is holding onto a grenade, you can use Slidehead to detonate it and convert into a combo:

Jack-O gets her reversal grab super shut down by Potemkin Buster’s throw invulnerability. Depending on your timing, she either gets grabbed:

 

Or she whiffs and is in a counter-hit state:

Johnny‘s wakeup supers will either whiff or get beaten by meaty Trishula:

Punish combo for the aforementioned Johnny super:

If you’re feeling especially brave, a hard read allows you to grab Kum‘s 6H before the hitbox is active:

Punish Raven‘s wakeup super by backdashing it:

 

Punish Raven‘s airdash with Trishula:

Use backdash to make Sin‘s instant overhead j.D whiff:

Venom‘s Stinger Aim—a common ender to blockstrings—can be negated using flick -> YRC:

Zato pressure is insane, but note the use of Blitz Shield here against his jump K. Typically Zato will either jump cancel into another overhead, or land and go low. Avoid the whole situation this way, and if you have another 50% meter you can punish an attempt to Blitz back:

Bonus setup: canceling 2S or 5S with an RC right into slidehead cannot be jumped out of unless the opponent was instant blocking:

 

Of course, the opponent will be thinking about jumping out the next time you try this, that’s where a Heavenly Potemkin Buster comes in handy:

 

A big thanks to Doshin for his contributions, and his sense of humor:

Source: @Kenk_3