Author: Elias "Mechanica" Darling

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Step Up Your Slayer Game with Optimized Punishes in Guilty Gear XRD -REVELATOR-

Slayer has historically been one of the hardest hitters in the Guilty Gear series. Tanabata, a Japanese Slayer player, is helping continue this trend by exploring the ability to spend his Burst to power up one of his Overdrives. This new mechanic to -REVELATOR- adds invincibility and damage to an already terrifying move: Slayer’s Dead on Time.

While these punishes utilize anywhere from 50% to 100% tension, many of them don’t use it until the end of the combo, and could easily be left out.

Stopping a common Millia pressure string:

Punishing Sin’s jump Dust (while Sin cancels to overdrive here, this concept will beat any cancel he uses):

Punishing Axl’s DP on block, sometimes a difficult task for players:

Blowing through Axl’s most common blockstring:

Stopping Axl’s obnoxious full-screen presence in Sparrowhawk Stance:

Interrupting one of Zato’s most common pressure strings:

Stopping Faust before he cancels into his sweep:

Punishing Jack-O’s 2H (Crouching Heavy Slash) – her multi-hit normal:

In a similar vein, we have a fellow Slayer from Japan (TTK|Moga) who’s happy to share some situational combos.

Stopping Sol’s left/right mixup where he airdashes over you as a Gunflame approaches:

Winning the ‘Blitz Shield battle’ when you and your opponent keep going back and forth using Blitz Shield:

Source: TanabataHeidern Moga0425

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Learn How to Escape Elphelt Valentine’s Unblockables in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Elphelt is one of the most feared characters in Guilty Gear Xrd. One main reason for this is her access to various unblockable setups that, when successful, lead into yet another unblockable–an unblockable loop. She does this by getting a knockdown in the corner, lobbing a grenade, then charging up her unblockable rifle shot while her opponent is busy blocking the grenade’s explosion.

Thankfully, we have Japanese player Baaru, who has graced us with some video examples of how to escape her three most common ways of setting this up. The escapes are shown using Sol; since there is some variance in different characters’ jumps and backdashes, a few of the options may not work for everyone. Everyone can, however, escape with 25% tension for Blitz Shield (Slash + Heavy Slash).

First, we have Elphelt’s jump Dust setup. There are a few versions of this setup, but the concept is the same: Elphelt hits with a jump back normal, usually Dust, and lobs the grenade before landing.

  • Escape #1: Backdash to avoid the grenade, then jump. The shot hits you in the air so the explosion whiffs and the combo ends. Large characters may still get hit by the explosion, unfortunately.
  • Escape #2: Backdash the grenade, backdash the rifle shot. Characters like Sin with longer backdash animations may not have time for a second backdash here.
  • Escape #3: The most consistent escape. Blitz Shield the grenade, then backdash the charged shot. Some characters can cancel the successful Blitz into an invincible super, instead of backdash, to really capitalize on the escape and land some damage. That requires a lot of meter, but can be worthwhile.

Another option, and this goes for all her unblockables, is to use Blitz Shield twice in a row—to negate both the grenade and the charged rifle shot. You can then advance forward and try to flip the momentum in your favor. This is resource-intensive however, costing 50% tension.

If you’re having trouble timing the immediate Blitz Shield, you can bind it to one button (replace your taunt button), and just mash it multiple times on your wakeup. The game gives us a very lenient input window, and making it a one-button input makes it even easier.

Second, we have her 25% meter unblockable. This one is the most difficult to escape: she uses YRC to not only time the grenade perfectly, but to slow the game down and mess up your escape attempt.

  • Escape #1: Blitz the grenade, backdash the charged shot, jump to avoid the explosion. Characters with slower jumps (Leo, Potemkin) may not be able to jump out here, but you can instead choose to block it.
  • Escape #2: Blitz both the grenade, and the charged shot. This is the easier and more consistent escape. It’s available to any character, but again requires more tension meter (50% rather than 25%).

Third, we have an unblockable where Elphelt must spend 50% tension to combo after. This setup involves running down the grenade timer by riddling you with bullets, before whipping out her trusty rifle, Miss Confire. Since this time she uses the grenade explosion before the rifle shot, she must Roman Cancel the shot to continue the combo. Watch her meter: if she doesn’t have 50% (and the single shot won’t kill you), you may want to take the hit and save your resources for later use.

  • Escape #1: Backdash the grenade, double jump to avoid the shot and explosion. Again, this meterless escape may not be an option for some characters.
  • Escape #2: Block the grenade throw, instant block the explosion, then Blitz the charged shot. You have to instant block the explosion in order to get out of blockstun and Blitz Shield here. You don’t, however, have to instant block the first hit of the grenade.

In very desperate measures, if you don’t have meter for Blitz Shield, you can use a burst to avoid the unblockable charged shot. The burst won’t hit Elphelt, but if you’re going to die from it, it’s worth a shot.

Source: baaru_ggx

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Add Some More Setups to Your Rainbow Mika’s Repertoire

Through the use of her unique assist calling V-Trigger, R. Mika has access to some of the dirtiest setups in Street Fighter V, including a style of “unblockable.” This nearly unavoidable setup involves Nadeshiko covering one end with a hit, while Mika goes for a command throw. The timing is such that if the defender chooses to block, the throw catches them before they are actually in blockstun. If they try to back dash or jump out (with some exceptions), Mika’s tag team partner hits them before they can escape. Characters without invincible reversals will find themselves with particularly limited options here.

Whether you play R. Mika or just want to be able to recognize the setups when facing off against her in the ring, below are some video examples, which include tips for escaping as well as applying these powerful setups.

First up, here’s a reset off of Passion Press, her irish whip wall bounce (f+mp):

Here’s a setup off of a knockdown, from various command grabs:

How about a blocked crouching fierce?

Last but not least, we see the same reset situation as the first video, but utilizing Critical Art as the command grab to deal some insane damage:

Due to the fact that command grab Critical Arts can be used in combos–a new concept to SFV–you can’t just take the hit from Nadeshiko in an effort to avoid the grab for less damage.

Sources: zeroaxion, Sixfortyfive, TheSassageKing