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[Xrd] Sol Badguy 101/Q&A/FAQ Thread

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but the thing is, when I do a block string from the safe jump he blocks the entire thing, yet he says I would have gotten grabbed if it wasn't a true block string or sumn. 

Like I would do safe jump S, 2p>5hs(saw mugen using this a alot recently and it has been working well for blowing up mashes) but he never gets hit? I'm very confused. 

He's not actually mashing. It's just one single button press timed a frame or two after you land. If he's not still mashing throw, a grounded frame trap won't catch him. It's not terribly bad to just always do the safe jump j.S and go from there.

A list of counters:

    </p><p>
  • Empty jump 2K / Wild Throw from outside throw range

  • Delay your safe jump to let you chain buttons like j.P x3 > Wild Throw. If spaced correctly, your Wild Throw will be from outside his throw range

  • Low air dash j.PKD or j.SH. He'll get a HS instead of a throw, so if you're good on timing, you'll CH him standing.

    Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

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What's going on is he's noticing the clear difference in timing of the meaty j.S connecting and the empty jump 2K connecting. Once it registers that it's too late for j.S to connect, he's automatically going to throw because he expects that you're landing. It's the same thing when people simply jump out of late airdash/empty low stuff, they block until you can't do a meaty, then jump.

Meaty j.S/empty jump 2K isn't worth calling a mix up because there's too much time between when they would connect. Late airdash j.S/empty 2K could be considered a high/low mixup because they connect relatively close to the same timing. However this loses to 6P/throw OS or fuzzy jumping. Sol has to include conditioning for his basic mix ups to be usable.

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15 hours ago, Cross said:

but the thing is, when I do a block string from the safe jump he blocks the entire thing, yet he says I would have gotten grabbed if it wasn't a true block string or sumn. 

Like I would do safe jump S, 2p>5hs(saw mugen using this a alot recently and it has been working well for blowing up mashes) but he never gets hit? I'm very confused. 

The situation is rather simple - your friend is using the blockstun of j.S to option select a throw by pressing 4HS as you land or would've landed. If he's in blockstun, pressing 4HS won't give him anything, but if he's not in blockstun, he'll get a throw. It would also work if you did low air dash moves or if you do a blockstring afterwards. There are ways to blow this up though. By showing your opponent that you can counter this, the empty jump into low will suddenly regain it's effectiveness (limited as it is, as VR-Raiden pointed out), and you'll overall force him to consider more options on wakeup (making it more likely he'll guess wrong). 

First of all, it's important for you to try to space these safe jumps so you're outside of your opponent's throw range. Obviously this makes your follow up pressure weaker, but at this point what you want to do is punish your opponent for auto piloting something. Thankfully it's not impossibly hard to do with Sol, even his j.P can be spaced in such a way, that without IB, you'll land outside most throw ranges.

So try using j.P for safejumping . It's short startup will allow you to press it low over the ground, making it harder for him to react to it, but that isn't the most important part. j.P is a level 0 move - what this means is that he will leave blockstun much sooner. If you combine this with landing outside of throw range, you create a frame trap. Since he's using 4HS to get block or throw, he cannot OS his throw. This means he'll most likely perform some big, slow and cumbersome normal. This is a perfect spot to stick a 2D or 6P (matchup dependent) in there. Both get good reward on counter hit and will discourage just auto-piloting the 4HS on his part. You could even use a well spaced empty jump 2D or 6P (once again dependent on the opposing character and their 5HS hitbox and frame data), which will also blow up the attempt to throw. 

A low air dash with a few moves (as Kikuichimonji already pointed out) might also beat him for trying to press that 4HS. Be careful to use a fast startup move after the dash though (a j.P is best, and then continue the string into other moves), because he could theoretically hit you with the resulting 5HS, which would be bad. This is good, because it doesn't really weaken your pressure afterwards, but gets beaten by anti-airs. 

As I mentioned before, the j.P options sacrifice pressure for the sake of trapping him for doing that one specific option select. For the most part, you're better off doing your normal safejump pressure and then looking for a frame trap. Your friends OS is quite clever, and will work very well against careless attempts at the meaty/empty jump low "mixup". What you need to do now is punish him for it a few times, and he'll stop. Then, you can start mixing it up with other options - actually try empty jumping from up close (he may be good enough to react to the distance of your safejump, so keep observing his reactions), safe jump from further away and go in for Wild Throw (since you taught him to respect the frame trap afterwards and not carelessly press 4HS). Maybe he will start mashing 2P's and 5P's then, so you can go for that Mugen frame trap you mention. There are plenty of options you can use when safejumping to create an opportunity for damage, but you need to enforce respect in the first place. Mix it up, use all available options and observe the opponent's reaction to truly get the best out of all of the tools you have. Thankfully, 6P and 2D are a godsend at times like these. 

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Hello,

I'm picking up Xrd competitively for 2016 (planning to attend Undefeated, CEO, EVO) and I was wondering if perhaps there was some sort of Skype/Discord/FB group that is open to join to discuss Sol strats? If needed, a PM with the info is accepted. Thank you for the assistance!

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Sup Dustloop?

This is my first post here and I'm a complete noob at Guilty Gear Xrd or any fighting game for that matter.

Just blew through Sol's trials today and was thinking about picking up some practical combos so I can go online and and practice that stuff.

I'm also not sure if my question doesn't fit better into the combo thread, but it felt more "right" to post here, so please excuse me if I made a mistake.

 

Long story short:

I found this combo on the Dustloop Wiki:

f.S > 5HS (RC) > BB, dash 5K > 2HS (JC) >
j.S (JC) > j.S > j.HS > j.VV -> TO

Looks good eh? Starts from far standing S, 2 bars of meter and deals a whooping 180, plus even I can hit-confirm it and I can't hit-confirm jack shit in SF.

Problem is that from max range I either can't connect the j.S after the jump cancel from 2HS, or I can't connect the 5K, or the 5K only hits once and the 2HS whiffs.

I also noticed that if I start it closer to the dummy, that I can actually get the full combo.

Does that basically mean that the combo doesn't work from max range or is my execution just terrible and should I practice it longer?

I'd also like to ask you guys for a reliable from far standing S into red roman cancel, if this one happens to be unreliable or situational.

I rather have a bit less damage but something that works in all conditions, than something that does max damage but only works in certain situations. As a beginner I just want to build and arsenal that I can rely on and don't have to think about, so I can actually start playing my opponents.

 

Edit: I mean this one is very similar to one I did in the challenges, but even that one I couldn't do from max S range.

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While the combo itself works on anyone at moderate range, the maximum range that it works from is largely character specific, due to a combination of character weight and airborne hurtboxes. Trying to perform a dash 5K after Bandit Bringer at absolute maximum f.S > 5HS range will not work on many characters, and many of the characters that it will work on still require some degree of adjustment afterwards. The combo listed below it, "f.S > 5HS (RC) > Bandit Bringer, dash f.S > 5HS (JC) > IAD j.P > j.HS(1) > Aerial HS Volcanic Viper -> Tataki Otoshi" works at maximum range, but requires slightly better execution.

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Thanks a lot man. Appreciate the help.

Gonna grind out the IAD variant then. I suck at IAD'ing anyways so gotta do it sooner or later anyways.

 

Another question if you don't mind:

I got a bit of trouble with quickly ground dashing when coming out of the air in order to take momentum into combos.

Is there a small buffer window in Xrd where you can input a dash shortly before landing? It sometimes feels like that but I'm not a 100 percent positive.

For example when hitting a Bandit Bringer I feel like I can input the dash just a moment after the BB hits but I can't tell for sure because I suck at execution and dunno if I messed up a dash or if it didn't work because I timed it wrong.

I noticed fairly large buffer windows in other moves, for example in Dragon Install where you can input a Wild Throw shortly after Sol's chest starts blinking, or incredibly long buffer windows like with knockdown after an uppercut where you can input the knockdown years before the uppercut ends.

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Xrd has a 3 frame input buffer, and reversals have a 2 frame window (except for reversal Gold Bursts, which only have a 1 frame window). The follow-up window to perform Tataki Otoshi after Volcanic Viper is its own separate thing.

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A big factor in whether your 5K 2H whiffs is if you let the opponent fall far enough from the Bandit Bringer. If you don't run forwards for long enough or you start running too late after Bandit Bringer, you won't be in the correct spot to connect the full followup.

Unfortunately recognizing the character specific hitboxes and spacing where this will work is something that only comes with experience.

If you're anywhere near the corner, BB >Fafnir > dashing 6P 5H (jc) > j.D > Break > 6P 6H is a really resilient combo path that gives better damage than the combo you're trying. 

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Hey guys,

So I am new to Xrd, and are going to try and have Sol as my main. I was wondering basically the following things:

1. Is using Riot Stomp in an actual fight ever any good? It seems like a move with a massive wind up, the reason why I asked is that when you have Dragon Install activated you can combo off the wallbounce into a variety of things. In general though it seems pretty bad.

2. What are the classic moves to Roman Cancel when you are starting to learn this character? I suppose what I am asking is what are some basic Roman Cancel combos. I've experimented with things like 6.HS RC 41236HS to push people into the corner etc. but in general could use some advice on where the most efficient cancels are.

3. What are your go to ways of dealing with heavy zoning from characters like Axl Low, or Elphelt etc.? It seems that you can get cornered and then it is very difficult to close the distance with those characters cancelling your attempts to dash towards them or air dash etc.

Many thanks indeed for any advice you could provide!

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@Illyrian

1. Riot Stomp has it's uses when cornered. With your back to the wall, it has 16 frames of startup, which makes it Sol's fastest overhead. It can also avoid low moves, even some far slashes and such, if done correctly. If you use it too much (or against good players in general), your opponent may start pressuring you in ways that hit you out of the startup. Limit the use of RS whenever possible.

On a side note, if it does land, you do not need Dragon Install to combo after it. Just do air dash forwards and then j.HS>HSVV-TO

2. First of, don't do what you just described. It's a waste of meter, since 6HS on grounded opponents causes basically instant OTG state (even when they slightly bounce). While the Fafnir afterwards connects, it doesn't connect fully - it's an OTG (off the ground) hit, which means the damage and hitstun scale greatly. 

Basic moves to Roman Cancel depend on the type of RC - moves to Yellow Roman Cancel for neutral/pressure, and Red Roman Cancel for other situations. With YRC at first, you should stick to Gunflame. It allows you to move behind the Gunflame and approach this way. In pressure, doing Gunflame after certain moves on block (like c.S, f.S or even 5HS and 2D if you time it correctly), you can do YRC to run right back in and start pressuring again. 

For (red) Roman Cancels, you want to keep two basic options in mind. 5HS RC BB is one, and HSVV RC is the other.

The former is a basic ground confirm from further away. If you connect 5HS at max range you can do RC into Bandit Bringer and run up to continue the combo. Full notation would look like this: f.S > 5HS RC BB > 5K/c.S >2HS (jc) j.S (jc) j.HS>HSVV-TO (you can use c.S in the middle to add a little more damage, but it requires stricter timing and is much easier if you were closer to the opponent; at max range stick to 5K for reliability). 

The latter is a more defensive option. If you're getting pressured and have 50 meter, HSVV RC allows you to check your opponent and get out of pressure, or, if you beat them out of moves or simply catch them not blocking, it will allow you to fully reverse the situation and do serious damage. Any typical ground to air combo will work after HSVV RC hits, like 5HS > 2HS (jc) j.S (jc) j.HS>HSVV-TO. Keep in mind that you can only RC Volcanic Vipers on block or hit - if your opponent avoids the move somehow (with a good backdash and such), you're left defenseless. 

3. Zoning can be a pain in the ass for Sol, but that's just how it is. You must use the moves with best hitboxes (like 6P that has invulnerability over the knees or 2D which just low profiles under a lot of moves) and proper aerial approach (well timed super jumps or instant air dashes) to get around the options your opponent is choosing at that very moment. Using YRC without any move before it, just to get the slowdown, can be very effective, since it gives you time to get closer and see what your opponent was doing. In case of Axl, your best choice is whiff punishing - play patiently, since he will try to take the initiative when you're far away. Once he does something that you can punish, or at least use the gap he creates to approach a little bit more. Dash carefully and remember to dash break on the ground (hold back and tap two buttons other than Dust to cancel your run and block instantly). For Elphelt the rule is similar, although she wants to keep you at medium distance before she can put you in the corner. Block and remain patient until she is forced to reset pressure with Bridal Express (for the most part punishable if instant blocked) or a grenade (you can hit her out of grenade cocking or throw startup with f.S, if you notice it early enough). 

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Has anyone made legitimate use of Air Bandit Revolver YRC's ability to halt Sol's momentum?  It seems like it should be useful, but since j.P's hitbox only tags crouching opponents when it feels like it (and can't hit Faust at all) you have to be high enough up to do j.S, which is substantially less sneaky.  The fact that I've never seen anyone use it is probably telling, but it seems like there is at least potential off of some JC'able normals or close ground pressure.  If nothing else you could use it as a feint to go for another low/throw setup I guess.   

For those that aren't familiar, if you do Air Bandit Revolver (TK'd or out of a regular jump) and then immediately YRC it causes Sol to lose all upward momentum and start dropping to the ground again.  I find it's not too difficult if you input it as 2369 j.KSH or 8236 j.KSH, you may have to input the K every so slightly before S and H though.

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Had a pair of weird mechanics questions:

I'm in Training Mode and when I practice against Sol in his DI mode, sometimes a 'normal' Riot Stamp or normal Breakdown will come out instead of an explosion.

Is there some factor that charges up his attacks or something, or is that a Training bug?

In addition, I had a question about Danger Time.  What determines how 'long' you're actually IN Danger Time?  I've seen anywhere from 5 seconds to 3 minutes.

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Strange, I don't think I've seen either of these happen, but I'm going to try to test them when I get off of work.

I'm assuming both of these only happen in training mode? And it only happens when dummy DI Sol is playing back a recording you made? And I've only ever seen danger time last the regular ~10 seconds, I think that's how long it should last, even in training mode.

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