Basic Faust Theory (Grounded)
Compared to other characters, Faust typically exchanges higher damage without meter or items with being easy to do. You can get confirms off of basically anything, anywhere on screen. Generally speaking, there are three ways for Faust to route:
- Confirm into Pogo
- Launch the opponent into the air
- Get a knockdown
Most of his starters either do this right away, or only need one gatling to do it. While you can try to add some more hits in, it's usually better to set up pressure, knockdowns, and item tosses in order to keep the opponent pressured. For combos, you need to remember two things:
- 5H (any single hit will do) and 2H will confirm Pogo on hit.
- 2D can confirm 2S for air combos at closer ranges.
From there it's a matter of figuring out which normals can confirm your 5H, 2H, or 2D. If the combo starter doesn't, it almost always has a gatling that will - for instance, 5P will not combo to 2D on normal hit, but combos into 2S which will reverse gatling to 2D and back to 2S for air pickup. You can take a look at the video examples section below for a variety of examples (not necessarily optimal) of how Faust can navigate basically any opening move into a combo that suits his current needs:
Faust Infinite Combo (Corner Loops Involving S.Pogo and P.Pogo)
What does it look like?
Robo and Ky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKhp5nPFMeI
Testament: https://youtu.be/t1szOXcHzmQ
Potemkin 25 bar Delay 2K/Meteor Setup: https://twitter.com/Koryuken/status/1401773376440524802
Potemkin 25 bar Meteor/Mettagiri: https://twitter.com/Koryuken/status/1401292106736472068
Potemkin (Expensive GMW Extension): https://twitter.com/Koryuken/status/1401312296580882432
Special Thanks
Hotta-san.
Who it works on
Easy: Potemkin.
Intermediate: Testament
???: Anji, Axl,
Hard[?]: Robo-Ky, Ky.
F*** Pot lol
It's really easy on Pot. :)
How it works
Some System Facts
- More hits = More gravity/more pushback
- More time = less hitstun/untech on air hits.
- Victims bounce slightly on the ground when landing during a combo, this upsets S Flower launch height (This means there's a valid early timing, an invalid middle timing, and a valid late timing when launching with S.Flower to combo.)
The idea is, you do enough hits to crank gravity scaling before untech scaling kicks in completely. After a certain point (Usually in the 34+ hit range), character gravity is too high, and they can no longer tech out of S.Flower, even at max untech scaling.
You must outpace untech scaling with gravity scaling until you get to the point where the opponent can't tech at all. Everything before that point is kind of tricky, everything past that point is easy-peasy.
Starters
Overview
Mettagiri on it's own, in the corner, can lead to the infinite, however there are a few situations that will make it easier.
Comboing Mettagiri into meteors makes the infinite MUCH easier (All those sudden hits crank gravity sky-high), and Mettagiri with Meteor cover is a pretty solid setup to begin with.
If you manage to combo into meteors and use it as a combo-extension, you can sometimes get enough ground hits to make the infinite work.
There are situations where you can go into the loop via Going My Way > FRC > Forcebreak Pogo.
Time is of the essence here. You need enough hits/gravity before untech scaling kicks in completely, or you can't loop S.Flower or P reliably any longer.
Timing and Manual Delays (Not as bad as you would think!)
[This section is currently under construction, uses notes from testing on Testament only. Be warned.]
Opening String
No delays!
Love! > FB Pogo
After jK > jD > Love!, you want Airdash > FB Pogo to connect after both hits of Love, to get the optimal amount of pushback. [Needs validation] (Ky? Roboky?)
On some characters, this doesn't seem mandatory. [Needs validation]
First Pogo P x2 #1
Delayed just enough to knockdown.
This will also space Faust correctly based on timing [Needs validation]
Height of victim changes amount of pushback on P when it connects. Higher = More pushback. Roboky and Ky need max pushback. [Needs validation]
You want S Flower followup to connect as soon as they touch the ground (Early timing). You shouldn't need to delay S Flower at all to make this happen.
F*** POTEMKIN NOTE
You don't have to delay Pogo Ps here. lol. Take that untech time.
S Flowers #1
No delay!
At this point, you shouldn't need to delay subsequent S Flowers at all. They should all time themselves correctly.
Pogo P x2 #2
First Pogo P needs to be done with the victim as low as possible, then the max amount of delay you can manage on the following P.
Like the first instance of Pogo P x2, you want S Flower followup to connect as soon as they touch the ground (Early timing). You shouldn't need to delay S Flower at all to make this happen.
S Flowers #2
No delay!
Pogo P x2 #3
This is the hardest point in the combo [Note: This is only a feeling. Love, Krack]. It might actually be a good idea to bail here with Going My Way.
Like before, Pogo P needs to be done with the victim low as possible, and the 2nd P needs to be delayed as long as you can manage. This will keep the victim low enough to reach the ground without getting a chance to untech.
Timing is strict here.
S Flowers #3
From here on, you can delay your S Flowers, and take your time. The late window for S Flower launch is much easier to hit, and gravity will be so high, that you might not have time to land the early window anyhow. [Please validate]
Pogo P and Loops From This Point
From here, you should only need one Pogo P to continue looping S Flower x3, however, S Flower x2 or even Pogo P x2 might be beneficial depending on spacing.
Your goal is to keep the victim in the right range so that S Flower doesn't miss their OTG box.
236236S (Shigekiteki Zetsumei Ken) Comboing
Faust's reversal super is famously a bit limp in terms of usefulness, despite its damage output potential. Regardless, it has the property that if the super is blocked or after it successfully hits (enemy picks a Reaper), Faust will enter a taunt pose similar to his Instant Kill attack startup. The entire duration of the taunt can be FRC'd, which makes the super very marginally safer (enemies can just jump you to prevent this from coming into play), but also allows you to hit combos on some characters after hitting it! NOTE: all proration references are taken from Dustloop's full frame data.
Why do it? It's possible to get another hard knockdown with j.D, spam hits with j.KP to finish them off, and because the second hit of the super has no proration this will do surprising amounts of damage.
Basic rules of comboing with Shigekiteki Zetsumei Ken
- The super, as a whole, is not reliable and is probably the worst gamble in all of Faust's kit. Just because you hit it does not mean it's going to work thanks to the angel.
- The damage can be 100, 150, or 190 but is always reduced since it lands (bare minimum) second as part of a combo. In training mode the dummy will always pick the 150 Reaper unless you try to somehow change this fact, like not picking a chest.
- Comboing after this super is difficult, and unless done on Potemkin or A.B.A, EXPENSIVE. It should only be done with the goal of killing an already nearly dead enemy or if you're confident you can hit j.D in the combo.
- Gravity is super screwed up after the opponent is hit by the super, meaning you can't get anything super fancy.
- 2S is preferred as it doesn't prorate, but sometimes only 5K is possible. It doesn't prorate horribly and you will still get decent damage bonuses from it.
With that in mind, here are notes on comboing into the super:
- Any hit from an HS move
- c.S and f.S
- 3rd hit of 2K (massively lowers damage)
- 5K (lowers damage)
- 2D (very bad for damage)
- Items and CHs make this pretty easy to land (even j.2K will confirm it)
And a list of who you can hit (read below for more detail):
Being able to combo after the super is mostly reliant on enemy's "shocked" animation length. Many characters can be hit 2S even if they cannot be comboed after.
No Meter: Potemkin, A.B.A
FRC: Zappa, Millia, Slayer, Axl, Holy Order-Sol, Robo Ky, Baiken
Dubious (can be picked up but combo unconfirmed): Jam, Venom, Sol, Bridget, I-No
Impossible: Kliff, Dizzy, Anji, Chipp, Ky, Eddie, May, Testament, Faust, Justice
Notes: It's probably possible to continue the combo on Bridget and I-No, but Bridget goes flying and I-No is just tedious to pick up with 2S.
Meterless Conversions
Potemkin (easy)
Being the enormous lad that he is, Pot can be victim to easily performed combos. In fact, he's so freaking huge you can convert by holding 9 and starting with j.K! Doing so is marginally easier than using 2S and prorates less than 5K. Since he's so big you can spam j.KP's self loop a few times if you really need to go through his high guts rating. You would also be surprised at how much damage this is capable of doing with a simple 2S > j.K > j.D for another knockdown.
A.B.A (tricky)
Much trickier than Potemkin, as there's a slim window to connect 5K or 2S, and you won't be able to do much in either case afterward. Can be useful near higher health values to take her down a notch. Because her animation is insanely long after getting hit, you may also consider FRC to microdash for more comfortable conversion. NOTE: Because this super won't stop her blood meter from draining, and will cause a hard knockdown, it's often best to let it rock and take the advantage you get from draining the meter.
FRC Conversions
Slayer (easy)
Slayer has a pretty long animation after getting hit, though you can't start meterless. FRCing early into a microdash 2S will still be easy to combo off of, and his air-hurtbox isn't that bad to deal with. It's still best to end as early as possible into your re-knockdown (does good damage), but you can also get some extra hits from spamming. Since Slayer is only somewhat tankier than average, the damage and re-knockdown are usually better.
Millia Rage (medium-hard)
While I consider it highly unlikely a Millia player would ever allow themselves to be hit by this super, doing so is a potential game ender in of itself. The 150 and 190 reapers will do outrageous damage to her, and from full health hitting the super into the 150 reaper already deals ~40% of her total health. Comboing her will be tricky, as it always is for Faust, and you cannot get many hits in. Like A.B.A, it might be best to let her take the knockdown since you won't get a lot of opportunities to run oki on this flighty little bird.
Zappa (easy-ish)
Zappa strikes three poses before he hops into the air, but sometimes he can be tricky to combo in-air. Does good damage if you can. NOTE: Because Zappa gets ghosts from being knocked down, there is actual application in FRCing and trying to hit him in the air - teching out stops him from getting his ghost, and only higher tier Zappa players will intentionally risk not teching to hit the ground.
Axl (hard)
Axl can only be hit by 2S after FRCing, 5K is too slow. The pickup can be pretty challenging to time at first, but after you turn him around with it, he is notoriously easy to combo in the air and you will do okay damage. Risky to do as there is a high chance of hitting him on the ground and giving him a free tech.
Johnny (medium)
5K will work but it is a bit narrow considering Johnny's "pancake" shaped hurtbox. 2S picks up just fine afterward, but beware that Johnny will go flying pretty quickly into the combo - 2S > 5K is impossible to follow up if you hit him too *early* into his fall. Big damage potential off of nothing more than 2S > j.K > j.D and you still get the knockdown.
Holy-Order Sol (hard)
Timing is super narrow to pick up on this guy, and the only real way to get into the air is to do 2S > 5K. Doesn't have insane reversal potential so playing it safe on a knockdown can be preferred.
Robo-Ky (easy-medium)
Unlike regular Ky, you can hit Robert Kyle thanks to his longer shocked animation that is also done standing (good for Ky, too, he already despises the Faust MU). Once you turn him around, he's not too difficult to combo on, but he isn't Potemkin either - just get your knockdown and move on since you won't score meaningful damage from this super, EVER, against Robo.
Baiken (very easy)
Similar-ish to Millia. It's very unlikely this super should ever hit against a good Baiken, but if it does the damage alone can be insanely compromising for her. She takes a long time to recover and is thrown high in the air when it hits, making comboing on her depressingly easy given how much damage you can tack on with only three extra hits. Like Johnny, if you use 5K after 2S, doing it too early will make her impossible to combo in the air.