GGACR/Sol Badguy/Starter

Core

Key Moves

f.SGuardMidStartup7Recovery24Advantage-11, 2SGuardMidStartup10Recovery8Advantage+3, 5HGuardMidStartup11Recovery26Advantage-9 and 2DGuardLowStartup7Recovery20Advantage-6 are Sol's main pokes.
- f.S is the fastest of the four. It has gatling into 2S, which makes it safer even if 2S whiffs.
- 2S is a disjointed poke that has short recovery and gives advantage when blocked, making it hard to punish.
- 5H has the longest range of Sol's pokes, and leads to big damage on counter hit.
- 2D is low profile instantly, which can allow it to go entirely under tons of moves. This also makes it a strong counter poke.
j.SGuardHigh/AirStartup9Recovery23Advantage- and j.HGuardHigh/AirStartup9Recovery0Advantage- are Sol's primary jump-ins.
- j.H in particular is very active, shrinks Sol's hurtbox, and has no recovery at all.
j.PGuardHigh/AirStartup5Recovery4Advantage- is a useful aerial space control tool, with its strong hitbox as well as retracting Sol's hurtbox.
2D and Bandit RevolverGuardMidStartup9Recovery2+7 after landingAdvantage-3 (236K) end lots of combos in knockdown. For Bandit Revolver to work as a ground combo ender you need to be closer to the opponent, but it is also used as an ender for most of Sol's aerial combos.
FafnirGuardMidStartup19Recovery27Advantage-13 (41236H) can be used after 5H to convert off of pokes from longer ranges.
5KGuardMidStartup3Recovery13Advantage-7 is Sol's most important anti-air, it has quick startup and a disjointed hitbox on the 2nd hit. Its recovery is somewhat low, but try not to whiff it.
6PGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-9 is a less common but useful anti-air, with its upper body invuln also giving it use as a counter poke in neutral.
2HGuardMidStartup8Recovery26Advantage-13 is a slower anti-air with a disjointed hitbox in front of Sol.
j.P is a good air-to-air that can be used when rising from a jump.
Air ThrowGuard88 pixelsStartupRecoveryAdvantage- is decent air-to-air, which can be option select A technique where one command (or series of commands) will perform a different action depending on the circumstances, thereby allowing one action to be able to handle two distinct situations.ed with an air normal (for example, j.6P+H) to perform the air normal (j.P in this case) if Air Throw cannot come out.
S Volcanic ViperGuardMidStartup7Recovery21+10 after landingAdvantage-28 (623S) is a strong anti-air with a large hitbox and lots of invuln.
H Volcanic ViperGuardMidStartup5Recovery29+10 after landingAdvantage-43 (623H) is faster and has higher vertical reach than the S version, allowing Sol to catch characters like Bridget that tend to stall in the air.
5K is an excellent abare An attack during the opponent's pressure, intended to interrupt it. move, being one of the fastest normals in the game. It can also be Option Selected with Ground ThrowGuard43 pixelsStartupRecoveryAdvantage- by doing 6K+H
Volcanic Viper (623SGuardMidStartup7Recovery21+10 after landingAdvantage-28/H) is a powerful reversal tool. The S version has more invulnerability frames, while the H version is faster. However, it is incredibly unsafe on block/whiff.
- KnockdownGuardHighStartup12RecoveryUntil landing+10Advantage- (623S/H > 214K) stalls Sol in the air briefly, but it is still unsafe. It's advised to Roman Cancel the first hit of Volcanic Viper if Sol has 50 Tension.
Grand ViperGuardLow×7, MidStartup17Recovery37Advantage-21 (214S) low profiles instantly, and can evade certain meaty attack Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals.s. It is very unsafe on block/whiff, so it's recommended to Roman Cancel it if Sol has 50 Tension.
2D is a safer low profile alternative than Grand Viper, although active for less time it is much safer on block.
j.P shrinks Sol's hurtbox significantly, making it easier to jump out of pressure. Doing rising j.P into faultless defense A special type of blocking in Guilty Gear that negates chip damage and pushes the opponent back further than usual. This type of blocking comes at the cost of a resource. is a good tool to escape pressure.
Riot StampGuardHigh/AirStartup9 after reaching wallRecovery3 after landingAdvantage-4~ (214K) can be a strong defensive option when cornered, since it goes airborne instantly, allowing it to go over most low hitting moves. Though, if the opponent is looking for Riot Stamp, Sol can eat some high damage punishes.

Offense

Pressure

Sol relies heavily on conditioning, adapting to the opponent's defensive habits and exploiting them. His two main ways of doing this are s, and Pressure Resets. These concepts blend into each other, and properly rotating both depending on the opponent's defense is key to running a strong offensive game. For example: Sol staggers with Frame Traps > the opponent blocks > Sol does a Pressure Reset > the opponent mashes > Sol staggers with Frame Traps, and so on. This is a basic idea of how Pressure progresses, but it won't always work out that way. Each player will have different habits on defense, so structure and adjust your Pressure accordingly.

Sol has a couple ways to Frame Trap his opponents; he can use gatling The special category of cancels that describe how each character can cancel normals into other normals and specials.s with natural gaps, or he can delay them to create gaps.

Some useful Frame Traps using Gatlings are:
- 5PGuardMidStartup4Recovery6Advantage0/2PGuardMidStartup5Recovery4Advantage+2/2KGuardLowStartup6Recovery8Advantage-1 > 6PGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-9/2SGuardMidStartup10Recovery8Advantage+3/5HGuardMidStartup11Recovery26Advantage-9
- 5P/2P > 5H
- 2S > 5P/2P/5KGuardMidStartup3Recovery13Advantage-7/c.SGuardMidStartup5Recovery12Advantage0 - is a link To perform a second action after the first action completely finishes its animation. instead of a Gatling
Some useful Frame Traps with delayed Gatlings are:
- 5P/2P > dl 5P/2P - can be repeated until Sol gets pushed out
- 5P/2P > dl 5K/2K
- 5K/c.S > dl 6P/2S
- 5K/c.S/6P/2S > dl 5H/2HGuardMidStartup8Recovery26Advantage-13/2DGuardLowStartup7Recovery20Advantage-6
Another thing to note is that 6P, 2H and 2D can all be cancelled during their recovery, making them particularly useful for Sol's pressure game.

Once opponents are conditioned to block patiently, Sol can instead run forward and start a new blockstring. This leaves a gap that opponents can mash out of if they predict it. Pressure resets are usually done from 5P, 2P, 2K, c.S and 2S due to their speed and/or frame advantage. If opponents continue to block patiently, Sol can instead run forward and throw them. This is usually performed with Wild ThrowGuard70 pixelsStartup4Recovery31Advantage- (623K), which has much greater reward on hit than Ground ThrowGuard43 pixelsStartupRecoveryAdvantage- due to it allowing a follow-up combo anywhere. Ground Throw can be option selected with a ground normal (usually 6K+H) to perform the ground normal (in this case, 5K) if Ground Throw cannot come out, making it safer than Wild Throw.

Any gap in a blockstring can be beaten with various options, each of which can usually be punished if predicted:

Attack - Frame trap.
Jump - Frame trap, anti-air, or end blockstrings with Bandit Revolver (236K).
Backdash - Dash forward and punish with an attack.
Throw - Space attacks outside of opponents' throw range.
Invincible reversal - Differs depending on the reversal in question; usually block and punish with an attack.

Combos

Ground Combos

c.S > 2D > Bandit Revolver (236K) - Basic close range combo into a knockdown. Can be comboed into from:
- 5P
- 2P
- 5K(1)
- 5K with dash momentum
- 2K
f.S > 5H > Fafnir (41236H) - Basic mid range combo. Can be comboed into Tyrant Rave (41236H/DGuardMidStartup11Recovery17Advantage+7 > 64D) for additional damage and a knockdown at the cost of 25 Tension.
5D > j.DGuardHigh/AirStartup9Recovery10+5 after landingAdvantage- > j.D > j.S > j.K > j.S > dj.S > j.D > S Volcanic Viper (623S) > Knockdown (214K) - Basic 5D combo into a knockdown. Hold up during the first two j.Ds in order to cancel them back into Homing Jump.
j.S > dj.S > j.H > S Volcanic Viper (623S) > Knockdown (214K) - Basic air combo ender into a knockdown. Can be comboed into from:
- j.PxN
- 5K(2) > j.P except on lightweights
- 5K > 2H except on lightweights
- CH 2H
- Wild Throw (623K) > 66 > 2H
5K(2) > sj.P > j.S > j.H > S Volcanic Viper (623S) > Knockdown (214K) - Shorter anti-air combo into a knockdown that is more consistent on lightweights.

Further Learning

These are intermediate/high level techniques that are best gradually learned and integrated into your play rather than learned up-front.

Force Roman Cancel points:
- Gun Flame (236P) FRC is Sol's best use of 25 Tension. It turns Gun Flame into a safe projectile that can control the ground in neutral, reset blockstrings from moves with fewer gatling options and give Sol great frame advantage in okizeme.
- Aerial Bandit RevolverGuardAllStartup6RecoveryUntil landing+12Advantage- (j.236K) FRC propels Sol forward without using up an air option, effectively giving him a second airdash. It can also extend some air combos.
Dustloop - The first of Sol's loop combos, and the namesake of this website.
- A rising j.D causes enough untechable time Minimal hitstun before teching is possible. to allow for another j.D to be linked in the corner before landing. This is ended with 66 > j.S > j.D > dj.S > j.D > S Volcanic Viper (623S) > Knockdown (214K).
- This requires specific combo routes that differ between character weights.
Bandit Revolver loop - The second of Sol's loop combos.
- A tiger knee An input method to perform a special move in the air as fast as possible after you leave the ground. Almost always abbreviated to TK. For Example: 2369 for a j.236 input.d aerial Bandit Revolver (j.236K) causes enough untechable time to allow for a 5K to be linked, then cancelled into another aerial Bandit Revolver. This is ended with 5K > Bandit Revolver (236K).
- This deals less damage than Sol's other loops, but builds more Tension.
- This also requires specific routes that differ between character weights.
Sidewinder loop - The last of Sol's loop combos, and the most utilised in +R.
- A Clean Hit SidewinderGuardHigh/AirStartup9RecoveryUntil landing+13Advantage- (j.236H) causes a wall bounce and enough untechable time to allow for an attack string into another Sidewinder. This is ended with Bandit Revolver (236K) or S Volcanic Viper (623S) > Knockdown (214K).
- This becomes Sol's primary combo at an intermediate and advanced level, as it deals high damage, can be comboed into easily (including from Dustloops) and can combo into other attacks easily (including into Bandit Revolver loops).
- Like Sol's other loop combos, the routing differs between character weights as well as hurtboxes - each character has specific hurtboxes that Sidewinder must hit in order to inflict a Clean Hit. Force Break SidewinderGuardHigh/AirStartup9RecoveryUntil landing+13Advantage- (j.236D) guarantees the Clean Hit at the cost of 25 Tension and more damage scaling.
Grand Viper combos:
- Grand Viper (214S) can be mashed by rapidly pressing two directions and buttons. If fully mashed, it inflicts a Clean Hit and allows for a follow-up combo. Some routes on some characters can land a Clean Hit Grand Viper with no or little mashing.
- Sidewinder loops can be performed from Clean Hit Grand Viper and even increase in damage the more Clean Hits were landed previously in the combo.
Safejumps:
- After most knockdowns, Sol can time a j.S or j.H such that, if the opponent blocks, it will hit them, but if they backdash or use an invincible reversal, it will whiff and recover in time for Sol to block and punish them.
- Once the opponent starts respecting these, Sol can instead perform a high/low/throw mixup between empty jump 2K, airdash j.S > j.H or empty jump Wild Throw (623K).
- The timing will change depending on the opponent's wakeup time.