Normals
Press 
/
/
/
/
to perform normal attacks. Depending on the current state of your character (standing, crouching, jumping, close to opponent), your character will do different attacks. As a general rule, / attacks are weak and fast, / attacks are strong and slow, and attacks are overhead and low attacks.
Gatling tables are a lot different in Strive than in previous Guilty Gear games, but they follow a general formula.
- Most buttons gatling into themselves.
- Standing buttons gatling into their crouching versions, as do buttons.
- and close normals gatling into normals, but buttons do not.
- , , and close buttons gatling into and command normals.
- Close also gatlings into every other and normal.
It takes some getting used to, but it should feel natural after some practice.
Command Normals
Command normal are performed by pressing a specific direction with a specific button. Every character has both a 6P and 6H command normal, and some have command normals with 6K, 3S, etc. as well. Learn the different command normals and the properties of each character. Most 6P command normals are anti-air attacks with upper-body invincibility. This makes them great tools to punish opponents who jump at you. Traditionally 6H normals are the slowest and hardest hitting buttons a character has and Throws came with the weakness of turning into them should the throw not work. Since throws have been changed, they mostly remain useful in edge cases outside combos.
Dust Attack
- Each character's standing Dust is an overhead attack. Unlike previous games, they are quite fast but do not lead to a combo unless certain conditions are filled.
Uncharged Dust on grounded hit leaves the opponent in a standing pre-launch state that generally cannot be comboed from without Roman Cancel. Dust attacks can be charged by holding down the Dust button. Hitting a grounded opponent with a charged Dust attack puts them in a special launch state which allows you to follow up with a Homing Jump, which has some special properties. Dust on air hit gives a standard juggle, allowing it to be used in certain combos.
Homing Jump
- Press and hold Up after a charged Dust attack to leap into the air and chase the opponent.
During the first few seconds of the jump, any of your air normals can be cancelled into each other, allowing for air combos which would otherwise be impossible. In addition, you are given an extra jump cancel, allowing for combos with more than one jump cancel. The homing launch state immediately forces a stage transition, so an opponent falling or bursting out of the combo will still change the background and make both characters land like after normal wallbreak. The opponent can burst at any point of the homing combo, but can still be hit back into the launch state if their burst is punished. Late into the Homing Jump, pressing the same attack button twice will give a follow-up attack that spikes the opponent down for a hard knockdown.
Sweep
- Press
to perform a sweep.
A sweep is a normal attack that knocks down the opponent, but each character's sweep enables different okizeme and combos, so it's important to learn what options are available with your character. Sweep attacks provide a great alternative to Dust Attacks as they must be guarded against low.
Throws
- Throws are short ranged, almost instant attacks that can not be blocked nor combo'ed into (with the exception of opponents in Stagger).
Normal Ground Throw
- To perform a normal ground throw, press either
or 
while next to the opponent.
Throws in Strive have two frames of startup, making them almost universally a character's fastest move to challenge pressure with. They come with a high risk to balance it out, that being counterhit state should the throw whiff. Guilty Gear Strive also lets you throw out of a dash, as the cost of whiffing a throw is much higher. The risk of the throw means it's much more rewarding to bait them with a shimmy.
Normal Air Throw
- Air throws follow the same rules as ground throws; when near an opponent that is not in block-stun or hit-stun, press or to air throw.
Air throws cannot be performed with the diagonals (
, 
, etc.).
Air throws often give people trouble because they are not quite as easy to space as ground throws. The ideal way to air throw someone is to be slightly below them and rising up to meet them. Typically if you are above the other person, you will not be able to throw before they do. Thus air throws are often used as an anti-air as well as an air-to-air tool when slightly below the opponent.
You can't throw people out of Bursts anymore :(
Command Throw
- Command throws are attacks similar to throws, but are input with a motion.
On the whole, command throws inflict more damage than basic throws and often have better follow up possibilities. Command throws also have more range than normal throws, and can be canceled into from normal attacks like other special moves. Command throws generally have more startup frames, so they usually can't be used on reversal as reliably as regular throws can be.
Throw Invincibility
Priority of Strike vs Throw vs Command Throw
When two strikes hit each other, either a clash happens or both characters get hit, but what happens when throws are added to the mix?
- Throw vs Strike: The throw will always win.
- Normal Throw vs. Normal Throw: A Throw Break occurs
- Normal Throw vs. Command Throw: The Command Throw will always win.
- Command Throw vs. Command Throw: Both throws whiff for that one frame. Meaning a Command Throw with more Active Frames will win in the end.
Special Attacks
- Special attacks are attacks that require a more elaborate command input, and have unique effects and properties.
These range from projectiles (Ky's Stun Edge) to fast invincible attacks (Sol's Volcanic Viper) to command throws (Potemkin's Potemkin Buster). Most Special Attacks can be canceled into from Normal Attacks, but there are exceptions such as Sol's Fafnir. One distinct difference between special and normal attacks is that specials always build some Tension, even if they miss completely. Special attacks also deal Chip Damage as well.
Taunts and Respects
Overdrives
- Overdrives (commonly referred to as supers) are attacks that are even more powerful than special attacks, cost 50% Tension, and often have even more elaborate inputs compared to Special Attacks.
Some Overdrives are useful as Reversals like Sol's Tyrant Rave, while others power up the character like Ky's Dragon Install. On startup, Overdrives freeze the game temporarily to show the character doing a fancy pose or an animated cut-in before attacking. This is commonly referred to as "superflash" or "superfreeze". Most supers have startup both before and after superflash, allowing the defender to easily react to the attack. However, some supers do not have startup after the superflash, meaning if you didn't already have a counter out pre-superflash, you are guaranteed to get hit afterwards.