GGXRD-R2/Slayer/Strategy: Difference between revisions

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<center>{{Character Label|GGXRD-R2|Slayer|size=42px}}</center>
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==General Tactics==
==General Tactics==
=== General YRC usage ===
Slayer has many YRC tricks and ideas to get an advantage and to mix up his opponent. Slayer builds a lot of tension in general, which means you get the opportunity to YRC a lot. You also have to keep in mind the tension penalty you get from doing YRC, and try to balance when it's worth doing and when it's worth saving the tension. Some characters have such a great advantage in neutral over Slayer, that it's well worth to give up the tension sometimes just to get in. Some examples:
* Airdash footloose YRC. Covers a great distance and is hard to anti-air. Useful when playing for screen positioning and for approaching. You can follow up with yet another footloose to cover even greater distance.
* K mappa YRC and forward dash YRC are also good ways to approach, as it puts you right in their face. The slowdown puts you at small frameadvantage as well as eating their input. Depending on how much your opponent respects the frameadvantage, you can go for teleport or 6K mixups, or spaced out bite.
* YRC OS during okizeme and pressure. A general strategy that lets you punish backdashes and the slower reversals in the game by buffering YRC after your attack connects, for example meaty IL YRC or frametrap K mappa YRC. Also worth mentioning is that YRC pulls your hurtbox back from frame 1, allowing you to dodge a lot of attacks by being spaced out and saving you from getting punished.
* K dandy YRC. The quickest way to dodge some attacks and is easier to perform than a reversal backdash.
=== Stun ===
Slayer deals quite high stun from landing counterhits, and can in many situations stun the opponent in one mixup if the conditions are right. Starters that lead to particularily high stun damage are:
* CH 6P, 5H and 6H
* CH K mappa
* CH P pile and K pile
* CH EW and SDD
If your opponent still has burst after getting stunned, or is close to getting it back, you have a couple of ways to get guaranteed extra damage:
* K pile
* Full charge blitz > 6H P pile
* Full charge blitz > empty K dandy > 5H bite
* Full charge blitz > full charge blitz > c.S j.SHD214K (fully burst safe)
=== Smoke mixups ===
Helter YRC is a good mixup tool. The initial hit can hit a lot of players, but if they blocked it, the mixups continue. When YRCed, a slight delayed smoke screen will appear which you can use to mask your mixups. Depending on which side you do helter, the smoke will be further away from the opponent.
* If they crouch block helter, 6K is a good mixup, but will not combo into anything on standing. If they stand block helter YRC, IAD j.SH instant overheads become possible. Use the small window before the smoke appears to hit-confirm.
* Because there's so much blockstun from helter YRC, a lot of your crossup mixups will be autoguarded by the opponent unless you delay your attacks.
* Helter skelter on block pushes the opponent away from whatever direction it hit, so Helter YRC followed by a crossup dash will push them towards you.
<br>[[File:GGXRD Slayer Helter YRC.jpg|x200px|]][[File:GGXRD Slayer Helter YRC smoke.jpg|x200px|]]
Other smoke mixups that are possible, but aren't as powerful:
* EW slight delay YRC. This one mostly happens when you do wakeup EW YRC.
* TK SDD YRC. Not particularly useful.
<br>[[File:GGXRD Slayer EW YRC.jpg|x200px|]][[File:GGXRD Slayer SDD YRC.jpg|x200px|]]
=== Baiting burst ===
Slayer has many places in his combos where it is guaranteed to burst, with the only bait possible being RRC.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Burst points
|-
! Attack !! When to burst !! Notes
|-
| 2D || After close range normal hit. Generally sideswitches. || No cancels. Is not guaranteed on CH or when hit by late active frames. Generally Slayer has to give up his combo to bait however.
|-
| j.2K || After hit || Almost no cancels. Footloose can make bursts whiff, however Slayer is minus or punishable unless RCing.
|-
| K mappa || After hit || No cancels. Not guaranteed to burst on CH or when hitting on very late active frames.
|-
| 5D || During startup on reaction || Main combo extender after K mappa RC and such. If you allow yourself to comboed by this, 5D6 is guaranteed to burst on hit, but can be baited with 5D no follow up.
|-
| Crosswise heel || React to the first hit and burst the 2nd hit early. || No cancels. If you burst too early, CWH can low profile your burst. If you preemptively burst to the 1st hit CWH, you can be baited by Slayer doing under pressure and blocking your burst.
|-
| Pilebunker || When close range after hit || No cancels. This attack has long recovery, but midscreen will start sending you flying away from Slayer, so in these cases you must burst earlier than when in the corner.
|}
There are many other places to burst that are good, where Slayer has to give up his combos to bait you. Bursting here involves mind-games and taking some risk.
=== Jailing your opponent in the corner ===
A lot of Slayer's attacks are pressure enders, like P mappa, 6P, 6H, 2H, etc, where they have no cancels or very limited follow ups on block. Slayer can still steal his turn or try to counter-poke in these cases if the opponent tries to fight back, but common for all these options is they pretty much all lose to the opponent doing jump outs. If you allow your opponent to jump out, you lose all your positional advantage that comes with having the corner, and you get cornered yourself. To stop jump outs, it's very strong to hold your ground and react to your opponent with air throw. Alternatively, instead  of going for air throw, you can try to cross under your opponent with forward dash or meet them with a grounded anti air.
* Stopping your opponent from jumping out is important to master, and forces them to fight in the corner, which does not feel good to do against Slayer.
* If you are too close, it's gonna be very hard to stop jump outs.
[[File:GGXRD Slayer corner air throw.jpg|thumb|Spacing for intercepting jump outs with air throw]]
{{VideoCluster
|vid1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4jiAaCG3Mc&ab_channel=Loekkson
|title1=Air throw spacing
}}
=== Building tension ===
Slayer is much stronger and safer when he has tension available, so it should always be amongst your priorites in a match to build tension.
In general, you want to have close to 50% tension before you start taking risks and before you approach your opponent.
Your opponent does not want you to snowball out of control from stray hits, so they will eventually be forced to approach you.
'''P under pressure'''
* Fast and fairly safe. The most efficient way of building tension.
* Use it during offense.
* Whiff this move consecutively when fullscreen to force your opponent to approach.
'''Other ways to build tension:'''
* Alternating walking forward then IAD back.
* Instant block projectiles such as Ky's stun edge or Raven needle. It's free meter.
=== Dead angle attack ===
Dead angle is useful for punishing your opponent's absent-minded block strings and turning it into a favorable situation for you. Many games in Guilty Gear are won from a single knockdown, and dead angle can be the catalyst for many such games when applied properly.
* You lose very valuable tension which you often desperately need to realize a comeback, but you do get a knockdown when it was "your turn to block", so have the foresight to see your highest-chance of winning. Sometimes dead angle is very good, sometimes it's better to sit tight and hold onto your tension.
* Slayer's dead angle is the slowest in the game at 18f, so your opponent has access to more hard-baits and option-selects than against other characters. Since it has the same startup as burst, a lot of burst-safe stuff will work against Slayer's dead angle. This means you have to be more cautious about which of your opponents moves you apply your dead angle, and what kind of potential punishes they have. At -9 on block, you are generally not risking much health, but wasting 50 tension stings a lot.
* Dead-angle safe block strings generally have weak mixup-potential, so just holding onto 50 tension can make your opponent give up valuable pressure in fear of your dead angle.
=== Dead angle attack countermeasures ===
Block punishes will generally lead to 5K > mappa or 2KD style of short combos. These punishes are ok, but more harder call-outs can net you much greater return.
*Helter skelter will in general make most dead angles whiff or at least let you block (Faust DAA for example), despite HS having long recovery.
*Helter YRC into crossup forward dash will make DAAs whiff into the opposite direction.
*RRC and then forward dash does the same thing, for example K mappa/K pile RC forward dash as a crossup.
*
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Canceling into K dandy, P dandy, IAD, and 6P against DAA at point-blank range.
|-
! Characer !! Notes
|-
| SO || All work
|-
| KY || All work
|-
| MA || DAA Clashes with 6P unless you delay.
|-
| MI || All work
|-
| ZA || DAA Clashes with 6P unless you delay, can't IAD
|-
| PO || Can't IAD. The only DAA with CH state recovery.
|-
| CH || DAA Clashes with 6P unless you delay.
|-
| FA || Can't IAD
|-
| AX || Can't K pile, delay P dandy difficult
|-
| VE || Can't 6P
|-
| SL || Can't 6P, can't K pile
|-
| IN || All work
|-
| BE || Can't 6P. This DAA has very long recovery.
|-
| RA || Can't 6P, can't IAD. Fastest DAA in the game.
|-
| SI || All work
|-
| EL || Can't 6P, can't IAD.
|-
| LE || Can't IAD.
|-
| JO || 6P must be delayed, delayed P dandy works, but K pile will not.
|-
| JC || All work
|-
| JA || All work
|-
| KU || IAD can work, but fails if done too early. Can't 6P, can't K pile, can't P dandy. One of the hardest DAA to bait without blocking.
|-
| RV || Can't IAD
|-
| DI || All work
|-
| BA || All work
|-
| AN || Can't IAD
|}
=== Blitz and countermeasures ===
*Blitz is a very cheap resource, costing only 25% tension, and often changes the tides of a match. Blitz is very common, so it's important to have strong countermeasures.
'''When you are blitzing:'''


Uncharged blitz:
*You can punish grounded blitz and reblitz attempts by dashing behind your opponent. From here you can K pile or P pile to CH punish their blitz from behind, and if they are charging it, delay your follow up until you see them let go of charge. If they full-charge, you can keep repeating P dandy until you see the attack, or use 6H for CH whiff-punish. If you don't see them blitz, you can follow up with a c.S combo or P cwh if you are already in dstep.
*You can also try to punish any grounded blitz early with any low, as low-blitz is not very common, however a desperate opponent might try this at low health situations.
*If they are in the corner, you can't teleport behind them unfortunately, so in these cases you have to try and space yourself with backdashes or K dandy YRC and simply outrange their charged-blitz attack. Here you can whiff-punish with repeat P dandy or CH K mappa. You can also do a low like CH 2H, as this has very good meterless return in the corner.
*Routing into 6P enders near the corner or leaving a gap is also good. Not only will it let you do teleport and helter skelter mixups, but it can let you bait your opponent into blitzing towards the corner. If your opponent is blitzing or doing throw towards the corner, it makes it much easier to punish by teleporting out again.
*If you anti air someone with an uncharged blitz, you can immediately follow up with any anti air combo, but this is susceptible to getting reblitzed. A good option is to do anti-air blitz, then follow up with a delayed K pile to CH punish reblitz attempts or to get a big wallsplat combo on non-reblitz. This will not work on all ground to air-blitzes because they are too low to the ground, notably Raven glide or Millia hair-car. Another strong option is to walk forward and do a delayed 6K mixup right as they land. This will bait throw and air-reblitz attempts.
{{VideoCluster
|vid1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMSX9QqH2Zk&ab_channel=Loekkson
|title1=Blitz countermeasure
}}


==Blockstrings==
'''If you get blitzed'''
*Uncharged blitz prorates a lot, a semi charged blitz itself is generally not very rewarding either, so taking the blitz when this happens is fine. You have good defensive tools to escape most setups afterwards. You can try reblitzing, but this is very risky if they are mixing up with good mid and low CH starters. Generally, reblitzing is better if they are in the corner. You can also try a reblitz, teleport behind them and wait for their response midscreen to justify the risk you take with massive potential reward.
*Full-charge blitz is the most rewarding option for your opponent, but also the most risky and easily punished version. If you get blitzed and see your opponent charging their blitz, you can '''always''' buffer a throw punish, or even better, CH EW.
{{VideoCluster
|vid1=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0uJCXhwiE&ab_channel=Loekkson
|title1=Blitz countermeasure
}}


'''Other blitz applications:'''
*You can cancel any jump into blitz. This means BDC blitz and FDC blitz is possible. BDC blitz is useful for opponents who use whiff-cancels to try and deny jump-outs. You can also use it to blitz projectiles if you get caught mid forward/backdash to save yourself from a punish.
*Air-blitz extends a lot downwards, so if you find yourself in situations where you IAD over for example a stun edge, raven needle or gunflame YRC, you can blitz to extend downwards into the projectile and put yourself in an i-frame state, saving you from an air-throw.
*5D6 5HH semi-charged blitz 6H routes are possible if you cancel jump this way.


== Okizeme ==
=== Spacing ===
[[File:GGXRD_Slayer_ranges.jpg|none]]




==Tips and Tricks==
Many of Slayer's best attacks have below average range and his movement is relatively restricted. Specifically, Slayer's backdash has very long recovery, he cannot cancel his forward dash into FD or normals, and his airdash length is shorter than average. On the other hand, Slayer has very strong counterpokes and close range pressure. Effective spacing with Slayer is all about moving into ranges where you are able to take advantage of these strengths and force the opponent to take risks to beat his counterpokes.
 
Slayer's 3 main ranges are:
# Close (pressure focus)
# Mid (counterpoke focus)
# Far (various)
 
Slayer is strongest at Close and Mid range.
 
 
'''Close range'''
* {{clr|3|c.S}} and throw range
* Important moves:
** Blockstrings: {{clr|3|c.S}} > {{clr|3|f.S}}, IAD, {{clr|2|5K}}, {{clr|2|2K}}, P Dandy > Under Pressure
** Mixups: IAD, {{clr|2|6K}}, Under Pressure > It's Late/{{clr|2|2K}}, Bite, forward dash
** Anti-reversals (throw, backdash, DP): {{clr|2|2K}}, {{clr|1|6P}}, P Dandy, BDC
* Slayer's pressure often ends in + frames, including his high/low mixups with {{clr|2|6K}}/{{clr|2|2K}}, IAD, and Under Pressure, so he can often reset his pressure at little risk. Use pressure resets to build Tension, increase the opponent's RISC, and make your overheads and throws more unpredictable
* Opponents may favor {{clr|1|5P}}/{{clr|1|2P}}/etc. mash, throw, backdash > throw to end pressure. Faultless Defense also quickly pushes Slayer out of Close range, but the extra frame advantage can make it safer to reset with Under Pressure or IAD.
* At midscreen, take advantage of IAD and forward dash for quick crossups
* BDC P Mappa, BDC Bite, and sometimes BDC P Dandy can beat mashing. Look to use BDC at Close range when you are at slight frame disadvantage.
 
 
'''Mid range'''
* About 1 backdash length behind Close range
* Important moves:
** Pokes (better if opponent waits): {{clr|2|5K}}, {{clr|4|6H}}, Mappa, {{clr|4|2H}}, {{clr|5|2D}}
** Counterpokes (better if opponent pokes): {{clr|1|6P}}, Dandy Step, IAD, forward dash
* Slayer's counterpokes are very rewarding but have slow startup. Note that {{clr|1|6P}} will whiff unless they poke or move forward. Forward dash is also much more effective if it can cross up.
* BDC and P Dandy can avoid pokes to punish their recovery. {{clr|2|5K}}, {{clr|1|6P}}, {{clr|4|6H}}, and forward dash can beat counters to BDC and P Dandy
* Pay attention to the opponent's movement. Counterpokes can be intercepted by running or jumping forward. Sometimes Slayer's pokes can be whiff punished by backdashing or jumping back.
 
 
'''Moving between Close and Mid range'''
* Many of Slayer's strong Mid range options naturally move him closer ({{clr|4|6H}}, IAD, dash). {{clr|2|5K}} can cancel into {{clr|4|6H}}, IAD, or Dandy Step. {{clr|2|5K}} is also +3 on block and difficult to punish, so it's a strong tool for moving from Mid to Close range.
* Some characters have stronger defensive options at Slayer's Close range (e.g., Potemkin Buster, Millia {{clr|4|5H}}, several characters' {{clr|3|c.S}}). If the opponent has a good Close range option to beat pressure resets (e.g., P Dandy, BDC, or IAD),
 
 
'''Far range'''
* About 2 backdash lengths behind Close range, or 1 backdash length behind Mid range
* You can whiff Under Pressure for meter and to bait the opponent to come to you
* K Mappa and K Pilebunker can reach
 


=== The Importance of FD Jump ===
=== The Importance of FD Jump ===
Line 24: Line 237:




{{notice|'''Input your BDC jump as 447S+H'''
{{notice|'''Input your BDC jump as {{clr|3|447S}}+H'''
* Doing crouch block then BDC can give a 214 input
* Doing crouch block then BDC can give a 214 input
* Using P or K would then cancel your jump into Dandy Step
* Using P or K would then cancel your jump into Dandy Step
Line 33: Line 246:


'''Jump Hurtbox Comparison'''
'''Jump Hurtbox Comparison'''
[[File:Slayer jump hurtboxes.jpg|none]]
[[File:GGXRD Slayer jump hurtboxes.jpg|none]]




Back jump is both wider and taller than neutral or forward jump. FD jump is the smallest and has the same hurtbox in any direction. To maximize the power of BDC jump, you must add FD!
Back jump is both wider and taller than neutral or forward jump. FD jump is the smallest and has the same hurtbox in any direction. To maximize the power of BDC jump, you must add FD!
==Backdash Cancel (BDC) Guide==
{{notice|REQUIRED READING: Learn [[Notation#Numpad_Notation|Numpad Notation]] before proceeding. }}
=== <big>What is BDC?</big> ===
'''BDC''', or '''Backdash Cancel''', is a technique that allows Slayer to add some invulnerability to his jump or special/super moves.
Other characters must recover from their backdash before they can act again, but Slayer has the unique ability to jump cancel his backdash. Additionally, when Slayer jump cancels his backdash, some of the backdash invulnerability is transferred to his jump or special/super move.
Common uses of BDC are to escape pressure with BDC jump or to attempt a reversal with BDC Mappa or BDC Bite. Because the BDC input is so complex, BDC can be difficult to use, but it has the unmatched potential to escape from standard okizeme or pressure.
''Disclaimer'': BDC is strong, but sometimes BDC is not the answer. Don't forget to use normals and blocking sometimes.
<br>
=== <big>How do I input BDC?</big> ===
There are 3 parts to the BDC input:<br>
# Backdash
# Jump cancel
# Optional: cancel jump startup into a special/super move
<br>'''Backdash input'''<br>
In Guilty Gear, the only valid backdash input is 454. It seems that 464 also works, but other inputs are not allowed (for example: 414, 424, 4254). If your BDCs are not coming out, it's very possible that you're simply missing the backdash input.
According to Loekkson, a Slayer player himself, the buffer for backdashes on wakeup or out of blockstun is 1 frame, and becomes 2 frames if you hold the second 4 input.
<br>'''Jump cancel input'''<br>
After executing the backdash, simply jump with 7, 8, or 9 to cancel the backdash. A sample BDC input is 4547 (aka BDC jump).
<br>'''Canceling jump startup'''<br>
After the jump cancel, you can cancel the jump startup into a special or super move.
<br>'''BDC special inputs'''<br>
Follow this method:<br>
# Backdash
# Input the motion for the special
# Jump and input the button for the special
<br>With this method, the input for BDC Mappa is 4542369.
There is another BDC shortcut possible with special moves that end in 4 or 46 (Dandy Step and Dead on Time). You can input 21454 to get a backdash. Thus, you can input BDC Dandy as both 4542147 or 214547. This shortcut shortens the BDC Dandy input by 1 directional, which makes the input 1 frame faster!
<br>'''Difficulty'''<br>
Slayer's jump startup is 4 frames, so you have 3 or 4 frames (not sure) to cancel jump into a special/super.
If each directional input is 1 frame, then a 236 motion for Mappa needs at least 3 frames to execute. In other words, it is hard to input the special move after inputting the jump (try 4547236P for a challenge).
<br>'''How do I tell if I executed BDC correctly?'''<br>
* During backdash startup, Slayer turns invisible, and you should hear a "pwop" sound.
* If you cancel the backdash early, Slayer will disappear and reappear at almost the same place you started from.
<br>
=== <big>How invulnerable is BDC?</big> ===
* BDC transfers up to 7 frames of strike invulnerability to special moves (in GG, strike invulnerability also applies to projectiles and unblockables).
* If the jump is not canceled into a special/super, BDC only transfers up to 4 frames.
* Before you cancel the backdash, you still have the normal backdash invulnerability. Thus, BDC actually gives you far more than 7 frames of invulnerability.
* In GG, 7 frames of invulnerability is a lot, but some moves are too active for BDC to avoid. Don't be surprised if your BDC is defeated!
{| class='wikitable' style="text-align: center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|+BDC Jump
|-
! Cancel Frame !! Invul Transferred to Jump
|-
| 1-12 || 4
|-
| 13 || 3
|-
| 14 || 2
|-
| 15 || 1
|-
| 16+ || 0
|}
{| class='wikitable' style="text-align: center; margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|+BDC Special
|-
! Cancel Frame !! Invul Transferred to Special/Super
|-
| 1 || 7
|-
| 2-9 || 6
|-
| 10 || 5
|-
| 11 || 4
|-
| 12 || 3
|-
| 13 || 2
|-
| 14 || 1
|-
| 15+ || 0
|}
*Cancel Frame is the frame where the cancel takes place after the backdash starts. For BDC Jump, Cancel Frame is the frame when the jump input is made. For BDC Specials, Cancel Frame is the frame when the special/super is completed after canceling backdash into jump.
*BDC Special data assumes that the special input is completed on the 1st frame of jump startup. If the special input is completed after the 1st frame of jump startup, fewer invulnerability frames are transferred to the special.
<br>
=== <big>BDC Movelist</big> ===
==== <big>BDC Jump</big> ====
''Recommended inputs'':
* 4547 or 4549 + 1/4/7SH (BDC jump then air FD)
* 4547656214K (BDC jump into airdash Footloose)
* 45417 (BDC superjump)
<br>'''Basics''':
<br>BDC jump is the best BDC move since it is so safe.  Specials can be counterhit and have long startup/recovery, so BDC jumping is much safer than any other BDC special.
Use BDC jump to escape oki and pressure (most of the time anyway...). You can even combine BDC jump with an airdash to start your own pressure.
<br>'''Advanced''':
* If executed by frame 12 of the backdash, BDC jump still gets 4 frames of invul, which allows you to safely BDC jump then air block. That also means BDC jump has up to 16 frames of invul from the start of the backdash (454 > 12 frames invul > jump startup > 4 frames invul).
* Please remember that most ground moves cannot be air blocked without FD, so you should try to immediately FD after your BDC jump starts. Ideally, you should use S+H to FD because P or K can turn into an accidental Dandy Step input. Also, because you can airblock with any back input (1/4/7),
* If you get knocked down without meter (for example, round start or after DOT RC), be careful about using BDC jump since you won't be able to FD long enough to safely air block after jumping.
* As an escape, it's common to use BDC jump then airdash Footloose (656214K) to fly past the opponent. You can BDC into superjump (45417) to reach a safe height faster before using airdash Footloose, but this gives the opponent more time to react. Footloose is punishable if all 3 hits are blocked in the air, and most antiairs will low profile it consistently.
<br>
==== <big>BDC Mappa</big> ====
''Recommended input'': 4542369P or K
<br>'''Basics''':
<br>BDC Mappa is similar to Dandy Step, where you use the BDC invul to dodge an attack then punish the recovery. Compared to Dandy Step,  BDC Mappa is slightly safer but generally less rewarding.
Use BDC Mappa to call out defensive mashes like 2P or 2K. You can use either P Mappa or K Mappa, but do note that P Mappa is 3 frames faster and is better on block/IB compared to K Mappa.
<br>'''Advanced''':
* BDC Mappa is very useful in situations where you are -1 or worse since your fastest normals will generally lose to their fastest normals. If the opponent is mashing out their gatlings (such as 5K > 5S), BDC P Mappa may give you a counterhit where P Dandy wouldn't.
* It is possible to BDC K Mappa through some pokes or fireballs (Ky fS or Stun Edge). BDC K Mappa can even punish some moves that 6P wouldn't work against, such as low pokes like a 2S/2D. In some cases, P Dandy Step is the better option, which you will have to learn through experience.
<br>
==== <big>BDC Dandy Step</big> ====
''Recommended input'': 4542147P or K
<br>'''Basics''':
<br>BDC Dandy Step combines the natural invul of Dandy Step with even more invul from BDC. In cases where a normal Dandy Step would run into a poke, sometimes BDC Dandy Step will keep you just out of range to dodge it.
Use BDC Dandy Step to adjust the spacing of Dandy Step more precisely. You can also use BDC K Dandy > YRC to dodge almost anything.
<br>'''Advanced''':
* Pilebunker works well with BDC Dandy since it has high range. For example, you can whiff punish a back throw (that is, 4H) from a cornered opponent with BDC P Dandy > Pilebunker.
* Under Pressure is usually vulnerable to backdash (avoids 2K and It's Late, often lets a cornered opponet throw you) and IB (allows a 3 frame punish or a 5 frame interrupt on It's Late). With BDC Dandy, you can space UP to be safer against backdashes and IB.
* You can delay your cancel into Dandy to space yourself further out, but keep in mind this also delays the startup of your Dandy Step followups.
<br>
==== <big>BDC Bite</big> ====
''Recommended input'': 63214547H
<br>'''Basics''':
<br>BDC Bite is a true reversal if executed correctly, since it has a 7 frame startup and BDC transfers up to 7 frames of invul. This gives Slayer a reversal option against close range blockstrings and safe jumps. You can also use BDC Bite in your pressure to beat defensive mashes at close range.
Use BDC Bite to call out the opponent's offense or defense. Be careful about opponents jumping to avoid Bite.
<br>'''Advanced''':
* Bite generally reaches after K Mappa (on hit only) or Under Pressure. You can also use BDC Bite after cS fS or IAD. Keep in mind that if you have frame advantage, you will have to delay your BDC Bite slightly to avoid throw protection.
* BDC Bite can be used on oki to punish wakeup throw. Because BDC doesn't grant throw invulnerability, you have to avoid the throw before you cancel your backdash.
* It's hard for opponents to react to BDC Bite interrupting their pressure, so it's less likely for someone to mash out of BDC Bite stagger there. If you want to use any Bite gimmicks, try them after you BDC Bite out of pressure.
* If you are cornered, Bite > 5K is a universal combo and leads to K Mappa > 2K/cS > 2D for a knockdown.
* BDC Bite generally beats most options that would catch Dandy Step or BDC Mappa. If you read that someone will run up to you, BDC Bite can cover a lot of options.
* Some characters use throw invul moves (Slayer It's Late, Baiken 6K, etc.) on oki. It's still possible to wakeup BDC Bite these moves by delaying the cancel.
* Try not to overuse BDC Bite against safejump oki since a standard airdash mixup will punish it. You can beat some of those mixups with wakeup 6P, or BDC jump > IB > airthrow
* Though BDC Bite can reversal through safejumps, do note that it's possible to OS a safejump with jump/backdash to avoid BDC Bite. However, these OSs will come out if you avoided their safejump with any invul, such as other BDCs or Burst, so it's hard to truly stop wakeup BDC Bite.
<br>
==== <big>BDC DOT (Dead On Time)</big> ====
''Recommended input'': 632145469S
<br>'''Basics''':
<br>BDC DOT is another true reversal since it has a 7 frame startup and even has strike invul on frames 7-9. Because DOT reaches so far, BDC DOT will whiff punish just about anything.
Use BDC DOT to send a message.
<br>'''Advanced''':
* Because of the BDC input, BDC DOT actually has around 9-10 frames of startup. Slayer's main reversal super, Eternal Wings, has 9 frames of startup and is fairly easy to safejump. In some cases, Burst DOT is preferred because it truly has a 7 frame startup, which makes it harder to safejump, and is also much easier to execute.
* DOT gives a short knockdown that doesn't allow Dandy Step oki, so BDC DOT is not really that rewarding. On counterhit, you can get better oki.
<br>
==== <big>Other BDC specials</big> ====
The specials/supers that were not been covered above are:
* Undertow - Too slow to benefit from BDC. You can use the BDC DOT input with P for BDC Undertow.
* Eternal Wings - Already has a lot of invul. You could use BDC Eternal Wings to make safejumps more annoying, but the superflash makes this less useful. As for the input, you can do the first 236 before you backdash, but it's a very annoying input regardless.
* Straight-Down Dandy - Is an air super, is punishable on block, and can be low profiled. Most things that cover BDC jump would naturally cover this too, so it's hard to find a use for this.
<br>
=== <big>What counters BDC? How do I beat BDC counters? (WIP)</big> ===
Very few moves can hard counter BDC. The main counter to BDC is instead related to the complexity of BDC inputs and the slower startups of BDC specials.
Some common checks to BDC are:
# Moves with good range and long active frames (Millia 6H)
# Gapless blockstrings with lows (2K > 2D, some characters have 2K > 2S > 2D or 2K > 2K...)
# Staggered blockstrings (2P > delay 2P, tick throws)
# Meaty lows on oki with high active frames (May 2D) or low recovery (Leo stance K)
# Projectile oki that can hit jumps (Sol's Gunflame, Ky's Charged Stun Edge)
# YRC


==Fighting Slayer==
==Fighting Slayer==
===YRC===
Important mechanic to master that keeps many of Slayer's approaches and pressure options in check. If you are good at utilizing the YRC mechanic and punishing Slayer, you can quite literally slow-down the pace of the match just by having 25% tension available.


* The YRC retracts your hurtbox from frame 1, making you near impossible to whiff-punish from far ranges. It's good for keeping you safe against pilebunkers, IADs, 6Ps, forward dashes, dandy steps and such.
* Use the slowdown to confirm what option Slayer is committed to, and punish accordingly. In many situations, you can even CH Slayer for high return, more than making up for the loss of tension.
* Common places that are good to YRC are when Slayer has to over-extend to take his turn, after for example K mappa, blocked 6P, blocked 2D, far range 6H and such. What you will do, is press a fast button and YRC immediately after. This way, you will keep Slayer's buttons in check, while simultaneously beating Slayer's movement options. This can also be done to dominate neutral against impatient Slayers.
* For some characters, it is even worth using YRC during oki to keep Slayer locked down.


----
Slayer has very little counterplay to this other than making you waste the tension with BDC jump and such, so do pay attention to when you are getting rushed down by Slayer's most committal options, or when Slayer is keeping himself out.
{{CharLinks
 
|charMainPage=GGXRD-R2/Slayer
===Mashing out of bite===
|videos=http://horibuna.web.fc2.com/GGXrdR/GGXrdR_SL.html
Being able to mash out of Bite stagger is imperative when fighting against Slayer. Bite stagger gives Slayer frame-advantage to do strong dash mixups, but also the option to do black beat combos if you are too slow at mashing out.
|forums=http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php?/forums/forum/290-slayer/
* Bite followed up into black beat K mappa is not a real combo, and it is very realistic to be able to mash out of this consistently with practice. It takes around 8-9 button presses when timed correctly. With practice, you can also mash out into IB to punish the K mappa.
}}
* Bite into bite loops you only need around 4-5 button presses.
{{Navbar-GGXRD-R2}}
* A solid go-to defensive option against bite, is to mash out while holding 4. This will let you escape bite > bite, but also reserve your options to block mids while grounded and to react to forward dash if you want to. In the corner, you can no longer walk back however, and bite mixups become very dangerous.
[[Category:Guilty Gear]]
 
[[Category:Guilty Gear Characters]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Responses for when you get hit with bite.
|-
! Bite follow-up !! Universal suggested responses
|-
| Bite > bite || A good response is to mash out of stagger while walking backwards. This will leave bite > bite range, while keeping you safe from the powerful mid-starters. You will however, open yourself up to bite > 2D and 2H depending on the character.
* Because of the range, forward dash bite is a bit slow and can be reacted to. In response, Slayer can bait reactionary responses for high reward using dash cancels and such. Bite into bite is scary, but will not kill you as fast as getting hit by a CH buffed special attack, so do keep the risk/reward in mind.
|-
| Bite > K mappa || Walking back and aiming for IB is also strong vs this option, as it also escapes bite > bite.
|-
| Bite > FDC PUP || One of the most potent bite follow-ups. Good on block, good hitbox to beat abare, has a whiff-cancel, and importantly baits out reactionary responses. You can jump out of this move preemptively, but leave yourself open to 6H if you don't FD. If you jump out of under pressure, Slayer still has the CH buff on him as well. It's a good idea to block this grounded to remove the CH buff.
|-
| Bite > whiff UP || Puts you into a deadly CH high-low mixup if you try to guess with blocking, though Slayer 2K is often not range after Bite > P under pressure to hit standing characters. Jump out with FD is decent or stand blocking. You can also whiff-punish UP if you are sharp with your responses.
|-
|
|}
 
===Okizeme===
A lot of standard oki on Slayer simply does not work because of BDC and various other backdash follow ups. Your oki will therefore consist of trying to bait these options instead, rather than trying to enforce strike/throw or high/low mixups. Good ideas of trying to catch Slayer BDC is using moves with low recovery, using whiff-cancels, and delayed attacks that have a lot of active frames and that reach high up.
* Blocking in the air, then landing causes huge amounts of blockstun, while also forcing standing. This means you often get rewarded with a high/low mixup anyways if you catch Slayer blocking in the air, and you might even get otherwise impossible high/low mixups. For example, Jam 6K(2) or c.S air block, IAD j.PPS. Good in the corner, but midscreen much more difficult.
* Catching Slayer in the air burns a lot of valuable tension on FD. For example may 6H will drain 25% tension from a single air-blocked hit.
 
==Navigation==
<center>{{Character Label|GGXRD-R2|Slayer|size=42px}}</center>
{{GGXRD-R2/CharacterLinks}}
{{GGXRD-R2/Navigation}}

Latest revision as of 18:30, 26 March 2024

 Slayer


General Tactics

General YRC usage

Slayer has many YRC tricks and ideas to get an advantage and to mix up his opponent. Slayer builds a lot of tension in general, which means you get the opportunity to YRC a lot. You also have to keep in mind the tension penalty you get from doing YRC, and try to balance when it's worth doing and when it's worth saving the tension. Some characters have such a great advantage in neutral over Slayer, that it's well worth to give up the tension sometimes just to get in. Some examples:

  • Airdash footloose YRC. Covers a great distance and is hard to anti-air. Useful when playing for screen positioning and for approaching. You can follow up with yet another footloose to cover even greater distance.
  • K mappa YRC and forward dash YRC are also good ways to approach, as it puts you right in their face. The slowdown puts you at small frameadvantage as well as eating their input. Depending on how much your opponent respects the frameadvantage, you can go for teleport or 6K mixups, or spaced out bite.
  • YRC OS during okizeme and pressure. A general strategy that lets you punish backdashes and the slower reversals in the game by buffering YRC after your attack connects, for example meaty IL YRC or frametrap K mappa YRC. Also worth mentioning is that YRC pulls your hurtbox back from frame 1, allowing you to dodge a lot of attacks by being spaced out and saving you from getting punished.
  • K dandy YRC. The quickest way to dodge some attacks and is easier to perform than a reversal backdash.

Stun

Slayer deals quite high stun from landing counterhits, and can in many situations stun the opponent in one mixup if the conditions are right. Starters that lead to particularily high stun damage are:

  • CH 6P, 5H and 6H
  • CH K mappa
  • CH P pile and K pile
  • CH EW and SDD

If your opponent still has burst after getting stunned, or is close to getting it back, you have a couple of ways to get guaranteed extra damage:

  • K pile
  • Full charge blitz > 6H P pile
  • Full charge blitz > empty K dandy > 5H bite
  • Full charge blitz > full charge blitz > c.S j.SHD214K (fully burst safe)

Smoke mixups

Helter YRC is a good mixup tool. The initial hit can hit a lot of players, but if they blocked it, the mixups continue. When YRCed, a slight delayed smoke screen will appear which you can use to mask your mixups. Depending on which side you do helter, the smoke will be further away from the opponent.

  • If they crouch block helter, 6K is a good mixup, but will not combo into anything on standing. If they stand block helter YRC, IAD j.SH instant overheads become possible. Use the small window before the smoke appears to hit-confirm.
  • Because there's so much blockstun from helter YRC, a lot of your crossup mixups will be autoguarded by the opponent unless you delay your attacks.
  • Helter skelter on block pushes the opponent away from whatever direction it hit, so Helter YRC followed by a crossup dash will push them towards you.


GGXRD Slayer Helter YRC.jpgGGXRD Slayer Helter YRC smoke.jpg

Other smoke mixups that are possible, but aren't as powerful:

  • EW slight delay YRC. This one mostly happens when you do wakeup EW YRC.
  • TK SDD YRC. Not particularly useful.


GGXRD Slayer EW YRC.jpgGGXRD Slayer SDD YRC.jpg

Baiting burst

Slayer has many places in his combos where it is guaranteed to burst, with the only bait possible being RRC.

Burst points
Attack When to burst Notes
2D After close range normal hit. Generally sideswitches. No cancels. Is not guaranteed on CH or when hit by late active frames. Generally Slayer has to give up his combo to bait however.
j.2K After hit Almost no cancels. Footloose can make bursts whiff, however Slayer is minus or punishable unless RCing.
K mappa After hit No cancels. Not guaranteed to burst on CH or when hitting on very late active frames.
5D During startup on reaction Main combo extender after K mappa RC and such. If you allow yourself to comboed by this, 5D6 is guaranteed to burst on hit, but can be baited with 5D no follow up.
Crosswise heel React to the first hit and burst the 2nd hit early. No cancels. If you burst too early, CWH can low profile your burst. If you preemptively burst to the 1st hit CWH, you can be baited by Slayer doing under pressure and blocking your burst.
Pilebunker When close range after hit No cancels. This attack has long recovery, but midscreen will start sending you flying away from Slayer, so in these cases you must burst earlier than when in the corner.

There are many other places to burst that are good, where Slayer has to give up his combos to bait you. Bursting here involves mind-games and taking some risk.

Jailing your opponent in the corner

A lot of Slayer's attacks are pressure enders, like P mappa, 6P, 6H, 2H, etc, where they have no cancels or very limited follow ups on block. Slayer can still steal his turn or try to counter-poke in these cases if the opponent tries to fight back, but common for all these options is they pretty much all lose to the opponent doing jump outs. If you allow your opponent to jump out, you lose all your positional advantage that comes with having the corner, and you get cornered yourself. To stop jump outs, it's very strong to hold your ground and react to your opponent with air throw. Alternatively, instead of going for air throw, you can try to cross under your opponent with forward dash or meet them with a grounded anti air.

  • Stopping your opponent from jumping out is important to master, and forces them to fight in the corner, which does not feel good to do against Slayer.
  • If you are too close, it's gonna be very hard to stop jump outs.
Spacing for intercepting jump outs with air throw
Air throw spacing


Building tension

Slayer is much stronger and safer when he has tension available, so it should always be amongst your priorites in a match to build tension.

In general, you want to have close to 50% tension before you start taking risks and before you approach your opponent.

Your opponent does not want you to snowball out of control from stray hits, so they will eventually be forced to approach you.


P under pressure

  • Fast and fairly safe. The most efficient way of building tension.
  • Use it during offense.
  • Whiff this move consecutively when fullscreen to force your opponent to approach.


Other ways to build tension:

  • Alternating walking forward then IAD back.
  • Instant block projectiles such as Ky's stun edge or Raven needle. It's free meter.

Dead angle attack

Dead angle is useful for punishing your opponent's absent-minded block strings and turning it into a favorable situation for you. Many games in Guilty Gear are won from a single knockdown, and dead angle can be the catalyst for many such games when applied properly.

  • You lose very valuable tension which you often desperately need to realize a comeback, but you do get a knockdown when it was "your turn to block", so have the foresight to see your highest-chance of winning. Sometimes dead angle is very good, sometimes it's better to sit tight and hold onto your tension.
  • Slayer's dead angle is the slowest in the game at 18f, so your opponent has access to more hard-baits and option-selects than against other characters. Since it has the same startup as burst, a lot of burst-safe stuff will work against Slayer's dead angle. This means you have to be more cautious about which of your opponents moves you apply your dead angle, and what kind of potential punishes they have. At -9 on block, you are generally not risking much health, but wasting 50 tension stings a lot.
  • Dead-angle safe block strings generally have weak mixup-potential, so just holding onto 50 tension can make your opponent give up valuable pressure in fear of your dead angle.

Dead angle attack countermeasures

Block punishes will generally lead to 5K > mappa or 2KD style of short combos. These punishes are ok, but more harder call-outs can net you much greater return.

  • Helter skelter will in general make most dead angles whiff or at least let you block (Faust DAA for example), despite HS having long recovery.
  • Helter YRC into crossup forward dash will make DAAs whiff into the opposite direction.
  • RRC and then forward dash does the same thing, for example K mappa/K pile RC forward dash as a crossup.
Canceling into K dandy, P dandy, IAD, and 6P against DAA at point-blank range.
Characer Notes
SO All work
KY All work
MA DAA Clashes with 6P unless you delay.
MI All work
ZA DAA Clashes with 6P unless you delay, can't IAD
PO Can't IAD. The only DAA with CH state recovery.
CH DAA Clashes with 6P unless you delay.
FA Can't IAD
AX Can't K pile, delay P dandy difficult
VE Can't 6P
SL Can't 6P, can't K pile
IN All work
BE Can't 6P. This DAA has very long recovery.
RA Can't 6P, can't IAD. Fastest DAA in the game.
SI All work
EL Can't 6P, can't IAD.
LE Can't IAD.
JO 6P must be delayed, delayed P dandy works, but K pile will not.
JC All work
JA All work
KU IAD can work, but fails if done too early. Can't 6P, can't K pile, can't P dandy. One of the hardest DAA to bait without blocking.
RV Can't IAD
DI All work
BA All work
AN Can't IAD

Blitz and countermeasures

  • Blitz is a very cheap resource, costing only 25% tension, and often changes the tides of a match. Blitz is very common, so it's important to have strong countermeasures.

When you are blitzing:

Uncharged blitz:

  • You can punish grounded blitz and reblitz attempts by dashing behind your opponent. From here you can K pile or P pile to CH punish their blitz from behind, and if they are charging it, delay your follow up until you see them let go of charge. If they full-charge, you can keep repeating P dandy until you see the attack, or use 6H for CH whiff-punish. If you don't see them blitz, you can follow up with a c.S combo or P cwh if you are already in dstep.
  • You can also try to punish any grounded blitz early with any low, as low-blitz is not very common, however a desperate opponent might try this at low health situations.
  • If they are in the corner, you can't teleport behind them unfortunately, so in these cases you have to try and space yourself with backdashes or K dandy YRC and simply outrange their charged-blitz attack. Here you can whiff-punish with repeat P dandy or CH K mappa. You can also do a low like CH 2H, as this has very good meterless return in the corner.
  • Routing into 6P enders near the corner or leaving a gap is also good. Not only will it let you do teleport and helter skelter mixups, but it can let you bait your opponent into blitzing towards the corner. If your opponent is blitzing or doing throw towards the corner, it makes it much easier to punish by teleporting out again.
  • If you anti air someone with an uncharged blitz, you can immediately follow up with any anti air combo, but this is susceptible to getting reblitzed. A good option is to do anti-air blitz, then follow up with a delayed K pile to CH punish reblitz attempts or to get a big wallsplat combo on non-reblitz. This will not work on all ground to air-blitzes because they are too low to the ground, notably Raven glide or Millia hair-car. Another strong option is to walk forward and do a delayed 6K mixup right as they land. This will bait throw and air-reblitz attempts.
Blitz countermeasure


If you get blitzed

  • Uncharged blitz prorates a lot, a semi charged blitz itself is generally not very rewarding either, so taking the blitz when this happens is fine. You have good defensive tools to escape most setups afterwards. You can try reblitzing, but this is very risky if they are mixing up with good mid and low CH starters. Generally, reblitzing is better if they are in the corner. You can also try a reblitz, teleport behind them and wait for their response midscreen to justify the risk you take with massive potential reward.
  • Full-charge blitz is the most rewarding option for your opponent, but also the most risky and easily punished version. If you get blitzed and see your opponent charging their blitz, you can always buffer a throw punish, or even better, CH EW.
Blitz countermeasure


Other blitz applications:

  • You can cancel any jump into blitz. This means BDC blitz and FDC blitz is possible. BDC blitz is useful for opponents who use whiff-cancels to try and deny jump-outs. You can also use it to blitz projectiles if you get caught mid forward/backdash to save yourself from a punish.
  • Air-blitz extends a lot downwards, so if you find yourself in situations where you IAD over for example a stun edge, raven needle or gunflame YRC, you can blitz to extend downwards into the projectile and put yourself in an i-frame state, saving you from an air-throw.
  • 5D6 5HH semi-charged blitz 6H routes are possible if you cancel jump this way.

Spacing

GGXRD Slayer ranges.jpg


Many of Slayer's best attacks have below average range and his movement is relatively restricted. Specifically, Slayer's backdash has very long recovery, he cannot cancel his forward dash into FD or normals, and his airdash length is shorter than average. On the other hand, Slayer has very strong counterpokes and close range pressure. Effective spacing with Slayer is all about moving into ranges where you are able to take advantage of these strengths and force the opponent to take risks to beat his counterpokes.

Slayer's 3 main ranges are:

  1. Close (pressure focus)
  2. Mid (counterpoke focus)
  3. Far (various)

Slayer is strongest at Close and Mid range.


Close range

  • c.S and throw range
  • Important moves:
    • Blockstrings: c.S > f.S, IAD, 5K, 2K, P Dandy > Under Pressure
    • Mixups: IAD, 6K, Under Pressure > It's Late/2K, Bite, forward dash
    • Anti-reversals (throw, backdash, DP): 2K, 6P, P Dandy, BDC
  • Slayer's pressure often ends in + frames, including his high/low mixups with 6K/2K, IAD, and Under Pressure, so he can often reset his pressure at little risk. Use pressure resets to build Tension, increase the opponent's RISC, and make your overheads and throws more unpredictable
  • Opponents may favor 5P/2P/etc. mash, throw, backdash > throw to end pressure. Faultless Defense also quickly pushes Slayer out of Close range, but the extra frame advantage can make it safer to reset with Under Pressure or IAD.
  • At midscreen, take advantage of IAD and forward dash for quick crossups
  • BDC P Mappa, BDC Bite, and sometimes BDC P Dandy can beat mashing. Look to use BDC at Close range when you are at slight frame disadvantage.


Mid range

  • About 1 backdash length behind Close range
  • Important moves:
    • Pokes (better if opponent waits): 5K, 6H, Mappa, 2H, 2D
    • Counterpokes (better if opponent pokes): 6P, Dandy Step, IAD, forward dash
  • Slayer's counterpokes are very rewarding but have slow startup. Note that 6P will whiff unless they poke or move forward. Forward dash is also much more effective if it can cross up.
  • BDC and P Dandy can avoid pokes to punish their recovery. 5K, 6P, 6H, and forward dash can beat counters to BDC and P Dandy
  • Pay attention to the opponent's movement. Counterpokes can be intercepted by running or jumping forward. Sometimes Slayer's pokes can be whiff punished by backdashing or jumping back.


Moving between Close and Mid range

  • Many of Slayer's strong Mid range options naturally move him closer (6H, IAD, dash). 5K can cancel into 6H, IAD, or Dandy Step. 5K is also +3 on block and difficult to punish, so it's a strong tool for moving from Mid to Close range.
  • Some characters have stronger defensive options at Slayer's Close range (e.g., Potemkin Buster, Millia 5H, several characters' c.S). If the opponent has a good Close range option to beat pressure resets (e.g., P Dandy, BDC, or IAD),


Far range

  • About 2 backdash lengths behind Close range, or 1 backdash length behind Mid range
  • You can whiff Under Pressure for meter and to bait the opponent to come to you
  • K Mappa and K Pilebunker can reach


The Importance of FD Jump

BDC jump often allows Slayer to avoid attacks, but attacks can still catch the beginning of Slayer's jump. Slayer can BDC during any string with a gap, but these strings often use air unblockable moves that must be blocked in the air with FD. Basically, you will want to add FD to every BDC jump input.


Input your BDC jump as 447S+H
  • Doing crouch block then BDC can give a 214 input
  • Using P or K would then cancel your jump into Dandy Step
  • Using S+H allows you to consistently FD after BDC jump



Jump Hurtbox Comparison

GGXRD Slayer jump hurtboxes.jpg


Back jump is both wider and taller than neutral or forward jump. FD jump is the smallest and has the same hurtbox in any direction. To maximize the power of BDC jump, you must add FD!

Backdash Cancel (BDC) Guide

REQUIRED READING: Learn Numpad Notation before proceeding.

What is BDC?

BDC, or Backdash Cancel, is a technique that allows Slayer to add some invulnerability to his jump or special/super moves.

Other characters must recover from their backdash before they can act again, but Slayer has the unique ability to jump cancel his backdash. Additionally, when Slayer jump cancels his backdash, some of the backdash invulnerability is transferred to his jump or special/super move.

Common uses of BDC are to escape pressure with BDC jump or to attempt a reversal with BDC Mappa or BDC Bite. Because the BDC input is so complex, BDC can be difficult to use, but it has the unmatched potential to escape from standard okizeme or pressure.

Disclaimer: BDC is strong, but sometimes BDC is not the answer. Don't forget to use normals and blocking sometimes.


How do I input BDC?

There are 3 parts to the BDC input:

  1. Backdash
  2. Jump cancel
  3. Optional: cancel jump startup into a special/super move


Backdash input

In Guilty Gear, the only valid backdash input is 454. It seems that 464 also works, but other inputs are not allowed (for example: 414, 424, 4254). If your BDCs are not coming out, it's very possible that you're simply missing the backdash input.

According to Loekkson, a Slayer player himself, the buffer for backdashes on wakeup or out of blockstun is 1 frame, and becomes 2 frames if you hold the second 4 input.


Jump cancel input

After executing the backdash, simply jump with 7, 8, or 9 to cancel the backdash. A sample BDC input is 4547 (aka BDC jump).


Canceling jump startup
After the jump cancel, you can cancel the jump startup into a special or super move.


BDC special inputs
Follow this method:

  1. Backdash
  2. Input the motion for the special
  3. Jump and input the button for the special


With this method, the input for BDC Mappa is 4542369.

There is another BDC shortcut possible with special moves that end in 4 or 46 (Dandy Step and Dead on Time). You can input 21454 to get a backdash. Thus, you can input BDC Dandy as both 4542147 or 214547. This shortcut shortens the BDC Dandy input by 1 directional, which makes the input 1 frame faster!


Difficulty
Slayer's jump startup is 4 frames, so you have 3 or 4 frames (not sure) to cancel jump into a special/super.

If each directional input is 1 frame, then a 236 motion for Mappa needs at least 3 frames to execute. In other words, it is hard to input the special move after inputting the jump (try 4547236P for a challenge).


How do I tell if I executed BDC correctly?

  • During backdash startup, Slayer turns invisible, and you should hear a "pwop" sound.
  • If you cancel the backdash early, Slayer will disappear and reappear at almost the same place you started from.


How invulnerable is BDC?

  • BDC transfers up to 7 frames of strike invulnerability to special moves (in GG, strike invulnerability also applies to projectiles and unblockables).
  • If the jump is not canceled into a special/super, BDC only transfers up to 4 frames.
  • Before you cancel the backdash, you still have the normal backdash invulnerability. Thus, BDC actually gives you far more than 7 frames of invulnerability.
  • In GG, 7 frames of invulnerability is a lot, but some moves are too active for BDC to avoid. Don't be surprised if your BDC is defeated!
BDC Jump
Cancel Frame Invul Transferred to Jump
1-12 4
13 3
14 2
15 1
16+ 0
BDC Special
Cancel Frame Invul Transferred to Special/Super
1 7
2-9 6
10 5
11 4
12 3
13 2
14 1
15+ 0
  • Cancel Frame is the frame where the cancel takes place after the backdash starts. For BDC Jump, Cancel Frame is the frame when the jump input is made. For BDC Specials, Cancel Frame is the frame when the special/super is completed after canceling backdash into jump.
  • BDC Special data assumes that the special input is completed on the 1st frame of jump startup. If the special input is completed after the 1st frame of jump startup, fewer invulnerability frames are transferred to the special.


BDC Movelist

BDC Jump

Recommended inputs:

  • 4547 or 4549 + 1/4/7SH (BDC jump then air FD)
  • 4547656214K (BDC jump into airdash Footloose)
  • 45417 (BDC superjump)


Basics:
BDC jump is the best BDC move since it is so safe. Specials can be counterhit and have long startup/recovery, so BDC jumping is much safer than any other BDC special.

Use BDC jump to escape oki and pressure (most of the time anyway...). You can even combine BDC jump with an airdash to start your own pressure.


Advanced:

  • If executed by frame 12 of the backdash, BDC jump still gets 4 frames of invul, which allows you to safely BDC jump then air block. That also means BDC jump has up to 16 frames of invul from the start of the backdash (454 > 12 frames invul > jump startup > 4 frames invul).
  • Please remember that most ground moves cannot be air blocked without FD, so you should try to immediately FD after your BDC jump starts. Ideally, you should use S+H to FD because P or K can turn into an accidental Dandy Step input. Also, because you can airblock with any back input (1/4/7),
  • If you get knocked down without meter (for example, round start or after DOT RC), be careful about using BDC jump since you won't be able to FD long enough to safely air block after jumping.
  • As an escape, it's common to use BDC jump then airdash Footloose (656214K) to fly past the opponent. You can BDC into superjump (45417) to reach a safe height faster before using airdash Footloose, but this gives the opponent more time to react. Footloose is punishable if all 3 hits are blocked in the air, and most antiairs will low profile it consistently.


BDC Mappa

Recommended input: 4542369P or K


Basics:
BDC Mappa is similar to Dandy Step, where you use the BDC invul to dodge an attack then punish the recovery. Compared to Dandy Step, BDC Mappa is slightly safer but generally less rewarding.

Use BDC Mappa to call out defensive mashes like 2P or 2K. You can use either P Mappa or K Mappa, but do note that P Mappa is 3 frames faster and is better on block/IB compared to K Mappa.


Advanced:

  • BDC Mappa is very useful in situations where you are -1 or worse since your fastest normals will generally lose to their fastest normals. If the opponent is mashing out their gatlings (such as 5K > 5S), BDC P Mappa may give you a counterhit where P Dandy wouldn't.
  • It is possible to BDC K Mappa through some pokes or fireballs (Ky fS or Stun Edge). BDC K Mappa can even punish some moves that 6P wouldn't work against, such as low pokes like a 2S/2D. In some cases, P Dandy Step is the better option, which you will have to learn through experience.


BDC Dandy Step

Recommended input: 4542147P or K


Basics:
BDC Dandy Step combines the natural invul of Dandy Step with even more invul from BDC. In cases where a normal Dandy Step would run into a poke, sometimes BDC Dandy Step will keep you just out of range to dodge it.

Use BDC Dandy Step to adjust the spacing of Dandy Step more precisely. You can also use BDC K Dandy > YRC to dodge almost anything.


Advanced:

  • Pilebunker works well with BDC Dandy since it has high range. For example, you can whiff punish a back throw (that is, 4H) from a cornered opponent with BDC P Dandy > Pilebunker.
  • Under Pressure is usually vulnerable to backdash (avoids 2K and It's Late, often lets a cornered opponet throw you) and IB (allows a 3 frame punish or a 5 frame interrupt on It's Late). With BDC Dandy, you can space UP to be safer against backdashes and IB.
  • You can delay your cancel into Dandy to space yourself further out, but keep in mind this also delays the startup of your Dandy Step followups.


BDC Bite

Recommended input: 63214547H


Basics:
BDC Bite is a true reversal if executed correctly, since it has a 7 frame startup and BDC transfers up to 7 frames of invul. This gives Slayer a reversal option against close range blockstrings and safe jumps. You can also use BDC Bite in your pressure to beat defensive mashes at close range.

Use BDC Bite to call out the opponent's offense or defense. Be careful about opponents jumping to avoid Bite.


Advanced:

  • Bite generally reaches after K Mappa (on hit only) or Under Pressure. You can also use BDC Bite after cS fS or IAD. Keep in mind that if you have frame advantage, you will have to delay your BDC Bite slightly to avoid throw protection.
  • BDC Bite can be used on oki to punish wakeup throw. Because BDC doesn't grant throw invulnerability, you have to avoid the throw before you cancel your backdash.
  • It's hard for opponents to react to BDC Bite interrupting their pressure, so it's less likely for someone to mash out of BDC Bite stagger there. If you want to use any Bite gimmicks, try them after you BDC Bite out of pressure.
  • If you are cornered, Bite > 5K is a universal combo and leads to K Mappa > 2K/cS > 2D for a knockdown.
  • BDC Bite generally beats most options that would catch Dandy Step or BDC Mappa. If you read that someone will run up to you, BDC Bite can cover a lot of options.
  • Some characters use throw invul moves (Slayer It's Late, Baiken 6K, etc.) on oki. It's still possible to wakeup BDC Bite these moves by delaying the cancel.
  • Try not to overuse BDC Bite against safejump oki since a standard airdash mixup will punish it. You can beat some of those mixups with wakeup 6P, or BDC jump > IB > airthrow
  • Though BDC Bite can reversal through safejumps, do note that it's possible to OS a safejump with jump/backdash to avoid BDC Bite. However, these OSs will come out if you avoided their safejump with any invul, such as other BDCs or Burst, so it's hard to truly stop wakeup BDC Bite.


BDC DOT (Dead On Time)

Recommended input: 632145469S


Basics:
BDC DOT is another true reversal since it has a 7 frame startup and even has strike invul on frames 7-9. Because DOT reaches so far, BDC DOT will whiff punish just about anything.

Use BDC DOT to send a message.


Advanced:

  • Because of the BDC input, BDC DOT actually has around 9-10 frames of startup. Slayer's main reversal super, Eternal Wings, has 9 frames of startup and is fairly easy to safejump. In some cases, Burst DOT is preferred because it truly has a 7 frame startup, which makes it harder to safejump, and is also much easier to execute.
  • DOT gives a short knockdown that doesn't allow Dandy Step oki, so BDC DOT is not really that rewarding. On counterhit, you can get better oki.


Other BDC specials

The specials/supers that were not been covered above are:

  • Undertow - Too slow to benefit from BDC. You can use the BDC DOT input with P for BDC Undertow.
  • Eternal Wings - Already has a lot of invul. You could use BDC Eternal Wings to make safejumps more annoying, but the superflash makes this less useful. As for the input, you can do the first 236 before you backdash, but it's a very annoying input regardless.
  • Straight-Down Dandy - Is an air super, is punishable on block, and can be low profiled. Most things that cover BDC jump would naturally cover this too, so it's hard to find a use for this.


What counters BDC? How do I beat BDC counters? (WIP)

Very few moves can hard counter BDC. The main counter to BDC is instead related to the complexity of BDC inputs and the slower startups of BDC specials.

Some common checks to BDC are:

  1. Moves with good range and long active frames (Millia 6H)
  2. Gapless blockstrings with lows (2K > 2D, some characters have 2K > 2S > 2D or 2K > 2K...)
  3. Staggered blockstrings (2P > delay 2P, tick throws)
  4. Meaty lows on oki with high active frames (May 2D) or low recovery (Leo stance K)
  5. Projectile oki that can hit jumps (Sol's Gunflame, Ky's Charged Stun Edge)
  6. YRC

Fighting Slayer

YRC

Important mechanic to master that keeps many of Slayer's approaches and pressure options in check. If you are good at utilizing the YRC mechanic and punishing Slayer, you can quite literally slow-down the pace of the match just by having 25% tension available.

  • The YRC retracts your hurtbox from frame 1, making you near impossible to whiff-punish from far ranges. It's good for keeping you safe against pilebunkers, IADs, 6Ps, forward dashes, dandy steps and such.
  • Use the slowdown to confirm what option Slayer is committed to, and punish accordingly. In many situations, you can even CH Slayer for high return, more than making up for the loss of tension.
  • Common places that are good to YRC are when Slayer has to over-extend to take his turn, after for example K mappa, blocked 6P, blocked 2D, far range 6H and such. What you will do, is press a fast button and YRC immediately after. This way, you will keep Slayer's buttons in check, while simultaneously beating Slayer's movement options. This can also be done to dominate neutral against impatient Slayers.
  • For some characters, it is even worth using YRC during oki to keep Slayer locked down.

Slayer has very little counterplay to this other than making you waste the tension with BDC jump and such, so do pay attention to when you are getting rushed down by Slayer's most committal options, or when Slayer is keeping himself out.

Mashing out of bite

Being able to mash out of Bite stagger is imperative when fighting against Slayer. Bite stagger gives Slayer frame-advantage to do strong dash mixups, but also the option to do black beat combos if you are too slow at mashing out.

  • Bite followed up into black beat K mappa is not a real combo, and it is very realistic to be able to mash out of this consistently with practice. It takes around 8-9 button presses when timed correctly. With practice, you can also mash out into IB to punish the K mappa.
  • Bite into bite loops you only need around 4-5 button presses.
  • A solid go-to defensive option against bite, is to mash out while holding 4. This will let you escape bite > bite, but also reserve your options to block mids while grounded and to react to forward dash if you want to. In the corner, you can no longer walk back however, and bite mixups become very dangerous.
Responses for when you get hit with bite.
Bite follow-up Universal suggested responses
Bite > bite A good response is to mash out of stagger while walking backwards. This will leave bite > bite range, while keeping you safe from the powerful mid-starters. You will however, open yourself up to bite > 2D and 2H depending on the character.
  • Because of the range, forward dash bite is a bit slow and can be reacted to. In response, Slayer can bait reactionary responses for high reward using dash cancels and such. Bite into bite is scary, but will not kill you as fast as getting hit by a CH buffed special attack, so do keep the risk/reward in mind.
Bite > K mappa Walking back and aiming for IB is also strong vs this option, as it also escapes bite > bite.
Bite > FDC PUP One of the most potent bite follow-ups. Good on block, good hitbox to beat abare, has a whiff-cancel, and importantly baits out reactionary responses. You can jump out of this move preemptively, but leave yourself open to 6H if you don't FD. If you jump out of under pressure, Slayer still has the CH buff on him as well. It's a good idea to block this grounded to remove the CH buff.
Bite > whiff UP Puts you into a deadly CH high-low mixup if you try to guess with blocking, though Slayer 2K is often not range after Bite > P under pressure to hit standing characters. Jump out with FD is decent or stand blocking. You can also whiff-punish UP if you are sharp with your responses.

Okizeme

A lot of standard oki on Slayer simply does not work because of BDC and various other backdash follow ups. Your oki will therefore consist of trying to bait these options instead, rather than trying to enforce strike/throw or high/low mixups. Good ideas of trying to catch Slayer BDC is using moves with low recovery, using whiff-cancels, and delayed attacks that have a lot of active frames and that reach high up.

  • Blocking in the air, then landing causes huge amounts of blockstun, while also forcing standing. This means you often get rewarded with a high/low mixup anyways if you catch Slayer blocking in the air, and you might even get otherwise impossible high/low mixups. For example, Jam 6K(2) or c.S air block, IAD j.PPS. Good in the corner, but midscreen much more difficult.
  • Catching Slayer in the air burns a lot of valuable tension on FD. For example may 6H will drain 25% tension from a single air-blocked hit.

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