Fuzzy Defense

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What is Fuzzy Defense?

There are two main techniques with regard to Fuzzy Defense: Fuzzy Guard and Fuzzy Jump. Both are very similar in terms of usage: switching from low guard to something else briefly to guard against attacks that beat low guard.

Fuzzy Guard

Fuzzy Guard (aka Fuzzy Block) is very similar to Guard Switch, but not using it against any specific setup. You are basically hedging your bets and preemptively inputting 1~4~1 to block high for a brief moment to block an opponent's overhead attack before going back to blocking low.

Limitations

Since you are switching to standing block, you will be vulnerable to lows during that time. Blockstrings that go into a low like 2A.png > 2B.png, or 2GGP.png > 2GGK.png will hit you should you attempt to fuzzy guard as soon as you block the first hit. Blockstrings with multiples low hits are also strong at beating fuzzy block.

While this can be slightly mitigated by only guarding high for a very short amount of time, it also means that your window for blocking overheads becomes smaller. Thus the best way to use this is to intelligently pick a spot when you think the opponent might got for an overhead and Fuzzy Guard only during that time (almost like a Guard Switch).

Fuzzy Jump

A Fuzzy Jump is a defensive option select designed to avoid throws and overheads by taking advantage of the timing difference typically found between them and other faster attacks (typically mids and lows). This is very similar to Fuzzy Guard, but primarily to switch between blocking low and jumping.

The command slightly varies from game to game, let's look at a few game's versions of fuzzy jump:

Guilty Gear: 1FD~7~1FD
BlazBlue: 1Barrier~7~1Barrier

What they all share in common is 171. The rest is making yourself less vulnerable to attacks that can not be air normal blocked.

The goal of a fuzzy jump is to input it after blocking an attack and attempt to jump out of the opponent's blockstring.

  • If the opponent goes for a throw or an overhead
    • Then you will jump out since jump startup is throw invincible, and overheads are slow, giving you time to jump out
  • If the opponent attempts a mid or a low
    • Then depending on the timing you will either get hit or keep blocking
      • If the opponent times their attack to give you just enough time to begin a jump, then you will be hit out of jump startup, however if the opening is too big, then you will jump and be able to block the attack.
      • If the opponent did not leave an opening (eg you are in blockstun) then you will block high for as long as you hold 7, then go back to crouch blocking.

Limitations

While fuzzy jump might seem like a catch-all solution to avoid most mixups, it comes with its own shortcomings. Characters are vulnerable to strikes during the startup of a jump, which usually lasts for 3-6 frames depending on the game and character. This means that opponents can set up frame traps that will hit you out of the startup of your fuzzy jump. You can try to slightly delay the timing of your fuzzy jump to throw off the opponent's timing, but the drawback will be weakening the fuzzy jump against strikes and throws since you will be crouching for longer.

Fuzzy jump will also lose to the same things that fuzzy guard loses to, namely low attacks.

Air blocking an attack usually has more blockstun when ground blocking, so if the opponent makes you air block, you will likely fall to the ground while still in blockstun and the opponent will have more frame advantage to work with and will likely be able to continue their offense.

Practicing Fuzzy Jump

To better illustrate the purpose of fuzzy jump, go into Training Mode and setup some dummy recordings.

In Guilty Gear, set up Sol as your training dummy with the following recordings:

  1. 2D (knock down opponent), dash 2P > 2K
  2. 2D (knock down opponent), dash 2P, dash throw
  3. 2D (knock down opponent), dash 2P, dash 2K
  4. 2D (knock down opponent), dash 2P > 5D


In BlazBlue set up Ragna as your training with the following recordings:

  1. 3C (knock down opponent), dash 2A, dash throw
  2. 3C (knock down opponent), dash 2A, dash 2B
  3. 3C (knock down opponent), dash 2A > 6B
  4. 3C (knock down opponent), dash 2A, dash 2A

Set the dummy to replay the recordings with random playback. As you recover from the knockdown, perform a fuzzy jump. If timed right, you will be able to guard or jump out of all of these common situations.

Recognizing When the Opponent is Using Fuzzy Guard/Jump

When the opponent uses fuzzy guard, you will see them switch from blocking low to blocking high, then back to low again. If you see them fidgeting between low and high block when you're not doing anything, they're probably using Fuzzy Defense.

You can also recognize this in the middle of your blockstring by paying attention to the opponent - did they switch between crouching and standing as they blocked a few hits? That probably means they're using Fuzzy Guard or Fuzzy Jump. Next time go for a low!

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