GGACR/I-No/Matchup/Sol Badguy

The General Gameplan

Start with the basics! Keep it simple: Play it safe.
- Risk/Reward is generally in Sol's favor up close, but it gets better the further away he is from you. You can force him to come to you.
  - 2S is your primary keep-him-out tool since f.S is slow. You also have 632146K, but Sol can dash under it.
  - Use f.S from a range that he can't easily punish. Use notes from even further away to lock him down so you can move in to safely run a mixup.
    - This will encourage him to go over in a way that you can anti-air, or under in a way you can blow up with 5H for big damage.
  - When you can safely shoot a note in neutral keep it low to shut down Grand Viper, most of the time. Sometimes you'll want to send it high to deal with IAD attempts or to bait a Grand Viper from a range that you can punish with 5H.
If he gets in, use FD to push him out and make his attacks whiff so you can whiff punish for knockdown.
- IB is also effective for creating gaps to escape in by jumping or using STBT, but you need a plan to use it effectively. Using it without a plan is more likely to get you hit than if you use FD. Check the "Escaping Pressure" section for more specific advice.
- Counter-poking against his pressure generally carries more risk than trying to escape, as he has delay gatlings from 6P to frame trap you. His damage output from his frame traps is way higher than from his command throw.
- Wild Throw is heavily prorated and he has to leave a gap in blockstun that you can use to escape. Sometimes you do use that gap to counter-poke, but you have other options like jumping out, back-dashing, etc.
- Sol generally has to take a risk to get back in, or spend meter on Gunflame FRC.
  - Gunflame without FRC can typically be punished with jump > Sdive. If he blockstrings into it at a long distance you can escape in the gap before it hits you, and if he does it too close you can punish him after blocking it.
Don't panic burst against Wild Throw or Bandit Bringer if you get hit. The proration is heavy, and Sol players are watching for you to panic burst here.
A wild, dice-rolling Sol loses to calculated attacks from outside his range, but he beats I-No's dice-rolling with his tools that "just work" such as Volcanic Viper. A more patient Sol that waits for you to mess up will still beat I-No's dice-rolling.
- - Don't be afraid to roll the dice. Just know that it's not in your favor in this matchup the majority of the time.

What Your Opponent Can Do

Some key tools in Sol's arsenal are:

3f startup (tied for fastest in the game) 5K, that anti-airs on frame 5, has a generally good hitbox with some disjoint and lots of active frames.
An incredible 2-hit DP that can start combos when used as an anti-air, and has a follow-up that knocks down.
A fast startup 2D that low profiles under just about everything in the game and starts nasty combos on CH.
A 6P that wallbounces on hit ensuring that even trades are in his favor. Though it's an upper body invul 6P, the hitbox is great for anti-ground use.
Delayable chain windows on key normals that allow him to run effective frametraps.
A command throw that leads to full combos.
A slow moving ground projectile that he can FRC to advance behind and more safely set up a mixup.
A combo tool (Sidewinder) that scales its damage up with more "Clean Hits" in a combo, leading to situational huge damage and high average damage. Sol can deal high damage even from prorated starters and he generally doesn't have to spend meter to do it.
A slow-startup but fast-moving low profile attack that moves Sol across the screen and starts combos or converts some counter hit normals for big damage.
A 2-hit j.H that has zero recovery frames and a shrunken hurtbox, along with a self-gatling-on-whiff j.P that also has an incredible hurtbox.

Sol can play quite effectively by switching between two basic strategies:

Being super aggressive with his DP that beats anything to encourage blocking, which he then command throws.
Being patient with his pressure and neutral, and baiting his opponent to press buttons when they shouldn't which leads to big counter hit combos.

Move Interactions

This section will tell you multiple ways of dealing with each of Sol's moves, while suggesting which options are more reliable than others. It will also tell you a little bit about what doesn't work. You should be able to avoid situations where you don't have a clear answer, and with this as a baseline you can figure out how to play neutral against your opponent. Learn the spacing where these solutions are most reliable, and how best to use tools that deal with Sol's tools on prediction or on reaction.

Buttons

5P: Not a move he commonly uses, but it's a low commitment tool he can use to stop hoverdash. The hitbox isn't amazing and it's not as fast as 5K so you can beat it via conventional means.
- Beat it directly with 6P or disjointed attacks.
- STBT can go under it, but you wouldn't chose that move to beat it as he can whiff gatling to something that beats it.
- You can outrange it with moves like f.S and HCL.
2P: Probably most commonly used in an oki or pressure reset situation to bait defensive actions and/or set up tick throws. Also relatively easy to directly challenge. The hitbox is high enough to reliably stuff reversal VCL even if he messes up and leaves a small gap.
- Beat it directly with 6P or disjointed attacks.
- STBT can go under it, but you wouldn't chose that move to beat it as he can whiff gatling to something that beats it.
6P: The wallbounce on CH makes this really dangerous as trades are in his favor, and it has a late gatling property that allows him to act when you think he's done (during recovery frames) giving him strong frametrap options. This move is exceptional for ground-to-ground and also functions as an anti-air.
- Beat it directly with 5H from a distance, or STBT under it for maximum reward.
  - I-No's 2K and 2H do not go under this move.
- Whiff punish it on reaction since he can only do the late gatling if he makes contact and it has long enough recovery.
- Since the hitbox is low TK dives can beat this move's startup, though you will more commonly use them to whiff punish the recovery in situations where Sol expected you to push a button on the ground and you jumped instead.
- I-No can beat this move with perfectly spaced j.H, but with how Sol leans forward you need very specific spacing from like an empty jump, and the reward in that circumstance would be next to nothing.
5K: Starts super fast, anti-airs 2 frames later, has a long active time to catch backdashes, and leads into his usual combos. The main weakness of this move is the long active time adds to the average recovery time to make it terrible on whiff.
- Beat it directly with 6P or disjointed attacks if you have the correct spacing. If Sol is right on you it's going to beat anything you attempt other than throw due to the speed.
- STBT can go under it, though the H version takes too long to low profile if both start at roughly the same time.
2K: A low that's only -1 on block normally (but could be even or plus if meatied on oki). Good for him to tick throw with, and if his oki is frame tight VCL will get hit by it.
- Beat it with speed, or attack it from above. There's nothing special about the hitbox.
c.S: If Sol is in range to c.S odds are he's doing 5K, 2K, 6P or 2D instead. He's more likely to gatling to this move and then run a mixup or frametrap off it.
- Since it's fast you don't have many options to challenge the startup. You could 5P it or throw it if he's that close to you.
- It's not very active, but the recovery isn't super long either so your whiff punishes would be limited if you jumped over it.
- STBT can go under it, but if you start at the same time he recovers in time to punish you before STBT goes active.
f.S: Sol extends his hurtbox really far forward before active. The move will whiff if you stand doing nothing slightly further away than round start distance, but if you crouch block at that range it'll make contact.
- 5P starts faster and has enough active frames to reliably catch Sol pressing this button. This works slightly farther away than round start range. This is probably the lowest risk and highest reliability option to beat this move, though if you beat it at max range you aren't guaranteed a reward even with the counter hit. If you're slightly closer you can 2S but HCL wont link from it, and you can't directly link into HCL.
- 2P also works for this purpose when you're in range, though it's generally not as good of a move as 5P. Anywhere that 2P works, 5P generally beats more things Sol could be doing.
- STBT-S goes under it and is fast enough to hit Sol before he recovers if they start at the same time.
- 5K can work if you press first, but both moves have the same startup.
- Sol's f.S reaches low enough to hit I-No's legs during her 6P. Since 6P is the slower move you have to start first if you want to beat his f.S with it.
2S: Slow to start up, but low recovery. Extends Sol's hurtbox forward a little during active, but not before active, and not as far as f.S does. Generally a safe move for him to just throw out even though it's not his longest range option. Most of the time he'll end block strings with it for the frame advantage.
- Probably the most reliable methods to beat this move are TK Sdive, and mcHCL if you're close enough that the hitbox on I-No's body can hit Sol, which works from round start range. mcHCL will give you a meterless combo mid screen with the counterhit. Sdive will cost meter unless you have the corner, and it prorates, but it's the more reliable option as you get the reward opportunity even as a whiff punish (no counter hit).
- Due to the shift in Sol's hurtbox as this move starts up, 2K will actually whiff at ranges where it would normally make contact. So despite the speed advantage for I-No's 2K it'll actually lose unless you're much closer. And for the record 2K works from farther away than 2P to beat this move.
- At best 6P and 2H will trade this move, and 5K loses to it (remember that I-No 5K is an anti-air, not a "low-crush" type of move).
- I-No extends her legs forward during f.S and 5H, so you have to be farther away than you think to beat Sol's 2S with them.
- It probably doesn't need saying, but this move will hit STBT.
- Sol's hurtbox does not reach far enough forward for j.D to be really reliable here even though it can totally work. You have to hit him really deep and a low j.D wont travel far enough at the range where Sol benefits the most from using 2S.
5H: Beats a ton of things I-No might want to do at round start range, though it does extend Sol's hurtbox slightly before active. Sol also lifts his front foot up slightly.
- 5P does not beat this move at round start distance since it does not extend his hurtbox far enough.
- 2S can win on speed, but since Sol lifts his front foot he will frequently win in situations where you'd expect 2S to win.
- 5K beats this move at round start distance, and since it's so active that works even if Sol does the 5H a few frames late. The problem is that at this range there's no reward. You must be closer than round start distance to get anything, and at that point the best you get is a meter'd HCL 6FRC6 conversion. It's a big risk to use though since many of Sol's other moves will beat 5K.
- Funny enough, not only does 6P work here, but at round start distance it combos to 5H with the counter hit. How does that work, but 5H whiffs on Sol 98% of the time otherwise?
  - Can convert via f.S into a normal IAD route for a little damage, corner carry and KD, or do the 5H route which requires IAD j.P to link. If you have meter you can HCL 6FRC6 convert.
- Both STBTs win here, though STBT-H will always get a full reward.
- Jump Kdive/Sdive works to punish the move on whiff, but Sol 5H reaches high enough to trounce dive hitboxes if you don't full jump over it or hit his extended hurtbox before active.
2H: It's pretty much a disjointed wall in front of Sol with that anti-airs late into it's active frames. Beats things you wouldn't expect, but also easy to call out. Reward for Sol is pretty massive. Make sure you don't burst since he has all day to bait the burst and still convert.
- Beat it with 5H. You have the range to do it from round start distance. If you're closer you can just hit a faster button since it's frame 9. You can also STBT it if you want, and f.S will definitely beat it if you're not too close.
- 6P will clash up to a certain distance where it'll win, and then it'll start to trade in Sol's favor.
- Don't use 2H since I-No extends forward before active, and it ties in speed so at best you trade in his favor. 2S is also the same speed and trades in Sol's favor really bad. It'll obliterate 5K clean unless you're in range to hit him first (5K is slightly faster), but the reward on crouching hit is nowhere near what Sol gets for his counterhit.
- If you jumped and didn't get hit, whiff punish with Sdive since Sol's 2H has a ton of recovery.
6H: Another anti-air, but it hits more above Sol's head instead of in front of him and it gives a massive reward on that conversion. Sol extends forward prior to and during active, so it's very easy to stuff this move from the ground.
- At round start 5P (mash it), 6P, 5K, 2S, 5H, 2H and 2D all beat it. Empty jump or jump back such that it whiffs and you can Kdive punish and still get the CH against his ground hitbox (the second hit). Just be careful about jumping forward into this move, or neutral jumping too close to Sol where this will still hit you since Sol leans forward when he does it.
- 6H will trade. STBT loses to it pretty hard.
5D: This is a mixup tool. The hitbox isn't great... but it is slightly disjointed, and Sol leans in a way that his lower hurtbox is pushed way back, making it difficult to stuff with moves like 2K and 2P. Also the way his leg moves is kind of a trap for new players since it makes it look like a kick, that might hit low, instead of the elbow he's winding up that hits overhead.
- It's -13 on block but has a lot of pushback.
2D: This moves goes underneath everything. It starts fast and only has a few active frames, so in some circumstances your go-to low crush moves will only whiff punish it.
- The most reliable meterless callout is TK Sdive. Since his 2D is so fast, Kdive wont counterhit. His 2D leads to big reward so you want your punish to lead to something more than knockdown if you can help it. You can also use either super to beat Sol's 2D
- You can hit him with 5H, but it actually doesn't lift I-No high enough to "low crush" this move. Even if you time it right Sol would trade with you, in his favor, if you were close to him. So use 5H if you're outside of his range and have enough time to start up since his 2D is much faster. The reward is massive if you can get it.
  - If you think you need the speed use 2H instead, but his 2D is still the faster move. You use 5H/2H as movement checks.
- I-No's 2D actually sucks here as it extends her hurtbox before the disjoint goes active, and since his move is faster it tends to win.
- 2K can beat it clean using speed if you're up close. And VCL can beat it, but it's a huge risk since it doesn't deal with his other moves well and since you need to FRC to get anything. You could also whiff punish or hit him first with 2S, but the reward is crap since it's a crouching hit. At best you get 2D knockdown.
- Low profiles under 5P, 2P, 6P, 5K, f.S (he can straight up dodge this move's entire active frames), j.K, j.S, j.D, HCL (even at point blank range)... and it'll stuff the startup of STBT (both versions).

j.P: Shrinks Sol's hurtbox upward and is slightly disjoint in front and below Sol, where his fist is aiming. Challenging it directly can be a bit tricky due to the shrinking hurtbox.
- If you have meter to spend, j.236D beats this move clean.
- You can aim j.P at his head, but you're likely to clash if you're too low.
- 6P can work if he's landing at you such that you're mostly underneath him. If you're too early you get hit, and if you're too late he lands in time to block.
- 6H can also work if he's forward enough that the mace swings up from underneath him. If it hits in front where he's actually attacking you're just going to clash.
- 5K Will clash or trade.
- j.D can beat it clean from the front, but it takes rather particular timing and spacing to beat a self-mashing 5f normal with a 16f normal. At least the reward is untechable launch. Very high risk / high reward kind of play, and it wont always be viable depending on the kind of pressure Sol is using. If Sol is low enough or deep enough horizontally you'll lose or trade in your favor.
- If his spacing/timing are bad you can beat this move more reliably, so learn to recognize when the Sol player jumped forward from the "wrong" range, or when they push their jump-in buttons too early or too late.
  - On a related note, you can snipe a Sol jumping forward mashing j.P with jump HCL from outside of his range horizontally, though the commitment & risk are pretty high. Or you can beat it from underneath with VCL and mcVCL, though again, high risk & commitment. Both of these basically require a mistake from the Sol or going in hard on a guess. If you're willing to do that you should probably FRC, but if you have the meter for that you should be using j.236D.
j.K: Not a great move to jump in with, but it has the most horizontal range of his air normals and it's still pretty fast. He's most likely to use it to catch you air backdashing or intercept the extended hurtbox on the startup of j.H, and then he can confirm with FB Sidewinder. There are plenty of ways to anti-air this move.
- 5K is pretty effective at most ranges, if the Sol is trying to use this as a jump in for some reason. I-No's 6H can beat it pretty clean too.
- 6P will only beat it clean if you're below Sol where his hurtbox reaches lower. His extended leg is high enough that he'll land before the hurtbox on his leg reaches the hitbox for I-No's 6P.
- From far away 5P will clash it. If you're close enough that Sol's foot will reach I-No's hat, at best you can clash if your timing is good. Otherwise he wins.
- j.P can beat it in speed when you're in the air, though they may clash from the front. Better than whiffing j.K, or having j.S/j.H lose on speed/range. I-No's j.D can work, but this is another snipe job like the j.P that isn't very consistent.
j.S: 9f startup, mostly disjointed in the front, but he uses it as a jump-in.
- It's relatively easy to anti-air this move with 5P or 6P, depending on the distance and timing the Sol uses. It's also not very fast so you can intercept it with j.P.
- 5K tends to trade this move at best, and you're not guaranteed anything on that trade so it's not ideal.
- 6H can beat it, but the further away you are the more likely you are to get an extended hurtbox clipped by the disjoint in the front.
j.H: 9f startup so you can beat it with speed, but it's disjoint above and in front during startup, and then reaches below Sol at the end. It also shrinks Sol's hurtbox upward like his j.P, making it really difficult to Anti-Air this move, and on top of that this move is all active frames with no recovery frames. That's why you'll commonly see Sol players whiffing this move in the air.
- 6P is your best bet to beat this from the ground. 5P and 5K can work if Sol is spacing it too far away from you, but that's on the Sol player spacing incorrectly. It works pretty similar to how you anti-air j.P.
- 6H can also work, but if Sol is in the later frames of the move you're likely to clash.
- The early frames of this move have surprising range and will beat I-No's j.P, but you can try to hit him first with j.P's speed if you're in range.
j.D: Another 9f startup move, has quite a bit of disjoint in front and around the hilt of his weapon. The wallbounce on CH means trades are likely to be in his favor, though you can generally tech before you hit the ground.
- If he jumps in on you with this for some reason, 6P works. But expect him to space it from far away to make maximum use of his disjoint.
- 5P and 5K can work, but due to the disjoint on this move they're less reliable at the range where he's most likely to use it. You might get counterhit or clash.
- If he's using this in the air in neutral it might be to try to get a huge reward for hitting extended hurtboxes on j.H's startup. Thanks to the wallbounce he wont have to spend meter on FB Sidewinder.

Special Moves

Gun Flame (236P): Runs along the ground controlling space. Can be FRC'd so Sol can safely advance behind it, or block behind it to bait stuff, or for combo routes.
- You either have to hit the startup before the flame becomes tangible, or you have to jump over it. You cannot low profile under it and at best if you hit Sol after it's active without dodging it, you'll get counterhit and trade in Sol's favor. At best for him he gets to convert even though he got hit, and at worst you trade knockdowns but he wakes up first so he gets oki.
- HCL can outrange it, but if you're too close you'll probably trade.
- Thankfully I-No has Sdive. Full jump > Sdive beats Gunflame if he didn't FRC, and gives you a full conversion.
  - Gun Flame Feint can be used to bait tactics like this and get you to give up your turn when he blocks it.
- Long range Gun Flame can hit late enough that Sol can get a meterless conversion from it. Be careful of that.
Gun Flame Feint (214P): Generally used in tandem with Gun Flame to make Gun Flame without FRC more difficult to deal with.
- Actually doesn't recover that much faster than a full Gun Flame. Sol is extremely minus (-23) if he hits you with it, and it's worse on whiff even from a lvl 5 move.
- Generally speaking this move works because you get caught with your pants down and react too late, because if you push a button and he actually did use Gun Flame, you trade counter hits in his favor. So to beat it reliably take the small reward of repositioning, or take the big reward of assuming he's using the feint and just push a button. He's in counter hit state for the whole move, so swing for the fences with 5H.
Volcanic Viper (S) (623S): It's a DP. One of the best in the game. Massive hitbox that lingers, and the second hit is untechable on CH so if he AA's with it he gets a full conversion instead of just knockdown. Because he has two different versions that reach different heights, and can feint his landing with the knockdown kick it can be tricky to punish when blocked.
- If the Sol likes to spam VV in neutral, just play safe and block to beat it. At some point he has to run a mixup and generally his best option is Wild Throw. He has to leave a gap for that, so you *will* have an opening to attempt something.
  - Knockdown kick puts Sol in CH state until landing, so your punish potential goes way up.
    - If you want to increase the chances of getting a good punish while dealing with Kick/No-Kick, use 5P instead of committing to some other button. You can late gatling on whiff into 5P, 6P or 5K when reacting to the kick. I recommend using 5K for the range and meterless options on counter hit.
- You can directly call it out with a well spaced 6H such that the Volcanic Viper whiffs and the mace swing hits Sol from underneath, though this is best with Sol cornered to catch jump out attempts, backdashes, etc. if he did something else. Remember that you have to be far away so the VV wont hit you, and generally you're going to get a late hit that may not be a CH. Without the CH your reward is minimal, though you could spend meter to get something.
- f.S works in a similar manner but covers different options.
- Most of the time you deal with this move will be oki against Sol. You'll have the opportunity to set up in those cases and should reference the oki section of this matchup guide for tips.
Volcanic Viper (H)(623H): Faster than the S version but goes higher. Since Sol can only do the kick near the top, you don't have to worry as much about the feint when you go to punish. Just make sure you can catch him.
Grand Viper (214S): Goes under all sorts of stuff and covers distance quickly, but it's actually slow to go active. It's risky for Sol to just throw it out, but he can cancel into it unexpectedly during blockstrings to catch backdashes and/or to check you and make sure you're ready for it. If he has the meter to RC he only has to worry about whiffing.
- To challenge it directly use 5H, or 2H if you need the speed.
- Jump over it and make him whiff, then punish the uppercut.
Bandit Revolver (236K): Has gimmicky use in neutral. It's mostly used to catch jump outs at the end of pressure strings since it's air unblockable without FD. You don't expect this because Sol is in the air and most air moves can be air blocked.
- If you can ground block it, it's already minus. If the Sol uses with the wrong spacing you beat this move via IB. You get a bigger window to throw punish if he's up close, or you can do a frame-perfect 2P/2K punish into a combo. 2P prorates less, but the difference in the ideal meterless combo is like 4 damage and 2K has more range in case the Sol is spacing it better, so go with that. The recovery on 2P is faster, but not fast enough to avoid getting VV'd if the Sol wants to roll the dice after you've IB'd this move hoping that you wont have perfect timing.
  - If Sol hits from further away he's likely to be later in his animation and be less minus, meaning you don't have the frame perfect punish on the table. At least he's minus and has to roll the dice on something invincible if he wants to keep his turn.
- It's pretty reliable to 6P straight through this move. 5K and 5P can also work to blow up the gap between the jumping hit and the landing hit.
Bandit Bringer (236 [K]): You cannot reliably challenge the hitbox from the ground due to the massive disjoint and raised hurtbox. It's slow to start up so it's not too difficult to block standing on reaction, but it can be spaced to cross you up, and it's plus so it's designed to get Sol back in for more pressure. Used in neutral it'll blow up slow/committal moves that stay on the ground without moving forward.
- Since it's slow you can intercept with j.P. This is a good option for escaping block-strings too.
- You can try to airthrow him before startup.
- If you're not ready for a Bandit Bringer and the best thing you can do is block it, it's not that hard to IB once you've realized what's coming. If he's spaced such that IB has him land close to you, you'll have a short window to ground throw his recovery. Unfortunately you don't get a combo punish.
- Since it's slow to start up you can also practice to reliably SB this move on reaction. That will earn you a combo punish and encourage Sol to use the FRC to bait such behaviors, or RC on block to become safe. Both of these burn his meter and are worthwhile rewards of putting some fear into Sol.
- One more desperate move option: You can 2K under this move if you're frame perfect, and then you get a frame-perfect 2P/2K just like against Bandit Revolver IB. But this is two frame-perfect actions back-to-back where messing up causes you to lose a ton of health. It's the kind of thing you go for when you're at risk of being chipped by his subsequent blockstring pressure if you don't beat this move, but you already messed up by not airthrowing it or beating it with j.P. Don't go for this just because it's hard or cool.
Riot Stomp (214K): It's an overhead... it's not very good. If he's backed into the corner it starts on like 13 or something crazy fast, but otherwise you have plenty of time to react to it. The hitbox is inside the hurtbox.
- As long as you reacted early enough you can blow this move up with all sorts of stuff. 5P and 6P are really reliable.
Wild Throw (623K): It's a command throw, and Sol can't special cancel into it.
- Jump out to make it whiff, then land on him with a punish. You could also push a button to try to beat the startup, or backdash.
  - Each one of these options covers and loses to different things. Overall though, Sol's 5K is an anti-air so it could catch you jumping, it's active for a long time so it's good for catching backdashes, and it's fast to start up so it might also catch you mashing. Since a single option of Sol's covers most of your escape attempt tools, his strike/throw mixup is pretty effective. Ultimately you'll need to learn to use IB to create a bigger gap to escape with, or FD to push him further away.
    - If the Sol player is remarkably good with timing their Wild Throw timing following a tick from something like 2K, FD will add frames to your blockstun and may cause Wild Throw to whiff even at close range. This is because of the minimum lockout period on throws after exiting blockstun.
Sidewinder (j.236H): This is generally a combo tool, but on CH it still wallbounces and can set up a combo. The hitbox is pretty good & disjointed too, so he has a reason to fish for it, though generally FB Fafnir gets used instead since it'll work even on regular hit due to the forced Clean Hit. Sometimes Sol players just feel like doing Kire Sidewinder...
- It may have a good hitbox, but it's mostly in front of Sol. If you're on the ground you can challenge it with 6H since that'll swing up from underneath.
- Also it's not particularly fast, so j.P can beat it in speed, even if Sidewinder would outrange it horizontally.
- It's also not hard to 6P because Sol has an actual hurtbox for his legs. The problem is that you're not going to be expecting it if it's used well, so trying to 6P it on reaction may not be reliable.
Fafnir (41236H): Sol is typically going to combo into this, or use it at the end of a pressure string somewhat infrequently to catch you trying to jump or back-dash after a blocked 5H or something. The thing is, Bandit Revolver is more common to catch jumps and Grand Viper is more common to catch backdash. He might also use it on block to set up FB Tyrant Rave to try to chip kill you. It's not common in neutral because it's slow and the hitbox isn't amazing, and if he wants a version to throw out in neutral he'd use the Force Break. Just be aware that the forward movement is much larger than expected, and it will travel about double distance if he buffers the input with a dash.
- Sol moves forward so much that if he's not careful about spacing you can throw him before startup.
- You can beat it easily on timing assuming he didn't use the move in a blockstring. 5P is great for the job since it has 4 active frames and starts quickly.
  - 6P works, but the hitbox on Fafnir reaches low enough that you would have to start it early. In just about any situation where you want to beat regular Fafnir used in neutral, 5P is better for the job and is likely to accidentally beat it. You might also stuff it with 5K or 2S just by playing normal neutral against Sol.

FB Fafnir(41236D): Much faster startup than the non-FB version, more damage, better hitbox, a rare "lvl 6" move that's +7 on block and to top it off it has throw invul until active.
- Same deal with beating it by going active first. 5P is great for this.
- Since it's harder to beat this move by accident you may need to think about specific callouts. STBT will go under it.
- It's not active for very long and it lingers for just a little bit, so you can whiff punish it if Sol's spacing is bad, though you'd have to guess to get the timing right.
- You cannot throw Sol. If anything this is a move he'll use to bait a throw from you and score a juicy counter hit.
FB Sidewinder (j.236D): This is basically the same deal as Sol using regular Sidewinder in neutral. Good hitbox, can kire it, etc.. Main reason to use this version is that even on regular hit he can convert.
- The frame data and hitboxes are the same, so beat it the same way you would the non-FB version.
FB Tyrant Rave (41236H or 41236D > 64D): Sol is either going to combo into this or try to chip kill you with it. It follows Fafnir or FB Fafnir, so you'll rarely really have to deal with it in neutral, though Sol can just throw it out after either of those moves whiff. It reaches waaaaay into the sky, so while you don't have to air FD it, you're likely to get hit by surprise.
- It'll trade with Desperation super due to the lingering projectile. It'll beat Dead Angle or you'll trade at best depending on your timing (if you're early you could RC it to block, but you wont have meter after if you're about to die). It reaches low enough to hit STBT even though it also reaches high enough to keep you from super jumping over it.
- If Sol's spacing on it is really bad and the projectile whiffs you from far enough away, you can HCL to counter hit Sol for a knockdown. The projectile takes up so much space that you can't really convert in the traditional way, though if it'll kill you can probably "machine gun HCL," which is repeated HCL > FRC > HCL until you're out of meter.

Tyrant Rave Beta (632146H): Two hits. Majority of damage is on the first hit, though the second hit is massive, reaching all the way to the floor and way into the air where the fireball is. Do not attempt to STBT under the second hit! It's also very active for both hits.
- Due to the massive gap between hits, you can IB the first hit and hit Sol with a good punish before the second hit goes active.
- The second hit is highly likely to push you away and make the move far safer than it should be. It's -15 so even without IB you can punish with HCL for knockdown and oki.
Dragon Install (214214S): Full invul so it's sometimes used on wakeup, but has a gap of 1 vulnerable frame just before Sol can move again. Makes all of Sol's stuff faster/better and gives him a new special move that is plus on block and an overhead, but overall Dragon Install has major drawbacks. Generally used as a desperation play when Sol is on a pixel of life because the drawbacks aren't worth the risk, and because it lasts longer when Sol has low health.
- If the Sol uses it with a lot of health left you may be able to just wait it out and then punish his recovery animation.
- Sol loses the install if he's knocked down. He wont play the recovery animation on wakeup, but he'll retain the other penalties such as losing his meter, being in negative warning and being 1-hit away from getting stunned for a free combo. So if you have to deal with it, score a hit and confirm the knockdown.
- All of Sol's normals get faster startup or recovery, or both. Bandit Revolver and Gunflame become plus, with Gunflame's properties changing significantly. Now it's a massive hitbox with a single hit, and it does even more damage. Volcanic Viper (H) gains a ton of hits and lifts Sol past the top of the screen, making it even more threatening of an anti-air. You mostly have to play around the new Gunflame and Volcanic Viper being so much more effective at making you want to block. When you're blocking he has legit high/low mixup with the new Slam overhead that is plus on block. If you can reaction block it effectively you still have to worry about Wild Throw.
- It's not really viable to explain how to play around this since it changes Sol's entire move set. But general principles still apply: Block a DP and punish it. Block his high/low to force him to throw, which creates a gap you can work with. Blow up his normals with supers, but don't get your supers blown up by Volcanic Viper. Hit Sol when he's not expecting you to push buttons, and block when he's expecting you to push buttons.

Spacing & Advantage (By Screen Position)

This section provides effective tools for Sol at these ranges so that you'll have a general idea what Sol might be doing. Neutral is when you figure out the ideal spacing to cover most of your opponent's options with your options, how to safely get to that spacing, how to deal with it when you're not in that spacing. However, Direct suggestions to "use X" are not included because you have to adapt to your opponent.

Sol can always do anything other than what is listed below. "Use of the unconventional against the conventional" separates strong players from weak players. But, it can also mean inexperienced or weak players overuse options that are "generally bad" in a way that would beat your "generally good" choices. You also need to learn to sniff that out. If a move is "bad" in a circumstance, it's on you to show Sol why it should be used less often.

Up Close

(From touching/throw range up to about where 2K > 6P combos against Sol) This position favors Sol since he doesn't have to reposition to use a lot of his strongest tools. They tend to cover more than one of I-No's options and his meterless average damage is higher so risk/reward is generally in his favor. But you can still swing at him and win, and having meter on the table helps the risk/reward equation. Just be careful when he has meter and you don't! He could use Volcanic Viper to beat anything you could be doing, then RC to convert or keep pressuring you if you blocked it. Being in range for his 5K to hit you and/or for Wild Throw to grab you puts you in an even worse position for winning neutral, and he can easily close the distance via walking or microdashing. If you're slightly too far away you wont be able to convert for full combos using 6P to launch, so while you wont have to worry about as many of his tools your reward can be diminished without fishing for counterhits and that skews the risk/reward equation. He is likely to use:

On the ground normals: 5K, 2K, 6P, c.S, 2S, 5H, 2D, 5D.
Neutral jump (or forward jump, watch for crossups) with j.S if you stay on the ground, or j.P mash to air-to-air and air-to-ground, or j.H to airthrow/air-to-air/air-to-ground.
Volcanic Viper to beat just about anything you could be doing other than blocking. With RC on the table this even beats blocking.
2P/2K tick into Wild Throw, or microdash Wild Throw.
Gunflame FRC to safely attempt to call out various things I-No could be doing. Or he'll use it at the end of a blockstring to get back in and create another mixup situation.

Round Start Range

At actual round start this position favors Sol slightly because he can get greater rewards than I-No can, but it's not terrible. Risk/reward for this spacing later in a match while you have meter for conversions is approaches even, though Sol having meter might give him a slight edge. Sol can reach you with his longer range moves, or his options that move him forward, so don't let your guard down. At this spacing Sol commonly will use:

Ground Normals: f.S, 2S, 5H, Microdash 5K or 2D, and hard guess: 6H or 6P.
Jump forward w/ j.P, j.S or j.H.
Dash-in Wild Throw
Bandit Bringer
Gunflame FRC

Long Range

This is where things start to lean in I-No's favor. You can more safely hit him as he tries to reposition, but your reward is less likely to be explosive and usually requires meter. But hey, you're happy to score a knockdown.
When Sol repositions at this range it's for a different purpose than when he jumps or uses a move like Grand Viper at closer ranges. Sol would actually like to be closer to you to shift things to his advantage, so if you let him walk up to his ideal range to push buttons he'll do it. Also you may see Sol players use metered options like Bandit Revolver FRC to move around unexpectedly after exhausting other air movement options, or to retain those options while getting close. Sol will commonly use:

Reposition via all methods. IAD, jumps, walking, dash brake, etc.. Remember that Sol's dash goes under I-No's 632146K.
- Some of these may be to bait your actions to punish them instead of just to get into his ideal range.
Committed movement with an action, such as dash-in 5K/2D.
- This may include jump forward > IAD backward j.H repeatedly, empty jump back j.H, jump forward j.P mash, etc. The lower risk of the "committed" options that will allow you to hang yourself if you're not careful.
- Skilled Sol players will try to chase you in the air with j.K since it's his aerial tool with the most horizontal range, and I-No extends her hurtbox forward when using air backdash.
Gunflame FRC, generally followed by repositioning or punishing you for running into it
Grand Viper or Bandit Bringer
I never really see it used this way, but dash buffered FB Fafnir is effective for closing the distance and could be effective at this range.

Full Screen

This is a range that favors I-No because Sol can't guarantee punishes against I-No when she uses her long range tools such as note, and he's too far away to threaten her. For example, if he uses Grand Viper at this range you can generally reaction punish. It's not very useful for Sol to Gunflame FRC at this range because it wont even reach you and will just waste meter, though it'll act as a check if you're playing overly wild using 41236H or j.236H and hoping he'll reposition into them. If he burns meter on the FRC at this distance, just let him and call it a small win.

Generally speaking, Sol wants to reposition to where he can actually fight you. Risk is low for I-No when using 214P/H or 632146K. Try to get him to block a note before you go in, or take a free hit if he actually gets hit by the note. If you can knock him down with HCL you can shoot a note and run a covered mixup. He has to come to you so take advantage of it.

Pressure

Pressuring a character with a 2-hit DP that has a large and long-lasting hitbox is a bit of a challenge, but it can be done. Your pressure should always either be creating an opportunity to punish Sol for doing something at the wrong time, or taking advantage of him blocking and waiting for "the right time" by running a mixup.

Try to figure out if the Sol is patient or if they're aggressive with mashing 5K or Volcanic Viper out of blockstun.
- Maybe early in a set and when Sol doesn't have meter you can use gap based frame traps like c.S > delay 5H to see if the Sol is mashing DP in blockstun. You'd take damage and give up a turn now to get info on how the Sol plays.
- If you know the Sol likes to mash, only leave gaps at a bit of a distance, such as going into a properly spaced f.S, which you then block after. Bait the Volcanic Viper or Grand Viper.
- If the Sol isn't mashing in blockstun that doesn't mean they wont do it later. "You can trust a dishonest person to be dishonest. It's honest people you have to watch out for." - Captain Jack Sparrow
If the Sol is patient I'd still err on the side of playing it safe, and by that I mean using slightly more baits than usual and not mindlessly dashing in after f.S or 2H. Sol can beat that easily by mashing 5P or 5K, and if the Sol isn't being wild he may be waiting for a guaranteed reaction punish.
- Force him to block a 5K first which is an actual frame trap, then run the high/low of TK Sdive or 2S. Or force him to block a note so you can get closer a little more safely.
- Or bait him to swing from disadvantage and call out what he swings with.
Watch for Sol mashing 5K or VV to beat j.D mixup. That's a very common "anti- I-No" tech that's really easy for him to do.
Watch for when Sol has 50% and can "just" Volcanic Viper > RC to steal a turn.

Oki

Reference the Okizemi page for the basics.
Oki against Sol is a pretty straight forward way to learn to deal with a character that has multiple escape tools.

He can Volcanic Viper through the note to hit you.
He can Grand Viper under it.
He can Riot Stomp over it, though he probably shouldn't attempt this unless he's in the corner (that makes it start faster) and you shot the note low to deal with Grand Viper.

If you can only get 2-hit note, don't take oki for granted. You'll either run head first into him DPing through the note, or he'll IB the second hit of note and DP your mixup normal.
If you only have f.S especially play it safe. Expect him to IB it. He may try to disrespect you via 5K or VV, but he might also just block. To be honest, as much as you need to use frame traps to force him to respect, he only needs to not get hit. So if you run a safe DP bait or frame trap and he doesn't take the bait, you're up close and in Sol's world.

If you have the corner but a sub-par setup (f.S oki or 2-hit note), sometimes you'll want to just step back.

You can call out wakeup Grand Viper with 5H without getting hit by VV if you're at the right spacing.
- It can also work for wakeup Riot Stomp, though at the range where you're safe against VV you risk getting whiff punished.
To deal more reliably with Riot Stomp you can 6P at that range, though that's far more committal and will lose to Grand Viper, which gives Sol a higher reward.
- Sol might also try to jump out. 6H will deal with that and VV.

Under ideal circumstances you'll have corner knockdown and 3 hit note, so that you can safely visually confirm he's blocking a note before going in. Then you have to worry about Dead Angle if he has meter, or IB/FD to create openings in your offense.

In general it helps to shoot notes low in this matchup. Don't forget this on oki since he might still Grand Viper.
- You can leave the note at normal height to stuff Riot Stomp while you cover Grand Viper with 5H.
Remember that FD can shut down I-No's "fuzzy" double overhead of j.S > dj.K by making the j.K whiff. This is really bad if you fly over Sol's head in the corner.
If the Sol player has experience, they'll be able to deal with basic hoverdash stuff, and they'll be mashing VV or 5K to deal with the gaps you leave when attempting an empty low, or double overhead via j.D or Sdive.
- You can counter this with FB note. The extra hits will force them to hold a slightly extended mixup pattern. Just don't go for a "fuzzy" mixup since the note blocks will allow Sol to switch his hurtbox and make the j.K whiff. Consider that he's more likely to FD to negate chip damage and guard bar, or Dead Angle.
  - If the Sol is the type to just VV through the FB note, don't feel bad. If you get the whiff punish the note did its job.
  - If you really want to force him to hold the note, shoot a regular note first, then shoot FB note while he's in block stun.
    - This is also effective in that if Sol uses backdash to dodge the note, you didn't waste your meter before hitting him. You could reaction catch his backdash with 5K, then HCL 6FRC6 convert with the meter you didn't spend.
- You can also use a different block string structure to bait counter-mashing once he realizes where your usual frame traps are, assuming he blocks your initial mix up. Put the mix-ups in a different place to force him to guess more often.

Escaping Pressure

Sol is going to use his strong buttons and frame trap options to scare you into not pushing buttons. Then when you're scared he's going to Wild Throw you. Very basic strike/throw archetype stuff.

The big tools that set his pressure apart are as follows:

5K is a 3 frame normal that he can press to start a string or to reset after ending + on block, and it'll catch you jumping out on frame 5 when it anti-airs. It goes into all of his other important pressure tools too!
c.S can follow 5K while also still going into everything else. It's even on block and has little push back, very strongly aiding his tick-throw game.
- 5K > c.S is fast enough to block a burst, so don't try to panic burst out of a Sol block string unless you know the safe points to do it!
- c.S has the delay cancel property and that makes it tricky to deal with. It's already +/- 0 on block, but he can cancel late into other normals or specials, giving him very free form options to frame trap.
6P is brutal because its a good counter-poke with its upper body invul and the high reward even on trade.
- Sol's 6P has the delay cancel property. It's a -9 on block move, but since he can go into another move during recovery you have to hold it similar to how you would hold a plus on block normal. It goes into c.S and 2S if he wants to reset pressure, or 5H if he wants to swing hard one more time.
2S is +3 on block and it requires specific higher-risk callouts if I-No wants to challenge it directly. Unfortunately for I-No', it's one of his safer moves to whiff in this matchup, so he's still happy even if he's just outside of 2S range.
- If you FD Sol's previous normal so that a following 2S whiffs, by the time blockstun is over you actually wont get a punish. Sol is crouching and will be out of range of everything except 2S and 2D, which are too slow to hit his recovery frames. Don't forget that FD increases block stun too.
  - If you FD and create a 2S whiff situation, you can wait to see what he does or try to reposition. Or start a move that might beat his next move, but now you're rolling the dice. Another 2S is likely here as it'll beat a majority of things you could be doing, and your reliable moves to punish it (like TK Sdive) lose to his other pressure reset tools like 5K. Microdash 5K is extremely likely to follow.
5H has to be mentioned since it's his "swing for the fences" move, even if it's not used to start a new pressure string. It also has enough range to make contact late into a blockstring after he's been pushed out, even by FD.
Gunflame FRC allows him to reset pressure for 25%. Or set up Wild Throw via 'tick > Gunflame FRC > Wild Throw before the Gunflame touches you. So he can use it at the end of a block string following a 5H, or earlier in a blockstring to set up Wild Throw, or possibly a jump-in overhead you can't challenge, or empty jump into low/throw.

It's worth mentioning that he has other tools to keep you from escaping, such as 6H or Bandit Revolver to keep you from jumping out. Or he can Bandit Bringer to get back in and reset his blockstring without spending meter on Gunflame FRC. But let's not focus on those yet since they're less common due to the risk to Sol, since they all have pretty clear counters.
Since Sol's high/low mixup game is generally on the weak side and he has strong strike/throw tools, expect his pressure to be built around making it difficult to tell when he's going to use his command throw, or stop pushing buttons to reposition. You can get blown up for pushing buttons when it's not your turn, trying to keep him from getting close enough to Wild Throw. Or you can be blown up for trying to reposition. Wild Throw is there to make you get hit by the other things.
Generally speaking, FD is effective for getting Sol out of range. Stronger Sol players will react to FD by letting the blockstring end, then dashing in to Wild Throw you. To get better at dealing with these situations you'll need a bit of info on how your defensive tools work:

IB reduces pushback when successfully executed. It also reduces blockstun. The higher level the attack the greater the reduction. Low level moves
FD increases pushback, but also adds to blockstun.
Pushback increases with each hit in a string. Consider this when you combine IB and FD in a block string. You might IB the first hit or two, but instead of using the gap to mash out or keep Sol in range for a punish, you might FD the next blocked attack to make a subsequent one whiff. This is harder for Sol to react to than holding FD at the start of a blockstring.
Pushback from a normal can be negated when a projectile makes contact. This is relevant if Sol uses Gunflame FRC in his pressure.

Escaping Oki

Remember that the purpose of oki is to attack when you have an advantage such that you can't be hit. So when Sol is doing this he's going to use a safe jump since that's meterless, or gunflame FRC to safely force you to block first if he doesn't have time to set up the safe jump.

Sol's main oki tools, generally in order of strength relative to cost, are:

Safe jumps, and their derivatives:
- Empty jump low or throw
- Jump to late airdash air normals
Gunflame FRC into a covered mixup (strong option, but costs meter)
FB Fafnir to bait reversal throw
Grand Viper to bait reversal Longing Desperation super by going under it. (This is highly risky if he doesn't have meter to RC on block)
- Sol can also VV through the move on reaction to the super flash since it hits on 2 after the flash, though this requires immaculate timing.
Meaty 2P or 2K

As I-No you have a bit of a conundrum using your tools immediately on wakeup:

Backdash loses to pretty much all of this if the Sol is on point. If you discover that the Sol can't deal with it, exploit that.
Reversal throw would only catch a standard safe jump if the jump-in timing is bad, AKA, not a proper safe jump. It'll only catch the other options if Sol is too close, which is the Sol player's fault. (But be aware and ready for this)
Desperation Super costs meter and loses to safe jump, including safe jump into empty low (he'd reaction block), but not safe jump to delayed airdash overheads. It also loses to gunflame FRC since he can block on reaction (or VV if he wants to be a jerk). And Grand Viper is a hard callout.
Mentioned since it's a gimmick, but VCL is a terrible reversal that sometimes works. If Sol doesn't meaty 2K properly you'll "low crush" him, but if he meaties correctly or uses 2P you get hit. And it also loses to everything else.

This means you need to mix in blocking into a committed action from time to time, and escape when Sol goes to run the actual mix-up.

Special/Notable Confirms

Combo routing into 3hit note oki knockdowns:

Advanced Gameplan

Gather Information: Try to get a handle on your opponent's mental state and play style. Also figure out how consistent they are and what they know.
- Some Sols overuse his high commitment options (Volcanic Viper, Grand Viper, Riot Stomp) when they don't have meter or burst to give them a margin of safety. Blow them up by playing safely and reacting to what they do.
  - Keep an eye out for more generalized/fundamental weaknesses, such as over reliance on reversal DP or reversal super, or obvious/samey command throw setups.
- Keep an eye on his Sidewinder conversions.
  - Example: If your opponent uses a 2P > 2H pickup, they are specifically trading damage to bait a burst. If Sol is able to neutral jump directly into Sidewinder without a button to link into it, or is able to IAD into it, that's also generally burst safe. Sol can also intentionally link j.P into FB Sidewinder in a way that wouldn't clean hit with a normal Sidewinder, but will with the force break version and is also burst safe.
  - Some Sols push too far on Sidewinder loops for a little extra damage and drop them instead of taking the knockdown. Or they lack conversions that would scare you away from some options. If an option doesn't actually lead to damage or end in knockdown, you don't have to fear it as much.
- Figure out your opponent's cadence or set-ups for Wild Throw. His high/low mixup isn't terribly dangerous, save for a few specific gimmicks that cost meter and/or are position specific. If you can outguess him on this he'll have to use riskier strategies to bait you into getting hit or blocking more. Or maybe he's using those risky strategies without enforcing your respect first, which you should be happy with.
- Some Sols just kind of generally use 5K, 6P, 2D and 5H in neutral to fish for big hits and don't know how to dance. Out-dance them in neutral.
Also figure out if your opponent actually knows anything about fighting I-No.
- If your opponent knows how to space their jump-ins with j.P and j.H very well, I-No's 6P wont reach his hurtbox before he lands and can block. But if his timing or spacing are bad it's pretty reliable to anti-air his jump-ins with.
- Strong note control from outside Sol's range can let you move into close range only when Sol is blocking and you have the advantage. Generally you want to keep notes low in this matchup to deal with Grand Viper, but being able to feint low and then go high to catch them jumping or using IAD can be quite effective.
- A Sol player that doesn't have a solution for a hitbox will commonly "just VV" to beat it.
Test your opponent with plays that specifically beat the options they use most, and then watch for their adaptations. (Use the "Move Interactions" section below if you need tips)
- Getting your opponent to overuse reversals is a great way to get easy damage in the corner. Remember that note doesn't let you do a mixup for free. It lets you watch them block, then safely run your mixup while they're committed to blocking. If you don't see them blocking, punish their escape attempt.
  - Think about their mental/emotional state that you were getting a read on earlier. Some Sols will VV at every junction where they don't want to block. Some will block and dead angle. Some will backdash. Some will Grand Viper.
  - A frustrated opponent might try more reversal actions and/or will mash Grand Viper or Volcanic Viper in blockstrings to punish any gap, because they've assumed a gap means you dashed back in or went for throw.
  - A crushed opponent may panic/desperation burst the second you make contact with them on hit or block.
- Some opponents will change their neutral positioning to bait you into overextending. Some will add a bunch of "noise" (such as spamming jump P or IAD backwards j.H) trying to accomplish the same thing. Some will do something unsafe as bait, then VV to beat whatever they think you'll use, and RC to convert from it.
- Some opponents have the poise to switch to a completely defensive mindset and block until you're forced to run a mixup that leaves a gap (such as j.D), which they can easily exploit with Sol's moves (5K for speed, Volcanic Viper for the invul, etc.)
  - If you pick up on this one, remember that you have FB note to lock him down and force him to spend meter on Dead Angle or actually hold a mixup. Or you can kill with chip damage.
- If your opponent doesn't try to adapt, you should be winning for free. If not you need to adapt more.