GGACR/I-No/Matchups

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Matchups

NOTE: Old matchup subforums can be found here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php?/forums/forum/51-i-no-matchups/

  • This section is still heavily WIP.
    • First objective is to get every character to "Alpha" ready, and then I'll treat the Sol page as a vertical slice and get it to "Beta" ready.
  • You don't know a matchup unless you've fought two different advanced players of that character at the minimum.
    • You can get better at a matchup against one player, but you're mostly adapting to that player. This game is so freeform that you have to account for a lot of style and moment-to-moment decision nuance.
  • Make sure you click on the "Matchup Breakdown" text under each character profile to go to a page with a detailed breakdown of how to play the matchup. This page just has the ratios and an explanation of why the ratio is what it is.


Matchup Information Directory
Character Suspected Ratio Matchup Breakdown (Click here to learn how to win) Ratio Explanation
 A.B.A Suspected slight advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown ABA is a terrifying character when in Moroha mode, but one can win entire rounds without letting her transform if they're played safe. Her keygrab is disjointed enough to beat the majority of things I-No can do, so I-No needs to play around it and knock her down for whiffing. Don't get counterhit by her 5H or 6H since the combo will probably dizzy for a free reset and let her transform if she doesn't just go for the IK. Once ABA has transformed I-No should go for simpler combos into knockdowns and look to bait her defensive options (especially burst) since she goes into recovery after 3 knockdowns. Also watch her life meter since she'll frequently run her own health extremely low, creating an opportunity to win with a well-timed counterpoke (even on a trade). However, lack of ABA experience will make this matchup seem extremely difficult. I-No needs the matchup familiarity to IB to create gaps and to FD to make ABA whiff, or I-No will block until her guard bar is flashing and lose the round in a single combo. And while ABA is in Moroha mode, I-No has to play around Danzai/Judgement, which is a 2-hit bigass swing that anti-airs, is unthrowable, unburstable, and has 1 hit of armor. And then there's a force break version with infinite hits of armor...
 Anji Mito Suspected Even or Slight Advantage Anji Matchup Breakdown Anji's autoguard is kind of a subtle strength. You might think "I can just outguess which move he's using," but the reality of these tools is that you cannot simply beat them with superior hitbox knowledge, and also that a normal that you may be forced to use to beat a specific autoguard type might not have the hitbox needed to actually challenge that normal. Also, has has incredible normals that don't have the autoguard property that you still have to worry about. You can think of Fuujin as a "horizontal DP" that actually still reaches way into the sky, and also leads into several follow-ups on hit or block creating a mixup situation and granting him a full combo on hit. Some Anjis can be very effective simply by "overusing" Fuujin well, and then the real trouble begins when you have to dance against an Anji who knows how to use their normals and only supplement with Fuujin. The character also has unblockable setups with his Force Break Butterfly on oki along with a TK overhead, making his oki quite dangerous, and his damage output is about as high as ours. All of that said, if you can get out to full screen you can create breathing room to shoot a note and attack with an advantage.
 Axl Low Suspected even or slight advantage Axl Matchup Breakdown Went from I-No's second worst matchup to an only slightly Axl favor if at all. Tweaks to I-No's kit make the risk/reward significantly better considering her level of commitment when playing at Axl's optimal range, and tweaks to Axl's kit make his pressure less threatening up close when he has initiative. Neutral is difficult as Axl has the advantage at most ranges, but you both commit about the same amount and get similar reward when guessing correctly. Once you learn how you can control space to beat Axl's hitboxes, you'll also realize that neutral against him doesn't require the same degree of precision with guesswork as neutral against Faust and May, so even if the matchup is his advantage it's way less stressful at higher levels. You can bait his defensive options easily when you get in close and have the initiative, and you have higher average damage. You have to work harder than Axl, but if you're consistent it doesn't really matter too much.
 Baiken Suspected Light advantage Baiken Matchup Breakdown On paper Baiken is incredibly strong as her guard cancels allow her to move during hitstop. However, she can't counter what she can't block, so effective mixups using a little more throw than I-No is usually inclined to use will help the situation. She's also slightly more vulnerable to lows as using her cancels from a crouching position requires going back to 4 to input 412, unless she buffers the complete input in advance (which adds a timing constraint that you can exploit). Baiken has to be careful about using her counters against multi-hit notes because Sakura lacks invul frames and Baku's strike invul starts on frame 2, which can also be exploited by I-No (though it can be used between hits of note, which is very unfortunate for us). It's difficult to challenge Baiken's better hitboxes, however, when dealing with a Baiken that is very good with her counters one can opt to challenge her moves in neutral by maintaining good spacing and baiting counters after creating opportunities with note or f.S. I-No shouldn't be afraid to hang back and chip her with notes while waiting for her to overextend either. If I-No has a life lead she doesn't have to take on any unnecessary risk by approaching Baiken.
 Bridget

Suspected slight advantage Bridget Matchup Breakdown Bridget has fewer long-range normals than Axl, but the ones she does have are pretty disjointed. It's very difficult to challenge her 5P, 6P, 2S and 6S when they're spaced properly. Roger does a good job of controlling space to allow Bridget to safely get to the ideal range, and also gives Bridget tools like situational unblockables and intense lockdown via the "Me and My Killing Machine" super. One of the subtle strong points of the character is the ability to mash throw attempts since Bridget doesn't have an H button normal, and since no H button action can be completed when Roger has been issued a command. That all said, she takes hits like paper and doesn't deal anywhere near as much damage to I-No, who can also convert from ranges where Bridget is normally much safer.
 Chipp Zanuff Suspected slight advantage Chipp Matchup Breakdown Chipp can outrun I-No with ease and has good hitboxes to work with, but he does tend to commit when he swings which gives I-No opportunities to work with. He can also die in 2 combos, and for I-No that means one good counterhit into one successful oki combo if she has 25% for the unprorated conversion. In practice I-No is likely to spend meter just to get the hit, it wont always be a juicy counterhit, and Chipp has burst, so odds are I-No has to catch him more than once, which is really tricky to do without overextending and giving Chipp what he wants. Both characters can really make each other suffer on oki, and Chipp's damage isn't horrible when he has the right setup.
 Dizzy Suspected Light advantage Dizzy Matchup Breakdown This matchup shifted from slight advantage I-No in AC to slight advantage Dizzy in +R. Her new tools are more useful in this matchup than I-No's, with the long-range ice spike (D version) being a great example. It's much harder for I-No to keep her distance and only come in with note coverage when Dizzy can snipe I-No for trying to use notes at the wrong time. Dizzy's fish got some offensive buffs such as the laser fish being much more dangerous with the wallsplat property, and because they take a hit for Dizzy it makes her oki much harder to escape with reversals and counter-mashing. Dizzy may have to rely on oki options that are considered "honest" like empty jumps into lows and delayed airdash overheads, but she can keep you locked down for a long time with her fish and needles, and her throw game is extremely strong due to her increased throw range and dash startup speed. And she gets combos off of throw which helps her meter gain and damage, and stalls so she can summon more fish if one took a hit for her just before she successfully grabbed I-No. Neutral typically goes well for Dizzy if she doesn't try to set up at the wrong time or distance, and her damage output is still plenty good even without knockdowns, while I-No also may not be able to end some combos in knockdown due to Dizzy's aerial hurtbox.
 Eddie Suspected Even Matchup Breakdown Typically a matchup I-No does well at neutral despite how strong Eddie is. Her notes give her a reliable way to pressure/hit little Eddie (keep them along the floor), and if Eddie uses Drunkard Shade to reflect I-No can dash over them or maneuver over them relatively easily. Eddie's defense isn't very high and his hurtboxes tend to extend prior to active and sometimes linger after, giving I-No opportunities to work with. That said, it can be difficult to counterpoke, and any character is in a bad spot once Eddie gets them to block and gets Little Eddie onto the field to support the blockstring. His Force Break headache refills the Eddie meter for just 25% and allows him to maintain initiative with only small gaps in it where he decides to leave them (such as to use the ForceBreak), which is usually long enough to get a hit and confirm knockdown, stalling for long enough to begin building meter again and repeat the process. He may not be the monster he was in #R or AC, but you can't sleep on him just because he's weaker than he used to be. This is the kind of matchup that can frequently be decided by who lands the first hit, because both characters have so much control once they get going.
 Faust Strong advantage Faust Matchup Breakdown Neutral is painful due to the effectiveness of his hitboxes on reaction and on prediction to control space against I-No. His items will frequently allow Faust to Mr. Magoo his way into good situations even when I-No plays correctly and makes the best decisions possible for each situation. He can crawl forward under all of I-No's safejump/hoverdash overheads except a delayed j.H, and he can blow through some of your oki options with wakeup 5D and wakeup "Bam! Outta nowhere", so you have to bait them with different strategies based on which reversal option you think he's using. His j.2K FDC and Hack n' Slash make his mixup quite dangerous, and with the "slow" overhead option 6H his mixup starts to reach the kind of scary range that I-No/Millia/Dizzy inhabit. On the plus side his awkward/large hitbox can help with confirms and Pdive combos at mid screen, his damage output is only situationaly high, I-No has options to blow through some of his commonly used pressure strings and convert at long range, and a bad string of items can give I-No a little respite. However, playing risky with regard to his item toss can result in I-No taking a CH dumbbell to the teeth, causing a dizzy and costing her the round from the single mistake.
 I-No Advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown Any character advantage in this matchup is determined by color choice. If your opponent steals your color, make sure to switch to "Koichi purple" and round start Gold Burst to assert your dominance. If your color is "Koichi purple" either get off Koichi's color, or you're the actual goddamn batman Koichi and we need you to come back and bring the fight to the new generation of players.
 Jam Kuradoberi Suspected slight advantage Jam Matchup Breakdown Jam has the mobility to dodge and also punish poorly used notes. Parry gives her an extra defensive option that is quite effective against I-No, since it cuts blockstun to zero and can be used on wakeup to defeat meaty overheads and neutralize the blockstun provided by note. It's also difficult to challenge her great hitboxes, even if she has short range. Her FB Card allows her to essentially defer her quick meter gain into the ability to cancel other moves later on, with a much wider window than normal, which is kind of amazingly strong even if it's subtle why. She also has the mobility and tools to punish I-No for using note at long range, negating one of I-No's strong points in neutral. Overall though, the matchup is very close.
 Justice Suspected even or slight advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown Some Justice players say this matchup is 8:2 in I-No's favor, but they haven't learned how to push buttons, and use nukes as a crutch instead of developing a neutral game. Damage output is high for both characters, I-No's mixup is harder to hold on oki even though Justice is harder to escape when she gets nukes out on oki. A strong justice will force I-No to commit in neutral or to escape, and can use her throw range to punish unsuccessful attempts to get in that might otherwise be safe, which leads to significant meterless damage for her and quality oki. However, I-No has all of the tools needed to shut Justice down, and the "basic lvl 1" gameplan Justice players use, "locking down the screen with nukes," is not very effective against a character who can hit Justice through nukes from 2/3 screen. Justice has to work just as hard in this matchup as I-No does, but has a lot of the same advantages I-No would normally have against other characters. Justice can punish I-No for a bad note with Michael Blade super and can typically out-poke her with normals, forcing a lot of guessing situations for both characters.
 Johnny Suspected Even Matchup Breakdown Johnny can be difficult to counterpoke, but I-No has her own set of tricks that piss of Johnny players. Johnny is very strong when he's able to make contact with you to then mist cancel, but his weakness is whiffing normals. His wakeup options aren't great and it's difficult for him to end combos in knockdown, which usually requires specific setups or meter. He's heavy which can make it more difficult to convert from some hits, but he lies down in the air which makes it much easier to link Pdive at mid screen to get extra corner carry. I-No has to commit to beat some of the stuff Johnny goes for, and both characters have to work hard at their execution to avoid a drop that can cost them the round. Though it may not feel like it sometimes due to interactions like Johnny dash-hopping over your lows or coin shutting down many options, I-No can call out Johnny's options with equally committed and precisely timed normals.
 Kliff Undersn Suspected Slight advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown Kliff is strange in that he's a very strong character with glaring weaknesses, kind of similar to I-No, but his weaknesses feel like a bigger liability than I-No's without being as bad as ABA's weaknesses. His dead angle doesn't have throw invul and his amazing dodge move can also be thrown, so I-No can go into throws more frequently on oki to blow up attempts. I-No is one of the only characters that Kliff can't set up the TOD on, but she still takes like 85% damage. I-No can get blown up by letting him get single really juicy Counter Hit. If I-No plays patiently and punishes big whiffs it can go well for her, but as this is Guilty Gear, she can't be passive or Kliff will get to run a bunch of gimmicks that'll make him seem unbeatable. The gimmicks all have their flaws, but he'll still use them to encourage I-No to do something stupid when he has the initiative. Overall Kliff is comfortable being at long range and I-No is happy to sit back and shoot notes, since she can then only advance and take on extra risk when she's got the advantage. I-No also gets a meterless combo from a corner throw on Kliff which is kinda nice considering how the risk-reward on throw is better for her against this character.
 Ky Kiske Advantage Ky Matchup Breakdown Effective use of Ky's 6P, 2H, and 2S can shut down a vast majority of I-No's options. He has lower damage, but his oki is quite strong for a character with such "honest" options since he's very effective at locking down attempts to escape. He can also reach big damage after forcing I-No to block a lot, which she has to do if he burns his meter on setups that will punish escape attempts. Even if you guess his next move correctly (such as Greed Sever) you can lose to it while trying to counterpoke it with the appropriate move (rising j.P) due to Ky's hitboxes being that much better. Ky can create plenty of situations to "out fight" and force you to come to him. Even though you can try to get him blocking a note you'll do it from a range where it's safe to projectile war against his stun edge, and he's highly likely to get a life lead from chip damage due to having an easier time outmaneuvering note while occasionally forcing you to block.
 May Strong Advantage May (Suspected I-No worst matchup) Matchup Breakdown Some of her hitboxes aren't as hard to challenge as some people claim, but it definitely requires finesse to counter-poke against her. Because so much precision is required, typically on prediction, May can alter her timing slightly to blow you up anyway even if you're using the one tool that can work in a given situation... and she can create situations like that frequently. You also typically die in 1.5 combos due to her high damage and stun potential. Unfortunately she gets to bounce all over the screen like a crazy person and can end the round off of a single "random" touch, whereas I-No needs to take risks to land a hit, and then work harder to convert those hits into something meaningful. Compare that to May landing a stray hit, but having FB Jackhound to convert from the knockdown effortlessly. You pretty much need to play around the threat of 6P, which makes you more predictable since it's a very effective tool in this matchup and leads to insta-stun on counterhit for an IK, though she can also dump meter to combo with it and set up stuns from other situations too. Expect to get IK'd in this matchup a lot, so learn to mash like your life is on the line (because it is). I-No's worst matchup, but it feels better in +R than in AC due to the addition of FB Dive, which is a slightly more reliable way to challenge Vertical Dolphin and her jumping normals... though it can still lose to attacks making contact early in startup (before the strike invul frames) or by a rising Vertical Dolphin that started late... and it requires meter whereas these May tools do not. On that note, the Force Break where May jumps off the Dolphin is probably the best example of I-No having to commit just to lose anyway, because it turns a move I-No can challenge into a move that she cannot, forcing you to guess even in situations where you *could* challenge May, and even the best case scenario where you didn't (and didn't get blown up) gives her a mixup/pressure situation.
 Millia Rage Suspected Advantage Millia Matchup Breakdown Millia's normals typically start and recover rather quickly, so she's not very committed when she swings in most circumstances, and the startup speed allows her to repeatedly press buttons at I-No in a way that's reminiscent of a wild Sol or HOS player that doesn't respect anything. Her hairpin is a useful tool to win neutral or at the very least set up a mixup, and with her mobility it's relatively easy for Millia to retrieve it unless I-No goes out of her way to guard the pin or put it off screen once Millia loses it. Once it's off screen Millia has the mobility to outrun notes long enough to force I-No to overextend, creating an opportunity for retrieval once the screen moves. Or she can punish I-No for overextending by using another note too close to Millia, due to her ability to rapidly approach. I-No blows up Millia in 2-3 combos whereas Millia needs 3-6 depending on how she opened up I-No, but it's harder for I-No to escape Millia than for Millia to escape I-No. I-No has fewer tools to stay low committal while trying to catch Millia in neutral, and will usually have to burn her meter just to land the hit, leaving her without it when it's time to convert. Typically I-No is better off trying to challenge airborne Millia from the air to make hairpin harder to use, but it's also bad to be above Millia since her anti-air options are very strong against I-No's toolset. So I-No is forced to guess more often and Millia recovers faster from her guesses, giving her an edge in scoring a hit in neutral.
 Order-Sol Suspected Slight Advantage Order Sol Matchup Breakdown If Order Sol jumps in on you with j.H from up close, you can't challenge it with buttons. You might be able to IB the prior hit and airthrow him, but you cannot challenge that normal from the ground unless he spaces it far away horizontally, making it really easy for him to jump at you in close blockstrings to add to your mental stack and run silly games. He can also charge up if you back up to shoot notes, and while you can try to play around his lvl 2 and 3 special moves, typically letting him have charge gives him confirm and mixup options that make him much more dangerous. You also run the risk of getting stunned from a single 6H counterhit from him if you're unaware of how he uses his pressure tools, and though he wont IK you for it you can expect to really suffer. You also have to worry about weird interactions like his 5H being an anti-air that reaches low enough to catch STBT, or FB Fafnir having lower body invul, which gives him an option to melt I-No for trying to use her primary space control tool (2S).
 Potemkin Suspected Slight Advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown Potemkin can end the round in 2 touches (3 on average) and has dangerous oki potential, but I-No has the mobility and tools to outrun him and only attack when she has the initiative. I-No has to work harder and has a higher risk of making a mistake, which sucks since a single mistake can give up a round, but you definitely have the advantage. Just be careful since most trades are in Pot's favor, so it'll heavily skew the risk/reward of a lot of aggressive tactics. Learn to play patiently, and roll the dice when he has the initiative, because even if you can block well, blocking is what he wants. I-No typically has to guess to safely create space at round start, but whoever guesses right starts their gameplan and gets to use their strong oki to dominate the other. If I-No is able to get outside of Potemkin's range she can shoot notes over his head and drop them on his wide body with a wide time window that makes it very difficult for him to FDB reflect. If he tries to jump to get in she can force him to block the note and set up air unblockables, and if he tries to Slidehead she has many options to beat it including j.236H, which also beats Hammerfall attempts.
 Robo-Ky Supsected Slight Advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown Robo Ky is a neat character with flaws baked in to compensate for his crazy meter gain. Some of his normals are very difficult for I-No to challenge, but he doesn't get much damage in a lot of situations and it's easy to play patient against his toolset. Learn the timing to jump around his finger missiles and you'll be able to outlast him at long range, where he burns his meter and starts to overheat from shooting them while you happily wait and shoot notes. We win this matchup from long range and can force him to approach, but if he chooses not to, you can just wait him out and only approach when he's blocking a note or after a well timed HCL knockdown. Once he's up close he has a better chance, but his toolset isn't so strong as to compensate for his troubles at long range.
 Slayer Suspected Slight Advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown I-No can outrun Slayer to shoot notes from a safe distance and try to advance only when he's forced to block. He's dangerous when he gets in, but leaves exploitable gaps when he goes for overheads or throws, and doesn't have the command throw range to really scare I-No into making the wrong moves and getting counterhit. BDC is a strong defensive tool, as is FB Dandy Step (which also doubles as an offensive tool), forcing I-No to specifically call out his defensive actions, but she has the tools to do that. I-No has good punish options for Crosswise Heel, and can blow up a Slayer that overextends in neutral using 2D or Mappa at the wrong time.
 Sol Badguy Suspected Even Matchup Breakdown Sol does his damage without having to spend meter on it, but he instead uses his meter to create situations to run his mixup. His high/low options are much weaker than ours, but he does have a command throw and great tools to encourage I-No to block, including an incredible 2-hit DP. Both characters have strong options to pressure the other and bait their escape attempts both characters have good damage output. It's riskier for I-No when she's trying to escape Sol at close range than vice versa, but I-No has the advantage with the ability to set up at long range.
 Testament Suspected Slight Advantage Testament Matchup Breakdown This matchup used to be considered even or slightly I-No's favor, but buffs such as the extra vertical hitbox on Testament's 2S make this matchup harder than before. I-No's moveset allows her to destroy Testament's nets more easily than other characters, she has options to attack Warrant safely, and with meter she can j.236D to fly along the top of the screen to remove trees, but Testament can outpoke I-No on the ground and in the air due to his superior hitboxes. Unlike other matchups where you have the wiggle room to shoot notes when your opponent sits back, this one has you dealing with Testament setting up his own traps and pressuring you with Exe Beast, as well as sliding under HCL with his 2H if you try to snipe him to pressure him not to set up traps. It's much harder to try to beat an opponent via whiff punishes when they have so many tools to cover themselves whiffing, as well as to force you to block so that they can get in (as we I-No players do to everyone else). Poison actually gives him incredible damage, especially from moves that would normally prorate his damage heavily such as his throw (which he gets to combo from).
 Venom Suspected even or slightly advantage Venom Matchup Breakdown Up close this is a bit of a slugfest since both characters have air-to-ground diving moves, though the startup speed on Venom's Stinger and 2S might give him a slight edge on interactions. I-No blows him up when she's able to convert, and he has the fewest defensive options so he has to be able to hold her mixup. If the Venom is particularly good at using his normals to blow up I-No's approaches, the game turns into a bullet hell ballet where Venom is happy to send balls at I-No and I-No tries to either negate them with notes or get them close to Venom so she can get in safely. It is very difficult to get in on a Venom that knows how to use their normals effectively, to the point where it can be more effective to try to outzone him. I-No has to work really hard to keep up with knowledgeable Venom players.
 Zappa Naked: Suspected Advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown He's still strong without summons considering his 6P can go under everything, and his f.S might be the second most annoying in the game after I-No's. That said, his naked S and H button moves are geared toward being effective when he has the dog on deck, and he doesn't have the dog on deck.
 Zappa Dog: Suspected Slight Advantage I-No Matchup Breakdown Dog is actually incredibly strong when Zappa has initiative, but I-No has the tools to move around it and run away. Imagine fighting Eddie (which is already fine for I-No) without Nobiru, Spitball, Shark, Big Drill, etc. You can try to poke to get rid of the dog for a chance to fight Zappa naked for a while, or you can use your mobility to get completely outside of the dog's range. Shoot notes low like you would when fighting Eddie to keep the dog pressured. Play it safe when Zappa blocks the note since he can command the dog while blocking (the major strength over Eddie who is forced to put little Eddie away). Do not overextend or you'll see why the dog is so strong.
 Zappa Sword: Suspected Advantage Zappa Matchup Breakdown Considered by some to be 3:7 territory for I-No due to an inability to counterpoke against the sword, but it's not as bad as it seems. I-No's tools and mobility give her some options to get in on Zappa for overextending on his offense. And even if it was that bad, all you need to do is touch him once to get rid of it, instantly making the matchup better/easier... if he doesn't get the sword again.
 Zappa Ghosts: Suspected Slight Advantage Zappa Matchup Breakdown I used to see a lot of I-Nos claiming this was in her favor, and a lot of Zappa's claiming it was in his favor. I used to say that it's probably I-No's favor until Zappa lands a ghost hit and I-No becomes cursed, at which point it becomes Zappa's favor, but that was before Zappa got the extra normals in +R that cover angles I-No could take advantage of. Now it straight up feels like a huge struggle to deal with the ghosts in neutral, but ghost damage is so low relative to I-No's explosive potential that it's not terrible.
 Zappa Raoh: Suspected Even Matchup Breakdown Raoh's body has a hurtbox during most attacks, and it's big. It makes it much easier to zone out a Zappa player and score knockdowns via HCL or pre-emptive poking, which is something I-No can't really do against any of his other forms. He's going to kill you in one touch if he got this far, but it's very difficult for him to to score that touch if you're good.

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