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====Dealing with Sol Nascente (623S)====
====Dealing with Sol Nascente (623S)====
This move is incredibly dominant. Wait it out in situations where you think it might be on the table.
Punish it on block with far.S > 2H > Item Toss.
Punish it on block with far.S > 2H > Item Toss.



Revision as of 03:04, 16 May 2022

 Faust



(Google Doc) Krackatoa's Big Master List of Character Specific Interactions (Safejumps, Afro Hitbox Weirdness)

Find the Doc here (Currently updated for 1.17)

 Sol Badguy

Overview

A delicate matchup. You have the tools to win handily in neutral, but once he gets in, a single frame trap can end your life if you play into it. Don't get counterhit.

You will rotate between the following:

  • Passive play in order to find whiff punish opportunities, find anti-air opportunities, and goad Sol into staying grounded.
  • Swinging preemptively with f.S and 2H in order to shut down grounded approach, and to coax Sol into the air or into his various high and low profile attacks (Such as Bandit Bringer and Night Raid Vortex).
  • Preemptively checking Sol's attempts to go after your more committal options with less committal ones. Faust's long 2P, 5K anti-air, j.H air coverage, and low j.2K.

A lot of this matchup is understanding when to do nothing, when to swing, and when to keep to low-commit tools.

New Player Goals

As mentioned above, you'll work on understanding when to play reactively while doing nothing, when to swing big buttons, and when to keep to low-commit tools that are unlikely to be whiff punished.

When using 2P to check Sol's forward movement, or if Sol is too close, you need to follow up with repeated 2P, otherwise he can mash f.S after being hit. Keep doing it until he's pushed out or starts to challenge with weaker, faster normals. This brings your disjointed 5H online as a strong whiff punish.

Once Sol tries to hedge against your more dominant ground options in neutral, switch things up by playing purely reactively, whether it's to fish for whiff punishment or to anti-air.

Covering the air with preemptive rising j.H occasionally can act as a strong deterrent to Sol's entire air approach, including Bandit Bringer.

Don't get counterhit. Easier said than done, but avoid playing into Sol's optimal starters. Giving him easy and rewarding ways to wallbreak is best avoided.

Learn the situation after Bandit Revolver's first hit. Sol's ability to control the second hit means there's no one correct answer in that situation (Reversal 2P punishes BR, but can be trapped by the followup).

Learn how to shut down blockstrings into Gunflame. Too close and it's unsafe on block thanks to your 5K. If Gunflame is done too far out, a preemptive jump followed by reaction j2K is available as a punish. Reaction jump into reaction j2K may be possible.

Dealing with Sol Corner Pressure

The goal here is to not get counterhit, and to avoid getting RISC cranked to a state where you explode off a stray hit. This means putting a priority on not getting cornered early on, so you have meter to defend yourself. This also means you don't want to waste meter throughout the match unnecessarily.

The Importance of FD

If you're cornered with meter, FD reduces RISC gain, creates space, and forces larger gaps or more wasteful plays (Such as Bandit Revolver > RC) if Sol wants to stay in.

If you don't have meter, challenging gaps gets much trickier for you. The gaps are smaller, so Sol's tick throws and pressure overall becomes harder to deal with. This makes your answers such as jumping, poking or crawling more predictable in their timing and easier to snipe. It's easier for Sol to keep you in place, and RISC gets cranked.

Throw Defense

Tight throw attempts should be challenged with late throw break, fuzzy jump, occasionally 5P, occasionally backdash. All the above options hedge a little differently against other options in Sol's close range kit.

Late Throw Break cannot be counterhit easily, and Fuzzy Jump can't be counterhit at all. Force the Sol to try and play around these two option and you can simplify defense overall. A Sol trying to hedge against both of these will want to leave larger gaps in his pressure in an attempt to bait throw breaks or jumps. This will give you openings to 5P/5K.

When to Act on Defense?

Guilty Gear defense is all about acting during gaps.

Common moments to challenge are as follows:

  • When Sol cancels into Bandit Bringer/Gunflame/Bandit Revolver. This is usually after a 5H trap on block, but can suddenly come after other normals, depending on the spacing. (See the other sections for more answers)
  • When Sol tries to regain lost ground by dashing up after a normal. (Poking out can be good here. 6P, 5K, 5P, 2P)
  • When Sol tries to throw. (Fuzzy jump is strong here. Late Throw Break can be good too if he's using Throw over Wild Throw)
  • When Sol backs off to try and bait you into a bad situation. Maybe he wants to go after your jumping state, or allow you to whiff a Super. (Poking out can work here.)
  • When Sol tries to trap you with repeated f.S (Crawl into Reaction 5P or commit to 6P)

FD forces Sol to commit sooner than he would like. The gaps he leaves when you're FDing are much larger should he want to stay at a relevant distance.

Taking the Throw

If Sol is not representing Throw, you might avoid fuzzy jumping, mashing 5P or looking for Throw Breaks in order to take full advantage of his other options. Crawling gets much stronger if you're not worried about throws.

It's alright to eat a few throws, they don't do a ton of damage, and the reward you can potentially get when Sol doesn't throw is quite large.

Sol's minus moves forcing him to act

If Sol is representing 2S or 5H in a bid to trap you from crawling or mashing, consider it a small victory, as he'll be forced to leave himself minus, or cancel into special moves that are easier to deal with.

Dealing with 6S

Sol 6SGGST Sol Badguy 6S.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery20Advantage-9 is a fairly dominant normal, but has a very extended hurtbox on whiff. This means that if you backdash well out of range at the same time Sol goes to 6S, you can freely whiff punish on reaction with 2H.

Backdashing in neutral overall is quite safe, provided Sol doesn't run too deeply before 6S. This allows you to upset spacing while also offering up pretty nice punish opportunities. Just be wary of Negative Penalty for backdashing too much.

If Sol is gunning for your backdash in neutral, his timing for 6S is going to be much later and the spacing much deeper. This bolsters your checks against forward movement. 5H, farS, 2H and low j2K become much more threatening, potentially netting you counterhits.

Dealing with Gunflame

Gunflame Up Close

GunflameGGST Sol Badguy 236P.pngGuardAllStartup18RecoveryTotal 54Advantage-10 done too closely is unsafe on block, easily punished with 5K. A 5K done in range that hits a smidge too far out may not combo into anything reliably without RC.

Gunflame at Max Range

Usually Sol may try to Gunflame from further out, where it nets him more advantage on block. You can beat this by jumping preemptively and punishing his recovery with j2K. Gunflame has full Counterhit Recovery, so the j2K leads to full combo.

Gunflame in Neutral

If a Sol is throwing Gunflame out at a distance as some sort of counterpoke, you can take the opportunity to reposition, or throw an item.

Dashing Gunflame

Swing 2H at him when you see him start running. He'll eat shit.

Dealing with Bandit Revolver

Sol can control whether not to perform the second hit of Bandit RevolverGGST Sol Badguy 236K.pngGuardAllStartup12Recovery9+6 LandingAdvantage-7. Bandit Revolver with no follow-up is punishable by 2P>6P, but that can be trapped by the follow-up. Here are the common situations and followups:

  • Bandit Revolver followed by no extra inputs.
  • Bandit Revolver with 2nd hit done tightly.
  • Bandit Revolver with the 2nd hit done late.

After blocking Bandit Revolver, mix it up between reversal 2P after the 1st hit, and blocking/crawling into late stand throw, and just blocking outright. This should cover the spread of the above options quite well, and keep Sol guessing.

Dealing with Bandit Bringer

Bandit Bringer in Neutral

You can capitalize on Bandit BringerGGST Sol Badguy 214K.pngGuardHighStartup30Recovery13Advantage-3-happy Sols with the occasional preemptive 5K and the occasional preemptive j.H. These are high reward options that convert well.

Low-commit pokes such as 2P and j.2K in neutral are very unlikely to lose outright by wayward Bringers.

Bandit Bringer in Blockstrings

Rising j.P trades favourably even against the tightest Bandit Bringers done in blockstrings. It's also very unlikely for a Gunflame to catch this maneuver.

Reversal 5K is a high damage option but can be clipped or CH by Gunflame/Revolver

6P can shut down any attempts to punish your escape with Bandit Revolver. Either the BR is done too tightly to trap you, or you 6P through any gap.

In short, when you're scared of Bringer, use more rising j.P and 6P out of block. Depending on spacing and timing, Gunflame may actually lose to 5K.

In Summary

6P when Gunflame or hard delays aren't on the table. Rising j.P acts as a nice hedge when Gunflame is on deck. 5K is an outright callout against BB.

Dealing with Night Raid Vortex

Night Raid VortexGGST Sol Badguy 214S 1.pngGuardAllStartup15~31 [32]Recovery32 [26]Advantage-17 has a lot of startup. If you're scared of NRV, stay away from the options that get crushed by it, and focus on a toolset consisting of the following options that do well:

  • Low j.2K
  • 2H
  • 2P
  • 2K

It can be shut down on reaction at fullscreen with 2P (And with tight reactions, 2S), but in close quarters, you need preemptive reads. Both can be appropriate depending on what else you're trying to beat.

NRV RC is a common bully option once Sol has 50 bar. Operating with the above list when he's sitting on meter can keep him out. If you hit him before he reaches the PRC window.

NRV is punishable on block, so if PRC isn't on deck, that's always a great option.

Dealing with Volcanic Viper

It's his DPGGST Sol Badguy 623X.pngGuardAllStartup9Recovery18+10 LandingAdvantage-28.

Just Block Lol

You know, not doing anything is pretty good, but when you need to play around the rest of Sol's kit, sometimes using options that are simply harder to tag is the best you can do.

VV In uh... Neutral...

In neutral, keep to your more constrained, faster normals like 2P, or start swinging far reaching attacks such as farS and 2H at a greater distance, to ensure Sol can't get in a meaningful range before letting it rip.

A Sol doing dash up DP probably isn't blocking.

Shutting down Reversal VV

Small delays in pressure where you block before acting are all you need sometimes in order to bait out a reversal from Sol.

On his wakeup, you can usually dash up delay throw in order to hedge against wakeup DP and wakeup super together, without giving up the offense.

Shutting Down Reversal VV RC

Staying out of range on his wakeup is an easy way to bait it out. Going for throw/command grab can deny him the chance to RC on block/hit as well.

Crawl

Crawl under 5HGGST Sol Badguy 5H.pngGuardAllStartup11Recovery20Advantage-5, f.SGGST Sol Badguy fS.pngGuardAllStartup10Recovery13Advantage+2, 6SGGST Sol Badguy 6S.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery20Advantage-9, any hit of Bandit Revolver.

If you see 5KGGST Sol Badguy 5K.pngGuardAllStartup3Recovery25Advantage-16 or 2KGGST Sol Badguy 2K.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery11Advantage-2, you can safely crawl afterwards unless Sol does something super dumb thanks to limited gatling options after K normals. A hard reaction, but worth it for what you get.

If you're playing reactively on defense and looking to Crawl, you may consider trying to late throw break should Sol dash up instead.

Match Footage

Notes

 Ky Kiske

Overview

New Player Goals

Okizeme

Safejumps and Reversal-Safe Options
  • Timed correctly, Meaty 2K goes under Vapor ThrustGGST Ky Kiske 623H.pngGuardAllStartup13Recovery44Advantage-38 [-33].
  • It is also possible to safejump with j.2K and option-select crawl under Vapor Thrust.

Ky's Strong Mid-range Game

Dealing with Stun Edge

Dealing with Foudre Arc

Do a lot of preemptive j.2K, falling j.H and 5K. You can 5P on reaction if you're a lord.

Dealing with Air Stun Edge

Dealing with Stun Dipper

This move is incredibly fast, but has a low hitbox. If you're scared of it in neutral, you can represent dash blocking low, a low j2K, swinging really early with 2H, or using movement to upset Ky's spacing. Each hedge against other Ky options a little differently.

Stun Dipper to Extend Ky's Offense
Ky can freely choose to extend blockstrings with Stun Dipper PRC as an additional frame trap. It's best to wait it out to force him to spend bar.
Stun Dipper Done During Certain Faust Blockstrings
You must end your 5P/2P strings at max range in order to have time to j2K over Stun Dipper, otherwise you can't challenge it at all.
Trapping reversal Stun Dipper with your other strings are fairly straight forward.

Dealing with Vapor Thrust

Crawl

Going under 6KGGST Ky Kiske 6K.pngGuardAllStartup25Recovery11Advantage+4 on reaction leads to a c.S punish. You can keep your eyes open for it on defense.

Notes

  • Grounded Ride The LightningGGST Ky Kiske 632146H.pngGuardAllStartup8+1Recovery99Advantage-82 might be dangerous for Ky if items are out: slipping on a peel, getting hit by a hammer, trumpet horde, mini Faust, meteors, weight or bomb will promptly stop Ky during the overdrive.

 May

 Axl Low

Overall a hard matchup for Faust due to Axl out-poking and out-damaging him at both midscreen and fullscreen. Delicate and thoughtful play is required to get in on Axl and applying afro will ultimately be your win condition in the matchup.

  • 6P and j2K are two potent buttons for answering Axl's jump-ins and grounded pressure (mostly in the form of Rensen and Winter Mantis), respectively.
  • Axl's 5P, 6P, 5K, 2S and Axl Bomber can be ducked under.
  • If you do get in on Axl, be mindful of his Sickle Storm reversal and look to punish it after the first hit and before the second.
  • Practice dash-blocking.

 Chipp Zanuff

 Potemkin

 Faust

 Millia Rage

 Ramlethal Valentine

Dealing with far.S

If you're midscreen, learning to deal with far.S on block is a useful thing to have down, as it opens up dashblocking as a way to play against other options while not dying outright to other Ram options.

Ram will enter a spread of options from far.S, and it's decent to understand how to deal with all them.

Summary of Options after far.S 5H on Block

There's a range where, if Ram gatlings into 5H, a mix of far.S and purely reactively play are strong options.

The options are as follows:

far.S 5H

This gatling is punishable with your far.S.

far.S 5H Sildo Detruo

The far.S used to check 5H on block will become c.S in this situation! This means Sildo is a poor choice for Ram if you swing far.S after 5H.

If you're playing reactively, you can check Sildo with 5P on reaction.

far.S 5H (S or H) Bajoneto

If you're playing reactively, you can crawl under Bajoneto and stand into far.S for a full punish.

If Ram doesn't have meter for RC, far.S gets hit by Bajoneto (Sword Toss) for very little reward.

far.S 5H Erarlumo

If you're playing reactively, you can shut down Erarlumo with 5P or 5K, but the reward isn't great.

If you were swinging with far.S, you might eat shit here.

Dealing with Earl (Erarlumo/214P,214P,214P)

Dealing with Dauro (623P)

Dealing with Flip (Sildo Detruo/214K)

5P > 5K on reaction.

Dealing with Banjo (Bajoneto/236S/236H)

Dealing with Bajoneto: Krackatoa's .mp4 Guide to Shutting Down Swords on Reaction.

Notes

Not as awful as some say, but can definitely get difficult if you mess up in the corner. Crawling below Bajoneto or reacting to it accordingly after blocking is key to getting the hang of the matchup. This may help if you're lost.

  • Remember to be patient and respect Ram's long pokes, as she may cancel them into Bajoneto at any time. Getting a Ram to Bajoneto midscreen will neuter her pressure and damage quite a bit (aside from allowing punishment), meaning that you get to go ham with pressure.
  • Also respect her Mortobato reversal, as it is -30 on block and hurts like hell if you don't block it. Avoid air-blocking it as the pushback will make it safe.

 Leo Whitefang

 Nagoriyuki

Overview

Faust, all things considered, has a decent matchup against Nagoriyuki. Nagoriyuki's movement is dramatically hindered when his Blood Gauge is high. This allows Faust to dominate neutral later on in the match.

If you get hit, however, you will explode.

General Gameplan
  • Don't get hit early. The longer you stall, the more advantageous the match becomes for Faust.
  • Blood Gauge determines the pace of the match. Once Nago is about to pop, he can't move. This is where you start to bully him.
  • Make sure your whiff punishment of his various options is on point. You want to cleanly go in after Nago whiffs normals as he tries to challenge your various options in neutral.
  • Conserve Burst for the eventual Counterhit you'll suffer once he's in. A Nago playing around burst is spending Blood Gauge he doesn't need to.
  • Save meter for YRC and Item Super. Use RC to convert if it will kill, or you have the opportunity to break the wall with Wheelchair Super while maintaining meter advantage.
  • Have a gameplan for his various Blood-reliant special moves. They are very dominant, but do push Nago closer to a losing situation if he doesn't open you up with them.

Punishing Blood Gauge Activation

If Nagoriyuki popsGGST Nagoriyuki Activation.pngGuardAll (Guard Crush)Startup4+(38 Flash)+3Recovery70Advantage-12, Snip is the premier punish. You afflict Nago with Afro state while allowing the damage buildup to progress due to Blood Rage.

Follow the knockdown with a slightly delayed jumping j.D to meaty him after Blood Rage DeactivationGGST Nagoriyuki Deactivation.pngGuardN/AStartup1+(59 Flash)Recovery0AdvantageN/A.

Forcing Blood Gauge Activation

  • If you have the HP to spare, you can let him combo you before bursting.
  • Do low Love from a distance to ruin CloneGGST Nagoriyuki Zarameyuki1.pngGuardAllStartup18~29RecoveryTotal 39Advantage+5 approach (Clone is expensive, if it doesn't get him in that's bad).
  • Superjump airdash out of the corner if Nagoriyuki is at high blood.
  • Challenge grounded FukyoGGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A approach with 5P to halt his approach.

The Importance of Spacing

Your goal is to jockey for item opportunities in neutral. Until Nago is in, he'll be rotating through a few categories of options: looking to spend Blood to approach outright, walk forward and swing to clip your own buttons, or playing reactively to take advantage of your responses and movement in neutral.

Backing up too far too quickly can quickly secede ground to Nago, denying you precious metergain and screen real estate.

Once Nago is on the verge of popping, then it's fine to back up, or look at more passive, distant spacings. If he cannot FukyoGGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A without popping, he cannot move, and cannot navigate item chaos.

Spacing Yourself for Whiff Punishes

If Nago whiffs f.S OR 2HGGST Nagoriyuki 2HComparison.pngGuardAllStartup19Recovery29Advantage-17 over your crouch (or outside of range) > Punish with dash f.S > 2H > Item Toss

Dealing with Clone

Maneuvers involving CloneGGST Nagoriyuki Zarameyuki1.pngGuardAllStartup18~29RecoveryTotal 39Advantage+5 are very expensive Blood-wise, and the startup is based on the distance away from the victim. The further out you are, the longer it takes for the clone to travel before starting up the actual attack. This means that Faust can react to Clone at a distance with a low j.2K to go over top of the hitbox. If Nago is intent on using the clone to bypass neutral from farther out (Following it with a Fukyo or two), representing this option can force him to follow clone with subpar or more expensive options.

Blocking Clone is not entirely a bad play either, as Clone with Fukyo (236K)GGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A or Beyblade (214H)GGST Nagoriyuki Kamuriyuki1.pngGuardLowStartup14Recovery17Advantage-3 follow-up (required to follow the clone) has a very large blood cost. It might get Nagoriyuki in, but if the clone doesn't connect, he may be on the verge of popping Blood Rage. Not great, but if you survive, the matchup quickly tilts into your favour. Hold your burst and meter to take advantage of high-blood Nagoriyuki.

Preemptive Scalpel (41236K) is alright at dealing with Clone, however, its long startup means it's freely punishable with reaction 6PGGST Nagoriyuki 6P.pngGuardAllStartup12Recovery15Advantage-6 in neutral. The move is fairly high reward. It will pierce through Clone and hit Nago, allowing you damage and items.

Preemptively throwing out Love (j.236P) can snipe Clone follow-ups, however, this is quite risky as it needs to be done well before Clone. Depending on spacing, Nagoriyuki's rising j.D or 2HGGST Nagoriyuki 2HComparison.pngGuardAllStartup19Recovery29Advantage-17, can be quite rewarding for him, and offers a strong reactive answer to Love.

Using Love Safely

You should be weary of just using the move in neutral, as Nago's 2HGGST Nagoriyuki 2HComparison.pngGuardAllStartup19Recovery29Advantage-17 can snipe it out reliably at midrange or long range depending on his blood level. However, the active, persistent hitbox is good at keeping him from approaching.

Nago's rising j.D covers most of the screen at pretty distant ranges. It acts as a free reaction punish to any Love done too high up. If you've double jumped into Love, or simply through Love at the apex of your jump, a good Nago will probably kill you for it.

The best height and spacing for Love is just within your f.S max range, and just above Clone's hitbox. Test it out in the lab.

Dealing with Fukyo

In neutral, it's very difficult but likely possible to challenge FukyoGGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A on reaction with 5P. Otherwise, you can preempt raw Fukyo with Faust's various spread of pokes.

In blockstun, Nago is -7 at best off 6HGGST Nagoriyuki 6HComparison.pngGuardAll (Guard Crush)Startup17Recovery30Advantage-2 > forward Fukyo. This is not the case if you airblock an attack, which confers much more plus frames. This heightens the importance on staying grounded.

Dealing with Nago Once He's In

Once Nagoriyuki is in, take stock of his Blood Gauge. If he's at high blood levels, YRC and Burst become very powerful options. Forcing Nago out of pressure at that point is very bad for him. If he doesn't have high blood, he has lots of options to work with.

This means his Command Grab (Bloodsucking Universe, 623P)GGST Nagoriyuki Bloodsucking Universe.pngGuardGround ThrowStartup7Recovery48AdvantageNA is a very high reward option. Nagoriyuki can represent the grab whenever he's at advantage and in front of you, or whenever you've committed to staying grounded to FD him out or deny his attempts to catch you jumping.

This means you'll want to represent 5P if Nagoriyuki favours stagger pressure with unchained normals, or fuzzy jump if he routinely threatens tighter strings.

In the end, you'll want to block and defend a lot. If he hits you and you don't have burst available, you're in a very bad situation.

The Post f.S > S Situation

Nagoriyuki has the ability to special cancel after f.S > f.SS. It forces him in and allows him to represent Bloodsucking Universe or other special cancels in that same situation.

This is where holding onto Burst is very valuable. If you get counterhit for challenging the gap with 5P, you can still burst Nagoriyuki away and put him in a very bad, losing situation.

Faust Normals On Block, at a Glance

Faust doesn't necessarily have very safe cancel options. Item Cancels are reaction punishable with Beyblade (214H)GGST Nagoriyuki Kamuriyuki1.pngGuardLowStartup14Recovery17Advantage-3. Raw f.S and 2H are also very disadvantageous. You'll want to represent the threat of Scalpel or MMM after f.S and 2H in order to stop Nago from just moving in uncontested. If he's fearful (he might not be), he may play more passively, and you can simply let raw normals recover after swinging.

At the very tip of f.S and 2H on block, backdash will keep you from blocking Beyblade, otherwise, you're quite liable to get clipped.

Meter Use and Meter Management

Don't get hit in the opening of the match. You want to spend time building up meter so that you have options available to you once Nago gets in.

Having YRC on deck when Nago is pressuring you at high blood values is priceless. An incredibly strong option that can turn the match around in an instant.

Item Super is incredibly notable in this matchup as well. Supers have a shorter Tension Gain Penalty than most Roman Cancels, so it can quickly lead to a snowball situation. Nago at high blood values also doesn't have the means to do anything about a screen full of items.

Burst Points and Burst Strategy

Your main goal is to save burst for high-blood Nagoriyuki. Even if you get hit, it can be a decent play to wait for him to spend blood on his conversion before bursting.

If Faust successfully bursts a high-blood Nagoriyuki, he's winning.

Nagoriyuki 623HGGST Nagoriyuki Shizuriyuki1.pngGuardAllStartup11Recovery21Advantage-7 offers a pretty strong burst point. He needs FukyoGGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A to avoid burst, and outside of counterhit, it's a very committal bait.

In other situations, Backwards Fukyo can almost always be represented to get a burst to whiff. While Nagoriyuki may maintain pressure if you don't burst, the entire maneuver involves Back Fukyo > Forward Fukyo, which is very expensive overall.

This is the true power of holding burst. If the Nagoriyuki fails to bait the burst, you're in a very strong situation when you do finally escape.

 Giovanna

Matchup Overview

Perhaps Faust's hardest matchup: not only is Giovanna un-fuzzyable while afro'd, 5K will always whiff in neutral against her despite the haircut she currently has AND her cartwheel attack (Sol Nascente) will flip an applied afro upside-down, meaning it cannot be hit or inflamed during its animation. In addition to this, her mobility is very dominant and will quickly lead poor Faust into the corner where he must deal with Giovanna's array of plus moves and high damage. Her mobility is not as effective for maneuvering around items, however.

  • Notably, Faust can crawl under Sol Poente, Trovão, 5P, 5K, 5H and 6H. Keep an eye out for the cross-up on Sol Poente though, as Faust must switch crawl directions when it occurs.

The Importance of the Rule of 3, with respects to Neutral

[Krackatoa: I want to do a video on this.]

At any point, a player is playing with the intent to react, the intent to approach, or the intent to preempt an option swung by their opponent. They rotate between all three of these based on what they think the opponent is doing, or about to do, in a given moment.

Gio Playing Reactively

If Gio is looking to play reactively, she may wait to bait out normals, or forward dash and block, as either maneuver will confer a strong situation should Faust swing at her. Since Faust doesn't have much in the way of + normals, having anything blocked or whiff is more or less bad for him in this matchup.

You can answer this kind of play by threatening to approach, to force the Gio to act. Dash in throw or dash in 5P/2K/2S is something to represent vs. Gio, just to keep her on her toes, and force her into the other decisions. Depending on the normal or option you use to approach, you may hedge against other options.

Gio Playing Preemptively

If Gio is mindful of your approach, or your desire to keep her out by swinging, she may swing more frequently in neutral. 2D, 5H, dash 5S... She has a lot of options available. If she's scared of any of the above: slow down. Introduce more passiveness to your play. Back walk, backdash, these can be used to upset her spacing. She's going after buttons and movement she expects to be there, so you may be offered opportunities to whiff punish with far.S or 2H.

Gio Looking to Approach

In some cases, Gio is intent on touching you, to prey on you for both playing reactively and looking for whiff punishment. It's not a bad situation for her, to get in with any normal in particular, as they all offer up a favourable situation in terms of damage on hit and pressure on block.

If you've been goading her into approach, now is the time to swing. far.S, 2H, 5H, low j2K. These options will net you damage and counterhits as she attempts to get offense going.

Defense

Faust will want to switch between purely reactive play, fuzzy jump, and the occasional counterpoke on defense. Gio has the means to challenge each easily, but cannot cover them all simultaneously. Gio without meter is stuck running throw mixups, more or less, which are pretty volatile if you favour fuzzy jump on defense.

Crawling Sol Poente (214S) and Trovao (236K) is strong to get down, because it offers you a guaranteed back throw punish on reaction.

YRC is good

Gio's unmetered defense isn't too scary, so YRC can confer a pretty sizeable advantage, and deny her the offense. Hold your bar for it.

Dealing with Sol Nascente (623S)

This move is incredibly dominant. Wait it out in situations where you think it might be on the table.

Punish it on block with far.S > 2H > Item Toss.

In situations where Gio is -, but not punishable such after Sepultura (214K), 2P can shut Sol Nascente down as it lacks lower body invuln in the initial startup frames.

Dealing with Sol Poente (214S)

On Reaction

Faust can use 'Crawl > Throw' vs. Sol Poente on reaction with proper spacing. If Gio crosses up, you need to return to 2 before correcting your crawl for the appropriate direction.

Faust can 2K and 5K on reaction as well, which does lead to pretty substantial damage.

On Prediction

Sometimes, you may want to hedge in pressure with 6P or 5K to deal with another Gio option. Higher hitting attacks done on prediction will beat it out.

 Anji Mito

Dealing with forward throw into butterfly Okizeme

Faust can crawl under the butterflyGGST Anji Mito 236P.pngGuardAllStartup29RecoveryTotal 52Advantage-6 to avoid it as long as he isn't using FD or being struck by Anji. Faust's blocking animation is high enough to trigger the butterfly, so mixing up the timing at which you get hit by the butterfly can mess with the options Anji has during his Oki setup.

Normal Timing:
Faust intentionally stand block or FDs the butterfly for the normal timing an Anji player is accustomed to. He gets to do whatever he wants into a mostly safe butterfly 2nd hit for plus frames.

Delayed Timing:
Faust crawls the butterfly, and intentionally stand block or FDs later in the timing. This can be used to play around the Anji attempting to run up throw when they know a crawl is coming, as well as open gaps if the Anji is going for normal Okizeme timing.

Crawl Timing:
If Faust crouch blocks the entirety of the butterfly going by, then the only thing that triggers it is going into block stun by an Anji button. Anji striking Faust's crawl block before the butterfly is activated delays the butterfly strike that begins flying up. Depending on the string that Anji uses (2k>2d or c.S>f.S>etc) a gap large enough to contest with a Faust button presents itself while the butterfly is going up. For example: Anji doing a 2k>2d triggering the butterfly (instead of the normal timing) leaves a gap large enough for Faust to advance forward and avoid the second strike of butterfly. A mix-up with throw can happen here if Anji knows Faust intends to crawl under the entire butterfly.

Plans:

  1. Crawl the butterfly and wait for Anji to trigger a blocking situation, challenge space with a 5P or 2K before the butterfly 2nd hit happens.
  2. If Anji starts grabbing crawl, intentionally delay FD to trigger the butterfly at a timing that grants grab invincibility, take a turn.
  3. Normal timing of butterfly (not entirely sure of the advantage here other than keeping Anji on his toes).

 I-No

Dealing with Stroke

Dealing with I-no Offense: Stroke.mp4

 Goldlewis Dickinson

You out-neutral Goldlewis most of the time and can run effective afro-based offence on him because of his poor defense and size. This matchup is only ever difficult if you happen to be cornered without meter.

  • 5K and 5H are especially effective in this matchup due to how active they are.
  • You can crawl, Scarecrow or air dash any version of SkyfishGGST Goldlewis Dickinson Skyfish.pngGuardAllStartup25Recovery75~134 TotalAdvantage-13. Just be on the lookout if Goldlewis has meter to PRC it and react to your option.

 Jack-O

Dealing with Minions Being Shot at You

If Jack-O is in the air, 5K acts as a very strong catchall option without a lot of whiff recovery.

If Jack-O is grounded, 5P acts as a strong reactionary option vs. Minion ShootGGST Jack-O 236K.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery25Advantage-12 (236K).

If Jack-O is grounded, 2K works well against normal-launched minions, which bounce.

Multiple Minions is where things get a little weird.

 Happy Chaos

 Baiken

 Testament

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