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Move fast, strike fast, think fast! Giovanna is an aggressive rushdown character who pressures opponents with fast flurries of attacks. Key to her offense is her unique step dash, which maintains its forward momentum even if she attacks during it. This allows her to slide forward and attack simultaneously, useful for closing the gap when an opening presents itself.
Giovanna’s attack speed is top-class. Notably, her 5P is the third fastest attack in the game, and her 5K is only a couple frames behind it. Her Slash buttons are strong pressure tools. c.S is plus on block, and the multi-hitting nature of f.S and 2S makes them easy to hit-confirm from. Blockstrings can be ended with the risk-free Sepultura, or reset with the plus on block moves Sol Poente and Trovão. Sol Poente hits overhead and is a cross-up at close range, while Trovão can pierce through projectiles after startup. Her 2D is an incredibly disjointed poke with great reward on counter-hit. It’s excellent for frame traps and can be used as a meaty attack to outrange DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion.s and other reversals. Sol Nascente is a highly rewarding anti-air that lacks the invulnerability of a traditional DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion. but compensates by having a small hurtbox and being plus on air block. Lastly, Giovanna's unique meter boost increases her damage output and defense when she has enough tension, allowing her to benefit from tension without needing to spend it.
If you want a simple character who is fast, aggressive, has strong counter-hits and phenomenal fashion sense to boot, then Giovanna is for you.
Giovanna Giovanna , classified as a Rush type, uses rush-down that can break down any defense. A super-powered special forces officer for the President.
- Insane Dash: Giovanna's step dash travels very far very quickly and can be cancelled into any normal, special, or backdash. This allows her to wait right outside most characters' effective range and slip in quickly.
- Queen of Mids: Many of Giovanna's buttons are quite safe and very well suited to pressure. This is only accentuated by her incredible dash, as it gives them significantly more range via the dash's momentum.
- Meter Boost: Giovanna gains a unique buff once she reaches 50% Tension, and it strengthens once she reaches 100% tension. Her meter gain is also higher than normal due to her being a step dash character.
- Strong Offense: c.S, Sol Poente, and Trovão are all plus on block and her strong normals also make for great frametraps. Conditioning opponents to block is trivial and her plus frame options go hand in hand with her great dash and strong throw.
- Great Counter-Hits: Many of Giovanna's moves lead to high damage combos on counter-hit, most notably 2D and Sol Nascente, which also gives her great anti-air reward.
- Trouble at Range: Giovanna's only dedicated anti-fireball tool is Trovão, which has slow startup (even if it is plus on block.) An incorrect read on a fireball can mean eating a punish thanks to its extended hurtbox and vulnerability to 6Ps. While she is able to safely approach with Tempestade in order to force her turn, this uses meter that you could've instead spent on her best Roman Cancel mixups and damage.
- Can Be Meter-Reliant: Even with her meter boost gimmick, Giovanna can have a hard time getting solid work done without proper counter-hit conversions or Roman Cancel extensions. Opponents that know to respect her plus normals and react to Trovão and Sol Poente via 6P or blocking can make it so that she needs to use Roman Cancels to open the opponent up, further increasing her need for meter.
Giovanna gains a damage buff when she reaches half Tension (~5%), and a larger buff when she reaches full Tension (~10%). This is represented graphically with Rei glowing at half power and Giovanna turning green at full power. Using a super will keep her current damage buff until the super is over, meaning a Giovanna at full meter performing Ventania will deal ~5% more damage than a Giovanna with half meter.
Giovanna |
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Normal Moves
5P
- Damage is listed as No Meter (Half Meter) [Full Meter].
- One of the fastest buttons in the game, second only to Chipp's 5P and Sol's 5K.
- While this can gatling into 6P, it will only combo on crouching hit, not standing regular nor counter hit.
Gatling Options: 5P, 2P, 6P, 6H
5K
- Main juggle tool, usually links into itself.
- Good frame advantage and low pushback makes this a go-to tick throw button.
- Dash cancelable, allowing for both tick throw setups and BRC to be used in juggles for more advanced combo routes.
A very fast poke with decent range, made even better by the fact that cancelling into it out of a dash retains quite a lot of the dash momentum, extending its range to a little less than 1/4th screen. It's also excellent when combined with a dash stop, as you can space yourself out to avoid a throw.
Gatling Options: 6P, 6H, 5D, 2D
c.S
- Causes a float state on hit.
- Plus on block.
- Jump and dash cancelable.
- Sets up an IAD safejump if it connects on OTG.
The dash cancel on this move can lead to an immediate Blue Roman Cancel (BRC), which gives her an airtight high/low mixup on block with 5D or any of her lows. On hit both options lead to a conversion, and on block she remains plus enough to continue offense.
The jump cancel can be done to do the same, though the preserved momentum makes its utility little without using doing a drift forward BRC. With a drift forward BRC, you can force the opponent into a standing position with any jump normal, using j.H will allow you to do the same airtight high/low mixup on block with 5D or any low that the dash cancel does whilst also opening up options for instant overheads in j.K and j.H (No conversion, only useful for closing out rounds).
Whilst +3 on block and 7f startup, the closest gap you can have between this normal and itself is 5 frames wide due to the cancel window into f.S, meaning you can at best trade with reversal 5 frame normals. Against characters with 6 frame or slower normals as their fastest (Anji, Axl, Faust, Millia, Zato), they must spend meter on a reversal to beat the frametrap. Otherwise, condition your opponent not to challenge by use of delayed gatlings to beat reversal normals.
Gatling Options: 6P, f.S, 5H, 2H, 6H, 5D, 2D
f.S
- Hits 3 times.
- Excellent anti-backdash tool due to its active frames.
- Don't whiff this.
Amazing pressure normal thanks to its great frame advantage. It along with 2S lets Giovanna easily hit confirm into a knockdown. She can also threaten a delay cancel 5H to make her opponent respect its -4 frame advantage and potentially reset pressure from there. Just please don't run up and do this, you die if it whiffs thanks to its multihit properties.
Gatling Options: 5H, 2H
5H
- Heavier poke than 5K, but has about the same lack of cancel options.
- Useful as a delay-cancel frametrap from f.S to make your opponent respect your turn.
Although its main use is in pressure, this is also an excellent poke in its own right. Gio can threaten a delay cancel into 214K as a frametrap, but her pressure ends after that.
5D
- Results in a cinematic if charged or CH.
- Uncharged 5D is 0 on hit.
Giovanna does a split kick. It doesn't look like an overhead but it certainly hits like one. Given Giovanna's normals, it shouldn't be too hard to crank the RISC gauge and cash out with 5D.
6P
- Good anti-air button.
Giovanna throws out a straight punch. Has head invulnerability like other 6P buttons and a good angle to stop airdashes. Also a good counter-poke against certain disjointed moves.
6H
- GGST Giovanna 6H 1.png
632146H for fullscreen damage
- GGST Giovanna 6H 2.png
RC for mix
- GGST Giovanna 6H 3.png
Wallsplat
- Rekka-type move with follow-ups.
- 6H puts Giovanna airborne.
- RRC off second hit leads to easy juggle combos.
- PRC early on to use as a makeshift short hop for high/low mix-up.
- Landing recovery of first and second hit can be special cancelled for juggles
Mostly relegated to combo filler as it's highly unsafe and very slow. The only normal that naturally combos into 6H is c.S, but it's much easier to combo into on an airborne opponent. Some combos will also require the follow-ups to be delayed in order to combo.
2P
- Quick & short 2P that lets you mash out of gaps in pressure.
Gatling Options: 2P, 5P, 6P, 6H
2K
- Gio's fastest low.
Your go-to low for catching the opponent standing, such as after an empty jump. Will only combo into 214K at most ranges, but a point blank connect can be cancelled into 6P which can combo into 623S with dash momentum for slightly better damage and an easy bake frametrap.
Gatling Options: 6P, 6H, 5D, 2D
2S
- Hits low twice.
- Don't whiff this.
Another great hitconfirm option. The double low tends to catch people off-guard, but in turn makes its total duration longer.
Gatling Options: 5H, 2H
2H
- Launches on air hit (I.E. chained immediately from c.S)
- Short range.
Mostly useful in Giovanna's high-damage combos as she has better anti-airs. The launch (if chained immediately from c.S) allows her to link after a 214K midscreen and combo into 236K in the corner.
2D
- Disjointed hitbox where Rei kicks.
- Too slow to combo from 5K/2K, use 214K instead.
Great on counter-hit and allows for easy Gatling frame-traps from 5K or c.S. It's a bit too slow to consistently poke with but the disjoint can let it win in situations where other sweeps would lose. Can also outrange most reversals in the game when used as a meaty attack but clashes with a select few, meaning an astute player could react to the clash on their reversal and cancel it into something safe.
j.P
Gatling Options: j.P
j.K
- Hits on both sides.
A good, low to the ground cross up button. The cancel into 214S gives a double overhead and knockdown
Gatling Options: j.D
j.S
Decent air-to-air button and combo filler in some scenarios. Most of the time, you should be using 6P, 623S, or air throw, however.
Gatling Options: j.H
j.H
- GGST Giovanna jH.png
Your main air to ground button when low to the ground. Can be canceled into 214S for a cross up double overhead.
j.D
- Hits twice.
Universal Mechanics
Ground Throw
- Standard ground throw that gives a hard knockdown, can decide to go for mixups or RC for damage
Air Throw
Special Moves
Sepultura
214K
- Knocks down on ground hit, juggles on air hit.
- Long reach and safe on block.
Giovanna's primary ground combo ender. If it hits an airborne opponent, you can keep a juggle going with a microwalk 5K.
Trovão
236K
- Cancels single hit projectiles.
- Slightly plus on block.
Excellent anti-fireball tool. Doesn't quite reach fullscreen, but it will catch extended hurtboxes pretty well.
Sol Nascente
623S
- Not invincible, but has a low hurtbox making it a great anti-air.
- Hits on both sides.
- Plus on air block. The sky is yours.
Excellent as an anti-air. Even though it's -15 on a grounded opponent, the 19 frame landing recovery if air blocked means she will almost always be plus if the moved is air blocked. Instant Block does negate the landing recovery but it's highly unlikely that will happen.
Sol Poente
214S (Air OK)
- Overhead.
- Low crush.
- Plus on block.
- Hits on both sides, can cross up if done close.
- Air version has same animation but places a sigil for Giovanna to move from.
- There are two hitboxes with the first one being behind gio with 4 frame startup
Surprisingly good as a pressure reset, but should be used sparingly due to its 30 frame startup. The first hit has some niche uses for converting a high crossup j.K into an otherwise impossible knockdown.
Overdrives
Ventania
632146H
- Invincible on startup.
- Benefits from the 50% meter bonus if Giovanna uses it with full meter.
Giovanna's only real reversal.
Tempestade
j.236236H
- GGST Giovanna Tempestade 1.png
- GGST Giovanna Tempestade 2.png
That wasn't a request!
- Combos from c.S if you Tiger Knee the super.
The anti-anti air. Plus on block should you not hit your opponent with it. On hit, it locks you into a cinematic.
81% complete | ||
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Page | Status | % |
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Overview | more detailed description of moves and their uses. | 18/20 |
Combos | Combo page needs adjustment. Video examples may help as well. | 8/10 |
Strategy | Needs more information added to flesh out the page | 15/20 |
Frame Data | Missing proration on all moves. Overdrive data is incomplete. | 40/50 |