GGST/Jack-O/Strategy

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< GGST‎ | Jack-O
Revision as of 06:18, 10 January 2022 by Emo Tarquin (talk | contribs) (→‎Corner Pressure Routes: 2S Route info\)



Combo Notation GuideCharacter Name Abbreviations
7 7 8 8 9 9
4 4 5 5 6 6
1 1 2 2 3 3
Numbers represent direction on a keyboard numpad. For example, 236+P becomes 236P.
> = Proceed from the previous move to the following move.
/land = Indicate that the player must land at that point in the sequence.
, = Link To perform a second action after the first action completely finishes its animation. the previous move into the following move.
->/~ = Cancel To bypass the remaining time or frames in an action by proceeding directly into another action. the previous special into a follow-up special.
dl./delay = Delay the following move.
whiff/(whiff) = The move must whiff (not hit).
c. = Close
f. = Far
j. = Jumping/Aerial
hj./sj. = High Jump/Super Jump
jc = Jump Cancel
hjc/sjc = High Jump Cancel/Super Jump Cancel
dc/adc = Dash Cancel/Air Dash Cancel
CH = Counter Hit
AA = Anti-Air
IAS = Instant Air Special
[X] = Hold input.
]X[ = Release input.
(move) = Move is optional.
[X] or [Y] = Perform sequence X or Y.
[sequence] xN = Repeat sequence N amount of times.
(N) = Hit N of a move or move must deal N amount of hits.
IAD = Instant Air Dash
BRC = Blue Roman Cancel
RRC = Red Roman Cancel
PRC = Purple Roman Cancel
YRC = Yellow Roman Cancel
YYXRC = Dash Input X Roman Cancel in Y direction i.e: 22PRC
XRC~Q = Cancel the X Roman Cancel into Q i.e: RRC~5K
WS = Wall Stick/Wall Splat
AB =  A.B.A
AN =  Anji Mito
AS =  Asuka R♯
AX =  Axl Low
BA =  Baiken
BE =  Bedman?
BR =  Bridget
CH =  Chipp Zanuff
EL =  Elphelt
FA =  Faust
GI =  Giovanna
GO =  Goldlewis
HA =  Happy Chaos
IN =  I-No
JC =  Jack-O'
JO =  Johnny
KY =  Ky Kiske
LE =  Leo Whitefang
MA =  May
MI =  Millia Rage
NA =  Nagoriyuki
PO =  Potemkin
RA =  Ramlethal
SI =  Sin Kiske
SO =  Sol Badguy
TE =  Testament
ZA =  Zato-1

Glossary

Move Notation

Jack-O' has a complex moveset, with Held Servant stance, and the option to hit and cancel off servants. For this reason some unique notation is utilised. The below chart provides all notation that is used on the Dustloop site, alongside commonly used alternatives. For the rest of this page, move strings will rely on this notation, and it can often be invaluable for concisely describing Jack-O's complex combos and blockstrings, so it is worth familiarising.

Notation Full name Alternatives Meaning
ns.2P Near Servant 2-P Pick Up ServantGGST JackO Pick Up Servant.pngGuard-StartupRecoveryTotal 14Advantage-
hs. Held Servant sh., ws. Moves performed during the Held Servant stance, e.g. hs.K for Attack CommandGGST Jack-O 214K.pngGuardAllStartup12RecoveryTotal 23Advantage+15.
j.hs. jumping Held Servant j.sh., j.ws. Moves performed while holding a servant in the air.
hs.6X hs.6P/K/S/H/D 6X Throw ServantGGST JackO Throw Servant.pngGuardAllStartup12RecoveryTotal 27Advantage+5. Can be performed using any attack button.
Servant notation
* Added to a move when it hits a servant, but not the opponent, e.g 5K*.
& Added to a move when it hits both a servant and the opponent, e.g 5K&.
~& Added to a move when it hits a servant after having already hit the opponent, not at the same time, e.g. 5[D]~&
(hit) and (whiff) Indicates if a struck servant collides with or whiffs the opponent, e.g. c.S&(Whiff), using c.S& but the servant whiffs.
(Servant hit) When a servant launched by an attack earlier in the string hits, e.g. 2S& > 236K > (Servant Hit)
(Detonation) When a servant exploding from CountdownGGST Jack-O 214H.pngGuardAllStartup3+180+25RecoveryTotal 24Advantage- explodes and hits the opponent e.g. 214H > delay > (Detonation)
Common Phrases

Aside from notation, some verbiage is often used and associated with the character. Below is a simple list of commonly found terminology, and what it means.

Phrase Meaning
Command Gauge AKA "White bar", the portion of the Servant Gauge used by Servant Commands, and works as a limiter to the Summon Gauge.
Kazunoko Safejump A safejump performed off combos using 2H. See Okizeme for more details.
Kick Loop A loopable combo string in the corner using 236K > 236[P] > 236K > hs.D. See Combos for more details.
Summon Cancelling To special cancel a move on hit or block into 236[P]GGST Jack-O Summon Servant.pngGuard-StartupRecoveryTotal 14Advantage-, sometimes 236PGGST Jack-O Summon Servant.pngGuard-Startup10RecoveryTotal 25Advantage-.
Summon Gauge AKA "Green bar", the portion of the Servant Gauge used when using Summon ServantGGST Jack-O Summon Servant.pngGuard-Startup10RecoveryTotal 25Advantage-.

Useful Links

Resources and References
Combo and Setup Videos

General Strategies

Servants

Servant Gauge

Summoning

Gameplan

Offense

Okizeme


Useful Links:

Okizeme is the art of attacking an opponent during their wakeup. Jack-O' is a specialist in okizeme, giving her an incredible variety of ways to completely safely pressure an opponent after her offense is complete. In contrast to Millia, Jack-O' is more about safejumps and leading into her own sandwich Pressure, with less loopable damage output

Jack-O's okizeme also comes in a huge variety from novice to impractically difficult. This page does not document them all comprehensively, and instead provides (where applicable) some easier options and some optimal options.

For the sake of brevity, the strings only list until the first mixup hit. From all aerial starters it is followed up by a dl.2K, while grounded starters except Throw may be followed up with 214K or 2D.

Safejump Hitconfirming

Off any safejump okizeme, you cannot react to whether your move hit, was blocked, or whiffed entirely. To ensure that you can both deal a combo and not be caught by reversals, you need to manually delay the follow-up hit such that if the move connects you will still perform the follow-up in time, but if you whiff you'll be holding block during that period, preventing you being punished.

The amount of time you should delay never changes, as it is entirely dependent on blockstun, hitstun, and hitstop effects. Thankfully, all okizemes can use the exact same amount of delay. No matter the okizeme or the opponent, after the opponent's wakeup you should block for the first 13 frames to avoid any invincible reversal. Not to be confused with actually blocking for 13 frames, this time includes hitstop which creates a delay before the input would be nessecary if it connected.

An important mechanic is FD Block cancelling. During a 'Super Flash', you can cancel the first 3 frames of any normal attack into FD Block. Therefore, even if your attack is slightly early and begins before the super flash, you can hold FD Block to protect yourself, at the cost of minimal Tension. Delaying your input to at least Frame 17 avoids all need for FD block cancelling, but makes the input window tighter.

  • j.P Cannot true blockstring into a 2K due to landing recovery. Therefore, it is only a safejump against a wakeup reversal, it is not safe from a reversal after the first block. The latest frame you can input 2K and have it combo is Frame 17, giving at most a 4 frame input window.
  • j.K can only true blockstring if there are zero frames spent blocking, similarly due to landing recovery. The latest frame you can input 2K and have it blockstring is Frame 16, giving at most a 3 frame input window.
  • Servant Bounce Theoretically, a servant being hit by a reversal will massively delay its active time due to hitstop on the servant. This is not a problem in any given example, but some okizeme may have different timings as a result.

Fast Falling Grounded Okizeme

In all listed okizeme, there are grounded options, some hit on wakeup, some with a small delay. These always assume the use of FD Fast Falling. By using an FD Block in the air, you cancel an airdash (similar to using an attack), but also gain higher gravity, landing much faster. This is sometimes critical to getting powerful okizeme options.

For all given sequences, FD Fast Falling is used, with the notation FD FF. Not using FD Fast Fall may make some options much slower.

Meaty Timing

Sometimes an attack may land shortly after the opponent's wakeup, allowing some wakeup options. In the okizeme overviews, the timing specifies what frame of wakeup the attack lands on. If the move hits on wakeup due to a servant being bounced into the opponent, the timing instead refers to time from exiting the blockstun of the intial meaty attack

  • FN (e.g. F6), the move hits on the Nth frame after wakeup, or exiting blockstun
  • Non-meaty The move does not hit immediately, but the gap is not specified.
  • Meaty The move is active during the wakeup. If the initial okizeme is a servant, string is a true blockstring.
  • Safejump The move hits the same as meaty, but also the move is able to block reversals as a safejump.

Because of Throw Immunity, the earliest possible frame for Throws is always F6.

Throw Midscreen

Throw is Jack-O's most straightforward method of gaining a strong okizeme. It is an integral part of her pressure strings, and has good mixup opporunities. Its okizeme is not as potent as her 2D but is one of the better okizeme starters.

Throw > 236P > dl.5K > jc > IAD > dl j.H  Very Easy 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Crossup Meaty Throw > 236P > dl 5K > jc > IAD > dl j.H If the servant is bounced at the correct time, the IAD will be able to pass over some wakeup reversals, due to their hitstop on servants.

If the j.H is not delayed enough, the enemy will have 'crossup protection', meaning they do not need to block the crossup.

Alternatively, end in dl.214K to be safe against 6P option selects, at the loss of Command Servant Gauge.

Low Crossup ≤ F19 Throw > 236P > dl 5K > jc > IAD > FD FF > Land > 2K Extremely large gap, relies on opponent being passive of missing an attack.
Overhead Sameside F1 Throw > 236P > dl 5K > jc > IAD > 214K Won't true blockstring into the 214K, but if the initial 5K is timed precisely it can perform a 1F frametrap.
Throw ≤ F20 Throw > 236P > dl 5K > jc > IAD > FD FF > Land > 4/6D Extremely large gap, relies on opponent being passive of missing an attack.
Servant meaty into a crossup. A very easy okizeme. Even when delays are performed at incorrect timings, it should be very safe unless the opponent uses an invincible reversal. The end outcome is sandwich pressure, with a half-duration servant, making it relatively good on-block, and on hit can easily combo into a sandwich combo giving good reward.
The primary flaw of this okizeme is the necessity to use Command Servant Gauge to be safe on mixup options, and it trivially fails against  Leo's EisensturmGGST Leo Whitefang Eisen Sturm.pngGuardAllStartup9Recovery33Advantage-28, which can be input regardless of a crossup. This okizeme also has very bad mixup opportunities, with only a left/right mixup, all low options are very poor.
Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > dl j.P  Easy 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Safejump Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > [dl j.P] or [dl j.K] The j.P must be delayed enough such that were it to connect it combos into the 2K.

j.P is much easier, but cannot true blockstring into 2K, making it still possible to lose to a reversal after being blocked.
j.K will true blockstring, but will whiff against reversal 2P and 2K attacks due to being fully crouched Frame 1.

Low Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > Land > 2K
Crossup Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > 66 > TK.ws.6X > Land > 5P
Throw Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > Land > 4/6D
Note: Tiger Knee Throw Servant can be done by simply holding forward jump and pressing any attack button a few frames later.
Throw Servant safejump into sandwich pressure. Great pressure, no mixups. Unlike most safejumps this one creates a sandwich setup between Jack-O' and the opponent with full duration, allowing it to trivially lead into strong sandwich pressure loops, making it the best safejump on block. Its mixup options are relatively weak as they are all notably slower and lose to simple reversals like Throw, and are fuzziable, making it quite weak for securing a hit immediately.
This okizeme is notoriously clumsy to learn, even if it's not executionally very strict. It is not visually clear if the Throw Servant was performed as a Tiger Knee, which is required to not whiff, and even if you do, you must add a delay to avoid whiffing.
Throw > 236[P] > 9 jump > dl j.ws.D > dl j.S  Medium 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Sameside Safejump Throw > 236[P] > 9 jump > dl j.ws.D > dl j.S The servant release delay must be during the rising arc of the jump, such that as the move descends the servant will not come into contact with the j.S.

If j.S hits the servant, it will not be a safejump, but does open new combo routes on hit. j.P is easier, but much lower reward.

Low Sameside Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > 9 jump > dl j.ws.D > Land > 2K
Overhead Crossup Safejump Throw > 236[P] > 66.9 jump > dl j.ws.D > dl j.S Due to the tight amount of time, the crossup variant is significantly harder to perform as a safejump compared to the sameside.
Low Crossup Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > 66.9 jump > dl j.ws.D > Land > 2K
Throw Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > 9 jump > dl j.ws.D > Land > 4/6D
Jumping Release Servant safejump with left-right mixup. Good mixups, less pressure. Very difficult timings makes it extremely unreliable to perform as a true safejump and meaty, but works fairly well despite these. On block, the servant will land on the same side as Jack-O', giving weaker follow-up pressure on-block. However, its crossup--while slightly telegraphed--is safe, making it a viable mixup tool, furthermore the use of j.S allows much more punishing combos for hit, especially Counter Hit.
Though this mixup works well even if performed incorrectly (due to most reversals requiring a directional input), getting the safejump with meaty requires 1 link and 2 unbufferable timings, making it particularly difficult to learn correctly.
Throw > 236[P] > 66.9 jump > j.ws.D > j.S& > Land > 2K  Medium 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Sameside Mid → Crossup Low Safejump Throw > 236[P] > 66.9 jump > j.ws.D > j.S& > Land > 2K
Sameside Mid → Crossup Overhead Safejump Throw > 236[P] > 66.9 jump > j.ws.D > j.S& > j.H
Note: The servant must be hit such that it will cause a sameside okizeme before Jack-O' falls behind the opponent.
By performing a timing incorrectly the game's throw protection will nullify this sequence entirely, as the first hit will be blockable from either direction.
Sameside-Crossup sequence safejump. A strong knowledge check. A bizarre variant of safejump, by enforcing the enemy to wakeup facing sameside their only reversal options will whiff Jack-O'. It leads into a sandwich pressure with a half-duration servant, giving less reward on block. Its primary strength is in the visual ambiguity, being extremely deceiving about the sequence which must be blocked sameside then crossup, it can easily confuse opponents. Even after solving this, the safejump comes with a natural high-low mixup which cannot be option selected, but can be fuzzied.

Throw Corner

A lot of corner pressure enables Throws to make corner okizeme achievable. It is often much safer than midscreen, especially leading into powerful corner pressure, however it also disables the option for left-right mixups.

Basic Servant Set
Throw > 236P > (microwalk back or microdash forward) c.S > 2D/5D& 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Low Meaty Throw > 236P > 5P* > (microwalk back or microdash forward) c.S > 2D Movement is not important here however helps keep it looking the same as the overhead option
Overhead Meaty Throw > 236P > 5P* > (microwalk back or microdash forward) c.S > 5D& Microwalk back vs regular block; Microdash forward vs FD. Can combo after servant hit with 5K > 6H for wallbreak
Throw Meaty Throw > 236P > 5P* > (microwalk back or microdash forward) c.S > 66 4D/6D Can be good once opponent starts to respect the mixup

Really basic option that gives you High/Low/Throw while beating reversals. The only problem with this is FD causes too much push back making it difficult to be sure what will work

Servant Throw Bounce Safejump
Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > Land > 2K  
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Low Safejump Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > Land > 2K
Overhead Safejump Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > j.P Unreactable, fuzziable against the Low, lower damage.
Delay overhead Meaty Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > dl AD > j.S Reactable, unfuzziable against the Low, higher damage.
Throw 6F Throw > 236[P] > TK.ws.6X > Land > dl 4D/6D

An executionally easy safejump with an extremely strong high/low mixup. The thrown servant falls on top of the opponent during wakeup, meaning they will always be hit meaty. The follow-up 2K does not hit the servant, this means the mixup leads into a blockstring with a full duration servant, allowing easy corner pressure. This is generally the best option for corner okizeme, due to its versatility.

Sweep

Sweep (2D) is Jack-O's primary okizeme tool, with huge frame advantage and the option to OTG it opens up many possibilities, and is usually the main goal of Jack-O'. An interesting property of Sweep okizeme is any move that hits or confirms into 2K can immediately combo into 2D to restart the okizeme, sometimes using the additional summon to deal more damage on the second loop, though this loses the combo potential of the first okizeme, and gives more probability of failure.

Sweep
2D, 236[P] > ws.6X, 2K 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Low Meaty 2D, 236[P] > ws.6X, 2K Alternatively, back away from the opponent and meaty with 214K to be safer from reversals, at the loss of resources and pressure.
Overhead ≤ F6 2D, 236[P] > ws.6X, 5[D] Due to how Dust works, it can defeat Frame 6 abares.
Throw F6 2D, 236[P] > ws.6X > dl 4/6D
Less an okizeme and more a setup. With the opponent knocked down, you can safely summon a servant and prepare it on the other side, leading directly into strong sandwich pressure.
This okizeme offers almost no mixup opportunities, and carries with it the risks of opponents' invincible reversals. The overhead is powerful, but can be reacted to and is unsafe when blocked. However, the setup is also quite easy to do and gives perfectly adequete damage if the opponent does not escape the pressure created.
Servant Drop Safejump with Fake-Out
2D > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D > dl.ABD > dl.j.H 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Crossup Safejump 2D > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D > dl.ABD > dl.j.H Delay the Air Backdash until after crossing past the opponent, therefore not going past them, instead only stalling in the air for a few frames.

The backdash is not needed if the jump is delayed, but it introduces a feint sound to confuse reactions, and avoids telegraphing the option.

Low Crossup Meaty 2D > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D > Land > 2K
Overhead Sameside Safejump 2D > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D > ABD > dl.j.S Can be a safejump but the inputs must be performed extremely quickly, usually requiring releasing the servant before the peak of the jump.
The jump can be delayed to defeat  Leo's EisensturmGGST Leo Whitefang Eisen Sturm.pngGuardAllStartup9Recovery33Advantage-28 being performed on wakeup without the tight safejump timings, at the cost of the attack no longer being meaty.
Low Sameside Meaty 2D > 236[P] > 8 jump > j.ws.D > Land > 2K Telegraphed by a slightly different jump trajectory, but avoids being fuzziable.

From further away a 9 jump can be used, and still remain sameside.

Throw Non-meaty Throw > 236[P] > 9 jump > dl.j.ws.D > Land > 4/6D
Note: From further away it becomes nessecary to perform a micro dash before the jump. For ABD varients this makes the entire sequence near frame-perfect, but can be performed from almost any distance.

A popular and somewhat lenient okizeme, the overhead options have lenient timings and the confusing left-right motions disrupt opponents. It allows a four-way mixup plus Throw, but only one option is easily made a safejump without very tight execution. On samesides it will lead into sandwich pressure, but not on crossups, however the servant will be at full duration providing good follow-up pressure.

OTG Crossup Safejump
2D > 236P > c.S& OTG > 9 jc > dl.AD > j.H 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Crossup Safejump 2D > 236P > c.S& OTG > 9 jc > dl.AD > j.H
Low Crossup 3F 2D > 236P > c.S& OTG > 9 jc > IAD > FD Fast Fall > Land > 2K
Will defeat Chipp's  Chipp's 5PGGST Chipp Zanuff 5P.pngGuardAllStartup3Recovery10Advantage-2.
Wakeup throw will whiff this option.
Overhead Sameside Safejump 2D > 236P > c.S& OTG > 8 jc > dl.AD > j.H
Low Sameside 3F 2D > 236P > c.S& OTG > 8 jc > IAD > FD Fast Fall > Land > 2K
Will defeat Chipp's  Chipp's 5PGGST Chipp Zanuff 5P.pngGuardAllStartup3Recovery10Advantage-2.
Loses to a wakeup Throw.
Throw 6F 2D > 236P > c.S& OTG > 8 jc > IAD > FD Fast Fall > Land > dl.4/6D Can be done from crossup but needs a run-up first.
Note: 2D must land at close-range such that Jack-O' will perform a c.S. Adding a microdash after the servant summon can slightly extend this range, but is quite precise.

A fairly potent mixup plus Throw, with the overhead left-right mixup being fairly low execution, making it excellent for securing an attack in offense, only held back by its requirement to be close range and the ability to be 6P'd by the opponent. Due to the issues of 6P from the opponent, using j.S instead of j.H can help avoid wiffing or getting counter hit in certain situations. Also deals 39 extra damage via the OTG attack. When performed as a crossup, leads into sandwich pressure, and all outcomes provide a half-duration servant, making sameside options particularly mediocre on block, but this block is also much less likely to happen.

Other


Jack-O' has several other ways of achieving a knockdown, be it from stray 6Ps or from combos. These rarely allow elaborately strong okizeme but are still useful to identify for maintaining pressure or even as a way to create resets.

2H Safejump Reset (Kazunoko Safejump)
... > 2H > 236[P] > delay > 9 jump > dl.AD > j.ws.D > dl.j.P 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Safejump ... > 2H > 236[P] > delay > 9 jump > dl.AD > j.ws.D > [dl.j.P] or [dl.j.K] j.P is much easier, but cannot true blockstring into 2K, making it still possible to lose to a reversal after being blocked.
j.K will true blockstring, but will whiff against reversal 2P and 2K attacks due to being fully crouched Frame 1.
Low Meaty ... > 2H > 236[P] > delay > 9 jump > dl.AD > j.ws.D > Land > 2K Delay jump timing slightly less than the overhead safejump.
Some long combo strings make it impossible to hit meaty, even with no delay.
Throw 6F ... > 2H > 236[P] > delay > 9 jump > dl.AD > j.ws.D > Land > 4/6D Delay jump timing slightly less than the overhead safejump.
Note: The delay before jumping is dependent on the combo used into this. The lengthier a combo the less delay must be used.

By ending a combo early with a 2H, it becomes possible to reset into a safejump, with the option for a high-low and Throw mixup. This usually comes at the cost of losing a potential wallbreak for better damage, Positive bonus, and recovering any spare servants to regain gauge. It will usually leave Jack-O' on a pressure string with no servants and minimal gauge, making it not very strong as a pressure option, unless coordinated with a combo to land near to a servant.

With the reversal-safe reset it can be potentially quite punishing, especially if it manages to corner carry and enables Jack-O' to begin corner pressure, which is a far bigger reward than a wallbreak. The variable and tight timing is problematic, making it extremely difficult to do a meaty safejump successfully, meaning usually either some abares or a fast invincible reversal will succeed.

CH 6P Left-Right Safejump
6P CH > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D, j.K > ADC > j.S 
Option Meaty Inputs Notes
Overhead Crossup Safejump 6P CH > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D, j.K > ADC > j.S Unsafe on block, but can gatling into j.H to be made safe.
Low Crossup ??? 6P CH > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D, j.K > ADC > FD Fast Fall > Land > 2K
Overhead Sameside Safejump 6P CH > 236[P] > 8 jump > j.ws.D, j.K > ADC > j.S Unsafe on block, but can gatling into j.H to be made safe.
Low Sameside ??? 6P CH > 236[P] > 8 jump > j.ws.D, j.K > ADC > FD Fast Fall > Land > 2K
Throw 6F 6P CH > 236[P] > 9 jump > j.ws.D, j.K > ADC > FD Fast Fall > Land > 4/6D Delay jump timing slightly less than the overhead safejump.
Note: Distance dependent. At some ranges the crossup variations may hit sameside, and sameside variations will not reach.

A potent safejump mixup off Counter Hit 6P giving substantial reward off grounded 6P attacks. Should be noted that Jack-O' can already combo off anti-air 6P CH and so should not use this.

Strategy

The primary weakness is Fuzzy Blocking, therefore if you wish to make moves unfuzziable you should delay any options to land on the same frame as mixup options you wish to use, or you should exclude options that are fuzziable if this is a risk (note even if something is fuzziable it is practical to use it).

Sandwich Pressure


Useful links:

A simple sandwich position

Sandwich Pressure is a position of advantage when the opponent has a servant behind them and Jack-O' is in range to use her grounded normals. The "Sandwich" creates a position such that Jack-O' can indefinitely loop pressure , while remaining completely safe, and locking the opponent in place.

Sandwich pressure often builds an incredible amount of RISC, while enforcing an oppressively strong Strike-Throw threat, as every blocked hit could be mixed up with a throw. FD blocks are also less effective, as the pushback of the Attak Command will repeatedly move them closer to Jack-O'.

Despite being usually an extremely lengthy series of frametraps, it can also be extremely reversal safe. If you intentionally speed up the string you can form true blockstrings, making it impossible to reversal, however they are still required to block lows if you use 2K or 2D, easily checking if they attempted a motion input.

Generally speaking, every hit in the pressure string can be one of the following:

  • Frametrap
  • True Blockstring (especially lows)
  • Throw mixup
  • Overhead mixup

Additionally, strikes have the option of either being one that can hit the servant, or whiff the servant. These will alter the routes of the pressure string.

This can be quite modular and adaptive. Later we discuss a few strings to help introduce the basics and how these can be applied.

Common Sandwich moves

These moves form the basis of most sandwich pressure. This section will list important routing, and uses for moves. You do not need to use all of these, however they all serve some utility. Any information on true blockstrings and frametraps is also listed here, but can also be found from the Frame Traps section or via the Frame Data

  • 2KGGST Jack-O 2K.pngGuardLowStartup6Recovery12Advantage-3 Hits low and gatlings into 2D. Can true blockstring when linked from a c.S&. It will whiff a servant, meaning you can intentionally avoid hitting it to preserve its duration.
  • 2DGGST Jack-O 2D.pngGuardLowStartup10Recovery18Advantage-19 Similar to 2K. A useful way to close distance early into a string and can even true blockstring off 2K, but combined with 2K causes heavy pushback, sometimes going past a servant and breaking the sandwich pressure. Very high reward on counterhit.
  • c.S&GGST Jack-O cS.pngGuardAllStartup7Recovery10Advantage+1 Extremely potent reset. Very high reward on counterhit, and easily lends itself to mixups of Throw, Dust, and linked 2K. The launch on the servant easily loops back into new pressure, if the positioning was correct.
  • c.SGGST Jack-O cS.pngGuardAllStartup7Recovery10Advantage+1 A Frame 4 frametrap when linked off c.S&, but has no mixup. High reward on hit, easily keeps the string going with its low pushback and good cancel options.
  • 5[D]GGST Jack-O 5D.pngGuardHighStartup28Recovery26Advantage-10 Overhead mixup. Off a c.S&, this creates a Frame 4 frametrap (also defeats Frame 4 attacks, instead of trading). At extremely close range (and/or with dash momentum) it will catch backdashes, but lose to Throws, and at any slight spacing it will whiff backdashes but defeat Throws. It can also be done off 2K and 5K, but won't frametrap. Unsafe on block, very high reward on any hit.
  • Throw (4/6D)GGST JackO Ground Throw.pngGuardGround ThrowStartup2Recovery38Advantage- The bread and butter mixup option. Can be a tick-throw off c.S&, 5K&, 5P&, and 214K. Can be a slow mixup option off other moves if the opponent is respecting you. Very bad if called out, due to the counter hit recovery.
  • Attack Command (214K)GGST Jack-O 214K.pngGuardAllStartup12RecoveryTotal 23Advantage+15 The core of the entire string. Can true blockstring from virtually anything. Pushes the enemy back towards Jack-O', however it also moves the servant forward, potentially losing the sandwich positioning. Costs Servant Gauge, and is reliant on the servant being active, so consideration must be made on the servant's current status.
  • Servant Shoot (236K)GGST Jack-O 236K.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery25Advantage-12 A final frametrap pressure ender. Makes exiting the string safer, but very low reward on hit. Best cancelled from 2D. Delayed cancel off 5H creates a pseudo-frametrap.

Advanced Sandwich Moves

While not difficult to learn, these moves have a more niche use. These are important for expanding your knowledge of strings, but is not required to learn the basics.

  • f.SGGST Jack-O fS.pngGuardAllStartup11Recovery17Advantage-9 Very long range, true blockstrings off c.S, good for responding to Faultless Defense. Can easily launch a servant before the opponent is pushed back, helping prolong a string if a servant has spare duration. Even as f.S& it has no strong mixup options, and must cancel into either 5H, 2H, or 214K.
  • 5HGGST Jack-O 5H.pngGuardAllStartup10Recovery23Advantage-6 Extremely long range, true blockstrings off f.S and c.S. Works as a "punish" to Faultless Defense by dealing a staggering 18% of their Tension (25% when including f.S), while working from extremely long ranges even after Faultless Defense pushback. No mixup options, and often ends the sandwich pressure, but is safe on block.
  • 5DGGST Jack-O 5D.pngGuardHighStartup20Recovery26Advantage-15 Fast overhead mixup. Can true blockstring off 5K& and c.S&, and is a frame 5 frametrap off c.S (also defeats Frame 5 attacks, instead of trading). Very difficult to react to, but only has reward with a Red Roman Cancel (RRC), or by comboing into a linked Forever Elysion Driver (236236P) on Counter Hit. Very punishable on block.
  • Cheer Servant On H (236236H)GGST JackO Cheer Servant On H Buff.pngGuard-Startup3RecoveryTotal 15AdvantageSee Notes Using meter to extend the sandwich pressure for an extremely long time. Once active, servant duration is paused and Servant Gauge refills extremely fast, allowing an excessive number of loops to be performed. At which point, you gain incredible corner carry and chip damage potential. Can easily set up powerful frametraps into 5K and c.S by cancelling off 2H, 5H, and c.S&. Can also form a true blockstring with the string c.S& > 236236H > 5P > 214K..
  • Forever Elysion Driver (632146P)GGST Jack-O 632146P Whiff.pngGuardAllStartup10+1Recovery58Advantage-41 While not conventionally a pressure tool, Forever Elysion Driver (632146P) has a unique property in being inescapable if the enemy uses FD Block on the frame of the 'super flash'. This makes it a visious punish tool if the enemy is holding their FD blocking after throw immunity is gone. Can even work on staggered FD blocks on a hard read about when the opponent intends to hold the input.
  • Tiger Knee Servant Shoot (2369K)GGST Jack-O 236K.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery25Advantage-12 Frametrap into an airborne position. Can only work as pressure with a followed up 214K, leading into an unreactable high-low mixup with j.S and 2K, with meterless conversions on hit. Because it requires a jump cancel, it can only be done as a Frame 3 frametrap off c.S, Frame 4 when linked off 214K, and Frame 8 off 5K. Can true blockstring from c.S&, 5K&, and a meaty 214K (i.e. the servant was far away from the opponent).
  • Jump Cancel A slow but safe overhead and crossup. Possible from 5K and c.S. From c.S& it can catch backdashes and is likely to cause a whiff punish against most reversals, including invincible moves, only commonly losing to 6P. This is especially good if there is also a sameside servant, so she can either perform a sandwich combo or return to a sandwich pressure if blocked.
  • BRC Instant Overhead (See: Instant Overhead) A fast overhead which can be safely used after Attack Command (214K). Technically more reactable than an Uncharged Dust (5D), but is much rarer, and telegraphed from a backdash, therefore less easy to anticipate. It is also safe on block, unlike Uncharged Dust.

Sandwich String Examples

This section presents some simple pressure loops, to help demonstrate how these tools can be applied. This is not an exhaustive list, for thos, but an introduction to the utilities of sandwich pressure strings. This will also discuss flaws in the strings, to better show the reasons to use different strings.

Note: The parts of the strings in square parenthesis "[]" are the looped sections, anything in round parenthesis "()" are optional but may improve the string.

(2K > 2D > 214K, 66.c.S&)

Simple true blockstring. So long as the servant is available and the 2K is correctly linked this can loop into itself as a true blockstring. The 214K and c.S& presents mixup opportunities by going into a Throw, Charged Dust (5[D]), or 2K. Even when the servant is gone, the c.S keeps safe mixup options available into safe string enders. If the enemy attempts to reversal any time, they're liable to be hit by the 2K and 2D as a true blockstring, and by delaying any one of these inputs you can create a frametrap on any hit.
Unfortunately, this string has very little true mixups, as Throws can be fuzzy-blocked, and 5[D] is reactable. It is still a threat, but can be realistically defeated. Additionally it has some weakness to Faultless Defense, and will require the initial 2K to be point-blank to not eventually leave a gap. This is because 2D will hit later if there is distance to travel, and the c.S& is affected by how long you need to run for.

2D > 214K > f.S > [5H > 214K > (66.)f.S&]

Anti-Faultless Defense string. There is little to no mixup opportunities if the opponent is holding FD block. However, it will keep them in repeated frametraps, while dealing immense Tension damage (approx. 27% per loop), and if they drop the FD block you can begin to perform a mixup off 214K, creating a dangerous decision for them.
If they hold FD the entire time, the gap will invariably be too large to safely set up any Throw or overhead attack, and the moves will begin to leave gaps, making it open to invincible reversals, and eventually lose the pressure. This can be extended by dashing before the f.S, but is very precise. However, by dealing so much Tension damage they may lose the opportunity to use any invincible Overdrive, and meterless invincible reversals will whiff off anything except to catch the 5H, limiting their options down massively.

c.S& > 236236H > 5P > [(dl.)214K > 236K]

Chip damage string. By using Cheer Servant On H, the servant can be prolonged for an extremely long time and by using only specials, this can do an incredible amount of damage and easily maxes out the R.I.S.C Gauge. It has no mixup, but it also doesn't need to, as the enemy is incapable of escaping and will take as much as a full combo in chip damage regardless. Because of the liklihood of Max R.I.S.C., you can also use an uncharged Dust (5D) and get an automatic counter hit if it hits, allowing immediate conversion into a Forever Elysion Driver (632146P) if you have Tension to spare.
The big flaw is its weakness to FD blocks, which not only prevents the chip damage and R.I.S.C., but manages to take less Tension damage than the previously discussed anti-Faultess Defense string. Additionally, you can only do up to 3 236K before you'll whiff, meaning you must break the blockstring to run back up. This is a game of prediction and reaction, as you could run up after the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd loop. You could also convert it into better anti-FD block (i.e. (f.S > 5H > 214K)) moves while still in a true blockstring, forcing the opponent to be reactive to your string.

Sandwich Enders

Also see: Block-String Escapes

Eventually the sandwich will end if you do not land a hit or Throw. Jack-O' is naturally a dangerous character to end a string with, so it's worth understanding her unique options, beyond her standard selection.

Summon cancelling off a blocked c.S& is +7, this makes it one of the safest ways to leave any blockstring. However, doing this sacrifices all mixup potential you have from c.S&. This depends on how valuable the mixup is, and how your Tension compares (e.g. if the opponent has 100% Tension, they can reversal Overdrive safely) and how your Health compares (e.g. if you're one hit from losing the round, it's a big risk).

Naturally, ending on any Dust (5D or 5[D]) attack is extremely poor when blocked, as you will either be extremely negative or must commit to a Roman Cancel. Similarly, Throw is extremely vulnerable to punish, making it important to use a PRC Option Select if the punish is a major risk.

With more plain options, f.S, 5H, and Servant Shoot (236K) all make good enders, as they can summon cancel and be relatively safe due to their pushback. 2d is significantly worse as an ender due to its substantially lower blockstun, but can hit at a good range and does threaten a Low attack.

Sandwich Strategy

Strategically, one must balance a few factors, and it is complex enough that no singular answer exists, there will always be exceptions and edge-cases to consider.

If the servant has already been hit or on the field for more than a few seconds, your pressure strings will be much shorter. In these cases you need to consider the value in hitting the servant at all. It might be be worthwhile to utilise Cheer Servant On H to simply keep it active if its position already enables a longer string. Conversely you can end with a shorter string, giving less total pressure. You should be very careful to not allow the servant to leave when you input Attack Command, as this allows the opponent to massively punish you. You are also limited by Servant Gauge and if you run out then your final attack may be unsafe as you have no summon cancels (See: Block-String Escapes). Resetting the string with normals can be beneficial to be economical, especially given you can recharge gauge if you have not used Attack Command (214K in the last 60 frames.

You also need to be mindful of the servant's position. If it falls in front of the opponent, the sandwich automatically ends, meaning some moves may fail to keep the string going based solely on positioning. However, you can still use this opportunity for a mixup or a safe exit, with the power of a final c.S& or similar move.

Stable sandwich pressure is best thought as an adaptable and situationally changing pressure, with a large number of approaches that can dynamically switch between each-other, especially using the 214K as an easy transition:

  • If your opponent uses Faultless Defense, you can punish them with safe string extenders that deal lots of Tension damage.
  • If your opponent is prone to using reversals you can rely on true blockstring lows to catch their input buffers.
  • If your opponent is prone to jumping out or using jabs, you can set up many frametraps easily.
  • If your opponent is low health, you can force chip damage to break them down.
  • If your opponent is over-respecting the pressure, you can mixup into Charged Dust (5[D]) and Throw.

Sandwich pressure is a diverse, creative set of options. It's a foundational part of Jack-O's gameplan due to the extremely advantageous position and allows her complete control on the situation. It's also a good opportunity for experimentation, due to how variable it can get, giving a lot of freedom in your approach to a situation, and the amount of complexity you put into your use of the strategy.

Corner Pressure


Jack-O's corner pressure is one of the most powerful and diverse positions of any character. With the right execution, she has access to indefinite pressure, with high-low mixups, chip damage strings, unblockable combos, and more.

Pressure Conditions

Some of Jack-O's routes require certain conditions to be met to be used. Some routes also fulfill this conditions for further pressure.

  • Dash Momentum
While it may not seem obvious at first, some cancels are incredibly weak without substantial dash momentum leading into it. If this is not possible, the option is likely to still work to some capacity but options are likely to whiff or leave larger gaps. This is usually obtained by making the opponent block Attack Command, using the +15 on-block frame data to give time to run up and still land an attack safely.
  • Active Servant
A core to Jack-O's most powerful routes, a servant must be placed nearby, though preferablly not directly on top of the opponent, so as to allow cancel options to utilise it more reliably. Without this, there are almost no reliable pressure options and it is tragically finite. Thankfully, there are ways to spend Tension to safely set up a servant, and lead into better routes. Additionally, most hits (including Throws) lead into okizeme (See: Okizeme) with a prepared servant, netting considerable reward for correct pressure options. Getting this servant in position before starting corner pressure is invaluable, and can often be achieved using Cheer Servant On S.
  • Servant Gauge
As usual, all of Jack-O's options are influenced by the availability of her Command and Summon Servant Gauges. Each route offers an amount of gain or loss on each type of gauge, so options can often be balanced to reflect what resources you have and need.
  • R.I.S.C. and Tension
For one route in particular, it is important if the opponent is at a high R.I.S.C. and/or has not got substantial Tension to FD block.

Corner Pressure Routes

... > 236P~PRC > 2K& > 2D > 214K > Dash > c.S
Requirements: 50% Tension, 1 bar of Command Gauge
Summon PRC. Off any attack you can cancel into 236P~PRC to get a servant ready at the cost of Tension. This is extremely useful as it allows Jack-O' to force optimal corner pressure even without any prior setup. Due to the slowdown effect, most fast moves will frametrap against anything reacting after the PRC, meanwhile if the opponent input before the PRC it will allow you to see if they used a reversal and use most effective punish. Unfortunatelly you cannot true blockstring, meaning you are always guessing if the opponent intends to use an invincible move or not.
Unfortunately, even when cancelled off Lv. 4 movesThis includes 5H, 2H, and 6H(1), a Drift PRC into c.S can always be Thrown on reaction, making it not particularly useful. As a result you will need to use 1 bar of Command Gauge to reset into the c.S. The given string is a true blockstring.
If the opponent FD blocks and you cancel off f.S, 5H, 2H, 6P, or 236K, you will whiff 2K and should instead only use 2D, this can be easily done on reaction. Drift PRC is still throwable on reaction as it drifts very far,
... > 236236H > [5K > 2D > 214K > Dash]×N
Requirements: Servant, 50% Tension, 1+ bars of Command Gauge
Cheer H Loops. At the cost of Tension, Jack-O' can force an extreme amount of chip damage and generate high R.I.S.C., completely safely. This allows some of the most aggressive pressure in the game.
There are two primary loop strings. c.S > 236K > 214K > Dash is optimal, giving the most chip damage, R.I.S.C. gain, and is faster, making it harder to predict mixup timings. Unfortunately, this is pushed out by Faultless Defense after one loop. If this happens, you can on-reaction replace it with a different loop, 5K > 2D > 214K > Dash. This is weaker as it loses fast Throw mixups, but it cannot fail to Faultless Defense, and can rotate back into the former loop if the opponent stops using Faultless Defense.
Aside from the obvious innumerable frametrap opportunities, you can also trivially go into a Throw after every c.S and 214K. If the opponent's R.I.S.C. reaches maximum—and it very easily can—then 5K and c.S can gatling into a Uncharged Dust (5D), which on-hit allows a high damage, meterless wallbreak combo, because any hit gives the Large Counter Hit. c.S can also safely gatling into 2D for surprise lows, to stop an opponent pre-emptively stand-blocking after every c.S. Unfortunately, the Uncharged Dust can never be in a true blockstring, so the opponent will always have some opportunity to use an invincible reversal, particularly as the string will generate a lot of Tension for them. Because the Uncharged Dust can only combo from max R.I.S.C., the opportunities for mixups increases the more R.I.S.C. the enemy has already accumulated, and reduced (or even prevented entirely) the more meter the opponent spends on Faultless Defense.
From Lv. 4 movesThis includes 5H, 2H, and 6H(1) a 5K acts as a 4F frametrap to begin the string, however this leaves you open to an opponent using an invincible reversal to defeat the setup, wasting the Tension spent. If you cancel off a servant, it becomes barely possible to make a true blockstring with tight execution, meaning the opponent is forced to sustain the full chip damage or meter loss. This is most easily done with 236K, giving an optimal starter of ... > 236K& > 236236H > 2P > 214K > ... . This will fail against Faultless Defense unless the 236K& is performed at point-blank range.


c.S > 2S& > 632146P > (Servant hit) > ...
Requirements: Dash momentum, 100% Tension
Servant Unblockable. (See also: Unblockable Damage) Extremely finnicky to pull off as it needs maximum dash momentum and cannot work if blocked with Faultless Defense. The timing is also very fast and strict. However, if performed correctly, the servant will bounce into the opponent while they attempt to escape the command grab, giving you time to PRC and combo into a wallbreak, for a completely unblockable combo. The only escape is to use an invincible reversal on reaction to the super, meaning this is only a viable strategy if the opponent either lacks one, or has under 50% Tension. In contrast to the Cheer H Loops, this one has higher damage output and does not require Servant Gauge, making it a more potent round-ender, however it is much more niche in its setup. Strictly speaking you do not need dash momentum, however without it the 2S& will whiff the opponent, leaving a huge gap to punish and escape with.
Because this is telegraphed by the 2S&, an opponent can pre-emptively jump to avoid the unblockable entirely. The only way to force them to respect the unblockable is to frametrap with c.S > 2S& > 236K. This is going to be low reward in this position, making it difficult to force the unblockable. While a strike-throw mixup does exist off c.S& using Whiff Pick Up cancelling, it offers no advantage to other routes.
On defense, if there is no invincible reversal available, the best option is to backdash, as this is the only outcome that absolutely forces using 100% Tension.


c.S > [Throw] or [5[D]] or [2K > 2D > ...] or [f.S > 5H]
Requirements: None
Basic cancels. Unfortunately, without servants, there is very little pressure Jack-O' can do. At best she has to rely on the universal mixup options of Throw and Charged Dust. Thankfully, c.S does time well into a Throw, but it can be Throw punished without a cancel, meaning you won't get a Throw Tech like other strike-throws. The 2D is semi unsafe, depending on matchup (See also: Block-String Escapes). The only safe option is c.S > f.S > 5H > 236[P], which is a true blockstring of mids which can mix in a frametrap 236K with good timing, but this is barely even a threat to the opponent.

Servant Pressure

Defense and blockstrings

Block-String Escapes

When Jack-O' is blocked from any unsafe move--which make up the majority of her kit--she is usually given a variety options to escape from being punished. When all are taken into account Jack-O' has the most complex options of escaping punish, which can be hugely difficult for her opponents. It is impossible to be completely safe, but by using a variety of these options you can make it extremely hard to challenge her repeatedly poking the enemy, especially when options are chosen based on their available tools and current habits. It is not necessary or even practical to use all of these within a game, but knowing a few of them is invaluable.

Every option depends heavily upon her having Servant Gauge available, so it is important to understand that this safety comes at a cost, and the Servant Gauge should dictate when you will utilize unsafe normals that will need to be cancelled.

  • Note that 2D > 236K; 2D >236P; and 2D by itself can all be punished by invincible reversals. To stop this you will need a servant already out or calling out the reversal with 236[P] > ws.S. This is an issue with 2D and highly skilled players who are aware of the matchup will abuse this.
The core escape option. Summon Servant Hold cancelling is incredibly safe from all normals. The primary issue is you can no longer block, so we follow this up with a variety of options. Due to the framedata, you will also no longer be Counter Hit punishable at all, and if you escape successfully you have a prepared summon to restart pressure in neutral. Put simply, the enemy is now forced to catch your retreat on a read, they cannot react to your movements fast enough to make it a punish.

Escape Routes

... > 236K > ...
Servant Shoot special cancel. Almost all of her normals will frametrap, while Attack Lv 4 normals5H, 2H, 6H(2) true blockstring into it. On top of that, it adds substantial pushback, chip damage, and a good on-block to set up her primary RPS into all following options. When blocked on 2K > 2D, this substantially supports her safety.
While this is almost universally beneficial, it carries innate risk to all invincible reversals. Additionally, if the opponent FD blocked, Servant Shoot will likely whiff, leading to a dangerous position. Particularly, 5H is extremely likely to whiff regardless (See: 5H > 236K Frametrap).
... > 236[P] > Backwards Dash
The simplest and least committal. Heavily reliant on distance to work, but escapes most reversal attacks, even long-range moves like Ramlethal's f.S, however it loses badly to fast-moving attacks such as May's [4]6S, and dashing towards you. If the enemy whiffs an attack, you can reset to neutral and utilise the held servant freely. Even if this option fails, it won't be Counter Hit and remains grounded, minimising the damage received.
If the opponent dashes forward and continues to chase, you enter a new RPS situation, further adding complexity. It is not a doomed position and can score a strong counter hit if you guess correctly, making it a low-risk outcome.
... > 236[P] > IABD > j.ws.D
Defeats low attacks at close-range. Gets less distance than backwards dash, loses directly to dashing opponents, and is much riskier due to being in an airborne, counter hit state. However, it can deal with fast low-hitting punishes that are otherwise difficult to avoid, especially from close-range, while avoiding some tall anti-airs. Enemies running up will probably be blocked, unless they punish the landing recovery correctly. Generally this is low reward unless the enemy whiffs a slow attack.
... > 236[P] > 9 > j.ws.D > j.S
Callout punish option. This move will go high up and counterattack from above. Defensively avoids a lot of mid-height punishes, and can get significant distance from enemies if they pre-emptively dash forward, but it is slow and is extremely likely to be counter hit by tall anti-airs, often scoring them the optimal combo conversion. The slowness of the {{{2}}} also makes it likely to lose to any reversal IAD attack.
If this scores a hit, it can effectively combo with the servant and get fairly good reward. If the opponent happens to block it, this can easily lead into pressure strings, depending on their position.
... > 236[P] > 7 > j.ws.D > (j.S) > (IAD > ...)
Retreating jump, branching options. A higher, slower retreat which can be unpredictable. It builds a huge amount of space, escaping the large majority of reversal attacks. By striking a minion it can also disrupt ground movement or call out air-to-air attacks. However, it is very slow and extremely exposed, often giving the oppoent time to react. This can potentially lead into a pressure string.
Using j.S will send the servant at a downward angle. This can punish reversals when at close-range, and prevent them walking forward from further range. If you do not use j.S, you can tech out of Air Throw callouts and can likely block any slower punishes, but will not interrupt air-to-airs and will allow reversal strikes to threaten you more easily.
If you IAD off the servant, you will easily evade any grounded punish (e.g. most dashing 2H attacks), and can convert better off the opponent failing their punish. However, this can easily lose to follow-ups even after a failed reversal attack. Being varied makes it difficult to know which options they can punish with
... > 236[P] > ws.S > ws.D
Reversal callout. A hard callout against high-hitting reversal attacks, especially meterless invincible reversals. One of the only ways to be truly safe from invincible reversals at close range, and scores extremely high value against them. However, it does not move and will be in counter hit state, making it particularly risky otherwise. Unfortunately, it will not work on Overdrives.
This route uses Hitbox Nullifying to maximise the punish potential. If this is not used, you instead put the enemy into Guard Crush, and can proceed from there.
... > 214P (When no servant is near)
Poor man's safety net. Her worst route. Off most moves this leaves her punishable in full counter hit state, and at best only gets to block a slower punish, it offers almost no chance for a counter punish or escape, unless the opponent does a slow recovering air-to-air. It is better than natural recovery, but the risks you experience immediately after makes it an unreliable strategy.
The only realistic use case is at close-range, when you have no servants nearby and no Summon Servant Gauge to use for a 236[P] cancel. The 214P variant is functionally cheaper if it can recover servants in the process, making it usually a better choice, but when no servants are available, all four commands214P, 214K, 214S, and 214H are identical.

Servant Routes

Usually if you can utilise servant commands with a servant in range, you do not need to play a guessing game to escape and in fact are advantaged. However sometimes a servant might be nearby but not actually provide immediate pressure because it is out of range. These routes take advantage of those situations.

... > 214S
Safety from large strikes. Sets up a shield. If the servant is nearby enough to cover all reversals, this isn't for escaping a string and can just continue as a pressure string. When the servant is further away, the Defend Command makes a shield that can catch larger punishes, particularly good at punishing other routes. Even if the shield is behind Jack-O'. Unlike most options this one costs Command Servant Gauge, but not Summon Servant Gauge.
This is particularly bad against short-range punishes, projectiles, and Overdrives. It comes with substantial risks due to the full counter hit recovery, lack of movement to escape punishes, and the fact the enemy will be able to see which moves are at risk in the first place. While the shield covers her recovery, the opponent is likely to set up a punish against her, using Throw or a well-delayed large strike.
... > 214K
Counter-poke. A fairly effective defensive measure, even without hitting. If the servant is nearby enough to hit the opponent, it's not actually for escaping a string, and can just continue as a pressure string. When the servant is too far to hit, the attack command holds out a hitbox the enemy can fall into during their punish attack. Unlike most options this one costs Command Servant Gauge, but not Summon Servant Gauge.
This is particularly bad against disjoints and invincible reversals, and comes with substantial risks due to the full counter hit recovery, lack of movement to escape punishes, and the fact the enemy will be able to see which moves are at risk in the first place.

Character-Specific Interactions

Below is a list of character-specific interactions between effective punish options and escape methods. Currently only May is listed, but more will be added over time.

  • Assumes optimal combo conversions
  • Assumes perfect execution (e.g. punishing landing recovery, instead of Jack-O' blocking in the air)
  • Assumes normal blocking. Instant Blocking and Faultless Defense largely change all of these.

Key:

  • Safe - Successfully escape into a neutral position or can successfully block the punish without leading into pressure.
  • Unsafe - Receive no damage, but forced into a pressure string of some kind.
  • +X - Near to the opponent with the given frame advantage.
  • Retreat - Specific to the Backwards Dash option. Jack-O' has escaped direct punish but the opponent has continued to chase her.
  • Punish - Can deal damage to the enemy before they can recover, or otherwise force them into safe pressure options.
  • Hit Light - Received a light punish as a result
  • Hit Medium - Received a moderate punish, of a small combo string, or giving stronger okizeme
  • Hit Heavy - Received an extremely damaging punish
  • Unmarked - Same as previously listed outcome.
 May
Escape Route Strikes Throws Meter
2D > 236K Cancels f.SGGST May f.S.pngGuardAllStartup12Recovery19Advantage-8 2SGGST May 2S.pngGuardAllStartup10Recovery18Advantage-7 6HGGST May 6H.pngGuardAll [All (Guard Crush)]Startup16~39 [40]Recovery24Advantage-8 [+8] IAD > j.HGGST May j.H.pngGuardHighStartup12Recovery15Advantage+9 (IAD) dl [4]6SGGST May Mr. Dolphin Horizontal.pngGuardAllStartup7Recovery20 (24 OH)Advantage-3 [2]8HGGST May Mr. Dolphin Vertical.pngGuardAll→HighStartup11Recovery8 (19 OH)Advantage+6 (Airborne) Dash > 4/6DGGST May Ground Throw.pngGuardGround ThrowStartup2Recovery38Advantage- IAD > j.4/6DGGST May Air Throw.pngGuardAir ThrowStartup2Recovery38 or Until Landing+10Advantage- 632146HGGST May The Wonderful and Dynamic Goshogawara.pngGuardAllStartup6+4Recovery55Advantage-31 66.BRC
236[P] > BD Hit Light1 Safe Safe Hit Medium3 Hit Light Safe Retreat Safe Punish Hit Heavy
236[P] > IABD > j.ws.D Hit Medium Safe Safe Unsafe Hit Medium Unsafe Hit Medium +13 Punish Hit Heavy
236[P] > 9 > j.ws.D > j.S Punish Hit Medium2 Hit Heavy Punish Safe Hit Medium Safe2 Hit Medium Hit Heavy Hit Heavy
236[P] > 7 > j.ws.D Unsafe Unsafe Safe Unsafe Unsafe Safe Unsafe Unsafe Hit Medium Hit heavy
    ... > j.S Safe Safe Safe Punish Punish Hit Medium Safe2 Hit Medium Hit Medium Hit Heavy
        ... > IAD Unsafe Unsafe Unsafe Punish Punish Hit Medium Safe2 Hit Medium Hit Medium Hit Heavy
236[P] > ws.S > ws.D Punish Hit Medium Punish +21 Hit Medium Punish Hit Medium +21 Hit Heavy Hit Heavy
214P Unsafe Unsafe Unsafe +35 Hit Medium +37 Hit Medium +35 Punish Unsafe
2D Cancels
236[P] > BD Hit Light1 Hit Light1 Hit Medium1 Hit Medium1 Hit Heavy14
236[P] > IABD > j.ws.D Hit Medium1 Unsafe +10 Hit Heavy
236[P] > 9 > j.ws.D > j.S Hit Heavy
236[P] > 7 > j.ws.D Hit Heavy Hit Heavy1 Hit Medium1
    ... > j.S Hit Heavy Hit Heavy1 Hit Heavy Safe2
        ... > IAD Hit Heavy Hit Heavy1 Hit Light2
236[P] > ws.S > ws.D +18 +18
214P Hit Medium +32 Hit Medium1 +32 Hit Heavy Hit Medium
1 Spacing dependent. Safe if Jack-O' begins further away.
2 It is possible for May to react to the option and punish it, but her initial choice will fail.
3 It is possible for Jack-O' to react to the option and punish it with ws.S.
4 Jack-O' can, on reaction, punish with Forever Elysion Driver (632146P) if she has 50% Tension.

Summary Chart

Below is a chart of the enemy's common punish options, and the general interaction with the escape options. This is simplified to help get an idea across all matchups.

Block-String Escapes
Option Invincible reversal Invincible Overdrive Run up Anti-air Direct punish
236K Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Safe Safe Safe
236[P] > BD Safe Safe Unsafe Safe Safe
236[P] > IABD > j.ws.D Safe Safe Unsafe Punished Safe
236[P] > j > j.ws.D > j.S Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Safe Punished (CH) Safe
236[P] > ws.S > ws.D Safe Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Safe Punished (CH)
214S Safe Punished (CH) Safe Safe Safe
214K (Blockstring) Safe Safe Safe Safe Safe
214K (Frametrap) Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Safe Safe Safe
214P Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Punished (CH) Punished (CH)

Escape Strategy

Primarily, this tactic is critically important for 2D and 236K. For many other moves, there are either gatling blockstrings into safer options (including 236K) or are virtually unpunishable such as 5H. When cancelling off 236K, the situation is generally disfavoured to Jack-O', as she has a lot of ways to be punished badly, and very few ways to score significant gains on a good read, as a result it is important to always consider this position a net loss, and to avoid it where possible. This is especially true for matchups with better punish options. This is especially true on any opponent with an invincible reversal, as this makes 236K immediately unsafe. However, performing this off a blocked 2D is even more dangerous.

For this reason, an opponent's Tension is important to watch. Not only is it killer in the matchup of Ramlethal, Nagoriyuki, Giovanna, and Ky, any invincible reversal becomes difficult to challenge, and the presense of Blue Roman Cancel almost universally makes this punishable without meter of your own. Without a reversal, especially against Chaos and Zato, this situation is substantially safer as the only reason to ever cancel from the 2D is if the 236 would whiff due to FD block, in which case you're likely already safe.

You cannot simultanously hitconfirm 2D into okizeme, and also hitconfirm a true frametrap with 236K. For this reason, you should invariably plan ahead which option you prefer for the situation if you intend to use a raw 2D. Alternatively, by using 2K > 2D, the 2D becomes hitconfirmable, allowing you to simultaneously use optimal okizeme, while maintaining the safer cancel option.

Counter-pokes

Abare

Anti-air

Jack-O's main control on opponents will derive from her grounded tools utilising servants, however she possess an extremely wide assortment of methods to control aerial opponents. The option will largely depend on available resources, servants, and the opponent's position. Unlike most characters, Jack-O' suffers greatly from even blocking air attacks, due to losing any active Servants, making it very important to avoid the situation. To this end it is often valuable to consider the Servant Gauge, as while many of her options provide little combo potential, they can allow her time to build space for neutral, recharge servant gauge, or deploy servants.

5P - Fast, short-range poke. Weak hurtbox, but is able to act faster than any other option, making it versatile at interrupting fast aerial approaches from close-range. Can combo into 6P for a full-screen knockdown, giving very low damage but time to set up servants.

6P - A very safe anti-air. Has full upper-body invulnerability. Among characters' 6P attacks, Jack-O's is especially versatile with an extremely short hurtbox and good speed, leading into knockdowns at full-screen. Low damage reward, but easily sets up more servants.

2S - Powerful anti-air for opponents directly above Jack-O'. Extremely strong hurtbox/hitbox and fast speed, but its extremely narrow range makes it only useful against attacks directly above her. It can provide substantially better combo potential for high damage output, but can be risky against enemies carefully spacing their attacks.

2H - High risk, high reward. It is a disjoint but has overall short range and is very slow, making it very difficult to land against most air-to-ground attacks. Usually better when an opponent jumps at close range. If it lands, however, the damage potential is immense due to its 100% proration and ground bounce.

6H - Jack-O's longest-range attack. Can anti-air from extraordinary distances with complete safety. However, it is very slow and does not cover above Jack-O', making it only useful against distant foes or pre-emptively attacking an opponent's jump. Has virtually no combo potential even on Counter Hit, but will send opponents full-screen to allow time to set up more servants.

Throw Servant (ws.6X) - If Jack-O' is already holding a servant, throwing it provides a very high projectile to disrupt air-approaches. Doing so sets a servant between herself and the opponent, or by comboing with Attack Command (214K) can set an opponent in the corner with a servant for pressure.

Defend Command (214S) - So long as Jack-O' has servants available, Defend Command acts as a low-commitment and very safe anti-air at the cost of Command Servant Gauge. The Defend Command shields are extremely large and able to catch many common air-to-ground attacks. Guard crushing an enemy in the air provides no damage, but gives Jack-O' time to begin pressure safely. Furthermore, the Defend Command has very low recovery time and protects Jack-O' even after her recovery, making it overall low commitment when dealing with highly mobile opponents with unpredictable air-approaches.

Attack Command (214K) - If Jack-O' has a servant at a high elevation, or is currently holding one, the Attack Command acts as an extremely high-reaching disjoint with decent combo-potential. This costs Command Servant Gauge but is easily her most powerful anti-air when the opportunity presents itself. Performing 236[P] > ws.K is functionally very slow, but hits extremely high-up and will defeat almost any normal air-to-ground approach, particularly good against opponents using Superjump.

Air Throw (j.6D/j.4D) - A useful anti-air for all characters, especially against opponents that like to jump into block. Can be somewhat risky as Jack-O' will be vulnerable until she lands and will not have access to her servant commands.

Additional Info

Servant Trajectories

For playing neutral with Jack-o it is important to also know the trajectory of the minions after they have been hit.

236P minion trajectory

  • A
    • 2P,5P,j.P,5K,j.K,j.D
  • B
    • 6P, f.S, c.S,j.H,5H
  • C
    • j.S, 2H*
  • D
    • 2S,5D,6H(1)

2H goes slightly higher than j.S A and B will be the most commonly used for neutral.
Because of this you typically will be using 5P,5K, and 6P to hit the servants.

  • 6P is useful because it can send it a bit further than normal and has fairly fast recovery
  • 5K is jump cancelable which gives you many options and great for setups
  • 5P fastest possible hit and allows you to combo in certain situations

Frame Traps

Unfortunately for Jack-O, exceptionally few of her normals naturally frame trap into other normals, so you're better off utilizing stagger pressure between normals. However, when it comes to cancelling into special moves from normals you will find that 214K or 236K are sufficiently delayed enough to cause natural frame traps. These frame traps are easy to perform, and since both of these special moves can be combo starters given the correct servant positioning, they have the potential for big and easy damage. Be wary of the frame traps based on Tiger Knee specials, as it is possible to accidentally delay them. Also, specifically for j.236K, frame traps involving this move can be beaten by 6P. The same is rare, but possible for 214K/j.214K while the servant is falling. When the servant is floating at their natural height, Attack Command cannot be dodged by 6P (needs testing on all characters).

To explain the significance of the Frame Gaps, certain moves will win or trade based on the size of the gap. Note these only apply if the move in question can hit, so a gap does not always mean it will always fail;

  • 1f - Invulnerability of some sort is required to beat this frame trap.
  • 2f - Throws can defeat this frametrap (throws takes priority over strikes)
  • 3f - Sol's 5K and Chipp's 5P will trade with these frame traps.
  • 4f - Sol's 5K and Chipp's 5P will beat this frametrap, and Giovanna's 5P will trade.
  • 5f - Giovanna's 5P will beat the frametrap, and any character can at least trade with the frametrap.
  • 6f+ - Every character has an option that beats this frame trap. This is the point where a string stops being a frame trap in this game (but can be useful to catch slower options).
String Natural? Frame Gap Difficulty Notes Video
5P > 6P Yes ???f Very Easy Simple gatling.
2P > 6P Yes ???f Very Easy Simple gatling.
6P > 236K Yes 1-2f Very Easy Simple special cancel.
5K > 214K Yes 1-2f Very Easy Simple special cancel.
c.S > jc j.214K Yes 1-2f Hard Tiger Knee special cancel, leads to a free jumping normal overhead and further pressure.
2S > 236K Yes 1-2f Easy Simple special cancel, although it is hard to use this move in a blockstring.
2D > 236K Yes 2f Very Easy With dash momentum it will lose to long-range Throws from  Potemkin,  Nagoriyuki, and  Goldlewis.
j.K > j.214K Yes 1-2f Easy Simple special cancel. j.K whiffs on many crouching opponents, so this is only useful when you know the opponent will be stand blocking.
j.S > j.236K Yes 1-2f Very Easy Simple special cancel.
j.H(2nd) > j.236K Yes 1-2f Very Easy Simple special cancel.
2K > 214K Yes 3f Very Easy Simple special cancel.
c.S > jc j.236K Yes 3f Hard Tiger Knee special cancel, leads to j.214K into a free jumping normal overhead and further pressure.
f.S > 236K Yes 3f Very Easy Simple special cancel.
j.H(1st) > j.236K Yes 4f Very Easy Simple special cancel. Only works on exceptionally tall characters while standing (FA, PO, NA).

6H Range


The second hit of 6H ("6H(2)") applies a chain of hitboxes in sequence, each one is higher up and further away. The below table demonstrates at what ranges this move will work on specific characters and the timings of these hits.

Hitbox number 1 2 3 4 5 6
Total range
(Pixels, 1080p)
307 487 637 787 937 1087
Active Frames 19~20 19~22 21~24 23~26 25~29 27~29
Highest hit on characters
Standing
 Giovanna  Jack-O'
 May
 Chipp
 Sol
 Ky
 Axl
 Milla
 Zato-1
 Ramlethal
 Leo
 Nagoriyuki
 Anji
 I-No
 Chaos
 Potemkin
 Faust
 Goldlewis
None
Dashing  Giovanna
 Jack-O'
 May
 Chipp
 Ky
 Milla
 Ramlethal
 Leo
 Anji
 Chaos
 Zato-1
 Goldlewis
None  I-No None
Crouching None
Additional notes  Nagoriyuki's FukyoGGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A low profiles the entirety of 6H(2).
 Millia's MirazhGGST Millia Rage Mirazh.pngGuard-Startup-RecoveryTotal 26Advantage- low profiles the entirety of 6H(2).
 Potemkin has no dash equivalent.
 Faust can be hit by the 6th hitbox when he is standing while wearing an AfroGGST Faust Afro.pngGuardNoneStartup110 To LandRecoveryAdvantage-.

Notable Interactions

  • Short characters like  Jack-O',  May,  Chipp, and especially  Giovanna are incredibly difficult to hit, even if they do not move. Combined with their relatively fast movement, using it in neutral is therefore extremely risky.
  •  Goldlewis is exceptionally easy to hit, as even when dashing he can be hit from significantly further away, and any attack he has is likely to stand up and be hit, especially given his otherwise poor crouching moves.
  •  Faust with an Afro is particularly exposed. His only benefit is the use of LoveGGST Faust j236P.pngGuardAll (Guard Crush)Startup27RecoveryTotal 48Advantage- which will be hit from 6H easily, and any standing move can be hit from extraordinarily far away.
  •  I-No has an extremely unsafe range against 6H, where it can catch her hoverdash and all aerial attacks, but it cannot be hit by anything grounded, not even Stroke The Big Tree HGGST I-No Stroke the Big Tree.pngGuardLowStartup28Recovery16Advantage-2.
  • Despite appearances,  Nagoriyuki is surprisingly safe from 6H, only hitting at the standard height when standing, and cannot be hit at all during his best movement option, FukyoGGST Nagoriyuki Fukyo.pngGuardN/AStartup-RecoveryTotal 25AdvantageN/A.

Universal Tech

This is all tech that is accessible by some or all other characters, Jack-O' included.

BRC Instant Overhead


Useful Links:

By cancelling a backdash into a forward drift BRC and fast cancel into j.P, Jack-O' can perform a fast overhead attack. On hit this combos into 2K. This is difficult to react to compared compared to jumps and Charged DustGGST Jack-O 5D.pngGuardHighStartup28Recovery26Advantage-10, and is still safe, however has generally lower reward.

On block it cannot lead into a true blockstring due to the immediate landing recovery and lack of blockstun. While it is advantaged, it doesn't avoid invincible reversals.

Executionally this is quite difficult as the window to input j.P is very tight. When done incorrectly, Jack-O' will land before it becomes active.

Advanced Tech

This section discusses a wide range of tech and mechanics Jack-O' has access to. The application of each is largely different.

Misc. Mechanics


These are additional details and quirks about Jack-O's moveset. They either do not provide a vital tactical use or are too specific to be noticed outside precise optimisations.

214PGGST Jack-O 214P.pngGuard-Startup10RecoveryTotal 19Advantage-
  • When one (non-held) servant is available, using Recover Servant will spend 0.86 ~ 1.10 bars less Command Servant Gauge and 1.36 ~ 1.60 bars less Summon Servant Gauge than using Defend Command (214S) or Attack Command (214K), followed by improved recharge rate.
  • If Jack-O' hit a servant before recovering it, and only recovers one servant, it is impossible for her to break-even on the cost of using the command even when accounting for the improved Servant Gauge recharge rate.
  • Due to the loss of Command Servant Gauge lowering the gauge limit, the Summon Servant Gauge restored will often be lower than the potential amount.
214SGGST Jack-O 214S.pngGuardStartup4RecoveryTotal 30Advantage+25
  • On successful parry, the command spends a total 0.24 ~ 0.48 bars of Command Servant Gauge, because the recharge rate is still paused.
    • 0.12 ~ 0.24 bars if only a Held Servant is used.
  • While it is +31 at minumum, it is unlikely to parry on the first frame, making it usually even more frame advantanged.
  • Unlike all other Guard Crush attacks, Defend Command counts for the first hit of a combo. This means its proration and RISC reduction will influence all follow-up attacks.
214HGGST Jack-O 214H.pngGuardAllStartup3+180+25RecoveryTotal 24Advantage-
  • The Defend Command (214S) cannot prevent Jack-O's own Countdown explosion, and it will still hit Jack-O' and the opponent.
  • When the explosion begins, the servants are immediately removed and cannot be interrupted. They have no collision, are fully invulnerable, and do not count as an active servant for Jack-O's Servant Gauge recharge. They will also disregard any further commands issued, including Recover Servant (214P).
632146PGGST Jack-O 632146P Whiff.pngGuardAllStartup10+1Recovery58Advantage-41
  • Opponents in Faultless Defense are only inescapably vulnerable to the first active frame, meaning the move has marginally less effective range against these targets.
236236HGGST JackO Cheer Servant On H Buff.pngGuard-Startup3RecoveryTotal 15AdvantageSee Notes
  • Will not remove a Servant Gauge pause from a servant command issued prior to using Cheer Servant On H.

Unblockable Damage


Jack-O' actually has multiple methods to set up an unblockable. In these setups, Jack-O' prepares a servant to hit the opponent at the exact same moment after she would land Forever Elysion Driver, thereby creating both a Grab and a Strike at the same moment, which forces inescapable damage. However, this can be defeated by certain options.

A correctly executed unblockable:

  • Cannot be blocked.
  • Cannot be safely jumped out from.
  • Cannot be safely backdashed.
  • Can be defeated by invincible reversals.
  • Can be Burst out of.

Strike Timing

The key to all unblockables is the strike component must land during the 2 active frames of Forever Elysion Driver, such that if it lands, they instantly combo into Forever Elysion Driver. Below is a basic list of outcomes based on when the strike lands:

  • Frames 0 or earlier: Strike can be blocked safely.
  • Frames 1~2: Strike combos into Forever Elysion Driver.
  • Frames 3~4: Strike is an unblockable (Up to Frame 5 for Potemkin, Nagoriyuki, and Goldlewis). A Purple Roman Cancel is required to combo.
  • Frames 5+: Strike can be safely jump blocked, but will still hit backdashes. A Purple Roman Cancel is required to combo.

The timing is extremely tight, however having a late strike (i.e. early Forever Elysion Driver) is still preferable as it provides some reward. Even very late strikes can be good, if the opponent is scared of the risk of trying to jump from a well-timed unblockable (the timing is visually incredibly ambiguous, and it is always safer than an early strike (i.e. late Forever Elysion Driver).

One major quirk is that servants move during Forever Elysion Driver's cinematic for 10 frames (this does NOT include its startup and active frames), this means you actually need to time it much earlier than you think. Additionally, since the opponent cannot jump or backdash during this time, they will naturally automatically block it if they're holding back and the servant strikes during this time, so an early strike is never effective.

Unblockable Variants

Countdown Setups:

Countdown
Countdown unblockables utilise the delayed damage of Countdown. This is usually done by entering a setup such that the Countdown has began and the opponent is in a true blockstring until the unblockable, preventing their escape completely.
In most setups, backdashing will interfere heavily, as Jack-O' will fall into her own Countdown. As a result both the opponent and herself receive an 80 damage hit and reset to neutral. This can still be more optimal than her metered combo options, but it makes it extremely low value for general purpose. If the setup in question (of which none have been found for this page) places the servant far back enough to not affect Jack-O', it forces 80 damage, which can be further comboed if Jack-O' had 100% Tension, otherwise it safely resets back to neutral. This also removes all servant gauge, making it explicitly very bad for her pressure immediately after, solidifying it as a round-ending option rather than a pressure tool.
Some advantages include better backdash coverage for midscreen use, and the forced damage is much higher at 80, making it viable even without 100% Tension to combo further.
Servant Bounce
Servant bounce unblockables utilise a bounced servant to land on the opponent at a precise timing, while continuing to travel to catch backdashes. This setup can be done much faster, usually by positioning a servant to be hit, and cancelling off it.
In contrast, this option can never harm Jack-O' in the process, is a lot faster, and does not cost any Servant Gauge at all, making it almost invariably more optimal. However, the damage on backdash is so pitiful that it is rendered virtually useless unless you have 100% Tension to combo further.

Non-Wallbreak FED


An unusual quirk of its range buffs in Battle Version 1.05 is Forever Elysion Driver can now reach an opponent stuck to the wall from a distance where it will not cause a wallbreak, allowing any wall stick combo to immediately lead into a corner okizeme, at the cost of 50% Tension.

While many setups exist for this, the only requirement is the ability to reach a specific position in time to use Forever Elysion Driver. The positioning is incredibly tight. If too close, Forever Elysion Driver will cause a wallbreak. If too far, Forever Elysion Driver will whiff and the opponent will escape the wall.

A good visual guide is the timer. The black arrow at the base of the timer should line up with the back of Jack-O's head.

Corner Okizeme

One weakness of this okizeme is a lack of time to set up servants while also performing strong okizeme. Therefore, this setup is most valuable with either already placed servants, or by setting up servants before using Forever Elysion Driver. Note that because you can Forever Elysion Driver, you need only 14 frames to get an additional servant.

While the pressure can be very potent, unfortunately the wall damage will likely be extremely high, meaning any hit will almost immediately break the wall. With Jack-O's unfortunate lack of "wall slump" combos, this usually makes her reward very low. This is still superior damage to the original Forever Elysion Driver wallbreak, but it largely reduces the potential value that can be earned, unless the opponent remains in the corner for some time. Alternatively, it allows her to spend an additional 50% Tension on a second Forever Elysion Driver, functionally resetting the combo for an extremely high damage reward.

632146P, 236[P] > 9 > j.hs.D > dl j.S.
Servant summon and safejump. The benefit of this string is that it immediately leads into safe corner pressure and blockstrings with a full-duration servant while auto-timing for a safejump, allowing more potential mixups, while being reversal-safe. Despite the seeming lack of mixups at face-value, it directly provides more overall value than a basic strike-throw.
If you lack Servant Gauge to perform this, you can either pick up a servant instead of summoning (same frame-data), or use 632146P, 5P (whiff) > 9 > > dl j.S. The 5P acts as a frame-kill, however it mustn't hit a servant to work, and offers much worse corner pressure options.

Hitbox Nullifying


Useful Links:

When using Defend Command (214S), if the servant is released or picked up on the same frame (input buffering enabled) as the enemy strikes the defend hitbox, the servant will not perform a guard crush, instead the hitbox will be nullified without ending their animation. This can enable a lot of unique punishes.

Usefully, you cannot drop a servant during the Defend Command animation unless this occurs, so you can Defend Command (214S) and rapidly press D until it parries.

This technique is used primarily as an extension of the 236[P] > 214S string, to provide meterless punishes, especially against invincible reversals. The only drawbacks are that you cannot regain Command Servant Gauge, since you did not apply Guard Crush, and moves with very fast recovery may not be easily punished. If you intend to punish with Forever Elysion Driver (632146P) then there is no benefit to this technique.

This technique is utilised in the following sections:

Unscaled Countdown


When using Countdown (214H) under certain conditions it is possible to combo into the explosion, and have the explosion deal the same amount of damage as it would had no combo happened. One example can be found here.

When used in combos this allows a massively increased damage output, as it will deal equivalent to 80 damage, alongside its ability to reset an opponent from Wall Stick and remain in a combo state.

It is not yet confirmed why this happens, or what conditions will cause it.

Fighting Jack-O

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