GGST/Universal Strategy

Universal Techniques

Delay Gatlings and Cancels

Once an attack has connected on hit or block, any gatling, special, jump, dash, or overdrive cancel can be performed at any time during recovery. This means attacks can be delayed to any timing you like. This is a critical part of offense, creating delayed attacks means an opponent doesn't know when to anticipate strikes, opening the door to riskier options such as pressure resets, Throws, and mixups. True blockstrings can become frametraps, or be delayed to catch backdashes, or used to defeat fuzzy blocking.

K Normal Cancels: Unlike all other moves, the 5K, 2K, and j.K on every character can only be cancelled from active frames, and not recovery. For example, if a 5K attack has 3 active frames, the maximum delay possible is only 2 frames total. This largely restricts what is possible off K normals for pressure.

This does not apply to Command Normal 6K if the character has one, which can be cancelled at any time.

Unique Special Cancels: A few specials can cancel into other specials. Some specials such as Millia's MirazhGuard-Startup-RecoveryTotal 26Advantage- or Nagoriyuki's Kamuriyuki may only be special cancellable during a specific window. Check the notes on a move for more details on its cancel window.

Instant Air Special (Tiger Knee)

An Instant Air Special is any time when an air special such as Baiken's YouzansenGuardHighStartup9Recovery7 after LandingAdvantage-14 (IAS) immediately from a jump, allowing it to be performed extremely low to the ground. This can be done both in neutral and from a jump cancel, the latter of which allows a slightly different but easier technique.

Universally, this can be performed by inputting the attack's motion, such as , and immediately into a jump , delaying a few frames to allow the jump to occur before pressing the attack button . Done correctly, the jump momentum is cancelled immediately, giving a much lower attack.

Alternatively, if performing a Jump Cancel such as from a c.S attack, you can input thejump cancel during the attack's hitstop, then simply perform the air special's input with the right timing. If the input lacks a ground version, this is extremely simple as the input will perform no action until the jump. For moves with a grounded version, such as Bridget's Stop and DashGuardAllStartup15RecoveryTotal 38Advantage-4, you will need to time the input, or use the other method.

High Jump IAS vs. Regular Jump IAS: Rapid input sequences like can be read as a High Jump, by performing a short crouch before jumping. Some specials are affected by this, as the High Jump gives an unwanted amount of extra height, causing the attack to begin higher and land slower

To avoid this, you will either need to perform the motion slower, giving barely enough time for the crouch to not be a valid High Jump input, or buffer a

crouch input for a moment before beginning the IAS input.

Kara BRC Cancel

It is possible to cancel some moves into a Blue Roman Cancel, specifically if they can be either Jump or Dash cancelled.

Kara BRC Cancel

Medium

Jump Cancel~BRC or Dash Cancel~BRC
Inputting a Roman Cancel instantly as a jump or dash cancel begins will result in a Blue Roman Cancel, as you cannot Purple Roman Cancel a jump or Dash Cancel.

Due to the mechanics of these karas, you can perform a Blue Roman Cancel frame 1, meaning no frame is spent in a prejump or dash cancel state. However, doing so requires a 1 Frame link, otherwise you will Red or Purple Roman Cancel out of the attack being jump or dash cancelled.

BRC Instant Overhead

Useful Links:

Creating Instant Overheads and Mixups with Blue Roman Cancels! - Guilty Gear Strive by rooflemonger

BRC Instant Overhead

Medium

Backdash~66.BRC~j.P or ~j.K
By cancelling a backdash into a forward drift Blue Roman Cancel and fast cancel into a character's fastest air normal (usually either j.P or j.K), a fast overhead attack can be performed, which can lead into a short combo on hit and remain advantageous on block. This is difficult to react to compared to jumps and Charged Dust Attack, however has generally lower reward for its high cost.

4PK FD/AA Option Select

By inputting 4PK as an opponent is above you, you will FD when the opponent hits you from the same side. However when the opponent crosses to the other side, you will automatically 6P. Also works for 6PK, where 6P covers the front and FDing defends crossups from behind. This is useful for when your opponents air options are limited but the side they will end up on is uncertain. For example, Giovanna's Sol PoenteGuardAll, HighStartup{4} 27Recovery21Advantage-5 or Chipp's j.2K.