User:Symbolist

167 editsJoined 18 June 2022

Strategy

Introduction

SolHandsOnHips.png

An offensive oriented All Rounder, Sol's primary strength is overwhelming offensive power while also maintaining a great toolkit to play in every other phase of the game.

This page is intended to orient you to the primary high level gameplan, offensive structure, and techniques Sol players currently use. This page assumes you are familiar with the basic mechanics of Sol's moveset. Please refer to the Overview if you are not sure how certain moves work. For quick start and beginner level ideas, refer to the Starter Guide.

For additional information, please also check out her Combos, and Resources pages.


To get started on strategy lets take a look at a bird eye view of the current high level play:
Win Roundstart/Neutral Run offense Break Wall Run more Offense Looping Mix Rinse and Repeat
GGST Sol Badguy 2S.png
GGST Sol Badguy fS.png
GGST Sol Badguy cS.png
GGST Sol Badguy 236D.png
GGST Sol Badguy 632146H 1.png
GGST Sol Badguy cS.png
GGST Sol Badguy jH.png
GGST Sol Badguy 236K.png
GGST RedRC.png
GGST Sol Badguy 236D.png
As you can see, we have a strong gameplan once we secure a single touch and link it into a wall break. Sol can become a wall-break looping generator once he has a hint of meter or gets a clean hit into wild assault. While it may be the case that sometimes you are put on defense or don't win round start, Sol can be an insane 'win-more' character once he gets started and has plenty of options from any position on the screen to convert into this gameplan.


Neutral

The strongest situations for Sol are ones in which he can get Close to the opponent and enforce strike/throw mixup, using strong neutral and defensive options to work his way in.

How do we get there? Well, the easiest answer is... simply run in. Of course, this wont work unless your opponent is a training dummy, so... what do we do in neutral?

Well, the answer, is actually to just run in kind of.

We have great advancing speed, and long slide distance. This lets us close the gap with moves like 6S and continue our forward momentum as we do it. We can threaten a lot of space, which allows us to play reactively or aggressively as we please, and using the advancing threat of 6S, we can often take that space and get into range of F.S, even better if our forward movement baits out buttons like 6P that are meant to beat our 6S.

This lets us abuse

The Neutral Triangle

USER SYM NEUTRAL TRIANGLE.png



On Offense, a reactive player might approach via dash blocking, or empty air dashes, looking to take advantage of whiffed buttons.

On Defense, a reactive player might defend your approach by walking back or guarding, looking for you to fail a control of space and whiff punish.



Reactive Moves




On Offense, a preemptive player might be performing moves like Sol 6S to move forward through attacking space to work their way in.

On Defense, a preemptive player would be doing things things like Happy Chaos 2K or 2S to stuff your approach before you can make it in.



Preemptive Moves




On Offense, this can be Sol running deep to F.S the opponent who is looking to react to 6S, taking them off guard.

On Defense, this can mean dash blocking into oncoming moves/empty space, attempting to throw an opponent looking for a whiffed move.



Aggressive moves


USER SYM SOL SWITCH.png

Take note that no player, including you, should be static in any one of these states, the flow of neutral moves between them often, and you have to recognize the shifting in states that your opponent demonstrates. If your opponent, for example, likes to stop your advancing attacks by reacting to your movement with 6P, then a aggressive approach will be useful to call that behavior out, such as sudden Bandit Bringer or dash 2S. This will condition the opponent to your behavior, and next time you IAD they may wait longer, to react to your Bandit Bringer, allowing you to aggressively attack with those airborne moves once again.

This ebb and flow of conditioning is vital to ensuring that you can get into range and enforce your core game plan, because while Sol is still rather good at maintaining neutral control and playing defensively, his strongest tools are located closer to your opponent, within F.S and C.S range.

After utilizing a varied approach, you should be able to close the gap against your opponent either with a soft knockdown or by starting your block string.


TOD Meter

Offensive Approach Pre-Wallbreak

Typically we will be aiming for a C.S pressure string, since this is what gains us the most advantage on block. Since C.S is +3, and F.S is +2, we can utilize these plus frames to intimidate our opponent into blocking long enough to throw. Once they have been thrown, they now might flinch on our block strings or attempt escape, leading to huge damage on C.S, F.S, 5HS. When this doesn't work we will have plenty of meter to work with after pressure strings to go for Bandit Revolver FRC mix.

Additionally, because Sol has a ton of plus frames in his pressure, this can let us continue pressure and reset the opponent as well.

This is when you say to yourself, "Well... theyre still blocking right?" True, true. However, RISC can apply to combos post throw, as well, meaning a throw into a Red RC can also do significant damage, if you've accumulated enough RISC. It adds an implied threat to continued blocking,

This is important as Sol's initial strategy is to induce fear into your opponent during these blockstrings, leading them to ultimately 'flinch'.


The Essence of Stagger Pressure

Since our moves are plus on block, we can excel at continuing blockstrings to build RISC and create riskier situations for our opponent to make them flinch. Not only that, but because our command grab is throw invulnerable, there is a true guess between Throw and Strike that can't be tech'd.

Because they have to guess between a constant throw or strike , our opponents mental stack will be something similar to;

   Will they Reset?
   Will they Throw?
   Will they Frame Trap?

It is important to recognize what the opponents habits are. For you, the reverse of this mental stack is in effect;

   Will they Mash?
   Will they Backdash/Jump?
   Will they continue to Block?
Sol being a good family man and listening


Of course, this is in simplistic terms, as there are a litany of options for the small minutia of any situation. The reward and risk for each of these situations are all different based on RISC, HP, Stage position, Tension, etc. So instead of attempting to diagram each tree and explain them, we will have to talk generally.

Knowing that this mental stack is what is generally on the opponents mind, we can look at options to press our advantage based on what we observe our opponents doing.

For example, you can easily recognize that an opponent who believes you will frame trap them will simply continue to block. They might use FD to space you away. Regardless, they are expecting you to keep pressing buttons. This means that rather than ending your turn by using a negative move, we can press our +2 or +3 situation into further pressure that is favorable for us. Barring that, if the opponent is relentlessly down-backing, then a throw will serve as a reminder that your buttons have an implied threat behind them.

Whiff Punishing and Controlling Your Opponent

It's important to understand that Whiff Punishes are Manufactured, they aren't direct reactions in all cases. For example, in the situation above, we are seeing the spacing created by c.s into f.s on block. at this spacing  Axl 2K will be guaranteed to whiff, so we aren't reacting to just the move being performed, we are reacting to the movement of an expected mash with f.s to punish the move we know will whiff.

To take this further lets take a look at this situation and what an opponent can do when we place them in this situation on block.

SYM USER OPTIONS.png


Waiting...

Blocking

A blocking opponent is presenting to you that they are willing to stay put, and are likely attempting to react to your pressure with one of the other options. Some of the ways you can attempt to prod at this behavior for a reaction are as follows:

  • Continuing your pressure by dashing forward with F.S or C.S.
  • Run up Throw to break their guard.
  • Fafnir to guard crush them and start a throw mix
  • Dashing forward and FD Braking to bait a reaction, such as a Throw or Backdash.
These options all signal to the opponent that you are willing to push your offense, and that they must do something to escape.


Disrespect at its Finest

Advance/Attack An advancing opponent is one that is showing to you that they are willing to try and escape aggressively, either by mashing or dash blocking at you. Advancing doesn't necessarily always mean moving forward, but also includes staying in place while pressing a button. They may be attempting to throw you, or simply 2K/5K you to get them off of you. Some of the ways to defeat this are:

  • React to whiffed moves (such as the Axl 2K shown in the example)to punish mashing out of your strings.
  • Frame trap them with 5HS or Bandit Revolver/Bandit Bringer to punish opponents who are squirming.


Flee!

Back-dashing

A back dashing opponent is likely simply trying to dodge an attack to make an opening for them to mash out. This attempt will directly beat throws, but it won't stop a waiting opponent. Its generally pretty weak since the same way to beat Back-dashing in the corner is also the same way you beat an advancing opponent, which allows us to reduce the mental stack as we look for the opponent's next move.



Move forward, take your space or react to their whiffed move/back-dash to punish them out right.


Take to the Sky

Jumping

A jumping opponent is either trying to dodge a throw attempt or simply take a passive route out of the situation. This is a bit stronger than backdash since they can actively block while jumping except for the prejump frames. Try and stop it by:


  • Throwing them out of their air dash and resetting them.
  • Use a low move to catch them holding up for the jump, such as 2K or 2D
  • Using C.S to take them back to the ground in extended pressure strings.
  • Jump towards them with a button like J.K -> J.D to punish and begin a combo.


Risking Death For Backthrow Wincident

Throwing

Another option the opponent can represent is attempting to tech throws or back throw you into the corner with delayed throws. Its not included on the diagram because doing this to Sol specifically is quite literally throwing, in terms of destroying the game for yourself. By waiting and reacting to the opponent after C.S and C.S->F.S you will bait the opponent into throw techs. This can lead to TODs on C.S CH starter combos. Look for opportunities to bait throws and punish this behavior for Incredible amounts of damage.

There are also niche situations (i.e DPs and Back Megafist) where some of the rules of this are different, but the concept is the same. By utilizing moments of waiting and looking at the screen, Sol can take near-zero risk to react to some of the opponents riskiest options and exploit them. As said, Sol is all about taking advantage of the opponent flinching.

Running Oki

Once you've gotten a hard knockdown, you have the opportunity to continue to run your offense on the opponent's recovery. The most obvious way to start your Oki is with a simple meaty C.S, but, there's a problem there. If the opponent has a reversal, then you'll be risking your momentum to strike with a meaty C.S or Fafnir.

So first, we should separate the cast. Who has a reversal, and who doesn't?
Meterless Reversals (A)
Metered Reversals (B)
No Reversals (C)
Special Cases


Our Oki options are usually going to consist of one of 3 options, with a little variance depending on character match up;

  1. Meaty C.S/Throw
  2. Meaty Fafnir
  3. Safejump

Against Row (A) we will have to almost always safejump when possible, since the threat of a meterless reversal exists.

Against Row (B), we can Usually use meaties. However, we will have to be cognizant of the opponent reaching 50% tension, and switch to using safe jumps instead.

Against Row (C), we will typically exclude safe jumps since Fafnir and C.S build the most RISC and give us an advantageous position for frame traps, throws, and pressure strings.

Take note of the following examples to establish Oki:

Safejumps

One of the most standard safejumps for Sol. Easy to use safejump after throw that can be mixed with a j.S whiff throw reset.

6D > 9IAD > j.HS

Simple and easy.

2D > 214P > tap dash >j.HS or j.S

Nice auto timed safejump off of most CLHVV knockdowns

CL.623HS > 7 > j.P IAD > j.HS

very situational safejump post wallbreak.

Wallbreak -> 9IAD -> j.HS or FDC j.S
One of the most situational parts of playing sol. This safejump only works on the following:

Auto-timed Meaties

Great because they require nothing of you to time them, so you can perform the frame kill and then send the oki easily.

An easy post-throw framekill to hit C.S frame 1 and stop 5f backdashes or less.

6D > 5HS(whiff) > C.S
Great for starting offense while stopping throw mash and backdash.

(Corner Only)Provides a meaty fafnir. Can be Kara'd with 6S to beat backdash.

623HS > 236K (whiff) > 41236HS

Manually Timed Meaties

A little more difficult since they require timing, but usually fill a niche or provide utility unavailable from Auto-timed setups.

(Corner Only)Probably one of the most stable and easy to perform manual setups that helps us stop every defensive option besides reversals. Can hit C.S meaty enough to bait YRC which is an added benefit. Works on basically every hard knockdown.

C.S OTG > F.S(whiff) > Backstep > C.S
Great for starting offense, lets us get up close and immediately add risc/chip damage or remove FD from our opponent. Lets us set up a frame trap far slash or run up throw, and convert into BRC mixups as desired.

Perform a basic Fafnir off most soft knockdowns, for guard crush into strike throw.

EX: 5K or 2K > 2D > 236K, delay 41236H
Great for starting offense, lets us get up close and immediately add risc/chip damage or remove FD from our opponent. Lets us set up a frame trap far slash or run up throw, and convert into BRC mixups as desired.

(Corner Only)Provides a meaty 5HS that clashes with DPs and protects you from mashing.

6D > c.s > step back dl 5HS, buffer 6P or 5HS

(Corner Only)Excellent OS to space-trap 5P abare while maintaining safety against Hiiragi. Loses to 5K.

6D > c.s > dl 5HS




Using Meter

Bandit Revolver FRC


This is the shining jewel of Sol pressure and mix-ups. Why is it so good?

  1. BR is unsafe, so the RC is well spent to keep it safe
  2. It allows us to check for a BR frame trap hit, which leads to a full conversion with the RC anyways.
  3. It's a true high/low mix that is difficult to fuzzy.
This gives us an extra edge behind our metered options, letting us get a decent hit in every once in a while when normal stagger pressure isn't working, or we want to close a round out.


Breaking the Wall


Always Assess the Resources

If you have 50 burst meter and 50 tension then the general consensus is that you should wallbreak with Wild Assault (granted that super doesn't kill) ... the reason being that this gives you the opportunity to keep that meter for mix on the upcoming oki situation. We can use that 50 meter for a safejump with blue RC, or to push pressure with BR mix.

This lets us choose several different mixups to use, or choose to keep it all gapless whiled cranking risc.

Additionally, the opponent is sapped of some of their burst, which lets us run our offense without them being able to break free if we do land a hit. This is apart of creating the wallbreak loop that Sol excels at in Season 3.

When deciding whether to break the wall with Wild Assault or Super, always consider the opponent's resources. If the next hit will win the round, theres no reason to wall break with Wild Assault for example. If you have a lot of meter and only half your burst, it may be more acceptable to break the wall with super rather than use the last bit of your burst.

It takes 8 Seconds to full refill the burst bar after a wall break and gaining positive bonus, and only 4 seconds to gain half, so don't be too stingy with your burst if it means locking down the opponent with mix.


Positive Bonus Offense

Positive Bonus gives us a 10% defense and damage buff plus a huge bonus to our tension gain. It allows us to continually pressure the opponent with gapless strings or mixups as we see fit. It provides us with meter generation that can let us loop pressure that can be both incredibly ambiguous and gapless if we desire. Even if they survive the initial mixups, it allows us to repeat the wall break situation, giving us a 'win-con' that looks more like a 'win-more-con' once it gets started.

After the wallbreak, the input for the safejump brc to maintain mix and be safe from reversals is to dash forward and then input jump -> dash+RC. It sounds simple but depending on how you input it there are a number of ways to mess the buffer up. Practice this a lot as it is a strong way to safejump against dp characters and vs reversal supers

Otherwise we can use iad j.H/fdc j.S to start our pressure with a safejump against 7+2f supers (nago/ram are prime examples) and get started. Also works against ky DP and gold burst.

Depending on how much meter you have built up we can either go directly into mix from here or we can try to do a stagger reset to buy time. One or two staggers in these situations are not exactly problematic in and of themselves, since f.s -> block -> f.s is strong to bait out reversals and we may just end up punishing a whiffed 6p, blocked super, etc and resetting our wallbreak and positive bonus.


From here we'll either decide to keep things gapless or go for mix.

Mix Based Positive Bonus Pressure

Maintain mix while taking some risk

EXAMPLE: 236K > FRC > j.P x2 OR > j.HS (whiffed) > 2K > 6P
Pros:

  • Early opportunities for damage
  • Resets back into wallbreak and loops PB
  • Interaction spots can be pretty limited
  • Maintains the most amount of meter by extending time between RCs slightly
  • Doesn't matter if they're FDing

Cons:

  • Can be reversal'd since there are spots to interact
  • Gapless pros:
  • Gapless, obviously
  • Cranks risc
  • Hard to when you'll go for a mix
  • No gaps = you choose when your opponent is allowed to reversal


Gapless Positive Bonus Pressure

Reduce risk at the cost of mix

EXAMPLE: 236K > FRC > j.S OR > j.HS (whiffed) > 2K > 6P > 236K
Pros: Gapless, obviously

  • Cranks risc
  • Hard to when you'll go for a mix
  • No gaps = you choose when your opponent is allowed to reversal

Cons:

  • Difficult to maintain indefinitely without surplus meter
  • Puts faith in your ability to hit a mix later in the pb string
  • If they FD you're just running gapless offense to scare them, not really adding a lot of value.