GGST/Johnny/Starter

	Damage Received Mod
	×0.98
	Guts Rating
	3
	Prejump
	4F
	Backdash
	18F Duration
	1-5F Invuln
	1-16F Airborne
	Unique Movement Options
	Step-Dash (18F), Mist Finer Dash, Vault
	Fastest Attack
	2P (5F)
	Reversals
	That's My Name (11F)

Introduction

Johnny is a mid-range zoner, possessing long-ranged pokes and a unique step dash that alters the way that he approaches neutral. Like most other characters, Johnny is capable of running strong offensive pressure after securing a knockdown, and has a number of ways to open up his opponents with resources or smart setplay.

This page acts as a character overview aimed towards new players who are somewhat familiar with Guilty Gear Strive's mechanics. Johnny's basic neutral tools, character-specific quirks, and some basic setups will be covered. However, if you desire a more complete character guide with more advanced tech, refer to the Strategy Guide.

Though this page will cover several of Johnny's moves in passing, it may not have all of the information you want. Please refer to the Overview if you are unsure of any moves' uses or functionality, as Johnny's kit is quite diverse and has some awkward tools that may require practice to use effectively.

For more information about the character or to ask questions, refer to the Resources page, where you can find the Johnny Discord Server and Twitter hashtag.

Johnny

Neutral

Johnny has a lot of aspects that can make his neutral gameplan fairly unique among Strive's roster. The first of these is his unconventional stepdash.

Stepdash

Stepdash
Not your usual 66.

Johnny cannot run - he has a stepdash, somewhat like Giovanna or Leo. Unlike those two, Johnny cannot cancel his dash into attacks or blocking; once he starts dashing, he can't stop. Johnny has just two options to end stepdash early - he can either Gold Burst or perform a unique dashjump.

Johnny's dashjump allows him to apply his dashing momentum to his jump, sending him flying through the air towards his opponent. Once airborne, Johnny can immediately block or perform aerials with no delay, giving his dashjump a slight advantage over a traditional airdash.

Because Johnny's stepdash cannot be cancelled in neutral, he has to rely on his pokes and normals to keep his opponent at bay (rather than forcing his way in,). He is classified as a zoner, as his neutral gameplan requires him to play more passively until he can secure a hard knockdown. For this reason, understanding the specific role that each of his main normals plays in his neutral gameplan is critical.

Core Normals and Pokes

f.S
A lightning fast, large poke for checking spacing.
2S
Poke that trades speed for lower reach.
5K
Fastest and safest poke to throw out, with low crushing capabilities.
6P
Universal anti-air with upper body invincibility.
c.S
Core pressure normal and blockstring starter.
2P
Fastest mash option for escaping pressure.
j.H
Best jump-in option in most cases.
Mist Finer
Incredibly disjointed poke that is equally unsafe on block.

Johnny has a lot of normals that perform very specific functions - rarely does a button serve more than a handful of purposes, which makes identifying your core neutral options important.

f.S is Johnny's primary neutral tool, offering long reach and an incredibly fast startup at just 9F (this is tied for the fastest f.S in the game!). It's your main way to stop approaches, whiff punish opponents, or check options directly in front of you. Some characters are able to go under f.S via low profile When a character's hurtbox is entirely beneath an opponent's attack. This can be caused by crouching, certain moves, and being short. moves.

2S is Johnny's low poke, offering the same range and a slightly slower startup than f.S, but now able to hit low profile options. This move is a great option to stop opponents from checking your pokes with 6P or to catch certain options like Sol's Night Raid VortexGuardAllStartup15~31 [32]Recovery32Advantage-17 that could otherwise go under f.S.

5K has significantly less range than f.S or 2S, but makes up for it with a much faster recovery time. Some characters like Giovanna or Chipp are able to reliably whiff punish your other pokes due to their long recoveries, so 5K can offer a safer alternative. 5K also has a slightly faster startup than Johnny's other pokes, and has a low crush A move that avoids low attacks. The move might pull your hurtbox up a bit so it avoids attacks that are low to the ground. In games with attack attributes such as Blazblue this is done with Foot attribute invulnerability. property that makes it strong against some low pokes.

6P is your primary anti-air option, as it has upper body invincibility. It can combo into Mist FinerGuardLowStartup7+5Recovery30Advantage-15, making it a viable way to start your pressure on normal hit. On counter hit, Johnny can even start a short combo.

c.S is Johnny's core pressure normal, allowing Johnny to perform blockstrings or powerful mixups on block.

2P is Johnny's fastest mash option, allowing him to call out gaps in pressure or challenge throws on wakeup. It combos into c.S on counterhit for a full conversion.

j.H is Johnny's most reliable jump-in button, reaching low enough to catch late 6Ps after a low airdash and offering high reward when landed.

Finally,

is a powerful whiff punish and frame trap tool, allowing Johnny to somewhat safely poke from a long distance due to its large disjoint. However, all variants of Mist Finer are a staggering -15 on block and highly punishable on whiff, making them uniquely unsafe compared to Johnny's other pokes (which can be Mist Finer Cancelled). Generally, you should only use Mist Finer as a whiff punish or as a confirm off of other pokes.

Okizeme

Johnny's goal in neutral is to secure a hard knockdown and use Deal to set up a future mixup or pressure reset. He has many different tools to do so, but the most common and important ones are listed below. Frame advantage inside of the brackets is the number of frames you have to act after using Deal post-knockdown.

Knockdown	Advantage [w/ Deal]	Notes
`(5K) > 2D`	+42 [+38]	Your preferred knockdown option. Strangely, Johnny gets one frame less from this knockdown if he uses 2K as a starter.
`(5K/c.S) > 2D > SMF`	+50 [+18]	SMF's lack of a special cancel makes it an unfavorable option in situations where 2D > Deal is possible, such as stray K button hits in neutral. Using SMF after 2D is a bad habit, so try to avoid doing it early on!
`(f.S/2S/5H/6H) > SMF`	+50-52 [+18-20]	Almost everything can confirm into SMF on hit, and its respectable +18-20 frame advantage makes it worth going for over combo extensions like RC or Wild Assault in most cases. Using 2S as a starter will give slightly worse oki, but its hard to notice.
`(f.S/2S/5H/6H) > KMF`	+39-41 [+7-9]	If SMF won't reach for a knockdown off of a poke, KMF can oftentimes be a viable alternative. As a rule, KMF also gives Johnny an IAD An air dash performed from a standing position as quickly and as low to the ground as possible from a jump. Done by inputting 956 754, and depending on the game, using a dash macro right after a jump. j.H safejump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. in the corner!
`6P`	+24 [+14]	If not hitconfirmed, 6P can give +24 advantage on its own for normal hit and allow for a card to be safely placed after the special cancel window has already passed. 6P launches opponents quite far, which can make oki quite difficult.
`6P > SMF`	+45 [+13]	Normal hit 6P can give slightly better oki via SMF. Hitconfirming the SMF can be difficult and lead to very different frame advantage (as low as +40 [+8] if done late, which would actually be worse than confirming raw 6P > Deal).
`[5P/2P]xN > SMF`	+46-50 [+14-18]	You will lose 2F of advantage per additional 5P / 2P with only a single press being +50. Generally, its worth doing 2-3 presses to make hitconfirming into SMF much easier when mashing.
Additional Notes: All frame advantage values shown here are for normal hit, not counterhit.

More so than many characters, the strength of Johnny's okizeme depends a lot on spacing; not only does Johnny have to be close enough to initiate pressure, but the card he places down has to be close enough for Turn Up to be effective.