GGACR/Baiken/Strategy

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 Baiken


Neutral

Baiken is usually called a defensive character. This comes from both her strong options when under attack with her Guard Cancels, but also the way she plays neutral in most match-ups. Fending the opponent off, setting the pace of the match, and forcing the opponent to approach her, primarily with Tatami zoning. However some match-ups force her to be the aggressor, usually long range zoners that have no need to approach her. These characters will probably feel more difficult at first but many of them turn out to be manageable if you pick your spots carefully and can unlock her offensive potential with high damage combos and mixup tools like TK Youzansen.


Long Range

At Full Screen to Half Screen distances her options are mostly a mix of setting up defensive Tatami walls for people to run into, and some very fast Instant Air Dash approaches she can try to sneak in when they aren't expecting it. When setting out Tatami's you'll need a bit of space to get through its startup without getting hit, but once its out it provides a lot of active frames covering your recovery and high reward on hit, specially counter-hit.

Notable Moves

  • Air Tatami (j.236KGGACR Baiken j236K.pngGuardAllStartup18RecoveryUntil landing+16Advantage-) - Usually done from Back Jump or Neutral Jump. Doing them lower to the ground close to your landing is safest. If you Tatami too high the opponent may be able to run under the Tatami before it falls and punish you. Hits can often be converted with a dash up far.S>j.D, depending on the screen position and spacing.
  • IABD Tatami (754j.236K) - A retreating Air Tatami. Extremely strong and safe, very hard for opponents to approach, but it does give up screen space, putting you closer to cornering yourself. Ideally prepare some kind of plan for gaining ground or escaping again afterwards if they didn't run into it.
  • IAD Tatami (956j.236K) - A long range approach tool. Covers a lot of ground for it's speed; great for chasing people down. A drawback is the large hurtbox right before she lands can propel you straight into enemy pokes before the Tatami is active. High reward potential on hit. Usually -1~ on block.
  • Kire Tatami (236956K) - The fastest possible version of an IAD Tatami using a buffered TK motion from the ground. Doesn't travel as far horizontally, which can be good for landing just outside of opponents ranges.
  • IAD (j.SGGAC Baiken jS.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup8Recovery19Advantage-) - An even faster approach tool that doesn't expand her hurtbox as much as Tatami, but only connects against standing characters usually. Can lead to very high reward with either j.SPK or j.S canceled into Air Tatami which combos on Counter-Hit. Good at calling out some characters common neutral tools that put them into a standing state, like Ky's fireballs or Eddie's drills for example.
  • Kabari (41236HGGAC Baiken 41236H.pngGuardMidStartup20Recovery15Advantage+2) - A long range but fairly high commitment poke. Not as good as Tatami at walling off approaches, but can be good at targeting people loitering outside your Tatami castle, specially if they take time to try and set things up there. At longer ranges its difficult to capitalize off its frame advantage on block or convert a normal ground hit but it'll probably still get you closer. Its followup can sometimes bail you out of a whiffed Kabari by catching people jumping/air dashing over it.
  • Suzuran (63214KGGAC Baiken 63214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 30Advantage-) - The mid/high Autoguard on Suzuran can let you gain ground and advance straight through some attacks, particularly projectiles. Throwing out GC followups from it is usually very high-risk but Suzuran>Ouren can cover a lot of distance in a pinch. Ouren also has an FRC point during its startup that can fling you across the screen.
  • Dash-Block, with a side of Guard Cancel (661FD, 412X) - Though its a simple universal action to dash then Brake your momentum with FD, Baiken's Guard Cancels make even her safest approach a threat. Many players will be hesitant to throw out attacks that are unsafe to Guard Cancels (particularly Sakura) if you're just sitting still waiting to do it, but some movement can convince people to swing at you, or gain you ground if they don't.

Mid-Range

From around round-start distance to about one character-width away are where her amazing sword normals come into play. A lot of these have very disjointed hitbox to hurtbox ratios as well as great startup and long active frames on some them. This suite of pokes can bully a lot of characters at this range, though Baiken does have some difficulty converting most of them into full combos and knockdowns from midscreen, often requiring meter and the difficult Tatami FRC > Kire Tatami route. Some of the tools you would use at longer distances can still work similarly here, such as Jump Back Tatami and IABD Tatami still being good ways to get some distance away from the opponent, and Dash Blocking to bait people into giving you GC punishes. Other tools like Kabari and Suzuran's usages transform as Baiken gets closer to the opponent.

Notable Moves

  • far.SGGAC Baiken fS.pngGuardMidStartup9Recovery8Advantage0 - A great all round combination of fast startup (9f) for its range, a good disjointed hitbox, 6 active frames, and low recovery (0 on block). Gatlings to 2S which can be useful for pushing people away. Beware this can be easily low-profiled under by things like Sol 2D, I-no STBT and other similar tools. Combos to Tatami on crouching or counter-hit. Combos to FB Tatami on normal standing hit if you're close enough for the first mat to land. Usually buffering either Tatami or Kabari off this will be your best bet if you're fishing for it to hit but with safe/advantageous outcomes on block. Its also jump cancelable which opens up a suite of other opens like advancing with j.H to retreating with Jump Back/IABD Tatami's.
  • 2SGGAC Baiken 2S.pngGuardMidStartup11Recovery9Advantage+2 - Similar to far.S in a lot of ways, but trades some speed (11f startup) for longer range, a lower hitbox, and better advantage on block (+2). Gatlings back into far.S, so you can alternate back and forth to push people away. Has basically the same combo/pressure options as above, but is not jump cancelable. Not a low, hits mid.
  • 5HGGAC Baiken 5H.pngGuardMidStartup9Recovery24Advantage-6 - Just look at this hitbox first. 9f Startup, very fast for an H button, but has only 1 active frame and quite a lot of recovery. Much riskier to whiff than her S pokes, but brings a lot of damage, that crushing hitbox, and better combo options. Combos into Tatami on normal hit, combos into Kabari on Counter-Hit even at max range! Special Cancelable only, no gatlings, no jump cancel. This is the greedy button.
  • 2DGGAC Baiken 2D.pngGuardLowStartup8Recovery13Advantage-8 - Baiken's long range low poke. Very fast at 8f startup, 9(!!) active frames, its jump cancelable which is very rare for a sweep, and it even combo's into Tatami on normal hit. Usually when you poke at someone with this you're looking to catch them standing up, moving around, so buffering it into Tatami is the default. Learning the Tatami FRC combos massively improves reward midscreen, though it converts easily without those in the corner. Has very unusual hit boxes which move across the active frames. The first hitbox can kinda be an anti-air, or at least a deterrent against some low to ground airborne things like I-no's hoverdash and some other hopping-type moves.
  • 6KGGAC Baiken 5K.pngGuardMidStartup12Recovery6Advantage+2 - 6K doesn't have the range of most the other things listed here, but can have some unique uses at a distance. It has 9 active frames like 2D, but a better horizontal hitbox against things advancing into you, so can function as a bit of a wall, along with its low recovery making it not too bad to whiff. Its hitbox also causes it to crush some low attacks since her lower body only has a hurtbox on her back leg. Staggers on CH so its possible to convert hits from quite far away if they run into the boot.
  • Ground Tatami (236KGGAC Baiken 236K.pngGuardAllStartup15Recovery9Advantage-6) - Ground Tatami has 15f startup, which is quite a lot when the opponent is pretty close to you, so why would you risk doing this on its own when you could cancel another normal into it instead? One reason is the counter-hit effect. A fully untechable wallbounce that you can dash up and convert meterlessly into insane reward. The other reasons usually come back to the high active frames, blocking off the ground space for a huge 17 frames. For example Anji cannot Fuujin through this, he has less invulnerability than Tatami is active. The same goes for Slayer's forward dash. Lower active frame normals would whiff through these things, but if you've got the time to get it out Tatami will protect you.
  • Kabari (41236HGGAC Baiken 41236H.pngGuardMidStartup20Recovery15Advantage+2) - At midrange Kabari's vacuum effect and +2 on block start to come into play. This can be a way to start or continue pressure by canceling the longer range normals listed above into Kabari. As you get closer to them your pressure options improve, though IB and FD can have a big effect on the frames here. If you can convince the opponent of your frame advantage and to sit still after Kabari you buy yourself opportunities to dash up even closer where all your offensive options open up.
  • Suzuran (63214KGGAC Baiken 63214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 30Advantage-) - Somewhat gimmicky but usually worth checking an opponents reactions a few times by trying to sneak in to Throw range with Suzuran from poke normals. Its 30 frames total, and just loses if they mash on lows. If they do let you get away with it and/or cant react to it fast enough you either get to Throw them, or if they themselves are trying to throw, specially if they're late, this opens up Suzuran>6K or Suzuran>Neutral Jump j.H>j.236K which leads to a devastating punish on a late whiffed 4H throw mash. If they can react to Suzuran or are predictively mashing against it, you can attempt to call out their attacks with delayed Guard Cancels.
  • j.HGGAC Baiken jH.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup15Recovery0Advantage- - Extremely strong Air-to-Ground attack. Takes 17f to reach its good hitbox so you usually have to commit to doing it while rising through your jump arc, but once its there it stays active until you reach the ground and is very hard for a lot of characters to contest from below. Extremely high blockstun so is almost always plus on block unless the opponent Air IB's it or standing IB's it with a tall hurtbox. How effective this normal is depends a lot on the matchup but against some characters with poor anti airs it can be absolutely belligerent as you can force your way back on top of them at advantage repeatedly, both on its own and from jump cancelable normals like far.S and 2D. Combos into j.236K on high hits, ground normals on lower hits, and Youzansen RC routes in a pinch if you're unsure about height and spacing. Canceling to Youzansen also provides a potential mixup both as a counterpart to land>low and against people Instant Blocking j.H and trying to throw your landing.

Defense

Notable Moves

  • 2KGGAC Baiken 2K.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery6Advantage-1 - 5 frame normal with decent range. Chaining a button such as 5S after is necessary to convert off it, push people away, or start pressure.
  • 2PGGAC Baiken 2P.pngGuardMidStartup6Recovery7Advantage0 - 6 frame normal which chains into itself, letting you mash it repeatedly. If you try to Zakuro a jumpin that doesn't come you'll probably get this instead, which may anti-air or catch their landing.
  • 6PGGAC Baiken 6P.pngGuardMidStartup8Recovery9Advantage-3 - 8 frame anti air with upper body invincibility (frames 1-13). Leads to good conversions on hit, can also be used to counterpoke some buttons with higher hitboxes.
  • 6KGGAC Baiken 5K.pngGuardMidStartup12Recovery6Advantage+2 - 12 frame normal that's throw invulnerable from frames 1-11. Can be used as a risky callout to throws, though it should only really be used against command grabs because its too slow to beat most throw OS'es, and even then jumping is usually more rewarding. Most notably against Potemkin it covers both Potemkin Buster and Heat Knuckle, but so does backdash.
  • j.PGGAC Baiken jP.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup5Recovery10Advantage- - 5 frame aerial, very useful as a reactive air to air option. Also has low recovery letting you act afterwards including with airdash or double jump.
  • Throw - While Baiken's defensive throws aren't as strong as many other characters due to her poor throw range its still a uniquely useful option with its 1f startup. Throwing an opponent into the corner does lead to a conversion that can turn the tables with nice meter build and a set up afterwards.
  • Airthrow - Powerful universal anti air option, airthrowing an opponent into the corner will also lead to a decent conversion. Aim to be slightly below the opponent, and when trying to defensively Airthrow someone falling on top of you its usually preferable to execute it with 4H, going to 4 immediately after jumping so you're blocking while rising.
  • Backdash - 1-9f full invul, 16f total duration. An important option for Baiken as people will often try to force immediate mixup with throw/low/high without putting her in blockstun to avoid dealing with Guard Cancels. Backdash invul can get you out of some of these situations.
  • Suzuran (63214KGGAC Baiken 63214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 30Advantage-) - Command dash with high/mid Autoguard that can be used to go through some gaps in pressure before getting close and punishing with a guard cancel, throw or button depending on the situation. Note that the Autoguard is only active starting on frame 4, so don't try to use this as a true reversal.
  • Zakuro (412PGGACR Baiken Zakuro.pngGuardAllStartup9Recovery32Advantage-) - Anti air guard cancel, very good at dealing with big air attacks that 6P can't handle, and punishing things that recover in the air.
  • Mawarikomi (412KGGAC Baiken 412K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 34Advantage-) Evasive guard cancel, strike invuln from frames 1-24 with 10 frames of recovery after but can be FRC'ed to make it fully invulnerable. Very useful for escaping the corner and situations you cannot contest with other GC's, such as against opponents with Summons to take hits for them. Can sometimes be used to get close to the opponent and punish whiffed strings.
  • Sakura (412SGGAC Baiken 412S.pngGuardMidStartup10Recovery34Advantage-16) - Fast horizontal guard cancel, Baiken's go-to punisher for many things. Normally unsafe on block but its FRC (or RRC) makes it +17, letting you steal momentum from the opponent even if they bait it, or land a big combo if it hit. Vulnerable to fast chains of low attacks, and to low-profile moves that can get under it.
  • Ouren (412HGGAC Baiken 412H.pngGuardAllStartup19~Recovery14+16 after landingAdvantage-15) - Long range guard cancel that flips behind the opponent. Good for escaping the corner and punishing the opponent for canceling into slower attacks. While it does have some invincibility while shes in the air (f14-26), you can still get hit early on during startup; so beware fast gatlings. Also very punishable on block, but can be made safe with RC. High reward on counter-hit.
  • Baku (412DGGAC Baiken 412D.pngGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-3) - Invincible guard cancel, costs 25 meter. Safe on block at only -3. This is your best bet when being pressured by fast strings or threatened with offense that avoids Sakura. Extremely hard for the opponent to avoid. Very high reward on Counter-hit, and can even be linked off on normal hit up close. Can also be continued into a Curse followup for another 25 meter.
  • Tsurane Sanzu Watashi (236236SGGACR Baiken 236236S-1.pngGuardMidStartup7+1Recovery22Advantage-5) - 7+1 frame invincible reversal super. Costs 50 meter. Usually safe on block unless Slashbacked, though its quite easy for the opponent to bait with its small hitbox.

Preemptive vs Reactive use of Guard Cancels

When deciding when and where to use guard cancels, it's important to consider whether you are doing so preemptively or on reaction to a certain move.

Preemptive guard cancels are done in places where you cannot react to your opponent's options such as very fast attacks, or situations where they still have cancel options available that can beat certain guard cancels. Using guard cancels in these situations can still be very strong, but it is essential to consider the risk/reward at play before deciding to do so, understand that it can be a gamble, and that GC's can get you killed if you place them badly. Baku and Mawarikomi are usually the best for these purposes due to their invuln frames.

Reactive guard cancels are done in places where you've had more time to confirm a situation and get more certainty to hit, such as against slower high level moves and moves with no cancel options to play around GC's. The faster your combined reaction speed and GC execution time, the more things will be punishable in this way. Sakura, Zakuro and Ouren are more suited to punishment like this. But remember; just because you can punish something with a GC doesn't mean its optimal! For unsafe moves that can be RC'd, a quick Sakura could hit them before they could make it safe, but if they lack the meter for that, consider just blocking and going for a stronger or more meter-efficient punish instead.

Negative Edge Guard Cancels

Negative Edge is the term used for special inputs where you release a button rather than press it for a special to come out. An example of this would be holding down K, inputting 236 then releasing K to get a Tatami input. This example negative edge tatami input would be written out as 236]K[.

Normally when using guard cancels preemptively, you risk accidentally throwing out a button if you input your guard cancel while outside of blockstun. You can avoid the risk of whiffing or getting counterhit for doing so if you use a negative edge input for your guard cancel instead. This can be especially powerful for buffering preemptive guard cancels behind dashblocking with FD or on wake-up where you can depress buttons while knocked down. Since negative edge guard cancels have no whiff recovery you can buffer other options after the input such as jump, block, or different normals behind an empty preemptive GC, creating flexible option selects at the cost of some up-front preperation time.

Wakeup Perfect Guard Cancel

On wakeup, it is possible to buffer a negative edge guard cancel in a way that makes it come out instantly if you are attacked while getting up. The input is 4121]X[, where X is the button for the guard cancel you wish to use. The end of the input should be done as late as possible, hitting 1]X[ right as you finish getting up.

Because this is done with a negative edge input, this means you are free to input other defensive options selects such as fuzzy jumping (4121]X[~7FD~1) to add even more layers to your defence.

This technique is most useful with Sakura (412S) due to its speed. A perfect instant Sakura is fast enough to even catch level 1 buttons such as Sol 2P without giving them the chance to leave Blockstop to cancel into an invincible move to beat it. Note however that this does not stop Sakura from losing to low profile buttons, so other options such as Baku (412D) may be preferable depending on the matchup, setup and player.

For those fighting againsrt Baiken it can be hard to tell when this is being used due to the nature of Option Selects. Its quite a rare and advanced technique, but if you suspect a Baiken player is using it you can adjust by delaying your okizeme to avoid hitting meaty, running high/low or left/right mix on her wakeup to avoid playing into it, or calling out whatever defensive layers your opponent has prepared after the initial negative edge OS.

Offense

Baiken Pressure Flowchart

Notable Moves

  • 2KGGAC Baiken 2K.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery6Advantage-1 - A fast low, 5f startup, -1 on block. Notable gatlings include 6P, 6K and cl.S. Often used to start offense and when you need something quick to enforce small frame advantage.
  • 5PGGAC Baiken 5P.pngGuardMidStartup5Recovery6Advantage+2 - A fast short range mid, 5f startup +2 on block and jump cancelable. Notable gatlings 2K, 6P, 6K and 6H. Often used for staggered pressure, tick throws, big frame traps into 6K and 6H, and high/low mixup between gatling to 2K or jump cancel to TK Youzansen. It may look unassuming with its short range, but 5P leads into the widest set of options in her arsenal.
  • 6PGGAC Baiken 6P.pngGuardMidStartup8Recovery9Advantage-3 - Primarily valued for its 2 hits giving confirm time and ability to combo into 623P, though the upper body invul can be useful against some defensive options, like Dead Angles. ONLY gatlings into 6K, nothing else, but it is Jump Cancelable on the second hit. Can be special canceled on either hit however.
  • 6KGGAC Baiken 5K.pngGuardMidStartup12Recovery6Advantage+2 - A very important normal with myriad uses. Throw Invulnerable for its entire startup, +2 on block, frame traps when chained into from 6P, 5P and 2K. Special Cancelable with high blockstun, making Kabari and Tatami frame traps from it. Also moves you forward, keeping you closer and counteracting FD somewhat. Its also her only normal that gatlings into 2H, another very important attack.
  • 2HGGAC Baiken 2H.pngGuardMidStartup15Recovery8Advantage+4 - Vacuums the opponent in, +4 on block. Creates one of the best situations to reset pressure without spending meter. The only gatling into this is 6K; normally a true blockstring but can be delayed to create a frame trap. Can be quite rewarding on hit, but since its a stagger state followups will depend on the opponents ability to shake out. Be prepared for IB, FD and Slashback during this move; each changes the situation heavily and require different responses. On IB its still +1, but you'll usually need to be in range for 5f normals to keep advantage there. On FD you probably wont be in range for your 5f normals but you'll be +7 so you can use longer pokes. On Slashback its -6, technically punishable, though difficult to time for the opponent, so blocking or backdashing are your best bet if you do see the SB.
  • TK Youzansen (9623SGGAC Baiken j623S.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup6Recovery15+11 after landingAdvantage-25) - An unreactable instant overhead. 9f startup at minimum height. Allows for true 50/50's from normals with gatlings to lows, like 5P and cl.S. Usually only advisable when you have 50 tension to RC into a full combo, otherwise they can air tech out over you and escape your offense at the cost of only taking a small amount of damage. Very high damage reward with the RC, specially near a corner.
  • Kabari (41236HGGAC Baiken 41236H.pngGuardMidStartup20Recovery15Advantage+2) - A long range special that excels at punishing people for trying to escape your offense. From high blockstun normals like 5H and 6K there is a small gap that can catch mashing, jumping out, and backdashes quite well. +2 on block normally, but beware on IB it becomes -1. Also vulnerable to being low profiled under. Its followup attack, Tetsuzansen creates another very tight frame trap after Kabari, even if they IB. Tetsuzansen is unsafe normally but can be FRC'd for a big +15 frame advantage and better combo conversions.
  • Suzuran (63214KGGAC Baiken 63214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 30Advantage-) - Command Run which autoguards mid and high attacks. 30f total duration, but cancelable into Guard Cancel attacks. Using Suzuran offensively is all about messing with your opponents defensive habits and reactions. The most basic use is just canceling a normal into Suzuran then Throwing them at the end, catching people unaware or expecting something else, though this does leave a big gap for the opponent to contest (particularly with lows which Suzuran wont autoguard) or to throw you first. Beyond this you can use Guard Cancels like Baku, Sakura and Ouren to call out their countermeasures if you have a read on how they like to deal with Suzuran, though a lot of this is quite high risk or expensive on Tension if blocked. The timing of when you cancel Suzuran also matters quite a lot and depends on how quickly they respond to it. For example if they try to throw you out of Suzuran near the end, canceling to Ouren late in the run can move you out of the way and punish their 4H whiff. If they use a quick 2D to hit you out of Suzuran then canceling early into Baku (Strike Invincible) could Counter-Hit them.

Tatami Pressure: Slams and Flops

Ground Tatami (236K) has 15f startup, and then its 24 active frames are divided into two parts:

  1. - The "Slam": Frames 1-6. At this stage the hitbox is wider, but isn't moving yet, so usually if they block this it will be on the first active frame, making it -6 on block. Punishable by some characters depending on spacing, specially with an Instant Block. On hit this part will wallbounce, and on CH its fully untechable, nearly always leading to a combo.
  2. - The "Flop": Frames 7-24. If the Slam did not make contact, the Tatami will start to fall over. At this point Baiken has recovered from the Tatami and is gaining frame advantage the later the Flop is blocked, up to around +12 to +16 depending on spacing and character hurtbox. The properties on hit change in this phase, on ground hit it just causes normal hitstun, while on air hit it'll wallbounce.

Knowing the range at which the Slam whiffs and the Tatami starts to Flop is pivotal, because the situations are very different.

A Slam is usually a tight frame trap with high reward on hit but a negative situation on block, while a Flop is a lower reward pressure reset that gets her frame advantage to run up and continue offense. A Flop spacing can also be a bait for the opponent to stick an extended hurtbox into the Slam and get wallbounced, which kind of gives her the best of both worlds with reward on hit and pressure on block. Flop spacings do create a gap however, which some characters can use to escape or punish the Tatami with invincibility.

Jump Cancels and Air Reapproaches

5P, 6P, cl.S, far.S, 2D and 6H are all Jump Cancelable leading to another more open-ended set of options to vary up your pressure.

  • Baits - Most often by Jump Canceling backwards; you can use JC's to cut off your offense to avoid certain things, like some reversals. While airbourne be ready to react to the opponent and choose from some followup options, such as falling with a Tatami, air dashing back in or air back-dashing away to create distance. JC directly into IABD Tatami can work as a variation on this. Even if the thing you're baiting doesn't come, you may still be able to restart pressure with a Tatami flop or airdash string if they're hesitant.
  • Air Dash - Baiken has an extremely fast airdash with low minimum height and prejump frames, quite difficult to react to. The only problem is that most of her air normals won't hit crouching immediately from an IAD, so we need a few different ways to play around this. If they crouch under an IAD normal you can be punished while falling/landing, specially if you land in their throw range. If you do whiff one and land on top of them you may want to try throwing them first, just in case they weren't ready.
  1. "Confirm" Standing - Okay, you can't really confirm this since they could crouch at any time, but the opponents state as you get near to the end of the blockstring can be a big tell, specially if they're FDing you out and getting ready to make a move, the standing state can imply that they are trying to backdash, holding up to jump, or preparing to use a standing attack. These are often things an IAD j.P or j.S can punish, or at least if they keep stand blocking waiting for something you'll get to restart pressure off your IAD string.
  2. IAD j.H / IAD Delay j.S - These two both fill similar roles, j.H is naturally a slow normal that always reaches the ground, or you can wait to j.S until you're low enough to hit crouchers. j.S has a bit more horizontal range, but less hitstun/blockstun. You're trading off speed compared to IAD early j.P or j.S, making yourself easier to anti-air, but these options can become better if the opponent is conditioned to try to crouch under immediate IAD normals.
  3. IAD / Kire Tatami - The most vulnerable to getting poked as you approach, but the highest reward if you catch them. The spacing for these usually needs a max distance far.S or 6H. They excel at calling out Backdash in particular.
  • Tatami FRC Airdash - Basically the same as the above but way better. Tatami FRC is +18 on block for the Slam, a Flop even moreso. If you want to get back in and keep up the offense this is one of the best ways to do so. Against a standing opponent Tatami FRC IAD j.P becomes so tight that it'll counterhit 3f 5P's like Jam and Chipp. The slower options like IAD j.H become much more difficult to contest, and since this doesn't require a jump cancel you can do it off any special cancelable normal, like 5H and 2S.
  • Just Do It: j.H - Many characters struggle to anti-air Baiken's j.H allowing you to be very aggressive with it in some matchups. Just jumping forward with j.H can be both a type of bait or a pressure reset. If the opponent likes to poke out of your pressure (particularly after FD) jumping over their normal and landing on them is a simple way to take advantage of this. Its usually best to press j.H while rising so it has already reached its strongest hitbox by the time you're falling, and to aim for the center of the character where their hurtbox is typically tallest. Watch out for these standout normals; they seem to have the easist time anti-airing j.H: Ky 6P, Potemkin 6P, Millia 6P, Bridget 6P, Justice 6P, Chipp 6P, Dizzy 2S, Slayer 2S, ABA 2S in both modes and Anji Autoguard 6K/5D. Things like Jam Parry and Robo-Ky 2K Slide underneath can also be problems. Most other characters struggle to react, needing to either guess preemptively or use an invincible DP with a longer motion. On block the situation can vary a lot depending on the height of the character, how soon they stood up to block, and if they IB'd or not. You'll have more frame advantage against shorter characters that have to block it later, while taller characters have less time to anti-air but you'll have less frame advantage. You'll also often be in throw range, specially if they IB, so need to beware getting thrown as you land if you aren't very plus. There are a few things you can do about this:
  1. Cancel to Youzansen - You can special cancel j.H really late, all the way up until you land, and Youzansen's momentum stall will delay your landing so you cannot be thrown. With a delayed enough cancel you create a gap between j.H and YZS that frame traps throw attempts too. Though YZS is still unsafe without an RC, the meterless outcome here can be a bit better than a normal hit since it will Counter-Hit a throw attempt which makes YZS untechable, causing it to knock down. You can of course RC it into a full combo like normal though. It also creates a mixup with land into 2K as a counterpart. You can also use YZS FRC to add more air normals, and even use your air dash or double jump after.
  2. Cancel to Tatami - If your j.H is blocked very early, like when it connects on the top of the head against tall characters, you may have time to get a Tatami cancel out before you land, which frame traps mashing, keeps you out of throw range, and gives you a stable +2 advantage on landing. This can be difficult to confirm if they stand up late however, and if you start the Tatami too late it won't complete before landing and be highly punishable. Justice, Testament, Johnny, Potemkin, Venom, Slayer, Anji, Dizzy, Eddie, Sol, HOS, Jam, and I-no are the chars this is fairly consistent on, in descending order of height.
  3. Bait Throw on landing - Jumping again or using 6K on landing to beat throw can be good options if you know you're going to be too close and/or not advantaged enough for a true blockstring, such as if you confirm j.H being Instant Blocked.
  • j.D Kara Tatami - A high-execution technique that stops your rising momentum allowing you to do an air Tatami low to the ground and land quickly. Creates a bigger gap than a ground Tatami but has higher meterless reward, some frame advantage on block, and lets you adjust spacing slightly with different jump directions. See the j.D Kara Cancels section for more information.

j.D "Fuzzy" Mixup

Any time you make a grounded opponent block your j.P, j.K or j.S you have a kind of 50/50 mixup available to you right before you land. j.D is an overhead and stops your momentum, preventing you from landing, so if you do it right before you hit the ground its basically an extra late overhead attack you wouldn't normally be able to do at such a low height. This creates a situation where a j.D overhead right before you land has a similar timing to a 2K low after landing, creating a high/low mixup.

j.D normally wont hit most characters crouching, but by keeping the opponent in standing blockstun with other air normals their hurtbox stays in the standing state even when the opponent starts holding down-back to crouch block, in preperation for your landing low.

Fortunately j.P, j.K or j.S all gatling to j.D and also chain quite freely between eachother. j.P goes to j.K or j.S and they both go back to j.P, so you can adjust your air strings to keep the opponent in blockstun until you're about to land, then go for the j.D or 2K mixup.

You might be wondering if Youzansen can do the same thing and why use j.D over it? On a normal hit without spending meter j.D is far more advantageous, giving a good knockdown with a lot of corner carry. On block j.D is nearly always safe while Youzansen is quite punishable without RC. j.D also has an FRC allowing it to be converted into full combos for cheaper than the 50 Youzansen requires.

Okizeme

WIP

Here is a video that goes over baiken's basic okizeme options: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsURuLB-Zis

Execution Hurdles

Baiken has some commonly used techniques that will take some training to get down when you start with her. Take these at your own pace, don't expect to master Kire Tatami or TK Youzansen overnight, but here are some execution tips for practicing them if you want to. These use quite rare motions that even experienced fighting game players may not have run into in other games.

Suzuran>Zakuro

  • 63214K~412P

Baiken's Suzuran command run is cancelable into her Guard Cancel attacks without having blocked anything, so you can use this motion to access them from neutral and in combos. Zakuro, her P Guard Cancel is her most used combo ender, giving a good knockdown with time for a setup.

Tips:

  • You can re-use the 4 input by staying there after finishing the Suzuran, then going from back to down to finish the Zakuro.
  • Most commonly you'll be doing this from 6P's second hit. You can prepare the Suzuran half circle motion during its startup and first hit, then press K as the second hit lands.
  • Suzuran can only cancel into GC's after its 9th frame, so you don't need to rush too fast to finish the motion while still getting the earliest possible Zakuro.

IAD / IABD Tatami

  • 956 > 236K
  • 754 > 236K

Instant Air Dash into Air Tatami. Frequently used for approach or retreat in neutral and for Okizeme. How these look can vary a lot based on how fast you complete the Tatami motion, particually for forward airdash. The faster you finish it the less distance Baiken travels through her airdash. If you can control the motion timing you can control the distance. Since air backdashes are shorter than forward you have less time to complete the Tatami motion.

Troubleshooting:

  • If you get IAD j.K you pressed K before finishing the 236.
  • If you get jump forward Tatami you missed the IAD, probably by not returning to neutral.
  • If you land before Tatami becomes active you finished the motion too late.

Tips:

  • Get your Instant Air Dashes down consistently first, then start adding Tatami motions.
  • Take it slow to start, its better to complete the motion slowly than mess up and get an IAD j.K or rising jump Tatami. You'll naturally speed up over time as you get more comfortable.
  • IABD will probably seem harder at first with the shorter dash. Try rolling a half circle forward from 4 after the backdash, like 7541236K.
  • Air Dashes have some start-up before you can act, if you can buffer the 236 motion in this window you can get very fast, short IAD Tatami's, comparable to Kire.

Kire Tatami

  • 236956K

A TK IAD Tatami, where you pre-buffer the 236 beforehand so you can get the shortest, fastest possible airdash. The difficulty here is mostly with completing the whole command on time, because once your 236 motion is finished you're on a timer to reach the point where you can hit K to complete it before it falls out of the input buffer. You also can't hit K too early during Airdash startup. As a side effect of this motion you'll usually get a Superjump Airdash, this is fine and doesn't really make any difference besides the visual afterimages.

Troubleshooting:

  • If you get IAD j.K your 236 motion probably fell out of the buffer because you took too long to finish the command.
  • If you get an empty IAD with no attack you probably hit K during Airdash startup.
  • If you get TK Tatami you missed the IAD, probably by not returning to neutral.

Tips:

  • The faster you get through 2369 the better because it buys you more time to finish before the motion falls out of buffer.
  • Getting a feel for when Airdash startup is over is crucial to timing your K, you want it as soon as possible but not so early it gets lost in that startup.

TK Youzansen

  • 6239S
  • 6923S
  • 6321473S Stick Method

An instant overhead, powerful unreactable mixup tool, leads to big combos with RC. Can hit every crouching character in the game but some are stricter than others. There are two different ways to use this and the execution will feel a little different for each.

First is raw from a neutral state on the ground. In this case there is nothing stopping you from jumping immediately. Baiken has 3 pre-jump frames then begins rising, which you want to keep to a minimum, getting Youzansen as low as possible. The 6239 "true TK" input is usually ideal for this, as you prepare the whole motion before your jump, only needing to press the S button after leaving the ground. Getting minimum height with a 6923 method without any buffer is extremely difficult to finish the 23S of the motion before she gets too high.

Second is from jump cancels, such as 5P and cl.S. Here your jump wont start until the hitstop of your normal has finished. This has a couple considerations depending on the input method. For 6239 you may need to delay your motion a little for hitstop to end so the 623 doesn't fall out of the buffer before you can get off the ground. On the other hand it can help out a method like 6923, because your Jump input can be buffered during hitstop, allowing you to move on to finishing the 23S in time to still get a minimum height Youzansen.

Troubleshooting:

  • If you get j.S you either didn't complete the motion properly or it fell out of the buffer before you hit S.
  • If when Jump Canceling you get 5S or 2S, you hit S too soon before you could get off the ground.
  • If you get Youzansen but whiff over a crouching opponent you hit S too late.

Tips:

  • Practicing on the shorter characters is a good habit to make sure you're getting Youzansen low enough to work on everyone. Crouching Zappa, Faust and Millia are the strictest to land it on.
  • There are a wide variety of preferences for which motions to use when, and different setups into Youzansen that may influence how you execute this. Try things out and find whats comfortable for you.

j.D Kara Cancels

What is it?

A very difficult one-frame input technique that allows you to alter Baiken's air movement, stalling her from rising or falling for a moment. By Kara Canceling j.D into other actions, mainly FD or Air Tatami, you can transfer the unusual movement of j.D into those actions instead. This special movement only starts occuring on the 3rd frame of j.D, and the kara cancel window ends on the 4th frame, leaving only that 1 specific frame to cause this.


Why does it work?

In this game most normals can be canceled into either special moves, Faultless Defense, or Slashback for some of their startup. This is a form of input lenience to give you more room to execute specials and other inputs with multiple button presses. Typically, most normal moves will not drasically alter characters movement on the first few frames. Those that have movement the developers don't want you to be able to cancel are shifted later to the 4th frame or beyond. There are a few exceptions such as Chipp's j.2K and Faust's j.2K, which have their movement change on the very first frame. These seem to have become intended parts of their moveset through multiple revisions of Guilty Gear, even into Xrd.


What's different about Baiken's? Why is it so hard?

Strangely, this only works on versions of +R starting from the PS3/X360 ports, including later versions based on those, such as Steam and Switch. It DOES NOT WORK on the Arcade Version. This has led the community to believe it is some kind of side effect of the porting process. It is likely so difficult because it's an unintended bug.

Baiken is also not the only character affected. Kliff and May have similar j.D's with special movement on the 3rd frame.


How do I execute it exactly?

Press j.D, wait 1 frame, then input your cancel on the next frame.
For Kara Tatami this is performed as 236D~K.

Total: 3

D~K (or FD or SB)

This is similar to what is often called a Plink or Piano type input, but with a small delay in between. Mapping an FD or RC button next to your D button may help with this.

If you're too early, you will just get a normal FD or Tatami without any altered movement. If you're late to cancel, the full j.D will come out (and probably whiff). Only on that one specific frame will you get the unique movement.


What are its applications?

First of all, don't feel too pressured to learn this before any of Baiken's more core combos and execution techniques. It's a very small improvement in some situations, and messing it up is pretty dangerous. Some examples:

  • After a Zakuro knockdown, you could replace a normal neutral jump Tatami with either a j.D FDC then Tatami or j.D Kara Tatami to land sooner, recover faster, and have more frame advantage on block.
  • After a Zakuro knockdown with Baiken cornered, you can do an IAD Kara Tatami to switch sides while landing closer to the opponent than a normal IAD Tatami crossover.
  • IAD Kara Tatami can also be used as an approach to shorten your airdash trajectory, stopping further away from the opponent and possibly baiting their Anti-Air attempts.
  • Jump Canceling normals into low j.D Kara Tatami's can be a strong offensive pressure tool. This creates a bigger gap than canceling a normal into ground Tatami but its plus on block and wallbounces on hit.
  • Many ways to create tricky okizeme setups with j.D FDC by hovering low to the ground, such as low air dashes.
  • Much more to discover. This is still relatively niche tech with a lot to explore if you have the execution for it.

Fighting Baiken

Guard Cancels: Properties and Countermeasures

Zakuro (412PGGACR Baiken Zakuro.pngGuardAllStartup9Recovery32Advantage-) - 9f Startup, Anti-Air Guard Cancel. Cannot hit grounded opponents. Zakuro is at its strongest against high altitude, high attack level air attacks with slow or non-existent cancel options, and it doesn't care how good the hitbox normally is or how hard it is for a 6P to anti-air. Even godly air normals like Justice j.H, Johnny j.H and Baiken's own j.H will be punished by this if you use them like in other matchups. To beat Zakuro there are a few different strategies that can be combined to increase success.

  1. - Do your air normal as low to the ground as possible, right before you land. This can sort of "safejump" Zakuro by being below its hitbox before you even put her in Blockstun.
  2. - Use low attack level air normals. This gives her the minimum time to react and execute the guard cancel.
  3. - Use air gatlings/special cancels. Zakuro is not invulnerable and can be stuffed during its startup. Fast chains like j.PPP's are extremely hard to get a Zakuro out between hits.
  4. - Empty Jump. If Baiken is obviously waiting for Zakuro and not ready with some kind of option select or fuzzy timing, Empty Jump throws and lows can be very effective.

The downsides of these options are that most characters have to use weaker hitboxes that are more vulnerable to being Anti-Aired with other options like 6P and Airthrow, but the dynamic is going to depend a lot on the character. Some characters have very strong K or S buttons they can do low to the ground and still beat her 6P. Or the most extreme examples, Sol and Chipp j.H's, which have lower attack levels, built-in multi-hit, and hitboxes that still dominate her 6P.


Mawarikomi (412KGGAC Baiken 412K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 34Advantage-) - Evasive Guard Cancel where Baiken moves forward, passing through the opponent if close enough. Strike invulnerable from frames 1-24 with 10 frames of punishable recovery at the end, though it has an FRC point on frames 21-23 that cuts off the recovery this cost rarely justifies itself over Baku. This can be a very important tool in certain matchups, specially against characters like Dizzy, Eddie, Bridget and Zappa(Dog) where their summons will absorb other GC's, even Baku. When empty on meter Baiken may resort to using this more as an escape against offense that is designed to beat Sakura.

  1. - Use fast, low-recovery offense so you can try to punish her on the other side after you whiff something through it.
  2. - If you have strong tools for shuting down other GC's this will likely be one she falls back on a lot more, though it doesn't directly reward her.
  3. - Keep in mind that it becomes more appealing when Baiken is cornered.


Sakura (412SGGAC Baiken 412S.pngGuardMidStartup10Recovery34Advantage-16) - 10f Startup, Horizontal Stab Guard Cancel. This is likely the GC you will spend the most time worrying about. Baiken's go-to punisher for many things that would be safe against any other character, if you exhaust your cancel options you're probably going to eat this, no matter the frame data. Reward varies from no conversion at all if you mash out of the stagger fast, up to full combos if Baiken FRC's it. The FRC can also make it plus on block, while its normally unsafe. Your best deterrents against Sakura are keeping fast gatlings, jump cancels, and low profiles available as threats, though there are a lot more character specific options that can avoid it in surprising ways.

  1. - Do not "finish" blockstrings that leave you without any options, this guarentees she can punish you even if you're +. Things like Anji's Rin, Sol's Bandit Revolver, or Robo's Horse are very weak against Sakura.
  2. - Its hitbox is a thin line, at just above her waist height, so it can be both low-profiled and hopped over by a lot of character specific tools, including most 6P's and jump cancels.
  3. - Has some upper body invul during startup, but fast chains of crouching normals with low attack levels, P's and K's usually, make it very difficult to get a Sakura out in a gap, specially lows as they make GC execution harder to pull off without getting hit.
  4. - Very unsafe on block at -16, though it does have an FRC.
  5. - Only 1 Active Frame, things with small amounts of Invul can get through it if timed well, like Slayer's Dandy Step or Testament's 2H.
  6. - Can be armoured by moves like Hammerfall or Danzai and parried/countered by moves like Testament's Warrant or Justice's Valkyrie Arc.
  7. - Mash out of stagger fast if you get hit! It only does 30 damage and you can even be plus after getting hit if you shake out as fast as possible. The CH Stagger is longer though.


Ouren (412HGGAC Baiken 412H.pngGuardAllStartup19~Recovery14+16 after landingAdvantage-15) - 20f~ Startup, Long Range, Crossup Guard Cancel. High CH reward, but unsafe on block at -15. Ouren excels in mid-range against enemy pokes, where gaps between hits usually get bigger. Things like Sol 5H > Gunflame, Testament far.S/6K > EXE Beast, Venom 2S/2D > Stinger/Carcass are easily punished by Ouren. Though its a crossup attack, you can use +R's crossup protection while crouch blocking to avoid needing to switch your guard. If you stand up or hold FD you lose that protection and will have to block the other way. Not an overhead despite her going airbourne.

  1. - Avoid midrange pokes into slower specials, Ouren usually destroys these.
  2. - Keep your strings tight, Ouren's slow startup can't get through fast gatlings.
  3. - Crouch block for crossup protection, then punish it hard. At -15 every character can hurt her badly for having this blocked.


Baku (412DGGAC Baiken 412D.pngGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-3) - 11f Startup, Strike Invincible, Force Break Guard Cancel. The god. Large hitbox. Costs 25 Tension, then optionally another 25 for a Curse followup. -3 on block, usually safe. +6 on normal hit, +17 on CH for links into combos without using the followups. I'm not going to cover the curse followups much here because thats a whole other rabbit hole of strategy, lets just talk about how to play around the initial Baku itself. Honestly, there isn't very much counterplay to this move, its extremely strong. The biggest consideration for Baiken around Baku is the Tension cost; she generally doesn't build meter that fast. She has a low base Tension Pulse and usually relies on landing Zakuro's or extended pressure strings to build her meter. She also relies on FRC's a lot for her combos, so Baku is competing with that. It is possible to bait it with Jump Cancels or movement specials like Teleports. Summons can also absorb it for characters like Dizzy, Bridget, Eddie and Zappa(Dog). If Baiken is sitting on a lot of meter and you think you're going to have to deal with some Baku's, you can try to minimize the reward shes getting by not getting hit point blank within her 2K/5P range and not getting counterhit on gatling startups. Curse followups can guarentee her small combos from far away, but they are severely scaled, low reward for 50 Tension as long as you have some life to spare. Do not burst a K-Curse combo unless you're going to die, its scaled 70% and shes in a Tension gain penalty. Millia can also roll under Baku for some reason.

  1. - Very hard to deal with, but Jump Cancels and some movement specials can sometimes get out of the way to bait it.
  2. - Characters with summons can let their minions absorb Baku, this is usually the strongest answer for those that have it.
  3. - Can be parried/countered by moves like Testament's Warrant or Justice's Valkyrie Arc, but cannot be armoured by moves like Hammerfall or Danzai, due to Baku counting as a Super.
  4. - Only 2 Active Frames, things with small amounts of Invul can get through it if timed well, like Slayer's Dandy Step or Testament's 2H.
  5. - Keep her Tension in mind, along with the life values and flow of the match. Baku is expensive, but when she has lots of meter or badly needs to escape a situation its going to appear.
  6. - Minimize her reward by avoiding getting hit point blank or Counter-Hit.
  7. - If you really cant afford to take a Baku or deal with it in any other way, don't put her in blockstun. Try to sneak in throws or raw high/low/crossup mixups.


That last point may actually be one of the most important things of all to think about when fighting Baiken. There is no more concrete answer to GC's than to not give her access to them. Just hit her!

Advanced Guard Cancel Mechanics

  • Blockstop - Baiken can execute Guard Cancels during Blockstop, which is the period of time where both characters freeze when a move is guarded. The length of the freeze is based on the Attack Level of the move guarded, from 11 frames for Level 1, increasing by 1 frame per level up to 15f for a level 5. When Baiken completes a GC motion, she immediately exits Blockstop and begins startup of the Guard Cancel, while the attacker remains in Blockstop. Once Blockstop is over the attacker can then potentially cancel the blocked move into gatlings or specials. Practically, this means that a Baiken player gets more time to react and execute guard cancels on higher level attacks. You could theorize that in a tool-assisted world almost everything would be punishable by Sakura or Zakuro since their total startups are below 11f, but to understand more we need to talk about...
  • Execution Time - Guard Cancel inputs are 412X. The minimum time to input this from standing is 3 frames, or 4f to 1412X from crouching. Practically most players are going to take longer than this. For Sakura to truely "punish" a level 1 attack before the opponent can cancel it into anything else the entire startup must occur during Blockstop. This means pre-buffering the 412 and then pressing S within the first 2 frames of entering blockstop. Meanwhile, on a level 5 attack, Baiken could take 5f after blocking to complete the motion and still punish before Blockstop ends.
  • Reaction Time - On top of time to input the GC we also have to account for reaction time. Is the Baiken player buffering a Guard Cancel on a read; an expectation of entering blockstun? Are they reacting to just having blocked anything at all, or are they reacting to the specific move they blocked, or some combination of context clues? Messing with the expectations and reactions of the Baiken player can be a really big factor in how vulnerable you are to being punished by GC's.
  • Throw Protection - Baiken loses Throw Protection immediately on the first frame of any Guard Cancel's startup, and none have any throw invulnerability. If you can create a setup where you put Baiken in blockstun while you are in throw range and finished recovering, you can create an OS where you throw her if she GC's but get a normal otherwise. Common examples usually come from projectile/summon okizeme, or a deep safejump where you land and recover before a GC can punish.

Tatami Pressure: Slams and Flops

Ground Tatami (236K) has 15f startup, and then its 24 active frames are divided into two parts:

  1. - The "Slam": Frames 1-6. At this stage the hitbox is wider, but isn't moving yet, so usually if you block this it will be on the first active frame, making it -6 on block. Punishable by some characters depending on spacing, specially with an Instant Block. If you get hit by this part, you'll get wallbounced, and on CH its fully untechable, always allowing her to convert.
  2. - The "Flop": Frames 7-24. If the Slam did not make contact, the Tatami will start to fall over. At this point Baiken has recovered from the Tatami and is gaining frame advantage the later you end up blocking the Flop, up to around +12 to +16 depending on spacing and character hurtbox. The properties on hit change in this phase, on ground hit it just causes normal hitstun, while on air hit it'll wallbounce.

For both players, knowing the range at which the Slam whiffs and the Tatami starts to Flop is pivotal, because the situations are very different.
For Baiken a Slam is usually a tight frame trap with high reward on hit but a negative situation on block, while a Flop is a lower reward pressure reset that gets her frame advantage to run up and continue offense. A Flop spacing can also be a bait for the opponent to stick an extended hurtbox into the Slam and get wallbounced, which kind of gives her the best of both worlds with reward on hit and pressure on block.

For the defender, a blocked Slam can be your chance to take your turn if you recognize it quickly and don't let her take advantage of your hesitation waiting for a Flop, while a Flop can be an opportunity to escape or contest in the gap it creates if you know your characters options there.

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