GGST/Baiken/Counterstrategy

Fighting Baiken

Baiken’s goal is to simply get in on her opponent and apply her strong close range pressure on them. This pressure consists of a wide variety of frame traps and mix ups that are difficult to challenge or block, and leads to massive reward for Baiken on hit. Her strongest mix ups and pressure come from her attaching her Tether on you, which can be done via a throw or if she lands the S versionGuardAllStartup29Recovery15Advantage+3 of her special move Kabari. Unlike other rushdown characters, Baiken doesn’t have fast advancing options. She has low initial dash speed, so her approach in neutral can be linear and predictable. Her health is also on the lower side, making mistakes on her part very costly.

Unique Attributes/Mechanics

Tether

After landing a ground throw or S Kabari, the opponent is connected to Baiken via a rope. Should either character move a certain proximity away from the other, the rope will repel them back toward their respective opponent. After a certain amount of time, the rope breaks automatically. The momentum/movement of the resulting pullback depends on the movement used before the pull took effect. (i.e. simply walking back will nudge characters forward, whereas air dashing backward will swing them directly toward their opponent full speed).

For more information on the tether, its properties, and how it impacts Baiken's playstyle, see the Strategy page.

Round Start

Baiken’s round start is extremely strong. Since she’s a character that can bulldoze you if she gets momentum once, her round start RPS is extremely valuable. She’ll most likely start rounds with f.SGuardAllStartup9Recovery15Advantage-7, as it’s a fast, 9 frame normal that’s disjointed at the tip and difficult to whiff punish. Her 5KGuardAllStartup7Recovery10Advantage-3 is 7 frames and advances her forward. On hit, 5K leads to extremely strong reward, and on block, she can frametrap with 6KGuardAllStartup12Recovery10Advantage-5.

f.S and 5K both lose to 6P, but in response, Baiken could do 2SGuardAllStartup11Recovery19Advantage-8 instead. This has 11 frames of start up, and like f.S, is also disjointed at the tip, so it will actually beat 6Ps at round start. However, this button actually isn’t a low and can be blocked standing. It also has 19 frames of recovery, so it can easily be whiff punished.

She can also use her 2HGuardLowStartup17Recovery26Advantage-13 to catch you if you’re just mindlessly mashing 6P round start. This can also catch backdashes as well, which is some characters’ optimal round start against her strong options. Neutral jumping round start, and then falling with a deep hitting aerial such as a j.H can be a strong option to deal with this. 2H has 17 frames of start up, and if it whiffs, it has 26 frames of recovery, leaving her wide open for a punish. It can low profile a variety of mid height attacks due to the low hurtbox, so don’t rely too heavily on mid height pokes in this match up. During the startup frames, 2H does not fully low profile until the move becomes active, so she can’t use it as a reactive low profile.

She can also catch backdashes with the H versionGuardAllStartup18Recovery19Advantage-3 of her special move Kabari. This special move will pull you in on hit or block, and has a follow up where Baiken lunges forward with a slashing attack. It can be held so that Baiken can pass through the player and cross them up, similar to Millia’s Mirazh special move (More info in the Dealing with H Kabari section below).

To cover aerial approaches, she can use her massive j.DGuardHighStartup12Recovery26Advantage- This is a strong air-to-air option. It’s slightly disjointed, has pushback that halts her air momentum, large range and strong counter hit reward. If the Baiken doesn’t want to gamble round start, they can IAD backwards and use Tatami GaeshiGuardAllStartup15Recovery5Advantage-3 to punish preemptive long range pokes. This is a two hitting move that can also be used in the air as a falling projectile.

Depending on your character’s level of risk/reward against her round start options, it might be best not to challenge her here and instead back off and try to immediately go to neutral instead. Just mix up your options whether you’re challenging or retreating, and don’t rely on the same option every single time.

Neutral

Baiken’s best range is up close. She doesn’t have many tools she can convert with from either mid or long range. Her fastest, farthest reaching buttons are f.S and 2S, both of which are mids. You can walk back freely and backdash or jump on reaction if she tries to get in with her slow advancing 2H. 2H has 26 frames of recovery. If she ever whiffs this, she’s wide open for a punish.

In neutral, the best way to play against her is space yourself just outside the range of her f.S and 2S, intercept her attempts to approach, and move in on her after her approach has been stuffed. As previously mentioned, Baiken’s approach is very linear and easy to deal with, though if you fail to stuff it, it does lead to massive reward for Baiken.You can afford to play slow and reactive.

Her most common method of approaching, and something you really need to keep an eye out for, is IAD-ing in with j.SGuardHighStartup8Recovery19Advantage+1 (IAD), one of the best aerial normals in the game. On hit and counter hit, it leads to a very strong combo with a large corner carry. Keep your eyes open for when she approaches with this, and swat her away using your 6P. For some characters, 6P will always beat IAD > j.S no matter how late you react. Just try not to block j.S if you can. From j.S, Baiken can special cancel into YouzansenGuardHighStartup9Recovery7 after LandingAdvantage-14 (IAS), an aerial special move that can be used on the ground as an instant overhead. She can combine this with her low-hitting normals for high low mix ups during her close range pressure. She can also delay inputting Youzansen after j.S to frame trap in the air. If she doesn’t delay Youzansen after j.S, she is minus, and can be throw punished depending on the spacing. Aside from special canceling into it from j.S, Baiken can also IAD over you and use Youzansen to cross you up. Since Youzansen isn’t disjointed, it will lose to 6P if you manage to time it right after Baiken does the cross up air dash. On the ground, TK Youzansen is very punishable, at -14 on block.

If she has Tension, be wary of Kenjyu (Fireworks Gun)GuardAll (Guard Crush)Startup8+3RecoveryTotal 47Advantage+5 from a farther distance. This is a strong anti-zoning and whiff punish Overdrive where Baiken shoots an exploding ball of fireworks at you. The air version fires diagonally towards the ground. Its main purpose is to help Baiken close the gap from farther distances. It causes a hard knockdown and launches you toward her on hit and a guard crush on block. The explosion from Kenjyu is an expanding one that lasts for 28 frames. Do note that if your character has a fast low profile option (Stun Dipper, Vortex, Stroke the Big Tree) it can be used on reaction to the super flash to dodge the projectile, preventing the bomb from exploding.

Challenging H Kabari

In addition to the aforementioned methods of attempting to approach, another tool Baiken relies on in neutral is H Kabari. This is Baiken’s primary tool for engaging from farther distances, and she can use it to initiate RPS situations from further away. The chain pulls you towards Baiken on hit or block. This move has an optional follow upGuardAllStartup11 [23]Recovery14 (23 on block)Advantage-7 that has Baiken advance forward. If the follow up connects, it leads to a hard knockdown on hit. The farthest she can advance is about a character space beyond the maximum length of the chain.

Baiken can either do the follow up immediately, or she can hold H to cross you up if the chain makes contact with you. She also doesn’t need to make contact with the chain in order to use the follow up. If you’re within range, the immediate follow up will only travel up to point blank in front of you. Otherwise, it will always travel max distance. If you block it, Baiken will be in a guard crush animation, but she’s only -7. After blocking the chain, the delayed follow up is always capable of crossing you up, even at max distance.

Try to avoid blocking H Kabari if you can. From just outside the range of Baiken’s f.S/2S (which remember, is the range you generally want to play at), you’ll always have enough time to jump or backdash out of the way. The chain has 19 frames of recovery, and the follow up has 14 frames of recovery if either of them whiff. You could play footsies within its range to bait it out and punish it with a IAD > aerial depending on the spacing. Just be wary of your position and don’t be predictable with your aerial approach. Remember, Baiken has strong air-to-air options that lead to massive reward for her.

You can also use 6P on H Kabari, which can lead to one of three situations afterwards:

1. 6P clashes with the chain In this scenario, you can immediately use your fastest normal or special to punish her. If the Baiken player anticipates this, this initiates a scramble that’s generally in your favor. In the midrange, Baiken has no fast specials that she can cancel into. The fastest thing she could do is dash cancel into a TK Youzansen. You’ll have to experiment with your character’s options and see if there’s something in your arsenal that can beat her if she tries this. Otherwise, it’s best to back off and whiff punish Youzansen’s recovery instead.

She could try canceling into her normals instead of her specials. f.S will likely be her go-to, but she’ll whiff this depending on the distance, allowing you to punish her during its 15 frames of recovery. If she’s closer, remember, it loses to 6P. Even Potemkin has options he can do post clash with his armored special moves, such as Slide Head. You can’t immediately jump after a clash, so this is a free Slide Head almost all the time. She could opt for 2S instead, but most characters’ 2S is faster than hers. If you have an advancing special move that goes over 2S, like Ky’s Foudre Arc, this will cleanly beat it as well.

2. 6P whiffs

6Ps have the same hurtbox but not the same startup. As a result, some characters’ 6P will whiff as opposed to clash. Always buffer your post-clash options behind your 6P, then block afterwards in case your 6P whiffs. Since some characters’ 6Ps are slower, they are more likely to get whiff punished by H Kabari’s follow up, so bear that in mind.

3. 6P counter hits

The closer you are when you 6P, the more likely you are to counter hit her. If you expect an H Kabari in neutral, try to get as close as you can before you let it rip. Always buffer a post-clash option in case the 6P clashes, and then block.

4P+K OS is a fairly safe way of dealing with Baiken's H Kabari RPS. If she goes for the same side option, or no cancel you will simply stand FD. If she goes for the delayed option you will 6P the crossup and punish.

RPSing with H Kabari on Block

If she lands H Kabari on block, you need to be prepared to punish her follow up option. The chain is -3 on block. Depending on the distance, Baiken can be thrown during either the immediate or the long follow ups. Both you and Baiken have several options that you could do after you block the chain. Wait, and watch for what she does. She could do the H Kabari follow up, press a quick button like 5P, punish you for pressing a button with Hiiragi (Parry)Guard-Startup1Recovery32Advantage- (see the Offense section for how to deal with this) or simply walk back and punish you if you throw or press a button with longer recovery.

Depending on the distance, Baiken can be thrown during either the immediate or the long follow ups. From up close and towards the medium length of the chain, both follow ups can be consistently throw punished. You can mash throw immediately after blocking the chain and it will always catch the follow up. However, always mashing throw is risky, and not recommended. If Baiken doesn’t do the follow up, then you’re wide open for a counter hit punish. Throwing is not the only option you have. After blocking the chain, you could wait and watch for which version of the follow up she does. If she does the immediate follow up and you block it, it’s -7 and can be punished with fast, far reaching normals like 2K or 5K, though this is character and space dependent. If the follow up crosses up, don’t panic. Throwing on reaction is the most reliable way to punish it, but if you’re too late, the throw will whiff and you can get counter hit. Remember: just wait, see which follow up she does (or if she does a follow up at all), and punish accordingly.

It’s also important to note that despite the benefits of Faultless Defense in this match up (which will be explained in the defense section), using Faultless Defense on H Kabari has mixed results. Faultless Defense affects the distance at which the chain pulls you in, and it pushes Baiken further back if you block the follow up. This can actually cause Baiken to frame trap your throws, and if you block the follow up, it can push her back too far to punish it. Your methods of punishing H Kabari will be much more consistent if you don’t use Faultless Defense when blocking it. However, FD does give you more space to attempt to escape her pressure with a delayed jump or backdash. This can be a risky option, however. You’ll have to be the judge of whether or not you want to use FD.

At all ranges of blocking the first hit, depending on your character, the safest play is to walk back and look to throw a cross-up or punish a blocked follow-up, or jump back if you're a character that can just get out of threat range of the follow-up. At max H Kabari range, she’ll likely use the immediate follow up because it can be harder to punish it if it’s blocked. Even if a character has a 5K/2K that’s fast enough and can reach Baiken in time to punish her, she might still be too far to connect it into anything. You can use Drift Red RC to convert into a combo if you have Tension for it, though. At close range, you can simply mash throw during the block stun from blocking the chain in order to beat it. Throwing will also cover both the immediate and long follow up. Because of this, Baiken is a lot less likely to use H Kabari at close range.

Offense

Baiken has unique options on defense to be aware of. One of which is her 4 frame 5PGuardAllStartup4Recovery10Advantage-2, which she can mash to challenge gaps in offense that other characters can’t. You’ll need to keep your offense tight when running your pressure on her.

You need to be wary of her reversal special move Hiiragi (Parry). This is a special move that parries attacks that come into contact with it. Getting hit by this is very dangerous, as a successful parry gives Baiken an opportunity to get in for a meaty c.SGuardAllStartup7Recovery10Advantage+1. She’ll typically opt for this during frametraps or attempts to continue your pressure on her with a meaty. The parry is only active for the first 6 frames of the move. It has 45 frames of recovery and she’s in counter hit state for the entire duration, so she can really be blown up if she’s hit with a move that has a medium-to-large start up time. If she has Burst, chances are this is when she’ll use it, so be ready to Burst bait here. On whiff, Baiken can PRC the parry’s recovery and throw/parry you out of slower or delayed buttons, so be careful when challenging it.

Parry also loses to projectiles and throws. If your character has a projectile, try using that as a meaty as opposed to a regular attack. This will allow you to keep running your pressure. If you don’t have a projectile, you can attempt to meaty her with a long range button. You could do this with Giovanna and her 2D, for example. If Baiken parries a long range attack, it will only force you into a guard crush state. She still has to go through the 45 frames of recovery if she parries a long range attack, and she can’t RC the recovery of the parry at this point, so at best, she’ll reset the situation to neutral. You might even be able to move before she does depending on what attack she parried.

Because of the threat of her Parry, and her ability to challenge stagger pressure with 5P, it’s recommended to delay your frametraps and blockstrings as much as possible to snuff Parry out, especially early in a set when she can’t RC it. Once you show you’re willing to delay your strings by this huge window, she won’t know when to parry.

If she has Tension, she may opt for her invincible reversal OverdriveGuardAllStartup8+1Recovery48Advantage-32. This Overdrive has three hits to it, and on the final hit, she’s -32, leaving her wide open if successfully baited. She can use this as opposed to her Parry if you’re relying on meaty projectiles or long range attacks to continue your pressure. If your character can, you can jump, air dash over, and cross her up on her wake up to protect yourself from both Parry and her reversal Overdrive. Another way to counter both Parry and reversal Overdrive is by using PRC after the startup of your meaty projectile. With this, you can counter hit her if she tries to parry, and you can also defend yourself if she goes for the reversal Overdrive.

Baiken has very few options for dealing with approaches from the air while on the ground. Her 6PGuardAllStartup9Recovery19Advantage-10 is pretty much the only option that can reliably beat air approaches, and even then it covers a specific angle that still leaves her vulnerable from above. Potemkin, Axl and Faust all have aerial moves that require her to be in a sweet spot for the parry to be considered a close range parry. Faust can use j.2K to try and dive towards her feet, so she has to use 6P to try and stop it. Parry can also be used as an anti air option to defend against moves that hit too deep to be countered by 6p, so if she shows that she is aware of this, try to mix up jump-ins with feints to punish.

Defense

Defending Against Close Range Pressure

If Baiken manages to get in your face, this is a very dangerous spot to be in. The best thing to do in this situation is Burst or use YRC and attempt to take your turn back. Up close, Baiken can immediately start putting you in high/low mix ups with c.S or 5K. She can cancel into TK Youzansen or several low options:

She can go into her two-hit 2DGuardLowStartup10Recovery21Advantage-10. She can only special cancel after this, and if you FD just a single hit on her blockstrings, your 6P will counterhit both H Kabari and S KabariGuardAllStartup29Recovery15Advantage+3, and if they use Tatami Geashi instead, you won't get counterhit by the initial hit. Be aware that Blue Wild Assault can be used to counterhit a 6P attempt and catch prejump frames for a full combo.

From c.S, she can go into 2H. However, this option does lose to DPs and invincible reversal overdrives with a 9 frame start up.

She can stagger into another c.S/5K or throw. If she delays inputting dash after either of these buttons, she won’t get a dash cancel, and she’ll dash normally, but she’ll still quickly get in your face for a mix up.

She can frame trap with 6K.

If Baiken ever scores a counter hit, the round is likely over. Not only is she able to do immense damage, but she gets a safe jump afterwards as well. Whenever you’re blocking Baiken at close range, always make sure you’re using Faultless Defense. If you can, try to Instant Block with Faultless Defense, as that will push her out even farther. You can do this during her attempted meaties.

The most dangerous out of all of Baiken’s post c.S/5K options is throw, as a successful throw will allow her to attach the Tether to you and let her run her strongest mix ups. However, using Faultless Defense will push her back farther and give you more time to react if she attempts to dash up for a throw. If you see her dash towards you, time your IBFD so that you’ll defend during her meaty, and then press Dust to throw in case she goes for a grab. You are going to have to just guess high or low when defending against her. If you do guess correctly on when she uses TK Youzansen, if you’ve been using Faultless Defense, you can jump after blocking it to avoid her attempts to repressure you.

Faultless Defense is Baiken’s major weakness, and if you don’t have Burst or enough Tension for YRC, it’s going to be your only hope of getting her off of you. Despite having some decent buttons to control space with, Baiken’s normals do not gatling into another depending on the distance from her and the opponent. This is why she’s particularly vulnerable to Faultless Defense, as it can cause her buttons to whiff. An example would be f.S > 5HGuardAllStartup13Recovery25Advantage-8. While these normally gatling into one another, at close to max range, 5H will whiff. She could gatling into 2H from f.S instead, since 2H is a big, advancing normal. However, it doesn’t combo unless you’re crouching. You could get hit by f.S, and THEN crouch block, and you’d still be able to block this button. You could also just mash backdash after getting hit by max range f.S, and you can dodge 2H that way. This same concept applies to 2S into 2H. Faultless Defense is also essential for dealing with stagger pressure from 5K/6K as well. As long as you’re using it, she’s forced to commit to block strings if she wants to keep you within her optimal range.

Creating distance with Faultless Defense affects not just her mix, but her damage as well. Even if you get mixed, as long as you block the initial mid that she uses to start her pressure with Faultless Defense, she won’t be able to cash out for maximum damage unless she has Tension to Roman Cancel. Just because you guessed wrong, it’s not always the end of the world.

An additional way Baiken can do a high/low mix with 2D and Youzansen is by using Drift BRC after a blocked normal. This can be countered with YRC. Make sure you only input the YRC during the Drift BRC. If you use it immediately off of the c.S or 5K, the BRC will freeze you in the startup animation for YRC, and Baiken can block it and counter hit you if she notices you’ve input it.

Dealing With Tatami Pressure

Tatami Gaeshi is another element to be wary of during Baiken’s close range pressure. It’s generally used to frametrap her unsafe normals. You need to pay attention to the distance between you and Baiken when blocking this move. On the ground, the first hit Baiken lands is -3, but if the first hit misses and only the second hit lands, Baiken ends up slightly plus on block. Any strings that go into Tatami Gaeshi can be back dashed midscreen, though this move is harder to punish since it only has 5 frames of recovery. From the right spacing and timing, this can be punished with drift BRC, and you can score a counter hit on her.

If you use Faultless Defense on strings that lead into Tatami Gaeshi, this will push Baiken out far and cause the first hit to whiff. From farther away, you can counter hit Baiken in between the first and second hits if you have a fast, far reaching button like Nagoriyuki’s 2S or I-No’s f.S. Do NOT mash after the second hit of Tatami. She is plus. If she's close and tries to re-pressure with f.S after blocking both hits of Tatami, you can also mash here as well, specifically since f.S has a 9 frame start up. This spacing can be tricky to judge. Just bear in mind that Baiken essentially has to be in your face in order for you to mash after Tatami.

Tatami after an IAD is an extremely powerful okizeme tool. Its main use is for her auto-timed safe jumps after her H Kabari hard knockdown, letting her continue her pressure after almost any knockdown she gets. However, if Baiken does a combo that ends with ground Tatami, she can’t use it for a safe jump. Instead, she can super jump > IAD into j.HGuardHighStartup15Recovery3 after LandingAdvantage+7 (IAD). From here, she can initiate another high/low mix, by special canceling j.H into Youzansen in the air, or she could land and go for a low option. This is a safe jump, so don't input a reversal here. Instead, look to IBFD or Deflect Shield her j.H safejumps to create enough distance that she can't continue her pressure.

Dealing With Tether Situations

The S version of Kabari as well as a grounded throw attaches a Tether to you. S Kabari has 31 frames of start up, so try and react to it with a jump, or punish the start up if you’re close enough. Just don’t let her attach this to you. On hit, S Kabari will pull you towards Baiken and leave her at a +6 frame advantage. On block, it’ll pull you less than half of the move’s maximum distance towards her, but she’s still +3 on block. With the Tether applied, she can backdash and then be pulled back in by it and hit you with j.S, cross up Youzansen or an aerial Tatami with an altered range. Only Baiken can slingshot like this, even though the Tether is attached to both of you. Baiken can also determine the timing of when she’s pulled back in by the Tether, depending on when she uses a jump normal. This is essentially her win condition, as this is a Millia-esque situation where Baiken can mix you up from just about any direction at any time. She can do a mix up with Youzansen where it can hit either side of you. Outside of guessing which direction to block or using Burst, there’s not much you can do when she attaches the Tether to you. Do not mash, mashing is extremely risky. If your mash fails and you get counter hit, Baiken can convert into very damaging combos.

At this point, there aren’t any reactable options you have. Baiken becomes almost unblockable post-throw. There are no options you need to be aware of in order to make good decisions. Pick a direction and hope that it’s the right one or that the Baiken messes up. You can try and 6P her, but she can jump instead and hit you with a j.H > Youzansen to get around it. Again, it’s best to avoid mashing. If you somehow manage to successfully block a Tether mix up, Baiken has one last chance to continue her pressure. She could also just let the situation return to neutral if she doesn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. She has a few different options:

Dash up and throw, which lets her attempt another Tether mix up
Reset into a button
H Kabari - this is a poor option because she’s up close and can be thrown out of it. It’s best used off of buttons with lots of pushback like 2D.
Tatami Gaeshi - Tatami Gaeshi is the common option here. It leads to great reward on hit, has no risk, but it ends Baiken’s pressure. It stuffs mashing, builds distance, is disadvantageous, but not punishable. Do NOT mash before Tatami. Remember, Baiken is at advantage if ONLY the second hit of Tatami connects. As a general rule in this situation, if both hits land, it's your turn.