GGST/Sin Kiske/Starter

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Overview

Starter Guide

Key Moves

Some of Sin's best moves to include in your gameplay:

6P
2K
2S
f.S
236K - Elk Hunt
j.S

6P: Sin's 6P has a long reach and is versatile due to the fact that it can combo at all ranges on both normal and counter hit. Therefore, proper use of this move can change the way your opponent approach's you. By controlling space, you can create opportunities to hit them with your other long reaching moves, such as 2S and 236H - Beak Driver, and increasing the chances of the opponent playing into your hands. If you are new to the game, it is important to look at the hitbox for 6P in order to understand how to use this move. Note from the hitbox that Sin can only be hit by attacks that strike near the knees while his 6P is active.

2K: A quick low poke for approaching with a dash or stopping opponents from dashing in. Gatling into 2D for a knockdown, but if you find that 2D is unreliable try 6H.

2S: Sin's premier neutral poke. Not a low but it has extremely good range and catches low profile moves. Throw this move out behind a buffered Beak Driver (236H)GuardAllStartup16Recovery22Advantage-14 to discourage reckless approaches.

f.S: The compliment to 2S. It loses to low profile and has more recovery, but is faster and larger making it a great whiff punish tool to use against opponents trying to preempt 2S.

236K - Elk Hunt: Much of Sin's neutral is built around the threat of this move, as a long range, low profile, low special it forces opponents to press low hitting buttons to preempt it, or potentially be forced to block. Throw this out (generally followed by the ~K follow-up) occasionally, but being too predictable can be fairly punishable.

j.S: Sin's premier approaching air normal. Once opponents are focused on beating 2S / 236K, 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.S can result in a rewarding CH starter. Be wary if blocked though, as Sin has trouble being plus on jump-ins.

Overall focus on mixing up your neutral between approaching with 2K / Elk Hunt / IAD j.S and playing more reactionary or slow neutral with 2S / f.S.

Important Info About Sin's Specials

Specials Are Punishable ON HIT

Sin is different from most characters in that his special attacks are punishable on hit, with the trade off that he can use a follow up attack after each special which knocks the opponent down. The only exception is Elk Hunt, which gives Sin frame advantage on block.

This mechanic is to incentive Sin to use the follow up attacks to his specials, which knock the opponent down.

The follow up will always hit and knock the opponent down if the first hit of the special lands, with the only exception being if they are out of range of the follow up

Counterplay To Watch Out For

   Sin can be grabbed out of 236K - Elk Hunt.

With a startup of 24 frames, some players can react to Sin's Elk Hunt and grab him before the first hit lands. If your opponent has a hard time reacting to this move and/or does not grab you, then this move is free to spam on them.

   Sin can be hit during 236H - Beak Driver

Beak Driver is a strong keep-out move that can be used to control a lot of screen. However, if the opponent strike's the flagpole during the move's active frames, Sin will take damage. Also, because the follow up moves Sin close to the opponent, do not use it on block because it is minus on block. Instead, utilize the fact that using no follow up keeps your distance to the opponent.

   Sin can be hit during 623S - Hawk Baker

Once Sin is in the air, the opponent can jump up and hit Sin. The follow up to this move pushes Sin slightly away from the opponent, but it is punishable enough to where players can still walk up and c.S you afterwards. Therefore, it is wise to not use this move outside of reversals or combos.

Special Follow Up Attacks

Spending Meter

Using a follow up attack spends 1 bar of Sin's meter. Sin can also use Gazelle Step after each special or follow up, which also spends 1 bar of meter. For these reasons and the fact that Gazelle Step puts you in the opponent's face, you should not get into the habit of always using the follow up attack on-block.

You Can Delay The Follow Up

You can delay the follow up attacks to Sin's specials. This is useful for making it seem like you stopped attacking, but in reality a follow up is coming and you may get a counterhit. However, this "push button and pray for counterhit" strategy can only go so far. You can try conditioning the opponent into taking their turn after blocking specials, which is when you surprise them with the follow up and get a combo. However, due to the fact that Sin's specials are punishable, you will take damage against a player who knows that they can combo you after blocking a special.

Using Mix Ups To Avoid Counterplay

Although the special attacks leave Sin open to being punished, Sin still has Gazelle Step available. Because Gazelle Step is so fast, it allows the ability for Sin to avoid being punished for using a special by using Gazelle Step and then grabbing the opponent. This way, Sin can create a mix up mind game in which the opponent has to guess between Sin delaying a follow up attack and Sin using Gazelle Step to grab the opponent. This is a strong strategy to implement into your game as it creates a hole in the opponents defense, thus allowing you to gain advantage.

Some special's and their follow ups will push you away, and some will move you close. Doing blockstrings and pressure with Sin requires you to know which move does what so you can attempt to always leave yourself in an optimal position.

Knowledge Checking

Not all opponents will know the exact frames they can punish you on. Not all opponents will even know they can punish you after certain blockstrings. It is important to test your opponent and watch how they respond to your moves. Many players opt for a sub-optimal punish because they do not know the exact frames. Use the information gained about how Sin's moves work and their counterplay to take advantage of what your opponent doesn't know and overwhelm them with pressure.

Neutral

Playing neutral as Sin will vary a lot based on the match up and the level of knowledge your opponent has about Sin.

Some of Sin's key moves have an unfortunate amount of counter play built-in, so how much pressure Sin can exert will change based on what the opponent knows.

In general, Sin's game plan is to attempt to control the mid-range to create an opening for him to get in on the opponent and begin pressure.

Without Meter

Without meter, Sin can get in by landing a special attack to knock the opponent down and then use Gazelle Step to be right in the opponent's face when they recover. From there, it is important to extend your turn with plus on block moves like c.S or 6K. Open up the opponent's defense by using a throw as part of a mixup between which follow up you go for while extending your turn.

With Meter

Sin can cancel any of his special moves into a super. This is important to do to make the most out of this character. This trait has certain rules and you should practice it. In the sample combos section of this guide you will see what moves can cancel into what supers.

Using Specials

How to play with Elk Hunt:

Elk Hunt allows Sin to skip neutral by dashing into the opponent's face with a frame advantage.

Due to this move's frame advantage, you can go for c.S or 6K to extend his turn. You can also go for a grab and continue your pressure with a meaty setup.

Practice in training mode by setting the training dummy to grab after blocking Elk Hunt. Use Elk Hunt and its follow up into Gazelle Step, then go for a follow up attack. If you get grabbed, then you timed your move incorrectly. It is important to get the timing down as people will try to challenge your frame advantage, which could result in you getting punish for being at frame advantage.

How to play with Beak Driver

It is important to check for your opponent's awareness of your extended hurtbox during this move by seeing if they punish you. If not, then Sin is free to use this move at a distance to avoid the fact that it is minus on block AND hit.

Beak Driver's long range allows sin to control a lot of screen space when used in tandem with his 6P and Elk Hunt. If the opponent's cannot do the counter play to Elk Hunt, then these 3 moves allow Sin to control the whole screen while staying out of danger.

Converting To Overdrives

Cancelling a special attack into an overdrive requires using Gazelle Step followed by the overdrive. The overdrive must be input so fast that it doesn't even look like the Gazelle Step came out. This technique is called Kara Cancelling. Luckily, the execution of this technique can be mostly by-passed by using the dash macro. The input for Gazelle Step is 66 (forwards, forwards), but using the dash macro counts as inputting 66. Therefore, You can do something like 632146, then input dash macro and HS in quick succession.

The timing for getting the overdrive to come out after a special attack is as soon as you see the move hit the opponent. Inputting it earlier will result in just a gazelle step. Inputting it too late will cause the super to be blocked

If your combo won't make it to the wall, you can end your combo after any move with RTL in order to get to the wall and break it. Without practice, it is easier to do RTL after a normal rather than after a special.

With meter, it is very important to convert into super at any chance. Below are some example combos that show you how to get a super off after some of your most common moves.

Note: Beak Driver + Follow Up can only go into Tyrant Barrel on normal hit.

Hoof Stomp can combo into RTL and Tyrant Barrel without follow up and on normal hit. Hoof Stomp with follow up cannot combo into RTL on normal hit.

Hawk Baker + Follow Up can combo into RTL and Tyrant Barrel. Hawk Baker (NO follow up) can combo into Tyrant Barrel