GGACR/Faust/Okizeme

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 Faust



General Tactics

What do I do?

Poke from a distance into Item Toss. If you happen to knockdown in the exchanges that result from this, run mix or chill and pressure with meaty 2H on their wakeup.

Where do I stand?

Desired spacing in any given match is usually in a range where you can at least threaten a microdash far.S, even in matchups where Faust doesn't necessarily control of the screen. This allows him, at the very least, to threaten safe Item Tosses that need to be dealt with.

People seem to get in so easily...

Something to keep in mind as opponents approach on the ground, is that playing too reactively with your long pokes can lead to your downfall. You can't stop someone from running in if you try to confirm that they'll be in 2H range before swinging it. Swing your long pokes on a read, and don't focus too much on making sure they land.

The best range to land 2H is at a distance, where it's hard to whiff punish and not liable to be counterpoked/whiff-punished, so it's okay to swing it even if they're not in range yet, should you suspect they might try to run into range in that moment.

If you still want to challenge the front while also being ready to anti-air, use movement alongside faster, tighter options like 2P, 5P, 2K, 5K or a high j2K to hedge your bets.

How do I antiair?

6P

6P is a rewarding, dominant option that can be done at the very last moment provided the spacing is good and the hitboxes line up. Very likely to counter-hit trade in your favour, but won't in problem matchups where the air normal is simply too strong. Look for reactionary opportunities to 6P throughout various matchups, but know that your other options might be far less committal.

Summary: Use this when an opponent is coming in from an angle, or from the front. It tends to work when done later compared to other anti-airs, so it can act as a reactionary option to air approach, instead of one you need to commit to ahead of time.

5K

5K is incredibly hard to contest "from the front", in the sense that it will almost always counterhit trade, at worst, against anything trying to beat the hitbox outright. Characters, generally, must go over or under the hitbox to have a chance at beating it clean. The move has no extended hurtbox during startup or whiff recovery (Only a small, trivial amount on whiff), which is why it feels so dominant. This is a great move to use on prediction when you want to challenge air options.

Summary: Use this when characters approach "from the front". Press this when someone gets to "airdash height" to challenge them without leaving yourself open to punishment.

2K

2K's first active hitbox is disjointed and reaches to the top of the screen. This makes it incredibly strong at anti-airing characters overhead. That hitbox is also jump cancellable. Followups will almost never do that much damage, but the move has very little whiff recovery, and requires a pretty precise juke to beat out, or the opponent already needs to be in your face. If either happens, Faust normally would have access to other options.

Summary: Use this against characters airdashing overhead, or coming down from right above.

Crawl

Crawl (Holding 3) low profiles, this makes it incredibly strong as an anti-air where deep jump-ins aren't being threatened, usually airdash jump-ins. Think of crawl as an anti-air against those situations. Throwing immediately as they whiff their option is generally the most "solid" and fastest option from crawl, but you can often get away with a 2P into grounded punish.

Summary: Use this against airdashes and against moves that don't reach the ground so well.

Airthrow

Try this if you're up against a character whose jump-in options simply feel too dominant to be contested from the ground. Airthrow can reach higher, quicker, than normals in some cases.

Reposition

If someone is getting fancy over head, and 2K isn't reliable, sometimes it's best to try to dash out instead and find a better spot to play Guilty Gear.

Blockstrings

Your goal is to either confirm into Pogo or a j.D ender on hit, or to pull Items on block out of high-blockstun normals. You want to learn to do this from your standard starters, but also counterpokes as well.

Some blockstrings aren't going to be completely tight, or even combo on hit, such as 2P>2H, but that's alright. The item pull you get from such a string is more than enough to give you an advantageous situation.

Heavier moves create more blockstun. With this in mind, Faust 2H and 6H create the most blockstun out of his entire arsenal. It's preferable to cancel into items from these moves, but not mandatory. 5H is the next heaviest attack, while far.S and 2S have their own utility for various reasons.

2K > 5H FD safe string from low.
2K > 2D FD safe string from low, that hits low an extra time. 2K needs to be chained on the last hit for this to combo, as 2K forces crouching on the last hit. Great for challenging people trying to jump out of pressure.
2K > 2P > 2S > 2H The high number of hits and heavier ender makes this really nice for comboing into Pogo > Going My Way in the corner, or ending in Item Toss
5P > 6H Overhead string, great for catching people mashing short, stubby buttons when pressured.
j2K Special mention. Depending on how high this lands (Lower is better), you can be incredibly plus on block. You can do them repetitively leaving only a small, unreactable gap, or you can use the advantage to make use of the options above.
2P > 2H Doesn't combo, but is a great, long, fast starter that leads into a good Item pull. Great for interrupting pressure, great at checking forward movement in neutral. Great roundstart option. You can OS the 2H by buffering it in the 2P so that 2H won't come out on whiff.

See Combos for routes when these hits. The idea is you either launch from 2D, Pogo from 5H/2H, or cancel into Item Toss on block. Cancelling into Item Toss on hit is still fine for beginners just looking to make things happen.

Sometimes, on block, just let the pogo rip anyways, because Pogo is +3 and 66 from Pogo is a 4f attack.

Okizeme

The below is a small summary of the Okizeme section

How do I run offense once I knock them down?

Here's a rudimentary breakdown into three "options". They're not specific options, necessarily, but roughly three categories of moves.

Option A (Shackling Jumps):

2K into 2D challenges attempts to jump out, either on wakeup, or done late into the string as a hedge against tick throws.

Option B (Shackling Pokes and Backdashes):

Frame traps after various normals, threatening to j2K suddenly in pressure, a well-spaced 6H outside of the range of their mashed normal, a sudden cancel into Forcebreak Chop (214D)... These are all quite good at discouraging attacks done on wakeup, or attempted attacks during blockstun as a hedge against sudden throws. Some of these options also challenge backdash simultaneously, based on matchup.

Option C (Shackling Blocking/Reversals):

Once you have them hedging against these two responses (2K vs. jumps and various things vs. buttons/backdash), they can only hedge against both by blocking and playing reactively or by doing something invincible.

Invincible moves are categorically unsafe, and are beaten by blocking outright on offense or using slightly delayed options that involve blocking before attacking when there's a gap. If they're not doing this, they're likely just sitting there watching the screen, this is where you would use Throw or Mettagiri (214H).

Thanks to how throw mechanics work in Guilty Gear, you need to make them hedge against both Option A and Option B for Option C to function well. Should they adjust to you throwing them, or adjust to you playing defensively with delays during your own offense, they'll be back to pressing buttons or jumping as described under Option A and Option B.

This is an oversimplification, but it should be concise enough to get you started.

Defense

Faust lacks a DP or a fast 2P that easily challenges throw attempts, so his options are non-standard on defense. That doesn't mean they're weak, however. What he does have leaves him comfortably top-tier on defense.

Jumping Out of Gaps

It cannot be stressed enough how good Faust's ability to jump out of pressure is. While in some situations you will want to poke out the same way most characters would, jumping as Faust is incredibly powerful. You wouldn't think this, as he has a below-standard 4f prejump, and his rising jump animation leaves a hurtbox far below him as he rises.

However, if you FD just as you leave the ground, you'll cancel your rising jump animation Faust's Air FD animation, which is incredibly small vertically (Instead, becoming wide horizontally), leaving him about as hard to catch as May or Millia in similar situations.

Jumping in this way, you only need a 5f gap to clear almost all low options in the game, while a few frames more will allow you to clear all sorts of moves, provided you "tuck your legs" when rising with FD.

Attacking Out of Gaps

j2K

Along the same vein as jumping, j2K piggybacks on Faust's ability to get airborne easily in small gaps, to the point where you can challenge small gaps with jump, and then divekick them as they whiff their far.S/Low/Projectile/Whatever option. j2K is very powerful when done as a fuzzy jump option, and makes Faust very dangerous to pressure traditionally. Looser stagger pressure that does well against certain characters might not work against j2K, in some cases, forcing characters to favour tighter traps that are easier to block, or sub-standard options that catch him airborne despite his small air hurtbox.

214D, Forcebreak Chop

This is lower-body invuln on frame 1, which makes it an even stronger option than jump in some cases. The move is +1 on block, but you recover in the air quite low to the ground. Double jump into j2K after recovery to really make your opponent sad should they block it. The move leads to full combo anywhere if you manage to hit the opponent with the Coin item at some point during the match.

Use Chop to challenge the smallest gaps in pressure. You can doubletap D to increase your chances of hitting a gap.

Dealing with Instant Air Dash or Sudden Jumps when Pressured

It's not uncommon for a character to do something like 5H > jump cancel > airdash j.S, or 5H > jump cancel > j.H. These maneuvers can catch attempts to jump away, while going up and over low pokes done on defense

In these cases, you can sometimes reaction 2K. If you can't react, or reacting seems unreasonable, try to predict with 2K in those situations. 5K or 6P might be more appropriate depending on the matchup. The key is to press buttons on prediction if you need to, and play reactively if you feel the need to hedge against another option.

Airthrow is technically a faster reactionary option than 2K, if the spacing is available for it, so in some cases it might be more appropriate.

Instant Blocking

Because the above strategies talk about gaps: the larger the gap, the easier it is to make use of the above. Jumping or attacking, all are easier to make use of the larger the gap is.

Get used to IBing before common gaps in order to create more reasonable windows to defend yourself. IB is an 8f window. Sometimes it's easier to hit an 8f IB window into a 5f jump window, than it is to hit a 2f window on it's own.

In short, practice IB > Jump, IB > Chop, IB > j2K, in common situations to increase your consistency and opportunity. Sometimes it's not about frame advantage, but about making gaps bigger so you work less and your opponent has to work more.

Backdash

Backdash is best against options with a decent amount of recovery, that aren't active enough to cover the entirety of backdash invulnerability, the first 7 frames of backdash being invulnerable to strikes or throws. In an ideal situation, you recover before your opponent and guarantee yourself a punish. This is not always going to be the case however, and oftentimes won't be something you get to do on reaction.

That doesn't mean backdash can work against moves that leave the opponent recovering before you do. If a player isn't prepared to punish a backdash, you can oftentimes "ruin" their planned pressure string by causing their normals to suddenly whiff (denying them the gatling they wanted), or by getting hit mid-air during backdash. If a player isn't ready for it, you can escape in situations like these as they make errors.

The Situation After Backdash (and a General Guide to Scrambles)

What are Scrambles?

Scrambles are situations where frame advantage is going to be too arbitrary to figure out in the moment. Players are going to challenge the situation with their fastest options, their safest options or an option that punches through the opponent's offense. Sometimes you'll enter a situation like this post backdash, sometimes you'll just find yourself in from of the opponent at some level of frame advantage. Sometimes you'll be surprised, sometimes you'll see the situation coming.

The options listed below will cover pretty much everything you could look to do here.

This is a little different from wakeup or coming immediately out of blockstun/hitstun, because there's no throw invuln to play with for either player.

Throw

This is probably the most potent and commonly used option after backdash, given that it's the fastest attack you have. If you backdash and your opponent remains within range, a throw is all but guaranteed should they miss their backdash punish.

5P or 2P

Meterless, fast, regains you the offense. If you see an opening from backdash, this is going to be a solid option when you're not in throw range. However, if they press buttons before you do, you're probably going to lose.

For alternative options that can still work even if you "go second", see below.

j2K

Backdash into j2K may seem like an arbitrary option, but this is an incredibly potent option in scramble situations. An opponent pressing a button on reaction to your backdash will be unable to catch you before you leave the ground. Unless they press a button with a fairly high hitbox, you'll go up and over their attack, whiff punishing them for trying to continue their offense. High-hitting options that would work on reaction often have some other inherent weakness (Involves jumping, weak to lows, worse on block, poor gatling options, etc). By threatening to j2K in situations like this, you force them to neuter their own offense.

Forcebreak Chop (214D)

Forcebreak Chop is very similar to j2K in this situation, except it crushes low and mid-hitting buttons on frame 1 instead of frame 5 to 7. It's a lot like a harder-to-contain j2K for 25 bar. The is the penultimate "I'm definitely going second, but I want to challenge you" option.

Jump FD/Superjump FD

Now imagine you thought the above two options were good, but you weren't 100% certain that the opponent wasn't going to punish you for them. Just jumping with FD and letting the situation resolve itself can allow you to escape back to neutral. This is a very conservative option. Because it's unlikely for an opponent to catch your prejump, and FDing something after you get airborne simply returns you to the ground, actually taking damage is unlikely.

FDing here as you leave the ground is important, as Faust's air FD hurtbox is incredibly small.

Blocking/Playing Reactively

Sometimes, backdash is only good for negating a mixup, and might not actually get you out of pressure entirely. You'll run into situations where you might be able to shut down someone's mixup situation, but recover into a projectile or button that you have no business challenging. As you gain experience, you'll be able to recognize these situations.

You can't take damage if you just block and wait for a better gap or opening, but it's important to use it in tandem with the above. An opponent playing around the rest of your options might jump after your j2K or jump FD, they might press something that gives up offense completely, or they might burn their meter on an FRC to hold you in place and dominate the spread of options.

In these situations, blocking and playing reactively will net you all sorts of opportunities.

Anti-air or Crushing Options (6P, 5K, 2K)

Prediction 2K, 6P or 5K can often be a solid challenge to a given situation where an opponent loves to airdash or jump suddenly in pressure and scrambles. First, ask yourself if you need to press it on prediction or on reaction. If you can anti-air such an attack on reaction, as that means you can do it in tandem with blocking, thereby hedging your bets against getting counter-hit unnecessarily.

Having to decide between reactive or predictive play is very common in the Millia matchup, where suddenly instant airdashes are commonplace. This is where pressing 2K, 6P or 5K on prediction can challenge the situation where playing reactively might just lead you to blocking forever or letting gaps go unchallenged.

These moves have the added benefit of being ridiculously disjointed in some cases, so even if they aren't jumping, you might find yourself winning an exchange anyways. This is especially true for 6P.

That's a lot of text, what do I do in the meantime?

Throw them if they're in range.

Block sometimes.

Jump FD or Superjump FD a LOT. It's really good, and really safe. It's like blocking but you get an escape attempt if there's a gap.

j2K is really dumb when done on defense or in small gaps. Forcebreak Chop is even dumber.

If you spy a whiffed option, 2P or 5P into a blockstring/hit-confirm.

Mash 6P sometimes. Preferably 6PH because it's also Throw...

FDC (AKA Faultless Drill Cancel, Faultless Defense Cancel)

Almost all normals can be cancelled in the first three frames of startup into FD (As a leniency mechanic. H buttons excluded so you can't throw someone and FD). Moves like Faust's j2K, which change his momentum on frame 1, take full advantage of this. j2K can be used for the momentum shift and then FDC'd immediately afterwards to change his air momentum abruptly. This works whether he's rising, falling or otherwise.

Why is it good?

  • Juke grounded anti-airs for a punish
  • Line up j.H or j.S to cover air and ground
  • Return to ground faster after jumping over a projectile, or jumping something like Potemkin Slidehead.
  • Run overhead/low mixups that: are hard to react to (or unreactable in some cases); that are plus on block; that lead to good damage when items are involved.

How do I do it?

There's a few ways to "properly input" FDC, so don't worry too much about your key bindings in the outset. You simply hold 1 in the air and press K into FD (Normally using P or S in tandem while holding your K input to finish the motion).

The goal is to press K and S "at the same time but not quite". Valid combinations below

1K~S
1K~P
1K~H

Hold 1. Press and hold K. Press S on the frame after (There's some leniency here, but the window is not just frame). Release S and K.

If you're having trouble, start with 1K+S in the air, pressing both attack buttons at the same time. It's alright to just get plain FD to start. Slowly space the inputs apart until you start FDCing the j2K. Release FD as soon as possible so you can do other things.

The FDC window is immediately after you input K, so if you're getting j2K and no FDC, you're spacing the inputs too far apart.

FDC for Movement

Just using FDC for movement in general is quite important. Sometimes it's better to cut your jump arc short in order to juke a projectile, or to leave yourself in a particularly spicy height to react to your opponent's offense. Very notable in the Venom matchup, where you'll want to do your best to avoid blocking balls if you don't have to.

FDC j.D, the Anti-Anti-Air

When doing from a falling state, this acts as an "anti-anti-air" when combined with his regular falling j.D. You'll use this to save yourself from situations where you find yourself underneath your opponent suddenly, either due to their movement or your own positioning. Less useful against air-to-air options, but incredibly potent at punishing even the most dominant grounded anti-airs.

FDC j.H, Dominate Airspace and Dome Tall Characters

One of Faust's more dominant neutral pokes. Against taller characters (or characters with tall vulnerable boxes mid-attack such as Testament, Johnny, Sol and Dizzy) this move dominates neutral due to its incredibly low whiff recovery. It's weak to forward dashes and moves that can hit "from below" without leaving the opponent vulnerable.

It's an incredibly strong answer to airdashes when done preemptively. Half a matchup in some cases is using jump/superjump rising j.H, falling j.H and FDC j.H in combination to control airspace and force people to play a grounded game you handily dominate.

FDC to Ruin Airthrows

If you find yourself in a vulnerable airstate, you can make yourself quite difficult to airthrow if you alter your air trajectory too close to the throw attempt for the opponent to react. Double jump is much stronger than this, but it's something to keep in mind.

FDC j.K

This gets its own special section because it's a more demanding technique. Essentially you can overhead a crouching opponent quickly from the front using FDC followed by j.K. This gives Faust the ability to mixup the opponent with high/lows, similar to Millia, without having to commit to much. In fact, unlike Millia, you're very plus.

It's not mandatory for running high-level offense, but it's quite strong to create quick, safe and sudden mixups when you have item cover, or simply need to secure the hit.

How fast is it?

The fastest you can technically do an FDC j.K is 15f, but because the sequence is height-sensitive, and contains a "Press, Release, Press" input, getting those speeds usually require tool-assist or a non-standard sliding technique.

Average FDC j.K generally remain in reactable ranges, usually connecting in the 19 to 24 frames, depending on the player. It's highly variable due to the nature of the technique.

What do I get from it?

From the j.K, you can combo into jump cancel j2K, or link after the j.K. There's reasons to do either depend on the matchup, usually something to do with ease of use due to hitboxes, or height of the initial FDC.

It's possible to link a 2H from FDC j.K, but it's a 1f link on crouching opponents.

It seems hard to combo from...

That's because the advantage and connection height of FDC j.K is based on two things:

A) How high you input FDC

B) How quickly

 Faust


Introduction

Being the easiest character in Guilty Gear, Faust has a lot of straight-forward answers to common defensive options. An opponent jumping on defense is easily challenged with 2K>2D (A string of lows). An opponent mashing or inputting backdash can be caught with 6H, j2K and Forcebreak Chop.

Shackling both jumping and pressing buttons means players will sit in block, playing reactively. Once this happens, Mettagiri, Faust's command grab, comes online as a reliable option.

At high-level, Faust has access to FDC j.K: a fast overhead that may or may not be reactable depending on how you input it. Combining this with low options (or empty FDC > command grab) allows for some pretty potent and layered mixups that lead to knockdown or continued pressure with or without items in play.

You do not need FDC j.K to rip open an opponent. It simply sits in stark contrast to his already capable Low/Whiff Punish/Throw game.

If you don't feel comfortable running offense up close, Meaty 2H > Item Toss establishes some incredibly tough situations for opponents to challenge. If the downed opponent's reversal options are too threatening, or you simply don't feel confident in running oki, it's always a strong, and dominant option.


Item Setups Off Knockdowns (Listed in Order of Frame Advantage)

TODO: Reorganize so that categories are by item, then knockdown.

Bomb.

-> Video

-> 2D > Item.

-> Mettagiri.

-> Mettagiri Corner.

-> Throw

-> j.D Knockdown.

-> GMW Knockdown.

Hammer.

Poison.

Tarai.

Meteors.

Coin.

Chibi Faust.

Chibi Robo.

Chibi Potemkin.

Dumbbell.

2D Item Toss (2D > 236P)

This is the most advantageous knockdown timing-wise, and the spacing on items line up favourably for you. Hammer and Dumbbell whiff, but food items are immediately picked up.

Bomb

  • Full conversion off high/low mix.
  • If confirms are blocked, jump cancelling out of the explosion can force an overhead>empty low setup.
  • Off 2D > Item, no Throw Mix without RC or Kamikaze.
Possible Meaty Low Options:
  • 2K(2),2D jc > Air FD (Dodges Explosion) > Pickup (Character specific)
Possible Meaty Overhead Options:
  • FDC j.K jc j2K (Timing is character specific)
  • FDC j.K > 5P,2S jc (Very strict, character specific)
Possible Mixup Opportunity:
  • Fake FDC > non-meaty 2P,2S jc

Washpan (Tarai)

  • Knocks down vs. backdash.
  • Can cover vs. certain reversals.
Possible Meaty Low Options:
  • 2P > Tarai Hits > 6H
  • 2P > Tarai Hits > Dash c.S
Meaty Overhead Option:
  • FDC j.K (No j2K followup). Almost as advantageous as 2P, done correctly.
Safer Mettagiri Opportunity:
  • Tarai covers a whiffed Mettagiri should they try to jump away or poke out.
Mixup Opportunity:
  • Superjump FDC over their head. Land into empty low or falling j.K. Safe from rising airthrow against some characters.
Other Conversions:
  • Chain into 5D off any hit to launch.

Poison

  • Slightly less advantageous than Tarai, but still confers good mixup opportunity. Most setups you can get off Tarai hit, you can get off Poison.
  • Air hits on backdash in some cases. Spacing dependent.
Meaty Options:

See Tarai.

Coin

Thanks to its random trajectory, it will randomly land meaty or bounce in front of the opponent.

If it hits completely meaty, you can't use the hitstun to link into things you couldn't normally.

It's slow enough to eyeball the trajectory with practice. If you see a non-meaty Coin about to connect, you can see the above sections for potential conversions.

Meteors

Off 2D > Item Toss, you'll want to delay as long as you can if you want to combo into Meteors off a ground hit. Meteors positioning being RNG means all the followup pickups can be slightly inconsistent.

Character face-down wakeup timings can play a small part in whether or not these connect consistently.

If you find your confirm hasn't connected, end your pressure just as Meteors comes out to go into a mixup. Mettagiri before Meteors connects is a very fearsome option. You also have a good opportunity for FDC j.K/Fake FDC Low mix, or raw FDC/Low mix if you're fast enough.

Low Conversion:

2K(Last hit, Meaty),2P,2S,2H > Pogo > 2 > Microdash > 236S > Pogo.S > Pogo.H

More Consistent Overhead Conversion:

Meaty FDC j.K > 2P,2S,2H > Pogo > 2 > Microdash > 236S > Pogo.S > Pogo.H

High Damage j2K Conversion:

Meaty j2K > 2P,2S,2H > Pogo > 2 > Microdash > 236S > Pogo.S > Pogo.H

Slightly Inconsistent Overhead Conversion (Full Ground Confirm):

FDC j.K jc j2K > Microdash > 5P,2S,2H,5P > Meteors Hit > Dash Up > c.S,2S,2H > 236S > Pogo.S > Pogo.H

Raw Mettgiri Setup:

2D > Item Toss (Meteor) > Raw Mettagiri on their wakeup > Meteors connect Meaty.

Throw Setup:

(Tick any of 2P,5P,2K(1),c.S) > Throw > Meteors Connect > Dash 5K jc j.K jc j.K,j.D

Chibis

In the case of Chibis, you can often end your blockstring just before they connect and go for a mixup.

Chibi-specific conversions are probably best eyeballed, given how drastically they change based on 2D knockdown distance.

Mini-Potemkin

Certain characters are easier to freestyle on using Mini-Potemkin. If the opponent is cornered, generally you can j.D knockdown into Potemkin and relaunch with either Pogo or 5K pickup.

Hammer and Dumbbell

(Whiffs)

Midscreen Mettagiri (214H > Microdash Item)

This is a very advantageous knockdown, and unlike 2D > Item Toss, the spacing and timing midscreen sets up nicely for Microdash > Item Toss > Meaty Hammer or Microwalk > Item Toss > Dumbbell.

Generally speaking, you want a pretty tight Item Toss if you want an easier time converting off Bomb.

Hammer

Hammer doesn't launch on hit and is best when it connects slightly off meaty timing with microdash delay. You want the delay in order to shackle backdash, and punish opponents for attacking on wakeup.

Meaty 2H Setup:

2H > (Hammer Connects) > 41236K

Overhead Setup:

FDC j.K > (Hammer Connects) > 2H > 236S > Combo

Low Setup:

2P > (Hammer Connects) > 2H > 236S > Combo

Dumbbell

You can land this with a microwalk before Item Toss, but doing so is going to deny you Meaty Hammer and good spacing on other items. Meaty Hammer being just as good and more frequent means it's probably better to ignore this option.

Easy confirm off Dumbbell hit: 5K jc j.K jc j.Kj.D

Bomb

Possible Meaty Low Options:
  • 2K(2),2P,2S jc > Air FD (Dodges Explosion) > Pickup (Character specific)
  • 2K(2),2D jc > Air FD (Dodges Explosion) > Pickup (Character specific)
  • 2K(2),5H(1),2D jc > Block Explosion > IAD FB Pogo. (Freestyle save, damage sus)
Possible Overhead Options:
  • 5P jc FDC j.K jc j2K (Timing is character specific)
  • FDC j.K > 5P,2D jc (Air FD to dodge explosion) > Pickup (Character specific, hard to get meaty.)
Meterless Raw Mettagiri Conversion:
  • Mettagiri > Pretty Tight Microdash Item Toss > Slightly delayed raw Throw on their wakeup. Slashback the Bomb Explosion to pickup (lol).
Tick Forcebreak Chop (Decent Fuzzy Mash Punish):
  • Meaty 2K(1) > FB Chop > Pickup
Washpan (Tarai)
  • Can cover vs. certain reversals.
Possible Meaty Low Options:

2K(2) > Tarai > Convert (Seems char specific) 2K(1) > Tarai > Convert

Meaty Overhead Option:

FDC j.K > Tarai > Convert

Very Strong Tick Mettagiri Opportunity (Unblockable++):

Tarai covers a whiffed tick-Mettagiri should they try to jump away or poke out. It's especially potent because the timing can set up literal unblockables, where Tarai will catch their prejump (lol).

  • Meaty 5P > 214H > Tarai Hits
  • Meaty 2P > 214H > Tarai Hits

Poison

  • Slightly less advantageous than Tarai, but still confers good mixup opportunity. Most setups you can get off Tarai hit, you can get off Poison.
  • Air hits on backdash in some cases. Spacing dependent.
Meaty Options:

See Tarai.

Coin

The spacing on this is generally pretty good, but has a chance to land in front of the opponent. The Coin doesn't land meaty, but this allows it to cover for setups. Conversions are similar to other late-hitting items.

Meteors

Here, most fast knockdowns (Throws, 2D, 236S > 2 Dismount Ender) allow you to use the incoming meteors in the subsequent meaty setup. There's also a good timing opportunity for 6H traps into Scalpel.

Swag 6H Conversion (Crouching or CH starter):

Slightly delayed 6H > 41236K > 4 > 5P,c.S > (Meteors Connect) > Dash up 5K,2H > 236S > Pogo.S > Pogo.H

Chibis

Chibi Faust

In a lot of cases should you carry to the corner, you'll find that the spacing on Chibi Faust sets up a strong pickup on certain "fat airborne characters" should you manage to end a combo in Going My Way, leading to a bonus pickup.

If you can't route to Pogo, using Chibi Faust in the next knockdown is beneficial.

Chibi Robo

Chibi Robo's speedy ground movement actually makes him pretty good at setting a followup situation should you get to combo into Pogo here:

Meaty 2P,2S,2H > 236S > 2 (Dismount) > Dash in for Strong Meaty Chibi Oki

Chibi Potemkin

Generally speaking, your meaty options here allow you to freestyle into a Chibi Potemkin combo if you get the corner, or you can take most knockdowns and lead into Chibi Potemkin pressure.

Corner Mettagiri (214H)

Corner Mettagiri is a little different, in the sense that most items you throw, end up off screen. After throwing an item, you can still meaty FDC j.K or walk back to Meaty 2K safely out of throw range. This allows you to pull the gacha to net yourself Bomb or Meteors, and running oki anyways if you come up empty handed. There's another setup that allows some item interaction (OTG c.S,5P > Item Toss) that can lead to less risky outcomes in some cases.

Bomb

6H (High reward)

Backdash 6H > Pogo > 2 (Dismount) > Dash Pickup (Character specific)

FDC j.K:

FDC j.K > 5P,2S,2H,5P > Dash Pickup (Character specific)

Low Options

2K(1),5H(1),2D jc (Bomb Explodes) > FDC > Land > Dash Pickup (Character specific)

Meteors

See Midscreen Mettagiri for similar setups.

Chibi Potemkin

Immediately starts pressure (Gross)

Chibi Faust

Can sway back and connect late.

Items That Whiff Uselessly

Donut, Chocolate, Churro(Chikuwa), Hammer, Dumbbell, Poison, Chibi Robo.

Corner OTG c.S,5P > Item Toss

j.D

  • Strengths:
  • Weaknessess:

Pogo Going My Way (Pogo H)

  • Strengths:
  • Weaknessess:

2D

  • Strengths:
  • Weaknessess:

Scalpel > Forcebreak (41236K > 236D > 236D)

Pogo > Dismount (236S > 2)

  • Strengths:
  • Weaknessess:


Kanchou (236236S)

  • Strengths:
  • Weaknessess:

How do I decide what to do?

Hedging Your Bets (AKA: "How To Beat Paper AND Scissors")

Even in a game like Guilty Gear, there's only so many useful options a character can make use of in a defensive situation. This section will generally show you how to cover two or more relevant defensive options with one of your own, even when taking into account "high-level" defensive techniques such as fuzzy jump/fuzzy mash.

A breakdown of "fuzzies" will be covered at the bottom of this page. Read that if you want to understand exactly why you'd use the following options.

Faust doesn't have to do anything fancy here if he doesn't want to. His basic options are plenty to rip open even the strongest opponents.

It should be noted that the following guide doesn't even involve items.

Items like Chibis, Meteors, Poison, Bombs, etc, allow you to make all kinds of ad hoc decisions that will transform what's listed below into something even stronger and safer. Your throws will be safely covered should they whiff or get challenged and your 6Hs will be harder to pay attention to, among other things.

The guide below serves as a great fundamental starting point so you don't have to bank on them to make things happen.

This guide focuses on close-range oki and mixups

There's an addendum below it that outlines what to do at a distance, or if you simply aren't interested in going in. This is very important if your opponent has some ridiculous reversal option that you don't want to challenge, or you're playing against a specific character whose defensive tools are simply too threatening/spicy/baiken to deal with in close.

This guide uses Throws or Mettagiri (214H) as the basis of offense

Your goal, using this guide, is to throw your opponent (Option C), or block their inevitable reversal (Secret Option D). Options A and B used in tandem enable this to happen. Here's why:

Starting out, throws are going to be Faust's only "invisible" offensive option, in the sense that a good tick throw done tightly on someone's wakeup, or as they leave blockstun, can't be reacted to. If your lead up to a throw is too sloppy, they can react to the "setup" and jump/mash, but done cleanly this won't happen on reaction. They can only be challenged on prediction. The distinction between decisions done on reaction and prediction is very important, but only for troubleshooting and properly understanding why these options work as they do.

The mere threat of throw causes people to jump, mash or reversal on prediction. People prefer to jump or mash before they do reversals... usually...

You can make the following guide work better by practicing doing throws as early as possible on an opponent's wakeup or after buttons.

Option A: Challenging Jumps (and Fuzzy Jumps)... with Meaty 2K

Spoiler: Do 2K>2D meaty.

Meaty 2K beats lots of wakeup things. Jumps, buttons, non-invuln reversals...

Fuzzy jumps are weak to repeated strings of lows (This is key).

Fuzzy mash isn't going to hurt you here.

Breakdown

Meaty 2K, spaced so you can't be thrown, is going to be the basis of your offense. It beats wakeup normals, non-invuln wakeup reversals and wakeup jump free with a pretty generous timing. You can go right into 2D to continue to try and catch a jump or poke post-2K if you feel they aren't biting. The situation post-2K is very similar to wakeup, in the sense that your opponent might still fuzzy or make use of reversal options.

The main reason to do 2K>2D like this is that a fuzzy jump attempted slightly after wakeup has a very good chance to be caught holding 7 (Up+Back, since they're jumping) by the later hits of 2K/2D.

Option B: Challenging Buttons... with 6H, j2K and 214D

Do 6H so it hits a little late on their wakeup

Don't do it meaty, your goal is to get them to hang themselves by poking into 6H unnecessarily as they try to mash.

Even if it doesn't work, and gets blocked, an opponent wary of 6H is going to be playing reactively because 6H is so hard to challenge outright. A reactive player trying to deal with 6H isn't fuzzy jumping. A reactive player isn't fuzzying options. A reactive player isn't backdashing on wakeup should there be the looming threat of a 6H > Pogo pickup for 60% of their lifebar.

Meaty j2K is very safe and very plus

Meaty j2K is incredibly good at beating wakeup throw; it's a strong counter-hit option; it's incredibly plus on block (Somewhere in the +16 range?); it's a terrifying move to try to poke into; it's terrifying to try and challenge Faust afterwards; and it can safejump slower reversals.

Late j2K is very safe, very plus and deals with certain fuzzy options better

A later, not-quite-meaty j2K is going to be a bit better at challenging backdash and delayed/fuzzied options compared to meaty j2K.

Asking yourself if a late j2K is going to "crush" your opponent's favourite fuzzy mashed options is going to be a big question to ask yourself when studying your opponent. Ignore meaty or safejump timing to take aim at their button with j2K. You'll be plus even if they block, and you might snipe their backdash in the process.

The trade off is you can't safejump this way, and their normal done as soon as possible on wakeup could potentially beat you out. That shouldn't be a problem if they're fearful of Meaty 2K (See "Option A") and fearful of Meaty j2K.

214D (Forcebreak Chop) is a very unfair move.

Because 214D is pretty much entirely invincible from the waist down, it is incredibly good at blowing up fuzzied mash options, on top of being an overhead. The kicker here is it's also a special move, which means you can place it in strings where the opponent might not even expect.

An opponent might fuzzy mash after 2K's first hit, 5P or 2S in order to hedge against jump cancels. They might be aiming to press buttons after 2D. Who knows?

If they ARE pressing buttons on defense, for whatever reason, a sudden 214D is going to go up, over, and donk them.

It just costs 25 bar.

It's recommended to use it in matchups or situations where the above listed options just seem too risky for challenging your opponent's defensive pokes.

Option C: Challenging a Player Who Won't Jump OR Press Buttons Anymore... with Throws

If they're scared of Option A and Option B: It's time to 214H

I mentioned "hedging your bets" earlier, correct? A smart player will do the same thing on defense.

Option A and Option B have a small, manageable weakness: Reactive play paired with FD does a lot to shut down Faust when making use of anything listed above. Threatening to counterhit them, threatening to 2K their jumps... it all loses to low block and reactive play. 6H is a good overhead, but it's reactable. 5D is reactable. FDC j.K done by a competent player is still usually reactable.

If I was fearful of Option A and Option B, naturally I wouldn't press any buttons at all and use FD to push you away to a manageable range.

I would simply block and wait.

I'm asking you to throw me.

Secret Option D: Hahaha. Who blocks on wakeup?

Blocking in Your Own Offense: Dealing with Invincible Moves

If they're scared of Option A, Option B and Option C, they do have an answer: They can do something invincible and punch through all of it.

So just block and punish. If you don't want to do that, however, the following offers a more nuanced way to continue your offense without giving pressure up completely

Slightly Delayed Options: Giving them just enough rope to hang themselves

Leave a gap to block that's just long enough to bait the reversal from your opponent, then throw them.

Or;

Leave a gap to block that's just long enough to bait the reversal from your opponent, then continue pressure as normal.

Do not give them a large enough gap to react to the fact that you stopped offense. Players are always looking to do reversals sooner than later when they wakeup or leave blockstun. You only need to leave them an imperceptibly short period of time to hang themselves with their own reversal. The tiniest gap will bait Sol's Volcanic Viper.

"Fuzzy Defensive Options"

A quick explanation of how "fuzzy defense" works in GG.

In GG, you cannot be thrown immediately after wakeup. You have 9f of throw invuln to do whatever you want with, and 4f after leaving blockstun. This means you can block meaties on wakeup while jumping late to avoid a throw or poking late to challenge a throw.

Fuzzy options, on the surface, seem hard to punish. Fuzzies can be very arbitrary in their timing, and sometimes a defender can actually do a fuzzy jump too late, or too early, and you actually miss your punishment because they acted with an unreliable timing.

Why can't I just take aim at their prejump frames?

Trying to do a late button to catch someone's prejump almost always ends up being blocked, or catching the opponent just after they leave the ground, if it catches them at all. If I have 9 frames of throw invuln, and I jump early or late or even after that window is over, it's such a wide spread of timings that punishing in this way is unreliable.

Why shouldn't I just try to frame trap their normal out of startup?

With regards to Fuzzy Mash (Say a late 2P): Trying to do a late button, or a frame trap, is also very likely to be blocked if they mistime the fuzzy, or if you delay even more to catch them, you might eat an early 2P.

What if I don't want to do any of this?

Don't bother going in on their wakeup.

You don't have to, it's okay. Faust is still good. You could even argue that the above is unnecessary when compared to simply doing 2H into Item Toss on their wakeup. "Detailed gameplan" below.

Learn to Meaty 2H

Set the training dummy to reversal jump on wakeup in training mode. Knock them down. 2H their prejump frames. Cancel 2H into Item Toss. Play neutral.

6H them sometimes

It catches backdash and is hard to block. People like to backdash meaty 2H to deny the item toss cancel. This beats that.

Block reversals sometimes

It's good.

far.S catches jumps easier than 2H

It's true, you can test it. It can catch opponents jumping just after they leave the ground, whereas 2H is easier to clear. If time is of the essence, and you know they have a gap to jump if you 2H, it might be time to far.S

Mix 2H > Item Toss with 2H > 5P reverse gatling

Do this sometimes. It's almost impossible to react to the reverse gatling cleanly, and you end up at +3. Follow with a far.S to obliterate jumps, or go for another 2H if you think they'll stay sitting. Mixing this in with Item Toss creates an even crazier situation, allows you to crank guard bar, and potentially makes your opponent play into items unnecessarily (Which means items like Hammer and Dumbbell can act as round-enders)

Use items to cover your throws

If an item is about to connect, throw them just before it happens. What are they going to do? Hit you out of it? Jump into the item? Please.

Video Examples

Either embed individual videos, or link off to playlists of videos which cover oki.

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you released FD and pressed K again

This means comboing "FDC j.K > jump cancel > j2K > FB Pogo" is probably going to be easier in the beginning compared to other possible conversions, since it doesn't necessarily have a height requirement (The j.K just has to connect on a crouching or standing opponent at any height). In order to combo consistently into meterless options, you'll want to be a large focus on making sure your height and your release of FD into j.K is fast and consistent.

If you FDC at the lowest possible height, you might struggle to connect a j.K, as you only have 3f to do so post FDC before you land. As you do higher and higher FDCs, the window becomes more generous but, naturally, your overhead becomes slower.

Tips and Tricks

Fighting Faust

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