Antihero11

Hello all, sorry for the double post, but I was wondering if someone could offer my advice in this thread. I've reached a "stale" part of my game, and I want to practice some new practical techniques to improve my GG/Zato-1 play. I normally practice unblockables, sandwich pressure, flight hit confirms into knockdown, and corner mawaru fuzzy mixups. Any other techniques or advice for stuff I can practice in training mode to improve my game? BUMP

Do you have any advice for how I might practice this in Training Mode by myself. Using the record function makes it difficult to get Sol to input a DP at the proper time for a reversal. Maybe by using mission mode or a feature of training mode I'm unfamiliar with. I'd greatly appreciate it.

You can also let them whiff, then punish with Command Throw (Damned Fang). Ogawa does it a lot, and it does solid damage while letting you recharge a decent portion of the shadow gauge. Also, this: http://skygrindah.blogspot.com/2015/07/guilty-gear-xrd-usability-chart.html So much truth, but I do feel I have a decent grasp on Zato after about 6 months. But it took that long just to understand him at a decent level, far from mastery.

Stomps are unreliable though since it's very easy to burst. Not that 6C isn't easy to burst, lol. But I wouldn't worry so much. Apparently Terumi's overhead is very fast as well, and his kick up sand in the face move helps a lot with frame traps and pressure. He's looking strong, I'll probably sub him.

Fame, you are me, and I am you. Zato was the first puppet character I decided to pick up since I love his character. Came back to BlazBlue, wanted to main Relius, but I don't like him as much. So I'll probably end up with Naoto/Terumi. Great minds think alike I suppose. I really feel Terumi will be way better/more consistent now. Change is a good thing guys. This character was probably the worst in the game before. For example: It's impossible to escape from Terumi's pressure. If the opponent Barriers, you can reset the pressure with 6B or a jump, and it might be possible to mash jabs to discourage them from jumping away. This is insane. This makes Terumi's frame trapping ability godlike. Also, we have 4D, which goes into 2D since it's faster now. Endless pressure and an overhead we can rapid/cancel into super is amazing. Also, 6C wallbouncing will be the new combo routes, guaranteed. 5B > 5C > 6C > combo will work now. This will make Terumi strong and less reliant on 236D. Believe me, with this type of pressure, and his overhead, he'll at least be mid-tier. Change is good!

True. I think the overhead being special cancellable would be the best buff. But even if it's only super cancellable, we'll get good damage off messenga mid-screen and stomp super in the corner. Hey, fame96. Are you a fellow Zato-main from Xrd? Could have sworn I've seen you on netplay. Terumi to Zato quite a different character archetype though.

Phew. I honestly don't feel Zato-1 will ever get nerfed into the ground. He'll never "truly" be overpowered since his weaknesses make him "fair" for the rest of the cast.

This is a trick AKA goes over in one of his videos on his twitch channel. Basically, if you roman cancel off of a shadow attack, you get a red roman cancel because the player is in blockstun. The trick is to YRC just before the shadow hits the opponent. It's actually pretty easy. So let's say I'm using BTL and the shadow is right by the opponent. You want to release S or P, then immediately YRC BTL before the attack actually hits the opponent. In a way, you're cheating the system since the attack hits during the YRC animation and you practically get a red roman cancel for 25 tension. I hope that makes sense, let me know if you have any questions.

I want to be able to counter air throws, missed aerials, etc. I guess I can use the record function. Just wondering if anyone else had any ideas.

Hello all, As a former BlazBlue player (I almost never play the game now), I fell in love with Xrd when it first came out and since then - I've gotten pretty good at it. But I want to brush up on the fundamentals of Guilty Gear and really learn to punish with air throws. I was wondering what the best ways to practice air throws in Xrd would be? Training mode or otherwise. I also want to know if there's any option or way I can practice baiting bursts. I'm a Zato-1 main, if that's relevant at all, but I'm looking for fundamentals of the game. Thanks fellow GG fanatics!

The funny thing is that Zato doesn't technically have a bad MU or good MU. Just different ones depending on an individual's playstyle. If you have a lot of experience against a certain character, they tend to be easier. But if you lack the experience, it gets difficult.

I think it's important to note that 236S will not perform Nobiru before the unsummon unless it is used to cancel another move's animation. For example, If you do 2k > 236S and release S immediately, it will release nobiru and you get the unsummon. But if the shadow is out, and you just input 236S and release S immediately, you don't get nobiru. Or at least that's my experience from testing. Very fascinating, as I can't find the reason for this contradiction. And on a side note: I hope they don't take out Zato's followups from 6D, I'm sure we'll find another unblockable route, but I enjoy it as is now.

That makes sense. What I usually do is: 2 > 22[H] -S- > 236H. That way I can hit with nobiru from a safe range, unsummon and go back to neutral or reapply pressure. But I like the idea of your mixup, I think I'll practice it a bit in the corner since many people like to jump out after unsummon.

I've been using 22S -S- for a while to unsummon and reapply pressure in the corner. But I had a question. Does it matter if you unsummon with 236S or 236HS. I usually unsummon with 236HS. Does this leave you at less frame advantage? The way you worded that post was kind of confusing starfire. Do you mean if the shadow is out and you input 236S, nobiru will still come out - hit the opponent - then immediately disappear. I thought that would just unsummon. Unless you're saying you release S, then input 236S. I would just like a bit more explanation so I know I've been doing it right all this time. More frame advantage is always a plus since people will always try to mash out of pressure. Thanks!

I think most people have trouble getting this consistently. I've even seen Ogawa miss it on occasion, though now, he usually just goes for unsummon instead of UB. Anyways, I would suggest spacing horizontally instead of vertically. If you're far enough away from the character the first hit should whiff and the second should hit. If you don't understand what I mean, just PM me and I'll explain in more detail. Good luck!

I can see 2H CH working, but only on 1-hit DPs. Otherwise, it might trade or you could be knocked down. 6P seems more reliable, but I think it has it's applications.

I like the trick you mentioned. Another thing I do is BTL and poke with Haneru, then drill when they get upset and try to kill Eddie and go for a knockdown.

I'm still having a really tough time with this character. What do you consider Zato's best approach options? I usually get thrown out of air dashes and anti-aired if I go in from the sky. Or is Zato more of a bait and punish character. Thoughts?

Everything feels unwieldly when you're first getting used to negative edging, or getting used to stick like I was. So pick one, stick with it (no pun intended) and you'll be set.

I personally use the default setup for Zato. I don't find negative edging is that difficult, it just takes a while to get used to. And during most of Zato's combos/neutral game, you won't have to hold more than two buttons at a time. This can be accomplished by releasing buttons during the recovery or startup of the shadow's attacks. By doing that, you usually don't need to hold more buttons. Also, I use my ring finger to hold dust, and my index and middle finger for the other four buttons. Ocassionally, I will use my thumb if need be. But most of the time you won't need to hold over three buttons with Zato as long as you're taking advantage of the recovery of attacks and his animations. If you have any other specific questions, quote my post or shoot me a PM.

My neutral section sucks so much with Zato-1. I wish some random GG player would add an "Eddie in Neutral" section to their phenomenal guide. Man it would be helpful.

I have mixed feelings about 2.0 Terumi. I'm really looking forward to 236D having less recovery on whiff. This will make for some awesome resets and mixups. Especially if he can 2A or throw before the opponent has a chance to react. On the other hand, I really wish he didn't lose his combos off of j.2D. I loved that combo. And it could build massive meter when you got the 6B > 6D. The damage wasn't great, but the meter gain and corner carry on it made it an excellent combo. It's very sad we lost it. In the end, I've decided to go back to my old main, Hazama. He's a more "legitimate" character, has better mixups, mind games, and high damage when he hits 50 heat. More my style anyways. But I'll still sub Terumi and frequent the forums to help discover tech. So I'm not abandoning Terumi as a character. I think it's a happy medium.

I did not mean to offend by calling Terumi boring, as it's honestly a matter of opinion. I do think about resource management a lot. If you play Relius or Zato, you need to pay attention to the shadow gauge or ignis guage. So it's not like Terumi requires a stronger mental game them him. I am all for perfecting the basics. In fact, there is nothing I love more than working on my spacing. I feel spacing and neutral game is 90% of any fighting game. I just feel the reward you get is still low, as most of his basic combos do very little damage. Terumi is scary with meter, but due to system mechanics (counter assault, burst, etc), it's relatively easy to keep him at bay or jab out of his pressure. It just feels like high risk, low reward. Or low risk, low reward. I believe if someone takes him very seriously and focuses on his mixups and meter management, he could be a serious character. But characters like Hazama and Relius are more technical and have better options. Terumi is easier to play than both of them, but you need to be creative to play Terumi. Your gimmicks and rapid cancels have to be very strong.

Sorry, I left the full quote since it was a page or two back. Anyways, basically this. I agree 100%. I've dropped BlazBlue for Guilty Gear and finally picked up an arcade stick. I'm maining Zato-1, because I love his backstory, personality, character design... etc. Playstyle wise, he was very different. I never used a puppet character before. I bring it up because Zato's learning curve is high, but extremely rewarding! This is the problem with Terumi. He's easy to learn, not rewarding at all, and hard to play since he doesn't have half as many options as the rest of the cast. And after playing this complicated lovely character, I'm tempted to drop Terumi and pick up Relius or Hazama again. I would hate to say it, but Terumi feels one dimensional and simple. He destroys other characters at low levels of play because of his meter gain and insane damage off of resets/gimmicks. But even at an intermediate level, he gets beat pretty bad. Here's the good news. I believe Terumi has some unexplored potential. But in order for him to be successful he'll need to build at least 50 meter in many of his BnB's. I think the 5C (1) into rapid cancel mixup is very good. It puts your opponent in a 50/50 that is impossible to react to. He can immediately do j.B for a high into combo, or 3C for a huge damaging combo. But people can just block low. I think Japanese players don't excel with Terumi because they're too "honest". Terumi needs to be played with rapid cancels, mixups, reckless risks, and pressure resets. If you play him with spacing, safe pressure strings and frame traps, he'll remain a terrible character. In order to be good, he'll need a lot of these tools. Even so, I feel he's still weak and depends way too much having 50-100 meter. Without it, he doesn't even have many good resets or gimmicks. I think Relius would be a more rewarding character. Most people who tried Terumi just switch back to Hazama since he has so many other options, and he's a legitimate character. Noze used Terumi for a little bit, tried netplay with him, made combo videos. Then he dropped him for Hazama and never looked back. What are your guys impressions? I know it's my decision to stick with Terumi or move to another character, but I'm feeling pretty bored with this character. It's not even that Terumi isn't "good", just that he is one dimensional and gets boring quick. Anyone else feel this way?

Or to protect Eddie from 236K of course. Thanks for the advice. I finally managed to do better today. Went 7 - 6 in Ky's favor. But before I would lose about 90% of the matches. From my experience, Zato is the type of character you just need to keep playing to get used to his neutral. Obviously this is true of any character, but especially true of Zato. I'm no expert, but I finally am used to negative edging in neutral and predicting the opponent. As a result, Nobiru is godlike in most online MU since people like to jump all the time in netplay. Anyways, thanks very much for the advice. I seem to have a decent handle on the MU now.