Just Guards and Guard Impacts - Go big or go BOOM!!

[UndyingRevenant]

I'll try to make this as short as possible (Oh sweet Bajayzus tell me I'm in the right zone), so, I understand Just Guards: block as the opponent is about to strike you, g or 2g, but I have had problems, what with frame delay online, etc. I have also noticed people who weren't quite aware of offensive situations with their style, but could Just Guard and punish so consistently it breaks the game when I can't. I've seen videos about it before, but can any players experienced with this fundamental assist me? (And for a cookie, can anyone explain advantages of Guard Impacting, such as are there ways it beats Just Guarding?) Thank for your time.

 

[Wandrian]

To JG, quickly tap and release G just before an attack strikes you(not as it does). Think of it as a single button slide input. The advantage you gain from JGing successfully varies with individual attacks, for the most part the slower and stronger an attack is the greater advantage you gain from a successful JG. You can guard immediately after a JG attempt whether it's successful or not. Since the timing of attacks varies so much, this actually makes pokes easier to JG on anticipation than most attacks.

Regular meter-based GIs are useful in different situations that JG won't necessarily be better or worse overall, they still have their use(though some characters have more use for it than others; like Yoshimitsu). The thing with GI is that you have a guaranteed followup attack regardless of what attack you successfully GI'd, you just need to do your attack input immediately after the GI input instead of trying to confirm your GI worked. This is unless your foe tries to GI in response, in which case you need to either do a counter-counter-GI or risk eating a launch combo yourself. Pretty much any staple launcher can be used after a successful GI.

 

[DrakeAldan]

The thing about a Just Guard is understanding that there is a "JG window". It's not one-frame, it's actually quite big (6 or 7 frames depending on who you talk to).

You have to tap guard, and let the incoming attack fall into the JG window. When you understand the underlying mechanisms of JG, you can even JG in heavy lag.


Guard Impacting is much easier to implement than Just Guard, if I can't JG, if I feel unsure, buffering in a GI is nice and easy. Also, the JG gives a variable amount of advantage depending on the move (and may not lead to guaranteed damage), whereas a GI gives a flat 27-30 frames; enough to fit in any heavy attack, basically.

You can use CE right after GI for guaranteed damage, if you use anything else you just have to deal with the opponent's re-GI.

GI also works on all hit levels (high/mid/low) so it can be used for "mixup denial", as opposed to JG where you can have the right timing but get hit by a low, for example.