Bastet
[12] Conqueror
Siegfried Guide
ContentsA)Prologue
B)Notations
C)Frames
D)A guide for new Siegfried players
I)Siegfried’s special Notations and Frame Data
II)Some information about Siegfried’s play style
III)Special Stances
1.SBH
2.SCH
3.SSH
4.SRSH
IV)Useful and strong moves – top choices
V)Utilizing the game mechanics
a)Just Guard
b)Guard Impact
c)Breaking the Guard Gauge
d)Stepping/StepG
e)Ringouts
VI)Combos and techtraps
VII)Match Ups
VIII)Some last few things
A) Prologue
I always recommend players that use new characters (for them) to go through each move of the character that’s listed in the command list at least once and then experiment with them in the training, against the AI or against players online. So after this stage and after making sure that Siegfried suits your style, I’m sure you are ready to level him up. So…
Do you think that Siegfried is the most fun character to you? That he is the only character that you can adapt to his style and win battles? Are you willing to start moving on up a level so that you’ll be able to learn and utilize his options to reach tournament level, and who knows, maybe win a tournament with him? Hopefully this guide will help you understand Siegfried and learn his style and best tools.
Before we start though, I would like to point out something. Don’t be filled with doubts when someone says that Siegfried is a very bad character, extremely slow with useless tools and no answers to many situations or when someone says he is broken and overpowered because they simply cannot step/block/punish. To me Siegfried is a cool character who has his pros and cons but that doesn’t make him the best or the worst. And more important, don’t listen to what tier lists suggest. There is no good or bad character; there is a good or bad player. And we have two big examples to support this. Omega DR who won a world tournament held by Namco with Siegfried, who was supposed to be E tier (last and alone) that time and recently Shining Decopon who won EVO with Tira, who is supposed to have been hit really bad by the nerf hammer. Those people picked the characters they mostly liked, spent much time practicing, believed in themselves and beat every obstacle. So have faith in your choice, in yourself, don’t quit practicing and you’ll make it too.
So, let’s get started!
If you are familiar with the notations we use or how frames work, skip this part.
B) Notations
Notations are the symbols we use in order to express movement, moves, stances, states, etc. Here are the most basic ones and the ones you are going to need.
This is what we use for movement:
* As for 5 (the asterisk) it means that you just stay still (neutral state).
Here are the notations for moves you probably already know:
*We sometimes put the letters into brackets, eg. [A], which means that in order to to this move, A button must be held for a while. We use the same for numbers.*Sometimes we also use small letters, eg. agA, which means that in order to do this move, you have to slide/press quick a and g, then press A again.
Other useful notations:
*The symbol ~ means that after the previous move you must do the next move. It is most commonly used in combos.*The symbol + means that you must press the buttons together at the same time.
*If i is followed by a number it shows the number of frames. If it is followed by a letter or a word it indicates the quicker version of it.
*The symbol _ means that you can either press the button before it or the one after this symbol without affecting the outcome. The result will be the same.
There are more notations than these. In order to learn them follow theses links:
http://8wayrun.com/threads/basic-notations-and-terminology.58/
http://8wayrun.com/threads/soulcalibur-v-basic-notations-terminology.12553/
In order to learn them, a good idea would be to write them all down. That’s how I got used to them, but to be honest they are very easy to memorize.
C) Frames
What are the frames?
The frames are how many pictures/moves appear in front of you in a specific time. SCV runs at 60 Frames per Second which means that in 1 second 60 frames pass in front of you. Most moves last less than a second, so we count their duration and other properties in frames. Eg. Siegfried’s A lasts for 18 frames.
What is the frame data and how do we use it?
When it comes to moves there are frame information that are separated into categories and these consist the frame data. Let’s take as example Siegfried’s A move:
D) A guide for new Siegfried players
I) Siegfried’s special Notations and Frame DataNotations for special stances:
Frame data:http://8wayrun.com/wiki/siegfried-frame-data-sc5/
The notations are really useful and easy as you’ll be able to both read, learn new stuff and share your findings in a quick way.
The frame data is pretty useful as it includes all the information you need for each move. Safe/unsafe moves, moves for punishing, etc; They are all in there, so you should learn it while learning your moves/forming your own personal style.
*Here’s a thread that contains information about how much meter in gained by each move (made by Sacharja): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-gauge-data.12875/
II) Some information about Siegfried’s play style
Siegfried is a character that has a good range game, he is all about mix ups and mind games, yomi, spacing and zoning. He has 4 useful stances that each could be used in a different situation with special moves to confuse your opponent. He also has amazing tools for spacing, poking, dealing good damage even at tip range. Also his throw range can be considered one of the best in the game and his RO game is still good. Siegfried doesn’t have a very heavy stance game in SCV like in previous games, but the stances still can be used effectively even though they can be considered “unsafe”. His strong tools are important this time so they must be learned properly in order to be used effectively in battle. He seems to be an easy character to pick up, but to master he can be considered to be a difficult one as the player needs to be experienced with other matchups and play styles, make good opponent reads and know Siegfried inside out, as well as not making mistakes (dropping combos, not doing a move correctly, pressing wrong buttons, etc) as almost everything can be punished.
III) Special Stances
Siegfried has 4 stances to support his mix up game. It is necessary to learn them all. So these are:
1. SBH (Siegfried’s Base Hold)
This stance is entered by pressing B+K, no matter the stance you already are (consider 5 being the neutral stance). You can also enter it by other moves like FB (B). During this stance Siegfried holds the sword over his head and he is crouching underneath it. This move forces you into a TC position so all highs won’t hit you. The special ability of this stance is the aGi which GIs horizontals, mids and lows, unless you are hit by it from behind. Also there is a time limit for it so you cannot get it while staying there in SBH forever. If the aGI works then you’ll be given the chance to hit with one of SBH moves that you prefer. Just act in time.
These are the moves of SBH:
2. SCH (Siegfried’s Chief Hold)
This stance is entered by pressing either 2B+K or 8B+K (B+K if you are in BT), no matter the stance you already are. You can also enter this stance by some special moves like 3(B). During this stance, Siegfried holds his sword behind him. This allows you to hit your opponent while you are back turned or get an aGI (if the opponent hits you as soon as you enter it as its window is strict). This aGI works only if you are BT and GIs all Horizontal moves (high, mid and low).
These are the moves of SCH:
3. SSH (Siegfried’s Side Hold)This stance is entered by pressing 4B+K, no matter the stance you already are, but there are other methods as well, like some hold versions of moves just like SCH [A]. In this stance Siegfried holds his sword on his right side and unlike the previous stances this one does not have any aGI properties. However it is mostly used for making your opponent to whiff and punish him/her as you create space.
These are the moves of SSH:
4. SRSH (Siegfried’s Reversed Side Hold)This is the last one of the 4 special stances of Siegfried. This stance can be entered by pressing 6B+K, whatever your stance is. In this stance Siegfried holds his sword on his left side and when you enter it Siegfried steps forward “closing the gap”.
These are moves of SRSH:
These were all Siegfried’s stances. They can mostly be used to create 50/50 situations, confusing your opponent, even though some of the options are unsafe. There is risk. Reading your opponent can help you use them in certain situations.*Stance tutorial Video (Made by Nightblade): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-skill-project-tutorial-video-thread.10793/#post-401931
IV) Useful and strong moves – top choices
Siegfried isn’t only about stances, he has some pretty cool moves from neutral stance too, which can lead you to victory. Siegfried’s stance game has been toned down in this game, so this time these moves should be your bread and butter.
*You may read iagA as Jaga sometimes, as there was a guy called Jink who would abuse it. Also you may read iWRAA as Sacharja Finish, as this is Sacharja’s favorite move.*Despite the fact that iagA is hard to learn… It is the most useful move and every Siegfried player must do well. At first it will be hard, it was for everyone, but with practice, persistence and patience you’ll be able to do it as well.
These links will possibly help you a lot:
Video tutorials:
For Pad (Made by Slayer_X64): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-skill-project-tutorial-video-thread.10793/#post-404410
For Stick (Made by Nightblade): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-skill-project-tutorial-video-thread.10793/#post-413296
For Stick (Made by Mandy): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-skill-project-tutorial-video-thread.10793/#post-521386
Discussion/Tips: http://8wayrun.com/threads/aga-discussion.14058/
http://8wayrun.com/threads/archive-aga-assistance.12479/ (Archive)
*These were the top Siegfried moves used by top players. This doesn’t mean that other moves have no use. They are just used in specific situations or used with more caution.
Move analysis (Made by Heaton):
2KKKKK: http://8wayrun.com/threads/move-analysis-2kkkkk.12758/
66A+B: http://8wayrun.com/threads/move-analysis-66a-b.12793/
66B: http://8wayrun.com/threads/move-analysis-66b.12759/
SCH K KE glitch: http://8wayrun.com/threads/sch-k-be-cancel-discussion.12798/
*Siegfried’s top 10 moves thread: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-top-10-moves.13558/
*Siegfried has some whiffing issues, all gathered in this thread: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-the-whiffing-version-1-03.12881/
V) Utilizing the game mechanics
This is another interesting factor that must be considered and implemented in the battles.
a) Just Guard: Some people may think that this is a very hard thing to do, but to be honest once you get to understand its trick it will be very easy. Just guard is about tapping G very quickly before a move hits you (if the move is a low the buttons you have to press quickly are 2G). You must release G to JG till up to 4 frames (if a move connects up to the 7th frame then you can get a JG) and if you fail this, you won’t be able to JG for around 30 frames. Also JG gains you meter and each move has different JG frames, hence the category in the tab. So learn JG in order to break strings and attack back.
Here are some tutorials on JG:
*Video tutorial made by Aris: Here
*Tutorial written by BrewtusBibulus (JG stuff tested by noodalls): http://8wayrun.com/threads/technical-jargon-just-guard-a-smurfs-tale.13219/
b) Guard Impact: To do this move you have to press 4A+B+K and at least half a meter bar. It’s window is big and after a move gets GIed your opponent stays vulnerable for some frames. It is pretty cool as it breaks strings and could be used as a comeback mechanic. Just act in time once you get the GI.
c) Breaking the Guard Gauge: If there is a very defensive opponent, all you have to do is use mix ups and moves that break the guard. The move that breaks the guard quickly is SSH BBB, it breaks at 4.3 times meaning once you start the 4th time the first B will break the guard. However it is very risky, as this move is easily noticeable, stepable, JGable and very unsafe. By searching the frame data you can find which moves break the guard gauge (because not all do) and at how many times, leaving the opponent vulnerable.
*Here’s a Guard Gauge Data for Siegfried made by Sacharja: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-guard-gauge-data.12949/
d) Stepping/ StepG: Siegfried has overall one of the worst steps in the game, excluding his frontstep, but I guess his armor and sword are too heavy, the age… Anyway, that isn’t much of a problem, as Siegfried can step strings and avoid verticals, but you have to be precise in time. However if you decide to step and block you’ll be at a disadvantage. -20 frames to be precise. Many people were not satisfied when StepG became that unsafe, but as a Siegfried player I have to say that this is one cool change that gives us advantage over other characters.
And here is why: If your opponent decides to step and you notice him you can agA/iagA, 6A and every horizontal that is less than i20 can hit him/her. If he/she decides to backstep, stuff like 3B can work pretty well and thank Siegfried’s range for that.
*Here’s a discussion with tips and strategies against the backstep: http://8wayrun.com/threads/sieg-vs-the-infamous-backstep-strategy.13863/
e) Ringouts: They are definitely not cheap and since Siegfried has a good RO game… go for a RO at every chance. Besides if you RO your opponent it is always his fault.
VI) Combos and techtraps
Combos are moves used in a sequence making up a string that cannot be avoided if the opponent gets hit. Techtraps are close to combos but the difference is that there is at least one possible exit for the opponent that gets hit. Siegfried isn’t a character that huge strings, but his combos deal good damage and get stronger by spending meter. Siegfried has 3 Brave Edge Moves (SBH K BE, SCH K BE, 66K BE) that can add more damage to combos or lead to one. Also Siegfried has a linear and quite slow CE which could be used as a combo ender mostly. Also walls are your friends, specially when they are on your left side.
*Here’s a thread that contains most of Siegfried’s combos and techtraps: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-combo-tech-trap-list.8847/
*Here’s the discussion about combos: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-combo-discussion.8850/
*Here’s the discussion about techtraps: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-tech-trap-discussion.8851/
VII) Match Ups
Now that you know some stuff about Siegfried and the game, it is time to learn how Siegfried does against each character of the game. In SCV you’ll find each kind of character that has a different playstyle, strong tools, etc. which you’ll have to know and pay attention to. So do not underestimate any character and don’t feel hopeless against a difficult one. Never give up!
*Here’s the matchup thread (read description): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-matchup-thread.13075/
*Here’s the discussion thread: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-matchup-discussion-thread.11502/
*Here’s a string defense guide (made by Heaton): http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-string-defense-guide.11553/
VII) Some last few things…
*Q&A discussion thread: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-q-a-general-discussion.8846/
*Siegfried Videos: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-videos.8852/
*Meeting and fighting other Siegfried players: http://8wayrun.com/threads/siegfried-players-unite.13986/
That’s all for now… I hope you found this guide helpful ^^!!