GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
I - BASIC KNOWLEDGE.......................................................................................................... 4
First things first................................................................................................................... 4
About Frame Data.............................................................................................................. 4
About the Drive Gauge.......................................................................................................6
II- GAME STRUCTURE........................................................................................................... 7
III- TOOLS & TECHS............................................................................................................... 9
DEFENSE........................................................................................................................ 10
Defense - Guard & Parry............................................................................................ 10
Defense - Abare........................................................................................................ 10
Defense - Invincible Reversals................................................................................... 11
Defense - Countering Throws.................................................................................... 12
Defense - Drive Reversal........................................................................................... 13
NEUTRAL.........................................................................................................................14
Neutral - Drive Impact................................................................................................ 14
Preemptive Neutral - Pokes....................................................................................... 14
Preemptive Neutral - Zoning...................................................................................... 15
Reactive Neutral - Anti Airs........................................................................................ 16
Reactive Neutral - Whiff Punish..................................................................................16
Active Neutral - Throws.............................................................................................. 18
Active Neutral - Command Grabs.............................................................................. 18
Active Neutral - Drive Rush........................................................................................ 19
Active Neutral - Special Moves.................................................................................. 19
OFFENSE........................................................................................................................ 21
Offense - Combos...................................................................................................... 21
Offense - Okizeme......................................................................................................22
Offense - Block Pressure............................................................................................26
Offense - Drive Cancel............................................................................................... 28
Offense - Burnout pressure........................................................................................ 28
EXTRA TIPS.......................................................................................................................... 29
Be consistent!............................................................................................................. 29
Be unpredictable!....................................................................................................... 29
Be aware of your character’s strengths and weaknesses!......................................... 29
HAVE FUN!.................................................................................................................29
CLOSING THOUGHTS.......................................................................................................... 30
INTRODUCTION
Hello!

I’ve written this guide to help out new players, players that picked up a character and don’t
know where to start, or players that are stuck in their progression and don’t know what to
work on.

All this information is already available on youtube or great websites like supercombo.gg, but
it can be overwhelming for a new player, or hard to know where to start or focus on.

This guide aims to be a practical, condensed summary of every tool and tech you can work
on to improve your gameplay. It’s divided in three chapters:

I - Basic knowledge required to grasp the rest of the guide.

II - A short description of how a match of Street Fighter is structured.
III - The big one, and probably what you’re here for: a list of every tool and tech you can
work on to learn or get better at the game.

If you’re already familiar with the game, its mechanics, and how frame data works,
you can skip the first chapter.

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I- BASIC KNOWLEDGE

First things first

If this is your first fighting game, or if you know close to nothing about Street Fighter, there
are a few arguably boring things to do before reading on, namely:

​ Play the game’s tutorial.

​ Learn to read Numpad Notations (it’s easy).

Numbers are directions.
L / M / H = Light / Medium / Heavy
P is Punch, K is Kick.

So 236MK is Down > Down+Right > Right > Medium Kick.

Or quarter circle forward + medium kick, performed quickly.

​ Note that the numbers are mirrored if your character is facing left. (623 becomes
421)

​ Training mode is incredible in this game, take a few minutes to look at its settings.
Some notable ones being:
-Turn on the frame meter.
-Control whether you want the dummy to block, or only block if you leave an opening
/ when they get up.
-The dummy’s immediate reaction when it either blocks, gets hit, or gets up.

With enough tweaking around, you can make the dummy do absolutely whatever you
want, helping you practice whatever technique you’re working on.

​ Bookmark your character’s supercombo.gg page.

​ Bookmark Infil's glossary. Whenever you stumble upon a term you don’t understand,
look it up.

About Frame Data

Frames are our unit of time. A frame is 1/60th of a second.
Every offensive move in the game has startup, active and recovery frames.

Startup is how fast the move comes out.

Active is the time during which the move can hit.
Recovery is how fast you can act after the move.
Being in hitstun or blockstun means you cannot act.

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A cancel is when you can input a special or a super during another move, skipping its
recovery frames. Not every move is cancelable, and they can’t necessarily cancel both into
specials and every super.

This is different from a link, which requires you to input the next move the very moment you
finish recovering from the previous one. These typically require a bit more practice to pull off.

Chaining is a mechanic unique to certain normal light attacks, allowing you to chain them
together on hit or block, while bypassing their startup frames.
Something like 2LP > 2LK > 5LP, with only 2LP needing to go through its startup frames.
Not every light normal is chainable.

This is a cancel. Your first move’s active frames are cut short, and it has no recovery frames.

This is a link. You input your second move the very moment you’ve recovered from the previous one.

This is three light buttons being chained together, with only the first one needing startup frames.

Getting hit during the startup frames of a move results in a counter hit (bad).
Getting hit during the active or recovery frames of a move results in a Punish Counter (very
bad).

Some moves are invincible to either aerial attacks, projectiles, strikes, or fully invincible
during part of or the entirety of their startup and active frames.

You get different frame advantage depending on whether your attack hits or gets blocked.
An attack being -2 on block means your opponent gets to act 2 frames before you do if they
successfully block it.
An attack being +4 on hit means you get to act four frames before your opponent if the
attack lands.
That is, unless you cancel your attack into another move, thus skipping the recovery frames.

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For example, let us take a look at Ryu’s 2HP:
-​ It has 9 startup, 6 active, and 21 recovery frames.
-​ It can cancel into Special and Super Art moves.
-​ It is +1 on hit and -7 on block.
-​ It is impervious to aerial attacks on startup.

Let me reassure you: you do not need to know all these numbers. What you need to take out
of this is: Ryu’s 2HP is cancelable, fast to come out, and good against aerial attacks; but the
long recovery and block penalty mean you do not want this attack to miss or get blocked.

You can get additional frame advantage in certain scenarios:

Counter hit: +2
Punish Counter, Drive Rush, or your opponent being in Burnout: +4

These are all cumulative. So in theory, hitting a Counter Hit(+2) on a burned out
opponent(+4) while Drive Rushing(+4) would give you a total of 2+4+4=10 additional frames
to work with, whether the attack hits or gets blocked.

About the Drive Gauge

You start the match with six Drive stocks.

You can use your Drive Gauge to:

-Perform Overdrive special moves.
-Parry.
-Use Drive Rush, Drive Cancel, Drive Impact, or Drive Reversal.
More on these in the third chapter.

You can gain Drive by:

-Attacking;
-Parrying attacks;
-Walking forward;
-Passive Regen.

You lose Drive by:

-Spending it (duh);
-Blocking;
-Getting hit by a Punish Counter, a Drive Impact, or a Super art.

That’s it for the prerequisites! Sorry you had to go through this, but knowing this stuff will
make learning a much smoother experience.

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II- GAME STRUCTURE
The way Street Figher is played can be broken down into three parts: Offense, Defense, and
Neutral.

Offense is your reward for winning Neutral. You’re on top of your opponent, and you get to
act before them, directing the pace of the match.
In other words, it is your turn.

Defense is the price you pay for losing Neutral. Your opponent can act before you do, and
you want to get out of this situation as soon as possible.
In other words, it is their turn.

Neutral is everything in-between. Both you and your opponent can act, no one has the upper
hand.
You could write an entire book about Neutral, as it’s essentially what Martial Arts are. But
we’re going to keep it very simple.

During Neutral, you want to switch between three different playstyles:

-​ Active (offensive playstyle): you try to get in on your opponent.

-​ Reactive (baiting): you want your opponent to make the first move, so you make it
look like they have an opening, forcing a reaction out of them, then punish the poor
soul for hitting the air.

-​ Preemptive (defensive playstyle): you keep your opponent at a safe distance by

throwing out fast, ranged moves before they can act, hoping to land a Counter Hit or
frustrate them into making a mistake.

This creates a rock-paper-scissors situation, which looks like this:

Active > Reactive > Preemptive > Active

If you both pick the same option, the one with the faster or better ranged move wins.

The difference between playing Reactively or Preemptively can be nebulous, and to be

honest, won’t matter much at lower ranks, as you’ll mostly run into either maniacs that don’t
know the meaning of “defense”, or turtle-like players. Baiting comes into play a bit higher on
the ladder.

This is also all theoretical. An active, offensive player can still get the upper hand on a
defensive one if the latter doesn’t know the proper timing and spacing for his pokes and
anti-airs, or is simply too slow to react.

This stuff happens without you realizing it. But having a reason for playing the way you do,
rather than acting at random, while being able to recognize what your opponent is

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attempting, will help you adapt and answer accordingly, which becomes key the higher you
climb.

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III- TOOLS & TECHS
What you’re here for.

Do not bother trying to learn everything at once, it is both ineffective and incredibly
unfun.
Simply pick a subject you want to work on, practice it a bit in training mode, then hop online.

Neutral
Defense Offense
Preemptive Reactive Active
Guard & Parry Throws Combos
Pokes Anti Airs
Abare Command Grabs Okizeme

Invincible
Drive rush Block Pressure
Moves
Zoning Whiff Punish
Throw Defense Special Moves Drive Cancel

Burnout
Drive Reversal Drive Impact
Pressure

⭐You can click on any section in the above table to immediately jump to it.⭐
If you’re a beginner, I feel like I need to address this: do not focus solely on offense.
This is a very common beginner mistake: spending hours practicing the perfect combo, only
to hop online and realize you are, in fact, not fighting a training dummy, and can’t ever land
it.

There’s no point in knowing a 6500 damage combo if you can’t land the first hit.

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DEFENSE
You lost Neutral, your opponent is going ham on you, let’s try and get them off you.

Defense - Guard & Parry

Guard:

The base of your defense, you can either guard high by holding back, or crouch guard by
holding down+back.

Standing guard defends against everything but low-hitting attacks.

Crouch guard defends against everything but overhead and aerial attacks.

The vast majority of moves in the game hit high, and can be defended with either type of
guard.

Overhead attacks tend to have a significant startup, so you’ll actually be crouch-guarding

most of the time, and be able to stand on reaction if you see an overhead coming.

No guard can defend against throws.

Parry:

Performed by holding MP+MK for an initial cost of half a drive bar. Serves the same function
as guarding, with a few differences, both positives and negatives:

+​ When parrying an attack, you recover some drive, instead of losing it by guarding.
+​ You block low, overhead, jumping, left and right attacks all the same.
+​ Beats Drive Impact.
+​ Can lead to a “perfect parry” with near perfect timing (2 frames window), giving you
ample time to react, and making you invincible for 6f after parrying.
Note that a combo performed out of a perfect parry only does half the damage it
normally would.

-​ Has 33f of recovery, during which you can keep manually blocking, but nothing else.
-​ You’ll be dealt extra damage if thrown out of a parry, and you can’t throw tech,
making throws the main counter to parrying.

Defense - Abare
I have a hard time wording it better than this.

Every character has at least one 4f startup button, which is their fastest. If your opponent
leaves an opening in their offense while you’re blocking, and you can reach them, then you
can get your turn back by pressing it.

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Guess wrong however, and you end up getting counter-hit and eating a combo you could
have otherwise blocked.

Here, Player 1’s second move got interrupted during its startup frames by Player 2’s jab.

So while you should keep this option in mind, this should not by any means be your default.
If your opponent got an airtight offense, you’re better off blocking your way back to Neutral,
or using an invincible move. Speaking of…

Defense - Invincible Reversals

An incredibly powerful tool, but a big risk to take.

An invincible reversal, often inaccurately shortened as just “reversal”, is a move that is

invulnerable during its startup frames; meaning your opponent can throw whatever they want
at you, this move will beat it, and you get your turn back.

For example, Ryu’s OD Shoryuken (623PP) is invulnerable for frames 1 through 8.

Every character has at least one invincible move. A lot of Super Arts can act as invincible
reversals, and for some characters, it is all they have, meaning they have to spend Super
Meter to have access to it.

Most of the cast however, also have a dedicated Overdrive special move, so all they have to
spend is two bars of drive gauge. It also means that they lose access to it if they enter
burnout (they still have their Supers Arts though).

Learn what your character’s invincible moves are, and use it when your opponent is going
ham on you, resulting in you either knocking them down, escaping, or opening them up for a
follow-up combo.
More often than not, you’re gonna use it as you’re getting up.

My invincible startup frames (white squares) went right through my opponent’s active frames (red),
and
they got hit while recovering (blue) once my own move became active.

Why not do it every time then?

Like I said, it’s a gamble. Invincible moves typically have a long recovery window. Ryu’s OD

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Shoryuken full animation is almost a full second.
So if it whiffs or gets blocked, you’re left wide open for the biggest Punish Counter combo
your opponent has in store.

You absolutely can expect to lose half your lifebar for losing this bet.

A common tactic is to bait reversals. Your opponent knocks you down, approaches you to
make it seem like they’ll continue the onslaught, but blocks at the last moment.

So, like everything else in the game, don’t be predictable and throw it out too often, or you
will pay the price.

Defense - Throws
Reacting to a throw can be pretty tough, so try and observe your opponent so you know
when to expect it. Common scenarios include: after you blocked a jump-in, at the end of a
blockstring, or right as you’re getting up.

If you think a throw is coming, you’ve got three options (on top of the invincible moves
covered in the previous section):

-The most straightforward option: tech the throw, by pressing a throw input yourself, putting
you back to neutral.

Be careful though, as if your opponent baits your tech, your own throw whiffs, leaving you
wide open for a punish.

A technique worth practicing early is the Delayed Tech. Slightly delaying your tech allows
you to block if your opponent opts to strike instead.

Note that you cannot tech air or command grabs (more on those below).

-If you’re feeling risky, instead of teching, you could also backdash to avoid the throw,
making your opponent whiff, then punish them. This works even if you’re cornered, but is
however vulnerable to strikes.

-If you’re feeling even more risky, another option is jumping to escape, making your
opponent whiff, and punishing them on your way down for some big damage. Like
backdashing, this is vulnerable to strikes, but also to anti-airs, as your opponent recovers
fast enough after whiffing to anti-air you.
So not a great option overall, but can work if your opponent isn’t expecting it.
And, to be honest, it can work quite well in lower ranks, since players there have trouble with
anti-airing.

The special case of Command Grabs:

Some characters have access to Command Grabs, special moves with properties similar to
those of throws. (Zangief’s 360P, Manon’s 63214P, etc…)

You cannot tech Command Grabs.

On the flip side, they’ve got longer whiff recovery, usually 50+ frames, versus 30 for a

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common throw. This makes backdashing and especially jumping much more appealing
options against them, since unlike a regular throw, your opponent won’t be able to react with
an anti-air.

So if you’ve faced a Zangief who command-grabbed you four times in the same round: less
blocking, more dodging.

Defense - Drive Reversal

Get off me!

While blocking, you can press 6HPHK to perform a Drive Reversal, at the cost of two drive
stocks.

If it connects, the opponent is sent flying, and dealt a small amount of recoverable damage.

It can be blocked though, in which case you’re left at -6f. This means you usually want to use
it against heavier attacks, so the opponent doesn’t recover fast enough to block it.

Drive Reversal is safer to use than Drive Impact, but is more expensive, and much less
rewarding.

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NEUTRAL
I’ve ranted enough about what Neutral is in the second chapter. We’re gonna list every tool
you can use in neutral, and in which playstyle they fall.

But first, we’ve gotta take something out of the way. I present to you…

Neutral - Drive Impact

Use with caution.

Performed by inputting HP+HK, at the cost of one Drive stock.

Both offensive and defensive, Drive Impact is an armored move, capable of absorbing two
hits without being interrupted. A third hit would interrupt it, and you eat the damage from
every absorbed hit.

Assuming the move doesn’t get interrupted, there are several possible outcomes.

-​ It hits, and your opponent is knocked down.

-​ It hits your opponent in the air, opening them up for a juggle.
-​ It gets blocked, and the opponent is pushed far away.
-​ It hits or gets blocked near the corner, provoking a wallsplat. If your opponent was in
Burnout, stuns them instead.
-​ It hits as a Punish Counter, and your opponent is left in a crumple state, open for a
Drive Impact combo.

Be sure to practice a crumple, wallsplat, juggle, and stun combo, to maximize your reward
off of a successful Drive Impact.

Do be careful not to be predictable with this, as Drive Impact can be countered in several
ways:

-​ Your opponent’s reacting to your DI with their own, absorbing yours, and now you’re
the one in a crumple state. This is a very common scenario.
-​ Fast or multi-hitting moves breaking through the armor.
-​ Throws.
-​ Super Arts.

The best defensive uses of Drive Impact is against players who love to spam very slow,
non-cancelable moves, as they won’t be able to recover fast enough to counter it.

You can also risk throwing it out during your offense, especially against a cornered
opponent, as even if they block it, they get wallsplat.

However, it is a risk, and you’ll find people are surprisingly good at reacting to Drive Impacts.
If they are in Burnout however, they can’t Drive Impact back, thus limiting their answers.

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Preemptive Neutral - Pokes
Don’t get any closer!

Pokes are fast, decently ranged moves. They’re also safe on block if used at their optimal
distance.

Figure out what your character’s pokes are, whether they hit low, are disjointed, are
cancelable, and their effective range.

If they hit low, good, it can catch opponents walking back (since blocking low requires you to
be crouching, you cannot do it while walking).

A “disjointed” move is something like this. You can’t hurt JP’s cane, but it can hurt you.

Even if your poke is cancelable, hitconfirming into a combo can be tough. To remedy this,
something you can do is practice “buffering”: you throw out your poke right outside of range,
and input the follow-up special move. If your opponent walks into your poke, the special
move is performed; else, your poke whiffs, and that’s it.

If your poke isn’t cancelable, you usually don’t get any extra reward for landing it. That said,
if you score a counter or, better yet, a punish counter, the extra frame advantage may open
the way to certain links.
For example, Rashid’s 5MK isn’t cancelable, but will be +10 on Punish Counter, allowing for
a link into his 5HP.

The idea is to throw out your pokes when your opponent is walking towards you, and you
think they’re going on the offense. Do it enough times, and they’ll grow frustrated, which
usually results in them resorting to more unsafe tactics, such as:
- Jumping in so they don’t have to deal with your sh- with your pokes. In which case,
you answer with an anti-air.
- Throwing out a Drive Impact. Be on the lookout for it, and answer with your own.
- Other moves specific to their character, which can range from a teleport, to a
divekick, or any other gimmick. Such tools can usually either be reacted to, or
punished on block.

You cannot play keep away forever though. While punishing a poke on reaction can be
tough, if your opponent notices you spamming them, they can fake their approach, making
you whiff on purpose, and will be ready with a punish.
Drive Impact in particular is a scary answer if your poke isn’t cancelable.

Preemptive Neutral - Zoning

Hadoken!

Zoning usually refers to projectiles, or to… well, to Dhalsim. Not every character has zoning
tools, but those who do, want to make the most of it.

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Zoning serves the same purpose as pokes, only from further away.

You harass your opponent from a distance, pushing them to make a mistake, which usually
means them trying to jump over your projectiles. You can then anti-air them.

Practice the ideal distance from which you want to throw your stuff though, as if you do it
from too close, your opponent’s jump-in actually will hit you before you can recover.

Using different buttons will usually affect your projectile’s travel speed, trajectory, or in JP’s
case, whether they hit low, high, or overhead. Be sure to mix things up to make it harder for
your opponent to get past your zoning wall.

OD projectiles usually hit an extra time. This is useful in “zoning wars”.

While two fireballs colliding cancel each other, an OD fireball can absorb two hits, thus will
beat a basic one, and pass through it.
Does it make sense? If not, just watch this.
Some characters have access to multi-hitting projectiles without needing to spend
ressources, like Guile’s Sonic Cross.

Be mindful of your opponent character’s anti-zoning tools: moves that go under or straight
through your projectiles, divekicks, or simply their own projectiles.
I’m afraid the best way to learn about those is the hard way. Get hit by A.K.I.’s Venomous
Fang enough times, and you’ll know better than to mindlessly spam fireballs from fullscreen
against her.

Reactive Neutral - Anti Airs

“Shoryuken!”

Jumping attacks are dangerous.

If you get hit, you’re going to suffer some big damage.
Even if you block, it takes only 3 frames to recover from a jump. This means that more often
than not, the one landing will be able to act first.

Thankfully, when your opponent is in the air, they cannot block, and with a bit of practice, you
can consistently punish aerial approaches on reaction, by using moves impervious to aerial
attacks: these are called Anti-Airs.

Each character has ways to deal with aerial attacks, whether it be with buttons, special
moves, or even air throws. Learn what your options are, and get used to their range, timing,
and potential follow ups.

People in the lower ranks love to jump, and some players legit don’t know any other way of
getting in. Learn to anti-air early, and you’re going to shut a lot of people down.

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Reactive Neutral - Whiff Punish
Disclaimer: this is probably the hardest concept to grasp in this entire guide, as it requires
you to do something rather counter-intuitive: letting your opponent make the first move. Or,
more accurately, baiting them into it.

But it’s still something you want to at least know about. Especially if you’re playing a
character who doesn’t have many gimmicky ways of getting in, and has to rely on good ol’
footsies.

Whiff punishing means punishing your opponent for missing their attack.
This is something you can do on reaction if the move they used has a lot of recovery frames.

A couple key issues though:

-​ You can’t exactly sit around doing nothing, hoping for the opponent to make a
mistake. After all, they are unlikely to miss a stationary target.

-​ While punishing slow moves on reaction is relatively easy, doing the same for a poke
is way harder, while reacting to a whiffed jab is downright impossible.

What should you do then? The answer is: mindgames. You want to fake your approach,
tricking your opponent into throwing out an attack that isn’t gonna hit. If done successfully,
you can either:

-​ Be ready to throw out a punish the moment you see them wind up their attack.

-​ Or go for the low risk, high reward option: you punish preemptively. This way, you
don’t even have to react.

If it works, great, it is now your turn. But if your opponent doesn’t fall for it, then you
are now the one whiffing your counterpoke. Though you should still be spaced
enough for it not to matter too much. Hence the “low risk”.

They could be ready to whiff punish your whiffed punish, but we’re entering levels of
mindgames that are outside the scope of this guide.

Hanging in there? Okay, only one question remains: how to trick your opponent into hitting
the air in the first place?

The most basic way of accomplishing this is by simply walking forward, right in range of your
opponent’s pokes, then back away at the last moment. The faster your character walks
(source), the better. Don’t bother trying this if you’re playing Dhalsim.

Another way is to use feints. For example, purposefully whiffing an attack hoping to bait a
reaction, or Drive Rushing into a jab to stop early. Get creative!
Some characters also have built-in feints in their moveset. Kim’s Emergency Stop and Elbow
Drop, Cammy’s Silent Step, most of Dee Jay’s light specials…

Lastly, you can use Frame Traps and Spacing Traps. If you want to know more about these,
check out the “Block Pressure” section.
But to summarize, your opponent blocks your attack and, thinking they have an opening,

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attempts to sneak in a counterhit. But either can’t hit you fast enough (frame trap), or can’t
reach you (spacing trap), resulting in them either exposing themselves to a counter-attack,
or trading blows with you, which is still in your advantage if you recover first.

That’s it for Whiff Punishing as a tactic.

If you ever run into a very defensive player who’s really good at poking you out of their
space, this is a good way of opening them up.

The downside is, if you’re focused on baiting your opponent’s defensive options, you’re
much less likely to react if they actually go on the offensive.

Recognize your opponent’s playstyle, understand what they’re trying to accomplish, and
adapt accordingly.

Active Neutral - Throws

“Got you!”

Each character has access to a forward throw, and a back throw that makes you switch
sides with your opponent.

Each throw has a 5f startup, and cannot be blocked. They also have a long 30f recovery if
you whiff them, so try not to be too predictable.

Good times to try and land a throw include:

-​ Right as your opponent is getting up.

-​ When you’re plus on block or on hit and in range for it. This is called a Tick Throw. A
common scenario is after a blocked jump-in or cross-up. Note that you cannot throw
an opponent in hitstun or blockstun.

-​ If you notice your opponent is being passive and letting you make the first move,
simply walk up to them and throw them. The faster your character walks, the better.

Active Neutral - Command Grabs

“Pain”

A special type of throw that some characters have access to. Very similar to throws, save for
a few, important differences:

-It cannot be throw tech’d. Meaning the only way to defend against a command grab is to
jump, or backdash. In other words, to get the hell away.

-Different startup, whiff recovery, damage, and range than regular throws. The specifics
depend on the command grab used, and its version.

If your character has access to a command grab, learn the proper spacing and speed
difference for each of its versions. For example, Manon’s light Manège Doré (63214LP)
starts up slower but has more range than the heavy version (63214HP).

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Characters whose gameplan is centered around their command grabs are called grapplers.
Crouch blocking all day against them is a bad idea.

If you’re a grappler, you’ll want to first scare your opponent into blocking, preferably crouch
blocking low attacks, then sneak in a command grab.

On the flipside, they are easily punishable if they whiff (50+ frames versus a throw’s 30
frames). A player can dodge your command grab by jumping and attacking you on their way
down faster than you can recover.

Active Neutral - Drive Rush

Performed by holding MP+MK and double tapping forward, at the cost of a Drive stock.
Or, you can double tap forward, and hit MP+MK right as you tap forward the second time, so
you don’t even start the parry animation, making your Drive Rush more surprising.

Drive Rush is kind of like a super dash. It propels you forward, and gives an additional four
frames of advantage to the move used out of drive rush, while maintaining the forward
momentum.

This means a button that would usually be -1 on block and push your opponent away, is now
+3 and leaves you close to them, giving you your turn, allowing you to continue your offense,
maybe even go for a tick throw.
That overhead that was +3 on hit? It is now +7, allowing you to link into bigger moves.

For example, if Ed lands his 6HP out of Drive Rush, he’ll be +5 instead of +1, allowing him to
link a move with a startup of 5 or less frames, like his 5LK, which, unlike 6HP, is special
cancelable.
On block, he’ll be +1 and get his turn, instead of being -3 and exposed.

Figure out the distance from which you want to use Drive Rush, the moves you want to use
out of it, and their follow up on block or hit.

The opponent can try and react to a Drive Rush approach with a fast button, or one that has
a lot of active frames. But it is one of the ways you can start your offense, especially if you’re
playing a fast character like Juri, whose drive rush is difficult to react to.

Active Neutral - Special Moves

While a very important part of your moveset, this is character-specific, so I won’t go into too
much detail here.
Check your command list for special moves that can help you start your offense.

Such moves include:

-Teleports;
-Slow moving projectiles you can use as a “shield” to walk behind;
-Moves that are invulnerable to projectiles;
-Divekicks (usually requires you to space them correctly to be plus on block);
-Armored moves;
-Low profile moves such as slides (immune to high-hitting attacks);

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-Hopkicks (immune to low-hitting attacks);
-etc.

However, none of these tools is entirely foolproof. Some have a long startup, some are very
unsafe on block, some can be anti-aired.

To know more, check guides specific to your character, their supercombo page, and spend
some time in the training room.

Some people like to talk about “neutral skip”. Which I personally don’t agree with.
All you’re doing is making use of your character’s gimmicks to start your offense, instead of
playing “traditional” footsies. This is part of what makes every character different, and the
game fun to play.

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OFFENSE
Your turn!

Offense - Combos
Landing a combo isn’t the game, it’s the reward. As I’ve already said, and I cannot stress it
enough, learning crazy combos won’t help you if you can’t land the first hit. But if you do
manage to land it, then let’s make the most out of it!

This is how you know you’ve landed a combo. If this doesn’t show up, this means there was
a gap of at least one frame in your offense. This one frame is enough for your opponent’s
invincible reversal input to register, so it is important.

When practicing combos, set the dummy to “Block After First Hit”. If it blocks, it means you
dropped your combo.

Different combos can lead to different rewards, which are:

-Better damage;
-Better corner carry;
-Better knockdown advantage (which is important for your okizeme game). The longer and
closer your opponent is down, the better).

The more damage your combo does, the less interactions you’ll need to win.
On the other hand, the better your corner carry and knockdown advantage, the more likely
you’ll be to win the next interaction.

Usually, you want to prioritize knockdown advantage and corner carry so you can keep up
the pressure, and save the most damaging routes to finish off your opponent, or not to waste
ressource.

Check out your character’s supercombo page for a list of combos, though you won’t be able
to learn all of them straight away.

I would suggest knowing one combo for every common situation, meaning:

-A light confirm combo, to use at the end of your light chains.

-A combo off of your pokes and meaties, whether they are cancelable, or can link into
another move on counter hit.
-A punish combo, for when your opponent leaves themselves wide open, or after you’ve

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successfully baited a reversal.
-Same as all of the above, but with your opponent in the corner.
-If you have access to it: a side switch combo, for when you’re the one near the corner.
-A Drive Impact crumple, juggle, wallsplat, and stun combo.

You can then spend ressources, namely Drive and Super Gauge, for better versions of these
combos, incorporating OD specials, Drive Cancels, and Super Arts.

Offense - Okizeme
Kick them while they’re down!

Long section incoming.

Japanese for “wake up offense”. A very important part of your offense, and one beginners
tend to completely ignore.

When your opponent is knocked down, they can’t be hit. But it is still your turn, very much so
actually.
The idea is to get on top of your opponent, and threaten them with either a strike or a throw
right as they’re getting up.

Manually timing it can be tough. Do it too early, and your attack will whiff. Do it too late, and
it’ll be blocked or, worse, your opponent will hit you first.

Thankfully, every character has access to auto-timed setups, which you might wanna learn.
For example, after knocking his opponent down with 214LK, Rashid can immediately Drive
Rush into 6HP, and it will always hit the opponent right as they’re getting up.

You can also make it seem like you’re going to attack, and block or dodge at the last moment
to bait their wake-up action.

The only time you might consider doing nothing is when your opponent lands far away
and/or not for long enough, or if you’re in burnout and very low on health, making chip
damage a serious threat to your life.

Everytime you knock your opponent down, you should know what you’re gonna do next.

That way you’re forcing your opponent to guess. If they guess wrong, you get more damage
in, and repeat the process. If they guess right, depending on the situation, they either get
back their turn, or you go back to neutral.
This isn’t a 50/50 situation however, and overall, the odds are in your favor.

Let’s look at each of our okizeme options, and how they interact with the opponent’s reaction
on wake-up:

Option 1 - Meaty:

Wins against: any offensive wake-up option but invincible reversals, guard (if plus on block).
Loses to: Invincible reversals, perfect parry.

A meaty is when you strike your opponent the moment they’re getting up. To hit a meaty, you
usually want to use buttons that leave you plus on block, so you still have your turn even if

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your opponent guards, while allowing you to answer to a wake-up Drive Impact (which
should never be rewarded).

This makes Drive Rush a great option for meaties, as the additional four frames of
advantage makes a lot of moves plus on block, while also leading to a better reward on hit.

If manually timed, the more active frames your move has, the easier.

Lows and overheads are also preferred, forcing your opponent to guess between crouching
or standing guard. Unless they parry, which allows them to block any kind of strike, but
makes them vulnerable to throws.

If the meaty hits, you can land a combo. If it gets blocked, you can keep up the pressure.
If they use an invincible move or perfect parry, you lose.

Option 2 - Throw:

Wins against: any offensive wake-up option but invincible reversals, guard, parry.
Loses to: Invincible reversals, backdash.
Back to neutral: Throw Tech, jump.

Simply throw your opponent the moment they are getting up. If they block or try to press a
button, you win.
If they tech your throw, back to neutral you go.
If they use an invincible move or backdash, you lose.

If they jump, your throw whiffs, but you should still recover fast enough to anti-air them. Be
mindful of characters that have access to wall jumps or air specials.

Note that a lot of characters have access to a throw loop in the corner. Meaning you can
throw your opponent into the corner, walk up to them, repeat.

Option 3 - Bait:

Wins against: reversals, parry.

Loses to: Command Grabs.
Back to neutral: block.

Both meaties and throws lose to invincible reversals, making them a very strong defensive
tool. But they’re also very risky to throw out.

If you think your opponent is going to throw out a reversal, you can bait it. Approach as you
usually do, making it seem like you’re going for a meaty or a throw, then block at the last
moment.
Reversals have long recovery windows, so if you successfully bait and block it, you will then
have ample time to hit your opponent with your nastiest punish combo.

To make it believable, you’re gonna have to be right on top of your opponent, making you
vulnerable to throws, so be prepared to tech if necessary.

If they have access to a command grab and are ballsy enough to use it on wakeup, there’s
nothing you can do but hope they guess wrong.
That said, grapplers usually don’t have access to invincible moves outside of Super Arts,

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with a few exceptions like Honda’s armored OD Headbutt, or the other way around, a drunk
Jamie getting access to a Command Grab with his Tenshin.

If they parry, you should be able to react with a throw.

Option 4 - Shimmy:

Wins against: Throws, Invincible Reversals, high-hitting strikes.

Loses to: low-hitting strikes.
Back to neutral: guard & parry.

Very similar to baiting, the only difference being in spacing: instead of baiting reversals,
you’re baiting throws. You walk up to your downed opponent as they’re getting up, then walk
back at the last second, just outside of throw range.

Unlike bait however, you’re actually walking back, thus not blocking low.

Instead of walking back, you can also jump straight up for a similar result. Bigger risk, bigger
reward: you can land a jump-in as you fall down, but they should be able to recover fast
enough to hit you with an anti-air.

Against grapplers, keep in mind that some Command Grabs can reach pretty damn far.

//YOU FORGOT TO MENTION SAFE JUMPS YOU ABSOLUTE BUFFOON

Option 5 - Safejump:
Wins against: Absolutely everything but perfect parry.
Loses against: perfect parry.

Safejumps are tough to set up. They require a very specific knockdown advantage, not too
long, not too short, with your character being in range for a jump-in attack.

Some characters don’t even have access to such setups. For those who do, however, this is
a must know. Safejumps are awesome, and the only offensive option to beat invincible
reversals.

Here’s what it looks like.

The idea is to land a jump-in attack just before landing, while holding down-back to block.

-​ If they block, you are still very plus, and get to keep up the pressure.
-​ If they Drive Impact, so can you.
-​ If the opponent goes for any offensive action besides an invincible move, they get hit
by the jump-in, opening them up for a combo.
-​ If they do use an invincible move, you’ll actually land and block it, even after pressing
the attack button, assuming you timed it late enough. Your opponent is then
completely exposed for a punish combo.

The only thing that can beat a safejump is a perfect parry. If your opponent knows this (and
at these ranks, most don't), you can mix it up by not attacking during your jump, and simply
land and throw.

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/nerd mode on

If you want to know how it works: landing cuts short your jumping attack’s active frames, and
recovering from a jump only takes three frames, which is less than any move’s startup in the
game. So you get to block faster than it takes for their reversal to come out.

This right here is the key. My jumping attack’s last active frame (red
square) should hit them during their reversal’s first startup frame
(white square). But because Ryu’s move is invincible, my attack
doesn’t land. BUT I still land and recover in time (blue squares)
before Ryu’s attack finishes winding up, and I get to block.

The timing is pretty tight, this is literally a 10th of a second; but with
a bit of practice, you can build it into your muscle memory.

/nerd mode off

Let’s make a table to summarize all this:

Meaty Throw Bait Shimmy Safe Jump

D (if low
Strike A A N A
hitting)

Throw A N D A A

Guard A A N N A

A (can A (can
Parry A N -
throw) throw)

Perfect A (can
D A N D
Parry throw)

Inv.
D D A A A
Reversal

A= Attacking player wins.

D= Downed player wins.
N= No winner, back to Neutral.

You’ll notice, the downed player is always at a disadvantage.

Last thing I didn’t mention yet: some characters can use the time they get from a knockdown

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to set up some of their tools: JP’s portal, Juri’s Fuhajin, A.K.I.’s poison pool…
And if the knockdown was really long, they can even still go for a strike/throw mixup after the
fact.

This usually requires them to sacrifice some damage or corner carry, but the ensuing
pressure is all the scarier.

To end this section, here’s a fun little exercise: go to the training room, set Dummy Ryu to
backrise, “Block After First Hit”, to throw out a Light Punch on wake-up, and his HP bar to
“Refill” (this one should be on by default).

Now try to bring his health all the way down to zero.
A couple examples: Rashid, Cammy, JP, Chun Li, Kimberly, Dhalsim.

If you manage to do it, congrats, you now know how to pressure your opponent!
…what do you mean they’re “b l o c k i n g” ?

Offense - Block Pressure

Something you might notice fairly quickly as you hop online: people block your attacks.
Frustrating, I know.

If you’re new, here’s the first mistake to avoid: do not autopilot into your combo if the
opponent blocks your first hit. Combo routes are full of openings when blocked, and usually
end with a very unsafe move.

I’ll try and present the different options for when your opponent is blocking, but if you’d rather
experiment yourself, go to training mode, set dummy Ryu to block everything, have him
throw out either a light punch or an OD Shoryuken on block, and try to see what you can get
away with.
The Shoryuken will punish any gap in your offense, while the Light Punch allows for slight
gaps.

First off, a definition of what a blockstring is.

In SF6 however, the vast majority of moves are minus on block, meaning there are very few
“true” blockstrings: the opponent gets to act first after blocking your attack, thus can try and
jab their way out of your pressure (emphasis on “try”), or invincible reversal through it.

However, them acting first doesn’t necessarily mean they get their turn back. Let’s look at
our options.

If you’re plus on block:

If you’re plus on block, it is still your turn, and you get to act first. This happens after most
jump-in or cross-up attacks, or after certain buttons or special moves specific to your
character (as always, check your supercombo overview page).

Another common scenario is after a Drive Rush, or when your opponent is in Burnout, as in

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both cases you get 4 additional frames of advantage (so a -3 on block moves becomes +1).

Getting to act first means you can do, well, whatever you want. Which is usually one of two
things:

- If you’re in range, try and throw your opponent. This is called a Tick Throw.

- Frame Trap your opponent. Right after your move gets blocked, you press another button,
fast enough that if your opponent tries to jab, you’ll hit them first, or at least get an
advantageous trade.

Your character’s supercombo.gg strategy page should list some frame traps.

Drive Rushing opens the way to a plethora of frame traps, but people usually are smart
enough not to challenge a blocked Drive Rush attack.

Note that light chains automatically frame trap.

If you’re minus on block:

This is, by far, the most common scenario.

If you used a non-cancelable button or special move, there are three scenarios:

-​ The move was safe, meaning if it wasn’t too minus and/or spaced correctly, so you
go back to neutral. This also applies to blockstrings that push your opponent a safe
distance away.
You can stop there, or you can attempt a Spacing Trap, betting on them trying to
counterattack and failing to reach you, and punish them for it.

-​ It wasn’t safe, and so you lost your turn, try and defend against your opponent’s
reaction.

-​ It was very unsafe; in which case, your loss. You took a risk, and it didn’t work out.
Lay down your controller, take a breather, and start thinking about your next move,
assuming you survive.

If you used a cancelable move however, you’ve got options:

-​ The safe option: do nothing and give up your turn. You’re still minus though, so
beware your opponent’s reaction.

-​ Take a risk and go for “fake” pressure, by canceling into a special move to either try
and hit your opponent, or enforce a mixup on them (e.g. Cammy’s Hooligan, Kim’s
Srpint, Rashid’s Cyclone, stuff like that).

What makes it “fake”, is that it can either be interrupted, or punished on block,

depending on the move.

However, this requires two things: for your opponent to be able to recognize it as
“fake”, and for them to react in time.

The higher the rank, the less likely this will work. Though if you’ve conditioned your

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 opponent not to expect it, you can still take them by surprise.

-​ Drive Cancel. Refer to the next section, just below, to learn more about this.

Offense - Drive Cancel

Any character can press MP+MK, or double tap forward, to spend a whole 3 drive stocks
and perform a Drive Rush after any cancelable button, whether it hits or gets blocked. This is
called a Drive Cancel.

Because it’s a cancel, it negates any recovery your cancelable button has, along with some
active frames. The Drive Rush itself, however, has 9f of startup.

In other words, this basically means you can reduce any cancelable button’s recovery
frames to 9~ish. Which, when using a medium or heavy button, is a damn nice trade,
allowing for some insane links, like Heavy buttons chaining together.

On top of this, the button used out of Drive Cancel has the same properties as if used out of
Drive Rush, meaning it has an additional 4 frames of advantage, and propels you forward.

On hit, Drive Canceling allows you to extend your combos in ways you otherwise couldn’t.
On block, it leads to a plus on block situation, enforcing a strike/throw mixup on your
opponent.
In both cases, you automatically take your turn, and can pressure your opponent.

Drive cancel is often used to cash out on ressources to finish off your opponent, or to help
you hitconfirm after a poke, giving you more time to react depending on if your poke landed
or got blocked.

It is an extremely strong tool, but do mind your Drive Gauge, you really don’t want to enter
Burnout in the middle of a round. Speaking of…

Offense - Burnout pressure

If your opponent runs out of Drive Gauge, they enter Burnout. Them being in Burnout means
several things:

-All your attacks against them get an additional 4 frames of block advantage.
-Your special and super moves inflict some chip damage upon being blocked.
-They lose access to Drive Parry / Impact / Reversal, and to OD reversals. They can still use
their Super Arts though, assuming they’ve got meter.
-A wallsplat from a Drive Impact will lead to them getting stunned.

All this combined allows for some insane block pressure. The 4 additional frames open the
way to true blockstrings, not leaving a single opening, and even pressure loops.
If they don’t have Super meter, and your offense is impervious to jabs, they have no way of
getting out, and are basically in checkmate.

Be sure to check your character’s newfound options for when your opponent is in burnout, to
try and make the most of this situation.

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EXTRA TIPS
Be consistent!
Before even worrying about your opponent, make sure your execution is pristine. Not
dropping your combos, knowing your okizeme and pressure, and using your pokes and
anti-airs effectively is already enough to carry you pretty high.

Only then should you start considering your opponent’s actions more, which leads us to…

Be unpredictable!
No matter which approach you choose, this is the one undeniable truth you need to abide by.

The more you repeat the same tactic, the more your opponent will expect it, the more likely
they’ll adapt.

Get in their head, condition them to expect a certain pattern, then switch things up!

This is from the last round of a recent tournament’s Grand Finals. These are top level
players, $4,500 on the line.
Not once in the whole set did Kusanagi go for a throw loop, he conditioned his opponent to
expect anything but this. Here, he lands five in a row.

Be aware of your character’s strengths and weaknesses!

Any character can and should use any strategy, but while some characters are well rounded
Jack of All Trades, Master of None (best example of this still being Ryu), others tend to favor
a specific playstyle.

As an example, Kim has a lot of gimmicky ways of starting her offense, but below average
footsies, and no OD reversal.

Likewise, be mindful of your opponent’s character strengths, and exploit their weaknesses.

HAVE FUN!
Remember, this is a game, having fun is what you’re here for. Ranking up undeniably is
satisfying, it proves you’re improving.

But at the same time, focusing on it too much is sure to get you tilted and suck all the fun out
of the game. Besides, playing while tilted is a sure way to go on a losing streak.

Look at it this way: all ranked mode is doing is matching you against people around your skill
level. Thousands of players are better than you, thousands are worse.

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The more you learn → the higher you climb → the more your opponent knows → the more
interesting the game gets.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Annnd that’s all I have to say. Thanks for reading!

This took me more time than I care to admit, hopefully this will help at least a few people out.
This should be more than enough to get you going.

Special thanks to supercombo.gg, Infil’s, SF6’s subreddit, the FGC community, my cat, etc…

If you want to know more about your character, or a specific topic, there is no shortage of
awesome people in the community willing to help out. Content creators, websites, forums,
subreddits, discord servers… whatever you fancy.

Playing the game is fun, sharing the experience is even better!

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