Guilty Gear Strive players continue to push the meta through advanced tech that once felt inconsistent. Options like avoiding wall break to extend pressure sequences and using drift Roman Cancels to open up or bait opponents are now more common at tournaments. We highlighted five jaw-dropping moments that will make you happy you’re not the victim.
Sol juggles Goldlewis to death
— DEB (@SuperDEBico) August 30, 2021
Sol may have been patched but that doesn’t mean he lost his signature damage. North American EVO 2021 Guilty Gear Strive top 8 finalist, Super Debico, showcased a seemingly impossible Sol juggle in a recent stream clip.
Sol is known in Strive for infamously having some of the best yet simplest tools to use in the game. Here we see him putting those tools to good use. Deb gets a random counter hit with his Slash button and converts it into huge damage via a hilarious improv juggle combo.
Just another reason to never get stuck in the corner against Sol and his c.S.
Another evil Leo mixup
Did you get hit? don't lie bc I know you did #GGST_LE pic.twitter.com/iNYtOav2RK
— RIZE | K7 (@K7_Showoff) August 13, 2021
This clip shows why K7 is easily one of the best Leo players in North America. He has a crazy knack for putting his opponents in the nastiest situations possible, then forcing them to block some of the most obnoxious mixups in the game.
K7 drops the Nagoriyuki player’s health to the point where one more combo will finish him off. Once K7 gets that knockdown he sends the other player to mix-city. He throws Leo’s projectile, drift-PRCs, and goes to work with enough time to get two left-right mixups into the kill. What’s crazy is that Leo got buffed so mixups like this will be a lot worse to deal with post-patch.
May’s crazy burst catch
highlights of today pic.twitter.com/gRO1PQNhQQ
— RSG | Seo (@RSG_Seo) August 25, 2021
Like Sol, May is known for doing crazy damage for almost nothing, while characters like Chipp die for getting sneezed on. That aside, the drift RC read/reaction to the Chipp player’s burst makes this play sick. This great highlight shows that one good play can overcome almost any deficit.
RC Drift into a dub
THE DRIFT https://t.co/xtqlaynbnF pic.twitter.com/ioVHJv6DlU
— HiFight(ハイファイト) (@HiFightTH) August 23, 2021
If there’s one thing that early Guilty Gear Strive players predicted, it’s the fact that Roman Cancel drift would be one of the coolest tools to use and watch.
During April’s big LEVO tournament Marn showed that his Giovanna is a cut above the rest. He constantly picks the right spots, optimizes his combos, and uses tools like Gio’s pokes to put his opponents in the worst situations possible.
Here Marn literally wakes up with a super to avoid taking his opponent’s okizeme and then uses the rest of his meter to drift PRC back. This baits out an invincible reversal counter from Ky, giving Marn an easy walk into a throw for the finish. The situational awareness and mental fortitude necessary to do something like this, during a tournament no less, is only something you’ll see from a high-level player.
Hotashi never gives up
Hotashi went into Blood rage THREE times in a single round and STILL won holy shit #GGST pic.twitter.com/isopiHhJ94
— Sugoi | Ebonic Plague (@EbonicPlagueBB) August 29, 2021
Many call Nagoriyuki going into Blood Rage a death sentence due to the form limiting his options and constantly draining his health. However, Hotashi went into Blood Rage three times in this round and still came out on top. It’s obvious that he was confident enough to not care about blood meter management. Once he hit Rage, he kept his composure and continued the offensive, hitting Marn with some fat chip damage and an epic anti-air to finish the match.
There are tons of new “play of the game” highlights coming from Strive everyday. Whether it’s from the competition or a casual playing stream, the game never ceases to feature some of the wildest happenings in recent fighting games. And thankfully it has a lot of time ahead of it to keep these memorable moments coming.