Guile 101 Part One – Controlling space

Okay,

so most SF4 players who dont have any experience playing Street Fighter 2 Super Turbo will come across Guile and do one of the following things :

1. sit there just throw sonic booms from a distance and turtle the whole round

2. jump in roundhouse then land and do a low roundhouse to knockdown

thats cool and all..but were here to take it to the next level

   Guile is at heart, a turtle character in design, but that doesnt mean thats the only way to play him in SF4.You  must utilize all of his moves to the best of your ability.Let me suggest some moves and ideas behind why to use these moves.

Bazooka Knee is a must use move because of a variety of reasons :

1. it helps you cover ground from a distance and maintain your charge for a sonic boom

2. in a case of a knockdown in the corner, you can throw a jab sonic boom on  an opponent thats waking up, he is forced to block it,you bazooka knee in and land right next to him, just as they block the sonic boom, you then proceed to either do a stand fierce 2in1 into another sonic boom then tag on a back + fierce for good pressure (if these moves connect, they do really good damage as well, and if they do, I would suggest adding a low roundhouse at the end instead of the back + fierce for a knockdown, which would enable more wakeup mind games and pressure)

3. they help you advance and cover some ground during projectile fights..instead of just jumping over and possibly eating an antiair, or taking block damage, you can sonic boom to cancel your opponent’s projectile (considering its not EX) and then bazooka knee to advance to either throw another sonic boom, or if you feel you cannot meet their projectile on this particular exchange,just jump straight up over theirs and immediately charge for another sonic boom upon jumping.

 

his sobat kick (towards or back and foward kick) is a godsend from the designers of ST

1.it is a good poke from max distance..and allows for some pretty good followups such as low short or back + roundhouse

2. it helps you gain space and helps make the gap between you and the opponent bigger when you want to  play a fullscreen sonic boom zone game

 

   One of the best things about SF4 is that there are no superjumps outside of C Viper,what that means is you can totally punish your opponents who try to jump from full screen away. The beauty of Guile is his ability to control space and how simple you can play his game, yet still be very effective. If youre seeking to be a zoner/turtler, try to play the majority of the game fullscreen, long distance sonic boom fights and mixup the timing and speeds of your sonic booms. I find it that opponents get increasingly frustrated when they try to advance full screen and find themselves landing on sonic booms. Always keep a mental record of each characters jump trajectory, and use a fierce sonic boom to punish them on the way down.

– find ways to bait the opponent to jump into you from fullscreen..for example, I use the sobat kick going backwards as some sort of visual signal to the opponent..its almost like a bait, as if I were retreating..I usually throw a couple sonic booms and bazooka knee advance..I get some damage in maybe about 10-20% off of their lifebar then I start sobating backwards..goading the opponent to chase me down,when they jump i throw a fierce sonic boom,they land on it,I score a knockdown,then I decide whether or not I want to pursue them with wakeup games/pressure, or run back to the other side of the screen and do a long distance war.

– use his airthrow to your advantage..its free damage and takes off a good chunk of life, and isnt techable..Guile’s air throw tosses his opponent pretty far, and  puts him in perfect range for a long distance sonic boom campaign..keep in mind on the best distances for you to jump and meet them air to air with each character..I believe this is one of his most underrated moves in the game

– always keep in mind that its always good to control space, but never back yourself into the corner, be mindful of the way youre controlling the match and ALWAYS..ALWAYS try to play the midscreen and push towards your opponents corner..its never a good look when Guile has his back towards the corner

 

   Well, thats Part One of this introductory series on Guile, tune in next week as I continue to go more  in depth on how to play Guile.Usually I will update the blog once or twice a week, so stay tuned folks! More info is yet to come.

Please feel free to leave me questions or suggestions in the comment box. I would like to hear how everyone out there is progressing with their game.

Thank you,

Christian

 

PS  a little treat courtesy of StriderZer0

me and Maximillian Masters and Nasir at FFA’s (and The United State’s) very first SF4 arcade tournament from last September..see if you could see some improvement from the last videos.