From: lhuynh@sloth.Reed.Edu (Falcon Feather)
Subject: guile
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 08:52:36 GMT
Reply-To: lhuynh@reed.edu


===========
=  guile  =
===========

"are you man enough to fight with me?"


all opponent
(offensive)

guile is a powerful character with his sonic boom, razor kick, aerial and ground  
throws, reach and speed.  a good guile can beat any character.  

a very good guile can fire sonic booms very fast.  to do this you simply fire and  
charge again quickly (like moving from back defense to forward + fire button to back  
defense again in an eyeblink) so that guile can fire quite fast.  however, guile  
does not seem to be able to keep up the speed ryu/ken and dhalsim are capable of,  
and so some other tactics are needed.  crouch defense is just as good as back  
defense for charging.

when guile does fire a sonic boom, he has no delay afterwards, so any character that  
jumps over one will be subject to whatever guile chooses to do.

there are several good offensive tactics guile can use.  one is to fire a slow sonic  
boom, and follow it in towards your opponent. you can follow in by jumping in the  
air or on the ground and going for a throw, sweep or backhand fierce punch.  firing  
a slow sonic boom makes excellent coverage for jumping into an opponent as well.

guile's long sweep, though long in range, is slow and can allow players to leap in  
him.  the middle sweep though is fast and long and is an excellent way to attack.   
if timed right, guile can jump into an opponent and win with his aerial attacks  
often.

the best guiles will fire a lot of sonic booms, and when the opponent jumps over  
them, then will walk under and throw them, or meet them in the air for a throw or  
back breaker.  use of the razor kick could be done as well.

once guile has knocked an opponent down, he can use the crouching jab/throw combo,  
mixing it up by continued jabs or sweeps instead of going for the throw all the  
time.  it has the capability of working against every opponent, if done correctly  
(mostly being careful not to be up right against the fallen character when you start  
your jabs).

check against the  individual characters to see effective ways to attack.

(defensive)

guile has a lot of defensive moves.  you must learn at what distance the various  
moves work for (which can only be done by doing it yourself), but the moves are  
these:  roundhouse kick, upside down kick, standing uppercut, crouching uppercut,  
short jab punch, medium standing kick, and backhand punch.

of course, if the character jumping in is very close, guile can simply walk  
underneath, turn around and throw or back drop his opponent.  and there is always  
the ever present razor kick.

this brings up guile's typical stance.  when not pressing the attack, guile should  
be in his defensive crouch to be ready with his razor kick at all times.  when guile  
has been knocked down, you should be holding in the defensive crouch position,  
charging, so that if the opponent presses the attack by jumping or closing in, guile  
can get up executing his razor kick immediately.  a very good preventative move from  
opponents continuing an attack when jumping in.

both the medium sweep and the fierce backhand punch helps to keep enemies at a  
distance.  if guile misses with his razor kick and the opponent is waiting for him  
to land to throw him, go for the backdrop.  this move often works, to others  
surprise.

guile's sacrifice back drop/throw works very well.  when an opponent jumps in, you  
move towards the character and as soon as he hits you, you go for the back  
drop/throw.  right as he lands, guile will have grabbed him.  the "sacrifice hit  
throw" combination is a great way to exchange damage since the throw does a lot more  
damage than any kick or punch guile receives.

ken/ryu ---

to defeat ryu/ken you basically have to beat just a couple of their combinations.   
if ryu/ken jumps in, use one of the  defenses previously noted.  to counter their  
constant firing of fireballs, use the medium sweep to hit them before they can get  
their fireball off (this has a longer range than their long sweep and is faster than  
their medium one).

another way to get in is to fire a sonic boom as they fire their fireball, and then  
>immediately< jump in as they will probably be firing a second one in a row.  by  
jumping in early, you can get in before they dragon punch you.

guile can fire fairly quickly, but he cannot last in a long sustained fireball war.   
if you are back at the edge of the screen, you can jump backwards, charging for  
another sonic boom, leaping over one of ryu's fireballs, land and start firing   
again.  as ryu cannot immediately follow his fireballs in, you can safely just leap  
straight up over these as well.  always pay  attention to the speed of the fireballs  
so you won't be caught  (if you are firing sonic booms, most ryu's/ken's will be  
firing  fast ones at you -- easy ones to jump).

finally, if ken/ryu get you in one of their sweeps, there are two things to try to  
counter this.  one is to simply time when they are going to the throw and counter  
throw/back drop.  another is to go for the throw as soon as you get up.  this works  
if they are too close to you when they start their sweeps (you sort of just have to  
get used to the distance at where this works).




=========================================================================
Below is addition information on how to defeat ken/ryu with guile. Note that the  
information below is not a part of the Usenet's Guide to SFII. 


Guile vs Ken/Ryu

These strategies are designed for use against a human player.
(Note that from now on I will refer to Ken meaning both Ken and Ryu)
(Unless otherwise stated, razor kick means forward razor kick) 
(Unless otherwise stated, sonic boom means slow sonic boom)

I have had a number of requests to give some of my strategies for fightingKen with  
Guile.  Boy, I must have really come acrossed sounding full ofmyself.  I tried to  
make this so it could be used by players of any level,but I am not sure I succeeded.   
If this all seems like old hat to you, I amsorry.  Maybe you are better than I.  I  
would welcome any additions youmight have, as I am sure I forgot things, and  
probably don't know others.  Hope this helps someone.


Before the round starts, pull the joystick to defensive crouch so that therazor kick  
is charged and ready as soon as the fight begins.  When theround starts, watch Ken  
very carefully.  If the player is inexperiencedenough to start the round immediately  
with a fireball (a lot of people do),as soon as you detect the fireball movement,  
razor kick.  You will jumpover the fireball, and slice through Ken's head.  This not  
only does a fairamount of damage, but it sure makes Ken look dumb.

If Ken walks backwards to try and gain some distance, throw a slow sonic
boom, and follow it.  This brings us to what to do while following your
sonic booms in.  See below for more detail on how to proceed.

If Ken starts the round by jumping backward to gain distance, there are twothings to  
do.  If you are fast enough, you can throw a sonic boom (fast)and Ken will land on  
it.  If not, jump towards Ken right after he jumps,but don't try any attacks on him.   
The brings me to another important Guiletip.  Whenever you jump towards or away from  
someone, right after youinitiate the jump, pull into defensive crouch so as to be  
charging forsonic boom/razor kick.  After you both land, you will be in the  
samesituation as before you both jumped, so repeat the above strategy.

If Ken stands and does nothing, or crouches and defends, throw a sonic
boom, and follow it in (see tactics below).


TACTICS

Following a slow sonic boom into your opponent:

This is a very powerful tactic.  Once mastered, this alone will win you
most rounds.  Crouch to charge up the sonic boom.  When you throw it,
instead of pulling the joystick back to crouch (as most Guile players do
instinctively), just keep it in the forward position to start Guile
immediately walking towards Ken.  This will force him to do one of a few
things.

He can stand and take the sonic boom without defending.  Dumb, but some
people do this for a reason I can't figure out.

Ken can defend the sonic boom.  This should be broken down into two 
subdivsions.

  Standing defense:
  
Walk towards Ken, and when in range, roundhouse sweep.  From this position you can  
either immediately crouch down to charge the sonicboom to repeat this process (or  
razor kick if Ken does something dumb [you should be close enough]), or jump into  
Ken while he is down. If you are going to jump in, see tactic below.

  Crouching defense:

Walk up pretty close to Ken like you are going to try and throw him. When you are  
just outside his sweep range, do Guile's upside-down kick.  This should hit him,  
because he is probably trying to sweep you. Or you can just walk in and go for the  
throw (really pisses people off).

Ken can jump over the sonic boom towards you:

Very weak.  This is just like when Ken jumps into you when you are standingand  
waiting for him.  If you can make it underneath him, your best move isto walk  
underneath and turn around for the throw.  One thing to note,try to throw Ken back  
into the corner as this gives you a great
advantage.  This goes for any time you throw.  See below (aerial defense) if you  
can't walk under him.  When Ken jumps into you this way, usuallyjust a standing  
forward kick will knock him down.

Ken can throw a fireball to negate your sonic:

This is a gravy move for Guile.  Just follow the sonic boom in,
and while Ken is still extended from the fireball movement, (at
approximately the same time as the fireball and sonic boom collide)
back-hand punch.  Your punch will go right into Ken's face, and you
will take 0 damage (I love it).

His last and arguably best tactic is to jump straight up over the sonic
boom.

If he does this, and you have closed in behind your sonic boom 
correctly, there are many things you can do to him.  You can upside-
down kick, back-hand punch, or standing roundhouse kick Ken on the way
down.  You can sweep him as he lands.  You can wait until just before he
lands to jump in on him.  If you time this right he will only be able to
defend against your jump.  See below for info on jumping in on Ken.
There is one other good attack for this, but it requires that you jump in

after you throw the sonic boom.  Just jump right after you throwthe sonic (towards  
Ken of course).  If he jumps at you or juststraight up, roundhouse kick him (it has  
incredible range) beforeyou are in range of his roundhouse kick.  I don't use this  
muchbecause if Ken doesn't jump over the sonic boom, nothing much wasgained, and a  
lot could be lost, however, if you are playing someone who constantly jumps over the  
sonic booms, this is a great move to throw in.

One thing that works well for Ken when playing Guile is to occasionally
wait until the last second, and then hurricane kick over your sonic boom
This is a great move for Ken if used judiciously.  It will catch a lot of
Guile's off guard while they are walking in for the throw/sweep, etc.  Be
sure to watch for this move and expect it.  A crouching uppercut at the
correct time will put him down.

As soon as you have initiated whatever move you have chosen, remember to
get that joystick into charge position for the next attack.  Usually aftercorrect  
implementation of this tactic, you will be approximately 
1 - 1 1/2inches away from Ken.  This sets up for an awesome cheap Guile move.   
Throwa sonic boom and follow.  This will hit Ken (presumably he will block)while you  
are a mere 1/2 inch away.  While he is blocking, go for thethrow.  When implemented  
correctly, this is almost as hard to get out of asZangief's knee/PileDriver combo.   
The trick here is to learn the timingfor when to start following the sonic, and how  
far away from Ken to do thismove.  If you do it from the wrong position, or are too  
early/late, thereis a good chance that Ken will throw you, so be careful.  If Ken  
jumpstowards you, you can walk under him for the throw every time since you arenow  
pretty close.  If he jumps straight up, try to hit him with standingroundhouse, or  
standing fierce punch.  After implementation, repeat thisprocess for a deadly  
pattern.
  


Jumping into Ken:

If you can anticipate Ken's fireballs (most players are very predict- able),you can  
jump over them.  This is one of the few times that Guile caneffectively jump into  
Ken.  I almost always use forward kick when jumpinginto Ken unless I jumped from a  
long ways out.  Ken's ground to air defenseis very good, and I would seldomly if  
ever advise jumping into a waitingKen. If you jump at the same time as they throw  
the fireball, you can hitthem with a forward kick.  If you jump a little later,  
don't kick/punch onyour way in or you will get dragon punched for sure.  If you jump  
in tooclose to Ken you might get hit with it anyway.  Sometimes I will jump intoKen  
a little late on purpose and kick out to let him dragon punch me.  Iwill then wait  
for him to throw another fireball.  When he does, I jump inagain, but this time I  
don't attack.  Ken expects the attack and tries todragon punch my leg, but misses  
me, and I am set up for a throw or razorkick.  Works wonders when you get used to  
doing it.  Better Ken playersknow about the tactic of jumping in without an attack,  
and will wait untilyou are about to land, and jump into you thinking that you won't  
be readyfor the razor kick since you just landed from a jump.  If you pulled  
thejoystick into crouch as soon as you jumped, you will be ready to surprisethat  
foolhardy person.  If you didn't do this, land and crouch.  As Kenjumps in towards  
you, hit fierce, and you will knock him down a lot of thetime.  They might also jump  
up and kick you out of the air if your timingwas late, or they might be able to  
roundhouse sweep you as you land, so becareful.  Now that you have jumped into Ken,  
you can proceed to do anynumber of combos on him.  The secret is to mix it up  
constantly.  Don't bepredictable.  Try different things.  Pattern players usually  
wind upgetting beat once their opponent gets used to the pattern.  When jumping inI  
usually use forward kick to attack from the air.  Another good attack isfierce punch  
(or any other punch for that matter).  Once you have hit withthis attack (whether  
Ken takes the hit or blocks) you can immediately gofor the throw.  You can go for  
the crouching jab(one of my personalfavorites).  You can do a standing jab (be  
careful of sweeps).  You canforward sweep.  You can roundhouse sweep.  Any of these  
move can befollowed by others. ie. (jump in forward kick, crouching jab 2-3  
times,forward sweep, throw) As I said before, mix it up a lot.  One thing thatworks  
real well, is to land, throw a few crouching jabs, and then fake theperson into  
believing that you are going to throw them.  They will go forthe throw, and you can  
razor kick them.  Be wary with this move though,because if Ken blocks, he gets a  
free attack.  If you jump for the razor,and Ken walk up to throw you, go for the  
throw yourself.  You will win thisa lot of the time much to you opponents chagrin.   
Also, you can land, do anattack or two (which might get blocked) and then throw a  
sonic boom.  Thissets you in as described above when about 1 inch from Ken.  I find  
that aKen players ability can almost instantly be measured by how often he/shewill  
throw a fireball at me when I am <= 1/2 the length of the screen away.Players who do  
throw them often usually end up on the wrong side of a razorkick, or give me the  
chance to jump into them.  I like Ken's fireball.


Ken jumps into you:

Guile has a number of good FGTA (from ground to air) defenses other than
the razor kick.  These include: standing roundhouse, standing forward,
crouching uppercut (fierce), standing uppercut (fierce), standing jab,
backhand punch. It is really hard for me to tell you what distances to usethese, you  
really just need to play and get a feel for them.  Other gooddefenses against Ken  
jumping in are : jump straight up and fierce punch,jump straight up and roundhouse,  
jump up and forward kick.  Once againpractice with these to know when to use them.   
Get very good at using these"simple" defenses so that when you are not charged for  
the razor kick, youwon't get slaughtered.  If you are very good at anticipating your  
opponent,jump up at the same time as him and throw him down from the air.  And  
ofcourse, try to walk under for the throw.


Countering Kens combos:

Ken has a couple of combos which are hard to counter for Guile.  One that
is particularly painful is when Ken jumps into you while you are down.Most people  
will block high against this.  Ken will then immediately go toeither short foot  
sweeps, a throw, or short sweeps then a throw.  This isnot a hard combo to counter  
against an average player, because you can predict what they will do.  However,  
against a good Ken player who mixesthe attack up well, it can be devastating.  Of  
course the best defense is to never get knocked down, but that may be a little too  
optimistic.  If youare against a great Ken player who does this well and fools you  
often withit, I have found that the sacrifice throw works well here.  Also if  
Kenjumps in with the knee for this combo, and is pretty close to you, blockthe knee,  
and immediately go for the back-drop.  This will work often.The hardest combo to  
counter(IMHO) in the hands of a good player, is alsoinitiated when you are knocked  
down.  Ken will then walk close to you andjump so that he almost clears your head  
(but not quite) when you stand up.He will time this so that you will get up just as  
he is right over yourhead.  He will the roundhouse kick you (which hits a lot of the  
time,because most players are trying to walk under for the throw), and land onthe  
other side of you with short sweeps a flyin'.  If he hits you with theroundhouse in  
the air, he will sweep you to stars, you cannot defend intime.  Be careful to either  
block the roundhouse out, or make sure that youhave the time to walk under Ken  
before you try it.

Most of Ken's throw combo's are no problem for Guile, because his throw
priority is higher.  Just go for the throw at the same time as Ken, and youwill  
usually win it.  If Ken has knocked you down, and is closing in forsome kind of  
combo as soon as you get up, watch how close he is.  If he istoo close to you when  
you get up, you can throw him right off no matterwhat he is doing.  He can be  
standing right next to you short sweeping asfast as possible, and you will still  
grab him for the throw.  Throwing isan art-form in this game.  When you become a  
master at throwing, you canusually crush 90+% of your opponents because of the  
damage inflicted by athrow.  If you are having trouble with throwing, try rapid  
firing thebuttons (some people can do it with two fingers VERY fast).  This will  
workmost of the time, and as you play, you will begin to get the feel of whenGuile  
can throw so that you don't do it too soon (this is most peoplesproblem with  
throws).

This is not exactly a combo, but I didn't know where else to put it, so I
decided to address it here.  Be careful of good Ken players and the
hurricane kick.  Most people count this move out as useless, and don't
defend against it properly.  It can be a great move when used at the correcttimes.   
If Ken is spinning towards you, and you are ready, you can simplyrazor kick him out.   
If your not charged up (naughty, naughty), use thecrouching fierce uppercut.  Be  
careful that Ken does not start the kick atthe exact distance so that he lands right  
next to you, and starts shortsweeps.  The unsuspectingly player will be starred  
here.

These are just the strategies that I use to defeat Ken.  I am not trying tosolicit  
any patterns to you, because I think pattern players are weak.  Ihave found that  
once I get Ken backed into a corner, the round is almost asgood as done.  Guile has  
soooooo many moves he can do, that it keeps youropponent off balance if you mix it  
up enough.  A master Guile player canbeat any opponent with ease with the possible  
exception of a master Dhalsimplayer.  Guile has great throw priority, use it to your  
advantage.  I havewatched good players (playing any character, but especially  
Guile), andhave noticed a recurring motif.  They have incredible patience.  If I  
couldrecommend but one sole tactic to any SFII player to learn, it would bepatience.   
It wins often.  Don't press the attack if you don't have to.  Ifyou are ahead in  
heath, make the other person come to you.  Don't advanceunnecessarily and give your  
opponent the chance to come back on you.  Ifyou are waiting the Ken player out, and  
he is throwing a flurry offireballs at you, just match him fireballs with sonic  
booms as long as youcan.  I am usually able to match 3-4 of his.  If you are  
marginally aheadin health, just block the 4th or 5th sonic, and then repeat matching  
him.If your health is close enough to his that a few blocked fireballs mightmake the  
difference, throw a few and then jump one, etc.  I advise notmatching the exact  
number of his fireballs each time.  The first time maybematch 2 and then jump 1 then  
match 3 and then jump 2, etc.  This will keephim from predicting your jumps and  
maybe jamming you up with a slowfireball.  Next I would advise the player to mix up  
his attacks often.Nothing is easier to beat than a pattern player, just look at the  
computer,how hard is it to beat?  One thing that I have noticed that seems to helpme  
against any player that I have the feeling is going to try some throw
combo that for some reason or another, I don't fell that I will be able
counter is to crouch and hit jab or strong repeatedly.  This seems to hit them a lot  
of times before they can get the throw off.

=========================================================================


e. honda ---

e. honda is effective with his long reaching sweep and power in his moves.  since he  
can't throw anything, and since guile's quick jabs counter his flying head ram, he  
has to get in close to do any damage to guile.

guile's medium sweep is fast and long and as e. honda's long sweep is from a  
standing position, he is susceptible to this move.  when executing the move, you can  
easily follow it up with a sonic boom as well (and jumping in to press the attack).

the best way to counter e. honda when he jumps in would be to jump up and punch down  
(especially if he is jumping in with a kick).  if he is close and jumping in, walk  
under him, or use the sacrifice throw to get more distance.  always being ready with  
the razor kick and throwing sonic booms otherwise is a very effective defense, of  
course.

blanka ---

guile makes an excellent blanka killer.  guile is fast and can walk under blanka or  
take the sacrifice hit to throw him.  a good tactic is to fire a sonic boom and  
follow it in, especially if blanka decides to jump over it.

jumping into blanka rarely works, so use of sonic booms, sweeps, and blocking,  
waiting for him to come in to you is the best way to fight him.  

the jab punch effectively stops blanka's rolling ball attack.  if blanka have  
knocked guile down and is jumping in to press the attack, you should be charging  
your razor kick as soon as you were knocked down and razor blanka just as he comes  
in -- very effective.

blanka is highly susceptable to guile's crouching jab/throw combination.  his best  
counter is the bite, so mix it up on him (using one or two jabs before throwing, or  
just jabbing until you are pushed back and go back to normal tactics).



chun li ---

chun li may be the fastest character in the game, but guile is second and his speed  
can defeat chun li well.  first of all, as he has no delay with his sonic booms, she  
cannot simply jump over them without guile being able to react.

however the best chun li's will stay on the ground more and try to sweep guile.  the  
best thing to do there often is to block and follow with a sonic boom.  if chun li  
does jump into guile, guile should have little trouble walking under her high jumps. 


to get out of chun li's ground/throw combinations, try going for the throw with the  
same tactics as against ryu/ken's foot sweep/throws.  for chun li's aerial  
kick/throw combinations, take the sacrifice hit or jump back and kick out.  if your  
throws aren't working too well, try rapid firing the throwing buttons to win the  
throw.

zangief ---

zangief's best tactics against guile is to get close and then repeatedly jump in and  
do some sort of throw move.  his only other good tactic is his long reaching  
roundhouse sweep.

for guile to counter this, the sacrifice throw works very well. also sonic booms and  
the long roundhouse kick button work good against zangief as well (when zangief  
jumps from a long distance away).

the best zangiefs will go for their aerial roundhouse/spinning pile driver move.   
the best way to get out of this pattern is to move in to get a sacrifice hit throw  
off, or to jump back and away and kick or punch.  another good defense is to use the  
razor kick as you are getting up and zangief is jumping in again.  sometimes using a  
jab or medium razor kick is more effective here.

and if zangief is jumping in from close range, guile should have little trouble  
walking underneath him to turn around and throw or back drop.

wary of standing too close or zangief will just reach out and pick you up as he gets  
back up again.

dhalsim ---

to beat a good dhalsim, you have to fight a pretty defensive battle.  it is  
difficult to jump in on him unless you are already pretty close to begin with.

if dhalsim is using his punches and kicks a lot, you can just block and then fire a  
sonic boom.  if he tries to slide under your sonic booms, follow those with  
crouching jabs and he won't be able to slide in.  if he jumps instead, you can time  
your own jump in to bring him down in a back breaker, launch another sonic boom, or  
execute the razor kick (if he is close enough).

if dhalsim fires a lot, just match one of two with sonic booms and then leap  
immediately after one of the sonic booms as dhalsim is launching another fireball to  
get in close before he is able to react.  in other words, you have to use a little  
anticipation against dhalsim.

one other method to use against his kicks and punches are the short razor kicks.   
these are often fast enough to execute and get back down in a defensive crouch  
before dhalsim can react (if you missed him with your kick).  guile's crouching  
uppercut works well against dhalsim's kicks as well.

if dhalsim is using his spinning attack/throw combination, by far the easiest way to  
get out of it is by use of the razor kick.

once in close to dhalsim, press the attack with medium sweeps,  knee drops and jabs  
against dhalsim.


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Internet: lhuynh@reed.edu              
(503) 771-3747                             Hey man.....
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