Guera (FF1)

## Overview

At first glance Guera may seem out of place, being ranked above the likes of Dynal and Frigi. What makes Guera such a restraining Vivosaur is its absurd access to the most potent forms of disruption at any point in battle: Zone Swap is most annoying when used against 3 Vivosaurs and loses potency as opposing Vivosaurs die: Sleep becomes more disrupting as Vivosaurs die. Guera's low LP opens the door to gaining first turn initiative, where you can immediately throw off the opponents gameplan while building FP with Zone Swap + Sleep or start damaging an exposed support Vivosaur such as Compso after Guera shuffles it in. Guera itself isnt as weak to being isolated in the AZ like other support Vivosaurs if Knockout Cry succeeds in sleeping the AZ: after burning the one turn that the EZ will be occupied after a Zone Swap, Guera can escape the trap. With this considered and a secondary Zone Swap user, your team will have an easier time against against opposing Zone Swap since your team will often have access to Zone Swap no matter what may be shuffled into the EZ. Furthermore Guera is slightly bulkier than its peers (Sopteryx, Compso, Hoplo), making it harder to kill in one turn, and its support effects can enable infrequent dodges against low ACC Vivosaurs (Frigi, Guhlith). Finally Spite Blast provides further justification to opt for Guera as it can make a trade at Midgame or clutch an Endgame. Regardless of how hard Guera is to catch, it is still terminally frail and can die after 2 - 3 unlucky Zone Swaps if your opponent connects against Guera. Sleep also needs constant re-application as Sleep lasts for only one turn. See here for stats and moveset.

## General Gameplan (Earlygame)

If your team has Zone Swap, go for Zone Swap -> Knockout Cry if the EZ becomes occupied. This plan works well regardless of the context since it removes two Vivosaurs on their turn. If your team lacks Zone Swap outside of Guera, Zone Swap is preferable over Sleep since the odds of an occupied EZ are about the same as a successful Sleep and it shuffles out any support effects that may debilitate your AZ for the turn. You may also opt to Sleep the AZ if the only source of opposing Zone Swap is in the AZ, as Guera will remain safe while building FP. The choice depends on your team composition and the opponents, but always ensleep the Zone Swap user or target greatest threat to your gameplan with isolating Zone Swaps or disrupting Sleeps. Make sure to attack anything first before you ensleep it. A turn where Guera remains idle is a sub-optimal turn, as the reward from either disruption tool is far too great to pass up for the FP that is required.

## Midgame/Endgame

Guera should start using Knockout Cry over Zone Swap, since Sleep gains potency as Vivosaurs die while Zone Swap becomes less effective. The cheap cost of Knockout Cry will ensure that the remaining teammate can make its choice without impeding Guera. If you can make a trade with Guera for another Vivosaur, go for it to avoid being stuck with Guera in the Endgame. While Sleep is utterly broken during 1v1's, it is unlikely that Knockout Cry will be able to apply enough times in a row to where Spite Blast will KO, unless of course the opposing Vivosaur had been severly weakened. In this case Guera can be the superior option if its poised to take over the AZ from the EZ. Keep in mind that Spite Blast can miss but still exhaust Guera if its accuracy has been reduced enough. Try to enter the Midgame with something that can assume the AZ, such as Frigi or Duna. Passive Vivosaurs such as Guhlith aren't the worse option to be left with since they can whittle the oppositions LP into Spite Blast range, assuming that they haven't been weakened too much.

## Teammates/Strategies

A secondary Zone Swap user works wonders with Guera: it frees Guera to use Sleep in the Earlygame after a Zone Swap occurs. It also ensures that you can always use Zone Swap, as touched upon. Dinomaton in particular appreciates Guera since it can use Sleep and Guera's support effects to muscle through especially bulky targets such as Frigi, Guhlith or Dynal while improving Dinomatons survival from the oppositions weakened offense. With Gold Sleeps feature of preventing retreats to the EZ, Raptin appreciates the cheap trapping. Avoid pairing Guera with another support Vivosaur as your team will become far too vulnerable against both Zone Swap and the advanced stages of battle. Any teammate with exorbitant FP costs such as Brachio will struggle to find opportunities to contribute since Guera should always expend at least 50 FP a turn. Secondary effects besides Zone Swap, Poison or Power Scale/FP Steal don't perform any better from Guera's Sleep. Vivosaurs with extraordinary LP such as Dynal or Seismo may cost the turn one initiative Guera often provides, depending on the opponents team composition.

## Winning/Losing Matchups

Usually if the team with Guera gains initiative, the opposing team will be put very far behind from turn one alone that it will be difficult for them to recover. Guera isn't threatened from Raptin as the damage from Gold Poison is 30% of LP, unless it becomes trapped in the AZ against it. Guera also doesn't die to any one attack from a properly spaced Long Range Vivosaur if there are no support effects applied, so unless it was chipped earlier, Guera will survive a hasty switch to the AZ. The exception is Seismo's Continental Drift or Perso's Culture Shock, both of which OHKO Guera ≥95% of the time (source: my own testing). As is the case with every support Vivosaur, Guera is weak to Zone Swap, although Guera is unique in that it doesn't outright lose to it. If Guera finds itself Confused in the AZ, it may waste itself on Spite Blast or waste FP on Rubble Rain or mispaced Knockout Cries.