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Garuda
PlayStyle: Aggressive Shoto
Similar to: Akuma, Fuuma(World Heroes), Yoshimitsu
Strengths: He generally has good normals. Garuda can convert from any range with Gouga, massive forward range on his Kizan, damaging links and chain combos, great pressure with Shuga being plus on block and great chip damage. He is difficult to zone due to Jazan and Kizan can cross up in multiple situations. He has excellent corner damage and he is able to punish super armour incredibly well.
Weaknesses: Has trouble maintaining okizeme on some enders midscreen. His jump is floaty, Heavy Kizan has a TON of recovery and can be baited very easily. Kizan has a very short amount of invincible frames so it's difficult to anti air with. He does a lot less damage when spending all 3 bars generally because of the many hits on his specials and supers. His supers/specials can be a little inconsistent when hitting from slightly different situations/spacings.
Play if: + You like being at advantage very often
+ You like unique toolsets with a lot of versatility
+ You don't like dealing with projectiles
Avoid if: - You don't like supers and specials that scale hard
- You want to not worry about precise spacing
- You don't like doing a lot of half circle motions in neutral
Recommended Gougi Decks: Aggro, Stealth Raptor, Shinobi, Berserker, Thunderbolt
Max Punish Combos
Meterless: dash cr.MP > cr.MP > cr.HP > Gouga (56 Damage)
1 Meter: dash cr.MP > cr.MP > cr.HP > MK Gouga > Soukodan fully charged (80 Damage)
2 Meter: dash cr.MP > cr.MP > cr.HP > HP Kizan > slightly early cancel Kienbu > Soukodan fully charged (97 Damage)
3 Meter: dash cr.MP > cr.MP > cr.HP > HP Kizan > slightly early cancel Kienbu > Soukodan fully charged > Kienbu (108 Damage)
Key Normals
Crouch Heavy Punch: Go to solid anti air and can easily combo into Kyoja for extra damage and a hard knockdown. It's his best anti air to use with supers like Kienbu.
Stand Light Kick: This is an excellent button to check dash in low with and to buffer into Kizan or Gouga to whiff punish or counter poke an opponent. Gouga will always connect from any range.
Zanki: This unique attack is his best option to get a hard knockdown and be able to get a meaty with. It good to use in chains after making the opponent block a light attack. The first hit of Zanki can also nullify projectiles. You can get a safe jump in the corner if you frame kill a crouch light punch after you land Zanki.
Crouch Heavy Kick: Safe on block and great to confirm into on block as ending in Shuga leaves a gap before the move hits. This sweep will also low profile projectiles and is a great whiff punish tool at range.
Stand Heavy Punch: This normal is similar to other St.HPs but a key difference is that while plus on block it does whiff on crouching opponents.
Stand Heavy Kick: This is your best heavy normal to use for a meaty okizeme, it'll grant you a free Cr.LK-Cr.MK chain to further pressure. You can hit confirm Stand Heavy Kick into Kyoja for more damage and it's a good far range anti air button.
Key Moves
Shuga: It's your main chip tool and your pressure attack. It's plus and has decent range, you can also sneak in a run chain if the opponent respects your follow up normals after. For more combo consistency you'll want to combo into Gouga more often due to pushback on some punishes. The light version of Shuga is the most plus and the heavy version is the least plus but does the most chip damage.
Gouga: Your best combo tool, the okizeme is best on the light version and it gets more negative with the medium and heavy versions. You can use this to surprise your opponent but this is high risk and low reward unless you have meter. You can combo into Kienbu on hit but it only works on some specific characters. Generally it's better to go for Soukondan or Kiensho for consistency sake. Kiensho gives you less damage but the best okizeme and corner carry.
Jazan: In neutral this move is gimmicky at best but has a lot of good use for chasing the opponent to mixup as this move can cross up opponents getting up. This is your go to move to scare the opponent from zoning you. It's not fast enough to punish a projectile on reaction but it gets you in their face and they have to hold the follow up jump attack if they don't have an anti air ready. Most good players can stuff out Jazan quite well in most situations so adjust if your opponent is aware and prepared. The direction you bounce off is based on the punch button you press, light is away, medium is above, and heavy is to go behind (this is if both players are facing each other).
Combo Examples
Chain Combo
Cr.LK, Cr.MK, CR.HP, HP Shuga
Link Combo
Cr.MP x2, Cr.MK, Gouga, Soukodan
Tech
The Geki Crossup Kizan
Fwd Throw, dash, St.LK whiff, MP Kizan
Thunderbolt is a great way to get Okizeme from his moves that knock far away like Kyoja
General Strategy
Garuda is best played as a pressure character with a mix of mobile neutral. He has a lot of tools to force his way in and to force a decision from the opponent that if Garuda has meter can be in his favour due to being able to cancel into super on block. Generally Garuda wants to punish and keep the opponent in the corner as his supers hit a lot harder off of corner conversions. His Shuga is his main way of ending chains on block but be mindful of guard cancel gougi as you'll have to bait it out from the opponent by ending chains or pressure early. Garuda suffers the most without meter as his supers and other specials are VERY unsafe. Be mindful of your reversal patterns and hard reads as you could be punished very hard for your mistakes. Garuda can be played defensively as well but that requires you to have a life lead first. Jazan will discourage zoning and though his okizeme isn't amazing, his throw grants excellent positioning to start pressuring.
Frame Data
Back to Kairi or onto the bloody assassin Shirase
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