Capcom vs SNK 2/Geese

Introduction

The basic gameplan with Geese is to attack the opponent at close range as often as possible in order to land his devastating combos. He has many moves up close that set up counterhits and also he has a very good throw and powerful guard crushing attacks for opponents that refuse to give you those counterhits. Geese can also be played defensively against many of the lower tier characters and be successful, however in order to beat the top characters of the game that all have a better defensive game than him a Geese player must be adept at offensive mixups and pressure. If played correctly I think Geese is one of the most dangerous characters the game has to offer and in K Groove he is probably ranked just below the top tier.

Quick Glance Frame Data

Button	Position	Buffers:	Itself	Specials	Supers	Hit	Block	Startup	Active	Recovery	Damage
Jab	Standing		O	O	O	+7	+7	3	4	6	300
	Crouching		O	O	O	+8	+8	3	4	5	300
Strong	Close		X	X	X	+1	+1	4	9	14	1000
	Far		X	O	O	+0	+0	5	9	14	1000
	Crouching		X	X	O	-1	-1	7	7	14	1100
Fierce	Close		X	O	O	-9	-9	4	11	24	1400
	Far		X	X	X	+0	+0	8	6	20	1500
	Crouching		X, X	O, X	O, O	-12	-12	3	9	27	1300, 1100
	Towards		X	O	O	down	-4	14	10	20	1600
Short	Close		O	O	O	+7	+7	2	4	6	500
	Far		X	X	O	-3	-3	4	4	14	500
	Crouching		X	O	O	+6	+6	3	4	7	400
Forward	Standing		X	X	X	-5	-5	8	8	17	1000
	Crouching		X	O	O	+1	+1	4	7	14	1000
Roundhouse	Close		X, X	O, X	O, X	+4	+4	4, 4	3, 6	16	900+700
	Far		X	X	X	-3	-3	18	8	19	1400
	Crouching		X	O	O	down	-15	6	4	35	1400

NORMAL MOVES

(all frame data from Capcom Vs. SNK 2 Millionaire Fighting 2001 Official Guidebook)

Frame data explanation: STARTUP/DURATION/RECOVERY, +/-X, +/-Y

The first number shows how many frames a move takes to become active, the 2nd shows how long the move is active and can hit, and the 3rd shows how many recovery frames there are. +/-X shows the frame advantage/disadvantage after the move hits, +/-Y shows the same if the move is blocked.

JAB

Standing: 3/4/6, +7, +7

This is pretty good as far as standing jabs go but it's sort of overshadowed by his low jab as most characters can duck this. One way to use this move is if you know that someone is performing a jumpin parry/just defend, I use this move to take the parry or JD then you can retaliate in some other way like run behind and low fierce in the case of a JD or to do a low fierce/counter right after in the case of a parry.

-d.LK, whiff s.LP, throw

Crouching: 3/4/5, +8, +8

This is one of your bread and butter moves. Unlike CVS1 noone can duck this move and looking at the frame advantage, you can see how this move is very useful for setting up counterhits on opponents that like to press alot of buttons at close range. Links into almost every normal geese has. This is your main counterhit weapon.

Chun can cleanly go under this move with her low strong.

Jumping: 5/24/NA, NA, NA

Goofy looking downward angled palm. I really can't think of a use for this move. All of geese's air moves have a 5 frame startup and this move doesnt really cover a good angle. Does stay out a long time I suppose.

STRONG

Close: 4/9/14, +1, +1

This is the raise the roof punch, it is a little silly upwards angled palm where Geese slaps himself virtually in the shoulder. The only possible use of this is as a meaty but even if you hit with the last possible active frame, you would just be at +8 which is the same thing you'd get just by doing a low jab. So its really not terribly useful, as far as I know. This is Geese's dodge punch in S Groove.

Standing: 5/9/14, +0, +0

Knife hand strike to the midsection. A little more range than it looks like it has but still nothing really special. It has a limited use to stop pokes, as the hitbox of it reaches out farther than your vulnerable area, so it is not a bad move for hitting the opponent's limbs then buffering a fireball for more pressure. Other than that won't get much use.

Crouching: 7/7/14, -1, -1

A chop that attacks the opponent's feet. Kinda slow coming out but it does have it's rare uses if you really want to use it. This move is sort of like Balrog's low fwd in SF2, it punches the opponent's feet if they try a low attack and it is bufferable into super. For example this move will always beat blanka's slide and you can combo deadly rave off of it. However whiffing this move is pretty dangerous so you better be sure, in general this is not very useful.

Jumping: 5/10/NA, NA, NA

A horizontal chop. This is for jumping air to air. Your 2 best air to air moves are this and diagonal jump roundhouse, this is good if the person is above you and the diagonal jumping roundhouse is good if they are in front of you. You wont find yourself using this too often but it does have some specific uses against characters.

FIERCE

Close: 4/11/24, -9, -9

A little palm to the stomach. Bufferable into specials/supers. This move pushes you forward a little bit which gives it it's use in CC's since if you time correctly you can do several of these in a row at the beginning to really cause alot of CC damage. This move can also be linked off of low jab, stand short, low short in order to create combos. This is Geese's Counter Attack in N/C/S Groove.

Standing: 8/6/20, +0, +0

Standing punch with pretty good reach. Most characters can duck this but it is still a useful poke at times. Not nearly as useful as it could be though, Geese's hittable area seems to move forward alot when you press it so often when trying to punish the whiff of a meaty move with this, youll find yourself bumping yourself into the last frames of it. Happens alot with Sagat's fierces ><. However the move does have good range so it has uses. This move is also very good at stopping most character's low jumps, it works like a charm on Cammy's low jump and also stops Sagat's if it is done early enough. Basically any character that doesnt low jump high enough to go over it, which most characters cant. So if the opponent abuses low jumps you might want to use this move more.

Crouching: 3/9/27, -12, -12

An uppercut. You'll find yourself using this move a lot. It comes out even faster than your low fwd, so for link combos this is a really solid move. Linking things like low short-low fierce are incredibly easy. It is also your main anti air move. However it has alot of recovery frames so be careful when using it as anti air, as if your opponent parries/JD's or it misses thats going to be dangerous.

After antiairing with this move you usually have the initiative to attack the opponent as they land on their feet, so you can use this as a way to gain ground on the opponent if they jump towards you.

Crouching fierce has more horizontal range than close standing fierce does. Linking a crouching fierce after low jab lets Geese land run up, low jab, fierce xx super/jaienken from farther away than had he used tried to use close standing fierce. To avoid getting accidental far standing fierces when you're going for a link combo into super/special, it can be useful to use crouching fierce instead of going for close standing fierce.

Jumping: 1st hit: 5/4/NA 2nd hit: 4/4/NA, NA, NA

A short range downward palm that hits twice. That is the main distinction of the move, if the opponent blocks this it will do more guard crush damage than a normal fierce and both hits must be blocked high. It is very hard to make both hits hit a crouching opponent.

Towards+Fierce: 14/10/20, -4, knockdown

This move is bufferable to both specials and super moves. The main distinction of this move is it does alot more guard crush damage than a normal fierce. It comes out quite slow but if you can make your opponent block it it is a good weapon. With rage on, this move into his HCB+kick does half the guard bar alone.

SHORT

Close: 2/4/6, +7, +7

A little knee. This is your fastest move at 2 frames and it gives you a pretty hefty advantage. Up close you can use this move for lots of different counterhit/throw setups and link combos.

No character can duck this or go under it with any move, including Chun trying a d.MP.

Standing: 4/4/14, -3, -3

A low kick. It is a low damaging short that leaves you at -3 and doesnt really have any clear uses to me.

-max range d.LP, far s.LK xx super

Crouching: 3/4/7, +6, +6

This move is not as good as the low jab as far as frame advantage but it does hit low. Therefore it's main use is going to be for when you need a low hit, for example after an empty jump to create a high/low mixup. You can easily dial up a super, QCF+P, or HCB+K off combos starting with this.

Jumping: 5/22/NA, NA, NA

This move has the same animation as the jumping forward, same speed, just weaker and stays out a bit longer. Really not particularly useful seeing how good jumping forward is. One use it does have though is as a low jump attack, since it lasts almost the entire duration of a low jump, so it can be difficult to antiair traditionally. Be careful getting in this way too often however, as if you do this from too close the opponent will have the advantage when you land, and not you.

FORWARD

Standing: 8/8/17, -5, -5

A mid level side kick. At first this move doesnt look that useful and it isnt really so great but it does have situational uses. The hitbox of this move reaches well out beyond your vulnerable area giving it an "invincible tip" sort of. So occasionally poking with it will stuff several moves that your opponents use. For example this move always counterhits blanka's low fierce cleanly. It is unfortunate that you cannot cancel super off of this. This is Geese's dodge kick attack in S-Groove.

Crouching: 4/7/14, +1, +1

A pretty high priority and fast low hit. The main use of this move is going to be for whiff punishing and link combos into super. Cancelling this move into Deadly Rave is going to cause alot of damage. This move links off of low jab, short, close short all easily so you can easily confirm your hits into super. Leaves you at +1 also and whiffs fast so its not too dangerous to throw out there.

Jumping: 5/12/NA, NA, NA

You will find yourself using this move a lot. This move is a huge cross up and also has alot of downward priority. This move will be a decent part of your offense and certain anti airs have trouble with it. For example you can find yourself trading/beating stuff like Vega's standing roundhouse with this. Another less common use of this is as an overhead on larger characters during a low jump. If Sagat for example is low on life so that a jump forward will kill him, low jump instant forward is a really fast overhead hit that will more than likely end the round. Using this when they will survive it is somewhat dangerous as you will be vulnerable, however we all know that people dont always react to things like this correctly. Overhead instant forward, land, super is just like roll -> super, works all the time for some reason. This is also a pretty solid low jump attack in general.

ROUNDHOUSE

Close: 1st hit: 4/3 2nd hit: 4/6/16, +4, +4

A 2 hit side kick. The first hit can be ducked by most characters. This move really isnt horribly useful, except for the fact that it does give frame advantage but looks deceptive. As long as it is used rarely you can use it on a rising opponent to set up a counterhit. You have to use it early so they rise into the 2nd hit. It would be a good anti air except that the low fierce covers the exact same angle much better.

Standing: 18/8/19, -3, -3

This is an important move. It moves Geese forward a good distance and has good priority once the hitting frames come out. The move normally leaves you at -3 which is pretty much completely safe however if you use it at a distance so that you hit later on in the active frames, you can actually get a frame advantage with this move. That is one of the best uses of this move, to get in on the opponent. It is too slow to use to punish whiffs usually but you can use it after a whiff in order to force the opponent to block it and put yourself in a better position. You have 2 big disadvantages with this move however, one being the slow startup allowing it to be easily stuffed if the opponent is attacking, and the other being that it is possible to JD/parry on reaction to this move at times and if that happens Geese is very vulnerable. Overall a very useful move but one must be careful.

Crouching: 6/4/35, -15, knockdown

Your sweep. This is a pretty good sweep, long range and fast. However it also moves your hittable area forward with alot like the standing fierce, so it loses if used against another high priority move in most cases. Most players cancel a fireball off of this move, and if it hits that is a good idea to prevent the opponent from using safe fall. However if it is blocked, be warned that almost any character can punish you for doing this pattern. In general this move is not particularly safe if blocked, and I usually use it when I know it will hit to knock the opponent down so I can get in close. Best uses are for punishing whiffs or linking it off of a few low jabs.

Jumping Vertically: 5/7/NA

This move has shorter range than it appears and is generally not really useful. Jumping strong and jumping diagonally roundhouse are both much better for air to air. However this is your most damaging vertical jump attack so if you jump over a laggy attack, like a roll cancel, then you can come down with this attack to start your combo for more damage than a forward kick.

Jumping Horizontally: 5/8/NA

This move has very good horizontal range and is great air to air. This move can also be very useful as a low jump attack at certain ranges.

THROWS

Punch: 3/1/13 Range: 52 pixels Damage: 1900

Kick: 5/1/13 Range: 52 pixels Damage: 2200

As with all characters, the punch throw does a little less damage and is easier to tech, but it comes out faster, and the kick throw does a little more but is slower/harder to tech. With Geese however his Kick throw has a special property that makes it impossible for the opponent to safe fall, so it is almost always used because it slams the opponent right next to you for more attacks. Only use the punch throw generally if you think the throw will kill the opponent and you dont care about followups, or if you don't have much time and need a faster throw.

Note that if you are using your punch throw to throw a wake-up RC(useful for rc's that leave the ground quickly like Psycho Crusher or Scouter Jump, Kick throws are often too slow), you must press fierce right away when they rise. You can't normally throw an opponent when they first rise for a few frames, but if the opponent rolls or RC's then they forfeit that grace period and can be thrown immediately, so you must press Fierce before you can normally throw. For this reason, always option select by buffering a medium reppuken after your Fierce punch input, that way in case they do not roll or RC and simply block, you won't be stuck with a blocked laggy close fierce.

One good setup for a throw is to run toward the opponent when they are vulnerable and whiffing a standing jab, then throwing quickly. You have to stop the run animation before you are allowed to perform a throw, and whiffing a jab over the opponent's head both cancels the run faster than simply trying to stop would and creates the illusion that you are attacking, making the opponent more likely to allow the throw.

MOBILITY

RUN

Geese's run isnt too fast and is generally not terribly special except for one property of it that is kind of strange. Geese becomes very short when he runs due to him bending forward, and his run is actually shorter than his crouch. This allows him to run under moves that he cannot even crouch. The most famous example of this is Sagat's standing fierce. Sagat's will use this move on Geese a lot because he cannot crouch it, but if you can bait this move you can actually run right into it and punish the Sagat player after it whiffs.

ROLL

Geese's roll is nothing really special, not horrible but not great. Its best use is for ambiguous crossups after a sweep or a kick throw. It can also be used in ground games against laggy moves but it is not a fast roll so you have to be sure. Randomly doing this is very dangerous as it is not hard to react to it.

DASH

Geese has a pretty fast dash. Once you train your opponent to block against you you can get away with using this up close to keep the pressure on and make the opponent attack, giving you counterhits. Low jab > dash is hard to punish unless the opponent is mashing something, in which case you can low jab, wait millisecond, low jab counterhit > whatever.

JUMP

Geese's jump isn't terribly fast but his superjump moves pretty far forward allowing you to perform crossups from a pretty good distance away. His low jump is also not very fast but he has some decent low jump attacks, like forward, roundhouse, and fierce.

SPECIAL MOVES

QCF+P: Reppuken(fireball)

Jab: 12/NA/46, -13, -13

Strong: 12/NA/46, -13, -13

Fierce: 1st hit: 12/NA, 2nd: 20/NA/43, -10, -10

(frame disadvantages given for a point blank hit)

This is Geese's fireball. It comes out pretty fast, but the recovery leaves a lot to be desired. Depending on the matchup, this is a move that you will either use very often or that you will barely use in any given fight. For example against characters with slower jumps that don't have any easy way to get past it, like Cammy and many of the lower tier characters, you can use this move pretty liberally to control the pace of the match. However against a character like vega or blanka, who can either jump very quickly over it or use a torpedo type move to pass over it, this move will be used only in safe, comboed block strings or in rare occasions. If you are going to do this in a blocked string on an opponent who has a torpedo move, fast jump, or level 3 super ready, or any character that has a good RC to punish it, you have to make sure it combos off of the move before it. So low roundhouse -> reppuken from anywhere other than very close, for example, is never safe against most characters and if the other player is alert you will be punished for it. However you can still use the move in block strings by buffering it off of a low fierce, close fierce, or towards+fierce, in which case the opponent will still be in blockstun and forced to block the reppuken. Roll cancelling the reppuken will allow you to use this move a little more liberally as a poke, however you will still be vulnerable to jump ins and rolls so caution must be used.

The double reppuken(fierce version) used to have its uses before roll cancelling became prevelant because it was able to hit opponents out of their torpedo type moves, however the only use for it in modern play is as a RC or in a combo. Geese has better things to do in combos, either blocked or hit, so that use is kind of inefficient. However this move is very handy as a roll cancel if you use a rolling groove. It is pretty damaging and will work as a reversal or an anti air if roll cancelled. It is still risky though and can't be used often against an alert opponent.

QCB+P (in air): Shippuken(air fireball)

All versions: 16/NA/NA

This is Geese's air fireball. Generally you will want to use the jab version exclusively if you use this move as it travels slower and therefore controls the screen for a bit longer, however the fierce one does travel a bit faster so you can use that one from time to time if people are running under the fireball too easily. This is far from a safe move, anyone who can roll or who is alert enough to run under it can do a free combo on you. This move changes the trajectory of your jump, so it doesnt allow you to use it like Akuma's for crossups or to cover your jumpins(if it did Geese would be an insane character), but you can use it against the opponent's uppercut by jumping in then throwing it to move yourself back out of range of the uppercut and hit them with the fireball if you space yourself properly.

There are some ghetto tricks you can use with this against a K/P groove player, since they cannot roll past it so easily, like jump back and throw several of these until the opponent wises up and runs towards you when you jump back. At this point stop throwing them and let the opponent run under your jump, and then he will basically do the work of getting in close for you when you dont throw the fireball that time and instead land on him with a jumpin attack. Clearly a ghetto trick but it works from time to time if you just keep it tricky, just remember that if the K groove opponent is smart he will just sit and JD all these until he gets angry and then he can probably shut down all the fireball nonsense. It is generally not a good idea to give K groove free meter. Against P groove though you can get away with it more, it all depends on your preference.

Another way to use it is to tiger knee the jab version(meaning to do it just a very small distance off the ground, by doing the motion on the ground as D, DB, B, UB+jab). This doesnt really seem very useful for many things, but it will give you frame advantage when you land if you make them block it at poking range and then you can run towards or sweep them afterwards depending on if they block or try to poke. This method of attack will get you killed however if they roll or jump at that moment so be cautious.

The final and in my opinion most useful feature of this move is that if it hits an airborne opponent it will knock them down. This means that if you jump in and Just Defend a move that puts the opponent airborne, such as JDing their jump attack or some uppercuts, you can immediately use this move and score a knockdown. Using an air roundhouse will do more damage in this situation but not by much, and sometimes the knockdown is more important.

HCB+P: Counters

All versions: 0/18/32

(duration refers to active counter frames)

This is Geese's only instant special move that can be used as a wake up. Each counter has different properties and counters different types of moves. If your opponent is at poking range and they are abusing certain attacks, then you can use this move as a way to get close to them as long as the risk/reward is in your favor. If you guess wrong and they dont attack right when you think, you will be hit, so you have to weigh the options. For example if the opponent has a super charged don't do this kind of thing, as a missed counter will mean youll eat poke-> super. However if they don't, you can use it from time to time as all youll usually eat is a poke if you miss, which isnt so bad. All the counters knock the opponent down without any option to safe fall, so you are able to use them to get close to the opponent afterwards.

Jab: The Jab version is the high counter, this works against any attack that must be blocked high, such as overhead hits and jump ins. This also has the property of being the only counter that works on any and all special moves and supers. The only supers that this will not work on are projectiles like Sagat's Tiger Cannon or Guile's Sonic Hurricane. Note that even though some specials and supers hit low, this counter is the counter to use regardless, not the low counter. For example Sagat's Tiger Raid is countered with this. Geese says "Too easy" and throws the opponent on the ground behind him just like his kick throw. Since it is a throw, this move will usually give the stun meter time to reset and the guard meter time to start recharging.

Strong: The Strong version is the mid counter, and is used to stop any grounded normal move that can be blocked either low or high. Examples are Sagat's standing fierce, Ryu's low strong, or Blanka's low fierce. Geese says "Pathetic" and throws the opponent on the floor in front of him with his kick throw animation. Just like the jab version this is a throw that will not maintain guard bar or stun meter damage.

Fierce: The Fierce version is the low counter, and is used to stop any grounded normal move that can only be blocked low. Examples are Cammy's low forward, Todo's towards+forward, or Kyo's low roundhouse. Geese says "Predictable" and scoops up the opponent, flooring them with a palm strike. Note that this is the only counter that is a strike and not a throw, which means that it does not allow the guard meter to recharge or the stun meter to reset. In fact this actually adds stun, unlike the others, and at 20 points it is a pretty large amount of stun too. If you can pull a low counter then land any jaienken combo on the opponent as they rise they will often become stunned.

HCB+K: Jaienken(rush move)

Short: 9/21/41, -23, knockdown

Forward: 14/21/41, -23, knockdown

Roundhouse: 19/21/41, -23, knockdown

(duration refers to active time during rush forward animation)

This is a 3-hit rush combo move. The command makes Geese rush forward a certain distance based on the button pressed, and if he reaches the opponent he will go into a 3 hit combo that does heavy damage. You will use the short version of this move the vast majority of the time as it comes out much faster and combos most reliably, and they all do very nearly the same damage.

The main use of this move is fairly obvious, as an ender for a damaging combo. Another use of it that people often fail to utilize fully is its guard crushing power, this move does a lot of guard bar damage, especially when you are raged in K groove. Learn how much guard bar is low enough that the jaienken will break it, and if the opponent is at that point, dont be afraid to use this move to open up your free combo. The move can also be used as a dash, if the opponent is so far away that you wont reach him and the combo part of the move never comes out, however use caution doing this as if you get the actual move to come out accidentally you will be in trouble.

As a RC this move still has the glaring weakness of huge recovery time, but if it's guaranteed then this is good damage(for blowing through a fireball for example).

SUPER MOVES

DB, HCB, DF+P: Raging Storm

LV1: 10/43/30, -7, knockdown

(has 4 frames of invincibility)

LV2: 10/55/30, -7, knockdown

(has 10 frames of invincibility)

LV3: 10/67/30, -7, knockdown

(has 18 frames of invincibility)

This super is extremely good as a level 3 as anti air. Levels 1 and 2 are iffy, as you can see from the data their invincibility runs out as or before the move starts hitting, meaning they can trade or be stuffed by jump ins. The level 1 version is mainly for use in ending custom combos. There are 2 main uses for the level 3, as antiair(which is the reccomended use) and against your opponent's wakeup. If you are sure that the opponent will wake up with a roll cancel or an uppercut, or their own level 3 in most cases, you can use your level 3 and beat it as they rise. They may block, and as you can see the move has a little recovery if blocked up close, but it is deceptive(like rolento's wire) and people usually dont punish blocked ones correctly, so if they do block it then you can usually have time to HCB counter the punishing move. Using this move against an opponent's wakeup rollcancel is a risky move, especially if the opponent knows how to time his punishing jabs or super, and not recommended as a constant strategy but I have done it before and won matches that way, this move if started 2nd will always have more invincibility than their RC, so I can't say it is something that should never be done. Examples are Rolentos that like to wake up scouter jump when in the corner. Just be smart about this. This super is better for this purpose than the Deadly Rave because the DR won't hit the opponent properly if they are in the air.

As for shortcut motions, you can do the super with HCB HCB HCF+punch, DB, HCB, HCF+punch, etc, but I reccomend doing it exactly as the move description says. You'll get it down eventually and that really is the fastest way. You need to be able to whip this out on reaction to a jump in, so you need to do it as quickly as possible. Also always do it with jab if you are in a groove where jab will yield your level 3, because if you mess up the motion you will get the high counter generally which may work against their jump in anyway. An important facet of Geese is being able to pull this move out at will from a standing position when the opponent jumps. Practice going from standing to raging storm as quickly as possible, many players must crouch DB first momentarily before doing the move and this telegraphs that you are waiting for a jump in. You need to be able to rush normally, standing and moving around, yet still be able to execute this move if you bait a jump. If done correctly, you should be able to do this move in about the same amount of time it takes to do HCBx2.

HCB, F+short: Deadly Rave(LV3 only)

(on hit, input: Jab, Jab, Short, Short, Strong, Forward, Fierce, Roundhouse, QCB+Fierce)

4/NA/NA, +13, knockdown

(has 18 frames of invincibility, +13 refers to if first hit is blocked)

This is the super that you want to try to end your combos with whenever you can. It does extremely good damage and comes out quickly enough to combo off of your low forward even at long range. Also you can stop it just before the last hit and do any combo that you want afterwards and it will all link, allowing you to do more damage and stun than normal. Generally if you can land a combo with this on the opponent you are going to virtually kill that character. Another good thing about this is it is safe completely if blocked as long as you do not continue pressing the buttons, in fact it gives you a pretty large frame advantage afterwards. Overall this is the bread and butter and what makes Geese so dangerous, whenever this super is charged he can virtually take your character out off of any connected hit. Be able to execute the combos using this as accurately as possible. Note that if this super hits an opponent in the air it will only hit once for very low damage, so it is always safest to try to incorporate this move into your combos.

In order to combo this move off of low forward, or low fierce, just place the buffered move into super command. While you do the HCB part of the super, press the button for the move you want to buffer while you pass through the down parts of the motion. For example: F, DF, D+fierce, DB, B, F, short. Learn it this way and youll be able to pull this off with very high accuracy.

COMBOS/STRINGS/SETUPS

Basic Combos

1. Close short OR Low short OR low jab, Low fierce, HCB+Short

Each starting move has different situations. Close short is the fastest move Geese has coming out in 2 frames so use it when you are sure you are close enough to the opponent and looking for a counterhit or to punish something. If you are just a little bit farther away and arent sure you will get the close short(far short is not a move you want to get accidentally) then low jab is your move. If you need the combo to start low, for example after an empty jump in, then low short is the move to use. This combo adds a lot of stun damage. Also if the opponent's guard meter is flashing or almost flashing, feel free to do this combo even if blocked, as the HCB+Short will guard crush the opponent in that situation.

2. Low jab x2, Low roundhouse xx QCF+Strong

If you get a counterhit jab but are too far away to link the low fierce and you dont have a super ready, then this is the combo you probably want to do. It'll knock the person down and let you get inside. The QCF+Strong won't hit but it is used to prevent the opponent from using safe fall, if your opponent doesn't have a safe fall groove then feel free to leave it off so that you can recover faster and have more time to move. Practice it because if you miss the link from jab to roundhouse, your opponent can hurt you in between the blocked roundhouse and the fireball.

3. Close short OR low short OR low jab, low jab, low forward, HCB, F+Short(Deadly rave) up to 2nd to last hit, close short, close fierce OR low fierce, HCB+Short

This is what you want to do every time you hit the opponent when you have meter. Opening move varies based on situation just like combo #1, then you stop the deadly rave right before the last hit and do the link combo. You can use either close or low fierce in the ending link combo, low fierce is an easier link but close fierce does a little more stun damage.

4. Crossup forward, close short, low fierce, HCB, F+Short(Deadly rave) to last hit, close short, close fierce, HCB+short finisher

This is geese's dizzy combo. This combo will stun 60 stun characters all by itself as it does 65 stun damage. You can make it stun 70 stun characters by adding another standing short before the low fierce, however that will only hit fat characters that are crouching so you won't find yourself landing it very often. Anytime your jumping forward hits and you have meter you should go for this combo as it basically ends the life of whatever character it hits. The forward does not have to be a crossup for it to stun either, but if you connect your jumpin from the front it is best to replace the low fierce with a low forward to make sure it reaches. You will still do 61 stun this way, which is enough.

Blocked Strings

1. Low short, low fierce, QCF+Strong

This is a regular combo, but it also has uses as a blocked string. For example if you do a crossup forward into this string while you are raged in K groove then it will take off over half of the guard meter, and doing another string like towards+fierce into HCB+short will crush the guard. Note that the fierce will combo into the fireball, so characters cannot simply roll over the fireball if done this way.

2. Towards+Fierce, QCF+Strong OR HCB+Short

The major thing about this string is that it does a large amount of guard bar damage, especially if ended with HCB+Short. HCB+Short is very unsafe so dont use it unless you know it will break the guard, but if the guard bar is already low enough that it will be crushed by HCB+Short then be aware of it and don't be afraid to use it. Dont end with HCB+Short near the corner unless you know the towards+fierce will be blocked, because the jaienken is so laggy that the opponent will be able to get up and punish you after HCB+Short whiffs over their body.

3. Low jabx1-3, low roundhouse, QCF+Strong

Be careful using this as it can be punished in between the low roundhouse and the fireball by most characters. Make sure that you hit with the tip of the roundhouse to minimize the risk.

Setups

1. Counterhit/throw

The basic way that a rushdown character like Geese lands hits in CVS2 is through this. You make the opponent block a move that gives you a good frame advantage, like a close short or a low jab, then you hesitate or walk forward a small amount and you create a 50/50 situation. You either throw them if you think they will continue to block or you press your close short or low jab again and do a combo off of it if you think they are going to try to press a button to stop your throw. Your short or jab will counterhit whatever attack that they do because of the frame advantage from the blocked short or jab. At first you will land alot of counterhits on an opponent because it is the tendency of CVS players to mash jab when someone is close, but once you get enough combos on someone they will start blocking more and you can get throws. You can also set up a counterhit/throw 50/50 when the opponent is getting up from a knockdown, or after you JD an opponent's move that gives you frame advantage.

Basically the person has to guess when you are attacking, will he press low jab or close short and counter hit me to a combo? Or will he throw me, or if he is too far to throw me, will he run much closer to me and continue attacking? If they think you will do option 1 they have to block, if they think you will do option 2 then they have to quickly press a fast move to push you back. If they guess wrong then they will either be hit with a combo, thrown, or you will gain alot of ground on them and put them in the same situation all over again.

2. High/low

The concept of high/low with Geese involves a jump in or a low jump. You set up a jump in situation, like after a knockdown or jumping over an opponent's poke, and then mix up between a deep jump in forward kick into a combo, or omit the forward kick and immediately press low short. The opponent will still be blocking high for the jumpin and be hit low. At first you will find that you will hit a lot with the empty jump into low short, then once the opponent sees that a lot then you will be able to hit him with the deep jump in. In order to make the most of this you have to learn to combo off of a low jump forward, so that if they block low too soon you can hurt them badly.

3. Off a Kick throw

The kick throw puts the opponent on the floor right next to you with no ability to safe fall. He will lie there for a while allowing you to set up certain things. For example, timed properly, you can jump straight up and he will rise directly into the last frames of your jump. This lets you do a very good example of the high low mixup described above, and you can also jump just a moment sooner if you think they will rise with a reversal and be able to land and block it. Basically jump up, and either make them get up into a really super deep jump forward or a low short, or land and block, or land and throw again.

Another option off of the kick throw is to do the same setup as above except using a low jump forward crossup as they rise. Basically the same tactic, just allows you to move to the other side of them.

Any setup that can be done off of the kick throw can also be done off of the high or mid counters, as those share the same animation.

4. Off of standing Roundhouse

If you can use this attack at the right range so that you hit with the later frames of it, then you can get frame advantage after it. From this range, you have several options, like JD any attack they do if you arent sure if the range was optimal, counterhit anything they stick out with low jab, run up closer if they block after, or you can jump in also from this range if you think they will poke so that you can jump over the attack and get a crossup attack.

5. Punishing Safe Fall

A, N, and K Grooves all have the safe fall feature, which allows those grooves to recover quickly after being knocked down by most non-super attacks. However you can punish this if you hit the opponent just as they rise. The most common is two in one a connected sweep into a jab Reppuken. If the opponent safe falls, then the fireball will hit them. The same thing works with the towards+fierce and a strong Reppuken. Unfortunately, most of Geese's attacks allow the opponent to safe fall without much danger unless he is in the corner. For example an out of corner Jaienken, punch throw, or air fireball is a free safe fall. However if you have the opponent near the corner with any of these attacks keep an eye on it and take your free combo if they give it to you. The opponent cannot safe fall after your kick throw, any of your counters, your Raging Storm, or your Deadly Rave(however if you cut the DR short and finish it with a normal combo, they can safe fall then).

One thing to note is that if your sweep is guaranteed(punishing a move or comboed off of jabs) and the opponent does not have a safe fall groove or you don't think they will safe fall, then don't throw the fireball. There is no reason to and youll have more time to set up your attacks on the rising opponent. For example after a sweep you can jump in and do a high/low or crossup on the opponent if you dont throw the fireball, but if you do you won't have time to perform this safely.

6. Anti-Air

In general your antiairs against normal jumps will be low fierce or a Raging Storm. However if the opponent jumps from the tip of a long range jumpin, like Sagat's roundhouse, you really dont have a move that covers this angle. Try to avoid this distance and JD if you must block. After you connect a low fierce antiair, you have a chance to attack the opponent as they land on their feet.

If the opponent has P or K groove, then antiairing with a standing jab then following it up with your real antiair my be a good idea from time to time to absorb their JD/parry, since low fierce is very laggy. You can also meet them early with jump roundhouse or strong air to air, or throw them as they land.

Low jumps are dealt with differently depending on the character. Close range low jumps can usually be countered by JD then close short, if they kicked early in the low jump like most people do this will give you a free combo, if not you will usually still force them to block or counter hit them. Some characters you can still low fierce or standing fierce their low jump. From long range you may want to jump in on them as they low jump, forcing them to block your crossup after their low jump attack misses.

7. Off Low Roundhouse

After you do a combo ending in low roundhouse, or you hit the opponent with it in some other way that is a guaranteed hit like punishing a whiff in poking range, then most Geese players will always cancel to the MP Reppuken. I think this is a mistake, there are mixups you can do there that you are bypassing. Most opponents know not to safe fall after Geese's sweep because they are just taking a free Reppuken, so give them a reason to by using other setups here. After the sweep hits, if you don't cancel to the Reppuken and they dont safe fall, you can just hold up-towards them or superjump towards them and get good high/low mixups and crossups on them, or you can run right next to them as they get up. So the moral is if you connect your sweep, don't always cancel to the Reppuken. Eventually the opponent will get tired of getting up into crossups and meaty stand short counterhit setups and they will start to safe fall again, at which point you can start hitting them with your Reppuken again. Make a mixup out of it instead of always doing the same thing and you will find that the opponent will start safe falling again and you can get more damage. The ultimate goal is to scare the opponent of your up close game to the point where they always safe fall the sweep and just eat the fireball because theyd rather take the fireball and escape than get up into a menacing looking point blank Geese.

8. Anti-roll

How you punish rolls will depend on the character and the range. The easiest way to punish a roll that is going to land out in front of you is with your low jab into a combo, either low forward xx super, low fierce xx jaienken, or a sweep. Learn the timing on this so that you can avoid eating a lot of roll -> super nonsense.

If the roll is going to go through you and cross you up, then it is usually safer to simply use your kick throw to counter it. Attempting to poke a properly distanced one during recovery will sometimes make you attack the wrong way and is somewhat dangerous.

Another point to remember is that if you know for a fact that the opponent is looking to roll -> custom or roll -> super you, don't always punish the roll even if you can. It is often better to let them do it and then avoid the custom or super at the last moment, this way you get to both punish them and make them waste their meter also.

9. Hit Confirmation

It is an important skill in your attack patterns to be able to determine whether your combo is hitting or not and then continue it or not based on that. For the most part this will require a 2 hit combo to lead into a special move, like a Jaienken or a Deadly Rave, then if you see that it isn't hitting, just don't do the laggy special move. If you cannot or do not hit confirm then you will either have to end your close combos with a strong Reppuken for less damage/stun and no knockdown, or you will have to guess and risk getting your Jaienken blocked. Use Random Guard in the training mode to practice confirming hits, you'll use this a lot when you are fishing for counter hits. Here are some examples:

9a. blocked close low jab, run in close short, low forward <-(hit confirm), HCB+short

The low jab gives you the most frame advantage afterwards(+8) so using it to set up counter hits is usually your best option. After the opponent blocks the low jab, then they have to guess whether you are going to go for a kick throw, or run in quickly and press close short. Close short is your fastest move at 2 frames so you want to use it to actually score the counter hit. Then you start the HCB motion and press/hold low forward during it, and watch the opponent. If you see the 2 hit combo of short-> low forward is hitting, then just finish the HCB and press short and youll get a 5 hit combo with a Jaienken. If you see that they continued to block, then just dont press short and cut the combo off at the low forward kick. This way, if the combo is blocked, you are still at +1 off the low forward and can continue attacking, but if it hits, you'll do hefty damage with the full 5 hit combo. You can replace the low forward with a low fierce and the combo will work from farther away and do more damage, but you are in a worse position after it is blocked, so use this when you have a good feeling you will hit.

9b. blocked low jab, run up low jab x 2 <-(hit confirm), low roundhouse

Same as before, but you can't combo the Jaienken from far away so in those situations if you are meterless you should probably just end with a sweep. If you see the jabs blocked, then stop there and continue your attack, but if they hit, then floor the opponent with the sweep and set them up from there.

9c. blocked low jab, run up low jab x 2 <-(hit confirm), low forward, Deadly Rave

Same as 9b but with a low fwd xx super at the end instead of the sweep, for use when you have meter.

10. Anti-Counter Attack

A C-Groove opponent and to a slightly lesser extent an N-Groove opponent will give you problems with their Counter Attacks. Many characters like Rolento have very abusable Counter Attacks and they will use these when you are about to crush their guard to escape the situation and even put you on the defensive, giving their bar time to recharge. These attacks can be very difficult to avoid, but if you know that the opponent is looking to use a Counter Attack then there are many things you can do to maintain the offense and even make them waste a level of meter in the process.

First off, the easiest thing to do would be to simply throw the opponent. If an opponent is looking for a chance to Counter Attack then they are often susceptible to throws being mixed into your attack patterns while they are waiting to block something. This is damaging but it carries all the risks of a throw attempt, and is only possible at close range. You will face many of your Counter Attacks from a range where sneaking in a throw would be too obvious due to distance, but if the opponent is looking to Counter Attack you as he is getting up off the floor, for example, then you can often throw them back down as they rise.

Many Counter Attacks are not safe when blocked, or are not fully invincible for the entire startup and can be interrupted by continuous attacks. Examples of unsafe Counter Attacks would be Sagat or Vega, whereas the only interruptable Counter Attack would be Blanka's. Against Blanka if you suspect a Counter Attack, rapid jabs will counter hit his Counter Attack, against a character whose Counter Attack is unsafe, you can bait it using a jab or short, or a deep jumpin then block, which will give you time to block the Counter Attack and then retaliate with a combo. Better yet, the Counter Attack will have drained both their guard bar and their meter, so when they get up from your punishment combo they will usually be ripe for a guard break and another free combo.

The real problem Counter Attacks are characters whose Counter Attacks are safe when blocked, or even worse, who get actual frame advantages from blocked Counter Attacks. Luckily there are only 3 characters(Rolento, Yuri, and Raiden) whose Counter Attack gives frame advantage, and only one of them is considered a higher tier character. Often you will have to Just Defend the Counter Attack to punish it, but in some cases you just cannot punish a Counter Attack even with a JD. Following is a list of characters whose Counter Attacks are unsafe when blocked, safe when blocked, and finally those that are safe even when Just Defended.

Unsafe when blocked: Ryu, Ken, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, Sakura, Cammy, Morrigan, Dan, Maki, Kyosuke, Yun, Kyo, Iori, Terry, Ryo, Mai, Kim, Geese(use low roundhouse, difficult), Rugal, Vice, Benimaru, King, Joe, Athena, Rock, Haohmaru, Hibiki(use low roundhouse, very difficult), Chang(use low jab, difficult), Bison(low jab, very difficult), Nakoruru(low jab, very difficult), Todo(low jab or forward, but only if very close)

Safe when blocked: Chun-Li, Guile, Zangief, Honda, Blanka, Eagle, Rolento(+10), Akuma, Yamazaki, Raiden(+3), Yuri(+10)

Safe when Just Defended: Guile, Eagle, Raiden, Yuri, Rolento

If Just Defense won't work then things are more difficult. You will have to use your super or your high counter if you anticipate a Counter Attack. Note that Counter Attacks count as special moves and are countered with Jab.

Basically you will use your jabs to bait the counter attack, then input the super or high counter command immediately afterwards. Dont buffer it, time it more like a link, because if you cancel to super too quickly, sometimes the oponent can still block even though they already used their Counter Attack. I am not sure why this happens, but if you buffer a cancellable move to Deadly Rave and they Counter Attack the normal move, they will somehow block the super(the Counter Attack takes meter and sparks, but doesn't come out). So instead use your jabs/shorts then perform the super/counter motion immediately after your jab/short recovers, if done this way your super will always connect.

GROOVE SPECIFIC

C-Groove

Geese doesn't really use the features of C Groove to his advantage as much as some other grooves. However if you want to use him in this mode you do have the advantage of a pretty fast charging level 3 that will always be ready, and that is the main advantage of this, as well as air guard and plentiful Counter Attacks.

The only level 2 cancel that Geese really has is level 2 Raging storm xx level 1 Raging storm, and the level 2 raging storm has very low invincibility(it can trade with jumpins sometimes).

As for your counter attack, it is fast enough that it will not trade or lose to anything and it will usually not be blocked. The weakness is it is short range, so you cant counter pokes with it unless you are very close. Off of a counter attack, you can floor the opponent in a position to set up a very deep crossup high/low, which is good, however the down side is you just burned a level of meter, so you cant do your strong level 3 combo if you hit the opponent in this situation.

Air guard comes in handy at times and C/A grooves have fewer takeoff jumping frames, allowing you to jump a little faster.

VS C-Groove

The main things to watch out for from a C-Groove opponent are frequent Counter Attacks and their ability to sit on their level 2 or 3 supers indefinitely. Be aware of the opponent's meter and play accordingly, and if they rely heavily on the Counter Attack when you are raged then bait it and hurt them with your Raging Storm, counter, or Just Defend. An opponent who Counter Attacks alot will have a very low guard bar. Air blocks take off alot more guard bar damage than ground blocks, so if you can force air blocks out of the person then you can break them fast.

A-Groove

(Combos courtesy of MrSNK on Shoryuken.com)

A groove Geese has alot of the same problems as C groove, like lack of mobility and offense, but his customs can be very damaging. One down side of his customs however is that in order to do the most damaging ones you must be at point blank range so that your fierces can connect quickly, so it is difficult to use your custom at sweep distance like many other characters can. Also his anti air custom is somewhat difficult and unreliable. It is possible to hit confirm your custom by linking just like a normal link combo, i.e. low jab, activate CC, low fwd or fierce will combo if done properly.

Combos:

Basic B&B (anywhere)

CC, [HP(c)x3-c.HP-HK(f)]x2 -> HCB+LK(2-hits)x5 -> HCB+LK(3-hits) -> d/b,HCB,d/f+P

9024 (tested vs A-Todo) 26-hits, +0 stun

For how easy this combo is, it definitely pumps out major damage. Make sure you don't accidentally c.HK after the c.HP, you have to go to neutral to perform the HK(f). After the second HK(f), go into the HCB+LK's. After peforming the 6th HCB+LK, start doing the Raging Storm (d/b,HCB,d/f+P) motion, and hit the button once the last hit launches. If, by some reason, you are not in the corner for the final HCB+LK, the super will only connect for one hit!

Variation: Multi Palm Press -> Jaieken (anywhere)

CC, HP(c)x8-HP(f) -> HCB+LKx8(2-hits) -> d/b,HCB,d/f+P

9284 (tested vs A-Todo) 28-hits, +0 stun

Instead of using the HP(c)x2-c.HP-HK(f) link from the above combo, this variation relies on extremly quick close HP's to get the job done. On average, you should be able to get around 5 or 6. With perfect timing you can actually go past 10. While the combo listed here is a bit harder than average, it's worth it to get the timing down. Even if you only get HP(c)x7-HP(f), you'll still do over 9000 damage.

Super-Jump Anti Air (anywhere)

CC, HCB+LK(1-hit)-c.HP-c.LP(whiff), sj.MK-MK (land), [sj.HKx4 (land)]x2, HP(c)x2-c.HP, HP(c) -> d/b,HCB,d/f+P

7060 (tested vs A-Todo) 19-hits, +0 stun

This is a pretty tricky anti-air custom for Geese that isn't really that reliable. A more reliable variation uses 2 sets of sj.HKx3, but it does a bit less damage. Either way, the hardest part is canceling the HCB+LK on the first hit, right into the c.HP-c.LP(whiff). From there, do the superjump sequences as fast as possible. This will take you from full-screen to the corner.

Style Element (anywhere)

CC, c.MK-c.HK-c.HP-LK(c)(whiff), sj.MK-MK (land), [sj.HKx4 (land)]x2, j-up.HP(2-hits)x2 (land), d/b,HCB,d/f+P

7760 (tested vs A-Todo) 20-hits, +0 stun

Although this combo looks difficult, it's really quite easy. You only need to concentrate on getting the superjumps out. After connecting c.MK-c.HK-c.HP-LK(c)(whiff) sequence, quickly superjump towards with MK-MK. This leaves the close to you as you land. Rejump and do two sets of HKx4, land, and the opponent will now be in the corner. Jump straight up and hit HP twice, letting it hit 2-times each. Land again, super.

Chip & Crush (anywhere)

LK(c)x2, CC, c.MK -> HCB+LK(2)x11-HP(c)-f+HP -> HCB+HK (crush), HP(c) -> HCB+MK

40% (200x11+350 + combo) (tested vs A-Todo) 100% guard crush 4-hits, +33 stun

This is Geese's chipping and guard-crushing custom. While it doesn't chip that much damage (about 10%), it will always crush the opponents guard if done correctly, thus leaving them open for a free follow-up combo. The reason LK(c)x2 is used before the CC starts is because without it, the CC sequence won't crush the guard completely, unless its done vs P or K-Groove. The trick to getting this sequence to crush in any groove is the final f+HP. It must hit outside of the custom sequence. In order to make it so it's not rollable is to chain it off the last HP(c) while in custom, then the meter runs out right before the f+HP connects. If done correctly, the follow-up Jaieken will crush on the final strike. From there, stand HP(c) -> MK Jaieken for the free damage!

Crush Only (anywhere)

CC, c.MK -> HCB+LK(2-hits)-f+HPx13 -> HCB+LK(2-hits)-HP(c)-f+HP -> HCB+HK (crush), HP(c) -> HCB+MK

25% (200x2 + combo) (tested vs A-Guile) 100% guard crush 4-hits, +33 stun

While this version doesn't do much chip damage, it will crush any characters guard in any groove. The only tricky part is canceling the first HCB+LK on the second hit, right into the f+HPx13. The ending sequence is identical to the Chip & Crush sequence. Make sure the final f+HP hits outside of the custom.

VS A-Groove

A-Groove is a difficult groove to fight for K Geese, or any K character for that matter, because many customs are very dangerous whether they hit or are blocked. Once the opponent has a full meter, many methods of offense that you use become very dangerous. Learn to bait customs and jump up or backwards at the moment that they are done in order to make them waste their meter and possibly give yourself a free jumpin combo while they cannot block. When their meter is not ready then be aggressive and do as much damage as possible in the time that you have. You unfortunately have to rush very carefully and sparingly when the meter is there, however.

If you Just Defend the first hit of most customs, you will often have time to perform a counter or a super on them before their 2nd hit will come out. So if you must block then try to JD the first hit, otherwise you'll have no escape from the blocked attacks.

Learn the situations that A-groove players like to activate their custom and try to make them waste it whenever possible. The A-groove meter is like a time bomb but if you can defuse it then usually the character itself is not so hard to defeat.

P-Groove

Geese is a pretty good P-Groove character. The main thing that you look for in a P groove character is, can they make the most of their parries, and Geese certainly can. Parrying an attack into a Jaienken or Deadly Rave combo is a very intimidating threat, and the parry gives Geese the ability to stop certain tactics that otherwise give him trouble(like his lack of a ranged anti air). Also if you are skilled with the parry you can use it as a way to get in on the opponent by jumping and parrying their anti air attempts. Also P Groove retains low jump and the ability to store your level 3 so that it is always ready for when you land a combo.

Disadvantages of this choice are the slow building super bar, the lack of a run, and the difficulty of execution. In many top tier matchups, you will basically have to parry something to get inside, and parry is much more risky to execute than a Just Defense. However if you are comfortable with P Groove then Geese does pretty well in it.

VS P-Groove

One thing to be careful about against P-Groove is being predictable with your low fierce anti air. If this gets parried it recovers so slow that that the P-Groove person can do a whole jump in combo on you. To counter jump in parries you can hit them low when they land, jump back with roundhouse as antiair, use standing jab to absorb the parry and then pressing low fierce or using your counter to catch the follow up attack, or you can throw them when they land.

Note that you can parry any ground attack down except for some specials and standing mediums and heavies which must be parried forward. So you can counter a down parry with a standing fierce or roundhouse, and counter a towards parry with a low hit.

S-Groove

There really dont seem to be any redeeming qualities of S-Groove Geese. His dodge attacks are both very bad, especially the punch which is the only one that is bufferable to special moves. Geese is also a character that lives by comboing his level 3 super, and getting level 3 supers in S-Groove is not an easy task at all. To top it all off the only level 1 that he has unlimited access to in red life is the Raging Storm, which is very weak as a level 1 super. Only redeeming thing is that you have run available, however that is also in N or K groove making this groove somewhat pointless.

VS S-Groove

More often than not S-Groove opponents are pretty easy to beat, because they rarely get the chance to use a level 3 super and that is really a huge disadvantage. Be aware that the only way to hit the dodge is to throw it, it is instant and recovers safely. Don't let the opponent charge their level 3 when they are in desperation life if you can help it, since S-Groove level 3's hurt very badly. Note: The strongest level 3 in the game.

N-Groove

N-Groove Geese is a pretty good choice. You have all the offensive options that a character like Geese likes to have, like run, low jump, and roll, as well as access to roll cancels and counter attacks. This is a pretty solid choice. Another advantage being that unlike K-Groove you can choose when you will power yourself up, so you can use it when the opponent's guard is about to break or when you are in some similar good position.

However in certain very common matchups, N-Geese has a very hard time. One of Geese's weaknesses is his midrange game, dealing with low jumps and strong pokes that keep him from closing in. You dont possess a mid range poke that is safe that can really compete with characters like Cammy or Sagat. N-Groove has all the tools necessary to deal with these things but you must always do something somewhat risky to approach the opponent, your roll is not very good and your counter attack is only going to help you in close range. So you are basically stuck having to force whiffs from your opponent, like Sagat for example, so you can run towards him or knock him down, which makes things somewhat difficult. Certain characters that are easier to beat in K-groove become very very strong against N-Groove Geese due to his inability to deal with their pokes safely, Cammy, Sagat, and Blanka, all very common choices, have this problem. The only way that you are going to make N-groove work well against those characters is if your ground game is much stronger than that of your opponent, for example your opponent must be predictable enough that you can easily force him to whiff or trick him into getting caught by your counter. Also, this Groove does not break guard as easily as K-groove even though your level 3 super does more damage between the two.

However this is the only groove that has both roll cancels and run, so if you like to have both those options it might work for you.

VS N-Groove

Fighting N-Groove is alot like fighting K-Groove except instead of Just Defend it has roll and Counter Attack. N-Groove cant really spam Counter Attack as much as C-Groove so it is not something you have to be too worried about usually, but be aware of it.

One thing that N-Groove has that can give Geese problems is Counter Roll. Anytime you do a guard crushing string on N-Groove that ends in a special move, either a fireball or a Jaienken, Counter Roll can really mess you up badly if they predicted it. All they must do is Counter Roll your fierce, low roundhouse, low forward etc. and they will come out right behind you and able to easily punish your special move with whatever they want. Learn to bait the Counter Roll if they use it this way by replacing two in ones occasionally with low shorts or forwards buffered into nothing to bait them. You can punish a Counter Roll the same way you punish normal rolls, with a combo or a throw.

K-Groove

In my opinion and the opinion of many people, this is Geese's strongest groove. You get everything that you need to have and lose things that really are not particularly important. Geese does not really have a dominant RC move that is necessary for his game plan, so losing roll is not a particularly crippling blow.

There are 2 huge advantages to K groove Geese. First, being raged helps your game plan immensely. Geese does absolutely ridiculous guard crush damage when he is raged. By using standing roundhouse, towards+fierce, and wise use of your Jaienken, you can crush an opponent's guard in only 2 series' of attacks, and in order for the opponent to stop you they must risk pressing buttons and getting counterhit into your super. Your super also does more damage in K Groove than in other grooves, which makes your low jab even more frightening to the opponent considering how easy it is to dial up your super off of it. Basically once you become raged, your opponent has to play perfectly and even the smallest mistake can cost him a great deal of life. If he attempts to simply turtle until the time runs out you can give him a rude awakening by the speed at which you can crush the guard bar.

The 2nd advantage that you have is the Just Defend. Alot of matchups that give every other Geese insane problems become manageable when you are able to Just Defend well. For example, against other versions of Geese, Sagat can abuse his standing fierce punch on you constantly, and all the methods that you have to stop him involve you committing to a high risk attack. However, K Groove Geese can simply advance into his range and JD the fierce and get a free sweep or even a low forward -> super combo! This helps that matchup a great deal. Cammy's roundhouse is similar to this, it can give Geese fits but if you can JD it, then you get to hit her for free. Some characters like to harrass Geese with their low jump attacks and press the button very early to take advantage of Geese's fairly tall crouching animation. Other Geeses have a pretty hard time dealing with this tactic but K Geese can simply JD and get frame advantage on the opponent when they attempt this. The ability to JD in the air also gives you some leeway in jumping in on the opponent.

To show how quickly Geese can guard crush when raged, here are some guard crush strings against an A groove character. Keep in mind that P and K groove characters' guard bar crushes even faster than this.

K-Groove Guard Crush strings

1. Crossup forward, low jab x 2, towards+fierce, QCF+Strong (60% Guard bar damage during rage)

This pattern takes off 60% guard all by itself! The only place where it is escapable is between the jabs and the towards+fierce, but in order for the opponent to stop it he has to press a button very quickly between the 2 hits. Mix it up with this, and going for a counterhit into super combo after the low jabx2 in case they are trying to hit you out of the towards+fierce. You'll find that once you counterhit someone a few times, youll be able to force them to block the towards+fierce alot more often.

2. Crossup forward, low jab x2, towards+fierce, HCB+Short (75% Guard bar damage during rage)

Same as above, but ending in Jaienken. Be aware of the opponents guard meter. If the Jaienken will break it, then dont be afraid to do it! This is a common mistake and costs many Geese players guaranteed guard crushes. To show just how strong this is, if your opponent has blocked a low forward or roundhouse into a fireball and then you land this, those 2 series of attacks alone will crush the guard completely. If you see the opponent has his guard bar around half full(the level that you get from blocking 2 fierces and a forward while raged), then towards+fierce, HCB+Short is a free guard crush from that point, even though the guard isnt even close to flashing.

3. Stand roundhouse(hit with later frames), low roundhouse, QCF+Strong (60% Guard bar damage during rage)

This is something that you can use occasionally, depending on the opponent's meter and character. Dont do something like this to Blanka ever or any other character with a torpedo move as they will just fly over your fireball and hit you. Most characters can kill you with a level 3 super also. However if there is no meter for your opponent, then some characters you can do this to and all they can do is jump up over the fireball. Something to do every now and then when you think the risk is worth it, but dont spam it or the opponent will catch on really fast.

4. (cornered opponent)Jumpin roundhouse, towards+fierce, QCF+Strong, then mixup between 1.(run towards opponent, low fierce, HCB+short) OR 2.(jump towards forward, low fierce, QCF+Strong) (100% Guard bar damage during rage)

This will break the opponent's guard from full. Sticking points are, the opponent can escape after the first fireball. However the opponent has to pay attention to whether you are going for option 2, which he must wait and antiair, or option 1, which he must stick out a ground move to stop. Mix up randomly between those 2 patterns. Your opponent will have to look for the run or the jumpin, and if they are looking for the wrong thing, then you will often be able to make them block the 2nd series of attacks, resulting in a guaranteed break. You can also guard break the opponent by replacing the low fierce -> jaienken with stand roundhouse, low roundhouse, QCF+Strong, but watch out for reversal supers between the low roundhouse and the last fireball. Most important thing is to mix up how you get in for the 2nd set of attacks according to your opponent's habits and what you think they are looking for. Also youll find that if they are a bit slow in sticking out their attack, the low fierce will beat it and youll get a nice jaienken combo on them and put them on the floor in the corner, waking up into a guaranteed guard break to super. Thats 100% damage on most characters.

You note that I use the low fierce instead of the towards and fierce for the ground version, that is because if you do towards+fierce, HCB+short in the corner and the towards+fierce hits, then your opponent will have time to stand up and punish your Jaienken, both with safe fall and without. So it is best not to do that particular string in the corner.

5. Crossup fwd, low short, low fierce, QCF+Strong, then mixup between 1.(run towards opponent, towards+fierce, HCB+short) and 2.(run towards opponent, superjump crossup fwd, low short, low fierce, QCF+Strong) (100% guard bar damage)

Sort of similar to the one above but done outside the corner. You have to make sure and mix up your approach for the 2nd series of attacks so that you dont always get antiaired or punched in the face as you run in.

Anyway once the opponent is scared of getting guard crushed then they wont try to turtle up against your raged time as much, and you will be able to land alot more combos on them during this time. BE AGGRESSIVE while raged, you take less damage and deal more during this time so use it. Take a few hits if you must, it is worth it if you can penetrate their defense just once and land a guard crush or a counterhit to super.

VS K-Groove

Fighting K-Groove with Geese requires some changes to your patterns. The main difference is that you can't use your standing roundhouse nearly as much unless you distance it carefully. Only long range standing roundhouse is safe from Just Defense, too close and youll be hurt badly. From any range a JD'ed roundhouse gives the opponent frame advantage, so just be careful using it too much. Your standing far fierce is safe even if JDed, as is your low forward. In order to take advantage of a K-Groove player you have to use moves that you keep frame advantage even if they are JD'd, and make the opponent try to attack you afterwards. You will then be able to counter hit him and keep attacking. For example if they JD a low jab, close short, low short then you can press them again and counterhit them if they try to retaliate after the JD. Also you can get away with throwing a bit more against this Groove in general.

Dealing with jumpin JD's can be sort of tricky. If you low fierce them and they JD it then often you'll be put in a bad situation where they can hit you or youll be forced to block their jumpin. You can stop jumping JD's by antiairing with standing jab, then low fierce them afterwards and mix up the timing(or you can run behind them if they are looking to JD again), or you can simply throw when they land.

As for the rage meter, you should play more conservatively when it is active for your opponent but it is a mistake to blatantly run away from it in most cases. Your guard meter will deplete quickly when facing a raged character so just turtling and waiting it out is often playing into the other person's hands. Play normally and dont let it psych you out too much, just be a little less daring and take less risks.

• Your moves that become unsafe if JD'ed: standing roundhouse when too close, standing forward, low roundhouse, low fierce, close fierce, standing strong, Reppuken/Double Reppuken

VS. CHARACTER

Blanka

This is one of Geese's hardest fights. One of the first things that you'll learn is you can never throw a fireball at Blanka when he has a charge unless it is in a combo. So that means no two in one off of your sweep or low forward at anything other than point blank range. If you want to end your ground blocked combos with a fireball to add more guard bar damage, you will have to buffer it off of a low fierce, close fierce, or towards+fierce to make it safe, otherwise he can easily pass over it with his ball attack or ball super.

One very important thing is you have to force the Blanka player to play defensively. It is important that you don't let him cross you up repeatedly or dash towards you recklessly. If the Blanka player likes to cross you up a lot, you can walk back and low fierce him, or intercept him with jumping roundhouse or strong. Another more difficult but more damaging way to stop crossups is to use Geese's very skinny standing hitbox to your advantage. If you walk forward just a bit and remain standing, Blanka's crossup can't hit you, and if he presses the button in the air you can get a free low fierce xx super or jaienken on the frame when he lands. This is difficult but it can be done and it will definitely make the other player think twice about using his crossup on you often. If you don't think the Blanka player will press a button, then just start your normal pressure games after he lands.

Blanka's dash puts him in the air and when he touches the ground he has totally recovered, so in order to punish the dash you must hit him while he is still in the air. This is bad news, since it means you cannot do a combo on him if you anticipate it and must simply accept one hit. It is important not to let Blanka dash at you as this sets up a powerful mixup from him of either RC electricity, throw, or low short combo to super. Another way to counter a dash in is with a vertical jump so that you come down on him with your forward kick, he will either be hit or at least forced to block it. If he continues to mash electricity your jumping forward will usually beat it regardless.

Blanka's crouching fierce is longer in range than any move that you have, so its power against you on the ground is obvious. Geese has several moves that actually beat it cleanly if you do them at the same time, including low forward, stand forward, and standing fierce, however the danger is since his move's range is longer, if you press these attacks attempting to stuff his fierce and he does not press fierce, you will often find yourself whiffing an attack and then eating a sweep or slide afterwards, or worse, low strong -> super. So use these moves to make the Blanka player think about sticking out his fierce, but don't try to punch/kick his limbs too much because you will be killed for it. The safest ways to punish this move are to try to make it whiff you and sweep him, or to JD it which will yield you either a free sweep or a free low fwd xx super if you are close enough. Your standing roundhouse will also get you past this move, but only if you distance it properly so that the Blanka player cannot hit you out of the startup. Or if you anticipate this move and jump forward you can attack him with your crossup. Remember to do the 70 stun combo in this situation if you have meter since you will hit him crouching.

Blanka's low forward kick is very annoying also, as it recovers very fast making punishing whiffed ones very hard. Your best normal to fight this with is standing roundhouse, since it has longer range and will always at least trade with the low forward from blanka as long as the hitting frames are out. Properly ranged standing roundhouses will keep Blanka from pressing this button, as counterhit roundhouses both hurt a lot and give you a pretty good position afterwards to rush him more. You can see from these 2 paragraphs that Geese's standing roundhouse is very useful in this fight against Blanka's ground game. In fact your standing roundhouse would be a move that could really shut Blanka down if not for his back hop. Just press roundhouse from just inside the roundhouse's range, which is just outside of the range of all of blanka's attacks. By the time you get into the range where he can hit you, your roundhouse will have its active frames out and it will beat all of his attacks except the slide, which is a dangerous move for Blanka to be sticking out.

Blanka's slide bears mentioning as it is his only move that will beat the standing roundhouse when the roundhouse is fully extended. If you block this move up close you can punish it very easily, from long range you must JD it to punish it on block. You can also hurt this move badly by jumping over it, as it is laggy enough to give you a free crossup combo. If you get this on Blanka, you will hit him crouching, so do the 70 stun combo and take him out. Remember that if you see Blanka slide, that means he just lost his charge, you have a second or two where you dont have to worry about him anti airing you with his super or performing a vertical ball.

Blanka's back hop is one of the things that makes this fight difficult. If not for this move Geese could use his standing roundhouse from the right ranges to really give Blanka a hard time, however all the Blanka player has to do is hop back when you press roundhouse and you'll whiff, giving him a free hit. I've eaten low strong -> super many times because of this. You will have to mix up your standing roundhouse approach with a running in approach in order to counter it. If you run at him when you predict a back hop, then you can punish the hop's recovery with a move of your choice, like low fwd xx super, a sweep, or a low fierce xx Jaienken. Another counter that Blanka players use against the roundhouse is to jump straight up on reaction and land with a combo, and if you run forward you can counter this also by running under and pressing low fierce. So running in when he is looking for a stand roundhouse is usually a good idea, and vice versa. If you don't want to or can't run to punish this move, you will have to simply let him escape and keep moving forward until you can take him to the corner, and then don't let him get past you. Back hops near the corner are much easier to punish. One of the things that makes Blanka such a good character to stop rush characters like Geese in this game is that this move forces you to run into him preemptively to really be able to punish it, so if you guess wrong you will find yourself running into his hits and taking alot of damage. All you can do here is learn the opponent's patterns, and if you want to be totally safe about it just keep moving forward slowly until you corner him and then do everything in your power not to let him jump or hop past you.

Blanka has 2 very strong non meter anti airs against Geese, his vertical ball and his vertical jumping fierce. If you jump in and Just Defend either of these 2 attacks, then you can immediately hit Blanka with a free air roundhouse or air fireball(for knockdown), so that is one good weapon you have against this, however these moves are very hard to JD as the Blanka player can vary the timing of his antiairs very freely. One good thing is that he has no instant anti air except for his super, so if he has no meter you should be able to jump at him occasionally as long as you aren't obvious. As for grounded anti airs, his best 2 in this matchup are standing fierce and the slide. Unless perfectly ranged and timed, your jump forward will beat his standing fierce, and the slide will only work if you attack very early in your jump. A deep jumpin or jumping in and blocking will both punish the slide very easily. As for anti air supers, it is in your best interests to learn to JD his supers in the air. The one hit super is pretty easy to JD but the rolling super is what most Blankas will antiair you with in K Groove instead. Smart ones may try the shouting super also. If you jump at a bad time you might need to JD at least a few hits of these to save yourself alot of damage.

Blanka's horizontal RC ball attack can actually give Geese some problems depending on your Groove. If you don't have run, then you can't punish the ball if you block crouching without a level 3 super. If you block standing then you can hit him with your standing roundhouse. If you can run, then then best counter is usually to block then run forward and sweep, which will hit if you blocked low or high. If Just Defended then you can hit Blanka with a combo after the ball. A smart Blanka however will use the RC ball against Geese when they see you run forward or on reaction to your standing roundhouses, and in K Groove you have no way to stop your run and block the RC ball attack. You can cancel your run into a high counter or a jab then block, but the ball is too fast to be able to depend on this to save you, especially if you dont expect it. So this makes running toward Blanka difficult and dangerous. If you fight a player that does this then your best bet is to fake offense from time to time to bait the ball, then JD it and take your free combo. For example, run forward then cancel your run immediately with jab and get ready to JD the ball attack.

Low jump roundhouse is very fast and if ranged correctly very hard to anti air. Geese has it easier than most characters as your low fierce will beat the low jump roundhouse every time, no matter the range. So if the Blanka player is abusing this move, you can stop it. The danger in this is that if the Blanka player sees you doing this, all he has to do is jump in with no attack and your low fierce will whiff, leaving you wide open for whatever he wants to do to you. This is a guessing game that is not in your favor. The safest way to anti air it depends on your range, at long range you can back up so it whiffs and then sweep Blanka when he lands. Don't buffer that sweep into a fireball, as if you do that and Blanka empty jumped and blocked your sweep, he will have time to super or ball you. If you just sweep alone then at that range he can't really do anything to punish it since he lost his charge jumping forward. At close range(close enough that you will hit him even if he does not attack in the air) low fierce or Just Defense are the best options. What you should really be trying to do is pressure him enough that he isnt able to jump towards you with this move at will, as if you spend the whole fight trying to react to him, you are destined to lose. Another way to handle this attack is to jump to avoid it and come down with a crossup, since he will lose his charge and not really be able to antiair you in time. This wont get you any free hits but it is probably the safest way to handle the situation.

RC electricity is safe when blocked and even gives Blanka a good frame advantage. Try to JD this if you are forced to block it, as you can get a lot of rage meter that way, however if you are already raged DON'T JD it, as you are just wasting your rage time. He can keep mashing it and youll be stuck there JDing forever. The best way is to never get caught blocking this move if you can help it. Your counter depends on the situation that Blanka is using it in.

If he is using it on you as you are getting up, there isnt much you can do except JD it and go for some meter, high counter, or level 3 super. The first time you do it, the high counter will most likely work, but if the Blanka catches on he can fake the button presses and make your counter miss, causing you to take a lot of damage. So use this sparingly. More often than not you are just better off JDing in this situation. The super can be baited in much the same way, but depending on how much rage you have left and other factors it might not be a bad idea to try from time to time also.

If Blanka is using it on his wakeup, or off of a dash in, then you have several options to punish this. High counter of course, but this is very risky. You can also throw him out of his RC electricity every time easily with your Kick throw, and this is the most common counter to electricity. If you can space yourself so that the electricity whiffs you, then you can punish a whiffed electricity with anything you want. Your timing on this will have to be very good to catch him in the few frames after his invincibility wears off, but before he can block, so practice it. If Blanka whiffs the electricity close to you and you don't feel comfortable timing the punishing attack, then you can usually get a throw on him after the electricity wears off if your timing is good. And of course your level 3 supers will beat it. You can also jump up or do a crossup when you anticipate the electricity, and by the time you come down the invincibility will be gone and blanka will have to deal with your jump attack. Against most characters Blanka can just keep mashing electricity to beat this but Geese's jumping forward can cleanly hit him out of electricity with proper timing, and will always at least trade.

If your opponent is using A-Groove Blanka, be very careful once his meter is charged. His custom can hit you from very far away and does good damage. If you block the custom he really isnt going to hurt you very badly, but if he has meter you have to attack more carefully so that makes things more difficult.

One weakness Blanka has is his very weak Counter Attack. If you are about to guard break him and think that he will try to use this, you can just press repeated jabs and his slow counter will be counterhit by them if he tries to counter one of the jabs. He cannot Counter Attack your Jaienken to avoid a guard break because he will start getting hit by it if he tries.

• Always buffer blocked fireballs off of fierce hits to avoid ball attacks

• Use standing roundhouse liberally from the proper range to get past Blanka's pokes, but be aware of the danger of the back hop

• If Blanka is looking for your roundhouse so he can back hop it or jump vertically, then you have an opportunity to run forward

• Punish blocked balls by running forward with a sweep or a standing roundhouse. Fake runs in order to bait the ball attack if the opponent uses it to counter your run

• If you jump over Blanka's slide or low fierce and land a crossup, it is possible to perform the 70 stun combo on him easily

• Be alert for patterns and punish predictable back hops by running forward

• Blanka's main antiairs can be punished with immediate jumping roundhouse if Just Defended

• Low fierce will cleanly stop Blanka's low jump roundhouse but is dangerous if he does not attack and you miss. Sweep the whiff of the low jump roundhouse at long range and at close range use your low fierce, or just jump to avoid it and force Blanka to block your jumpin

• JD RC electricity to gain meter, but do not bother to if you are raged already as it wastes time

• RC electricity can be punished if whiffed and thrown before it comes out

• Common moves that yield a free fierce xx jaienken combo, low fwd xx super or sweep if Just Defended within range: low fierce, low roundhouse, low strong, stand fierce, stand roundhouse, slide

Sagat

Sagat's not easy. Mainly because at mid range every form of offense that you can start up requires a small mistake from him to get started. Up close your games are pretty much equal with Geese having a slight advantage due to his more damaging combos, but at mid range Sagat is still top tier whereas midrange/longrange Geese has no move that you can really challenge Sagat with. Just like all of the top tier matchups except Cammy, Geese has to be very aggressive to win. Use his fierces against him whenever you can and once you get him to hesitate on fiercing you in the grill you have to run right at him and put yourself in your sweet spot.

You really dont have any move that cleanly beats stand short, but that doesnt hurt badly and a little known fact about Sagat's short is it actually leaves him at -1 on hit or block. So if you can actually run into it so that after the hit you are in your attack range, you can counterhit anything he does after with the proper timing. If you JD stand short it is even possible, although difficult, to get a free jab, the move is alot laggier than it looks. The reason people think Sagat has frame advantage after it is because it usually pushes the opponent back into the range where sagat's fierces or 2nd short will stuff whatever you do anyway. Your own fierce will trade with his short too pretty often if you are in your fierce range. If he really just spams the short kick then remember that if you can take the hit from it up close you get frame advantage, if you can JD it then you get huge advantage, and your own fierce can trade with it if you can get it out there in time. Also if sagat has no super, dont be afraid to mid counter from time to time just to keep him thinking. Risk/reward isnt so bad if he doesnt have meter, youll probably eat a fierce if you miss but if you hit youll do the damage of a fierce and put him on the floor next to you.

By use his fierce against him I mean you just have to be strong on the ground and a strong JDer. If you JD stand forward or fierce then thats free sweep every time or low fwd -> super if you are in range, if you JD a low fierce or a low jump roundhouse then you can get frame advantage even though you get no free hits. Be aware that although it requires nuts of steel you can run directly through his standing fierce and get a free combo. If you can get him to stop using stand fierce recklessly then its a pretty fair fight, low fierce isnt so bad cause you can punish whiffed ones alot easier with your fierce or sweep and low fierce isnt that long of a range compared to your attacks, and up close sagat can die to geese just like anyone else. Your standing fierce and low roundhouse are both longer range than his low fierce so if he whiffs one be quick about it and knock him down. Your standing strong(far) will also cleanly beat the low fierce if you are at the tip of his fierce range. You can do this buffered into a jab fireball for more pressure. Be aware though that if he presses standing fierce instead when you do this youll get punched in the face.

Only other things are never ever hang out at the range where a jump roundhouse will hit you with the tip, move up closer so that if he jumps you can actually antiair him. At tip of his foot range you have no antiair except a balls out high counter which you will find yourself getting supered for doing half the time. If you can predict it or are fast enough your standing fierce will stop his low jump, but just take care cause if you are too slow reacting you will get kicked then supered.

• Low roundhouse xx Reppuken: safe at max range vs. non roll sagat without meter. Vulnerable to low jumpins or tiger knee if too close and punishable by roll or super at any range.

• Moves that if just defended yield free jaienken combo, sweep, or low fwd-> super if in range: standing or close fierce, standing forward, standing strong, low or standing roundhouse.

• low fierce can be just defended giving you frame advantage, is outranged by both standing fierce and low roundhouse to easily punish whiffs, and can be stuffed by an well ranged standing strong which can then be buffered into a fireball for more pressure.

• low jump roundhouse can be just defended for free hits or frame advantage depending on depth of kick. Low jumps can be stuffed with standing fierce if done quickly.

Cammy

Cammy is the easiest top tier matchup that Geese has, but it is still Cammy so you must use caution and be on point. The main reason you have an easier time with this fight is that unlike Sagat and Blanka, you can pressure Cammy at any range. Her roll is very slow and her jump attacks are not overpowering, which gives you the upperhand in this fight with your projectile. Unlike many other characters a blocked sweep into a medium reppuken is safe against cammy generally unless she has a level 3 ready. If she jumps forward over the fireball in this case you will have time to antiair her attack easily.

The basic gameplan here is going to be to use your fireball very liberally. Reppukens control the ground very effectively against Cammy and force her to jump, and Geese's attacks can easily anti air her at any angle. If cammy jumps, then you can standing fierce her if she is in front of you and low fierce her when she is above you. These moves will stop her low jump, normal jumpins, and dive kick as long as you time them properly. Hold her back using these tactics and rush her only on your terms. If you are close to Cammy you have to make sure you have the initiative, because a Cammy standing over you as you are getting up or running at you in fierce range is a very scary character.

If the Cammy player gets within her standing roundhouse range, then you can stop this move several ways. You can stuff it with your low forward, Just Defend it and hit her with a sweep or low forward xx super combo, or punish a whiffed roundhouse with your own sweep.

If Cammy does get the initiative on you then you are going to be in trouble for a little while, as her rushdown with her incredibly fast fierces is probably the best in the game. If any fierce hits she has plenty of time to confirm the hit and link a super, and if you whiff a move on her in an attempt to stop her from advancing stand roundhouse xx super is an easy and powerful whiff punisher. It is important that you dont get flustered by her and maintain control of the match, you do have the advantage here but you can lose it quickly if you let her get in on you on her terms. Make sure that any time you are in close range, that you are in control. Cammy's close fierce is so fast, that even if you JD it, she can simply press it again and you can do nothing but block or JD again. Her far fierce is very nearly just as fast. Don't try to retaliate after JDing these moves, especially if her super is charged. It only takes one mistake to lose a lot of life. JD when you can to build some meter, and be on the lookout for throw attempts. If you predict a throw then quickly use your close short and start a combo. Close short is your fastest move and is the most reliable in stopping throw attempts. The best counter to Cammy's fierces is just to never put yourself in that position by using your projectiles to set up your own rushdown opportunities and keeping control.

The way that a Cammy will beat you in this fight is if she can score a random knockdown, or if she forces you to block a jump in, usually a dive kick. This will give her the initiative that she needs to start her rush on you and once Cammy has initiative up close every character in the game fears her. Be on the lookout for these things. Avoiding the dive kick will require you to think fast, but it isnt terribly difficult. You have to anti air Cammy early in her jump, as once the dive kick is fully extended it can beat your anti airs. Just press low fierce if she dives above your head and standing fierce if she dives out in front of you(if she is aiming at your feet) and you will always at least trade, as long as you are fast enough. Be alert.

Cammy's fast walking speed can sometimes catch you napping and allow her to perform walk up throws on you to score her knockdown, so keep her under control and don't let her advance on you too easily. DO NOT jump at Cammy unless you are prepared to Just Defend her uppercut. There is no move in Cammy's arsenal that is laggy enough that you can jump over it and get an advantage, she will always recover in time to uppercut you, and to make it worse her uppercut has huge horizontal range so if you jump anywhere near her she can usually tag you. If you are hit by Cammy's uppercut or her throws, it is usually ok to safe fall as long as you arent near the corner. Her level 3 super can punish it, but it wont be for full damage and very hard to do on reaction. It is recommended that you safe fall if you arent cornered since giving her a knockdown is very dangerous. If you are hit with a Spiral Arrow or a punch air throw away from the corner then you still may want to safe fall unless she has a level 3 charged. If she has a level 3 then she can roundhouse xx super your safe fall, so dont risk it, but she has no meter, I personally would rather eat the roundhouse in some cases than to let her knock me down and walk on top of me, depending on how the fight is going. You can see from this that it is important not to let yourself get cornered, as this takes away your option to safe fall and makes her job alot easier.

If you just defend Cammy's uppercut in the air, then you have 2 options. You can either immediately press roundhouse, or immediately hit her with an air fireball. If Cammy is in a safe fall groove(which is usually the case as she is preferred in K) then take the roundhouse, but if not, or if she is near the corner, then sometimes the air fireball is better as that will knock her down, but do a little less damage. Dont jump in with JD's too often, because Cammy does have an air throw and she can vary the timing of her uppercut quite a bit.

Spiral Arrow is a tricky move since at the perfect range, even if it is JD'ed it is safe. However at the wrong ranges you can easily punish it. Learn when you can and when you cannot punish this move. You can also stop it cold with your fireball and standing forward kick.

Punish blocked Cannon Spikes by running forward and low fierce xx Jaienken or your sweep, depending on range. Or of course if you have super ready, low fwd xx super. Due to the bounceback of this move when blocked you have to run forward a bit to get a full combo on Cammy after you block it.

• Be patient and keep Cammy out using your projectiles and anti airs, and attacking when you get clear opportunities

• Safe fall is generally safe to use when not cornered or facing her level 3 super

• After air Just Defending a Cannon Spike you can score a knockdown by using your air fireball or connect a jump roundhouse

• React quickly to dive kick attempts and jumpins with standing or crouching fierce depending on range

• If being pressured with fierces, Just Defend as much as you can and keep an eye out for throw attempts to punish with your stand short combos. If her super is ready then don't use your short unless you are absolutely sure

• Moves that can be punished if Just Defended: Stand roundhouse, low roundhouse. She keeps frame advantage even if you Just Defend her close or far fierce, so do not try to retaliate after Just Defending these in most cases

• Your low forward can stuff Cammy's standing roundhouse if they are done at the same time

Vega(claw)

A lot of people have problems with this match, but it really isnt that bad for K-Geese. I feel like Geese is a counter character for defensive Vega and that he just has way more options than an offensive Vega does. Looking at Vega's game plan, he wants to keep you out with long range pokes, jumping up and down, and rc claw rolls. His damage comes from nickel and dime hits like strongs, slides, and anti air roundhouses. He can combo his super off of low short and he has an okay custom but its nothing compared to the hurt Geese can cause off of one jab. The big difference, though, is that the Vega player has less execution required of him, and therefore if you don't execute properly you can lose. But Vega is weak to K-Groove in general(can't match the damage output and almost none of his attacks are safe when JD'ed), and Geese especially can give him a hard time.

One thing you don't want to do is throw fireballs too much or do low roundhouse xx fireball. Vega jumps fast, and those are all free jump kicks for him. You really dont need your projectile in this fight. Any wall flying nonsense he does loses to jump strong or roundhouse, but a good Vega will barely use this move.

The first thing to deal with is Vega's pokes. Common attacks youll see are low strong, stand strong, low roundhouse, and low forward. All of those yield a free sweep or low forward xx super when JDed except low forward, and low forward gives frame advantage to you when JDed, not to mention that it is similar in range to many of your own pokes so it shouldnt be too abusable at all. If you can't/dont want to JD then these will give you a harder time, but you can still fight with them. His standing and crouching strong are both fast but if Geese is poking with him then you can beat them clean with like every button on the cabinet if the moves are done simultaneously. Both those attacks are completely stuffed by your standing fierce, strong, low forward, and standing forward. You can also trade with them with your sweep for a knockdown in your favor. As for his crouching roundhouse, it is a laggy move but it does beat most of your common pokes. It loses to pokes that Geese doesnt usually use, for example you can stuff it with low strong or more safely/usefully with your stand short. Stand short stuffs the slide every time easily. It will also usually trade with your standing roundhouse heavily in your favor. You could also jump over it and land free combos or JD it as said before. His low forward is the only move that is safe if JDed but you can outrange that with your standing roundhouse and sweep pretty easily, and this move is stuffed completely by stand short also. The reason people get out poked by Vega is because they whiff moves out in front of him and he reacts with his attacks. The moral of the story here is "don't kill yourself, make him kill you". Just attack him. Take a few hits, but get inside and work your counterhits and throws on him. Feel him out, see how he reacts when you just walk up to him or run at him and dont be afraid to eat a couple hits here and there. You know how to beat his pokes, and if he doesnt poke and instead walks back and forth trying to make you whiff him, dont fall for it, run right up to him and force him to poke with you. If you can get him to trade hits with you and stop dancing around, you will win the ground game.

The next tactic that you'll have to deal with are his jumps. Vega jumps very fast, and they like to jump up and down to waste time and force you to make more mistakes. Luckily Geese doesnt care about that because you can stop every move that he has in the air with your jumping strong, so if the Vega is jumping up you have to react quickly with this move. Low jump strong usually works best as it puts you in a better position afterwards. Also you can jump in on him as he jumps up and time your crossup to force him to block it when he lands. If he has air block, do the jumping strong anyway, even though he may air block it you will take off a good bit of guard bar damage that way since airblocks take more guard damage. If you are sure he will airblock then use jumping fierce for 2 hits and tons of guard bar damage. A raged Geese does 33% guard damage if the opponent airblocks a fierce.

As for his offensive jumps, this is probably actually the hardest thing you'll have to deal with. At the right ranges Vega's jump roundhouse will stop your antiair fierce and his low jump is very fast. If he jumps over your head your fierce will work wonders but if he jumps out in front of you, it will be often stuffed or at best trade. The best tactic is, dont be at that range. You have to be pretty far from Vega for him to get a clean jump in like this on you using a normal jump, so don't be so far out. You should be in his grill at virtually all times. His low jump is a different story, that is really the hardest thing for Geese to deal with in the matchup. Low jump roundhouse mixed up with empty low jump low short -> combo to super is very very hard to block. Fortunately most people don't play Vega in a low jump groove, but if they do, you'll have to be crafty to counter it effectively. Your low fierce wont work, it gets hammered by his low jump attacks, so dont try it, you are just kicking yourself in the face. The best answer is to JD and then retaliate with your standing close short, if he pressed his roundhouse too early then that is a free hit and if he didnt then you'll still probably counterhit whatever he does afterwards. Make sure and do something nasty if it hits him. Another way to deal with this low jump is to jump up and down yourself from time to time, if you jump up as he does it then you can come down on him and make him block or get hit by your jumpin. If Vega cancels his low jump recovery into a backflip, thats a free hit for you, take it. But really the only easy way to deal with his low jumps is with JD, other than that it will require some guessing. If he has a super ready be aware of the threat of empty jump low short. Most importantly rush him hard enough that he doesnt have opportunities to jump towards you.

The next thing to be aware of are Vega's anti airs. Usually Vega players like to press Roundhouse which works like a charm against most opponents. Geese however can beat or trade with this move almost every time with an early jumping forward kick. So Vega can't rely on this move to antiair you. Also, if you JD this move close to him, you get a free roundhouse kick to his face. Be aware of Vega anti airing you with his air throw, and make sure to kick a little early if you think he will try this. Vega's low fierce doesnt work any better than his standing roundhouse. If he is charged, he may go for a flipkick, and this is the only thing that will really work well. However this isnt SF2 and this kick doesnt have invincibility frames, so if he doesnt do it fast enough it will lose also. If he does do this quickly it will anti air you, so be wary of jumping too predictably when he has a charge. If you JD both hits of this, then you can force him to block your jumpin afterwards. The only thing he has left to try on you is his RC roll claw. JD this and you can do a whole combo on him when you come down, not to mention getting hit by this out of the air barely even moves your life bar, so don't worry about it too much. Basically the only way Vega can stop your jumpins reliably is by jumping up and down himself and air to airing you, if you can make him stay grounded then you can jump at him pretty liberally with Geese. His Red Impact can be JD'ed pretty easily also if you can bait it on a jump, and his flipkick super does weak damage as an antiair.

The thorn in a lot of players' sides in this matchup is Vega's RC roll claw, and it is somewhat annoying to deal with but it can be handled and punished very severely if you predict it. Your counter depends on the situation. Wake up RC roll claws are very easy to seriously hurt with Geese, just hover around the opponent while he is down and jump vertically at the last moment. If he does the RC, he will either recover right under you and get hit by a whole crossup combo if he does the Jab version, or if he does any other version he will be totally vulnerable to any run up combo you want to do to him from behind. This is the most damaging and easiest way to counter this. You can also use your HCB+Jab to counter it at close range or throw it during startup.

Roll claws from around low forward range can be handled the same way, the last upward hit of the roll claw totally fails to anti air Geese's jumping up forward kick. It is also easier to react with a HCB+Jab at this range. The only difference is you can't throw it from this far.

Roll claws from around the tip of Vega's low strong range are even easier to deal with, all of the above tactics work and also the invincibility of the move will have actually run out before it reaches you in this case. The invinciblity of a RC rolling claw lasts until he finishes his first "bounce" on the floor. After that, he is hittable, and Geese's stand fierce punches the rolling claw cleanly. No matter what version he does, if you are at a long enough range that the first bounce of the rolling claw does not reach you, just press a well timed fierce for a free counterhit.

If Vega loses his mask, he becomes the weakest character in the game defensively. To put in in perspective, an equal ratio Vega with no mask takes 100% damage from Geese's crossup 60 stun combo and dizzy followup. Not many characters can say they have a touch of death in CVS2. So if he loses his mask, that's even more reason to get in there and trade hits with him. If you are raged, then fierce punch counterhits against him when he has no mask take off over 20% of his health.

Basically in this match, you have much better offense and you have the tools to penetrate all of Vega's best defense. If you play his game and fear him, letting him dance out of your range and punish your mistakes, then you will lose, but if you get in there and trade hits with him, forcing him to press buttons without waiting for you to press them first, you can beat any similarly skilled Vega with Geese very handily. Vega just can't take off 80% off of one jab the way that Geese can and he can't compete with your ability to guard crush and counterhit.

• your fierce, low forward, and stand forward all stuff Vega's strong punches, but be careful not to whiff moves in front of him recklessly

• you can stuff his slides with stand short or jump them and do a combo

• all his medium and heavy ranged normals except low forward are punishable when JD'ed

• if the opponent dances in and out of range, don't play along, walk or run up to him and make him fight you and don't fear eating a few pokes in the process, especially when raged

• Geese can stuff cleanly all of Vega's normal move anti-airs with jumping forward

• punish RC roll claws by countering, jumping vertically and landing with a combo, or pressing standing fierce after the first "bounce"

• if Vega jumps vertically react with your jumping strong, unless you know he will airblock in which case use jumping fierce

• low fierce will only antiair Vega if you are under him in a normal jump, if he is out in front you should JD or move out of the way. Don't hang out this far from Vega often

• JD then press close short to counter low jumps, or try to jump to avoid them and retake momentum

Sakura

This match is hard, probably the hardest one in the game for me at least if it is A-Sakura(which it usually is). K-Groove already has problems with A-Sakura and Geese has an even harder time than most because even without meter Sakura has the tools to keep Geese out better than even some of the top tier characters. Her stamina and damage output are low compared to yours, but you are going to have to rush her down mercilessly when her meter is empty and then be very careful not to get caught blocking her custom.

The first thing you'll run into fighting her is her roundhouse. Geese does not have an easy answer for this. All the moves you have that can counter it require you to whiff the move in front of her and try to hit her limbs, because her range is much longer than yours, and even if she whiffs this kick right in front of you punishing it with anything is pretty difficult. It is also totally safe if Just Defended. The one thing that helps though is that this move does the same damage as one of your mediums...but it is her roundhouse. So it is recommended that you rush her and force her to react to you with this move, then you will get chances to trade with her using one of your knockdown moves and take control. There are 2 moves that you'll use often in order to punish her standing roundhouse, and that will be low forward and towards+fierce. Your low forward beats this move cold, but you have to press it at a range where the low forward wont actually contact Sakura's body(i.e. hitting her limbs). So if you guess wrong and she doesn't press the button when you think, then you may get kicked in your recovery. Use this from time to time to get her thinking about punishing whiffs, and then you can run in closer since they wont just be pressing roundhouse every time you walk towards them. Your low fierce and standing strong and forward will also stuff her roundhouse if you put the hitting frames right in front of her sprite, and there is nothing that will get in her head more than hitting her limb with low fierce from a character width away and cancelling to super. Don't be afraid to put those moves out there, it is ok to eat a few roundhouses because you whiff but just don't get dizzy and keep the pressure on. As long as you mix up the timing of the attacks on your approach, she will have to think about when to press her button as every trade is in your favor, even when you trade a medium for her roundhouse because of your higher base damage. You really have to kill her or wound her severely before she gets her meter, that is priority #1.

Another good move for this is towards and fierce. Against top tier characters who can all poke -> super you and who all do comparable damage to you, this move really isn't that good to abuse except to crush guard, but against weaker damage characters like Sakura it is very helpful because even if you get poked for it a couple times, all you gotta do is trade with it once and you can make all that damage back and get a knockdown. As long as the hitting frames of this move are out(14 frame startup) it will at least trade with anything that Sakura does. It is also very meaty and will sometimes stay out so long it'll still hit the person after they think it has already whiffed. If you trade with her using this move, it is heavily in your favor as this is one of the most damaging normal moves in the game, and it will knock her down. Throwing this move out at just outside her roundhouse range and trading with her a couple times will also make her think about just sticking it out whenever you get close, and once you have her hesitating to press the button then you will get more chances to move in for the kill.

Properly ranged standing roundhouses will beat or trade in your favor with her roundhouse pretty convincingly, but be careful spamming this as her roll is very fast and you could eat a combo.

And the final approach is the most obvious but must be done sparingly or else you will really hurt yourself, jump. If you jump right when she throws out this move, she won't have time to get her normal move anti airs out and she will be forced to block it, and then you are in your good zone.

Whatever you do don't let A-Sakura sit and throw roundhouses and dive kicks while you watch, always pressure her when she has no meter. If you let Sakura charge her custom without challenging her, then you are giving the match away completely.

You cannot do low roundhouse xx Reppuken safely on Sakura unless she blocks it from the very tip. She can always RC medium hurricane you in the face every time you do this any closer. However since she knows this you may be able to do a blocked low roundhouse to bait her into the kick and then use your counter, as long as you do it sparingly.

Jumping in on Sakura is difficult at almost any angle. Her low fierce and close fierce stop pretty much all of Geese's jumpins cold, her close fierce even hits behind her head and hits crossups. Add that to her very short character sprite giving her plenty of time to react to jumps, and it makes jumping on her without a knockdown setup very difficult. So unless you are jumping over a roundhouse or a RC fireball, jumping toward her is generally not advised. Note you can often punish her anti airs after you air Just Defend, but be aware of her airthrow. Her RC Jab uppercut can also be a problem, the only way to beat that antiair is to Just Defend, but this will only work if you jump out in front of her. If the opponent doesn't use rc jab uppercut, then it is somewhat safe to jump out in front of Sakura as long as it is far enough away that low fierce won't reach you. You may be able to get her to whiff a low fierce and take some free hits.

The next thing to be aware of are her RC's. She has a good set of RCable moves, like her fireball and her hurricane kick. The fireball will have to be contended with by jumping or throwing the startup, but if you guess right and jump as she does this move you can get a free combo.

Her RC hurricane can really give Geese a headache. The roundhouse one connects on a crouching Geese for all the hits, and it is safe even if fully Just Defended. In order to punish this move you are going to have to anticipate it a bit, but there are several ways to punish it depending on range.

If she uses it at point blank(as a wake up, to break out of your pressure strings)then you have 2 things you can do. The most obvious is a high counter, but that will be total guesswork. The other more rewarding thing to do is to randomly jump straight up during your pressure. If you jump up when she does it, then you can come down and punish her with a combo, and if she does not do it when you think, then just come down with your forward kick and keep attacking.

If she uses it from roundhouse range as a poke, then both the above options work and also you can hit her out of it at long range. Her invincibility runs out after her first kick, so if you are far enough away that that whiffs you you can just press low fierce and hit her out of the 2nd kick. It is alot easier to reactively counter this move at poking range, also.

Her dive kick can make her somewhat hard to antiair. If she dive kicks quickly, it is very hard to get your low fierce out there in time. If you Just Defend a divekick from anywhere other than right at your feet, you can get a free punch throw or you can counterhit anything she might do after with your close short. However be aware that this is a common setup for a custom combo.

Sakura's roll is very fast. Be careful overusing fireballs or your laggier normals like standing roundhouse or low roundhouse from too close, and always be ready to punish her roll.

Sakura's custom combo is going to be what kills you in this fight. If you even get caught blocking it, then you will take 60-70% damage, so in order to fight her custom you are going to have to totally avoid it.

Once Sakura gets her custom you will have to go into defensive mode. Rushing and looking for counterhits is very dangerous when this custom is there, you can rush but then after one or two blocked hits jump away and try to bait the custom. If you can make her waste her meter, then you can finish her off usually before she can get another. The safest way to avoid a custom that you think is coming is to jump back, as she can't do anything to you if you do this. Another riskier but more rewarding thing to do is to jump up, and try to hit her with a jumpin while she cannot block, but be aware that she can just switch to her anti air custom if she sees you do this. Her anti air custom is alot less damaging, though, so this may be wise. You can also HCB counter the first hit of the custom by inputting the HCB motion when you think she will do it, then if you see the flash just press your button immediately after it and you should counter her move(she usually starts her custom with her standing roundhouse, but some Sakuras start it low). This same thing can be done with either of your supers, also. Finally if you Just Defend the first hit of her custom, you will be able to HCB counter the 2nd hit or use a super before the 2nd hit, so if you must block then at least try to JD and give yourself a chance. Don't anti air her with low fierce predictably, because she can jump in and activate through it. Use jump back roundhouse to anti air more. If you block/Just Defend a dive kick, be ready for a custom activation right afterwards. It is best to jump away or up after blocking the dive kick so after she activates you are safely in the air, but you can also super or counter her if you are sure.

Be especially ready for the custom if you are raged, Sakura players will often wait till you are raged to use it as it wastes all your rage time. Try to counter the custom with your super if you predict it.

• Don't let her charge meter, be very aggressive against a meterless Sakura

• Poke with her limbs occasionally with your towards+fierce, low forward, stand roundhouse, and low fierce, trading hits with her is in your favor and will help you get in closer by making her hesitant

• Jump over her standing roundhouse and RC fireball in order to get inside easily. Jump vertically or counter in order to stop her RC hurricane, or low fierce it after the first kick misses

• Be aware of her fast roll and be on the lookout for it, especially if her meter is charged

• Antiairing dive kicks can be difficult with your low fierce depending on the range, try jumping back with roundhouse or Just Defending then throwing with punch or pressing close short for a counterhit

• When Sakura has meter, play defensively and bait her custom whenever you think it is likely. Be on the lookout for common custom setup gimmicks, like roll, empty jump, dash, or blocked dive kick/hurricane kick followed by activation

• Be especially ready for a custom activation when your rage meter is active, as many A Groove players prefer to activate then so as to waste your raged time

• Customs can be countered most easily by jumping back or up right before they activate, or for more risk but greater reward you can super or HCB counter the first hit of the custom by inputting the motion before the custom flash, then just pressing the button afterwards

• Be aware of jump in customs, don't always antiair with low fierce when custom is charged

• If absolutely necessary it is possible to JD the first hit of the custom the counter or super her out of the 2nd hit

M. Bison(dictator)

Bison is a pretty straightforward opponent but also one of the most dangerous, because when he has meter he has many ways to set up and combo into his Custom Combo, and it does a ton of damage. His footspeed is very fast and allows him to get many throws, especially when his custom is charged and the opponent is reluctant to stick out buttons.

Remember that Bison has 2 moves that can go over your fireball, so don't throw fireballs at him unless he has lost his charge by moving forward.

When Bison is meterless the threat is much less but he is still capable of putting up a good fight. He has a good set of normal moves against Geese, the most annoying being his jabs, low forward, and standing strong, but fortunately for you his attacks have shorter range than yours so as long as you don't let him get on the offense easily you can handle them. Bison's standing jabs cannot be ducked by Geese, and they give him huge frame advantage. While they dont do a lot of damage, Bison can virtually lock you down with these for an uncomfortable amount of time, during which he can mix up throws. When Bison is close to you, his walking jabs, if done correctly, will counterhit anything you attempt to stick out and are not hindered by Just Defense. There are a few ways to handle this. If Bison has no meter charged, one way is to block and wait for the opponent to be pushed out to max range, while watching for throws. Bison cannot jab you forever, once he is pushed out far enough that his far jab is coming out he has to walk forward a bit too far in between and you can sneak your own low jab to stop him. Of course doing this puts you at the mercy of his throws, which are not easy to react to, however if he does fool you and gets a counterhit jab when you tried to hit him out of a throw the consolation is that it is only a jab with maybe another normal linked off it at most, so it is recommended that you don't just sit there and instead press your own low jab(or close short, if he is close enough) just to make sure he cannot throw you. If you eat a few jabs then it is no big deal. The second way to handle it is more risky but much more rewarding, you can use your HCB+Strong to counter his jab and put him on the floor at your feet. It is not hard to fit this move in between the jabs and since he will not have his charge, if you guess wrong Bison can't really do much to you without a meter except a 2 hit link or a throw. The reward is pretty great if you land this counter so it is not an entirely bad idea to try, even if you just do it once it will make the Bison player think about what he is doing instead of just pressing jab with no fear of retribution. And another option is to simply JD his jabs and take the free meter for as long as he will give it to you, but you make yourself totally vulnerable to his throws in this case.

Bison's low forward and standing strong both have excellent speed and they give him frame advantage during which he can throw you, or press one of them again and combo you. Bison walks much faster than you do and he is hard to jump towards with his many solid anti airs, but it is important to keep the momentum and dont let him be the aggressor because it is very easy for him to build meter from blocked hits and then become very dangerous.

His low roundhouse also deserves mentioning as it is one of the best whiff punishing moves in the game, so if your opponent is a good player this will be a move you should be careful of. Do not whiff laggy moves in front of Bison, and try to fake him by whiffing fast moves like low forward or short, since if you block his low roundhouse you can do alot of damage to him generally(although if meatied or distanced perfectly, Bison can actually get frame advantage with this move, so be aware of this).

His head stomp and psycho dive can be stopped with your jumping strong or roundhouse. If you do block a head stomp, you can anti air his 2nd hit with a low fierce if you run under him, or if he just floats away from you you can run up to him and attack him when he lands.

Bison has strong jumpins that will often trade with your low fierce unless you do it at the proper angle. It is best to anti air him directly over your head with low fierce and stop Bison's jumps from out in front of you by low jumping vertically or back with Strong. His jump is slow and floaty, so not hard to react to this way and your jumping strong doesnt trade with his jump attacks, it will beat anything he throws at you in the air as long as you get it out fast enough. Bison's jump is quite easy to hit with your Raging Storm due to its speed, if you get a chance.

As for Bison's anti airs, he will not have any problem stopping jumps from Geese if you are predictable. Bison's standing fierce done early will stop your jumpins, as will clearly his RC psycho crusher if he has a charge. He also has his jumping strong which will beat most of your jump in attacks easily and juggle you. Jumping at Bison is possible and rewarding if you can get him to block or take your attack, but you must mix up your approach always as Bison can control both the ground and the air very well if he reads your actions.

Many players will react to any attempt on your part to run towards them with a RC scissors or psycho crusher, if you are lucky then your Bison opponent will play like this as these are easier to bait and punish. If you fake runs toward him quickly cancelled with low jab(your fastest whiffing move) then you can often bait one of these 2 moves, as long as you mix it up with real attack attempts and attacks like your standing roundhouse. The psycho crusher can be punished after a block by using your fierce punch from behind. The scissor kick is harder to punish depending on range, if it is done from the very tip of its range then you really can't do anything unless you Just Defend, in which case a low roundhouse or anything faster is free. If you are close enough so that it hits you twice, then you can usually get a free low jab or forward if you block or jaienken combo if you JD, and if you are close enough that it hits you somewhat early then you can do a full combo even if you just block. Try to JD this move when you can, it helps with deterring Bison from using it recklessly, and even if you only JD one hit it makes punishing it easier because you will be pushed back less. Unless it is spaced absolutely perfectly, you will always get frame advantage after blocking a scissor kick using your low jab, but you have to time your press correctly.

Once Bison gets meter the game will completely change. A custom as damaging as his can quickly kill a character and he has many ways to both set it up and combo into it. When Bison has a meter ready I do not reccommend jumping at all, his jumping strongs will mean the end of your character if they hit you and juggle you into his custom activation. You also must be very careful of running towards him recklessly as he can combo his custom off of a connected scissor kick as well, and finally he can jump at you much more recklessly since his jump in activation will make you reluctant to anti air him. You must make him realize that you wont jump into his strong punches or run into a scissor kick, and then he will be forced to blind activate at some point, giving you a chance to bait him into wasting the meter.

Always antiair a metered Bison with your jumping strong or with an instant air JD into your roundhouse. Do not press low fierce as it is very dangerous. Do not try to punish scissor kicks unless you are very sure, and if you block a psycho crusher with your back in the corner do not try to punish it as the corner can make the move safe. Both of these are common activation setup gimmicks. If you read the opponent's custom activation, then you can counter it with your super using the delayed button press method just like Sakura(they will usually activate while you are raged to run down the clock). It can be very hard to tell whether Bison is going mid or low for the first hit of his custom, as he can do either, so trying to use your counter is not advised, especially since it is not too bad to simply block this custom.

By far the most dangerous custom setup is when he locks you down with a few jabs or dashes toward you, mixing up throws with his activation. In high level matches you will often see metered Bisons get 3 or 4 throws in a row on an opponent because they refuse to press buttons. In general eating a throw is better than eating a custom, so you should block more often than not, however if the opponent thinks you are frightened he will not hesitate to throw you to death and save the meter for your next character. You must press your own jab or close short to counter his throw occasionally and keep him honest, it is a risk but you have to make him believe he can custom you and bait him to waste it next time he gets close and expects you to jab again. You basically must use short bursts of offense in order to look vulnerable and make him want to activate but you must spend the majority of the time defending against his activation.

• Maintain offense when Bison has no meter, using cancelled runs to bait RC's and punish them

• Scissor kick is easily punished if Just Defended, and punishable if blocked from anywhere but max range using your low jab or low forward

• Anti air over your head with low fierce and at angles with low jump Strong

• Always make an effort to jab out or even use mid counters when being locked down by standing jabs, do not let Bison get initiative and build meter freely

• If you block a psycho crusher with your back to the corner it becomes safe, if he has meter be aware of this custom set up

• When he has meter be very careful not to jump into his jump strongs or run into his scissor kick, giving him free customs

• Bait his activate with short bursts of offense but majority defensive play, keeping an eye out for common setups like roll, dash, jump in, or blocked properly ranged scissor kicks or corner psycho crushers

• Bison can activate and catch you from anywhere in his low roundhouse range(virtually the whole screen) so be careful whiffing moves against him no matter the range

Rolento

Rolento is very mobile and is a difficult opponent to pin down, so he can give Geese a hard time. He can force a lot of mistakes by running around and frustrating you, then landing a simple combo to super or a custom. You'll know if you are playing a good Rolento because even if you are winning you'll be really annoyed. In my opinion a well played Rolento is one of Geese's hardest matchups, so never underestimate this character. Geese is all about pressure and this is the best character in the game at escaping pressure and resetting the match, he is very difficult to guard break, has a nearly abuseable Counter Attack, and can escape the corner better than any other character.

Rolento has a few moves to give you problems on the ground. His low fierce and low strong are both pretty long range moves, and the low strong is pretty difficult and impractical to JD. If you JD low fierce, then you can not hit him with low roundhouse(it is too slow), but you can hit him with low forward. Unfortunately from the range Rolento will use low fierce usually the low forward won't reach, so you won't get to punish this move too often. He also has a pretty good low roundhouse that is great for punishing whiffs. If the Rolento player likes to use this move then try to bait it by whiffing something fast and JDing it, if you JD his slide then you can usually get a free low forward or low jab -> low roundhouse combo. Don't let him get too many knockdowns on you as he can be pretty dangerous if you give him free offense. His standing forward is also a very good whiff punishing move and can be buffered to his super easily. So you can see that Rolento is very good at punishing whiffed moves and small mistakes, the killer part of that is that he is also very good at forcing those mistakes from his opponent.

If Rolento knocks you down or gets inside on offense, then he has a very strong counterhit/throw mixup. He will use his standing jab, followed by a throw or a 2nd standing jab, low forward link. If you press a button then you will be counterhit, and then he can confirm the 2 hit link and finish with patriot circles or his wire super. This is a strong mixup and there is no easy defense against it so the moral is, don't let him get on offense too many times as each time you are taking a risk with your life. His threat is not as big as yours when it comes to combo damage, but it is still very significant. Some Rolentos will use his standing strong as a meaty, then do the counterhit/throw off of that, and it works the same so be aware of that also.

If Rolento presses his jumping strong early, you cannot reliably low fierce it. It is also very hard to JD, so he can use this to jump at you alot more than most characters can. It is better to anti air him by going air to air with your jumping strong or roundhouse, however C-Groove is a very popular groove for Rolento so he will often have airblock. Anti airing him consistently will require a bit of prediction, unless you have a super in which case make sure you don't let him get away with it. He also has a very good crossup so be ready for it.

On defense Rolento doesn't really do a lot of damage but he can escape your attack patterns easily and safely, and even when he is cornered he is difficult to jump towards or rush. He really doesnt have an extremely damaging option for antiair that is fast and reliable but that doesn't make him helpless, this is part of where the frustration factor of this fight comes in. He can pretty easily react to jumps with RC scouter jumping jab, RC wall jump, or simply RC scouter jump away. If he is near the corner, he can RC scouter jump away from your attack and then come down with strong and instantly reverse the momentum, which is very frustrating. If he antiairs you with RC scouter jump jab, you can punish it after the JD with an air attack, so try to do this if he relies on it too much, but if he just decides to run away from you every time you jump in you really can't do much but just let him. If he does RC wall jump when you jump in, then keep an eye out for how he controls it off the wall. If he tries to use it to come back towards you and attack, be prepared for this and anti air it, but if he just bounces off the wall across the screen you'll have to just keep moving forward and trying to attack him when he recovers. If you are totally sure that he will retreat off of the wall jump then it is not a bad time to throw a projectile and follow it in to give yourself a bit of offense.

Rolento will use his jab back roll from time to time to trick you into whiffing ground moves, giving him a free slide or sometimes stand forward xx super. If you see him do this move, don't be tricked by it, he will be out of range of all your attacks afterwards.

Once you get Rolento in the corner, he has the easiest time of any character escaping it. The most dangerous option that he has is to react to your offense with a RC scouter jump back(into the corner) then coming down on you with his jump strong. You have to predict this or take a risk to counter it easily, because it is fairly fast and your low fierce won't work unless you react very quickly. If you predict it, then you can low fierce it very very early in the jump and it will hit him right as the invulnerability wears, so keep your eyes open and be aware that he can do this once you corner him. If you have a super ready always be ready to Raging Storm him quickly if he leaves the ground. He can also escape the corner and reset the match with RC wall jump or RC scouter jump jab towards you(past your head). Make sure not to let him gain offense off of an RC wall jump by flying over your head and crossing you up into the corner, anti air him if he tries to attack out of this jump. In general, it is best to treat a cornered Rolento differently than any other character.

Rolento's knives are a bit easier to deal with, but will require a bit of guesswork. If he releases the knife high in his jump and at a high angle, it will stop jumps, if he releases it low in his jump and/or at a lower angle then it will stop ground attacks. If you think he will try a higher throw then you can use Geese's low run to pretty easily run underneath it, and if you think he will throw quickly then jump towards him. This is not in his favor for the most part, since his knife versus your full combo is not a good risk/reward for him, but if you just sit and block the knife then he just got control of the match back so try not to let him get away with this move so much. A quick knife throw can be hard to react to but try to watch for patterns when you can.

Rolento's wire super hits low and crosses the screen very quickly. If he is close and you are standing when the super flash comes out, you cannot block it in time at any level. Be aware that if you block this it is not safe as it appears, you can punish it with your close short or low jab when blocked, but you must retaliate very quickly(this super creates almost no block stun so you counterattack much faster than you think). Do not ever safe fall against a Rolento with a charged level 3, this super can punish them on reaction fairly easily.

Possibly most annoying is that once you do manage to get ahold of Rolento and attack him for a moment, he has the best Counter Attack in the game which will frustrate your attack patterns greatly. In order to punish his Counter Attack you will have to predict it, but if you can predict it you can hurt him for abusing this move, possibly very badly. Bait his Counter Attack using low jabs or close shorts, then low jump vertically immediately afterwards. If he does the Counter Attack, then you can hit his recovery with your low jump forward then do a combo. This is a fairly safe option since if he doesn't take the bait, then you aren't opening yourself up too much by just jumping up. You can also bait it with a jab or short then just hit him with a super or a HCB+Jab, but in these cases if he doesn't Counter Attack when you think he will you might be opening yourself up for punishment or wasting meter. The really good thing about this is after you punish his Counter Attack, he will have not only taken damage but also lost alot of his guard meter. If you block this Counter Attack, he gets +10 frames which is enough for him to set up pretty much whatever he wants, be it a mixup or time to escape you and let his guard meter refill.

If Rolento likes to wake up with RC scouter jumps, be aware that they are vulnerable to punch throws before he leaves the ground. Kick throws are often too slow, so to be safe just throw him quickly with Punch. Always press QCF+Strong right after your punch throw input, because if he just blocks you might get a close fierce instead of a throw which is unsafe when blocked. You buffer the fireball as an option select so that if he just blocks, you'll protect the recovery of your fierce. The reason that you might get a fierce and not a throw is because when an opponent first gets up there are frames where they cannot be thrown, but if they roll or RC then they lose that and can be thrown immediately. If they don't roll, though, then they may not be throwable since you have to throw RC scouter jumps quickly.

From what is written here you can see that a skilled Rolento can really make you play differently. This is one match where you are better off being defensive and playing very patiently. Rolento can run away from you and frustrate your attack attempts better than anyone but he still has to hit you to beat you. Make sure and stop his jumpins and not to whiff moves on the ground giving him slides or supers, and do your best to get a lead on him and keep it. If you can force him to go on the offense then you have a much easier time with the fight, so play carefully and don't take unnecessary damage. If Rolento gets a sizable lead on you coming back on him will be very difficult. You can also use your Reppuken in this match in order to try to get him thinking about countering it, which will make baiting his jumps a bit easier. If you do get a big lead on Rolento, unlike most characters you really are usually better off just sitting on it and reacting to his attempts to attack you.

• Play patiently and use your higher damage to your advantage, trying to get a lead from the start and keep it so as to force him to be offensive

• Used wisely, Reppukens can also help bait him into making offensive mistakes

• Don't get too eager when Rolento is cornered, as he can reverse the momentum or escape in cornered situations very quickly

• If Rolento anti airs you with RC scouter jump attacks, try to JD in the air and punish

• Rolento's jumping strong can often give your low fierce problems, try to anti air with air to air attacks

• Wire super is punishable but must be punished quickly

• Wake up RC scouter jumps are punishable with your Punch throw, make sure to always option select a medium Reppuken in case he simply blocks

• Always be ready to bait and punish his Counter Attack whenever possible by low jumping up, using your counter, or a super

• Don't be baited by his Jab back roll, he can use this to create whiffed moves on your part

• Try to punish knife throws whenever you catch them, as this is an opportunity to do alot of damage if you react properly

• If you get a lead, don't rush yourself to drive the nail in the coffin, be patient and keep him away

COMMENTS

BY: Ragingstorm101

Geese is good for guard crushing and his best groove would be K groove or A groove. K groove is preferred because he has such strong moves that can guard crush and then you can get a level 3.

Raging Storm is helpful but not a necessity. In fact, don't try to spend the entire match to do the super. If you do get the move out, but it doesn't hit or you lose all your life, what's the point? The official motion is dwn back, hcb, dwn fwd, + punch but I just do hcb hcb + punch. I like to do it on wake up because it's safe or if I know that someone is going to jump. Honestly in my opinion, you use Raging Storm when you know it's going to hit.

He has good normals such as s.lk, cr.lp, s.fierce, cr.fierce, f + fierce, s.RH, j.RH and low jump mk or RH.

If you're close to someone, do s.lk, cr.jab, cr.jab, cr.RH, cancel to jab reppuken. It doesn't matter if it hits or not. If it hits good, if it doesn't, then it still does good guard damage. HOWEVER, (big however), sometimes your opponent can hit you during the recovery from the reppuken. I've have numerous times where someone got a free Custom Combo on me or a level 3 super. So be careful (some examples are Blanka's level 3 Direct Lighting, Sagat's tiger cannon super or tiger raid, or just fast supers. CCs can usually hit Geese but people can mess up so that by the time the invincibility wears off, they get hit by the reppuken). BTW the point of the reppuken is to cancel the recovery time of the cr.RH. It can hit people who use safe fall grooves and safe fall after they get hit by the cr.RH.

if you can get a cross up after j.mk, you can do cr.jab (or s.lk), s.fierce, Deadly Rave (hcb, f _ lk jab jab short short, mp, mp, mk mk) then instead of finishing it, do cr.jab (or s.lk), s.fierce, hcb + mk. Usually it can dizzy a 63 stun character or make it close for a 70 char. What you can do is run up, low jump mk so that they can get hit and get stunned. Then do cr.jab (or s.lk), s.fierce, hcb + mk.

DON'T do random Jaei Kens (hcb + k). It's slow and sucks without being in a combo.

Counters jab counter is good for high counters (like jumps), special moves (moves that require direction and normals) and supers. This is the best part of Geese's counters. It can COUNTER SUPERS! But keep in mind, it can only counter non projectile supers. So don't try counter Ryu's shinku hadouken. ever.

mp counter = good for s.normals like s.fierce. fierce counter = counters cr.normals like cr.lk or cr.RH.

Edit from BoswerLK:

Regarding poke strings ending with c hk...
Depending on the situation, it may be much safer to sometimes not cancel this. However, if you do cancel it, I'd advise that you cancel in MP repu instead of LP. Either way you aren't perfectly safe as neither will combo. However, MP repu will leave them much tighter frames to super/RC in between the HK and repu. Anyone who safe falls the c HK wants to die. No matter what safe falling the HK will never put them at an advantageous position or avoid any followups (cuz Geese doesn't have a followup after a connected sweep). It only puts them at risk to getting repuken'ed in the face. It's fairly safe to assume a good player would never safe fall it, and a bad player would just be easy to own.

Regarding his counters...
Also remember, that his counters come out in 0 frames (ie, instantly). They are the only counters in the game to do this, and one of the 2 moves with this property (other being Zangief SPD). It means you can use it to counter crossup Blanka supers, wakeup lightning, meaties, etc.

Regarding his dash...
While some might call it fast, I find it horrendously slow. He moves a short distance and seems to stumble like his name is Steven Seagal or something. But that's just what it looks like to me. I have never seen anyone dash in throw with Geese before. Ever. But that may be because most Geese are K.

Regarding Raging Storm...
Personally, I hate this move with a passion. You have no idea how sluggish 10 frames really is. The only times I've seen it hit is if the Geese is looking for them to jump in while pretty much standing still. I have seen so many people try to RS in the heat of the action and either give the other guy a free combo, or have it come out when their foot is inside Geese's head, then they land and block it. So. Very. Lame.

There's my 2 cents. Enjoy =P.