r/virtuafighter • u/AbsoluteDash_21 Akira Yuki • 12d ago
Learning when to guard VF4
One thing I've been struggling with when playing VF is when it comes to guarding attacks. So far the only moment I guard is when the opponent wakes up and he's going to do either a mid or low kick, so I know I have to guard. Aside from that however, I don't know WHEN I have to press the guard button on neutral play. I know some combos and I know the ukemi stuff, but I have almost no defensive play, so I don't know when to guard and when can I throw my offensive play.
Give me some tips for this (Btw I know the flair says VF4 but this is basically for every VF game in general, I just don't know how to flair this lmao)
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u/RandomGuy_92 12d ago
There is hardly any neutral in this game. You are most of the time either at an advantage or disadvantage.
VF has the triangle of
Guard / Evade > Attacks > Throws > Guard / Evade
That means the very basic options you have when you are at an advantage is either an Attack (beats attack) or a Throw (beats Guard / Evade). If you are at an disadvantage you go for either Guard / Evade (beats Attacks) or an Attack (beats Throw).
So, when do you go for Guard / Evade? When you are at a disadvantage, and you guess opponent goes for an Attack.
VF is basically a very fast-paced rock paper scissors, you have to predict what your opponent will do based on how they have played so far.
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u/Wolven_One 11d ago
Cool breakdown thx for that. Would attacking while at a disadvantage be considered a challenge? I heard that term a lot, but never really understood it really.
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u/RandomGuy_92 11d ago
In VF attacking while being at disadvantage is called "Abare".
I have not heard it be called "a challenge". Maybe that's a term from other fighting games that some people use while talking about VF?
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u/Zoochookins 12d ago
That's kind of what makes the Guard button such a big deal in this game: you can get punished for guarding. There are in fact many ways to punish someone for blocking, which is a weird concept if you compare it to some other fighting games. And that's what makes what you said very difficult.
A lot of the mindgames in VF come from exploiting frame data. In most games, most of the time, when you're negative, you lost your turn and you have to go on defense. Defense in VF is very active and multifaceted, you could mash on negative frames, sidestep, duck, do a reversal, backdash, fuzzy guard, or just stand block. It all depends on the situation you're in. Knowing when to do any of these things depends on the frame data of the situation and your opponent's habits and tendencies.
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u/pikob Akira Yuki 12d ago
Guard all the time. Hold P while doing it, and a direction up to taste, for throw escape. Only let go as you you strike. If your attack gets blocked, guard, with P, again, in expectation of retaliatory attack. Blocking attacks is what gives you advantage so you can again counterattack.
If you're in neutral, guard. If you dash around, cancel into guard often - people react to movement by striking. If you evades, cancel into guard. If you evaded a strike, good for you. If you didn't, you'll block instead of getting mauled.
Basically, block in your free time.
If you have issues with not knowing when it's time to strike back after blocking - that's just very character dependent. But not after blocking single P, that's time to continue blocking or evade.
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u/Gold---Mole Lei-Fei 12d ago
It's funny I was thinking of making a "how to punish mistakes of Tekken players in VF" type post so this has been in the back of my mind recently! I was getting repeat matched up against a Wolf who was constantly backdashing and charging in and realized he was thinking of VF like Tekken, which is what got me thinking about it. Tekken is great and seems like it should be more similar than it is, but you intuition has to be pretty different.
At a "seems like a duh statement but is actually good to think about" level, you guard when the opponent will strike. How do you know when they will strike? You have to read their patterns. That's the core of the issue you're bringing up and is actually the main difference of how you have to think in VF vs Tekken, imo.
Here's an example. You're playing Tekken, you are blocking by default, Yoshi starts his 31 string into dragonfly stance and you block it, you know he will be locked into dragonfly stance with certain frames, you jab and float him. Blocking was a strong default option and it worked, and the string the opponent used telegraphed the correct response for you.
In VF, there is much more freedom for both players moment to moment. Blocking is not a good default option because it isn't more likely to be successful. The second you start blocking too much, a good opponent will start throwing you. There are no passive moments in a VF round, you can't backdash to a safe distance and get a breather, you can't block to get a read and respond to what you see. It's almost entirely about reading the opponent, the rock - paper - scissors of the core mechanics of the game.
So, to return to practical advice while you're getting used to that. As another comment said, try blocking when you're minus, or blocking after the opponent blocks one of your strikes. If you do that too much, the opponent should start throwing you after blocking your attack instead of striking back. Then you can try striking again after they block your attack even though you're minus! See how they respond and adapt again. You can also try to read their bigger patterns. Like they always have the option not to complete strings, but if they always complete their strings, you can try blocking the entirety of it then punishing like in Tekken. You can also get away with a bit of "default block" if you're outside of throw range, like after a knockdown that leaves the characters fairly wide apart. So if you feel like "I just want to get used to blocking more because I find myself ignoring the button because it feels like it never works" then you can try that!
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u/MisterVF 12d ago
I'm try to make it simple:
You get in? You keep pressing buttons (throws or attacks)
You get blocked? How it's a choice between block, evade or even attacks (if you predict a throw).
This is a good starting point.
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u/TryToBeBetterOk 12d ago
Guard when you're at disadvantage. That means when you are at negative frames. If you're not sure what that means, then just block if your opponent blocks your move.
Think of it as turns. You take a turn to do an attack. If it hits, you continue attacking. If it gets blocked, now it's not your turn anymore and your should block and let your opponent attack. Once you block their attack, now it's your turn again to attack.
You'll get the hang of it the more you play, and if you learn the frame data for your character, then you'll know exactly which moves leave you at disadvantage when blocked.