Axl Low 101 | Strategy, Combos, Overview and Pros/Cons | Guilty Gear Strive Guide

[@Visiondistorted]

This guide is amaZing. Just wanted to mention that 5p 6k immediate 4 is a buffer not a partition. Charge partition is if you were to split the charge in half aka urien doing down back, dash headbutt in 3s. Still great guide!

[@Diaphone]

Yea good call - thanks!

[@thawrldx3]

I’m not really sure how i can do 5p into sickle flash because it goes through the person instead of hitting them

[@ElpheltStan]

@@thawrldx3 so basically let's say you're doing 2s, 5p, CF Once you see the 2s hit hold back and do the rest of the combo as usual, by the time the 5p hit you could have had more then enough time for the charge to be ready

[@bootsthegod9084]

I vote for an advanced guide. This one really helped. What I could use is match-up tips vs. each character.

[@Diaphone]

Thanks! And yea... might be a bit before that, I have a lot to learn too :)

[@buck5200]

Simply don't play against gio players

[@bighex5340]

Reasons I'm playing Axl in this game and didn't in Xrd: He has cool pants on instead of weak ass shorts

[@oopsiexistnow]

Not even lying this is why I didn’t play him in Xrd but I picked him up here

[@fatesimp]

I did the the exact same thing. His design is all over better looking than xrd and pants improve it by a huge margin. Also his time stop is pretty cool.

[@rondomartin7786]

Yes yes and yes. I love the crop top too

[@mrmars222]

Thats the reason he can STAR PLATINUM, ZA WAURDO now too

[@etaquince5220]

I literally play it because we share the same name🤷🏾‍♂️

[@lucasrv2630]

What a great guide man. What I really like is how you see the new player perspective, recommend things that are good to keep in mind for beginners, you break down the playstyle and the main pokes, the approach to the enemy with the kit, but also talk about some of the more interesting crazy stuff one may be doing with time with the character. It's such a clearly sympathetic view of the people you're making the guide for. Thank you so much, great work.

[@TurkWave]

I love playing Axl but holy shit I tremble whenever I come across a Gio player

[@Solidus510]

Appreciate you for this guide and love this character. I enjoy the fact that you trim the fat and only provide what you believe is necessary for initial mastery.

[@bruhed1117]

I just wanna be able to timestop without being bumrushed

[@Notsuba]

Very cool guide as always ! I love the calm voice, chill music and good advices. Hope to see more of your stuff ! Peace !

[@Racnive]

Excellent guide. As an Axl main, I too would love an advanced guide! Most especially: How to deal with common pressure situations, and how to play vs fast/slippery characters that are hard to zone (from what I can tell, I need to be more mobile).

[@burgui3655]

YEAH! First Guilty Gear and want to main Axl, rlly like ur videos!!!!!

[@icannotthinkofaname6248]

Axl low is if dhalsim and jotaro had a son and went to learn how to use the kusarigama

[@uero-ro]

Hey Diaphone, love the pacing of the guide. I really enjoy your clear speaking and the great demonstrations of showing where and why some moves shine. One tiny suggestion is to have the move overlay on the other side of the screen where it covers up the player 2 inputs rather than yours. I would love to see more content from you including more complicated/advanced situations, but I would say the current level of detail is excellent for most videos. Would love to see you continue a Strive 101 series for all the rest of the cast. I'm not sure if your bnb you showed that ends with Sickle Flash's up pull followed by the OTG into air dash reset is really common or if that's just what you feel is the strongest route, but I definitely really like it. I feel like if I was learning Axl on my own I would not have gravitated to something like that, and honestly seeing that demonstrated gives me ideas of how the flow of a match could be, and gets me excited to try. The way you frame Axl's gameplan around that shows how he can make advantageous close range situations even though Axl commonly wants to play far away. You also mentioned a few times how in some matchups opponents have moves that can punish Axl from certain ranges, and how ultimately your decisions will vary on how much to zone and when to apply certain mixups like throw baiting. I appreciate that you discussed this because compared to other content creators, their instructionals are more rigid where they recommend certain strings but don't showcase the shortcomings of alternatives routes. You really showed how certain follows ups give you good oki and where some are minus or how they can be punished, I love that! When I've been thinking of who I want to play, Axl wasn't in mind, but after this video he definitely is. Thanks again for all the time you've put into putting out great content, and I look forward to your next video.

[@dogsmokespipe]

Very well said, couldn't agree more.

[@CasteHappy]

Hey! I'm Dia's editor. About the overlays, I placed them on the P1 side just because for me it felt easier on the eyes to have both the character and text on the same side of the screen, but if you guys wanna see the inputs I can just switch it to P2 side 👍

[@mkol1998]

​@@CasteHappy The overlay does look better on P1 side, but seeing how the inputs are done does really help so I'd have to agree with what was said here. However, a pro for having the overlay on the P1 side is that we have a clearer view of how some low hits connect, which could be blocked by having the overlay on the P2 side. This could be a problem only for characters like Axl with so much range, but I felt like it was something to consider. Feels like everyone will have different opinions and preferences, but I wanted to say that I love the look the editing of the videos and look of the overlays!

[@CasteHappy]

@Matthijs Kollen Thanks a lot for the feedback, really :) I think I can come up with a solution for both problems, let's see what I can do for the next guide 😀

[@Diaphone]

Thanks, appreciate it! And yea - im a fan of the pull back -> 5s -> safe jump pressure for oki, I think it is good in most situations. It’s commonly what I do as well and there good variations from it (basically housing mixup tools discussed prior). Definitely could have discussed more 😅

[@ghaldris]

Thank you! I'm just happy that you made a guide that is more in depth than only showing the inputs on screen with no further explanation

[@Diaphone]

Glad it helped!

[@NateMurdah]

Been waiting for this and you sure didn't disappoint. Great guide! Looking forward to one for Anji!

[@Null834]

Me trying to learn Axl but playing vs only rushdown characters that can get past my zoning. Sadge 😖

[@henriquefinger935]

That's how you learn

[@karue7581]

Great guide! Would love to hear you talk about more advanced stuff, or even the basics on another character.

[@KindOldRaven]

First time in 20 years of gaming that I've been looking forward to a fighting game lmao. Can't wait to try it on my PC after work, hopefully ;p

[@brentsta]

Coolest thing about one vision is it seems like it gives a tiny time stop even when blocked. Sometimes i use it when they're expecting it (if it's gonna run out) to keep them where I want them for the next hit. Usually an overhead because I condition to block low or jump

[@Diaphone]

Yea it's about even if blocked, you always want to use it if time gonna run out

[@yagami999913]

I came across some of your NLBC GBVS matches and always thought "This guy must be very knowledgeable in fighting games". And then i come across your channel and it confirms my thoughts. Subbed.

[@Diaphone]

Thanks for that!

[@TheCareCast]

Thanks , i found this to be a really clear and straightforward guide. Looking forward to more!

[@TheZak6969]

I started watching this to learn a bit playing against Axl but now I think I’m going to give playing him a shot because some of this looks pretty fun.

[@oopsiexistnow]

I like the mind games with his J.S and his 214 S because you can’t really tell if which of the two he’s doing on a back jump.

[@ZeroLovesDnb]

At about @22:45 that's not "charge partitioning" it's "charge buffering".

[@deliciouschickensandwich4234]

Yeah no he said charge partitioning and i got third strike flashbacks

[@AdamDekin]

Thanks for explaining the 5p 6k charge move juggle. I knew of charge partitioning from 3rd Strike but didn't realize that was the trick here.

[@The_Meev]

That's not actually Charge Partitioning though, because that'd mean he'd temporarily stop charging in the direction before going back without interrupting the initial charge. What's shown in the video is just charge buffering.

[@KrsJin]

This is a great guide. Good pace, easy to follow. And enjoyable background music. Good stuff.

[@ridleyroid9060]

Axl is my main, thank you Diaphone so much for this tutorial.

[@prestigini3150]

Been waiting for a guide like this :)

[@borederlands5387]

the close range command grab has worked for me a lot after an OTG c.S

[@DzekoVelez]

Perfect guide for beginners to guilty gear! Thanks! Will check it out when the PC version releases

[@thamachoswedishpotat]

Great video all in all. I'm very new to fighting games in general, so having someone specifically tell me what each move is for and how it can be usefull is a godssend. One little thing though, the graphic showing what move you're talking about it covering your input panel. It would be nice to see what buttons you're pressing

[@FarticusSnottington]

SFV i manage to main 3 characters, would u say this is possible in GG? Everyone always said for Xrd you can only main one character

[@squeezlebub3593]

This game is more lenient than Xrd, by a lot. Play who ever you want!

[@Diaphone]

+1 this game is much easier to manage more than 1 character IMO

[@_BlazingRush]

This was a superb guide! Thank you so much!

[@justApplay]

Great guide. Very helpful.

[@Redrockets23]

The main reason I'm planning to play Axl is because I'm a Potemkin main; and I hate this match up so much. So I guess learning to play him is the best way to learn how to counter him.

[@Diaphone]

Haha yea - that's why I try to learn most characters in the game

[@AutumnsAntagonist]

Will be my first Guilty Gear game. First game I really try to learn in depth that’s not a NRS game. That should indicate that I learn Gio or Ky but I have my eyes set on Axl. Thank you for the great guide! Cant wait till PC launch.

[@Diaphone]

I think you should play who you want! Most characters are easy enough that it doesn’t matter too much

[@claydeangelis4009]

Thanks for the guide. One things I've been losing my mind over is trying to get wall break combos that don't either start with c.s right in the corner, or rely on tk bomber loops. Meter seems super restrictive until you get the wallbreak. maybe i should gold burst more

[@Diaphone]

Yea I think Axl has one of the hardest times breaking the wall in the game unfortunately..

[@artihlec]

I came here thanks to redbull kumite and discovered you have a yt channel. xyzzy(axl) vs bnbbn (sol) on evo was very interesting to watch. BTW the Axl won that evo against Daru i-no too.

[@yahlibar6832]

I’m only watching this to know how to beat axl

[@twoshirts1842]

This is the character i picked up.

[@gamemincraft1234]

I normally do 2HS after the pullback or when they're on the ground to make more space.

[@chefboichad]

Hey man, great guide, checked out your other strive videos, and i really enjoy your content. Specifically your voice/tone and your superior fg knowledge. Although, a weeb, you seem down to earth, so i subscribed and look forward to more content. ^^

[@Diaphone]

LOL - Thanks!

[@fantasma0017able]

great vid... I wish you could talk about D combos and specific match ups like against gio and Ino cuz those are hard to deal with and obviously sol

[@MeSeaBass]

If y’all are struggling with TK Bomber try inputting it like this: ➡️⬇️↘️↗️+HS. I find this method to be the fastest and most consistent for me. Hope this helps!

[@priestskorge]

You just dp and end with up forward and delay the button press. You don't need to do all that half circle back up forward pretzel motion you were doing. And charge partionting is when the game allows you to split the charge up. Meaning you charge half the special then you can dash and charge the rest during the dash. It how urien can do his dash tackle tackle headbutt in 3rd strike. That's just a charge buffer. Not trying to be a dick just thought I would add that so people dont get confused. Good guide though man. Thinking about picking this up. But I know I'm gonna miss the old school gg stuff but this also look like a fresh take on the game which def interest me.

[@Ultimatik]

How long do you delay the button press? I cant seem to get it consistently

[@Grayb0x]

What i like to do for using axel bomber from the ground is doing the dp motion and then jumping and pressing hs at the same time, i find it easier that way for pad

[@ElpheltStan]

Would love an advanced guide

[@bigchungus1295]

Sup dude, we played yesterday! GGs

[@Diaphone]

GGs!

[@ohyeayeainyourmouth6044]

Nice video !

[@paskky913]

Busted character for ranking.

[@Diaphone]

Facts

[@clonerstive]

Thanks fren! Awesome watching your I-no games. I been playing axl and loving him. I'm super new and learning a lot and having FUN!! Something i haven't done with online matches in a while lol. Any advice on dealing with Giovanna and especially I-no would be much appreciated 🙏

[@puffii_]

me watching this to learn how tf you play him purely for the matchup:👁️👄👁️

[@Xzanos177]

Awesome guide! Big help to another axl player out there. Was struggling to see how to use his time stop since you warn your opponents of it and only get 5 seconds to execute so this showed well how to get it off. Didn't realize JS could cancel into it. Also I've been able to get off 2HS after the charge pull pretty consistently but only saw you going for 5S was there a reason for that?

[@EyeonFGC]

YOU CAN DO 5P AFTER AXEL BOMBER ...😯

[@sharpenmysight5954]

I’d say he’s more like Menat because the sickles have detached hertboxed

[@tokyozombe]

playing axl until jack-o comes out. hopefully she maintains her keep away game as well.

[@mauliksharma]

Really great guide. The one question I did have is what is his best quick normal to interrupt rush down from characters like Leo? I can’t seem to get out of his back turn stance once he catches me.

[@thawrldx3]

5K or 2k, but 5K is his fastest normal

[@Diaphone]

IT's pretty hard to escape backturn pressure, best chance is to YRC, super, backdash or guess right on blocking x.x

[@JosephHmar]

he's something like a defensive character but without actually having much in terms on defensive moves(hence zoning duh), he's kinda slow too. Getting cornered by someone say Sol, Millia, giovanna, rem etc is a pain in the S. I use axl mainly to annoy ppl

[@Inari_the_Fox]

Giovanna seems to be the worst of them all, given her speed. If you fail to keep her at bay, and she gets in your face, then I hope you have a burst ready.

[@mattpeltier6946]

Where is the part in the guide that teaches you how to wait for ten hours in the lobby waiting for a match?

[@Diaphone]

Not even I can make a tutorial for that lol

[@northdakotabeast1547]

A couple days late... but you can also time stop after throw!

[@sk2178ter]

I dont know if this will help anyone but to get the charge partitioning combo down think of if as doing the 5p>6k as a dial combo

[@bcndooz3294]

I love Axl but Sickle Flash combos make me want to throw my controller through my monitor

[@tylercafe1260]

Skill issue. Easiest thing to do

[@hyakkimaru6245]

How are u countering his jump? i cant seem to do the combo maybe becuase it doesnt counter in practice what am i doing wrong?

[@Diaphone]

You can just set the counter to "force counter" in training mode Makes it way easier

[@shizaa282]

Can you explain a bit more what the "Yes" signifies when you use the winter cherry extension during sickle flash? You mentioned that on counter you can do it again. Do you just use the yes as an indicator that you're probably okay to do it again? Basically, is the "Yes!" actually a mechanic or is it just a little character flavor you can conveniently use lol

[@shizaa282]

Oh and I'd love to see an axl advanced guide as well :) i really like your calm explanations

[@Diaphone]

Thanks! - The YES just means you hit max delay, giving you additional frame advantage. And yea you can use it as indicator to know that you are gonna be hella + lol

[@vallgron]

Helpful guide but so much jargon by the time you got to combos I had no clue wghat you were talking about

[@Diaphone]

😅

[@JoxTeTV]

i think you could explain a little on offense with axl, it is something i am struggling with.

[@Diaphone]

Depends how they are guarding, but one thing I didn't mention is don't be afraid to dash forward and throw, can really start to open them up

[@juliustaylor9920]

@diaphone hey is possible to buffer axl's charge attack? It seems impossible to land after an anti air follow up

[@Diaphone]

Depends on what the AA is, but for something like 5p you need to hold back before you actually throw out the 5p

[@gst2679]

Advance

[@Van1llaMint]

I'm kinda new to the game and new to charge moves. Any tips on how could I chain something into sickle flash?

[@Diaphone]

Make sure you are holding back before doing the normal -> sickle flash

[@beef9]

Do you have a fighting game terminology video at all? This is my first actual fighting game but a lot of stuff is going over my head like 5d, 2k etc lol

[@CasteHappy]

There's actually one vid for beginners coming soon, but in the meantime you can look up "numpad notation" on google. I also included a short visual explanation at the beginning of some of the most recent guides (check the Testament 101 guide for example)

[@disorderedfm6502]

Boomer here, does it have actual charge partioning? IE are you actually storing the charge when pressing 6K, or do you just mean do 6K to charge really quick?

[@Diaphone]

Not true charge partitioning I misspoke 😅, just need to buffer the 6k so you have more time to charfe

[@disorderedfm6502]

​@@Diaphone Yeah, I ended up testing it myself. I got really excited because so many characters would have crazy stuff. Anyways, your work is awesome!

[@___hxcKid]

Please tell me the song at roughly 22 min

[@CasteHappy]

Harris Heller - Dreary Summer

[@aminm8140]

I love the guide but i hate the move image covers the inputs! i dont know what you have r1 or triangle bound to, so its tough to follow combos you dont fully narrate (like with time stop super). pls move it in future

[@pinklink972]

Bruh, no Oxford Comma in the title?

[@Diaphone]

I’m a nonbeliever

[@botero01]

He does have a DP, you have to tiger-knee it

[@Diaphone]

By DP I meant an invul wakeup (In the traditional STREET FIGHTER sense, but yea he does have a DP motion.

[@botero01]

@@Diaphone it was a bit dumb in XRD how he had so many reversal options, being a keepaway character

[@whymebruhcmon]

I-NO 101 when?👀

[@Diaphone]

soon

[@apollothegod2898]

Any tips for the charge time of sickle slash in a combo

[@Diaphone]

Not much outside of what was in the video... it's pretty hard and takes practice.. just keep trying it in training mode you'll get it. My main recommendation is not to do the 6K combos until you master the basic combos.

[@apollothegod2898]

@@Diaphone I figured it out, you have to hold back when you throw out P and then forward and S and it’ll give you it

[@zachcarter5274]

…I didn’t know guns and roses was getting a fighting game.

[@nikoshadowburn7622]

Please, Ky next

[@Diaphone]

I-no next, if people still looking for guides I might make other characters

[@nikoshadowburn7622]

@@Diaphone My friend is already good enough with I-no 😭. Sounds good though!

[@Almtyhalfbreed]

Are you a Axl main??

[@Diaphone]

Mainly playing Axl and I-no ATM. So sort of? lol

[@Almtyhalfbreed]

@@Diaphone kool, sub than 👍🏾 upload some online matches

[@boonytoons7968]

I hate when people compare dhalsim to Axl because I HATE dhalsim's design.. but axl is really cool

[@boonytoons7968]

Also, Amazing guide man! Love the vids!

[@jaysunnie8037]

Pot guide :)

[@Diaphone]

😅 I think next guide is an I-no guide. Might take a bit, I want to make sure I have a good understanding of the character first

[@tatsumi_plays151]

When’s Ino guide 🎸

[@Diaphone]

Soon I think... I want to make sure I get everything down right lol

[@tatsumi_plays151]

@@Diaphone bet looking forward to it her jumping out of her dives kills my fingers

[@juliustaylor9920]

It's just so hard to combo into one vision. 🙄🙄🙄

[@Diaphone]

Yea... I wish it lasted longer lol

[@TheGothGaming]

ZA WARUDO

[@quinnandvalor9657]

Nice beginner guide where you explain absolutely nothing and assume people already know the character.

[@Diaphone]

Glad it was helpful!

[@getmepaid2day653]

Did you guys know that you can Back dash AXL's CG on reaction ( Big brain moves )✌🏼

[@WetSloppyHoles]

I always thought TK meant doing the Z and then jump HS right after? Is there an easier way to do instant bomber?

[@Diaphone]

Yea you can do it that way - if you look at the special section there are a couple of ways that I do and other people do, find what works best for you. (I think I forgot to discuss traditional way.. lol but it does work)

[@Racnive]

Because of how GGS handles input buffers, basically anything that includes jump, 23, and 6, ending with HS will work. The hard part is timing the HS to right when the jump starts. Too early and you get nothing, too late and you either get it higher in the air or just j.HS.

[@zerimas_]

Hey Diaphone great vid, I learned a lot for sure. For later vids can the button inputs be the universal buttons so S/HS etc instead of the ps buttons as everyone has different layouts would be cool to see the notation for the lil quick combos you do!

[@GigaHands]

One tip that I do. After Sickle Flash > Soaring Chain Strike, it is, as you said, possible to get a hit afterwards. However, I would advise against doing this. The hit you get will be an OTG (off the ground) hit, which in this game means vastly reduced damage and your opponent recovers almost immediately. Instead, just don't continue the combo. The opponent will be knocked down, and have to get up into whatever you do (2D, 6H, j.H, Rainwater, whatever). I'd say this is preferable to a smidgen of damage.

[@Diaphone]

Yea I didn't go into oki too much. There is some cool stuff you can do just pulling them back with no OTG. Probably better in the corner. The benefit to doing otg is you can do 5S -> IAD j.h and it's a safejump . So its not about the damage but the better oki situation.

[@atticusgg]

Would be interested in the advanced guide!

[@Fatcatten]

Great guide man was super helpful. My only feedback would be having the in game input list show the attack buttons and not the playstation buttons, at least for me it helps me follow what you're pressing easier because different layout/stick etc. :D

[@Deakore]

1st Guilty Gear game, loved the guide for Axl look forward to the advanced one in the future gonna take me a week to commit most of this to muscle memory though so not too soon I hope haha

[@HybridPK_]

Nice guide! Been trying to brush up on my knowledge on this character since I like playing zoners and my friends hate them, and I live to agitate my friends.

[@graveaxel3607]

Great guide, Axl main from xrd so a few of the new Strive moves i didnt know some details. Like delay S follow up on Rensen i didnt know it had more block stun.

[@EyeonFGC]

Advanced Guide

[@nanonyme5944]

As new player of fighting games it's super difficult to understand everything for now, especially when you say "5k", i'm still not used to this way of describing the inputs... But the guide is great, i'm sure after a while i'll get better thanks to this :D

[@CasteHappy]

(Just in case you're not familiar with the numpad notation, I copypasted this from another comment I made some weeks ago) Look at the numpad on your keyboard, imagine every number is a direction if your character is looking to the right (1 Player side) 789 456 123 2 would be down, 6 would be forward, 9 would be up forward, 5 would be no direction etc. 2P for example, means Down + Punch, 5K means Kick, and 214K means Quarter circle back (Down -> Down back -> Back) + Kick. Look up "numpad notation" and you'll find a lot of resources :) And GGST has 5 main buttons Punch, Kick, Slash, Heavy Slash and Dust (P, K, S, HS and D)

[@qxpn9220]

@@CasteHappy god this helped so much thanks 🙏

[@StubenhockerElite]

Axl is like Dhalsim if you had to do Yoga with your fingers. Super fun and rewarding, but damn it I'm dropping my inputs left and right.

[@ego.egoism]

Advance guide plz

[@syukoshiomy]

great guide. echoing some sentiments here and hopin for matchup guide/tips video for him because my friend's gio has been kicking my ass now that ive picked him up

[@Twistedgamer]

Would love to see an I-No guide! These videos are great!