The Basics
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.
Note that when Geese uses his kick throw on a cornered opponent, an interesting outcome will occur depending on how far Geese is from the opponent when the throw starts.
If Geese's throw is as close as possible, there is no change in the outcome of the throw. However, if the throw just barely connects, it sets up the possibility for a cross-up. The opponent will appear to be in the corner and safe from a cross-up, but they are instead a few pixels away from the edge of the screen, just barely enough to switch sides. This trick does not work on all characters, and is similar to the 2nd-player cross-up trick but can be performed by either player.
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.
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. 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 harass 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 jumping 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
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.
