The Basics
Guile is a charge character. You will have to be patient if you want to become a (true) Guile player. Patient means: Charge.
Start charging right after you have done a special move. Having charge will prepare you for the unexpected, i.e. mix-ups, sometimes throws and even cross-ups. Of course, just charging won't prevent all these things but it seizes your reaction window by far; you'll just have to tap forward/up and the corresponding button to get the special move. This makes mindgames less risky and dangerous... at least for you...
In many situations Guile has to rely on his special moves. THERE ARE ONLY TWO!! But they're very useful and can save your butt in many situations. Especially the Sonic Boom is of great importance. It limits your opponent's mobility and it gives you time enough for jump-ins; never do a jump-in without a Sonic Boom in front of you. The Sonic Boom is useful in (little) mindgames, for example you're throwing one at your opponent. He's blocking and thinks that you would go for a 2-in-1...Now throw him. Then do a cross-up or something else.
The Sonic Boom is not only a combo-ender, it can also lead into combos. Guile's impeccable recovery after he has thrown a Sonic Boom keeps him in safe distance (helpful when fighting one of the wrestler dudes).
Guile's second special move is the Flash Kick. It's a good anti-air attack with pretty decent damage. The Flash Kick is a great move with the ability to prevent cross-up attempts by your opponent and its reversal version hits very fast. The priority is pretty good, too. But it's possible that you could trade hits when executing the Flash Kick too late (doesn't happen always, just sometimes). In such a situation you should use one of Guile's normal anti-air attacks instead of his Flash Kick. His c.Fierce is always a good option. It comes out fast and the damage is good. His s.Strong is faster but weaker. Your choice. However, these are normals, so they won't floor your opponent but you can throw a Sonic Boom to slow him down.
Guile is one of few characters (if not the only one) without an overhead attack, not even an instant overhead. This is, if you think about, a big minus to Guile's mix-up game. I'll explain it:
Lacking mixup game (in this case overheads) means less effective offensive gameplay/rushdown and as we all know Guile needs all the offense he can get. This means you can't be as devastating as you'd like to be. Why? Simple. The only way to force your opponent to block high is to jump at them. A good opponent will always be prepared for a jump-in, be it normal or even low. This severely decreases your openings, I mean, a successful overhead gives you great opportunities and is a great tool for mind games. Guile misses this important mindgame; this doesn't mean that he can't have any good mindgames-he's good at ticking, so don't worry-but he has only little mindgames. You have to make up for this by using cross-ups followed up by his low attacks. The best option in such a case would be his c.Short. It's combo-able into his c.Jab and another c.Short. Now you've got several choices. Flash Kick, Sonic Hurricane led into by his c.Short... or you can go for a tick throw. Do as you like, just keep it fresh.
There's another problem that I'd like to talk about. As a Guile player you might develop a habit that every Guile player has: to block attacks low... often, very often...It's understandable and seems logic if you look at Guile's commands you have to input to get a special move. This habit can turn out to be a real pain in the butt and can end the match very early if your opponent notices this habit and takes advantage of it. The only advice I can give you is: Don't let him fool you!! If you get mad and lose your patience then you'll lose anyway. Be patient if you want to get good with Guile.
Strategy
I'll try to be as precise as possible concerning his gameplay. I find it very important to note every movement of Guile and its properties during a match as this guide is dedicated to the ones who are new to Guile and would like to pick him up as a character. I've found out that it can be very difficult and sometimes even frustrating for beginners to understand this. That's why I also consider to post some match videos of Guile because its very important to get a visualization of this lengthy guide I'm about to write.
(On its way...)
Groove selection
C-Groove:
This is the Groove that suites Guile the best but it's not his only good Groove.
Due to the fact that Guile players always keep charging they benefit a lot from air-guarding, making jump-ins less risky. Guile's combo-ability is great and he can take more advantage of his low punches and low kicks as they can lead into quick but yet damaging combos. His level 2 cancels aren't difficult to execute and the additional damage is good, too. The counter-attack/-movement option (maximal 3 in a row) is nice but in C-Groove it's not as advanced as in other Grooves and Guile's super combos are 100 times more useful when playing him in C-Groove than his counters.
A-Groove:
Well, I don't like this Groove for Guile.
His real damaging Custom Combos can only be done in the corner and even when you perfectly Custom-Combo your opponent the overall damage is bad, considering that Any-other-Groove Guile has more damaging level 3 super combos that can be combo'ed into (not possible in competitive play with A-Guile). There isn't anything worth mentioning about A-groove that could make up for the missing air-guard option except that Guile is good for building quickly meter but this advantage should be exploited in Grooves where GUILE is the damaging one, not Bison or Sakura...
P-Groove:
Master parrying... That's the first and most important step in order to play P-Groove successfully.
And even after having mastered parrying there are many negative aspects that make this Groove a bad choice for Guile. Guile's offensive gameplay is pretty bad in P-Groove simply because of the fact that you will lose charge when parrying. This decreases Guile's combo-ability a lot, for example you would like to punish your opponent pretty badly but because you parried his attack you can't do a c.Jab, c.Jab, Flash Kick combo. Another big limitation of Guile's combo-ability is the only level 3 available super combo. His mobility suffers from the missing roll. You can't escape if your cornered (bad, if your fighting Zangief) and you won't be able to move forward while charging (rolling makes this possible).
S-Groove:
In general, S-Groove is bad because it's just too risky and it does take lots of devotion until it can be exploited to its extent. This counts for P- and K-Groove as well. Only if you're willing to take this huge step use S-Groove.
You only benefit from S-Groove when you are about to die... Additionally, you can only get meter when you are charging up Roundhouse and Fierce. This will leave you wide open. Level 3 super combos are only possible when your stamina is low AND when your meter is full. Dodging is useless in the corner. Compared to rolling, which can also be used to avoid getting hit by the opponent, dodging has only defensive use (though Guile can set up a juggle with his "dodge" kick).
N-Groove:
This Groove is the most versatile one and therefore great for Guile.
Guile gains a lot of mobility from running and counter movements, making him even more offensive. Cross-ups are easier to set up. When you've got meter you can power-up any time you want to strengthen Guile's quick pokes.
Guile can combo his level 3 Total Wipeout into a level 1 Somersault Justice for great damage.
K-Groove:
Guile's 3rd best Groove.
Although the Groove doesn't feature rolling it makes up this deficit with offense, power and just defense. Guile's pokes will get more dangerous, thanks to the rage mode and the quick recovery of his normal attacks. Quick standing (Safe Fall) is a great tool in K-Groove. But don't do it too often. Just defending is easier to accomplish than parrying despite the fact that you won't gain much meter/stamina when just defending. The run option also adds more offense to Guile's gameplay.
Bread and Butter Combos
These are Guile's main combos:
with meter (you can substitute the c.Jab for a c.Short for some high-low mix-ups):
- J.Fierce, c.Jab, c.short, Sonic Hurricane
- J.Fierce, c.Jab, c.Short, level 2 Total Wipeout, Flash Kick
- cross-up j.Short ,c.Jab ,c.Jab ,c.short ,Sonic Hurricane
- counter far s.Roundhouse, Sonic Hurricane
Non-meter combos:
- J.Fierce, s.Fierce, Sonic Boom, forward Fierce
- J.Fierce, c.Jab (not possible in corner), c.Strong, Flash Kick
- c.Jab, c.Strong, Sonic Boom
Corner Pressure
The Sonic Boom is very important in the corner. It avoids wake-up attempts by your opponent, making Dragon Punches useless, and the quick recovery gives you enough time to do a jump-in so that you can follow up with some strings.
Corner Mix-ups:
Guile's main mixups start with a Jab Sonic Boom. Here's what you can do afterwards:
- jump at your opponent.
This is the best option for Guile because it's safe and offers the largest options of setups for Guile, such as throws and especially 2-in-1s for guard crush strings. End his strings with a far s.Roundhouse if you're sure you'll get your opponent's guard crushed.
- walk up to your opponent and throw him
- If your opponent rolls out try to hit him with c.Jab, c.Jab, c.Short(don't do it too fast, you have to gain charge), Sonic Hurricane or throw him.
Guard crushing, mainly used when in corner
Here are some Guard crush strings I've come up with in matches. These strings are quick and pretty safe according to the situation you're in and can also be used as normal attack patterns.
These aren't 100% strings. That would be too difficult to accomplish with Guile anyway. Guile mainly guard-crushes at long intervals that happen throughout the entire match. So, don't expect to guard-crush your opponent all the time. This occurs rarely when using Guile but I'll list some strings because they can apply to normal gameplay as well. The second reason for listing these strings is that such a situation is yet possible and I want you to be prepared for this situation.
- Jab Sonic Boom, j.Fierce, c.Strong, c.Forward, s.Strong, Sonic Boom, c.Forward, s.Roundhouse,Jab Sonic Boom
- Jab Sonic Boom, j.Fierce, c.Short, tick throw (opponent floored), Jab Sonic Boom, j.Short, c.Strong, c.Forward, Sonic Boom
- Jab Sonic Boom, j.Fierce, up-close s.Fierce, Sonic Boom, forward s.Fierce, s.Roundhouse,Fierce Sonic Boom
There are lots of variations... after the last Sonic Boom you can either repeat your attack or walk up and attempt a throw. You'll be able to know whether your movements are safe or not if you play Guile long enough. Don't worry.
Please DON'T stick to these strings, there are many ways for your opponent to get out of them, either by Alpha-Counters or reversals. These strings should give you a general impression of how fast Guile can be played and that he can put some pressure on your opponent. Controlling your Character is very important. Know what you're about to do, i.e. be concentrated throughout the whole match and don't be controlled by your bad habits. Guile has got many moves, use them depending on the situation. You'll get a grasp of this when playing him long enough.
