A guide to Roman Cancels in Guilty Gear Strive

A good deal of Guilty Gear Strive has been dumbed down to be newcomer friendly and can be mostly picked up by simple observation. One mechanic that appears to have broken this rule, however, is Roman Canceling.

Roman Canceling has been around since Guilty Gear X, but in Strive, it’s at its most complicated and refined state. It’s an extremely important mechanic and the primary use for Tension in Guilty Gear Strive.

Roman Canceling is what gives Guilty Gear Strive immense depth, and this guide will explain the basics of Roman Canceling, the types, and a few advanced tips.

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Guilty Gear Strive: A guide to Roman Canceling

For starters let’s go into the absolute basics of RC-ing. Every Roman Cancel in Guilty Gear Strive charges 50% Tension and can be activated by pressing three attack buttons (excluding Dust) simultaneously.

The type of Roman Cancel performed depends solely on when exactly the buttons were pressed.

There are four different types of Roman Cancels in Guilty Gear Strive:

The Red Roman Cancel

The most widely used of the four, a Red Roman Cancel is performed when the buttons are pressed while the enemy is in hit or block-stun. It cancels out the recovery of whatever move the player did last, allowing the player to either immediately block or use a move that normally doesn’t chain.

Red Roman Cancels in Guilty Gear Strive can be used to enable new combo routes or make a move safe. For example, a reversal DP on block for any character would be punishable, unless they Red RC from it.

The Blue Roman Cancel

Blue RC’s in Guilty Gear Strive come out when the player is neither in the middle of active frames nor in block/hit-stun. The main purpose of Blue RC’s is to increase hit-stun and slow the opponent down to easily react to them.

Due to the increased hit-stun, once again, new combo routes become possible, and moves that normally cannot be punished can be easily dealt with. This move, despite its inherent nature in enforcing the offense, is best used defensively in Guilty Gear Strive, to secure damage and protect against overwhelming pressure.

The Purple Roman Cancel

Purple Roman Cancels in Guilty Gear Strive are activated upon pressing the buttons while in a move’s active frames. They are used to completely cancel any remaining active frames and recovery in the move and primarily function as an offensive tool.

PRCs make unique movements and set-ups possible. There’s a bigger gamble associated with using PRC’s however, just as there is a risk with a 50/50. Use it a bit more carefully than the rest.

The Yellow Roman Cancel

Yellow Roman Cancels in Guilty Gear Strive are the only RC’s that primarily function as a defensive option. They are activated upon pressing buttons during block-stun and shutting down the opponent’s offense by pushing them away. They, in a way, act similar to a Burst.

They’re often regarded as the worst of the lot for being a defensive option, but make no mistake, they have their moments in Guilty Gear Strive.

Some advanced tips on Roman Cancels

There’s a little more depth to Roman Cancels in Guilty Gear Strive than just their type and function. Below are a few other nuances to their use:

• Roman Cancels can be canceled out by hitting a button during their active frames. It adds to the offense sometimes by reducing the combo count thus increasing the damage.
• RRC’s float the opponent up slightly upon impact so make sure to keep that in mind as certain moves cannot connect if the RC touches the opponent.
• It is possible to move immediately after a Roman Cancel by hitting the desired movement button during the active frames.

Some examples of using Roman Cancels

1) The simplest example is using RRC after a reversal if the opponent blocks it to avoid a punish. To be more specific, a move like Sol’s Volcanic Viper becomes safe on block if RC’d out.

2) Setting up a projectile and running forward to mix-up or set up an unblockable is the most popular way to use PRC’s. So for example Sol’s Gunblaze can be PRC’d out of and Sol can run forward to either grab or mix-up the opponent before the projectile hits them, thus increasing the pressure on that turn.

3) Due to the increased hit-stun, some specials that can’t be canceled normally can be used in combos. For example, the heavy variation of Stroke The Big Tree can be canceled from a punch with I-No during the active frames of the BRC

4) The YRC can be used to punish mashing as YRC’ing and immediately going for a punish will work against an opponent rapidly pressing buttons. YRCs are for this reason one of the primary defensive options against hyper-aggressive Giovanna players.