Faust is a staple wacky and uncharacteristic zoner in the Guilty Gear series. I have only completed the Celestial challenge twice so I am in no way qualified to give any advice so this is a very incomplete, incorrect and autistic guide to Faust and you should not even consider following it.

WHY FAUST?

Faust has a fun and unique playstyle, quite literally is the only one of his kind. Faust put you and your opponent on a constant gamble, option select and situations that is as fun as getting anthrax. He might not be the best character in Guilty Gear -STRIVE- but i mean, look at this guy, he is a mix of funny and nightmare fuel character design, and for me that is enough for me to put 200 hours into this guy.

Ground buttons, 5P has really good range, but will leave you at neutral.
6P is a universal anti-air, probably is the best 6P in the game.
5K is an anti air, vulnerable to being hit low, quick startup.
2P is a quick poke for any gap when the opponent is blocking, making it a dangerous button to hit since you could lead it to a bigger button.




2K is my favourite button on Faust, it hit multiple times and is a relatively safe button
2D Can be canceled from 2K, Hard knockdown.








Both really good air options, j.H will most likely help you to win many air exchanges
j.2K can be cancelled into Love or MixMixMix, really good specials that Faust has, even though it is risky to use.







Quick startup, slightly risky on block, can be used whenever you think they are moving forward to break the neutral.




They won't be expecting this move, it is an overhead. IT IS NOW STAGGER, FULL SCREEN THRUST AND PULL BABY.






Very good counterpoke, surprisingly quick startup time. Good damage if you press it twice. It provides a hard knockdown.



Good reward, gattling into alot of Faust's high damage normal such as f.S and 5H, 2H, 6H and those buttons can also be gattling from f.S. Plus on block if they are blocking in the air.




Quick air buttons, gattling into j.2K, j.D and are relatively safe in many situations.



Incredibly janky and broken hitbox, funny when your friend thinks they are safe but gets hit anyway. Ignites the afro on hit and block.




2S Launches your opponent on hit, very active, good combo extender.



While Faust has many good buttons, they offer rather low rewards. Playing Faust, in my opinion is about using these buttons to react to different situations rather than gattling them into a big combo.

Good poke, massive damage if you hit it at the right time. Can be RRC or PRC into some spicy aerial combo. Can no longer be counter hit at max range with 6P.



Infamous MixMixMix, Faust's arguably best mix(heh)up tool, can be looped if you are low enough to the ground. Cancelled from 5H, 2D, j.D, even more generous to be cancelled from counterhit, which you will likely to get from 5H 2D and j.D. That being said, can be cancelled from alot of Faust's normal. MixMixMix combined with Faust's synergy to BRC, PRC and RRC is incredibly satisfying to watch and pull off, might need some practice. And MixMixMix is now less punishable, Daisuke blessed you, my friend.

trust me bro you will want to block low when he uses 214S


Very risky and generally pretty bad in most situation if you do not have meter, but hey it is funny so you go tiger. A good option however if you decided that you want to spend 50% of your tension bar to drop your combo anyway.
If you PRC too early and they happen to use a quick normal or active meaty, god forbids mashing, you do not lose the meter.

214P and 214K now has quicker startup time, therefore a more effective mixup tool.

Faust's neutral is probably on par with some of the top-tiers without the damage to back it up so you will most likely want to give him a little space because he is very likely autistic and you wouldn't want to hurt him would you:3
ITEM TOSS





Item toss is your gameplan, play around the items on the stage and I hope you get 3 meteors in a row


With Faust being heavily relied on his item in the neutral, it is important to know what to do when items are on the battlefield



pipebomb, congressman
Good space coverage, alright damage, on its own is very predictable, but you wont be throwing one item and stop, so I hope you also throw one paperbag bomb, playing reactively so you wont get hit both of your bombs, since these can also backfire and damage you. With RC, you can now use the special, PRC immediately and the paperbag bomb still comes out.




In my opinion, quite useless. Maybe I am monkey and my brain does not function very well from paint thinner but you probably will not want to pick these up. Could be a good bait so when they are running in you could hit them low or overhead, again, play reactively.



Unlike its brethren, a good item to have on the ground in some cases. Characters with high mobility will always dash into these and/or being knocked back into them mid combo, good combo breaker, maybe.



A pretty bad bodyguard, but this little guy can sometimes comes in clutch. Can be activated by your bomb or paperbag bomb. He does quite decent damage. He now does damage immediately, makes it a more effective space control tool.



oh merry men
A very neutral item, you will probably want to pick this item up, as these little guy will force the opponent to block, which you can mix them up with a low or an overhead. If they are going to jump, hit them down with j.H, j.2k, 6P or 6H, be wary that they might know you have these options and react to them.



Very active, the moment it leaves your hand it becomes a hitbox. I am going to be real with you it is very funny to see it dropping on my friends head, I do not have a gameplan with it, so I guess just out more item if you can.



Hard knockdown on landing, you can toss out another item when you see it, and jump to react to it. Does a little bit damage if it lands on your opponent. When blocking, if this item lands, both you and the opponent enter guard break, you can mix them up or throw them with 6D or Snip Snip Snip.


hellfire upon ye
The best item you can get, guard breaks on block, massive damage. You want to mix them up. It now launches your opponent on hit, do what with that information as you will.

Faust with Afro or when the opponent has the afro, you have to change your gameplan.

Ways to obtain the afro
Faust can use Snip Snip Snip, his command grab, at the end of the animation the opponent will receive an afro.






chronus i gave myself a phresh fade cuh

Or you can throw out an afro, granted people might not want to pick it up but you can. This is the only way you can get an afro.

Faust's interactions with the afro



When having the afro, the hurtbox is extended overhead. Afro'd characters do not have upper body invincibility during 6P. Afro'd will receive additional damage if the afro is ignited. You can ignite the afro with fire element attacks such as Faust's j.D, Baiken's j.D, etc. The afro is also ignited on block, but takes a little bit to do damage, this instance of damage can also be blocked. When ignited, the afro will guard crush, you can use that time frame to mix your opponent or go in for another command grab, and they will not expect another command grab/ ground throw.



While having the afro, you can throw out a different paperbag bomb, where it only hits your opponent. Deals about double the damage. It guard breaks on block, you have a small window to mix them up.

While the opponent having the afro from Snip Snip Snip, you can safe jump.

BONE CRUSHING EXCITEMENT

Funny super, could be used as a reversal wake up super. I do not use it all that much. Good combo ender, decent damage.

W-W-What could this be?

The super you will want to use to create funny and cancer scenario for your opponent. I would often use this super to zone my opponent out to either mix them up later or throw out more item if I am feeling lame and want my opponent to hate my gut.
Quick recovery but you can still be punished.



W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-What could this be?

Same usage, just a 100 times more aids both for you and for the other person. Faust toss out 10 items, but most of the time you would be burning your entire meter bar just for the reward which is not that high. I would much rather using my meter for W-W-What could this be and PRC, which can be more rewarding. HOWEVER, you can gamble and if you get to mix the opponent up, it feels great.

1.None of them, I do not look forward to play against any character in this game.

2.

3.

1. Ramlethal

If you play smart enough you probably will have no problem with her, I am not smart and I hate this ♥♥♥♥♥ with a passion.

2. Sol Badguy

If I win, he sucks. If he wins, he is a cheap top tier that requires zero effort to play and I hope whoever plays this character gets Potemkin Buster'd by their drunk dad.

3. Leo Whitefang

He can be a problem when he gets his stance, your 5P is quicker than most of his button so keep him away and try to play around your items alongside with your long range buttons.

4. Chaos

Basically, I do not like to deal with infinite corner pressure with zero frame gap in his strings while being chipped away.