Guilty Gear Strive just received its massive Season 4 update this past week that reworked how quite a few characters work with different abilities on top of balance changes and of course the arrival of Queen Dizzy.
Although the good doctor’s adjustments didn’t sound the craziest of the bunch on paper, one of the best and most dedicated Faust players in the world is showing how his additions could make him more of a nightmare to fight against.
The longtime Faust specialist JIG|Nage recently shared an absolutely wild round of Strive that put on display how dangerous the goofball can be with his new additions — combined with a bit of luck.
We get our first good luck at the mechanical buffs in action quickly around the five-second mark showcasing how Faust can now use his golf club swing independently to whack his items, which can really help him with their activations and applications instead of relying on him or the opponent to touch them.
The hit banana forces the unfortunate Nagoriyuki to slip and be put on the backfoot he’d never be able to fully recover from.
As for some more interesting uses, Nage is able to perfectly time hitting the afro onto Nago as the meteors fall to light it on fire instantly without ever needing to get close to the vampire.
We also get to see this in action some more with the bombs, more afros and the mini Fausts too, and in the hands of Nage, it’s difficult to see many openings to get out of the corner once Faust gets the ball rolling.
That’s not to say this pushes Faust instantly into top tier status, but these item changes plus the ability to adjust where stored items land makes him more of a threat than probably ever before in Strive.
ちなみにこっちは”ヨグ=サロン”のプロトタイプ。
ここに物食べ要素入れて遊び始めたらエアポーカーみたいになった。 pic.twitter.com/pKKzBianOs— JIG | ナゲ (@nage_pink) November 1, 2024
And any match up that Faust was winning or around even with is also likely a good chunk more in his favor.
The player reaction to the Season 4 update has been quite split, especially when it comes to certain characters like Ramlethal and Potemkin, and previous Evo champion TSM|Leffen is among those not really liking the new direction.
We should probably thank our stars that Faust isn’t a very popular character because it looks like things can go off the rails very quickly as long as he gets one or two good items in play early.