[Match up Discussion] Garland

**Neo Bahamut** · 08-08-2011 07:01 AM

Doesn't Prishe have a fair number of mid-priority attacks?

**Lord Shmeckie** · 08-08-2011 07:07 AM

Yes, but they're mostly aerial, and they have an obvious start-up time, and cool down time. Garland is a punisher in the air, remember? Cyclone alone shuts much of her game down, and any attempt she can make to get through it will get her Bardiche'd.

**Flintlock** · 08-13-2011 06:06 AM

So I'm super new to the boards here, but I was wondering...what exactly is Garland's EX Revenge game that I keep seeing pop up in this topic? Is it really just Bardiche Smack like crazy until they break and then do an HP attack of your choice? Is it that Bardiche just does really good damage for a Bravery Attack of its speed? Just curious. Always eager to learn more.

**Vamper62** · 08-13-2011 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by Flintlock

So I'm super new to the boards here, but I was wondering...what exactly is Garland's EX Revenge game that I keep seeing pop up in this topic? Is it really just Bardiche Smack like crazy until they break and then do an HP attack of your choice? Is it that Bardiche just does really good damage for a Bravery Attack of its speed? Just curious. Always eager to learn more.

Many reasons why Bardiche is great.

- Bardiche is a one input combo
- Very fast reset time in EX Revenge
- Wall Rush can add lots of damage if near ground (especially with Booster)

Garland is able to do considerably more damage in EX Revenge than any other character in the game because of Bardiche. It is the biggest trump card you can pull off in a match and can end a game instantly if the opponent has no assists on reserve.

**ProjectTitan313** · 08-13-2011 10:48 PM

Yeah, Garland's killer EX Revenge gives him an advantage to a lot of character's I'd say (again, thanks for the advice Vamper). And the high priority attacks definitely help out (I love Lance Charge. It just doesn't care towards blocks and most other BRV moves lol) on ground to smash through attacks and punishes ground moves good.

Yeah, I wouldn't say Tsunami's good against Zidane. Its kinda... vertically useless and Zidane rarely hits the ground intentionally.

Overall, I'd say Garland matches up pretty good to a lot of characters. He's got range, power, and doesn't have any glaring weaknesses.

**Vamper62** · 08-14-2011 09:09 PM

I think if there is one matchup that Garland has the most trouble on, it is Sephiroth. SF shuts down his ability to use Thundaga as a safe assist builder, and even Cyclone can be shut down given the opponent has played a Garland player enough. I find the safest tool Garland has is Twist Drill and if he can reach EX Mode, he has a fair bit more freedom because of his no stagger effect. You do need to be careful as well for Assist Breaks regardless, but with the use of Cyclone in EX, it usually shouldn't be too much of an issue. What do you guys think of this matchup?

**TKG09** · 08-14-2011 10:12 PM

Sephiroth is a bad matchup for Garland. As Vamps said, SF shuts down his thundaga game completely, and it can even beat cyclone if timed correctly, and heck, if Sephiroth is close enough, he can even counter those with HL.. If Garland is going to attempt to go on the offensive with twist drill, he must be weary of Scintilla and of just getting dodged and countered by SC.

**Lord Shmeckie** · 08-14-2011 10:31 PM

Thing about Thundaga vs SF is, if Garland uses Thundaga first, or at the same time as SF, Thundaga will hit. I've fought this matchup many times, and that tends to happen a lot.

Garland's best bet is to stay near Sephiroth, but not too close. Keep him in range of Twist Drill, and make him overly cautious. Make him expect a Twist Drill, then punish his wrong guess. Make him expect a Bardiche, Blaze, etc.

Cyclone also helps get SF off you. On startup, it deflects all four flares. Camp inside it, and it'll keep you safe.

You can also hit him with Twist Drill if you're inrange, and he uses SF. As soon as he says "fool", drill his ass.

**Vamper62** · 08-15-2011 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Lord Shmeckie

Thing about Thundaga vs SF is, if Garland uses Thundaga first, or at the same time as SF, Thundaga will hit. I've fought this matchup many times, and that tends to happen a lot.

Garland's best bet is to stay near Sephiroth, but not too close. Keep him in range of Twist Drill, and make him overly cautious. Make him expect a Twist Drill, then punish his wrong guess. Make him expect a Bardiche, Blaze, etc.

Cyclone also helps get SF off you. On startup, it deflects all four flares. Camp inside it, and it'll keep you safe.

You can also hit him with Twist Drill if you're inrange, and he uses SF. As soon as he says "fool", drill his ass.

Yeah, I've found this to work fairly well for most matches, but there are those matches (usually with better players) where they tend to be more weary of the attacks range/hitbox and use Scintilla. Then again, once I catch onto that, I play the same mind game, and land Thundaga off of it when he expects TD. You usually have to be way ahead of Sephi's SF to beat it out with Thundaga. Since Sephi is much better at spamming that move quickly than Garland can do Thundaga, it is hard to gain an edge with that move at almost any point. The one thing I did notice is that Thundaga has slightly more horizontal and vertical range than SF, which can be somewhat nice to know on larger maps.