Slayer Footsie Combos to Counter Baiken

Playing Slayer against Baiken in Guilty Gear -Strive- often comes down to who controls the space just outside of poke range. Baiken wants to dash in or set up her Tatami mat to limit your movement. If you just mash buttons, her Azami parry will eat your attacks and punish you hard. Mastering the neutral game and setting up a solid footsies combo lets you whiff punish her approaches and take her health bar in just a few interactions.

How do you actually win neutral against Baiken's tools?

The core of this matchup is making Baiken respect your range without walking into her parry. You want to use Slayer's long-standing pokes, like his standing S and close S, to control the space. When Baiken tries to close the gap with her Baku dash, you need to backdash or use a well-timed poke to make her whiff. Once she whiffs a dash or a normal, you step in with your own poke to start the combo. This spacing discipline is very similar to the patience required when using a defensive combo structure against zoning characters, where whiff punishing is your best friend.

What is the best footsies combo route to use?

Let us say Baiken dashes in and throws out a 2K that misses. You confirm with a close S. From there, you want a route that gives you good okizeme or a safe ender. A standard confirm would be close S into 2H, then a special cancel like Fang and Fang to end on a safe minus frame, or go for a Bloodsucking Universe if you read her tech. If you are dealing with a Baiken who constantly uses her Vagabond Shark or Azami in the corner, you might need to look into an optimal punish route for high-risk matchups to ensure you do not get reversed.

Why do players keep getting parried by Azami?

The biggest mistake Slayer players make in this matchup is getting greedy with their pokes. If you throw out a heavy normal and Baiken blocks it, she can instantly Azami. If you are mashing, you will get thrown or parried. You have to space your f.S so it barely touches her. Another issue is forgetting about her air game. If you are too focused on the ground, she will jump over your pokes. You need to mix up your anti-airs, much like how you would use adaptive air strategies against aggressive rushdown players to keep them guessing.

How do you handle her Tatami mat pressure?

Baiken's Tatami mat restricts your dash and limits your movement options. When she places it, do not just stand there. Use Slayer's Eidolon teleport to bypass the mat and appear on the other side. Alternatively, you can use your own projectiles or just walk forward and block, waiting for her to commit to an attack. If you manage to knock her down and she wakes up with a Vagabond Shark, you need a solid plan to maintain your turn. Learning a pressure reset combo for maintaining momentum can help you keep her in the corner and prevent her from using the Tatami mat to escape.

You can always check the Dustloop wiki for Baiken to review her exact frame data on Azami and Tatami to better understand her plus frames on block.

What should I practice in training mode first?

Set the dummy to Baiken and program her to use Azami on block. Practice throwing out your f.S and immediately backing out or blocking to avoid the parry. Next, practice whiff punishing her 2K and 5K with your own close S. Finally, drill your close S confirm into a corner carry route so it becomes muscle memory.

Before your next session, run through this quick neutral checklist: