Combos

Every effort is made to record combo damage accurately… but not quite as accurately as with frame data. Over time, as moves are tweaked here and there, exact combo damage may be off in places. (The print guide’s combo damage errors where they exist, for example, are mostly because heavy-strength normals received a tiny, uniform buff on day one.) However, combo damage values are still useful to show general combo damage relative other options. Writing damage values down in the first place is just there to help decision-making, so you have an idea of your preferred situational combos before a match ever starts. Not many people are thinking “I should use the 346 option over the 320 option” during actual matches.

Low Hit-Checks

COMBO 1

Charge , crouching LK crouching LP /
143 damage, 293 stun

Low hit-checks into Somersault Kick. Non-EX Somersault Kick can be canceled into Sonic Hurricane. Sonic Boom or EX Sonic Boom can also be used after the initial hits here. On a cornered target, you may opt for Sonic Boom combos since you can link if close enough. Attacking often with overhead jump-ins into crouching LK (conditioning opponents to expect to quickly block high then low) can open up many chances to mix them up with a jump-in attack into Straight Chop or an empty jump into crouching LK.

Grounded Hit-Checks

COMBO 2

Standing MP, then link into either:

Crouching LK standing MP
189 damage, 348 stun

While charging , standing LP /
127 damage, 203 stun

Up close, standing MP is Guile’s best fishing/frame trap starter. On hit, you can link to standing LP or crouching light attacks. If you don’t have charge built up, you can link Bullet Revolver after standing MP also.

COMBO 3

Standing LK MK (immediately start charging crouching LP /
162 damage, 338 stun

Guile’s target combo with kicks can be linked into crouching light attacks. Start charging down during Taurus Combination and you’ll have time to link crouching LP and cancel it into Somersault Kick.

COMBO 4

Standing HP (immediately start charging ) crouching MP, then cancel to either:

/
230/254 damage, 400/400 stun

(Critical Art cancel)
398 damage, 280 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

(immediately start charging )
260 damage, 384 stun (requires full V-Gauge)

Guile’s beefiest link combo starter on normal hit. This is most appropriate when you’ve had a chance to verify that standing HP wasn’t blocked, like against a dizzied opponent or after a clean jump-in HP or HK (like over a fireball). As a hit-check on its own, there’s an unpleasantly large gap between blocked standing HP and anything you might immediately do, and standing MP is much better for that purpose.

Jump-Ins

COMBO 5

Jump-in HP or HK (start charging ), crouching , then cancel to either:

/
184/224 damage, 280/320 stun

/
240/264 damage, 400 stun

A simple combo off a jump-in hit. The Sonic Boom version requires no hit-checking, since it’s safe if guarded. On a cornered enemy, links after Sonic Boom are possible if close enough. A confirmed Sonic Boom hit can also be V-Trigger canceled into a linked Sonic Break flurry, when V-Gauge is full.

Grounded Counter-Hits

COMBO 6

Counter-hit standing HP, juggle (start charging ), then juggle either:

/
240/264 damage, 475 stun

424 damage, 315 stun (requires full EX Gauge)

Counter-hit standing HP launches the enemy into a jugglable state. Guile High Kick is tailor-made to continue the juggle while affording you the chance to build charge for a big finish. The best chances to land this are after whiffed invincible reversals, like Shoryuken or EX Ressenha or Guile’s own EX Somersault Kick. On block it’s punishable by an attentive foe, though you can cover this weakness at great cost (and finish with the same juggles) by canceling standing HP into Solid Puncher when counter-hit fishing.

COMBO 7

Counter-hit , then link either:

189 damage, 315 stun

Dash, standing HP (start charging ) crouching MP
312 damage, 535 stun

Combos from counter-hit Spinning Back Knuckle, which causes the enemy to spin in place with greatly increased hitstun. There’s so much that you can link after dashing forward, if you go right away.

You can also link with four-frame attacks after up-close Spinning Back Knuckle on normal hit, though you’ll probably mostly be using this as a mid-range poke. Close-in backfist hits usual result from enemies dashing into it, in which case it registers as a counter-hit anyway.