Trying to get to grips with Street Fighter 6 Guile? Representing America, Guile returns from Street Fighter 5 after defeating Shadaloo and finally receiving answers about his long-lost friend, Charlie Nash. Sporting a fresh beard, a blue jumpsuit, and a bright green pair of shoes, this latest iteration of Guile is ready to send his opponents back home to be family men and women.
In Street Fighter 6, Guile’s moveset remains largely unchanged from the previous fighting game, but don’t let that deter you from picking him. There’s a good reason why Guile is popular among beginners and high-level players alike; he’s incredibly easy to learn while having enough advanced mechanics for you to slowly master, making him potentially one of the best characters in the Street Fighter 6 tier list. Once you’ve had a go at learning how to play as Street Fighter 6 Ryu and you’re ready to pick a main character, here’s everything you need to know about Guile’s commands, combos, and overall strategy to win games.
How to play Guile in Street Fighter 6
The best way to play as Guile in Street Fighter 6 is to anticipate and punish your opponent’s next move. When played defensively, you need to utilize his lightning-fast Sonic Boom projectiles to keep your enemies exactly where you want them. Once you’ve made your opponent believe they know your Sonic Boom rhythm, that’s when you react to their jump-in attack and hit them with a Flash Kick.
One of the biggest barriers to understanding how to play as Guile is the charge input requirement, but Guile is an excellent character to get to grips with this mechanic. We recommend taking a defensive approach to combat as you should be naturally holding down and back most of the time. Not only does this stop you from being hit by high and low attacks, but it also ensures your special moves are ready whenever you need them.
Just like with our Ryu guide, we recommend checking out this footage of the highest-ranked Guile player, ISDD, in the last Street Fighter 6 open beta. You should focus on the Guile player’s excellent use of Sonic Booms as he consistently is able to lock down his opponent even from full screen. He also makes use of the Drive Rush mechanic a number of times to unleash powerful combos.
Street Fighter 6 motions
Here are the most important motions for Guile in Street Fighter 6:
- Quarter-circle forward – push down on the d-pad or stick and quickly rotate to the direction your character is facing, and press the move’s button.
- Quarter-circle back – push down on the d-pad or stick and quickly rotate in the opposite direction to the one your character is facing, and press the move’s button.
- Charge – depending on the move, hold the d-pad or stick in the direction opposite to the one your character is facing or down for a short time. This is usually followed by snapping to the direction your character is facing or by holding up.
- Overdrive – previously known as EX moves, Overdrive attacks require you to press two punches or two kicks to execute an enhanced version of a special attack. Performing an Overdrive attack consumes two Drive Gauge bars.
Street Fighter 6 Guile special moves
Sonic Boom – Charge back, then forward + Punch
Guile sends forward a blue burst of energy from his arms. The speed of the Sonic Boom is determined by the strength of the punch button used, the heavier the punch, the further the projectile travels. Guile is able to unleash ‘Perfect’ Sonic Booms that deal more damage – these projectiles only occur when you input forward and punch within a three-frame window. Guile also has access to the Overdrive Sonic Boom which travels very quickly, deals two hits, and knocks down on hit.
Flash Kick – Charge down, then up + Kick
Guile performs a somersault in the air, damaging anything in his path. Similarly to his Sonic Boom, this attack also features a Perfect and Overdrive version. Overdrive Flash Kick features more invincibility frames on start-up, making it safe to use against incoming attacks.
Sonic Blade – Quarter-circle forward + Punch
Guile creates a stationary spinning ball of energy. This can be used to trick your opponent, use this sparingly to mix up your projectile pattern.
Sonic Cross – Quarter-circle forward + Punch + Forward and Punch
Guile turns a stationary spinning ball of energy into a slow-moving projectile. Overdrive Sonic Cross costs four drive bars for each half of the attack. Compared to Sonic Boom, Sonic Cross has more hits, deals more damage, and can knock down opponents. Finally, Sonic Cross has a Perfect version that operates like Guile’s other special moves.
Street Fighter 6 Guile Super Arts
Level One: Sonic Hurricane (Charge back, then forward x2 + Punch)
Sonic Hurricane is a giant version of Sonic Blade, creating a wide projectile on the battlefield that can be combo’d into and used to counter other projectiles.
Level Two: Sonic Puncher (Quarter-circle forward x2 + Punch)
Guile enters a powered-up state where he’s able to throw a new kind of projectile: Sonic Break. This state lasts 25 seconds, but the timer drains each time Guile uses a Sonic Break. These projectiles can be launched by pressing two punch buttons at once, and they don’t require any charge time to use them. You can control the speed of the projectiles by holding forward to make them faster, or backward to slow them down. Guile can throw a maximum of seven Sonic Breaks before the timer expires.
Level Three: Crossfire Somersault (Charge back, then forward x2 + Kick)
If the first hit of Crossfire Somersault lands, a cinematic animation plays that shows Guile launch a powerful Sonic Boom at his opponent before hitting them with a Flash Kick. Missing the first part of the attack skips the cutscene, dealing significantly less damage.
Guile combos
Crouching LP, Crouching LP xx Flash Kick
Hit confirms with light attacks are usually difficult to execute for beginner players, but this one isn’t so bad once you get the timing right. If this is your first time playing a charge character, this combo will give you a good idea of how long you need to spend charging each of your special moves. If you learn to land this consistently, you can end the combo with Sonic Hurricane instead of Flash Kick to deal lots of damage.
Crouching MK, Crouching LP xx Overdrive Sonic Boom
Most characters with projectiles will know about this combo, but Guile needs to add an extra attack after the crouching MK in order to build his charge timer. This combo deals a strong amount of damage and lands a knockdown on hit, giving you a chance to go for a throw or keep the pressure on with carefully timed Sonic Booms.
Standing MP, Crouching MP, Crouching MP xx Sonic Hurricane
A consistent and quick way to land your level one super art, all you need to do is land a standing MP hit at close range. Once this attack hits, follow up with two crouching MPs attacks which should give you enough time to charge up your super art.
That’s everything you need to start taking down rival players using Street Fighter 6 Guile. Take your new Guile skills for a whirl in the Street Fighter 6 open beta this weekend ahead of the release date in June. If you want to check out another character with transferable skills in the beta, we have a Street Fighter 6 Chun Li guide for you to test out your new charge abilities.