Giovanna makes her debut in Guilty Gear Strive as one of its two new characters. In contrast to the vampire Nagoriyuki, Giovanna is a special forces agent designated to protect the President of the United States. And being a Guilty Gear character, fans know Giovanna has tricks up her sleeve in the Arc System Works title.

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In combat, Giovanna summons Rei, her wolf spirit, in order to overwhelm the enemy with spiritual pressure. The game classifies Giovanna as a Rush character, with a huge emphasis on powerful burst attacks. However, how can Strive players exactly maximize her character?

10 Aggression Versus Mobility

As a Rushdown character, Giovanna's toolkit relies heavily on bringing nonstop pressure to opponents until they drop down. Thing is, Giovanna does suffer a bit of a speed decrease due to this - making her a bit slower than other speed-oriented characters.

When used properly, Giovanna can compensate for her middling speed with a kit that emphasizes safe specials and an aggressive playstyle that can simply just stun and bewilder opponents. Players need to take note of the speed difference when rushing down on opponents in order to compensate for their defensive tactics.

9 Lack Of Range Options

Due to her nature as a Rush character, Giovanna specializes in close range. However, this does mean she poses a weaknesses when it comes to range. An opponent with a knack for ranged attacks (e.g., I-No) can punish a Giovanna by simply being as far away as possible.

However, given the game's penchant for encouraging aggression, Giovanna can easily gain the upper hand by zoning in on them through her step dash and other gap-closer strategies. Players need to pay closer attention to characters that have ranged options, and their Giovanna should immediately close the range to avoid any setbacks.

8 Attack Speed Domination

Granted, Giovanna doesn't have as much mobility options to offer compared to High Speed characters. However, she compensates with her sheer attack speed. Essentially, Giovanna's basic toolkit offers some of the fastest attacks in the game - giving her more chances of interrupting enemy attacks and punishing them with her own combos.

• 5P is considered the third-fastest attack in the game, meaning only very few characters can even potentially counter this.
• Slash combos on Giovanna's part can become extremely pressuring tools. In addition, her Close Slash can help penetrate blocks, and Far Slash can multi-hit. In addition, 2S can easily connect with opponents.

7 The Meter Is A Friend

Unlike other characters, Giovanna has a special relationship with her Tension Meter. Essentially, she gains a damage buff depending on the level of her Meter. Graphically, Half Tension will have Rei glow a distinct aura, while Giovanna herself changes her skin color by the time she gets Full Tension.

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Additionally, she gets an additional Defense Rating whenever she gets to Half or Full Tension. This drastically boosts her defense, making her more viable in extended incursions. At Full Tension, her Defense Rating can reach that of Potemkin's (0.93).

• 5% Damage Buff, 0.97 Defense (Half Tension)
• 10% Damage Buff, 0.93 Defense (Full Tension)
• Super Attacks still retain the damage buff. When Giovanna uses a Super Attack, she retains her damage buff until that Super Attack fully finishes its movement.

6 Pay Attention To The Recovery

Despite her lack of movement, Giovanna does compensate this for her fast recovery potential. Players should capitalize on this opportunity to recover quickly from botched combos and get back into the fight as soon as possible. Thanks to his advantage, a suitable strategy of Giovanna is to get close and secure a Slash opening for a combo. If she manages to do this, Giovanna can easily pressure opponents into submission.

And if she fails, her quick recovery can give her a ton of room for a counter attack. Enemies tend to underestimate Giovanna's quick recovery speed - which means enemies will likely get encouraged to give Giovanna a quick attack, only to be met with a harsh counter.

5 Step Dash To Get In Range

Granted, Giovanna isn't as fast as other High Speed characters. However, she makes up for this through her amazing step dash. Compared to other characters, Giovanna's step dash is something they can cancel. This means Giovanna can transition seamlessly from a step dash into a backdash, a Normal Attack, or even a Special Attack.

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In turn, a viable Giovanna tactic is to stay well out of a character's range and zoom in for the opening as soon as it reveals itself. This makes Giovanna an extremely viable character against any opponent.

4 Command Normals Secure Close Range

On the off-chance that opponents try to counteract Giovanna's assault or try to apply pressure first, Giovanna can effectively return the favor with her Command Normals. When used properly, Giovanna can use neutral ground to secure the close-range or the mid-range.

• Command Normal 1 will have Giovanna do a forward jab. This gives her upper body invincibility, allowing her to counter aerial attacks.
• Command Normal 2 is a leap launch that ends in a series of kicks. Moreover, up to two Heavy Slashes can help follow-up this Command Normal. By the time it gets a third kick, the enemy suffers a knockdown and leaves them wide open.

3 Mind The Combo Potential

Thankfully, Giovanna boasts a toolkit with a ton of potential for combos. In fact, a lot of Giovanna's moves let her transition quite easily from a poke to a combo. However, players need to pay closer attention to specific caveats regarding her combo potential.

• Sol Nascente serves to fill combos or become an anti-air attack. Compared to her other specials, Sol Nascente isn't as hard-hitting. Rather, this should majorly be used to complement already-punishing combos.
• Special Attacks cannot transition into combos. Compared to other characters, Giovanna can't initiate harsh combos from her Specials. Rather, these should work best as their own combo tools, gap closers, and poking tools.
• Slash and Heavy Slash transition into combos. Giovanna can best transition to her best combos through her Slash and Heavy Slash attacks. This is primarily due to the multi-hit nature of Forward Slash and 6H. With these tools, Giovanna can confirm hits from multiple fronts and use either of them to get into her mixups.

2 Break Defense With Pokes

Aggression only works on Giovanna's favor if she gets to break through an opponent's defense. And thankfully enough, with the right pressure, some of Giovanna's moves can pierce through even an opponent's best defense. On top of that, some of these efficient anti-defensive options give Giovanna the much needed rushdown speed she needs.

• Sepultura is a lunge kick that will have Giovanna rush forward. Given the long-range and fast recovery of Sepultura, this can become a difficult kick to punish. This serves as a great poke that can lead into punishing combos.
• Sol Poente serves as an overhead attack that begins with a forward leap. Aside from the extra mobility, Sol Poente also allows Giovanna to avoid specific low and mid range attacks. Essentially, Sol Poente can offer interesting counter opportunities with the right combination.
• Trovao is a horizontal aerial kick that offers an alternative poking option. As a bonus, Trovao serves as Giovanna's anti-projectile skill. This makes Giovanna viable against those who spam projectiles as a form of defense.

1 Overdrives Put Giovanna On High Speed

Giovanna's best offensive options come in the form of her Overdrives - both of which serve as extremely powerful offensive tools that have straightforward uses. When used properly, Giovanna can follow-through with her pressuring moves and obliterate enemies quickly.

• Ventania serves as Giovanna's primary (and only) reversal tool. In turn, this is best used for waking up or interrupting an enemy's assault. Due to its quick startup, Ventania is also widely used as a combo finisher.
• Tempestade serves as an accessible multi-hit combo. While it's perfectly fine when used neutrally, its airborne potential give Tempestate two ideal options of use. Firstly, Tempestade can become a great air combo finisher. Likewise, Giovanna can use Tempestade to interrupt enemy movements as soon as she wakes up.

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