Squall Leonhart (Dissidia 012)/Strategy

General	Starter Guide		Strategy
Matchups	Resources

Strategy

Squall can operate at a variety of ranges, but ultimately functions as a close-range fighter.

Offense (Ground)

• Poke with Upper Blues to catch moving opponents and start combos
• Use Thunder Barret to threaten opponents slightly outside of their range and pull them out of traps, projectiles or landing lag.
• Go through Ranged Low projectiles with Fated Circle
• Ground Dash towards the opponent and apply one of the above or look for a dodge punish (detailed below).

Defense (Ground)

• Jump to make a ground attack miss and then punish with Beat Fang
• To build assist meter quickly, alternate between whiffing Solid Barrel and Upper Blues

Dodge Punishment (Ground)

• Blasting Zone can catch any dodge within it's range, call them out with it.
• Fated Circle can punish a neutral ground dodge with the vacuum effect. Must be closer to the opponent than with Blasting Zone.
• To punish ground dodges with a bravery, you have to dash to close the distance. Upper Blues is recommended for range, but Solid Barrel can output more EX and damage.

Offense (Aerial)

• Poke with Beat Fang, whether you're below or above the opponent. Note that Beat Fang has better hitbox and tracking for hitting from below than from above. Don't get predictable with dodge cancel timing.
• Stagger regular block with Heel Crush
• Use Free Air Dash and air jump to close gaps, look for dodge punishes or feint an approach.
• Bulldoze through Ranged Low projectiles with Heel Crush or Aerial Circle.
• Similiarly, Rough Divide can be used to break through high priority traps and projectiles but carries more risk.

Defense (Aerial)

• Use Beat Fang to build assist meter on whiff. Alternate with Fire Barret to mitigate the loss in meter gain from repeated use.
• Use air jumps to safely maneuver near the opponent and look for opportunities to hit Beat Fang
• Use Fire Barret to passively occupy space, build assist meter and convert to a Beat Fang combo if it hits later.
• After staggering with a blodge or LV2 Assist Change, counter with Aerial Circle.

Dodge Punishment (Aerial)

• To punish air dodges, Free Air Dash and then using Beat Fang is the safest method.
• Aerial Circle is higher risk and susceptible to bravery breaks by the opponent's assist, but it can punish short and neutral air dodges with the absorb vacuum effect.
• Use Rough Divide to catch floaty air dodges from further distance than Aerial Circle.
• To defend after an air dodge, use Beat Fang to clash with attacks or beat your opponent to the punch.

Counterstrategies

Majority of Squall's successful interactions happen in close range, but he has a few weaknesses. The recovery on his primary pokes can only be dodge cancelled on whiff (or late like with Thunder Barret), reducing variance in what he can do after whiffing an attack. Squall's whiff punishment is strong, but if he misses, there aren't many methods for mitigating risk.

His air dodges are floaty due to the fall speed ratio after dodging, and his post-dodge defense is average, clashing with the fastest braveries. This means Squall has to rely on mixing up dodge cancel timing to stay safe at higher levels of play, but he can struggle to land hits at all against some of the faster characters in the game.

Adamant Chains special effect bonus can be used to improve Squall's air dodge defense, but it will weaken the build in other areas.

As for building against Squall, Disable Sneak Attack extra ability is recommended. Because of Beat Fang, Squall can take advantage of Sneak Attack for higher critical hit rate and preventing that naturally decreases his damage output potential.

Offense

• Squall cannot cancel Beat Fang or most braveries into a block. This forces him to adjust the dodge cancel timing, making him more vulnerable to dashing and subsequent fast pokes. For example, Free Air Dashing through Squall can make Beat Fang whiff.
• Dodge punishment. Squall's most consistent option for covering his dodge is using Upper Blues or Beat Fang. If your timing is off or you're approaching from a long distance, be wary of clashing with it or straight up getting hit.
• Thunder Barret and Fire Barret are Ranged Low priority. Dashing or attacking through the projectiles on startup makes Squall vulnerable to quick punishes.

Defense

• Move sideways to evade Thunder Barret, or dash through it and hit Squall.
• Blasting Zone covers a lot of space. If you air dodge, make sure you will traverse outside of it's max range so that you're not caught at the end.
• Being below Beat Fang can make it easier to avoid the attack.
• Fast runners (Tidus, Onion Knight, Tifa, Zidane) can also make Beat Fang whiff on the ground. Running sideways or away from Squall restricts his approaches to Upper Blues, dashing and HPs.
• Fast fallers (Tidus, Onion Knight, Kain, Kefka, Prishe) can avoid their air dodges being punished by Beat Fang. Air dodge directly away from Squall, but be wary of landing lag!
• Heel Crush is Melee Mid priority, which loses to higher priority blocks against Jecht, Exdeath, Cloud of Darkness and Vaan (during EX Mode).

Meter Usage

• Fire Barret can be countered by Firion's Shield Bash HP and Cloud of Darkness' Wrath HP
• If Squall uses Yuna air BRV assist during a combo, Assist Change right after the second hit. If Squall committed to Aerial Circle, you can try locking Yuna assist without much risk.
• LV2 Assist Change counters can be used to deter Squall from finishing Beat Fang on hit. The effectiveness depends on the character, but it is very powerful with characters such as Zidane and Jecht.
• Assist punishes (using assist to whiff punish) work well against most of his HPs
• Furthermore, intentionally getting hit by Aerial Circle and calling assist beforehand provides you with bravery break in exchange for health.
• Blasting Zone's tracking applies to Auto Assist Lock On as well. To make sure your assist is not hurt when punishing Squall for using the move, avoid being diagonally above Squall and call the assist a few frames before the blade has been slammed to the ground.
• Fire Barret can also be assist punished. Yuna assist is known to be consistent with this.