Author/Twitter handle: @TSB_A3Religion, @ novriltataki

Character Discord Server: https://discord.gg/0sTHJeygKh7PsSvq

Day 1 Combo
2K->c.S->5H->214K
Day 1 Blockstring
2K->c.S->5H->214K

General style

Johnny is a moderate-risk/high-reward character that dominates the match at third to half screen distance, as long as he successfully predicts the opponent’s location. While his offense depends on his limited number of coins, his high damage output means he doesn’t need more than a few good hits to take the round. Be warned that he is one of the more execution heavy characters in the game.

1. Neutral: Pokes, Space control, far range converting

Johnny’s most important special move is the Mist Finer(214P/K/S), which has 3 levels of power. At level 1 it’s used in a very similar fashion to his far reaching normals, but at levels 2 and 3 it turns every small combo into a bigger combo. Johnny’s effectiveness is highly dependant on getting access to level 2 and especially to level 3 Mist Finers, and this is done with his limited resource of coins.

His second key special move is the coin toss(236H). Johnny starts each round with only 8 coins, and successfully hitting the opponent with a coin raises one level for the next Mist Finer used. So to access a single level 3 Mist Finer he needs to hit with 2 coins first.

To guarantee the coins hit and are not wasted, they are usually used at the end of combos (for example, ground combo->2D->236H). Once you hit with a coin, don’t be so quick to waste the level 2/3 Mist Finer as a poke. Save the levels for the guaranteed damage in combos.

The coins can also be used to cover Johnny and let him move in closer to the opponent (Something that normally Johnny can’t do easily, because he has a forward hop instead of a run) but this should be done very sparingly as Johnny really needs his level 3’s.

It also means that while most of the characters in the game offer a lot of flexibility in combos, Johnny’s dependency on limited resources forces him to make every hit count and successfully execute hard, character specific combos. At least his super, Treasure Hunt (632146S), allows him to get a few coins back when it hits.

Johnny’s normals are blessed with an overpowered combination of range, speed, power, and safety on block (considering his ability to Mist Cancel them) but they all cover extremely specific areas on the screen, and many of them have long recovery if they whiff, leaving Johnny open for punishment. This forces Johnny to predict the opponent’s position very accurately, but also rewards him for it.

Mist Canceling: By canceling normals into Mist Stance (Doing a Mist Finer but holding the button) and then quickly canceling out of Mist Stance by pressing H. If done right, it can drastically reduce the recovery of his normals. When you have higher MF level charged this cancel becomes even faster, making Johnny a frame advantage monster.

Johnny’s main normals in neutral are 5K,f.S,2S and 5H.

*5K- An all around great poke, and its only major flaw is that it loses to upper body invincibility and low profile.

*f.S- Comes out insanely fast, and has great range. But it has a low blindspot just like 5K, and also recovers very slowly on whiff. Always cancel it into other normals, like 6H, or into Mist Cancel.

*2S- While 2 frame slower than f.S, and has very limited cancel options, it has even more range than f.S, hits low, and covers the blindspot of 5K/f.S.

*5H- Very fast for an H normal, and a staple in Johnny’s chain routes. Mist Canceling it on block is ideal. As a starter you basically trade a tiny bit of startup speed with a big reward in case of a counter hit.

*6K- Johnny can’t run in and attack, but he has this instead. Big reward on hit, and only -1 on block. It can also evade high enough moves with the upper body invincibility it has at the start. Be careful to not dash into lower pokes though. You can also YRC right before it hits and then go for a low/throw mixup.

In the air, Johnny’s tools are great as well.

*j.P- Mini air-to-air and the fastest air normal.
*j.K- Mini air-to-ground and can crossup.
*j.S- The main air-to-air. Poke them in the eye with the tip.
*j.H- The main air-to-ground. Poke them in the eye with the tip.

*j.623K- This makes opponents afraid to anti-air Johnny. With a YRC Johnny forces his way in and the opponent can do nothing but block.

*j.214P/K/S- Mist Finers and Mist Cancels change Johnny’s trajectory and can help make his aerial location unpredictable.

2. Offense: Pressure, close range converting, mixups and okizeme

The threat of Johnny’s offense comes from Mist Canceling his normals and create frame traps. On block it keeps him with big frame advantages and on hit he can get his strong combos at any range, so he doesn’t really need to get to point blank range.

He still has to advance to compensate for the pushback, and he does that by mixing his frame trap with different approaches: Dash throw / coin->dash / 623K->K->YRC.

Mixups are not Johnny’s strong point but they do their job to encourage defensive opponents to eventually get hit by the frame traps.

*2H- This normal not only makes it harder for the opponents to jump out of pressure but canceling it into a low to the ground aerial Mist Finer also allows Johnny to extend his offense by mixing between different options: Either finish the Mist Finer, or Mist Cancel and then mix between airdash attacks, land->low, and land->throw. (Note that the airdash option is only possible at levels 2 and 3.)

YRCing 623K->K and j.623K also allows Johnny to go for a mixup while the opponents are stuck in blockstun.

In the corner Johnny can be more threatening as after knockdown he can force opponents to wake up into a Bacchus Sigh (41236P) which makes his next Mist Finer guarantee a combo even when blocked.

3. Defense: Anti-airs, fending off pressure, and reversals

Johnny has 3 good anti-airs:
*6P- The main anti-air.
*5P- Fast and situational.
*214P- Has great reach but has to be done early.

*2P- Johnny’s fastest attack for getting out of pressure. It has limited range though, so blocking well and utilizing Faultless Defense and Instant Block is important, as well as his backdash, which is so fast and evasive that it’s also useful when he’s cornered.

2363214H- Johnny’s reversal super is only -6 on block, making it hard to punish, but it will lose to attacks with low profile.

4. Meter Usage Priorities

Johnny doesn’t need meter to do his damage, so he can spend it on different utilities. But in every matchup his priorities will be different, so there’s no real order to the uses mentioned here.
*Faultless Defense
*Dead Angle Attack
*Poke->RRC->dash->combo
*623K->K/j.623K YRC
*6K YRC
*41236P YRC
*Combo->Mist Stance Dash Treasure Hunt->continue combo
http://www.dustloop.com/wiki/index.php/GGXRD-R/Johnny/Combos#How_To_Do_Mist_Stance_Dash_Treasure_Hunt