SSJ Goku Strategy Guide SSJ Goku is a very strong character. He's got some insane ways to get in with his Teleport, which can cancel out of almost everything. His combos can start from quite nearly anything he lands with thanks to his Teleport and his huge cancel opportunities. They can also drag on for a very long time, so you'll have to wait if you're caught in a combo when he has meter. Keep your meter until you know you're going to connect with something and you'll be a strong ally to good, but a vengeful nightmare to your enemies! It's difficult to keep him out, but he's got a couple weaknesses to exploit. With no meter, he can't really do all that much. His Teleport is one of his most important tools, but it costs him meter. If he doesn't have meter, all he can do is play a flimsy keep away game and just try to run at his opponent. If he's kept out with no meter available, he's really going to have to try to win. Keep this in mind if you really want to get in.
System Notes
Power Charge:Goku seriously needs to use this whenever possible. Nearly all of his best tools require meter, and this builds him meter. If you want to forgo positioning yourself, use it when your opponent is knocked down to help bolster your opportunities.
Focus Smash:
This is handy if you can't find a minute to get your opponent off of you or you don't have the meter to get in on a zoning opponent. It's got one hit of super armor, so you can abuse that to keep your opponent off you so you can charge your power. It'll knock down and become unblockable when fully charged, so it's nice to remember that. Dash Canceling from it is also useful to follow up with combos.
Notable Normals
Flurry Punch/Fury Uppercut:
Here's Goku's main method of starting air combos. It's very reliable because Flurry Punch moves him forward, pretty much guaranteeing the follow up. Flurry Punch can also chain into 360 Split Kick for when your opponent is crouch-blocking Goku's assault.
Wing Kick/Strong Kick/Blur Mega/Blur Max:
Here's Goku's main attack from running. Wing Kick can jump over lows and grounded fireballs and it even hits overhead. Blur Mega can cancel into specials, allowing a good overhead to transfer into a massive combo, and Blur Max knocks the opponent all the way across the screen. It's a nice way to corner your opponent if you don't have the meter to extend the combo much further.
Boomerang Kick (Air SK):
This is Goku's main way of finishing air combos and extending his juggles in general. If you hold back as you jump over your opponent, you'll kick in their direction instead of whiffing pointlessly. It ground bounces aerial opponents, so it's his air combo ender of choice.
Taunt:
Apparently Goku doesn't like it when his opponent lags behind. He stops for a moment to ask what's wrong and will promptly continue beating your sorry ass.
Specials
Ki Blast:
A pretty unremarkable move. He takes a little while to recover from it, so he's not quite zoning material unless your opponent sucks at moving in. It can cancel into supers, but Ki Blast's real strength is canceling into its EX variant, G-Pressure. It also has some use in canceling into Teleport to keep your opponent grounded as you pummel them or to attack them from both sides if you use a slower Ki Blast.
G-Pressure:
This move is way too useful sometimes. It's an invisible Ki Blast that moves pretty quickly across the screen and wall-bounces the opponent. It costs meter and doesn't hit twice, but that's about it for downsides. Its wall-bounce ability makes it so you can hypothetically start a combo from nearly any distance. Not a zoning tool since Goku sucks at that, but it's awesome for combos.
Blast Fist:
Here's a nice move to use. It's got a small period of invincibility, but nothing too abusable. It can cancel into Teleport so it's possible to use it to extend a combo by Teleporting and using his aerial C to ground bounce for more juggles.
Slash Down Kick:
Here's Goku's main method of approaching from the air. It's safe on block, hits overhead, and leads to a combo on hit. The EX version hits three times and has Goku dash back on block just in case your opponent uses a guard-canceling attack (if they have one). Just don't abuse it too much if your opponent has an invincible anti-air, you might get too predictable for your own safety. Here's a mean trick with Teleport: use B+C Teleport (in the air and behind) and Slash Down from there. It's an instant cross-up from anywhere on screen that pretty much guarantees a combo.
Teleport:
I'm not gonna lie now, Goku's reliance on this move is practically an addiction. It costs meter, so you'd better make sure using it is worth the meter spent. It can cancel out of nearly everything that isn't a Super, but it can be used for Warp Kamehameha (more on that later). It allows some very mean set-ups like some described in the other moves' entries. It's also pretty much instant, so it's really difficult to punish correctly. There's a limit of three Teleports per combo (five in Justice Mode), so you can't abuse it that much.
Teleport Attacks:
These moves can only be done in Justice Mode, but they're pretty handy to extend combos when they'd otherwise end. Different directions equal different attacks, and these ones can wall/ground bounce as many times as the teleport limit will allow. They allow instant punishes from anywhere on screen far better than even just plain Teleporting.
Supers
Kamehameha:
This move's a great tool to eat through your opponent's fireball-based efforts and can also be used in the air and even aimed upwards. It's not exactly a great tool for most combos since it is horribly affected by damage scaling. You can also use Teleport during the Lvl1 version's superpause to help get the jump on your opponent.
Sonic Rush / Supersonic Rush
This move can make a nice anti-air if you can get the angle correctly, but neither can connect on a grounded opponent. Supersonic Rush is even unblockable, allowing some really nasty stuff to be pulled on the opponent. Their real strength, however, lies in their ignorance of Damage Scaling. Goku's combos don't rack up too much damage, but Sonic Rush subverts this by ignoring it. This makes it an ideal combo ender whenever possible, just remember that it's really annoying to connect with in certain situations and you're gold.
Justice Mode
This mode's really nice to use when you get the chance. It allows pretty much unlimited Teleports until the Buffer Bar runs out, but its real strength relies in the Teleport Attacks, which were described previously. The higher Buffer Bar levels also play a part in Hyper Rush's enders; the higher the level, the greater the finisher will be. Hyper Rush costs two meters in this mode, so don't expect to land any of the finishers in a normal match too often.
Hyper Rush
This move is a really quick Ranbu that nearly reaches full screen, but Goku's reliance on meter for G-Pressure and Teleport mean you won't be using this move too often. It's a nice move to combo into since it does a lot of damage, but there's not too much else to say about it aside from that fact that it looks freaking awesome.
Combos:
A pretty unremarkable move. He takes a little while to recover from it, so he's not quite zoning material unless your opponent sucks at moving in. It can cancel into supers, but Ki Blast's real strength is canceling into its EX variant, G-Pressure. It also has some use in canceling into Teleport to keep your opponent grounded as you pummel them or to attack them from both sides if you use a slower Ki Blast.
G-Pressure:
This move is way too useful sometimes. It's an invisible Ki Blast that moves pretty quickly across the screen and wall-bounces the opponent. It costs meter and doesn't hit twice, but that's about it for downsides. Its wall-bounce ability makes it so you can hypothetically start a combo from nearly any distance. Not a zoning tool since Goku sucks at that, but it's awesome for combos.
Blast Fist:
Here's a nice move to use. It's got a small period of invincibility, but nothing too abusable. It can cancel into Teleport so it's possible to use it to extend a combo by Teleporting and using his aerial C to ground bounce for more juggles.
Slash Down Kick:
Here's Goku's main method of approaching from the air. It's safe on block, hits overhead, and leads to a combo on hit. The EX version hits three times and has Goku dash back on block just in case your opponent uses a guard-canceling attack (if they have one). Just don't abuse it too much if your opponent has an invincible anti-air, you might get too predictable for your own safety. Here's a mean trick with Teleport: use B+C Teleport (in the air and behind) and Slash Down from there. It's an instant cross-up from anywhere on screen that pretty much guarantees a combo.
Teleport:
I'm not gonna lie now, Goku's reliance on this move is practically an addiction. It costs meter, so you'd better make sure using it is worth the meter spent. It can cancel out of nearly everything that isn't a Super, but it can be used for Warp Kamehameha (more on that later). It allows some very mean set-ups like some described in the other moves' entries. It's also pretty much instant, so it's really difficult to punish correctly. There's a limit of three Teleports per combo (five in Justice Mode), so you can't abuse it that much.
Teleport Attacks:
These moves can only be done in Justice Mode, but they're pretty handy to extend combos when they'd otherwise end. Different directions equal different attacks, and these ones can wall/ground bounce as many times as the teleport limit will allow. They allow instant punishes from anywhere on screen far better than even just plain Teleporting.
Supers
Kamehameha:
This move's a great tool to eat through your opponent's fireball-based efforts and can also be used in the air and even aimed upwards. It's not exactly a great tool for most combos since it is horribly affected by damage scaling. You can also use Teleport during the Lvl1 version's superpause to help get the jump on your opponent.
Sonic Rush / Supersonic Rush
This move can make a nice anti-air if you can get the angle correctly, but neither can connect on a grounded opponent. Supersonic Rush is even unblockable, allowing some really nasty stuff to be pulled on the opponent. Their real strength, however, lies in their ignorance of Damage Scaling. Goku's combos don't rack up too much damage, but Sonic Rush subverts this by ignoring it. This makes it an ideal combo ender whenever possible, just remember that it's really annoying to connect with in certain situations and you're gold.
Justice Mode
This mode's really nice to use when you get the chance. It allows pretty much unlimited Teleports until the Buffer Bar runs out, but its real strength relies in the Teleport Attacks, which were described previously. The higher Buffer Bar levels also play a part in Hyper Rush's enders; the higher the level, the greater the finisher will be. Hyper Rush costs two meters in this mode, so don't expect to land any of the finishers in a normal match too often.
Hyper Rush
This move is a really quick Ranbu that nearly reaches full screen, but Goku's reliance on meter for G-Pressure and Teleport mean you won't be using this move too often. It's a nice move to combo into since it does a lot of damage, but there's not too much else to say about it aside from that fact that it looks freaking awesome.
Combos:
Goku's combos are far too varied to ever be able to list every single one. Here's just a few examples that all show a bit more of what he's capable of doing with his precious meter.
- Wing Kick, Standing C, Blur Mega, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, G-Pressure, Wing Kick, Standing C, Blur Mega, Blur Max295 Damage
1/2 Meter
This is a basic midscreen combo that allows Goku to knock his opponent way back to the corner. The Wing Kick isn't necessary, but it guarantees that the combo can be landed even with no meter.
- X, Y, Flurry Punch, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Teleport, Y, Flurry Punch, Z Blast Fist, Teleport, Aerial C, Sonic Fist
336 Damage
2 Meter
Here's a more complex that helps demonstrate Teleport's usefulness in his combos. I'd recommend Y+Z for the first Teleport and either X+Z or Y+Z for the second Teleport, though A+C or B+C work nice for styling if you're confident that it'll hit.
- X, Y, C, Blur Mega, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Hyper Rush
505 Damage
3 Meter
It's costly and leaves Goku with no meter to Teleport around, but it's a really great way to finish the opponent. Pretty unremarkable, otherwise.
- X, Y, C, Blur Mega, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Teleport, Y, C, Blur Mega, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Teleport, Y, C, Blur Mega, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Ki Blast, Teleport, Y, Flurry Punch, Fury Uppercut, Aerial Y, Aerial C, Sonic Rush
518 Damage
2 1/2 Meter
Here's a really stylish way to help stage a comeback or finish the opponent off. It also goes to show that Teleport is pretty much superior to Hyper Rush in meter-reliant combos and whatnot.