Behemoth Typhoons and You: A Guide to Surviving American Imperialism

This guide is a quick overview of Goldlewis Dickinson's behemoth typhoons, and what you need to know when defending against them. gifs used are recorded from Lolo's excellent (but somewhat outdated) guide to the character. I'll go through and replace them with cleaner recordings when I have the energy.

684:

12f startup, -5 on block. This is goldlewis' default combo ender with great oki and it's a safe buffer off of p and k normals. It has a deadzone in front of goldlewis that doesn't come up super often, but sometimes it'll just miss entirely and you get a punish. Strong but situational neutral tool, as it has good range and anti-airs, but is EXTREMELY PUNISHABLE on whiff - if you let me get away with whiff 684 into 684 in neutral i will judge you for eternity. Has strong reward when goldlewis has meter with a prc forward, or on counterhit with a security cancel into 426H for a wallbounce when midscreen or closer. is very rarely punishable due to the deadzone at the range where p normals would connect, leading to spaced rps where your midrange pokes will beat most things goldlewis do, but may lose to j.d/6p/spacing traps. If blocked from further away, gls will often either swing again or try and greed out a drone. Security canceling this move into 268 will also frametrap or spacing trap at many ranges for a high-reward counterhit confirm.

624:

also 12f startup, also -5 on block. Better than 684 in a lot of ways, but gives such doodoo dogwater oki that it's rarely used. Has an easier input and slightly larger range on the first set of active frames, making it a go-to for whiff punishes or max range challenges in neutral. Other than that, it's mostly used as a combo ender to break the wall, as 684's launch is too vertical for it to splat unless you're already against the wall. Also very difficult to rc and convert off of at further ranges, as the shockwave won't reach. You should probably rps on wakeup if you get knocked down by this - one of my only ways to catch backdash is with a delay meaty 624 again, which is easily beaten by wake-up buttons. Because the oki midscreen is so bad, gls will often set up drone and take an advantaged neutral situation over the meaty.

486:

the slow overhead. Hits on frame 30 against crouching characters and some shorter chars standing, and frame 29 against most standing characters. +14-15 on block. This is one of goldlewises' main greedy reset options, and his reward for mental stacking you to hell and back. I won't flame you for holding this sometimes, but i will judge if you get hit overhead. Groundbounces for good damage meterless, on normal hit or CH. If i think you're respecting me too much I will do 486 over and over in the corner until you choose an option. A very consistent answer to this is to backdash it on reaction - this can be difficult for 4f invul characters, as it has 3 active frames on the last hitbox, but should be fairly reliable for 5f+ backdashes. Goldlewis also extends his hitbox forward during startup, so mashing a p normal, 6p, 5k, or fast f.s will work from further ranges than you might expect. 486 moves goldlewis forward and has a lot of range (buffed this patch), so it's excellent at catching attempts to backdash out of his pressure strings midscreen. 486 SC 486 is also an extremely scary gapless pressure extension, as the forward movement offsets the pushback from FDing behemoths. Speaking of FD, if you block this point-blank and aren't FDing for some reason, I get to meterlessly f.shiki you with j.k. Always FD against this character. I can also prc forward to set up the same f.shiki (GL can do this off of any stand-blocked BT, but this being an overhead means it's always stand-blocked).

426:

26f startup point blank, 29f when spaced out. +12-16 on block. Rarely used outside of the corner, but extremely devastating when you are cornered. Its wallbounce is a primary part of GL's corner combo theory, and it also serves as an alternative to 486 in corner pressure. The main benefits of using it instead are it not extending his hurtbox during startup, meaning it can spacing trap, it beating 6ps much more reliably, and its incredibly high reward on hit, especially when catching an airborne backdash or on CH. However, the lack of forward momentum means that his options after are more limited, and it's much easier to jump over. Additionally, its long-distance knockdown means it sees next to no use outside of the corner, although it can be a DP safe meaty situationally due to the disjoint.

268:

God's gift to Goldlewis pressure. Out of all the behemoths, this is the one that cements his reputation as a pressure monster. Startup and frame advantage vary with distance, from 15f startup and +6 when point blank to 23f startup and +14 at the very end. Usually, a special cancel will leave it somewhere in between, around +9. doing dash kara 268 off of c.S is the backbone of GL pressure - it's often gapless, but will sometimes leave a 1 or 2 frame gap, depending on spacing. Delay canceling into it is also very strong, as CH 268 is capable of evaporating life bars. 268 is a go-to meaty as well, because it's very plus, catches backdash, and guard crushes, preventing yrc and setting up a 50/50 strike-throw situation. However, people often give 268 slightly more respect than it actually earns. After a FDed c.S kara 268, goldlewis is too far away to get strong pressure safely. Although dash close slash is an option to loop the situation, GL is too slow for it to be a tight blockstring. 268 268 is similarly loose. To keep things tight, gl either has to go for an immediate f.s, 2s, 5k, or a dash 2k. All of these have middling cancel options, with 684 being the primary frametrap. Although 2/5k 268 feels somewhat real, it does leave a mashable gap. 268's security cancels are decent, with SC 426 being incredible on hit midscreen while also serving as a strong pressure reset and SC 842 threatening a low option, although it has a tendency to whiff when even somewhat spaced.

248:

Goldlewis' fast low, 12f startup, +3 on block. Easily wins the "Most Improved Behemoth Typhoon" award. The only one of GL's fastest BTs that is plus, making it a scary cancel off of close 2ps and 2ks. The initial hitbox used to be so small that it would whiff on a FDed close slash, even with a dash kara. However, this patch increased it substantially, granting it new uses in combos and pressure. It is the least plus of GL's plus on block BTs at only +3, meaning that his options to keep strings tight are limited. The main frametrap afterwards will be his 7f 2k to beat mashes, which is backdashable at further ranges. GLs often treat this move as more plus than it is and try to run up c.S or 268 or something similar - this is fake, but could catch backdash or fuzzy timings. Where 248 really shines, though, is its new security cancel options. Once GL has security, RPSing after 248 becomes much scarier, as SC 862 forms a 1-2f gap into a very plus overhead, SC 486 is a brutal pressure reset, SC 426 is extremely high reward on hit, and canceling back into 248 can gaplessly catch fuzzy jump or backdash inputs as a low.

8x2s:

Finally, we have the 8x2s. This first section will apply to both of them, as they're similar to each other in many ways. These behemoths are EXTREMELY difficult to input in neutral, requiring near frame-perfect inputs to complete the motion during prejump. Because of this, they are usually seen when kara canceled off of c.s, delay canceled off of otg 2k in the corner, used after prc pressure extensions, or buffered behind a 5/2p for a meaty. If you see a goldlewis whiff a p normal while you're knocked down, they're either playing mind games with you or trying to mix you with these, and you can dp or backdash to avoid it safely. When 8x2s are not used meaty, they are fuzzy blockable, backdashable on reaction, or usually mashable (but these options all require you to be locked in).If I ever get godlike enough to do these raw or you play against one of the ~10 people in the world that can do it consistently, they can also be very strong antiairs but don't worry about that for now.

862:

Goldlewis' faster overhead, with 21f startup for standing and 23f for crouching opponents, ~+12. Trades with 5f mashes when canceled off of c.S and loses to faster mashes. When done as a dash kara, also susceptible to getting thrown out of startup. Doesn't combo meterless, but can on counterhit, with security cancel 248, or when made to hit meaty, and sets up GL's oppressive oki regardless. Very important move to learn to backdash, which is made much easier by crouching right until you input the backdash so you have as much time as possible. If backdashed, 20f backdashes will be about +2, so adjust accordingly for your character's frame data to understand the situation. Although the block situation is excellent already, it can also be security canceled into 248 for a low, another 862, or 486 for plus frames, or can be prced to set up the same f.shiki as 486.

842:

Goldlewis' slow low. Hits most characters frame 25. At +16 on block, it's GL's most plus behemoth, but it also has the shortest range. Confirms into 5k or 248 on normal hit, and can wall break meterlessly in corner. Not very common in pressure outside of meaties or prc extensions, as it's liable to whiff. This can be mitigated by using a dash kara after c.S, but that can be thrown on reaction reliably. Its short range combined with only the last active frames hitting most characters means it's also a reliable backdash point, although 20f backdashes will be +-1f afterwards, so most characters don't get a punish even when cornered. Against Faust and Potemkin, their standing hurtboxes are also so tall that the first hitbox will connect with them, which is not a low and is only +5.

That's all of them! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message on discord. Hopefully you learned something new.