Expert - Guard Cancels

In the section on the Arcana Gauge, we discussed Homing Cancels and how they let you extend combos.

That's how Homing Cancels work on offense, but you can use them in defense too.

While blocking, you can Guard Cancel with either 4D or 6D. These produce Backwards and Forwards Guard Cancels, respectively - also known as 4GC and 6GC.

Backwards Guard cancels make you backdash away from the opponent, then Homing dash in towards them. This can be used to punish big moves, which whiff as you move backwards and then dash in to combo. Remember that you start in the air here, so you usually start with something like jumping A.

Forwards Guard cancels give you a dash towards the opponent, and for its duration you are covered in a shield which gives you massive amounts of clash frames. Basically, if your opponent tries to hit you during this, it's going to clash. Be warned, though - there's a small window AFTER the dash that's punishable if your opponent's expecting it.

Both these cancels cost 1 meter, and can be used to punish otherwise safe moves and interrupt blockstrings.

And with that, I've covered everything that comes to mind about the Arcana Heart system mechanics! If you haven't been paying attention, I've got a special recap designed to reel in all those fence busters...