Ragna Critique and Self-Improvement Thread

[FlyingVe]

If anything,he should stop bursting early D: What the hell was that in the final round? and as far as CT Ragna vs Arakune, There's not much Ragna can do it's 7-3.

Technically it's 4-6, though I can't possibly figure out why. Ragna's totally helpless against a competent arakune (skye definitely counts as competent).

My thought's on the match:

1) Use ID more. I know ID can get you killed against arakune, but it's one of the few things in your favor in this matchup. If you see him trying to spit a cloud D.ID, see the jB, c.ID (I know it clashes sometimes but it's all you got). Also, when you do ID>(RC)>(falling)jC; dash in and continue pressure, don't back off.

2) Work on your mix-up. I saw almost no frame traps or overheads or throw shenanigans, meaning Sky just had to block low and wait it out.

3) About bursting. Bursting early is usually bad, but sometimes it's necessary against arakune so you don't wind up just getting cursed over and over again. Other ways to get out of curse include counter assaults, and grabs. Seriously, pink grab him, he'll break it (maybe) but curse is guaranteed to be over.

On another note, axis is really good at getting around that bell-bug, that sucker gets me way too much.

[-Ladon-]

Axis needs a bit of help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVTRLuBKaXY

rapid HF during non-curse to force mixup

had 100% heat when he got a blocked 5C in, should've either GH'd-rapid or moved in with HF-rapid

HF followup on kune when you're not at the corner is a really good way of getting rezoned, don't do it

BK can 6D clean on kune's distortion with spacing, he could've gone into a Dloop death combo.

needs more mixup when close, lot of opportunities to force kune into his range

22C wru~ I can't stretch how important it is against top 3 for ragna, keeping someone at your optimal range and not there's turns fights completely around.

[A.X.I.S.]

thanks for the critique.

my dad was streaming fucking hulu so i played like shiiit.

[Sadeyo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXjNyifUi8

As long as I have been playing CT my worst match-up happens to be Arakune when Jin is not black beating everyone of his combos. Arakune is known for his funky movement and unusual attacks. Sometimes they are just brokenly good.

Fought this person multiple times. Please provide pointers. BTW~I do play CS but not as frequently as others do at the arcades.

[Skye]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXjNyifUi8

As long as I have been playing CT my worst match-up happens to be Arakune when Jin is not black beating everyone of his combos. Arakune is known for his funky movement and unusual attacks. Sometimes they are just brokenly good.

Fought this person multiple times. Please provide pointers. BTW~I do play CS but not as frequently as others do at the arcades.

Well, some tips for Rawrgna.

Don't be too aggressive, pace yourself between a passive defense and a hardcore rush down, find your opportunities to be aggressive, work on your combos, I'm sure if you delay the GH follow up, that allows for extra damage and OTG. Don't be offensive when Arakune dives, block it or make it whiff and react to the recovery, Arakune is vulnerable for a tiny window, if you have troubles with blocking dive, chicken block it. Arakune's air to ground is too damn good, much better than his air to air, you should be in the air as much as he is, regardless of your position (defense or offense). End your block strings a bit early, kunes like to jump out, use that to your advantage, if they don't run up and continue pressure. Arakune has no meterless reversal, and often times, the best he can do to punish something on block is 5A > 6B > cloud/or j.6d gimmick. If Sonic knew about the 2b CH combo, I'd have way more advice for you, 2b fucks with Ragna about as much as it fucks with Bang (which in my experience is a lot), but to be on the safe side, if you face an Arakune who knows the power of 2b, space your jc and 5cs, TK Hades and all that.

I have some advice for this kune too (even though this isn't the thread to do ti XD Sorry Titanium.....)

Sadeyo, I'd appreciate if you sent this advice to him somehow.

I like his set ups, but he teleports too recklessly, he needs to learn more combo opportunities than what he was doing, 2b in particular, if Ragna isn't spacing himself, 2b CH equates to 6k off of you 10k HP. He needs to zone a bit better, make more use of Negative Edging as a lock down. He dive too much too, and he doesn't know quite how to capitalize on it on hit (he knows how to on CH though), if he's having troubles dive cancelling he should RC the dive into a combo. Poke with ja more, with good hit confirm, ja goes into 5k easy. 5C Ragna's jump ins. Against Ragna it's perfectly safe unless it whiffs somehow, you could 2b his jump ins, but 2b has no invincibility and it's harder to time, plus 2b combos must be on CH. if you dive Ragna when cursed, you can use the b/c bugs to go into a loop.

You also need to pace yourself, I know from first hand experience, an impatient and overly aggressive Arakune is a dead one vs a good player, be more passive, with your aggression being more spontaneous, in reaction to an opening. Arakune's j6ab or c beats GH, and goes into 5k, but you sorta have to yomi it, which is why it's generally favorable for Ragna, since you have to guess or you won't hit him in time.

Lastly a bit of tips for your 6c loops. You're very basic with them, and that's not bad at all, but if you wanna spice your loops up get some added damage in try this loop, and with practice you can milk 3 reps instead of 2.

[6c > 6a bug > 5c > 2c > 2b/6a bug]

This adds in some really good extra damage for your loops, and again with practice and a bit of timing, you can get 3 reps with this, be sure to recurse just with jc > jd.

This loop is a bit hard to do on Nu, so stay basic on her.

[Sadeyo]

My aggression may happen to be my downfall when I play as Ragna but his fluid movements with all the powerful links during an attack string that manages to connect. Oh sweet justice. It's just that I hardly meet players that are able to withstand my Ragna approach. I'll gladly change it up some if it makes the match-up that much easier.

I know most of Ragna powerful links and my favorite would happen to be anything right after 6C. Had more replays but deleted them all since I play CS on the weekends.

Don't worry Skye. I'll get the information to him somehow. It's just that he repeats that he's the best Arakune on PSN and why refuse. I know damn well my Ragna is powerful. If only My Rachel could reach that pinnacle or possibly surpass it now.

[Skye]

If that's the best kune on PSN, then you guys need to come over to XBL.

[-Ladon-]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXjNyifUi8

As long as I have been playing CT my worst match-up happens to be Arakune when Jin is not black beating everyone of his combos. Arakune is known for his funky movement and unusual attacks. Sometimes they are just brokenly good.

Fought this person multiple times. Please provide pointers. BTW~I do play CS but not as frequently as others do at the arcades.

Same block string used, could've canceled at different times to force mixup, didn't use a mid trap to force high damage

I keep stressing this but don't follow up HF against the big 3 unless they're in the corner, rapid into a 22c or just restart pressure after it connects, forcing them back into a place they're comfy in(away from you) is a really great way to turn the match against you.

forward throw combo should be late GH delay-5c-jc-j.B-j.C-j.C-j.D-D ID

random carnage scissors, random blood kain don't work well ever, just save your heat for safe ID wakeups and HF/GH mixup zoning.

Kune's beam distortion can be counter-hit by blood kain 6d, just react to it when you see it with blood kain and end the match or force a burst, either way it's a pretty sealed deal once they do it and you're safe.

should've done some airthrow attempts when he was just jumping to jump instead of doing a blockstring, if you are doing a blockstring try to force them to the ground with you with j.A then setup a 6A into air combo.

never everevereverevereverevereverevereververeverever use 236C followup on kune with ID, it's the same idea has HF followup, it puts you in a situation you have to rezone into.

oh and, MORE 22C

If that's the best kune on PSN, then you guys need to come over to XBL.

not close

[Sadeyo]

It was already hard trying to keep the Arakune on the ground. I sort of felt dumb after the few RC's right after HF. I knew they wouldn't be completed into 22C but it was enough for me to keep him on the ground a tad bit longer (Go figure; to pull it off correctly after that string is only in the corner).

The random Blood Kain wasn't actually random. I was just using the frames to my advantage. ID © was actually the smartest choice at that given moment so that after the wall bounce I could 5B and 5D and end it with GH if they survived a little bit longer.

Carnage scissors was random. Actually the biggest waste of heat so far in the fight. Just a race to get to him first before he took to the skies again. Arakune beam could have been countered in multiple ways. I was aiming for a 2D instead 236D. Don't know how I got Inferno Divider at that point. Tried to save it with 2D again for a counter hit.

5C jump cancel after the forward throw gots a crazy time I haven't gotten it down yet. Which is why I did the safe forward throw follow-up.

I really have no idea how to approach Arakune in the skies. His normals have a good hit box as his bugs gots stupid priority whatever Ragna manages to dish out. Broke their guard multiple times which actually felt good.

Managing 22C in this fight was also hard. I was really trusting my counters.

[A.X.I.S.]

quit mashing tech during curse...A bug is unblockable.

also if ara does a jump and you think he's gonna do something do a TK GH or 6A...no reason to give him room to breathe. if he has a cloud then take your time...depending on the cloud depends on what you should do.

and once you knock him down throw in some meaty lows and overheads to keep him from mashing jump on wake-up.

and when you RC HF you can throw out 6B or 5A>6B or tick grab...just keep him scared and stay close.

this match up sucks! you don't want a reason to make it suck more.

lastly you can also use dead spike as a punish to ara's laser super if you don't got the meter.

CH dead spike has some pretty good starting proration.

[Sadeyo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7CeHBbfP_M

Is this better lock down? No room to breathe and a very cautious approach. My friend here is a good Arakune and we go back and forth when he doesn't zone (Normally he refuses to zone). There's more videos on youtube when I fought him.

Provide feed back and maybe some more ideas how to make this match my bi-.... I finally found a troublesome Litchi right after Kenshuma. DJHUOSHEN. May need some Litchi match-up advice in the late future.

[Plants]

I'm not really a Ragna player,so it's probably a good idea to take my advice with many,many grains of salt. I noticed you seem to be fishing for counter hits alot,which,isn't really such a bad idea if you're using 5b or something that's somewhat safe,but you used ID when you didn't have the meter to RC.

[A.X.I.S.]

RC your shit if you got meter.

also your friend needs to learn his character. its no reason ragna should be steam rolling ara.

[FlyingVe]

Quite frankly it looked like you played just fine. However, the arakune player really needs to learn to block, and move better. He kind of just kept getting hit by stuff, which meant that you never had to go beyond dash in 5B and 6A.

I watched another few matches that the two of you played, and the only advice i have is pretty general for arakune (that cheap POS character). Remember to block his jD low, and if you charging him for a meaty and he does a super, hold barrier during the flash, it should cancel the meaty and let you block/punish the super. But yeah, it vs arakune so there really is only so much ragna can do.

[Sadeyo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVZ_7SrOaMw

Took a less aggressive approach or tried to. Seems by playing calm and looking at Arakune animation I could bait out some of its drive attacks. Less curse against me made the fight that much easier. Though here's an issue of my own. How do you handle a zoning Arakune? They curse you and parachute away. I thought this was brilliant but not it's best. Oh right, Did the 5b 6c GH (delayed) 5b 6a <---The 6a didn't connect so I'm wondering if I mistimed it or the 5b altered the range. In the past I normally get it to all connect but loled after dropping a 4k combo oppurtunity.

[A.X.I.S.]

0:31 why did you let him summon a cloud easy like that? if you see ara jumping back step in, if he clouds then TK GH it will more often than not let you net a easy 4k for trying and you can block or AA in case its not cloud.

0:32 a a forward jump or IAD would be better, that GH was obvious and your lucky he didn't try to punish with a IB punish.

50ish don't mash tech when cursed and if your in the air please barrier block.

1:05 no full screen hells fang, also its nice to see you get punished for that GH...another case of jumping normally or IADing would work.

1:43 lol dead spike RC really? hells fang would have been safer.

end of first round...if you did ID instead you would have scored a CH...quit mashing out your tech. -_-

2:02 your combo dropped because you didn't delay the follow up long enough.

2:13 airgrab moment

2:30 5D>GH is not legit...also 6A and 3C can be jump canceled, another thing he was commited to barrier jumping...grab that ass.

2:52 bellbug=hells fang, he's not controlling his bugs right...capitalize, also be less liberal in your movements when cursed...you want to strike when he thinks he's safe lol.

3:21 combo dropped because you have to do 5B>623D follow up in otherword's your too far, also buffer your stuff when teching, he didn't respect your space at all in that one.

3:41 bad ID! he was too far!

3:51 no just kill him he could have teleported and then you would feel like shit.

when ara wants to zone you block out the curse while proceeding towards him, thats how I try to get to skye, not gonna always work as ara is suppose to be hard to catch.

in a 6C>GH delay combo you can actually dash 5B>6A in some cases.

pretty much the match in a nutshell, your ragna is a bit messy.

[VR-Raiden]

Oh right, Did the 5b 6c GH (delayed) 5b 6a <---The 6a didn't connect so I'm wondering if I mistimed it or the 5b altered the range. In the past I normally get it to all connect but loled after dropping a 4k combo oppurtunity.

If you're talking about in the last round, if you do it from a CH HF you have to dash into the first 5B or be really in his face, and after the 6A you have to end your air combo really early. But in that situation if you start with 5C after the CH HF you get more damage. Though if you can, double meterless 22C combo should be the one you go for after CH HF, especially on Arakune cause he's one of the easier characters to do it on.

[FlyingVe]

My thoughts:

1)If you land a 2D, i strongly recommend a different combo. 2D>5C(1)>(immediate)HF(1)>22C>5B>5C>HF. Works on everybody but midgets (carl, Rachel), and is very, very finicky on Tao/Jin. Also, doesn't work at max range, and sometimes it's good to leave out the final 5C (timing get's really strict). It gives you 3.4k, and gives you the option of ending at the 22C, or adding a RC at the end for Dash5D>22C.

2)1:04, that part made me very sad, screw arakune. Wasn't a bad choice, in that situation many Arakunes do spitbug to keep you out, the HF can CH them, and will force them to block if they jump (then you can RC/5A to try and keep them locked down.

3)1:18, Taunt, you're cursed, he doesn't know any combos and is just spamming bugs, why not.

4)Near the end, bad blood cain. Also, if you see him teleport through the wall you can catch him with an ID, or Super jump and grab him.

5)1:40, you got a CH GH(1), that should lead to alot of damage, learn how to capitalize on that hit.

6)The bastard keeps slipping through jC, that has to be getting aggravating.

7)2:05, hit confirm you anti-airs, if it's a CH you can follow up with Dash5B>5D>(DC)>6A>air loop, and if not you have plenty of time to do the combo you did.

8)Full screen Hell's fang is bad. especially against Kune,

9)2:59, there we go, punish that Teleport

10)3:22, what VR said, double 22C pick-up combo is all kinds of awesome.

Wasn't a bad match overall. I would really like to see you play a better arkune player though. You get one that actually knows what they're doing, and it's a whole different matchup.

[Sadeyo]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Still applying different tactics for every Arakune I fight. The only time when my fighting doesn't actually look fighting but flailng through the air. You'll understand that I'm better player SolBadass against other match-ups other then Arakune but as I mentioned before I like to have this fight in my advantage. I hardly deal with offline CS Arakune but once I hop online I may or may not have to deal with more.

FlyingVe, The 2d hit confirm you mentioned. Online I keep getting that combo as a black beat so it's not really reliable in my opinion. The CH GH it much easier to abuse when your on the ground not in BK state. Own personal experience. Arakune is the only character that requires me to go bk but the other cast I can defeat easily reserving heat much easier or for better purposes.

VR-Raiden

Completely slipped my mind for the double 22c combo. I would have net some good damage from that as well. Maybe my mind was telling me to play this safely.

In the end I'll search out some better Ara. I can at least think of three but I hardly see them online anymore. Offline recordings are going to be very rare until CS and possibly any other good fighters.

[FlyingVe]

For what it's worth there are a few tricks to the 2D combo:

2D>5C>5D(1)>HF(1)>22C>5B>5C>HF

1)The cancel from 5C to 5D must be done as fast as possible

2)The cancel from 5D(1) into the HF(1), must also be done the instant the 5D hits (a little later on Tao/Jin, but i don't recommend the combo on them because of how finicky it is)

3)The 22C timing is character specific but fairly lenient

4)In order to get the 5B>5C to combo you must link from 22C to 5B almost perfectly. (online I go straight from 5B to HF to prevent myself from looking really stupid)

5)Sometimes you'll cross Tager up during the combo, don't be startled it doesn't actually affect you ability to do it.

[Sadeyo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksPq5ly990Q

Some of regrets in this fight is using 2D instead of 5d at times. I took some good damage after the recovery. Regrettably I had different wake-up plans in corners but in the end I settled for ID rapid right after (sort of noobish).

Honestly speaking this is one of our few good Bangs on PSN and I thought I challenge him for kicks. Provide tips as usual.

I didn't import CS so I'll be waiting a few days extra.

[A.X.I.S.]

use more 22C and when you do use 2B or 6B for resets and only 5B for the follow up combo or to add damage.

don't use 2D so close and when fighting bang always keep him at mid range.

you did ok on this one, you just missed out on some good 22C's.

[Yggjrasil]

Me trolling as Ragna in CS :3 ENJOY!

[Sadeyo]

Me trolling as Ragna in CS :3 ENJOY!

Oh Snap! RTSD and spam that Belial Edge lol.

On the cool you need more 6C when the oppturtunity arises.

[FunkyTofuMonsta]

Me trolling as Ragna in CS :3 ENJOY!

Okay, dont do 6A jB jC jC because it brings you too high to land berial 100% of the time. if you land 6A go into jC jD jC/D. jB jC jC is optimal after 5D DC. It works better if you do somethng like 5B 6A 5D(1) 214B 214D 5C jB jC jC if you MUST use SJ jB. But you could do better combos.

Get a feel for the length of ragna's normals. you dont capitalize on hits like you should.

Get a feel for ragna's proration and combo ability as well. You tack on a bunch of hits before 3C, then 5D DC 5C and jC. That will DEFINITELY whiff. You should just take the oki. Learn when to cut the combo short because proration is too high to follow up at certain ranges. 5C doesnt offer very much hitstun to follow up, but if you landed 6A or was in 6A distance, you could have done so. But overall. just get a feel for how well you can combo based on distance. Learning how much you can do to capitalize on your hits is super important! blue beat combos are not allowed! >

youre okay.