[CS1] Lambda vs Arakune

[DOAIsBetter]

Ok so I feel bad I even lose this matchup knowing it is seriously in her favor, but really I have no idea what to do. Once I am cursed it is all over and I have serious problems when he gets directly above me. Can anyone help me out?

edit: To add to it when I do survive a curse they will run away until time out.

[kenja0]

Arakune is an aerial Tager. He has all the tools a Tager has with slight variations. His 'magnetism' pulls bugs to you after filling a bar. He has no invincibility or priority versing projectiles- making it hard to deal with straight up zoning. And lastly, his aerial momentum is sluggishly slow in place of Tager's ground game.

Obviously, Arakune is mega threatening with his curse- a full curse on a pro level scale leads to a 70% chance of death. The problem is, the spacing it requires for him to hit with a curse is literally impossible to set up on a Lambda who exercises proper zoning. You're going to be on your toes in movement- but unlike Carl, you don't have to stress out about it- Arakune hasn't the evasion to keep up with Lambda.

The matchup stands at 65-35 Lambda's favor.

Filling the Curse Bar

Arakune can fill up a curse bar in two places- up close when on the ground and long range when in the air. There is no median for him against an opponent who can instantly shift between the two in position and attack.

Lambda should never be close to anyone, ever. Arakune has no good reversal or anti-air to stop Lambda, so simply IAD away as much as you can. If he uses 6D, jump and block it, then air dash away- it's not enough to keep her from getting away. Lambda can move much faster than Arakune, including retreat to his approach.

In the air, Arakune has clouds and position bugs (j.D). Understand the spacing it takes to hit with each one of those Ds and position yourself in the blind spots at all times. If you must be in a hotspot for defense or an attack, then be sure to jump over them and j.(2)D- Lambda's ground Ds are too risky to whiff with, but remember to jump cancel if possible.

Aerial vs Aerial

Arakune is an air game character- all of his strengths lie in that. Despite it being very strong against most of the cast, it simply can't hold up to Lambda's air game- his movement is too predictable. Ranged j.(2)D shreds him, j.C keeps him away, hell if he's airdashing or making a cloud- air dash into his face and grab him for a free 2k damage- however, watch for his forward pokes.

Aerial vs Ground

If Arakune goes into the air, space yourself and hit with a 2D (it's much less accurate to hit with 6D). Don't be afraid to run under him either and get a 2D cross up. If Arakune is across the screen, 4D can hit him even in the early stages of his jump; if not space for 6D.

236C smacks the crap out of him. You can cancel your D moves into this- don't try this every time, but always when he least expects it. There's no better way to chip at Arakune's defense than to hit his primers, barrier gauge, and jump height all at the same time. Having barrier up, sadly, hurts his game a lot.

The only thing I wouldn't recommend often against an Arakune is 6A. I prefer to use j.214D as the anti-air. Good hitbox and hits every place Arakune could be closing in from in the air. You can try 2C, it has a better hitbox than 6A and has enough speed to beat Arakune's air approach.

Ground vs Ground

Arakune's dashes are somewhat annoying to deal with. However, it's nothing a sweep can't fix. Watch out for 2C landshark as its range and priority are deceptive. Sweep can hit this too.

Don't forget Arakune's high low game- 6A/2A etc. Barrier 2A to force 6A to be out of range after 2 hits. 6C is also an overhead that contains great invulnerability for low and mid.

2D hits twice, low the first hit. 6D engulfs directly above Lambda. Jumping and blocking will stop both of these- but you'd have to take the curse fill.

Ground vs Air

j.2D destroys Arakune. It absolutely forces him into the air because it shuts him down.

Arakune's Tools: Clouds

Arakune's clouds are not threatening, just inconveniences.

Arakune follow cloud is useless cause he won't get close.

Lambda follow cloud is an annoyance, but extremely slow- you should be able to zone around it just fine (use it to judge whether you're moving fast enough or not).

Height follow cloud is probably the worst one- it prevents Lambda from getting into the air which is the safest place for her to be. Buuuut, it doesn't hug that low- super jump or double jump catches.

Arakune's Tools: Teleport

Arakune can teleport to the opposite side of the screen if he's hugging the screen. Against Lambda, it is pretty damn useless- he might drop down with j.2A which with proper zoning wouldn't hit even then. If anything, it is strictly an escape tool for him.

Arakune's Tools: 214A/B/C

Evasion tools. If you're in the air escaping, it's not worth his time to do. The only thing he can do with it is dive, land shark, or 2A.

Arakune's Tools: Invisibility

Two words: Chipp Zanuff.

Let's move on.

Arakune's Tools: Curse- 15 seconds to death

If you don't act when you get cursed, you're going to die. Arakune's bugs only come out when Arakune is out of a combo and Arakune can't instant combo kill you unless he gets close while you're cursed- that gives enough incentive to fight back.

Attack him with 6D/2D and jump into the air and block while you move in a direction.

Even if he blocks it, keep yourself in the air on the move as much as you can. If you're lucky, you can survive long enough for a curse combo to not be able to kill you.

The worst part about curse... it hardly drains if you're hitting him.

Arakune's Tools: Bugs

A bug: Comes down from diagonally behind Arakune and then bounces back up.

B bug: Comes down diagonally down from above Arakune.

C bug: Jumps from the ground towards Arakune.

D bug: Comes from straight up to down to up again- multiple hits.

Arakune can control where the bugs are summoned.

Forward: Arakune summons a bug farther forward than usual- 2/3 the screen.

Back: Arakune summons a bug more closely to himself than the opponent- 1/3 the screen.

The biggest things you need to watch for is the D bugs. A, B and C can be used to hit into D (most notably C because of its large hitstun) and if Arakune summons any bug with D with any direction, they will magically align upon each other to start the combo.

There is no easy way to avoid the bugs, but keep an eye on which ones are coming out. A bug is deadly because of its bounce, B bug is deadly because it can hit in the air, C bug is deadly on the ground and D bug can create a wall.

After a bug is thrown, it takes about 2 seconds max to recover from it, so watch which bugs are thrown and jump into the blind spots.

Summary

2D. Space for it. Sure he only has to block one way, but he's never going to get an opening to attack if you're good about it.

[DOAIsBetter]

Thanks for the write up, I knoticed 6A was almost useless againest him, but I will try and integrate that into my game, and hopefully I will fight some more good arakunes online soon, but they seem to be a rarity.