[CS2] Arakune vs. Platinum

[kousaka]

Only had a few sessions against Platinum so far but when she gets in she has lots of frame advantage so be careful pressing buttons.

Plat's flying air dolphin thing covers alot of ground and helps her get in really easily over 2d's and under bell's clouds. It seems to be punishable if you block it but if you punish too early they tend to be airborne.

I don't know platinum's item names or moves but there's an item that gives her an uppercut reversal which is definitely unpunishable so don't bother. Only has like 3-4 uses or something though.

Powered up items. Those bullets cover so much space you basically can't throw clouds or jD. The big fan and hammer is crazy good air to air so don't press stuff in the air. A few times i managed to get 5c FC though hitting the tip of hammer so there's some potential there.

Plat hits hard in the corner with certain items. The times i got hit started from the air dolphin thing but im sure it can start from other things. Hammer corner combo is rape (must burst).

[InspectorOda]

From what I gathered from fighting her a few times, the best time to approach her seems to be when she has the frying pan and hammer. She can definitely outzone Ara with the lion head and missiles, and the bat makes rushing in stupid. The bombs seem to be the worst for me so far though. The triple bomb covers so much space and limits Ara's approach so much its ridiculous. Oh, and getting hit by a raw CH dolphin from practically anywhere on the screen seems to be at least 5-6k damage if she can rapid. 7-8k if she has hammer or frying pan. Seems like this will have to be a really patient matchup.

Flowchart for me so far is:

Hammer/Frying Pan - Do whatever but stay away from corner

Missiles/Bat - Wait/bait them out

Lion Head - RTSD

Bombs - Mash backdash like no tomorrow

Is this the correct way to play this matchup, or am I just plain wrong?

[Skye]

I got a decent write up on Platinum.

My early summary says that the match up is even or slightly in Platinum's favor.

Arakune's Offense.

Arakune can barely do a thing full screen, since she can throw her items at an angle that covers air travel very well. You can't zone her, once in a while you can get a lucky j.6d in, but that's it and it's not reliable, if you're sitting on meter, then go nuts, f.g gives Arakune a lot of leverage in full screen combat, making Platinum second guess what she does on the ground. Mid screen is a different story and your approach differs depending on her item. Worry none about the bat, hammer or frying pan. The bat can be baited easily with typical Arakune movement, since it lacks a vertical hitbox, baiting is easy with jumps, the hammer and frying pan is only used offensively, don't forget to look out for her throwing her items away, but there is more risk to her doing that at this range. Your biggest hurdle is the bombs, since they appear overhead (not to be confused with attack type) and have two separate hisboxes (the bomb and the explosion), you can't really move around the way you want to, the best remedy is to either forward dash it, or be a man and block it, if the latter try to air IB it for the meter gain and +6, the former is good if Platinum tries it in the air. The missiles are not an issue and can be forward dashed with decent timing or avoided altogether, think "Lambda" when you see missiles. The Lion Head is a nuisance at best, trolling at worst, the block stun is surprisingly short and sweet, easy to IB and Platinum will more than likely do it until she's out. Close range, watch out for her 6a, you can beat it with smart approaches, but you must be smart, Platinum does have good anti airs, if you're too reckless she can 2c it and you don't want that. Her 6a has enough recovery to use again on reasonable whiff, so watch out, it's a poor man's Tsubaki's 2c. If Platinum is cursed, do your normal stuff and bait the bat when applicable. Bait the Super as well of course.

Arakune's Defense.

Defensive is not where Arakune wants to be in general, but this match up is special, Platinum has tools to OS punish a back dash, her pokes have very good range and decent enough block stun, but have enough recovery to capitalize on so if she whiffs certain moves, like her 5b or 5c, you can go in for a close range punish, at worst, Platinum will be forces on the defensive. Ibing helps a ton here, IB her 5c and she is stuck without committing to something. DO NOT feel threatened by the bubble, the block stun is practically nonexistent, if she uses it close range for pressure, it's free, even more free on IB. Barrier block her if she has delusions on jumping in during pressure, her air game is solid, you don't want to be in the middle of that. Simply put just make sure she can't touch you. If she does, it's not that big of a deal if you know how to IB. Look out for her command grab too.