[CS2] Iron Tager vs Rachel: STOMP DA FRAWG!

[A.X.I.S.]

Ah no more sleeping the whole fight.

Lets be gentlemen and show her whats up.

Discuss it!

Thread name subject to change.

Alrighty Lets talk Rachel, this match up is harder than CS1 by a good deal, Rachel has consistent zoning, she has instant overhead j.A, she has damage, frog has more hits than before, to top that off her wind regen is near CT levels, and she can cancel J.2C into normals.

So how do we beat her? Simple step your game up, take a couple of risks and get it done in one go.

Problem/Solution:

• -Frog-Rachel wants you to block it so she can freely mix you up, you can get around this in so many ways! you can sledge it (risky), 3C it (risky) j.B it (kinda safe) or move around to force it to activate and hop away. All these options are assuming she doesn't slap you with a pumpkin or lobelia, choose any of these with discretion, if you can't destroy it then block and IB it, you will need meter, trust me on this.
  
• -Pumpkin- Annoying little critter it is, moves real fast and gives Rachel a great way in, you can't do much about this without putting yourself at risk. You can try punish her for approaching with or you can block it, IB her stuff and wait for a punish. (you can sledge through it but its pretty risky.)
  
• -Lobelia-Its a problem but not as bad as you think, IB it or sledge through it, watch out for sword iris since its pretty much a follow up to this, in fact watch out for iris in general. Its block stun is big enough for her to set up more lobelia's to iris you with whether its locking you down or part of a combo, you can of course sledge through sword iris, I find it easier to IB it then poke her if she is approaching and not being safe about it.
  
• -Air normals-J.A instant overheads when she winds with it, keep a sharp eye for her wind, if she doesn't overhead then react quickly to a low, its a mix up that is not fun.
  
• J.2C has humongous block stun but its easy to IB, expect her to follow up with something after it, if she decides to lobelia after j.2C and you IB'd then sledge her, J.C will hit above her in both directions if you are above her then block, do not try to elbow, you will get CH'd. (Ok if she is on the ground then do what you want.)
  
• -6A-Anti air and has armor on it, you can j.D it and trade to get magnetism.
  
• -Cat chair-Its a reversal and leads to 4k with meter! do no not get hit by cat chair, you can bait it with 5A whiff.
  
  
  Close/Mid Range:
  
  
  • Look at what Rachel is doing and react accordingly, punish tech rolls with 360 or 5C since she is fat enough for it. (In fact meaty 5C beats her even on wake up and you can do pick ups on her.
    
  • 360 if you smell a cat chair or any other reversal.
    
  • Expect her to CA you, in fact look for it, she dies if she is next to Tager when he has momentum.
    

  Long range:

  [*]Frog summon can eat spark.

  [*]Pumpkin kills you for pressing buttons or being obvious. Do not get predictable, in fact don't push buttons when pumpkin is around.

  [*]Hold your spark until she is trying to ground summon or something stupid that should be sparked.

  [*]2D is decent if you know where to do it. (A lobelia can punish 2D, don't let it discourage you from doing it since the threat of sledge may keep her from doing it.)

  Extra bits: her jump cancelable ground normals are: 5A, 5B, and 6B.

  4B can come from 2B 2 times so watch out for it...deux.

  You have to take a chance this time to win since Rachel can keep you at bay with her improved wind regen.

  Don't worry though the match up isn't as stupid as CT.

  A neat Rachel gimmick is to neutral tech and wind toward you, she can use air normals from this.

  5C her if you spot her doing it.

  Punish bad summons with sledge or spark.

  She has 4 primers so guard breaking her is easy.

  Have fun and be smart, she can still lame us out with the time out strat.

Edited May 31, 2011 by A.X.I.S.

[lolokoa]

Points to Remember

-2B/5B are Projectiles

-6A catpunch is back like it was in CT,so you probably want stay out in air as much possible

-Fork is Jump-cancelable watch out for an Overhead mix-up though if you IB it you could 360A and Her jump A will whiff

My Brother plays Rachel so yeah

will get back to you guys as soon as we fight some more

[NaRD]

I know Rachel is better, I picked her up in CS and couldn't do squat with her, yet when I fight her it's one of the most rage-inducing matches I've ever had the chance to experience. I personally would rather have CT Rachel right now.

Does anyone have an inkling of what to do? I'm not losing, but once I lose momentum, I'm in for a beating. Blocking on reaction only takes you so far. She special cancels or has a pumpkin or George ready for her unsafe moves. It's ridiculous.

Wind jumping makes sure she can get away from you or avoid magnetism. I could go on but I'm sure others are thinking the same.

[A.X.I.S.]

I have some info on Rachel but I am not gonna post it until I get more match up knowledge.

Here is a small bit I got though:

Sledge follow up is useful to stick out on occasion.

Use lows to check for catch chair, punish accordingly.

IB stuff and punish any gaps.

Fork is not CT status, its not too bad...sad it can be jump canceled though.

[Mucky]

I've had some luck with IBing her j.A/j.B pressure and throwing out 720 the moment she lands. Seeing that this requires meter, I have no idea what else you can do against Rachel's pressure... aside from CA which also requires meter. And gold bursts.

Fucking j.A, man. Jump startup+j.A = 12 frame overhead. Have fun blocking Rachel's mixup. 5B>2B>5B>2B>6B jc j.A is an easily blocked string, but god help you once she starts jump canceling the 5Bs.

[CrazyI-nomitsu]

Don't ya love the match up where Tager has to block to win? it's so much fun. At valk and hkau can't do this. So how good is Rachel this time? When cs1 first came she was trash. How is she in Cs2?

[Osuna]

Uh, isn't trading with 6A horrible advice since she can get a combo off the counter hit? Mag is so bad now, I wouldn't eat a combo for it. This match up is kinda funny though.

Obvious 5D's can pull in a cat chair into you from max distance for max comedy points, if your sledge follow up hits a projectile right before it goes active it'll get stuffed. There are really funny rachel specific combos, learn them. Especially on 360s which are more likely than you would think. Because she has low hp, optimizing damage can make things run a lot smoother, and make it less likely she can go for a time out.

I really miss 2C 5D in this match up for Really funny Rachel combos.