[CS2] Noel vs. Ragna

[Yggjrasil]

Matchup Ranking: Don't know yet.

Noel's overall damage increase makes this match a bit easier for her. She can potentially kill Ragna with 2 full combos if she's skilled,but Ragna can screw up Noel's momentum with a few well read pokes and reversals.

Recommended Playstyle: Passive Aggressive.

Stay on Ragna, but don't be to aggressive or predictable. Ragna still has godlike pokes and Inferno Divider, plus his corner pressure is very difficult to deal with now with his improved Dead Spike. Bait his attacks and punish accordingly.

General Strategy:

Stay out of the range of his pokes. If he whiffs a poke, (5B,5C,6A) then it's a free combo for you. 5B and Dead Spike beat your 5D so be wary of how you use them. another thing you need to look out for is his overheads (6B and Gauntlet Hades) they lead into huge damage and possibly a Blood Kain combo if you're near the corner. TK Gauntlet Hades. This move is often followed up after 22C oki or jc able poke (6A & 3C) in pressure. Most of the time if this move is blocked they don't use the followup or they RC it for safety. Noel has to be very evasive in this matchup to make Ragna impatient.

Has A DP/Reversal?: Yes, the bane of Noel's drives. please don't use drives haphazardly against a Ragna that's blocking. Inferno Divider the reason why most people hate fighting Ragna.

623C- has Start-up invincibility, his go-to reversal. Air Unblockable.

623D- does not have start-up invincibility but it breaks primers and has health steal.

50% Reversals?

Carnage Scissors

632146D- invincible on start-up, travels around midscreen,has questionable hit-boxes that hit above and a little bit behind Ragna even though the animation looks like it shouldn't.

Things To Look Out For:

His 5B and 5C (Probably the best 5B in the game, has range, speed and priority. His 5C is a bit slow it has very good reach and on CH he can follow up with Hell's Fang from max distance) His J.C (this is probably the best poke for Ragna to fish out CH hits from Noel, she doesn't seem to have an answer for this if spaced properly) Random Hell's Fangs (you can punish these on block no IB needed) ,6A AA (has upper body invincibility they shortened it a few frames but it's still there) 3C in pressure strings (can jump cancel it into IAD Crossup Inferno Divider or Gauntlet Hades) 6C in pressure strings (it hits low Ragna will RC this on block sometimes and try to mix you up from this after) pseudo unblockable set-ups with Dead Spike (to catch people from jumping out of pressure),2A tick grab tactics,Inferno Divider on Wake-up(bait it out),Carnage Scissors on wake-up and out of your Thor (at a certain height yes it reaches, kinda strange how this works),Hell's Fang 50/50 Mix-up(He'll it you with something among the lines of 5B > 5C > Hell's Fang without followup and either 6B for overhead reset or grab you) TK Gauntlet Hades in mix-up. and Reversal Blood Kain (Blood Kain is his install super, has start-up invincibility, All of his drive moves are powered up immensely but at the cost of his life being drained slowly. If Ragna activates this randomly, just run away and block and punish if he does something risky.)

Note: I don't use Noel. I play Ragna.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Yggjrasil

[Ichipoo]

If there's one thing I know when fighting Ragna, or anybody with a DP in general, be prepared to lose whatever momentum you've gained when you finish a combo due to obvious reasons. However don't lose heart though and continue to be vigilant, in a more patient manner, especially with this matchup.

After playing a few of my friends' Ragnas, this matchup is still kind of scary even with slightly better normals and higher damaging combos due to reasons GGJ posted above. The only way I can get some damage in is if I capitalize on mistakes my friends make with 6A AA, CH and Drive punishers, unlike them where they get a random hit with a normal on me and it leads to decent combo since I didn't block correctly at that particular time. I also found out that even with careful spacing with Noel's 5B and 5C, they lose to random Hell's Fangs.

Since Drive is one of the most reliable ways for Noel to get at least a guaranteed 4k combo, a free opportunity for a 5D is when Ragna is being obvious when he uses his overhead, 6B. If you're psychic and you can predict when he's going to throw out a 6B, whether you're blocking, hit, or rising up, 5D should beat out his overhead.

That's all I can contribute for now. =P

[Klazzix]

Watch out for Ragna's 6C > 6DD. 6DD works like Noel's 2D (low invulnerability), hits overhead on the second hit and gives him the advantage even if you IB it.

Take caution when trying to AA Ragna's j.C with 6A, shouldn't be a problem but the distance that sword can reach is pretty far and can be a bit tricky. Ragna's j.D can cross up same with his j.B so don't let your guard down thinking j.C is his only good air normal when he's airborne, also Belial Edge - Ragna's jump can be delayed further with the use of this one, can combo on CH/RC.

Random Hell's Fang can be stuffed with 5D on reaction and yes, Blood Kain, if you like to drive spam with Noel then you're in for a treat here but it should be nothing if you got your Noel normal hit-confirm game down. Lastly Noel's 5B can beat Ragna's 5B so it's all a matter of who gets it in first.

This is all prior to my previous matchup experience playing offline as Noel and may change if I manage to play more decent Ragnas.

[LunaKage]

Ragna's 6D can be poked out of in the same way that we can be poked out of 2D. Hell's Fang can be countered with 4D, but no good Ragna is gonna throw it out randomly, but for any Ragna that likes to go for HF shenanigans will be shut down and Fatal'd for their trouble.

[Mizzet]

You can still hop over Dead Spike with 2d, good for punishing your opponent if you notice he's fond of ending blockstrings with it.

[LunaKage]

You can still hop over Dead Spike with 2d, good for punishing your opponent if you notice he's fond of ending blockstrings with it.

This is true, but be careful if he uses it at max range, because I've been hit out of 2D a few times by max range dead spike, usually this happens if you don't 2D as soon as he throws it out, the time you have to react to it if you were close is suddenly gone when he spaces it right.

[LunaKage]

You can still hop over Dead Spike with 2d, good for punishing your opponent if you notice he's fond of ending blockstrings with it.

This is true, but be careful if he uses it at max range, because I've been hit out of 2D a few times by max range dead spike, usually this happens if you don't 2D as soon as he throws it out, the time you have to react to it if you were close is suddenly gone when he spaces it right.

[excelence]

Just for the record About 2d ing HF, depending on range i think u need to adjust your Drive gattling 2d>5c>6c ... often whiff/not hitting correctly 2d>5b>5d>5c>6c ... route're more reliable but lower the damage for about 300points