[CS2] Noel vs. Arakune

[Dorian]

I'm a rebel, and I use bold and pink to look cool.

Matchup Ranking: imo I would say Noel has the advantage, and I could get into it later, but it's definitely not as hopeless as so many players assume it is. The main thing is KNOWING just how squiggly works since he's so unorthodox in movement and functionality.

Trust me nothing feels more exhilarating or enjoyable as blocking curse pressure successfully, but that comes with experience.

Recommended Playstyle:

Out of curse: Use very careful footsies, Arakune is VERY strong Air-To-Ground, but is incredibly vulnerable when throwing clouds or fishing for j.D hits. I find air grabs to be very strong in this matchup, and don't be afraid to throw out a simple j.A to knock any clouds/party-bugs that Ara currently has out.

When cursed:

Play very reserved, and look for openings. When you're comfortable stop watching ara and pay more attention to the bugs he uses, you wouldn't believe how open Ara is if he doesn't manage his bugs with upmost care.

In general if you can get Ara under pressure go all out. His reversal options are limited to his ground distortion 236236c (f-inverse), which is about as reliable as any wakeup distortion, but is actually viable if timed right while under unsafe Noel (drive) pressure. The only time you don't want to pressure him excessively is when cursed since any mistake on your part can lead into full face-roll Ara combos.

General Strategy:

This is a trickier thing to discuss, since Ara can play incredibly different based on the person using him.

Really the best thing you can do is be a solid player in your fundamentals and recognize your moments of opportunity, if you're not familiar with what Ara's options are offhand then all the advice in the world will not help unfortunetly. Ingame experience is really necessary to knowing how to approach Ara.

If you see a cloud, don't ignore it, unless the Ara has very low curse and you have a fully/proper punish/followup then feel free to eat a cloud to get some damage in, but that meter can build VERY fast if you don't pay attention.

Careful footsies around Ara's summons and his feints/movements is key, his whole game is to get you cursed, so don't be a tool and let yourself get cursed needlessly because you wanted to try something risky/daring.

Your Best Tools(For This Matchup):

Optic Barrel: Not nearly as risky in past iterations, and if used right you can knock an Ara out of cloud/bugs spawns, but if he reads it and uses a j.D then you'll trade for the worse. Basically keep this in your arsenal when you see an opening, but don't run around trying to spam it any chance you think you got.

2D: Still incredibly strong in this matchup, Ara's pressure is limited and 2D will beat out a lot of his basic shenanigans, though do watch out for Ara's 5D, it will ruin your day. Also don't use this move haphazardly and with wild abandon, Ara's 5c will net him a lot of curse meter on followup if you just run up and try to hug him or something along the lines.

Normals: Seems like a silly thing to add, but use them. Noel got buffed for a reason, make use of them. Also if Ara is hit when he has anything summoned a fast poke will render all that setup useless for him.

Has A DP?:

With 50 heat Ara can use his ground distortion, so nothing special in terms of anything you need to pay extra attention to, just keep it in mind that he can use it anytime. Ara is invincible to any strike iirc, but after 1 hit from blocking he's COMPLETELY open, punish with anything you feel like. Though please do be careful, I've seen so many players get smug after Ara eff's up his distortion, only for them to make a mistake and get hit anyways.

Things To Look Out For:

Ara has a lot of feints and tricky manuevering he can use, some basics I'll quickly point out is when cursed he can use [if p then q ©, 214C] on the ground to try and cross you up with his bugs, or if he uses [if p then q (A), 214A] in the air he can cross up and go for a fast 5a poke into 6b, which will either net him curse meter when paired with j.D or if he has heat he can use his air distortion [f?g, j.214124D] to instantly put you into curse, VERY dangerous.

Also Ara becomes the king of primer breaking when he has you cursed, so pay extra attention to your primers. His j.C is very ambiguous for crossing up and breaks a primer. His 6c hits high and breaks a primer, though if he's unwise and continues with the full 3 hit followup on block, watch the bugs and if theres a gap you can get a nice meaty combo.

progress in work A

Edited May 22, 2011 by Dorian