soujiro seta Posted May 25, 2011 Posted May 25, 2011 (edited) I’ve had a lot of plat vs carl matchup experience, and most of my matches have been against Zong_one. Imo, this matchup is 6-4 in carl’s favor. Use this match between shiromadoushi and onichinbeong as a reference. This, imo, is how the matchup should be played if you don’t want to have to go through hell(nirvana) to get to heaven(carl). Punishes: It’s very hard to try and punish this lil shota because he’s always hiding behind nirvana, and even when you’re charging in to attack nirvana can hit you from behind when you finally get the chance. The only thing I can think of is punishing his vivace on wakeup. Vivace goes through bubble, so when you get him in the corner don’t auto-pilot bubble---then pressure. Vivace does not have foot invincibility, so 2A/2B beat out vivace. You can also grab him out of vivace. So watch out for that. He can also try to vivace through missiles/bombs when he’s under pressure or when he's trying to get to you, so look out for that as well. Anti-airing: Do not autopilot 6A/2C when you see carl IAD towards you. You are asking to get wrecked. Carl’s j.B, although it doesn’t FC, is still gdlk. Do not 6A/2C carl on reaction, there is a very high chance that his j.B will beat out your 6A/2C clean, or you’ll trade(very rarely). If the carl doesn’t space is IAD j.B right, then 6A/2C will win, if not, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ANTI AIR. He can time it so that you get hit by the tip of j.B. This will trade with you AA or lose. Either way carl wins. Carl can also IAD kara-fall. His kara-fall is used to bait out anit-airs. 6A/2C will whiff while you watch our poor magica girl get counter-hit by 2A. Zoning: Carl: Carl can zone you, just like you can zone him. The best zoning item is Bomb. This item should be the highest on your priority list. When carl is hiding behind nirvana, TOSS AWAY EVERYTHING UNTIL YOU GET BOMBS. Lucky for us carl can’t dash, so he has to IAD in for everything. Bombs prevent him from doing that. Nirvana: Zone her with 5C, and j.C only. Do not 5B 5C. 5C is jump cancelable, and that is key. Carl’s are always looking for a way to jump in. They use nirvana as a meat shield bait, so when you smack her around they get in from the air. If you 5B 5C, carl will have enough time to IAD j.B/kara-fall in. Even if you block his j.B or 2A after kara-fall, that’s all carl needs. Now he’ll 2A 5A 5B 6B 6D vivace A, and you’re sandwiched. Shiromadoushi knows what’s up. He uses 5C for nirvana only. After 5C if you see carl attempt to IAD/Kara-fall in, you can IAD back to safety. You can 5C (7)j.C as well. J.C prevents him from dashing in on you, and if he attempts to dash in after j.C you can IAD back. 5C (7)j.C is very dangerous though mainly because of kara-fall, so play it safe with 5C more often. You can catch him with 5C j.C every now and them. 6A/2C gatling after 5C, so if carl attempts to jump in and doesn’t space right then you can AA him. You also don’t want to get hit by 4D. 4D has super armor, and the only way to stop nirvana from completing it is to put carl in blockstun, or hit him. If you zone nirvana with 5C onry, like you should, only to realize that carl did 4D right as you attacked, you can IAD back to escape. You don't want to have to block 4D cause this gives carl time to get in. If you 5B 5C you won’t be able to escape 4D. This is why you poke at her with 5C onry. 5C is jump-cancellable, and 6A/2C gatlings. This is also where bombs come in. Since 5C is jump cancelable, you can 5C j.D, or 5C 5D depending on how close carl is. Get acquainted with 5C and bombs. The 3 of you will need to be best friends if you want to win this matchup. Hold your horses when carl has 50 heat. Zoning with 5C and bombs become very dangerous. Carl can input rhapsody of memories when you get close to nirvana. This distortion will not stop regardless of what happens to carl. Even if he dies . He’ll do this to trap you, sandwich, and then the party begins. 5C nirvana with care, and I mean treat her like expensive china: You marvel at how beautiful it is and touch(5C) it every now and then, but when you notice a crack on the side(50 heat) you refrain from further contact. Do not autopilot bombs after zoning nirvana with 5C when he has heat. You want to bait out rhapsody, but don't make it your top priority. Carl can buffer 236236 continuously and press D when you come close, so remember that. Nirvana doesn’t have to be on for him to do rhapsody. She can be off, and rhapsody immediately. Carl can also do rhapsody of memories on his wakeup if nirvana is close. Do not attempt to grab him cause he can tk it and your throw will whiff . If you 5C her and see that he input rhapsody, jump up immediately if you can. Do not block the first hits of rhapsody. YOU WANT TO GET HIT. Carl will probably IAD j.C to knock you down. Don’t mash tech. Wait a bit, and tech towards nirvana. You should go right through her. If he doesn’t j.C knockdown, mash tech, like in the vid, to air tech and escape rhapsody.. Pat yourself on the back and have a sugary treat; you didn’t have to sit through rhapsody mixup Strategy: Your objective is not to destroy nirvana. Do not focus on that. You want to keep her busy with 5C, and make carl have a tough time getting in for free with bombs. If carl doesn’t want you to destroy her, then you won’t. You want to zone carl and nirvana with 5C and bombs. Nirvana stops what she’s doing as long as carl is in blockstun/hitstun. The only move that comes out, regardless of whether carl is in blockstun/hitstun is brio. This is carl’s meterless DP so to speak. Be careful of this move. Especially on carl’s wakeup when nirvana is close. He’ll brio, and you’ll get hit. You want carl to realize that he’s going to have to pull something outta his @$$ to get to you. Chip away at his life with bombs, and DON’T GET IMPATIENT. Don’t rush in on carl if you don’t have to. The best time to rush in is when you see carl block a bomb. He can’t use nirvana then, and will be forced to respect your pressure when you get in. Nirvana’s moves have a lot of stun on them. They last an eternity. If you’re forced to block 6D/4D/2D and carl is close, DO NOT PRESS A BUTTON. You will lose every time. If you’re forced to block fuoco, you can block the first couple hits and IB the rest. 4D, 2D, Fuoco and Brio all take 1 primer. Don’t block Fuoco if you don’t have to. 8D takes 2 primers (hand takes 1, clap takes 1). Rhapsody of memories takes 1 primer, and Big Bang Upper takes 2. Watch your primers. Carl almost never guard breaks, but once every blue moon he does, especially after you use a defensive burst. When in sandwich, sit still and block. A carl’s worst nightmare is someone who can block. They dream about this all the time. I know I did. DO NOT JUMP ALL THE TIME WHEN SANDWICHED. You will get baited with 8D. It’s blockable this time around, but you don’t want to fall for traps, such as 8D IAD (j.A mash) 8D and get your primers broken. Carl doesn’t get much off air-guard break, but he doesn’t need to cause he’ll most likely hitconfirm into his loop. [j.B j.2C]xn 3D j.Ax2 slight delay j.B, also known as 1 of the most retarded things in CS2. DO NOT PANICK. Magic doesn’t work well under stress. Stay calm and attempt to block it. It is possible, but you’ll probably need to sell your soul to the devil to block it correctly most times. Look to see what is going to hit first. The first hit of 3D is a low, every hit after the first can be blocked standing. The problem is how do you block the first hit of 3D low, and then block j.B, or vice versa depending on which hits first. Carl’s don’t always get the timing right, so be wary of this. If he’s getting it right, and you don’t have a burst then send him hatemail and threaten to find and kill him. If he can do it correctly, mashing 5D when you have the bat (which can be baited), or bursting is you only hope. At neutral TOSS AWAY EVERY ITEM UNTIL YOU GET BOMBS. You can do play however you want, but you’re gonna have a hard time trying to get through nirvana if don’t have bombs. Missiles/Cat don’t really get the job done in this matchup up. Carl can easily evade missile with vivace or use nirvana to block them. Missiles can be a blessing in disguise though. When her health is low he won't use her to block, so watch out for this and look to come in. Cat is a bad idea cause carl can IAD after cat hammer and put in you blockstun. Hammer/Pan are only good when you are pressuring carl up close or in the corner. Bat is only useful when you’re in sandwich. BOMBS SHOULD BE HIGHEST PRIORITY AT NEUTRAL. His j.A >>>>> your j.A. His 5A>>>>>>your 5A. You will lose this war everytime. Item Strategy: BOMBS BOMBS BOMBS. Rain bombs of love on him. Go install bombs if you want him to experience what a meteor shower feels like. Carl only has 4 primers, so after a defensive burst, if you manage to get in or get him cornered you can guard break him quite easily if he isn’t aware that you have hammer equipped. Cat hammer is not good is this matchup, do not attempt to zone carl with it. You will lose. The only useful items are bombs, hammer, and pan. Hammer/pan when carl is close/in corner, and bombs for everything. Cat hammer is useless, and release all missiles when you get them. Char specific details: Do not mash neutral tech during this situation, it’s a day 1 carl strat. Wait a bit and then roll towards nirvana, you’ll easily escape fuoco. Using barrier conservatively can help you escape sandwich pressure. Don’t barrier everything, you still need to know how to block, just tap it and keep it on every now and then during sandwich. The extra pushback will give you time to jump (be careful of 8D bait) , or if you have fitty you can 236B RC. If you connect… you know what to do. Be careful of the classic 5B 6B 4D vivace crossup. You should rarely, if ever, get hit by it. Watch out for IAD j.2C allecan crossup. This is where barrier guage (^^^) comes in. The added pushback mean carl has to IAD a bit further, giving you time to jump and grab him, or simply jump to escape. Carl can jump cancel 5A, 2A, and 5B on block. Due to plats horizontal hitbox, he'll be forced to IAD j.2C allecan after 5B most of the time. The only time he can IAD j.2C allecan after 5A/2A is if you've been pushed back far enough from his 5A/2A gatlings. Tager, bang, hakumen, and rachel are the only characters he can 5A/2A upclose and IAD j.2C allecan because of their wide horizontal hitbox. Don't jump all the time though, if he continues his gatlings you'll get hit. In the corner, the combo 214B 2C 236B 6C j.236C j.C 22C….Doesn’t work on carl (or maybe it’s just me). If he gets caught in bubble trying to roll away from the corner, use 214B 2C 236B 5C 6A 6C 22C 5C 6A 236B instead if you want oki. Carl doesn’t have a DP/reversal, unless nirvana is close(brio) or 50 heat(Tk rhapsody), so when you get him to the corner treat him the same way an abusive father treats his son after a night of excessive drinking. (Sorry for talking about your personal life A.LeX.I.S) Carl’s 3D picks up tech rolls, but do not neutral tech all the time unless carl actually does 3D. I see people neural/emergency teching ALL THE TIME because they know his 3D picks up, BUT CARL ACTUALLY HAS TO DO 3D. Carl’s know people neutral when they are close to nirvana because of the fear of 3D, so they eventually don’t even have to use it anymore cause people neutral for them. NO, roll tech away always, and only neutral when he actually does 3D. Other details: Tl, dr: Study, inhale, and live this shiromadoushi and onichinbeong. At his age, Carl is still afraid of cooties, and he definitely doesn't want any other girl in his life besides his sister. Show carl mains that it's okay to let love in, and a little magic can bring happiness into their lives. Have fun Edited July 7, 2011 by soujiro seta
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