TD

l just read the ect thread. so it's in jersey? transportation should be cheap then. as for hotel fare, it shouldnt be a problem either, but im a lil poverty so l dont mind sharing with 15 a few other people xD the ny fellas will probably end up going and ill likely just travel with them but if they dont, l atleast want to try since it sounds like a cheap trip overall. gotta start standing on my own two feet now and meet some people.

Xerlic: You seem pretty knowledgeable on a lot of rachels stuff already, lol. (WARNING! INCOMING WALL OF TEXT) First, approaching and zoning. Well, you have the approach part correct, get in once you have George and/or pumpkin out. That's all there is to it, really. Being able to keep either out for awhile to condition the opponent, regain wind, and steer them to the corner makes them (and you) all the more scary. As for zoning... I'd love to give my input on how I like to zone, but imho, you can find no better words of wisdom than of that in kro's old guide (if someone would kindly link him to the Rachel bible, I can't do all that nice stuff from this phone QQ), and what I think would only be reiterating what is in that bible because it is that good. Now, defending. Rachel is possibly the most versatile character in the game. Lol, if she had better defense she'd be like dizzy alright. Reload dizzy, lol. But anyway, truth is... She has no dp and her moves are really slow. In the previous games ib was so retarded that most characters with poop defense were given leniency: but in cs2, there is no such treatment. If you cannot block, a good player will destroy you. If they like breaking primers, tough titties bro, you're just out of luck. You have to make use of your momentum, whether it be offensive or defensive, and more importantly you can't fuck up. Yeah, its vague but that's how it is. You just have to know, with Rachel, that such offense conlmes with a price, but all hope isnt lost: A lot of rachels do not use wind to its fullest potential, its not just for throwing cute frogs at unprepared foes. Someone rushing you down? Super jump and dash away with d! There are so many practical uses for wind that we haven't used or discovered yet, especially as a defensive tool, and I encourage you to find ideas and hopefully share with us one day. Otherwise you just have to guage the situation and act accordingly, but her best defensive tools seem to be 2a, 2c, and me (td). Last thing to end this wall of text, as said before me, everything is really just based from experience. Pretty much, you don't seem oblivious to how she plays, and I strongly feel you will definitely get her down if you take time to reflect on your matches. Rachel can be quite unforgiving if you mess up, but all in all the reward of playing her is like no other, imo... Yea.

l hate mirrors in general but rachel mirrors have got to be my least favorite. l can't block against my own character, and l never, ever know what's going on. l just freeze up irl, unsure of what to do. in fact rachel mirrors was the reason l learned other characters, so l would never have them ever again. and thanks polka, that is simple enough to work for my need.

what do you guys use for frametraps? i'm having a bad (read: horrible) time creating safe, solid ones. 2a 6b is hard to react to for me, and as such l lose big damage from it. so l tired 2a 6c. lf 6c hits l can react with 5d for a huge combo, and if it is blocked l can summon a pumpkin in midair and start a 3 way mixup - but alas, l lack the reaction time yet again. so are there others?

236b/c CH: (delay) 5b j.c 2d dj.2c land... 1 - 5cc oki (for distance) 2521 dmg 2 - slight delay 236b j.c dj.c j.214c 2908 dmg 3 - 214a delay 5b 236a (frog hits) 236a j.c dj.c j.214c 3506 dmg (can do bbl ender) b/c lobelias have much larger hitstun than her other versions, if your foe is in the air when they get hit, they cannot air tech unless they superjumped or was high in the air otherwise. sword iris has even more untech time than b/c lobelias, so the same combos above apply to iris CH too. trying to get a good, solid bnb for random pumpkin hits but that is so hard to do with the many ways pumpkin can actually hit, and the hitstun is large but not large enough to guarantee a 5b into whatever. also trying to work on combo while george is near, which l guess would be ...(hits) 5b (6b) 5d 236a(frog hits) into w/e

i'd watch that :3

zeth is always nice and uploads all our matches. this is the first upload of my rachel, hopefully more to come once l improve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV0y0eaBi5o for some reason he didn't upload the parts of me sucking. l start at 3:17 and 25:11. all critiques welcome. l still can't combo off of crouching opponents and clearly l need to hitconfirm better. oh, kodim (another rachel) is in here too and he knows her well also, so he's also worth watching.

pumpkin stuffs cs on reaction, but if you dont have a pumpkin out and he has 50 heat, ragna can cs you on reaction unless you are using a projectile that interrupts his line of fire (practical cs stuffers would be: 5b, 2b, 236a, a winded pumpkin, td). lf he dosen't use cs, keep on zoning but keep things safe so that you can stuff his cs on reaction. td beats dead spike on reaction. lf you have 50 heat and ragna does dead spike you can td out for free. ln terms of pressure, when baiting dp be sure to barrier if youre in the air. his fat hitbox makes him really easy to mixup also.

l posted some stuff in the rachel boards on how l feel about the matchup, feel free to review it and take/test what you want. l can help from rachel's side.

thats a question you need to ask the frame data. frame data gives you the complete rundown of each character, including untechable time, options after each move, whether the move knocks back far/close, and frame advantages. l can't control your fingers and brain suring a match, nor can l react for you. you have to do these things, and to do them you need to have good knowledge of the game at hand. that is something the forum guide could help you out with.

thats what l meant by wakeup d. yeah it's good and all but it only really works once on good players. maybe twice. l wouldn't really spam it unless i'm midscreen. ggs koopa. sorry about that. but l can't play one char for too long without wanting to use someone else lol.

please dont complain, if youre losing chances are it's due to your lack of knowledge or other form of mistake, not the characters. half the noels online dont even do any of the more appropiate moves, that don't leave her utterly exposed to the fatal counter of your choice. you, sir, have to get familiar with her moveset. know her normals and specials (you have played her, so it shouldn't be difficult). lf there's a move bothering you, look up how to beat it with your character. 2d is not THAT safe and it can be baited/punished lf you can take time to find the solution. roll special/dd was taken out in ct. lt was dumb and defeated the purpose of having to wakeup in the first place: you messed up, you should be at a disadvantage. they did not work in cs1 - your foe just ran into them, it seems.

really :o l want to find broken things with this :D

ggs ak. youre not bad, but a few things ive seen you do is: wakeup press buttons - big no no as rachel. she dosent have the necessary tools for opponents to fear her wakeup, so if youre pressing buttons any meaty attack will flat out stuff every single thing she has, including 2c. the only decent options she has besides roll is wakeup d which can be baited. respect - respect is a must sometimes. lf youre not completely sure your next attack will hit, its best to wait or you will often get ch'd. l think you just need to get more familiar with her and everything will fall into place. l dont think you fail at all.

howling.

l am spammed? so l am no longer useless? :D l do it too, as soon as l get meter. l drop combos to do td. feels good. edit: ill play you later. just tell me on psn when you're ready.

l think my name is just fine anyway. l dont really want to bother the supers too much so i'll just leave it. but you are right, pm would have been better.

how does 6c work? the p1 is 100, but the p2 is 70. does the p2 kick in ON this move? l mean, even if 6c was the first hit, will the second hit prorate by 70 or will it retain it's 100 p1? i'm sort of dreading the answer, lol. edit: l asked shtkn of my name change but l think he ignored me lol. do super mods even like changing names? they must get quite a few requests.

played a good valk so l was able to grasp a few details about the match. fullscreen - you definitely want pumpkin out and near you. always. pumpkin stops every single approach on reaction. - george and lobelia are also hard for him to get around without wasting wolf guage. scatter them wide to cover the area in front of you. - leaving poles scattered and untouched really limits his options for an approach. lf he waits for you to come, stay on the ground. if not, blow them up. midscreen - dont summon within his 5c range - [w] has a very fast walking speed. he can just walk up and swipe you too if you attempt summoning anything. - (still testing our 6cd/3c5d against his [w] form) - his j.c is still hard to aa. (needs testing. could be that l wasnt doing it fast enough) thats all l have for right now. much more tolerable, l must say.

lf you want to improve your hitconfirming, just go to training mode, set the dummy to random block, and see if you can do an optimal combo off a random hit. l like to try mixups in this way, so that the moment the foe is hit in a real match, l can instictively do the most optimal combo from there. and this isnt easy business either, even in training. you have to focus on the blockstring at hand in terms of execution, react to whether or not your foe has been hit or not, and know your options should you get that hit/your foe blocks it. but it's definitely a wonderful skill to have, and will always come in handy especially for a rtsd character such as makoto.

clearly someone let the forbidden loli spell slip... who knows how many others have come in contact with it now.

l like fighting jin, really tests my patience and alertness. he is a challenge.

during j.2c enders it is possible for your opponent to delay their tech so that land 2a actually hits them out of otg, and they can airtech. to prevent this, you can land 3c instead. lf the foe decides to delay the tech, 3c will hit them and keep them in otg state, and you can relaunch/get 3c oki from here. lf they decide to neutral tech, you're at a slight disadvantage, but any pressure from here is ok. 3[c] will also hit meaty and push you away if you prefer safety and still combos on hit.

thanks guys.

damn we need optimal combos. l can get big damage off big hits like 5b and FC5c, but when it comes to the small things like 2a 2a combos, l find myself improvising instead of remembering ... makes me sad