Omicron Austin

My scene is small and the resident Elphelt player is way better than me, but I do play the matchup a lot. In my opinion the matchup is pretty even at best. Disclaimer: I'm far from the best Ramlethal in the world, so take my comments based on their own merit. What's most apparent in this matchup is that pretty much all of her normals are amazing and will beat your normals. Her 2P is 4 frames so Ramlethal's 4P doesn't have the advantage it often does. Even worse, being a lightweight, she's a lot harder to get full midscreen combos on, as doing a 2D or a green daruo can make it impossible to get the PK loop, among other things. I typically do keep the swords deployed for most of the matchup, although f.S will still always have its place. Ramlethal is really fast, so even though Elphelt has great antiairs and other tools, your mobility is your ticket into getting her where you want her. Double jumping over her head is a great tool to apply against any character, as you can potentially bait out her c.S and come down for a counterhit or at least pressure. Elphelt also isn't super fast, so keeping her blocking swords on the other side of the screen and throwing out fireballs can be a really effective way to stall and build some meter. Also, I hesitate to say this as it can be incredibly risky, but her equipped 2S > 2H string feels a lot more effective in this matchup than most. The range on the 2S is farther than Elphelt's effective tools, and Elphelt's mobility isn't enough to really hit you out of the startup from most ranges. While I wouldn't go for it without meter for a purple RC or a burst, the obvious benefit of 2S 2H is the enormous meter gain on both hit and block, and the potential for big damage. Her wakeup is a few frames slower than most of the cast, which gives you a bit of extra time to set up any sort of oki on her. Midscreen knockdowns (such as 2KK) are easy to get on her for this reason, as you have more time to get in close for your 6K or other options. Even better, she doesn't have any real reversal options; I've had my 6K clash with her uppercut super many, many times, so it's not all that terrifying. Most of my meter ends up getting spent on dead angles. When Elphelt gets you knocked down (particularly in the corner), not only is dealing with any mixups a pain, but she cranks the guard gauge like no other, as well as significant chip damage. If you decide to faultless defend to push her out and to salvage your guard gauge, she will eat your meter almost immediately. Given that you're likely to lose over 50% meter on block if she pulls out her shotgun, whipping out the dead angle seems like a clear choice. Ramlethal really enjoys the space that the dead angle gives you, so that you can set out your swords and reset.

I use my ring finger for both HS and D. For most characters, D isn't really used in reactive situations; I know when I'm going to be pressing it ahead of time, so the few extra milliseconds it takes to reach my ring finger down there don't really impact anything. That said, my first fighting game was Street Fighter, and being a 6 button fighter, I'm quite used to moving my fingers up and down a row regularly. Using my pinky for anything on an arcade stick just sounds ridiculous and I don't know how anybody manages to do that.

Hmm...I'd never seen that starter before. While I was able to do it, this combo seemed a fair bit more difficult than other versions I'm used to. It also felt a little more tight on Sol than on Elphelt, but that could just be my imagination. Elphelt is a lightweight though, and will be prone to being higher up during the combo. You've probably thought of this already, but make sure you're hitting j.K early enough in your airdash. It's easier said than done, since doing the move too early will force it to not come out, so in a way it is linking j.K off of your airdash timing. The combo in the video is particularly difficult because you have to do j.S after the last airdash, which is significantly harder to do (j.S has 3 more frames of startup than j.K). I'd suggest starting off with a simpler setup to practice the basic IAD combo and then come back to this starter. If you start with your 236K in the corner (the command grab), then you can do either: 236K > [iAD j.K > j.S > j.8D] x 2 > dash PPP 236K > dash c.S > j.8D > [iAD j.K > j.S > j.8D] x 2 > dash PPP For the first one, it's entirely possible to IAD too early, so you typically need to delay so that the opponent falls down farther. It's a good way to see what heights do/don't work for the IAD combo. If you're unfamiliar with the c.S > j.8D starter, the important things to note are that they should be as high as possible in the air when c.S hits, and the timing on jump cancelling into the j.8D can be a little tricky at first because of the hitstop involved (and you might end up just doing ground dust instead). You can also go into those via something like (5S) > 2D > 623P (green) > c.S > j.8D > ......, but keep in mind this varies depending on character weights, and you may have to omit the 2D, do a non-green daruo, etc to make it connect. EDIT: If all else fails, feel free to record a video of yourself attempting the combo and somebody here can troubleshoot it for you.

Keep trying to IAD sooner and sooner, and if the jump isn't coming out, then you're doing it too soon. Make sure your IAD is clean as well; you might not be airdashing as immediately as you should be; if you're doing a motion like 866 instead of 96, that's definitely a possibility. It can also depend on how you're setting it up. If they're not high enough (or if they're too high), the combo won't be able to connect. If you're doing this against a heavyweight character, you may need to do j.K > j.P > j.S > j.8D instead of the usual j.K > j.S > j.8D. Also, I could be wrong on this, but I believe if you delay the j.8D a little bit, the second rep will often be easier to connect.

Should I be avoiding ending my pre-curse combos with 6B > j.6D and end combos with 5D instead if I'll curse them with that last hit? It seems to me that when curse happens, I want to be close rather than far, and with the first combo ender I feel like I spend a lot of time catching up to them. Or am I just thinking about this all wrong? And, assuming I am thinking about this all wrong, how do you guys do 6A bugs, etc, while doing the 44 teleport?

1: Hmm...what if I reworded it to "What are Arakune's worst matchups?". Though I would assume asking for a general idea of what characters would be good to learn to cover Arakune's bad matchups would be done in the Arakune board... 2: Well, what exactly should I be doing if I just cursed my opponent and happen to be mid-full screen? I have trouble doing the 44 teleport quickly, and my opponent always sees it and starts moving away beforehand. 3: 236b, then what? Should I try going for some weird crossup stuff, etc? And new question: 4: If I predict my opponent to burst out of my curse loops, what should I do about that? Thanks for the answers.

Hey guys. I'm learning Arakune, but I'm willing to pick up a sub-main. A few questions: 1: What characters might best cover Arakune's weak matchups? 2: Also, Arakune related: In neutral, when I'm throwing out random bugs, should I be doing 6]C[ and 5]D[ close to the same time? I find that if I do 6]CD[ or 5]CD[, the D bug misses quite often. 3: What should I do after a ground throw when I don't have 50 meter? Any setups, etc.?