Sakaku

Universal: 5AA > 5B > 5C > hop > j.B > j.236C > 5AA[A > 214A] or [> 2AB > 236B] easier on crouching opponents, but also works on standing Standing opponents: 5AA > 5B > 5C > 22A > 5AAA > 214A (25) 5AA > 5B > 5C > delay 22A > 2AB > 236AB > j.B(1) > hop > j.B > j.236C > 5AAA > 214A delay of 22A is character specific Crouching opponents: 5AA > 5B > 5C > 22B > 5AA[A > 214A] or [2AB > 236B] (25) 5AA > 5B > 5C > 22B > 2AB > 236AB > j.B(1) > hop > j.B > j.236C > 5AAA > 214A Throw: 5AA > 5B > 5C > 22A > 5AAA > 214A Awakened: (75-100) 5AA > 5B > 2AB > 236AB > 2B(1) > 22A > 236A > 214214C(D) also works off a throw

To add what RurouniLoneWolf said, the Platinum Disc's lifespan will end if it has to travel just a bit more than fullscreen. That means if they jump while being fullscreen, the Platinum Disc will disappear before it can hit them.

It's definitely faster, insanely fast that is. Also, according to this Rachel changes video j.C now launches standing opponents if being used with wind, similar to 6A (don't know if that was possible before). With these changes to 236B (more hitstun?), lvl 2 j.2C might be relevant again, boosting damage and corner carry potential.

PSN: Sakaku- Country:Germany Main: Rise

The lobby is open. Feel free to join if you are from EU. You can find the stream here: http://www.twitch.tv/sakaku edit: done streaming. thanks for tuning in.

I will be opening an EU lobby in about an hour or so. It's gonna be streamed, so I don't know if I'll be able to play myself. I hope you guys show up

EU skype chat sounds great. I'm usually online around the evening, although not every day. Skype is sima-chan. (with the dot) edit: I can stream too. Whenever I'm not playing anything that requires my internet, I could host a streamed EU lobby in the evening if anyone is interested.

Hitboxes: I'm not too sure about the 5CC and 214X series, if someone could double check that please? 5A 5B 5C 5CC? 5[C] 2A 2B 2C first hit / 2C second hit 6B 6 (f33-35) / 6 (f35-41) 3C 3C (different hitbox. this is probably wrong) j.A j.B j.C j.[C]? d.6B air grab? / air grab hit 22A? 22B? 236A 236B? 236C 214A / 214A(2) 214B / 214B(2) 214C / 214C(2) (this might be 214B actually) something 214X related or 5CC? 421A (duck) 421B first hit / 421B second hit 421C(1), (2), (3), (4)

I'm going for the j.[C] > j.[C] > whiff j.214A > 5B > ... route. It pretty much works at every height, you just need to delay your first j.[C] if you hit them very high. Note that you can only delay the j.[C] if you CH them, but that should be the case most of the time. Video is set to private.

Here. -What I noticed when watching your matches Sadeyo is that you're having trouble confirming single moves into damage, or sometimes being lost what to do if a certain move hits (ie 5C > 2C). Sometimes you confirmed that into 421B, but often times you did nothing. If you know the opponent is too far away to confirm into j.[C] or 421B, you gotta do 214B to get a knockdown that starts your momentum. -If you know you can punish a move for sure like in this case, start with CH 22A or CH 3C. -You did several d.6C without vorpal in neutral. If your opponent blocks this when they are standing close enough, you can be punished for it. And even if you can't be punished, you still give your opponent the momentum. If you hit raw d.6C, you can do a lot more damage by the way. d.6C > 3C > j.[C] > j.C > 5[C] > 421B > 6 > (5a whiff) > 22B > d.6C > 22C. Not sure if that's optimal though. -Reloading in this situation is fine if you ask me. -This could've been confirmed into 214C for 2k more damage. -In neutral, you are relying in air assault a lot. Smart opponents will eventually shield your assault jump-ins and you'll end up at the short end of the stick. The spacing on your neutral 2Cs was very well done though. -At the start of the video, you varied your blockstrings a bit. But the more the timer progressed, the more you used the same string more or less. Eltnum is such a scary character up close because she can stagger her normals really well. Definitely learn how to do that!

Most of the time go for [normal] > 2C blockstring. You have tons of option from there. Take a look at the google doc for some blockstring ideas after a blocked 2C. You should have plenty of time confirming whether [normal] > 2C has hit or was being blocked. Your basic goal in combos is to get the opponent airborne and hit them with 5[C] > 421B > 6 > (whiff 5/2A > gunloops. The most used tool in order to archieve that is 2C. As for combo starters, an A normal (and 1 additional normal) into 2C [5C] leads into the full gunloop. If you hit them with 2 normals after your A starter, they will either be able to tech on 421B or 6, which means you need to end in something like 2C > 214B. You can go 3C > j.B slightly delayed j.AC > d.6C > gunloop if you haven't resorted to 2C already. If you hit them with a stronger starter (usually 2B), you can add an additional combo path to your BnB after you hit 2C: j.[C] > slightly delayed j.A whiff > 5B into 5[C] > BnB. tl;dr: A starter > 2 additional normals > 2C > 214B A starter > 2 additional normals > 3C > j.B slightly delayed j.AC > d.6C > 22B > d.6C > 22B > d.6C > 22C A starter > (additional normal >) 2C > 5[C] > 421B > 6 > (whiff 2A/5A >) 22B > d.6C > 22B > d.6C > 22C B/C starter > 2C > j.[C] > slighly delayed j.A whiff > 5B > 5[C] > 421B > 6 > (whiff 2A/5A >) 22B > d.6C > 22B > d.6C > 22C There are a lot more options and routes from different starters obviously, but I think that's enough for now to get a grasp of how her combos are working. edit: 10 minutes too late, lol.

In case you've missed the google doc - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lf7kANGdmrXrbSfQsEBCibiOkp4vXn_E29Zr_vOLg3s/edit There are some combo tips and delays written in there. From the top of my head, these are some combo paths where you either gotta delay a certain move or do it as fast as possible. 2C > 5[C] > 421B > 6 > whiff 5A > (2C(1) >) 22B You can leave out the whiff 5A if you feel you can land it easier this way. The same applies if you're trying the 6 > 2C(1) > 22B. ... > j.B > j.A > j.C > 66C > ... If they are too high, make sure to delay the j.A a little bit. ...> 2C > j.[C] > whiff j.A > 5B > ... delay the whiff j.A a little bit and make sure to input the 5B ASAP. 3C > j.[C] > jc.[C] > whiff j.214A > 5B > ... delay the second j.[C] by a ton. ... > 66C > 421B > whiff 5A > 2C(1) input 2C(1) as fast as possible. Note that if you are in vorpal, your 5A will whiff cancel into 2C. Make sure to let 5A completely recover in order to get the timing right. ... > 2C > 5[C] > 421B > j.B > j.C > 66C Jump cancel after 421B immediately, but delay the j.B 421C > j.[C] > whiff j.A > 5B Delay j.[C]. In this combo, you can whiff j.A without delaying

Many of them are practical tbh.

I've recently tried out on who the 421B > whiff 5A > 2C(1) > 22B combo path is easy to land on. Turns it it's super easy on everyone except for Merkava and Gordeau, lol. Any tips on landing the 2C(1) consistently against these two? Also, 2B 2C 5B 5AAA is a pretty sick blockstring. Lots of stagger pressure possible here that also leads in whiff 2A.

22B being +8 is insane, lol. Thanks for the data, really appreciate it.

I'm doing CH 22A > 2C > j.[C] > whiff j.A > 5B > 5[C] > 421B > 6 > (5A whiff >) 2C(1) > 22B > d.6C > 22B > d.6C > 22C for like 3.4k dmg. Add me on skype too please! My ID is sima-chan. (with the dot)

Her 236B, if spaced correctly seems to be very safe. From what I've seen, only characters with fast normals or specials can punish a badly placed 236B. The Tanatos 214A follow-up is not safe against characters with long range supers and the likes. Gordeau f.e. can punish it with his DP or his 41236C. Haven't seen any combos here so far. Here are the most practical ones I've been able to get from watching tons of videos yesterday: 2AAA > 2C > 5C > j.ABC > 2B > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (2036) anything that isn't an A starter: [starter] 2C > 5C > 3C > 623A > 5A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B 236B > 236C > dash 2C > 4C > 623A > 5A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (3349) 236B > CS > d.5C > 5A > 5C > 623A > 5A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (3170) IOH 6D > j.A > CS > j.C > j.214A > (delay) 5C > 623A > 2A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (2426) IOH 6D > j.A > CS > j.C > 2C > 5C > j.A > j.B > j.C > 2B > 214B AA 3B > 214B > d.5C > 3B > 5C > j.B > j.C > 2C > 214B AA 3B > 214B > d.5C > 5A > 5C > 214B (2163) CH (5B/2B) > 2C > 4C > j.B > j.C > j.214A > 623A > 5A > 3B > 214B > 3C (2982) 6B > 2A > 2C > 5C > 3C > 623A > 5A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (2714) 6B > 214A~214B > 236B (2056) + 236C > 3B > 214B (2885) Corner: 236B > 5B > 5C > 623A > 5A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (3376) 6B > 214A > 214B > 623A > 5A > 5C > 214B > 2C > 4C > 214B (3298)

Gonna break some things down, Tari already summed the most important points up. But let me repeat that one thing he said: Golden rule in almost if not all match-ups: Pumpkin over Frog. Even a fullscreen Frog is rather unsafe if the opponent is over aggressive and rushes in. I'm not too sure about Bullet without a running dash, but even when summoning frog is safe, you still have a big problem if they are closing the gap without you having pumpkin out. You can't really rely on George here. One grab, no matter if teched or not, and George is gone. Now in the same situation with pumpkin, you can just wind pumpkin in their face and maybe even go for a mix-up. Backing up at this point to get more stuff on the screen is fine too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhOlCK6L07g&feature=player_detailpage#t=59 -> Don't resummon pumpkin if you already have one on the screen, especially not with 2 hits left on it. At this point you could've either summoned George or B lotus with the pole near Bullet. B lotus shuts down air movement very effectively. Now for the pumpkin before you resummoned it, you had a big advantage in terms of neutral in this case. Bullet's air approach would've been easily stuffed with 4D, ground approach with 1D. A little bit further in the video where she jumps at you and you get CH'd, a winded pumpkin (8D or 9D here) is very strong, even would've netted you a CH. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhOlCK6L07g&feature=player_detailpage#t=117 -> With a pole around, you can do 5B > 5C > 214C. This stuff isn't included in the combo video thread, but I'm working on it. When you hit j.B and went into j.214C, it didn't combo. Next time go for j.B j.C j.214C (land) BBL into oki (not sure if you can do (land) 5CC 214B 3C 214A in this case) The 3rd round was a result of you not neutral teching (just hold a button without any directions). You gave him double heat up (dunno how it's called), which gave Luna a very strong momentum, finishing you off very quickly. I know it's tempting trying to delay tech and rolling, but most people aren't doing it for a reason, and I think this is a very good example of why neutral teching is so important. 2nd match: Same as the 3rd round of the 1st match, but with less impact. Been seeing j.B > j.214C several times now. One thing you could do is buffering the j.C into j.B, so it automatically comes out if you hit your foe, allowing you to combo into sword iris. Also, ending strings with 3C ends your pressure, as it is -1 now. Luna could've just mashed 2A to poke you out of any normal you pressed there (even 2C! :P). I suppose the air frog summon when you combo'd was an accident, so I'm not gonna say anything about it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhOlCK6L07g&feature=player_detailpage#t=272 Combos with max range 6B can be followed up with 3CD or j.3BD on standing opponents http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhOlCK6L07g&feature=player_detailpage#t=523 Pay attention to your wind gauge whenever you engage. With only one wind, Rachel isn't that scary up close. You could've either went for high/low mix-up with a very bad combo or a rather predictable mix-up ("Oh, this guy only has 1 wind stock, I bet he wants to leave that for combos, so I don't need to worry about the IOH!"). After watching 3 matches, here is what I've got: -Lobelia usage/directions: Most of the time you shooted 2 or 3 Lobelias at one single place instead of placing them all over the screen. While Lobelias are nice to prevent the opponent from getting in, you also have to think about pole positioning. 3 Poles over 1/2 screen away won't help you much once they are past that, but one a bit further from you and another one 1/2 screen away is already very good for making them think twice about getting in. I don't know how long you've been playing though, and maybe you were just used to the CS/CT Lobelia arcs. It took me quite a while to get adjusted to the new arcs as well. George summons: Just saying it again. In like 90% of the time, you want to summon George with pumpkin support to make it safe. Anti-air usage: Anti airing is a very important aspect of Rachel's zoning! If you don't show them approaching via air is a very risky option, they can just get in for free. 6A is a fantastic AA tool, so try using it more often. You don't even have to be scared about long range normals like Ragna's j.C. 6A doesn't have head invul, but a head guard point, letting us win/trade much more ground to air battles than other characters. Pumpkin: Very important as well. You used it as an offensive tool most of the time. In several cases Luna jumped at you while you summoned something with pumpkin around. Instead of getting CH'd, just wind pumpkin in his direction to make him pay for disrespecting it. Pumpkin usage is, in my opinion, the thing anyone should learn first because it is clearly her best tool. And always look if pumpkin is still around. Resummoning pumpkin is a waste of ressources (there are obviously cases where it's fine, i.e. only one hit left or very far away from the screen where you need to burn at least 2 wind to make it useful), in the time you resummoned pumpkin you could've summoned george, more poles, or B lotus. Teching: Neutral tech in 99% of the time! You are giving your opponents free damage otherwise. And since the game is about reducing someone's health to zero, preventing any kind of damage is what you should opt to. I'd rather eat a mix-up than a free combo leading into the same mix-up again. There are simply no benefits for trying to tech roll, especially not when you are cornered. Kokonoe is a very good example here, she can catch you with 2B into a ... strong combo. And by strong I mean 4~5k. Nobody wants to eat that much damage just because they teched wrong, right? Hopefully this didn't sound too rude, I'm usually not the best at critiquing, but I hope I helped you anyways.

Pretty much. 5B > 236A will definitely hit them if they up-back, now with George activating, you can go for a juicy j.236A loop combo into another George. If you are too close they might be able to roll out, but you can prevent that by walking back a bit after the 5CDC wallstick - if you had to burn wind for it, that is. And I don't know what's going on, but CP seems like up back/roll all day for the majority of players, it's really annoying.

We CP now. Some vids are still from Extend but I've confirmed the setups are still working, gonna kick in CP versions once I get a hold of my new capture card.

From what I've tested Rachel can get out of her UB setup (22B) using wind tech.

He seems to be the same case as Azrael. Instead of hitting Haku frontal with 236A, he needs to fall into the seed. It's really hard for the combos listed by you as the 5B > 6A > 236A part kicks in rather late, making it more difficult for him to fall into the seed without being able to tech. Perfectly works for 6A AA combos though. I'm gonna try Litchi Haz and Tager now and see if they have the similar air hitboxes. edit: No problems vs Litchi/Haz. Hard tier: Azrael, Hakumen, Tager, Kagura, Valkenhayn

Off a 2B confirm you can do 2B > 5B > 5CDC > 5B > j.C > j.236A~j.2D > 5B > 6A > 236A > 6A > 4B > 3C into frog If you feel like spending more wind, you can add an additional j.236A~j.2C if you feel like using more wind for about 3k. The combo itself recovers 1 wind. You can't do too much damage off her IOH because it's a short starter.

Thanks TD, added the basic ones (still need to do more testing with j.C 2D stuff midscreen). ToDo: Combo route guide, useful CH 6B combos, high dmg OD combos mentioned earlier. I want to update the CSEX gameplay guide first so anything except for CH 6B combos may have to wait a little longer. Also, asking this here again since nobody answered:

In the case of Tager, 6C is a honorable mention, at least as far as corner oki goes. He can't do anything but block as long as he doesn't have 50 meter for MTW. 6C catches backdash, 360Z/720 attempts and sledge. And don't forget you can do a full combo off 6C + george hits, netting you about 3k into 5CC > 214B > 3C > 214A oki to repeat the process.