Rushdown, Mixups, and Blockstrings - Part 2
Maintaining Pressure
Chances are the opponent isn't gonna fall for your first mixup every time. More commonly, they will block it and be ready to expect more.
Since you did not land any hits, they were probably using barrier, instant blocking or reading you well. Both barrier and IB change what you can do. Barrier pushes you back further and instant block gives them enough time to stick out a DP or other quick invulnerable move. However, IB isn't always helpful for the opponent against Rachel because the gap is often too small to get anything out in time. Plus, she's always doing something jump-cancellable that can be used to bait a DP for big damage. Barrier is the more common problem.
Off the top of my head, I know that barrier-blocking blockstrings like 2AA 5B prevents you from being close enough to do your mix-up. This gives the opponent enough space to land a proper anti-air if they expect you to continue with jump-cancel IAD or backdash to get away.
So what can Rachel do? Well, she can go for j.3D j.B. That hits high, isn't as slow as IAD, and doesn't leave you vulnerable on whiff. Another, but mich riskier option is 3CD. 3C is -1 on block, meaning you can try reset pressure. Keep in mind that things are not good for you if the opponent instant blocks the 3C or has a very quick 5A like Noel. A last and riskier option is to summon the pumpkin mid blockstring. A pumpkin winded immediately is very hard to react to. By using 3D or 6D winded pumpkins, you can cover those gaps created by the opponent using barrier and continue your assault. With a pumpkin out, you can also do riskier attacks and freestyle more. For example, TK frog midscreen and wind the pumpkin downward to land faster and keep them in blockstun. Or fire A lobelia and follow with 3D pumpkin into a short hop mixup.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that no offense is airtight, but if you manage to get the pumpkin and frog involved in your rushdown, then you can keep those holes smaller and pressure well regardless of how well the opponent defends.
Baiting Bursts
Burst baiting is one of those unique things to GG and BB. It requires prediction to bait a burst. People bait bursts by either jump canceling their previous attack or RCing it to block the burst. With Rachel, you can generally bait bursts after a 5B or at any point during the first jump of an air combo. Thus, most intelligent players will wait for you to double jump or do moves with long active frames like 5C or 3C to burst. It is at this point when you should be ready to RC.
Defense and Dealing with Pressure
A solid defense is a sign of an experienced player. It means that they know what other characters are capable of and have good enough reaction speed to deal with it. Knowing which attacks to IB to land a counterpoke or backdash and which attacks to barrier to disrupt the opponent's offense also come with experience. It's something that is very hard to teach and is something that most American and European players including myself lack. So you'll have to make do with more general advice.
Incoming cliche: A good offense is the best defense. What I mean to say is that if you were actively trying to zone and play footsies with the opponent, then you would know where the opponent could potentially get in and block accordingly.
Let's say I'm fighting Ragna and I do a 6A in anticipation of his jump-in. I know that if it doesn't work, he's probably gonna try to dash in and 5B. So he does and forces me to block and lose the pumpkin. Now what? He's probably going to wait and expects me to back dash or airdash back and catch me with those long-range normals. Even though I'm in close proximity without any summons to defend me, it is probably better to just stand my ground and wait for his reaction. If he jumps there is a good chance he'll IAD and I can hit him with CH 6A. If he starts running, then none of my attacks can beat out his 5B so it's best to block. Actively poking with quick attacks in between the opponent's block string might work for others, but it does not work for Rachel.
Basically, what I'm trying to emphasize is to look for one out and simply block everything else patiently. At the same time, you are getting to learn your opponent's habits. If you start to notice a pattern, then you can probably predict what will happen next and adjust accordingly. If I just know that Ragna is going to dash 5B, then 236A will beat him out. 236A loses to IAD and to waiting, but once you know what's coming just act upon it. Trust your instincts, because at a higher level nobody just gives anything away and reading the opponent matters. Other things to look out for are specific opportunities to backdash or specific attacks that you can IB and punish.
And as much as I emphasized looking for ways to get around opponent's who crouch block by default, it really is useful in practice. Especially against characters who aren't 'blessed' with Rachel's offensive capabilities.
As for knockdowns, Rachel has a way to escape safely nobody else has. While you tech, tap the wind button to perfom a "wind tech". What this does for you? In simple words, you will get some air momentum while teching with full invulnerability. This is especially good against foes who like to meaty their attacks to catch rolls. An example would be Hazama doing 2A on your wake-up. With the air momentum, Rachel techs over Hazama's 2A, and the game is back in a neutral state. The second use of wind tech is to avoid oki that's usually guaranteed. The first thing that comes into my mind is Amane's drill oki. You are generally forced to block after you tech because not teching or rolling results in Amane getting free damage while teching still enables him to do massive amounts of chip damage. With wind tech however, you are able to get out of his 236D~A/B/C. This even gives you enough time to punish the recovery with a free combo of your choice. The good thing is, there is no real way to punish wind teching. Baiting wind techs lead in a mix-up opportunity for your opponent, but the same would also happen if you neutral teched. So the only downside is you losing one wind stock.
II. Pressing the Advantage
What you do when the opponent is knocked down is equally as important as the approach itself. Why? Knockdowns give you the time necessary to create setups and force opponents into disadvantageous situations. In SF games, this is usually a crossup, safe jump, or fireball trap. In BB and GG, the same principles hold but the stuff you can do is much harder to defend against. Some characters can even force opponents into situations where it is humanly impossible to react and they are forced to guess which way to block - including Rachel. This allows for resets - mixups done on a recovering opponent that are difficult to defend against for the purpose of resetting the combo counter and damage scaling. Most resets have slight variations that make the proper way to defend very ambiguous. Bonus points if the reset ends in a knockdown that allows you to perform it again and again.
Okizeme setups
In the combo thread, it is generally advised to end ground combos with 3C to create knockdowns. In addition to ending combos with knockdown, you also want to have the pumpkin, frog, or both ready to act when the opponent tries to recover. I'll try to cover options from one 3C setup.
Here is one of Rachel's corner BnB:
5B > 5CDC > (walk back a bit) > 5B > 6A > 236A > 6A > 4B > 3C > 214A
This places you in a position where the frog is ready to activate on the downed opponent. Your opponent has 4 options: roll forward, roll backward, neutral tech, and quick getup. The most common by far is neutral tech, since that allows the opponent to get up safely. However, it is also the easiest option to reset.
From 3C(1) > 214A, opponent neutral techs:
2D j.A j.B 2B 5B | A high-low mixup that will combo into the frog. 2B 5B 2B | Same as above, but with two lows. 2D j.A j.B jc j.B j.A j.C | Same as above with a fuzzy guard. Mix-up the fuzzy guard with 2B to keep them honest. If they manage to block, you can go into another mix-up. 1D block (5B) (if pumpkin and frog available) | This will bait DPs because you wind down the pumpkin on your opponent while blocking. If the opponent continues blocking, you can start a mix-up with 5B.
opponent rolls forward: 1D 5B (if pumpkin and frog available)| The winded pumpkin picks up the rolling opponent. Continue with a quick combo (5B > 6A > 236A > 3C). 5B 236A | This will also catch rolls and lets george activate for a very good combo. Remember when I mentioned to walk back after the 5CDC? This leaves you at the best position to catch rolls without them being able to switch sides with you while still being able to hit 5B meaty into 236A if they decide to neutral tech.
Managing your wind meter
[*]Don't use all of your wind at the start of a match.
[*]Know when to backoff with your rushdown. If you have to spend too much wind to get in, let them come to you first and then start. Don't rush with just 1 wind.
[*]Stay on the ground whenever possible.
[*]Do things that keep them occupied longer (i.e. spam 2A in their face, make them hesitate with lightning rods, let the frog hit for its full duration before starting another mixup, etc.)
[*]When low on wind, turtle and spam 6A/6B like your life depended on it. It actually does.
Miscellaneous
Purple air throws:
Sometimes, you are forced to do an air combo that does not end with j.236A or j.2C. This happens when the opponent is high up in the air or you catch them with some winded aerials. As a result, the opponent is allowed to air tech and escape the corner. If you don't want them to escape the corner, try a purple throw. If they don't break it, it's free damage. When they break it, both you and your opponent lose your aerial momentum and will be forced to drop down. Good thing you can summon a pumpkin in the air and wind it at them while they can't. Watch out for long ranged attacks like Nu's swords or Jin's j.C though.
