Link to the original
This is basically part III and IV of kro_'s very good Rachel guide updated to CSEX CP standards. I'd like to thank kro_ for giving me permission to update it. Also thanks a bunch to Daedron for making screenshots of the Lobelias.
The sections cover zoning strategies, mix-ups, a quick analysis of her tools and her best normals, an example of an okizeme setup and some general tips when playing Rachel. I. Approaching the opponent
Rachel is one of the most versatile characters in the game thanks to wind and pumpkin. It allows a character who seemingly specializes in zoning become capable of mounting a safe and effective rushdown game. It also allows the player to choose the playstyle that emphasizes his strengths or exploits his opponent's weaknesses. Rachel thrives on both offensive and ranged momentum. Once she loses it, it becomes difficult to get it back. Thankfully, she is very good at maintaining it due to her strong okizeme.
This part of the guide will be divided into three sections: Zoning, Rushdown, and Defense. I'd like to stress that while these three topics can be considered separate parts of Rachel's game, there can and should be a lot of overlap. Smooth transitions from one area to another keep your game solid and fresh - confusing your opponent and making you less predictable. Zoning
Many people believe that Rachel's zoning is not that strong. If you compare it to someone with a very fast and direct zoning style like Nu or Mu, it's pretty easy to come up with that conclusion. Rachel does not get huge amounts of damage from playing keepaway and it is not as effective at keeping people out. It's also worthless against these two.
However, I would argue that Rachel's zoning style is much better at landing hits against an opponent. Her emphasis is on trapping and baiting opponents to make mistakes rather than keeping people out with continuous pressure. Additionally, the more time the opponent hesitates, the more traps Rachel makes while her wind meter fills up, and the more pressure they start to feel. I'll attempt to explain what I mean by going over her moves and some general strategy.
Move analysis 6A:
It has many names. Neko-upper. Catryuken. Bullshit. One of the best anti-airs in the game. This is also Rachel's best normal. It covers a huge amount of space vertically, a decent amount horizontally, and even some space behind it. It has an head attribute guardpoint. It comes out decently fast and has decent recovery for how good it is. One of the few attacks that is safe for Rachel to do without pumpkin support.
Its use in zoning should be obvious. This is what you hit people with when someone tries to approach you from the air. Use it on reaction to jump-ins and in anticipation of air dashes. It's actually fast enough to be used twice if the opponent tries to bait it with a double jump. On counterhit (which you should be getting a lot), the opponent can be juggled with dash 5B. This gives you a lot of time to hit confirm the attack into a proper combo. In this respect, it's actually better than having a real DP.
Try using your projectiles to force your opponent to approach you from the air and into that 6a CH. It's like the basic Ryu fireball trap but better. This should be her main source of damage from zoning. Zoning is not just projectiles. Anti-airs and long-range pokes are a big part of it too. 6B:
The fork. Both the startup and recovery of this move is poor. However, it is Rachel's longest normal and offers the same combo possibilities on counterhit as 6A. This often makes the risk worth the reward. Throwing it out a few times can make the opponent very afraid of trying to dash in under your projectiles, which is just as valuable as actually landing the CH combo. Like all other moves, it can be made safe with pumpkin support. 236A/B/C: (Tiny Lobelia)
Artillery fire. The arc and long active frames of these projectiles make them very effective at controlling space. The seeds themselves have ok damage for single hit projectiles. On counterhit, they stun a respectable amount of time. However, the startup and recovery time for these attacks are huge. Thus, you pretty much have to shoot them in anticipation of where you think the opponent is going to be instead of on reaction. This can seemingly leave you very vulnerable to attacks, but with pumpkin support you can cover the gaps and even use it to follow up those counterhits with an air combo. Especially useful when used with wind to change the trajectory and keep the opponent from advancing. Using wind while firing a projectile prevents you from moving. These also create lightning rods.
236A comes out very quickly in front of you and falls to the ground a short distance away. It can often be used to trade or beat out pokes and rushing opponents. Commonly used with 6D or 9D wind to cover more ground. It loses to aerial approaches or when whiffing a grounded opponent, though a well timed A lobelia with 9D can catch them as they approach you from the air. Also a central part of combos and corner lockdown.
236B arcs upward and falls a bit more than 1/3 of the screen away from you. You could also say that this move beats IADs for the first half of the attack and creates a wall for the second half. Commonly used with 6d wind to push the opponent back and make it land full-screen distance away or 3D wind to keep the opponent low and make it land ~2/3 of the screen away. Pumpkin + 6D236B + 214C can form a 3-hit combo that is great for pushing back and pressuring full-screen opponents.
236C arcs upward and falls a bit more than ~2/3 of the screen away from you. You could also say that this move beats super jumps and double jumps for the first half of the attack and creates a wall for the second half. Most commonly used with 3D wind to make it land full-screen distance away. This covers a lot of space and differs from 6D 236B in that the pumpkin is winded in a different direction. j.236A/B/C: (Air Tiny Lobelia)
j.236A comes out just as fast as 236A but has the arc of 236C and lands almost fullscreen. Thus, j.236A is a very useful move. The disadvantages to aerial seeds in general are no wind regen and increased recovery time. Chances are you won't recover until you land.
j.236B fires at ~30 degrees below the horizontal. Comes out slow compared to j.236A. It fires at a useful angle but the increased recovery time gives the opponent a good chance to close the distance without the pumpkin.
j.236C fires at ~60 degrees below the horizontal. Not very useful, at that range you're already vulnerable and may as well attack with normals or block. Don't do this move without a pumpkin. 214C: (Sword Iris)
Activates lightning rods. The hitbox of the lightning is actually fatter than you think. Lightning comes out fairly quickly, but there is a noticeable lag between your input and the actual activation. Thus, you still need to use some anticipation to hit people with this. Sword iris is great for executing frame traps whenever a seed hits an opponent shortly before touching the ground. That is, if they try to move right after blocking the seed they will get hit, but they are still given enough time to let go of block. You can also TK the input (2147C) to get a huge amount of frame advantage of 24 frames. It is interesting to note that sword iris goes all the way to the top of the screen. You can hit Noel with it when she does her air super and BBL will eat her giant missile. Having multiple well-spaced lightning rods out on the screen at the same time is useful for covering lots of space and conditioning opponents to move predictably. 214B: (Pumpkin)
Too good. The pumpkin moves in any direction and can be activated anytime you're allowed to use wind - meaning that you can use it during the recovery of your own attacks. Thus, Rachel can make almost anything safe at will provided that the pumpkin is in the right position and she has the wind meter to do it. Use it to cover gaps in zoning, add extra hitstun into a combo, and precede your rushdown with a projectile to name a few. It is important to note that you can wind the pumpkin before you finish the summon animation. Also, keep in mind that the pumpkin rises up and away from you slowly after summoning for 5 seconds. The pumpkin disappears when touching another projectile. Using wind again resets the timer to 3 seconds. One pumpkin can be used up to 3 times and disappears if Rachel gets hit, blocks an attack or gets thrown. Be careful with throws ,it doesn't matter whether the throw is green or pink and gets teched or not. 214A: (Frog a.k.a. George XIII)
Everyone loves this guy. He takes a bit of time to summon, but once he's out things become very dangerous for the opponent. He will track down the opponent slowly. Once in range, he will release an electric field that does 8 hits. Defensively, he will bail you out if the opponent manages to force you to block something. Offensively, he will keep the opponent in hitstun or blockstun long enough for you to continue a combo, start a free mixup, or re-establish your zoning. He can be winded, what makes him an incredible defensive tool even when he's far away. George disappears when Rachel gets hit, thrown (same rules as pumpkin), 9 seconds have passed or when he loses 700 HP. There is a cooldown of 5 seconds before you can summon George again after he has activated.
Whenever you summon George in the air, Rachel throws him forward further than a ground summon with a significant increase in recovery time. An important trick is to TK the frog (2147A) and wind yourself downwards with 1D/2D/3D. This dramatically reduces the recovery time of summoning the frog. TK frog is especially powerful when your 1D/2D/3D winds a pumpkin in the opponent's face simultaneously. Lotus:
Rachel consumes all of her poles to summon a bat for each pole that will slowly fly towards your opponent. On hit or block, the bat attaches itself for 15 seconds on them, changing the effect on her drive. I will only cover her Barrel Lotus. Her other Lotus has proven as inferior and should not be used.
22B, also known as Barrel Lotus, will make most characters cry trying to make their way in. It adds two additional properties to your 5D: homing and an insanely strong wind effect. The stronger wind allows Rachel to shoot her Lobelias, pumpkin and frog notably faster, which complements her zoning. Pressing 5D prevents common airdashes, as they will only cover 1/2 of their original IAD at best. If timed well, you can make them air dash in one place without any forward movement at all. You also gain access to a very fast fullscreen projectile, and it's one you know all too well - 236A. Combined with George on the field you can force a grounded opponent to block it in a matter of a second, hitting the A lobelia first and george right after. From this point you can either start your scary offensive game or play it safe and set more traps on the screen. Her homing also allows wind direction that aren't possible normally. The wind will always move in the direction your opponent is, making it very easy to get in somewhat fast. Be careful though, the wind will home at the direction the opponent currently is, so if they are moving around, something smart people should normally do, you can possibly whiff with whatever normal or air normal you wanted to get in.
Simple combos like 5B > 5CDC also gain tremendous corner carry potential. This particular combo will corner carry for about 2/3 of the screen, so make use of that instead of going for midscreen combos!
Note: Straight wind can still be used with 6D.
Zoning Strategies
This section will be filled with some general tips. It'll be fairly abstract since there are way too many variables in positioning and matchups, but hopefully you can pull something useful out of this. -Create Space
Whenever you try to zone using Rachel, the first thing you need to do is create space to summon a pumpkin. You can do this by backdashing, jumping backwards, or airdashing backwards. But a smart opponent won't let you do that by pursuing you. Most characters can move forwards faster than you can move backwards. In order to create space, you need to make yourself sufficiently threatening to make them hesitate. Then, fortify your position faster than they can react. The best way to do that is to prove to the opponent that you can 6A or 6B their approaches. Also, remember to wind that pumpkin before the summon animation finishes if necessary. If you can't do that, then they have no reason to hesitate from attacking you. After safely summoning a pumpkin, you're pretty much free to start zoning however you want. -Create a pumpkin wall
One thing I almost always do is create a pumpkin wall. This means that I summon an aerial pumpkin with the intention to wind it only if he tries to move past the pumpkin. I use this mainly to test the opponent and conserve wind. How does he react when I put down a frog? Shoot a seed? If the answer was dash or airdash to either, I wind the pumpkin down with 2D to stop him in his tracks or Z the pumpkin with 1D6D for a combo/mixup. If he does nothing or waits, then more wind and more traps for me. Winding the pumpkin with 2D or 1D also keeps the pumpkin between me and the opponent, so that I don't have to summon it again. Not having to re-summon a pumpkin is a concept that becomes especially important when zoning with lobelia seeds. -Always have a last line of defense
This can be either the pumpkin or the frog. Pumpkin works because you can always wind it towards the opponent before the opponent hits you - buying enough time to create more space or trade hits into a pumpkin counterhit combo. Frog works because you are allowed to block and it will eventually bail you out if you are near it. This is probably the most frustrating part of Rachel's zoning (for the opponent). -Know your distances
Pretty obvious advice. Know how high your lobelias fly and where they will land without wind. Then, get used to where they will land with wind when wind is applied at the same time as firing. Generally, you should focus on 2D, 3D, and 6D winds. Why? Because those directions pressure the opponent with the pumpkin simultaneously - allowing the pumpkin and seed to attack in tandem. After that, experiment a bit with applying wind earlier, later, and using other directions. A fun trick is to wind a pumpkin backwards on the opponent while over-shooting with 236C. -Know your opponent's distances
This one comes with matchup experience. Can my opponent's jump-in beat my 6a? Are they fast enough and small enough to go under a lobelia? Do they have any projectile-invulnerable moves? Can they punish me from full-screen? The answer to these questions is different for every character. The most common things to watch out for:
Jin's D-icecar and projectile super, Ragna's hell's fang, Noel's 3C, Tager's sledge, Arakune's j.D and his new (j.)22X series, Nu's swords (duh) and her infinite swords super, Hazama's chains and chain super, Tsubaki's D rush with D orb ([4]6D~236D), Platinum's bombs, rockets and Mami Circular(236B), Valkenhayns superior movement, Relius' 214B and 22X series, Azraels fireball (only available after he blocked one of your projectiles with his Growler (214B), Kagura's 6D~C, Amane's long range C normals, Terumi's 41236C super and ... anything Kokonoe summons. -Stay active but not too active
My general philosophy with Rachel zoning is to always be doing something while my opponent is dealing with something else. This can be as simple as backdashing to give yourself extra space or summoning a frog while keeping the opponent in blockstun with pumpkin. But if I'm not doing anything, then I'm usually waiting to activate sword iris or anti-air with 6A in a silent challenge to the opponent. You know how you stand around or whiff a jab occasionally after shooting fireballs to DP an opponent's jump in SF? Well the same thing applies here. It can be tempting to constantly refresh pumpkins and frogs to get that perfect defense going (chess anyone?), but you always have to be wary of approaches to get a proper punish instead of a pumpkin trade. Remember, in a battle of turtles, Rachel almost always has the advantage because she can regen wind. Hakumen has a similar advantage, but I find that wind >>> orbs. -Aim in front of the opponent
Miss on purpose? Not necessarily. This is actually my basic fireball trap. Because lobelias have such a long startup time, many opponents will be trying to dash or IAD to gain some ground. Aiming to control the space in front of the opponent means that anyone who dashes in and ends up blocking a lobelia will be forced into a frame trap with sword iris. On the otherhand, anyone who tries to double jump over it or jump and delay air dash will eat a 6A. The opponent who stays grounded just out of range will have the best chance to get in, but that's if George isn't on the field. When George is on the field, those lobelias will also be shielding him as he approaches the opponent. Finally, anyone fast enough to run under seeds and pass George before he activates should run into your last line of defense: the pumpkin. This will keep the opponent in block stun long enough for George to connect and reset the situation. Good stuff? Good stuff. -Steer the opponent towards the frog or the corner
Basically, whenever a frog is on the screen people will either try to kill it or jump over it. If they keep trying to kill it, attack them with a winded seed/pumpkin while they kill it to make them think twice. If they try to jump over it, try to force them into block stun when they are in the air over the frog. They will be forced to block it. Every blocked frog gives you a chance to regen wind, reset the situation, or go for the mixup if they're close enough. Slowly advance your lobelias forward with the frog either by switching from 236B to 236C, dashing forward slightly, or applying the appropriate wind. The opponent's main option is to IAD over the frog and rush you, but well-timed sword iris can catch them during this. 6D or 3D wind will also keep them stationary in the air if they tried to IAD. Keep in mind the frog gets winded to the other side of the screen in an instant with the effect of 5D B-Lotus. This will shut down their IAD approach completely, but also leaves George in an unfavourable position. If they manage to IAD over the frog safely, they will be surrounded between you and the frog. With pumpkin, it should be very easy for Rachel to push them back into that frog and reset, land the 6A CH or wind George towards you if they made you block. Can you begin to see the pattern here? -Use seeds to chase air techs
A lot of people will try to forward air tech to get in on you after getting hit by a seed. Fire seeds pre-emptively to the spot where they would be if they try to forward air tech. If they don't manage to IB it, then it's a free 6A attempt. If they do manage to IB it, then maybe your 6A will beat their attempt to get in anyway. If they neutral or backwards air tech, then keep on zoning. -Know when to divide your attention
Keeping track of frog, pumpkin, lightning rod positions and Lotus in addition to wind meter, super meter, barrier meter and lifebars and remaining time can be one hell of a chore - especially if you want to stay one step ahead of your opponent. Not everyone has the same capability to manage their attention among multiple things, but it is possible to create moments to get your bearings. Take a look at the various meters whenever you are doing something automatic that has no risk i.e. immediate sword iris, summoning a frog while winding a pumpkin, or when the opponent is blocking a frog. The opponent's attention is divided too. Take advantage of not being the one under pressure by getting some info the opponent may miss. Analyze and condition your opponent to make him easier to read
Decent opponents with patience can be tough to crack. If your zoning habits become too predictable and automatic, it becomes very easy for them to find chances to get in. After all, all they have to do is study you for gaps and hold back. One solution is to keep on doing those predictable things and leave that gap open for awhile, then bust out the 6A AA when you think they're gonna go for it. If they don't, then you just proved to them that you know what they're thinking. As a result, they may begin to second-guess themselves more often. Another is to leave your traps on the field (lightning rods work well) and just sit there - turtling and waiting for them to let go of block while your wind meter rises. Call it mindgames, yomi, or turtling bullshit. This is the fun and abstract part of fighting games. Analyzing the habits of your opponent can be very useful in determining how they will act in future rounds.
From the way I've been describing things, it might seem like Rachel's zoning is overpowered. Against reckless players and overly defensive players, it eats them alive. But against good players, you are rarely given enough space to form an ideal setup and they rarely fall for the same trick twice. It's also very easy to get punished for one mistake through mismanagement of wind meter, poor pumpkin positioning, or slow reaction time. The truth of the matter is that most of her zoning options can be beaten with careful aggression. Don't fall for a sword iris frametrap and Rachel will already be down to her last defense. Make her use that last defense often enough and she will run out of wind very quickly. These players will eventually force you into situations where you will be on equal footing again. In situations like these, it may be best to adopt a different approach entirely before getting put on the defensive.
Rushdown, Mixups, and Blockstrings Getting Inside
Breaking through an opponent's defenses isn't always easy. Normally, you have to deal with things like projectiles, counterpokes, and backdashes just to get inside. Once you manage to get inside, you have to mix things up well enough to land a hit before you get pushed back out.
Rachel has two tools that make both of these obstacles much easier to overcome compared to most characters: pumpkin and wind.
The key defining feature of the pumpkin in rushdown is that it is a projectile that moves with you. By winding a pumpkin forward and dashing forward behind it, you can easily get in on the opponent because it stuffs counterpokes, clashes with some projectiles, or catches opponents during their backdash. In a sense, it's very similar to how Guile would throw a jab sonic boom and walk behind it. The difference is that the pumpkin is much faster and doesn't disappear after one use.
Of course, you have to be in a position where you can follow up the pumpkin without gaps. If the pumpkin is directly in front of the opponent and you are on the other side of the screen, there's really no point in trying to rush. It'd be better to zone. However, if your opponent is say, landing from an air tech then that would be a great time to summon and rush. Basically, you want to summon the pumpkin and attack when you know that the opponent will be forced to block it and you are close enough to follow up with an attack behind it.
Words of wisdom from mvc2. This applies to Rachel with pumpkin as well. Getting past the opponent's guard
Most mixups in BB can be blocked on reaction. Maybe not everyone can do it, but it's well within the realm of possibility for most people to do. That's why there is a great emphasis on creating situations where the opponent will be forced to guess and trying to read your opponent.
It is vital that you understand common blocking habits and figure out ways to get around them. Most players defend by blocking low by default if the opponent is on the ground and blocking high if the opponent is in the air. Then, simply react if they see an overhead or throw attempt. Knowing this, you can do things that are designed to trip them up.
High-low mixups
One of the most basic mixups is the high-low mixup. By going from a high attack to a low attack, you are forcing the opponent to switch their defenses quickly from high to low. Because of how common this is, most people are able to block this. However, if you start doing things like high-high or empty jump-low, you become much more unpredictable and difficult to block. Do it enough and you can train the opponent to fall for that basic high-low mixup because they second-guess themselves.
Rachel excels at this. Wind, other than being a tool that pushes the pumpkin forward, can be used to make Rachel do short hops (2D). As a result, the time she spends in the air is reduced and her ability to switch from high to low is generally much faster than other characters. Combine this with a jump attack wthat has a vertical hitbox (j.A j.B) and you get someone who can easily block high-low mixups or any other combination of highs and lows in succession.
There is one point where Rachel usually tries to mix up the opponent: after 5B. When initially trying to mixup the opponent at close range, Rachel's main high attack string is j.2DAB (or j.2D j.A j.B) and her main low attack is 2B. After either of these attacks, Rachel usually does 5B again because this attack is jump-cancellable and can be used to hit confirm the previous attack into 5CDC. If the 5B gets blocked, Rachel will generally either go for another j.2D j.A j.B (high) or 2B/3C9D (low). After a j.2D j.A j.B Rachel also has the option to go into even more high attacks (j.AAA j.C or j.B j.A j.C) or land and do a low (2B). She can continue this until she runs out of wind.
Also, check out this thread for some specifics. It's from CSEX but most tech still works: Rachel Mixup/Pressure Compendium Cross-ups
Thanks to the large hitbox of j.2C, Rachel can perform ambiguous crossups when she is directly above the opponent. Being above the opponent is generally a good place to be. At any point you can j.2D j.A j.B for the overhead, or airdash forward/backward j.1D2C for the crossup. Also most characters do not have a good anti-air that hits directly above them. You can confirm a combo into 5B afterwards.
In the corner Rachel can do a nasty-crossup. 5B IAD j.C(w) 1D allows you to get behind the opponent where it normally wouldn't be possible. The j.C(w) catches any opponent who tries to jump out.
Additionally, she can do things like air dash over the opponent right before the frog goes off. However, this kind of thing is generally only viable with specific setups. Cross-unders
Rachel can time a dash 2A on a opponent's neutral tech to get right under them as they are in the air for few frames when teching. This creates a left/right mix-up that isn't too common in BlazBlue, and hence why it's very effective. There aren't many ways to set-up cross-unders. gli made a nice cross-under video, featuring Rachel's most practical cross-unders. All of these work in CP, and 3C > 9D will work on Tager and Noel as well Throws
Don't laugh. Throws are still somewhat effective in BB when sufficient pressure is created, and the potential damage is ok. Rachel has a decent throw game because she can 'tick' with the pumpkin or a quick j.2D j.A j.B to land a green throw.
Air throws are also very good at catching people who like to 'hold up-back', mash during air techs, or barrier when they think you're going to 6A.
The only caveat is that Rachel loses her pumpkin and frog if the opponent techs your throw. Losing those guys is generally not worth the risk with how easy it is to tech throws, but sometimes that expectation from the opponent will cause him to miss the tech.
