Marisa

This is what I fear, a Carl with no combos, no damage, and no Nee-san to make up for it. Few play him as it is, if his learning curve isn't rewarded with a decent character, nobody will bother at all. His character design doesn't really allow for him to be very mid-tier, he's either got to be good or he'll be bad. I know it's still rather early to call doom and gloom for Carl, but it's certainly not looking very good at the moment. Here's hoping we don't end up with Rachel's hand-me-down wheelchair.

It never really looked to me like Virgillia was going to have lock-down via Gungnir. She seemed like the typical zoner to me, a pain in the ass to get to. Theory Fighter: I get the feeling Eva Beatrice and her air dash will be the bane of Virgillia's zoning.

The more I hear about this, the more I hope it's the next Melty. I'd love another doujin fighter with resonable balance and good mechanics.

Gate comes down to preference really. Square has the most benefits but is also harder to learn for most people. Octogon makes some motions easier to get the hang of (specifically DPs), but you shouldn't be riding the gate anyway. For what it's worth, most cabinets will have a square gate, so if you ever play on a real cabinet, knowing the square gate will help.

Having the AI set to random isn't quite the same as having a live opponent though. I know when I tech I put a lot of quick calculation into play. "What can they do now?" "What does it look like they're planning?" etc etc. At the very least you can make an educated guess what a live opponent will do, since most of them will attempt to put themselves into a better situation. The system needs an overhaul, but it seems silly to base changes around what happens when the AI picks a random action.

It was unblockable in CT

Tao's drive is Dancing Edge, in English at least, so yeah, probably her drive In CT, Brio had to be barrier blocked in the air, perhaps that's the case again.

I know everyone is getting nerfs, but is there even a reason to play Carl anymore with all this? No long combos for damage, Nirvana recharges slower and consumes more meter so less resets, Carl deals less damage so it's even less worth the suicide misson of trying to operate alone, 8]D[ being airblockable for 2 primers is practically useless due to air breaks being a huge waste of time, j.2C's properties have been messed with across the board (I suppose there's possibilities of it being an excellent and well recieved buff, but I'm not holding my breath), and 2C as his only fatal is just wrong. Anima armor is nice, but I'm sure the high launch will prevent any follow up putting the move right back into the "rarely used" bin. All that on top of his already existing weaknesses of no DP, terrible defense, and low health. Sorry about the whiny and pessimistic view on things, I'm sure things will end up ok in the long run. I just love the little guy the way he is, he plays exactly like what I wanted back in the CT days.

I originally started playing Rachel, but never got really into her playstyle (though I've been considering picking her up again and making her my sub for a long time now). After I decided to move on from Rachel, I went around the wheel and just played a bit with everyone, got the feeling for their moves and whatnot. Stopped at Tager for a little bit, but eventually decided I wanted someone a little quicker. I had almost made my way back to Rachel when I found this little boy and his sister. I honestly couldn't put my finger on why I liked the little guy so much, kept telling my friends "there's just something I like about him". I could barely move Nirvana (and actually amazed myself by learning how to walk her), but I loved the complexity of the character. I stuck with him, learned to really use him. After CS came out, Carl suddenly played like what I wanted him to play like all though CT and I knew I would main him all over again.

Been using my stick for around a month and a half. I still have a few occasional issues with IADs and sjcs but the rest of my game improved greatly. DP motions are fluid and natural, Counter Assaults are easier, I misinput less (especially 632146C), and I'm able to do more complex combos with less issue. Less than a year ago, I hated sticks, with a passion. Used one at a convention and I kinda liked it, put in a lot of research and soon became addicted to the idea. When I decided to buy my stick, I found myself thinking "Well, if I don't like it I can always resell it on eBay and at least get some of my money back." I liked it, stuck with it, and now I can't imagine playing on anything else.

Nirvana's last move before she dies has special properties. The glide I have no idea.

While I'm sure most people won't care much, it looks like if you were to RC Platinum's command grab you wouldn't get your drive item refreshed. Her seemingly drive related staff sparkle animation happens at the end of the grab, and I assume that's when the items would refresh. ArcSys may even make it so that the move ends right after the damage is done and then make it so you can't RC the refresh at all.

Including a hard mirror in the matchup chart just seems wrong, that's like dropping characters tier levels because they're difficult to learn. It's unrelated when you consider that the player is going to learn the matchup, just like the player learns their character.

Bang's Nox was included in the original 10. http://blazblue.wikia.com/wiki/Nox_Nyctores Unless I'm missing something, this "11th Nox" would have to be something new or a typo or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCnqBpSaFqU Youtube is your friend.

I proxy buy various games for some Brits I know, almost all of them bought BBCT. I bought it for myself on a whim despite not being a fighting game fan at the time (I'm far too non-competitive, even now.) Really got into the game, so much so that I bought a TE Fightstick and am now looking into other fighting games.

I infinitely prefer CS Carl to CT Carl. He's just so much more fun to play in CS, he flows better and feels more like you're actually able to use and coordinate Nirvana's attack rather than just abusing the unblockable properties of one move to do damage.

As a previously pad-warrior Carl having recently switched to a stick (~2 weeks ago), I'll tell you this much; You'll be really bad at first. You'll have to adapt to using the stick and buttons, which can take anywhere from days to years depending on the person. Thus far, my experience has been that my combos have suffered, but my shenanigans and traps have improved. Combos can be relearned, so I feel I'll be better for the experience. A digital artist friend of mine once said "buying an expensive tablet won't make you a better artist" and the same logic applies here. Buying an expensive arcade stick won't make you a better player. But much like a tablet is an easier, more intuitive, more accurate interface for an artist than a mouse, an arcade stick in the hands of a master can make a difference. Of course there are people out there that can use a mouse for art/pad for fighting games and produce amazing results.

8]D[ is completely useless outside of combos if it's both airblockable AND interruptible. What's the sense of using a move that is worse in almost every way to Brio? It's already pretty easy to evade or counter for most of the cast. Having it remove a primer feels like a really shitty replacement. I rarely ever guardbreak and I mostly play vs a Tao, it's just not something that Carl needs; mixups, crossups, and unblockables are basic utensils for him.

So I've been maining Carl since CT and finally decided I should do what's best for me and bought an arcade stick (BB TE :D). I know the general rule is to do what's comfortable and I've read the stick threads in the Beginner forum, and I'd like to clarify I'm not asking for advice exactly. I just want to know what kind of grip and button layout other Carls around here are using and what made you pick it? I'm personally looking at using a wine glass grip, modified slightly for comfort (Carl hop I imagine eats into the wrist), and the DBC layout since I'd rather be better in control of Nirvana than better able to spam A. I'm open to being told my reasons are stupid as I'm only theory fighting at the moment as my stick is still a couple days away. Forgive me if this has been covered before or if I'm making an ass of myself posting it here.

Thank you! Just knowing that little extra saved me all kinds of time and trouble. Getting it about 85% of the time now (would be higher but I'm still choking too often on 2P side) and encouraged me to work on my 4]D[ combo. At the very least I feel like a slightly less terrible Carl :D

So do you 3C 52]D[ similar to an IAD? Or are you able to skip the 5? Also, do you need to activate Nirvana before the 3C or can you activate her simultaniously with the 3C? I can do the move, but I'm not doing something right because she always ends up on the wrong side of the opponent.

I wouldn't be surprised (or sad) if the balance patch changed Jayoku somehow so that you need the FC to combo off it. As things are now, Jayoku is a really good move with a pointless fatal attribute. I'll put my vote toward Carl j.B for best FC attribute, just because the options it opens up. Jayoku for best move that also FCs.