[SpA]Relentless

Okay, I misnamed it then. I'm well aware that you have to add jump frames to an aerial attack if it's supposed to hit grounded opponents - but I'm not too sure if you should add dash frames as well (he has the option of doing 2b > Renka or whatever instead so you can't just block high by default if you see a dash). The rest you're saying - I can accept it. I tend to see matchups worse than they might be because it's still better than the other way around. I'll have to look into Hotaru punish more closely. It seemed to recover very fast to me (to the point where'd I'd say it's not "very easy" to punish it on reaction - if you anticipate it, sure...)

I don't get how blocking Gurren, which is basically a dash punch that hits mid, has anything to do with blocking an overhead. And 19f is pretty damn fast imo. He can also cancel his forward dash into Tsubaki (and don't tell me you want to count the dash towards the startup as well). Rachel fastest normal is 5A with 6 frames so no, she cannot punish 3C on block (safe on block means it's not punishable, not that it leaves Hakumen at an advantage - don't mix things up). Even if you IB it, you'll probably be out of range to fight back. Of course it's resets the situation to neutral, but it's still a decent poke, and you will still be in 4C range. Of course you can, but just setting frog after frog won't let you start an offense. You want to have a pumpkin out WHILE he's busy killing the frog, not afterwards. Isn't that what I said? And that you can bait it? -_- Landing on the ground cancels the recovery of the move entirely, so TK Hotaru/ Dash Hotaru is not punishable at all. That's also why it leaves him at frame advantage (and also the reason why TK Sword Iris leaves Rachel at up to +24 despite it having 3 more frames recovery than ground Sword Iris). Every time I tried to punish a whiffed Hotaru, I ate a CH 3C combo for it.

Rachel v. Ragna http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEKyuVIhus&t=30m56s Rachel v. Taokaka http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEKyuVIhus&t=43m44s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEKyuVIhus&t=47m26s Rachel (ARiSA) v. Lambda (sivaxs) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt_AtfNn_ig&t=5m Rachel (ARiSA) v. Arakune (VER) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt_AtfNn_ig&t=8m

In my opinion this matchup isn't in Rachel's favor at all - she's at a slight disadvantage. Basically it comes down to who manages to corner the opponent first. On the defense, you cannot zone him effectively because he can cut your lobelias and winded pumpkin, and because of the amazing range of his 3C, 4C and j.C. On the offense, you have to be vary of his counters. If you see him getting counter happy, mix in more throws than usual to keep him honest. I have mixed feelings about 6A in this matchup - it beats him clean when he's directly above you or crossing you up, but when he's jumping in in front of you with j.2C, it tends to clash if you do it too early, or loses completely if you do it too late. Timing and positioning is much stricter than against other characters. Don't use 236A9D and 236BD predictably - these are at the perfect position to be cutted by his 4C. 236C3D however is much tougher for him. Don't try to play footsies with him. Against some chars you can attempt this, and Hakumen is not one of them. His 5B shifts his hurtbox back so you can't hit him with 2A, but he will hit you with 5B (and he can now combo it into Enma without a CH). His 4C and 3C outrange and outprioritize everything you can do. Use 6B sparingly - if you whiff it in front of him, he can do 4C > Enma. To approach him, you have to condition him. Summon a pumpkin and do a winded dash into mixups. Eventually he will realize than he can just 4C the pumpkin and make it explode in your face. However, once he does that, he will try and anticipate it everytime you summon a pumpkin and whiff a 4C from time to time - that's when you wind in and punish him in his recovery. Switch back and forth between these patterns depending on what he's doing - abuse his habits. If you have a frog out, he will obviously try and kill it. The easiest way for him to do so is by doing 3C - however he cannot jumpcancel it to keep himself safe, so prepare to wind in and punish when George is in his 3C range. Another trick you can do when you're fullscreen is to summon a frog, then do 236C3D. This will place a pole directly on Hakumen and put the frog into the perfect range for his 3C - but he cannot just destroy it like that because of the threat of sword iris. Punishing him for killing George is also a big reason why you don't want him to get a black hole up. If he jumps over the frog and tries to get close to you, that's also not bad since he can't kill it from behind. Wind the frog towards you during a gap in his strings to shift the momentum. If he manages to corner you, things get dangerous. Most of Hakumen's moves are either safe on block (5B, Zantetsu. 3C although it will end his pressure) or leave him at frame advantage (5A, 2A, 2B, 6A, Gurren, Renka, Hotaru). Respect Hotaru. Seriously fucking respect it. This will catch if you try to jump out predictably, and also works as a wakeup move. It's like a shoryuken, but positive on block and not punishable on whiff. On FC in the corner, he'll get 4.5k+ off of it. Also be aware of Instant Overhead TK Tsubaki in the corner - it's very fast and also lets him do 5k+. These two moves are very good reasons to burst. To get out of the corner, barrier block his stuff (even if his normals are good, his pressure sucks) and push him out of range, then try to either do a winded superjump (just be aware of Hotaru) out of the corner or try and 6A him if he jumps back in. If you manage to corner him, keep him there at all costs. If you can keep the pressure up, it should be game over. It's not possible for him even on IB to do a 2D between 5B and 2B or a 6D between 5B and j.2DA if you do it right, so he is forced into a high low guessing game without a chance of fighting back. Always end your combos with knockdown into pumpkin or frog oki. Be aware of Hotaru and his counters on his wakeup, especially Yukikaze (because it catches highs, mids and lows). If he manages to break out of your corner trap, this is the third good reason to burst in this match.

Why are you doing a dash 3c? That's not needed and not doing dash 3c leaves the lightning rod in the perfect position for sword iris afterwards. Take a look. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=40m17s @currentlemon if you want to do B lobelia combos in the corner, you have to do 5B 5CC without wind, then you'll be in the perfect position afterwards. It's character specific though I think, but against big chars it definitely works. And please, for the love of god, do not end the combo with something stupid like dash 6A > sword iris > air combo ender. When in doubt how to finish the combo, just do 5CC > 214A/B and let them recover and start your mixup again.

Rachel (rinhime) v. Makoto (nao) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVSScnY2KqM&t=2m45s Valkenhayn (Q) v. Rachel (so^hei) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVSScnY2KqM&t=5m23s Rachel (rinhime) v. Bang (natsunoa) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3viC9Bg-V28 ^1 wind lvl3 j.2C at 1:50 Lambda (na^ga) v. Rachel (so^hei) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3viC9Bg-V28&t=3m35s Bang (natsunoa) v. Rachel (so^hei) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3viC9Bg-V28&t=6m17s Rachel (rinhime) v. Lambda (na^ga) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3viC9Bg-V28&t=10m10s Rachel (Matsu) v. Arakune (VER) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKWvq3VbgOU&t=4m17s

I think we missed the NSB excerpts that were posted on youtube. Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtspgflq1Gc&t=4m20s Rachel v. Jin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtspgflq1Gc&t=7m38s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtspgflq1Gc&t=10m24s Lambda v. Rachel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RqQ_T1bMA0&t=5m35s

Decent no-name Rachel in the latest a-cho videos. I think it's the same as in this set of videos. My guess is he only just started playing CS2 (hence why he hasn't got a card & seems rusty). Rachel v. Carl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTNVtHpohwE&t=43m4s Rachel v. Bang (Nezu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=7m6s ^I'm not 100% sure but I'm confident this is Nezu, because of default color, seals as fast as possible & FRKZ every round. Rachel v. Bang (Nezu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=10m25s Rachel v. Bang (Nezu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=14m39s Rachel v. Hakumen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=18m32s Rachel v. Bang (Nezu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=21m7s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=23m40s Rachel v. Bang (Nezu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=26m39s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=30m23s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=33m29s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=38m44s ^40:06 lol @ CH Pumpkin hitstun Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=40m55s Rachel v. Platinum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dM8qV9muEU&t=43m43s

Sounds good. I got another question, about 5B 5CD 3C BBL ~ On which characters does BBL connect fully midscreen?

Rachel (Matsu) v. Noel (Boushi) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME1L0OFrW8A Rachel (Matsu) v. Carl (Dio) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjQxj-vCAh8 I don't care if it's potentially impractical, it looks awesome.

Question: How reliable does 6CD combo from 5B? What's the max distance it does? Can you do stuff like 5B (blocked) > jc j.2DA j.B 5B 6CD 5B (blocked) 2D > jc j.A j.B (blocked) > djc j.A j.A j.B j.C 5B 6CD 5A(2) 5B 6CD 2B 5B 6CD 5A(1) (blocked or not) 2B 5B 6CD properly on every character? If not, which ones does it work on better? I think that's going to be important to know (like midscreen frogable chars in CT/CS1). Could a CS2 owner test this out please? :3

If you're too lazy to search for the match, take my shiny pre-timestamped link ^_^ Arakune (Zagi) v. Rachel (Zero) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-k1oPZhC-M&t=4m

Depends on the situation. Tager can now sledge through 2B and 5B so you have to be more careful against him and use 2A and 5A more as poking tools.

Where exactly is the sense in doing a corner carry combo when you end with with an air combo ender? So they can escape it again? -_- Better ender (after first 236A) dash 5CC > dash 3C > 214C > 3C > 214A Will do less damage but keep them knocked down with frog oki on wakeup. This ender will also regain you about 1 1/2 wind bars.

Rachel (kaede) v. Rachel (monorisu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-5LAUwEjzs&t=20s Rachel (kaede) v. Noel (agemon) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-5LAUwEjzs&t=5m Jin (kaiou) v. Rachel (kaede) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJGlZNWJlN0&t=22s Rachel (kaede) v. Carl (poratto) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwMjZPKZgDE&t=35s Rachel (kaede) v. Lambda (pinose) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwMjZPKZgDE&t=4m12s Hakumen (fuji) v. Rachel (kaede) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4IHkwOgO9g&t=30s Valkenhayn (shi^za^) v. Rachel (kaede) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4IHkwOgO9g&t=4m20s Rachel (morikawa kun) v. Arakune (kirisaki) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhtHJtucRcs&t=6m39s Noel (mayohiga) v. Rachel (monorisu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9pxV305y18&t=4m25s Lambda (haduki chan) v. Rachel (kaede) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9pxV305y18&t=8m21s Makoto (suri masu) v. Rachel (morikawa kun) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm4spPJiurQ&t=28s

With 3c you could set a rod though and add damage/heat gain through the lobelia (and maybe sword iris later). Would need some testing which one is really better.

Rachel (ridoru) v. Bang (u ^ san) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcW0G5AbvQ&t=4m24s Platinum (yamachi) v. Rachel (ridoru) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Zzqq0DKh8&t=15s Tsubaki (supinoza) v. Rachel (ridoru) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sYHA0W3KIo&t=15s Arakune (joj) v. Rachel (ridoru) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=395A4ygAen4 Tsubaki (asakura) v. Rachel (ridoru) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=395A4ygAen4&t=4m57s ^Average Rachel Arakune (VER?) v. Rachel (ARiSA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdOy-lP8c1Y It says VER but Jourdal believes it's Buppa in disguise (like he impostered R-1 before), VER also usually chooses the purple Arakune. Idk what to believe :9

As a rule of thumb, the ones with a name (the latest matches of YAMA & zayasu A are pretty good). I post all Rachel footage I find, even if they're not as good/well-known. That includes mostly the acho-Rachels, they're somewhat solid but not crazy-awesome.

Lambda v. Rachel (zayasu A) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkSf7Wcfqz8 Ragna v. Rachel (zayasu A) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkSf7Wcfqz8&t=3m50s Rachel (zayasu A) v. Makoto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnYoJv-K74U&t=3m45s Rachel (zayasu A) v. Litchi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnYoJv-K74U&t=8m34s He didn't play a lot ( ~150 games) since the last time he appeared in videos (which was in January) :/

Rachel (YAMA) v. Noel (supu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGMSfKWa44Q Rachel (YAMA) v. Tsubaki (rarara) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGMSfKWa44Q&t=4m5s Litchi (kimura) v. Rachel (YAMA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBFat2mZJj8&t=8m53s Rachel (YAMA) v. Tsubaki (kaette kita oni i tsubaki) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvi9_k1QTE0&t=5m40s I wonder what's up with the combo at 7:45 starting with 2c - does that really make the combo do more damage or did he just troll? :S Rachel (YAMA) v. Mu-12 (mashi) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvi9_k1QTE0&t=8m1s

There's not that much to it if you know what to look out for. It's important you do the actions in the correct order, the 2D actually comes before the jump cancel (so it looks like ~ j.C 2D jc j.2C). You have to do the actions very fast one after another, but if you do it correctly for some time it will eventually become muscle memory. The other important thing to look out for is positioning (if you're too low after the j.C, the j.2C will just whiff). For the first time training, I'd suggest using Tager as training dummy (huge hitbox makes the timing easier) and doing the following combo: CH 6A 5B jc j.B j.C 2d djc lvl2 j.2C (land) 236B j.C djc j.C j.214C Be sure you are actually doing a CH 6A (non-CH 6A launches the opponent higher so this combo wouldn't work, you'd have to leave out the first j.B and even then it's kind of unreliable). Once you get this down about 90% you can try some other setups. You can basically do it from anything that lets you hit an airborne opponent with 5B (3C8D, throw 7D, airthrow 2D OTG, george, sword iris, CH j.C, CH 236B/C) but for different setups you might have to alter the combo. For example after sword iris it's often better to always do 5B jc j.C 2D djc j.2C (without a j.B). If you hit an airborne opponent with a high 6A 5B, then a sjc will most of the time do the trick. Also for setups where the 5B can hit the opponent at variable heights (like 3C8D), you'll have to decide fast how you continue the combo (this comes with experience). This is my experience from doing this combo in CS1, CS2 owners may correct me. Hope this helped you out.

Litchi v. Rachel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0GVbE6As3g&t=5m29s Rachel v. Litchi (Lint) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwkakzmHeus&t=8m25s

Alright I'm not a US player, but I suppose it's okay if I post this here? Moneymatch from yesterday, any comments/ general tips/ matchup specific stuff are much appreciated (yay for shaky cam footage, if you don't want to watch the whole set: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7bG-odIr4k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71flmwZODeU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8P5eCd7FoQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkquwcQHurk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmRC4GKmA3I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcq9f5QmqPs

Hazama (na^be) v. Rachel (sesu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAobPn10zIg Rachel (sesu) v. Valkenhayn (sesu *uoruta*) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EoOxrzuzUk Rachel (sesu) v. Hazama (masaki) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EoOxrzuzUk&t=6m52s

Tager (tiku) v. Rachel (YAMA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAR_670Vdm4 (god this match was so random - TD beating sledge, 2C somehow not hitting Tager despite him hitting it TWICE, lots of misinput winds from a otherwise really solid Rachel) Rachel (YAMA) v. Hakumen (sodomu) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsx_yr4VP5M Licthi v. Rachel (YAMA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja-m2sxcsU8&t=12m7s Bang (uchiyama) v. Rachel (YAMA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YowoEFMNEZM Rachel (YAMA) v. Noel (KOGY) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF5SZOivpNo&t=3m10s Rachel (serori) v. Lambda http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LepbzC9VDR0&t=5m45s