KoopaDoopa

Stay mad. :3 That's exactly how I feel about the matchup!

Nope. For me, Litchi > Carl > Hazama in terms of matchup hatred. Litchi is just nigh impossible D: So is Carl... almost.

j.2C being air cancellable basically means she has a 100% safe way to reset pressure regardless of where they tech (using the pumpkin to follow the opponent.) To put it into context, j.2C is only cancellable into normals on the ground in CS2. Ending an air combo into j.2C>normal is a bit inconsistent and risky without pumpkin as it loses to certain teching and mashing.

Thanks for your input guys! I really appreciate all of it. Yeah... My autopilot corner combo. XD Thanks though. Any tips to improve neutral game and hitconfirming? I was always too scared to use a lobelia close range due to eating 5B/5C/stupid stuff when I tried. I need to work on positioning and neutral game more because I don't know how to deal with that kind of Ragna (obviously with the 6A spam.) Thanks gli. :3 As for the Tager matchup, I've always played it unsafely close-range. In all honesty CS1 made me hate zoning. But better safe than sorry. Thanks SpA for the tip; definitely need to abuse Rachel's broken aspects more. XD So with at least one wind, you have a 100% safe mixup and pressure starter. Hmmm...

If anyone wants to, I'd like some critique on my Rachel. Hopefully my play isn't too terrible >_>; I feel like I play way to unsafely for my own good. lol VS jason900 (RG) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wLFIYsIHbk&feature=related Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mts-DmyXbec&feature=related Part 2 (Did a lot better this time around) VS Koopa_Klawz (TG) All me losing. :3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFQkGEFAqQ&feature=related Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFQkGEFAqQ&feature=related Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcNn8z91GZU&feature=related Part 3

Nice write-up Neo! Pretty much covered everything. I'll just elaborate on a few things. 2B is actually not JC-able. Only 5A, 5B, and 6B are (well, 6B isn't in CSEX.) But yeah, definitely watch for Instant overheads if you see the 3 and if she has wind. You could probably react to the wind animation, but Rachel may just decide to 2B. Also, always watch Rachel's wind meter. Make Rachel waste wind trying to lock you down using her entourage by punishing her slow summons. You can bait Sword Iris (Rachels like to keep rods on the ground to try to mindgame) by staying close to a rod and pretending to rush in.

Feel free to cut stuff from this. 6C- Mainly used in combos to corner carry a midscreen opponent with 5/6D; can be extended with 8D. Can be used situationally in blockstrings with Sword Iris whiff, however it can be mashed out if read. Special cancellable and gatlings to j.C and j.2C on hit/block. On CH, links to 5A. j.[C]- Causes Rachel to float slowly downward after j.C. Extends air combos windless. Can be airdash-cancelled and cancellable into any air move. Used situationally in mixup with George. Video for reference

This. Due to her character design, Tsubaki will control the pace of this matchup midscreen; Rachel can pretty much only react to what Tsubaki does. Also, be careful of starting the match with any lobelia as 22X will beat it and will grant a free corner carry combo with oki/charge.

Pumpkin, as posted by TD, will stop any approach on reaction. It's a lot easier to react with D than with A lobelia (inb4 noel joke) If you want to take a risk, you can try using 6A preemptively... But his wolf approaches are usually too fast to react to. What I usually do is just backdash and summon pumpkin as it's a lot safer.

6CD is also a viable option against sledge. If you're out of wind you can poke with 2A but oftentimes it's safer just to backdash or jump. Edit: Or 6B again, like what Tari said.

This matchup is probably my most difficult one, right next to Lamb-chops I feel like it's 6.5:3.5 due to the fact she constantly gets just enough heat to do Daisharin into mixup after every corner combo. First off, pressure. (Because Litchi will inevitably pressure us at some point due to her extremely good neutral game) Litchi's staffless pressure has a lot of ways to cancel into Kote/2D making it hard to mash/jump out of without getting baited. Examples are 5C > 6kote > 5C, 2C > 2D > 2C, etc. etc. Barrier is definitely very useful to push her out if you have some. You definitely do not want to take the risk of Cat Chair, although you can probably react if you see her slow 6A. Litchi, when staffed, will often cancel 5B[m] or 2C[m] into 2D/5D to continue pressure and so on and so forth. What you should also watch out for is Itsuu stance. It can be beaten by lows, and you could probably use 3C5D to beat out Itsuu B (yet to test this.) It is possible to bait Itsuu A by jumping and then airdashing into j.2C but I haven't tried it out yet. I'll add more as I play more Litchis.

Yes I realize this, but what I said might still be applicable if you're blocking the frog. (The jump 2D mixup thing.)

^To add to that, if Rachel is jump 2Ding in pressure and you don't see any attack, instantly switch to blocking low (and react to 4B if she tries that after jump 2D.) During Rachel's 5CC frog oki, Rachel can run up throw you (before frog actually starts up) while you're distracted waiting for the mixup. In addition, CA's are not recommended during frog block stun as they are extremely easy to bait.

It was a nice trick while it lasted =[ I suppose throwing it out when the other Rachel is doing autopilot oki to wake them up a bit is a good option. Will neutral tech + D into 2C beat out meaties? Anyway, some more stuff dealing with neutral game: -Summoning the frog ASAP is very important. Rachel can't deal with frog + lobelias + 5D very well as the lobelia will cover jump-outs and George covers the ground. Setup poles and combine with Sword Iris when the opponent is trying to approach to force the other Rachel to stay on the ground. -Let the other Rachel use wind to try to come near you. In other words, play defensively. (I know, it's boring) Don't try to anti-air the standard air pumpkin 2D air approach. Wait for the other Rachel to reach the ground then jump and summon pumpkin to halt her approach.

Wow yeah TD was right. Dem thighs

Old but relevant.

^ Plat info: 142 cm = ~4.66 feet tall 37 kg = ~82 pounds Actually Arakune info surprised me lol. 20~200 cm and 5~1000 kg?

My first post in the matchup section ; please correct me if I give out bad info! I find that TD isn't very useful as an approach tool in this matchup; Rachel has many ways to stall for time in the air (notably pumpkin and frog), and it is possible to punish it with wind + airdash into air BBL (Personal experience... cough cough.) However, if you see them using something obvious like B or C cannon, it works as a great punish. -If you're mixing up a Rachel who is very cat-chair happy, empty jump 2D into barrier is good for baiting it. -If you 5CC them in the corner into frog and they try neutral tech D into throw, 5A and 2A beat it out, haven't tried her other normals yet.

I apologize if I'm wrong, but I think it goes- 2C got changed a lot 6B CH wall bounces j.2C is only cancelable on hit

Me as well, except that I have to stop TD'ing all the time

Don't forget the bat time-out

Okay, here goes~ My name is Joseph. I love J-RPGs, especially the Tales of series. I recently got into 2D fighting games with Calamity Trigger, my first FG, and love Rachel, personality and gameplay-wise. I'm friendly once you get to know me and I'll play if someone wants to anytime. I'm on most often at 7-11 PM EST. You can probably find me around the afternoon (EST) but not all the time. I live in Georgia. Dustloop Username: KoopaDoopa PSN Username: KoopaDoopa EDIT: Just made an XBL account. SUPAKOOPADOOPA

GG's Tempest, as usual.. Beating me with every character in the game.