Herbal Grey

ggs raiza and le scrub arguing over whose pressure was more fraudulent based on how well i was able to block it online. ggs to ppl that spam 5a/2a -> overheads then wonder why i just start mashing

a couple things. first, i think you're talking about something different than i am. i'm specifically talking about arakune's "second" jump which is different than the first jump. on the first jump, you must press 6 6 to get an airdash. second, for arakune's full curse combos you need to jump forward not straight up. third, you should try using a different full curse combo than the j.b one because the timing is much more strict than the normal j.4aa one and it doesn't work when you hit with 6a from far away. if you don't know the j.4aa combo refer to the combo thread.

i should try to record myself doing it so u can critique. like, it could just be my execution is higher on 9, but like i can do it a LOT faster with 9 [like i just tried it on netplay and hakumen can't even mash d hard enough out of it]. also, when i use 9, i don't have to press forward twice to get airdash (only 9 6 then j.4b), which also contributes to why i can do it faster. edit: after more time in the training room. i can only do it after 9 because of that fact that you only have to press 6 once for the airdash to come out. there's no way i'll be able to do it after 8 that quickly.

this is gonna sound dumb, but clarifying just in case anyone else thought this/had this problem, when i originally read this, in my head i was thinking j.b 8! iad j.4b which is incorrect. it is double jump forward (so a 9 instead of 8) or else it won't be fast enough to beat anti-airs.

brkrdave , AR EDIT cant make it! Something came up and will be out.

not that i play this super hard character anymore :P but i whipped it out for a few games for some reason against xie at like 10pm after like 5 hours of playing this silly game. since all i seem to do is critique others it seems in this thread lol, i'll give peeps a chance. attack at will. i hate this matchup 4 hours 12 minutes into the vid (sorry td, it's twitch). the rachel before me is neozero. just 3 short matches of me losing lol then winning with arakune. http://www.twitch.tv/xiei/b/319472994

shoutouts to ppl in midwest and ec playing west coast players but then saying they won't play me cuz i'm west coast. y'all blob-hatin hypocrites ggs to the only ppl who actually play with me zeromus, rock volnut, glirandly, and stay-free-quick-get-up-2c-free-mashin-scrub

hey yo, wait til you hear bang players complain about your 5a true story

lol gli. lobelia spam beats a-mash, which is the only normal arakune has...so spam lobelia and he will have to jump

lol, it sounds easier than it is, but when you play correctly, it is easier lol. after playing this mu more, if litchi is running away to throw the staff at you all the time, don't be afraid to do full-screen iad's with 5d to catch her putting down the staff. but remember, this is only for litchis that are playing over-defensively, not for litchis that are aggressive (so, not really against lk). as usual, adjust to your opponent's playstyle...if litchi plays keep away, you have to zone more aggressively and if she rushes recklessly, whack her with lobelias. most of the time, i'd say i'm trying to convince litchi to rush me and stop hitting me with the staff. a-lobelia should be dp-safe if you time and space it correctly, which is what i usually do. stay a relatively large distance away and throw a-lobelia at them. be ready for late/non tech punish. if they start doing it several times, summon pumpkin and keep 3c'ing them to keep them honest (if 3c whiffs whack them with pumpkin)

PSN I.D.: brkrdave Character: Arakune State/Province: CA Time Zone: PST

i keep trying to bait anti-air 4d with j.d but i always fail. my fault? unlucky? incorrect?

I have a terrible time in this matchup. Chasing down a jumpy cat is hard, and cats are also hard to shrug off your back. At least it's happy times when i fatally lick her, which almost never happens against smart cats. I basically can't use the cloud that follows her, i rush down when i get the cloud that follows me, and i jump for joy when i get the cloud that goes over her head.

i've already stolen and started implementing some of your tricks from the cmv ;P

that's why you practice your netplay with me and stayfree. pretty sure i have the best a-mash on psn. ggs neozeromus, demonwindbomb, and others bgs to stayfree leaving us.

rachel doesn't ever approach someone from the air without pumpkin really unless it's random j.2c or a triangle jump with 1/3d j.b (and those two options aren't really used in this matchup). if bang is mashing 5a or 5b while you're approaching from the air, that's a free pumpkin summon and hit-confirm for you. this is the one situation that rachel actually beats bang at. air to air, ground to ground, and under bang are the situations you don't want to have. bang's best option if he's below and you are above is to jump -> air grab....not mash @gli....bangs don't use bumpers cuz they're [bumpers are] not very good [against rachel] unless for oki. it's not worth spending a nail on a bumper, especially when nails are so good. rachel's winded mobility kinda pwns bumper action

@TD 3:16 - too aggressive imo. by the time you make it to the corner and are pressuring carl you only have one wind stock for mixup and combo. right now, he's just sitting there waiting to gain doll meter which would be a nice time to attack, but there's not much you can do in this situation. better probs to just regain your wind and set-up some lobelias/rods. 3:36 NICE 3:51 It's hard (especially online) to stay on the ground and wait for carl, but akira just throws out doll attacks so it's better to just wait for him to do something with the doll then escape, rather than trying to quickly get out of the corner. 4:19 yay netplay...can't punish 3c properly 4:27 nice combo, but a terrible finisher ... purple grab??? 5:09 you can just 5b after a lobelia hit from that range...and really?? purple grab again?? 5:37 i think i would have bbl'd there, not for damage, but to gain my wind back...especially when carl has full doll meter 5:41 NICE is that char specific?? lol troll burst 6:22 this is one of a few instances where i thought you should have just 6a'd ragna 7:30 that was a pretty bad summon, ragna's gonna come rushing you down in that situation 99 times out of 100 8:13 coulda 6a'd... 8:33 i woulda tried to yomi 6a at that point even, cuz ragnas have a habit of doing hop then iad right before hitting the ground 10:32 yeah, even with an 8d you can't go from 3[c] into bbl on netplay...i think i woulda done 9d 5b 6a bbl, but i bet there are better things to do 10:46 lol, NOW is the time to attack...not wait for the doll to activate.. carl's health is so low you just need like one good combo to kill him, you don't even have to worry about the doll. 11:19 not the best way to stall for time...now you're out of wind and sandwiched between car and the doll 11:40 i guess carl also thinks he's tricky with the hop then iad...coulda 6a yomi'd that 12:22 lol, yeah, even baiting a counter-assault is bad in that situation...you can bait counter-assault also by running up and then summoning pumpkin just out of range. you'd be surprised how often it works. 12:30 what? where'd all your wind go? 22:08 the ragnas i play against will rapid cancel their counter assaults into pressure, so also not a great place to just sit and barrier...iad j.2c works well too 24:16 i think you coulda killed with 6a bbl FC j.2c after 236b 24:55 killing icicle with the pumpkin is interesting and lolzy, but i think there are better ways lol. 25:30 you had baited a burst before and now you don't...doing kerokero is a risk bc if they burst you're left with no wind...if you're trying to bait burst, i suggest continuing to bait with j.c 2d j.c bbl which is burst safe......usually, if ppl see you bait a burst and fail, they will burst at the next possible moment (i personally don't like baiting bursts in more "serious" play) in general, very nice play. some of your uses of 4b were smart. still using too much wind in neutral and leaving yourself a sitting duck with no wind imo but you generally find ways to use it to your yomi advantage lol. i think this was parts a symptom of it being netplay, but (sometimes!!) you could also stand to be a little more patient, waiting for an opponent's mistake rather than trying to do something right away. congrats to sticking with rachel when i haven't.

iad barrier is necessary for some combos. the most common use i've seen is when kunes have corner combos that end in iad land 5d...this requires barrier so kune can fall faster i was testing close to corner combos today. this requires barrier iad 5d: 2a 5b 5d iad j.4aa 5a 6b iad j.2a DC 6b iad j.d 6b iad {with barrier} land 5d however, this isn't the most practical combo as you could just do j.d straight into 5d, but adding the 6b does optimize it.

lol skye..kk got it. i don't think i understand where they're dive cancelling though for the air grab combo btw, i also got a different FC counter combo (2c) that does slightly more damage and works on all characters with A-dive if you just do two 5a's on the ground before you do the air combo/dive cancel stuff (since you don't use j.b it doesn't pro-rate as much i guess)...since it works on all chars it might go in OP? Edit: Ok, yea the different spacings on 2c definitely completely change the combo you need to do nvm. (have yet to read the full new OP)

If makoto throws out 3c once, they're probs one of those makotos that thinks it's safe...just keep throwing out 2a pokes in neutral and when you tag their 3c they will be sorry. be wary of pumpkin summoning because makoto can cover a lot of ground really quickly and her air counter hits are painful. a-lobelia is actually not that great in this matchup unless at full screen. on the plus side, if makoto is above you, you should be happy (j.c, 6a, and air grab are all good against makoto), so in general, try to keep space between you and her, throwing a few a-lobelias from full-screen, punishing the energy orb if she's throwing it a lot, then when she finally resorts to an air approach, try to punish accordingly. this may be netplay (cuz i haven't played too many makotos offline), but when they are rushing me down over zealously while i'm running away, i don't hesitate to throw out random j.2c's. when you get the advantage rushing down, abuse instant overhead and you're good ;P i haven't tested, but if it's like inferno divider, 2b meaty might be the best oki option, cuz then it might clash with her dp while also punish a wakeup parry if makoto does that on george

i can't seem to make b-dive loop work. is there a special spacing that i'm missing? i'm doing for example on mu-13 FC 2c 5a jc j.a j.b j.c j.2b 2b 5d but neither the 2b nor the 5d come out also, it seems like when arakunes do the air grab after they've already done two jumps, they somehow follow it up with a couple dives into 5d (no rapid). how??

bang has no anti-air. 2d is not an anti-air if that's what you're referring to

oh shit WC too?? i don't know if this is character locked...but i guess if i can only have one, i'll pick arakune PSN I.D.: brkrdave Character: Arakune/Rachel State/Province: CA Time Zone: PST

LOL i bet hazama mains don't know that cuz for cereal like it'll be 5-7 seconds before they recharge cuz they're always jumping.

chiizu, i'll edit this post in a bit to accommodate your matches... @rele. you're performing the instant overhead j.a incorrectly by pressing 2d before jumping. i actually knew you would overhead every time because your wind is before you jump. you should be inputting 5b/a 9 2d j.a for instant overhead. against hazama,it looked like you were going for instant overheads (which doesn't work) or if you were trying to delay it, you failed most of the time, and when you got it to work, failed to confirm. i usually just use j.b because it's essentially the same number of frames for a delayed overhead and the combo is easier and it does more damage. however, if you do like memai and delay the 2d after you jump instead of just trying to delay the j.a, it is harder to block (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74La5TVcb3w&t=6m5s for how to do a more effective j.a delayed overhead). many times you got pumpkin instead of 4b i'm pretty sure, so something for training mode? you didn't do the 236b combo (which you can end with j.2c oki) which would have increased your damage and is relatively easy to pull off, not to mention j.2c oki isn't bad against hazama. you cut killing combos short!!! 5cc [frog hit] then 3c/5cc would have killed (i'm thinking of about 7min in to the haz vid). sometimes this is hard to realize in practice, but sometimes you would rush in with a winded pumpkin then use an unnecessary wind for 5cc. if you do dash - 5d - pumpkin hit... you can do 5b 5cc without using a wind stock a lot of the time. (see 7:15) and actually in that situation you would have os-burst baited lol. i think you could stand to throw more a-lobelias in general, since your opponent wasn't using j.2d very often (i think that's it...the jump then downward snake) against bang. 1:05, you could have done sj 8d j.2cd for fatal counter after bbl, and you still would have recovered the wind after 3c george 236a 3c iris 3c. but that whole situation was kinda lucky, cuz he screwed up his j.4b ... in that situation it's not possible to anti air, so you're better off trying to ib, then backdash before he starts a new string .. in this case the 5a (which i'm guessing was 6a) worked for you cuz he screwed up tho. again, the overhead shouldn't be foreshadowed by a wind stock, it's pretty easy to block when you do that and i'm kinda surprised it kept working. 3:25, better corner combo is 5c 3c bbl if you realize you have the heat on the fly. 5cc then 3c is much more pro-rated. 4:57, you could have punished wakeup steel rain with 5d and dash instead of blocking. 5:12, you have time to punish with 5b instead of 5a. 5:44, better to do lvl2 j.2c into bbl. also, you keep not finishing your combo and in this situation, it would have added a lot more damage AND heat to do 5cc frog hit etc. 5:58, better to do 3c 236a then frog hit for better pro-ration and then 3c bbl. overall, you have pretty solid fundamentals but you need to finish your combos after bbl for damage and heat gain reasons and you need to study what combos do more damage situationally than others because you'll start doing a lot more damage in general. the less damage you do, the better you have to play to win. there are also non-optimal punishes where you could punish more severely than you do (for more dmg lol). i disagree with your use of counter-assault against hazama because his block strings are pretty short, but that's a player decision. lastly i also think maybe you use the triangle jump too much because you weren't hitting with it very often and it uses a wind stock and it's kinda dangerous. on the plus side, you were able to get some good block strings off of it, but not often enough imo good job on 4th oh ps, i think you tried to punish hazama 5d on block with tempest dahlia? he can and should have just mizuchi'd you on reaction.