TITANIUM BEAST!!!

Carl frame data not up yet? Hrm. Well, Carl's supers are a bit harder to understand, but if I understand it right, it's frame 33. The super hits on frame 17 after Nirvana starts moving.

Mildly related, acquired CS2 mook today. Already found a couple of things in it I wanna try out. Never thought anything would make me want to put CS back in my PS3.

His average damage in the corner is NOT the same as CS1. His max damage isn't the same either. He is definitely weaker this time around. It's easy to say "well, as a character, he's the same!", but the details matter. The inability to deal big damage anywhere on the screen thanks to BE nerf hurts him badly, because as a character, he tends to get his hits in more off of the other player's mistake, rather than his own offense. His pressure is better, but his mixups are the same, and 22C nerf means his ability to pressure someone after successfully landing a combo is weakened. Also, his meter gain was toned down overall, and a lot of his mixups are much more effective with an RC ready. Getting half bar off of every combo was very significant for Ragna in terms of his overall gameplan. Whether or not he's still fun to play will be up to each individual player to decide, but there's no question that he's a weaker character in CS2. Saying he's "the same" is pretty inaccurate.

I don't see how you can hate Ragna pressure. Seriously. It mentally takes a ton of work (this is the downside of playing a "simple" character, your tools are easier to use, but they aren't as good, so strategy gets more difficult) and the reward tends to be mediocre because of how hard it is to actually hit someone with that fucker in a game like BB. Compare this to training-mode Carl, who is quite literally a training-mode character, complete with unblockables. There is no point in a match between us where I get to have the fun you get to have with Carl, because I CANNOT pressure you. So how is Ragna pressure annoying? You just block it, look for the throw, look for opportunity to jump out/backdash/Vivace/spam crouch A. I really just don't get it. You regularly play characters where almost all the work is done outside of the actual match and once you get your setup, it seems like autopilot. And yet, my "fair" characters have annoying pressure? Explain, please.

His pressure is actually better, looking at his frame data. Lots of little changes you don't notice in match, but stuff like 2B being level 2 now (which means at certain ranges it's basically unpunishable) makes a difference. A attacks are level 1, so they're neutral on block and IB nerf means they're only -3 even if you IB them. 5C is actually SAFER and is only 1 frame slower, etc etc. There's nothing broken though. Just solid stuff. Combine that with his lowered damage and you have a recipe for a pretty mediocre character. Re, Carl, you'd better get really good at protecting Nirvana, that's all I'm gonna say. Cheese happens once you get in, but you gotta get in first, and that's hard when Nirvana has no health. I'm sure he's still good, just, I don't see broken anymore. Silly, yes. But not broken.

Yeah, Carl is a walking sack of shenanigans. We'll see what happens when CS2 hits. I'd like to continue playing Ragna, but he still looks too fair. As I've mentioned before, I WANT to like BB. But unfortunately, the game doesn't share my views.

You play BB, Austin. Do not speak.

The way DID is used in combos, I don't think it's a significant buff. The buff would have been more significant if it had retained the invincibility AND you could still combo off of it midscreen, cuz then you have select strings where you can IB and interrupt with DID for a decently damaging combo. Again, it was probably taken out because most players wouldn't bother with that and would just use CID due to how easy it was (go frame 1 invincibility, go!).

There are a fair number of positive changes, but the negative ones seem to present a pretty middling result. I like that 5C is only 1 frame slower and lost 1 active frame, compared with all the buffs it got. There are a lot of little changes that look nice on paper, like 5D 2nd hit being level 5 now. That makes 5D DC only -2 on normal guard and -5 on IB. Some characters simply won't be able to punish it anymore. His A attacks being raised to level 1 is not a huge buff, but it's a welcome change that will hopefully make his pressure a little more viable. 2B going to level 2 is pretty good too, it takes some of the silly mindgames out of say, the Hazama matchup (no more IB -> Jayoku against 2B, so 5B-2B is a solid, safe string against him, if spaced right). WTF is up with 6B initial proration getting nerfed? Wow, as if 6B was overpowered. Removal of invincibility on DID is silly too, but I guess their logic was that most players weren't using it outside of combos anyway, so it was redundant. Too bad.

I'm curious about this. A friend of mine did his study abroad in Japan last year and he told me that the two most popular characters in CS1, the ones he always saw getting played in the arcades, were Ragna and Hazama. Now, the popular theory about Japanese vids online is that they often only upload matches that they feel are interesting. So, theoretically, if Ragna is significantly weaker in CS2, and is not able to win as often, they'd probably upload MORE matches of him, instead of less. But again, it's just a theory.

I know nobody really cares at this point, but lvl2 Savage is really nice against sword, punishes his normals from really far away.

People are (slowly) figuring out how to kill Sentinel. Dante can do it with lvl1XFC and one meter, plus his combos build a ton of meter.

That sounds like a serious waste of meter when 22C already gives you strong mixups (in CS1, mind you). In addition, if someone decides not to tech when they see you RC, then what?

Generally speaking, as a player gets better at the game and begins to recognize how matches flow, they may gravitate towards stronger characters. Not necessarily to tier whore, but to make the most of their abilities. When you get your fundamentals down and you really start to "get" the game, you tend to get tired of losing matches because of the inadequacies of the character you pick.

LK, when assessing max damage for characters, did you not include FC? You put Ragna's BK damage in the 6K range, but with FC it's more like 8K. He can net 9K+ in certain situations, but that's not really reliable. 7-8K is realistic for 2C FC -> BK stuff, though.

This just in, BE is now +7 on counterhit standing, +9 on crouchers.

Not really, it just wouldn't be as good. It's already a decent move as long as you have meter. Houtenjin just makes it easier.

Yep.

Matt Frank the Tank goes to Wilmington sometimes, not much GG out there though. I play Order-Sol and PacStrife plays Sol, so between the two of us you'll learn pretty much anything you need to know about those characters. Yo, CS2 Ragna, 5B, 2B, 5C and 2C are ALL air unblockable. WTF. Seriously.

First match...WTF, 2B is air UB too!? That doesn't even make sense!

Ragna vs Carl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FsYt_TTOiM&t=11m33s Ragna vs Litchi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1C0gQgjkbk&t=7m32s

Ragna vs Tsubaki: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHyeekHhBbk&t=2m58s Ragna vs Carl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl0IAwczQeQ (also vs Jin @ 9:03)