TITANIUM BEAST!!!

Dunno about you, but if I had level 3 with HOS and I got someone blocking, I'd lay a BHB on them in a heartbeat. You can get so much out of it, hit or block. Of course, this is considering that you got said frame advantage whether you had meter or not. 50% seems like a lot to spend on RCed Hell's Fang on block.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm6608001 Buppa(Jin) vs Kaqn(Ragna) Notable for awesome first round finish. Kaqn is easily my favorite Ragna to watch. I love his random-ass end-of-match Blood Kain shenanigans. =(

I think it's more of the fact that he's a really basic and boring character. Since, you know, he isn't Sol.

shrug the matchups are not really that bad in general, mostly it's just that the top characters will make you feel really helpless sometimes. Hatred Edge: Massive exaggerations all around. The only matchup out of those that really frustrates me is vs. Eddie, and that's because I don't have a good Eddie player in my area, so I dunno the matchup. Pot is NOT that bad. Slayer is not in your favor, but it's no worse than 6-4 in his favor if you ask me. By definition, everyone being able to "compete" means that everyone has a reasonable chance at winning.

non-CH level 1 Rock It doesn't give you enough frame advantage to combo in most cases. If you are point-blank, you can link 5K into whatever, but that's pretty impractical since you usually won't be using level 1 Rock It at that distance. You can also link 5K after 2D -> Rock It hits, again, at point blank. Not terribly useful though. Mostly, just take advantage of the extra positive frames you have on normal hit and try to pressure them further. Make them guess on a dash or use Fafnir if you think they will try to counter-poke, etc.

Two different versions of the move, C or D (D version has Soul Eater property). You can follow up with the Upper and then end with either a wallbounce or a heel drop.

On normal hit I think they're just stunned slightly, you can probably keep pressuring. You can combo after it if it counterhits, I just can't remember what with. Probably standard 5B -> etc combos.

Yeah that data has it backwards. In the guide it says ground version is head only, air is head and body.

TK Gauntlet Hades if you're using it by itself. Air version is 12 frames (!!!) and still has to be blocked high, plus you can still combo off of it.

Well when I say that, I'm thinking that there's an overall philosophy behind the way it's set up. It's not just Ragna, most characters' moves are frame disadvantage on block, but not usually enough to be punished for it. That's for another thread, though.

I think I already went over this on SRK, but yeah, not really a big deal. Shit, open the other links in his post, most character's moves are negative on block. Honestly, when I look at the data overall, considering the slow startup of moves and the fact that most moves are disadvantage on block, it makes me believe this was purposeful design.

Depends on which player you're watching. I've definitely seen 2S-6HS -> Fafnir in matches, but this was always a non-buffered Fafnir. The computer will consistently block this combo if you set the stagger above Level 2. It's possible but extremely difficult, and dash buffering seems out of the question.

I was under the impression that max stagger means other person not mashing, at all. Set the stagger in training to Level 2 mash and hitting a non-dash-buffered Fafnir after 6HS becomes extremely difficult, though possible. I think if a dash buffered Fafnir were guaranteed, I'd see it much more often in matches.

lol yeah I don't have access to the game but I have access to the media so I figured I'd do what little I can do to help out. I'll post the rest of the combos later.

shrug thank you mr party pooper

blah blah blah here's a combo from the newest Tougeki Spirits: (corner, opponent crouch, versus Ragna, Arakune, Hakumen); 6B-5C-2C-2D, 5C-5D(2) -(DC)> 6A-5D(2) -> 22C -(RC)> dash 3C -> 22C -(RC)> 214B -> 214D Damage: 5805 Combo was demonstrated on the DVD versus another Ragna, looks like it took away around 70% of his lifebar.

I see it as being more of a bonus as opposed to something that really significantly affects Ragna's game. It's clear from all the evidence available that Blood Kain does not really affect Ragna's ability to win matches, he is capable of winning easily without it. In fact, if you don't use it very carefully, you can actually hurt your chances of winning. But it does have uses.

ok posts moved also, what we in America call fuzzy guard is not the same as what Japanese call fuzzy guard. There is an actual term in the GGXXAC mook called "Fuzzy guard" (in katakana), and it refers to what Destin is talking about, a blocking sequence to defeat canned mixups. Example would be guard high then low against May 5D/5[D] mixup, you will guard it correctly every time. I first heard about this tech at NEC from one of the Chicago players, I believe? It was only after that that I noticed it in the mook. The mixups that Americans commonly call "fuzzy guard" (example HOS j.S into JC dj.HS or land 2D) are referred to in the mook as a type of "unblockable". I don't know the exact term since my kanji reading skills are terrible. The actual terms used in the Japan online community may be different since I don't frequent JPN message boards.

Honestly, it used to be much better for faking when it didn't have a freakin' hitbox on it.

Given that even with one meter stocked, it can take several reps of an infinite before you gain enough to mega crash out, I'd say infinites are much more significant than you are making them out to be. Also given the fact that in almost every match vid I've seen of this game that featured a character with a practical infinite, that infinite made an appearance in the match. The players in my area who play it seriously also get their fair share of infinites off.

lol thanks for the youtube upload ATG, was fun to watch at least

oh you guys sad I missed out before the argument turned into RAGE TRAIN

"There is no requirement of it being solid" "The play that nets you the most victories is the best play" Let me educate your stupid ass. It is IMPOSSIBLE to always pick the winning strategy, unless the winning strategy is just THAT obvious, in which case you are playing a bad game usually. The best you can do is 1)minimize the things that might cause you to lose (ie not giving it away by making dumb mistakes) and 2)read your opponent as best you can to make the right decisions. Condition 1 necessitates SOLID PLAY. You seem to think solid means inflexible. It doesn't. It just means no glaring weaknesses or openings, no rookie mistakes, no throwing the match away. The context I was speaking within as regards to watching matches is that a solid match where nothing too amazing happens is still a great match since both players are fighting their hardest and nobody wins or loses on some silly mistake. Thus to say that winning consistently does not require one to be solid is something only a scrubass fucktard like you would say. Condition 2 is impossible to guarantee every time because your opponent is a living breathing person and no one is fucking psychic. It's not possible to make the right decision every time because you're not going to know what that right decision was EVERY TIME, assuming you're fighting someone your equal or your better. Even then, you can do what might be considered the most right thing to do in any scenario and STILL LOSE because you got out-thought. Shit happens like that. This is why all the criticism and advice you offer on here is so worthless as you always use hindsight when watching vids and say something like "omg it was so obvious he was gonna do that I would have just SVed or *insert risky move here*!" You don't get it and you probably never will at this rate.

This is hands-down the most idiotic thing I've ever seen you post. Solid play is what gets you CONSISTENT wins. The ability to take one match off of a gimmick or playing like an idiot is rarely relevant. As for the talk of pressure/tournaments; if you can't play well under pressure, then as a competitive player, how good could you possibly be? The players who are able to keep their cool when something is on the line are the ones that matter. Your ability to play in a casual environment be damned, if you can't pull off the stuff that gets you wins when you are in a competitive atmosphere, you need to step it up.

Solid play is the best play. It's cool when you see something new and interesting, but at this point in the game's life it's just not going to happen.