Orrax

I think it's mostly that she's been winning, and there are some very strong Ramlethal players. A lot of this is speculation from people who haven't even played the game, or second-hand information from people who have. And Ogawa predicted she'd be A rank.

It's not truly confirmed -- for all we know they might remove it for the final build. Which would be incredibly disappointing. I really hope that doesn't happen.

Hitting people at that location with Riot Stamp isn't that rare. Riot Stamp is best used when you're backed into the corner and the opponent is relatively close, so that might actually be practical.

GGs yesterday. I didn't feel totally hopeless playing stick, but there's still a fair amount I need to work on.

I can't really speak for Dippy, but usually people show up sometime after 6:30 or 7:00 pm. On that note, I'm going to be late tonight, possibly as late as 9. I've got relatives in town and I'd at least like to get dinner with them.

It's not just lazier; it's also cheaper.

I dunno, in terms of being fun to play, I find H-Sion's toolkit more limited, and, while each of F-Sion's options alone aren't better, trying to put them all together is what I find fun about the character, because she's got a lot of stuff she can use. That's not to say H-Sion isn't fun, but I find F-Sion a lot more fun, and I don't think she's any worse of a character. My general impression is that F-Sion might be a little better than H-Sion, but I'm not really an expert (I'm sure Tempered could give a much more informed opinion). If pressure's the problem, then I'd guess that C-Sion is a better choice. Plus, I like having a viable anti-air, and the more the merrier. F-Sion seems to be the only Sion with two good anti-air normals on the ground, while all of them have j.C and DP.

GGs everyone. It was good to see Kevin again after so long. Carl can be pretty scary, haha. Between F-Sion's three good overheads, a dashing command grab, strong normals, and good damage off of practically everything, I wonder where she is in the tier list. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say she's top, but she seems pretty good.

I'm interested, but I will out of town on June 21st, and also out of town for most of July, so the only one of those I could possibly make it to is the June 7th one. I'm fine with weekly, but, again, my attendance is going to be spotty no matter what happens. I've got a busy summer lined up -- moving, traveling, and lots of work to do.

I'm guessing Saturday will be best for most people. When you say tournament, I assume you mean BB. But would people be interested in any other games? Or other random events, like maybe a red team vs blue team sort of thing.

People often post here when there's hosting going on, which usually only happens on the weekends (Friday or Saturday), but there's not really a set schedule or plan at the moment. Just wait for someone to announce that they're hosting, and then ask them to pm you for directions. If you want to play some +R, just add me on PSN and send me a message when you see me on.

5/6 A-Cho Pre Arc Revo 1on1 (I didn't check the whole video very thoroughly, so apologies if I missed any) Chie vs Akihiko Chie vs Yosuke 5/6 A-Cho Same Character Team Chie vs Team Aigis EDIT: Shadow Chie air throw combos.

GGs everyone the other day. I was hoping to play more of you, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards. Mario Bros. 2 was fun, though. Can we skip Love Max and just play old NES games instead? :P

I hope they give Koromaru some shades.

I just realized I accidentally typed that 5H beats Slayer's 2D when I meant to say that 5H beats Slayer's 2H. I don't recommend trying 5H against 2D. In fact, I don't recommend messing with 2D in general. The start up is fast, but it's usually unsafe on block. Slayer can make it safe by hitting you at the absolute end of the move, but usually that only happens if he does it as a meaty on oki. If you block it, it's usually punishable by 5K. Also, OTGs can mess with Slayer's wake-up back-dash timing, so it's often not a bad idea to throw them in here and there. I tend to use OTGs fairly frequently in this match-up.

I used to hate this match up until I learned how to play it, and now it's one of my favorites. Openers: - You start at a distance that Slayer excels at, so the best thing to do usually is just to air back dash away or block. - f.S or 5H can catch some of his moves, but they're kind of risky. - 2S should beat Slayer's 2D, but if you're a little late it might trade, and that's bad. - Sometimes air dash j.P over Slayer's head and then j.S or j.K coming down after you cross him up can work in your favor, but use it sparingly. Neutral: - Always keep in mind that Slayer has limited options for approaching you. He can approach on the ground by dashing or by Dandy Step, but both are vulnerable to neutral Gun Flame. His air to ground is great, but they still tend to lose to your own j.P, j.H, and air throw. - Neutral Gun Flame is a great tool in this match. It catches both Dandy Step and Slayer's dash, and can even catch things like Mappa at a distance. That said, make sure you're only doing it far away! If you're too close, you will get CH'd by 2H and other various moves into pain. Ideally, you should be doing Gun Flame outside of his iad j.H range, so closer to full screen is better. However, the main reason you want to do Gun Flame isn't just that it catches some of Slayer's approaches -- it forces Slayer to take to the air. Once you get him jumping, he's generally easy prey to your j.P. He has some ways around it, but Sol's j.P is hard for him to deal with. A word of caution, however: DO NOT GUN FLAME IF SLAYER HAS 50%! He will CH DoT you into PAIN. You can GF FRC to bait it out, though, and punish him for trying. - The primary spacing tool in this match is just stalling at a distance with j.P and j.H and air back dashes. You want to watch and see what he does. If you can make him approach, you're at an advantage. However, sometimes you have to approach Slayer. I usually like to approach with a lot of feints -- I'll run toward him and do j.P or j.H, then back dash away to see if I can draw out an unsafe move. - Approaching him on the ground with a poke is pretty risky, but the safest way to do it is probably with 2P 2K. These moves have a quick recovery, so you'll be ready to block if he does Dandy Step. If you do slower recovery moves like f.S and 5H (which have their uses), you risk getting hit by Dandy Step -> pretty much anything. - At max range, 5H counters Slayer's 2H cleanly. - 2S has a good hit box as usual and 2D does go under some moves, but generally I like to stick with 2P as a poke because it usually recovers in time to block a lot of what Slayer does. - He has good AA, but well timed j.H is still a good air-to-ground. Sometimes crossing him up with air dash j.H or j.P and then doing an air normal just before you land can be useful for an approach as well. - Slayer has trouble punishing a running H VV with the kick extension. Keep in mind that he can punish, but it's generally a good idea to make that as hard as you can for him. Also, run up H VV RC can work as an approach, if you're willing to spend the meter. - As always, GF FRC is a great approaching tool. It covers his options on the ground, and if you do GF FRC -> running j.H, it covers most of his options in the air as well. Be careful of some of his super shenanigans (especially air super). - VV, especially running H VV, can be useful for dealing with Slayer's superior poking game. But, as always, be wary of being baited. Offense: - When you get on top of him, Sol can mostly play his game, but be careful of Slayer's 3F 2P and his back dash, which he can cancel into a jump or a special move. Both are strong defensive tools, but poke baiting with strings like 2P 6P can work to catch Slayer's 2P and GF FRC from outside of his command throw range can catch back dash cancelled special moves. - Slayer's back dash cancelled jump is very safe and often very difficult to punish properly. True meaty moves can help prevent him from abusing it on wake up, and using lows in your pressure can catch him out of it. Once he's jumped, though, the only way I know of to punish is to air throw or by happening to catch him not blocking with j.H. Alternatively, you can j.P spam him and drag him back to the ground. - GF FRC in pressure is good because it can catch Dandy Step and various other things. Be careful of him jumping out and then doing j.H on the way down, though. You can help to discourage this by doing GF FRC and then immediately doing your own j.H. - His FB Dandy is a reversal you should look out for, but keep in mind that it has no throw invulnerability. Defense: - I think VR-Raiden covered this pretty well. I will say that GV tends to beat Dandy Step and 6H pretty cleanly, but it is still pretty risky. Riot Stomp can also be used similarly with your back to the corner, and can go over 2H, but if Slayer does 6P, you're in serious trouble.

Fair enough; if you can throw Potemkin, then the OS is probably the better choice. That said, getting used to reacting to his back dash is probably a good idea. Sometimes you may want to go for air dash high/ land low mix up against him, and his back dash is slow enough that you still have a moment to act after an air dash (and maybe after a 2K, but I'm not sure). Some Pot players like to back dash to throw off your pressure game (which, imho, is a pretty bad idea), so being able to react accordingly is very helpful.

Sol can Wild Throw Anji out of tons of stuff (Fuujin included), so throw mix ups are a decent oki choice. 2D still beats of lot of Anji's normals, but I seem to have less success with it in +R and I'm not entirely sure why. I don't fight Anji regularly anymore, so I may have lost some familiarity with the match up. Also, 2D isn't quite as scary for Anji as it used to be because of the added proration. Anji's Fuujin mix ups are slow, so patient blocking is a good way to deal with them. Throw him if he tries to cross you up; you may be able to VV some of the slower Fuujin follow ups on reaction. The best way to deal with butterfly is usually to instant block and then back dash. You can also block it and then jump block the projectile on the way down (or VV if Anji isn't respecting you). You can also grand viper under it. Anji has a really tricky overhead that looks just like his respect move. He can do the respect move, get his opponent to block high, and then do a low. It's pretty difficult to react to, but it can usually be avoided by avoiding the butterfly, which is the main setup for it (at least as far as I'm aware).

After some testing, it looks like you're right. I hadn't read the frame data for Justice that closely, so I guess I just mistimed my opening f.S and thought it lost to counter. On the other hand, it is 2 frame timing and getting hit by counter is not a good way to start a match. Justice gets a lot of momentum off of it, so it may not be worth the risk unless your timing is consistently good.

That should work, but it might not always be practical with the long start up on gun flame.

A couple of quick notes: 6P beats Bridget's f.S to open the match, but loses to sweep, so it's risky. Bridget zones Sol very well, so if he gets the life lead on you, this match up is going to get very difficult, because Bridget can just play run away the whole time. Sol's j.P is very good against Bridget air-to-air. I find it to be one of the most useful tools Sol has in this match. If you OTG Bridget, he cannot do his delayed wake up.

A generally very safe opener in Sol mirrors is to do 5P 2D (5P 2S is ok, too). 5P beats Sol's f.S to start the match, and sweep should catch GV or run in attempts if timed right.

A few more things: For openers, Sol's 6P beats Johnny's f.S cleanly, but loses to coin. The safest way to start is probably to air dash backwards and set up the neutral game. On defense, consider blocking high when outside of Johnny's sweep range. His only way to hit low when further out is with Mist Finer, and it's fairly slow unless he landed a coin, in which case he's taking a pretty significant gamble in risking losing level 2 or 3 if you happen to block low. For combos, standard dustloops work on Johnny, but he needs to be higher up. Even then, you may need to make the timing between reps extremely short, otherwise he might fall through it. Also, I generally find the easiest way to combo Johnny after 2D xx BR RC is to follow up with j.S JC j.D xx CLSW.

I'm pretty sure Justice can counter Sol's f.S at the start of the match. A lot of the time I just block to start the match -- it is by far the safest option, and gives me a chance to react to what Justice is doing. 2H is also an effective AA for Sol in this match. It either beats or trades favorably with every one of Justice's jump ins. Just make sure you don't miss the timing. On offense, you should be wary of her throw. It is almost like Pot Buster, except it's instant and the range isn't as good. As a result, you should be baiting throw on offense a fair amount, or make sure your spacing is impeccable.

A few things I thought might be worth adding: Starting with f.S is good, but it loses to Slide Head, which isn't a good way to start the match. 5H is also good for CHs, but it loses to various starters from Potemkin so it's kind of risky. j.P is also an ok starter and can even beat Heat Knuckle sometimes, but other times it loses to Heat Knuckle and I'm not sure why -- on the whole, it's not bad, but it's inconsistent. The safest way to start the match is probably just to air dash backwards away from Potemkin and set up the spacing game. I usually go for air back dash or 2S, since they're pretty safe and I don't like giving Potemkin an advantage at the start of the match. I've never gotten much mileage out of punishing Slide Head with Riot Stomp, and punishing it with BB is really inconsistent. I usually find the best way to punish Slide Head is to get in quickly before he recovers, leaving Sol at an advantage to go into a mix up or pressure. 5K(2) is a good way to beat Hammerfall. If I do run in 5K in this match, I always try to wait for both hits in case Pot does Hammerfall. The other really good way to beat it is to just block it; it's really punishable and Potemkin is forced to burn meter to make it safe. GV also beats Hammerfall cleanly. 5K isn't a bad AA, but it has to be done at its max range. Neutral Bandit Bringer is actually not terrible if done very sparingly at its absolute max range. Any other range is a bad, and doing it too frequently is very bad. Jumping or back dashing while on offense can work to bait Pot Buster. On oki, there is no reason to OS Potemkin. Getting caught by Giganter is too risky, and his back dash is slow, so you should be able to react to it with 5K if you're watching for it. That covers all his options, so an OS is unnecessary.