Kuuhaku

I agree with the Rachel match up. Rachel has better oki game and damage output, but Litchi has longer reach and better normals. Not a big advantage, but an advantage none the less. Litchi also has a good corner game... once again, not as strong as Rachel's, but Rachel's defensively weak in the corner while IMO- Litchi doesn't have as hard of a time getting out. Litchi also has plenty of ways to carry Rachel into the corner as well. Pretty much every Japanese match I've seen on youtube had them pretty even, but it seems like Litchi has a slight upper hand over Rachel. I've seen more Litchi wins than Rachel wins. :X

236D, where the pole spins around her is vulnerable to low attacks. So you can 3CD or dash 2B. Just you gotta be quick about it or you get a staff to the face. Other than that, for some reason I'm having trouble with Litchi that just throw their pole around everywhere and then get me with the skirt flip when I block. Her cartwheel air attack is also almost as annoying as Jin's jB. Oh, and a lot of Litchi lately seem to like putting the stick down, bursting, and sending stick buddy after you so they can cross up. e_e;;

Seriously? I thought I was the only one who did this. I've honestly never seen any other Rachel abuse it except against other Rachels. By the way... I hope you mean on block they'll go for the throw because on hit they'll just go into 5B and knock your butt into the corner. But... yeah, if they do that, tech that and it leaves them wide open. Though, I'm not really sure about the connotation of "good Rachels use this" as that trick only works a few times and is probably more successful due to online lag. Since 6C+D is multi-hit though, you could potentially get some heat off of it by IBing it. Oh. And 6A/Catryuken can be throw countered on start up. Same goes if Rachel misses with 6A. I always hate when people do this. And you can dodge a j2C anvil with the pounce distortion. *personal experience* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTyom31FlTU 0:43 = example. I didn't actually miss. o_o Icege just pulled out the distortion before I could hit.

It's really easy to hit her during the pounce distortion or counter it with 2C if you don't feel like just ducking and using 2B. If you're going for a hit, lobelia and pumpkin both work. Lobelia is also a decent anti-air if you can guess which way they're coming from. Taokaka can fake you out up close(her drive command where she whooshes past you and pops up from behind), so I've seen some avoid 6A if they guess when I'm going to use it, but they can't do that from a distance (or at least I haven't seen any fake out a lobelia). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipEbUxNAujE This isn't a great match because I can't block or grab tech to save my life, but it's an easy example of how pumpkin can keep you pretty safe from the pounce distortion if you can wind on reaction. 2C will also block random hex super. Also- Taokaka has terrible guard libra. If you get her in the corner, just continue to pressure her. It's very likely you'll guard break her for a free super or massive damage.

Yeah. His air attack usually out ranges 6A if he guesses the timing right. It's easier to just block. Or, you could try using a lobelia for anti air. It works pretty good for random Hell's Fangs too. A Lobelia + 6D catches a lot of Ragnas off guard. It's nice to use at the beginning of the match because a Ragna will either A) rush you down with 5B or Hell's Fang or B) back dash. Uh... if you're worried about getting hells fanged for pumpkin you could either A) try summoning in the air B) summon during knockdown and be careful about keeping it out. Also- if you manage to intimidate Ragna early during the match, he'll be a lot more cautious when approaching you. So that potentially frees up more space. Yeaaah... Ragna corner pressure sucks. Especially if they know how to abuse RC. Feels like you never get out. Wait for them to do something obvious and then punish. His specials are also easy to punish. 6A gauntlet hades for a free air combo. Also- you can bait wake up DP by blocking right before they get up and then 6A or 6B CH during recovery. And yes- keep in mind that Ragna goes down in two good combos. XD;

I know sometimes I have a hard time dashing online. >_<;; It sucks. Sometimes it's my controller hating me and other times I time the dash too early so it doesn't come out. On that note, will you go over Rachel defensive options? I know the biggest issue for me is getting out once I'm pressured.

Or if for some reason you're in the air and someone is right below you and spamming random attacks waiting for you to come down. Actually... it was really funny because I was doing a Rachel mirror earlier and the other Rachel did the ground super while I did the air super. But mine came out first so it hit her while the invincibility frames kept me from getting hit. It was pretty funny. Another possible explanations for the cows- Maybe Gii got hungry one day. You see how big he can grow. I'm sure it's not that hard for him to eat a cow. But... I would have liked to see bats, ghosts, giant pumpkins, and Giant George. Or a house. Somehow the image of giant Gii spitting a house at a person seems hilarious.

I remember seeing you in a room, but you left before I could play you. XD; I was sad. I like Rachel mirrors. I learn a lot from them.

For some reason the cow reminds me of Day of the Dead. Dunno why, but it could be what they were going for. Or it could be a Wizard of Oz pun. Anyway, from what I saw, it's useful as a reversal. I think Rachel's invincible on start up, which is nice because she needs a GTFO me move. And hey- it only uses one wind now as opposed to all your wind (I have no idea wtf ArcSys thought they were doing with that... for that to even be worth using it'd have to do as much damage as a 720 imo). However, air BBL is faster now, so I wonder if that'll get used more often. I know I don't bother with it because ground BBL has been more effective for me overall. I just really hope that Rachel's still able to rush down. I like that she has enough versatility to both rush down effectively and zone. I'll even deal with her not being able to break 4k anymore if she can still rush.

Well... with the pumpkin flying shorter distances, that might actually be a good/bad thing. Bad thing because you can't just smack someone with it from the other side of the screen (I love to do this when Ragna does Blood Kain). Good thing because you could potentially use it to hit more than once per combo.

That might have been it. But if I run into the info again, I'll be sure to post the source. I'm wondering if 6A > 6C will still link. Though, I'm really wondering why 6B CH 5B 6C won't link anymore. Will it still work if you just cut out the 5B? That's how I usually do that combo if I'm going to bother with 6C. Though it's more effective IMO to go into 5 C D C. Though... I'm also kind of curious how the stupid combo I use will pan out.

Yeah, I can't find where I read it either, but I do remember seeing the change. And I vaguely remember not being able to link it when I was at the loketest in Osaka. Mostly what I remember from the loketest was that the character art looks weird and Namba Hills < Club Sega. The fighting game room was dark, smelled like sweat and cigarette smoke.

Uh... yeah. I'll go dig for it. Though I don't remember where I read it. Probably in the loketest changes thread.

Though I thought it was weird they made 5B 6C not link anymore, but then went ahead and buffed 6C. Arcsys, make sense please? It'd be really nice if 6C prorated less. >_>

Because a lot of n00by Rachels don't know how to deal with tech traps well. And the Tagers assume they can just sledge through everything since Rachel's not as fast as Nu when it comes to projectiles. I see Tagers like this and make them say 'hello' to 6B. Though, online I have the hardest time with Nu. You have to be wicked patient and basically wait for them to mess up or try something risky. Then if they burst and you don't block it the song and dance starts all over again. Jin also gives me a really hard time if they half know what they're doing. Curse you jB! Also... for some reason I seem to be having a lot of trouble with Litchi lately. Dunno wtf that is. They get me with a low hit, then juggle me all the way to the corner and rape me. Then again I can't block switch for shit online, so that might be part of it. Against Ragna- a lot of them like to use Hell's Fang to close in on you. Block that and if they try the second hit, block that for an easy 6B CH (though the timing online gets iffy). You can also 2C random 5Bs... at least it works for me. Just be careful and watch their meter. A lot of Ragnas would rather abuse RC than use Carnage Scissors or Blood Kain. Watch out for wake up DPs. A lot of Ragna's like to do that. So approach them to bait it, block the DP, then punish them during recovery. You can duck Black Onslaught. Sometimes you can beat it out with 2B and 5B, but ducking is safer. Carnage Scissors is extremely unsafe on block. And for Blood Kain there's like a few frames at the end of it where Ragna's not invincible. AKA- right when it's ending I pumpkin him in the face. And you only need like two good combos to take him down. If you can get him corner trapped with George he's basically SOL.

As long as I don't get cornered, Ragna's actually one of my easier match ups. If you block both hits of Hell's Fang, you can get an easy 6B CH during the recovery frames. Course... this is offline. Online you'll only get it sometimes. He's not that hard to zone if you got George out. He's gotta guess whether he should risk trying to hit it or letting you spam lobelia at him all day. Also, if they throw out random 5Bs, I've been able to counter it with 2C pretty consistently. It gets them pretty angry too. Just don't do this if they have 50% heat because smarter Ragnas will RC and hobo smack you for it. I try to be careful with 6A though since his jump attacks out range mine, and if I don't psychic the timing or miss I'll get smacked. Other than that, I always feel bad for his HP. Only takes two good combos for me to take him out. So he's under a lot more pressure to not make mistakes than I am. Though, if cornered- rapid cancel pressure =

Yes it does. And for Rachels who don't know how retardedly easy it is to throw counter 6C on block, be sure to take advantage of that. IMO- 6D+C shouldn't be used in a Rachel mirror at all. You can't combo off of it because jC whiffs and if it's blocked, it's a free toss for your opponent unless you special cancel it. Other than that, try and catch them with 6B when they throw out lobelia/pumpkin/george. 2C also beats out 3C.

I was playing a Jin on arcade the other day and for some reason once he started pressuring me I just couldn't get out. Best thing I could do was take a wild gamble with 5B which was kinda 50/50 for me. I mean, once I got momentum on him, dat ass was mine. However, when he was on me I couldn't seem to get him off. Though one time it was kind of funny because he did a 6D and I took a gamble with 6B and lost because 6D hit me and killed me even though I got the CH in (musta done it too slow). And jB is retarded. He kept catching me with that. >_O; But in a typical Jin pressure string, when's the best time to try and get out?

Good stuff. Exactly what I need to add more variety to my gameplay. Though, I'll read this more in detail when I'm not next to the moon and suffering from jetlag.

I'd like to see these "fair alternative stuffs". You mean the shitty DD and the slight speed buff to 4B? Compared to the laundry list of what was taken away/stomped on, yeah... that's a fair trade off. Mid-air sword iris I do like though. Not that she really needed it (well now she probably does).