Jason D.

You should go to both, Sanoshi. Everyone else is going to both. Why do you hate fun?

Team Canada wins just for entering under that name. And speaking of Justin Bieber, I've always wanted to find some ditzy blonde valley girl and train her to be a fighting game master. "Like, did I just win? teeheehee." Can you imagine that randomly showing up at an arcade near you? Ultimate psychological tactics! ...Any takers? Also, huey is kicking ass on the XBL leaderboards. In fact, I do believe he's much higher than Dacid...

How are you getting 17 block stun? Recovery minus frame advantage? Because that 5B is going to hit (and be cancelled) on the FIRST frame of its ACTIVE frame, you know. Not the first frame of its recovery.

Everyone on the stream was talking about you and Justin Bieber too. I don't get it. Personally, I was talking about Dacid's mom.

While you can't hit Noel (and Carl, Lambda, etc.) on the ground with a 3C, it is fine to use during the 5CC wall bounce loops. This is because when she hits the ground after hitting the wall, she'll bounce once, and you can 3C her during this bounce (and then drop George).

This isn't exclusive to Score Attack, but I'm pretty sure that Unlimited Hazama never had that special move that looks like his Jayoku Houtenjin kick in the arcade version. It's the same animation, but it's not a super and he can go into a little flipping Litchi-esque follow-up combo. I have never seen this move in arcade.

Also, some notes about Tager's Astral Heat. It's not really a grab, but more of an unblockable short-range attack. Meaning that if you try to jump away from it, he's just going to hit you in the air and kill you. If he does it next to you, do not jump. Your best way out is to HIT HIM. It has some incredibly brief invincibility during the super flash, and that's it. For the most part he is completely vulnerable during the move. 5A is your friend. Additionally, if you're magnetized and he does the Astral Heat, it will pull you in incredibly fast. It's actually a pretty common trick of his to make you block a spark bolt, and then do the Astral. You will get sucked into his waiting arms before you know what's happening. So instead: Know what's happening. Personally, I like to 6CD back at him right after the super flash. Between the wind and the super-magnetism, Rachel will fly into him so fast that he won't even have time to close his arms. And you get a free combo and he just lost 100% meter and a burst. Good deal. I actually beat someone online the other night because of this. Either he didn't know he was so vulnerable, or he didn't know that I knew. Either way, I did, and he payed for it. Knowledge is power. So use it wisely.

I haven't fought a lot of good Taos yet, so I'll do my best here. These are some things I've noticed so far about the match-up. If you use your 6A to counter her dives, it's actually best if she DOESN'T hit the guard point. If she does, she'll just bounce off it before the actual cat punch hits her. At which point I'm pretty sure she can dive back down again and hit you during the recovery. The punch itself is fine to counter her dive. It might trade, but she'll get a counter hit and float up in an untechable state, so you'll wind up with a much better deal. At the right distance Tao can use her 2B to slide under an A Lobelia and hit you. Be careful about ending ground blockstrings with this, especially if she knows how to Instant Block well. I've actually only seen this in Japanese match videos (because America is free), but it does seem like an incredibly useful tool for her in this match-up. As long as she can reach you before the Lobelia comes down, then she'll hit you, the Lobelia will vanish, and she can go into a full combo from there. If she's on top of you and pressuring you, it shouldn't be long before she decides to try her 6B overhead. This is pretty easy to hit with your 2C, and you should take this opportunity for some easy damage and a momentum shift. And there's also Tao's special move wind-up punch for an overhead, which is just begging for a cat chair also.

Hmm. I swear I've seen that before. But hey, now I can check! I love you, console version! ...And yes, you are correct sir. His Astral counters anything except for projectiles. So there are go, Rachels, there's no need to fear his counters if you're zoning him.

Now this match-up is fun. And by fun I mean long, kind of stupid-looking, and full of one-combo heavy damage comebacks. For one, you probably don't want to be next to him unless you're hitting him. Moves like his 2A and 3C will beat any move of yours. And just slightly further back, his 4C will own you. When he's close he can use his special moves or his 6A to keep on you, and somewhere between the lows, highs, and tick/dash grabs it can be really hard to get out of this situation, especially if you're cornered. Also note that his 6A gives him crazy frame advantage, but it can't be cancelled into anything but his 6B. Just block high when you see that move and you'll be good. Now, zoning him can be pretty fun. Though do note that he's going to be gaining meter the entire time and it'll probably get full by the time he finds his way in. But hey, it's not much different than what he'd be getting if you just did your close-range low-damage combos instead. Anyway, so he's going to want to chop one of your projectiles to make the black hole thing appear, and then use that to cover his approach. And you're going to want to send Lobelias and use wind with confusing timing to try to take him by surprise with a sudden speed-up, or to get him to whiff his slash, and THEN have the Lobelia hit him. George and the Pumpkin are also great to just throw out to keep him guessing and afraid of a direct approach. Though do be aware that a full-screen 6D pumpkin is perfect for his 4C to hit. If and when he finally does chop something, don't worry so much about it. He'll air dash in, and you'll backdash. And now the black hole is no longer in a position to cover him. More zoning! Just don't feed the black hole with more projectiles. Each hit makes it last longer. So when he does make one, you might want to cease Lobelias and just drop George. George is still a great deterrent/distraction, and he ain't afraid of no black holes. So in summary, the zoning game is you damaging him versus him creating completely harmless black holes. That's a really good deal for you. Even if it does look stupid in action. Also note that when he air dashes towards you at mid range, he'll probably come in with a j.2A (if he's smart). If you try to counter him with a B Lobelia, it's just going to explode in your face. When you're attacking him at close range, be very very careful of your blockstrings. He can IB and then 6D or 2D between a great number of your moves. Free easy damage. This is also part of the reason why fighting him at close range is so hard. And if you set up any George oki stuff, you might want to just hop back and see what happens with George first. If he counters George, and you're in range, he'll grab you. (same with Lobelias, pumpkin, and lightning.) So stand back, and if he does counter George, you're safe and can run back in afterwards. And of course if George hits him or sticks him in blockstun, run in and apply pressure and mix-ups. Also, while this is a horrible idea, some Hakumens seem to like trying to use their super counter on your projectiles. Be aware that if this happens, you are NOT paralyzed, but he WILL continue with the second part of the counter. The second part being completely unblockable and hitting the entire bottom area of the screen at a height of about his standing height if not a bit taller. If he counters your projectile, just super jump + double jump or do a winded jump. Move up quickly, and you'll be perfectly safe. Unfortunately, his counter is completely invincible from start to finish, so you can't punish him at all. But hey, he just blew a bunch of his meter. Good for him. And this might be a much rarer occurrence, but know that his Astral Heat counter will work on your projectiles (edit: or not). It can even be used on throws. If ANYTHING (edit: physical) touches that counter, you are instantly dead. You have no chance to avoid it.

Let's start by talking about pre-curse Arakune. As the match starts, he'll probably be jumping back and summoning clouds and bell bugs, and daring you to run into them. You can zone him if you want, but ultimately it's not too effective. He's too jumpy to pin down with a lot of things, and George is almost useless. Even better is to rush him down. A good winded run or air dash can get you in fast enough to punish any D bug summons, and her j.C can take him out of the air fairly easily. You might as well enjoy being on the offensive while you can. However, don't assume that he's helpless without curse. He still has some very good normal moves, and can almost fight toe to toe with Rachel. For one, his 5C anti-air will stop any air approach, and can even lead to 100% curse. So don't do any obvious jump-ins. Also, if he decides to go on the offensive, there's nothing you can do about his j.B. He'll instant air dash, cancel into a guard, and then j.B on the way in. This'll put him right next to you, where he can mix up lows with an overhead, or just make you block a curse attack. And then he can repeat this over and over, starting with another j.B. You could try using 2C to beat it, but that's also risky in case he tries to fake you out and simply keeps blocking. Also, if you're in the right range, he could use 2C or 3C to counter your summoning or zoning attempts. These are risky for him though, so punish it if you block it. Arakune's hit animation is kind of weird, to the point where it's hard to run up and 6A him after a 5CDC -> 236B. I personally prefer to just instant air dash and call Sword Iris instead of running in. Never fails. However, this same weird hitbox of his also makes your A Lobelia at the end of air combos hit him in situations where it would miss other characters. And in a surprising twist, Rachel's hitbox actually gives her a slightly advantage over most characters in this match. When he does the combos where he punts you across the screen and then tries to hit you with a j.D, the move usually misses her. Some of his dive loops have a hard time hitting her too. She might be fat on the ground, but she's still as short as ever. That's right, her hitbox is actually good for something. I'm as shocked as you are. Now, when Arakune does curse you and goes into fever mode, be prepared for pain. You have, at the very least, 16 seconds of pure blocking ahead of you. She has no reversals, and she has no way out if she gets pinned down. Block the highs, block the lows, block the cross-ups, and especially block the cross-up j.C. Make one mistake, and it's going to cost you dearly. If you're cursed at a distance, jumping around and flying with wind can help waste some time, but it's still a maze of bugs out there, and you'll probably get a Negative Penalty as a reward for your great maneuvering talents. Be very careful not to run into any stray bugs. You'll also run out of wind pretty fast if you're hopping around, and it usually doesn't take too long before you bump into something and you're pinned in blockstun. Also, if somehow you do land an attack on him during his curse, just do the longest combo you can think of. Even though his meter slows down when he's getting hit, and maybe you only shortened it by about .5 of a second, every little bit helps. And when you're done and he's about to tech off the ground or in the air, stay away from him. The moment he techs, a mass of bugs will descend upon you. Nice combo you did, but now that's it. There is no oki game here. Move along.

I haven't played many good Tsubakis, so there's bound to be more tricks here than what I'm aware of, but here's what I've learned so far. Your zoning game shuts down her charging up game. If she's going to jump back and charge up, that's practically a free hit for you. Even her super jumping and charging in the air can be stopped quite nicely by a Sword Iris call. She'll have to give it up and come forward, which is also good for you since she has no long range moves. She may try to do the ground charge forward move or the air dive to close distance, but both of these can be stopped quite nicely by any projectile. Once she is in, however, it can be a nightmare. Her ability to cancel her moves into a charge up and then quickly cancel out of that gives her some almost endless pressure strings. Especially given the really good speed and range of her 5B. I haven't played enough of the match-up to know where the good holes in her approach are, but here's some easy stuff. If she does her low sliding move she'll jump cancel it at the end, and you can also jump and intercept her in the air. If she does her charging tackle move you can punish the recovery. If she starts to charge up the unblockable move, hit her out of it with a good 2A or similar. When you're hitting her with a 5CDC combo, don't forget that she falls down very close to Rachel. This means that ending with a 236B will very often miss her. However, this also means you can use those mid-screen frog combos really easily. Just go with George instead of the B Lobelia when comboing her. She also has a DP move, and while I haven't seen much use of it so far, I'm assuming she can IB and then DP in the middle of your blockstrings like everyone else can. If so, be careful about doing any non-tight blockstrings.

Let's get positive. Bang's hitbox makes him very easy to combo. There's a reason every challenge mode opponent is him. And for Rachel, this means you can do stuff like mid-screen 5B, 5CDC, 214A, run, 3C, 236A (or two). He's also easy to hit with a level 3 j.2C after a BBL. That's right, that's your corner combos at mid-screen. All thanks to Bang's foot sticking out. Even my favorite corner combo of 5B, 5CDC, 214A, run, 6C, j.236C can work on him mid-screen if you start it close enough. On the other hand, when he's standing, Bang is pretty dangerous. He owns you at close range. He has fast normals with good range, and his mix-up can be difficult to deal with considering his D nails, overhead, and command grab. In fact, his 5C overhead tends to chain together so tightly that you probably won't have time to start a 2C to counter it. One of the few overheads I block instead of cat chairing. Don't ever try to anti-air him. His j.B and j.C will beat your 6A every time, and then they will make fun of your mother. I know it's painful to see a blatantly obvious air dash attempt, but you just gotta block and take it. In lieu of real pressure, some Bangs may just do a blockstring of "hit hit hit, jump cancel, jump kick, hit hit hit, jump cancel, repeat". I find that jumping with him at the jump cancel and then intercepting him with your own j.B puts a stop to this. But when he is doing real pressure, he tends to use 5A and 2A a lot for frame traps. Just be patient and continue blocking. Do not attempt to mash out a move, and do not attempt to jump away. For some reason, some Bangs like to try to slide in as an answer to zoning. This is a horrible idea, and you should block it and then punish him with something starting from a 5B. If your opponent relies on Bang's D moves too heavily, just do a run-up 2B a lot. Bang's 2D counter, when he ducks and does a little uppercut, has no immunity to low attacks. It's also the most common drive for him to use, because it's the only one that remains in auto-guard mode until the very moment it hits. So a 2B should get you some free damage regardless of which counter he chooses. This even works well on people who don't just spam D, if you can read them right. For instance, start Rachel's corner A Lobelia spam, and he'll probably try to counter his way out before long. Instead of the next Lobelia, just run up and 2B him. Free corner combo! And if you do attack him with any normal attack and you hit the auto-guard for his 2D, try to chain into a 2B or 3C immediately. You can still hit him before he hits you. Some notes about Bang's supers. His Daifunka (running super) will pass through any projectiles, so be careful of random super if you're zoning. Luckily, it's also very unsafe on block. His Asura (explosion super) is safe on block, but is actually YOUR ADVANTAGE if he hits you with it. Weird, I know. If you survive it, just do a quick rise (down and A, B, or C), and then hit 5A. It's now your offensive, and he's most likely getting hit now, even. His Steel Rain (nail super) makes him invincible on startup, but the actual nails do not come down immediately. If you're not doing anything when you see the move start, just run forward full speed and maybe add a little 6D also. You'll escape to safety and will be able to punish him. And as for his FRKZ, well... I have no good advice. He'll be able to do insane combos on you, and he'll be really hard to catch, hit, or counter. Just hope your opponent isn't good at controlling it. Good luck!

Well, this match is not fun, but that's more to do with Litchi in general than any Rachel match-up stuff. Let's start with zoning. It only works "okay" on Litchi, as she does have some good tools for dealing with it. Still though, it's your advantage, and better than nothing. For one she can put down her staff, flick it at you, and use that for cover as she comes in. Putting a lightning rod on top of her should discourage her from doing staff commands, though. She also has a fairly long air dash, and her j.B stretches out for a long distance too, so watch out for any IAD attempts from her. When trying to zone her, your biggest problems will be her 6B and her All Green super. Luckily, All Green takes a while to motion and isn't full screen, so it's usually not too bad, but do be aware if it if she has 50% meter and you're at about 3/4 screen distance. It's very fast and will beat anything you do. Her 6B is also not an issue at full screen, but if she is in range for it she'll probably throw it out. It's completely safe for her to do. She'll just keep fishing and fishing until she lands that counter-hit, which will lead to big easy damage. I've found that a good counter to 6B spam is just Rachel's 236A+D. The wind will push her out of range, and then she'll eat Lobelia in the face. Let's talk more about Litchi's j.B. This move is godly, and under no circumstances should you ever try to anti-air it, no matter how predictable it is. You will lose, and end up taking a full combo for your efforts. Just block. Even trying to 2C it is risky, since with an air dash she'll probably pass over you and accidentally hit you from behind while the cat chair whiffs. Her j.B is a complete no-brainer move. She can close her eyes, press B, and it'll hit anywhere she needs it to. Litchi pressure. For one, never stop blocking just because you're getting far away from her. Her 5C may push you far away, but it combos fully into her 3C, and then her low staff poke into her full bnb stuff. A lot of people make the mistake of not blocking, or not blocking low, after her 5C or 3C. Be patient. Her mix up game is also quite strong, as she has a variety of overheads. In fact, I'll get to each one in detail. Her 6A overhead. This is where she chops downward, usually with assistance from her staff. It's actually pretty easy to see coming with practice, since she always does it from the same starters (5B, I think?). And if you block it, she can't cancel it with anything, so that's the end of her pressure. And like most overheads, if you have time to stand up, you have time to 2C her. Though be careful of her distance if you do go for the 2C, since her hitbox is kind of weird during the move, and you may auto-guard the hit, but then whiff with the electricity. If you think this may happen, just wind her forward into it. Better safe than sorry. Next, she has her flipping dress overheads. These usually follow after an initial hit, and are really easy to see coming. It's also unsafe for her on block or IB, and you can cat chair them on reaction pretty easy. You shouldn't be seeing these too much during normal blockstrings, but keep an eye out for them during her staff super oki shenanigans. Last but not least, there's her stripper pole diving leg overhead. This is my least favorite one. It comes out pretty fast, and even if you block it she can continue comboing. More depressingly, you can't usually cat chair it. She'll hit the auto-guard, and then pull her leg back in time for the electricity to whiff. At which point, you get comboed. Just block it. Sadly, if you are being hit by her, she has an easier time comboing Rachel than most other people, and I'm pretty sure she has Rachel-specific stuff too. Might as well just get up and make a sandwich. No, but really, keep trying to tech. Never give up. If she does the combo where she jumps onto her staff and then tries to scoop you up with a downward kick, this is a VERY good time to try to tech. Litchis drop this part of the combo more often than anywhere else, and then you can j.C her if she stays up there. And if you DO tech out of her corner combo, be sure you're ready to block and possibly to block high. Litchi tends to get free resets off accidentally dropping combos. Don't let this happen to you. When you're on the offensive, be aware that she has a DP if she's holding her staff. This means that she can also IB your blockstring and then DP you in the middle of it. If you think she's going to do this, cancel into the 3C, or anything else that's safe. When you do bait and block the DP, I've found the best punish is to run very slightly forward after the first hit, and then 5B -> 5CDC -> whatever.

I personally haven't fought a lot of good Noels, but I'll try to put down what I've seen so far. For one, she's a close range character. (Despite using guns. Go figure.) So zoning her works pretty well. Try to keep her back, annoy her, and take whatever damage you can get. She may try to fight back with her Optic Barrel, but it's hard to be in the right range for that, and the damage is poor even if it does hit. Pressuring and oki games work really well on her too, since her only reversal is her ground super, and that takes meter, is hard to motion out instantly, and highly unsafe on block. When she is on top of you, she generally tries to do a lot of frame traps with her A normals. Just be patient. Don't mash, and don't try to 2C her, or else you're just going to get counter hit. And watch for tick throws. Now, when she is ready to go for broke, she'll usually do a 50-50 with her 6B overhead, or 3C low. Both of these will end with the 3C, which is very unsafe on block. IB it and punish with a 5B or 2A. Choose wisely, and you can hurt her, or choose poorly, and she'll get you for a long combo. Which works extra well on Rachel, of course. Now, more likely, she'll simply start a chain drive right next to you and try to mix you up during that. Her usual 5D and 6D starters do have some invincibility, and this includes invincibility to Lobelias, so be careful about throwing moves out when she's in range. When she is in chain mode, I find it best to stay blocking low. This will take her low kick and her leaping grab out of the equation. At this point, you only have to watch out for her overhead axe kick. And if you can stand up to block that on reaction, you might as well just 2C it on reaction instead. Also don't forget that she has that cross-up shoulder tackle move, but it usually isn't a huge deal since hitting with it will end her pressure string. Also, IBing and mashing 2C during her chain drives can have limited success, but know that baits like her 4D can punish you really badly for trying this. If you're comboing Noel on the ground with the old 5CDC -> 236B, keep in mind that she falls back further and is kind of tricky to hit with a run-up 6A after that. If the 5CDC is hitting at around its max range, you might want to just cut your losses and do a Sword Iris or BBL without running up.

Some lower level tips repeated from the Rachel general forum: Here's some very common mistakes that bad Tagers will make, and will lead to easy damage for you: - If you're standing full screen, do nothing and watch what he does. If he randomly throws out a B Sledge, (which won't even come close to hitting you,) run forward and 6CD him at the end of it. - If he techs in the air above you, he'll probably try to j.2C (delayed elbow drop) on the way down. Just stand still, IB it, and punish him. Or better yet, BBL him on the way down. - If you're full screen and his spark meter is full, double jump and B lobelia. There's a good chance he'll whiff his spark bolt right under you. That stuff will work on like 90% of the Tagers you'll meet. And that last one even works on good players.

Okay, first off, this match-up really isn't as bad as the tier lists will make you think. Ragna may hit hard and have good oki with his Belial Edge combos, but he's also the easiest character to zone, and his life is so poor that it makes Rachel's combos look decent. To first put him in a zoning position, 236A+D is very effective. It stops any straight ground approach, and the wind will push him out of range if he tried to do a run-up 5B or 5C. It can even stop some instant air dashes, as Ragna's dash will end up short and then he'll land on the Lobelia. But most importantly, the combination of Lobelia plus wind will push him way across the screen, and the threat (or use!) of Sword Iris from the pole should stop him from charging in immediately after. Once he's across the screen, summon pumpkins, frogs, and do 236B+D, 236C+3D, and 236A+5D or 9D. Just make sure you mix up your timing on which move you do, and when you use the wind or call the Sword Iris. Keep him confused, keep him scared. Once he's stuck in a defensive mindset, you can even start stalling for time to gain wind back. Also, many Ragna players seem to enjoy trying to use Hell's Fang or Carnage Scissors when they're being zoned. Both of these are horrible ideas, and are easily stuffed by an A Lobelia. If Ragna's sitting back with 50% meter and seems to be trying something, just throw some A Lobelias. He'll smack face-first into it. Zero projectile invincibility. Free damage for you on his 50% meter. Now, once Ragna does get in, things get tricky. His 5B will completely own any of your close-range moves. Once he's pinned you down, block, try to instant block, stay patient, and wait for an opening to get out. For you, the best thing Ragna can do is go into his 5D. IBing the second hit is easy, and anything he does after it can be punished. If he dash cancels, it's a free 5A for you if he doesn't uppercut cancel it. (And if he does, block and punish.) If he cancels the 5D into a Hell's Fang, just IB the first hit and 5A him. If he cancels into the Gauntlet Hades, block and punish again. Also easy, because there is no reason to block low after his 5D. And additionally, if Ragna ends any combo with his 2D, just block it, and now you may resume zoning him again. If Ragna tries to use his 6B overhead, just 2C it. Don't even worry about standing up. Just stay crouching, and hit C. It's not too hard to counter on reaction, and it's also a very good way to get out of, and even reverse, his pressure. If you're pressuring him and he's blocking, be aware that he can IB and perform an Inferno Divider between many of your blockstring hits. Pretty much every character with a DP is hard for Rachel to pressure for this reason, and Ragna is no exception. If you think he's trying to do this, cancelling into the 3C is always a good choice. The move is fast enough to be a tight combo, and he won't be blocking low while he's mashing out the DP. Also, for a neat party trick, if he ever goes into Blood Kain, you can burst or Counter Assault to get him across the screen, and then zone him there. Not only did he condemn himself to losing life, but he'll probably also make a lot of reckless mistakes as he desperately tries to rush back up to you.

This thread is for discussing the Rachel vs Mu match-up. Under the assumption that one day there will be good Mu players.

This thread is for discussing the Rachel vs Taokaka match-up. A very popular yuri pairing.

This thread is for discussing Rachel vs Hakumen. And his magical black holes.

This thread is for discussing Rachel vs Arakune in BB:CS. Best advice: Don't get cursed!

This thread is for discussing the Rachel vs Tsubaki match-up in BB:CS. Battle of the low tiers shall commence.

This thread is for discussing Rachel vs Bang in BB:CS. Your 5A is as fast as his, you know.

This thread is for discussing Rachel vs Litchi in BB:CS. Good luck!

This thread is for discussing the Rachel vs Noel match-up in BB:CS. All comers welcome.