Jason D.

The hard part is just getting any GG players to actually go to AI. But that being said, I do play GG, and you're on! I'll beat any Kyle at that game.

Can do. So yeah, PM me the details when you get the chance. Alternatively, you (all) can show up at AI tonight! Otherwise, it's just the usual Monday night crowd: Me, and Score Attack.

Wait, so all this is happening at pulsr's place now? And I don't know where that is. Can I hitch a ride with someone? Zong? You sound lonely.

Wait, so you're planning to arrive to SoCal at 3:00 PM Saturday, and leave first thing the next morning? Is this going to be enough time? Especially since everyone's going to want to play CopperDabbit and dig into them deep pockets. But yeah, I'm going to be sad if I don't get to play everyone.

He's a witch! Get him!

Yeah, good games to everyone yesterday. And hopefully some more tonight!

Press back to block. No, but seriously, you shouldn't be this close to George. Let George go in first and do his thing, and then follow after him when the opponent is immobilized. If you're dropping the frog for oki, just block for the second or two until George activates. That'll teach him not to wake up DP real fast.

I'm not sure what you mean by protecting him. All these things are awful to use on George. An ID won't kill him, and I don't think Hell's Fang will either, and the other two are just really slow and have few if any cancel options. Ragnas should be hitting him with something like 3C. But anyway, the main point in George is actually just to distract your opponent with him. The obvious way is just to put him in front of you, wait for the opponent to kill him, and then hit the opponent during his recovery. For instance, if Ragna hits George with 2D, just run forward and 6B CH Ragna before he's back on his feet. Pumpkins, Lobelias, and forks are all good for punishing George kills. The frog itself is completely expendable and replaceable. In fact, sometimes just for fun I'll summon another George as my opponent swings to kill the first one. Ninja vanish!

Likewise, I didn't really see anyone there Tuesday. But for anyone looking for matchups, I'm going to start stepping up my practice a lot. As in, I'll be there every single day. Starting around 8-ish on weekdays, because that's when I'll get there after work, and on weekends... I don't know. Whenever I feel like it. Oh, and fittingly, I probably won't be there today (Wed). You probably know why. But definitely Thursday, and onward. But yes, whoever wants a game, come on by! Well, you know, unless you're AFRAID of Rachel... No no, it's okay, nobody thinks less of you for that...

I totally second that Beginner Mode tourney. But not just Tager. Especially if nobody looks up how to play in Beginner mode first.

Level 3.

22nd is perfectly fine by me.

You don't really spam JUST lobelias. I was just being cute. I usually do something like A lobelia, then 5B into A lobelia, then a short dash forward and 6B into A lobelia. Mixing up normals and lobelias like that can severely hold him down in the corner. And I mentioned no such combo, and... I honestly have no idea what you're referring to. However, just to add something, if you're talking about something like 5B, 5CDC, A Lobelia as a blockstring, it's okay in the corner, but NEVER do it mid-screen. He can Sledge the lobelia, yes, but more importantly, he can also do a grab and catch you before the lobelia touches him. If you do 5CDC mid-screen and he's blocking, cancel into a winded 3C. Or else. And no, as far as I can tell neither Tager's backdash or Rachel's 5B were changed. It sounds like you were just doing the move too close. If you're using the 5B to poke you should do it at close to maximum range. Let's say around when only the far half of the whirlwind would touch him. If he backdashed your 5B because you chained something like 5A to 5B or 2B to 5B and he Instant Blocked the first hit, then sure, he can do that. But he can also just IB and then grab. The backdash doesn't add anything there. Also, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, yes it is better to be close to Tager. Specifically, just outside his grab range. Where your 5B, 6B, and A lobelias are going to reign supreme. Zoning him can keep him away, but it doesn't really do much else. You'll just be relying on lucky hits to do crap damage. And if he's smart and patient enough, he's just going to block and sledge everything. He can do it all day. It's not like you're going to guard crush him. Zoning Tager really only serves to waste time, and wasting time gives Tager Spark Bolts.

Yes, I'm positive that the chair will beat 5D - B Sledge. I've done it hundreds of times now, both with and without Instant Blocking. Though to be fair, it may not work at point blank range, as I've never had a Tager try a 5D without at least a little distance between. And I should also mention, be careful not to do the 2C too early. It can clash with the Sledge, and if the Tager is quick enough to realize what just happened, it's a free throw for him. Ideally, what should happen is this: He does the sledge startup, you start the chair, he hits into your auto-guard, and then you shock him. If, instead, his hit frame meets your hit frame, it'll clash. But this is only really a concern if he did the 5D from really far away, and maybe you gave yourself some extra time via IB. Normally, you can just mash 2C when coming out of blockstun, and you'll be just fine. And as for backdash, I have played Tagers that use it a lot, but I've never had any real problem with it. Just don't do any slow attacks from close distance, or throw yourself forward while poking, and it won't matter much if he backdashes or not. For instance, let's say you're in 5B or 6B range, and you throw that out and he backdashes it. He just put himself out of grab range, and probably into the range where your normals are better than his. So good for him. His backdash is great when he's in the corner, but if he is there I'm just standing out of grab range and doing the lobelia spam anyway. And it's also good against airdashes, but you shouldn't be approaching by air. He has too many anti-airs, and even on a trade (Fatal!), the damage is NOT in your favor.

Hey, some more talk about CS matchups. I like this! Okay, so after a lot more matches with Mike Z, I can positively say that this matchup is all sorts of wrong for Rachel. For starters, Tager can do about 5K damage, meterless, off a 360 A or B. In fact, humorously, I think the A 360 does more damage. And it was about 6.2K if Tager has enough meter for a Magna-tech Wheel. So yes, you can die in two hits. More disturbingly though, she has gaps in pretty much every hit of her blockstrings, so it is quite easy for Tager to IB command grab. Assuming you're not playing a bad opponent, try to keep your block strings short. If the Tager starts spinning the stick frantically during his blockstun (or if you're from the future: you're online and you can imagine him spinning like a maniac), he'll probably luck his way into the IB for the 360 or 720. Jump cancel something if you can (5B), or chain into a 3C. The 3C is actually great, because it is a tight combo even during an IB, and it usually hits since ol' spinny probably won't be blocking low. But okay, so on the positive side. For one, Rachel's 6CD is quite effective. (Oh, and for the record, it will NOT beat a grab unless you started it much earlier. She is not technically off the ground at the beginning, even if the sprite looks like she is.) It does good damage, he can't duck it, it beats some of his mid-screen options, and there is nothing funnier than being magnetized, doing it at the same time as his 5D, and hitting and dragging him at super-speed. Just keep in mind that on block he can IB the j.C at the end and 360 you. But you can also jump cancel the j.C, so there you go, options. If he ever does 5D and cancels it into the B Sledge, that's a free 2C for you. There's no reason not to do it. Also, jump cancelling your 5B into 2BD works great against Tager, due to his size. It's especially useful if he blocks the 5B and you don't want to get thrown, as mentioned above. If you hit him with a combo while he's standing, you don't need to do the D in the standard 5CDC. His standing hit animation moves his arms way in front of his body. You can just do 5CC, and then the C lobelia. No wind needed. It's economical, you don't have to worry about delaying the lobelia, and it looks awesome. And for another fun thing, let's say he's in the corner blocking, and you do 5CDC into the A lobelia. After he blocks the fireball, he'll try to 360/720 you. (I've yet to meet a Tager who didn't.) What you should do, is jump. He CANNOT grab you after this. The A lobelia recovery is too fast. But you being right next to him will definitely fool him. Jump, then punish. Abuse this while you still can! Oh, and as for Gadget Finger, a winded backdash will get you out of all his usual followups. However, this gets beaten by a standing 5C, which unfortunately can then be comboed into the Collider, and then so on. Thankfully, Tagers won't use this move at all until they get wise to the wind backdash. At which point, your 5A will beat out his 5C easily. And then it'll all go full-circle, and he'll start mixing in throws again. Still not a great situation, I know, but that's the best options I've come up with.

Also: torture devices, no windows, and doors that lock from the outside.

Wow, Seattle. I don't know any of you. So that being said, every one of you should get down here! And we should get some games in. Also, Digital Watches, I would love to meet you. I play Axl too, and I've never actually met another good Axl player. In fact, I'm not sure if there even are any other Axls around here. So yes, I am definitely down for some GG matches. Bring it on! Fun with full-screen counters!

Try summoning a pumpkin before George. If he tries to Hell's Fang during George (or the pumpkin), just hit D. It'll stop a Carnage Scissors, too.

Sweet, I got 3rd.

Oh, I think we all assumed it was Sanchez. We're just horribly sarcastic people. Unless SJ really does dislike TheBiter. Geez, he stopped strangling those infants after the first two. Let it go already!

He's referring to you, Dacid. You meanie-head! Also, Shin, Friday nights at AI are pretty happening. Good luck with parking, though.

Oy, guard breaking. While I do like the guard primer system for being novel, and for making you have to shift strategies for the guard crush instead of getting it by sheer accident, I do wish they would've put more thought into the primers themselves. "Hey, how many primers should we give Rachel, who has zero reversals and horrible anti-airs? Just four? Cool. And how about Bang and Hakumen, who can get out of pressure with the push of one button? Six? Perfect!" I'm fairly positive that they gave out primers based on who was taller/more muscly, instead of being based on who actually needs them. But that being said, even with a character with few primers, guard breaking isn't that common. I mean, at the minimum, you have four primers, and then three more chances with a barrier guard. It takes a lot of effort to whittle that down. Unless you're Lambda (Hate you!). Or occasionally a Rachel (Six primers in one blockstring! I want that crown, Lambda.) But yeah, somewhere between 7+ primer hits, you should've found your way out of blocking at some point. Oh yeah! And if it is going to happen, quick jump and let yourself get guard crushed in the air. That fucks up everyone's punish attempts. Always hilarious.

I do have a character with no reversals. But yeah, what most people forget is, there's also this thing called blocking. If there's nothing else you can do to beat someone's move, try that. I guarantee that you won't get hit. Though yes, to be fair, there are certain unblockable setups. Like the ex-clap loop, and Eddie-esque high-and-low hits. But I can also nitpick my own nitpick and say that when you first got into that setup, then that's the point when you did something wrong. But anyway, my main point was just that things are never hopeless. There's always something you can do.