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VR-Raiden

Sol vs Ramlethal

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Matchup from Ramlethal's perspective:

Stats: 6-4 Sol

Summary

The neutral game is difficult to play against Sol because his normals and specials have interesting interactions against Ramlethal's that you have to be aware of. His movement speed allows him to close the distance on Ramlethal fairly quickly so understanding spacing is important especially when playing neutral with swords deployed. That being said, it’s not wise to play the neutral game against Sol with swords deployed. You want to keep the swords on for the most part because it allows you to whiff punish some of his go-to normals at specific ranges and make it harder for him to approach Ramlethal without expending meter.

His reversal options will beat several of Ramlethal's oki set ups forcing you to use specific reversal safe oki, which limits variance in oki and pressure. His pressure and mix up game is straightforward but effective since it leaves him at high frame advantage making it tough to find spots to reset to neutral. It's very easy for Sol to crank up your RISC gauge and then land a command grab or frame trap into a huge counter hit combo. Sol's damage output is also fairly high so you need to match his damage out as well if you want to win this match up at a high level. Sol's the definition of middle weight so all of Ramlethal's max damage combo options will work on Sol ie. double Daruo combos, IAD loops, etc...

Game Plan

Neutral Game:

The round starter is in Sol's favor because his far S is faster than yours but he can also use 2D to low profile it or Grand Viper to low profile and beat it. Your best bet at round start is to play defensive and crouch block, instant air dash back, jump back, or jump forward P. It's risky to try and challenge Sol at round start especially if you haven't gotten a feel for your opponents play style.

 

The neutral game is tricky against Sol because his normals and specials have interesting interactions with Ramlethal's normals. Your far S out ranges his and can be used to whiff punish his far S. Sol's 2D low profiles far S but this has to be done as a read on their part and not in reaction to far S. If you're over using far S then you can expect the Sol player to use 2D liberally to low profile it. 2D will also low profile Cassius and if done close enough will counter hit you. The best counter action to this is to just wait and let them whiff 2D and then whiff punish with far S after wards but the timing on the whiff punish is tight. 2D leaves Sol in a crouching state so you'll get a far S xx Daruo starter as your whiff punish. 2S and 2HS are also good at whiff punishing if they’re over using 2D to duck your far S but the slow start up is mostly a read on your part rather than in reaction.

 

Sol's 6P has upper body invincibility during start up and then above knee invulnerability shortly after wards which can be used to counter poke your far S. It's harder to time on their part but it's something additional they can use during the neutral game.

 

Sol's special moves plays a role in his neutral game though some have more risk than reward. The majority of Sol's special movies can be countered in some way.

  • Grand Viper - Hits low and low profiles far S. Since it travels forward it'll punish your far S and Cassius, so this is something you have to be aware of. It's not something you'll see too often with good Sol players because the risk/reward is stacked against their favor but against low level Sol's this is something they'll just throw out hoping for the best. There's nothing major you can do to really bait this so if you're playing defensive block low and punish the recovery hard.

  • Riot Stomp - It can be used during neutral to cause your far S to whiff but it won't whiff punish far S from midscreen though may be valid near the corner. It hits high and is safe on block because it leaves him airborne with all of his air options intact. If you see Riot Stomp you can flat out counter it with 6P on reaction.

  • Bandit Bringer - Hits high and can be used to go over Ramlethal's f.S. The risk is some what low for Sol since it leaves him neutral on block but the rewards are high if it lands or counter hits. If Sol does raw Bandit Bringer during neutral you can counter it with j.P, Blitz Shield, air throw, chicken block throw on landing, instant block throw, instant block 5P.  

  • Fafnir - Fairly strong neutral tool for Sol because it moves him forward, has a large hit box, and leaves him +2 on block. It's an all purpose neutral tool which allows him to poke, counter poke, whiff punish, catch back dashes, etc... It allows Sol to start offensive pressure if blocked and high rewards if it hits or counter his. He can't special cancel to it so he has throw it out raw. You can counter poke it with far S and get a counter hit starter but there's definitely some risks to trying that. It's also a good frame trap tool after blocked gun flames, kudakero, and even from fafnir itself.  

 

Ramlethal's j.P is still really good in this match-up since it will contest all of Sol's jumping options; however, Sol's j.P is just as fast as her j.P so you may see it

clash on multiple occasions. If you end up in a j.P clash war you'll clash all the way down but the Sol player can go for a reversal Volcanic Viper after a clash. Ramlethal's j.HS is also good in this match-up and a CH can lead into IAD loops if you're close enough to the corner. Sol's j.HS has a really good hitbox on it and hits twice. If he IADs and does an early j.HS it'll actually beat your 6P anti-air so you'll have to use sword equipped 2S/HS or 5HS to anti-air it. You can also IB both hits of the early IAD j.HS and throw him on his landing. Depending on the range there's enough time to anti-air IAD j.HS on reaction but the timing is tighter in comparison to 6P. Sol can fish for these anti-air attempts with double jumps into Kudakero (divekick) to either counter it or force offense since it's +2 on block.

 

If you have the swords equipped, Sol can use Gun Flame a bit more freely to control space. Once the HS sword is deployed they have to stop running Gun Flame at a distance because 6HS is a fast way to land a counter hit. If you're close enough you can Daruo after the counter hit and convert from it.

 

Playing neutral against Sol with both swords deployed is generally not recommended now that the swords can be hit and it allows him to rush down since you no longer have any pokes to keep him at bay. If you're playing neutral with the swords deployed, Sol can chase you down with super jump j.P, j.HS, air throw, Volcanic Viper or 5K as your falling. 5K in general is really good for Sol since it's good at tech trapping, frame trapping, catching back dashes, or jumps out of command grabs. If you’re using deployed swords to control your descent keep an eye on Sol’s position. Directly above Sol is the ideal spot to use falling j.K but this leaves you open to air throws and maybe 2HS. Farther away from Sol and you have to worry about 5K or Volcanic Viper. It’s better off to just FD on the way down to avoid getting counter hit by both options as they both lead into good damage for Sol.

 

Offense:

In this match up you want to play solid neutral and try to convert off of stray hits and push towards the corner like usual. However, when running oki from any point on screen you really have to be aware of reversal Volcanic Viper or Grand Viper, as it'll beat the majority of your oki set ups and can be used in between sword pressure strings. It really limits the type of oki set ups you can run on Sol but there are several reversal safe oki options you can run.

 

From mid-screen, after a 2KK or throw knock down a 6HS, 6K/2K/2D setup is not reversal safe against Sol. You can deploy the HS sword and then wait to bait out the reversal. If they know you're baiting the reversal they can back dash and avoid the sword altogether. The alternative mid-screen oki set up off of 2KK or throw knockdown that's reversal safe is with the S sword equipped you perform an immediate IAD past your opponent then do j.6S just as you pass over their knock down body. The sword deploy kills your air dash momentum and then you fall immediately at the spot you deployed the sword. While you're falling you do a j.K. This is a cross up/over set up so if you time this correctly the opponent has to manually correct their VV motion and even if they get the reversal timing it's still a safe jump and you'll block the VV. You might not want to run this set up if you've got Sol near the corner, as you don't want to lose positional advantage. The other option is to do a normal jump forward j.6S to cut your momentum towards the peak of the jump. Then do a falling j.K, if you’ve timed the j.6S correctly this gives you the right timing to get a deep j.K that’s reversal safe.

 

The concept for running corner sword oki on Sol is to use a meaty sword deploy, deploy the second sword, wait to see if they did a reversal, then run a mix up during the cover of the second sword if they didn't reversal. If they reversal Volcanic Viper or Grand Viper it should whiff, knock away the swords but gives you an opportunity to punish. If you do block the reversal you can punish the recovery but try to avoid spacing yourself to block the reversal if they have 50%+ meter as they can RC it and start offensive pressure. The other method to run sword oki is to deploy both swords, jump towards Sol, and faultless defense as you're falling. You'll chicken block reversal Volcanic Viper and then you can punish the recovery. If they don't reversal Volcanic Viper you can attempt a mix up by either doing j.K or empty jump 2D. The 5KK4K/5K4K setups are generally better to use against Sol as it puts you out of his effective VV range and the 50/50 guess can help you screw up their inputs for it.

 

Defense:

Sol usually end his combo's in either 2D, Bandit Revolver, Volcanic Viper, or Grand Viper as these moves cause knockdowns and allow him to set up the following mix up options:

  • 2K OTG, Gun Flame - This creates a meaty Gun Flame that leaves Sol at frame advantage but limits what they can do afterwards. This is where the opponent will usually go for a frame trap with f.S, 6HS, or Fafnir.

  • (2K OTG) YRC Gun Flame - This gives Sol the same meaty Gun Flame but now the opponent has free movement after wards to run the same mix ups off of the initial setup. The opponent can also go for a tick command grab or just run up 5D.

  • Neutral j.P (whiff), late air dash j.P, j.K, j.D or j.S, j.HS - The late air dash makes people want to block low because the timing of the jump makes you think of an empty jump. If you crouch block you'll get tagged by the jumping normals. This is a standard mix up often seen in other Arc System Work fighters. You can wake up 6P which will beat late air dash j.S but lose to the late air dash j.P (depends on their timing of the j.P). You can wake up Blitz Shield to beat both options.

  • Forward j.P (whiff), j.S - It's a safe jump against reversals but can be Blitz Shield.

  • Forward/Neutral j.P (whiff), empty jump 2K/2D - Sol conditions you with his safe jump or late air dash options and then goes low instead. It's not hard to react to but it's a tactic used to counter wake up 6P or Blitz Shield against his other oki options. You can reversal throw this option but you need to do it fast enough.

  • j.S, dj.P/S - A fuzzy guard set up and no real way to properly defend against this given all of his other options. It's tough to time for the Sol player so you might not see this set up often.

 

Sol's up close pressure will always contain the threat of a command grab and you have limited options against this pressure. The typical command grab escapes is to interrupt with 5P, 2P, 2K or back dash/jump out to make the command grab whiff. It's obviously not that easy because the Sol player can start frame trapping instead with dash 5K, c.S, 6P, etc... to catch the interrupt attempts while dash 5K will catch back dashes or jumps. Faultless defense can be used against the tick command grab set ups to try and push Sol out of range to hopefully give you enough room to reset to neutral. Sol can combat this by going for frame traps, or continuous dash 2P to close the distance and then eventually go for the command grab.

 

Typical block strings you might see are 5K (1), c.S, 2S, (f.S), 6HS/2D/Bandit Revolver/Gun Flame. If you IB the 2S you can back dash out of his 6HS, 2D, or Gun Flame but Bandit Bringer will catch the back dash. If you back dash and avoid a 6HS you can Daruo to whiff punish it. If the opponent ops for f.S/2D xx Bandit Revolver you can IB f.S/2D and then either Blitz Shield the Bandit Revolver or beat it with j.P. Whenever you Blitz Shield Bandit Revolver or Bandit Bringer you have enough time to dash behind them for the punish since they’re stuck in the stun state until they land. This also allows you to avoid getting counter Blitz Shield if they have 25%+ meter. Other block strings can also involve YRC Gun Flame but unless done at point blank you can Blitz Shield the Gun Flame and have 11f of invincibility after wards. If the Sol player pushes offense with dash pressure or jump pressure it should whiff with your 11f of invincibility post Blitz Shield and then you can whiff punish or throw afterwards.

 

The matchup changes when Sol activates Dragon Install as it increases his damage output, makes his movement faster, the start up of his normals/specials faster, and leaves him + on block on all of his normals and the majority of his specials. You really don't want to challenge Sol during Dragon Install nor do you want to block any of his attacks on the ground due to the huge frame advantage he gets. It's really easy for him to go for frame traps or tick command grabs and make a come back from there. The chip damage off of his specials and over drives are pretty significant as well so he can go for chip damage kills if you're low on health and meter to FD. Try to stick to the air as much as possible to out last the Dragon Install and then punish the huge recovery when Dragon Install runs out.

 

When looking to dead angle out of Sol's pressure keep an eye on his Gatling string and his meter. Sol can use 2D to low profile the dead angle and then punish heavily afterwards. Alternatively, if he has 50%+ meter he can cancel into his Tyrant Rave Overdrive to use the invincibility frames to go through and punish the dead angle.

 

Character Specifics

Wake-up Timing:

  • 25f face-up

  • 21f face-down

Reversal Safe Oki:

 

Midscreen:

 

Setup: 2KK > Instant Air Dash > j.6S > j.K

Sword(s): S Sword Equipped

Info: Safe cross-up setup. Opponent has to manually correct their DP motion as well.

 

Setup: 2KK > j.6S > j.K

Sword(s): S Sword Equipped

Info: Normal jump and j.6S at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.K.

 

Corner:

 

Setup: Combo ending in j.8D knockdown > 6HS > j.2S

Sword(s): HS sword deployed outside of the corner

Info: Meaty 6HS set up against Sol.

 

Setup: Combo ending in j.8D knockdown > immediate neutral j.2HS > j.2S

Sword(s): HS sword deployed in the corner

Info: Meaty 2HS set up against Sol. Reversal safe against VV and Grand Viper; however, Grand Viper gets him out of the corner and lets him RC to start offense.

 

Setup: 2D > jc7 > delay j.2HS, airdash, delay j.K

Sword(s): HS sword deployed in the corner

Info: Corner safe jump.

 

Setup: Throw > j.2HS > j.K

Sword(s): HS sword deployed in the corner

Info: Neutral jump and j.2HS at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.K

 

Setup: 5K4K > dash 9j.6S > j.K

Swords: S sword equipped.

Info: Safe cross-up setup. The j.6S after the dash forward jump needs to be at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.K.

 

Lows:

  • 2K - 6f start up, -1 on block

  • 2D - 7f start up, -6 on block

  • Grand Viper - 17f start up, -56 on block

 

Overheads:

  • 5D - 24f start up, -13f on block

  • Bandit Bringer - 32f start up, 0 on block

  • Riot Stomp - 10f after reaching the wall, +4 on block, leaves Sol air borne with all air options intact

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Neutral:

I will say as Sol I have much more trouble when she keeps the sword for f.S handy (even before sword swings could be stopped by attacks). If Ram doesn't have f.S, Sol can get away with abusing Fafnir or just rushing in general more.

IB punishes Sol should be looking for:

- IB Dauro(623P) is a 5K > 2D > GV punish. Makes it dangerous for her to autopilot cancels to Dauro.

- IB 2KK (low spin kicks) is a f.S punish.

 

And I should do something I can copypaste for dealing with simple Sol oki. I will edit in or post later maybe (or just link to stuff in Sol vs Sol thread).

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