RurouniLoneWolf Report post Posted June 4, 2016 Evernote link to make it easy to pass around and easy access for those who prefer evernote and junk.https://www.evernote.com/shard/s624/sh/bf8a398d-8544-42a6-81c1-8886329ab2d2/fddbd5b39bcbfcee80fb987278e18423 - Introduction Hi Hi, Rurouni desu. This time I'm here bringing you a Rachel Mixup, Pressure and Oki guide. I originally started this idea of a mixup, pressure and oki guide back in P4AU after Marie's release. Marie was a character that had a lot of cool tools, similar to Rachel, and it wasn't immediately obvious how to structure your mixup and pressure with her. So I wrote a guide that I hoped would help Marie players understand not just what their options were but what are the potential weaknesses they need to look out for and how different options can compliment other options to improve your mixup and pressure. Since making the Marie Mixup, Pressure and Oki guide, it's been my hope to make this sort of guide a standard here on Dustloop. In secret, I had plans to create a mixup thread for every Persona character when 2.0 released on consoles. Unfortunately, we all know how 2.0 Console release ended ;.; I don't think I'm going to do anything as extreme for BB for the upcoming BBCF release but I will be trying to do it for a good amount of characters or as many as I can with the time I have. I probably won't be able to go into this much detail with everyone though. (P.S: I probably will go back and do those mixup threads for Persona 1.1 instead after I'm done my BBCF work) For Rachel in specific, I also wanted to do this mixup, pressure and oki guide to provide an alternative perspective from Sakaku's Rachel Bible and TD's Mixup thread. I wanted to put more emphasis on how to optimize the structure of your mixup and pressure with this guide. I also wanted to structure the guide in a way so that its easy to see that there are points to vary your pressure at almost every button you press in Rachel mixup and pressure. Instead of thinking in terms of pre-canned blockstrings like most other characters, there's a higher emphasis on dynamically making your blockstring as you go that you should get comfortable with. - Overview Rachel's mixup revolves around her instant overhead that she can do by doing a short hop j.A by making use of a 2D wind. This gives Rachel an exceptionally strong high/low mixup game compared to the rest of the cast. But Rachel's mixup and pressure only truly reaches its full pottential when she is in the corner and her oki options become oppressive. There are ways to escape her oki setups midscreen if the opponent is knowledgeable and on guard but a lot of these problems disappear in the corner. In the corner, her oki is not only able to deal with many wakeup options, it's also capable of baiting counter assaults. When you combine this with Rachel's really good high/low mixup, you get a corner mixup and pressure that might very well be the most scariest to deal with in the game. Once Rachel puts an opponent in the corner, they might die in that corner. - Tools IOH j.A Go to Overhead. Even on block, you'll have very good options to go for more mixup or continue pressure.j.B Mainly used as an overhead in the fuzzy guard mixup. It can be used as an IOH overhead in the same manner as j.A. It's slower but it's also a better starter. It's usually better to just go for IOH j.A though. 4B The overhead mixup option you use when your opponent has completely forgotten that this normal can be used as an overhead mixup. Not really recommended to use as a mixup. Not only is it a slower mixup compared to IOH j.A, your options on block are also much more limited in comparison. On the bright side, it is a better starter and doesn't require wind so maybe it wouldn't be too bad to go for when you're low on wind and want to conserve wind2B Go to low. Much like IOH j.A, you'll still have good options to go for more mixups or continue pressure if your opponent blocks it correctly. 3C An alternate low mixup option. Unlike 2B, it doesn't have any good options to go for more mixups on block and your pressure will probably come to an end here since it's -2. You mostly want to use this option in two situations. On an opponent's wakeup during frog oki. On hit, the shock from George will allow you to pick up the combo without spending a wind or using a pole/lotus for iris. On block, the shock from George will allow you to reset pressure. Winded 3C can be a good complimentary mixup after using j.3DA a few times to try and get yourself back in close to an opponent after being pushed far out in a blockstring Throw The mixup option you'll be luckily to see once in your lifetime. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit but it does sum up this mixup very well. Rachel's high/low game is already so good that there isn't really a good reason to try and go for a throw mixup, especially since a throw tech will end your pressure right away. On the other hand, the fact that you have no reason to go for it is the very reason it'll work if you go for it once in a blue moon. Video Example - https://youtu.be/4PQ-h2ercxQ?t=4572 tk 214C (2147C) If you have a lotus attached to the opponent or a lobelia pole on top of them, tk Sword Iris can be a great way to reset pressure because of how + it is on block. - Different types of Oki Lotus Experimentation with lotus oki began in 1.1 when it's attack level got increased to match Pumpkins but ultimately, both pumpkin and frog oki ended up being better and more used. In CF, Lotus oki has become the most used oki in the absence of pumpkin and also thanks to it's improvements in startup and recovery. Lotus oki has many great pros. Lotus only hits once but its active for a long period of time, making it easy to deal with all kinds of wakeup options. Lotus automatically seeks out the opponent, making it unnecessary to spend wind like the former pumpkin oki and making it even easier to conserve wind in CF. Lotus oki means you'll have an attached lotus to work with in your combo later if you need it. Using the attached lotus to extend a combo with sword iris leads to alternative combo routes that will allow to not have to use a stock of wind and keep regenerating wind instead. You can also use the attached lotus to reset pressure with tk Sword Iris. Setting it up Midscreen Midscreen, lotus oki can be set up by doing 6A > 236B |> 22A at the end of the right combos. You can change the timing of the lotus summon as well. If you summon the lotus quickly, it'll force the opponent into blockstun when they air tech low to the ground. If you delay the lotus summon, it'll force the opponent to block the lotus when they've landed. Midscreen lotus oki from midscreen 236B Example - https://youtu.be/Z0Lyn72-Tlc?t=440Setting it up in the Corner Typically, lotus oki is setup in the corner by ending your combo with 214C |> 6A > 236A/B |> 3C > 22A oki. However, in cases where you started the combo close to the corner and ended up midscreen, it can also be set up by doing 5CC > 236B |> 22A Corner Example - https://youtu.be/AIBItQNlgiA?t=138 Close to Corner Example - https://youtu.be/Z0Lyn72-Tlc?t=517 Close to Corner Example 2 - https://youtu.be/Z0Lyn72-Tlc?t=417 George/Frog Summon George at the end of the right combo to have him activate his shock on the opponent's wakeup and trap them in blockstun for an extended period of time. Mostly used when a combo ends close to the corner. When combined with the right windless or winded lobelia, it'll force them into the blockstun of George's shock, giving you time to run up and start mixup and pressure. It can also be good for midscreen oki in situations where you want to try and keep momentum and your current combo is ending with 6A > 4B > 5CC. In these situations, you can cut the combo short and do 4B > 214A instead. Close to Corner Example - https://youtu.be/AIBItQNlgiA?t=273 Midscreen Example - https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=209 However, George oki isn't completely inescapable. It's important to note that George's shock won't immediately hit the opponent if they neutral tech immediately, giving them a chance to jump out of it. It's also possible for the opponent to delay tech through most of George's shock. Doing 2A after summoning George should solve both of these problems though. If they try to jump, they'll get tagged out of their jump startup and get opened up off the bat. If they try and delay tech, 2A will OTG out of the period of time where they can't tech at all after hitting the ground. Once you've done this a few times to show you know how to deal with it, your opponent should start realizing it's too risky to go for these options except very sparingly and you can start doing other stuff on their wakeup instead. Also, you should keep an eye on your opponent's meter. If they have 50 meter, they might try and take advantage of George oki's blockstun to try and counter assault out of your pressure. To discourage this, play around with the timing of when you want to start your pressure from oki. If they try to counter assault right away and you instead choose to wait a bit, you'll block the counter assault and will be able to go for a full punish. If they try to delay their counter assault and you go for a mixup immediately, you might just end up opening them up before they even get a chance to use their counter assault. Additionally, Jin and Hakumen can Yukikaze out of George oki. There's no real danger to you so long as it catches the shocks from the frog but you still need to be ready to hop over the strike and chase after the Jin and Hakumen player. Yukikaze Video Example - https://youtu.be/lg6CF4Iw3xM?t=5336 Ivy Blossom Summon Ivy Blossom at the end of a combo to drain some life from your opponent as you do your followup pressure. Typically, doesn't see any use in matches since it doesn't really offer much in terms of handling wakeup options compared to lotus and frog oki. Combine this with the fact that Ivy Blossom corner combos already do a lot of damage and the minor life drain you'll get from Ivy Blossom oki doesn't really seem worthwhile. If you attempt to go for this oki, I recommend doing it from a combo route that'll allow you to get both frog and ivy blossom oki Example Combo - Corner Ivy Blossom + Frog Setup - https://youtu.be/Lv8ICY-WKp0?t=1433 Instant Overhead (IOH) How to Input it There are two different ways to input it When you do it raw on an opponent's wakeup or another situation, you'll have to input it as 2D > jump forward j.A. Usually you'll want to do this from situations where you can hide that you're holding 2 down for a while so that you can do this input comfortably without getting a super jump. When you cancel into it from a normal, you should input it as X > 9jc j.2AD to make it harder to react to. Getting the most out of IOH j.A IOH j.A may not be reactable on its own but that's still a 50/50 chance of the opponent blocking a mixup. That's a bit too big. We want to turn that 50% chance of blocking the mixup to almost no chance of blocking the mixup so that we can minimize wind used to open up the opponent. The trick to improving your odds of opening up your opponent is straight forward: variation. We're going to vary the points at which we'll throw out the instant overhead, making the opponent not only have to guess whether to block high or low but also when they need to do it. Raw 2D j.A - https://youtu.be/lg6CF4Iw3xM?t=4905 5A(1) > 9jc j.2AD - https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=212 5A > 9jc j.2AD - https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=169 5B > 9jc j.2AD - https://youtu.be/Vj42DygQ_Uk?t=212 - When to use 2B You can go for a 2B mixup in many places but not all of them are equally as great places if your 2B gets blocked. We need to be careful about controlling our distance from the opponent. We don't want to get pushed out too far if we don't have to or IOH j.A will start whiffing. The best places to go for 2B are: On wakeup -> There's no better way to minimize how much pushback you'll have to deal with on a blocked 2B then to make 2B the first thing you do in your blockstring. After a blocked IOH j.A -> Great place to go for a 2B for similar reasons as doing it on wakeup. A blocked IOH j.A > j.B puts you at a distance comparable to the positioning you would do wakeup 2B. Video Example https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=178 This isn't to say that using alternative blockstrings to go for a low are discouraged. Stuff like 5B > 2B is still a very good option to go for a low but requires taking advantage of you training your opponent to block high after 5B first by putting a higher emphasis on doing IOH j.A previously. Long story short: Ultimately, the best way to make sure 2B doesn't result in you getting pushed back too far is to structure your overall mixup and pressure in a way that people blocking 2B is fairly low to begin with. So your IOH j.A got blocked. What now? Congratulate your opponent. He managed to block the first in a series of hard to block mixups. Can his luck hold up though? You have three options at this point: Fuzzy j.B overhead. After chaining into j.B from your blocked IOH j.A, do double jump j.B to go for a second overhead. Video Example - https://youtu.be/4PQ-h2ercxQ?t=4711 Land after chaining into j.B and go for a 2B low to open people up who remain standing to block a fuzzy j.B Video Example - https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=178 Land and just reset pressure from here. You can for IOH j.A again either raw or from cancelling 5A (1), 5A, or 5B or do whatever else you want. - You've let yourself get pushed back a bit far back during a blockstring. What now? So, you've let yourself get pushed out far enough that you can't go for the usual IOH j.A or 2B mixup. Maybe you decided to throw caution to the wind and after 5B you went "Screw it, I'm going for 2B now! I've done IOH j.A a bunch after this, there's no way he'll expect it coming!" and the jerk actually decided to keep crouch blocking. It doesn't really matter how you got here. The point is you're here and you need to deal with it. You have four options Wind yourself back in and go for a mixup at the same time by doing 6B > j.3D > delay j.A Video Example - https://youtu.be/K-s19aXysD4?t=8866 Chain into a winded 3C to try and open them up low if they're expecting you to try and wind yourself back in with the above overhead option Video Example - https://youtu.be/lg6CF4Iw3xM?t=5094 If you have a lotus attached to them or a lobelia pole on top of them, take advantage of 5B or 6B being jump cancelable on block to do tk 214C. As mentioned earlier, tk Sword Iris is pretty + on block and will allow you to run up and reset pressure Video Example - https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=1334 Retreat. Take advantage of 5B or 6B's to IABD away. Sometimes, it's better not to push your luck, especially if you're running low on wind. Video Example - https://youtu.be/FYarNUEZ168?t=1027 - Overdrive Raid and Exceed Accel In CPEX, Overdrive Raid wasn't too big of a deal as a Rachel player because the way her pressure and mixup is structured made it hard to catch her whiffing something with long enough recovery to punish. Usually, it pretty much required just as much of a guess as blocking her 50/50s and so it wasn't worth wasting your burst on such a high gamble. Unfortunately, the addition of Exceed Accel has changed things. The ability to go straight from Overdrive Raid's invuln straight into Exceed Accel's invuln makes it dangerous to try and continue pressure. There still isn't much risk to Rachel since she can usually react to the Overdrive Raid's super flash in her pressure and retreat but it can be troublesome because this scare tactic can force you to have to stop your scary mixup and pressure game or risk eating 2-4k damage and still losing momentum anyway. There are some things you can do though to try and prevent putting yourself in this sort of situation. The root of this problem is Overdrive Raid. Fortunately, Overdrive Raid works similarly to Counter Assaults, so you should consider taking similar counter measures. Keep an eye on your opponent's burst. When you see they have a burst available, you need to start carefully deciding the structure of your pressure and oki. You might consider shying away from George oki since this is a very easy target for Overdrive Raid and Counter Assaults. You might also consider higher emphasis on opening people up very early with stuff like raw IOH j.A, 5A (1) > IOH j.A and wakeup 2B while putting a lower emphasis on using 5B in your blockstrings which is also an easy target for doing Overdrive Raid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
