The "Picking a Main" thread

[Dreizehn]

It sounds like you're trying to pick some of the most technical characters and it's ruining your enjoyment of the game. I could be wrong, and it's understandable to pick characters that "speak to you", but if you're so worried about execution and memorizing setups that you can't actually play against other people, that's a problem. I would actually suggest Tsubaki as a beginner-friendly alternative to Ragna, and once you have some real games under your belt, you can think about revisiting Hazama/Rachel/etc. (because those characters sound like exactly what you're looking for, long-term).

Sounds like you should have stuck with rachel tbh. She has pretty much all the points you explained: speed (with wind), decent pokes/ zoning game which can be difficult for your foe to deal with: time gained from zoning allows pumpkin/frog to get into a better position to pressure all while gaining wind, and once you get in, very safe, long pressure strings with instant overheads and strong lows. Wind may be a bit of a struggle to get used to, but the return result is something that truly makes her terrifying to fight against.

I thinks she is a great challenge if that's what you're looking for. Besides learning her, the flaws tend to be a lack of defense and a disadvantage at the start of the round, and constantly having to be aware of everything in play. Overcoming these flaws are just as difficult but make you a better player in any fighting game.

Thank you both; I really needed an outside perspective. I see both of your points, but I think I'll go with what TD said; I'll go back to Rachel for now. Even if it does mean a bit more time in the lab, I don't think I ever really tried her the way you described; I was so focused on practicing her combos, I never really saw all the possibilities her drive opened up. I'll read through the Rachel forums and perhaps post if I need a bit of help with how to use her wind for pressure, mixups, bolckstrings, etc. and still have enough for when you actually land a hit and wish to confirm into a combo. I'm excited to be learning her again! In the meantime, I'll do as Celerity said and play a more beginner-friendly character in matches from time to time so I won't burn myself out by staying only in training mode.

Thanks for the help, again!

[TD]

Good stuff.

The rachel boards are extremely helpful. For starters, you want to look at the rachel guide. You will find several tips and strategies on using her effectively. The link is here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?14170-CSE-Rachel-Gameplay-Guide

These are her combos: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?13027-CSE-Rachel-Combos

It's a hell of a lot to read, so if you're not into that boring stuff like I am, check out our videos. Here we have some Of our best US Rachel's showing the opponent some discipline: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?10660-CSE-Rachel-International-Videos-Critiques

This is the link for the jp Rachel's, also good: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?13654-CSE-Rachel-Video-Thread

We wrap it up with the matchup thread which has a few tips on how to beat each character. Combined with all of your knowledge on rachel, this is what is going to help you win consistently.

Anyway, if you have any questions, you can stop by the general thread, or pm any one of us directly.

[Dreizehn]

Cool! That gameplay guide is amazing; I've just read through the zoning part so far, and there are so many new ideas and things to try out just in that section, it's not even funny. You know, I hadn't ever gotten how you were supposed to use the pumpkin before. Maybe I'll be posting some vids to that critique thread eventually, myself, once I'm confident enough with Rachel to try her out in matches again. I bought a Dazzle to record for P4A, and it'd be really cool to get some feedback eventually.

Anyways, thanks for being so cool, TD. I'll start with just going through that gameplay guide and trying to apply it against dummies and CPU's for now, and just see where this goes.

[Nemesis]

I could seriously use some counseling on the matter of picking Ragna.

Half of the reason I don't like picking Ragna is because a lot of players tend to use his "overpowered" status as a means to bash the player as a whole - i.e. "You can't win unless you use broken-tier Ragna", or "Yeah, you're just a tier-whoring fag", or "Those who play Ragna never play BlazBlue seriously".

I realize I'm not supposed to give into these kind of assholes, but driving people away because of something that's considered "overpowered" and "broken" is what scares me in trying out Ragna. Ragna seems to have the very things I need to properly learn FGs - and he's offense oriented as well. But just the idea of getting picked on for playing a "Typical Overpowered Shotofag" makes me afraid to play Ragna as a whole.

I want to main Ragna, but in the rare case of those whiny losers, is there anyone who plays somewhat like Ragna that I could main as a means to shut said idiots up? At least this way I can get both my main and sub out of the way as far as choosing.

ok lol.... but seriously ragna is far from overpowered -- he just thrives in matches vs players who dont have a good grasp of the fundamentals etc and he can be played autopilot if your mind is else where... looks like your on PSN you might want to look for Leonil Requiem -- easily the best ragna player and theory fighter Ive ever come across, not to mention his personality isnt total ass and he enjoys teaching others (including myself) fundamentals and details about the game even more than playing it

[Renvalt]

ok lol.... but seriously ragna is far from overpowered -- he just thrives in matches vs players who dont have a good grasp of the fundamentals etc and he can be played autopilot if your mind is else where... looks like your on PSN you might want to look for Leonil Requiem -- easily the best ragna player and theory fighter Ive ever come across, not to mention his personality isnt total ass and he enjoys teaching others (including myself) fundamentals and details about the game even more than playing it

Really? I always thought it was cliche of the FG pros to use the basic starter character as a basis for an insult of one's skill (Ragnafag, Ryuscrub, etc). I avoided them simply because of how common the stigma of weak players using those characters seemed to be. Was worried over nothing~

And I'll try and seek out that Leonil fella - he seems like a good person.

[Errol]

I don't spend too much time in these threads. But on jbbs the strong n easy trio is always said to be Ragna Jin Hazama.

[Renvalt]

I don't spend too much time in these threads. But on jbbs the strong n easy trio is always said to be Ragna Jin Hazama.

Hazama? Really? I don't quite understand why he's easy. Jin, maybe, but HAZAMA?! How on earth is HE strong and easy? I thought that privilege went to Noel.

[mAc Chaos]

Everything he does leads to a ton of damage and gets him a ton of heat. He is just hard to learn to move around with.

[BlackYakuzu94]

C spam everything.

[RifleAvenger]

Hi. I'm asking here for help deciding on a main (and maybe one sub) to play in GGAC+, which I and a few friends in my local group recently obtained. I had a few characters that I thought would fit me (example, Ky), but I just haven't been able to enjoy it as much as other games so far. However, I'm not sure if this is due to me being bad or me not looking into a character that might suit me better.

Here's some info on the characters I play in other fighters and why I like them.

BlazBlue:

Main: JIN. My favorite character out of any game I play. I love the balance of range and speed on his normals, his easy combos, and especially his versatility and ability to play a fair game from nearly anywhere on screen. I love how I can rapidly transition from poking and 'zoning' with his normals and drive into pressuring them up close, and though they aren't particularly airtight I like how simple his pressure is to preform. I wish I could more accurately describe my love, but all I can really say is that Jin just feels RIGHT to me in every aspect of his playstyle.

Subs:

Rachel: The thing I like most about Rachel is how she has something I like about Jin, but has it tenfold. Namely how she has adequate zoning and poke capability that lends her easy transition into strong, safe pressure. I also enjoy how frog and pumpkin make her scary after knockdown and force the foe to block. I do find her execution using wind to be a bit difficult however, and it is that reason why my Rachel doesn't compare to my Jin.

Valkenhayn: Milady's butler is both fast and powerful through the use of the his two forms, and I also happen to just find his design really cool.

Bang: No clue why, to be honest. I started playing him as a joke and he's stayed with me ever since. I do enjoy his good mix up options and mobility.

P4A:

Main: Elizabeth. Came for the fullscreen yomi lazor, stayed for making people explode off nearly anything I hit them with. Not to mention a ranged command grab and lots of really fun gimmicky stuff. Even though I do hate the fact that my only overheads are j.a and AoA, and a general inability to land a good hit on anyone who knows how to deal with Elizabeth. I actually grew to like her low HP and accepting of her shitty defense because it forced me to work on my blocking ability and on acting safely.

Sub: Naoto. Welcome to Naoto Shirogane's obstacle course. Play reckless? You'll either hit a trap or my bullets. Try breaking my traps? I get a moment of freedom to move in on you. Block a trap? I get to move in an mix you up. Knocked down? I get to set up my next blockstring. Get hit in the corner when I have 50 meter and your burst is gone? Well, there's always next time.

Street Fighter 3S

Akuma. The only character I play in this game. Has viable defense options, anti-anti-air fireballs to help approach, fireballs for limited zoning, high damage, teleportation, divekick, and Demon kick mix up.

Street Fighter 4 AE

Main:Akuma. See above, but with more emphasis on fireballs and divekick crossup.

In general, I'd say I usually prefer to have a character who has options in any situation or playstyle over a character who is specialized in just one. I tend to value having good pokes and spacing abilities. I won't use characters whose movement is significantly impaired compared to the rest of the cast, as I find them very frustrating to play.

Edited February 17, 2013 by RifleAvenger

[RazielStrife91]

I have been playing with order sol since GG AC+ came out on PSN, I have been thinking in giving sol badguy a try but for some reason I think getting all those clean hits with sidewinder with lag on netplay might be rather hard.

As for blazblue I have played Ragna since Calamity Trigger, I like characters with good normals

[Rasetsu]

I want to get started with GG since everyone in my local scene seems to be playing it atm, but I'm having some trouble picking a main. I'm not sure I'm gonna dedicate a lot of time to it, seeing as I already play too many games as is, but want to give it a shot and at least be able to somewhat "play" at gatherings and stuff. I tried playing the "beginner" characters (Sol/Ky) but tbh I just don't like them.

So far the characters I like the most are Bridget, May (but I'm ass at charge chars), I-no and Zappa. I can adapt to any playstyle but I usually play characters with good oki and decent/good zoning capabilities or long-ranged normals. I play KohakuC in MBAA, Rachel in BB and Yukiko/Shabrys in P4U.

Which of these would be the easiest one to get started with? AFAIK Bridget and I-no need mad exec skills and lots of dedication, but I'm not too sure about the other two.

And which one would fit me better? I'm thinking Bridget but I'm not very knowledgeable on GG to be sure.

Am I overlooking any other char that could suit my playstyle? I've been messing around with Faust, A.B.A, and Slayer as well but ended up not liking them too much.

[Silmerion]

I have been playing with order sol since GG AC+ came out on PSN, I have been thinking in giving sol badguy a try but for some reason I think getting all those clean hits with sidewinder with lag on netplay might be rather hard.

As for blazblue I have played Ragna since Calamity Trigger, I like characters with good normals

This problem can be mitigated, though not abolished, with time spent in Training Mode getting a feel for SW loops. You're right that it'd be harder online, where your visual judgments of when to jump/hit might be off, but after a while you'll be able to kind of sense when to do it without really looking.

So far the characters I like the most are Bridget, May (but I'm ass at charge chars), I-no and Zappa.

...Which of these would be the easiest one to get started with?

Well, to be perfectly honest, none of these characters are all that easy. Bridget and I-no require a lot of mechanical practice at high levels of play, Zappa is like learning four and a half characters; May is the easiest of the ones you listed, but you'd have to learn how to do things like charge buffer.

Personally, I'm of the school of thought that you should pick whoever you like best and play around with them! I know you're probably concerned that you won't get as much "bang for your buck" if you pick a mechanically difficult character, but if you're playing someone you enjoy more I think you'll have more fun in the long run. You seem to be tending toward Bridget, who is totally awesome, and you can do basic versions of Bridget's keepaway/oki game without needing to spend dozens of hours grinding in Training Mode.

I'd also recommend you mess around with Axl a little bit. His oki's nothing special, but he has the longest normals in the game, and he can certainly play the zoning game (although he plays it pretty differently than most "zoning" characters).

Edited February 18, 2013 by Silmerion

[RifleAvenger]

I hate to sound rude, but can someone give my query on the previous page a look as well? It's the last post on that page.

[excelence]

Ky / Chip : Kind of have every answer in any kind of situation.

And Dizzy : if u Like Rachel ... u'll Love Dizzy, but unlike Rachel who has pseudo Dp's, Dizzy need to burn tension for DP's or just block / evasive maneuver on pressure, Her Knock Down and oki game's brutal but if any character catch her on close quarter ... consider she's done.

Edited February 18, 2013 by excelence

[YukiBlue]

Option's Huh?

I'd like to say Dizzy, too. Her Okizeme game is absolutely nuts in the corner. You have options to cover everything your opponent can throw out there and more. She has decent normals, alright AA and good movement. As excelece said, she needs tension for a DP but meh. If you trust your blocking and don't need dat fraud DP you'll be fine.

Spacing, Oki and solid "Footsies" will make anyone a good Dizzy.

[RifleAvenger]

@Excelence and YukiBlue

Thanks for the suggestion. I never gave Dizzy a look before, but after trying her out it's a definate good fit for me. I also think I'm going to keep at learning Ky as well.

[Kujikawa]

A mate from TTT2 wanted to play some BB.

He wants to play the character with the BEST oki, lol.

Who do you guys think that is?

[Celerity]

A mate from TTT2 wanted to play some BB.

He wants to play the character with the BEST oki, lol.

Who do you guys think that is?

Litchi I would assume.

[mr.mortified]

Litchi, Carl or Rachel

[The Loli Otaku]

Litchi is who i'd say.

She'll take quite a bit of time to learn but you get a lot of respect for playing her. She also has some very good tools such as a dragon punch and rekkas.

[YukiBlue]

I'd say Carl. But for someone new I'd just say Litchi too. Not too hard to play?

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[Kujikawa]

Hmm, if it was CS2, I would say Litchi. Although Litchi does have strong oki in EX with 13Oprhans, it really would be nice to have a clsoe friend that plays Carl.

He prefers me to learn the character with him to make it easier, this will be fun lol.

[YukiBlue]

How do I into Carl?

If he's in the UK make him at Bang and convince him Command Grabs are an amazing Oki tool. The UK needs more Yolo bang players

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[Kujikawa]

Command Grabs are an amazing Oki tool.

Nope, Poland.

Need to be banned jsut for even typing this. :£