So many choices to main!

[YukiBlue]

It's because she doesn't have easy big damage combos.

Kappa.

?

[The Loli Otaku]

Neither does Rachel but she's still popular as the underdog.

Let's get back on topic here. To what sort of player would we reccomend Tao to?

[Celerity]

Neither does Rachel but she's still popular as the underdog.

Let's get back on topic here. To what sort of player would we reccomend Tao to?

Rachel is an underdog?

I would recommend Tao to anybody who doesn't mind putting a lot of work into their character, and sticking to that character for a long period of time. More specifically, I'd say she has a very active playstyle which would appeal to somebody who likes flying around the screen, pressing a lot of buttons (with purpose), and being tricky. I actually think she's fine for a beginner if you're dedicated, you learn a lot about matchup specifics playing as her.

[YukiBlue]

I'd recommend Tao to anyone dedicated to the game. Tao does nothing but reward you for your efforts, plus you'll pretty much never run out of things to learn.

[The Loli Otaku]

Anyone got another character to talk about?

[InWithTheAshes]

Eh. Carl? Mu? Plat? Ara? I think those are the only ones who haven't been mentioned yet.

When did this start becoming off topic.

[The Loli Otaku]

Eh. Carl? Mu? Plat? Ara? I think those are the only ones who haven't been mentioned yet. When did this start becoming off topic.

Well we're giving a little run down of each character aren't we? Most people don't have time to learn every character in the game to find out which one suits them. I spent months playing Bang before I picked up Lambda (don't ask) and i've never looked back.

[Fistmaster049]

I could give a rundown of every character in the cast but then not only would I be typing/ranting for about a hour but then I may start flame wars with my opinions (especially ones coming from a Ragna player)

...then again I am pretty bored so an argument could be pretty hype lol

[The Loli Otaku]

Let's just keep our heads on and focus. That way we can all come to a fair conclusion on each character.

So i'll ask again, who do you want to talk about?

[Fistmaster049]

Let's just keep our heads on and focus. That way we can all come to a fair conclusion on each character.

So i'll ask again, who do you want to talk about?

Could talk about Ragna but then again everyone and their grandmother knows how he works by now

so lets try...Plat

[The Loli Otaku]

Platinum, thats a good start. Have we got any Magical Girl players in this thread?

[Fistmaster049]

Platinum, thats a good start. Have we got any Magical Girl players in this thread?

I sub her a little, to be fair I haven't paid much attention to her in Extend but I did play her a good bit in CS2, back then she was my best sub

[The Loli Otaku]

In that case the stage is yours.

Give us a primer to work on until Cirno or someone from the Platinum thread can come and give us some deeper insight.

[InWithTheAshes]

In that case the stage is yours.

Give us a primer to work on until Cirno or someone from the Platinum thread can come and give us some deeper insight.

Well, while I'm not entirely sure of the extent of Fist's Platinum knowledge, I personally main her, so I may be able to help within this.

I may talk of it later tonight, I have some jobs as of now.

[Fistmaster049]

In that case the stage is yours.

Give us a primer to work on until Cirno or someone from the Platinum thread can come and give us some deeper insight.

Cirno scares me, he uses big words ....no really he loves using big words as in Massive

anyway, from what I remember

Plat is mostly a pretty rushdowny character but can be all rounder, decent projectiles (bombs and missiles) a good reversal (Bat) and ok pokes

other important things

5C = one of her best punish tools and great way to start combos

Heart car(236B) = midscreen combo ender and good for continuing combos in the corner

Bubble (214A, B or C) = all three versions have their uses and bubble oki can be a useful tool

swallow moon (j.236C) = lol, can be used for mixups if used correctly

I covered the bare bones here but mostly because I didn't play Plat for all that long, still to my knowledge this info still holds up, I dunno

just something to get it started

Edit: Thank you ashes, you can take it from here

[InWithTheAshes]

Edit: Thank you ashes, you can take it from here

Alrighty.

Essentially, Plat is what I would like to call "augmented rushdown": As within, she is primarily a rushdown Character, but has a noticeable amount of tools that generally don't apply towards rushdown playstyles. A short overview:

Strengths:

* Most versatile Character within the game due towards items, although, with how, exactly, her drive works, she doesn't have all of her options available at any particular time.

* Significantly above average corner damage with items (Pan, for instance, can deal 4.5K with 54 meter from 5B, a lot of items can go over 5K with large meter gain from 5C.), and excellent pressure within the same location.

* Third best meter gain behind Haz and Valk.

* Above average mixup, with items (Particularly the glorious instant overhead that is air pan, and hammer crossups.), T.K. swallow, command throw (Even if it sucks.), and just basic lows.

* Some oki potential, with bubbles, 5Bmeaty, bombs, missiles and swallow.

* Long range on a lot of her normal (J.C, 5B, 2B, ect.).

* Perhaps the best CA in the game.

* Both of her anti airs are better than most.

* Second best corner carry in the game aside from Valk.

Weaknesses:

* Has almost no defensive options (Burst (Obviously limited/ baitable.), CDT (Meter.) CA (Also meter.) Bat (Not always equipped, has almost no vertical range.).

* Worst command throw in the game (Easy to see and, there - fore, react towards, not allowed to follow up aside from bubble setup, which makes it even more obvious, only really redeemed by it's item replenishment.)

* Below average H.P. (10500).

* A lot of her pressure, while, as previously afore - mentioned, is effective, can easily be disrespected, thus meaning a reliance on conditioning.

* Slow pokes, at least when compared towards the others (5B and 2B, for instance, are her main pokes and come out within eleven and ten frames respectively, whereas a lot of others, such as Ragna or Relius, make theirs active at 8 or so.).

* Almost as momentum based as Ragna, meaning that, often, once stripped of said advantage, it is much easier to take a round from her.

* Her matchups are all noticeably dependent upon her current item.

Basically, Plat's gameplan is essentially the same as most other rushdown Characters: Get in and stay in. Use your items and other tricks (T.K. swallow, 5A/ 2A staggers.) to pressure the opponent at neutral, and space them with J.C, 5B and 2B. Once you get momentum, and have them within the corner, Plat really does start to shine (Arguably best corner game other than Valk.). People fear corner Plat. She has instant overheads, tick throws, meaties, anti airs, oki tools, and generally everything required to keep your opponent restricted to the field edge until they finally eat some - thing, upon which you're probably getting at least 3K, generally averages out at 4K. On defense, the best advice, really, is to be patient. Use the bat well if you have it (Or use CA with meter, just be careful that it doesn't get baited.), and other - wise just block until there's a gap. Being on defense with Plat can be a long process, but if you just stand your ground you'll probably find your - self winning more.

[YukiBlue]

For the sake of boredom and desperation. I'm gonna give the lowdown on Bang.

-

Bang is essentially a calculated rushdown character with the capacity to look Yolo as fuck. He thrives on his impressive pressure and mixup game. He does above average damage and builds average heat. I'd recommend Bang for anyone that likes to have numerous tools to compliment their rushdown game.

Pro's:

+ Strong Mixups, Access to quick highs and lows, plus a crossup that leads to stronk damage.

+ Nails. You can cover the ground, set air traps, combo with web nails or poison someone at the end of a combo

+ Bumpers. Whilst a gimmick, Bumpers can seriously supplement your mixups if used correctly.

+ Autoguard teleports. Make a good read? Get rewarded with big damage and the ability to teleport to safety (Or punish shit Spark bolts)

+ Great amount of health

+ Fairly easy execution to begin with. Basic reliable BnB's aren't difficult. Very easy to pick up.

+ Based command grab for 2K damage.

+ Very good distortion moves.

+ FRKZ is the most broken install in the game. Makes Bang essentially unblockable and the damage is off the charts.

Con's:

- Normals are nothing to shout about in the slightest

- No strong Anti Air

- No "Gtfo" Move without 50 Heat.

- Just to emphasise. His defence is shocking. You need to stay #Yolo420BlazeitATTACK

-

Bang is just a solid choice. You have a lot of tools to work with all whilst keeping a degree of simplicity. I'd recommend him to anyone, in honesty. He's fun, deep and manly as hell.

5B is pretty much the "Go to" Button as it functions as his best "Anti Air" and his best Poke / combo starter. Control the air with j.B and punish silly shit with 2B / 6C (6C CH Combos are mad damaging). Reset pressure with TK D Nails blah blah. Bang forums have a beastly write up.

[The Loli Otaku]

Now this is what i'm talking about!

[Fistmaster049]

good stuff guys :D

liking the idea of a pros and cons thing

Edit: I'm bored so I might as well give my two cents about a character I do know how to play, Ragna the bloodedge

Ragna is easily one of the most straightforward characters in the cast, pure rushdown, while his mixups aren't great as you may know his damage is pretty damn good, he has a solid DP and decent footsies, I can recommend Ragna for players who like the pure thrill of rushdown and can be a very crafty character in the right hands.

Pros

+Good footsies that can be hit confirmed easily

+Solid damage off of BnBs

+The C version of Inferno Divider is one of the best DPs in the game

+Combos are straightforward making him pretty easy to pick up

+Ok anti-airs

+Blood Kain can be used to increase combo damage potential even further

Cons

-Poor meterless damage at full footsies range

-90% of his whole movelist is unsafe

-Poor mixup, you need to get creative

-Neither of his two overheads are that dependable without meter

-Hates zoners and has bad matchups against most of the cast

-Knowing when you will get away with a DP being his only defensive option

All in all Ragna is a pretty decent character, he is one of those characters that is really easy to pick up but does take some effort to master especially since he has quite a few bad matchups.

While his DP is amazing don't let it go to your head, his DP can be predicted pretty easily so pick your times wisely and try not to get zoned out, bit of effort though and you will see just how good Ragna can be

[YukiBlue]

I lost it at Ragna having bad matchups. Include monstrous damage potential and beastly normals to that list bro!

Tomorrow I'll cover some more characters. Specifically Mu.

[Airk]

-Knowing when you will get away with a DP being his only defence

Not to nitpick but WTF is this? What defensive options do you WANT? You have the best DP in the game, as well as all the usual tools like counter assaults. Who has better "defensive options" than Ragna? Really? P.S. I will laugh if you say "Hakumen".

[Fistmaster049]

I lost it at Ragna having bad matchups. Include monstrous damage potential and beastly normals to that list bro!

Ragna has few matchups where he has the advantage in, plenty of 5-5s and a few where he is just beaten, can't argue with facts

I think I covered damage

and a lot of his normals while having some good pokes, most of them are pretty damn unsafe, especially on instant block

[Fistmaster049]

Not to nitpick but WTF is this? What defensive options do you WANT? You have the best DP in the game, as well as all the usual tools like counter assaults. Who has better "defensive options" than Ragna? Really? P.S. I will laugh if you say "Hakumen".

to be fair I stole that one from the wiki and Litchi has better defensive options (just to answer your question)

[bakahyl]

to be fair I stole that one from the wiki and Litchi has better defensive options (just to answer your question)

How are her defensive options better than ragna?

She lacks a true anti-air in extend (she gets one in CP though)

Litchi's dp is less safe, because it's a projectile (like Tager has options against it, Mu's habaya seem to cancel eachother out at the right distance because both projectiles refreshes etc.) , it cannot be rapid cancelled and it cannot be used in the air.

Her itsuu is not truely a reversal, as it can be thrown and it's vulnerable to low attacks. (edit and i sometimes won against her itsuu folowup by using a long chain of attacks, just like it sometimes works against Bang's guard point attacks)

Her backdash is pretty good though.

[Airk]

Ragna has few matchups where he has the advantage in, plenty of 5-5s and a few where he is just beaten, can't argue with facts

I think the issue people are taking is that it's not a 5-5 if Ragna does 50 more damage off the same hits as his opponent. Seriously. Few characters in Extend can match his damage output off random hits. Also, please stop trying to use "can't argue with facts" in any discussion relating to matchups, because there really are no 'facts' in there, only a huge variety of opinions.

Litchi's options are nowhere near as good as Ragna's; Her DP is even only available to her if she's carrying her staff, and itsuu guardpoint doesn't even start until frame 7.

Lastly, I feel some of your other assessments regarding Ragna's normals are faulty, but I don't think this is the place for the discussion.