From what i gather, your criteria is essentially the same as mine, and Rachel is the best thing that has happened to me. Nothing before and nothing after rachel has ever been as good. ( I'm having doubts... that this will ever change )
The way I would summarize rachel would be (SETUP)->(MOMENTUM)->(RUSHDOWN)->(LOCKDOWN)
What i want from a character:
Moves that create persisting ( as long as possible, generally its much longer than most other things ) "objects" which are essentially traps. Ideally, i want a mix of types of traps:
1. Auto-activating/Always-on traps: the same as a land mine, something where if you are close enough its already active and hitting you (naoto mines)
These the opponent have to worry about 100% of the time as a threat that will for sure be there and activate. They absolutely have to completely avoid them or disarm them.
2. Remote detonation traps: Things that are placed, and then "trigger" on demand. Ideally these last forever.
These are important because, they may trigger, or they may not, and its up to you. The opponent can't "force" these to trigger by being near them (or whatever trigger condition). (mind games)
The value of the trap is determined by:
1. Damage potential/advantage gain potential
2. How easy/safe it is to avoid/disarm
3. How easy it is to control/use ( on demand traps that involve a really slow and unsafe activation are lame )
4. How much time-space it controls (duration, activation duration, movement+hitbox, number of traps allowed)
5. Through the combination of the above, how much threat respect the trap is capable of earning ( traps that lack clout and are easily disrespected are garbage )
I don't want to just run around zoning the opponent with traps endlessly, fighting to keep an eternal keep away game going. I want traps as a way to build advantage, and swing the momentum of the fight to be heavily in my favor, which i would use to rush in and pressure the opponent hard. Ideally i want to "bring my traps with me" and shift from traps being a "defensive/momentum" tool to create space into a set of "offensive/pressure/lockdown" tools to lock the opponent down in the corner with (this is figuratively, if i can easily place new traps in the corner to create the same effect, its just as good).
Compared to other characters that approximately adhere to this classification ( i haven't played MK, but Naoto and Testament are exactly who i think of ) Rachel probably starts rounds with the biggest disadvantage ( the only character i can think of who has a more disadvantageous start is Arakune ). She has almost all short range normals, that are often slow and unsafe. Her long range attacks are extremely low priority ( lobelias lose to almost ranged move in the game ... ), slow startup, slow recovery, generally unsafe. But the advantage she builds up from pulling out anything is so substantial that it can completely overturn this.
Rods:
Permanent duration until use, up to 3, remote activated, infinite vertical, hit can usually lead to a large chunk of damage.
Frog:
Extended duration, can tank some hits (difficult to disarm), automatically activated, fairly large hitbox on activation, autonomously moves towards opponent, extremely bad to block it (high clout)
Can be moved extremely fast by using wind
Pumpkin:
Medium duration, nearly instant activation that is completely independent of what Rachel is doing, extremely high speed of movement across a huge range, controllable in 8 directions (multiple times)
Initially, it will seem like Rachel has less coverage with her traps. But the reason why im stuck on Rachel, and unsatisfied with anything else, is because of wind. Wind allows you to control rod placement, rapidly move frog up, and to instantly attack with pumpkin. Considering how fast pumpkin activates, how far it goes, and how long it keeps people in hit stun, and how fast rachel can move with the boost from wind ( practically teleportation when done with air dashes ), her real coverage with pumpkin is absolutely gigantic. Once pumpkin is on screen, theres very few ways to be safe from it or to avoid it, and you never have to actually spend the wind to activate it because it does it's job just by being out ( thanks to insane speed of activation + travel ).
Frog is amazing because, its very hard to disarm it ( it takes multiple hits from faster attacks or a single slow attack ), and attempting it will get you CH'd by pumpkin. Blocking it will get you locked down by frog, which is arguably just as good/better than hitting with it. Even if you avoid the frog and get past it, it can be pushed up instantly with wind ( you can do this to get out of enemy pressure if george is out ).
Once cornered by Rachel, things get horribly ugly for the opponent. Thanks to frog and pumpkin she has the luxury of being almost completely safe from almost all bursts and reversals. Rods switch from being threatening traps to tools to continue pressure/frame trap/extra damage in combos. Wind can now be spent on doing extended pressure and crazy mixups ( instant overheads ).
If you have your traps out, as long as she has wind to spare, she's absolutely ridiculous in offense. If you don't have the wind, the traps do a good job of buying you time to regain. If you have nothing out, and no wind....
