Discotheque

If she just did more damage overall in her bnbs (like 2.5k/3k damage), she would actually be a good character. No matter what you do, its almost impossible to break 4k damage with Rachel.

I'll just say this. No where bad as Tager in CT and his match-ups (some match-up come close). So there.

Hey guys, I lost to a Rachel player. Because I just switched from Hazama to Hakumen. And then I beat him just because I did more damage lololol ;_;

If you think you're opponent is going to rush you, B from stance is usually a better option with much higher rewards. Jabaki is slight disadvantage on block without too much reward even with a counterhit (though it positions you nicely afterwards). If you need to poke, jump back->j3D(a).

Indeed. Command-throw->any BnB that gets you the most meter. Or well, DD if they'll die from it.

Canceling stance puts you at a serious disadvantage. Really, the only time you SHOULD cancel is if you know you'll get screwed trying to do stuff after 3C (aka you used Ressenga too much and they'll predict it or you're too far for Zaneiga to hit) or you were anticipating something and you wanted to Gashokyaku their ass but they ended up not doing it. His command throw is op, his meter gain is op, Jayoku is close to OP, his j3D/jD is really fucking good. Just don't jump into rape. His game is making them jump into your rape (swat them down with 6D/jD and get in their face) or you j3D and rush when you see the opportunity.

236D shouldn't be used almost at all. Hazama can't do jack mid-range.

The drive locks if you allow the chain to "extend" pretty much to its farthest point. If the drive hits really close to the target or midway, the chain will not "lock" and will send you flying past the guy if you close in via D. The drive will also lock if its a CH. So it's incredibly important to hitconfirm his drives. Like 6D(hitconfirm and cancel with A)->Jakou is really important to learn against certain match-ups. I still can't get the mizuchi DD link after long combos, so I'm pretty much settled on using my meter for Jayoku and occasional CAs.

Rachel Litchi match-up is so terrabad it's depressing.

No, the D "locks" depending on distance/whether it was a CH or not. There is absolutely no reason to rush the D->a/b/c/ input unless you want to do a super fast jb off a D. But since Hazama has a lot of match-up where characters with good 5A anti-air (Bang/Hakumen/others), his a/b/c/ follow-up can be easily be shot-down. His drive is better used to harass and hope for a CH. I'm playing this 1-2 times a week maining Hazama. Anything you want me to check? Btw, his Jayoku DD is amazing.

Sorry for the double post, but I have an idea that can make Rachel's mix-up kinda fair and interesting Have 6C jump cancellable to jB and jC Of course the 6C needs property changes so a opponent cannot push Rachel out of jB range with FB but it creates couple of scenarios. I use 6C, opponent can 1)block high, anticipate jB overhead 2)block high, anticipate jC overhead 3)block low, anticipate jC overhead for scenario 1, since it is one of the safest option for Rachel, if the opponent blocks jb correctly, then both players are about neutral. for scenario 2, since its a riskier option for Rachel, it gives her more +frames on block and gives her an opportunity to continue her mix-up game (4B/2B/3C/maybe a wind 6C). Maybe jC can even take off a guard primer if you think the reward factor isn't high enough. for scenario 3, the opponent is taking a risk because he is guessing that the Rachel player is going to jC, and he is going to make the jC whiff via crouch position and is going to punish it with a combo scenario 4 comes if the opponent makes a mistake and the Rachel player uses jB instead of jC while the opponent is crouching. The opponent will eat a bnb 5B->CDC because of the increase stun from the crouch state. Really just brainstorming at 2AM so when I wake up and reflect on this it might sound retarded but heh.

It would be nice if a blocked j2c can cancel only to something like 3C so as long as they guess right, all they have to do is block the 3C and Rachel is forced to reposition/poke/try to continue pressure with pumpkin. The problem in CT was that she could CONTINUE mix-ups for the duration that she has wind because of 5B being jump cancellable. What arksys is doing is kinda making it special cancellable (I think its cancellable to lobelia and stuff I believe), but it just ends up getting Rachel eat a full combo anyways because all of her specials are slow as fuck. EDIT: Come on, look at Bang's nail DD in CT. That DD was almost unusable but Bang wasn't necessary a joke character just because of some one move. If tempest added like 1k damage to your combo, doing like 3.4k-4k damage, then its completely viable to use it. As I said before, it would be nice to give a player an option to sacrifice damage for forced knockdown+oki with BBL or go for max-damage/kill with tempest by adding much more damage.

I know you're being sarcastic and all, but really, just because she might be low/mid tier at a LOKETEST does not guarantee that she'll be unplayable when it comes out on arcades. And you never know, she might be one of those characters that are still viable in team tourneys because all of her match-ups are like in her favor or against her, that might make the match-up dynamic more fun than in CT where one of her only true bad match-up was against Nu. Or we can discover some broken shit again. EDIT: I want the new DD to do a lot more damage. Kinda like use BBL if you want oki and use tempest if you want to do max-damage. Tempest looks unusable atm.

Um, we don't know? Most likely yes.

BBL was OP, so the damage nerf sounds good, not to mention you can now combo a air BBL in some of the aerials so its fair. The balance seems a bit more fair now. Problem is that everyone is going to block low instead of high now.

Vids up on Nico (dunno if they're new, if not then sorry) http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8433662 (Noel vs. Litchi) http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8433594 (Jin vs. Hakumen) http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8433230 (Noel vs. Hamaza) Badass combo by Hazama in the third vid.

I like how they're approaching his playstyle though. Like, get gauge and forcefully break his guard rather than jump around and poke with 5B/jC/6A It's a pretty fresh way to approach a character that is supposed to be offensive. Whether it works as intended is not sure yet, but it feels promising.

Really guys. The only thing we don't want is to have Rachel use wind solely for zoning, because then she'll be a BORING character to use. At this moment, that's my biggest gripe about these "nerfs" because it makes her game too linear. As long as she is still fun to play and somewhat viable in competitive play, then I'm all up for it.

5B->j3CD was getting old anyways. Time to practice 5B->j3DA->jB mix-ups. After playing as Rachel for like forever and playing against friends, its obvious that Rachel is OP. For many small reasons that kro_ covered. Frog not dying in one hit? Retarded. Should be like Diz fish. 6A safe on whiff? Retarded. Every mix-ups lead to oki/corner pressure? Retarded. But I really, really wish they keep the pressure portion of her game with pumpkin. Probably the most fun and unique thing about Rachel IS her wind mechanic, and to have Arksys replace it as a mechanic solely used as zoning tool is really lame.

Considering Dora told the guys that Bang was too op and people were definitely telling how certain characters were too good/bad, I think only a few of these nerfs are going to be implemented for Rachel. I guess Arksys guys were trying out ALL the possible nerfs Rachel could get so they can decide how much is too much. Just my guess.

I wonder if anyone tested out -6C properties because lol everything else seems to have been nerfed -ja/jb/2B-3C speed and/or range -BBL in general (damage/forced knockdown/less or more hits)

I guess you have to do j(3D)->ja->jb->jC (maybe?)-land->5A/5B->combo now. Harder than before.

I will most likely be at CTF on Sat.

No. D for Sylpheed(her drive) in between her C's

Well, you're new so... Just watched like the first few seconds, but you really HAVE to maximize damage from counterhit 6B. You won't have the opportunity to hit people with 6B at higher levels, so you never won't to drop a combo when the chance comes. Other thing is wasting wind. Latter being much more vital.