GGXRD-R2/Raven/Starter

From Dustloop Wiki

Key Moves

Normals in Neutral

While Raven has access to a powerful suite of normals, these 4 are the most important when establishing a foundation for his neutral as a beginner. Their sheer range can often exceed the reach other characters have, allowing you to establish a good control of the space in front of him. 2H is one of the longest normals in the game, reliably combos into Scratch (236S)GGXRD-R Raven GrausamImpuls.pngGuardMidStartup17Recovery31Advantage-3, and can be made rather safe on block by cancelling into Stance (214K)GGXRD-R Raven GiveItToMeHERE.pngGuard-Startup-RecoveryTotal 29Advantage-. Be careful not to whiff it though, as it has the longest whiff recovery of his normals.

Anti-Airs
While 6P is usually his "best" anti air, it only combos reliably on counter hit if the opponent is too high to connect with any other grounded normals. 5K on the other hand can jump cancel into an air combo and is great at catching jump out attempts, though will often lose out on trades since it isn't disjoint A particular type of hitbox that has no nearby associated hurtbox, enabling attacks to have certain areas that cannot be hit by an opponent's attacks in return.ed. In situations where neither 6P or 5K would reach, rising j.P is a great option, especially when the opponent is directly above you.


Pressure Normals
Raven has wide delay cancel windows on all of his normals, allowing him to create powerful frame traps with staggers, or catch jump attempts with delayed low gatlings in 2K, 2D and even 2H.
Glide Pressure
When Raven is airdashing parallel to the ground, he can use his Glide perform blockstring mixups between multiple overhead attacks, landing into a throw, or go for a quick grounded low. When ending a glide string with one hit of j.H Raven becomes very plus on block upon landing. See the strategy page for sample Glide blockstrings.


Key Specials

These four specials cover most of Raven's neutral, pressure, and okizeme situations. Ending pressure in Scratch is safe on block at all ranges while being a reliable combo ender that knocks down long enough for a safejump/glide or meaty attempt. Mixing in the command grab in pressure situations keeps the opponent on their toes since they have to jump to avoid it, where you can go for lows instead to catch their jump, or even cancel into the anti air grab as a read.

214K, AKA Stance, is also a very powerful defensive option but is a little more advanced in use. It is not integral to establishing a beginner gameplan for Raven, but you can see the move description and strategy page for more information.

Combos

Combos

Raven generally has to make small adjustments for knockdown/okizeme From Japanese "起き攻め". Attacking an opponent about to wake up after they were knocked down, usually with meaty attacks or mix-ups. quality, excitement gain, or damage.

  • Ending with Scratch midscreen gives weak oki, but has decent damage, gains excitement and has good corner carry.
  • Ending with 2D anywhere gives good oki, but no excitement gain. 2D > Scratch in the corner (at high enough excitement depending on weight) gives enough time for TK An input method to perform a special move in the air as fast as possible after you leave the ground. Short for "Tiger Knee". For Example: 2369 for a j.236 input. orb okizeme.
  • Routing into 5H or 2H > Scratch works at most ranges. On counter or crouching hit, f.S or 2S combo into 2H > Scratch from almost anywhere.
  • IAD An air dash performed from a standing position as quickly and as low to the ground as possible from a jump. Done by inputting 956 754, and depending on the game, using a dash macro right after a jump. GlideGGXRD-R Raven HomingDash.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup21Recovery9Advantage- is a strong combo starter by going over low attacks. Raven's highest damage and furthest corner carry meterless routes start here.
  • At high excitement, command grab launches the opponent to route into air combos.
    Starting combos

From Grounded Hits A typical combo structure is any starter going into both hits of c.S and then using 2H > 236S.

  • c.S > 6P > c.S > ... for dash-in punishes.
  • 2K is Raven's fastest low for mixups. Gatling into c.S if close enough. Gatling into f.S/2S > 2D otherwise, which automatically baits bursts with 2D's low profile.
  • 2P and 4PP can route into all of the above, useful for defensive mashing or maximum reliability from glide, while being safe against burst.

From Glide Hit

Glide itself is an overhead hit. Raven can generally confirm any air normal during glide into a grounded combo.

  • j.H(3) > Scratch for damage.
  • j.S > j.P > j.H land c.S for stability, or land 4P if they are pushed too far for c.S.
    • Land 2K> 2D for a closer knockdown if they are already cornered (also good as a mixup on block).
  • j.S > j.P > j.S > Glide Scratch > land > Scratch for corner carry and excitement (Must TK An input method to perform a special move in the air as fast as possible after you leave the ground. Short for "Tiger Knee". For Example: 2369 for a j.236 input. scratch instead of ground against some charactersBedman, Haehyun, Johnny, Leo, and Potemkin at Excitement Level 1).

Air Combos

Raven can route into his air combos from any of his standing normals if they hit as anti-airs as they are all jump cancellable except 6P and 5D. His ground throw also launches opponents at peak jump height.

  • j.P > j.S > j.P jump cancel j.S > j.H(2) > Scratch is a common structure for scramble air confirms.
  • j.S > Scratch is a reliable option if the opponent is too far away for j.P or j.H to reach.
  • Ending with j.D will secure a knockdown for Okizeme at most heights. Raven must be slightly above the opponent to ensure both hits land. When low enough to the ground, j.D cancelled into Air Orb gives meaty Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals. projectile oki.

Meter Usage

Spending Meter

Raven largely spends his meter on Roman Cancels as his supers are very situational in use.

  • Needle YRC > 66 will allow Raven to access a Glide string combo from nearly fullscreen as a whiff punish.
  • Any ground scratch can be RRCed for a dash up combo extension:
    • Can hit with c.S(1), 5H(1) jump cancel into an air combo.
    • Can go directly into dash anti air command grab (63214S) during the RRC float for excitement or an extension when excitement is already high.
    • Landing either command Grab and RRC combos directly into Anti Air a command grab

What to do after a knockdown

Raven's goal after knocking opponents down is to set up a mixup that then further leads into more looping Okizeme From Japanese "起き攻め". Attacking an opponent about to wake up after they were knocked down, usually with meaty attacks or mix-ups., ideally with a meaty Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals. Orb on the opponent, though the mixup is still real without one. Sometimes, the knockdowns Raven gets (especially at range) do not allow for any particular strong mixups, though he can almost always get a meaty or safejump, detailed in sections below.

Glide Cancel Mixups

Glide cancelling is how Raven performs his 50/50 mixups. While rising from a jump, airdash forward and press j.H to whiff it, cancelling the glide momentum and landing without performing a hit. (Note that the low can be thrown if performed too close, and neither option is safe against invincible reversals. Against those, safe jump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. with falling j.H or a glide cancel j.K instead.)

  • Cancel glide as early as possible to land into empty low with 2K
  • Do not cancel the glide to hit overhead with the glide itself
Orb Okizeme

Getting a meaty Hitting an opponent to cover the moment as they lose invincibility. The most common one is performing an attack early on okizeme to gain frame advantage and bait reversals. high level orb for Okizeme is an ideal situation for Raven. Generally, orbs are not meaty unless done from a good j.D height or from Scratch > TK An input method to perform a special move in the air as fast as possible after you leave the ground. Short for "Tiger Knee". For Example: 2369 for a j.236 input. orb in the corner.

  • High excitement meaty Orb > (dashingdash jump momentum is generally required unless the meaty orb is from a corner knockdown) forward jump can set up a strong mixup situation that is tough to block:
    • To go low, land 2K
    • To go high, glide right before landing
    • For an ambiguous high/low, press j.H on the descent before landing, then 2K. Early j.H will hit high, and slightly delayed j.H will whiff for a "fake" overhead animation. While this is the easiest option to execute, it's also the most vulnerable to being fuzzy guard A defensive technique where the defender changes their guard direction rapidly and precisely to cover multiple ways they can be hit such as high/low or left/right.ed against.
With lower level orbs, or from 2D, Raven can simply go for the glide cancel mixups listed in the section above.
Safeglide

Off of any grounded Scratch knockdown, Raven can perform a Safejump A very well-timed jump attack on a character who is rising from a knockdown. Your goal is to attack extremely close to when you land so that, if the character performs an invincible reversal attack, you will land and be able to block. The opponent is then forced to block your jumping attack, since reversaling doesn't work, which will give you some nice pressure and hopefully an opening. via IAD An air dash performed from a standing position as quickly and as low to the ground as possible from a jump. Done by inputting 956 754, and depending on the game, using a dash macro right after a jump. Glide j.H (AKA Safeglide) that will hit a blocking/mashing opponent but whiff against reversals and allow Raven to block. On hit or block, the last hit of j.H will link gaplessly into c.S. The goal is to hit them with only one hit of j.H and then immediately land. This can be an important tool to maintain pressure and bait the opponent into using a wake up invincible reversal To perform an attack as soon as possible after getting knocked down or leaving hitstun/blockstun., which you can then heavily punish on block.

  • The timing of the j.H varies depending on the opponent's character wakeup time and what the speed of their reversal option is. From Scratch, Raven usually has to do a very slight delay on j.H, but against characters with longer wakeup times, a lenghtier delay is necesary.

Further Learning

If you are learning Raven for the first time, consider referring to the Rev 2.1 Raven Guide. In this document, you will find beginner, intermediate, and more advanced sections that provide some insight to the character.

There is also a video guide (turn on closed captions for English subtitles) that aims to give intermediate players a solid number of techniques and skills to focus on.

In addition, the Raven Discord Server is publicly open. Please feel free to join, browse the additional information within, and ask questions. On top of that you can post your match footage and other Raven players will analyze it for feedback.