BBCF/Rachel Alucard/Strategy

From Dustloop Wiki
 Rachel Alucard



General Tactics

For more information on Rachel, check the Rachel Guide by Rachel's Husband

Rachel is, in simplest terms, a zoner with extremely high mobility limited by a meter. She has an average health at 11,000 and an excellent backdash. Ideally, Rachel will want to stay away from the opponent until she has set up and can safely pursue her foe.

Rachel's general strategy is extremely bipolar and very abrupt. Rachel has two distinct playstyles: passive zoning and hyper-aggressive rushdown. Many people know Rachel for her ability to handily keep an opponent at bay with Lobelias, George, and her good normals, but Rachel's offense is much more than throwing a handful of projectiles and staying at fullscreen at all times. Being able to identify when it's appropriate to switch from zoning to rushdown is key in playing Rachel optimally. It's important to note that Rachel relies HEAVILY on her Drive for both of these styles, so managing your wind is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to playing Rachel.

Drive

Rachel's Sylpheed Gauge.

Rachel's Drive is a rather unique one. Instead of providing Rachel with an additional attack, Rachel summons wind in one of 8 directions, depending on which direction is held when D is pressed. The wind does exactly what you would expect it to do: push things around, most notably Rachel herself. Rachel gets her movement, among other things, from her drive, allowing her to escape, approach, and much more. An important thing to note about Rachel's Drive is that it can be used alongside other attacks of hers, allowing her to move and attack at the same time. Rachel's Drive can be used in eight directions, with 5D and 6D being identical to one another. It can be used to blow around herself, lobelias, George, herself, and even manipulate her opponent a bit, although this effect is most noticable mid-combo. Play around with throwing projectiles with it or moving Rachel with it. It takes time to get used to, but once you do you'll be flying around the stage. All this power does not come for free, however, as Rachel can only use her Drive four times before it is fully depleted. The gauge for her Drive is directly above her Heat gauge, denoted by a little rose to the left of it (as seen above). This gauge actively fills, with the first two used filling faster than the last two used and all four filling significantly faster while she is grounded than when she is in the air. Once the gauge is empty, Rachel cannot use her Drive until at least one bar has filled up.

Zoning

Rachel's zoning playstyle is fairly straightforward: watch what your opponent is doing and toss Lobelias accordingly. Manipulating Lobelias can be a powerful tool, giving Rachel the ability to manipulate the path Lobelias travel on mid-flight. This can be done on reaction after a Lobelia is thrown. For example, if an opponent is running straight at Rachel and sees her use 236A and jump in response, Rachel can respond with 8D, forcing the opponent to block the now-airborne Lobelia. There are dozens of ways you can use wind with Lobelias, the most prominent of which being 236A8D and 236A6D, the former of which providing Rachel with a way to stop jump-ins at a range and the latter giving her a powerful horizontal projectile. Wind is not required to use Lobelias, however. The arcs in which Lobelias are thrown are quite powerful as is, especially when combined with Rachel's other primary zoning tool: Lotus.

Lotus

Many new players see George and identify him as Rachel's main threat, but experienced players fear her much more powerful neutral tool: Lotus. When used while a rod is deployed or a Lobelia is mid-flight, the current location of the bat on top of the rod or Lobelia will spawn a bat, causing the rods and Lobelias to fade away. These bats last for a very short period of time, but have an active hitbox as they slowly home in on the opponent. On hit or block, these bats will stick to the opponent, acting like mobile Lobelia rods, being able to be detonated at any time. While the ability to punish the opponent for breathing in your general direction is already powerful, these bats have a secondary, lesser known effect. While Lotus is stuck to the opponent, Rachel's 5D now homes in on the opponent and has its strength increased DRASTICALLY. This allows her zoning to become significantly more scary, as 236A5D now sends a Lobelia directly at the opponent at a ludicrous speed. It also sends George right to their feet, allowing for easy approaches when combined with Lobelias. Lotus also augments Rachel's rushdown capabilities, allowing Rachel herself to quickly travel to her opponent's location, especially while she's in the air.

George

When placed, George slowly walks towards the opponent. When he's within range, he will deploy, shocking the opponent. However, if that shock whiffs, George's hits happen extremely quickly, meaning delay tech on wakeup handily beats him. In neutral, George still has some use in some matchups since he is able to block projectiles which can force certain characters to play around him, but should be used sparingly, as his long startup allows faster characters to approach Rachel more easily. Against slow characters like Tager and Bullet, he's rather useful, as they don't pose much threat to Rachel from fullscreen. Against Tager specifically, TK George can be used to bait Sparkbolt. Against Azrael, however, you'll likely just give him a bunch of fireballs, which is something you don't want.

Rushdown

Rachel's rushdown side is much more straightforward, so this section will also encompass how to transition from zoning to rushdown. Rachel's close range game is just as scary as her zoning, scarier than her zoning if she's pressing the advantage. Her 50/50 off of 5B is the scariest thing about her up close. While the overhead reward is only ok, getting a confirm off of the low allows her to get a huge amount of damage, especially in the corner. Condition your opponent to block high before hitting them low, blowing them out of the water.

Blockstring Theory

Rachel's blockstrings are thankfully quite free form. She can keep the opponent blocking for as long as she has wind, allowing her to perform her ioh and remain in quite handily, even on Barrier. Paying attention to how your opponent is IBing or using barrier is critical to remaining a constant threat to your opponent. Ideally, Rachel doesn't want to keep her opponent blocking for long, as her pressure contains a number of opportunities to throw unreactable mixup your opponent's way. Before we get started, 6C5D IS NOT A GOOD PRESSURE STRING, PLEASE DO NOT USE IT. A lot of new Rachel players glance through her framedata and see that 6C is Rachel's only _ on block move and automatically assume it's a pressure tool. Unfortunately, 6C is only plus if wind is used, meaning you're expending a resource that you could have used on a much more valuable mixup or escape option. Rachel lives and dies by her wind, so using it on only the most effective tools is absolutely crucial to playing her properly.

Basic Strings

Rachel's basic blockstrings are usually initiated by landing 5B on block in neutral. From 5B, Rachel has two very important options: 2B or jc(9) j.2DA. j.2DA is Rachel's infamous instant overhead, tied for fastest overhead in the game at 13 frames. The damage off of Rachel's instant overhead isn't very high, roughly 1.6k midscreen, but the corner carry it provides is absolutely invaluable for Rachel, who wants to push you to the corner and smother you there. However, it serves an additional purpose: scaring opponents into blocking high so you can hit them with 2B. 2B nets similar corner carry to Rachel's ioh, but gives her MUCH more damage, especially in the corner. Hitting the opponent with 2B near the corner with at 50 meter ensures they're taking at least 4.5k, more if Rachel has more meter and/or OD.

In addition to Rachel's 50/50, she has a lesser known, second 50/50 off of her instant overhead. If the opponent blocks your j.2DA, you can do j.2DAA djc(9) j.A. This is a fuzzy overhead, the reward from which is even less than Rachel's ioh at roughly 1k and only a 3C knockdown midscreen. While it's not the best starter, it can be crucial in closing out a round or tacking on additional damage, giving the opponent yet another thing to worry about in Rachel's already terrifying arsenal.

Pressure Resets

Rachel has two main ways to reset pressure: TK Iris and max range 6B 236A, the latter of which is quite risky, especially against a character like Azrael or Hakumen, who can deal with slow projectiles rather easily.

TK Iris is roughly +16 off of 5B, giving Rachel plenty of time to dash up to her opponent to continue her blockstring. It only works if you have a rod or bat on your opponent of course, but those situations are much more common than you may think, especially in the corner with proper oki. This is most commonly performed by doing 2147C, but if you're fast enough, you can use 9214C during the blockstun from whatever jump cancelable move you're using. Some people (including the writer!) use 9214C in combos while using 2147C in pressure. 2147C has a very small gap and is difficult to punish since it's quite fast, leading to many counterhit Iris confirms when this reset is used. This reset also blows mashers out of the water, as counterhit Iris is one of Rachel's best starters.

6B 236A is much easier for Rachel to perform. While 236A is punishable point blank, when spaced properly, it becomes +, allowing Rachel to continue her blockstring. Execution is rather straightforward, but setting up into max range 6B can be rather tough. On regular block, Rachel can do 5B 6B 236A and it will work, but you must be more astute if your opponent is using a mix of barrier, IB, and IB barrier. Some character specific options blow this reset up, such as Azrael's Growler or Hakumen's ability to cut projectiles. The gap is also MUCH larger than TK Iris, allowing opponents to easily backdash on reaction. The hitbox for the lobelia comes out rather quickly, however, so comboing off of a careless or mashing opponent is definitely possible.

Safe Pressure Enders

Okizeme

Tips and Tricks

Fighting Rachel

External References

Navigation

 Rachel Alucard


System Pages
Mechanics
Application & Advanced Information
Archived Information