First day Ralph testing

thinkingofaname

[09] Warrior
Sorry I don't know where exactly to put this, its not just impressions but its not professional frame data either, feel free to move thing or whatever.

Got the game and played with Ralph a bit, here are my thoughts.

22B is safe, thank god. At least safe to Ralph own 6BB which is i13 (from SC4). Considering its range, I can safely say its a mid you can rely on.

6AB, the new 6A follow up, is pure garbage. Its high, high, and you can duck 2nd hit after blocking the first. Heck, Ralph can 4B under it after blocking the first hit. Using it against non-idiots like begging to say "launch me please".

22A isn't very good step killer, it will have its uses for Ralph since he is so bad at step killing, but really ... Its not very fast, gets nothing on normal hit, and only combo with super on CH, for only 75 damage. I rather use 22K instead for all except tip range. Sure its a little slower, but at least you can 60+ damage on CH without any meter, or 77 with brave edge, that's a heck alot better than spending a full meter and pray you didn't mess up the strict timing.

1K the new or should I say old roundhouse kick is lackluster as well. It tracks great, but on CH only give ~38 damage with a ground followup. Can not combo into 3B or any of his standing attacks. The lackluster part its it give nothing on normal hit, and is unsafe as heck (I consider anything punishable by Ralph 3B(i16 in SC4) stupid unsafe), which it is.

His normal prep option are garbage as well. You can step everything Ralph does in prep to the right (the side holding the sword) like you could in SC4. Yes this include the prep K which is his old B+K K, oh and by the way the K is also stupid unsafe.

His B+K evade is a joke. You must attack right after the first evade, which means a simple BB will kill it. Does not work against 2A. Unless opponent is stupid and let you B+K a launcher or something, I don't see much use for this. It can however evade some telegraphed attacks, which is good I suppose.

Now some good news. AA tracks great, unlike the retarded tracking in SC4. I was not able to step his AA (left or right) at all, and it deals a solid 20 damage on hit.

Ralph SE prep is beefed up. His SE B is advantage on block, but not by much. Ralph own BB/AA get stuffed by his 3B after block, but get beaten by his 6BB. So I assume about +2 to +3 advantage. SE A is +0 on block. Doing the same move will result in a clash. His new SE K is actually an worthy addition (for once). It tracks 100% !!!! I was stepping almost all the way to Ralph's back, and I still get tagged by it. Also its a low, so combine it with SE A and you can flip a middle finger to anyone that step G your SE prep. It is unsafe on block, but force TC and also give Ralph full TC, very few characters will be able to effectively punish it. The sad part is, the range is horrible. You must be at throw range when you SE to actually hit anybody with it, and whiffing is bad of course.

Final worthy mention is his 44B. Its like X's except without the GI option for a chance to not get launched if it didn't hit, but hey we take what we can get.

Everything else feel the same TBH. Unless Namco tweaked some specific frames then I would not know.
 
Thanks for the infos.

I didn't expect 6AB to be that bad. And Prep beeing steppable... Anyway.

I'm curious about 6B+K : has it got any special properties that make it worth using ? And 66B+K, is it as good as usual ?
 
If 6AB is that bad, then use it only as a punishing move. It's relatively fast and has Prep entry on the second hit. So just don't randomly throw it out. Prep K may be unsafe but it knocks back at tip range so that will limit punishment options for other characters. Even with the stepping problem with his Prep, 3B~Prep BB (BE), 3B~Prep AB, 4B~Prep BBB or (BE) and 4B (Prep AB) are guaranteed. Just saying. B+K is terrible I agree. So SE K, even though unsafe, will be a useful move. AA is good, but I heard some fast characters can punish it.

Ralph AA can not be punished, tested versus Taki's AA. It would be seriously retarded if a standard AA can be punished, even by PS standards. Problem with 3B preps is that you can't hit confirm it, at least I can't do it consistently in a match unless its a punish. If 3B is blocked, you are forced to prep anyways and that put you in a serious tight spot if your opponent step to the right like he should.

My last update for Ralph before moving on to other characters. His jump B is now completely safe, force TC and TC himself, can not punish with 2A. It has longer reach than his jump K and knockdown, probably should replace it completely. 3A is a solid move, basically his old Prep A, but does not give stun/combo, still its a mid and knockback. Can not punish with Ralph 6BB but can punish with Taki AA, so I assume -i11 to -i12 on block.
 
Thi is a good overview to get the SA started. Big questions, short answers. Thanks.
3A being safe is godlike and unexpected.

I have these q's, but you say you're moving on. Still, my questions are, what about 6A's quality? Is 6A still 6A? (How come no one asked that question yet?)
Does 6AB create more distance on hit than 6BB?

Can we prove 3A's frames are faster than i13? we'll know soon enough
If AA tracks, does AB track? I couldn't care less about AA on block. Especially if BB isn't minus on hit anymore.

Prep again having an auto-answer deletes a more aggressive strategy I was interested in, but we will cope.
 
Here I was thinking I was going crazy that 6BB was faster than i13.
6A tracked really well for me (when it was in range) in the training setups I was using. That or I can't step /QS for shit.

Wall setups after 3A into 2_8B+K do not yield much more damage.
 
Sadly, I'm not very impressed with Raph, yet. Feeling like SC4 weaknesses persist, just in different incarnations. Boo.
 
Here I was thinking I was going crazy that 6BB was faster than i13.
6A tracked really well for me (when it was in range) in the training setups I was using. That or I can't step /QS for shit.

Wall setups after 3A into 2_8B+K do not yield much more damage.

I tried 6A to track to that side as well, and had success with it. Solid prep entry, considering we'll likely be going back to pokes like these to kill step now that 22A > super has been removed. 4K still covers step as well.

I find myself using their sidestep to just back myself up to a better range sometimes, tbh. But he does have options. Or I'll just mash sidestep 22B myself, lol. 22B all day.
 
22B all day is my go-to at this point, as well, though I don't know if this is just sort of left-over muscle memory from Sc4 (though, I'm playing on pad now, instead of stick, so I guess more of brain memory than muscle memory).
 
if 22B is really safe then raph could be mid tier with a little effort imho >.>

Could you test delayed preps in term of speed and tracking?
I saw in a vid that they should track 100% even more than sc4 apparently (saw raph prep B 45 degrees on his left ._.).

And how is 6B in range compared to the old 6B?
 
22B - i20 Mid 20 damage -10 on block STN on CH (A+B, A / BBB / 3BB,BE) Guard break in 13

Pretty solid properties, though QS sort of screws up the follow up CH damage, and of course, the ability to hit with it in general. Still B&B I would say.

6B range seems to be about the same to me, but I've been wrong before (and haven't played sc4 since FSAK).
 
guard break in 13 .....that's bad it used to sc in 10 and considering most moves now GB in much less moves lacking the CF its a huge stepback...
But at least we have a spammable ranged move

Now i will miss just prep K

and the teleport XD i did so many interesting things with that in some matchups.
 
So far I actually like the new raph. I feel hes improved a bit from SC4. So far I like:


-prep SE for starters. If you use 3B~prep from tip range tts very hard for your opponent to reach you, but the range on A and B are both amazing. I've often seen it cleanly evade and whiff punish pyrrah's stab.

-SE B if delayed actually tracks quite well and is advantage on block/Stun on hit.
-SE A completely kills stepping and is 0 on block.
-SE K is a fairly sneaky low, but vary unsafe.
-3a near walls is a great tool imo. i14 med stuns on CH and is relativity hard to step.
-22B is...22B lol nothing I can say that hasnt been said.
-4b is as good as ever.
-11k and 33b are both 0 on hit now.
-6bb being i12

And most of all I've noticed he again has a very power soul gauge game. Most likely this wont last due to Just guard. But I thought i'd note it as a week one plus. If you break the gauge with 3B you get SeB~3b~brave edge guaranteed.
 
So far I actually like the new raph. I feel hes improved a bit from SC4. So far I like:


-prep SE for starters. If you use 3B~prep from tip range tts very hard for your opponent to reach you, but the range on A and B are both amazing. I've often seen it cleanly evade and whiff punish pyrrah's stab.

-SE B if delayed actually tracks quite well and is advantage on block/Stun on hit.
-SE A completely kills stepping and is 0 on block.
-SE K is a fairly sneaky low, but vary unsafe.
-3a near walls is a great tool imo. i14 med stuns on CH and is relativity hard to step.
-22B is...22B lol nothing I can say that hasnt been said.
-4b is as good as ever.
-11k and 33b are both 0 on hit now.
-6bb being i12

And most of all I've noticed he again has a very power soul gauge game. Most likely this wont last due to Just guard. But I thought i'd note it as a week one plus. If you break the gauge with 3B you get SeB~3b~brave edge guaranteed.
:OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ok i am sold ...
an i12 punisher for raph?
Nobody will stop me now :D maybe i will be able to use scV raph how i wanted....
 
The 1 faster frame makes that big of a difference to you? :-p

I miss having a throw (non-high-blockable) option out of prep, though.
 
The 1 faster frame makes that big of a difference to you? :-p

I miss having a throw (non-high-blockable) option out of prep, though.
yes i forgot how many times i had to eat shit from faster character even at advantage due to having an i13 as faster move..

Now at least having a tool people won t be able to spam you at +0 or -2 without you having to necessarily guess the evasion.
 
Not many characters in this game has a 12 frame chain, especially at long range with a BE attached on counter-hit.

My BIGGEST problem with the new raph is the fact that 1K only crumples on counter-hit. Namco needs to do one of three things: make it safer, make it crumple on normal hit, or give it a better stun on counter-hit. The move really fits well into the new aggressive style of SC5 and I would like to see it improved slightly.
 
Not many characters in this game has a 12 frame chain, especially at long range with a BE attached on counter-hit.

My BIGGEST problem with the new raph is the fact that 1K only crumples on counter-hit. Namco needs to do one of three things: make it safer, make it crumple on normal hit, or give it a better stun on counter-hit. The move really fits well into the new aggressive style of SC5 and I would like to see it improved slightly.

Agreed on the first point. As for the second, well, it's Raph, we're talking about : high risk/low reward, as usual. I'm curious about the combo possibilities of 1K : can we link A+B,A or the CE, for lack of better options ?
 
I mostly follow up with A+B A. I really like how 1K feels. The TC window, the speed, and the tracking are all very nice and I've been having more success with it than I originally thought I would. I just don't want to eat a BB from half the cast a week later when everybody realizes they should be punishing.
 
the good thing is that twiking those point is pretty easy if they want to..

Now my last doubt will be how good will A+B,A with the new JG system..
It could be seriously screwed up.
 
Not many characters in this game has a 12 frame chain, especially at long range with a BE attached on counter-hit.

My BIGGEST problem with the new raph is the fact that 1K only crumples on counter-hit. Namco needs to do one of three things: make it safer, make it crumple on normal hit, or give it a better stun on counter-hit. The move really fits well into the new aggressive style of SC5 and I would like to see it improved slightly.

1K has always only crumpled on CH. It was designed back in 2 to be a TC CH which used properly worked wonders and set up for A+BA quite well. Adjust its usage and you'll find the move is quite well designed.
 
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