Raphael General Discussion

you can just keep distans or watch how thay move or gard impact soon as you an opening attack with you stabie moves or kicks
 
don't underestimate his kicks (even though in most condition a kick (except 22K on CH) would land, he could have connected with a superior move)
 
OMG necro
Some findings after casuals last weekend:
:A:. Sometimes steppable to Raph's right by Sophitia. Yes, his :A: tracks nothing.
1K. Doesn't follow roll on either side of Sophitia, Cassandra, or Taki. Yes, Raphael's only oki game is mid/throw. Let them get up and force block a :B: or something. If B catches crouch hit it forces crouch. On counter hit you can pretend Raphael has Sophitia's B and go again.

7G. You know how G > Sophitia? 7G >>> G > Sophitia. That's three times better than G. Just resist the urge to reply right away - do some other positional pressure at random to make her feel like the player that's got to guess which particular way you're going to do the same damn thing.
It wasn't an uber-high-level Sophitia, I figure world-class pro would be in my face literally the whole time and 236B everything possible, but at less than this level, this is how you get frame advantage on the cheap in this MU.
She adapts and starts playing in a better zone for me, but she made the zone work for her. Still, all you have to do is guess GIs and do this instead.

1B. Less visible than 1A. Friendlier re-align at startup vs. 'micro-step'.
Microstep -> iFC B. I got this idea from a vid, I think it was WuHT playing, used it to follow roll. Spaced, it's a dead zone against every character I've seen. The reach is godlike, and it really annoys Rock (I still lost to the local Rock, use grain of salt)

For backdashing, I know players with many characters do this footsie-like thing where they run to each other then back off or side dash, inciting a whiff, but threatening to get back into their good space if the opponent doesn't act pre-emptively. If I see backdash if I am not cornering I just 99B. I've only known NM to be able to punish (33B6 or something). I don't know about Yoshi.

Questions I came away with:
WS B. I don't know why people get hit by this, because they are not pressured to do anything interruptible by it in the situations Raph can do it, but people still do. I've reduced its use, to a wall I build at random from a group when people are out and want back in.
 
his A does not track nothing its just linear to the side it LOOKS like it tracks
as for WR B who cares it they block it? its great
 
his A does not track nothing its just linear to the side it LOOKS like it tracks
Can you clarify, because it looks to me like it tracks to the right, but it doesn't. And I thought it was fact for a long time that it doesn't catch #$%@ to the left although that also looks like it should happen.

As for WR B who cares if they block it? Still handing over advantage, still have to stand there. But I was asking why do people get hit by it, and now I also ask why do people block it when, outside of my FC A range, they don't need to make contact with my weapon at all? It's like people are respecting a CH FC K that I don't ever represent. If they invited the FC K I'm sure they'd take the lead.
 
no it can clip to raph's right considering the path that the sword goes when raph does wrB. I don't like this move at ALL on NH. +2 to raph at far range means you STILL have to play defensive considering how easy it is to step right after. Then again it'll help for turtle raphs
 
You should play defensive, what other option is there? If you space correctly, your moves a have a better chance of hitting.
 
no it can clip to raph's right considering the path that the sword goes when raph does wrB. I don't like this move at ALL on NH. +2 to raph at far range means you STILL have to play defensive considering how easy it is to step right after. Then again it'll help for turtle raphs
i was talking about A tracking
 
no it can clip to raph's right considering the path that the sword goes when raph does wrB. I don't like this move at ALL on NH. +2 to raph at far range means you STILL have to play defensive considering how easy it is to step right after. Then again it'll help for turtle raphs

I love WS B. After it hits, do a next one :p and a next one...and a next one. All kidding aside, let's me real, Raph can't flow continuously with a string of attacks (not many can anyway). Dash in and do something. Advantage is still advantage. If they step afterward you get even more frames.
 
A question for Raph users: From a technical standpoint, which version of Raph is generally considered to be the best?

I know SC2 and SC3 Raph inside out, but my experience with SC4 Raph is limited, as I don't own the game. I've only ever managed to use him in the occasional tournament, and had to feel out his movepool by trial and error based on what I knew from the previous games.

Personally, I find SC3 Raph to be the most usable, but what's the general consensus?
 
Never played SC3 Raph, but I think I prefer SC2 over 4 in terms of moveset and stances. High-level play with him was pretty boring, but...

WR A+B was pretty awesome.
 
SC4 raph is the most viable imo but easily more boring then SC3 raph
SC3 raph was probably slightly better as a character but in SC3 everyone else had some sort of bullshit they could abuse so he was the worst in the game since he didnt have op BS
SC2 I hate so eh
 
SC3 Raph was much more straight forward than SC2 Raph. He only had one prep stance (formerly Prep II). Prep I was retooled to a low parry --> attack throw. The sidestep stance from Circle Envelopment became an accessible stance, and he got a couple of nice new moves. In my humble opinion he became a lot more useful as a defensive and counter-based character. A few of the moves they dropped from his list were dumped into the movelist for Amy and the create-a-soul Rapier style, which got exanded further for Amy in SC4. From what I hear, it sounds like Amy got a lot of the best moves that Raph lost.

SC4 raph is the most viable imo but easily more boring then SC3 raph
SC3 raph was probably slightly better as a character but in SC3 everyone else had some sort of bullshit they could abuse so he was the worst in the game since he didnt have op BS
SC2 I hate so eh
Still coming to grips with the terminology. op BS is what exactly?

Also, one other more annoying change they made to him in SC3 was remove his only Guard Break, so he was completely without GBs of any kind. More than a little frustrating.
 
Still coming to grips with the terminology. op BS is what exactly?

.
over powered bull shit

GBs ever since SC2 have been nothing more then aesthetic some GBs are - on block or ever unsafe on block so raph not having any isnt some grievous blow to his viability
 
SC II: I like the varied movelists (Preps, SCCs, SCGBs, Double Backdash). Too bad Step-G and G2 limits his gameplay. Based on the console version. AE version Raph lacked Prep IV 6A and WR A+B, which are very useful tools for him.
And Raph actually has damage in this game.

SC III AE:
I have forgotten about his version of Raph. What I do recall is that his Prep game is not really viable since it's easily shut down due to its limited options. Also, he's really unsafe so the only viable way to play was through pokes.

I remember In a match against a particular Zasalamel, we both ended up with 3 moves because if we tried something else, we'd just get punished hard.
Yes, Raphael and Zasalamel sharing the same movesets: BB, 1B, Throw.

SC IV:
In terms of move design, Raph is a lot more boring in this one when compared to his previous incarnations.
He has only the master combo and minimal ring out options. His 4A is nerfed so badly and his A+B.A no longer hits ground (although buffed in other ways).
His CF game is interesting though, unfortunately Namco decides to nerf by doubling everyone's Soul Gauge.
 
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