Raphael String Defense Discussion

Heaton

Heaton

A Soul in the Purgatory
Strings in fighting games are quite interesting in that they usually fall on one end of either spectrum. Either they're so insanely powerful that you can create a powerful mix-up using only one particular string, or they're so weak that you can easily punish it on reaction for huge amounts of damage.

In either case, a lack of character knowledge can make even the weakest string resemble Kilik's Asura Dance. The guide serves both as a way to combat character ignorance both in myself and others, and also as an encyclopedia of this knowledge, ready at a moment's notice. I hope you all will find my work beneficial to your game, both as Raphael users and players in general.

The guide itself can be found here.

TO DO LIST​
  1. Introduction
  2. Move Analysis - Evasion - Crouching
  3. Move Analysis - Evasion - Stepping
  4. Move Analysis - Evasion - Jumping
  5. Move Analysis - Evasion - Special
  6. Move Analysis - Impact
  7. α Patroklos
  8. Aeon
  9. Algol
  10. Astaroth
  11. Cervantes
  12. Dampierre
  13. Devil Jin
  14. Ezio Auditore
  15. Hilde
  16. Ivy
  17. Leixia
  18. Maxi
  19. Mitsurugi
  20. Natsu
  21. Nightmare
  22. Patroklos
  23. Pyrrha
  24. Pyrrha Ω
  25. Raphael
  26. Siegfried
  27. Tira
  28. Viola
  29. Voldo
  30. Xiba
  31. Yoshimitsu
  32. Z.W.E.I.
 
I know for Xiba.....

6AK, the second hit can be evaded and connect with 4A (i think applies to his BE as well)... however doesn't work against his 6BK

-LAU
 
Reformatted the guide last night to include sections on Move Analysis. These will be dedicated to giving understanding as to what situations a particular move excels at, and why it may be a better option over other similar moves in certain situations.

Finished sections for α Patroklos and Aeon.
 
Finished sections for Astaroth, Cervantes, Ivy, and Mitsurugi.

Finished skeletons for everyone except Leixia, Maxi, Tira, Viola, and Z.W.E.I.
 
You are an amazing part of the community for doing this! Thanks a lot, keep up the (well appreciated) work!

On topic:
Patsuka -

2362BA / 22BA (I think) - Just guarding the first hit makes a 4A+B auto-GI possible for the second hit. Very easy to do.

:A:::G:::B: - Easy to see coming, and thus a B+K auto-evade is very reactable.
 
Introduction:

The posts of this thread outline every manner of defense against the specific attack strings of every character in the game. (Or it will, when it is made complete.) The objective , of course, is to respond efficiently and without errors to scenarios in which the opponent has forfeited almost all of his or her choice, by beginning the string.

Please don't post here; leave the guide to Heaton. Instead, <link back to this discussion thread>

"Move Analysis" posts are reference lists of those inputs of our character, Raphael, which activate a specific defensive property of each category - Guard, Impact, Crouch, etc. The string defense posts refer to these certain defensive properties, for which any move with that property may be selected.

Matchup posts indicate every string of the character, and the attack levels of that string. It is assumed that the string has been identified by the player for the string that it is, either by reaction or anticipation, but the first hit has made contact (hit or block). Each string is annotated with some detail, to tell at what points that string is interruptible/evadable, and the defense required. Some, but not all, of the annotations have tips for distinguishing similar strings; otherwise, anticipation or reaction must be used.


****
It has sort of a business memo feel. Is this helpful to CP to the introduction post in the guide, Heaton? Something to explain what we're looking at - or something to make this technobabble look approachable to someone browsing. If I actually don't get it ... I guess that's embarrassing. Anyway, maybe only some of this is 'introduction' the rest is a summary or something.

You may freely riff on the text here until it looks like what you find to actually describe the guide. I suggest putting a second reminder, like that one (I am terrible at picking the right colour). I know I might forget that sort of thing in the middle of reading an intro.

edit: whoop, the thread's locked isn't it. Well that takes care of that.
 
Ok, since the removal of GI and AE's and the addition of guard break, Raph's game is hindered by system mechanics as he was usually a defensive character. So can you all help me compile a list of opponent strings that are,

a. Common.
b. Heavy on guard meter.
c. Places where using an aGI isn't likely to cost you 85% of your health.

I figured this may merit its own thread so we can discuss specific uses for 4A+B, 8A+B, and B+K. You can discuss Prep 4 if you'd like but that's not what I'm really going for. Basically help me help you to know how to shut the annoying shit down.

Thanks guys!
 
Damn, I can't believe I overlooked the string defense guide....... I'm sucha dummy. The idea was to do it based on anticipated behavior due to strings. But whatevs. I'll look into the string thread.
 
I'd like to mention that Xiba's 33_99 AA BE can be beat with 8A or 8B after blocking the second hit.

Actually, there are PLENTY of things I want to add. Is the String Defense Guide still being edited/worked on? I'd like to test plenty of things on a few of the empty characters.
You can PM heaton directly to help him complete this project, or alternatively any mod can "add" to his initial skeleton posts of any areas that you have tested.

Thanks in advance for your hard work.
 
For those not in the know, I've more or less dropped Raphael. He's not for me. I'll still work on the string defense guide every now and again, but if you have something you'd like to add, post it here or PM me and I'll get it put up.
 
I never got to JGing the AA/BB strings, but I did a lot of work for solving Pyrrha. If anyone wants to add something they're free to do so.

PYRRHA

1AA
-JG on second hit makes it 66B, 33KB punishable.

4AA
-Can punish with 236B after blocking the first hit, scores CH.
-If you 44K after blocking the first hit, Raphael goes over her. Back grab attempt possible

4AAA
-Same rules as 44AA, except for 44K, you have to walk up to her for the back grab which is now guaranteed.
-JG last hit makes it 66B, 33KB punishable.

4AB
-Second hit can be stepped or countered with B+K

6BK
-Second hit can be manually jumped or beat with 8A/8B/8K.

4BB
-Second hit can be stepped both ways, easier to step to the right.
-Doesn't seem to be equivalent to FC 1BB, FC 1BB can be countered with B+K on the second hit.

3KK
-Second hit can be stepped.

3A+B
-Can't JG the second hit... If the first hit is JG'd then the second one is also JG'd automatically, which makes the move 6BB punishable.

B+KB
-Second hit can be stepped or countered with B+K.

11_77AA
-Second hit can be hit by 4A+B auto-GI, but the move can be delayed slightly so it's not recommended to always do it. 6BBB can beat the second hit.

11_77A[A]
-Same rules as 11_77AA. If the delay is for the guard break then you can get a guaranteed backthrow. The move, while delayable, has a point of no return after charging, making 4A+B easier to use.

66B BE
-4A always beats the second hit. The second hit can be quick stepped with 22, but the timing is tight.

22_88BA
-Running under her doesn't seem to work that well. You can side step and get a side throw attempt, or you can simply punish with 66B or 236B.

22_88BAK
-You can run under her and get the guaranteed back throw, or you can 44A+B.

11_44_77KA
-You can run under her after the first two hits and get the back throw. 8B and 8K beat this move after the second hit, 8A also beats it but you have to wait a bit longer after the second hit. 44K also beats this move after the second hit.

11_44_77KAB
-Same rules as KA version, back grab is easier to get.
-After JG on the third hit you can punish with CH 6BBB.

11_44_77KB
-Same rules as KA version, except you can do 8A immediately this time.
-You can step around this one.
-It is possible to B+K the last hit, but the counter attack will be blocked.

33_66_99B+KA
-Second hit can be manually crouched under, then punished.
 
Mr8492 said:
4AAA
-Same rules as 44AA, except for 44K, you have to walk up to her for the back grab which is now guaranteed.
-JG last hit makes it 66B, 33KB punishable.
Click to expand...

Guard, jump, 4A+B. One of my top 10 counters in the game as Raph.
 
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