Why do we play Raph?

Real_Bojack

Real_Bojack

[10] Knight
I started out deciding to play one of the new characters in SC2 and take them as far as I could. So it was between Raph, Talim, and Yun Sung. I tried all three and didn't like Talim or Yun........ well I guess I liked Yun ok. When I was playing Raph the movelist on the arcade machine said "Lunging Fendante 236 B" so I tried it and it didn't hit so I ran around trying to land it and when it did the damage was so meaty for an attack like that I spent the next few nights at the arcade running around trying come hell or high water to land that attack. I then spent the next couple of weeks learning how Auto Evades and Preps and SCC'es all worked and damn he had sooooo many moves and tricks back in the day. I figured I'd take him as far as I could. Played him exclusively for years and years and he only got better in console version which was sweet. Also did VERY well in local tournaments despite playing "one of the worst" in the game. What's your story?
 
piggy said:
I'm lazy. Started playing SC2 competitively and I prefer playing from the 2P side - Raph was the default choice, so I just picked him.

The rest, as they say, is history.
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This is the best reason for choosing any character in any FG ever.
 
I also used him since way back in SC2 since he was the first character I used but what made me still use him up to now is that he looks so darn good when used properly. I tend to use characters that look incredibly stylish.
 
I tend to play a number of characters when not in a competitive setting, and when I started out I saw Raphael had this entirely new moveset from SCIV after playing around with him a bit back then, I decided to see what he had. To be honest, even now I have quite a bit of fun with his tools, and I still play him far more intuitively than most of the cast, especially since learning to change up my offensive patterns and hurt steppers. Brainless i12 and i16 punishes ('dat range) and SE seem to work worryingly well against most.
 
When my friend Dan received SC2 for his birthday, everybody was excited to play it and started picking Kilik, Mitsu, the Alexandras, etc. whom they heard were great. I, however, was interested in someone new, someone with a sword but not shield preferably. I finally found Raphael, a blonde, blue eyed Frenchman with a rapier. Well, in a couple of minutes I crushed all of my friends (6BBB cheapness I'll admit), even the one playing Kilik and almost everybody's jaw dropped. This tall adonis was amazing with his clothes, speed, footwork, sarcasm, and range. As a child, I thought I had found the greatest fighting character ever...couldn't ask for anyone better. In the next couple months, I practiced Prep stances, AEs, retreat/advance, cancels, and all of his best tools. It was from SC3 onwards that I died a little on the inside when he turned vampiric and had watered-down movelists. Eventually I accepted his malfestation and stopped yearning for SC2 Raphael. He'll always be the best looking male badass anyway. From the moment I picked up on him, I decided Raph would be my SC friend and that I would continue to devote myself to playing him. What I love about playing Raph is that is that you have to work harder to find your best tools against different characters and situations. Once you apply those tools, it becomes very fun along with Raph's finesse and arrogance. Trust me, Raph has plenty of hidden strengths that Im still finding today as I play Raph from all games.
 
A few reasons. First, he was the only character I could beat my friend (who got me into SCII) with. I like his character, the arrogant aristocrat who fell from glory and now struggles to maintain his sanity as an evil curse plagues his mind and body. Good stuff. Also, his sense of style is impeccable. And finally, he's just the character I have the most fun playing as.
 
I played him because he was the most intuitive character in SC 2 .
I play him because of stabs, of fast moves, of precision, of his lack of muscle technique over muscle, of his lack of gruntish brawny taunts, of his androgynous martial form, of the availability of evades and immediacy of bait options. Because you're Too slow, there's No escape, and it's No good even if you Try harder. Because How's that, You dare, Feel this, and Bleed. Because How Does It Feel after Where Are You Looking; Is That All and What A Joke.
And because Pathetic.

re Fendante: He doesn't beat people with muscle. He has enough to push around his own body weight when he has a mechanical advantage, but only when he has a mechanical advantage. Hence A+G, r.s. throw.
 
Mandritti said:
...of his lack of muscle...
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I totally agree with most of what you said, but lack of muscle?? Oh really?? Look at Monsieur Sorel's alternate costumes in SC3, 4, and 5 and especially when his top breaks in SC4 (2P costume) you shall see that he is quite ripped. Raphael may be lanky but he is pretty fit imo.
 
Partly because half of the characters I played in SCIV were removed and half of them were changed to new characters, and partly because he kinda looked interesting in the new installment. I stuck with him because he's fun and entertaining to play and watch.
 
I started him in SCIII when he was a soul for the Knight class. In IV I still liked his style, I've always been a fan of fencing as almost an art form as much as a form of combat. In V though, when I actually just started to play well I finally started to really learn his move set like all my favorites and just continued to like the look (That Hat) and style.

He is one of the few characters in my sig and he is there for a reason. That being said, out of those he is my worst and I could use a lot of practice with him.
 
I always loved Raph. But I started really playing him early SCV because everyone and their sister were saying that he's ass, worst character in the game, etc. And I wanted to prove otherwise. And I succeeded pretty well among the people I play.

It seems to me fighting a good Raph is always hard. Probably cause at his best, Raph is a very cautious character and wait for your mistakes. Not that I played many of them though, pretty much only youngfox and the once in a blue moon competent random.
 
Because I define myself by an external, fictional identity designed for my consumption by a small, exclusively male, latently homosexual team of brand managers and arcade enthusiasts who live on the other side of the Pacific ocean.
*shrug*
 
SC2 was the first SC game I ever played seriously. Before that I had been into TTT and Tekken 4 but when Tekken 4 turned out to be a disappointing load of hot shit all the Tekken players were looking for a new game, and SC2 had Yoshimitsu so it was like hey at least we know a few moves.

I actually liked Raph from the day they revealed his design, in which he had white hair for some reason (I realize now that it may have been just a bad scan, but the rest of the colors looked just fine). I picked him in the arcade on the first day and it was like opening a Christmas present with more little presents inside, which had more inside of them. Learning a character had never been so engrossing with all of his stances, his auto-evades, his SCCs (remember those?), even his auto-parries, on top of the basic SC2 game. There was always something new to discover, a new application or strategy to fight with other characters. It wasn't enough to just say "use this move against character B," you really had to out-think opponents constantly. He wasn't the best character and his damage output was low overall, but being fun to play made up for that.

Then out came SC3, where they kept him bad but simplified him and made him "easier" to use. Needless to say that's when my interest fell off. SC4 Amy was a bit more like SC2 Raph so I picked her up, and now well they're mostly gone. SC5 Raph is more fun than he's been in years, but still a pale shadow of his former self. Nonetheless I gravitate towards him because there are few characters that hold my interest.
 
When I played SCII I chose Link because I was new to the series AND it had Link! He was my fave but then I started experimenting with other characters and I never really loved using anyone else cept Talim but then (I kid you not) after trying a little of everyone I finally picked Raph and I had a great time using him. It definetly took me some time to get used to him but I loved his style. I skipped 3 mostly because it was on playstation and the only time I did play it, I was on customizing and I LOVED every second of that. On 4 I mained Tira, Amy, and Raphael. I thought Raph style was amazing and I did love Amy because her style was similar to his and it was easy for me to fall in love with her (Oh how I miss you Amy!!!)
Now on 5 I didn't go straight for him but I been picking him up for a while and now I fell in love with his style all over again xD
I'm not sure if that answered why I play him but in the simplest sense........he is a lot of fun and his attitude (specially on V) always makes me laugh xD
 
i started w SC2 and i was a link player, i knew there was no way in hell he'd make it into the next game so i decided i needed a secondary. I love fencing so with Raph being a fencer, being fast, and originally being Spanish he just clicked w me.
 
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