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Learning Raiden , what are the key things I need to know?

FanTalk

The 5th Yonko
Learn to hit confirm storm cell. The amount of times I've seen Raiden Players shoot themselves in the foot by not hit confirming is absurd
This is very important. I only always use storm cell very early to check if my opponent knows they can duck. If they don't I love to spam the fuck out of Storm Cell. But yeah this is super important
 

FanTalk

The 5th Yonko
Hit confirm into far teleport to reset neutral
While I agree this something to work on it shouldn't be a priority for new players to pick up Raiden. I say practice it after you have enough experience with him. Cause using teleport after a string ends or in-between strings is a huge skill to do
 

Mandolore1123

Man of Science Who Wields the Living Lightning
1. Frame data — Learn the opponent’s frames and more importantly yours. Raiden thrives when the opponents respects you but when they don’t you have to stick to what is guaranteed. E.g. F3 staggers may work in theory but there is not much reason for the opponent to respect it since F3 and F32 are -6. Therefore even a D1 check becomes 13f and throws become 16f. You can disrespect easier with F4 since it’s only -3 and you can threaten with D1~storm cell. Things like that should be remembered so you won’t get punished for your offense.

2. Hit confirms and block confirms — Always try to hit confirm into either superman or storm cell from your strings for damage/corner carry. On block, either do fly cancels or far teleport to remain safe. Once the opponent respects the cancel options, you can start doing just the strings on block.

3. Capitalising on stray hits — It should also be noted that while Raiden’s frames on block are really not very good. His frames on hit are pretty great. F3 on hit is +15 which jails into lots of stuff. F4 on hit is +5 which frame traps into throw. D4 is +16 which frame traps into F4. It is important to recognise when these notable normals hit so you can continue your pressure and offense.

These are the main 3 points I have off the top of my head. Good luck fellow thunder god! Hope this helped
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
Utilize his teleports wisely, especially if you're back is going up against the corner. Don't wait til you're in the corner since this game's wake ups aren't that effective and people will just lock you down in there. When you're near the corner use his teleport and place yourself safely on the other side so unless they're Raiden, Skarlet, Kollector, Scorp or Cetrion they have to get close to you with their back facing the corner.

Raiden's sadly doesn't have many safe strings or great mix ups other than his B2 mixed in with his other tools and on occasion his F12 string. But I don't like using it often. Only use his Superman from far if they're low and you need chip to win, and you can afford to trade or to end combos. Sadly you'll never get his krushing blow full screen Superman, why they made this a requirement I don't know, pretty sure NRS said "let's fuck Raiden hard in this game" when making it. Same goes for his B2 KB, in a serious match nobody is going to get hit with that twice. So just go for his 3 hit string KB punish and his throw KB and D2(that everyone has).

A good safe tactic with him mid or playing footsies is F4~DB2 amplified, it's safe and if it hits you get a combo.

If you want to zone with him from a far so long as you're not facing a teleporter, I would recommend using his lightning bolt(DF2) immediately after an electric blast(BF1) as you can keep people from moving if you buffer this fast enough and the lightning bolt works as a great AA at times if they're jumping, he can control where it hits close to him, mid or far.

If you're close try to go for his Superman cancels, use his D3 which is great, throws and B2 if you find them ducking once you've conditioned them to duck and think twice a lot.

If you get a chance for a jip(jump in punch or crossing them up) mix up his 2,2, 3 ~DB2 amp with 2, B3, 1 ~DB2(amp) to keep them guessing with his low and high strings on a jump in. I would NOT try this often on Jade and Shao Kahn especially or anyone with a fast, crazy range D2 as they can use it to AA you. I know it sucks, but since this game has floaty ass jumping it's slowed down the jumping cross up game sadly.

Good luck new Raiden player!
 
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Barrogh

Meta saltmine
Same goes for his B2 KB, in a serious match nobody is going to get hit with that twice.
Not getting hit twice with that requires you to be open to low starter though. Outside of wakeups, ofc.

A good safe tactic with him mid or playing footsies is F4~DB2 amplified, it's safe and if it hits you get a combo.
I keep seeing this in your and I'm like wtf. DB2 is not safe.
What am I missing? Am I thinking of wrong moves?
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
Not getting hit twice with that requires you to be open to low starter though. Outside of wakeups, ofc.


I keep seeing this in your and I'm like wtf. DB2 is not safe.
What am I missing? Am I thinking of wrong moves?
For your first comment, I know that's exactly why it'll never happen in a serious match against a smart/good player. It's a stupid KB requirement. Same for his Superman which has to be hit full screen, most Raiden players will tell you it's impractical unless you need one more bit of chip to win and you can afford to trade possibly damage, otherwise again most players will block it. The Superman is good for only finishing combos or on occasion canceling for pressure.

Your second comment That was a referring to the F4 being safe from attack as it's fast but, you're right but it's only safe(the DB2) due to lag or slowdown. It SHOULD be 100% safe though o block. I've noticed facing other Raiden players if there's remote lag or bad ping, connection whatever it's hard to counter or safe. But on a good connection or of course offline it's not safe. I think when amped should at least have pushback.
 

Barrogh

Meta saltmine
I know that's exactly why it'll never happen in a serious match against a smart/good player.
It doesn't have to actually trigger to affect match. Threat of eating 500 dmg overhead is something that can open people up to low launcher or entice them to wakeup which can also grant full combo if read. You can do something like 270 damage combos ending with b2 just to setup that.

Perhaps it's not Geras-tier KB that could as well not have any requirements, but it can come into play despite never appearing on screen.

On topic of db2, are you referring to Raijin or what? Because Storm Cell is a free punish, lag or not.
 

Mandolore1123

Man of Science Who Wields the Living Lightning
It doesn't have to actually trigger to affect match. Threat of eating 500 dmg overhead is something that can open people up to low launcher or entice them to wakeup which can also grant full combo if read. You can do something like 270 damage combos ending with b2 just to setup that.

Perhaps it's not Geras-tier KB that could as well not have any requirements, but it can come into play despite never appearing on screen.

On topic of db2, are you referring to Raijin or what? Because Storm Cell is a free punish, lag or not.
F4~storm cell works when people get too antsy pressing buttons immediately after F4, but the risk-reward is almost never skewed to Raiden’s side. However, now in Raijin you can do F4~DF2 and be -5 with pushback and his stagger game is greatly improved. Of course, the pre-requisite is you need to have buff active in the first place. Though that is another topic.
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
It doesn't have to actually trigger to affect match. Threat of eating 500 dmg overhead is something that can open people up to low launcher or entice them to wakeup which can also grant full combo if read. You can do something like 270 damage combos ending with b2 just to setup that.

Perhaps it's not Geras-tier KB that could as well not have any requirements, but it can come into play despite never appearing on screen.

On topic of db2, are you referring to Raijin or what? Because Storm Cell is a free punish, lag or not.
No if its laggy it's not punishable like a lot of moves are it's normal I'm talking bad conditions. BUt again the b2 won't be done in a serious match.

The kb requirements make a big difference. Two of raidens are irrelevant sadly in this game.
 
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Barrogh

Meta saltmine
No if its laggy it's not punishable like a lot of moves are it's normal
You have about a second to punish Storm Cell if you block correctly. It's not like I play a ton of online, but the main reason I wasn't being punished for that is because people don't know how to block it. I can't imagine online quality being so bad that you can miss that punish (been playing on PC this league, for the reference).
People who know what to do punished that stuff pretty much 10/10, sometimes even whiffed a d3 instead of crouching last hit and still had time to walk in and hit you in the face. It's that bad on a whiff.

BUt again the b2 won't be done in a serious match.
Like I said, it doesn't have to ever trigger to make a difference. It's all about threat, giving people reason to block standing on wakeup.

The kb requirements make a big difference. Two of raidens are irrelevant sadly in this game.
The real requirement of b2 KB is to open someone up while they are already in the corner so that you can end combo with b2. It's actually the hard part, but it's not outlandish.

Superman KB... Yeah. I'm not even sure that something exotic like doing far TP into super while opponent does advancing special in the opposite direction yields enough range for that KB to trigger. That's even before considering whether you can reach opponent in time before they recover. And even if you could, it's pretty hard to provoke people to special dash to Raiden seeing how shit his zoning is, nevermind that you actually have to read the attempt.
It's horrible.
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
You have about a second to punish Storm Cell if you block correctly. It's not like I play a ton of online, but the main reason I wasn't being punished for that is because people don't know how to block it. I can't imagine online quality being so bad that you can miss that punish (been playing on PC this league, for the reference).
People who know what to do punished that stuff pretty much 10/10, sometimes even whiffed a d3 instead of crouching last hit and still had time to walk in and hit you in the face. It's that bad on a whiff.
If you're going by offline that's a lot different than online especially if you're facing someone on wifi or poor wifi just saying man lol. There's really no special way to block it, you block and punish but again the online alters the properties of moves, gameplay etc, etc vs offline. A lot movies he has are bad on whiff depending on what the move is.


Like I said, it doesn't have to ever trigger to make a difference. It's all about threat, giving people reason to block standing on wakeup.
It does though otherwise it's moot, example Scorpion, Geras or Jax or someone who can literally get multiple KB's in one combo vs. Raiden who will rarely get one and 2 of them are irrelevant in serious play. I've played a few solid Raidens and none of them beat me because of KB's like other characters using that to bail them out of trouble or get equal damage with just a few hits. The fact of conditioning people to make them think twice is good for Raiden's mind games of 50/50's but again as far as back to back B2 against a solid player, not going to happen. He can threaten them all he wants, if the requirement is ridiculous or just dumb it negates the point of the KB. What you're talking about is more Raiden's 50/50 options.


The real requirement of b2 KB is to open someone up while they are already in the corner so that you can end combo with b2. It's actually the hard part, but it's not outlandish.
That is only one way to use the move but again talking KB nobody is going to fall for that twice in a row unless they're a nooby or don't know how to use wake ups.

Superman KB... Yeah. I'm not even sure that something exotic like doing far TP into super while opponent does advancing special in the opposite direction yields enough range for that KB to trigger. That's even before considering whether you can reach opponent in time before they recover. And even if you could, it's pretty hard to provoke people to special dash to Raiden seeing how shit his zoning is, nevermind that you actually have to read the attempt.
It's horrible.
That's another issue, but not just that but it has to be an amplified Superman no less from max distance, this one will hit even more rare than the B2 one. They should have given him it where you have to connect it twice in a combo, and it activates the second time you connect it in a combo. His zoning isn't the best but if he has the lead and depending who he's playing against(a non teleporter) he can outzone you with patience and being smart, I've done it to Sonya's and Kabal's, neither are remotely close to bad but if he has the lead they have to come to him. But yeah, pretty sure NRS said "ok how can we fuck Raiden hard in this game compared to the previous two where he was actually viable" He is a struggle to win with, I got Demi God last season, almost there this season I use Raiden, Jade 95% of the time and LK Wu Shi the rest. I can use Sonya but I use her the least. MK X, MK 9, MK vs DCU Raiden was soooooo much better compared to this game overall he's shit sadly compared to a lot of characters.
 

Barrogh

Meta saltmine
If you're going by offline...
But I'm not. Like I've said in my previous post, I'm going by what I've played in this season's league on PC. And from my experience it takes something ridiculous like a full second freeze (I've had one game with such idiotic lag, but only once) in order to miss that punish. Like I've said, I was never spared of it provided opponent knew it's not safe at all.

There's really no special way to block it
Ducking third hit instead of blocking everything isn't really what I call "not a special way to block", but eh, that's what I mean.

What you're talking about is more Raiden's 50/50 options.
Yup, because b2 (and its KB) is exactly that, his mixup options. What KB does is skewing risk/reward a bit in Raiden's favour in a scenario when you land b2 through whatever reason, once per match, which can help you with conditioning. Nothing more, nothing less. Just like 121 KB does basically nothing but saves a meter, or like KBs of characters you've mentioned are some extra damage off usual starters (seems like type of KBs you personally prefer). I'm not sure what are we even arguing about.

It's actually even works in your favour if actual KB isn't triggered because opponent tried to block high or wake up (and you've hopefully read that and went with low/bait) because that keeps your amped risk/reward a factor for the next time.

I've played a few solid Raidens and none of them beat me because of KB's
There are so many areas in which Raiden is inferior to those you've mentioned, yet you're saying that they win because of KBs.
I mean, risk/reward is what everything boils down to in FGs, but damage you get off your hits is not the only factor.
 
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STB Sgt Reed

Online Warrior
Lmfao, I wish! I'm just learning him Raijin Raiden myself. If anything, I could use tips on what to do with raiden myself.

For example, what is the general strategy up close with Raiden? Staggers into DF2?

Is it safe to cancel into db3 on block?

Does D1 jail into any of his highs on hit?

I have a nice combo tho:
F4 exDb4 B12 exDb2 - Does like 330+ damage.
 

Orochi

Scorpion Scrub
Raijin Raiden my new favorite character it's just a lot of fun to play. I'll try to upload some matches this weekend.
 

Orochi

Scorpion Scrub
Lmfao, I wish! I'm just learning him Raijin Raiden myself. If anything, I could use tips on what to do with raiden myself.

For example, what is the general strategy up close with Raiden? Staggers into DF2?

Is it safe to cancel into db3 on block?

Does D1 jail into any of his highs on hit?

I have a nice combo tho:
F4 exDb4 B12 exDb2 - Does like 330+ damage.
Hit confirm strings into db4, cancel into DF2 if blocked, then start the staggers. Mix up with b14, b1 db4, b12 df2. You want to have buff active as much as possible and be able to tell when it's gone so you can activate after a combo, a lot of enders give you enough time to activate it. On lifelead you can turtle with your buff on and trade with projectiles, then once they try to get in hit them with a F4 to the face into df2, if they whiff something and you know you'll punish confirm into db4.
 

ExpectFlames

Lord of embers
I dont think your taking into account how annoying it is to get hit by 1 b2. Your essentially guaranteed the low combo starter, condition your opponent with a myriad of pokes into burst will make anyone ancy.

@STB Sgt Reed I'm not sure using 2 bars for 30 is lit. Considering reversal is still raijins bread and butter ex hands on read gives hands and oki.
 

Marlow

Premium Supporter
Premium Supporter
Does D1 jail into any of his highs on hit?
I don't think D1 jails into any highs. The frame data is there to jail a standing 1, but I think the hitbox is too high and ends up whiffing. D3 can technically jail standing 2, but it's a 1-2 frame link. I find the easiest way to jail a high is after a F3. You can easily jail his 243 string, which is a safe string that's easy to hit confirm.
 

ExpectFlames

Lord of embers
Does D1 jail into any of his highs on hit?
[/QUOTE]
D1 punish into stormcell doesn't link and realistically fwd1 should never be used under any circumstanc until the hit region is adjusted. Like who knows what it for is it an anti air cause with some characters it still whiffs....
 

Marlow

Premium Supporter
Premium Supporter
realistically fwd1 should never be used under any circumstanc until the hit region is adjusted. Like who knows what it for is it an anti air cause with some characters it still whiffs....
Yeah, that string is a bit of a weak link at the moment.
 

STB Sgt Reed

Online Warrior
I dont think your taking into account how annoying it is to get hit by 1 b2. Your essentially guaranteed the low combo starter, condition your opponent with a myriad of pokes into burst will make anyone ancy.

@STB Sgt Reed I'm not sure using 2 bars for 30 is lit. Considering reversal is still raijins bread and butter ex hands on read gives hands and oki.
It is totally lit because it's comboing into db2 midscreen which is the coolest fucking move that raiden has and I love using it. lmao :p

Once I got 355 damage midscreen, but I can't remember what I did lmao