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How is Raiden in this?

Is he a good character to use? I know that Liu, Mil, and Jax are supposedly the best, but where would Raiden stand? I always liked playing as him because he seems tricky to me with that teleport.
 

GhosT

Noob
Tom Brady says he's number 1. Teleport is good but there's more to raiden than that. Final answer. He's good but hard to really master, you will have to work on footsies and use telport wisely since he has no huge frame advantage strings like some other characters. Give him a shot

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CYracks

Command Grabber
Raiden seems to only have three good things: a teleport that you can't punish on reaction, a fast advancing special
(superman) that can't be blocked on reaction unless you're Diago and good pokes and footsies. Other then those three things he doesn't have much.
 

Konqrr

MK11 Kabal = MK9 Kitana
Last time I checked on UMK, the MKII guides weren't available. I like the fake portraits on that guide, too.
I started updating them forever ago using already written guides, but adjusted to match the existing format. I ran out of time and they were never finished.

Glad you like the fakes ^_^
 
Raiden is lower mid-tier, IMO. He is great offensively against everyone and a pretty good turtle against lower tier characters (Rep, Sub, Baraka). I'll break him down move by move a little bit;

Specials
Teleport - great for running away from lower tier characters, especially when ahead on damage. Can be useful for getting in on some turtles, too; especially projectile spammers. If you spam teleports, you will eventually eat an uppercut for your troubles. The teleport allows him to remain somewhat competitive against projectile spamming Liu Kang players.

Torpedo - good move overall, but a blocked torpedo is very punishable. The torpedo/teleport combination allow him to remain competitive against sai-spamming Mileena players and the air torpedo allows him to remain competitive against GP spamming Jax players. Baraka has a tough time punishing this in lag, so Raiden players will often spam this against him mercilessly.

Lightning throw - weak, slow projectile; one of the worst in the game. It's low to the ground, but not low enough to hit ducking characters. If timed correctly, can catch jumpers near the beginning or end of their jump.

Shock grab - good move. You have to be right up against them or it will whiff, but it has no startup frames and has priority over everything else. This move opens up juggle opportunities, with the most popular being HP, HP, torpedo (HP, HP, JK, torpedo and HP, HP, teleport, HP, torpedo are possible, but difficult). Many players, even high-level players, will often connect a simple aaHK or aaRH because it's easier. In order to make this work, you will have to learn how to mix it in with jabs.

Regular moves
Uppercut - average. Can be used for anti-air, but you're better off with the HK or SUJK. Will sometimes connect in mixups, particularly during rushdown, but anytime you can land an uppercut during those situations, you could usually land a shock grab with much better damage potential.
Roundhouse - average. Can be used for anti-air but, again, you're better off with the HK or SUJK.
Sweep - good. It has great range, but comes out very slow. You're better off not playing footsies with the females or Baraka at any distance or with Shang if you're too close (his sweep comes out much faster), but he beats most characters in the game of footsies.
HK - good. Has good range, but not a ton of height. Good for anti-air, but don't risk it against Shang or Baraka.
LK - average. Not much to say here, isn't of much use except for snuffing sweep attempts when your opponent has little energy left.
JK - below average. Doesn't have a lot of priority over other character's jumpins and is fairly easy to anti-air by all other characters on the ground. The good news is that, when it connects, you can easily link it with a torpedo for an easy combo that's worth around 30% or so.
JP - below average. No combo. Why bother?
SUJK - only average, but it will still stuff any characters' jump-ins, even Baraka, if timed correctly.
SUJP - see above, but better against the occasional jump-punch.
Jab game - good. His low jabs, especially, will connect well against most other characters. They will not connect against a ducking Cage or Shang, however, even if they are in a duck block. Decent as anti-air if timed correctly, and open a lot of combo opportunities if mastered.
Close HP - not particularly useful, as the recovery time allows your opponent to either counterattack or escape. If you are that close, you're better off looking for a shock grab opportunity.

Raiden is highly mobile and has can do big damage quickly, which allows him to remain competitive against the top tier characters. He also has good jabs and a good sweep. On the other hand, the rest of his normals are average or below average. Additionally, he has a large sprite, especially while ducking, and this makes him very vulnerable to other characters with good jabs. Shang and Cage, especially, rape him up close. Kung Lao and Baraka can also wear him down with LP, HP, HP or LP, LP, HP setups when they can get in close on him. As a result, he doesn't do much better against mid-tier characters than he does against the upper-tier. Additionally, his anti-air options against Shang and Baraka are below average and, as a result, most high level Raiden players will simply block jump-ins unless they can predict it in time to SUJK or teleport out of the way. Overall, Raiden is a mid tier player; I put him in the lower end between Scorpion and Cage.

I think his individual matchups break down something like this-
Mileena - 4/10
Jax - 4/10
Liu - 3/10
Kitana - 5/10
Lao - 5/10
Shang - 4/10
Scorpion - 5/10
Cage - 6/10
Sub - 6/10
Baraka - 7/10
Reptile - 7/10

If anyone sees anything that seems wrong or that they don't necessarily agree with, feel free to speak up so the dude who asked can get a more complete idea of how MK2 players see Raiden.
 

MKB

Forum General Emeritus
I think his individual matchups break down something like this-
Mileena - 4/10
Jax - 4/10
Liu - 3/10
Kitana - 5/10
Lao - 5/10
Shang - 4/10
Scorpion - 5/10
Cage - 6/10
Sub - 6/10
Baraka - 7/10
Reptile - 7/10

If anyone sees anything that seems wrong or that they don't necessarily agree with, feel free to speak up so the dude who asked can get a more complete idea of how MK2 players see Raiden.
In general I agree with this, however Kung Lao has a definite advantage over Raiden at high level. I'd say it's 6-4 easily, maybe 6.5-3.5 in favor of Lao. His tornado spin simply nullifies Raiden's teleport and superman attacks.
 

ZigZagGamer

The Janitor.
Honestly everytime i play Liu Kang i win a raiden easily, he's not that great, Superman's are predictable and will always be punished by a full combo, and the teleport is about all he has on pressure characters.