Question How to fight runaway zoners with Rain?

[Enenra]

I can't figure it out. I fought my friend who's a pretty good Sindel and I had to work SO hard to get in. And when he was in the air I had to just stand there waiting for him to come down. Help?

 

[STB Bodam]

For me, it can be tough. Against players like Sub-Zero and Ermac who can keep you a safe distance away, it's tough and more often than not you have to read your opponent and guess their next move and try to match it.

But against a player like Sindel, when she uses her projectiles, you wanna go for your EX TELEPORT. It's crucial to do it on reaction and not late either otherwise you may take damage despite having armor and the Sindel player tries to close the gap, make sure you do not try to do too much when she wakes up or her STEP UP move will pretty much stuff anything that you have, so plan for that accordingly by blocking and trying a quick punish.

If you have any other characters you need a strategy for, post them and maybe I could help you out.

The only players I really struggle mightily against are Sub-Zero, Smoke and Ermac.

 

[Mothmonsterman0]

I think lighting in something that is underused when trying to fight run away players, throwing out a few will make people respect your trade with there projectles, makeing it a little bit easier to get in,
broham, it right too ex teleport helps too.

How do you guys fight katana?

My main strategy is to duck fans and work my way in, but when ever I get in its still hard to get anything going because of her down 1

What do you guys do to keep the pressure going?

 

[BookBurning]

With any character who has strong zoning and who plays at a high level, you have to be patient with Rain. Dash blocking and advancing inwards while trying to make the best reads you can; like Bodam said, EX teleport can be useful also. You have to be careful to not just throw it out too much though, because it is punishable.

Lightning is something you also want to use to keep your opponent in check, but don't throw it out if you're too close to them. If it hits, react immediately by throwing a waterball and dragging their asses towards you. You can now either opt to go for pressure by letting them drop in front of you, go for a mixup or you can combo off of it with 4 RH while they're in the air. Lightning has really good startup frames and can stuff alot of stuff, you just have to make decent reads with it.

Really when it comes down to it, it's all patience when playing against characters that zone. Ermac to be honest I think is a 6-4 in Rain's favor though because he doesn't Zone more than he does space and once you're in on him, he has a really hard time getting Rain off of him. I mean there's really a myriad of things you can do. You can try to catch them with a standing or crouching jab if they're close; if they jump back it will catch them and you can then do a 43 into waterball or lightning; All in all get in close to them the best you can without losing too much in the mean time.

If they come at you go toe to toe with them; even Cage doesn't want any of Rain's offense. If they become aggressive don't be afraid to abuse armored dash or a GKC and bust through their offense with your own.

It's not as coherent of advice as I'd like to give but I really believe I'm a better player than I am a teacher unfortunately. Alot of this is just stuff I've got a feel for after maining Rain since the hour of his release.

 

[Mothmonsterman0]

Thanks for the reply burning

all the things you mentioned are alot of what i try to do, I just thought i would ask my fellow rain players to see if they were doing things I wasn't

I'm really happy i have picked up rain as my main, i still play Cyrax ( my first main ) and even tho he has alot of great tools, rain fells alot better

i think Rain is VERY underplayed, and has alot of things going for him

 

[Enenra]

Thanks all of you guys, and BookBurning that made perfect sense, thank you. I honestly didn't know Rain had the best offense. That will really change how I approach other rush down characters. I'm so excited for the GOTY edition when I can always use Rain, instead of hoping they have the compatibility pack...

 

[STB Bodam]

There is definitely a very helpful answer to be had in this topic, you just need to apply it to your game. Ever since I started to check (a bit) more with lightning, it has gotten me out of some tight situations. Now, obviously you don't want to throw it around; especially at anywhere but almost full-screen but once you do. It tends to make them a little more conscious about throwing their projectiles -- Kitana especially.

Now I've yet to figure out a reliable strategy to get in and take down some of the best Sub-Zero's and Smoke's; more often than not, I'll get blown up. There's an answer I believe in what Book was saying about the shielded dash, at least for Smoke when he's pressing you and going in for the 3-D1-2 string.

Which also helps me remember that I've only absorbed (walked right through) two hits of a move before I attack. In fact, I'm not even sure if at that point it would knock you out of your armor from your shielded RH dash cancel after the third hit of Smoke's string or not. Has anyone ever seen more than two hits of a combo get absorbed by Rain's armor on his ex-RH? Just curious as that is the most that I've seen fully taken on by it and I usually use it more as an anti-wake up than an advancing push when they're about to mash out a string. I know Book is the master of this so who better to ask?

Been wondering how some of you do this with relative ease.

I'm sorry if it's hard to follow what I'm asking -- it's like 4:30am here.

 

[STB Bodam]

After experimenting with the shielded dash, I truly believe there's nothing stopping Rain from winning tournaments. If you can implement this into your game against characters like Sub-Zero, Sonya, Kenshi, Johnny Cage and a few others that usually give Rain problems (mine anyway) -- you'll be punishing people for not only their wake-up attacks but also for the combo/block strings in general.

I can't believe it took me this long to realize what an incredible tool this is!

 

[Mothmonsterman0]

i can agree with you bodam!
its a huge plus for runaway match ups with rain
once your opponent respects the fact that you can punish them for making the wrong move within dash range it makes it that much easier

how are you guys using ex bubble? i have just started throwing it into my game play and i can't believe how good it is!

i was also messing around with ending combos with back 2 1 + 2, sending your opponent to a splat witch you can teleport after
It's kind the same as ending combos with 2 4 teleport
don't know if it has any use but i thought i would see what you guys think

 

[Quantus]

My Rain is VERY reset-oriented. Everytime I land a naked RH, if my opponent has more than one bar and less than 2 1/2 bars, I will use the Ex-bubble to drain them (Less than 1 bar is a waste and players tend to be liberal with breakers with full meter, so I try to make them use it with a simple 4,3 string). This costs me a single bar to use, and I will let this reset them and with RH pressure I'll regain that bar in seconds.

Also, I see what you are saying about ending with a splat, but I've just always preferred ending with a bubble (again, I LOVE reset pressure) or squirtle.


In regards to runaway zoners:
Step 1. ExRH cancels in footsies range and try to get a quick combo on them (a quick combo from rain is devastating to the life bar :3).
Step 2. (This one takes discipline): Lame them out. Once you have the life lead make them know that you are willing to let the clock run out.

 

[Mothmonsterman0]

Good stuff, I played you a few days ago! Sick rain man
And yeah, I really need to start ending combos in bubble, I think thats something really helps rain shine