There's no "dumb" or "smart" versatile. There's just versatile. Versatility is having good tools for any situation, and Raven does not have that. Period.
Raven has, comparatively, poor mobility, miserable wake-up, poor anti-air, good zoning and fair rush-down.
As for Batman, I seriously doubt his wake-up game is anything worse than Raven's. Admittedly, though, I don't know Batman very well. I've seen his slide work well and I'd assume his parry could be very useful.
There is, actually--in the context which I am using them, "dumb" versatile here, means the tools of versatility in question are obvious and easily usable; a.k.a. anyone can pick up the character and understand right away what typical use the tools have, and have moderate to great success using them. Superman, for example. Eye lasers are easier than having to make a read into anti air lift. But again, ease of usability =/= versatility. They have less than nothing to do with each other.
And Raven absolutely has those tools--I told you why in my last couple posts, and all you've said against it has been the equivalent of 'nuh uh', without giving actual reasons why her tools can't be used the way I have specified. So you can go back and reread them, because rewriting my points would be frustrating and pointless.
I play this character and have since day 1. I know the character. Do you? I'm leaning towards no.
You said:
Poor mobility
The woman has a fucking teleport that is fully invincible on wakeup. That can be used in the air. That can be canceled not twice, but 3 times from air normals. Raven's dash is quick and suits her playstyle perfectly. You seem to discount a character's versatility if they aren't meant to dash in from full screen and are 100% rushdown. Her dash covers the distance that her specials don't for a quick low/overhead/grab mix up. That's how the character is played.
You said:
Miserable wake up
compared to batman.
Well then, let's compare, cliff notes style.
Batman: Wakeup slide and parry are, in my opinion, his best options. Neither lead into damage or setups, and reset the neutral game for both characters. Barely any invincibility if any. Easily full combo punishable.
Raven: Wakeup lift. Can EX for 40%+ on one bar, and leads into a total momentum and screen control reversal in Raven's favor. Regular lift leaves you at excellent advantage for low/overhead/grab. Some invincibility frames. Possilbly punishable with say, Superman with 4 bars, but I've never been punished doing the lift point blank with normals, even low jabs. You know, the 6f stuff.
You said;
Poor anti-air
Bullshit. First off, post 1.05 even batman and black adam have a viable AA. Raven sure as hell does now too, and if you don't believe it, take her ass into training mode, record dday doing body splash, and AA/trade all day for a nice 25-30%.
Secondly, and admittedly, more dangerously but much more rewardingly, the lift. It's not something you can throw out as an AA unintelligently without any kind of read, but if you're playing the character patiently, which you should be, jump ins become predictable and easy to telegraph. For 40%+ and screen control and momentum and all that other shit that comes with her wakeup lift.
You said:
Good zoning. Yeah.
You said:
Fair rush down
Raven has wonderful rushdown. But she has her own style of rushdown like everyone else does. It's not batman ji2, doomsday d1 df2 blindingly aggressive, but it's solid. It's safe. There are no risks associated with her strings, and in fact, there is a particular string of hers that is actually +6. Free low/grab mixup. Or I guess MB f3. Or jump in. Whatever. Point is, her rush down is initiated in that space where her specials start to become unsafe. Which conveniently places you--that's right--right where her specials start to become unsafe and in prime position for a mixup.
P.S. I had assumed you, like a lot of other people (myself included), had actually played batman and knew what you were talking about from experience. Why are you sitting here trying to feed me unfounded bullshit? Go play the character, give me some counter points, and I'll think on them. Otherwise, this has just been a wonderful way for me to pass the time at work. And pretty pointless.
