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Match Footage My tournament matches

Batman_UA

F+2,4 master
Here some of my recent tournament matches. I'm using Raiden for a long time now, and I need a pro player's thoughts on my game.

 

4x4lo8o

Warrior
I'll post some more tomorrow, I've got to go to work soon, but I did notice you throwing out a lot of ex-fireballs fullscreen. Don't do that. It's to easy to just neutral crouch, and you don't recover fast enough to superman while their neutral crouching, or gain any positional advantage or anything. You're throwing away meter if you use ex-lightning full screen. You're lucky if you even get chip. The very best case scenario is they jump and you land a fireball and a superman, but that's not likely to happen against a good player.
STB Sgt Reed used them too little, and you're using them too much. It's a really good tool, but they key is to use it in a set up. Either use it off a combo for wake up pressure(see some possible set ups here) or use it off of a block string(1212 works and is safe, 334 is alright too). If you are going to throw out a naked ex-lightning don't do it fullscreen. Find creative times to use it up close when they have to react to the first fireball immediately and then have to react to you and the second fireball at the same time. It's unsafe, so don't go crazy, but an up close ex-lightning is much more likely to result in chip damage, pressure, a throw, a full combo, and it even can screw up crossovers. I like to use ex-lightning after landing a superman in the corner. You have enough advantage for it to be safe against a lot of their options(certain wakeups can punish it though) and a lot of the time their reaction is to just sit there dumbfounded or to try to do something stupid that results in you getting a full combo.

Your Raiden looks really solid though, you seem to have the right idea
 

4x4lo8o

Warrior
I see you using 3 or 33 a lot and not finishing the string. I wouldn't recommend doing that. 3 on block is -18 and 33 is -15, so both are really punishable. Your opponents don't seem to be really blowing you up for it, but they could be. If you don't want to finish the string try 33~vb. b312 is a better string to use if you want to not finish the string, b3 and b31 are both -7 so you're not at so much disadvantage when you stop and go for a poke or whatever. 22 is also 0, and 121 is -1. 334 isn't the greatest block string.

You used 334~vb quite a few times and I don't really recommend using that. The vb comes out really slow at the end of that string and is just too easy to block. I wouldn't try that trick more than once in a set, the risk reward just isn't there. I would only use it if I've noticed the opponent tries to crossover every time they block 334(or if they're in the corner and I expect them to try to jump out), since it'll give you a combo if they jump. If they block it you're at 0 instead of -3 and you build a bit of meter, but it's not worth the uppercut or whatever that you'll get hit by if they crouch it

Try to integrate throws more into your game. b31, throw works really well and a lot of the time you can sneak them in after teleports and jips.

Make sure you punish every time the opponent gives you an opportunity. There were several times where you blocked a nomad dash or a divekick and didn't punish. You can't afford to miss that damage.

You don't seem to know what to do when you catch them in an air juggle in the corner. A couple times I saw you going for standing 1's and d1s, that doesn't really work for Raiden. What you can usually do is 4,334, 33~shocker, 33~superman or something similar.

Like I said before, be careful with your fireballs. There's a few times where you just went on autopilot and threw a bunch of fireballs as fast as you can. Don't do that. Mix up your timing, don't always throw another fireball as soon as you can, this makes it harder for you opponent to read and makes it harder for them to get in and punish and more likely for them to get hit. I like to stop and walk back and forth a bit between fireballs sometimes, just to keep them on their toes. Sometimes you can throw out a vb and they'll jump or do something punishable thinking it's a fireball.

One of the biggest problems I'm seeing is just execution. There's lots of dropped combos(those uppercuts after b312 are a bitch) and what looks like accidentally not finishing strings, and things like that. I dunno if it's tournaments nerves or what, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just keep practicing and playing. It'll improve.

I'd like to see you use more strings. 334 and b312 are fine, but Raiden has a lot of other options. f24 is great, and f23, 1212, 22, and b2f1 all have their places in Raiden's game. Let me know if you need advice on how to use these or combos off them or anything and I'll go into detail

Your pokes could use some work. It's clear that you're still learning how that works and it's good that you're trying. Be careful with d1. It's -13 on block. I wouldn't throw it out multiple times in a row, especially since it doesn't even hit low, so there's a good chance they'll block it and be able to punish. You should really only use it if you're expecting an attack and are trying to stuff it. Try to rely more on d3. It's safer and gives you more advantage in some situations.
Mix stuff up more after your poke. Try d3, f23 or d3, f24. After a poke is also a good time to go for a throw or try a crossover. Another thing to try is d3, back dash, b312. This will blow them up and get you a full combo if they try to counter poke.
Raiden's d4 is also really solid. It's slow, and the hitbox isn't great, so it can be hard to land but it's +15 on hit. That means you can dash in and go for a throw and they have to tech it, you can for a crossover and they can't do anything but block, or you can do b312 and if they try to move you'll get a full combo.

You're doing a lot of things right. You seem to know your basic combos and you aren't really falling to the common scrub Raiden traps of random supermans and teleporting too much. Just keep working on your footsies game and learning the frame data. All the frame data is in this thread
http://testyourmight.com/threads/raiden-frame-data.13536/
Learn how fast everything is, what leaves you neutral, what leaves you at advantage and what's unsafe. If you have any trouble reading it or have questions about what any of it means feel free to ask.

I really enjoyed watching these videos. I love watching you overseas guys play. The playstyles and combos you have are always so interesting. Be sure to post footage from the next tournament you have so we can see how you've improved.
 

Wildabeast

The Bat in the Hat
General matchup tip; when fighting jax don't use your breaker mid screen unless you absolutely need to. Jaxs damage is total ass midscreen its just a waste of meter especially considering what he does in the corner.
 

Batman_UA

F+2,4 master
I see you using 3 or 33 a lot and not finishing the string. I wouldn't recommend doing that. 3 on block is -18 and 33 is -15, so both are really punishable. Your opponents don't seem to be really blowing you up for it, but they could be. If you don't want to finish the string try 33~vb. b312 is a better string to use if you want to not finish the string, b3 and b31 are both -7 so you're not at so much disadvantage when you stop and go for a poke or whatever. 22 is also 0, and 121 is -1. 334 isn't the greatest block string.

You used 334~vb quite a few times and I don't really recommend using that. The vb comes out really slow at the end of that string and is just too easy to block. I wouldn't try that trick more than once in a set, the risk reward just isn't there. I would only use it if I've noticed the opponent tries to crossover every time they block 334(or if they're in the corner and I expect them to try to jump out), since it'll give you a combo if they jump. If they block it you're at 0 instead of -3 and you build a bit of meter, but it's not worth the uppercut or whatever that you'll get hit by if they crouch it

Try to integrate throws more into your game. b31, throw works really well and a lot of the time you can sneak them in after teleports and jips.

Make sure you punish every time the opponent gives you an opportunity. There were several times where you blocked a nomad dash or a divekick and didn't punish. You can't afford to miss that damage.

You don't seem to know what to do when you catch them in an air juggle in the corner. A couple times I saw you going for standing 1's and d1s, that doesn't really work for Raiden. What you can usually do is 4,334, 33~shocker, 33~superman or something similar.

Like I said before, be careful with your fireballs. There's a few times where you just went on autopilot and threw a bunch of fireballs as fast as you can. Don't do that. Mix up your timing, don't always throw another fireball as soon as you can, this makes it harder for you opponent to read and makes it harder for them to get in and punish and more likely for them to get hit. I like to stop and walk back and forth a bit between fireballs sometimes, just to keep them on their toes. Sometimes you can throw out a vb and they'll jump or do something punishable thinking it's a fireball.

One of the biggest problems I'm seeing is just execution. There's lots of dropped combos(those uppercuts after b312 are a bitch) and what looks like accidentally not finishing strings, and things like that. I dunno if it's tournaments nerves or what, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just keep practicing and playing. It'll improve.

I'd like to see you use more strings. 334 and b312 are fine, but Raiden has a lot of other options. f24 is great, and f23, 1212, 22, and b2f1 all have their places in Raiden's game. Let me know if you need advice on how to use these or combos off them or anything and I'll go into detail

Your pokes could use some work. It's clear that you're still learning how that works and it's good that you're trying. Be careful with d1. It's -13 on block. I wouldn't throw it out multiple times in a row, especially since it doesn't even hit low, so there's a good chance they'll block it and be able to punish. You should really only use it if you're expecting an attack and are trying to stuff it. Try to rely more on d3. It's safer and gives you more advantage in some situations.
Mix stuff up more after your poke. Try d3, f23 or d3, f24. After a poke is also a good time to go for a throw or try a crossover. Another thing to try is d3, back dash, b312. This will blow them up and get you a full combo if they try to counter poke.
Raiden's d4 is also really solid. It's slow, and the hitbox isn't great, so it can be hard to land but it's +15 on hit. That means you can dash in and go for a throw and they have to tech it, you can for a crossover and they can't do anything but block, or you can do b312 and if they try to move you'll get a full combo.

You're doing a lot of things right. You seem to know your basic combos and you aren't really falling to the common scrub Raiden traps of random supermans and teleporting too much. Just keep working on your footsies game and learning the frame data. All the frame data is in this thread
http://testyourmight.com/threads/raiden-frame-data.13536/
Learn how fast everything is, what leaves you neutral, what leaves you at advantage and what's unsafe. If you have any trouble reading it or have questions about what any of it means feel free to ask.

I really enjoyed watching these videos. I love watching you overseas guys play. The playstyles and combos you have are always so interesting. Be sure to post footage from the next tournament you have so we can see how you've improved.
Thanks a lot for comment.
The 3, 33 problem started when i start using stick after pad. Sometimes i pressing 3's to fast and the 4 would not come out. Same for not executing bnb's I'm still not really used to stick.
I will work on everything else you said, thanx for help!
 

4x4lo8o

Warrior
The 3, 33 problem started when i start using stick after pad. Sometimes i pressing 3's to fast and the 4 would not come out. Same for not executing bnb's I'm still not really used to stick.
I will work on everything else you said, thanx for help!
Yeah, I thought it might be something like that, but I wasn't completely sure and wanted to make sure you weren't doing it intentionally.
I switched from pad to hitbox awhile back and had similar problems. I had to relearn all my combos and couldn't even finish my strings sometimes. It was really frustrating and felt like it took forever to adjust, but it was worth it. Keep at it.
I love helping out a Raiden brother