I don't play raven, but I use a stick and I will tell you a stick is so much more comfortable and natural feeling than a d-pad. The button layout makes doing much of the execution easier with your combos. Learning to use the stick for execution and movement takes a bit of practice, but once you adjust to using it you will look at you d-pad and think how the hell did even play using that thing. I can't even use a d-pad for any other fighter anymore it just feels awkward now. Its a good investment, but a lil pricey. IF you do buy a stick make sure its something that can be used on both 360 and PS3 it just makes less hassle when playing tournys. I recommend the 8arc sticks they may cost close to 200 or more but they are great quality. I wish I would have gotten one before I bought my Madcat, but if price is an issue you can get a madcat for about 100 bucks on amazon, they just aren't useable for both platforms.
