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Raphael General Discussion: "Getting Hype!"

AkioOf100

I play Raph
Raphael loses to Captain Cold. ._. Look at the tools. Look at the options. Look at the frame data. It's so sad. Cold's F23 makes Raph's d1 whiff but Cold's d1 hits. ._. We gotta backdash after that and then he gets to set up a whole meta with db3 that can PUNISH OUR BACKDASH or he just uses his straight shot. It's so sad. HELP.
 
Raphael loses to Captain Cold. ._. Look at the tools. Look at the options. Look at the frame data. It's so sad. Cold's F23 makes Raph's d1 whiff but Cold's d1 hits. ._. We gotta backdash after that and then he gets to set up a whole meta with db3 that can PUNISH OUR BACKDASH or he just uses his straight shot. It's so sad. HELP.
Meta is a character carousel. One character can't cover everything especially one with no projectile. I have the same problem with flash, but I'm picking up gl to help, you got another character?
 
I wish he had an easier way to convert b3. Wish his trait wasn't get hype. I forget to activate just about every match
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
I generally just find any free time to MB Get Hype and then I'll use raw get hype at some other point to always have 3 sais on me if we're running too much lame play. When I get it I hit them with the HIGH DAMAGE if I can open them up.
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
Okay well opening people up with Raph has gotten so much easier after playing with him more. He has more options than I thought. But he’s still looking pretty rough in this meta.

B23 or B2shelldrop is so real. Make sure you’re in the right range though. Please don’t forget to use the restand EVERY TIME if you’re not using hard knockdowns. None of his HKDs guarantee trait.

He can also cancel df2 into parry OR trait.

I like it. He’s.. idk. Good at staying on people I think.
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
Set vs Honored Griz. Filled with drops and mistimed stuff, but I have too many excuses to count on my fingers. Lol! The PS4 actually cut off the recording and started it as soon as the reverse 3-0 started! I swear it's not intentional. Enjoy, however. x] More coming up!
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
Things I've found out recently:

Instant-Air Dive Kick gets you in soooooo well. Very little recovery but it is still punishable, so don't press buttons when you land! If you combine this with turtling, you get a very respectful zoner on the other side of the screen. You can use turtling and MB roll through it as well! So, turtling with it's amazing meter build giving you projectile immunity + the ability to MB roll out of it, gives you an awesome way to get in on opponents. Some opponents that have non-projectile .. projectiles.. (?) like wonder woman, atom, etc.. You're gonna have to find another way in.

B2 is super good. It has crazy active frames. And is a little more than +2 if you hit it towards the end of the active frames. If you meaty B2 on knockdown you become like +4 or +5. B2's active frames also hit in the air so it'll anti-air if you're at that weird range where it actually does that. If that happens, you can hit confirm with b123 turtle cancel for the restand, but I've usually been going with B2 (anti-air) into b23 or B2 trait.

The mix-up comes from a very specific position of B2 on block. You can get B23 (mid overhead in the front) or B2 DB3 (mid overhead in the back). That's a true 50/50, and if you MB the DB3 it becomes much harder to punish. I know Raptor has uploaded a video on it, but please do start using it more. It makes Raph much harder to get away from and makes his up close game very scary.

Raphael has very good enders that causes DB3 to become extremely ambiguous on knockdown. Depending on the gravity of the combo, you can cause your DB3 to hit in the front or the back. The best enders in my experience SO FAR are 21U3, 21D3, and B23. 21U3 is a HKD, disabling the "roll" option. Not many wakeups can trade with the meaty DB3 after it, so if they wakeup it'll trade with the invincibility frames and reset neutral. If they don't wakeup, you get oki. B23 has great hit adv and disables roll. 21D3 is the same but it allows a roll.

21D3, while allowing a roll, adds to the DB3 mixup. Without rolling, the opponent will find that (mid) DB3 will always crossup. If they roll, it won't crossup. And if Raphael uses the far bombshell, it will cross them up after rolling. All can be hit confirmed for another full combo into the same situation or a restand. :)

B23 will not connect on all combos but when it does, DB3 will always crossup. Wakeups do the same thing as they do for 21D3 for the mostpart.

21U3 is strange. DB3 crosses up when 21U3 is used on a standing opponent, but for any other situation the DB3 will ALWAYS hit in the front.


I HOPE THIS HELPS.
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
More gameplay footage coming up! I'm really getting the hang of this. Raphael is really scary up close. MB shell drop is actually really good in the neutral in SUPER CLUTCH moments. Full combo, hard to punish sometimes, and can cross up in very specific distances. Loving it!

I'm pretty interested in starting a Raphael discord if there isn't already one. :)
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
GET.. HYPE.. IS SO .. GOOD.

I know a lot of people have been having trouble getting hype, because it's really unsafe to do in the neutral. But, here's the best way (in my opinion) to build up your hypes SAFELY and maintain consistent high damaging combos!

Get Hype can be SPECIAL CANCELED AT ANY POINT into parry, trait, or super move. The MB has much quicker recovery and gives you 2/5 hype each time, while maintaining the cancel ability.

You can condition your opponent to respect your hype acquisition by using different strings into get hype and then using the parry. Once they're conditioned, you get free hype! But if they bait the parry they get to punish you for a full combo. It's really risky if you make the wrong read, but you can special cancel it at any time, meaning you can SOMETIMES do it in the neutral and punish an attempt to catch your hype with a parry.

The MB is much better than the normal one because the parry still takes time to come out.
 

The Farmer

Gunslinger since pre ptch -Shout out 2 Youphs 2015
GET.. HYPE.. IS SO .. GOOD.

I know a lot of people have been having trouble getting hype, because it's really unsafe to do in the neutral. But, here's the best way (in my opinion) to build up your hypes SAFELY and maintain consistent high damaging combos!

Get Hype can be SPECIAL CANCELED AT ANY POINT into parry, trait, or super move. The MB has much quicker recovery and gives you 2/5 hype each time, while maintaining the cancel ability.

You can condition your opponent to respect your hype acquisition by using different strings into get hype and then using the parry. Once they're conditioned, you get free hype! But if they bait the parry they get to punish you for a full combo. It's really risky if you make the wrong read, but you can special cancel it at any time, meaning you can SOMETIMES do it in the neutral and punish an attempt to catch your hype with a parry.

The MB is much better than the normal one because the parry still takes time to come out.
Yea Ive caught a lot of people sleeping on canceling the trait.
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
Found a dirty setup! Front or back? +3 in the front, +5 in the back.

Front or back will depend on the gravity of the combo you're doing. If you have low gravity it'll land in the front, but you have to have the perfect timing for it. If you have higher gravity it'll be in the back

 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
Here's my MU Chart after playing Raphael religiously for an entire month. Everything is subject to change but my overall thoughts on Raphael are so mixed that it's just really hard to place him in a definite position. The only thing I do know is that Raphael is definitely not A+ or S-Tier. He struggles too much in his bad matchups to be in either of those. I could be wrong! Let me know what you think. That being said, here are my numbers.

Hellboy: 5-5. There's no gun in this matchup really. Leap is a threat, but granted turtling allows you to mb roll forward, dash forward, or backwards, you can dash past all of his leaps by dashing forward. If he air dashes, his jump normals whiff because of turtling dash. Hellboy has better footsies than us but he has to respect B2 on block a bit more than other characters due to his slower normals and stubby d1. No hype in this MU however, full combo punishable by leap into air dash jump normal UNLESS you MB get hype.

Sub-Zero: 4-6. Ice Clone dominates this matchup, even though it can be absorbed. When Sub Zero enters our neutral space we have to respect every single thing he does and play the mind-game of "Ice Clone Toss" or "Normal Move". So turtling becomes very discouraging to use. He pressures us very well. Parry doesn't have much of an advantage in this matchup at all. It's hard. No hype.

Swamp Thing: 5-5. We can absorb his log, which makes him have to use clone or full screen grab, which is punishable on reaction with shell drop. Up close, B2 checks his f2 very well, and all buttons after it. The matchup is not very hard for either, it's completely skill-based in my opinion. Hype is hard to get though, so I wouldn't go for it unless it's in block strings.

Cyborg: 4-6. Cyborg's trait can't be absorbed, so we have to go to him, and he grapples around the screen so fast that none of our normals can break the armor on it, even on meaty. It sucks. We can parry through the gaps in his pressure but it just encourages him to not play up close with us.

Catwoman: 5-5 (possibly 4-6). Similar footsies. D2 low profiles J2. B3 causes j2 to whiff. Parry mindgames. Similar damage. It's a complete 5-5 in my opinion. Hype gets punished by catdash almost every time but in counterpoke it's possible to get hype.

Flash: 4-6. Flash outdamages us, has a low d1, which eliminates all reason to use parry, and has similar neutral space to us (the both of our b2s go the same distance although his is 4 frames slower). It's hard. But with enough parries through the gaps of his pressure, Raphael can enforce a mind game to make him dishonest and make it less oppressive for him. No hype in this MU.

Enchantress: 5-5 (possible 4-6): Enchantress definitely out-neutrals Raphael. Raphael outdamages her, but the issue is "getting in". Enchantress can just play very slow-paced neutral in this matchup until Xibalba is prepared, and then she gets to play her game with Raphael however she likes, granted Raphael is near Xibalba (I'd HOPE the Enchantress is near Xibalba). Xibalba setups are very hard to keep up with and sometimes inescapable so Raphael finds himself struggling to keep up with the life lead. Her hexes are a huge problem in this matchup due to Raph's lack of a full-screen presence. And her mana shield can make the chase to win much harder. But, Enchantress gets murdered in the corner. Hype can be built but you WILL get hexed.

Black Manta: 4-6 (don't wanna throw around 3-7 but..): We have to come to Manta. Turtling absorbs his projectiles and rocket, but instant shark attack and teleport are both threats. It's possible to bait them both but a patient manta will sit and do absolutely nothing and Raphael has absolutely no choice but to come in. When Raph comes in, Manta wins the footsies, chip, and has great counterpoke. He baits out parry very often, even by accident with some of his common blockstrings. It's really hard for Raphael. (pls help)

Supergirl: 5-5: We absorb all of her options from full screen, teleport is reactable, so she has to come to Raphael. If she gets a bar of meter she gets to use her MB trait laser, which we have to take on block. If Raphael has the life lead it doesn't matter, if Supergirl has the life lead, then Raphael has to come to her. The winner is whoever can keep the life lead and play the most patient. Hype is easy to build during blockstrings in this MU.

Green Arrow: 4-6: Counterpoke between specials and normals are ridiculous. Crazy good zoning. Turtling launches us BACKWARDS (for whatever reason). It's very hard for Raphael to win this one due to SAVAGE BLAST ESPECIALLY.

Doctor Fate: 4-6: Same as the previous one. It's just too hard to get in on Fate and when we do get in, he has great footsies, great options after B2 on block, a good wakeup, etc. The best thing to do is knock him down with b23, then you get free OKI every time and don't have to mind his wakeup.

Blue Beetle: 5-5: Raphael has good options after shield bash on block, a good air to air, turtling absorbs projectiles, so Beetle has to play the counterpoke just as much as Raphael does. It's a skill-based match. Raphael also slightly outdamages beetle in this MU. Hypes are easy to build in this MU as well, granted the Beetle is conditioned.

Green Lantern: 4-6: Lantern out-neutrals Raphael, has great buttons after B2 on block. Doesn't care about parry because he's gonna use b1 the whole match. Actually zones Raphael out decently, and Raph doesn't have very good options on Oki against him. It's winnable, but in Green Lantern's favor granted he doesn't have to play the mind games Raphael has to play.

Harley Quinn: 4-6: She zones him out pretty well, but the meter you build with turtling can be used to MB B3 her if she comes in. She out-neutrals us with B2 (somehow...) and out-damages us, meterlessly. Her oki with dogs shuts down get hype wakeup (it's only semi-invincible). Getting Hype in this MU is a no-no. It's winnable, but very hard.

Batman: 4-6: Too many mind games between bat, normal, or low attack to use parry in this MU. Turtling absorbs bats but batman can punish the 2 frame recovery of turtling for a full combo every time.

Red Hood: 5-5: We absorb all of his projectiles and have similar neutral space. We out-damage him but he makes up for it with chip. Getting Hype is OK in this matchup.

Superman: 4-6: The mind games with parry is in Superman's favor, and he out-damages us. His MB laser punishes turtling every time, so he can actually zone in this MU. No getting hype.

Joker: ?? idk.

Atrocitus: 5-5: Raphael does very well in the neutral against Atrocitus until Dex-Starr is out. But, having a parry is a very big advantage, it creates a mind-game that is slightly in Raphael's favor. It makes him waste Dex-Starr time by trying to bait it out, which we can take advantage of. I think it's pretty even in damage until we get hype, then we out-damage him.

Firestorm: 5-5: Raphael absorbs all his projectiles AND molten trap. So, he has to play neutral or use unsafe ass trailblazer. Raphael out-neutrals him with his normals, and his plus frames can be parried. Firestorm has a vortex, but he has to play Raph's game and beat him at it to open him up for it. The vortex makes it 5-5 in my opinion. Without the vortex I believe it would be slightly in Raphael's favor.

Aquaman: 3-7: Out-neutrals, out-damages, out-spaces. It's impossible to do anything in this matchup in my opinion.

Black Canary: 5-5: Similar mix, we out-neutral her until she gets lvl 3 trait, similar damage out-put. nuff said imo.

Darkseid: I.. think darkseid wins but im not sure ill let you guys give your opinions on that. I don't play good darkseids all the darkseids i play aren't credible in my opinion.

Wonder Woman: 3-7: Same as Aquaman.

Black Adam: 3-7 Same as WW & Aquaman.

Captain Cold: 8-2: It's like playing pre-patch scarecrow vs pre-patch captain cold. It's IMPOSSIBLE to get in on him. He gets to low profile our d1 with his after many of his strings AND our strings. Parry isn't an option in this MU because he doesn't have neutral or use mids really. His projectiles can be stacked on one another so we have to come to him. MB DB3 makes it so we can't. His trait is a real threat to us. He actually out-damages us... There's no hype build. It's just impossible.

Gorilla Grodd: unsure. I've played a set against a good grodd and it seemed like it was in Raphael's favor, but who knows? I could be wrong. Grodd is really hard to put a number on granted there are like what? 2 grodds? lol.

Cheetah: 4-6: She doesn't play neutral. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even play Injustice 2. She out-damages us, we can't parry her because she uses d3 not d1. We have no answer for sweep on block/can't punish it granted our d1 whiffs. We just play her game or play crazy with her. She's the best at playing her own game though, so, Raph loses it. There's hype build. Use it maybe? Not sure if it's exactly safe though. Nothing's definite with cheetah.

Deadshot: 5-5 (possible 4-6): Raphael has to hold MB low rifle on block. He has to hold all his multi-shot attacks, but the mind-game is between straight shot and all of those. When we get in, if we get in, Raphael wins up close. He can out-footsie all of his 50/50s and out-damage him consistently. Restand makes it so we don't have to deal with his wakeup. There's no hype build because his d1 is a low.

Poison Ivy: 4-6: All the turtles lose to Ivy. Vine drill checks them all from full screen, she out-neutrals most of them, but Raphael's b2 is better than her B2 (imo). She out-damages him (slightly), but he can't build hype so it's harder for him to keep up with the chip she deals out, the damage, and her full-screen dominance.

Starfire: ......... It's just too hard to put a number on it. Starfire zones him out so hard that I don't know if I should put it as 4-6 or just 9-1 lol.

Atom: 4-6. Atom wins. Stomp can't be absorbed. His projectile can. That's a mind-game. He has a teleport if he sees us getting hype or he gets bored of stomping. We have no answer for his trait really aside from block and push-block. It's really hard to stay in on him. His d3 can low profile B2 at certain ranges. So yeah.

Robin: 4-6: His mind-games, damage, and neutral are all superior to Raphael's.

Scarecrow: 5-5: Raphael out-neutrals scarecrow in my opinion but he has to respect Scarecrow's sniper-length jump-in. Everybody has issues with Scarecrow's pressure so that's just a given. But having a parry is pretty good in this MU, especially having the fastest parry in the game at 5 frames (4-frames as a reversal). But, that just adds onto the mind-games. Scarecrow could win this one, but I think it's 5-5 so far.

Bane: .. Bane doesn't play injustice 2 imo so it's hard to give an opinion on the matchup.

Brainiac: havent played.

Raiden: havent played.

Leonardo: 4-6: Raphael has to play Leo's game of neutral due to the fact that Leonardo has "Raph assist" to check "Get hype". He wins all the mind-games, and has greater neutral options.

Michaelangelo: 4-6: Michaelangelo doesn't care about Raphael's pressure at all, he can low profile b2 with his breakdance for a full combo. He has full screen presence with skateboard. Raph can parry through his pressure but that's if he guesses right on the mix first (which you won't). SO yeah no.

Donatello: 4-6: Raphael has to play his game. and Donatello actually manages to out-damage Raphael in this matchup. Donatello out-neutrals Raphael. Raphael is capable of getting hype in this matchup relatively easy, however.

THOUGHTS?
 

The Farmer

Gunslinger since pre ptch -Shout out 2 Youphs 2015
Here's my MU Chart after playing Raphael religiously for an entire month. Everything is subject to change but my overall thoughts on Raphael are so mixed that it's just really hard to place him in a definite position. The only thing I do know is that Raphael is definitely not A+ or S-Tier. He struggles too much in his bad matchups to be in either of those. I could be wrong! Let me know what you think. That being said, here are my numbers.

Hellboy: 5-5. There's no gun in this matchup really. Leap is a threat, but granted turtling allows you to mb roll forward, dash forward, or backwards, you can dash past all of his leaps by dashing forward. If he air dashes, his jump normals whiff because of turtling dash. Hellboy has better footsies than us but he has to respect B2 on block a bit more than other characters due to his slower normals and stubby d1. No hype in this MU however, full combo punishable by leap into air dash jump normal UNLESS you MB get hype.

Sub-Zero: 4-6. Ice Clone dominates this matchup, even though it can be absorbed. When Sub Zero enters our neutral space we have to respect every single thing he does and play the mind-game of "Ice Clone Toss" or "Normal Move". So turtling becomes very discouraging to use. He pressures us very well. Parry doesn't have much of an advantage in this matchup at all. It's hard. No hype.

Swamp Thing: 5-5. We can absorb his log, which makes him have to use clone or full screen grab, which is punishable on reaction with shell drop. Up close, B2 checks his f2 very well, and all buttons after it. The matchup is not very hard for either, it's completely skill-based in my opinion. Hype is hard to get though, so I wouldn't go for it unless it's in block strings.

Cyborg: 4-6. Cyborg's trait can't be absorbed, so we have to go to him, and he grapples around the screen so fast that none of our normals can break the armor on it, even on meaty. It sucks. We can parry through the gaps in his pressure but it just encourages him to not play up close with us.

Catwoman: 5-5 (possibly 4-6). Similar footsies. D2 low profiles J2. B3 causes j2 to whiff. Parry mindgames. Similar damage. It's a complete 5-5 in my opinion. Hype gets punished by catdash almost every time but in counterpoke it's possible to get hype.

Flash: 4-6. Flash outdamages us, has a low d1, which eliminates all reason to use parry, and has similar neutral space to us (the both of our b2s go the same distance although his is 4 frames slower). It's hard. But with enough parries through the gaps of his pressure, Raphael can enforce a mind game to make him dishonest and make it less oppressive for him. No hype in this MU.

Enchantress: 5-5 (possible 4-6): Enchantress definitely out-neutrals Raphael. Raphael outdamages her, but the issue is "getting in". Enchantress can just play very slow-paced neutral in this matchup until Xibalba is prepared, and then she gets to play her game with Raphael however she likes, granted Raphael is near Xibalba (I'd HOPE the Enchantress is near Xibalba). Xibalba setups are very hard to keep up with and sometimes inescapable so Raphael finds himself struggling to keep up with the life lead. Her hexes are a huge problem in this matchup due to Raph's lack of a full-screen presence. And her mana shield can make the chase to win much harder. But, Enchantress gets murdered in the corner. Hype can be built but you WILL get hexed.

Black Manta: 4-6 (don't wanna throw around 3-7 but..): We have to come to Manta. Turtling absorbs his projectiles and rocket, but instant shark attack and teleport are both threats. It's possible to bait them both but a patient manta will sit and do absolutely nothing and Raphael has absolutely no choice but to come in. When Raph comes in, Manta wins the footsies, chip, and has great counterpoke. He baits out parry very often, even by accident with some of his common blockstrings. It's really hard for Raphael. (pls help)

Supergirl: 5-5: We absorb all of her options from full screen, teleport is reactable, so she has to come to Raphael. If she gets a bar of meter she gets to use her MB trait laser, which we have to take on block. If Raphael has the life lead it doesn't matter, if Supergirl has the life lead, then Raphael has to come to her. The winner is whoever can keep the life lead and play the most patient. Hype is easy to build during blockstrings in this MU.

Green Arrow: 4-6: Counterpoke between specials and normals are ridiculous. Crazy good zoning. Turtling launches us BACKWARDS (for whatever reason). It's very hard for Raphael to win this one due to SAVAGE BLAST ESPECIALLY.

Doctor Fate: 4-6: Same as the previous one. It's just too hard to get in on Fate and when we do get in, he has great footsies, great options after B2 on block, a good wakeup, etc. The best thing to do is knock him down with b23, then you get free OKI every time and don't have to mind his wakeup.

Blue Beetle: 5-5: Raphael has good options after shield bash on block, a good air to air, turtling absorbs projectiles, so Beetle has to play the counterpoke just as much as Raphael does. It's a skill-based match. Raphael also slightly outdamages beetle in this MU. Hypes are easy to build in this MU as well, granted the Beetle is conditioned.

Green Lantern: 4-6: Lantern out-neutrals Raphael, has great buttons after B2 on block. Doesn't care about parry because he's gonna use b1 the whole match. Actually zones Raphael out decently, and Raph doesn't have very good options on Oki against him. It's winnable, but in Green Lantern's favor granted he doesn't have to play the mind games Raphael has to play.

Harley Quinn: 4-6: She zones him out pretty well, but the meter you build with turtling can be used to MB B3 her if she comes in. She out-neutrals us with B2 (somehow...) and out-damages us, meterlessly. Her oki with dogs shuts down get hype wakeup (it's only semi-invincible). Getting Hype in this MU is a no-no. It's winnable, but very hard.

Batman: 4-6: Too many mind games between bat, normal, or low attack to use parry in this MU. Turtling absorbs bats but batman can punish the 2 frame recovery of turtling for a full combo every time.

Red Hood: 5-5: We absorb all of his projectiles and have similar neutral space. We out-damage him but he makes up for it with chip. Getting Hype is OK in this matchup.

Superman: 4-6: The mind games with parry is in Superman's favor, and he out-damages us. His MB laser punishes turtling every time, so he can actually zone in this MU. No getting hype.

Joker: ?? idk.

Atrocitus: 5-5: Raphael does very well in the neutral against Atrocitus until Dex-Starr is out. But, having a parry is a very big advantage, it creates a mind-game that is slightly in Raphael's favor. It makes him waste Dex-Starr time by trying to bait it out, which we can take advantage of. I think it's pretty even in damage until we get hype, then we out-damage him.

Firestorm: 5-5: Raphael absorbs all his projectiles AND molten trap. So, he has to play neutral or use unsafe ass trailblazer. Raphael out-neutrals him with his normals, and his plus frames can be parried. Firestorm has a vortex, but he has to play Raph's game and beat him at it to open him up for it. The vortex makes it 5-5 in my opinion. Without the vortex I believe it would be slightly in Raphael's favor.

Aquaman: 3-7: Out-neutrals, out-damages, out-spaces. It's impossible to do anything in this matchup in my opinion.

Black Canary: 5-5: Similar mix, we out-neutral her until she gets lvl 3 trait, similar damage out-put. nuff said imo.

Darkseid: I.. think darkseid wins but im not sure ill let you guys give your opinions on that. I don't play good darkseids all the darkseids i play aren't credible in my opinion.

Wonder Woman: 3-7: Same as Aquaman.

Black Adam: 3-7 Same as WW & Aquaman.

Captain Cold: 8-2: It's like playing pre-patch scarecrow vs pre-patch captain cold. It's IMPOSSIBLE to get in on him. He gets to low profile our d1 with his after many of his strings AND our strings. Parry isn't an option in this MU because he doesn't have neutral or use mids really. His projectiles can be stacked on one another so we have to come to him. MB DB3 makes it so we can't. His trait is a real threat to us. He actually out-damages us... There's no hype build. It's just impossible.

Gorilla Grodd: unsure. I've played a set against a good grodd and it seemed like it was in Raphael's favor, but who knows? I could be wrong. Grodd is really hard to put a number on granted there are like what? 2 grodds? lol.

Cheetah: 4-6: She doesn't play neutral. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even play Injustice 2. She out-damages us, we can't parry her because she uses d3 not d1. We have no answer for sweep on block/can't punish it granted our d1 whiffs. We just play her game or play crazy with her. She's the best at playing her own game though, so, Raph loses it. There's hype build. Use it maybe? Not sure if it's exactly safe though. Nothing's definite with cheetah.

Deadshot: 5-5 (possible 4-6): Raphael has to hold MB low rifle on block. He has to hold all his multi-shot attacks, but the mind-game is between straight shot and all of those. When we get in, if we get in, Raphael wins up close. He can out-footsie all of his 50/50s and out-damage him consistently. Restand makes it so we don't have to deal with his wakeup. There's no hype build because his d1 is a low.

Poison Ivy: 4-6: All the turtles lose to Ivy. Vine drill checks them all from full screen, she out-neutrals most of them, but Raphael's b2 is better than her B2 (imo). She out-damages him (slightly), but he can't build hype so it's harder for him to keep up with the chip she deals out, the damage, and her full-screen dominance.

Starfire: ......... It's just too hard to put a number on it. Starfire zones him out so hard that I don't know if I should put it as 4-6 or just 9-1 lol.

Atom: 4-6. Atom wins. Stomp can't be absorbed. His projectile can. That's a mind-game. He has a teleport if he sees us getting hype or he gets bored of stomping. We have no answer for his trait really aside from block and push-block. It's really hard to stay in on him. His d3 can low profile B2 at certain ranges. So yeah.

Robin: 4-6: His mind-games, damage, and neutral are all superior to Raphael's.

Scarecrow: 5-5: Raphael out-neutrals scarecrow in my opinion but he has to respect Scarecrow's sniper-length jump-in. Everybody has issues with Scarecrow's pressure so that's just a given. But having a parry is pretty good in this MU, especially having the fastest parry in the game at 5 frames (4-frames as a reversal). But, that just adds onto the mind-games. Scarecrow could win this one, but I think it's 5-5 so far.

Bane: .. Bane doesn't play injustice 2 imo so it's hard to give an opinion on the matchup.

Brainiac: havent played.

Raiden: havent played.

Leonardo: 4-6: Raphael has to play Leo's game of neutral due to the fact that Leonardo has "Raph assist" to check "Get hype". He wins all the mind-games, and has greater neutral options.

Michaelangelo: 4-6: Michaelangelo doesn't care about Raphael's pressure at all, he can low profile b2 with his breakdance for a full combo. He has full screen presence with skateboard. Raph can parry through his pressure but that's if he guesses right on the mix first (which you won't). SO yeah no.

Donatello: 4-6: Raphael has to play his game. and Donatello actually manages to out-damage Raphael in this matchup. Donatello out-neutrals Raphael. Raphael is capable of getting hype in this matchup relatively easy, however.

THOUGHTS?
You get an A for effort with this write up, Most people just post numbers without any explanations. You have my respect there.
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
@ATP2014 He has no winning matchups. :( Some 5-5s, but none winning. Lots of losing ones.

@The Farmer Thank you! I try to give reason behind my thought. It's a discussion board, so it's hard to discuss things without making supported points.
 

Marinjuana

Up rock incoming, ETA 5 minutes
I never played a good Raphael as Brainiac but I'll add that my first impressions is that Brainiac destroys him. Raphael can turtle his projectile and has a parry but other then that there's very little Raph does to stop Brainiac from doing his thing.
 

ATP2014

The best mediocre Batman
I admit when I tried Raphael, he felt the worst out of the 4. Ppl hyped up his restands and dmg, but actually getting to that point seemed impossible.

I'm not an expert with Ralph, but some of my suggestions:

- Reduce recovery frames of Get Hype in half
- Reduce start-up frames for parry (maybe 2 frames?)
- Increase b12 hitbox so as it lands off more combos more consistently and anti-airs
- Universal change, increase d1 hitbox
 
Guys Idk if this is common knowledge, but seeing as how some posts seem to imply that getting hype is impossible without getting punished for it in some MUs, there is an ender that gives you safe hype activation in basically every situation. It does force you to sacrifice a hefty amount of damage tho, so whether the cost is worth it is another matter.

Basic combo for guaranteed hype can go something like this:
StarterxxMbDB3, D2, B3, J2, 21xxDF2
I’ve tested it mainly using Superman’s super which is six frames and it’s safe against that regardless of whether they tech roll or not. It’s also safe against flash’s super regardless of whether they tech roll or not but it is a little more strict on how high you do the ender so it’s fair to say that safe hype activation is guaranteed by the ender.
It does around 50 damage less than another ender such as J3, F213xxBF3 so i think it’s mainly better to use this ender on a conversion such as after a cross up J3 or a D1 anti air where you wouldn’t get much damage anyway. It’s also a good option on background Bounce combos where launching wouldn’t require a bar and you could instead use it to meter burn DF2 for additional hype. Idk if this was known already but if it is then sowwy :,(

Edit: lol I said the ender did 500 damage less
Fixed it.
 
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Hmmmm!!!! Lots of good talk here. I’ll give my suggestions to change Raph soon.
Still interested to hear your suggestions.

Only been playing raph for a bit and only on the couch with my buddy (good Bane main, has a good BA, Starfire, and okay Canary). Need to go online and grind for a bit to really decide if these are needed or not, but I feel like his reward for getting his trait up is not really that great.

It would be nice if either his mbdf2 gave you 3 sais instead of one or if his trait just did more damage. It's kinda nuts that you could potentially spend 2 bars (and another raw hype) for a move that needs to be hit confirmed into maybe 400 damage after ANOTHER bar is spent. Just seems like his resources don't go very far.

So basically I'd increase payoff for trait or increase sais received for mb. But again I've only played my buddy and still do pretty okay.

I would suggest possibly making df2 cancellable into turtling so you could build resources full screen against zoners but that might be too good?
 

AkioOf100

I play Raph
My Proposed Raphael Changes:

1) Reduce B2 recovery frames to 14 from 20, and make it +4 instead of +2.
That way the MB B3 option select on his staggers would just be gone as a whole since you can't really B2 Parry/B2 Shell Drop on reaction. Getting a full combo from a plus, armored launcher off of an O.S. is kinda stupid against a character that struggles as much as Raphael in the neutral.

2) Reduce recovery frames on DF2 from 55 to 38 (adjust cancel frames to be proportionate) and Reduce DF2 MB recovery frames from 29 to 15 (adjust cancel frames to be proportionate).
I could be wrong on the numbers but I think that the fact that DF2 is so punishable that you can dash twice and still punish it with some characters is too high of a risk for a move like that. It's possible to build hype as is, but the risk factor of not sacrificing the meter (that you will need to sacrifice again to get the actual reward from the trait...) is way too high to only get one hype built. No string should be a true blockstring unless you MB it, which brings my next point. When you MB DF2 I believe Raphael should be able to do true, uninterruptible blockstrings by using DF2 MB into 4. Right now, you can be interrupted no matter how fast you are. And it'll also use up all the trait you built if the move starts up but the active frames dont. Which is kinda ridiculous considering the risk/reward in this situation. Reducing both of these recoveries will make Hype a bit more safe to get out, but will still maintain the risk factor unless you sacrifice the bar to guarantee the hype.

3) Increase active frames on DB2 (idk the numbers). Right now, it's a 5 frame parry, which is the fastest parry in the game. But, at the same time, it has the most recovery out of all of the parries in the game with the lowest amount of active frames (could be Wowo but Wowo has no recovery so i digress). I think making the active frames last a bit longer OR making the recovery a bit faster would make the parry worth risking it for. Or, they could always make it so that landing a parry will guarantee a hype build.

4) GIVE RAPHAEL A PROJECTILE. He has absolutely no full screen presence and there is no reason to go in on him as virtually any character in the game. I think giving him a projectile, even if it's not a very good one, would change up his matchups (possibly giving him a single winning one, granted he has none), and give him some more options for counterpoke (which he is lacking, since he has no low starter either, arguably making him most vulnerable character in the game to parries imo). It could be a Shuriken Toss since it makes more sense that he tosses shuriken rather than the sais that are in his hands. (Ranting onward, they could even make it punishable on block up close. Unless they planned on making it something like Kano's where it's slightly plus if MB'd.. Then he'd definitely be better.)

5) Allow Raphael to cancel his Trait Combo at any point without extending the combo by pressing D4. Each of the different enders are HKDs and 1 and 2 hypes actually give him decent OKI. Guaranteeing a DB3 crossup from the perfect distance. Getting those setups while simultaneously being able to conserve hype that you've built to hit confirm your next hit (if u get one from the setup) would be huge for him and would change his MUs pretty drastically I believe.
 
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