Strategy Raven's Zoning Game

[Owerbart]

Hello everyone. In this particular thread we may share tips on how to zone properly certain chars as well as general zoning.

My view is that any soul crush that you hit, if you want to zone, must be MB and end the combo with B23-Demon mode. I highly praised Raven's projectile because of her recovery, but as time passes by I guess Negative masses will be more favored. Another cool thing is the time you have to execute the exact NM you want. Input DF1 and while Raven raises her arm you'll have time to direct the NM.

Don't be too predictable with the NMs, nor get caught in your patterns. Try to predict where's your opponent gonna move. Because of NM being neutral on block, your opponent wont be getting any free dashes like with blocked soulcrush.

Some people like to spam singularity while in Demon Mode because of his wide range. Although I can't say is bad I prefer to stick with NMs.

Teleports and Reflects are nice to counter your opponents projectiles, but teles are a little bit slow so try to use them more on read than on reaction.

While not in Demon Mode, Remember that after a blocked projectile you can trap your opponent into blocking a soulcrush, Raven's projectile hits high so you won't be able to chip them.

Anyone is welcome to share their views.

 

[kabelfritz]

i actually dont think raven should be zoning unless she is forced to or has a huge lifelead. because once you figured her out its so easy to avoid and you wont do anything but chip. where she shines is jump range and a little further, cause she can go in herself there but still has the constant threat of her zoning tools if the opponent wants to take a risk himself. its basically a range-enhanced foostie game. the only exception would be characters which are extremly dangerous up close, like bane and grundy with their unblockables and armor.

so if youre in a zoning position, there are 2 options: normal and demon stance

in normal mode id try to close the gap to her comfort zone quickly. i like to do that by throwing a shadow raven and dashing after it, or mix it up with the shadow raven~soulchrush frametrap to condition your opponent not to do something after the raven. if the opponent has a strong zoning himself, you have multiple options:

1. absorb and reflect to buy you the time to get in. after fullscreen db1d you can also dash df2.
2. jump a projectile for an air demon stance or do a shadow raven and demon stance if you conditioned your opponent to not counter the raven.
3. you cant jump some projectiles like jokers and neither parry them very well, so you gotta do it the oldschool way: block and dash.

in demon stance its not necessary to close the gap as quick as possible, and jump distance is also not that recommended because you lose your most threatening anti jump-in tool with singularity. it can be replaced by df1b but you gotta make a read on that or its just a waste of time.that leads to these options:

1. in zoning distance you should use df1s and mix them up with df2 and db2 in case the opponents dashes the df1. you should ALWAYS meter burn the df 1 to continue with a db2MB to put him into the vortex which is imo ravens strongest tool and needs to be used as much as possible. if you absorb and reflect a projectile, go for the downwards version (db1d) and do db2MB for the vortex again. you can also teleport on read or reaction but better only use it if the opponent isnt waiting for it. especially air teleport can be punished hard, after ground you can still block. when i teleport a projectile i like to teleport in front of them cause that tends to be pretty irritating. in any case you should mix up frontal and behind teleports, sometimes its also good to teleport multiple times, just be aware of auto-correcting moves.

2. if the opponent reaches jump distance, go in yourself or df1b or df2 (risky, can be jumped by fast jumping characters like catwoman) to counter his attempts. if you go for normal df1, dont forget to mix up with the soulcrush frametrap. do NOT use db2 anymore cause its easy to jump. also a teleport from jump distance can be pretty irritating sometimes but its risky if he attacks himself so better do that after a df1 when hes conditioned to block further.

thats my 2 cents on what raven should do in zoning distance