Street Fighter Alpha 2/Rose

Introduction

Rose's best Street Fighter incarnation is definitely SFA2. Ranking wise, she's in the upper echelon of the cast, generally agreed to be part of the top tier. She should be played very aggressively as her offensive game is far better than her defensive one. Rose needs to always have meter to threaten opponents because just one level of meter gives her a world of openings and comebacks. With unparalleled priority on her crouching strong punches, great reach and overall priority on the rest of her normals, and her godly assortment of level 1 supers/ACs/CCs, Rose earns her spot in the herald Top 4.

Rose. She can be played various ways effectively, so use whatever style fits you whether aggressive or c.mp x100. Hands down top 4 in A2, no arguing about it.

• Pros

Poking- c.mp is a all around get the hell off me move and highly abusable, when used smart any way, dont expect to just mash c.mp and win, but on top of that she does have a very good set of normals, df+mk for example.

Anti-air- c.mp, c.fp, and s.fp pretty much cover almost any AA situation you can run into.

ACs- Hands down best acs, Punch ac is godly and kick ac is too good, more on these later.

Supers- Well, hands down best single super, Soul Illusion. This baby gives you shadows that mimic you and power up all you moves, and is the key to doing unblockables. Fireball and grab super buff as well.

Matches- No bad match-ups imo, being a even 5:5 in general.

• Cons

No-wake up moves with out super, this is really bad vs gief

Command Moves List

df+mk- When done at max distance you can counter hit c.mp xx drill, but if not done right you can be hit if you attempt to swing. This normal is so useful once you scare your opponent. Why? Cause...

1.df+mk, block then punch ac, buffer soul spark

2.df+mk (MAX distance), c.mp xx lk drill

3.df+mk, lvl 1 or 2 super fireball

4.df+mk, walk up throw

5.df+mk, cc

There goes some options, fun times. Best option is #1, cause it they swing, you ac, if they dont, c.mp xx soul spark comes out.

Normal Moves

Jab
Standing
A quick standing punch. Nothing special. Since Rose is so tall, it can whiff small crouching opponents like Chun, which is a bad thing. But, on tall opponents, it can stop them from jumping over and starting a crossup as her jabs will pin them down. You can do a couple of walking jabs since it does have frame advantage, and links into c.mp.

Crouching
A rapid fire crouching punch. It's fast enough to stop most tick-throw cheaps. If you feel your opponent is setting you up for tick-throw bait, spam on crouching LPs to stop them. It also links into her other normals (cr.LK, cr.MP, cr.HP), so it's good to use to set up hit confirm combos. cr.LP, cr. LP, cr.MP is a good one.

Jumping
Jumping chop. Jump straight up LP works okay as an anti-air, but strong is better. Not much use for this.

Strong
Standing
Like her jab except her fist is glowing. It's okay to use as an anti-air for people jumping far away and like the standing jab it's sometimes good at keeping them pinned on the ground to prevent them from jumping over you. Other than that, not much use.

Crouching
Rose's signature normal move. Her crouching MP is probably the best prioritized normal in the game. The only time she's vulnerable using it is in the split second when it's retracting, and even then the opponent has very little time to counter. In nearly every situation, it's safe, it's spammable, and it'll outprioritize almost any other attack in its hitbox. Use it to annoy, to poke, and to force them to jump into her anti-airs. In combos, it is usually buffered into her LK Soul Spiral or used after a successful Punch AC. This move is what makes Rose so powerful on the ground. And besides, what other normal in SFA2 has won an entire tournament on its own? If CvS2 Sagat's c.fp and 3S chuns b+fp had a love child, this is it. This move right here beat a good 98% of the moves in A2 and trades with the other 2%, even works as anti air vs alot of character. Any character wants to get pokey, start pressing this bad boy to stuff their move. If you want to get more advanced, buffer into soul spark while whiffing. Links into itself and very good meaty attack.

Jumping
Glowing hand version of jumping LP. Mostly jump straight up with it as a good anti-air when your standard crouching HP isn't working (especially in matches such as vs. Zangief, M.Bison, and Rolento).

Fierce
Standing
Rose whips out her shawl short-ranged. It's comboable, but her cr.HP is probably a better choice overall. Best used if they missed a big super combo or DP and you have all the time in the world to do standing HP xx HK Soul Spiral. It's also her only normal that can reliably combo into her LP Soul Spark fireball. Other than the mistake punishing combo and Soul Spark combo listed, this normal also serves as a far AA in certain instances very well.

Crouching
Rose's go-to anti-air. This is very good at taking people out of the air, and you can use her Soul Illusion to back up the damage or insure that things will always trade in your favor. She can also tack on a level 1 or level 2 Aura Soul Throw super at the end for more damage... although the level 2 is a bit of a waste (level 1 might be worth it though if you have the meter to spare). If anyone is jumping at you, Rose's quickest answer is crouching HP. It combos beautifully into her HK Soul Spiral as part of her big combos too. Vs Gief jumping on top of you, do c.fp LATE to trade, otehrwise you will get stuffed.

Jumping
A crescent moon shawl attack. This move is good to start combos with if you know you have an opening, or if you're meeting them in air-to-air battles and you whip this out early.

Short
Standing
A short ranged outwards kick. Not too much use except for maybe tick-throw setups. It can stop Guy's sliding and outpoke a few other character's low moves, but her cr.MP is far better at outprioritizing.

Crouching
A quick low kick. It can link into her cr.MP for combos, and it itself links easily from a cr.LP. Otherwise, her crouching LP is faster at stopping tick-throws and cheaps. If you want to start her Soul Illusions up close safely, cancel it from a crouching LK (hit or blocked), and start your assault. If you need breathing room and think that her sweep might be too slow on its own, do a cr.LK first, then sweep to push them away. Finally, a trusty cheap is to make them block a cr.LK, then immediately throw.

Jumping
A 45 degree angled downwards kick. This is a very good jump in because of the angle she comes in at. It's probably her best prioritized jump in too. Use it when powered up by Soul Illusion for the best chance to score a hit or use it for jumping tick throws.

Foward
Standing
A weird short-ranged kick where Rose balances on her shawl. The best thing about this move is that it lifts Rose's whole body off the ground as she's balancing on her magic shawl, so a lot of low attacks will whiff under her and she can score a hit. The bad thing is that it has way less range than it looks and she can get punished badly since it's kinda slow recovering. Use it sporadically when you know a low move is coming. Also, you can use it as sweep Alpha Counter bait, like if your opponent ended up blocking your CC. Do repeated standing MKs and if they tried to sweep AC you, it'll miss.

Crouching
A long ranged kick that looks like a stationary slide. It can combo into her LK Soul Spiral, and is good to use if Rose is too far away for her cr.MP to connect for a combo. It's got good reach, so when her cr.MP is too short to counter, use her cr.MK to go under her opponent's move from a distance and score a counter hit. Finally, cancel into her (any level, but mostly level 1) Aura Soul Spark as an AC reversal.

Jumping
Rose's important cross-up. It's a very good cross-up with a huge hit box which makes it very forgiving when trying for a crossup since it stays out for a long time. On crouching or standing opponents, Rose should have not trouble aiming for their shoulders and getting a successful crossup all the time. Always try to use it when powered up by the Soul Illusion, as one successful Soul Illusioned crossup jumping MK will lead to huge life taken off of your enemy. This is also a great jump back move to catch people chasing her in the air.

Roundhouse
Standing
A weird standing cartwheel attack. Not much use because Rose is very slow on the recovery. It's probable best use is when you sense that they're going to jump at you and you stick out a standing HK so that they jump right into her out-stretched heel. Abuse this vs people who cant crouch it (Gief, Sagat), great range and early anti airs jumper, good AA from a distance if they do swing early.

Crouching
Rose's sweep. It's a very good sweep because it is very long ranged, making her Valle CCs all the more dangerous because she can strike from a farther distance than expected. Use like you would a shoto's sweep, except she's very vulnerable if it's blocked up close because of her slow recovery, meaning she's easy AC fodder. Only use to it to punish and at a safe, far distance and if they can't readily AC you back on block. Otherwise, use it to push people away when they're meterless so you don't suffer retaliation.

Jumping
A good combo starting jumping attack because she has a lot more horizontal range than her jumping HP. Also a great jump back move.

Alpha Counters

Punch Alpha Counter while blocking, B,DB, D + Punch
Probably the best all-purpose Alpha Counter in the game. Now, why so good? This move stops everything except projectiles and Rose can combo into a knockdown every time. so obviously the prime time to use this is when you're in the corner being pressured. Punch AC out and put them into the corner and completely change the momentum. It's also a good "getup" AC, This allows for c.mp xx lk drill vs everyone (except chun, drill will be blocked, do soul spark) and s.fp xx hk drill vs Gief. Another reason this is so good is because it BUILDS METER. Yup 1/3 of a lvl 1. If you do 3 acs in a row you will have a lvl 1. Fucked up huh? This will not trade with anything, will grab any multi hit move. THIS WILL NOT GRAB FIREBALLS, use kick instead. When alpha countering always buffer into soul spark.

Kick Alpha Counter while blocking, B,DB, D + Kick
Rose's sweep. It's got good range and sets them up to be crossed up or unblockable afterwards. Kick AC footsies-into-fireball patterns to prevent being pushed out and to swing the momentum back on your side. This is the ac to use vs fireballs since pinch ac whiffs.

Special Moves

Soul Spark HCF + Punch
Her fireball. Strength of punch determines speed and length of her shawl. Not the best fireball since it has a bit of recovery and people can hit her extended shawl or arm to damage her. It's not going to win Rose any fireball fights, but it's still usable for far screen pressuring and to cancel out incoming fireballs when safely far away. But its main use is that when blocked, it pushes them back all the way across the screen. So definitely use her combo into her Soul Spark (blocked) to get some breathing room and push them away from Rose if you need them to get off your back. The more fireballs Rose absorbs, the stronger her next Soul Spark is. It can add up significantly, if they let your absorb 6+ fireballs which can lead to her 100% CC. But unless they're retarded, most opponents won't give Rose that much free meter.

• This fireball is very good to push your opponent away, usually about half screen. Ive been saved for many ccs from doin a point blank fireball, when they activated and got pushed back and took the hit lol. Also has good recovery.

Soul Reflect QCB + Punch
Soul Reflect- These are her fireball reflectors, each with a different property. All version are safe on block and actually useful meaties and good in poke string, EX. cross up mk, c.mk xx hp reflect, df+mk.

Lp- Rose will twirl her scarf absorbing any fireball, except iirc, Charlie's super. This will absorb one hit of supers. This give you roughly 1/3 of a lvl 1 and powers up your soul spark (chip damage also) with each absorb, up to 6 absorbs (i believe). This power up leads to Rose's 100% cc. Special note about this though, power up last for ONE soul spark only UNLESS you are in cc. So if you absorb 6 soul sparks then fireball, power up is reset to normal, BUT if you are powered up then cc, each soul spark does powered up damage.

Mp- Rose twirls her scarf in a circular motion, reflecting any projectile forward and key to A2 tennis (patent pending) lol, and her 100% corner combo. Good meaty.

Hp- Does a diagonal reflect and main one used in poke strings. This will reflect the fireball at a 45 degree angle. This is very useful vs Bison and Charlie, as Bison tend to try to headstomp after and Charlie tries to jump after a couple mp refelects from afar.

Soul Drill- This is your special move to combo into. This move does very good damage when rh version is used. Lk drill can be comboed from any medium attack and rh version can be comboed from andy hard attack. Try not to do these when opponent has meter or long limbs, because it is punishable is those cases.

Soul Throw DP + Punch
Rose's "throw" DP. Unlike a real Dragon Punch, no invincibility here. She will pretty much never use this move on its own. The only time Rose will be using her Soul Throw is to end her custom combos.

Soul Spiral QCF + Kick
Rose's main combo special move. LK Soul Spiral combos from cr.MP and cr.MK. HK Soul Spiral combos from her cr.HP or Illusioned moves (like Illusion cr.MP). There isn't too much use for the MK Soul Spiral except when if you're afraid of retaliation from the long recovery of her blocked HK Soul Spiral. When you're Illusioned, you want to land a Soul Spiral as much as possible because it does huge damage. And everyone knows when blocked, a blocked Illusioned Soul Spiral chips out tons of life. Blocked Soul Spirals can be countered with CC, so be extra careful if they have meter to punish you with a Valle CC.

Super Moves

Aura Soul Spark QCB, QCB + Punch
Use in fireball fights or in AC reversals at level 1. Also use her level 1 as a reversal/DP against pokes. At level 2, she cartwheels several times before doing her fireball, so it's best used in combos (powered up by a level 1 Soul Illusion if you want to be flashy and damaging at the same time). Level 3 reflects all projectiles and super projectiles before she does her fireball (but no cartwheeling), so ideally you would want to use it upclose to reverse a fireball or super fireball. Her level 2 and 3 versions generally aren't worth using, so only stick to her level 1 for countering. Lvl 2 can combo after a punch AC.

Aura Soul Throw QCF, QCF + Punch
Buff version of her special grab, beat everything and changes per lvl. Truthfully all you need is c.fp xx lvl 1, and other lvls are not worth the meter, maybe lvl 3 is it will kill or you need a quick 50% damage to catch up.

Lvl 1- Regular soul grab animation, roughly 30%.

Lvl 2- Rose does her c.fp, then soul throw. 40%.

Lvl 3- Rose does a rushing punch, c.fp, soul throw. 50%, can combo off light attacks

Soul Illusion QCF, QCF + Kick
This baby has her own little section

The Basics

Rose should always try to be attacking her opponent, using level 1 Illusions to pressure, level 1 ACs/Aura Soul Throw when put on the defensive, or level level 1 CCs when an opportunity presents itself. When meterless, Rose should try hard to gain back her level 1 as fast as possible by absorbing fireballs, whiffing HP Soul Reflects (they're the fastest), or mounting a good footsie game with her cr.MP into LK Soul Spirals to gain meter. Once you do have your level 1, your main goal should then be to trip your opponent, start level 1 Illusions, and go into her crossup game. Never let up with the attack when you have meter because all it takes is one opponent mistake for Rose to hugely swing momentum to her side.

Basic Ground Game
Rose's ground game revolves around these moves:
- Soul Illusion
- cr.MP
- cr.HP
- cr.HK
- cr.LP
- Kick AC

Rose's best range is right up close when she has meter. Use cr.MP a lot to outprioritize your opponent's moves and snuff out random CCs. Rose's cr.HP stops a lot of jumping moves and it should be your main anti-air. If you have the time and meter, start a level 1 Soul Illusion first and then do the cr.HP for massive damage off their life. If you want to use meter (especially if you have extra meter to spare), do her level 1 Aura Soul Throw for a nice chunk of damage when you're going to anti-air.

Rose's Kick AC is very useful in her ground game because it lets her start her crossups. If you're being pushed out by fireballs, such as shotos' cr.HK xx Fireball, just block the fireball and Kick AC it to knock them down and then go for her crossup (start Illusion if time and meter permits). If you see them standing within your sweep, go for the Valle CC because her sweep is so long ranged. Finally, if you feel you're going to be cheap thrown such as if you're trapped in Ken's roll shenanigans, spam on cr.LPs to stop their throw attempts.

Building Meter
Whenever you're out of meter, Rose should always be trying to gain back her level 1. That means if you're midscreen or farther, 80% of the time you see a fireball come your way you'll want to absorb it. 2 Fireballs = 1 meter for Rose, and then she can go back on the offensive. If you're fighting an opponent without a projectile, Rose's HP Soul Reflect is her fastest special move to gain meter. The whole point of gaining meter is for her ability to start Illusions after a knockdown, level 1 Aura Soul Throw anti-air, CC at will when a mistake presents itself, or AC out of trouble.

Punch Alpha Counter
Rose's Punch AC is something to be feared. It can totally swing momentum back in your favor because it stops damn near every move in the game (barring fireballs). Just remember that Rose switches sides when she does it, and remember to always combo a cr.MP xx LK Soul Spiral afterwards for a 3 hit combo. The well-known Rose Punch AC trick is if you Punch AC a CC and combo into the cr.MP xx LK Soul Spiral as usual, the opponent gets up facing the wrong direction and has to block towards you. So you can start a combo with j.HK and they'll have to block the wrong way. If you think they'll block right, you can empty jump, and combo them when you land because the will be holding towards. A 50/50 game totally in Rose's favor.

Round Starters
Starting off the round is a game all in itself. Here's a list of situational round starters that you should use after reading your opponents habits and playing styles:
1. If they always fireball at the start: Jump in and combo, best would be j.HP, cr.HP, HK Soul Spiral. If you land that, they're only a few more hits away from a dizzy.
2. If they jump straight up #1: Jump at them with j.MP, it's a good air-to-air meter.
3. If they jump straight up #2: Slide, then cr.HP on their descent.
4. If you suspect they'll jump at you first: crouch, then cr.HP to anti-air. This is probably the safest opening because if they threw a fireball instead, you just end up blocking.
5. Another safe option: jump back with HP, when you land, LP Soul Reflect (absorb) the incoming fireball and await more more absorptions or just throw back a Soul Spiral. Probably the best option vs. projectile opponents.

Best Anti-Airs
1. crouching HP (all purpose)
2. level 1 Aura Soul Throw (all purpose w/meter)
3. jump straight up mk (when the other 2 don't work)

Best Ground Pokes
1. crouching MP (godly)
2. crouching LP (stop throws, hit confirm link into cr.MP or cr.HP)
3. standing MK (go over low attacks)
4. crouching MK (go under low attacks)

Best Jumpins
1. jumping MK (cross up)
2. jumping LK (best jumpin angle)
3. jumping HK (for combos)
4. jumping HP (for guaranteed combos)

Custom Combos

Level 1 Custom
crouching HK, HK Soul Spiral x2, HP Soul Throw
Rose's bread and butter level 1 CC. Good damage, great reach on her cr.HK sweep. If a mistake presents itself where you don't have time to start Illusions then Soul Spiral, just CC instead. If you have more meter, just increase the number of Soul Spirals in the middle, and Soul Throw at the end.

Anti-Air Custom
c.fp, let them fall a bit, hk drill, end with grab. Im lazy with her I just c.fp x10000, soul throw lol.
The 100% CC
crouching HK, LP Soul Spark xN
Your opponent has to be a retard and let you absorb 6-7 fireballs so that your next Soul Spark will do insane damage. Start the CC, trip them, and do repeated powered-up fireballs until they die. I've never actually seen anyone land this, but I'm sure it'll make your day if you do.

Standard Combos

Bread and Butter: c.lk, c.lp, c.mp xx lk drill

c.lk, c.fp xx HK drill

c.mp, c.mp xx lk drill

c.lp, c.lp, c.lk xx lvl 3 soul throw

Corner only:

c.mk xx hp reflect, lvl 1 soul throw

Soul Illusion

Yeah, this gets its own section. Soul Illusion is the best super in the game, hand down. Leads to tremendous damage and unblockables. When canceled from a normal leave you with a ton of frame advantage. Best time to do the soul illusion is when you opponent is cornered or when canceled from a normal. This super allows rose the pressure and acs will trade. HK drill does about 10% chip, If anything trades with a HK drill, Ive seen the trade at 40%, so not worth it for them.

Soul Illusion make throws whiff. This is SOOOOOO god vs birdie and gief. They try to tick, you SI, they go into whiff animation, free s.fp xx hk drill XD

Instant overhead lk in SI mode does good damage. Another use is to throw, ex c.mp xx SI, walk up throw, or point blank SIm then throw. Walk up c.lk is good and is one connects you can sneak in a c.mp xx lk drill.

If opponent jumps , activate SI, c.fp as anti air does 3 hits for good damage and can be canceled into soulthrow super for a solid 50% life.

Here are various ways and combos/unblockables with the SI. All combos are from point blank or after a cross up unless mentioned other wise. Lvl 2 soul spark does tremendous damage in SI mode.

Soul Illusion Combos

c.mk xx SI, sweep

c.mk xx SI, c.mp xx lk drill

c.mk xx SI, walk forward, c.fp xx hk drill (can just s.fp if they are standing)

c.mk xx SI, lvl 2 soul spark

c.mk xx SI, walk forward, c.fp xx lvl 2 soul spark

c.fp xx SI, sweep

c.fp xx SI, activate cc, any lvl cc

c.lp, c.lp xx SI, c.mk xx lk drill

c.lk xx SI, c.fp xx hk drill

Punch AC, c.mp xx SI, lvl 1 cc

In the corner cancel any mediums attack into a SI then c.lk xx hk drill.

Unblockable

The way this works is doing any meaty to where only the last shadown hits and rose isnt in attack animation from that normal. This isnt easy but not impossible. Here are my set-ups:

sweep, immeadiate SI, meaty df+mk (ub), c.mp xx rh drill

c.fp xx SI, sweep, meaty df+mk (ub), c.mp drill

You can get creative with it, but like a said it isnt easy. c.lk works well also.

Powered up Soul Illusion

Basically do a cc and only 2 fireballs powers up SI and lets you do crazy shit in the corner. Mp reflect with allow you to juggle in the corner with anything, you can just do mp reflect x6 to kill or get fancy and mp reflect, mp reflect, j.mk, c.fp, j.fp, land and super. But also a hk SI drill will do like 70%. Neat stuff

--Jeff 22:18, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Alpha Counter CC Bug

If you punch ac some while while they are doing a blocked custom, they will get up facing the opposite direction. When this happens they actually have to block TOWARDS you if you do a meaty attack. EXAMPLE:

You punch ac a blocked custom, c.mp xx lk drill follow up. Jump forward with a meaty j.rh, c.mp xx lk drill. If they didnt hold towards you the rh will hit and you can repeat the process til they block the right way. Also if they know about the glitch you can time your attacks later so they just walk into it :).

Match-ups

Vs. Adon: 6:4
Rose has slightly better prioritized pokes than Adon, and a lot of his attacks and attack strings are easily Alpha Countered, and Rose has two of the best ACs in the game. If you block a Revolving Jaguar, it's a free cr.MP xx LK Soul Spiral to start your crossup game. It's best to just block the Jaguar Tooth rather than try to counter it because it's too fast and comes in at weird angles to try to cr.HP (which will trade in his favor). Block the Jaguar Tooth, punch AC into knockdown, and begin your crossup game. His ground game is very annoying since his cr.MP is damn near yours in priority level, his sweep is as good and long-ranged as yours, and his standing HK can hit you out of your cr.MP. If you must fight him on the ground, use your standing MK against cr.MP happy Adons, use your sweep or crouching MK vs. his standing HK, and just try to stay out of his cr.HK max range. If you have meter, you should just AC his ground game (either one) and go for your Illusioned crossup game once you knocked him down.

Vs. Akuma: 5:5
Both Rose and Akuma are big rushdown characters. And both dish out higher than average damage when they get their offensive game going at a good momentum. Akuma takes a bit more damage from attacks, but has a slightly better offensive game when meterless. Rose is only really threatening when she has meter in this match, because it's hard to get Akuma off her back when he has her cornered and his cheap throws are sometimes too fast to reverse with just simple cr.LPs. First, Akuma's jumping fireballs can be a deterrent for trying to get close to him. If you sense one coming, just MP Reflect (horizontal) to hit the fireball back at him (horizontal is better than the angled one). If you know he'll jump at you and air fireball, you can always jump earlier than him and stick out jumping HK early attack to hit him before his fireball comes out. At a distance, always LP Reflect (absorb) so you'll be ahead on the meter game. If you get stuck in the corner, you can make him block a Soul Spark to send him back across the screen and get yourself out. If he's trying his LK Hurricane Kick/Roll/Teleport/empty jump/walk-up throw crap, just custom out of it rather than spamming LPs. Sometimes his throws are too fast for spam cr.LP to stop the throw, so just CC. If he's dive kicking in, either cr.HP if it's on top of you, or level 1 Aura Soul Throw if it was shallow. Be wary about his whiff LK Hurricane into CC or Raging Demon, be prepared to block/counter CC back in case of the CC attempt or jump away if you see the Demon. Also be careful about his crossup into CC or air Hurricane crossup into CC, it's probably just better to just block and take the throw if its coming rather than guess wrong and get CCed for half life. Your level 1Aura Soul Spark if you really need to get an aggressive Akuma off of you and you don't want to guess AC.

Vs. Birdie: 7:3
The only way Rose would actually lose this fight is if she's inexperienced fighting a Birdie player since hardly anyone uses him and people are generally unfamiliar fighting him. Birdie has really good air-to-ground attacks that are a bit difficult to anti-air cleanly. But any character can just jump attack early and hit jump happy Birdies. cr.HP trades sometimes, and you don't want Birdie on top of you in this fight, so just Illusion up before you cr.HP so that at worst you trade heavily in Rose's favor. Don't throw Soul Sparks mindlessly (Rose rarely should be throwing her fireball anyway, but just a warning), because Birdie can Level 3 super on reaction and catch her from mid and far range. Birdie can also charge Bull Head to hit your blocked Soul Spirals (Illusioned or not) on reaction to your recovery, so just be weary of that. Otherwise, Birdie has no real answer to your Illusion assault other than to CC out of them. So just play your standard game of charging meter, cr.MP his pokes, and Illusions.

Vs. Charlie: 6:4
Charlie is naturally a defensive character and Rose is more aggressive. You should gain meter from a distance, and then close in and overwhelm him with an all out offense. So always be prepared to absorb all incoming Sonic Booms from half screen or farther to get your level 1. In fact, you should usually always start the round by jumping back and absorbing incoming Sonic Booms until you have meter. When you're prepared to move in, reflect the next Sonic Boom back (either horizontal if you think he'll stay there, or angled if you think he's going to jump in) for a little coverage as you begin to move in. You can't really jump in on Charlie much because he has a good anti-airs vs. your jumpins, so use your slide on the ground to close the distance (just be careful about Sonic Booms when you do so, and Reflect back if you sense one coming). Once inside, just start your normal Illusions game, because once Illusioned, you can jump in on him more freely since the Illusions will trade heavily in your favor if he tried to anti-air, and you'll recover before him to continue your assault. If he jumps on you, you can simply just cr.HP or level 1 Aura Soul Throw him out of the air... just be careful of him jumping in with meter and CCing through you. In general, try not to jump forward too much without cover of a reflected Sonic Boom, and only move in once you have meter of your own. Charlie has too many options for anti-airs and his delayed Sonic Breaks can mess with you timing. If Charlie does manage to corner you or get in on you, always try to AC his ticks before he can mix them up into his throw or combos.

Vs. Chun-Li: 5:5
This match tests who can get, maintain, and use her meter the fastest and most efficiently. First, neither one can really jump in on the other. Chun's cr.HK and standing HP anti-airs Rose easily, and Rose's cr.HP can stop Chun's jumpins most of the time. If you have meter, and Chun jumps at you, you should just level 1 Aura Soul Throw her for the damage unless you suspect a jumpin CC. On the ground, you can cr.MP most of Chun's attacks including her infamous cr.MK. Just be careful of her slipping in a tricky Axe Kick topdown to throw you off; CC if you see it coming. Absorb her fireballs if she's throwing them from a distance for important meter. If you get stuck in the corner, Kick AC her Kikkoken when she's doing her standard cr.MK xx fireball or standing LK xx fireball trap, then try to crossup her. Chun's Flipping Neck Breaker is pretty annoying as it comes in at a weird angle that beats Rose's cr.HP. Jump up and hit it if you see it coming because it's pretty slow, or just punch AC it standing (it's an overhead). Rose's mission is definitely to knock Chun down and start Illusions because its hard for Chun to stop them except for running away (which Chun is good at, so make sure you start Illusions when you don't have to chase her down). To score the knockdown, look for an opportunity to Punch AC and combo cr.MP xx LK Soul Spiral to get Chun grounded. As always with anyone vs. Chun, be especially careful about being CCed by her, since she has practically the most damaging CCs in the game.

Vs. Dan: 6:4
I think everyone vs. Dan is a 6:4 Dan really has nothing outside tricky tick throw setups and mixup CC activations. cr.HP his jumpins and Gale Kicks, and play your standard game to not get yourself cornered. The only way Dan can win vs. anyone is if he's lucky with his mixups and his opponent unluckily guesses wrong too many times.

Vs. Dhalsim: 6:4
Rose's cr.MP can really mess up Sim's poking game, as it hits pretty much all his attacks clean. Don't spam on it mindlessly, since he can standing LK you. But it's pretty easy to sense a poke coming and just cr.MP to counter it. If you have meter, you can Punch AC into combo his limbs, even from far away, to Kick AC when you're in your crossup range. This is one match where you might be better off MP Reflecting (horizontal) back his Yoga Fires (rather than absorb) from a distance since a lot of Dhalsims like to followup their fireball with a poke, and reflecting it back will hit him. You can cr.HP his spears and jumpins almost at will, or just level 1 Aura Soul Throw as late as you want. If you duck his standing HK anti-air attempt, cr.HP it to counter. Once you get close, start your standard Illusion game. Be careful for his drill into CC, Yoga Fire super, or throw mixup and just Punch AC the drill if you have meter to avoid the scenario altogether.

Vs. Gen: 6:4
There's not many good Gen players to form a point of reference. But thankfully Gen is low-tier and has below-average everything. Play a standard game.

Vs. Guy: 7:3
Rose can frustrate Guy a lot with just her anti-air and ground game because it's hard for him to get in on her at all without resorting to jump in CC. cr.HP should beat all his jump ins, even his elbow drops (it might trade if you do it too late, but always in your favor). You only have to be careful if his elbow will crossup, and he can only really do that if he's knocked you down, so you can always roll out of that situation. On the ground, you just have to be careful of his standing MK because it has very long range and is high enough to go over your cr.MP and hit you, you can cr.MK under it though if you guess right. You can just mix up your cr.MPs with cr.HKs and win out more overall since her cr.MP beats pretty much everything on the ground. If Guy is sliding a lot, you can use Rose's standing LK or standing MK to beat it. If Guy is running away a lot in the air, you can jump back HK to protect yourself if you suspect he's going to fly down at you. Or you can meet him in the air with j.MP if you suspect he's jumping at you. Once metered, start your standard knock down, Illusion, crossup game. If you do get knocked down, the standard Guy mixup consists of cr.MK (his sweep), overhead, or throw; so be prepared to block correctly and AC if you have meter, or just wake up level 1 Aura Soul Throw or wake up CC to counter all of his options at once. Rose's priority is just too much for Guy to handle.

Vs. Ken: 5:5
Like all shoto matches, Rose should try to absorb fireballs to gain meter fast. Ken's a lot more aggressive in general than Ryu, so you should look for air Hurricane Kicks jumpins and empty Hurricane Kicks into throw or CC. (Illusion) cr.HP his jumpins, or if you have meter, level 1 Aura Soul Throw. Getting around the Ken's Kick AC is annoying. Ken's Kick AC is very damaging, but very slow. If you have meter, jump in early with LK. If Ken Kick ACs it, you have time to block and Kick AC back. If he just blocks it, IMMEDIATELY CC as you land since most of the time he'll try to throw you. Also, if they are AC happy, you can just AC reversal it with cr.MK xx level 1 Aura Soul Spark. If you get stuck in his roll/throw/corner shenanigans, CC your way out or Punch AC to put him back in the corner (be careful of AC reversals into his Shoryureppa). Like vs. all shotos, they have very good anti-airs against your jumpins, so don't jump in unless you're backed up by Illusions (jumping LK is your best bet). Once he's meterless, he's Illusion bait. Again vs. shotos, be careful about making him block an Illusioned Soul Spiral when he has meter, because he can counter CC you on your recovery.

Vs. M. Bison (dictator): 6:4
Bison is a good scrub killer because a lot of people just aren't used to fighting a skilled Bison and get frustrated to death. Rose should win out if she knows Bison's tricks. cr.HP is a great anti-air for all of Bison's normal jumps and his Head Stomp. Where Bison gets tricky is the mixing up his Head Stomp follow-ups. He can Head Stomp and then Skull Driver after, or he can Skull Driver alone (which looks like a Head Stomp) and alter his incoming angle. If he Head Stomps or Skull Drivers, you can jump back HK to nail him. If you block it, you can jump straight up with j.MP to counter his follow-up. Your safest bet, if you have meter, is to just Punch AC it into a knockdown. If you think he'll Skull Driver or if you out-guess an incoming Head Stomp, you can always just jump forward early and hit him in the air with anything. A lot of Bisons will try to frustrate you by making you chase him down as he's charging meter with empty Skull Drivers and flying over to the other side of the screen. Be patient and advance like a turtle. You can gain meter in the meantime by absorbing his Psycho Shots if he decides to throw them, and whiffing your own cr.MPs. Bison also has the best throw in the game as it comes out really fast. Be prepared to reverse throw cheaps with CCs, ACing the tick, or just counter throwing him back. If you start Illusions and you suspect he'll teleport out, just jump back and hit him when he reappears.

Vs. Rolento: 6:4
Reflect the stingers back to nullify them if he's throwing them from a distance and be careful of jumping into one because Rolento's stingers are the most damaging projectiles in the game. If he jumps, cr.HP to anti-air or jump back MK if you think he'll fly over you. It's hard to chase a runaway Rolento. Walk forward patiently, and jump back MK or HK when you think he'll fly over to the other side. If you block his Patriot Circle, it's usually a free sweep into crossup unless he tries to stagger the timing. If he does, your safest option is just to use 1 level to Kick AC and knock him down regardless. Rolento's CC does big damage, Chun-level damage, so just be extra careful about Valle CCs. Also, his level 3 Trip Wire super can catch a projectile anywhere on the screen, so never throw a Soul Spark when he has level 3.

Vs. Rose (self):
Out smart yourself. Punch AC the other Rose's Illusioned Soul Sprial chip. Jump CC through her cr.HP and level 1 Aura Soul Throw Anti-Air. cr.MK xx level 1 Aura Soul Throw AC reversal Punch AC happy Roses. And if she's caught standing, Valle CC. In mirror matches, it's just who's mixups are better executed.

Vs. Ryu: 5:5
At a distance, always absorb fireballs for meter. At around midrange, horizontal reflect fireballs back at him if you think it's coming. This meter is very meter dependent for Rose since she really needs that level 1 to deal with a lot of Ryu's poking strings. Once you have meter, Rose can get in on Ryu and start looking for a fireball to get her opening. If Ryu does cr.HK xx fireball, Rose should kick AC the fireball, start her Illusions, then crossup. If Rose has level 3 meter, ALWAYS look for a fireball or predictable poke string into fireball at midrange or slightly closer, and CC through the fireball to do big damage. When Ryu jumps, you can cr.HP him or Aura Soul Throw him if you have meter. It's best to do cr.HP early, since if she does it too late, she sometimes trades with Ryu's high priority jumpins. Or better yet, just start Illusions and cr.HP. Try not to jump in at Ryu because he has very good antiairs and his fireball recovers very quickly, making it easier for him you AA you if you tried to guess jump your way in. If you're getting constantly pressured by Ryu, and you have meter, you can level 1 Aura Soul Spark him to keep him off your back. If Ryu makes you block a jumpin, you can use standing MK to go over most Ryu's next crouching move and hit him. If Ryu misses a fierce uppercut, Illusions then Soul Spiral him. If he misses any other uppercut, you won't have time to start Illusions, so just CC to punish. Basically, this match will be charge meter, get in range to knock Ryu down by either AC or sweep his mistakes, start your Illusion game, and CC obvious mistakes. Be careful when Ryu has his own meter and you try for Illusion Soul Spiral chip damage, since Ryu can counter CC on your recovery... trick him with throws instead.

Vs. Sagat: 6:4
Sagat's strong fireball game is pretty much nullified by Rose's Soul Reflect. At far distance, just absorb all Tiger Shots for free meter, and reflect them back at him from 1/2-1/3 distance away to hit him on his fireball recovery. You can easily cr.HP or level 1 Aura Soul Throw all his jumpins and cr.MP his pokes. Sagat will have to advance on you at some point because he can't win throwing fireballs. Just keep an eye out when he does eventually have to walk forward to advance and Valle CC if the opportunity presents itself.

Vs. Sakura:6:4
All you have to worry about is not getting knocked down or punch thrown because then Sakura starts her crazy crossup game. If you can just play your standard game of cr.HP anti-air, cr.MP outprioritizing pokes, and meter building into Illusions, there's nothing much Sakura can do back accept random CC her way through.

Vs. Sodom: 5:5
You can cr.HP his jumpins at will. You really want meter here because Rose's ACs are what will stop his constant Scrapping offense. His LP Scrape and level 1 and level 2 Scrape super are safe on block, and he can punish your sweep attempt (which will always fail). This is why you need to meter to AC into the knockdown and avoid his grab super setups. If you block his HP Scrape, you can punish him if it was a 2-hit block, but he's generally safe if he hit you from the tip of it. Sodom doesn't have good anti-airs at all besides guessing and jumping early with an attack. You can pretty much find a good angle where Rose's jumping MK comes at him at a very shallow, horizontal angle and Sodom really doesn't have an anti-air answer to that. His 360 grab and grab super have a lot longer range than you'd think, but he has to set it up or else it's jumpout-able or hitable. If you know he's trying for it, like if he empty crossups you on your getup, just jump away.

Vs. Zangief: 3:7
Definitely Rose's most difficult fight, solely because Zangief takes away two of her most important and strongest games: her anti-air and her Illusions. First, both your trusty cr.HP and level 1 Aura Soul Throw anti-airs get beat cleanly by his stupid Knees, and his body splash trades way in his favor. Your most reliable anti-air bet is to Illusion first, then cr.HP to trade in your favor. Else you can jump straight up with MP or MK... but those get eaten badly by his jumping HP, so you're basically making guesses when Zangief is jumping at you and you pay badly if you guess wrong. If you have meter, you absolute best bet is to just block, and punch AC into knockdown, and hopefully you have meter to start Illusions into your crossup game. But even that is beaten by Gief's empty jump SPD. On the ground, cr.MP can be used to beat his pokes like everyone, but doing so makes her bait to be jumped in on and again her weak anti-air game vs. Gief will make her suffer. Gief can punch AC your Illusioned Spiral chip cleanly, so only try to do that when Gief is meterless. Gief has the longest range sweep in the game, so be extra careful about standing up around him when he has meter to Valle CC you. If you get knocked down, it's very hard to get out of meaty SPDs unless you CC out. If you're meterless, you might have to just take the SPD to get out. To avoid tick SPDs, either punch AC the tick, or CC the SPD. Rose desperately needs meters to AC or CC out of Gief's jumpins and SPD setups to win the fight. If you ever do manage to knock Gief down, IMMEDIATELY start Illusions and try for a crossup. The only semi-silver lining in this ugly fight for Rose is that Gief is a big fat crossup target and it's very easy to land her death combo on him, which she might have to in order to win.