Plasma Sword/Rai-On

Introduction

Overview

(Insert brief description about character and how they play, other details)

Strengths

Weaknesses

Easy Blockstring Infinite: Rai-On can quite easily press 5A, followed by a dash forward into another single 5A, over and over until either the player drops the infinite or the opponent burns some meter to use Plasma Revenge to escape the pressure. It doesn't work on hit, but on block 5A leaves Rai-On so plus that it will always be his turn after it, thus also allowing for setups. Blanka Ball: Rai-On's unique 236 special is a 3-way Blanka Ball that despite not hitting horizontally, if used right, makes a great combo ender, punish tool, and makes it difficult to punish Rai-On for using it with how fast it is. Anti-air confirms: Rai-On is a character blessed with fairly stable anti-air and air-to-air confirms, thanks largely to his 5A and j.9A strings. Fantastic Air Game: Rai-On is not only able to instant air dash, but he can also double jump and utilize Akuma-esque divekicks that gives him a ton of room for fighting in the air and keeping his momentum. Rai-On has by far the best dive kick in the game. Shout Lockdown: Rai-On's Shout is a short range projectile with a difficult to deal with hitbox, and it is so plus on block that the opponent is often forced to block Rai-On's attacks even at tip range afterwards. High Damage Crouch Grab: Rai-On has a launcher off of his crouch grab that he can easily convert into big damage. Strong mid/low: Rai-On might do no damage, but this can be mitigated somewhat by the fact that 4K links into 2KK, and since 2KK combos into super, both are effectively a coin flip away from keeping Rai-On in the match. Cat Crouch: Rai-On has a smaller than normal crouching hitbox, making moves whiff on him that would not whiff on other characters. Most notably, he and Byakko are the only characters completely immune to each other's blockstring infinites.

Weak utility supers: Rai-On's 236AB is only good for combo-ing into, or using as an edge-case anti-air, because it's otherwise easy to punish in neutral and not difficult to react to. Meanwhile, his 214AB Unblockable is easily telegraphed and, outside of some whiff punish situations, will cause him to eat a full combo if used predictably. Blanka Ball is unsafe on hit: Rai-On's Blanka Ball—depending upon the opponent, the meter the opponent has, and their character—can be punished on hit. While this is a fairly advanced knowledge check for an opponent to perform, it is nonetheless a big reason Rai-On sits outside the top tier, even with his powerful tools. Without Blanka Ball, Rai-On lacks a meterless combo ender, and his potency in neutral tends to go down dramatically. Low Damage: Rai-On has the frames of a busted character, but he does not have the damage. Outside of a few random moves, such as Shout or his low grab, Rai-On generally struggles to hurt anyone meaningfully, and has to guess right far more often than most everyone else in the game. Low Health: Both of the cats take more damage than the rest of the cast.

Move List

Vertical Normals

5A

5A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	8	-	-	-	+4	+20	-	Ground
Here it is, the reason Rai-On is in the meta. Relatively unimpressive on hit, but on block it is -technically- a blockstring infinite, with several asterisks. As long as the enemy has 50% meter they can parry, Rai-On has to walk to keep the pressure up, and this move whiffs crouchers depending upon the character/distance. It is both your most important tool and a potential crutch that can accidentally make your gameplay linear when used poorly. If you have the life lead and the opponent doesn't have 50% meter, if they are a character that cannot duck this move, the moment you make them block it, you win the round. It is also special cancelable, for some reason, but you'll rarely use that feature.

5AA

5AA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	8	-	-	-	+4	+17	-	Ground
Similar in almost every way to 5A, except it has less block stun and pushes out a bit further. Special cancelable.

5AAA

5AAA

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	8	-	-	-	+12	+12	-	Ground
Plus enough on hit to link off of, which might seem massive until you realize how far away this pushes out on both block and hit. It also scales all followup combos pretty badly, so while the combo video potential off this is massive, it's generally best to just go for reset/super here.

Sidestep A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

While Running A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Horizontal Normals

5BB

5BB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	i11	-	-	-	-5	-5	-	Ground
Rai-On's only real catch-all in big frame advantage situations has the unfortunate side effect of causing him to completely lose his turn if its blocked, due both to the frame disadvantage and pushout. However, the cancel into super used to punish an opponent trying to sidestep your normal pressure more than makes up for it. If the opponent jumps and you whiff this, however, expect to lose some health.

2B

2B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	i11	-	-	-	+9	+8	-	Ground
2Bs tend to be important for most of the cast in Plasma Sword, and Rai-On's is no exception. Decent range, fast speed, low cat crouch... all of this combined makes for a frustrating poke that, while it may not do much damage or score you big combo extensions, nonetheless shuts down many approach options and allows you to check your opponents easily safely. Like with most things Rai-On, the frame data seems unfair until you see his damage.

Kick Normals

5K

5K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	7	-	-	-	+2	+2	-	Ground
One of Rai-On's main buttons and fastest attacks. Hits a bit faster up close than the animation might make it seem.

5KK

5KK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	7	-	-	-	-11	-11	-	Ground
This two kick hit cannot be parried and combos into supers. However, it is linear and, perhaps more importantly, this hit tends to whiff crouchers in some matchups, such as the cat mirror. Unlike Byakko, Rai-On has no strings with which to continue from, so he either has to bank on his opponent not punishing the second hit or risking a cancel.

2K

2K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	7	-	-	-	+6	+5	-	Ground
2K is the key to this character. At i8 and with a easy string confirm into super, it is almost all you need to use to threaten players up close enough to get them to freeze or panic.

2KK

2KK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	7	-	-	-	+9	+8	-	Ground
I know it might seem like the same move as 2K, but this is technically a different move with different data. At this point in the string, you either keep up pressure on block/whiff or confirm into super on hit. Be careful about spacing: the range this pushes at on block requires a walk up to trap with this again, and if you use 2K from further out, this part of the string will whiff and your confirm into super will cause you to die.

3K

3K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	14	-	-	-	+9	+2 (close)	-	Ground
Rai-On's slide is a means of which to attempt to get back in after something like 2KK on block. It becomes more advantageous the further out you are, but unless the opponent is blocking it at tip, they can still sidestep or neutral jump to get away from most of your offense. If they do that, you can do things like 5B or 2B to cut them off.

Divekick

Divekick

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	~10	-	-	-	+22	+20	-	Ground
Rai-On divekick. Hit/Block advantage is an estimate--data used is for the earliest frame 2K can be entered (frame 11 after jump starts) blocked/hit at the top of a 2p Byakko's head. Becomes more or less plus depending upon how its blocked. Rai-On's divekick is far betterthan his cat counterpart, as he always gets meaningful confirms off of his. However, there is still enough of a gap between repeated divekicks that step or reversals are possible, so you must commit to some sort of anti-movement option after this is blocked to prevent subsequent divekicks from getting interrupted. Practically suffocating for characters without a reversal.

Jumping Normals

While Jumping A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

While Falling A

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Special Moves

Sound of Thunder Thrust

Sound of Thunder Thrust
214K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	33	-	-	-	+25	+25	-	Ground
Rai-On shouts at you. Green energy comes out. And if you block it or get hit by it, you are locked in place for several frames. Both situations push the opponent out, and hit pushes them out particularly far, limiting your follow-ups, usually, to just slide.

Shiden: Kai
214B

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Byakko Hou
64K

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

623A/B
Guren

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Ashura
222

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Gauge Moves

Engetsu
236AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Rasetsu Zan
214AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Revenge
AM

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Reflect
BM

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Plasma Field - Plasma Sword
BK

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Miscellaneous

Throw
5AB

Damage	Guard	Startup	Active	Recovery	Total	Hit Adv	Block Adv	Meter Gain	Property
-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ground

Strategy

Combos

Normal Combos

• 2KKxBlanka Ball - Technically unsafe on hit, but you should still use this in certain matchups where the character might not have great punishes for it, or versus players that don't know how to punish it.
• 5AAAxBlanka Ball = Omitting the Blanka Ball is probably better in the long run, as the +12 on hit 5AAA gives allows you to walk up and mix up 2KK/Throw/Divekick.