P4U2R/Rise Kujikawa/Strategy

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 Rise Kujikawa




General Tactics

Rise is generally at her best when she has her opponent in the corner, where her pressure can lead into both good damage and oki setups. To compliment this, Rise has access to midscreen combos with exceptional corner-carry, though she either needs meter or a crouching confirm to take full advantage of their full corner-carry potential.

When at full-screen, Rise's scan (D normals) and B or SB arrow rain (22B or 22A+B) are pretty good tools for locking the opponent down for an approach. Be cautious with these tools, however. The startup on these moves is lengthy (Scan: 56f startup; 22B: 33f startup), meaning that if you use them carelessly your opponent can run in on you while you're vulnerable. SB Arrow rain is faster at 27f of startup, which is safe against most characters at fullscreen. 22A (29f of startup) can provide a kind of wall for you to set up scan behind, as long as your opponent doesn't have a way to hit past it or otherwise bypass it. If an opponent can run up to you before the arrow rain hitbox appears, they can grab you to prevent the move from coming out, regardless of if you tech or not.

Arrow rain and scan are very valuable tools when set up, but they can also form bad habits which will hinder your ability to adapt to how your opponent chooses to deal with it. Sometimes these moves will be referred to as a 'neutral skip' because of their ability to 'skip' neutral interactions and force the opponent to allow you to approach in most situations. These tools are NOT a replacement for fundamentals, and should not be treated as such. In order to play Rise well, you must be able to know when to use these tools and when to play out the neutral game. (For instance, long range moves like Margaret spear and Naoto gunshot will actively punish you for using these moves carelessly)

On knockdown at midscreen, your general setplay tool is 236B. This move has a lingering initial hitbox that will tag the opponent on wakeup and spawn notes which can then be used to setup further pressure in a blockstring or a mixup. Generally, most combos will aim to setup oki for the opponent to block, and depending on how well the opponent can block your mixups, games can be won or lost on these setups.

When trying to maintain distance between you and your opponent, 236A works as a large, lingering hitbox that can punish incoming attacks. The large hitbox of this move also makes it effective as a forward facing anti-air for instant air dashes, but the laggy recovery means that it can easily be punished on whiff and immediate blocks (aka like in a blockstring). 236C is also a great tool for keeping your opponent in check at midrange, but is able to be jumped over due to its relatively thin hitbox.

Generally, 2B is a far more rewarding and safer option, but in a pinch, 236AB can work as an anti-air in place of 2B to get notes out while covering the area in front of Rise. Bear in mind though that the opponent can go over this hitbox if they're high enough, and you will not have any head-invuln frames to cover yourself. If your opponent makes high air approaches that will go over its hitbox, 2B will work just fine.

Notable Moves

Normals

  • 5A: Decent range, standard jab. 6 frame startup, -4 on block, jump cancellable.
  • 5AA: Launches airborne opponents to the ground, forces tech when proration is high enough which sets up nicely for safejumps and setplay. -2 on block, generally good button to set up tick throws/stagger pressure on. Jump cancellable.
  • 2A: Pretty generous hitbox, good way to tell the hitbox is by how far the heart particle travels. Hits low. Can hop cancel on block or hit. Can cancel into itself 3 times, and can cancel into and from 5A. 7 frame startup, -3 on block, good tool for stagger pressure or tick throws.
  • 2B: Rise's anti-air that has great applications in high/low pressure. First hit will go low and second will hit mid. Usually a good starter for combos, and is used in most of your corner links. 8f startup, -10 on block, jump cancellable.
  • 5B: Relatively laggy midrange poke. Usually unable to confirm from it at range, but is useful for interrupting opponents setting up at a distance. 15 frame startup, physical hitbox is -18 on block, projectile block frame advantage varies, physical hitbox is jump cancellable only on hit.
  • 2C: Long startup but rewarding when you get the opponent to block it, dash cancel on block to close distance. Has a gap between the initial physical hits and the projectile finisher, so be mindful of reversals and rolls. 32 frame startup.
  • Scan (D Normals): Long startup but threatens a fullscreen horizontal hitbox that can be held for 53f. Be sure to only use this when you're confident that your opponent will be unable to interrupt it, usually this is at fullscreen. Use this to make approaches safe and keep your opponent accountable. 49 frame startup, +31 on block.

Specials

  • 236C: Good midrange poke that can lead into a combo on counterhit and interrupt opponents setting up at a distance. Has laggy recovery and can easily be jumped over. When scanned, this and all versions of disc will track, giving an opportunity to lock the opponent down to set up scan. -15 on block, 49f of recovery, 12f of startup.
  • 22A/B: can be used to make a wall to set up behind or force an approach. Has long startup and will disappear if you are grabbed, regardless of if you tech. Both track when the opponent is scanned, which can be useful for locking the opponent down. 29/33 frames of startup respectively, and 47/51 frames of recovery.
  • 22AB: can be used to lock an opponent in if you're having trouble pinning them down. Unlike other versions, will track to the opponent whether scanned or not, though it will also have a different pattern if they are and will inflict shock status on hit for a short time. Faster startup than other versions at 27f of startup and 40f of recovery. Be mindful that your opponent can super jump forward with good timing to avoid this move altogether. If your opponent blocks this in the air, set up scan to set up pressure on their way down.
  • 214AB: all versions of shove are fatal starters, but this one particularly has good range and startup, while being safe on block. Good option for stagger pressure or if you want to spend some meter for a damaging punish.
  • 214C/D/CD: can be used in certain situations to guard frame or counter against certain moves. C version will guard frame through physical moves and push back on block, D version will guard frame through projectiles and reflect one back on block, SB will guard through and counter both with respect to the move's type. D version is particularly useful in matchups where projectiles are often used in neutral and pressure. 37/40/37f startup respectively, guard frames start at 9f.

Supers

  • 236236A/B: Rise's easiest super to convert into. 600 minimum damage means this likely won't be your main damage dealer. A version is faster with lower range (can be used as a risky reversal), B is slower with longer range and higher damage when minimum damage isn't reached. NEVER use SB unless your opponent has burst and you intend to continue the combo afterward with OMC or OMB. You will be inflicted with rage status for a significant period after recovery, preventing you from blocking anything until it ends. Usually, the damage is not worth using SB.
  • 236236C/D: When scanned, this will be your biggest damage dealer. Otherwise, one of the best supers in the game. Allows you to approach safely while still threatening a fatal counter (pressing C/D when out puts a bomb on the opponent's position which is a fatal counter) Use this sparingly when you can spare the meter, and when the situation calls for it, since it has a 25 second cooldown. SB isn't usually used, but has niche applications.
  • 214214C/D/SB: Has high damage at the start of combos, and gets outpaced by her other supers the further a combo continues. Generally needs meter to convert into which gives it a worse meter to damage ratio, but will keep the opponent from bursting after the super flash. Use in shorter combos for the best results.

Pressure

Okizeme

236B Note Oki

This is Rise's base okizeme tool. Generally, you'll do this after sweep at midscreen to put out a meaty projectile hitbox that will leave you +24f on block to allow for follow-up pressure. In order to account for DPs and reversals, when you run up to put your opponent in another blockstring, you can block as you press 5A (so 4A effectively). This will make you block on wake-up reversals, make them block if they don't reversal, and punish mashers. From here you can utilize the notes put out by 236B to extend pressure and provide mixup opportunities. If your opponent decides to roll on wakeup, you will not be able to punish it unless you call it out. Hang back if you suspect your opponent is going to roll and punish them with a counterhit 2B. This will not work in the corner.

236D Disc Oki

This is a more legacy tool that will allow you to bait shorter reversal options (like Narukami's DP) while maintaining a safe distance . To do this, do 236D right after sweep. If you do this correctly, you will be able to run up 5A in a tight window to continue pressure (236D is +12f on oki). This option will generally allow you to continue pressure safely, as it automatically baits certain DPs, but will not allow you to continue pressure as well as other options. Against certain characters, this will catch wakeup rolling. This will not work in the corner.

22A Oki

Generally unused but useful in certain scenarios (scanned opponent on knockdown, corner knockdown against kanji). you can hang back to see what the opponent will do about the incoming hitbox or go in for a grab before it appears. Your opponent can backdash out of this setup at midscreen to escape, but can be useful to call out bad habits.

236A Oki

This is used in situations where the opponent is too close for 236B to hit (like if a combo ends in 5AA (air hit) > 2AB). Generally, you will delay 236A to ensure the tail end of the move is active when the opponent recovers. This gives similar frame advantage to the 236B setup. Will not work in the corner.

Perfect "safejump"

Please note this isn't a real safejump, it better resembles an oki setup. It fulfills the purpose of discouraging reversals while leaving opportunities open for high/low mixups, giving it a "safejump" quality. This mainly exists to provide a way to punish and discourage Kanji DP, as the regular safejump does not work on him. This can be done on any combo that end in 236B (air hit) > 5AA (knockdown). This provides the correct note placements to jump cancel the 5AA and immediately j.B to pop notes. The notes should pop in the center of where they spawn to ensure crouching opponents will still have to block. If done right, you should land with notes still popping. This means that if the opponent DP'ed, you will be able to block and punish. Video example

For mixups, you can start out landing, blocking for a few frames, and using 2B after you've confirmed they blocked the note pops for an empty jump low. Once you've established this, you can try air dashing just before you land for an unsafe j.B overhead. You'll get good reward if either of these work in the corner.

This setup is the only way to beat Kanji DP on wakeup without sacrificing oki. In most cases against other characters, you'll want to use the traditional safejump setup.

This setup will lose to roll and delay tech, as the note pops are projectile attribute and the notes pop too high to hit knocked down opponents. Mix up your enders according to your situation.

Safejumps

Base Safejump

This is a base explanation of how Rise's safejump works. Her base safejump will lose to Kanji's DP, but will work on anyone else. Generally, you can do this safejump on 5AA knockdown or j.2B knockdown. In the case of 5AA knockdowns, you can forward jump cancel and j.4B (blocking) just before you land. If done correctly, you will be able to block if your opponent wakeup DPs and hit them if they mash or roll. To make the timing more consistent for difficult DPs to safejump (like Yosuke) you can air grab right after you jump as a framekill and j.B after you recover. This has the added bonus of grabbing opponents that air tech if your knockdown is too prorated. Video example

The above can be replicated for j.2B knockdowns, but instead of jump cancelling (j.2B can't be jump cancelled), you'll buffer forward jump after you recover.

Note Safejump (+1 Mixup)

This is the safejump that is used the most, as it only requires setting up notes before the knockdown which is relatively easy to do. To do this safejump, you will need to put notes out at sometime before your knockdown and perform the safejump as usual. This will have the added bonus of popping notes on your descent which will let you add on an extra mixup if they block.

You can:

  • j.B safejump > land > IAD (while they block popped notes) > j.B
  • j.A safejump > jump cancel (don't land) > immediate j.B (fuzzy)Only works on characters who are not short
  • j.A safejump > 2B(1) > 2C (while they block note pop) > forward jump for another pseudo safejump (will be able to roll) / neutral jump air turn to bait roll

Scan Safejump (Damage Potential)

This is a safejump that some routes will opt for in order to set up more damaging combos after safejump. This is usually done by setting up a held 2D or j.2D before your knockdown and performing a safejump while releasing D. This will inflict scanned property if your opponent doesn't block the scan or safejump, and if released at the right time (land with j.B/j.A, then scan hits after landing), can allow for another mixup like the note safejump (gives 31f of blockstun). This setup can also be handy for empty jump > grab, since your opponent is incentivized more to block the incoming scan.


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 Rise Kujikawa