KI Matchups, help needed! ~ General RAAM

Characters General RAAM
1

Hi, I’m currently making a matchup PowerPoint on the KI Characters for new beginners, For General RAAM, I need help from people who know how he works and i need to know crucially, what characters from the whole roster are difficult opponents for him, and what are characters are safe for him to play against. You will definitely receive credit for the help. ~ Kieran

1 Like
2

Cool idea! I’ve been maining RAAM since he came out. He’s officially replaced Glacius and Aganos for me :slight_smile:

He’s a reactive, defensive character who has a hard time opening up opponents, but does ungodly damage when he does. Throws and command grabs are his bread and butter, though, so he usually wins at close range.

That said, here’s my take on your question:

Safest Matchups

  1. Jago (predictable makes him easy to block and counter)
  2. Aganos (light punch chains away his armor, punishes from RAAM hurt a lot)
  3. Mira (block while she kills herself for you, then finish her with high-damage grabs)
  4. TJ Combo (needs to get in close to do damage, but RAAM is better at it than TJ is)
  5. Cinder (blocking keeps him in check, and retaliation against his aggression hurts a lot)
  6. Tusk (his specials leave him wide open for massive instinct/combo damage–also your kryll beats his i-Frames)

Unsafe Matchups

  1. Shago (but isn’t he everyone’s unsafe matchup?)
  2. Omen (playing defensively against Omen means reacting accurately to really weird or really fast things)
  3. A good Gargos (keeps you at range really well–a bad Gargos, though, will keep psycho crusher-ing into your kryll charge)
  4. A good Glacius (same as Gargos, but replace psycho crusher with cold shoulder and kryll charge with command grab)
  5. Kan-Ra

I haven’t played against the following characters much at all with RAAM, yet. So, I’m not so sure about them:

  1. Fulgore
  2. Sabrewulf
  3. Arbiter (but I hear he’s really tough for RAAM)
  4. Aria
3

I’d say the toughest matches for RAAM are as follows:

  1. Gargos - A decent Gargos player can easily keep RAAM out the entire match. Portal punches push you back (even on block) and also apply chip damage. This then builds meter so Gargos can summon his minions and pressure you with even more attacks from full screen. He literally puts RAAM in situations where he cannot move.

  2. Glacius - Multiple hails keep Glacius safe as he is free to jump around the screen, hitting you with jumping MK/ HK. It’s very hard to get in against Glacius and when you do, you have to make 100% correct reads or he will just jump away to the other side of the screen and play keep away the rest of the match.

  3. Kan-Ra - He fills the screen with bugs and also has a ton of tools for keeping RAAM out.

1 Like
4

Yeah, it’s so stressful playing against zoners, because it’s “Get back here, ■■■■■■■!” vs. “Stay the hell away from me, you monster!”

2 Likes
5

I disagree with Jago being an easy matchup for RAAM (good Jagos). Jumping in over his fire balls is very risky with Jago’s solid anti air options. Jago also has very good whiff punish options against RAAM’s focus dash and kryll charge.

With that said, Jago also builds meter VERY quickly if you are blocking his fireballs (obviously making him even more of a threat).

In my opinion, RAAM loses every matchup against characters with zoning tools (If they play the matchup properly). Solid zoning and waiting for the right time for a whiff punish into a short combo, rinse and repeat is all one needs to do in order to shutdown a RAAM. Keep in mind this is theory on paper. Of course RAAM can win in these situations, but typically it’s always an uphill battle against anyone with zoning tools.

That’s just my two cents. Feel free to discuss more in depth on RAAM’s options in these situations.

6

While I think what you say is right when Shago goes Super Saiyan at the end of a fight, fireballs and anti-air aren’t so bad otherwise. RAAM’s jHK can hit from half-screen and keeps his hit box out of range of Jago’s DP. Kryll Shield turns fireballs into meter. And Shago broadcasts his fireballs like they’re new-year-eve balls (with a brief charge before he throws them). RAAM with quick reactions can punish with kryll charge if Jago tries to zone from half-screen or closer.

7

Missing thoughts on other characters, but at least i got some information!

General RAAM Standings.png673×368 265 KB

8

Over the past week, I’ve played a ton of gold-killer Kim Wus. You can put her on the “safe” list, if you ask me. RAAM can command grab her from outside of her nunchuk magic, and just about everything she does to open him up just beg for reversals.

However, Thunders are kicking my ■■■. Not sure if that’s just because I have a problem against Thunders in general, though.