placeholder
reserve
I’ll try to get to this tonight, I have some stuff I want to say just haven’t worked it all out mentally, though I thought I had it the other day.
Topics I will cover
Safeballs(lp, mp, and ex)
Using ex upball for things other than AA(beating other moves, chip, as a punish)
Using normal upballs effectively
Normal Rainbow Roll usage
EX rainbow roll, what it beats, how to make it unblockable, etc.
Why you should combo into balls sometimes instead of electricity
If anyone has anything they want to chime in with, speak up!
Also next two topics will be assessing game state and a footsie guide(which will probably be the last article level discussion topic, everything else will probably just be charts and conversation).
looking forward to this topic!
after all the hori ball nerfs i kinda stoped doing that move at all…
ex hori ball unblockable??? need to know how! does the setup knock down???
Ves said ex rainbow roll, not ex hori. We actually talked about this a LONG time ago. In AE, it worked against yun, though if I remember correctly it was only after a successful ultra, or at least the setup was easiest after that. It does not knock down. Its more of a finish and kill him kinda move, rather than a free hit.
I’ll wait for more in this one before I comment. My blanka is pretty ball-less (oh boy), though i havent played must sf or sfxt at all recently.
I use lp safeball a lot, and I also use normal rainbow defensively. But overall I’m not a ball happy blanka, though I like ex combos if next mixup will kill.
Sad truth is that normal rainbow ball used defensively, in almost every single situation, is still punishable if the enemy knows what to do. Most often they can hit you when you land, so like, if yer using it to escape the corner, and u do standing lp into hk rainbow, when u cross up the enemy and land, if they have a decent low attack, they can catch u. 
Ex rainbow can often go far enough where that punish is not possible, but these days i see most blankas trying to cross people up with the ex rainbow instead of getting the fuck outta dodge.
Yeah I try to use cr.mk xx hk rainbow in corner.
Lk rainbow defensively is a trick I haven’t seen people use much, but it’s okay vs abel.
I use occasionally use mk rainbow to hop over sonic booms and slow fireballs, it tends to provoke stupid reactions sometimes; and if they jump for any reason you get a free ‘godlike-read’ antiair.
whenever I try that I eat a full combo.
any move imaginable will beat the lk and mk rainbow rolls. When in the air, when landing, doesnt matter, if opponent has any brains, they will punish. For ex, guile throws lp sonic boom, I mk rainbow roll, he can low fierce on reaction if i am above him, or he can low mk if I am a little bit in front. Even from full screen, guile can walk forward and still punish the lk rainbow roll. This strategy works against morons, thats about it.
I also thought that. Although I only do it very rarely. I do tend to play a lot of morons though, being one myself. 
I should add though, that the lk rainbow roll aint too bad against ryu if u want to build some meter while avoiding fireballs. Ryu cant walk forward fast enough to punish, unlike ryu. Same goes for chun li…dhalsim might be able to fp though.
I knew I had some reason to do it. Sometimes I forget why I did it or when, I knew it’d be safe.
I would like to hear proper uses for non ex rainbow though. I hardly ever use that move. I know better than to throw it out as a random crossup. I know it beats lariet clean, but can be greenhanded after… I think? I use it as an attack move so infrequently I even forget if it knocks down on hit. I only ever use ex to run away, well maybe one time in ten i’ll use it to ambig cross after a free corner escape.
As a second thought I only really do lk or mk rainbows over projectiles as more of a taunt or dare, haha. Players who zone constantly can be very boring sometimes. I find the rainbow breaks the monotony of coward crouch, neutral jump, focus absorb, kara taunting etc…
LK rainbow roll is bad against patient players but will tear up aggressive or vortex players.
Also horizontal roll is good against characters that want you in the corner. Just roll under any jumps. It can also be an AA in that regard.
I use a lot the LP Ball for meter, for safe chip, as a footsie tool.
EX Upball, like a mashing shoryu, like to said “hey i’m no free anymore, it’s 2k12 !!”, and sometimes no way because it’s more risky on block.
I never use normal versions of rainbows roll, i try too crouch forward xx HK rainbow on corner, but it’s easily punishable when the opponent know how to do it, and a lot of characters can punish it.
Maybe normal versions of rainbow ball can be good for setups, or just spacing like lp ball ?
You can use normal Rainbow Balls for a basic mixup on wakeup. f.throw, Rainbow Over them into throw, tick throw, electricity, hop mixup or x-up j.mk (punishes reversals and delayed throw attempts). You switch between the different versions to leave you within range of reversal shoto DP, but too far away for them to FADC. I only use this against people who don’t know the matchup though.
I’m sorry to say I didn’t give this topic everything I promised in the early posts. I will start working on an updating when I wakeup. I’m trying to practice AE again for upcoming majors and writing always makes me feel smarter. Everyone wins!
No problem, you already did so much for this Blanka forum, again thanks for all stuff you create here.
Blanka ball gimix-ups ™
My main use of Blanka’s many rolling attacks is as a mobility/mix up/gimmick tool I’ll give brief synopsis of some of my favorite uses of each attack as well as a mind game progression for each to keep things fresh.
Most of my gimix up’s ™ rely on the blanka balls stupid fast recovery on whiff. Blanka ball being one of the most unsafe special moves in the game, many people are conditioned to a block and punish strategy which we can abuse.
Horizontal ball – very unsafe on block (and hit in some matchups) quick recovery gives us options. We like options
·Whiff ball throw ranges
[INDENT=1]oLp ball will land in throw range at midscreen (the range at the begining of the match)[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]oMp ball will land in throw range at fullscreen[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]oHp will land in throw range of a character walking backwards from full screen (landing this one is dirty/rewarding as hell)[/INDENT]
·The goal is to land just in front of the opponent and throw them.
[INDENT=1]oOnce the throw is conditioned the opponent will wither mash jab, throw tech your blanka balls. Land your next ball just outside of jab/crouch tech range and sweep to the keep them honest.[/INDENT]
[INDENT=1]oThe whiff outside of crouch jab range into sweep is a great way to stop jab mashing against blanka balls.[/INDENT]
Ex. Hori ball – just for fireball punishes
·I prefer slide for fireball punishes because of the hard knockdown and the shift in momentum it brings (regardless of the lack of safe jump options)
·Can be FADC’d midcombo for a mix up but it’s not worth it unless its to end the round. Save you meter for better things
Rainbow roll – not a lot of practical applications for this move, although it can create some tricky left right meaty cr.lk setups on wakeup. But they’re manually timed and blanka has better setups in all situations.
Ex. Rainbow ball – Sweet Jesus I love this move. The sheer amount of options this gives you is staggering even after the corner escape nerf. Startup invincibility and the variability granted by the precise manual control make this move something to be feared and one of my main uses of meter
·This move gains incredible value as a reversal as most people who know the matchup will try to avoid the mix up with a focus attack, reversal will break this and once again keep them honest forcing them to take the left right mix-up.
· Once the opponent is scared of the left right 50-50 we can begin whiffing into a throw.
[INDENT=1]oWhiffing into a throw is a good way to beat focus attacks without reversal timing.[/INDENT]
· Once they begin to tech the throw on whiff or anti-air land just outside of crouch tech range and sweep for a knockdown and then run another mix up
Vertical ball - Not a viable anti-air, trades a lot, I don’t use this move often
·Can be used in some match-ups to anti-air neutral jumpers, but again the risk of trade remains
Ex. Vertical ball – my second use of meter, blankas reversal, nuff said