Marvel versus Capcom 2 - Ruby Heart: In depth

Classic Fighting Games Marvel VS Capcom 2
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Ruby Heart…

Additionally, I just found out today that Ruby Heart can throw off of a connected Sublimation from anywhere on the screen; that obviously means she can now do the damage reset combo I posted earlier with Dr. Doom on the fly as it’s not as difficult to set up. If she’s playing a corner, she’s can throw into the corner, but if she’s playing the open field, she has to throw in the opposite direction in order to get the rocks to connect.

Here’s the setup:

short or roundhouse Sublimation, call Dr. Doom, throw XX Hyper Schwartzaile.

This combo is mad cool because Ruby can wreck her opponent and combo into the setup so long as she doesn’t call assist beforehand; that includes any standard or jump-in OTG combo that she may have. Since the only way she seems to be able to combo a Sublimation is with an OTG, the fact that the throw resets her ability to use an OTG attack works into her favor. Can it be rolled if going for the extended version or countered with a Tech Hit? Sure, but maybe the risk is worth the reward.

Example, if I get a c.short, I can go c.forward, s. fierce, c.roundhouse, roundhouse Sublimation, call Dr. Doom, throw XX Hyper Schwartzaile no problem. I’d need to dash to make the catch for the throw, though, because that short, forward, fierce, roundhouse magic series really strecthes her range.

This makes for some interesting possibilities, to say the least.

First is the fact that she can connect that Hyper Schwartzaile at half of normal jump height when she does this reset combo; this gives her the opportunity to directly connect a s.roundhouse or c.fierce when her Hyper Schwartzaile ends and her feet touch he ground again, although she can use an OTG also. What’s good about that? If she doesn’t use her OTG, she can save it for later, so she can go standard or jump in combo, OTG into setup, air combo into hyper combo, OTG, air combo into hyper combo, DHC if she has that much meter to burn.

Second, the fact that she can do an air throw directly means that she’s not limited to just Dr. Doom in terms of the assists that she can throw into; I haven’t tested the possibilities yet, but if she can work with a more raw assist in terms of destructive potential (like Sentinel or Tron Bonne), that’s obviously something worth exploring. By contrast, if she’s air throwing from an super jump air combo, she needs to land at least a sj.jab, sj.short or something similar as a setup to get herself at the appropriate height to do so, which takes too much time for everyone but Dr. Doom to be of any assistance to her.

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if ya really like Ruby a lot, you could do those japanese Ruby combos, where you do like assist combos, and/or use spiral to chip while zoning at the same time

Ruby is a good character for that cuz she’s like commando, jill, and strider, where you can have multiple assists on the screen at the same time, ie. zombie and bird, or genity, or bomb and dog

Anyhow, there’s great difficulty in the combos like doing short, short, fierce, cancel into a ghost, cancel into the ball super, juggle them in the air for a few more hits, timing it so that you land before them and having it so that where they land is right next to the chest you planted

After doing that, you could juggle them again after the ghost hits with another launcher into an air combo ending with another ball super

Really hard though, takes skill

On another note, I though it was Viscant that made BH top tier, but since he’s saying bad things about him…oh well
at least he made Ruby popular here

I saw combofiend trying to use the japanese team with Ruby

Ruby’s capture type assist is good for setting up the infinite for War Machine or Ironman. Basically you can do the infinite from an air combo with the assist without causing the flying screen because you are flying, if that makes any sense

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When i get stuck with ruby i always pick cable/sentinel.

Fucked up thing is, this happened so much for a while there that i got really good with her{and with the team}.

Thats a really fun and good team, try that one out:)

It’s really sad all the ghetto shit i’ve come up with for this team:lol:

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does any know rubys glitch??? the 1 were u get free credits???

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any 1 ???

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I personally don’t know anyone other than myself that uses her, in fact, I’ve never even played against another Ruby Heart player, ever. Despite her lack of popularity, she, like many characters in this game, qualifies as a character that has a lot of untapped potential that might just end up being usable in tournament play if explored further. Over the last year or so, shes become my favorite character as Ive developed more strategies and expanded her capability.

Anyway, some explanation:

Strengths:

Strength. Probably the strongest female character in the game, and stronger than some of the males. Unlike a lot of characters, using more than one fierce or roundhouse in a combo isn’t going to cause flying screen or knock her opponent out of follow up range.

Versatility of sublimation. Sublimation may be one of the most versatile moves in the entire game in that it allows her to trap, break traps, combo, throw, reset, and advance her position on the screen. Its beam property prevents retaliation from an opponent via wavedash, the projectile property gives her the ability to attack outside of her bodys extension, and the homing property makes the move very difficult to evade when used correctly.

Mobility. Arguably no characters in the game with the exceptions of Storm and Sentinel have the ability to change direction in the air as deftly as Ruby Heart. Schwarzaile gives her legitimate mobility, and puts her ahead of a lot of the cast in that area. Also worth mentioning is her wavedash, which while not the best in the game, is certainly quicker than average.

Damage. Not only is she adept at dealing damage in spontaneous scenarios, shes capable of doing so in very large doses. She can punish assists to some extent, punish lag to a great extent, and create bigger opportunities from smaller ones.

Independence. In terms of her attack structure, Ruby Heart can work inside out rather than outside in; that is, she can find a way to set up a scenario where she can use outside assistance to do damage rather than depending on outside assistance to create the scenario for her. She can get herself meter, combos, throws, and supers, DHC in and DHC out, and unlike most of the cast, shes capable of working outside of c.short range to do so.

Trapping. Probably her most notorious strength, she has several tools at her disposal to control the screen: her Sublimation, Fantome, Schwarzaile, and Anchor Capture all have legitimate use. She can neutralise a lot of assists that dont have invincibility, and even some that have limited invincibility by herself.

Vitality. She has standard 100 vitality, which actually ranks her above a lot of the viable point characters (Magneto, Strider, Storm, etc.) in this regard and makes her an exception to the rule (strong point game, weak vitality).

Weaknesses:

Recovery. By far Ruby Hearts single biggest weakness, a player has to be very mindful of whats going on during the match because much of what she does has some type of exploitable recovery. More than likely has scared a lot of players away from her over the course of the game’s lifespan.

Strength of standard Hyper Combos. This game favors hit quantity over damage per hit, and to an extent, her Hyper Combos suffer for it. Her ability to combo normals helps to alleviate this to an large extent, though, and her resets more than make up for the weakness of her standard Hyper Combos combos.

Assists. Her assists arent terrible, but they arent dominant, either. Alpha can surprise characters when used in a defensive capacity, but she is vulnerable during startup, plus her range is lacking. Beta is one of the better pure offensive assists in the game, as any decent point character in the game can find a way to exploit it, but does little defensively. It is totally dedicated to hurting the point, and does little to nothing to a counter assist. Gamma is only feasibly used for trapping teams, effectively defeating its purpose.

Meter dependant. Ruby Heart has no problem getting meter, but she always needs to keep one on tap to save herself if she makes a mistake on the offensive. People qualify her as a battery because she can get meter, but shes wasting her potential if shes not using some of it herself.

Too long, so part two below.

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Ruby Hearts Top Ten Teammates:

Below is a brief synopsis of some of better features of Ruby Heart/assist duos :

Psylocke-Alpha. In my opinion, no other character in the game gives Ruby Heart more options to work with in the heat of battle than Psylocke. Period. Psylocke allows Ruby Heart the spontaneity to use an out-in or in-out structure, helps her greatly in both rushdown at melee range and anti-rushdown, and gives her access to Ruby Hearts second most damaging form of attack: her Anchor Capture combos. Amongst the more interesting of her Anchor Capture combos is one that allows her to connect Tour De Magie, though it is mainly used for humiliation. The knockdown property of Psylockes assist allows for many OTG combos, but Ruby Heart can directly combo into her s.roundhouse, dt.roundhouse or c.fierce launchers if her opponent decides to roll. Also, her assist is one of the few that will allow Mille Fantome to combo without the intervention of a stronger normal or a DHC. Sublimation XX Psionic Butterfly is not terribly powerful, but OTG potential is still there. She lets Ruby work from the point, where shes dangerous, or the two, wheres shes perhaps even more dangerous.

Sentinel-Gamma. Sentinel Gamma probably favors Ruby Hearts trap game moreso than her rushdown, but probably offers her the most mobility. As a latent assist, Sent-Gamma helps all of her moves, but none moreso than Schwarzaile, as it protects both startup and recovery and generally lets her use the move with more reckless abandon. She can combo a ground Schwarzaile into his assist and cancel into a super, or she can use the move in the air and not worry a lot less about her recovery. She uses the assist in an out-in capacity, but has very good combo potential with it so long as she stays alert. Partnaile XX Hyper Sentinel Force is the best DHC option available for the duo.

Dr. Doom-Beta. While no longer her best assist, it is still one of her better ones, as she has great capability with Dr. Doom when used in a non-trap capacity. Of the three characters that allow her to reset, while his assist may make for the least damaging reset combo, Dr. Doom is the only one who gives Ruby Heart the ability to do so when she uses a launcher. Furthermore, Dr. Doom allows her to reset from a DHC. He is like Sentinel in that he helps her mobility greatly, but he is infamous for the part he plays in her Sublimation trap. Additionally, Dr. Doom gives Ruby Heart the ability to follow up on her opponent after flying screen. Dr. Dooms biggest weakness as an assist is his DHC, in terms of power, range, and recovery, unfortunately.

Hulk- Beta. Hulks super armor puts him on par with Juggernaut-Beta, but his shorter startup, recovery and non-flying screen property makes him better suited for Ruby Heart. Hulk gives Ruby Heart more options with exploiting her stronger normals than any other assist, allowing her to chain as many as eight in one combo. Ruby Heart can work in-out or out-in with Hulk if she chooses to. The greatest benefit that Hulk offers as an assist is his Gamma Crush DHC; it is not only unrollable and unmashable when done after a Hyper Schwarzaile cancelled from super jump height, but is responsible for 88 points of damage, meaning that Ruby Heart is entirely capable of being responsible for killing a character from landing something as trivial as a sj.short in the air.

Iron Man- Beta. Hes a latent assist that doesnt do as much for Ruby Hearts mobility as does Sentinel, but his damage potential is far greater. No other assist allows Ruby to use all three of her damage methods. Ruby can Anchor Capture from a connected Repulsor Blast. Iron Man offers her second most powerful reset combo, Ruby can fight in-out or out-in with him, hes one of the few characters whos assist she can effectively combo Schwarzaile into, and hes just flat out good offensively. She can use just about any of her supers to DHC into Proton Cannon causing for some tentative play on the part of her opponent.

Tron Bonne- Gamma. Tron-Gamma is by far Ruby Hearts most dangerous assist. Tron gives Ruby Heart her most powerful reset combo, good for nearly one hundred points of damage even with the most basic setup. If she has the opportunity to become more elaborate with her setup, it is potentially fatal. Trons assist when used in conjunction with a Sublimation allows all three hits of her assist to connect, and Sublimations beam property means that if Sublimation makes contact with the opposing point, they can do nothing to save a stray assist. Hyper Schwarzaile XX Lunch Rush is comboable, though difficult. A good choice, though range, both horizontal and vertical, is a shortcoming, however.

Storm- Alpha. Storm is a latent assist with one of the lowest damage potentials of the ones that I use. Its inability to be neutralised, in addition to its extended hit stun make it a good choice, but not a primary choice. Amongst other things, with Storm backing her, Ruby Heart knows that she can move in the air without having to worry a great deal about protecting herself on the ground. Along with Psylocke, Storm gives her a way of combing Tour de Magie, and her extended hit stun give her more flexibility with her standard combos. Storm should only come into play as an assist after a DHC, because Storm on a Ruby Heart team means that Storms on point and Ruby Heart is at two. At any rate, Sublimation DHCs into any of Storms Hyper Combos, and Hailstorm has OTG potential.

Cyclops- Beta. Cyclops allows Ruby Heart to use Anchor Capture Combos, though the timings different from Psylocke and Iron Man, and he sacrifices Psylockes OTG potential. Additionally, he doesnt give her the potential to launch from a successful connect, but still lets her sj.cancel into her combos if she chooses to. On the plus side, he offers Ruby Heart extended horizontal and vertical range plus some invincibility. Like Psylocke, Ruby Heart can use Cyclops in either an out-in or in-out capacity, although hes not nearly as versatile or capable of getting her out of a pinch in melee range. Using an Anchor Capture, she can combo Mille Fantome at greater strength than she can with Psylocke. Either of Cyclopss Hyper Combos can be DHCed into from either Hyper Schwarzaile or Partnaire.

M. Bison- Beta. M. Bison is a latent assist, but not nearly dominant enough to function as a primary assist. He can greatly enhance her trap capability, as his on screen time is very short compared to many of the other characters, and the nature of his assist gives her leeway to alter her attack patterns so long as she has control of the screen when doing so. Unfortunately, his vulnerability, as well as the vulnerability he exposes Ruby Heart to, make him an interesting change of pace rather than a main gameplan. The biggest problem is that his grenade is a timed attack; fine in that it creates the potential to be dangerous if left unattended, but lacking in that the actual amount of time it is capable of acting in a retaliatory fashion is extremely short. It is dormant for the greater part of its duration. That said, Ruby Heart does have uses for him, including following up on opponents and resetting the ability for her to use supers after flying screen attacks. His other weakness is his lack of DHC compatibility; he would serve her best as an anchor rather than a two, with someone more DHC compatible at the two spot.

Captain Commando Beta. Captain Commando helps Ruby Heart by extending her attack range when she decides to use Sublimation; if she uses the short version, range is extended outward, with the roundhouse version, extended inward. Her attack structure with Captain Commando is in-out since the combo potential he has is so limited when attempting to work the other way; Ruby Heart can effectively combo a Captain Corridor into her combos if the situation arises, most notably from a connected Sublimation. Against opponents that plan a subsequent retaliation after a connected Captain Corridor, a fierce Anchor Capture is a tactic with everything to gain and little to lose. The best DHC choice for this duo is Hyper Schwarzaile XX Captain Sword, though like M. Bison, he works better at anchor with someone more compatible at two.

Tired, strategies later.

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Wsup I use Ruby too, the only person in ATL that uses her. I like her with BlackHeart and Cap. I use her assist (a) with BlackHeart. She keeps the opponent pinned for a while, and it traps people without a good anti air, or even if they do have a good one, you can mix it up. Ruby works well with cap in the corner, it’s hard to jump out of the corner trap. One thing I like about assist alpha is throw combos. Lots of people can call Ruby, throw into sublimation, combo into super. Try this for example with Cap. Comm. Call Ruby, Kick Grab into Sub., Cap. Sword! Tight! Anyway lataz though.

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Part three, broken up into two posts for length purposes: Ruby Heart versus Anti-Air Assists.

Heres a chart that gives better insight as to what she can and cannot do against AAA with her most common attacks.

Captain Commando: As Captain Commando is one of the most commonly used assists in the game Ill address him first. Overall, Ruby Heart is capable of doing a decent job of neutralising Captain Commando. First and foremost, he is vulnerable to Partnaire; Ruby Heart is safe calling a Partnaire against him from anywhere within three-quarters of the screen. He is potentially neutralised by c.roundhouse when hit during his startup, but if Ruby Heart mistimes her attack, the move extends her vulnerability range, meaning that Captain Commando has a free shot at her. Sublimation can also stuff him during his startup; Sublimation makes Captain Commando rather ineffective when Ruby Heart has a point character cornered. That being said, she is vulnerable during her startup, but she has the advantage in that she can operate outside of Captain Commandos attack range. The only way he can get to her from a half screen outward is if she miscalculates c.roundhouse, and she doesnt even have to use c.roundhouse. Schwarzaile and Hyper Schwarzaile can beat him when Ruby strikes him from at a high downward or direct downward attack angle during startup, but again, after startup, if shes in his range, shes totally vulnerable.

Psylocke: With the exception of her mobility limitations, Ruby Heart doesnt have a whole lot of situations where she is totally vulnerable to Psylocke. She can beat her with Hyper Schwarzaile during Psylockes startup, hands down. Sublimation shuts Psylocke down before she can even come out of the starting gate if an opponent tries to counterassist with her, but Psylocke can beat Sublimation to the punch if called at the same time. Psylocke cleanly beats Schwarzaile if Ruby Heart attempts to approach her from a high angle, but Psylocke can be neutralised when attacked at a low angle, particularly with roundhouse Schwarzaile from the ground, and she is helpless against all of Ruby Hearts attacks after the peak of her jump. A little known fact, Ruby Heart can immobilise Psylocke with any version of Anchor Capture that shes able to make contact with Psylocke with. Unfortunately, Psylocke dominates against c. roundhouse.

Cyclops: Ruby Heart wins some and loses some against Cyclops. Cyclops is vulnerable to Hyper Schwarzaile during his startup. He is potentially neutralised by Sublimation, as Ruby Heart can outrange him, plus she can stuff him during his startup if he is called as a counter, but she will lose if it is called at the same time. She cannot beat his AAA with Schwarzaile if he is used as a counter assist, but Cyclops is vulnerable to her if she attacks him at a low angle. He is helpless against her on an all planes even with his body and lower once he reaches the peak of his jump. He is invulnerable to both Partnaire, and to c.roundhouse; it will not touch him even if she is operating outside of his attack range. He can be taken off the screen with a fierce Anchor Capture after his jump peak, but cannot be fazed by the move during its startup.

Blackheart: Blackheart is only really effective against her when she is stationary; other than that, Ruby Heart has the tools to make him miss wildly and to beat him out of the blocks consistently; it is one of her more favorable assist matchups. He is vulnerable to Partnaire if Ruby heart can catch him with it during his startup, and weak against Hyper Schwarzaile in the same regard. When she is coming forward, she is capable of making him whiff altogether, and can have success with directional changes as well. As her stationary move, Ruby Heart will trade hits with Blackheart during Sublimations startup if done at the same time, with Blackheart coming out on top in terms of damage done. To her credit, she can stuff Blackheart if an opponent attempts to use him in a counter fashion, though Blackheart clearly has the range advantage. Schwarzaile can hit him during his startup, and is also capable of making him whiff badly, but if she is travelling vertically with it, she is not invincible to Inferno. c.roundhouse during startup.

Cable: Cables invincibility is capable of causing some problems in close range, but his limited range and hit trajectory take away from his effectiveness against her. He is potentially neutralised by Hyper Schwarzaile during his startup, but will beat her any other time. In a best case scenario, c.roundhouse will trade hits with Cable, with Cable getting the worse end of the deal; in the worst case, Psimitar will cleanly beat her. He will be stuffed by Sublimation if he is acting as a counter, but beats the move any other time, as he is immune to it beyond startup. Ruby Heart has the range advantage, though. He is also immune to Schwarzaile at any time, in addition to Partnaire. Finally, Ruby Heart can cleanly beat Cable with the jab version of the anchor capture during his startup.

More below.

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Continued…

Dr. Doom: Dr. Doom clearly causes trouble for a lot of characters, but Ruby heart really isnt one of them. He is unquestionably vulnerable to Sublimation; not only are his rocks nullified when used in a projectile fashion, but he cant counter her and he cant outrange her. The only time shell ever be beat by Molecular Shield when doing Sublimation is when shes immediately next to him and they execute the moves at the same time. Partnaire cleanly beats him as well, not only during startup, but also while firing the rocks toward her from a distance. He has the potential to be neutralised by Schwarzaile; she beats him with high angles and overhead approaches that strike him in the head, but he wins when she tries to charge head on. Additionally, she cannot pass through the rocks as projectiles. All that was said for Schwarzaile is true for Hyper Schwarzaile, except for the fact that Ruby Heart has some invincibility against Dr.Dooms rocks during her initial frames. c.roundhouse can also hurt Dr. Doom during his startup, but like Captain Commando-Beta, if she mistimes it, shell take the hit. Jab Anchor Capture beats his starting frames, but doesnt do much against his projectiles.

Ken: Ken is a good matchup for no one, and Ruby Heart is no exception. In general, Ken has priority over every single one of Ruby Hearts offensive options that put her into his range, with the exception of Partnaire. Partnaire can knock him out of his starting frames, but she clearly has to work around Ken rather than through Ken unlike some of the other assists shell encounter. Fortunately, Kens range isnt a major concern; shes able to work with Sublimation outside of his attack radius, and hell pass straight through the move without any hindrance. Also noteworthy is that she can make Ken miss with Schwarzaile and Hyper Schwarzaile using speed and change of direction. Difficult, but not impossible.

Jin: Jin, while not a commonly used character, has properties to his AAA that can trouble Ruby Heart, also. She cant directly engage him as she can many of the other assists; she has to counterattack him. Partnaire is a potential weakness for Jin, as he is vulnerable to it during his starting frames, but invincible against it any other time. He has immunity to Schwarzaile and Hyper Schwarzaile, as well as the Anchor Captures. Sublimation can outrange him, and can hurt him as soon as his explosion animation finishes, thus, she can only use it in a counter scenario; startup is immune, plus shell lose if she tries to go at him within his range. c.roundhouse will trade hits with him, with Ruby Heart taking slightly more damage than Jin. Overall, she has to tread lightly around him, even if she doesnt have to move herself in a position where he can attack her to get a hit on a point character.

Cammy: Cammy presents many of the same problems that are present with Jin and Ken, and she is a much more common occurrence on a team. The problem is that she is invulnerable to all of Ruby Hearts offensive options on the fly, so Ruby Heart has to counterattack her as well, or move around her. Cammys invincibility vanishes once she reaches the peak of her jump, so Ruby Heart does have the potential to punish her with a sj.cancelled into a Scwharzaile or Hyper Schwarzaile in a counter fashion if she whiffs. Furthermore, unlike Ken, and to Ruby Hearts advantage, when Cammys AAA is blocked, she bounces off of her opponent, meaning that she is fair game to any counterattack of Ruby Hearts choice. The safest options are Hyper Schwarzaile against a point out of position to counter, or Partnaire against an overaggresive point. Rangewise, she is about equal with Ken. Regarding her Schwarzaile and Hyper Schwarzaile, Ruby Heart has a harder time making Cammy whiff using those attacks than she has with some of the other characters; in fact, an opponent can counter fierce Schwarzaile with Cammy on reaction just based on the move trajectories. She has to rely more on change of direction than speed, although Ruby Heart is entirely capable of outpacing Cammy with it. Like Ken, Cammy wont inhibit Sublimation, and is effectively outranged by it.

Iron Man: Iron Man can prove to be a favorable Ruby Heart matchup. He doesnt have any invincibility, making fighting against him a lot easier than some of the other top tier AAA. He is vulnerable to Partnaire at any point during his animation, and can be beaten out of the starting blocks when going up against it. Schwarzaile can also neutralise him, but she doesnt have the clear-cut dominance with this move that she has against Blackheart or even Cyclops. She wins against his startup, but Ruby Hearts angle of approach to successfully neutralise him after his startup is variable. Sometimes she can attack him with a high angle, sometimes she can charge him head on; it all depends upon the position of the Repulsor Beams with respect to her. Hyper Schwarzaile has greater priority against Repulsor Blast than does a normal Schwarzaile, so she may want to opt for that instead of relying on guesswork. Iron Man is cleanly beaten by jab Anchor Capture, and has no defense against c.roundhouse. Sublimation wins out of the starting gate, in a counter fashion, and when the opponent tries to counter against it, though Repulsor Blast has more range. Overall, Iron man doesnt have a lot of answers if she is mindful of what shes doing.

More later.

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Part four, infinite combos.

To my knowledge, Ruby Heart only has two infinite combos, and as would be expected, both are done against Sentinel. They never seem to get any mention, because amongst the infinites against Sentinel, they harder to pull off than say, Storm’s or Strider’s. The timing is strict, and the spacing isn’t as lenient, but it’s still doable.

It should be noted that these are for in the corner only.

The first variation of Ruby Heart’s infinite is the same as Strider’s: j.short, j.forward, j.fierce, j.roundhouse, repeat.

The key to the whole thing: Ruby Heart has to make contact with her j.short around Sentinel’s beltline in order to get j.forward to connect; if she strikes higher than that, she whiffs it.

Two things to keep in mind: first, it’s easier for her to get the j.short to connect there if she is a jab’s distance away from Sentinel’s body when she does j.short; her angle of approach due to her forward motion makes it more probable for the j.short to land properly. Second, it’s all about maintaining the proper rhythm, particularly when she lands and goes up to do j.short again. Only way to master the proper rhythm is practice.

The second variation is more lenient in terms of timing, as well as more damaging, but more difficult to pull off overall because of the more complicated pattern.

It goes: j.short, j.forward, j.fierce, j.roundhouse, land, j.fierce, j.roundhouse, repeat.

This can be set up with a j.fierce, j.roundhouse against a grounded Sentinel, which is good because that’s what Ruby Heart often looks for against him anyway. Seems easy enough, but the reason that this one is more difficult than Strider’s is because whether it is successful depends on where you connect the j.short on Sentinel’s body. The j.fierce, j.roundhouse does not work well with variation one, as she is often pushed too far away for her to continue to connect hits.

Similar to the first one, but adds another element. Here, the essential timing focus is on how she hits j.roundhouse in the first part of the infinite. She has to strike Sentinel between beltine and knee level with j.roundhouse, and when she lands, she immediately has to have that j.fierce ready to go. If she lands the j.fierce, she delays a bit before doing the second j.roundhouse, and this is critical as well, considering that if she does it too early, she won’t be in position to do j.short when she lands, and if she does it too late, she won’t get it to combo. If she does it right, she has to revert to the rhythm she used for the first part to get the j.short to connect properly again. Difficult, but doable, and worth it.

How does she end the infinite? Depends on who’s on her team, I guess. Let’s say she doesn’t have an assist she can use. After she’s done with her iterations, she can go s.short, s.strong, s.fierce XX Hyper Schwarzaile, or if you think your opponent is too distracted by the combo to roll, she can go s.short, s.strong, s.fierce, c.roundhouse XX roundhouse Sublimation, j.fierce, j.roundhouse XX Hyper Schwarzaile. If you feel yourself losing the rhythm needed to maintain the infinite, she can cancel into Hyper Schwarzaile at any time, after any connected hit, and still salvage the momentum.

If she can use an assist, which variation is better, s.fierce or c.roundhouse? I say s.fierce if you have an assist that lets Ruby Heart use an Anchor Capture, like Hulk, Psylocke or Cyclops. Anchor Capture, then start the infinite all over again, although the damage isn’t reset, unfortunately. Fortunately, since she doesn’t use her OTG with the c.roundhouse, she can use it later.

Use c.roundhouse if Ruby Heart is pairing up with Iron Man, Dr. Doom or Tron Bonne. She loses her OTG temporarily since she uses it up, but she can reset with these characters. The reset can potentially kill Sentinel, and gets her OTG back for her if he’s hanging on by a thread. Psylocke is the wild card, as she can be used after a c.roundhouse as well.

How practical is it? For me, so far, it’s not useless, but it’s definitely not automatic like Storm’s. The most I’ve ever done was five reps of her second variation for 30 hits, but on average I can get two to three reps going before I mess up. At the moment, out of habit, I’ll only do that many so that I can use some her better stuff afterward rather than having to cancel into Hyper Schwarzaile just to save the combo. On a positive note, hit for hit, Ruby Heart does outdo Storm in terms of damage done against Sentinel, especially with variation two. That said, if Storm ends her infinite with a Hailstorm, that more than makes up for the difference.

More later.

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i wouldn’t advise anyone using the big ship super for ANY reason (ESPECIALLY not assist punishing) unless they have a good, strong, and safe DHC 2nd. I wouldn’t suggest using blue or orange ball either, unless the point doesn’t have a range move. Her best assist punisher is counter-assist or Waterfalls.

And ruby’s fav assist is Doom, hands down. Sentinel is also usable, but he’s no Doom. She’s also very assist dependant, she can’t do any damage without one.

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About time someone replied.

Anyway, HVS:

Two conflicting defintions of strength, here.

I’m speaking in terms of normals. Maybe should’ve stated it directly; implied it with the supporting statement after the quote. My point is, there isn’t another female character that I’ve seen that can do a greater degree of damage with just normals, and not another female character that has her versatility with utilising her normals once she gets a hit.

She obviously can’t compete with Storm with her Hyper Combos and assist punishing; even though it’s obvious, I’ve stated as much when I went through and listed her weaknesses, as she is negatively affected by damage buffering.

Points after:

Mille Fantome is a DHC-out specific hyper combo. The objective behind it is to force an opponent into hitstun, cancel into Mille Fantome, then DHC into some other relevant hyper combo of choice after the treasure chest appears. A player can then utilise its latency to pursue follow-up options that would otherwise be impossible considering that for most characters, they can run through the course of the DHC animation before the ghosts disappear while still getting good damage from the initial DHC. Those follow-up options can include something as complicated as setting up another hyper combo or something as simple as being able to utilise the ghosts to prevent retaliation to an otherwise vulnerable DHC character. Might not be a primary course of action, but it’s something to consider.

If Ruby Heart manages to lose a target when doing Hyper Schwarzaile, and she finds that she cannot recover them by cancelling in another direction, she herself can always direct her attack back downward, since her recovery once she touches the ground is virtually instant.

The pattern that she should shoot for to connect all fifteen hits of Hyper Schwarzaile plus gain the launcher/OTG option afterward, is Hyper Schwarzaile, cancel up after three hits, u.foward after six, u.backward after nine, delay, d.forward after twelve. If she does it correctly, she’ll drive her opponent upward and forward while she’s coming back down, and she’ll have created a window between the time she lands and the time her opponent lands where she can throw a c.short, or possible even a c.fierce/s.roundhouse, plus she still has assist options.

Cornelius:

I would not expect someone to use Partnaire against say, Cable as he’s never in a position where the move has full effectiveness as it is. He’s almost always moving away from her, and any lag that Ruby Heart would be able to exploit from say, a whiffed j.fierce viper beam or grenade could be better capitalised upon by Hyper Schwarzaile. That said, if Ruby Heart herself is backed into a corner, she can take advantage of the move’s zero frame/one frame (whatever you want to call it) property against anything sloppy that’s making an approach against her at a shallow to zero angle. As fas as her recovery time, shorter than that of Cable’s if he does a ground Hyper Viper Beam, but she absolutely wants to make sure that she makes connects with her opponent while executing it, no two ways around it.

More later, let’s keep the discussion going.

34

in that case Rogue is the strongest female.

35

Rogue has the stronger jab, strong, short, and forward. Ruby Heart’s roundhouse is stronger, and fierce is about even. Rogue’s air combos are stronger than Ruby Heart’s, but Ruby Heart has stronger ground combos.

I want people’s opinion on Ruby Heart versus the top tier. What can she do, what strengths does she have against them and what weaknesses can they exploit against her?

From my experience, her best matchup is with Magneto, she’s about even with Cable, but loses to runaway Storm and Sentinel.

Amongst the second tier, she’s strong against Spiral and Iron Man, even with Dr. Doom, and loses to Strider.

36

She was considered to be a counter to Spiral for a while. She does good with an anti-Spiral AA.
Her best match is definitiely Doom, since she can just yellow ball his jumping hp. He’ll have to actually fight her.

37

my friend picked ruby heart by accident one time, and so i had a lil bit of practice with her.

her sublimation assist is pretty useful. linking it with ahvb is like…simple.

but a draw back, is i can’t control her fireball thing (and its super). with the super, i seem to cancel it half way through. how do you guys use it to its maximum damage/potential?

38

All i do is tap the direction i want to go in a keep pressing either punch button. Also when you hit the person they are not going to keep going in the same direction like with jill’s special so you have to keep changing your direction to compensate.

39

FOBio:

Hyper Schwarzaile chains hits in groups of threes. The most important thing about getting the OTG/launcher option is that when she cancels her move in a downward direction, it is the third hit that pops an opponent upward enough to allow her to do that.

Anyway, when she lands, if she’s used up her assist, then she should attempt c.fierce if she thinks she has time, or c.short, s.roundhouse otherwise. From there, she should do sj.jab, sj.short, sj.forward, delay, fierce trhow. That sequence is good for an extra 21 points of damage when fully scaled, and 45 points of damage when fully unscaled. If they tech throw, land, attempt a j.jab or j.short, delay XX Hyper Schwarzaile for the guard break.

More opinions on Ruby Heart versus the top tier? How about strategies?

40

She does okay against Magneto. Call in Doom or Sent and HP Yellow ball, redirect back, then straight down. s.hk XX Sublimation, ghost (makes Sublimation disappear). Repeat from beginning or block and let the ghost interrupt them. Makes Magnetos think to beat you. Most Magneto players can’t think to save their life. You can sub LP Anchor for the yellow ball at the beginning if you want.

Ghosts are good. Anytime you can get a ghost out safely, you should do it.