This move combos into everything. (TAS)

Reference to a super Mario 64 video. Something to the tune of "watch the rolling rocks in .5 a presses with commentary". Calling it absurd is an understatement.

The reason why RASCAL only works in the air is because you can't cancel the grounded jump animation out of Down-B on the first frame. Since transitions made during hitlag force you to stay on the first frame of the new animation until hitlag is over, this makes it impossible to make any further transitions during hitlag. Double jumps, on the other hand, can be cancelled into any action starting on the very first frame, so they essentially serve as a gateway into any other move of Sonic's choosing. As a result, the way hitlag interacts with the aerial release is drastically different than the grounded release.

The reason why there is not much documentation on Down-B is because it is an extraordinarily complicated move. The charging, jumping, and turnaround phases of the move are relatively simple and not too difficult to understand, but the release phase of the move is a total enigma. All that is known about it is that the first frame of the airborne release deals 11% damage, and that the damage sometimes decays by certain amount depending on the exact speed that Sonic is traveling at. The release can even hit several times if that speed is high enough.

The same principle can be applied to the grounded version as well, but this is made much more complicated by the fact that ground speed is influenced by what is presumably the amount of frames spent in the charging phase along with some other unknown variable (how that speed is calculated is yet another one of the many mysteries surrounding this move). The damage that the grounded release can deal depends heavily on Sonic's actual speed, and it has been observed to vary anywhere between 7% - 10% on the frame of release (which, mind you, is much different than the consistent 11% that the aerial version deals) that varies further depending on how far Sonic goes before hitting a target. After hitting a target, Sonic is forced to slow down a bit, which in turn causes the move to deal even less damage on each hit thereafter. If this property were better understood it could potentially be manipulated in a way that allows it to punish crouch cancelling, but all attempts to decipher the speed formula have led nowhere to this date.

Star and I have talked about including a short section on RASCAL in his guide, I'll try to make it happen sooner or later.

The are some important qualities of Down-B that need to be understood in order to have full control over the move. Here's a quick rundown of some of the things that make RASCAL easier to apply and execute:

• There are 11 mandatory frames at the start of the move that must be spent charging before the release phase can be entered.
• Once the 12th frame is reached, Sonic enters a state where he will only continue to charge if you are holding the control stick somewhere within the lowest quarter of the socket (AKA anywhere between the lower left and lower right notches of the octagon).
• If the control stick is anywhere outside this area on frame 12 or later, Sonic will instantly enter the release phase.
• Sonic will change the direction that he's facing on frame 12 if the control stick is pointing behind him (note that this can still be done while keeping the control stick in the lowest quarter of the stick gate).
• Sonic can also change his direction if the control stick is pointed behind him as he presses B to initiate the move (while still keeping it low enough for it to start a Down-B, of course).
• The release phase provides a hitbox on the frame that it appears, but can also be cancelled with a double jump on that same frame. Doing this causes the hitbox to not appear, but it does send you at the spinshot jump angle.
• Jumping on the same frame that the release is entered is what causes a spinshot to happen, so if you enter the release phase while on top of a target you are considered to be on the first frame of the release animation for the entirety of hitlag. So, by double jumping at any time during this hitlag you will still end up spinshotting. Just make sure not to jump on the same frame that you actually release, or you won't hit enter hitlag at all because you cancelled the hitbox before it could come out.

Those bits of information should help you understand how to control your RASCALs a bit better. As a rule of thumb, it is best to travel backwards through your opponent while charging so that you can release and hit them from the opposite side you approached them from. This makes it so that you can overshoot and release at any point after you've gone past them, so this makes timing your release much more lenient. RASCAL wavelands also tend to combo more fluidly when you release while already very close to the ground.

RASCAL U-Air is heavily dependent on where you hit your opponent with the Down-B, and also relies on them being at a high % while being relatively floaty.

The trick is to make sure that they move as far upwards as possible before the first hit of U-Air connects, which has set knockback that replaces the knockback from the Down-B. It comes out very quickly, so there is rarely enough time for them to rise far enough above you while you are still rising from your double jump unless certain conditions are met.

In order to reliably hit your opponent with the second hit of U-Air after a RASCAL, you need to release your Down-B at the lowest point of their hurtbox. For most characters, this means that you would need to hit their feet or lower leg with the release. This will cause them to be a fair bit above you as you hit them with the first hit of U-Air, keeping them in range for the second hit.

RASCAL U-Air does have some niche uses for killing at extreme %s where RASCAL N-Air is not guaranteed to connect (about 150-300%) on super floaties like Jigglypuff and Samus, since the first hit of U-Air is much larger than N-Air. This gives it a better chance of hitting, and because it has set knockback it can lead into the second hit regardless of %. It's certainly one of the less useful aerials to use during a RASCAL, at least compared to N-Air or D-Air. The only reason I decided to use it in my gfy at all was because I someone challenged me to include all 5 of Sonic's aerials. If it were up to me, I would've just done two RASCAL D-Airs followed by three RASCAL N-Airs.

here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SSBPM/comments/4l6dr0/why_sonic_mains_should_learn_rascal/d3l7z1s

If you're wondering why this technique has such a long and complicated name, read this before commenting to ask. It's an incredibly versatile technique that branches into so many other sub-techniques that I had to cover all of the bases when giving it a name. You'll learn just how deep this goes once I get into my explanation.

RASCAL stands for Released Aerial Spin Charge Action Leniency. For the sake of simplicity, let me break the name down into its individual parts to clarify what it means.

The SC stands for S pin C harge, which refers to Sonic's Down-Special. Spin Charge has a LOT of different hitboxes and phases to it, and only one of these phases is important for performing the RASCAL technique.

The two core phases of Spin Charge include the charging portion at the beginning of the move, and the portion of the move that takes place after the charge is released. These two phases have very different properties depending on whether Sonic is grounded or airborne, so this is why the RA is included in the name; it's there to specify that it is the R eleased A erial phase of the move that is being used here. That particular phase is a very important one because it is the only phase of Spin Charge that can be cancelled with a double-jump.

So the first four letters, RASC, are used to identify the part of the move that's used in the technique. Now that that's out of the way, the only thing left is to clarify what we're actually doing with it. But before I get into that, I need to explain the properties of the Released Aerial phase of Spin Charge.

This phase instantly produces a hitbox that inflicts 11% in damage as soon as it is entered, sending its target upwards and slightly towards the direction Sonic is facing. Once this phase is entered, it can be cancelled at any point with a double-jump. In fact, it is possible to double-jump out of this phase on the same frame that it is entered, and even during hitlag.

There are very few moves in the game that allow their user to perform actions on frames where a hitbox would be active, and Sonic's Released Aerial Spin Charge is the only one of these moves that can transition into a double-jump state. Bear in mind that when double-jumps are performed, the user is instantly granted the ability to perform any action that they want.

A lot of hitlag is generated from a Released Aerial Spin Charge because it deals 11% (7 frames, to be exact), and it is impossible for hitlag to end any earlier than it usually does. So what does the game decide to do when Sonic double-jumps while he's still stuck in hitlag?

He simultaneously remains frozen in place for the remainder of hitlag while being able to perform any action that he wants.

This causes something strange to happen. Because Sonic is in hitlag, transitioning into another action before it's over will keep him frozen on the first frame of the new animation until hitlag has ended. So, if Sonic decides to airdodge during this time then he'll remain stuck on the first frame of his airdodge and will only transition to the next frame of that animation once hitlag is over. It doesn't matter which frame of hitlag Sonic enters the airdodge on either; the frames of his action will only start ticking down once hitlag has ended.

This causes a psuedo-input buffer as a result, since the effect is always the same no matter which frame of hitlag the transition happens during. What this means in terms of RASCAL is that A ctions are made more L enient because of this psuedo-buffer. As such, this makes it possible to perform difficult input sequences and have them always resume as soon as the target enters hitstun, resulting in the maximum possible on-hit advantage while allowing some room for error.

The double-jump's velocity never gets the chance to affect Sonic because he isn't allowed to move anywhere during hitlag, and that velocity is replaced by the airdodge. This is what allowed me to do what I did in the gfycat at the top of this page, which I call a RASCAL waveland.

You don't even have to waveland for RASCAL to be useful, either. Replace the airdodge with a N-Air, a D-Air, or a Blast Attack and suddenly you've got yourself an extremely powerful tool for combo extension.

Before you criticize RASCAL's name as being overly complex or "Squirtle-like", please consider that there isn't really a way to make the name any simpler than it is already while still having the name be representative of the technique itself. A technique this complicated requires a few more words in its name than what you might be typically used to, but if all of those extra words are absolutely necessary to explain what the technique even does, then it's what we'll have to live with. Besides, a name like RASCAL couldn't be more appropriate in the context of our very own speedy blue menace.

Doing an aerial downb into someone and jumping out of it.

🔫🔫

Maybe just maybe. Still don't see any sonics do good in tournaments besides aion and Zeno so let me know when you get there :)