Ramlethal Valentine is one of Guilty Gear Strive's strongest characters on release. On most situations, she outranges every other character with her huge swords and can swing the momentum of a match with one huge sword confirm. Here's how you can fight Ramlethal Valentine.
Respect Her Swords
One of Ramlethal's strong points is the range of her Slash and Heavy Slash attacks. She can control space well with these normals and she always has a good combo ready when her swords connect.
For a general reaction, get ready to jump and dash over her swords when she does the grounded version of her Slash and Heavy Slash attacks for a punish. If she goes in with her jumping Slash and Heavy Slashes, it's good to react with a Forward Punch to hit her out of the air.
Lastly, it's also possible to punish her sword normals with a low profile attack such as Sol's Night Raid Vortex, Ky's Stun Dipper or I-no's Stroke The Big Tree.
Make sure to make the best of your punishes to force the Ramlethal player to be more careful with her button presses. The breathing room in the Ramlethal matchup shows up when she relents in swinging her swords.
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Position Yourself Away From Corners
Most Ramlethal confirms often begin with a grounded Slash hit followed up with a combo with a Bajoneto special attack. When near the corner, this special move assures a wallbounce and Ramlethal often has an way to follow it up with the second Bajoneto throw for wallbreak.
When this happens, her opponent often wakes up with a massive health disadvantage and Ramlethal regenerating Tension from the Positive Bonus and midscreen reset for breaking the wall. This situation is common in losing neutral to Ramlethal.
To avoid this, try to position yourself away from the corner if you have a chance to reposition yourself freely. This situation will render her combos to end on Slash to Heavy Slash as her Bajoneto sword throw will force her lose her sword for a short while. Ramlethal is weaker when she loses one of her swords and is outranged by everyone in the cast when she loses both.
However, aiming to reposition yourself in a Ramlethal matchup is a tall order. Her range is her main strong point and confirms into the Bajoneto sword throw wallbounce in the corner are too strong. The only situations where you can reliably avoid the wallbounce on confirm is when you're in the dead center of the screen or Ramlethal herself is backed up against the wall.
Counters: Attack When The Swords Are Away
At times, the Ramlethal player may throw her swords and not immediately get it back. This situation is an opening as her Slash and Heavy Slash ranges are severely shorter without her swords. However, be careful of her Mortobato and Calvados Overdrive supers when she loses her swords.
When using Mortobato without her swords, the range of the super is severely shorter but is still reliable as a reversal super nonetheless. Her swords also immediately start flying back to her when she uses this.
On the other end, Calvados immediately returns her swords to her when uses this Overdrive super. This super can be avoided when you jump and can even be punished with a jump-in if your character's air mobility can reach her. However, this move is unpunishable if the enemy Ramlethal uses all of her Tension to Purple Roman Cancel her Calvados super to immediately reposition herself.
Overall, the Ramlethal Valentine matchup always forces her opponent to respect her attacks and punish accordingly if they ever want to win against her. Her massive range and strong damage potential make her an absolute threat when she's seen on screen.
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