Ralf is arguably the worst character in the game for a reason, and that's because his traits just don't stack up in his favour. The risk you run when you try anything doesn't equate to the rewards he gets if he gambles correctly.
out of everything u said this is the most ridiculous thing u said but i will (and can) agree with about have the stuff u said
So you think I'm partially correct but you don't come to the same conclusion, okay.
With clark u have 2 options empty jump or jump CD qcf A or C just because he has dont mean hes god like also qcb AC is a really good to for a anti air u can use qcb C but ur timing has to be good therefor he does have good anti air options but at a cost.
I can't quite understand what you have written here but essentially what I'm getting is that Ralf has 2 EFFECTIVE options against Clark, empty jump (which you really should not be doing against a grab character) or j.CD into dive (which is reasonable). you shouldn't empty jump against Clark because the risk doesn't equal the reward as the risk is too high. Empty jump (and not hop) can be anti-aired by anything but lets presume the guy is a reasonable player and decides to do the option select st.C so if you jump in you get hit and if you land he gets the grab. So that's not very good, also once ralf is knocked down his only option seems to be qcf+AC but that has armour from the 2nd frame I believe, meaning ANY meaty attack beats you. So lets presume the guys timing is off, well then he will break your throw and if you press buttons he will CH you. Alright then, so lets presume you read this and do qcf+AC to take the hit and hit him back, well that's a no as well because he can buffer in the B back breaker every time and he will take your hit, your 1 bar and he will thank you by throwing you up in the air and giving you very little that you can do off the ground.
Okay now lets go and look at the positives, you hit the j.CD and you knock him away or he blocked it and ate the dive punch, well he is pushed out which is good but you risked taking possibly 10-25% damage so that you might be able to do around 10% with the odds being in his favour of guessing correctly and with better follow-up benifits.
qcb+C is not a solid anti-air, it has to be used on prediction and not on reaction unless they jump from full screen. Qcb+AC is a good anti-air however it is not reliable as it depends on a comodity that can run out and that ralf does not generate that well and so by definition it isn't reliable, it's good, just not reliable.
givin all the tools ralf have he can easily keep grappelrs at bay vice is the only problem because she can CD into EX grapple so if that stops people coming in of jumping in or anything then thats that persons problem.
So you believe Vice is a problem, okay, I think Clark is a problem seeing as he has your exact same buttons apart from j.D (and his is better), st.D (once again, Clark's is better) and st.CD (Ralf's is definately better) and he has the tools to go around Ralf's. Diamon just has better buttons than Ralf so I wouldn't even bother comparing and Raiden fits into that previous category of high jumpers are hard because they can get round his jump/hop CD lock down.
what u was talking about when it comes from zoning characters is the same problem that ralf would have (exept a grappler) the fact that he can knock away fire balls give him a advantage unless they shoot it slow then a different story. i think you would have to break down y he "cant" or having a hard time beating a zoning character
Okay, if Ralf is getting rid of fireballs (like with his qcb+P) that's great but what hapopens when you get it wrong (and you will eventually take at least chip damage) Ralf has to go on the offensive and he doesn't have the tools to open people up anymore.
the only thing i can say about rush down is become a rush down cause really thats what ralf is plus he has good pokes so that really adds to his game
No, Ralf is not rush down, he doesn't have the tools for to open people up. Shen is rush down, Iori is rush down, Ralf is not. Ralf can do close range zoning half decently and Rush down okay but he does nothing that well.
i think the easyest match up with ralf maybe clark (for me at least) or any grappler for that matter only cause i found out a few good things to stay away from there grabs: cr. A x2 qcf A and st. C (2nd hit), far D or far C into valcan punch
How does your first combo help you stay away from grabs? From what I've experienced his autoguard grab guards through whole strings.
sorry it took me a while to answer ur question for my first combo if somebody wanted to D SAB u in the middle of ur block string then u would beat it out its risky if ur not solid with it and with auto guard i only use 2 options and thats jump CD qcf A (this is a block string in the air) of just empty jump
I'm really not sure what you mean by this last bit.
I think you might be looking at him from the wrong perspective, robo, because it seems that you think that ralf should be opening people up, when really his tools are designed for him to be a wall, imo. You are right in saying that his pressure is lacking, but that's not where his strength lies.
Oh I agree, he isn't a pressure character, he is a close range zoner, it's just that I think his close range zoning isn't good enough and so you are forced to rush in a bit but then he as very few ways of opening up the opponent.
even if they stop jumping or pressing buttons because they are afraid of the back fist, what is ralf really going to do?
I don't know about you but if I get someone to stop pressing buttons/hopping/whatever that means I put a dent in what they were trying to do.
And what if that is exactly what they were trying to do? Ralf can't fireball from the otherside of the screen so he has to get close and if you don't press buttons he has to come in for jumping mix-ups or grabs but as we both know he isn't a rush down character so if you force him to do something he is crap at, your character and not Ralf, is the winner.
if you run for the standard throw they can break it and even if you do catch them then they can tech roll the hit
Not sure how this makes normal throws bad...yes, his lack of command grab keeps him low, but at the same time he has beastly frametraps with close c which can confirm into hd and qcf+c which is safe and confirms into knockdowns.
He doesn't have BEASTLY frame traps, he barely has any, I think his CD is +1 but he has nothing that fast apart from sweep or back fist to capitalise with. If you are hit by back fist that is all you are getting and if you sweep they are going to tech roll and that's all your getting. Also frame traps are great if you can pressure or scare people into pressing buttons, you want to press buttons because something is coming but you can't because you are at negative frames, Ralf doesn't have the tools to make you want to press buttons and so frame advantage means very little. His st.C is okay but the range is terrible and as I remember you can only cancel into special moves after the 1st hit and he has no + frame specials so unless you link cr.B into st.C for a hit confirm you aren't going to be able to use any supposed frame traps off a 1hit hit-confirm.
He is definitely low, but it's really not because he has to gamble. Even the gimmicky dive punch is safe as hell, and the only things that's really a gamble is ex qcf+p
I'm not saying he is low because he has to gamble, every character has to gamble, everytime you hop in to the opponent you are gambling that they don't press buttons before you do. The problem is that as a close range zoner he doesn't have tools to scare you, he has to play the opponents game and then keep them out, but not too far out. If anyone wants to beat Ralf what they essentially need to do is stop his jump ins and play dry and there really isn't that much he can do against it.
I would address your second message mate, you've put some sound ideas across but I'm feeling a bit poorly and doing this mammouth amount of writing has drained me a bit.