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Flying Snakes?! (How to play on Rainbow Cruise) (#3)

Underload

Underload

Lazy
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
3,433
Location
Morrison, Colorado


Snakes learn to fly here.


Please use and study this picture quite a bit.


Much of what I say also applies to the cast as a whole, so if someone from another forum stumbles upon this - feel free to share it. I care more about advancing the metagame than advancing my character.

Let's begin.

Know the Stage​


Okay, so that's our stage. You start off on A and go around alphabetically until you reach D, which you then go back down to A. I'm sure most everyone here knows this, but learn this stage. You will need to know about when platforms start appearing, when they dissapear, etc. Knowing how long platforms stick around or when they come around is a vital step to knowing this stage.

If you know a platform will be showing up on your right after part C, transititiong into part D - you can jump into "thin air" to have the platform come into existance and save you. This can be a lifesaver.

So get to know the stage.

Part A - I'm on a Boat mother ****er​

Part A of Rainbow Cruise has you on a boat. Due to me not wanting to teach everyone terminology, the left side is the "front". The right side is the "back". Then there is the 'mess hall' which is the part just in front of the back that goes down into the imaginary living quarters. Then we have the sail platforms? Got it? Good.

Things to know:
  • 1) Avoid the mess hall in certain matchups. Corners are bad, and DDD can infinite you on this side. MK can also DTILT you to death, along with DK and other characters with similar wall-dtilt-locks.
  • The sides aren't very big, if you're facing a horizontal killer stay near the center of the boat.
  • Utilt won't kill right when this part starts. You see that to the top right? Yah, people can bounce off that and live. Don't go for a utilt right when you reach this transition from Part D.
  • Abuse the only 2 platforms. You can place a C4 on the bottom platform and camp all day with nades near the mess hall.
  • Bthrow against the mess hall is usually a better option than dthrow, because you can go for that fsmash. Most people don't tech, because they expect the dthrow. :awesome:
  • There isn't much Snake can abuse on this, other than complete stage control - which we have on most stages. Just play keep away with your opponent.
  • If your opponent is on the back end, FH nairs can keep them over there and score some low-mid % KO's.
  • Near the transition to Part B the front end of the boat goes down. Try not to get hit underneath that, as you'll likely die. Also avoid getting stage spiked there.

Summary:
Play keepaway

Part B - Snake learns to Fly​


Part B of Rainbow Cruise has you jumping up platforms with some magic carpets in the way, and one of the platform teeters. The goal here is to stay above your opponent and rain an arsenal of grenades and C4 on them to keep them below you. Odd enough that this is probably the one time in this game you want your opponent below you as Snake.

You can abuse the instant-grab with Grenades on this part of the stage, and I'm willing to bet we can platform cancel on every single one of these platforms to speed up your movement. So practice that platform cancelling until you perfect it.

Things to Know:
  • This scrolls up, so being down is bad. Keep your opponent below you.
  • You can tech off the yellow blocks if you get hit at them, try to DI towards those and tech if able.
  • You cannot drop through magic carpets (IIRC), so avoid them. They are bad, you will want to be able to drop down if able to. Don't limit your mobility!
  • Likewise, if your opponent is on a carpet - an attack from below may own them as they try to drop through dair you. :awesome:
  • Before the full transition to Part C, you can tech off the yellow blocks with the pendulam. DI towards those and tech if you can.
  • Be the first onto the pendulam. This is important.

Summary:
Stay above your opponent, spam grenades and C4 like you never have before.

Part C - The Pendulam​

This part is one of the funnest, but shortest parts, if you know what you are doing. Luckily gimping Snake is a lot harder on this part than people think, due to being able to tech off the yellow blocks. The Pendulam can really screw you and your opponents up when trying to recover, so unless you are 100% sure you are going to land on it, blow yourself up with C4. Trust me, I've SD'd a few times thinking I was going to land on it and I ended up dying. It's not something you want to happen in tourney. Also, don't miss your techs on those yellow blocks if you do C4. You'll like bounce straight to your death.

Things to Know:
  • You can drop grenades/c4/mines onto yellow blocks, and the yellow block with fall. This will place the above on the swinging pendulam. Sound awesome? It is. But it's hard to abuse.
  • You cannot drop through the pendulam (IIRC), so don't try it. Stay near the part where you can best DI towards the yellow blocks to tech. This is usually just whatever is the closest part, so standing on the left edge when it's swinging to the right isn't a bad thing.
  • The platforms on your left are still there for a while, if you get knocked over there during the early parts of this transition - you can land on those platforms really fast to help you recover.
  • The platforms on the right appear after a certain amount of time, learn this time so you can stay over there if knocked over there. This can be a lifesaver.
  • This is one of the best times to try and get a utilt KO. You can get a stage-like spike hitting them off the yellow blocks, and the cieling is low enough to get some earlier KO's than usual.
  • If you read the above, you may have gathered that grenades/c4 can also be a great KO power here due to the 'stage spike' off the yellow blocks.
  • Avoid using any aerials unless you know you'll be safe.
  • You can bounce grenades off the pendulam by throwing them down.

Summary:
Stay close to the blocks, abuse how the pendulam swings and how it can allow this blocks to 'stage spike'. Try to minimize your aerial usage, but make sure to abuse enemies recoveries when the pendulam is far and you are able to.

Part D - The road to victory​


There is so many platforms and places to abuse on this transition, it's easily my favorite part. You can score low % utilt ko's, the horizontal edges depend on where you are - and sometimes you can score a low % ftilt KO, and the platforms allow for some fsmash shenanigans. Against DDD/Pikachu/Falco however, this transition can be one of the scariest due to chaingrabs - however we gain a stronger grab release on most of the cast when facing left.

Things to Know:
  • When facing left, if you grab an opponent - the stage movement effects how they break out. This allows us to walk a little and Utilt Meta Knight and a few other characters. We can even grab release chaingrab MK (99% sure) which can be useful for getting him close to the wall for an fthrow KO.
  • There is one spot with a wall, if you can get your opponent on this you can pound on them with ftilts and grenades keeping them there and grab release CG them against the wall for some free %'s. Yes, you can grab release CG MK here as well. Abuse that.
  • Your Utilt kills quite a bit sooner during this transition, if you're going for a utilt KO try to get it before you get to Part A all over again.
  • Fsmash has a hitbox diagnolly and a bit down from it, there's a lot of platforms and against taller characters you can get some fsmash shenanigans in there. It's easier to land than you think. :awesome:
  • Just like Part B - abuse the platforms with platform cancels and instant-nade-grabs. In certain matchups, you'll want to stay on the platforms to avoid being CG'd to your death.
  • Keep your opponent on your left side, but try to stay near the center. The blast zone for the stage is uneven that way and you'll score sooner KO's off the left side than the right side.
  • During the transition to part A, you can grab release CG people against the wall into a utilt for KO's at about 30-40%. It's very very stupid and I've pulled it off in tournament. :awesome:
  • Be careful of the right side when it's transition to Part A. The blast zone is a lot closer than it should be.

Summary:
Stay on the right side, it's the best side and we gain a lot of grab release shenanigans on the cast. Utilt kills sooner during this phase, so now's the time you'll want to land it. We have infinites against practically the entire cast against the walls - you can abuse this to hell for an early kill if you can land the grab.

A few more stage facts​

  • There are a lot of uneven platforms and walls that you can rebound grenades off of.
  • The stage gimps you more than the enemy does - learn the stage!
  • Platform abuse is the best abuse. :awesome:
  • Dthrow is amazing on this stage due to the amount of short length platforms and areas to dthrow. The blast zone also limits certain reactions often, and a good dthrow tech chase can lead in low % ko's or a ton and ton of damage racked.


Summary:
Rainbow Cruise is by far one of my most favorite counterpicks, ever. I actually got to the point that some players including Meta Knight players started to ban it against me. :awesome: There is a lot of camping shenanigans and grabbing shenanigans to last a lifetime. Snake can tank pretty well with good DI but kills at really low %'s. He controls the stage at nearly all times, and there are few areas where you can truly gimp him. All of Part A, B, and D are pretty safe if you know what you're doing. Part C is risky but still hard to be gimped during.

I love this stage.

:nifty::leek:
 
Sovereign

Sovereign

Game Reaper
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
2,292
Location
Indianapolis, IN
NNID
Sovereign90
This is really good. You've opened my eyes to a lot of things I never thought Snake could do on RC. I'll definitely be doing my own personal testing, to see how it fits my style.
 
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