Tough Love Arena/Rice

Overview

Rice is a dedicated zoner who wants to keep their opponents far away for as long as possible. However, they can put up a fight up close if they need to.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Great Range: Rice can consistently poke at the opponent with long moves. Frametraps: Swipe is a threatening frametrap off of Rice's buttons which gives them strong mixups and zoning. Anti-Airs: Rice has many useful answers to Jumps which can be very rewarding relative to other characters. Relatively High Damage: Wile Rice's damage isn't the highest, combos done up close, with meter, or in the corner get surprising damage for a zoner.	Low Health: Rice is tied for the lowest health in the game, leading to them dying in fewer interactions Mobility: Rice is tied with having the slowest walk speed in the game and their other movement options are relatively slow. Defense: Between slow buttons, slow walkspeed, and a non-damaging reversal which can be covered while doing pressure, Rice's defense is one of the worst in the game. Meter Reliance: Rice's offense, defense, and combos all greatly benefit from having meter and Rice is a less threatening character without it.

Move List

Notation

Basic Moves

Slap
5L

Not your typical slap.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
40, 60	5	17	12	+5	+1	-
Rice's fastest attack. A fairly long-range two-hit slap that is a solid anti air. Has Launch 3 as an anti air. First Hit Scaling: 2 hits Cancels: H, 6H

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Whip
5H

Longest range heavy in the game.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
60	10	3	16	±0	-5	-
The longest range basic attack in the game. A cornerstone of Rice's gameplan and a strong zoning tool. Leaves Rice open to jumps and has a large recovery hurt box. Cancels: L, H, S, RC

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Whip Pounce
5HH

Rice wants in.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
60	10	5	20	-1	-5	-
The safe, but risky, follow-up to Whip. It slides Rice forward and puts them next to the opponent. Cancels: H, S, RC

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Whip Splash
5HHH

How many arms do they have again?

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
70	10	5	28	KD	-15	-
The combo-ender followup to the Whip series. Forces a knockdown on hit and serves as Rice's primary combo ender. Cancels: RC (on block)

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Jump Attack
6S

The living helicopter.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
50, 50	35	20	5	+20	+10	-
Rice's jump attack, a spinning helicopter move. It's the slowest Jump Attack in the game but travels the furthest distance. First Hit Scaling: 1 Hit Cancels: 4 (During startup)

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Universal Mechanics

Throw
5T

They want a hug.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
200	5	10	10	KD	-	-
The longest ranged throw in the game. Rice chucks the opponent behind them with a casual toss. Throw can not hit most attacks during startup and active frames. Moves with armor can be hit with Throw during startup frames only.

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Rapid Cancel (RC)
6T (during hitsun or blockstun of a move)

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
-	35	0	0	Stop Time Frames 1-35	Stop Time Frames 1-35	1-35
A universal metered option that removes the end lag of a move. Costs one bar of meter. Allows for combos and setups that are not possible otherwise.

Reject
6T (while blocking a move)

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
-	10	5	15	±0	-2	1-15
A universal metered option that acts as a low risk, low reward reversal. Costs one bar of meter. Pushes the opponent a short distance away and allows Rice to reset to neutral when they are under pressure.

Burst
4T (while in hitstun)

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
-	20	2	28	KD	-24	1-22
A universal metered option that combo breaks. Costs full meter. Pushes the opponent full screen and acts as a full reset to neutral.

Special Moves

Swipe
4H

A Whip that hits harder.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
80, 40 or 30, 10 (Chip)	15	10	16	-2,+7	-8,-2	-
A highly active, two-hit poke exclusive to Rice. The second hit is close to Rice. Compared to Whip it deals more damage, applies chip damage, has better frame advantage up close, covers more vertical space, and is more disjointed with a smaller recovery hurtbox. In exchange it's slower, has worse frame advantage from further away, has less horizontal range, and doesn't cancel into Whip Pounce/Splash. Normally minus on block, but can be made up to +2 if done as a meaty. Useful for zoning, combos, and as a meaty. Cancels: RC

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Swat
5S

Swat

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
40, 80	10	1	19	+7	-	Proj Invuln 11-11
Rice reaches up and outward with their hand, plucking any unfortunate airborne souls from the sky before slamming them down. A large anti-air move that cannot hit grounded opponents. Can be used as a combo ender from 5HH for more damage in exchange for leaving the opponent closer to you. Cancels: RC

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Teleport
4S

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
-	30	-	20	-	-	Armor 1-10, Invuln 11-31
Rice disappears into the Arm Dimension, travels a long distance, and reappears (usually behind the opponent). Teleports Rice a fixed distance forward. Rice is invulnerable when they disappear and is vulnerable when they reappear. Its recovery can be cancelled into a throw. While it's not the best, it can be used as a reversal. Depending on spacing and if timed perfectly, it can allow for a mixup after 5HHH.

Quickport
5L4S/6S or 5H4S/6S or 5HH4S/6S

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
-	13	-	15	-	-	Invuln 6-14
Rice cancels into a teleport from a normal. Useful for running away, shimmying, and pressuring. Forward Quickport will never go behind the opponent regardless of distance, along with leaving Rice open to a punish if the opponent mashes 5L or throw. It can be used for pressure if the opponent is particularly respectful, however. All back variants are good for running away and shimmying (see "Strategy" section for shimmy setups).

Jump Drill
6S4

A fast divekick.

Damage	Startup	Active	Recovery	On Hit	On Block	Invuln
50	29	10	10	-1 (point blank) to +8 (furthest distance)	-1 (point blank) to +8 (furthest distance)	-
Rice dives in feet first at the opponent. Minus if it connects with the opponent's upper half, but can be up to +8 depending on how low it connects with the opponent. Useful for oki, pressure, and approaching. First Hit Scaling: 1 Hit

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Colors


Rice	Striped Rice	Chocolate Rice	Aqua Rice	Plaid Bice. Unlock by getting Peak MMR of atleast 1700 in Ranked Match.


Pumpkin Spice Rice	Strawberry Cake Rice	Normal Rice	Polka Rice. Unlock by winning an official major tournament.