Two suggestions for tweaks to rainbow disc, each to avoid a different dynamic
Non-f1 invuln frames:
Purpose: Jump-in rainbow disc has started being used to directly beat antiairs, which is just… a very weird dynamic that makes her very strong in the air
Solution 1: Make her counterhittable in the first few frames of startup so she has to use rainbow disc from higher to attempt this, allowing antiair moves to recover in time to block
Solution 2: Increase the startup frames a lot so most antiair moves will recover in time to block
Risks 1: Losing air-to-air interactions, in particular jump becoming potentially unsafe vs DeGrey and Quince jSes when both she and they have meter (these are the main reasons to limit invuln removal to the first few frames, I think?)
Risks 2: Negative impact on rainbow disc oki
Side benefits: Presumably relatively simple to implement compared to more complicated tweaks like the next suggested ones? D:
Chip + Damage:
Purpose: Val’s opponents in rainbow disc oki, after blocking the disc, often benefit from opting to be hit by a zip to get reset and land outside the disc, making disc similar value to safezip at the cost of meter, meaning Valerie has less reason not to just always safezip - disincentivising this behaviour will in turn reestablish rainbow disc oki as strictly higher value than safezip oki
Solution 1: Allow rainbow disc to deal damage even after it’s dealt chip, unlike most multihit moves
Solution 2: Make its chip act like last-hit multihits like chromatic orb, while the damage still acts like a first-hit multihit
Solution 3 (a very weird one): Rainbow disc no longer juggles, so the zip just combos rather than juggling
Risks 1: This is a strict buff for Valerie, in particular with solution 1 where disc → zip → cmy now deals an extra damage when the defender is hit by the yellow
Risks 3: Less value off juggles with rainbow disc and jA
Side benefits: More incentives to go for mixups rather than chip with rainbow disc, yay!