Specials: The Marseilles Roll

The Marseilles Roll (roll) is Abel's utility tool for mobility, mix-ups and, in more niche situations, reversals.

I use the roll as a sort of footsie and spacing maneuver. Staying just out of poke range can create a lot of tension to try and poke you out, at which point you should roll in reaction and punish. This keeps your opponent a lot more honest with his pokes giving you the opening you need to dash in and do your stuff.

Another use would be as a counter to a jump-in. Given Abel's limited AA options jumping in on him seems a good idea. Abel can negate this by rolling under a jump and punishing on the other side. Cr.MK or cr.HP does this too but sometimes the range isn't right.

Escaping is the next use I have for the roll. Sometimes you get trapped in a corner and the roll is really the best tool to get you out of that corner. Opponents who know this will watch for the roll so be careful of that.

Other things I use the roll for would be to gain ground as opposed to using his front dash. Reason being roll gives me meter while dash does not. Both have their pros and cons but I typically use the roll to get in from far or when I scored a knockdown where else dashing would be as sort of a surprise move from the front, or if I really need to chase someone down.

Of all the moves in Abel's arsenal, the Roll is the most versatile and sets him up for a variety of things. Given his lack of dependable counter moves learning how to use this effectively as a defense and offense mechanism is important to play a top level Abel.