Ok, sounds like we're mostly in agreement about Lambda. I main Lambda, play offline and one of my most played matchups is against Rachel, which is why I was confused when you started drawing parallels between the two. Anyway, back to Rachel.
George is not infallible, but he is a very good oki tool (Cue "George is the best character in the game" jokes).
You can jump straight out of George if he is thrown down midscreen or if you're standing because he takes some time before he activates, but after a corner knockdown George is effectively a meaty if thrown at the end of Rachel's combo. The reason why I think he is such a good oki tool is because he locks down a lot of your escape options in that situation. I don't think waking up with 1f invincibility moves is effective if Rachel is close to you and blocking, because then she would simply block the wakeup move and then George would shock you, allowing Rachel to follow up with a combo that usually ends with meaty George again.
Here's the way I see it. If I'm knocked down in the corner against George oki, and Rachel is sitting near me on the ground, outside throw range and waiting for George to activate, my wakeup options are limited like this:
Tech roll - physically blocked by Rachel and would get shocked by George.
Wakeup throw - out of range.
Wakeup DP - Rachel only needs to block the first hit and wait for George to activate.
Burst - Not a good time to burst, but if I did, the above would apply again.
Basically all I can do is neutral tech and block, which gives Rachel a free pass into going in for pressure and mixups. All of my escape options are AFTER blocking George. Like you said, they're only a few free hits, but they are significant because it gives her free momentum. Maybe Rachel's corner pressure is easier for you to deal with because Litchi has much better melee than Lambda, but once Rachel has me in the corner, it's very hard to get out. I have very few points to mash/run/jump out, which makes it relatively simple for the Rachel player to deny those escape attempts with a little bit of reading.
But I suppose that's fair, since Rachel has a hard time getting in on Lambda in the first place.
Does Litchi's DP outright kill George? I think most DPs don't. Maybe that's why George seems like less of a threat to you than it does to me.
By the way, where have you been playing offline? Just curious, because I don't see you around the local arcade much and we're both from the same area.
