Some things to think about to improve your skills

[Critical-Limit]

you know I'm thinking about trying something cool. What would you guys think if I received "replays" or "recorded matches" via through internet. And I could edit the video and go step by step for YOU, and analyze ways to improve. This would not only help YOU, but also help other people watching to learn from your mistakes as well as learn the proper way to approach viewing a match. I would then post them on youtube.

If your match is too simple I'd probably overlook it with just some general advice. for example I was playing King of the Hill on mortal Kombat last night and 2 scorpions were fighting, and they literally did this..... Spear... other scorpion blocked then counter with his own spear... scorpion blocks then counters back with another spear.... this literally happened for like 7 times in a row lol back to back. If I receive a match as simple and plain as that I'd overlook it with some advice like. Learn to teleport punch, or... learn to approach/ Hellfire.

Edit: I'm a guy, just for future reference.

[back,back,back,low punch]

I like that idea!

[itsmillatime420]

You talking about me? no, I wrote this off the top of my head based on my own experiences playing games competitively.

If you're talking about the OP, no. He (she? Sorry, I'm not honestly sure) didn't plagiarize at all...

I was at work and just saw that someone else had posted it word for word.. my bad was confused to me it looked like you copy/pasted what he wrote because of the way the dude quoted it.. lol i gotta stop smoking so much weed :D

[nuth1nmuch]

http://testyourmight.com/forum/conte...you-get-better

Written by OJuggernautO himself.

I sorta agree with juggernaut, but I on the other hand label and accept cheap disadvantages in a match. If you feel that a bundle of the characters in the roster is cheap, go the opposite direction and use characters with disadvantages that even worsen your chances.

I know this sounds reckless and stupid but I'll explain

I ran most fighting games with characters that were said to be very bad when evaluated by exceptional players. I used gen in sf4 series and had a very hard time with coping with my win ratio, but once I finally took up on other characters, learning and using them exceptionally was an easier process. I improve through steps, from bottom to top. Its not like I search for the worser character to prove an amount of skill I possess amongst other players, I actually do this to challenge myself.

(It has to be a character you would struggle using, avoid characters you are likely going to have it easy with.)

Believe me, I only want to help. Make things possible for the worst characters... combos, tactics ect. Just keep it up you will not regret the deeper value your losses have granted you, peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGh4ZU4H5Hk

That there is what the desire of winning could lead you to

[Critical-Limit]

No problem man, Just be more careful with saying something like that lol. That's reputation you're messing with :P

smoke weed? (looks at your avatar.) I see..

I sorta agree with juggernaut, but I on the other hand label and accept cheap disadvantages in a match. If you feel that a bundle of the characters in the roster is cheap, go the opposite direction and use characters with disadvantages that even worsen your chances.

I know this sounds reckless and stupid but I'll explain

I ran most fighting games with characters that were said to be very bad when evaluated by exceptional players. I used gen in sf4 series and had a very hard time with coping with my win ratio, but once I finally took up on other characters, learning and using them exceptionally was an easier process. I improve through steps, from bottom to top. Its not like I search for the worser character to prove an amount of skill I possess amongst other players, I actually do this to challenge myself.

(It has to be a character you would struggle using, avoid characters you are likely going to have it easy with.)

Believe me, I only want to help. Make things possible for the worst characters... combos, tactics ect. Just keep it up you will not regret the deeper value your losses have granted you, peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGh4ZU4H5Hk

That there is what the desire of winning could lead you to

not to mention to add to your comment a few things.
1.) With a game that is going to receive patches. Sometimes it's not a bad idea to play the bad character, while everyone is not learning that match up because it's uncommon, you are working HARD to get around hard obstacles. once a patch comes out to fix your garbage character, you'll not only be smart about how to get around things, now that you have new tools you'll jump extremely far in skill appearance because people were you once going even with will now be crushed by you, and people you couldn't beat will be evenly matched with you. ect. And it's not because your character got "OP" It's because you were playing with a crap character that finally was turned into a playable one, and now you can play at your real potential.

2.) about that learning other characters better thing. Sometimes it's not so much a good idea JUST to pick a low tier for that. You could play like... Noob, to work on your reaction skills, cuz he's very much a reactionary character. you could work on Subzero for Zoning, Sonya for rush down ect ect. Then once you go back to your main. Since each of these characters focus on a different aspect of the game. your "Main" will improve because you learned every little aspect of the game in a focused manner. now when you see jumps, you will anti-air them (reactionairy upknee from noob saibot, no carries over to your normal characters anti-airs.) or mixing up your strings, because sonya taught you to keep pressure on their block with good mix ups. See my point? however if you are already aware of all these things might as well just focus on ur character lol.

[Notorious J.I.Z.]

This is a big one I'm seeing people have issues with:
METER MANAGEMENT

I know it feels GOOD to land a random x-ray when you're low on health and they're at about medium health and you bring them down to ALMOST getting them the first round. The problem with that is, now you start the 2nd round with no meter AND a loss anyway. This is a HUGE disadvantage. Something to do, in the general sense, is think about how you're going to use that meter before the match even begins. How do you feel your character of choice benefits from meter, because to be honest alot of character's x ray damage is NOT worth the price of admission. Your meter is better served for breakers, and the useful enhanced specials, in my opinion. Now, I'll go into a little more detail about enhanced, breakers, and x rays.

• Enhanced Specials - VERY useful tools in most occasoins. Burns 1 bar of meter, which isn't bad at all. Some characters benefit from using enhanced specials in combos, others benefit from using them for the armor to punish or get in on tight zoning characters. The best thing to do is learn the enhanced properties of your character's moves well and use them somewhat sparingly. Meaning, do not just spam 3 enhanced moves in 1 combo, or just in succession to get some quick tricky damage, it's usually not worth it. In my experience, most of the time ending a normal chain with an enhanced special only gives you about 3%-5% extra damage, and I feel it's better to use enhanced specials that have armor property for punishment or utility, opposed for a measly extra 5% damage. But this can all be character specific, some characters benefit from using ENH in combos, maybe linking into other combos they wouldn't normally be able to link together. The best call here is to KNOW your character and what they're capable of and use good judgement.

• Breakers - This to me is the MOST important one. Perform a breaker by holding block and holding forward after initial hit of a landed combo. This takes 2 bars and should be used sparingly, not on those little 1, 2, 1 chains, but on much larger damage combos that you can see coming and you don't want to happen to you. If your opponent has a substantial life lead and it's not the last round, I would not suggest breaking just so you prolong losing the round 1 more hit, it's a waste of meter that you could definitely use next round.

• X Rays - For the most part, random x-rays are just desperation moves or maybe sometimes to even showboat. I would NOT suggest ending a round (other than final) with an x-ray, that puts you at a huge disadvantage going into the next round. In situations where you and your opponent are close and this will allow you to win your first round, you should at least use good judgement. How dangerous is your opponent? How much meter do THEY have? These are questions I would ask myself before committing to burn all 3 bars of meter before the start of another round. The use of the x-ray is more character specific than anything, and some are very good as combo starters, but if you're going to use it, please at least THINK about it's application. Some characters' meter is better for enhanced moves anyway.

These are my findings and opinions, feel free to expand on them

[Critical-Limit]

This is a big one I'm seeing people have issues with:
METER MANAGEMENT

I know it feels GOOD to land a random x-ray when you're low on health and they're at about medium health and you bring them down to ALMOST getting them the first round. The problem with that is, now you start the 2nd round with no meter AND a loss anyway. This is a HUGE disadvantage. Something to do, in the general sense, is think about how you're going to use that meter before the match even begins. How do you feel your character of choice benefits from meter, because to be honest alot of character's x ray damage is NOT worth the price of admission. Your meter is better served for breakers, and the useful enhanced specials, in my opinion. Now, I'll go into a little more detail about enhanced, breakers, and x rays.

• Enhanced Specials - VERY useful tools in most occasoins. Burns 1 bar of meter, which isn't bad at all. Some characters benefit from using enhanced specials in combos, others benefit from using them for the armor to punish or get in on tight zoning characters. The best thing to do is learn the enhanced properties of your character's moves well and use them somewhat sparingly. Meaning, do not just spam 3 enhanced moves in 1 combo, or just in succession to get some quick tricky damage, it's usually not worth it. In my experience, most of the time ending a normal chain with an enhanced special only gives you about 3%-5% extra damage, and I feel it's better to use enhanced specials that have armor property for punishment or utility, opposed for a measly extra 5% damage.

• Breakers - This to me is the MOST important one. Perform a breaker by holding block and holding forward after initial hit of a landed combo. This takes 2 bars and should be used sparingly, not on those little 1, 2, 1 chains, but on much larger damage combos that you can see coming and you don't want to happen to you. If your opponent has a substantial life lead and it's not the last round, I would not suggest breaking just so you prolong losing the round 1 more hit, it's a waste of meter that you could definitely use next round.

• X Rays - For the most part, random x-rays are just desperation moves or maybe sometimes to even showboat. I would NOT suggest ending a round (other than final) with an x-ray, that puts you at a huge disadvantage going into the next round. The use of the x-ray is more character specific than anything, and some are very good as combo starts, but if you're going to use it, please at least THINK about it's application. Some characters' meter is better for enhanced moves anyway.

These are my findings and opinions, feel free to expand on them

Ending a round with an X-ray is fine, as long as it guaranteed to win you the round. however if an opening occurs and you have a normal combo that can finish them instead that is obviously a better choice. Nothing wrong with say this situation:

Opponent is @ 33% hp, lets say your X-ray does 38% damage. you are at 12% HP, Your opponent executes an attack, in an attempt to try and finish you with a string combo. You use your X-ray as a counter to trade damage of their first hit. You take 4% damage, but you get to guarantee the win for the round.

But yes, I completely agree using an Xray when you're 12% hp and your opponent is at 44% hp. using an X-ray at this point is extremely risky. as you are going to be a meter down and you STILL might not even win the round. of course last round differs you have to all-in on last round.

I agree also for the most part on what you said about enhanced specials. But they are not useless in conjunction with your combos. once again if you have a good Math sense, you could deduct that hey if I use 2 combo strings with only 1 bar of enhanced move damage, they will die in 2 combos. But if I don't use enhanced moves on the same combo, I will have to land another combo to win the game. I know you said "it's usually not worth it" but a good example of when it IS worth it would be nice if you could add that into your post.

FOR THE MOST part I want to say you're right. But there are instances where using enhanced moves in a combo is a good idea.

I 100% agree with the use of breakers you mentioned.

Overall I really like this post +rep :D I planned on doing a section for Meter for this thread but if you could fix the X-ray portion would you mind if we just add your post to the front page and give you credit ? :D


EDIT: I'd rather win a round with no meter, than to lose a round and have a full meter next round. I think you're getting confused with people doing X-rays to catch back up, when they are near death, in which this case they should just save their meter and try and fight it out w/o any meter (just incase you do some crazy come back.) and lose with full meter. Because NOTHING is worse than starting the next round with NO METER AND YOU LOSE.

[Notorious J.I.Z.]

I appreciate your opinion, and I've edited my post to reflect certain judgement calls on ending w/ x-ray, however, I stand by my opinion, it is just my play style, maybe yours is different. I do not mind if you add your own notes under the x-ray explanation for others to consider, it doesn't bother me at all. But I can't just change my opinion to yours, hope you understand. Great thread btw

[back,back,back,low punch]

I've got most of this down, the only one I'm having trouble with is the reaction to being blocked.

[Maatthew]

Its gonna be hard to become good at reacting to being blocked D:

[Notorious J.I.Z.]

http://sonichurricane.com/?page_id=1702 <-- footsies handbook, though it's namely about the SF game, the same footsie rules still apply, it's a good read about a very complex subject

[Critical-Limit]

some good block pressure, is obviously mixing up lows, and overheads. But don't forget to use your 1,1's and your 1,2's and your 2,2's(Sometimes) or 2, 1's. and dash cancel them into another single hit, double hit, Grab, or a fast crouching poke

you could do 2 hits then dash cancel away, or 3 hits dash cancel away, or 1 hit grab, 2 hit dash grab. ect.

I like to crouch kick with jade, dash cancel in, do another crouch kick, into an overhead. Or 1,2 dash cancel 1, then grab. Ect.

like in the first post. About conditioning that's what you use "Footsies" for. to condition your opponent to use a specific defense, that you want to punish, whether it'd be pretending you're open in between pressure to bait them into a whiff attacked. Or condition them to block low from low pokes, or condition them to block high from spamming an overhead string. Ect ect.

EDIT: also remember which combo strings push your enemy as far back as possible when it ends, so they can't punish you. like I mentioned with ermac in first post. Ermac's <1, 1, 4, pushes the opponent back at a safer distance than his <1, 2, 1>.

[Exemery]

is there a best way to hit people who crouch+block? because i get that too many times >.<

[DCP]

is there a best way to hit people who crouch+block? because i get that too many times >.<

Yes, use the grab.

[3mag5num7]

is there a best way to hit people who crouch+block? because i get that too many times >.<

Grabs work, like DCP said. So do overhead strikes (each character has at least one). Some unblockables such as Sheeva's stomps, Sub-Zero's Ice Puddle, Cyrax's bombs, Jax's Ground Pound, and the like can also disrupt crouch blockers.

[ruffneck Bass]

Ending a round with an X-ray is fine, as long as it guaranteed to win you the round. however if an opening occurs and you have a normal combo that can finish them instead that is obviously a better choice. Nothing wrong with say this situation:

Opponent is @ 33% hp, lets say your X-ray does 38% damage. you are at 12% HP, Your opponent executes an attack, in an attempt to try and finish you with a string combo. You use your X-ray as a counter to trade damage of their first hit. You take 4% damage, but you get to guarantee the win for the round.

But yes, I completely agree using an Xray when you're 12% hp and your opponent is at 44% hp. using an X-ray at this point is extremely risky. as you are going to be a meter down and you STILL might not even win the round. of course last round differs you have to all-in on last round.

I agree also for the most part on what you said about enhanced specials. But they are not useless in conjunction with your combos. once again if you have a good Math sense, you could deduct that hey if I use 2 combo strings with only 1 bar of enhanced move damage, they will die in 2 combos. But if I don't use enhanced moves on the same combo, I will have to land another combo to win the game. I know you said "it's usually not worth it" but a good example of when it IS worth it would be nice if you could add that into your post.

FOR THE MOST part I want to say you're right. But there are instances where using enhanced moves in a combo is a good idea.

I 100% agree with the use of breakers you mentioned.

Overall I really like this post +rep :D I planned on doing a section for Meter for this thread but if you could fix the X-ray portion would you mind if we just add your post to the front page and give you credit ? :D


EDIT: I'd rather win a round with no meter, than to lose a round and have a full meter next round. I think you're getting confused with people doing X-rays to catch back up, when they are near death, in which this case they should just save their meter and try and fight it out w/o any meter (just incase you do some crazy come back.) and lose with full meter. Because NOTHING is worse than starting the next round with NO METER AND YOU LOSE.

X-rays are extremely useful if you can combo into them, especially a juggle combo. For example, I've used Reptile Fast Forceball, then Slow Forceball, then X-ray. It does a good amount of damage and it's a guaranteed hit since you're juggling your opponent. So in the 12%-44% situation you mentioned...if you land the Force ball combo AND the X-ray, your opponent will be on the short end of the stick.

[Critical-Limit]

As long as you GUARANTEE the kill. That's fine.

[ced1417]

Great thread and sound advice, if anyone is on PSN and wants to duke out a few my tag is Ced1417. I'm always lookin to learn.

[chessmaster]

this is what we need more of on these forums. not the countless complaining about which character got nerfed/buffed or how bad people want to see master chief and marcus fenix as an xbox exclusive character.

[Xän]

I really need someone to train me against ermac.

I'm REALLY starting to despise him.

There are so many ermac try-hards online it's not even funny =\