Some things to think about to improve your skills

Never heard of Sirlin

It sounds like somebody's been reading Sirlin. I hate that guy. I like a lot of the tips and pointers presented here though. Makes you a better fighting game player.

No idea who that is.

I will never call a 50% combo "cheap" nor will I call anybody a "scrub". The way I see it, you can't get mad at a guy for using a move that works, over and over again. Have something used against you enough times and you should figure a way to get around it. Nothing is perfect.

I didn't call anyone a scrub, I was referring to a scrubby mindset. and the "scrubby mindset" of thinking something is cheap. It's in the game don't call it cheap. I agree with not getting mad at someone who is able to execute strategies that beat you. I'm just saying if someone is spamming a move and beating you. that means YOU are playing very simplistic for you to be punished by the same tactic. it's not him being cheap, it's you being predictable.

No, what I don't like to see is somebody who uses one good move and then does NOTHING ELSE. I'm don't so much get angry that I couldn't dodge it. I get angry because that's just so bloody BORING. If I have to face down the same move over and over and over and over again, whether I can dodge or not makes less and less difference the longer the "spam" continues. After a while, I just don't want to play against that person anymore. I'm not getting anything out of it. Even if I'm winning there's just no enjoyment in a match like that.

Ya you have to accept people play this way and it's BORING. the best way to make them STOP being boring is to destroy their strategy flat out so they are FORCED to play good. Or they will keep losing. This is why you should leave the game and just go fight someone better.

Now, some people will come at you with a move, force you into a pattern of action to avoid it (like it's suggested you do above) then get you when you make your now predictable dodge effort. That's fine, that's smart. But then the person proceeds to do the same thing, again. How many times does it take before you get sick of that? It's not just special move spamming that's annoying, it's all manner of overly repeated patterns.

It's easy to tell when they aren't smart. If they keep spamming obvoiusly keep spamming the counter.

Here we come into the same situation, you eventually (some more quickly than others) stop wanting to fight that person. It becomes un-enjoyable.

Now, imagine that one combo, one move, heck one character is so hard to dodge, so impossible to get around, that you cannot win. Ever. Now imagine you're of the "play to win" mindset. Can you imagine now, how mad that would make you?

That means something is probably wrong with the game if it's "Unstoppable" there is nothing unstoppable in Mortal kombat though.

From a gamer's perspective you just have to grin and bear it. But if there are enough of those situations in a game, greater and greater numbers of people will take the only course of action available and stop playing altogether. That needs to be fixed.

That's balance. And it's the job of the developers. And I'm not really sure why I went into all of this...I just....really don't like Sirlin philosophy. I guess my point is, don't just "play to win" and abuse the system for your benefit. And don't just accept that these errors are there to stay. If you find a move that seems "unfair", first make sure that it really is. Then complain your asses off. Make the devs notice. That's the correct course of action I think. Not "accept it and play the game you've got".

Did i not mention that doesn't affect patched games? You play any tool that isn't "Banned" whether you think it's fair or not.

If you know something is so broken that EVERYONE is abusing it. And all you do is perfect this broken strategy in a patched game. That's stupid because more than likely it's going to get nerfed/patched and you put all your practice into a strategy which will no longer exist or will be banned at tournaments.

To be frank. Only pros have the right to talk on game balances. IF you aren't traveling to tournaments and making bracket, your opinion could matter, if you back it up with solid evidence, but more than likely it will not.

don't turn into the SC2 community where all the newbs are screaming something is overpowered just to get the people who made the game to nerf it just because "you" have a problem handling it. Sometimes something YOU cannot handle, can be easily handled by someone else who figured it out.
 
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Hope this thread stops people from complaining about people spamming special moves. People forget when you are online you are playing to win and not to show off your combos.
 
I should have made a space saver post after my original.
Learning from Mistakes:

You should record your matches, and when you lose. Go over the entire match again bit by bit. Everytime you get hit, ask yourself why you got hit. How could i have stopped it, and why did my opponent go for that attack at that particular time.

Lets say your opponent jumped in with a empty jump (no attacks.) as soon as he landed he grabbed you. you notice this is your re-watching of your match. First why did you get grabbed?
Barrier1.) You didn't anti air his jump, Probably because he beat you in the air before and you were afraid of another punish or he was already in the air while you were stuck doing a move(projectile)
Barrier2.) You block in fear expecting an aerial, Perhaps your opponent knew you would be out of projectile lag by the time he got near you and didn't want to have hit lag and get punished.
Barrier3.) afraid of a string combo you kept holding block, and got grabbed.

So you have many levels to stop this attack, Lets pretend you can't anti-air cuz he only jumps over your projectiles. Next time you block to avoid the aerial. but just as he lands, and starts an attack. Hold block while spamming 1(Square). So if he does a string you block the first hit., if it was a grab you are spamming 1, to get out of it.

thus you learned your lesson for that particular situation. You covered 2 options, with 1 tactic. Now don't think your new tactic is unbeatable. Everything is beatable. he could instead do a trip as he lands instead. If you expect that you could always switch from high block to low block the second he lands. and be ready to spam 1 if he grabs. Watch for empty hop overheads. which will only happen once he realizes you are stopping all his tactics with your counters for his empty hops.

I could go on forever but I hope you get the point of what I mean by studying why you got hit, and how you can counter it next time.


bmsirhc if you could put this in your post for me so it's on the front page.
 
Thanks a lot Critical limit. Im learning a lot from your posts and wish that you keep contributing your insights. Very rarely do we come across valuable threads like this in a cluster of vague threads. I really hope the mods sticky this. Ill keep bumping so that others who wish to get better in their gameplay can also learn.
 
This is an excellent thread, and the kind of mindset that will need to be cultivated more in the MK community if it is going to receive the same kind of respect at tournaments that is seen by the Capcom and Arc System Works fighters.

It is absolutely correct that you should not expect the other person to behave a certain way just because you will it so. If you're having problems, change what you are doing. It sounds simple but people are creatures of habit and easily become over-reliant upon these habits.
 
Very good detailed thread on something that should inform players of what they are getting into~ +rep for this one hehe~
 
Thanks guys :D Glad I could help.

I'm not sure what I want to talk about next

PredictionvsReaction

Situation
When you throw in the towel(Saving meter or not) to have a big meter for the next round vs Risk dumping your meter on a match you're losing to squeeze out a win.

or something else someone want me to try and touch on?

If you have a problem with a specific situation or strategy I can try and explain your options.
 
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one thing that is important is learning how to use your meter effectively with the character you choose.. This is crucial for Mk. Is it smarter to use your meter all at once and get that big high end combo or is smarter to disperse your meter for special moves and strengthening you combos.

Learn what you character does best. Zoning or is he or she better at rushing down. This is also extremely important. Even though every character can rush down in Mk 9 seeing how its a more offensive fighter, certain characters can Zone really well. Zoning is when the character can deal damage mid range or from far. Cyrax, Sektor, and Shang Tsung are good examples.

Learn overhead attacks. These are attacks that can damage your opponent when he is blocking low. I see so many people lose matches because they don't understand what to do when there opponent is blocking low. If your serious about getting good learn your overhead attacks.

Corner combos or a mans best friend. LoL. Seriously I see so many good players that absolutely suck at corner combos. It breaks there momentum in a fight as well. You don't need to learn 60% corner combos are anything like that. Just a good corner combo to keep the pace going. Sometimes your mid range combo will work in the corner but if it does not try to alter it a little bit.
 
one thing that is important is learning how to use your meter effectively with the character you choose.. This is crucial for Mk. Is it smarter to use your meter all at once and get that big high end combo or is smarter to disperse your meter for special moves and strengthening you combos.

Learn what you character does best. Zoning or is he or she better at rushing down. This is also extremely important. Even though every character can rush down in Mk 9 seeing how its a more offensive fighter, certain characters can Zone really well. Zoning is when the character can deal damage mid range or from far. Cyrax, Sektor, and Shang Tsung are good examples.

Learn overhead attacks. These are attacks that can damage your opponent when he is blocking low. I see so many people lose matches because they don't understand what to do when there opponent is blocking low. If your serious about getting good learn your overhead attacks.

Corner combos or a mans best friend. LoL. Seriously I see so many good players that absolutely suck at corner combos. It breaks there momentum in a fight as well. You don't need to learn 60% corner combos are anything like that. Just a good corner combo to keep the pace going. Sometimes your mid range combo will work in the corner but if it does not try to alter it a little bit.

Good post. Yeah, it's nice to dump your full meter for maximum damage, but you lose any tools you might have had to open/mixup because some enhanced move are great for pressure/mixups to get an opening out of your opponent, and if you waste it all for 1 combo. you'll have to settle for your basic moves to find those openings.

I'd like to say Every character can zone/rushdown to an extent. Some are stronger at one than others. Noob saibot, Kunglao, and Nightwolf are good zoning characters, the have tools to make it easier. Sonya is rush down, but that doesn't mean she can't zone. that's what back dash is for, you make your opponent whiff their attack with back dash, so you avoid it completely then counter with your own attack. That is also considered zoning. It's sort of a in your face zoning.
 
Hope this thread stops people from complaining about people spamming special moves. People forget when you are online you are playing to win and not to show off your combos.

An obvious spammer is obvious. How do you expect to get better or feel good about your victories if you are just keeping your distance and repeating shadow slide/ shadow charge? Thats nothing to be proud of. To gain respect from other players I would try my best with the little juggles/ chain combos I know and appear to have some sense of understanding a fighting game.
 
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An obvious spammer is obvious. How do you expect to get better or feel good about your victories if you are just keeping your distance and repeating shadow slide/ shadow charge? Thats nothing to be proud of. To gain respect from other players I would try my best with the little juggles/ chain combos I know and appear to have some sense of understanding of a fighting game.

Combos and juggles are important for big damage, ZONING is important for control/pressure games.
 
Going to sticky this, good thread. Hope people will read it and learn from it.
 
Love the fact that you bring up playing someone better. That really is the only way that you'll improve. Lots of people go out there looking for the easy targets to pad records, but it won't do anything in the long run.
 
Perhaps, it refers to the repeated use of the same imputed action over and over again. Or executing the same maneuver so many times in a short period of time that the opposing player cannot get a chance to attack or escape.

Every normal move and special move have recovery frames, during these
frames you can punish/evade your opponent depending on the number of
frames of his recovery and your action.
 
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