Adaptability: The Art of Not Being Predictable

Matt Wilson

New member
When playing online (or offline) I find myself accidently pressing the same set of buttons, performing the same combos and using the same specials to a point where I become very predictable during most matches.

The reason being (at least my reasoning) is because my fingers have become so accustomed to inputting a certain pattern before and after most combos that before my brain can even react and say, "No, don't do that, that's a bad idea!" I've already pressed the buttons, and low and behold, I get blocked, countered, juggled, and eventually defeated. I wouldn't consider it spam, but it's pretty damn close.

We all have out set combos we like to perform, and when the opportunity arisses, we like to chain them together enough to where we can damn near defeat our opponents right of the bat, but sometimes the opportunity DOES NOT present itself, but we find ourselves continuing to perform the same combo over and over again in the hopes that it will eventually connect and we'll do the serious damage we longed after for so long.

Playing like this is a dangerous style, only because it prevents you from becoming 'adaptable' to a match, and instead you force yourself do something that probably won't work, but you keep doing it because you want it to work. (So I guess it kind of is spamming, only with combos) However, the difference between this and actually 'spamming' combos is that the people who get hit with 'combo spam' are the people who can't block or are constantly being thrown for a curve, whether it's constant aggressiveness, a combonation of high and low mix ups, or just the inability to block on time, and they are getting torched by high damage chain combos, or a short burst of quick, low hitting combos that do 10-20% damage.

My definition of a 'combo spammer' is someone, like me at times, who forces themselves to perform the same combo albeit the oppurtunity is not there, or even if they block, because we are either used to it, i.e. our fingers kind of just input it automatically everytime, or we play through the match with an anti-adaptive style; we don't care what the opponent is doing or how they react to our combos. We are going for the same set-up everytime until it hits or works. This doesn't work for obvious reasons, and if your not creating an opportunity for good combo placement, then you're going to keep getting countered, hard.

Much like the spammers who spam the same special move consistantly, the combo spammer will eventually become too predictable, and you'll know how and when to block, and how to counter accordingly with your own punishing moves. (Even without the help of Combo Breaker)

The way to prevent yourself from doing this is two-fold. One, train yourself to look at the screen and not at the controls. I know, I know, we all have to look at the screen to play, duh, but a lot of times we may be looking at the screen, but we are not focusing on what's going on. We want to initate certain combos so bad because we know they have the potential to do serious damage, but we seem to think that regardless if they're blocking, jumping, or teleporting, the combos WILL work, and we actually end up getting beaten faster simply because we are being blocked and countered. Don't enter a match with the pre-conceived notion that you have 1-2 combos stuck in your head, and you're going to aleternate between both until you. Go to training mode, invest the time necessary to learn ALL the combos, or new ones of your one, THEN start sparring or playing against other people.

Each combo has it's mix of highs and lows, depending on the situation and when the need arisses to use them, they can all be initiated in various ways, either through specials, jumping attacks, or just straight up dashing. If you try the same combo and find that the person your fighting against knows what you're going to do next, it's high-time you tweak out your strategy a bit and approach the situation differently.

For example: I'm playing Scorpion. I jump up and do 1,1,1,1, db3 followed by a spear. Sure, it may work one or two times, but if that's the only combo you know, and you approach it the same way everytime, the other person is going to get wise to what you're doing and eventually block up, wait until your down, block down to avoid the sweep kick, then either uppercut the crap out of you or just initate their own chain combo and kick your ass. Why? Because you became too predictable with your combos, and the other guy took complete advantage of the situation, as he should have. Why? Because the oppurtunity presented itself.

Combos can be spammed just as much as specials, but I think people's definition of 'combo spam' is a little off. If someone can chain together high damage combos against you and you're not blocking, then he's obviously playing better. However, if that's the ONLY combo he knows, and he approaches it the same way everytime, then he's spamming. Combos come in all sorts of variaties, and can save your life more often then spamming specials can. So if you find yourself using 1 or 2 of the same combos every match with just a few specials thrown in, try going to training mode and practicing more. You'll be surprised of the insane stuff you can pull off with some practice, and you'll become a lot less predictable when you know what combos to use for multiple situations.
 
IMO, there is no such thing as "combo spammer" threat, I explain why ..... combos demand that you should be very close, very near of your enemy, and, start a button command sequence,but, in order to the combo works perfectly, these factors should occur :

- Enemy has not combo breaker
- You don't miss none button combo sequence

Did you notice that, once you get used , visually, in see the combos, you know more or less :

- What come next after blocking the first hit
- How much hits that combo have and so, you know that you must block until 4,5,6 etc hits are over , and next, it's your "turn" to figth back, hehe !!

So, if a newbie decide to "spam" Scorpion's 1,1,1, hell fire or spear, you see that coming as soon as you see he doing the very first hit, this way, theorically, you are "safe", knowing that his tactic is his best, or maybe, the only one your opponent can threat you .....

Seriously, this is not stuff to worry about .....

In other hand, spamming mid screen / full screen moves that secure a safe defense of your opponent, as Kung Lao Spinning, Raiden Teleport, or just using and abusing of tick throws, inverted jump kick/punch, frame advantage moves in the corner, I think this is much more annoying and dangerous to worry about .....

A lot of cheap players online like to win feeling that they control majority of match situation and action, and so, they rely their cheap tactics in keeping distance and spamming moves that don't ask for "close encounters" XD ...... they prefer keep mid screen / full screen to avoid contact, but, at the same time, spamming the hell of their special moves ....

Raiden "spamming" his B+3,1,2, + Superman torpedo, without using Teleport spamming, is not annoying ..... because he has to come close to you, walking, dashing forward or after a jump, and after the second time he does, you know how to defend ..... you have time for your brain to process this pattern and defend yourself, hehe !! XD

now, on contrary, Raiden spamming Teleport as "no tomorrow", only to use the same B+3,1,2, + Torpedo or Throw, and do nothing else, this is a Spamming strategy and annoying one .......
 
Oh I agree, combos can be blocked with the right timing or a well-placed combo breaker, but the thread doesn't lie with blocking or countering the combo, but the person performing the combo.

What I mean is that a lot of people enter a match with the mindset that their one or two combos are always going to work, so they try using it throughout the match, even though the other person is constantly blocking it. No high or low mix ups, no surprise pop ups, just the same combo they have buried in their head, whether it works or not. Sometimes I find myself doing that, only because my fingers move so fast my brain has no time to catch up. XD

But this thread is meant to teach people about how to prevent themselves from being 'one trick ponies' when entering a match up, and trying to read their opponents more and perform other combos rather than 'spamming' the same one over and over again and eventually losing. Clarity for those who misinterpreted it.

Edit: This thread isn't to 'warn' people that there are combo spammers running a muck, it's to teach the people who already combo spam on how to...well...stop using 1 combo every match and nothing else. :D More clarification.
 
Whilst I agree with you on mixing up your combos, some characters have redundant ones that either don't really lead into anything or can be substituted by for all intents and purposes, a significantly better one. This in conjunction with normals giving you both chip damage AND meter on block makes learning all of your character's moves kind of pointless. E.g. Stryker's 1,1,4 - > Why bother even using that if back, 2 forward 2 has better range, gives me a launcher on hit, low mix-up (back, 4) and more meter and is just as safe on block?

You can pretty much rely on 1 juggle combo (which tend to be safe on block) and 1 (maybe 2) more for high/low mix-up purposes, imo.
 
Whilst I agree with you on mixing up your combos, some characters have redundant ones that either don't really lead into anything or can be substituted by for all intents and purposes, a significantly better one. This in conjunction with normals giving you both chip damage AND meter on block makes learning all of your character's moves kind of pointless. E.g. Stryker's 1,1,4 - > Why bother even using that if back, 2 forward 2 has better range, gives me a launcher on hit, low mix-up (back, 4) and more meter and is just as safe on block?

You can pretty much rely on 1 juggle combo (which tend to be safe on block) and 1 (maybe 2) more for high/low mix-up purposes, imo.

I agree with this. In the case of Kano, you have 3 great combos. 212 for a normal attack; B112 for an overhead; F3B2 for a launch. This is very good and versitle.

However, some characters don't have this variety and you have to isolate one combo that can offer these options (like Stryker).
 
NRS put , indeed, some extra , and maybe, a BIG maybe, "useless" default combos, mixed/among the really effective combos, because, you should understand that, not every player has interest in being competitive, winning tournaments, and taking advantage of only 100% good moves ..... the game reach the part of players that only want to have fun, and so, some combos has much more appeal in visual way, but, less efficiency in terms of numbers (frame advantage, damage, etc ....), but adds variation and options for people that don't care about studying and analyzing the game .....

More or less as your cousin is playing the game first time in your house, and, when Scorpion do his 3,3,4 and say "wow, that's a Tae Kwon Do kick, nice !" instead of worrying about if 1,1,1 is better for mix with Hellfire ..... LOL !! XD
 
NRS put , indeed, some extra , and maybe, a BIG maybe, "useless" default combos, mixed/among the really effective combos, because, you should understand that, not every player has interest in being competitive, winning tournaments, and taking advantage of only 100% good moves ..... the game reach the part of players that only want to have fun, and so, some combos has much more appeal in visual way, but, less efficiency in terms of numbers (frame advantage, damage, etc ....), but adds variation and options for people that don't care about studying and analyzing the game .....

More or less as your cousin is playing the game first time in your house, and, when Scorpion do his 3,3,4 and say "wow, that's a Tae Kwon Do kick, nice !" instead of worrying about if 1,1,1 is better for mix with Hellfire ..... LOL !! XD

True, but again you don't have to use the same one over and over again even if it constantly fails. I think everyone should have at least 2 starters and the rest you can go bat shit crazy on. Scorpions 1,1,1, gets annoying when it's always blocked and it's the only thing you know how to do, but I agree a lot of those combos are garbage.

Ewww and I hate Liu Kang's multi 3 string kick...flippy move. >.< Always have to save the combo breaker for that one. Or Kung Laos' thousand first barrage. XD
 
I will have to say I have multiple combos. Mainly with Subby because he is my main. But I play really predictable with SZ. I play defensive and start throwing out ice clones a lot, But now Ive learned more things. Ill play defensive first round and the next round ill play agressive. Its keeps your oppenent guessing on what youll do next. Mix up specials, learn combos and A LOT of your chracters combos. Then go into training and experiment and put different things together. It should help you with mixing up what you do.
 
I have been in practice mode a lot, i have gotten down quite a few long combos, however sometimes i go online and the connection difference will put a wrench in the works. I try to learn different pieces and put them into play when i see opportunity.
I agree changing up your fighting approach is a good call, its called finding a persons weak points.

Now im not great online at this game, but ive won my share, being comfortable and knowing a few solid strings for different scenarios, might help more than learning everything possible and trying to be unpredictable, you just need to break the opponent from their comfort zone and make them play the game you want too.
 
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