Critical's Train of Thought

[Critical-Limit]

Train of Thought

I figured I'd just share how I go about a match and what I think about while playing. and maybe it can help others with problems they have.


Firstly when looking at your character you'll want to know everything. And when I mean everything... I mean... EVERYTHING.

Combos
Getting your combo's down so well that you don't have to think about it is a must. Combo's aren't what make you a good player but it's a GREAT tool to have as damage can mean the difference between loss/win.

You should learn every combo, even ones that appear to be extremely situational. Because you never know when you end up in that situation.

Spoiler:

For example:
Jade's 3,4,2 EX shadow kick, shadow kick. Is for the most part useless to me because the wasted bar for that few extra percent is not worth it. Also EX Overhead after 4, will lead to more damage so why bother? Well let us not forget positional advantage. if doing 3,4,2 EX shadow kick, will land them in a corner, I can not only ad more punches at the end of the shadow kick for a longer combo. But I get them trapped in a corner which is probably more beneficial than the loss of a future EX shadow glow.

So that's an example of how a seemingly useless combo may have it's advantages.

Combo Damage fear/conditioning: I'm going to use Scorpions teleport punch as an example for why you need this not only for maximum damage... but to control your opponents spam. Lets take a look at this teleport vs 2 players that handle it differently.

Spoiler:

Player1: Everytime he blocks it he just uppercuts. Although punishment has been dealth the damage done isn't that significant. Since it's small enough punishment it leaves scorpion more chances to be risky with it. Leaving him more tools under his belt because you are unable to put the damage FEAR into him.

Player 2: Everytime this player blocks they do a 37% damage combo. With such a high loss for a teleport punch risk. you can now bind scorpion to using that move less often opening the door for you to be able to jump more freely/ counter attack w/o worrying about whiffing and getting punched int he back. I mean 3 blocks and that scorpion is dead, you can bet he's not gonna spam it now.

Another benefit to combo damage is the fact that you will make your opponent waste meter. when I realize my opponent can't combo for donkey nuts. I will never use a breaker. When I fight someone that can bust out a 28%+ I will consider breaker depending on the situation I'll get into that later. Getting them to drop meter also makes them lose tools.

knowing them w/o thinking about it...
This is extremely important. You need to practice your combos so hard... that you can use them w/o thinking about their input timings. That way all your focus can be on being 2 steps ahead of your opponents thought process. And you can't 100% do that only in training mode, You have to be able to do it under pressure as well, and be able to use it in the right situation without hesitation. like you should know what string your going for unless you are waiting for a hitconfirm.

Got Punished?

If you get punished by something. It doesn't always mean you can't ever do it again.

Spoiler:

For instance, Noob Saibot's shadow Charge. When you throw it at them and they are mid screen and they chose to jump. They get a combo right? That doesn't mean that shadow charge is 100% useless in that situation. It just means for this one scenario you chose wrong. You should have upknee'd him. Once you up knee them enough times, They will start waiting/baiting the upknee then come in and punish. This is when shadow charge once again becomes useful at this distance.

When it's almost a guessing game It doesn't mean you should drop it just because it failed a few times. Think hard on why it didn't work, and ways you could MAKE it work, as well as ways to protect yourself if they choose the same option in the same situation(aka upknee). So you can be prepared for the situation when they change their strategy.


Now for me to explain situations where you should literally just STOP trying. Usually when the punishement comes from a reaction of what YOU were doing. that usually means you might want to not try that anymore

Spoiler:

For example, when Jade does her overhead pole slam (DB2), on kabal's block. Even at full distance Kabal can drop block and speed run me with his special on reaction. There is no, WHAT if about this. If kabal is in a position where he can stand block your DB2, you better not use it. That's why usually against kabal I will not use enhanced DB2, I use glow only. I got punished for DB2 and it was obvious he could punish on reaction/out of block stun and hit me before I have control.

Minimizing consequences on a move is a good way to make your move deadly. Let me use Smoke's Teleport as an example.

Spoiler:

Smoke gets the most punishment when it's blocked correct? The best way to avoid getting punished for your attack would be... to what? Basically attack only when they are unable to block. you can use the punch when they whiff a string. If you see scorpion spamming square and he's out of range. you can go ahead and use his teleport punch. If you see someone jumping back. you can time your teleport punch to hit them before they land. They can't block in the air. Another way to avoid punishment is while they are in hit stun so essentially using it in combos. If they throw a projetile. Or if you see them start a move while you are laying down from a knock down. They can't attack and block at the same time. If you try to punch JUST in these situations you will minimize the consequences. Also as a side note, Smokes will often teleport punch and WHIFF on purpose just above the opponents hitbox so his teleport is more similar to Cyrax. Where he teleports but isn't committed to an attack. Also works while your opponent just hits the ground and you whiff because they are laying down. Good way to close distance.

Lets look at your own patterns that got punished now...

if you notice you get nuetral jump punched like 3 times in one match out of the air. That might mean you cross over jump too much or too predictably. Or your opponent called you out on that option just as they finish THEIR string. whatever the case, now you need to figure out how to punish someone who expects the cross over jump. Or a way to make it less predictable.

Lets go with Punish first...

Spoiler:

Lets pretend you're Johnny Cage. you do one of his safe 3 hit strings, You noticed you like to crossover jump after the 3rd hit. But you got punched out 3 times. How can you punish their read if it was incorrect? You could try johnny's anti air kick just as the string ends. you could try dashing in and jabbing and catching them in the air, then doing a jab chain into a combo/juggle. Basically anything to hit them out of the air. But please remember, they probably are doing this because of YOUR patterns. Meaning unless you've already jumped over them after the 3 hit string a couple times already. They probably won't throw out the nuetral punch.

Less predictable...

Spoiler:

Lets pretend you're Ermac. you like to do the 3,1,2 on block then jump over. Instead of always doing it after 2, you could try mixing up when you jump. you could crossover jump punch, then do another crossover jump IMMEDIATELY. you could do 3,1 then jump while they are waiting for 2 you will already be half way to safety in your jump. mixing up the times you choose to cross up jump punch will make them weary of when they can nuetral jump punch. If you're unpredictable with your patterns, it makes it really hard for them to make the right call.

Round 1 Fight!
How I think about nailing that first hit to get that important meter.

Zoners:

Spoiler:

They tend to run away right at the start, backward jump, back dash, or their safest get off me move right at start. So say for noob saibot. majority of them will shadow upknee or what I mentioned before. That's their safest stuff, and it's their way to build distance. If your character has a projectile, against these people you can usually open up with one. When I'm Jade I will throw a boomerange at start and it never seems to fail. Subzero is iffy, as he has a decent up close game. I usually take my chances with a boomerange at first encounter. Jumping in on Zoners at the start is not wise. most of them have a really safe anti air that can be used on reaction.

Now when you are repeat fighting someone, say you're doing a set. They will mix it up on you. So don't expect them to never mind game you by throwing out a projectile at start, or dashing in with a grab ect.

 

[Critical-Limit]

Strong High Priority Specials

Spoiler:

Ermac for example, Because of the threat of his Telekenetic lift at start. It's a 50/50 HIGH RISK. If Ermac uses it, and you block Ermac eats a combo/at the very least heavey pressure. Because of this Ermac's will expect people to block to be safe at start allowing ermac a upclose fight advantage if he starts a rush down. If you try and call Ermac out on using that fear to attack you, And he did infact choose to use lift not only does he get high damage, he gets another bar. So careful with people who have strong openers. Raiden's superman is not a good example of fear at the start. As a block leads to a huge combo on raiden, and what not blocking nets you 10%ish and raiden gets another bar of meter? No most Raidens if they want the same factor as Ermac he'll scare you with teleport.

Crouching

Spoiler:

Opening up with a crouch(no block) is a great opener (against fighters that usually fight up close or are balanced zoner's/rushdown). If they jump you can uppercut, if they open with a dash high/grab they whiff. Their only real way to hurt you is to use a special high, or medium/low.

 

[craftycheese]

Good stuffs man. I'm sure beginners through vets would appreciate this. I know I do.

 

[Zoidberg747]

Nice thread, agree with everything, props!

 

[fr stack]

great post man ive been workin alot lately on lowerin my predictability stuff like dis is a must .. i used to just try for the highest damage combo every time an get majorly punished now i actually watch wot my opponent does patterns etc and i reckon ive improved a lot .. once again cheers for de post

 

[Critical-Limit]

Thanks I'm gonna update alot of crap onto here.

So whenever I need to explain something I'll just link their ass to this thread LOL.

 

[iViTal]

Thanks Man, Will def. use these tips when ever i play MK9

 

[Flagg]

Very good points. When I start using a character, I will spend an unGodly amount of time in the training room before using them online. Right now, im using Baraka a lot. At the moment, i'll only use a few basic combos with him, but as I get more confident, the longer strings and situational stuff comes out.

I've found this is very apparant when I use Nightwolf and Sindel now. They both have thieir bread and butters, but they also have combos that can only be used in certain situations and I think ive got to the stage now, where I don't even think about what im going to do in a certain situation with them, my brain just goes into auto pilot and the more I use (and like Baraka), the closer i'll get to being like this with him.

It pays to explore as many combos as possible with whatever character you are using.

 

[iViTal]

my brain just goes into auto pilot and the more I use (and like Baraka), the closer i'll get to being like this with him.

Lol i do the same with mileena now, when i first Picked her up on Day1. All the Button commands just rushed through my mind. U+4, U+4(then the rest), But as i used her offline and Online there was like no thinking involved i just did them. Now just knowing my match ups and how to punish specials are the only thing that i think about online.

Kinda Cool when you can relate to other members

 

[Critical-Limit]

Minor update, I'll work on the other 2 I mentioned tomorrow. getting a little too late for me. I have a few more scenarios I want to mention for round 1 opening.

 

[InstincT_Bubblez]

This is gunna help me big time man, thank you so much! My main is Noob Saibot.

 

[iViTal]

This is gunna help me big time man, thank you so much! My main is Noob Saibot.

Bish you told me smoke

 

[Critical-Limit]

This is gunna help me big time man, thank you so much! My main is Noob Saibot.

If you main noob and you run into any trouble or don't know how to handle a strategy or character. Please remember what happened to you and ask me how to deal with it I'll do my best to tell you how to counter/improve.

 

[InstincT_Bubblez]

its both, i share the time out.

 

[InstincT_Bubblez]

and thank you mate!

 

[Revz]

If you main noob and you run into any trouble or don't know how to handle a strategy or character. Please remember what happened to you and ask me how to deal with it I'll do my best to tell you how to counter/improve.

I started using Jax recently and zoners, ESPECIALLY Noob, give me major grief. Any tips Critical? BTW we still need to play MK against each other sometime I'd be down for more SC2 again but too many other games to play atm lol

 

[Critical-Limit]

I started using Jax recently and zoners, ESPECIALLY Noob, give me major grief. Any tips Critical? BTW we still need to play MK against each other sometime I'd be down for more SC2 again but too many other games to play atm lol

Yeah I sent you a couple texts about SC2 maybe you missed them.

Jax's EX dash punch man will always give you free get in tool. As it is it's the only what that knocks the opponent down near jax. It'll go through his shadows it's a free ticket to get in on noob and start your pressure.

Despite upknee looking scary fast for a wake up move. It's actually really easy to snuff. Just pressure noob hard when you knock him down. He doesn't have any options except block because his moves are too slow, and he has no armor. but you gotta be ON him like pie. If you're even slightly too slow a upknee will hit you.

usually when he's on the ground try your low starter to start dealing pressure.

If you have zero meter and you can't use the free EX dash punch to get in. You'll have to do it the old fashion way. Jump over the first few clones if he's spamming them back to back. If he's waiting/baiting your jump, just dash block toward him. Once you get in mid jump range. Dash in a bit.

Now he'll either upknee expecting your jump or throw another shadow, or back dash, or crazy enough try to come in with his own upclose game.

IF you jump in on him you'll beat shadow tackle or his attempt at upclose fighting. But you will lose to his back dash and upknee.

If you wait and bait the upknee. you can dash in inbetween and deal damage. Stand just out of range. (Careful if he does EX upknee it will reach farther out and hit you, but most people don't use blind EX upknees)

His safest option is to back dash apparently. If you're waiting for upknee and you notice he's doing a back dash. do a normal dash in punch to get in on him. At that range he won't have enough time to cover himself with a shadow tackle if you're quick enough.

 

[Revz]

you rock man thanks. I usually use EX dash punch to get through zoning but with no meter I was out of ideas against good Noob's, which I seem to get matched up with alot lately

 

[Critical-Limit]

you rock man thanks. I usually use EX dash punch to get through zoning but with no meter I was out of ideas against good Noob's, which I seem to get matched up with alot lately

are you picking jax first? some people like to pick noob intentionally against people like Jax/Cage/lui Kang/Reptile ect ect because of lack of teleport.

 

[Revz]

usually I think, I'll have to use the hidden cursor I guess. I usually don't have problems with Liu Kang (my main) vs Noob though