3s beginner, tips needed

Okay i feel that i need some help on this game because i can waste the computer at the highest difficulty but dont fair so well against players.

The characters i use are the classics, Ken, Ryu, and sometimes Yun.

I think this game is mostly about countering, parrying, and executing the combobs that hurt most.

So first off, who is really the best character? I look at some people and they say Chun Li(which is pretty hard to learn from what i see, but i just dont like using her :slight_smile: and Ken. I personally think Ken is the best, but thats just me and I’ve just started on this

I can pull of the combos well and have been playing MVC2 since it came out thats no problem, but I need some good strats and combos to start off this game.

Help is much appreciated and I thank all who would reply :tup:

Don’t play the game trying to learn who the best character is. Play a little bit with every character in the game and find out who you like the most and stick to that one character and play that character until you get black and blue from it. This isn’t marvel in which it’s all execution skills, 3S doesn’t have much to do with execution because most combos are no more than 4 or 5 different movements so it’s not that difficult to execute. The only thing to do is play against other people to learn move timing, mind game techniques and things of that nature. I advise you to stop playing against the computer unless you’re indredibly out of your mind bored and you haven’t played for a week. Playing the computer gets you use to certain techniques the computer uses which are totally useless against other players. So once you get down pact with combos(which isn’t difficult, especially ken) then just play against other people, that’s the only thing left to do. After you perfect one character and the timing for that character, then switch to others so you can change up your game and also learn how other characters work so you can be aware of things when you’re playing against that character. Hope that helps

Ah yes most definitly, thanks a whole lot man. :tup:

More tips/what will give you the game hints and strats wouldn’t hurt. Thanks to all :tup:

I think Yun and Chun are better than Ken. It’s hard for a good Ken to beat a good Yun or Chun. Don’t try to choose your char on tiers, it usually doesn’t work out unless you’re ALREADY a strong player. I’d suggest watching a few vids to see how the game is played on high levels, but try to take the outcome of the match with a grain of salt. 3S is really all about whoever has the best mind game, and after winning the mind game, executing the combo or w/e without a hitch.

yeah i agree with u guys. just learn each char and which ones suit u most. learn what move u can punish another move by. learn the combos! (the decent ones anyway). i recommend practicing with the shotos (ken,ryu,akuma (not sean - he isnt too good)) as they are considered ‘normal’ characters. chun is hard to learn for a beginneer as she relies heavily on sa2 for damage with punishing and over prioritising with poke --> sa2. finally learn hugo and tell me how to do a standing gigas. :clap:

3s doesn’t really have any obvious tiers like CvS2 and MvC2. You can get as good as you wan’t with every chracter EXCEPT Shaun and Twelve, dump those two. They just suck.
But every other chracter is open for business. Although, it would be nice to see someone who picked Q, Necro or Elena. It gets kind of boring with all thoses Kens and Chuns…

Actually, pretty much everyone is usable. In Shirube 2, a major 3S tourny, a Q player beat a Chun player. Since Q is dead last in JP tiers, that’s pretty damned big. The only character who I have NEVER seen been played well is Sean, and I’m sure that he’s usable too. Just find a character you like and stick with him or her or it. I liked Q, so I’ve stuck with him since I’ve started playing, even if he is hella low tier.

I played in an arcade in Hong Kong yesterday, I even saw a good Sean playing. The one thing I really learned from there is that having mastered the basics of SF, plus having great parrying skills is what wins you matches, not your character.

I play Alex mostly, with Yang and Ken on the side. I feel that my Alex is at least decent…except when i’m faced with a near perfect parrier. This guy parried probably 50% of what I did, and I know i’m not THAT predictable. But when you couple those skills with Ken, most assuredly a higher tier character, devastation occurs. Those same parrying skills could be applied to any character though, you just might need to work at it quite a bit more.

On a side note, how do you practice Darkshine? Is there an arcade in or around Fresno that has 3s? Playing the home version doesnt get me any better hehe.

Hong Kong machines are kinda wierd. Their damage settings are wayyy too high. I didn’t play many HK players, but they use good parry-bait traps.

Dudley did 75% damage to my Urien with 1 combo…it was kinda retarded.

Use Ken or Chun if you want wins early in your career. they have many options for landing super. parrying is overrated, just block and tech throw, unless you are playing someone who is clearly below your skill level.

I thought something was up with those machines. My Yang got toasted by a Ryu off of one denjin. No kidding on those parry baits, my Alex had little to no chance when my anti airs got parried 90%.

While parrying is overrated, having the timing down for parrying the obvious things like Tatsumaki’s and Machine Gun Blow’s really bolsters your offensive capabilities, and for things like good Denjin Ryu’s, solid parrying skills are a must. No one should rely on parrying, but it can break your opponent quite well and it can save your ass.

Parry is important but don’t try and learn parry as a reactionary skill. First learn parrying by doing parry setups and option selects. Something like pressing toward a split second before you throw against characters that look for mid and high level attacks is alot more useful than trying to parry an attack while trying to predict some footsies. An example being using a dive kick with Yun to get close but not deep enough to guarantee a target chain, if it’s blocked press forward and then throw. Some players and characters will try and get a quick normal out. If you tap forward than do a throw you’ll parry than counter throw. If they go for a throw, you’ll tech. Or something like with Yang, do a cr forward xx jab slash. You have a small frame advantage. You’ll be pushed far enough that alot of people will try for a far low attack such as shoto cr. forward. You can just do a quick down tap after a blocked jab slash to go for a parry, and then cr. forward xx slash again to retaliate.

Once you train them to not retaliate after a blocked cr. forward xx jab slash, you now open up the opportunity to go for a command grab after that setup which would lead to a combo of your own. And even then, if they get trained to not attack with a low hit, the forward tap motion of the command grab would act as an option select to parry a mid/high attack they may use to beat a low parry.

It’s mind games like that, that lead your opponent to begin to think your psychic that opens up your game.

To Ghostmaker your not using alex to his fullest.He is at his best when someone parries everything.The amount of setups you get from a parry happy player are endless.Remember you cant parry grabs such as back fierce and ddts.Next time they empty jump trying to parry you back fierce them and grab them out of the air.

As to the player who needs advice combos only do you half good if you dont know the setups to use them.PLaying against the computer you cant do high/low to them becuase there going to block no matter what.But remember that people cant so mix ups are a big part of this game.

learn a characters mixups and traps.Them watch how people play and use it against them.50% skill 50% mental.

i see guys, sorry i havent looked at this thread lately :tup:. the characters i use are yun and ibuki. i like their combos and crossups. i play ken, but i feel that he is too cheap. i dont know how to pplay chun, other than stay back build meter and then combo a super. but i feel thats cheap too. does anyone have a tier list?

[quote=Don Calzone]
3s doesn’t really have any obvious tiers like CvS2 and MvC2. QUOTE]

yo dumbass, you said akuma’s top tier in other thread. wtf is wrong with you?

I wont say Tier List, I’ll say players that are " Most Usable " in Tournament play(?)

Obviously it’s going to be
-Ken
-Yun
-Chun

3 most used characters in teh game.

The Rest that are used the most would be from top to bottom
-Urien
-Makoto
-Dudley
-Q(used alot in our casuals)
-Akuma
-Ryu
-Elena

Japanese people use Yang to counter Yun now, so he’s a good counter character to yun. In japan the characters used the most down there…

-Yun
-Ken
-Chun-Li

Following w/ - ( i find that all characters on the list are like dead close)
-Urien(Aegis Setups Of course + unblockables.)
-Makoto(All normals and special moves do dangerous amounts of stun damage.)
-Necro(Chun-Li/Urien players have trouble playing against him)
-Akuma(good rushdowns, love em.)
-Twelve( OO geez, best mixup’s w/ tick throws, very good stuff
-Remy(Ryo-shin’s machine gun LOV’s lightning quick
-Ibuki(Ibuki12’s Ibukis is so deadly right now, with all the reset/mixups ive seen in the latest tournament videos, has some amazing stuff)

bah I could name every single character is all awesome including Hugo, but Alex gets no love, because KSK hasn’t been up to par lately in tournaments, so he changed over to Makoto. Haven’t seen a Sean yet in tournament so…

after acquiring basic knowledge, what else is needed? i’m not a beginner, but i’m not high intermediate yet. i’m probably low / mid intermediate of a player

so what should i be working on next? i got basic stuff down like parrying super fireballs (i can parry akuma’s SA1 from air or ground, and either if he’s throwing it from air or ground), i got the basics of “footsies” down, i can use priority / startup attacks with the characters i’ve been learning (elena, ken, remy, akuma, necro), and i can do all those characters’ BnB combos.

what else should i be working on? zoning strats?

how could you practice tech throwing?

im not very good at parrying… i can parry fire balls and when someone jump kicks me but other than that i cant. can i get some tips on parrying and footsie please?

Sounds to me like your pretty predictable:P As it sounds he was parrying on your first attack and then punishing you. That case you could try keeping him barely inside your range so the parries stay uneffective. (close range parries allow punishments much easier, while with long range you could block the incomming move)

if you do it as a reflex you could react better… reflex is always faster than trying to parry but theres range on parries and sometimes its hard to punish themif youre playing in close move back then forward repetively (sp) you could get a lucky parry if they start sweeping you just move back and roll it forward youd be surprise how many extra parries youd get if you moved back and forth with in the right range