I’m finding it hard coming to terms with how to use things like his anti airs for example, considering you need to use different ones for different situations. I also find I can’t apply things I can do easily in training mode to a real match situation. It seems like I can’t take all the information in and remember it when I’m in a real match, my brain just sizzles and I end up getting beaten. What did you Abel players do to get good?
Also, what is a good way to hold the joystick when playing abel? I was thinking of switching to a 3 finger method involving the thumb and 2 fingers after that
Thanks for any input, sorry if I put this in the wrong place, I am relatively new to this forum.
Tbh how u grab ur stick has nothing how well u handle it…lol
Like I used to use thumb with 2 fingers, but changed to 3 fingers no thumb after seeing some ppl play like that. It felt awkward at first but it got real comfortable after a while. On the other hand, I got a friend that does thumb plus 2/3 fingers and his execution is just as good as mine. In essence, whatever floats ur boat~just try both~
In terms of learning to think whilst playing, just play a lot of games and think VERY simple at start. Like after I realized all I did with Abel was an advanced form of flowchart(lol) I started to make myself think by starting small. Like for a lot of games I concentrated on just step kick and how ppl react, if ppl mashed grab, I TT next time;if neutral jump, st fierce; if back dash, cr jab into stepkivk(doesn’t wrk on characters with gdlk backdashes); etc. just start small like that and move on to how ppl generally react after knockdown after TT, then after kd from skyfall, etc. at first u will lose a lot cuz ur concentrating on just reading ppl when u shud also be focusing spacing/footsie/mixups/whatever but once u get used to “seeing how ppl react” everything seems to fall into place if u have good fundamentals ~~~
I have the same issue as well when it comes to taking my training sessions into a real match. I used to main Balrog so the transition wasn’t as difficult because he’s an easier character to pick up imo. Anyway I’m going on a month w/ Abel and I am still ass but what I’ve started doing is going into training mode and focus on the absolute basics…his normals. I try to find out which normal is good for footsies against different characters and then go into endless matches and test it out (no intention of winning). Currently I am trying to find out ways to land his f-mk and understand how the opponent reacts to it.
Lastly i’ll go into training mode and practice his bnb until i’m sick of it as well as practice his roll mix-ups (I tend to rush it when in a real match). I’ll so set the training dummy on hard or hardest and try to understand what that particular character can do against my offense (or lack there of). I got that tip from a video gootecks did and while I just started doing it, I can see how it’ll help level up your game. Hope some of these is helpful…while my Able is beyond ass, I am hoping these techniques will help me level up slowly but surely.
[FONT=Helvetica]Yeah I guess, but I honestly struggle to get f+mk out sometimes, I end up hitting netural medium kick, and I swear it’s something to do with how I’m holding it, I don’t exactly have a firm grip.
I dunno man, I tend to find the CPU is a load of bollocks, considering it can read your exact move ect[/FONT]
It’s a pain, because I don’t exactly have any IRL friends who have an interest in street fighter, so I never really get to practice against anyone, so I can’t exactly play any matches where’s theres no pressure, and I can try out new things without the risk of getting kicked ect.
same i dont have any friends that play sf4 too, its good to have lots of pressure on u so u get used to it, then u can learn and see where u go wrong. thats the only way to improve not fight 7 year old kids that spam jab
It helps me understand what the character can do against Abel’s moves and vice versa Also it helps me when I am trying to execute combos in a situation that isn’t as easy as “calming” as training mode.
I used to have problem with doing neutral fwd instead when I wanted step kick. What I found out was that in those situations, I was so worked up and “rushing” that I ended up pressing the mk button b4 the stick could go all the way forward (same idea as guile jump kicking on wake up when he wanted flash kick). To fix this…well I just played more whilst noting that I sometimes got neutral fwd instead of step kick mostly do to execution error instead of stick problem or lag
i used to be a balrog player myself but have made the switch to abel. i have been off and on, for the last 2 yrs, tried to play abel and never had any success. but recently have picked him back up and refused to play any other character for the last few months and the decision have been rewarding. some tips to help you on your journey…1) anti-airs: go into training room and set your “dummy” to jump in at different distances. memorize which anti-air is perfect for which distance and commit them to memory. and also learn which anti-air is most efficient for certain characters, for example abel’s cr.mk will beat 95% of all of honda’s jump-ins. honda will be forced to stay ground and that is when you attack. 2) st.lk: learn to use your st.lk as a poke, footsie and spacing tool. when i use my st.lk as a poking tool, i can prevent people from coming in and attacking me. it is very fast and recovers very fast as well and if you use it in succession, it can gain you counter hits and generally just pest your opponents. as a footsie tool, if you stand at the distance in which only the tip of your hitbox will hit the opponent, at that distances it will pretty much stuff any projectile move. record ryu throwing a firebell and then set it on playback, get into that distance and hit the st.lk the moment you see ryu’s arms go back, it will stuff the fireball clean. it will stuff all fireballs and also some specials like honda’s headbutts. if you use it as a spacing tool, it retains all the strategic advantages when you use it as a footsie tool, but now you will gain to ability to measure out how far away the opponent is or how close he is. if you st.lk hits at the tip of the hitbox, then you are in perfect distance to go into stepkick as a frame trap. and you can also mix it up by doing stepkick to cr.hk to rol as a mixup. 3) mix-ups: go into training room and practice your mix-up setups. it still surprises me that some abel players aren’t completely familiar with his mix-up setups. besides learning the setups, memorize which setups work on which characters and which setups won’t work on which characters. example; abel’s falling sky to backdash to lk/mk roll mixup will work on most of the cast but it doesn’t work on zangief, t.hawk, rufus, seth…etc. what i did was i went to training room and just went down the whole cast, trying every mixup, setup and reset and wrote down my findings in a notebook and would read that notebook every now and then to always keep the info fresh in my head. the worst thing that can happen is you are at tournament and you are kicking ass with abel, and in the hype of things you perform a mixup setup that doesn’t work on your opponent’s character and you lose the match that way. so it is imperative that you memorize not only your mixup setups and resets but also remember who to use it against and who not to use it against. 4) BNB combos: practice your combos until they are second nature. then after that, go through the whole cast and see which BNB combos will work on which characters. example; stepkick to st.hp will work on pretty much anyone but it will completely whiff over honda’s head, even when he is in standing position. same thing with fuerte, the stepkick will hit but the st.hp will whiff over his head. to rememdy this, i will use stepkick to st.mp instead, if you got a counterhit, then the stepkick to st.mp will link, if not, immediately roll to the other side and continue your assault on the other side. i hope my tips help you, i apologize about the long reply but i love sharing abel knowledge and i love to help fellow abel players get better at this awesome character. if you have anymore questions please feel free to message me, i will always answer.