Hello guys I am trying to get into fighting games. Although I already tried mk9, mkx, sfv and injustice 2 I am still a beginner.
I am having pretty good games against opponents who try to play footsies or play defensively.
The problem occurs when I face an aggressive opponent who is constantly all over me trying to cross up or tick throw, I cannot establish any offense. I can anti air obvious jumps but when they are using gimmicks such as dive kick or similar moves I am in big trouble. Also blocking doesn’t seem to help because once I block the jump in and the combo, they start with the crazy offense again and I am defenseless. Should I learn to react to every single gimmick they use to get in? I guess I shouldn’t try to anti air divekicks?
Anti-airing is very important in a game like Sf5. There are specific moves that work well for anti-airing. Not so much in NRS games. You can just jump and hit them out if you time it right. Just don’t panic when people are pressuring you and continue to play. You’ll eventually get used to it. It’s hard when you play match after match of patient calm people and then run into that one aggro hyper @ss player. But the more you play, the more you’ll run into that guy and eventually you’ll get better at going against them. Good luck.
Defense is only one option and, in SFV, it’s seldom the best option. If you let someone jump in on you, even if you block, they’re just going to keep doing it and keep mixing it up til they get in. The objective is always to eventually do damage, after all.
If you’re about playing footsies, this means giving yourself the best spacing to anti air them and discourage them from jumping. Favour a decent normal, like a high reaching standing light kick, over an uppercut while you’re learning spacing, as it’s usually less punishable if it’s baited out of you and faster to execute.
Learn when it’s “your turn” - what buttons you’ve got that interrupt their string, or allow you to push back at the end of their string (lab time and learning matchups).
Look especially for when they’re being unsafe with their aggression. A lot of low rank aggro players are careless with sweeps and lean towards heavy button specials with longer recovery times, so find a good poke and look for it.
A well placed throw (especially air throws, if you’ve got them) can make someone rethink getting up in your face. Throws tend to have more of a mental effect than a life bar effect (I go for bigger damage, given the choice), so down to preference if you want to roll the dice on throwing as part of your conversion, usually more of an offensive tool, but something to consider.
Be wary that as you shut down parts of a players game, they (usually) start to adapt and change their approach. I’ll tend to let a wildcard Ken player jump around like a maniac and pick moments, rather than shutting down the skies completely, as I don’t normally want to deal with them up close.
Thank you for your kind advice, could you talk a bit about the divekicks? For instance, I faced Sonya players in MK9 and Cammy players in SFV, should I try to anti air their divekicks?
Cant speak for MK, but if you have a specific move you hate in SF, same rule applies most of the time - go into training mode, record the opponent spamming that move (with varying strengths and standing and crouching blocks inbetween) and learn all of your options to fight it. Find meterless and metered responses if you can, so you can be prepared for every scenario and get your money’s worth.
When a divekick is a command move, it can likely be beat quite safely with the right spacing and a good normal. If it’s a special on the other hand, you can likely capitalize on it with a block and punish.
As a Chun player, I get a lot of dash/slide-under opportunities in these scenarios. Others get reversals, pokes into combos, VT/EX/CA opportunities, some will just back dash out of danger and reset the situation. It’s down to you to take it to the lab and find what fits your style and what works, but identifying these threats and labbing them is such a huge part of growth in Street Fighter. Learn to love it
The reason you feel you are beating guys playing their footsie game is because you are, to them, the player you are having an issue with. If you are getting rushed down its because you aren’t aggressive enough. footsies are important so I reckon you get yours up to scratch. It will help keep the aggressive guys at bay long enough to get your game going. But you will have to work harder and faster than them to stay ahead. You will also need to play smarter. And that comes down to knowing all the gimmicks. Easier than it sounds too.
You don’t need to learn all the gimmicks and shenanigans your opponent has. You just need to pay attention to what you are having an issue with and adapt. And then if that doesn’t work you need to lab your ass off. For example, you say should you stop trying to anti air dive kicks. Hell yes stop doing that. Very few dive kicks in any game are safe. Typically, game dependent, a good player will be able to use his footsies to space you correctly so that on block they land and recover quick enough to block. This will in effect make their unsafe dive kick pseudo safe. For any other time in any game you can bee 99% sure that if they dive kick, its to your advantage.
Example. I see you play Injustice 2. I2 has Black Adam and his dive kick. That people spam all the time. When he does it you can smile.
Chances are the BA player will throw the dive kick out without setting it up. All you need to do is block. The minute you block it hit it with your fastest punish into combo and make him regret his horrible horrible life choices.
Same with any and all dive kicks ever. If you have a person you are playing against that keeps getting you with them or making them pseudo safe you have one other easy option. Back dash. You will just pop out of range. You can do what you want then depending on how fast you recover. But you will be safe enough to avoid it and make a follow up plan. Other than that you can think about where they will land and punish them in their future position. A paintball technique. And pretty much any FPS player is doing this. Don’t even consider hitting anybody out of a dive kick. You can just assume where they will be. And since a dive kick is generally going to hit you in the feet (if a good player is using them), you can just neutral jump right before they hit you. Just straight up. And on your way down you have two options. Depending on the game and how unsafe it is. If they will be unsafe regardless of if it hits or whiffs, you can come down with a kick or punch and get a combo. If they are safe on whiff, the case in a few games, you can come down with that kick or punch or neutral. You get to play the mix up game. I like to come dome neutral a lot of the time. Just to troll them with a throw. You guaranteed that almost. They will either not be blocking because they are unsafe and in their recovery frames. Or not blocking because they are idiots. Or blocking because they are expecting an over head from the jump in. You could also neutral jump and land then go for a low starter. When they start blocking that you have the option to also neutral jump then land then do an overhead.
Dive kicks are so favorable for you facing them, because when you learn how to handle them you are getting free damage off of your opponents bad move.
Unless they frame trap you before a dive kick. Then you eat it and make a new game plan.
Nice extra handy hint for dive kicks - standing block of crouch block.
It reduces your chances of getting crossed up and puts you in blockstring sooner, meaning you’re more likely to have the frame advantage (or at least be at less of a disadvantage) when the opponent reaches the ground.
