It’s not that you need to stop using focus, I think one thing that could really help you is to use your focus sort of like a tool for footsies, I know for me I would just be balls deep on someone and just start focusing because WHY NOT! I can take a hit do that shit on wake up FUCK IT! But then I’d eat reversal SRK’s FADC’s ULTRA’S which made me stop using it.
Only now have I realized that I should be using Bison’s FA at max range, because when he winds up he actually moves back a little bit, AND when he lets it off he actually moves slightly forward, so doing it right out side of say a shoto’s low forward puts me in a good position with lots of options (Full FA, see them whiff low forward dash in combo, dash back to bait out reversal SRK’s etc. etc.) When Fuerte does his FA he like flies foward a bit right? Get that range down and try it out. I think it’ll help out a lot.
Guys, I’ve been thinking whether or not it’s time to start practicing a lot with an alternate character. I love Blanka and all, and honestly SF4 has been the first time I’ve focused on using a charge character. From SF, CVS2, SVC:C, KOF, and more I’ve generally used the shotos, and that’s about it. What’s your opinion?
Nah see, that’s all I DO for footsies is throw out focus. It’s all fuerte has in the range of pokes other than f.mk. His other normals have good priority but are slow (c.mk is alright) and have no range. I have the range down perfectly, but that’s not the issue. People just jump in on that shit because it’s not a good anti-air kind of focus and I eat MEGA damage. Probably gonna drop Fuerte as my main though, it’s too fucking frustrating working so hard and dying to some scrubby ass random ultra because I get careless.
Don’t play Seth. Blanka is hard to be “good” with IMO because he’s kinda just random and gimmicky. Pick up a more solid alt than Seth, I’d say.
Frank when I have played your bison in the past you have always excelled in the rushdown antics of Bison, and you have a very good understanding of his mixup and teleport shenanigans. Last time we played online was awhile ago but I had believed your defensive playstyle was the one lacking the most at the time. Once I get back online we should play again and I’ll see if I can help you out with anything.
Jared your play has improved A LOT since I first saw you play. When I first saw you I saw a player who didnt care for the skill involved in trying to win, and I moreso saw a player who would toss out attacks just hoping to catch the guy off guard, no rhyme or reason. You have really turned that around and I’m much happier to see it. I know I still need plenty of work on my VS-Blanka but you have gotten much better with punishment and use of your character. If anything I would love to see you trying to bring a better strategic use to your Ultra. It can be hard to counter and it does often catch people off guard but the higher up in skill you go, people WILL punish you for it if they are ready. With that said I’m proud to have you around :tup:
@Crash: Its always a good idea to have a solid alt to handle your mismatches. It is a tactic you could very much employ at a tournament like which is run at Zach’s and I say you should get started on that. Keep with your main though for reals, there are larger scale tournaments which will restrict you to one character. A good solid alt choice would namely cover: A) Your main’s mismatches, B) Have a solid playstyle, C) Leaves room for mistakes. I’d like to fathom Ryu as my alt because I have used him more than any character besides Chun, he has workable odds with any match, he has very powerful and easy to use tools, and a solid amount of life. I like to use him to handle my VS-Rufus match for example. However what I do really want is just to be able to win with Chun in any situation.
Josh is there something I’m missing about focus against jump-ins? I use it occasionally as a tactic but your post is making it come across like it is a bad thing.
its a good and bad thing. one thing ive learned from playing mickey and rat, if i focus a jump-in, im eating a free srk/tiger uppercut. and it happens alot out of bad habits developed at gameworks when it works on scrubs. gotta use it sparingly, and on people who you think wont hit confirm it lol
There is one problem I have always had, and that is being really hard headed. People could tell me everything wrong with my game and I’ll be like “PSSSHHHH fuck all that noise I’m doing this shit MY WAY.” This is why I will never be an amazing fighting game player, but maybe rape on occasion.
Whenever people try that online I can just j.K late and hit them with cr./s.LK/LP->anything for free most of the time. I think I don’t focus at all outside of “parrying” from far away or FADC since Rufus’s FA sucks. I use it for mind games all the time with Cammy since her’s is gdlk.
Good catch…I also realized that if they saw it coming from a mile away they could empty-jump throw. I’ll just have to work on that…I figured it was pretty dangerous against any character with a DP but I thought it could be workable occasionally.
I need to cr. FP into ultra more. I’ve practiced all the setups to enable it but for some reason whenever I could be using it I just tornado. Doing a dash crossup after air-to-air into tornado looks cool, but what’s the point of doing crossup into a throw if you’re not attacking once in a while?
I also need to stop being unafraid of Zangief. Ever since I discovered that one move it seems like I can’t lose to him, but how long can that last?
Finally I need to stop taunting every time I see Ken whiff an ultra. Because it’s mean.
I have a problem similar to Pablo’s, I just dont give a fuck and drink before my matches. I miss basic shit due to inhibited hand-eye coordination and end up losing 2nd round. I can’t be a beast like Rat and roll through everyone while drunk.
In general, I tend to get impatient when I have to be careful in certain matchups (i.e. vs. Zangief and Blanka, to a lesser extent Sagat/Dhalsim). I think I’ve gotten better at this playing against Rat and Row but boring matches still piss me off.
But see only level 3 focus attacks have armor during the attack sequence, so if you mistime it you eat a counter hit and a nasty combo. :wasted: Also depends on how high up the hitbox goes on your character’s focus.
Saying marvel > sfiv, then giving tips on sfiv…maybe it’s just me but it amused me.
Fa then backdash is good if they srk when they land, but a good person will hurricane kick with ryu/ ken to catch the backdashers (will it catch?) and sagat can tiger knee (this should catch. I think fa is best used in that situation only for cross up attempts.