Of course, the best tournament players spend most of their time playing locally, and not playing online, and beating everyone.
actually, the fact that you did well - that probably contributes more to your competition online moreso than playing online in itself. if you play online at any given time, it’s safe to say that you’ll battle 20+ mediocre players before you run into someone who is decent or will give you a challenge. and then when you find those people, immediately you’ll try to add them on your friend list so that you have a ready pool of good players to battle instead of challenging low grade competition. in the case of thelo, i’m also willing to bet that he plays people of the likes of sirlin, calipower, afrolegends, etc (or at least people of that calibre)… and when you look at those people’s resumes, they are offline tournament experienced players.
on a different but related note - i’ve played some good/decent online players in the past, and some have a false sense of their skill because of factors like lag and whatnot. when i message them about how i experience that on my end, some assume that i’m just complaining or using lag as an excuse. i’ve also seen some issues where i might do a rolling claw on a ryu player, and the animation will clearly show it hits, but next thing you know it’ll have ryu in shoryuken animation out of nowhere as if the claw did nothing at all. input to onscreen action, lag, and other stuff like that would never be an issue offline etc
I don’t know about this one. I understand the lag in some matches, but on lagless matches, online play can equal local play.
My problem with playing locally is the pool of players. Very small if just challenging local. Plus, no HDR arcade version. Online has a much better pool, granted you have to look for the top rankers a bit harder.
Maybe the local scene makes more sense to compete in Vanilla ST, but not so much on HDR.
Experience and challenging the right opponents makes a lot of sense. I think what I’m reading is that particular patterns are done in gameplay, and the top players’ observance of the gameplay is what allows them to become familiar with the situations that could occur at any particular moment. This can only come from experience.
To beat the best, you have to fight the best, and just keep your head up if they keep knocking you down and tell yourself that you are learning from each loss. Guess I’ll be emailing some challenges to the top fighters, and learn to eat some humble pie till I beat em’ lol
i just finished up playing afro legends for an hour or so…it seems to me that being the best means capitalizing on every opportunity, and never letting an opportunity pass. flawless execution seems to be a must to be able to do that. recognizing opportunities and being able to put/get your opponent into them is another story all together. i was watching DGV vs Afro legends in the same room… it doesnt seem like they are doing anything out of the ordinary. yet, when i am playing them, it seems like the game speed gets cranked up to 11!..theres gotta be another level to this game that just cant be explained…
I think the practice arguement has a possible flaw. It’s not ‘practice makes perfect’ - yes you can practice specials to make execution easier - but if you play matches badly many times you will just get better at playing them badly. Understanding why you lost every match is important, and then understanding HOW you could have won it comes second, thirdly is being able to execute the HOW next time you meet that player, fourthly is being able to adapt mid-match to something you haven’t seen before.
I think when we say “practice”, we assume that the person practicing is evaluating themselves as they go…especially if they’re taking the time and energy to read this forum.
You’re right, though, practice doesn’t make “perfect”. Practice makes “permanent”. (I learned that in a choir workshop. Music is a wonderful thing.) If you don’t learn from your mistakes, then you’re a scrub in the making.
Just to add something I know I’ve had to get past, especially when I first started was the star struck or ‘fear’ factor of top players. If I saw TheloTheGreat or SirlinPrime or some other well known high level player come up under their lifebar I would immediately give up because I had tricked myself into believing I couldn’t win and I didn’t play to win.
Even as I started to improve I had this mental block that prevented me from really taking that next step. I can say it just took practice and taking my beat downs to realize we’re still playing the same game and that I can’t let myself be intimidated. I would think the first real step to becoming a top player is to think like one and that means believing you can beat anybody.
I found that just awesome =D
Fuck yeah.
I don’t give a shit who I’m playing anymore thanks to netplay. I used to feel like I was going to throw up anytime I played a “pro”, but now I just get angry.
I don’t who you are, I play on the world level. You let up on me for two seconds, I will take your life! :nunchuck:
There seemed to be some confusion about my statement from some people who messaged me so I want to be clear, I’m not talking about being arrogant. I’m not even saying the first time you pick up a controller you should believe that you are going to go win EVO.
What I am saying is that after you develop the basic skills, after you have the concept of how the game functions and really begin to have a firm grasp on how to play, then as you improve, as you practice, as you strengthen your game, the first step from going from B player to A player is confidence that you belong as an A player.
If you try to take that step and you’re not ready, you shouldn’t be crushed either. There is something special about the Afrolegends and John Chois and Daigo Umeharas of this world. If you’re not there its okay, it just means you have to step back, see what you don’t know and come back with a renewed confidence.
Knowledge is the key, confidence is the lock, and success is the door. The first step from transforming from good to great is the confidence (not arrogance) to believe that you can beat anybody, everybody loses sometimes, but not everybody can win.
AWESOME!!!
Thats the thing I like about xbox live, now that theres so many ppl playing this game theres more chances to witness a David and Goliath type match, where you have a pro player (or a renowned player) going up against a regular casual player, I dont think that would happen as much if it wasnt for the internet.
all hail silver rian 007…that is a great post man!! Confidence…thats what it’s all about, when I read your post I immediatly thought of super1nyc and why he gets so much hate, which is because he’s confident and goes into every match expecting to win…which is the correct mindset to have.
Zaspacer mentioned getting into quarter rooms with top players… how would I go about doing this? I’m really interested in improving and getting better and would welcome the competition.
Play in Ranked or Player matches.
When you find someone who is better than you or gives you a tough fight, send them a friend request. (some will accept some will not, no bigee)
Make a list of top players or people who impressed you. (or were better than you)
Look for these players in the Player match rooms.
Or make a room and invite people off your friends list.
Ask players what you can do to be better vs. their character.
Some people will help, others won’t (some don’t want to, others are just bad teachers), some don’t have mics.
When you find a player who is good at your character(s) note that down.
Watch them in quarter rooms or ask them questions.
Check out GGPO.
You can watch players there without having to actually play in their rooms.
Great for watching a high level player in your character play in a matchup you suck at or don’t know.
You can also record GGPO matches and watch them later.
Most wont. I wish I had more time to comment on this question in particular as I was a relative nobody (still am really) in the SF2 scene around November and I just went through this. I’m in the process of moving so the following is about all you’re going to get.
I would send a message first asking them if they would mind playing a set with you. Don’t just send a random invite. Perhaps talk to them first on SRK and ask them to setup a time for some games. It’s way better than getting an invite out of the blue. I cant tell you how many invites I turn down because I don’t know who is inviting me, or what I’d be getting myself into.
Ask for advice while playing (if they have a mic) - if they don’t see if they are on SRK and send a message there. You’re more likely to get a well thought out response if the person is using a keyboard over a joystick. Personally I hate entering a message with a joystick.
I usually send a GG message and a thank you after playing too (about the only message I’ll type using a joystick.)
Then after session or two like this with the person, send a friend request if the other person hasn’t already. :wgrin:
Anyway. Be patient, soon your friends list will be full of people that will help you take your game to the next level, trust me.
EA Megaman, thanks for the advice.
I’ve been adding people who kick my butt, or give me a close match.
I’m talking about Vanilla Tears, II Grenade, numerous others… thanks a lot guys. I learn so much from taking on people who are better than me.
I think the reason why is because the pro players have already seen all of the standard warfare that a particular character has to offer, so the usual bread and butter moves that would normally win a match will not work, forcing the student to come up with new ways to fight in order to win, making me a more complete fighter.
This may sound odd but I’ve always believed that a Ryu attitude helps a fighter become better.
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Be a wandering warrior. Accept all challenges and don’t deviate. Don’t disconnect due to rage, cheapness, “cheese” or any other scrub talk. There is either “Win” or “Lose”, nothing else. If you win, don’t gloat, be thankful for the match. If you lose, don’t get mad. Be thankful for the match and the opportunity to learn more.
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Study character forums. Invaluable advice offered by veteran players is priceless.
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In player rooms, watch matches with characters of interest and watch how they handle particular situations.
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Study matches. It’s not enough to fight and just move on.