I picked up this game like 2 days ago, hoping to get good, learn the basics and the metagame sometime. I played SF4, I was okay at that. I won matches but didn’t know anything about frames or hitboxes and such. But goddam, I have played like 50 matches online and Ive won 1… seriously.
I play Akuma mostly and Adon a few times. I hit training mode alot to learn combos, which I can nail okay in training when I get my inputs down, but online I cannot get into any kind of window to do combos. The only damage I can actually rely on is wakeup damage or just spamming an uppercut for counter damage.
I decided to get into street fighter after playing MK (which Im pretty good at) so maybe im accustomed to MK gameplay and thats messed me up (kinda like the idea how people who play Halo use a completely different playstyle to those who play CoD, and going from CoD to Halo is a bad idea) or maybe I just shouldn’t play this game…
How can I get better at this game without having to go to local places and fight people? (Im in the UK, and I don’t know of a single place which has this kind of environment) I think the main trouble im having is gettin basics down, I mean combos are easy to do and look at on paper, but in a match I get pooped on, and have no chance of doing said combos. Anyone have any good advice?
P.S. Sorry if this doesn’t make much sense, Im super tired.
Just keep practicing. Might sound like stupid advice but that’s pretty much it. That and if you’re having a hard time doing any of your combos online maybe it’s your nerves that mess you up? It could also be lag, lol.
Don’t let the W/L ratio turn you off btw, you’re not expected to win everything as soon as you start playing.
Check out the VesperArcade videos tutorials on YouTube. That guide really is a great starting point for beginners. Also, just watch stream tournaments and such, and try to pick up what you can. Ultimately, the best thing you could do is practice. Get REALLY comfortable with your fightstick. Don’t give up. The road will be tough, but once you break through, you will feel so triumphant…
If you decide to watch match vids of intermediate Akumas…try to break the habit of watching them for “entertainment”
what i mean is pretend you are the Akuma player while watching, go through your mind what moves you would do in the situations given and compare them to what the akuma on film does, ask yourself was your decision or the player on film decision a better one, if his was better then take notes of that players actions so that you can use them in battle.
i’m not so great at this game yet either but in terms of local tournaments etc ECL3 is coming up that is in lougborough and i’m going even if i get annihilated just for the experience, also i was told that learning spacing and baiting is essential to get that “window”.
Akuma in particular uses focus cancel combos more often for damage. Use ultra after a focus attack, and if you have a choice between super or ultra, always use ultra. Typically just use a combo then uppercut cancel into triple fireball for damage or save some meter for ex spin kick which is safe and does good damage on its own or if you deem it a worthy situation use ex fast fireball if you think it’s going to hit or at least give a good amount of pressure. Standing H kick is very useful I use that instead of just dashing just don’t get carried away with it. Use crouching H punch as anti air.
Doesn’t really change much if I type this or not, but being a top SF4 player at one point some time ago somehow got a bunch of fanatic fans to move to my neighborhood to try and play games all the time to get better. The sad part is they never once asked for advice and they pretty much still suck to this day when playing online. Then again their choices are typically stupid ones so who could blame them for not wanting to ask for advice and being too stupid to figure out something as simple as a video game. In fact all those jackasses did was yell out my name and gamer tag sometimes wanting me to play them, and when it’s not that, they just bitch about when they are having a pissy fit. Win or lose I never really gave a shit, in-fact I didn’t even know I was on the top leaderboards until someone told me, didn’t have anything going for me at the time so I just gamed a lot. If you want to be better than Diago I could teach you. Typically only using PSN for time being. Not really bothering to renew gold, possible that I may when Gears 3 comes out.
I’m kinda in the same situation as you [~150 games played, and I think I’ve only won ~30, and I haven’t won a game since AE came out], and I was just wondering.
You mentioned combos a lot. Should people like us [who are just starting out] worry as much about combos? I feel like I can never punish for enough damage without them, but I can never get in a situation to do them.
Also, it’s frustrating getting into the game when there are almost no new people and when AE resets the rankings…
epic face palm
the fact that you think you can compete at a higher level with such a small amount of experience is ridiculous. The game has been out for a very long time, you are comparing your 50 games to people that have 100s or 1000s of games under their belts. Don’t delude yourself
There are many threads already created by people wanting advice, rather than having to type everything out again, please scan through the first page of the forum or do a search for a relative topic :tup:
i’d say learn one combo for each purpose, so your most damaging punish, your ultra setup etc. then focus on zoning, footsies and baiting, that’s what i was told and it seems like the best advice
combos arent the most important aspect, you first need to get your mind strong…keep playing matches to get your mind strong with the mental game. then you will slowly learn to instead of countering with a throw or sweep, you can do a few BnB combos instead…but mind games are the most important,
idk much about Akuma, but through the years ive played lots of ryu, and basically you need to step the mental game up and watch for player tendancies, as you play hundreds of more matches you will notice that alot of players do a few things similarly. One example is that alot of people like to do, short short throw…they will mix it up with maybe one short then throw…or maybe a jump in then throw…
for now, i know akuma can combo his hurricane kick to an SRK i guess for now just hold onto that combo as you get stronger mentally. so first, practice your SRKs on both sides to help keep your opponent out. learn to use the 3 hit fireball for chip damage on knockdown…learn to space and time your fireballs into an odd rhythm to keep your opponent frustrated and grounded…
alot people dont realized that NORMALS are good, you need to know how far away you can sweep an opponent…this is a very good technique, because your opponent will most likely think your out of range, but if you can space to where the tip of the sweep can get him then you can score a knockdown and let the mix ups begin. learn what normals you can link, what normals can turn into block strings for FADC cancels or tick throws. i know akuma has an overhead so mix that into your High/Low mix ups.
you can very much win without fancy combos. it’s just learning what your punches and kicks can do.
Keep playing. Read articles on basics. Play more. Study videos. Train in training mode. Basically, keep doing what you’re doing and it’ll start to fall into place.
if you’re an akuma player you can look up lordofultima’s excellent tutorial videos on youtube as well. it’s not all akuma specific, but has some interesting little nuggets to help with your game as well.
Try different characters all the time. Specifically in challenges, because inputs are difficult, and in reality, even knowing them 100% at home isnt the same as executing them under pressure, or lag. Much like training martial arts, without physical contact, without real experience, all of your bookstudy means nothing outside the dojo, or the classroom, or in this case, away from opponents offline.
Online, you must play it safe, and a great deal of akuma’s playstyle depends on combos. I dont know what the connection is like in the UK, but if you play with players outside of your area, you will lag a bit. Use 2 in 1’s, like cr.mk>Hadoken alot, thats much more respectable, daigo style. If you want to win games, dont get frustrated that you arent landing the full combos you are training, when even pro players may go a whole game throwing fireballs.
Also, if you do play UK players, and the flag shows theyre in your country, then get a microphone and ask them ALL if there is a group of friends ANYWHERE who play together. You will find out the better players will have friends they play with, who are probably better than they are.
I have been playing for 3-4 weeks properly, and i have only won twice, against two people who looked like they were just mashing randomly. (a record of about 2-75 i think)
2 days. if you beat a half decent guy it would make me jealous.
to sum up. dont worry, try to enjoy the experience of learning. its not losing its learning (i have to say this to myself ever day!!!)
i do wonder if i will ever get good. i react to jump-in’s after they’ve landed, and see a reversal coming but still dont block it. i try to be patient but cant seem to tech throws…god i suck, but im trying to learn.
theatre mode for AE PC edition when it comes out will be very helpful for me, will enjoy studying my poor poor poor poor poor play.