Nice article!
But when playing a character like Vega, people always try to jump over your pokes, knowing that, even if you recover in time, your only option is to block, which is bad for Vega. So why not whiff a cr.lp, which on startup looks exactly the same as cr.mp, to bait a jump, then air to air the opponent?
^^
The point of Maj writing these great articles in the first place is to look at very specific situations. While in the context of the Shoto fireball game, this article can be applied to any character as long as the context is understood.
To put it simply, understand the idea behind the article and apply it in a way that works for you.
Maj, never stop with these please.
In reference to such simple practices of distraction (and not grander plans of deceit and/or disguise of true intent), I really liked a description I read in a thread last year of “[throwing] out a ton of ‘useless’ moves during footsies” as “simply [jacking] up the signal to noise ratio.”
Nice quote, but it’s kinda backwards isn’t it? Random moves would be noise in that metaphor. I like the idea though.
Since i wrote so many articles about footsies, i thought i should write one about avoiding them entirely.
Street Fighter Footsies Handbook, Supplement B
This one’s basically about blocking, because sometimes it’s the best thing to do. There’s also some stuff about crazy rushdown, which is always fun to do and watch, but you’re gonna get your heart broken sometimes.
Finally got around to putting together a Footsies Handbook index. Still working on the last article.
Maj,
When are you getting your PhD in this stuff? I want to come to your graduation and take pics with your parents.
-Vic
My zoning game is weak so this really helped out, thanks :tup:
You Sir, are a God amongst men. Thank you for imparting your knowledge on us mere mortals to make us less scrubby.
With the Footsies Handbook completed, i finally have the opportunity to explore various topics which i feel are important to becoming a solid all-around Street Fighter player. Right at the top of that list is the ability to land difficult throws in clutch situations.
I think the best way to teach yourself that particular skillset is by forcing yourself to pick up a dedicated grappler character. You’d be amazed how much you can learn from using Zangief for two weeks. These are things that come up all the time with basically every character, but not consistently enough to force you to learn them.
However, if you make Zangief or Abel your main character for just two weeks, you’ll pick up all of that stuff along with a whole new way of looking at fighting games. So read through this article, give Gief/Abel/T.Hawk/Hugo/Raiden a try, and let me know what you think: Grappler Training
*The easiest person to play footsies against is that intermediate player who hasnt quite given up on footsies, but doesnt play footsies to win. He doesnt move around much, he doesnt keep track of long-term patterns, and he plays almost exclusively on a reactionary level. Hes not trying to get you to do anything specific; hes simply reacting to where youre standing. He doesnt think his footsies are good enough to help him win whole matches. Hes being lazy.
Playing footsies with that casual mindset is the mental equivalent of being backed into a permanent corner. If youre hesitant and uncertain, then your wins will come from luck and your losses will be inexorably fitting.*
This describes me to an absolute “T”
I just don’t really know how to move beyond this level. I feel like I never use footsies, don’t have any kind of gameplan or way to ‘outsmart’ the other guy because I don’t even keep track of my own ‘long term patterns’. Thanks for the footsies handbook. I have a lot of work to do on this. My wins for the most part come from luck…getting wins that come from strategy and gameplan is the pandora’s box that I’m looking for to get out me out of the intermediate category.
Threads like these are the reason that I’m steadily falling in love with the SRK community. The dedication here is overwhelming. I’ve been casually playing fighting games for years now, and it’s honestly mindblowing to see just how deep the thought process for things that are almost instinctive really is. I’ve never taken into account how big concepts like these are even though I play SFIV almost everyday. Thanks for the articles Maj. I haven’t gone through them all yet, but I’m already becoming a better player for taking the time to read through.
At a certain point, i think everyone starts getting a little self-conscious about how their matches “look” and whether they convey a level of expertise. Though nowadays with match videos everywhere, a lot of people actually begin by mimicking certain players right off the bat.
Anyway, Mariodood brought up an interesting question about what you should when you attempt to bait an uppercut and your opponent doesn’t go for it. Obviously that stutter step is going to interrupt the flow of the match and probably kill whatever momentum you might’ve built up to that point.
So i wrote an article about that subject because i think it’s important to keep your mind on the big picture, even if that means sacrificing momentum or sometimes ending up with “ugly” matches: Sustaining and Surrendering Momentum
Now that i think about it, it’s funny how often you hear professional basketball players talking about grinding out “ugly wins.” That concept totally applies to Street Fighter as well, and it’s just as important to find ways to win those games too.
Hmm, one addition I might have added to the rushdown guide balance between difficulty getting in versus willingness to give up momentum. If your character has alot of trouble getting in but can really take the match with one chance, it is more advantageous to bait dp’s/reversals less frequently. Likewise, if your character has little trouble getting in and starting a rushdown, there should be more willingness to play defensive and bait out supers ect.
In your example with the neutral jump, if I was playing thawk in ST and that situation arose, I would likely neutral jump and go for the win, getting in again would be difficult to impossible. If I was playing chun li, I would play more conservative and block, pressuring with my gameplan would be very feasible to reestablish later in the game.
Perhaps that was out of the scope of the article, or it was painfully obvoius to any veteran player, even subconscious at this point, but I do feel alot of newer players might apply the advice too broadly.
anyone have notable matchups with ugly, awkward moments? chun vs blanka can get brutally indecisive when i play lol
blanka doesn’t want to do anything frame disadvantaged and i don’t want to walk into a blanka ball or river run. i dont want to throw fireball so he can ex ball through it. i want to bait a jump but he doesn’t do anything and i got nothin cuz he’s still on downback. i block a blanka ball but fail a frame perfect punish etc etc
blocking river runs and balls is actually A LOT easier offline and chun’s fb recovers pretty fast, blanka shouldn’t be able to hit you much with ex ball unless you get predictable. He has to anticipate it to punish, just vary your patterns.
Hey guys!
I don’t know where to ask this to get a answer, so I’ll ask here…
Where can I find a plinking thread??
Thanks in advanced!
Maj? You okay with me translating the article into german?