In all honesty, from what I’ve learned when it came to trying to learn Street Fighter (and it’s probably the number one reason why I failed to get any better and keep up), guitar, dance, anything. It’s not only how much training you do, but it’s how you train that changes how well you do. At this point my advice is talk to those that have been doing better than you in tournament situations and see how they train, what is the difference between you and them. What makes them succeed better than you. Considering what I heard from you when it came to you learning 4 and refusing to learn how to tech throws, something so simple but effective to have in your game, that showed me how you wanted to just ditch the basics of that game and learn more advanced stuff. If you go ahead and do that, you won’t succeed. It’s like me wanting to learn Stairway to Heaven, but not practicing my scales and allowing my fingers to eventually reach that level.
The 2nd thing when it comes to Marvel, as Joe said, you play with your food too much. Yes, sometimes you’re style combos are pretty damn impressive and I myself sit back and go damn he just did that to me, but when it comes to a tournament, specifically Street Fighter is that you gain more respect for winning tournaments rather than just styling opponents. If you have the chance to kill your opponent, kill your fucking opponent. Do what it takes to win, even if it means taking a bnb option that doesn’t look as impressive as a combo that you have a 50% chance of actually pulling off. If you want to win evo, you will do what it takes to win EVO. If you want it, you will go out of your way to fucking get it. It’s all about mindset, how you train, the amount of effort you’re willing to put in, and taking all those losses and learning from them.
Mind you, this advice is a mixture of what I learned from learning other hobbies and trying to relate it to the level of Street Fighter. By all means, I was never that great as an SF player, let alone a Marvel player. But I figured I’d toss in some words based on what I’ve seen and what I can at least try to give as advice.
When it came to the first gen wave of SF’s scene, Mihai was always right when it came to how we trained and how we took the game. This is why we never got better as a scene and to be honest, Mihai’s post was accurate and I don’t disagree one bit. I see how these guys train and I see the look in their eyes when they fight opponents, that hunger to get better. Corry has had a couple times where he didn’t do so well and questioned his ability to continue on (i.e. T11) but he always comes back with new knowledge and a new attitude to kick ass and get better. He’s always talking about the game and the knowledge he’s gained in just a single week. Monney is always down to just play, go to tournaments, take in what he learns and keep improving. He knows what games he likes and he sticks to them. Joe always had a fire when it came to Marvel. Every time I play him, he has a new setup. Still the same bnbs and combos that he has, but always finds new ways to set up those combos and just own. At every tournament, he takes his losses, thinks what did I do wrong, what can I do to get better, and is always willing to share his knowledge and learn from others. Alvin. He’s just Alvin. But he’s always been solid with characters that he has fun playing with, rather than aiming for top tier. I’ve always respected him for that. Mind you, this is from what I’ve seen when it came to talking with these individuals and just watching them play.
Can you see the differences between what I mentioned and what you posted? This is what separates the men from the boys essentially. Hell it’s why I stayed on the bottom of London’s scene for a while after it started and it’s why I knew that I could take the time improving in other things I cared to improve in and just keep SF at a fun level, it wasn’t serious enough for me. So don’t focus on how much you train, learn from your fellow London players, learn from tournaments, ask people what you can do to train better. If you really want it that bad, then go fucking get it. Don’t live in an illusion.
TL;DR: How you train, not how much you train, keep an eye on fundamentals, learn from others, change your mindset. Mihai’s post = accurate lol
