Player Ability: Mid-Tier and Beyond

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
1

I feel like I’ve hit this really awkward/annoying point as far as my ability as a player is concerned. I’m willing to accept that I won’t be as good as ACE E I R I N or PR Rog, but I feel like I could do much better than I currently am. For the sake of examples and discussion, let’s talk SFxT.

So I’m currently sitting about 2550 BP online. Not too bad. But, I feel like I could be sitting in the B-level. I only base this on measuring my ability and skill against players much higher ranked than me, so my bias is my own. And while I still get blown up by some of the more ‘shenanigan’ worthy stuff (like punishing everything with chains and cross-up trapping), I can hold my own fairly well.
I was amazed that, when I went up against a player named j stax, at random, and saw him in some SFxT replies on YouTube after our matches. I went ‘Holy crap, I fought that guy and didn’t get constantly blown up!’ While I never one a 2 out of 3 against him, I did make it so we at least came down to the final match very frequently. And it was nice to know my Hwoarang and his still had some tricks to play against the other to trip them up. And I could identify with some regularity what would cross me up, where the overheads were etc. So I feel like I have the potential to do better and progress further then I already have. I just don’t know how to do it.

I know it’s difficult to judge exactly what my abilities are in just text for, and I can put up some match recordings if it’ll help. But I could really use a more critical eye at this point, or if the gods allow it, a training buddy. I’ve gone through all the recommended reading. A few times actually. But I can’t seem to break through this very large barrier in front of me. And I’d appreciate some input on where to go from here.

But, just to give a short list of what I feel are my strengths and weaknesses are:

+Good zoning/space control with normals
+Can hold the corner just fine
+Fairly patient player
+Above average input execution

-Can’t do rush-down
-Tends to get frustrated with shenanigans
-Lacking in knowledge of frame-traps for any character

2

Posting some matches would probably help a lot. It’s hard to give you much advice based on what you’ve posted.

3

Match vids can go here if you want: Beginner match analysis / gameplay critique thread

And just don’t sweat it so much, especially online. Progress comes with experience and study.

4

Links directly from the critique thread itself. So now you don’t even have to navigate over there ^^

5

Only from watching the first one, I have two pieces of advice.

First of all, anti air. Jab jab jump should be free damage for you. Second, you need to punish better. You get plenty of hits but don’t convert. With Lars, cr.mk into his shoulder is a decent way to start a punish.

6

(bump)

7

If you have tips on actually getting to mid tier, I would appreciate it.

8

Learn fundamentals. Don’t drop combos. Anti air consistently. Block on wakeup. Keep people from walking in by using safe pokes. Learn setups for offense. Pay attention to what the opponent does. Don’t do risky things if you have the life lead. Know your opponent’s options. Learn the frame data for your character and the implications of frame advantage/disadvantage. Learn how to time the different moves in a mixup to make it a true 50/50.