I am pretty new to fighting game (picked up this game long time ago, but didn’t play much until recently). Just recently started playing Balrog. Enjoy his style and the feel, but I was having hard time with some combos. I am usually able to link cr. lp with cr. lk so that I can finish up with headbutt or rush punch, but for the life of me, I could never seem to pull out those lp hk/hp and sweep links even in training sessions. Do you guys feel that these jab-sweep links are necessary to master?
I circle around 500 - 1000 pp (pretty green I know) and mostly win playing fundamental footsies, cheap shots with Balrog’s dash attacks, and of course, whenever headbutt connects, combo with his ultra. I am seeming to hit the dead end and am trying to get better. Does anybody have any recommendation on how to improve his game?
Someone I know actually suggested since I am such a beginner, I should try a character like Ryu or Guile instead. Especially with Guile, I heard as long as you play carefully and zone well, you don’t even necessarily need to pull out link combos and just able to punish well. Any thoughts?
it’s hard to really say what you need to do as a beginner. Generally because since you’re playing online, you’re probably playing other beginners. Basics are really important, but as a beginner…you don’t know you don’t know the basics. I’d suggest playing as much as possible until you start losing consistently. The point at which you start losing A LOT in the same pool of players, is the point at which you’ve reached your plateau and everyone else is better than you. At that point you should have a good idea of what you’re doing and what you want to do and we can tell you what you could do better (or stop doing altogether).
jab sweep isn’t necessary, but it’s a basic and very useful tool. Read the matchup thread and soak up as much knowledge, chances are you may not know what you get after a sweep or a throw and what it entails. At this point, i suggest soaking up as much knowledge as possible and trying to apply it before asking open-ended questions like “What can I do to get better?”. I AM NOT discouraging asking questions, i’m just saying that your knowledge pool may be limited to the point where the answer may not be useful as you are now.
Thanks for the replies guys - much appreciated. I want to stick with Balrog, so I will try to keep playing more and see where I get; I am on PC version, so not sure if I connect with you Tooserius, but I appreciate the offer.
In the meanwhile, I will keep trying that jab sweep combo. The timing seems dang tough.
I consider myself around mid level, the type of “casual” player who can do alright in basic everyday general SF4 but is about 50,000 miles from consistent decency - For someone like me, Jab to Sweep isn’t mandatory but I would consider it ‘almost’ priority for high / top level play, simply because people with experience vs Balrog will make it very hard for you to get openings and in some matches and matchups you have to inflict every shred of damage you can, even if it has to come off from something as simple as a randomly connecting far standing jab (Something used very commonly in almost all matchups to stuff or pepper opponents).
For me, however, I’ve rarely used it - I’ve not practiced it and those random occasions I’ve gone for it I tend to hit the jab and just miss the sweep, about 50/50 but it’s not been a major issue because of the range of opponents I play are often typically around my level thus there’s no requirement to land ‘everything’ to win.
As a beginner I would suggest to first practice BnBs - It’s all well and good sacrificing Jab/Sweep but you simply must get those BnB’s down - They are generally easy to perform and being able to do them on demand is generally required. Secondly, work on your spacing - Especially get used to your own sweep range and anything that may increase or decrease the range of hitting it (Such as counter sweeping certain poke, or knowing it won’t reach X character like it would Y character due to hitboxes or whatnot). Thirdly, ANTI AIR - This is absolutely vital - Balrog’s job in 95% of games is to push opponents into the corner (this is where he shines) - You simply will not accomplish this if you’re unable to anti air (And this doesn’t mean just Crouch Fierce, it means Standing Medium Punch, maybe Light Headbutt, maybe even EX Dash Straight, all depending on what you’re aiming to hit.
After this point you should be fine in general play and would recommend you work on downsizing combo’s for maximum damage on those occasions you can dish it out (When you are comfortable with poking and spacing) - There are times a triple jab clk headbutt won’t do the job that a jab CMP Headbutt would have etc
jab to sweep is very important. I suggest going into training, setting the dummy to auto block/standing and remember that a far standing jab is what you can link into the sweep. So, if your right next to the dummy, jab jab until the jab doesnt hit. Make a mental note of how many jabs that was, then work from there. For example if it was 3 jabs and the fourth didnt connect, jab three times then p-link your sweep. You dont have to do this lightning fast or anything, just work on it in slow increments. jab jab jab sweep, and get faster until it links. I usually will do 100 of these combos each night, if any one of them does not connect, I start over until i get 100 of the combos in row.
The next step is applying it to a match, knowing when to stick out the jab and when not to. It’s tougher than you think. Also practice against the computer on easy then gradually get harder and just work on landing that combo.
.02
This is a nuance, but it may help to know it up front before you get really set in your jab to sweep combos. The “max” distance for jab into sweep is character specific. Some characters, notably the twins, are out of range of st.lp where for most of the cast would still be in range. Its awkward enough that I always forget when i’m playing the twins.
Also since i haven’t mentioned it, my go to combo for training to get the rhythm down for jab to sweep was j.hk, cr.mk, cr.lp, st.lp, cr.hk . That might help as well even though this was a sort of necro bump.