I’m not the type of person to expect to pick the game up for 15 minutes and automatically be good at it. Hell, I don’t even expect to be good at it within 5 months, but i’m realising that no matter how much time I spend online I’ll never get any better due to the fact that all of the things I have learned are made useless in the face of a Tiger-shot obsessed Sagat, or a lariat/grab obsessed Gief.
Now, I plan on taking SFIV to EVO and other tournaments throughout the year. But I know that if I show up as I am now, i’m going to get embarassed by even the worst player in the building. So, i’m trying to come up with a solution to my problem by asking the only SFIV community I know of for advice.
What are some viable solutions to not being able to improve myself as a player without online game play? The offline scene where I am (Warner Robins, GA) isn’t very big, we don’t even have a real SFIV community. My solution, was to just challenge seasoned players through PSN and try to learn as much as I can from them, but we all know that online gameplay and offline gameplay differ greatly and some aspects make a big difference. Ideas?
Just have to play as much as you can. I’d say play the computer on the hardest, or have friends come over and play you as much as possible. Even if they are just practice dummies, it’s better than nothing.
What characters you play as?
Here are my tips: With Zangief you have to be really defensive and try to keep distance, but sometimes it’s hard ones he is close by. EX Attacks are a good way to get out gief crossovers. And about Sagat I use the vs PC stradegy, jump and duck, if you are in a jumping distance from Sagat he is vulnerable after a tiger shot, so it’s your best chance to do a combo.
Obviously it depends on the person you are fighting, if he is a pro he might was well FADC back or to a counter.
If your planning on just getting better through online as it looks like you don’t have any nearby communities, my best advice would be too find other people in the exact same situation as you and just play against them. Playing with a group of people is a lot better than just playing against tons of random people.
i live in so cal where we do have a big community, i usually frequent a small arcade called family fun. After shelling out a good bit of money for a stick a ps3 and s4. I do not want to have to go to the arcade just for good competition all the time.
so i was in the same predicament as you. every now and then you find you plateau and can’t get any better. what i did was the few diamond in the rough players i could find that gave me a challenge and i had alot of trouble beating i put them on my friends list and would go rounds with them to gauge my own skill increase.
Also my biggest reason for any loss is really execution. I practice my link combos for about an hour after work and basics as well. also i use the damage data in training mode to come up with my best punishing combos and what not.
In my opinion after a point. the game comes down really to mind games after you got your execution down and can perform well in actual play, you should research a little. i started to watch videos of my main ( ryu ) and i pick it apart and create my own mind game setups. try them out online and the arcade from time to time and i change them according to how well they work or what opponent i have.
Even after all that i find that the better you get no matter how good one gets you can be susceptible to losing to old “scrub” tactics". I think this is so more because of the randomness of those tactics sometimes when your playing better and better people, sometimes you think " oh he won’t do that, i could completely punish him if he Does that so His options are this and this ill go with a feign or maybe ill OH SHIT HE DID THAT wtf and he got me?!" kinda moments.
So i started playing everyone and not underestimating them even the worst players i always kept my guard up from that point on. also i incorporated a sort of randomness in my play style and i noticed it Helped me win alot more often and the matches were alot cleaner. i switched from turtle to offense to risk taker to space control to grab whore to frame traps or just run away tactics from round to round and even half way into a match. each type of play style has its traps and mind tricks from what i’ve experienced and i learned them for ryu and their applications as best as possible.
Another thing is play around with other characters that you don’t even have interest in. learning what links with what and where other characters are strong and weak help me alot in picking them apart in actual matches. after all that it comes down to execution psyching each other out and the match up for me.
I hope that helps I still find that there are tons of things to learn and apply them until they become instinct.
At your described level of proficiency, as long as the lag is not crippling, the things you can learn from any online play will help you far more than they will hinder you. If you’re not getting good competition in-person, do play online.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, and read a lot of advice from strong players and watch a lot of videos of strong players. When you play, enjoy yourself. You don’t have to take it seriously to learn from it. Sometimes you’ll actually discover more by not taking it seriously. You are lacking fundamentals, you don’t know the matchups yet, and there’s always more to learn. I don’t mean to sound condescending or cruel or call you out like you know nothing, although maybe that’s kind of part of my point; there is ALWAYS more to learn.
edit: …and try to remember to enjoy yourself! It is a game, and games are for fun!
Add me and i’ll go some matches against you, been away from the game quite some time due to the fact that i experienced the same situation as you (and i hate Ultras!! remove! im not pro enough to not get owned by the occasional Ultra strategist)
Add me to your list. I suck, but am looking to get better.
If you want, you can add me so we both can get better. 
