The Casual Player's Guide to Improvement in Skullgirls

Classic Fighting Games Skullgirls
1

First of all, let me say thank you for purchasing the game. I’m sure you like it (otherwise you wouldn’t be here), and I commend you for trying to improve. For this guide I will assume you’ve gone through the tutorials in-game, although I still plan on touching the topics covered a little more thoroughly. I also assume you don’t know any fighting game terms or any notation for combos, so if you see: c.LP, c.MP, s.HK, j.MK, qcb+MK xx qcb+KK, and always wondered what the hell that is saying, we will go over that too!

Note, not all fighting game terminology will be discussed (yomi, abare, etc.), but once you understand the concept, finding the word for it will take you one google search.

Notation

Before we begin with the obvious things, let’s get reading pesky notation out of the way. There’s a notation using numbers (and I will show you) but the guide will be written using this notation mostly. First the directions. The directions correspond to an arrow in your game pad:

u = up (used for jumping straight up)
f = forward (the direction your character is facing, used for walking)
b = back (the direction behind your character, used for blocking)
d = down (used for crouching)
uf = up-forward diagonal (used for jumping forward)
ub = up-back (used for jumping back)
df = down-forward (used in complex motions)
db = down-back (used for blocking)

L is used for the word “light”, M is used for “medium” and H is used for “hard” or “heavy”. P is used for “punch”, and K is used for “kick”. These attacks are called “normal attacks”, so for the rest of this guide they will be referred to as normals. So now you can see that:

LP = light punch
MP = medium punch
HP = hard/heavy punch
LK = light kick
MK = medium kick
HK = heavy kick
PP = any two punches
KK = any two kicks

When a + sign is used, whatever’s written at both sides of the + sign have to be hit at the same time.

LP+LK = light punch and light kick
LP+MK = light punch and medium kick
f+HP = forward with the directional pad, heavy punch

There are more complex motions you can do, and the special moves in the game use these motions. They are universal for many fighting games, so it helps to learn them.

qcf = quarter circle forward. This is done by rotating the directional pad from down until forward. Note that this is a smooth motion, so you will pass the diagonal down-forward. Thus, to do a quarter circle forward (qcf) motion, the motion is down down, down-forward, forward (d,df,f). Try not to tap each of these directions. Instead, let your finger move smoothly like if it was drawing the half circle on the directional pad.

qcb = quarter circle back. This is done by rotating the directional pad from down until back (d,db,b). Same as with qcf, one smooth circular motion.

dp = “dragon punch” motion. This was popularized by Street Fighter’s Ryu, because his Dragon Punch (Shoryuken) has this motion. The motion can be hard for beginners so practice it often. It starts with forward, then goes down (does not have to go through the diagonal), but ends coming back to down-forward diagonal after all. So it’s forward, down, down-forward (f,d,df). The key for this motion lies in two things: making sure you go to down from forward (instead of a back direction) and ending the motion in the diagonal down-forward.

rdp = reverse “dragon punch” motion. Same principle as dp, but replacing forward with back. Thus the motion is back, down, down-back (b,d,db).

charge = hold the direction or button that follows this word. Sometimes you’ll see it in brackets. For example, charge d, u+HK means you hold the down direction for about half a second, then hit up and heavy kick at the same time. In other places, [d], u+HK would say the same thing, others use d*, u+HK.

360 = a complete circular motion. You may think, “how am I supposed to do this on the ground when up makes me jump?” I would answer but I don’t need to. Thankfully for you, my friend, this game helps you do the motion by detecting your rotation and preventing you from jumping. If you’re still iffy about the motion, then you may not want to play as Cerebella, the only character in the game who uses this motion (for one move).

Finally, let’s go into other letters and symbols.

s. = standing. Meaning you’re either walking forward, walking backward or just standing there. Example, s.LP means you hit light punch without hitting down or up.

c. = crouching. Meaning you are holding down while hitting that move, so your character is crouching. Example, c.LP means you are crouching when you hit light punch.

j. = jumping. Meaning you are actually in the air. Whether you got hit into the air and you recovered, or you jumped yourself, j. lets you know you need to be in the air for what follows.

sj = super jump. You may see this by itself or next to a normal. For example, sj means super jump, while sj.LK means super jumping light kick.

~ = hit the two buttons in between separately as fast as you can. This is often called plinking, but in Skullgirls it’s not crucial to know most of the time. In Street Fighter, plinking helps you combo normals that would have a tight window to combo. In this game, it’s normally used for situations where you’re trying to do two things at once. Not used often.

hold/release - hold the following button, and release it when prompted. Sometimes you’ll find “hold HP” expressed as ]HP[ and “release HP” as [HP]

xx = cancel into the next thing. If you see this, it means that you need to do the following move as soon as the move before the xx hits. For example, if you see qcf+LP xx qcf+PP, this means that after the move done with quarter circle forward light punch hits, you should be doing a quarter circle forward and hit two punches. It will take time to practice this. What happens is you don’t recover from the first move, and instead the second move will come out.

About numpad notation: some placed will put numbers instead of letters for motions. To figure out what the hell is going on, look at your keyboard’s numerical pad. Consider 5 being neutral (not holding any directions), 6 is forward, 4 is back, 2 is down, 8 is up and the diagonals are 1, 3, 7 and 9. A motion is written out as the numbers that correspond to the directions. Thus, 236 is the same as d,df,f which is a qcf motion. 214 is qcb, 623 is dp, 421 is rdp, 2 is crouching, 5 is standing, 66 is dash, etc.

Movement

I’m sure this one was the easiest part in the tutorial. You should know that all characters (except for Parasoul and Painwheel) can double jump. This is done by hitting either u/uf/ub when you’re already in the air. Double, Parasoul, Cerebella and Painwheel lack air dashes, but everyone else can do them. They are done by dashing (PP or tap f,f) while in the air.

Some characters have a running dash (Ms. Fortune, for example) while others have a set distance (Double, for example).

Movement isn’t just using the directions and the dash. Some moves work very well for movement. This section will focus on that.

Ms. Fortune can use her qcf+P moves and its followup moves in order to cover much horizontal distance on the ground, and dp+K,K for additional “jumps”. Cerebella can do charge b,f+K to run through an attack (to an extent), and can use its K followups (particularly LK to stop the run) and covers a lot of ground. She can also hold j.HP to glide, letting go of HP if she needs the attack to come out early, or holding it until the dash ends (although using this makes double jump unavailable for that jump, and the dash won’t come out if she’s double jumped). Peacock can do her teleports (qcb+K) to move to a different spot on the screen, although it’s risky. Valentine has qcf+K, although it’s risky because you recover slowly. Double can use Hornet Bomber and cancel it into Cattelite Lives (dp+K xx qcf+KK) and hit light attacks a lot to have the cat heads keep her safe while helping her approach. Painwheel’s movement option of choice is unique to her, which is flight.

Painwheel’s flight motion is qcb+K. Her flight can cancel any normal (for example, s.HP xx qcb+K) to get her in the air instantly, and will only end if 10 seconds have passed or if she hits a normal. While in the air, she can fly a total of two times. If she flew to get in the air, she can still fly twice more before landing. This is important in order to keep attacking the opponent and not letting him take a break. This is called** pressure**, because you are indeed putting pressure on the opponent as he tries to block everything. A style that consists of constantly pressuring the opponent is referred to as rushdown. The interesting thing about having extra flights available is that if she hits a normal in the air, she can cancel it into flight and stay in the air. Also, hitting a direction with a normal while flying will make the normal attack keep the momentum of your flight.

In the next post, I will go into detail on specials and blockbusters, as well as chains. And you will create your very first combo :slight_smile:

2

Specials

Every character has special moves. Of course each of them has a specific purpose. The purpose of them is sometimes universal. Some attacks just hit the opponent, some attacks throw stuff at you, some attacks hit people who are in the air and some attacks grab you.

Attacks that just hit the opponent are fairly straightforward. An example is Valentine’s qcf+K. IT dashes toward the opponent and hits. It’s an excellent way to hit the opponent while moving fast across the screen. These attacks are favored in rushdown, since they move you closer. But rushdown has issues with a technique called pushblock. To pushblock, the character who is blocking must hit two punches while he’s still blocking. This creates some distance, but has to be done at the last hit. Otherwise a subsequent blocked hit stops the momentum from the pushblock. Some characters want to create space.

Some attacks throw stuff. These are called projectiles. Every character has at least one move that is a projectile or is meant to deal with the threat of projectiles.

Filia - qcb+PP, technically qcf+P
Cerebella - qcb+PP, dp+LP
Ms. Fortune - head-on qcb+P, qcb+PP
Painwheel - qcf+P, qcf+hold P
Valentine - qcf+P, qcf+PP, qcb+PP
Double - qcf+P, qcf+PP, qcf+KK, qcb+KK
Parasoul - charge b,f+P, charge b,f+MK, qcb+PP
Peacock - qcf+P, qcb+P, qcf+K, qcf+PP, qcb+K~P

This is a rough approximate, as you can see by the sheer amount of moves that are projectiles of deal with projectiles, of the likelyhood that this character will start throwing stuff at you. If it does not require meter (PP or KK moves do), it’s better to use. A style that throws many different projectiles hoping the opponent blocks incorrectly or moves as little as possible is called zoning. Zoning is complicated because you have to pay attention to all the projectile trajectories, and must be able to correctly position projectiles to prevent the opponent’s movement. Whether the projectiles hit, miss or combo is not the main purpose of zoning. The purpose is controlling the space so the opponent follows the path you leave open, maybe leaving to additional damage.

Let’s try a simple example. Peacock is the best zoner in the game, seeing how many options she has without having to use meter. qcf+LK drops a slow walking bomb. Now, this bomb is normally very easily avoided by jumping over it. After this bomb is called, say you call HP item drop and hold the button (qcb+hold HP). The item drop will come out as soon as you release HP. So let’s say you wait until the opponent tries to use the path you made available (jumping) and you release the item drop. Hit or block, the opponent will either drop straight down or pushblock then fall down, or try to airdash after pushblocking. In either case, after releasing the item drop, you can so s.HP into qcf+HP,HP,HP. This allows for a technique called hit confirm. A hit confirm happens when a move is slow enough or your reactions are fast enough to combo after the move hits. Say the slow bomb is jumped, but the item drop hits, bringing them down to the bomb. In this case, you can see it hit and you know the ground bomb will hit, or that the item drop is large and will leave them open, and can do qcf+PP if you have meter, so you effectively hit confirm into this move from a long distance. In the example from before, you may do s.HP into qcf+HP,HP,HP every time you have the opponent in the available position. But if any of them hit, you can cancel any of them into qcf+PP. Sometimes zoners just want to build meter, so perhaps you hit confirm into s.HP, qcf+HP,HP,HP.

Some attacks hit people who are in the air. There are all lovingly called** AAs (anti-airs), and usually (not always) have a dp motion or charge d,u motion. Some normals stick out far enough to hit people out of the air (and you may want to in games like Street Fighter), but the particularity of using special moves made for that purpose is that they are usually invincible during the start. If the opponent is jumping in with an attack trying to rush down, those are more useful as punishing moves. A punish** is a move that you use to hit the opponent out of a move they started but didn’t hit or was blocked. Every character has anti-air moves and normals, although the usefulness can be debated.

Filia - dp+P, c.HP, s.HK, dp+PP, qcb+PP
Cerebella - dp+MP, dp+HP, s.HP
Ms. Fortune - dp+K, head-on qcb+P, headless dp+HP, c.MP
Double - c.HP, dp+K, s.HP
Parasoul - charge d,u+HK, charge b,f+MP, s.HP
Painwheel - charge LP, charge MP, charge HP, charge MK, charge c.HK
Peacock - qcf+LP, qcb+HP, qcf+PP
Valentine - c.MP, s.HK,HK,HK, rdp+KK

Some attacks grab you. Other than the normal** throw** command, LP+LK, some moves will act like a grab. Some of these require a command to perform, and so they are called command grabs. In this game, command grabs are performed by doing a motion and hitting the throw command (LP+LK). You can escape normal throws by hitting the throw at the same time (except when crouching), but there is no way to escape command grabs. Here are all the command grabs in the game.

Valentine - qcb+LP+LK
Cerebella - qcf+LP+LK, qcb+LP+LK, dp+LP+LK, j.qcf+LP+LK, 360+LP+LK

There are two special cases. One is Peacock’s big attack, which starts as a normal throw and then does another command.

Peacock - LP+LK xx qcb+PP

Another is something called a hit throw. A hit throw can be blocked, unlike command throws, but on hit will have a throw animation.

Ms. Fortune - headless, qcb+HP
Parasoul - charge b,f+HK
Cerebella - charge b,f+K~LP+LK

Blockbusters

As you attack or are attacked, a circular meter is filled around your character’s portrait. You’ll see a number for every filled meter, up to a maximum of 5. These are called tension bars, and the most powerful moves in the game require 1, 2, 3 or even all 5 of these.

Attacks that require tension are called blockbusters. Blockbusters are all invincible the moment they start, although they lose the invincibility quickly in most level 1 cases (requiring one tension). Most specials will cancel into a blockbuster, getting rid of the recovery or trying to hit an opponent who is trying to punish you.

As a rule of thumb, qcb+PP is almost always exclusively reserved for level 3 blockbusters (see Peacock’s special case in the previous section), so unless you’re trying to use it, avoid the move until you are ready to use it.

The list of blockbusters is below. They cost one tension bar (level 1) unless indicated otherwise:

Filia - qcb+KK, dp+PP, qcb+PP (level 3)
Cerebella - qcf+PP, 360+LP+LK, qcb+PP (level 3
Ms. Fortune - qcf+PP, j.qcb+KK, qcb+PP (air OK, level 3)
Painwheel - qcf+PP, j.qcf+KK, qcb+PP (level 3)
Parasoul - qcf+PP, qcf+KK, qcb+PP (level 3)
Peacock - qcf+PP, qcf+KK, LP+LK~qcb+PP (level 3)
Valentine - qcf+PP (air OK), qcf+KK (air OK), rdp+KK (level 2), qcb+PP (level 3), qcb+tag (level 5)
Double - qcf+PP, qcf+KK, qcb+PP (level 3), qcb+KK (level 5)

Experiment with each blockbuster and see what they can be used for. Should it be done at the end of a combo? At the end of a blocked move? On a jumping opponent? From up close?

Combos

You’ve seen long combos probably, and can’t wait to get started on making your own. You’re in luck! Follow this simple guide.

A chain is a series of attacks that you can hit in order to keep going without needing to wait until the previous attack is over. For example, anyone can chain s.LP into s.MP. By hit hitting one then the other, without very tight timing, both attacks will combo.

The chains usually go from lights to mediums to heavies, and in the same strength they go from punches to kicks. Some characters can’t chain every normal, so make sure you try.

One possibility is chaining s.LP, s.LK, s.MP, s.MK, s.HP/s.HK. This means that the longest chain that character can do is 5 attacks. Characters may have different chains in the air. Now if you have your game on, go to training mode and pick three characters: Painwheel, Ms. Fortune and Double. Try and follow this exercise with me.

You’re Painwheel. Try the chain I described and you’ll find a problem. s.MP is a launcher, so if you try this chain you will not be able to finish it. What can you do in those situations? Standing and crouching chains are the same (except for Peacock), so instead of using a s.MP, try a crouching one.

s.LP, s.LK, c.MP, s.MK, s.HP

You will run into the second problem. Painwheel can’t chain MP into MK. You have to choose one of them instead. Try these then.

s.LP, s.LK, c.MP, s.HP
s.LP, s.LK, c.MK, c.HP

As long as you’re going from one strength to the strength higher, it will be very likely that it will combo. Now, here’s when you get to put together your very first combo!

Let’s try a chain. You put it together and see how it works. Choose any of the options in each of the numbers, then try that chain!

  1. s.LP, c.LP or none
  2. s.LK, c.LK or none
  3. s.MP, s.MK or c.MK
  4. s.HP, c.HP, s.HK or c.HK

You can do s.LP, c.LK, s.MK, s.HP. Does it combo? Try it out. Sometimes move properties will push the opponent too far away, and using crouching moves seems to work better.

OK, so what if you want to try adding a special move to this. In Painwheel’s case, she can continue her combo if she flies.

Say the chain is c.MK, c.HP. Then I cancel c.HP into qcb+K. The end result is the opponent is still being bounced around and you’re already recovered. This is getting tricky so bear with me.

c.MK, c.HP xx qcb+K, f+MK

If you do this right, the j.MK will hit them before they hit the ground, and now they’re standing! You can then land and do another chain. Baby steps.

c.MK, c.HP xx qcb+K, f+MK, land, c.MK, c.HP, qcb+K, f+MK

Yay! I’m invincible… wait, what just happened? That last f+MK changed the hit effect and sound to something weird. This is the game’s** infinite prevention system (IPS)**. Think about it. With what you’ve seen in this section alone, Painwheel could do the same loop over and over again until death.

The infinite prevention system counts every chain, grounded or aerial, as a separate stage. The first stage is completely free. Stage 2 happens when a combo starts in the air but ends with the opponent standing, and is also free. Stage 3 is being watched but without penalty yet. Stage 4 happens when stage 3 air combo ends with the opponent standing, and is also watched without penalty yet. Stage 5 is also watched, but penalty starts here. So:

Stage 1: Free chain, used for jump in attacks
Stage 2: Free ground chain
Stage 3: Watched with no penalty
Stage 4: Watched with no penalty, only happens when a stage 3 aerial combo leaves the opponent standing
Stage 5: Watched with penalty for every chain from here on out

In Painwheel’s case, c.MK, c.HP is the first chain, so it’s free! Flying and hitting f+MK counts as your second chain, so that’s stage 3, the second c.MK, c.HP is stage 4 (since stage 3 left them standing), and so the f.MK after flight is in a stage 5 chain. Since you did f+MK in a watched chain (this is the key), it can’t be used to start a stage 5 chain.

OK, so that first f.MK is free, but it’s only stage 2… and if at any point later you won’t be able to use j.MK to start a chain, let’s do something interesting. As mentioned in the movement section, Painwheel can fly cancel her normals. Try this.

c.MK, c.HP xx qcb+K, f+MK xx qcb+K, f+MK

The end result is Painwheel will fly after hitting the first, stage 3 f+MK and go into another flight, with a stage 4 f+MK. Stage 3 is watched, but it doesn’t matter because you left the opponent in a restand so stage 4 is not punishable yet!

OK! Let’s tag in Fortune.** To tag in your second character hit MP+MK**. Now, let’s see if you can build a chain with this information: Fortune’s chain is LP-LK-MP-MK-HP/HK, so it’s a 5 attack chain, and her crouching chain is the same. Remember that you can switch from standing to crouching at any point, and you can skip normals as long as there won’t be a big strength gap in between (no lights into heavies). Try one now. I’ll come up with one here.

c.LK, c.MP, s.MK, c.HK

Boom. What did you use for yours? If you ended it in s.HK you may have noticed the same thing with Painwheel, although it’s the end of the chain so let’s try and make use of it. This is called a launcher. Launchers are attacks that hit the opponent into the air for an aerial combo folowup. After hitting it, hitting up will super jump after the opponent. Up-forward is your best bet to chase them down. Now, you’re in the air with them and have only a bit of time until they recover from s.HK. Try j.MP, j.HK. Woo! You did an aerial combo.

Now let’s do something a bit more advanced. Tag into Double. To tag into your third character, tap HP+HK. Double’s chain is 3 attacks long: LP/LK, MP/MK, HP/HK. So to do a combo, choose one of each and hit them in that order. Her s.LP and s.MK can be hit twice.

Double’s s.HK is her launcher. We’re going to try a longer combo that follows IPS.

s.LK, s.MK, s.MK, s.HK, j.LP, j.MK (2 hits), j.HK (1 hit) xx qcb+MK

First let’s get the timing of this chain down. The j.LP has to be done early in your jump following your launcher (s.HK). If you cancel j.HK into qcb+MK (Barrel), you should be pulling the opponent down with the barrel, then the opponent gets hit by the Avery bird from j.HK. Practice that. As soon as you have the timing of that, notice that you will have recovered from Barrel right after the bird hits. Try this chain now.

s.LK, s.MK, s.MK, s.HK, j.LP, j.MK (2 hits), j.HK (1 hit) xx qcb+MK, land, s.LP, s.MK, s.MK, s.HK, j.LK, j.MK (2 hits), j.HK (1 hit) xx qcb+HK

Time the j.LK early like you do with j.LP. Notice that the second time you jumped (stage 5 by then) the chain did not start with j.LP again (as it did in the stage 3 chain before). Think you can do a bit more damage? Try this instead!

s.LK, s.MK, s.MK, s.HK, j.LP, j.MK (2 hits), j.HK (1 hit) xx qcb+MK, land, s.LP, s.MK, s.MK, s.HK, j.LK, j.MK (2 hits), j.HK (1 hit) xx qcb+MK, s.LK, s.MK, s.MK, c.HP xx dp+HK xx qcf+PP

Wait, if that last chain is stage 5, why didn’t the s.LK trigger IPS? Because the last time you used s.LK was in the first chain, which is free and thus not watched at all.

Things to keep in mind about IPS:

  1. Throws will put the stage at 3 or 4. Either way, the next chain is not punished by every chain will be watched from that point.

  2. Stagger moves and crumple moves will move the stage higher. Stagger is a special state when the opponent seems to be dazed by the impact and is unable to attack. The opponent can shake the directional pad to exit stagger quicker but it’s quite dangerous. Crumple is a state when the opponent drops to their knees slowly and to the floor. If you play Street Fighter 4, it looks like they were hit by a charged focus attack. Here are a few moves that stagger:

Cerebella - s.MP (when not chained into), dp+LP (when colliding with a projectile)
Ms. Fortune - head-on qcb+P (up close)

And here are a few moves that crumple:

Parasoul - qcf+PP
Painwheel - charge HP
Valentine - LP+LK

  1. Assist attacks will likely move the stage forward. Always check in the training room to see what they will do.

  2. Assist characters can’t break out of infinite combos. This is intentional, and it’s harder to do than it sounds. A combo can hit both the point character (the character fighting at the moment) and the assist character. If the point character is killed in the middle of the combo and you manage to keep it going, if the assist called is the next character you can keep doing the same loops (as long as you can keep the combo going) and the assist cannot burst out. For example, Ms. Fortune headless with her head in the corner comboing an assist character can simply do:

(s.MP, s.MK, HP) x infinity

When otherwise the opponent would’ve been able to burst from IPS by the fourth repetition.

OK, so how do you get that first hit? Now we’ll go into MIND GAMES! OOOOOOOHHHHH.

3

Resets

A** reset** is a term used when a combo is stopped and another one is started right after it. It’s called that way because the game has damage scaling (each attack does less damage for every attack before it in a combo) and meter scaling (your tension bar builds slower and the opponent’s tension bar grows more the longer the combo), so by doing a reset you are effectively resetting damage and meter scaling to a much more pleasing value.

Resets are the heart of Skullgirls. In many cases a single combo will not kill a character without an assload of work behind it. More importantly, a long combo like that is sure to build your opponent’s bar to a much higher level if you decide to do a long combo.

A basic reset starts with a throw. Everyone has a few throw resets. You may have to go into the training room and practice a few. Go into Training and pick Filia, Ms. Fortune and Cerebella, against Peacock, Valentine and Double.

So you’re Filia. Try this combo.

c.MK, s.HP, j.LK, j.MK (2 hits) xx dash xx j.MP, land

You land right before the opponent. At this point, you can throw your opponent by hitting LP+LK. If they are not expecting it, you will reset the opponent.

Try this other reset. This is one of the most simple resets, so be on the lookout.

c.MK, s.HP, jump, throw

Make sure you time the throw near the peak of your jump. The opponent may be expecting you to keep the combo going, but sometimes you have to cut your losses. Do an outtake to bring the opponent’s third character, Double, in. To do an outtake, do qcf+tag, where tag is the button combination that corresponds to the character’s position. Outtakes require 1 tension and always fore a switch (or a wall bounce against a single person). Do qcf+HP+HK.

Now try the exact same reset you just did on Double. Doesn’t work, huh? That is because there is an additional variable between the characters besides their size: weight. Double is the heaviest character in the game, and will likely require special attention when you’re practicing combos.

Keep your teams as they are and head on to the next section.

Mixups

With talk of resets comes talk of mixups. Sometimes you’ll need to mix things up and keep your opponent guessing. A mixup is a situation in which the opponent has to guess correctly what you are going to do, or what is going to happen.

A basic mixup which is essential in Skullgirls is a low/throw mixup. It stems from the fact that you cannot tech throws while you’re crouching. The idea is to make the opponent guess whether you’ll do a low attack or a throw. The opponent is put into an awkward position, wondering whether to crouch block the incoming light attack (and be susceptible to an untechable throw) or stand and attempt a throw tech (leaving him vulnerable to a crouching attack and the subsequent full combo). Pretty much every character has a low/throw mixup, but how to set one up is individual.

Switch to Ms. Fortune and do qcb+P. Use f+HP and walking/dashing to get the opponent and your head in the corner. Now do this combo.

qcf+LP, qcf+LP, qcf+LP (do them quickly)

The move hits the head and the head hits the opponent, putting them in a little more hit stun. Hit stun is the amount of time the opponent spends after being hit but before they recover. Since the opponent cannot recover, you have two obvious choices: do a crouching attack or a throw. If the opponent guesses wrong, they can get put into the same situation. Look at these two results. You don’t necessarily have to try these, although you can.

c.LK, s.MK, qcf+LP, qcf+LP, qcf+LP
throw forward, HP, s.MP, delay s.MK (restands), qcf+LP, qcf+LP, qcf+LP

So it does not matter which situation the opponent tries to prevent, if they guess wrong they can be easily put in the same predicament. Additionally, one reset can mean one long combo and certain death.

How can this be escaped? Well, the opponent can try jumping. Of course you can jump if you expect this to happen, air throw and do setup #2 above. But by jumping you give away the other two chances. Also, the opponent can do an invincible move, such as a DP or blockbuster. If the player is playing in a team, tagging out is an invincible move (although the player tagging in is never invincible).

I wish there was a better way to say this but here goes: mixups can make or break you. If you can manage to create some mixups that are ambiguous or hard to escape, you will get more combos in or more damage. However, you have to be wry of the opponent’s mixups as well for the same reason.

Do an outtake to bring Peacock in (qcf+MP+MK). With headless Fortune, try this combo. Make sure the j.HK doesn’t hit the head, so step back a bit. Also, make sure the HP hits Peacock before she hits the ground.

s.HK, j.LK, j.MK (2 hits), j.HK, HP, land, dash, delay c.LK

If you did it correctly, you should land and dash under the opponent and the c.LK did not combo. This is called a cross up because it reverses the direction that the opponent should be blocking in a pretty ambiguous way. By using crossups, the opponent is left guessing which way to block. This one specifically is referred to as a** cross under** because the change in direction happens from going under the opponent.

Tag in Cerebella. Throw the opponent out of the corner and walk to get close. Then jump over the opponent. Now jump back over the opponent but hit j.LK. As you will see, the attack will hit, and it will not be very clear which direction the opponent should block. This is another possible cross up, and many normals (such as her j.HK) have the potential to cross up.

Now, as Cerebella, do a close s.HK and see the animation. She takes an awful long time between those kicks, yet the first hit has enough hitstun so the second one will combo. Try this though.

s.HK (1 hit), qcf+LP+LK

To time it right, the qcf+LP+LK has to happen right when the second hit would come out. This works with every one of her command grabs, and what it does is simple. Since the second kick isn’t coming out, the startup of your throw is enough time for the opponent to recover from hitstun. While the opponent is in hitstun (not caused from a stagger), they are invincible to throws. However, if they recover right when you try the throw, they will be vulnerable (as with the reset section before). But this is not the only mixup she has.

charge b, s.HK (1 hit) xx f+MK xx MK

You’re charging back while hitting the HK, but when the first one hits you do f+LK to make her cancel into the charge b,f+K run. Then you cancel the run with a crossup move, the MK followup to the run. Or instead you can do the LK followup, which is a stop and allows you to do a low/throw mixup.

Training

You’ve read all these wonderful things you can do with some characters, but now it’s time to hit the lab. How do you approach training?

First of all, don’t be afraid to spend some time in the training room. In fact, many people will tell you that’s where they spend the majority of their time. Some people are not so lucky to find matches online, or don’t have a good online connection.

While in training you need to:

  • Practice your combos
  • Check blockstrings
  • Learn to obey IPS in different situations
  • Formulate new mixups and resets

First of all, you need to practice your combos. It may seem tedious, but you want to make sure that if you randomly DO get a hit in, you can then hit confirm into a full combo, and you want to make sure you don’t drop it (except when trying for a reset or mixup). Additionally, try to learn or find out if your character can combo off of throws. Resets are the heart of Skullgirls, and in many cases can lead to a pretty devastating combo.

Second, you need to check your blockstrings. A blockstring is a series of attacks where the opponent has to keep blocking, and is forced to do so until the end. This happens due to block stun, a set amount of time for each attack where the opponent is stuck in block animation. It works similar to hit stun, but is usually much shorter. Checking blockstrings will not be easy, as you need a second controller. Put something on it or lean it against something to have the opponent block, then hit s.LP into s.MP, for example. Only go in the order a chain would go. After you hit s.MP but before it hits, pause. Then grab the second controller and hit forward, then unpause. If the opponent is still blocking s.MP, then s.LP, s.MP is a true blockstring. In order to escape this pressure, the opponent needs to pushblock.

Third, you need to learn to obey IPS in different situations. You can remember that jump in attacks are free (stage 1), the first ground chain is free (stage 2), the following chain is watched (stage 3), if a stage 3 aerial combo forced a restand it’s also watched (stage 4), and from here on out you’ll be punished if you start with a normal you used in watched chains. But this is easier said (and by that I mean not so easy at all) than done. You will likely start a combo several different ways, and depending on this is the stage you will be in. Take this example. Ms. Fortune can IAD (instant air dash) and do j.LK, j.MK (2 hits) and it will be stage 1. If the head hits so she can land and continue it would be stage 2. HOWEVER, if she decides instead to do j.LK, j.MK (2 hits) xx qcb+MK then land, the qcb+MK actually counts as stage 2, so the following chain is watched. Bummer! Learn to combo off of throws for other similar situations.

The final thing you need to do is try mixups and resets for your character against other characters. The more unusual and unpredictable the better, although they should be relatively easy to set up. To practice resets, turn on the hitstun bar in training options. If this bar disappears, the opponent can be thrown again. So time your throw presses when the bar is red so your throw’s startup will pass and you will throw on the earliest times.

All of this you can do in the training room, but it’s not the only training you’ll be doing. You’ll need to get online or play locally to test what you have practiced on a moving opponent, and likely an opponent who will make mistakes (that you will need to recognize and punish) or who will recognize your mistakes and capitalize.

Strategies

So, what does it take to win? Once you know combos, mixups and resets, how can you put them into improving your game?

The first thing you must do is practice. It sounds simple (and deceptively unnecessary) but it is neither simple nor unnecessary. Combos are most times not “one size fits all”. So the first step is to always practice your combos on EVERYONE.

I know it takes a long time, so if you want to somehow circumvent or somehow shorten this (not ideal) try always doing combos against a team of Ms. Fortune, Parasoul and Double. Ms. Fortune is one of the lightest characters in the game (and in many cases some combos won’t work on her), Parasoul is sort of larger and average, and Double is the largest and heaviest character. Mind you, it’s still a good idea to practice against all characters.

Once you have practiced against the training room dummy enough, you’ll need some versus practice. This will help you understand the matchups. Learning a matchup is simply an analysis of how a specific team handles your team, and how your team should handle that specific team. A solo Peacock has to be handled differently than a Peacock/Double(HK Hornet Bomber). How differently depends on your characters. In time, you’ll start to see what you need to do to win before the match even starts.

This may sound like you have psychic powers to someone who comes from a casual background, but in time you’ll know what your opponent is weak to, and how to avoid situations that are disadvantageous. This is difficult in a game with custom teams and custom assist, so be glad you only have so few characters to study on!

Read up on the character subforums in SRK and Dustloop. Go to the matchmaking threads in SRK or Dustloop. Make friends with people who play the game. Ask friends to try the game. At this point, you need matchup experience. You need to see what other teams are doing, and whether you need to change your team, your character order or your assists. The more you play (win or lose) the more you will learn. You’ll learn what strategies are good and test your mettle. This can be scary at first. But doing this gives you something the training dummy cannot give you: experience against another person who is thinking, reacting and adapting.

At this point you might be tempted to be stubborn and not change things. But you can’t be afraid to improve. If you get sent hate mail and are called names or hated on, take it as a compliment. If you need to do something others are doing to win, then do it. It is not your responsibility to help the opponents get around your strategy; it’s their responsibility to get around it. Likewise, don’t lose heart when a strategy is too difficult to get around, or if you’re stuck on a losing streak. Instead, try thinking what went wrong that lost you the game. Did you not block low? Did the opponent do throw resets you did not tech? Were you predictable in your approach? Did you drop your combos? Did you get hit by assists a lot? Did your opponent pushblock often? Take the answers to these and any more questions you may ask yourself and try playing again.

Don’t give up; it may seem silly to put that much time into a fighting game, but if you are willing to improve you’ll do whatever it takes: change characters and go back to the lab, find new resets or setups with your characters, try new attacks as assists, add or remove a teammate, watch Youtube videos and other Skullgirls streams for ideas.

Most importantly, do whatever it takes to win. You can’t make up rules in your head about things being “cheap”. Throwing is a legitmate strategy. Crossing up is also legitimate. Calling assists a lot is also fair game. BLOCKING and TECHING THROWS is not only legitimate, but essential (and yes, I’ve heard the complaint of “you block too much”). The rule of thumb is: if it’s in the game (and doesn’t literally glitch the game into not working), it’s available to you and you should use it. This may be the big reason you may get hate mail. But it’s important to 1) never answer back, who the hell cares what he thinks, and 2) keep using that strategy and see if it works against more people. Chances are it will not, but you will see exactly what others are doing against it, and you will learn a lot.

Soon you will come to a weird realization: when you fight a Filia online as Parasoul, you’re not fighting Filia as Parasoul; you’re engaged in a battle of wits. You and the opponent are constantly using every tool at your disposal to outsmart the opponent. This is more than a princess and a schoolgirl in a catfight; you are testing your knowledge against another player. You are trying to find out who can outsmart and outperform the other. It sure can be overwhelming to know that!

So take this chance to visit your SRK character subforums (and on other sites too!) and read up and study your characters. Ask for help there to see which characters are best paired together. Watch streams (ignoring stream monsters in the chats!) and Youtube vids, and go out there and participate in events, get friends to play, go to nearby tournaments if you want to test yourself. From this point on, you are looking to improve! I hope all of this information is helpful and serves as a start to your journey.

“The Basics” Video Tutorials

I will post all the links to my “The Basics feat. Skullgirls” videos right here. They cover, in very basic terms, fighting game terminology and includes examples from match footage.
Resets and Mixups
The Neutral Game

Have fun and good luck!

4

Ooookay I’m totally looking forward to it! I have a tiny suggestion though: you probably should specify that for 360 motion you should go from side to down first to not get jump.

5

Guitalex is just making this topic so that thousands of casuals will sign up at some tournament, while he sneaks up and takes all of their money.

Don’t fall for this ploy!

6

This is great. I’ll be sure to link people to this whenever I get the chance.

7

In on first page
Will give the guide a read when it’s completed. Sounds promising brah.

8

good job so far! I’m pretty sure I’ll translate it to russian for PC release if you’re okay with it =3
also if you’re listing throw on hits separately you’re probably should list tumbling run, bike egret and excellebella as such.

9

yo… good work. but seriously, you should just leave the zoning part out as it will just serve to confuse players if they decide to take there terminology to other fighting games… tekken has zoning and in fact is almost all about zoning, yet 98% of tekken characters dont have projectiles and the ones that do dont have spammable ones.

ZONING IS NOT THROWING PROJECTILES AT PEOPLE.

-dime

10

In SG it kinda is. It’s not alex’s goal to explain another games in SG guide.

11

this could be true. as traditional “zoning” is more or less irrelevent in skullgirls. still, as a descriptor it is still misplaced as it doesnt actually describe what peacock or parasoul are actually doing.

but this is a new generation and perhaps people dont want “accurate” descriptors and instead want one meaning catchall terms that will promote more confusion in the long run.

people do like to argue… so that could be closer to the truth.

-dime

12

Zoning means controlling space. Any bright ideas on how ELSE to control space in Skullgirls?

No? Then in Skullgirls, zoning is done with projectiles. QED.

I did state in the beginning that I wasn’t going to be specific about fighting game terms, since google can help with that.

13

a bunch actually, but do i really need to mention them? also zoning doesnt necessarily mean “controlling” space. you can simply not be in the space that your opponent is controlling, yet still be zoning.

zoning means trying to control space WHILE simultaneously trying to limit your opponents actions or an even better example would be “trying to force your opponent to play from his most disadvantaged spacing while playing at your most advantaged spacing for the matchup”. projectiles are an important part of that but are not the end all be all.

if im throwing lots of projectiles then yes i am zoning, but it doesnt mean that projectiles are what zoning is… they are simply another tactic in zoning.

anyways you may wonder why im so staunch on this, but suffice it to say that if you want to educate people, you should probably start it on a solid foundation, not by using a term that is already overused in an incorrect manner as that will just serve to confuse them later down the line. beginners dont need to know what zoning or keepaway or runaway is, all they need to know is how to control space, how to gain reads, how to do combos and how to read the notation that is used in the forum.

-dime

14

Parasoul zones with her normals much like Vega.

15

A couple of things. I think you should clarify that command grabs can be evaded or stuffed, but not teched or blocked. Examples: jump to avoid Diamond Drop or Showstopper, jab to stuff Mortuary Drop. Also, Cerebella’s dp+throw is only a command grab if you are on the way up after jumping, else it is a hit throw. I suggest mentioning that training mode with “Attack Data” on will show what stage a combo is in. As a general critique I think some of the information there goes deeper than it needs to into character specifics and would be better off just pointing people to helpful places in the respective sub-forums.

I really like how you covered the motions and notation, and there’s certainly a lot of info there. Hopefully the guide will help newer players take that step towards being competitive.

16

http://wiki.shoryuken.com/Skullgirls/Game_Systems

Stage 4 is NOT like stage 3. I don’t know why everyone thinks this.

17

Because it is?

reads link

Because it is?

re-reads link

Because it is?

Stage 4 is watched but without punishment. Like stage 3. So yeah.

If you wanted you could use the exact same normals from stage 3 in stage 4 without penalty. I know I’ve done this before, so let me see if I can find a suitable video example.

Changed the explanation because I had an error in there. But the error isn’t that stage 4 is like stage 3. That’s still exactly the case.

18

Stage 4 isnt a full combo, though. Stage four is used for restands. You can test this by doing Parasoul’s tear loop – the combo jumps directly from stage 3 to stage 5, skipping directly over stage 4. From the way you describe it in the post you’re making it sound like its a full combo, when in reality it isn’t. It’s used for restanding opponents without setting the IPS off.

19

I’ll reword it to say if a stage 3 AERIAL chain leaves them standing.

Although stage 4 is treated exactly like stage 3 is for the purposes of the IPS.

20

Yeah, I know that you understand that but to be fair this IS the casual players guide to Skullgirls. Otherwise you’re going to get people asking why IPS was triggered at stage 4.