This was written by a TYM regular, but I felt it’s such good advice, it may help players here…
LEVEL 1
PICK A CHARACTER
LEARN AND MEMORIZE ALL OF YOUR CHARACTERS NORMALS, STRINGS, AND SPECIAL MOVES
STUDY THE REACH AND SPACE COVERAGE OF ALL OF YOUR ATTACKS
FIND OUT WHAT TOOLS YOUR CHARACTER HAS THAT ARE THE MOST OBVIOUSLY USEFUL.
COME UP WITH A GENERAL GAMEPLAN OF HOW TO APPLY THESE TOOLS
LEARN YOUR PUNISHMENT AND BNB COMBOS
STUDY ALL OF THE STAGES AND COME UP WITH A “GAMEPLAN” FOR EACH STAGE.
LEVEL 2
STUDY YOUR CHARACTER’S MIX-UPS AND 50/50’S. THESE GUESSING GAMES ARE CRUCIAL TO INJUSTICE
LEARN HOW TO READ, STUDY, AND APPLY FRAME DATA TO YOUR GAMEPLAN. IT IS CRUCIAL IN FIGHTING GAMES.
COME UP WITH AND APPLY FRAME TRAPS TO YOUR PRESSURE GAME (THESE ARE KEY IN OPENING HIGH LEVEL OPONENTS UP)
START PRACTICING WHIFF PUNISHING WITH YOUR CHARACTER (THE OTHER KEY IN OPENING UP HIGH LEVEL OPONENTS)
LEVEL 3: THE NEVER ENDING LEVEL
EXPLORE MATCHUPS WITH YOUR CHARACTER
THIS CAN BE DONE IN PRACTICE MODE WITH THE RECORD FUNCTION TO SOME EXTENT BUT THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TO LEARN THEN TO FIND THE BEST POSSIBLE PLAYERS OF A CHARACTER AND ASK THEM TO RUN EXTENSIVE SETS WITH YOU. YOU CAN’T ALWAYS PLAY THE BEST REPRESENTATIVE BUT YOU CAN USUALLY FIND A COMPETENT PLAYER AT THE LEAST TO RUN SETS WITH YOU. AFTER THESE SETS WRITE DOWN WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T AND WORK ON IT IN THE LAB. (DON’T GET DISCOURAGED IF YOU GET BODIED, THAT MEANS THERE IS STILL MORE FOR YOU TO LEARN). MAKE YOUR ADJUSTMENTS AND RUN THE MATCHUP MORE.
THEN DO THIS FOR EVERY MATCHUP IN THE GAME AND ADJUST YOUR STARTEGY ACCORDINGLY AS THE METAGAME EVOLVES AND CHANGES.