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Press or hold down before you hit the ground
New player here… I’ve played many console fighters, but never in depth and competitively like I have other games.
I’ve played competitive CS1.6 / wow and am now making the transition to fighters.
Currently waiting on a fightstick as I don’t enjoy the precision of xbox 360 controllers.
Just reading/digging for as much info as I can. Cya’s around.
^ Welcome aboard, dude. 
He’s right but I just wanted to add a couple of things.
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You can also quick recover by pressing any punch and any kick at the same time; this is useful if you’re playing a charge character. Also keep in mind that you can freely mash the quick recovery commands to make sure they work, and the timing is relatively loose anyway.
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Hit-confirming refers to starting a combo and waiting to see if it hit (literally waiting to confirm whether it hit or it’s been blocked) before you end the combo. You only really hear this term used when the combo ends with something “big” (costs meter or is very unsafe/punishable) because if it’s free and safe people will usually just finish the combo anyway even if it’s blocked for chip damage and pressure. (You could also stop the blocked combo half-way through and go for a throw or just pause to bait a shitty reversal instead, but that’s a whole 'nother story.)
Here are two famous examples of hit-confirms:
In SF2 Super Turbo, Ken’s crouching shorts (ducking light kicks combo into each other just by brainlessly pressing the attack button over and over again. Ken’s super does a lot of damage but it hurtles him high into the air, so if an opponent blocks it they get a free chance to wreck him on the way down. Of course it also costs him his super bar too, so he really doesn’t want to do it unless he knows it will hit for sure. Ken can start doing his rapid-fire crouching shorts on an opponent, and during these kicks you can see whether your opponent is blocking them (Ken will do whatever) or is getting hit (Ken will finish the combo with his dragon punch super).
In SF3 3rd Strike, when Chun-Li’s crouching forward (ducking medium kick) hits an opponent, it puts them in hitstun (where their character is making the “ouch” face and they can’t move at all) for long enough that she can check to see whether she should finish the combo with her super attack or do nothing. Her super does a lot of damage but leaves her vulnerable if blocked and of course costs her a super bar, so ideally she doesn’t want to use it unless she knows it will hit. She will freely throw out her crouching forward at an opponent: if it’s blocked then whatever do nothing, but she can react to a successful hit and combo it into her super.
I left out some minor, messy, unnecessary details from both of those examples but I think this illustrates the concept pretty clearly.
The beauty of the hit confirm is that you get this free method of only using your big guns when it counts, and there’s really nothing your opponent can do about it. It improves a high-risk-high-reward option of yours into a low-risk-high-reward option.
New to the forums. Looking forward to running into some of you on ps3 with Zangief, if I haven’t already. :tup:
Here’s an ultra noobish question…
Is there any way to prevent or block the overhead jump kick into combo attack? For example, let’s say I’m fighting a Ken player and he does the following:
- Jump kick in to start a combo, quick or medium foot sweep
- Jump over me again instead of finishing the combo, and then doing the backwards jump kick thingy that always seems to connect though I’m holding back (which after jumping over, is probably forward relative to the opponent’s position).
I keep getting hit by that and can’t seem to avoid it. If I’m not initially framed by some quick starter combo (i.e. part 1 above), I might be able to stop it by doing an anti-air hit, but otherwise, I seem to be SOL.
Any tips would be appreciated.
He’s doing a cross up. Since he’s hitting behind you, you need to block forward
Lets say he’s on the left and you on the right. You hold right to block the first jump in. Then he jumps behind you and kicks. Now you need to hold left in order to block that kick
^ Yes to all of that.
Learning to judge which way you need to block a jumping attack is a very important skill and a critical aspect of good defense.
Remember that, after you block the jump attack, your opponent can then and will often follow with a low attack (you have to switch to crouching block), or a throw attempt (mash your throw to tech theirs). Depending on the character, he could also use an overhead (you have to block high again, they’re usually a little slow to start up though) or immediately do another jump attack… which can in turn be straight up and down or another cross-up.
Crazy, hey? Mixups are soooo much fun. :looney:
(Of course, new players will just forgo the mini-mindgames entirely; they will instead uppercut and rocket themselves thirty feet into the air for you so that you can wreck them on their way down.)
Nice, thanks for the input guys. Should help me up my game.
Another noobish question - is there a general rule of thumb when it comes to move priority? For example, let’s say there are two Ryus facing off against each other, and they both start the match off with fierce tatsumakisenpukyaku. How does the game system determine who wins the exchange? The first person to execute, or the last person to execute? And what happens if they both occur at exactly the same time?
Another similar question except this time regarding supers and ultras - I’ve noticed that sometimes when one super/ultra occurs immediately after another, the one occurring after will sometimes win, sometimes lose. I’m wondering what the mechanics are to determine which super/ultra connects. I’ve seen both scenarios unfold, in which case, it leads me to believe that it depends on the super/ultra on a per character basis. Is that the case?
And finally - similar question for aerial supremacy. If two opponents jump in the air, or if one stays grounded, what are the main factors that contribute to a winning exchange - frames to execute, range of the hit, hit box of the character attack and the character defending. I’ve been trying to figure it out through matches, but seem to get results that keep proving my original hypothesis incorrect. And so I turn to the experts. Any hints for a noob?
Thanks again for any advice.
This has been probably asked 10 million times before but what would be a good beginning character to learn the game? I will get the game tomorrow and was wondering what char i should read up about more.
Im looking for a fun character that isnt played by every single person (like the ninjas in DOA) but that isnt way too hard to pick up.
I would start off with Blanka, his moves are simple, he’s not as commonly used at the shotos (Ryu/Ken/Akuma etc) and he has few bad matchups.
EDIT- And he’s hella fun 
All 3 questions have the same answer, it’s all about the frame data and hit boxes.
In a mirror match of both characters do the same move then the one who’s active frames start first will win (unless the other guy is in invincible frames). If they both hit at exactly the same time then they’ll trade.
Same thing with supers/ultras. Of course it’s all character specific, sometimes if yours starts second you’ll win because you have invincible frames on startup. Sometimes if yours starts second you’ll win because your active frames start before theirs have. Sometimes if yours starts second you’ll lose because they are still in invincible frames.
For aerial supremacy hit boxes also play a big role as different attacks have different size/shape/angle hit boxes that will win, lose or trade in different circumstances.
Because frame data and hit boxes are both transparent to us while we’re playing the game it gives the impression that there is some ‘priority’ assigned to different moves. We imagine a tier with each move ranked somewhere against all other moves. In reality the same two attacks will clash with different results depending on timing and spacing because of the frame data and hit boxes.
The bottom line is that you just have to learn your character well. :pleased:
new to the forum and hope to have some matches with some of you.
Nice, thanks for the info RadarTrap. It’s really good to know.
I come from a Tekken background (in fact, I use to be a top Canadian player back in the day), where the fight system is pretty much strictly defined in a rock/paper/scissors style (T5 and up). That’s one of the reasons I really started disliking Tekken and wanted to give SF4 a try.
It’s refreshing to know that the outcome of an exchange is uniquely determined by frame data and hit boxes. It makes it so that you’re much more in control of the game rather than left in a continuous rock/paper/scissors exchange, where certain moves are safe rocks / papers or scissors. In Tekken Tag the system was very similar to SF4 in that frames and hit box were the primary determinants in an exchange, so you could plan your spacing game and striking times to pull out a win and bring together your play style and rhythm for that match. Knowing this is similar in SF4 is a great refreshment.
Cheers!
Hi guys,
I switched to joystick when SF4 came out, and it’s been an interesting couple months as I’ve learned to use it. However - I do have a rather basic question.
How do you hold your joystick?
The way I’ve been holding has been good so far, but i find it difficult now to FADC easily because I can’t dash precisely. Any tips?
pinky out.
I can tell you, from years and years of experience on joysticks and watching people use them, that there is absolutely 100% no ‘right’ way to hold one. Everyone seems to do it slightly differently, and its just a matter of experimenting until you find something both comfortable and effective.
I don’t even grip a japanese style stick. I just rest my hand near it and let my wrist and fingers and thumb do all the work.
People even find ways to press the 6 attack buttons differently. Its kind of interesting to watch different people use their sticks at a big tournament, but its also hard to not watch the exciting matches.
Cheers!
How do I defeat air-throws? I went up against a Guile just now who air-threw me like 5 times in a row and more (I kept jumping in because I wanted to find a way to defeat it). I tried pretty much every button although I didn’t try a hurricane kick (I was playing as Ryu). I threw them early, I threw them late. No matter what I seemed to do the air-throw always got me. I pretty much lost the whole fight just off air-throw damage. Wasn’t really bothered though. Just more interested in learning technique.
The only way to beat an air throw is to hit them before the active frames of the throw, which pretty much means that they’re going to have to do the throw too late.
Bottom line is don’t jump in unless you think it’s safe.
Hi ppl
I picked up SFIV about 2 weeks ago and since than I am really struggling to get some good results online. I have been playing mostly Ryu, Guile and recently Gouken but I really cant win.
I have 50h game time and 208 fights out of which only 29 wins 
This is 14% ratio. I played 60 championship grade3 fights and only won 1.
My question is. Is it normal? xDDDD I mean, I played some fights with my friends offline and I am doing ok but none of them is like, rly into SF.
I watched many vids of good fights etc, read some guides, but still ppl tend to steamroll me and I cant do nothing.
Any1 with some tips or help hit me on PSN or smth
PS3/XBOX 360 Controller Adapter Converter
Hiya guys,
I’m sorry if something like this has already been posted but I was just wondering is it a good to use a Controller Adapter Converter, because i have a ps2 arcade stick and i was thinking to get one for my 360 but two of my mates gave me different review’s about it, where one said it works fine on his ps3 but the other said dont get one, but he plays SF4 on the xbox 360, tho