A good player doesn't only know how to play the game (meaning knowing combo strings and how to execute supers/ultras). After a while a good player starts developing baiting strategies (trying to psyque out your opponent). These strategies can be simple (fireball speeds) or very deep(footies) and learning how to both apply them and read them makes you a better player.
So what's the idea behind these psyque games? First you try to make your opponent think that you're going to execute the same "pattern" over and over again. A good fighter can see these repeating patterns in a fight and use them to its advantage. You're going to play on this strategy.
My favorite psyque is in the wakeup game. Once you knock an opponent down (for example due to a hurricane kick), then you set the wakeup game. For a Wakeup game I have three strategies
- Strategy 1: Wait for the opponent with a level 3 focus attack (let it autoexecute just as they are getting up)
- Strategy 2: Start a focus attack, and dash cancel backwards
- Strategy 3: Start a focus attack, and dash cancel forwards -> Dragon Punch
Individually, I have practiced and understand the nuances of these three strategies (for example, at what time start the focus attack to gain a level 3, or when to dash back to miss a Guile's Flash Kick.
Strategy 1
For this strategy, just stand next to your opponent as it's laid down, and start a focus attack. If your opponent opted for a "delayed" wakeup (meaning, it's not waking up immediately) then dash cancel backwards (you'll just whiff the focus attack). If your enemy is slow to wakeup you'll hit the level 3 and give him a crumple stun. On which you can punish it seriously with any of the different combos for crumple stuns.
Strategy 2
If your opponent is "Reactionary", his (or hers, who knows) first instinct will be to wake up with either an EX, or a focus breaker, or (for shotos) a dragon punch. If you dash back halfway through the focus attack (a little earlier or later depending on the opponent), they will whiff their wakeup strategy. Then you can punish the whiffed attack.
Strategy 3
Some opponents think the best offense is a good defense, and instead of waking up to an EX move, they will use avoiding techniques, most notably neutral jump, or back dash. When you start your focus attack, cancel it in the middle by dashing forward, and following up with a dragon punch. This will punish the "avoiders" since you have closed the gap between you and them, and they woke up to a vulnerable game.
Now the interesting part is that by having dominated these three techniques you have a way of confusing your opponent. Most fair players have one wake up strategy, better have two, and best have three or four.
The fair players will repeat the same wakeup strategy over and over, so what a good player does is to "scope" out what is their wakeup by using strategy 2 (dashing back, and seeing their response). Depending on their response, then you can home into one of the three strategies and just keep repeating it (these fair players have a hard time switching "gears"). It is painful to watch when a player struggles being punished with the same wakeup strategy, but it happens to all of us. And the reason is that usually they haven't or don't know different wake up games. And this is true for not just wakeup but for any other type of strategy.
If you run into a "good" player, then more "Advanced" planning needs to happen. As you "scope" out what is their wakeup strategy, you will need to keep in mind what strategy you have applied to your opponent.
For example, if you apply Strategy 2 to scope out, and see that the opponent dashed backwards, then on the next wakeup game, you'll follow with strategy 3. If he does something different then he's trying to figure out your pattern. It will be good for you to keep "rotating" the strategies as to keep him confused (this can backfire as well, more on this later). But as each risk is very rewarding when doing it correctly.
For example, sometimes I will execute strategy 2 (dash back) at most two times in a row (against a good player), and then switch to strategy 1 (since they will be expecting the dash back and might try to dash forward). This will throw them way off, and instead they will switch to a "defensive" mode, on which I move onto strategy 3 (dash forward). If these four strategies connect, then you have a very demoralized opponent that can't react well (I have seem some that will just stand there waiting to be taken).
Now this is not to say that this pattern is the "end all". In reality it depends on how well you read your players. I noticed that very high-ranking players might sometimes stick to a set wakeup strategy, because they know you're rotaing yours and eventually their wakeup will pay off when you switch your wakeup attack on them.
In all there is a lot to learn, but little things can describe what kind of a player you're facing. The smallest things (is he using the same 3 combos over), or have they dropped one in favor of another? This will tell you their adaptability (which will be a post for another day).
I'll be posting some memorable videos in youtube for all to see on each particular strategy.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The first 10 seconds of battle
As one gets better in the Street Fighter competitions, there is a ritualistic handshake that goes on as the battle begins. Here is where styles are defined, and tactics are discarded.
The opening move
Having an opening move can be risky (it depends how "Exposed" you end up after doing the move). For example a fireball is somewhat risky if done immediately at the opening (since the other opponent might jump and reach you). Other opening moves includes the hurricane kick (which can be stopped by a crouched high punch). Nevermind those that open with dragon punch (they get thrown). In all the opening move is so pervasive because it works fairly well in 75% of the cases (or it seems that way), specially against other aggresive players.
Also, connecting an opening move have a psychological advantage. It puts pressure already in the game since the opponent is starting with "less" energy, and sometimes it comes for cheap.
What I do (feel free to try your own), is to wait....
and wait....
and wait....
After being at a safe distance, I will poke with a fireball, but essentially I'm trying to instigate a reaction from the other player.
The first 5 seconds
After the opening move you start measuring what kind of techniques do they use. For example,
- Is that Abel player a "roller"?
- Is the Ryu reactionary, or "aggresive"
- Is that Cammy more of a traditional player, or a grabber
- What are the special moves that are being used
- Is he a goofy foot player?
These questions goes through your mind as you start the fight. Mostly is about what are they comfortable using and not using. Wake up Dragon punches are a good example. You can tell if the person (almost instinctively) performs a dragon punch at wake up. (this in itself is a disadvantage since you can grab them as they come down).
You then for the next 5 seconds proceed to write a small to-do list, looking at their weaknesses (and revealing your own), as you keep "handshaking"
Not a lot of advice, but to keep your "handshaking" to a minimum. If you show that you can connect hits in the first 10 seconds, and they can't, you make a big chip in their confidence (and that goes a long way to win a tournament).
The opening move
Having an opening move can be risky (it depends how "Exposed" you end up after doing the move). For example a fireball is somewhat risky if done immediately at the opening (since the other opponent might jump and reach you). Other opening moves includes the hurricane kick (which can be stopped by a crouched high punch). Nevermind those that open with dragon punch (they get thrown). In all the opening move is so pervasive because it works fairly well in 75% of the cases (or it seems that way), specially against other aggresive players.
Also, connecting an opening move have a psychological advantage. It puts pressure already in the game since the opponent is starting with "less" energy, and sometimes it comes for cheap.
What I do (feel free to try your own), is to wait....
and wait....
and wait....
After being at a safe distance, I will poke with a fireball, but essentially I'm trying to instigate a reaction from the other player.
The first 5 seconds
After the opening move you start measuring what kind of techniques do they use. For example,
- Is that Abel player a "roller"?
- Is the Ryu reactionary, or "aggresive"
- Is that Cammy more of a traditional player, or a grabber
- What are the special moves that are being used
- Is he a goofy foot player?
These questions goes through your mind as you start the fight. Mostly is about what are they comfortable using and not using. Wake up Dragon punches are a good example. You can tell if the person (almost instinctively) performs a dragon punch at wake up. (this in itself is a disadvantage since you can grab them as they come down).
You then for the next 5 seconds proceed to write a small to-do list, looking at their weaknesses (and revealing your own), as you keep "handshaking"
Not a lot of advice, but to keep your "handshaking" to a minimum. If you show that you can connect hits in the first 10 seconds, and they can't, you make a big chip in their confidence (and that goes a long way to win a tournament).
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Offensive Style
The offensive style involves trying to do a lot of things in very short time. These players are a jumble of movement in the screen. Specially when paired with a fast character (Vega or el Fuerte come to mind).
Their strategy involves using overwhemenly force and speed to dazzle an opponent. You can see these players playing short but interconnected combos so that even chipping dammage can be significant. They will trade a punch or a kick for them to start a even more aggresive combo. Usually impatient, they will keep pressure on zoning (a lot of fireballs), and will use all their EX combos as they get filled.
Their biggest advantage is their speed and pressure. Most of the time when one is handshaking (the first 10 or 15 seconds of the game) will not have time but to start a defensive run. They will win by sheer pressure, as they keep chipping and hitting their opponent. Offensive players play a "close" game, where there isn't much distance between them and their opponent. Even if retreating they will try to score a hit (or at least a chip). Offensive player favors a style where the other player gets offensive since then the other player opens itself up for being hit big. Once an offensive player connects, it becomes harder to break away since they are a jumble of punches and kicks.
On the other hand, offensive players left a lot of opportunities open for counters and/or opening moves. They are not so evident just because of the speed that they execute all of it (the window for the counter is still there just harder to see and to act upon it). If you manage to defend correctly for a couple of seconds (more than that and you get exposed to throwing offensives) you will be able to see openings on their strategy:
- For aerial and sweeps, shoryukens
- For hurricane kicks, crouched strong punch
- For any of Blanka ball charges, repeated light punches (and then sweep as he lands)
- For Vega's aerial attacks, jump w/Hurricane kick
Defending from an offensive player is usually problematic. An offensive player will have a mixture of standing and crouching attacks. And they will add defense breakers (like the overhead medium puch from Ryu, or Abels overhead kick) into the mix. So to defeat an offensive player it usually requires an ironclad defense so that you can look for openings. If you can't achieve it, then the offensive players just keeps piling up damage, and you become too emotionally frazzled to find weaknesses. Also holes in the offensive opponent are mostly visible after a couple of good blocks.
The reason why offensive players win (against fair players) is that their opponents have a good-but-not-great defense (They need 5 or 6 connects per game to win). And they are almost guaranteed the first one just because of the "Surprise" factor. To add to that they compound the psychological effect that you're always getting "hit" or might get hit (it really counts), which makes the defensive player make more mistakes.
A telltale sign of these players is their openings. Always fast, and always to hit (no standard fireballs). For example they will open with hurricane kicks, Blanka's spinning attack, Abel's upper leg attack, Sagat's tiger knee. Also, they will inevitably (in their massive offensive rally) will try and connect ultras as soon as their are available (which can be expected and use as counter)
Going offensive in another offensive player can be done but is also a risky gamble. It becomes as gears in a clock. If the first offensive player manage to connect, chances are that he will keep connecting. Ditto for the second player. It also depends on their opening moves (some opening moves are meant to be counter for other opening moves, think Blanka's low slide). Essentially this style is very well favored online since it yields a good deal of results for 1/2 of their opponents.
Even so, a purely offensive player can't climb up the ladder forever as eventually the crop of good defensive players show up (ditto for defensive players). But a mixture of character is what is required. A well-balanced player can be both offensive and defensive, just chooses the appropiate time when to be one.
Their strategy involves using overwhemenly force and speed to dazzle an opponent. You can see these players playing short but interconnected combos so that even chipping dammage can be significant. They will trade a punch or a kick for them to start a even more aggresive combo. Usually impatient, they will keep pressure on zoning (a lot of fireballs), and will use all their EX combos as they get filled.
Their biggest advantage is their speed and pressure. Most of the time when one is handshaking (the first 10 or 15 seconds of the game) will not have time but to start a defensive run. They will win by sheer pressure, as they keep chipping and hitting their opponent. Offensive players play a "close" game, where there isn't much distance between them and their opponent. Even if retreating they will try to score a hit (or at least a chip). Offensive player favors a style where the other player gets offensive since then the other player opens itself up for being hit big. Once an offensive player connects, it becomes harder to break away since they are a jumble of punches and kicks.
On the other hand, offensive players left a lot of opportunities open for counters and/or opening moves. They are not so evident just because of the speed that they execute all of it (the window for the counter is still there just harder to see and to act upon it). If you manage to defend correctly for a couple of seconds (more than that and you get exposed to throwing offensives) you will be able to see openings on their strategy:
- For aerial and sweeps, shoryukens
- For hurricane kicks, crouched strong punch
- For any of Blanka ball charges, repeated light punches (and then sweep as he lands)
- For Vega's aerial attacks, jump w/Hurricane kick
Defending from an offensive player is usually problematic. An offensive player will have a mixture of standing and crouching attacks. And they will add defense breakers (like the overhead medium puch from Ryu, or Abels overhead kick) into the mix. So to defeat an offensive player it usually requires an ironclad defense so that you can look for openings. If you can't achieve it, then the offensive players just keeps piling up damage, and you become too emotionally frazzled to find weaknesses. Also holes in the offensive opponent are mostly visible after a couple of good blocks.
The reason why offensive players win (against fair players) is that their opponents have a good-but-not-great defense (They need 5 or 6 connects per game to win). And they are almost guaranteed the first one just because of the "Surprise" factor. To add to that they compound the psychological effect that you're always getting "hit" or might get hit (it really counts), which makes the defensive player make more mistakes.
A telltale sign of these players is their openings. Always fast, and always to hit (no standard fireballs). For example they will open with hurricane kicks, Blanka's spinning attack, Abel's upper leg attack, Sagat's tiger knee. Also, they will inevitably (in their massive offensive rally) will try and connect ultras as soon as their are available (which can be expected and use as counter)
Going offensive in another offensive player can be done but is also a risky gamble. It becomes as gears in a clock. If the first offensive player manage to connect, chances are that he will keep connecting. Ditto for the second player. It also depends on their opening moves (some opening moves are meant to be counter for other opening moves, think Blanka's low slide). Essentially this style is very well favored online since it yields a good deal of results for 1/2 of their opponents.
Even so, a purely offensive player can't climb up the ladder forever as eventually the crop of good defensive players show up (ditto for defensive players). But a mixture of character is what is required. A well-balanced player can be both offensive and defensive, just chooses the appropiate time when to be one.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Fighting Styles
After playing for a while, there are certain fighting styles that you can see people adopt (essentially, it tends to work for them). I'll describe the ones that I've seen.
Defensive
This guy (myself) defends like there is no tomorrow. Very apt at blocking, he waits for the counter. He might not even attack in traditionally preemptive moves (for example, if someone is coming with an aerial kick, a typical response is a shoryuken. I wait to deliver the dragon punch as a counter after defending the aerial kick).
A lot of character have opening for counters.
For example Ryu's fireball have some counters
- if close enough, jump above and do your strong aerial kick, and sweep, or whatever you like
- Hurricane kick can pass fireballs if executed after these are on-screen
- EX Fireball (an eternal favorite). It will absorb the first fireball and hit an unsuspecting opponent
- Ryu's ultra, if done properly, not only skips the incoming fireball, but you can connect all the ultra.
For Blanka's spinning charges
- Crouched light punch to cancel the oncoming spinning attack, then sweep as he lands
- Jump up and then land with a strong kick
For Bison's Double Knee press
- wait, and dragon punch
- or sweep
- or throw
Strength and Weaknesses
Defense strategies usually trade risk for chipping (they get chipped a lot). Their biggest strenght might be psychological. There has been matches where entire 20 seconds have happened without any major movements (aside from the occational poking fireball). This create pressure on your opponent to "start". Once an opponent decides to start the fight, defensive players open with counters. Most of the time their style is to apply a counter, get some breathing room, wait, and repeat. Their game is usually slower, and for a lot of the uninitiated almost impossible to penetrate.
The major weakness of the defensive player is that it can get thrown out of whack pretty quickly. Defensive players are like fine swiss clockwork. As long as every cog (read every attack) is matched with its counter, they work extremely well. The moment you start doing variances in the attacks (for example, a jump with a hurricane kick to do a cross-over) they tend to be less sure on the appropiate response.
Defensive players (at least the beginning/intermediate ones) have another achilles heel (namely throwing ). When you defend more you get yourself exposed to throwing. The more defensive the player is, the more open to throwing he or she is. To that note they are also vulnerable to over-the-head block-breaker moves (defensive players tend to be crouched, less exposure to injury), and are very easy to chip to death using safe-chipping techniques. (Say a balrog)
A typical situation:
A defensive player, instead of going for a shoryuken when attacked aerially, he blocks for the aerial attack (then crouch-blocks for any expected sweeps), and then proceed to then execute a shoryuken. A well balanced player will fall for this folly only once (ok, maybe twice).
But the easy counter is to jump aerially, not attacking (just jump close to the opponent, no kicking no anything), and then proceed to throw him. That is enough to get them "psyched" since now you're forcing them to do something (anything) or be subjected to more throwing.
Defensive
This guy (myself) defends like there is no tomorrow. Very apt at blocking, he waits for the counter. He might not even attack in traditionally preemptive moves (for example, if someone is coming with an aerial kick, a typical response is a shoryuken. I wait to deliver the dragon punch as a counter after defending the aerial kick).
A lot of character have opening for counters.
For example Ryu's fireball have some counters
- if close enough, jump above and do your strong aerial kick, and sweep, or whatever you like
- Hurricane kick can pass fireballs if executed after these are on-screen
- EX Fireball (an eternal favorite). It will absorb the first fireball and hit an unsuspecting opponent
- Ryu's ultra, if done properly, not only skips the incoming fireball, but you can connect all the ultra.
For Blanka's spinning charges
- Crouched light punch to cancel the oncoming spinning attack, then sweep as he lands
- Jump up and then land with a strong kick
For Bison's Double Knee press
- wait, and dragon punch
- or sweep
- or throw
Strength and Weaknesses
Defense strategies usually trade risk for chipping (they get chipped a lot). Their biggest strenght might be psychological. There has been matches where entire 20 seconds have happened without any major movements (aside from the occational poking fireball). This create pressure on your opponent to "start". Once an opponent decides to start the fight, defensive players open with counters. Most of the time their style is to apply a counter, get some breathing room, wait, and repeat. Their game is usually slower, and for a lot of the uninitiated almost impossible to penetrate.
The major weakness of the defensive player is that it can get thrown out of whack pretty quickly. Defensive players are like fine swiss clockwork. As long as every cog (read every attack) is matched with its counter, they work extremely well. The moment you start doing variances in the attacks (for example, a jump with a hurricane kick to do a cross-over) they tend to be less sure on the appropiate response.
Defensive players (at least the beginning/intermediate ones) have another achilles heel (namely throwing ). When you defend more you get yourself exposed to throwing. The more defensive the player is, the more open to throwing he or she is. To that note they are also vulnerable to over-the-head block-breaker moves (defensive players tend to be crouched, less exposure to injury), and are very easy to chip to death using safe-chipping techniques. (Say a balrog)
A typical situation:
A defensive player, instead of going for a shoryuken when attacked aerially, he blocks for the aerial attack (then crouch-blocks for any expected sweeps), and then proceed to then execute a shoryuken. A well balanced player will fall for this folly only once (ok, maybe twice).
But the easy counter is to jump aerially, not attacking (just jump close to the opponent, no kicking no anything), and then proceed to throw him. That is enough to get them "psyched" since now you're forcing them to do something (anything) or be subjected to more throwing.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The stages of a SF player
There are different stages that a SF player passes through, from being a button smasher to actually being a button smasher with a purpose. Anyone can be a great fighter, just that there aren't any shortcuts; you have to put you 1000 hours (like everyone else to become a great fighter).
The noob
Newbie players start by just smashing buttons left and right hoping that something cool or exciting happens. If you watch one, is like watching giving birth at the discovery channel. It's ugly, there's a lot of screaming and nothing pretty comes out of it.
The noob w/fireballs
So what happens is that the noob, in his evolutionary process, goes and gets his butt kicked (usually, a lot of times), and then he goes ahead and starts practicing the "special" moves. You can see these players's characters like they are having an epileptic attack. Half of the time their character will not do nothing more than jittering on the screen. The other half the right move might come out, but it has such a lead "intention time" that is usually easily avoided
The goofy foot noob
So as the noob on his quest for fighting supremacy continues, he realizes that he's terribly unbalanced on the screen. You can see these guys by always preferring a side of the screen over another. They will try anything (everything) in their power to gain a foothold on their favorite side (usually the left). Their tricks include Ryu's strong aerial hurricane kick, or Abel's roll. They can be easily defeated just by keeping them on their "goofy" side.
The begining strategist
So after Mr. noob have at least managed to do the basic movements (with another heaping dose of butt kicking), and have decent management of both sides of the screen, he starts developing strategies. Invariably these include the cross-over attacks, wake-up movements, and some distance control (fireballs, etc). He starts to recognize patterns that usually work (for example aerial strong kick followed by strong sweep), and starts doing two to three movement combos.
The great divide
At this stage we will separate those that play for fun, and those that answer a calling. A beginning strategist is not a bad player anymore, he knows that there are certain things that work well together and knows how to stitch them together. The problem here is that by now people starts developing muscle memory, and once something "works" then they tend to repeat it over and over again.
Everybody goes through this stage. Even the best players went through a muscle memory phase (is just impossible not to go through one as you keep repeating moves and understanding combos). The divide comes from those that can "unlearn" and "relearn" combo moves. Those who can move beyond repeating combos like parrots are the ones that might make it to the bigger leagues.
The predictable intermediary
Essentially a fallout of the beginning strategist. The predictable intermediary just kept "adding on" the beginning combos he learned from the previous stage. While that's fine and dandy it still the same problem of muscle memory. These guys are just wired-up for a set of predictable responses. You can see this guy when he "always" uses a wake-up shoryuken doesn't matter what situation it is. Defeating these guys is very easy:
For those with Wake-Up-Shoryuken
- After knocking down, get close
- block (wait until they do their wake-up-shoryuken)
- throw (or strong standing kick)
- repeat
For those that just "Defend" when Waking up
- After knocking down, get close
- throw (or strong standing kick)
- repeat
These are fun to watch, as you can almost visualize their complete rage, and their inability of defending against a simple throw.
Just for the record, if someone is throwing you repeately when waking up, you have some strategies.
- Wake up shoryuken
- Grab (at worst it would be a cancelled grab for both sides)
- Small crouched punch/kick (these are usually fast enough as to stop grabbing)
- Jump straight up (land with strong kick, kind of risky but easier to execute)
- EX shoruyken, Hurricane Kick
There are probably more but these are the most common for Ryu (and might/can apply to others as well)
Intermediate Strategist
The intermediate strategist starts creating a "collection" of combo/moves that can be used depending on the opponent. He starts to understand that sometimes is not the "best" strategy to wake-up with a Shoryuken, sometimes is better to grab at wakeup, or to exit out completely of the situation.
He starts to see that there are certain patterns that works best for certain kind of opponents. For example
- For a highly aggressive opponent just use counters (wait until they leave themselves open)
- For a highly defensive opponent, poke poke and poke (and chip).
He also recognizes that there are certain characters which certain styles are best suited for:
- Other Ryu's: Counter works best, most people will leave themselves open to counters sooner or later
- Zangief: Stay away, don't grab (or grab judiciously), and zone a lot.
- Dan: His hurricane kick is unstoppable, watch out.
- Gouken: He is built for counters, so grabs are someone unexpected
- Abel: His roll move is an invitation for throwing
- Cammy: Even when her Wake-up kick leaves you away to do a counter, you can actually walk close to her and do a sweep
Intermediate-Advanced strategist
The intermediate advanced strategist starts to see more complexity in the games. Aside from having a specific strategy for each kind of player (and kind of character) he sees patterns in the other player. He's not married to a definite technique until latter down the game. His combos start growing larger (and more difficult), and he can recognize other players at the same level (There is a sort of handshake that happens at the beginning of each game). May be able to change strategies mid-stream of a match.
Myself, I might be around here somewhere
Advanced Strategist
He can quickly change strategies in mid-stream of a game, depending on the opponent. He also have the largest connect-to-energy ratio (where a single connect initiates a combo that takes 1/2 of his life), and understands the different psychological aspects of the game. A lot of opportune "cancels" and "feints" that lead to more confusion from the opponent.
(a digression)
Dome people do cancels and feints, but instead of confusing or having an advantage, it merely delayes the unavoidable contact. My favorite is those who starts a focus attack, and then cancel by dashing forward. My favorite counter for focus attacks is getting closer, and throwing, since I don't waste any EX moves, I am in control of where I am, and you don't have the penalty of the two-punch focus attack knockout. So if you saw me already trying to throw you on focus attacks, then if you cancel and move forward, you're essentially walking towards me undefended, and yes I will grab you and throw you :)
10,000 hours fighters
They say that if you just keep doing the same thing for 10,000 hours you'll become good at it. That's how these guys play. It's interesting to watch, but it's essentially taking an advanced strategist, and playing it at ten times the speed. All the basic knowledge is the same, at this time is just reaction and speed of execution. I don't aspire to be at this level (neither anyone who doesn't want to do this for a living, and even then I would have my reservations).
But is as hell fun to watch.
Ok, so I will take you (if anything) from the great divide to intermediate (and if I keep getting better) advanced.
The noob
Newbie players start by just smashing buttons left and right hoping that something cool or exciting happens. If you watch one, is like watching giving birth at the discovery channel. It's ugly, there's a lot of screaming and nothing pretty comes out of it.
The noob w/fireballs
So what happens is that the noob, in his evolutionary process, goes and gets his butt kicked (usually, a lot of times), and then he goes ahead and starts practicing the "special" moves. You can see these players's characters like they are having an epileptic attack. Half of the time their character will not do nothing more than jittering on the screen. The other half the right move might come out, but it has such a lead "intention time" that is usually easily avoided
The goofy foot noob
So as the noob on his quest for fighting supremacy continues, he realizes that he's terribly unbalanced on the screen. You can see these guys by always preferring a side of the screen over another. They will try anything (everything) in their power to gain a foothold on their favorite side (usually the left). Their tricks include Ryu's strong aerial hurricane kick, or Abel's roll. They can be easily defeated just by keeping them on their "goofy" side.
The begining strategist
So after Mr. noob have at least managed to do the basic movements (with another heaping dose of butt kicking), and have decent management of both sides of the screen, he starts developing strategies. Invariably these include the cross-over attacks, wake-up movements, and some distance control (fireballs, etc). He starts to recognize patterns that usually work (for example aerial strong kick followed by strong sweep), and starts doing two to three movement combos.
The great divide
At this stage we will separate those that play for fun, and those that answer a calling. A beginning strategist is not a bad player anymore, he knows that there are certain things that work well together and knows how to stitch them together. The problem here is that by now people starts developing muscle memory, and once something "works" then they tend to repeat it over and over again.
Everybody goes through this stage. Even the best players went through a muscle memory phase (is just impossible not to go through one as you keep repeating moves and understanding combos). The divide comes from those that can "unlearn" and "relearn" combo moves. Those who can move beyond repeating combos like parrots are the ones that might make it to the bigger leagues.
The predictable intermediary
Essentially a fallout of the beginning strategist. The predictable intermediary just kept "adding on" the beginning combos he learned from the previous stage. While that's fine and dandy it still the same problem of muscle memory. These guys are just wired-up for a set of predictable responses. You can see this guy when he "always" uses a wake-up shoryuken doesn't matter what situation it is. Defeating these guys is very easy:
For those with Wake-Up-Shoryuken
- After knocking down, get close
- block (wait until they do their wake-up-shoryuken)
- throw (or strong standing kick)
- repeat
For those that just "Defend" when Waking up
- After knocking down, get close
- throw (or strong standing kick)
- repeat
These are fun to watch, as you can almost visualize their complete rage, and their inability of defending against a simple throw.
Just for the record, if someone is throwing you repeately when waking up, you have some strategies.
- Wake up shoryuken
- Grab (at worst it would be a cancelled grab for both sides)
- Small crouched punch/kick (these are usually fast enough as to stop grabbing)
- Jump straight up (land with strong kick, kind of risky but easier to execute)
- EX shoruyken, Hurricane Kick
There are probably more but these are the most common for Ryu (and might/can apply to others as well)
Intermediate Strategist
The intermediate strategist starts creating a "collection" of combo/moves that can be used depending on the opponent. He starts to understand that sometimes is not the "best" strategy to wake-up with a Shoryuken, sometimes is better to grab at wakeup, or to exit out completely of the situation.
He starts to see that there are certain patterns that works best for certain kind of opponents. For example
- For a highly aggressive opponent just use counters (wait until they leave themselves open)
- For a highly defensive opponent, poke poke and poke (and chip).
He also recognizes that there are certain characters which certain styles are best suited for:
- Other Ryu's: Counter works best, most people will leave themselves open to counters sooner or later
- Zangief: Stay away, don't grab (or grab judiciously), and zone a lot.
- Dan: His hurricane kick is unstoppable, watch out.
- Gouken: He is built for counters, so grabs are someone unexpected
- Abel: His roll move is an invitation for throwing
- Cammy: Even when her Wake-up kick leaves you away to do a counter, you can actually walk close to her and do a sweep
Intermediate-Advanced strategist
The intermediate advanced strategist starts to see more complexity in the games. Aside from having a specific strategy for each kind of player (and kind of character) he sees patterns in the other player. He's not married to a definite technique until latter down the game. His combos start growing larger (and more difficult), and he can recognize other players at the same level (There is a sort of handshake that happens at the beginning of each game). May be able to change strategies mid-stream of a match.
Myself, I might be around here somewhere
Advanced Strategist
He can quickly change strategies in mid-stream of a game, depending on the opponent. He also have the largest connect-to-energy ratio (where a single connect initiates a combo that takes 1/2 of his life), and understands the different psychological aspects of the game. A lot of opportune "cancels" and "feints" that lead to more confusion from the opponent.
(a digression)
Dome people do cancels and feints, but instead of confusing or having an advantage, it merely delayes the unavoidable contact. My favorite is those who starts a focus attack, and then cancel by dashing forward. My favorite counter for focus attacks is getting closer, and throwing, since I don't waste any EX moves, I am in control of where I am, and you don't have the penalty of the two-punch focus attack knockout. So if you saw me already trying to throw you on focus attacks, then if you cancel and move forward, you're essentially walking towards me undefended, and yes I will grab you and throw you :)
10,000 hours fighters
They say that if you just keep doing the same thing for 10,000 hours you'll become good at it. That's how these guys play. It's interesting to watch, but it's essentially taking an advanced strategist, and playing it at ten times the speed. All the basic knowledge is the same, at this time is just reaction and speed of execution. I don't aspire to be at this level (neither anyone who doesn't want to do this for a living, and even then I would have my reservations).
But is as hell fun to watch.
Ok, so I will take you (if anything) from the great divide to intermediate (and if I keep getting better) advanced.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Who are you? (fguime in xbox Live)
I am by no means an excellent player, not even good, but I would say I’m a fair player. And I’m not saying that, instead is Capcom’s G2-C ranking that says so. I have played Street Fighter II games since I was in middle school, and enjoyed immensely. When I was growing up, we had actual training sessions where we got together with a couple of friends and instead of beating each other up in Street Fighter II, we trained. We practice “combos” when they didn’t exists by that name, and perfected techniques such as throws (yes throws). I was more of a console player and always be (specially now that I’m grown up and have a family, but hey, everybody is entitled to a hobby, and this happened to be mine J
In the end I used to be very very good SFII player back in the day, now that SFIV was out, I decided to pick it up and give it a try. It’s fun, it’s entertaining and most of all, it felt fairly familiar (not like the EX version of SF). I’ll keep playing and learning as far as I can without sacrificing family and/or personal hygiene, and hopefully share what I learned back on this site. If you want help, by all means drop me a line. And if you want to fight, I’ll see you online (fguime) in the xbox network.
In the end I used to be very very good SFII player back in the day, now that SFIV was out, I decided to pick it up and give it a try. It’s fun, it’s entertaining and most of all, it felt fairly familiar (not like the EX version of SF). I’ll keep playing and learning as far as I can without sacrificing family and/or personal hygiene, and hopefully share what I learned back on this site. If you want help, by all means drop me a line. And if you want to fight, I’ll see you online (fguime) in the xbox network.
Ha-Do-Ken!
Ok, so welcome to my blog. Here I am trying to distill the spirit of the Street Fighter (more specifically the Street Fighter IV Game made by Capcom), how I go about training and learning beyond the “moves”, and in general some helpful tidbids of fighting techniques. Now, the first thing is that if you come here for me to make you a great fighter, look somewhere else. I’m barely a G2-C player in the tournament system.
(if you don’t know what a G2-C player ranking is, then you’re better off going back to SFIV, getting an online Xbox Live (or PS3 equivalent) account, play for around fifty hours, and then come back. It’s not that you won’t find anything valuable here, but it seems almost a rite of passage that you have to train a lot…and I mean a lot… before starting to apply the stuff on these pages.).
Having said that, I’ll blog as much as I can from the techniques I learned, and as I learn more and refine techniques, I’ll post them in here for the viewing pleasure of all concerned.
(if you don’t know what a G2-C player ranking is, then you’re better off going back to SFIV, getting an online Xbox Live (or PS3 equivalent) account, play for around fifty hours, and then come back. It’s not that you won’t find anything valuable here, but it seems almost a rite of passage that you have to train a lot…and I mean a lot… before starting to apply the stuff on these pages.).
Having said that, I’ll blog as much as I can from the techniques I learned, and as I learn more and refine techniques, I’ll post them in here for the viewing pleasure of all concerned.
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