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How to train

fr stack

Noob's saibot or noob saibot's?
there seems to be a lot like myself whos first real attempt was mk 9... so i want this to be a place where you seasoned fighting game players can give advice on how to train, levelup , etc ... also hopefully just open our eyes to a diff way of playing .. i sure as hell aint dropping this game and would really apprieciate , any sort of advice doesnt matter how small :)
 

Rokinlobster

Nightwolf of the galaxy
Before you even start with combos, learn all of your characters moves by heart. You should know them all well enough to *sort of* reenact them in real life.
 

smokey

EX Ovi should launch
Grinding is absolutely the way forward, but theres bad ways to go about it.

I spend a lot of time in practice mode just doing the same thing over and over again- autopilot mode. It works for me but for others you may want to organise and allocate your time better.

Some things i have tried and implemented in the past;
Write a list of moves/setups/combos(whatever you need to do) and work your way down it doing 10-20 reps of each thing you need to work on, but do it in a way that you dont put all your attention on it and make it boring. Put some music on or the TV or whatever and just go at it. When you come to something inconsistent you can practice it more, and if you 20/20 something every time, put it lower down the list and do less reps, you got that one down. The idea of having a relaxed training session came from me getting salty at myself when i drop a combo, and from that point on failing every attempt to hit that combo for the rest of the time period. Dont do that, just chill out, grind it out, and you will get it.

Habit breaking in arcade/training/infinite mode is good. If you lose games because you jump at silly times, play an entire session online, or vs the computer, or even the AI controlled training dummy, and focus almost entirely on correcting your bad habits. Its hard enough to think about playing the game you want to play, let alone thinking about breaking your habits aswell. Focus on one point hard enough that you cant help but implement it later. Play a session without jumping, or without using any unsafe moves, or try to win just through baiting and punishing, and then next session, when you play your A game, that area will be a lot more solid than before when you were focusing on that AND the game at hand.

For online games, try "reading aloud" while playing. Commentate your opponents actions almost before he does them. I find this helps me pick up on peoples habits quicker, but note theres things you have to react to, rather than predict. Start easy, like if your opponent is coming into jump range, tell yourself outloud "Hes jumped at me 20 times already, better anti air him" immediately you are thinking one step ahead of your opponent, and can start to show him that. This is something you will be doing naturally in matches when it comes to downloading and beating opponents, so you cant practice it enough, just make sure you dont over-commit or start playing for him, remember you are picking up on someone elses habits, and they might make different decisions to you.

Obviously different people will be comfortable training in different ways but those are just a couple things i try to do when im really in a "leveling up" mood.
 

fr stack

Noob's saibot or noob saibot's?
good shit guys keep em coming
i dont think comboing will be my problem other than not dashing in between strings
back to block is an issue but im having success using down to block against fast attacks
i just wish i had someone to play with other than my girlfriend lol
 

Suzumebachi

For hearts long lost and full of fright
I've never really played fighting games competitively--I love just playing them for fun--but I want to start getting better. I'd appreciate any advice you guys can give, too. ^^
 
Grinding is absolutely the way forward, but theres bad ways to go about it.

I spend a lot of time in practice mode just doing the same thing over and over again- autopilot mode. It works for me but for others you may want to organise and allocate your time better.

Some things i have tried and implemented in the past;
Write a list of moves/setups/combos(whatever you need to do) and work your way down it doing 10-20 reps of each thing you need to work on, but do it in a way that you dont put all your attention on it and make it boring. Put some music on or the TV or whatever and just go at it. When you come to something inconsistent you can practice it more, and if you 20/20 something every time, put it lower down the list and do less reps, you got that one down. The idea of having a relaxed training session came from me getting salty at myself when i drop a combo, and from that point on failing every attempt to hit that combo for the rest of the time period. Dont do that, just chill out, grind it out, and you will get it.

Habit breaking in arcade/training/infinite mode is good. If you lose games because you jump at silly times, play an entire session online, or vs the computer, or even the AI controlled training dummy, and focus almost entirely on correcting your bad habits. Its hard enough to think about playing the game you want to play, let alone thinking about breaking your habits aswell. Focus on one point hard enough that you cant help but implement it later. Play a session without jumping, or without using any unsafe moves, or try to win just through baiting and punishing, and then next session, when you play your A game, that area will be a lot more solid than before when you were focusing on that AND the game at hand.

For online games, try "reading aloud" while playing. Commentate your opponents actions almost before he does them. I find this helps me pick up on peoples habits quicker, but note theres things you have to react to, rather than predict. Start easy, like if your opponent is coming into jump range, tell yourself outloud "Hes jumped at me 20 times already, better anti air him" immediately you are thinking one step ahead of your opponent, and can start to show him that. This is something you will be doing naturally in matches when it comes to downloading and beating opponents, so you cant practice it enough, just make sure you dont over-commit or start playing for him, remember you are picking up on someone elses habits, and they might make different decisions to you.

Obviously different people will be comfortable training in different ways but those are just a couple things i try to do when im really in a "leveling up" mood.
thank you.
 

GGA Saucy Jack

The artist formerly known as ImNewbieSauce
The biggest jump in my game came when i stopped always "playing to win".

I dont mean that i adopted a "losing is ok" mentality, but i took casuals for what they were. Casuals.

One day maybe i decided, "today, im going to d1 every cross up" even if i have a 70 percent health lead, and a full xray ready. Sure, ill win this casual match, but im not getting any practice in a game environment. This was my personal first big step. Forcing myself to train random things in a live environment.

As for practice mode, before i play i just make sure i can do my bnbs 5 times in a row. Obviously everyone has thoughts on this, but really this is just a "getting in the zone" sort of thing. As for learning something new, like a new bnb, i grind it out until i cant look at the screen anymore. Personal preference.

In the end, i think whats important is understanding yourself, and how you learn things. Play to your strengths, your focus, and your attention span. Once its more work than play...youve lost.
 
My thoughts on the matter is like music, underground electronic music at that. You have Djs and you have producers, and sometimes they are one in the same. Let me explain, as a producer like Check or Tyler Lantern these guys are producers IMO, they develop these combos not saying they can't handle there own, they can produce a multitude of combos the community uses. Then you have the Djs, the people that that use these combos to win like 16-Bit, Sonic Fox, and GGA Waffles. These guys are such good players they deserve no less than a standing ovation. Then you have hybrids the likes of Reo, Perfect Legend, Tom Brady, and the CD Brothers! Me I know I can not find the best combos, so I rely on these guys to show how it is done. While I am learning this I am watching every stream to see match ups and advice. You can only do combos so much until you have to put it to use. This is where people screw up, they think, IMO, that since they can do these combos in practice they do it in the game, WRONG! Next test your pressure, when your nerves are on the line it is a whole different ballgame. Make sure you can do these combos under pressure in the game. I know you have heard the saying you only get better playing better people, So apply using the things you learn from better players you see on stream and in forums in the game on very hard. IMO this is how you get better. As Chris G said, You will never win in a tournament if you can not beat the computer on very hard, or something like that, I am not quoting. I hope you maybe learn from my rants, I am a little drunk but I know I speak some truth. I want to see everyone level up in this game...Shout outs to NRS for making it happen even though Ares and Killer Frosts Supers look more like Fatalities than Supers, also TYM for keeping it real, My mother she passed away a little over a month ago and I miss the shit out of her. I really miss her a lot, thank you guys are the best! Over!
 
I'm no expert, but here's my list and examples

1. Execution - Being able to do every move, perform combos and specials, etc. More advanced stuff like conversions could come later

2. Game mechanics - This could also be the first thing to learn. How the game works, what you can do with your options, etc. For example, dash blocking and MK9, and FADC (dashing out of a focus attack in SFIV).

3. Matchup/Fighting Experience - After you know how to use your character, you're going to want some basic matchup experience. You can't just throw out any move whenever you like. You have to know what your options are against other characters, when to start/stop blocking what their options are (in general for beginners), and you'll need to know when and how to both give and get out of pressure. For example, you have to be able to know that Raiden can get in a df2 after a 334 so you could either block, poke, or do something else. Or if you're facing Smoke, know that he can throw a smoke bomb after a 214

4. More advanced tactics - This includes setups/resets/mixups/mindgames, etc. It also includes studying things like hitboxes and frame data to better know your matchups and find holes in your character and in any other character in the game. This kinda also involves learning a bit of the whole cast. For example, if you're having trouble getting out of Kabal pressure, you'd go into training mode or something, see what move you get easily pressured by, look up the frame data for that move and any move that is often followed after it, and find a move by your character that can help you get out of those moves by looking at your character's frame data.

5. After you're good with all of this, you pretty much have all the tools needed to be a great player (I think). Just keep practicing your combos, mixups, setups, frame traps, etc. And keep practicing against the entire roster and really good people you can find.

If anybody thinks this advice is horrible, inaccurate, or incomplete, please comment on it. Again, I'm still fairly new to fighting games, so this could be all wrong for all I know.
 
I partake in a strict regimen I developed while learning VF5FS and SFxT. I found it to be a quite fruitful experience which has improved my overall skill with fighting games. It's main focuses are movement, defense, proficiency on left and right sides and muscle memory.

For years I have been playing fighting games and spending hours upon hours in training mode without ever learning a character in-and-out with no hitches. I figured I had to take my training more seriously so I decided to do it for three hours a day, five days a week, for three weeks when I first get my hands on a game.. After three weeks a more relaxed approach may be taken.

Hour 1, I take the first thirty minutes to practice nothing but character movement in repititions. Forward and backward walking, footsie movements, jumps in all angles,back dashes and forward dashes are all done multiple times on both sides of the screen. (I feel that all these exercises make you better at movement where its second nature to you.) For the next thirty minutes I set the CPU to fight mode on the hardest difficulty and practice nothing but movement (evasion, positioning, etc.) blocking and push blocking without the use of attack buttons. This is a defensive exercise which helps improve mobility and blocking as well as get some idea to certain character match-UPS. Some people may wonder why bother practicing without the use of attacks but I will argue that learning defense is absolutely fundamental and is something that seperates the good from the bad.
Hour 2, repititions of every normal attack (LMH) until you know exactly what attack is what command and when/where to use it. Do every normal (standing, crouchibg, jumping, after dash) 50 times from both side of the screen. Then do the same with every special, then every enhanced (meter burned) special, then every basic combo. The more repititions the better your muscle memory. It helps to say combo strings aloud to yourself and to even reenact moves with your real body in your spare time.
Hour 3, for Injustice in particular you also need to practice your character trait, wall bounces, ground bounces, interactable objects and stage transitions. Get those down after loads of repitions and practice and you should be dandy. Take everything you learned in the first two hours and mesh then together for your last hour.
You do this 3 hour training regimen for 15 days and you should be able to control your character like your own body. Now you can hop online and take everything you know about your character and start to learn match-ups and situational tactics and yiu should be good. This is what I do.. It might not work for some but it has for me.
 

fr stack

Noob's saibot or noob saibot's?
I partake in a strict regimen I developed while learning VF5FS and SFxT. I found it to be a quite fruitful experience which has improved my overall skill with fighting games. It's main focuses are movement, defense, proficiency on left and right sides and muscle memory.

For years I have been playing fighting games and spending hours upon hours in training mode without ever learning a character in-and-out with no hitches. I figured I had to take my training more seriously so I decided to do it for three hours a day, five days a week, for three weeks when I first get my hands on a game.. After three weeks a more relaxed approach may be taken.

Hour 1, I take the first thirty minutes to practice nothing but character movement in repititions. Forward and backward walking, footsie movements, jumps in all angles,back dashes and forward dashes are all done multiple times on both sides of the screen. (I feel that all these exercises make you better at movement where its second nature to you.) For the next thirty minutes I set the CPU to fight mode on the hardest difficulty and practice nothing but movement (evasion, positioning, etc.) blocking and push blocking without the use of attack buttons. This is a defensive exercise which helps improve mobility and blocking as well as get some idea to certain character match-UPS. Some people may wonder why bother practicing without the use of attacks but I will argue that learning defense is absolutely fundamental and is something that seperates the good from the bad.
Hour 2, repititions of every normal attack (LMH) until you know exactly what attack is what command and when/where to use it. Do every normal (standing, crouchibg, jumping, after dash) 50 times from both side of the screen. Then do the same with every special, then every enhanced (meter burned) special, then every basic combo. The more repititions the better your muscle memory. It helps to say combo strings aloud to yourself and to even reenact moves with your real body in your spare time.
Hour 3, for Injustice in particular you also need to practice your character trait, wall bounces, ground bounces, interactable objects and stage transitions. Get those down after loads of repitions and practice and you should be dandy. Take everything you learned in the first two hours and mesh then together for your last hour.
You do this 3 hour training regimen for 15 days and you should be able to control your character like your own body. Now you can hop online and take everything you know about your character and start to learn match-ups and situational tactics and yiu should be good. This is what I do.. It might not work for some but it has for me.
great post dude :)