A Few Questions to help me get started

[Maverick J]

A bit of context here. I'm from a KOF background and have never had any real experience/was any good at any Marvel-esque games.
Hoping to progress to "decent" in time for the A & C Skullgirls monthlies two weeks from now. Just a few things I want to ask:

1. If you forced yourself to only use training mode 30 minutes day, what would you practice and why? How would you go about doing it?
1a. Will the things you practice be on a day in day out basis (i.e. bnbs 15 minutes, resets 15 minutes each day). Or building skills over time? (i.e. Days 1 - 6 BnBs, Days 7 - 10 add resets, Days 11 - 14 add synergy and set ups)
2. How would you change any of the above if you were a beginner?
3. Would you recommend building on one character at a time or try to develop the entire team in one go?

Trying to work on Valentine (cr.mk, throw or H Savage Bypass)/Squigly (Center Stage/??)/Eliza (H Osiris Spiral/Carpenter's Axe). Valentine will be a must for me, I also know Squigly isn't exactly beginner friendly but I really want to use these two in particular no matter what.

 

[alexpi]

If I was truly dedicated to learning, but only had 30 minutes or so a day, I'd have a few things I'd do.

First few days I'd just push buttons with all attack data on (hitboxes, damage, frame data). Figure out what all my buttons do, try and figure out what buttons are good and when they're good. Ditto for specials and supers. This also helps you figure out what stuff is good as an assist.

Step 2 would be figuring out my BnBs. I want them down so well that I don't think about it. I mean, I've been playing for a while now and I still regularly hop into training mode just to go over my BnBs again to make sure I never lose the ability to reflexively do them. If you just steal the BnBs from the forums, chances are they have reset points built into them, so you can just add in resets when you're super comfortable with the combos.

Step 3 would be adding together everything I learned from my button testing with my BnBs. Learn the paths to easily confirm into combo. Some confirms are just plain hard (max range c.mk from Squigly, Eliza ground throw when only 1 screen away from corner, etc).

Step 4 is time to add gimmicks. For me, this is the result of playing games and seeing weird stuff. Accidentally doing a crossup and figuring out how to replicate it. Getting an unexpected hit and testing to see if it was a frame trap or if the other player was just stopped blocking. Also, learn your double snap combos around now. They're super important and by this point in training you should be able to not panic when hitting two characters and can recognize when you're close enough to corner to perform one.

Step 5 would be learning advanced defensive stuff. Look up Absolute Guard and Push Block Guard Cancel. I won't get into the nitty gritty of them, but they're tricks you can use during push blocks to either counter attack or just give you guaranteed defense. Similarly, figuring out when to use your reversals and alpha counters.


In my mind, it's all about building the skills up over time, though the amount of time for any specific thing is pretty fluid. It's all on how comfortable you feel as you advance on. As far as number of characters, I recommend starting with a team. You learn more about the general team mechanics this way. Knowing alpha counters, safe Sequels, good raw tags, proper assist calling and all that jazz. If you end up with only one character singing to you, you can go solo, but I'd learn team first as you get more of the game mechanics to start with.

 

[Cynical]

Just a note about your team -- if you have your heart set on Val and Squigly, I'd drop Eliza for Filia, Parasoul, or Big Band. Both Val and Squigly really need a good anti air/DP assist, and Upper Khat isn't going to cut it. With Val + Squigs, I'd recommend (in this order) Val with c.mk, Squigly with Drag 'n Bite, and Big Band with LP Extend. You might could go with a Filia or Parasoul anchor, but they're not so hot in that role (especially Parasoul), while Band is solid pretty much anywhere.

As far as what to do in training mode, I'd say do basic things like IAD normals and things like j.mp fastfalls and ADC double overheads with Val (I don't know what similar things Squigly has, but she probably has something), and then practice the shit out of BnBs. Resets tend to be as simple as "mix up between high/low/throw on each restand/stancel", so you don't need to practice them so much.

 

[alexpi]

I actually like Parasoul in anchor. Her bad matchups are largely point characters and her one good meter using ability is her level 3, which is also an amazing 'comeback' super, and she doesn't really need other characters to have a scary mixup game. She's not top tier anchor, but she's not actually that bad.

 

[Cynical]

Maybe it's just me, but I have a really hard time enforcing pressure with Parasoul without an assist. Yeah, LP shot, but that's easily pushblocked, and then you've got to get back in again. Of course, Para has decent neutral, so that's not the end of the world, but I'd rather have an anchor that kinda doesn't care much about their lockdown game in the first place (like Bella or Band) or an anchor that can do it on their own somehow (like Filia or Fortune).

 

[alexpi]

My logic is mostly that my team is 3 point characters and two of them really need a DP assist.

Still, Parasoul has a lot of potential to get back into the game with a level 3 to counter an assist call since you either get to get in or get a full combo off of it.

 

[Maverick J]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll try for Parasoul as anchor and dabble with Big Band if need be. Might end up posting a Training Diary later.

My initial logic for picking Eliza, I'm interested in playing her but can drop her if need be. I was hoping to use H Osiris Spiral for general lockdown plus to set up vials and seria cancels. I thought the hitbox for that move would also be enough for an anti air assist but it doesn't appear to have invincible start-up.

 

[CaioLugon]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll try for Parasoul as anchor and dabble with Big Band if need be. Might end up posting a Training Diary later.

My initial logic for picking Eliza, I'm interested in playing her but can drop her if need be. I was hoping to use H Osiris Spiral for general lockdown plus to set up vials and seria cancels. I thought the hitbox for that move would also be enough for an anti air assist but it doesn't appear to have invincible start-up.

with cerecopter val can do stuff like this and it's the best lockdown assist in the game.

also, if you need combos you should check the BnB compendium