Training Diary to get good and stuff

[Riah]

[Warning: Long Post ahead since I don't know how to seperate things into tags]

Hi everyone,

Skullgirls is my first fighting game ( I have no fighting game experience whatsoever), and I've been a big fan of it ever since I found out about it (lurked sometime Pre Big Band release). I eventaully decided on purchased the game after Robo's release, but haven't been able to devote as much time as I wanted thanks to classes and such. Even though I didn't get to play as often, I spent some time just lurking some more around Skullheart and watching videos/combos/guides of players and practiced them every now and then. Now that I have a bit more free time, I wanted to invest more time towards getting better at this game.

I was a heavy lurker, so I was EXTREMELY nervous about playing online (still am to this day). It took my roughly 180 hours in-game before feeling decent enough to try lobbies (never stepped foot in quick/ranked match). Filia is my go-to girl since I love aerial mobility + aggresion, having Painwheel (C.Mp) as my secondary (I play around with the team order every now and then.) I also have a mediocre Double and Fukua that I use at times when I decide on playing a trio (rarely). The rest of the cast isn't so much my thing (especially charge characters and grapplers, even though I want to learn Big Band). I am fine towards learning on how to play the other characters though, but I want to polish up my Filia and Painwheel first before moving onto a trio.

I do understand most of the basics of the game, offense, burst baits, resets, etc. but my problems (or at least what I think they are) on what I need to improve on (mostly speaking in terms of Filia):

____________

General:

* Get a new controller. I play on PC with a PS3 controller, and my controller is very sporadically buggy. Occasionally it spazes out and mashes random buttons/directions which screws my gameplay over and makes me look like a mashing newbie. Even though a fight stick would be very beneficial, I can't use one for personal reasons.

* Try and join a Get Gr8 session. My schedule and times are kind of on and off, so I really don't know if I would have time to attend unless the actual day and time it happens, and by that time, it's too late to sign up.

* Learn character matchups! Since I spend 90% of my time in the training room, I really don't fight people, and thus lack the matchup knowledge against the whole cast. It's kind of hard to find a match against most players since the hardcore labbing training stuff puts me above most beginners, but still gets me nearly perfected against intermediate players. It is however, extremely fun playing with people around your skill level.

* Learn to block while approaching (also applies against zoners). Dash jump blocks and flight cancel blocks are going to have to be crucial towards my playstyle since I am a very aggresive player. Additionally, learning to block out of ground back dashes since getting hit while back dashing is very frustrating.

* Not be nervous against expert players. Whenever I see the name of a player that I have seen play from tourneys/skullheart/videos, I get INCREDIBLY anxious to the point where I don't want to play since i'm not worth much of a challenge to them.

___________

Defense:

* I can never block proprely. Whenever I am getting attacked, despite holding back or down-back, I'm block incorrectly and keep getting hit. I'm more than likely blocking high/mid but sometimes it doesn't even show me as blocking (no Counterhit/high/low effect shown). I can't also absolute guard some offensive tactics such as Double J.Hp + Squigly C.Hp (assist) I saw someone using. Would using the D-pad instead of the analog stick help?

* My reaction time isn't as fast, so even when I can predict or see when a reset like a Kanchou or throw coming up, I can't get the timing on it. The same goes for when I try to do things such as Updo (PGBC or wake-up) which end up becoming unreliable defensive maneuvers.

___________

Neutral:

* I have almost no idea what to do in the neutral against another compotent player. Even though I play aggresive characters, as soon as the match starts, I end up backing myself up into the corner way too afraid of getting hit and reset to death. With Filia I tend to approach with IAD aerials or L/M Airball, and those easily get stuffed/traded, and with Painwheel I either charge nails + fly, or fly + armor j.hp > refly. Either way, I can't get in or land a hit against most of my opponents since they can block or space well, especially my mixups or resets. When I get a stray hit, I panic for a bit and end up spending meter to convert off of it. Most games in which I play patiently are games where I am incredibly nervous.

* I need to learn a safe blockstring for the characters I use. I know Updo > Gregor is sorta safe, but costs meter, but most of the time I just end my blockstring with S.Hp with and pray they don't hit me immediately. I don't think Ringlet is safe unless they pushblock it, and with Painwheel I tend t end my block strings with LK Beur cause muscle memory habits and get punished for that as well.

* I need to learn to bait and punish mashing/mashed supers/specials properly. Most of the time when I try and go for a reset, my opponents like to use supers (mostly Fukua things like Drill of my Dreams or BFF), and I get hit.

* Most of my KOs tend to be from chip damage via supers. While a win is a win, it just feels "cheap" when most of your wins are from a random H Hairball > Gregor/Deathcrawl that chipped the opponent to death rather than actually opening past their defense and hitting them down.

__________________________________________________________


That's all I had at the top of my head. I will definetly update this thread with additional comments and upload some replays for visuals on some gameplay advice once I get some good replays of me losing as well as when I learn how to record and upload it to Youtube, but I would definetly love some additional feedback or sparring partners to help me along the way.

 

[Beta Ray Bill]

As a fellow noob, my advice to you would be to stop worrying so much about losing. Always keep in mind that this is a fighting game, and in this genre, beginners are going to lose way more often than in any other.
When you face a player you recognize as being "high-profile", don't get anxious, get excited! You're facing one of the gods of skullgirls, are they gonna use some sick tech on you or a cool new bnb you didn't know of before, or this and that? Always be WILLING to lose, because in defeat, we learn more than in victory.

 

[Nowhere Man]

Hi there!
Starting a new match, you can open it with neutral jump. It makes you less vulnerable than staying on the ground/going back, and you can see whether it's best to attack or defend from there. As for safe string, from my experience with Filia finishing ground string with 236K is safe. As for everything else - practice and patience. You can also add me on Steam if you'll need some additional advice and practice, I'll be glad to help :)

 

[Lex]

* I need to learn a safe blockstring for the characters I use. I know Updo > Gregor is sorta safe, but costs meter, but most of the time I just end my blockstring with S.Hp with and pray they don't hit me immediately. I don't think Ringlet is safe unless they pushblock it,

Filia's HP is safe on block (-4). It is actually safer than either ringlet or ringlet psych.
Generally, you should be doing cr.LK, MK and then if that hits go onto do HP. You should practice hitconfirming this in training mode to stop you from autopiloting to heavy buttons and to force you to pay attention in matches. If they pushblock then M Ringlet is good at keeping them in pressure and sometimes catching them unawares.

I need to learn to bait and punish mashing/mashed supers/specials properly. Most of the time when I try and go for a reset, my opponents like to use supers (mostly Fukua things like Drill of my Dreams or BFF), and I get hit.

For Filia, you can do HP, IAD j.LK/LP for a burst bait and if they don't burst you can get a cross under. You can also do HP, j.HK, ADC back, airthrow (whiff). This will also act as a burst bait and gives hardknockdown so long as you haven't already used your otg if they don't burst.

Most of my KOs tend to be from chip damage via supers. While a win is a win, it just feels "cheap" when most of your wins are from a random H Hairball > Gregor/Deathcrawl that chipped the opponent to death rather than actually opening past their defense and hitting them down.

Do not feel guilty about this. If your opponent is within chip range and you force them to block something and chip them out then that means that you outplayed them. You got their health down to a point where they were vulnerable, that means that you have opened them up during the match and you managed to catch them with the special/super to chip them out (which is also akin to opening them up, just in a different way than usual).

 

[Riah]

Ok, so after a sudden vacation with my parents and learning how to use record via OBS, I finally got my replays back and found a good replay session of matches which perfectly show the problems that I have mid-match. I had to break it into 2 sessions to avoid the 30 minute limit I think Youtube has. The person I faced usually comes by often with a Double + Squigly team and just steamrolls over me because I have a problem landing against Double J.Hk juggling.

Apologies for the horrible quality and screen composition, (if anyone could help me with these two, it would greatly be appreciated!)

I was definetly too predictable and panicked a lot trying to get out of his combos or desperately trying to get a hit in, which sadly only led to me getting hit some more, but I REALLY want to know how I can properly defend against his J.Hp + C.Hp offensive pressure.

 

[Riah]

Filia's HP is safe on block (-4). It is actually safer than either ringlet or ringlet psych.
Generally, you should be doing cr.LK, MK and then if that hits go onto do HP. You should practice hitconfirming this in training mode to stop you from autopiloting to heavy buttons and to force you to pay attention in matches. If they pushblock then M Ringlet is good at keeping them in pressure and sometimes catching them unawares.

I thought moves with a - meant that they weren't safe? Is there a specific number we should be trying to avoid to know which moves are or aren't safe?

If they don't pushblock, is it still ok to go into S.HP since it's safe on block? Or would it be better to just end it at C.Mk?

Thanks for the advice. Going back into the training room to lab out some more stuff

 

[Lex]

The fastest jab is 5 frames, so anything larger than -5 is safe. There are a couple of supers and special attacks that are faster, but you don't really have to worry about those too much. If your opponent push blocks MK and you follow up with HP (which would whiff) then you'd still most likely be safe.

You shouldn't be using cr.MK in your first string of attacks, it scales any follow up a LOT and can be PBGC'd for an easy punish. Use MK instead, it is a bit harder to hit confirm, but much safer.

 

[Mike_Z]

I thought moves with a - meant that they weren't safe? Is there a specific number we should be trying to avoid to know which moves are or aren't safe?

To elaborate on Lex's response:
A move that is minus means it's not advantageous, so if you and the opponent are both the same character, if they do s.LP as soon as they can it will beat your fastest-possible s.LP.
However, in order to be safe, all that you need is a move that is less minus than the startup of the opponent's attack they will use to try and punish it. So if a move leaves them right next to you and is -3, it counts as "safe" from everything except Big Band's SSJ. And if a move leaves them far away and is -8, that can still count as "safe" if all the attacks with enough range to hit you have startup longer than 7 frames. See?

 

[Riah]

Oh boy, after practicing out a few things in the training room, I decided to give a shot at online lobbies again today. Overall, the set was 44-4 (me winning 4 obviously), but I am just so confused and lost when it comes to playing actual players and getting in. I only recorded half of the set to save people the time, and since it all pretty much ends the same. Back to the beginner's lobby I guess. I only recorded roughly half of the set since it was all pretty much the same thing. I'm suprised looking over at how inconsistent and panicky I get when I land a hit.

What irks me the most is that I don't feel like I am improving at all with these lobbies. I don't know what I am supposed to be looking for, and the people who body me don't want to waste their time accepting my friend request to ask for advice.

Now with edited composition

 

[Sparties]

if you'd like to have a set and receive a little advice, i'm always open for adds. i know the feeling of being bodied and having someone refuse to give advice, so perhaps i could help change that.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Oh boy, after practicing out a few things in the training room, I decided to give a shot at online lobbies again today. Overall, the set was 44-4 (me winning 4 obviously), but I am just so confused and lost when it comes to playing actual players and getting in. I only recorded half of the set to save people the time, and since it all pretty much ends the same. Back to the beginner's lobby I guess. I only recorded roughly half of the set since it was all pretty much the same thing.

There's a few things I noticed watching this set.

1. You got hit with Excellabella assist a lot. Against someone with this assist, you should try to wait until the assist is on cooldown before you jump. You can try to bait your opponent into calling it by jumping forward then air dashing backwards or by flying almost into range of it then flying backwards. Until it's on cooldown you should try to avoid jumping forward and pressing buttons. Try staying on the ground more. Your characters have some okay fireballs that you don't really use because you're always in the air. Filia's Ringlet Spike is pretty safe to throw out as long as you don't use the wrong version and miss completely, and if it happens to hit them it's pretty easy to hit confirm into Gregor. Painwheel's nails are fly cancellable, so you can throw one out, fly cancel, and follow it in. If your opponent is in blockstun from the nail they can't call an assist, so as long as you time it right you can see that the nail was blocked and fly forward j.MP and start your offense up.

2. Your characters almost always die in order. Managing red health is really important in this game but you very rarely get Filia out when she's low on health. To be fair it looks like there are a few places where you're trying to super then DHC but aren't getting it for a few reasons. If you Gregor with the intention to DHC to Hatred Install, watch to see if the Gregor whiffs because you need different timing for the DHC if that happens. There's a few times where you Updo xx Gregor and it whiffs right over their head, I'm guessing you were trying to DHC but since they didn't block it you ended up inputting the DHC too late. There's also one point where you Fenrir then DHC to Hatred Install... Fenrir has almost no blockstun so if you DHC late here it actually is unsafe. Honestly if you want to mash something out with the intention of DHCing to Painwheel, I would do raw Gregor. For as much as Gregor sucks, it has more blockstun than your other reversals which makes it the best for the DHC, and raw Gregor is less likely to whiff completely the way Updo xx Gregor did a few times.

A few other ways you could get Painwheel in:
-Tag. Risky, but since Painwheel's tag has a decent hitbox and is comboable after, the risk/reward isn't as bad as with most tags.
-Alpha counter. Your assist is just a normal so after an alpha counter you can cancel into whatever else you want. You can even alpha counter and hold down MP to charge up armor. This is sort of gimmicky but it can be a safe way to get Painwheel in if you block something from far away, like a fireball.

3. Parasoul has a reset where she launches, then does 3 hits in the air, then can either air grab you, dash under you and hit you crossup, or dash late and hit same side. This is a pretty good reset and I wouldn't expect everyone to defend it every time. That said every single time this guy goes for the crossup you get hit. It's hard to tell since this reset is the only time this comes up, but given how often this hit I suspect you may not be good at blocking crossups in general. Most characters in this game can't just do a crossup reset whenever they want, they have to set it up somehow. When you see Parasoul launch you then do exactly 3 hits in the air, you gotta think, "oh, this might be that crossup". Most characters telegraph their crossup resets like this, so once you've seen the setup once you know that's an option they have. Again, he has other things he could do other than crossup, but he wasn't doing them for the most part, he was going crossup almost every time.

I'm suprised looking over at how inconsistent and panicky I get when I land a hit.

I have the same problem if I'm playing against someone with better neutral than me. I think most people have this problem, actually, where you finally hit them and you're like "wait I actually hit them? shit what do I do now". If you win neutral more often it's easier to get into a groove with your combos.

What irks me the most is that I don't feel like I am improving at all with these lobbies. I don't know what I am supposed to be looking for, and the people who body me don't want to waste their time accepting my friend request to ask for advice.

I think it helps if you're not really focusing on winning but focusing on something like "I will do that new reset I've been practicing" or "I will block that thing that keeps hitting me". If you have smaller goals like that where there's measurable improvement it's less discouraging than if you're just trying to win all the time.

Feel free to shoot me a friend request, my Steam info is in my signature. I'd be happy to play a few games with you and answer any questions you have.

 

[Riah]

That said every single time this guy goes for the crossup you get hit. It's hard to tell since this reset is the only time this comes up, but given how often this hit I suspect you may not be good at blocking crossups in general. Most characters in this game can't just do a crossup reset whenever they want, they have to set it up somehow. When you see Parasoul launch you then do exactly 3 hits in the air, you gotta think, "oh, this might be that crossup". Most characters telegraph their crossup resets like this, so once you've seen the setup once you know that's an option they have.

I definetly don't know a thing about crossups despite how much I watch sets and practice. Which suddenly arises a few of questions about them:

1. I had another set against a Filia + Double player and he was able to cross me up in so many times, it was disgusting. I think most of the time when I am expecting a grab I get crossed up/same sided and vice versa. My biggest problems in the set were an assist + attack on incoming crossup, and Cat Heads + Flesh Step crossup. For assist crossups, am I supposed to block both ways? Or block the assist first? How would I also go about blocking Double's Cat Step too?

I think it helps if you're not really focusing on winning but focusing on something like "I will do that new reset I've been practicing" or "I will block that thing that keeps hitting me". If you have smaller goals like that where there's measurable improvement it's less discouraging than if you're just trying to win all the time.

That's a great idea. I'm never expecting to win at all per say (I haven't "really" played against people who use half the cast yet, nor use them myself), but for me, it's a win as long as I can take at least a team member out of a duo/trio.

I'm going to try and set a goal on working on my ground game, since that seems to be severly lacking in most of my plays. I'm only grounded when I'm blocking, and my ringlets always whiff with Filia, and with Painwheel, i'm practically in the air every second.

It would be an honor to play with you! You play the 3 characters I am absolutely terrified of playing against, so it would be some great matchup experience.

 

[mcpeanuts]

I definetly don't know a thing about crossups despite how much I watch sets and practice. Which suddenly arises a few of questions about them:

1. I had another set against a Filia + Double player and he was able to cross me up in so many times, it was disgusting. I think most of the time when I am expecting a grab I get crossed up/same sided and vice versa. My biggest problems in the set were an assist + attack on incoming crossup, and Cat Heads + Flesh Step crossup. For assist crossups, am I supposed to block both ways? Or block the assist first? How would I also go about blocking Double's Cat Step too?

You always block facing the point character. If Double does Flesh Step and calls assist at the same time, hold away from Double to block, regardless of where the assist character is. If you're blocking a string from Double and you see an assist jump in from off screen, they're probably about to Flesh Step, so watch out. This is the sort of mixup that's blockable consistently if you're expecting it, but you'll still see it in high level play because it's low risk and sometimes it hits if the opponent forgot about it / wasn't thinking about it.

It's actually not super easy for Double to cross you up with Cat Heads out. The heads have a lot of blockstun, and the input for Flesh Step will make the cats move (the input for anything will make the cats move), so if she does Flesh Step with cat heads out you always want to block based on the side Double was on before she did Flesh Step. If Double wants to cross you up there it's more likely she'll just jump over you while whiffing a grab. That one is actually pretty ambiguous, it's not obvious which side it's happening on, so if Double does that, good luck! One thing that might help is pushblocking. Pushblocking can extend the time you're in blockstun. Sometimes that's bad, but if someone is trying to hit you on one side then immediately hit you on the other side, pushblocking can remove the gap in blockstun and let you block both just by blocking the first mixup.

 

[Nowhere Man]

Having played some matches against you, I say you should use your assists a bit more. Also, you move back too much when you should try to win as much screen space as you can, especially when playing Filia. I'd also advice you to try using Updo and blockbusters as "get off me!" move more, whenever I get you into corner I'm confident you won't use them.

 

[Riah]

Finished a ton of matches with Nowhere Man and Sparties, as well as in lobbies against some solo players, and now my quest and struggles continue. I'm honestly need in desperate need of a defensive training session because I still don't understand how it works.

* Do moves like Cerebella and Eliza's J.Hp always crossup? If so, why do they show the crossup sign?

* How do people buffer a block so quickly after doing an unsafe blockstring so or when after they see a super coming? I'm mashing C.Lp/lk as soon as I think it's safe, and they're already blocking, or they hit me fast enough to counter hit me. When I try and do the same, my block never comes out.

* How do I avoid command grabs? Not the hitgrab ones, but actual command grabs like Merry-go-rilla, Beo's command dash grab, Grab bag, Mortuary Drop, Fukua's non-armored spider grab, and Diamond drop.Can you tech them or do I just hold upback? Some of these grab me while i'm still in blockstun it seems.

* How am I supposed to block when someone uses a low hitting assist and hits me with an overhead at nearly the same time?

* How do I play aggresively? Everyone seems to be playing aggresively. I had a match against a Fukua, and everytime I approached, I was pushblocked back to the start.

* HOW do I use land cancels? My opponent seems to start aggresion the moment I land, which leaves me no time to actually hit with a C.Lk, or it gets stuffed by their own c.lk

* WHEN should I be blocking low/high? I'm my blocking goes low > high as soon as soon as I anticipate a high, but it seems that my blocking is ALWAYS wrong.

With my matches with Sparties, I was debating on going solo Filia just for the time being while I work on my fundamentals, but i'm totally going to be screwed over since solos suck compared to others.I don't know if that is a good idea, but I don't know what's best. That being said, I should look into other teammates to play and work with Filia, because Painwheel just feels like she is there as an assist. As much as I like her, the game's practically over once she's out.

Struggles:

- NEUTRAL -

Still don't know what the hell I am doing. I'm jumping in, backing out, and throwing out random moves and getting punished for it. Once I get a hit, my mind makes a gamble at what kind of combo I'm using and I drop my combos, incorrectly space my burst baits, or trigger IPS and make an unsafe combo that's free to burst out of. On the ground I can't hit my ringlets, and that's free damage for my opponents. Even with kara cancel spacing. I gotta learn to make a plan of what I want to use, cause it seems most of my combos end up being on the fly.

Defense in this game is super aggravating. I'm still trying to learn blockstrings or ways to make things safe, but it seems everytime I end up doing something that's unsafe, and my opponent gets a free counter hit. Likewise, when I see something unsafe, I either get countered, or they find a way I still can't block right and it honestly irritates me more than dropped combos. I can see tic-throws or some throw setups coming, but never tech in time.


Goals:

- Learn how to play on the ground. I would definetly love some help with this


- Learn a Gregor combo.
For the most part, as soon as I mash confirm a gregor or updo > gregor, my mind goes completely blank cause this is one of the things I have never practiced with.

Probably going to upload my matches later on today. Apologies for the long posts and barrage of questions. I'm going to go take a break, then stay in the training room and practice more combos and resets for a couple hours or so per usual.

 

[Riah]

It's been a week since my last post, and just a few has happened since then. Aside from a ton of combo/reset labbing in the training room, I got to face McPeanuts in a ton of sets and they were really fun. I feel like i'm on the right track, but I still have to work on approaching my opponent. I'm also noticing some improvements defensive wise unless it's a low-throw mixup. I suck at those.

I've decided to swap my team to Painwheel/Filia, it's much better than anchor Painwheel since she lacks a reversal for those tight spots, and I can focus improving my Painwheel since I am moderately comfortable with Filia.

Watching over my matches, I discovered that I tend to IAD J.Lp a ton with Filia (I guess for IAD fast falling), and I forget to Unfly, which are really bad habits I have to work on.

Learned a Double Snap combo with Painwheel. S.Lp > S.Mk > S.Hk > J.Hp (I had never gotten a happy birthday with her, so when I got my first one, I had no clue what to do, and which lead to my opponent getting away for free).

I also tried to learn Cerebella, but I can't get the timing part on the Basic BnB which is the J.Mp > J.Hk (restand). It either knocks them down for me, or the timing is off so it doesn't combo. Video included.

Current Goals:

- Learn a safe tag-in for Filia that can keep the combo going off from it. I know L Stinger or C.Hp/S.Hp > Tag is safe midscreen. Doesn't seem to work at the corners, where Filia's tag can only combo off of with an OTG. Too bad Painwheel can't cause wallbounce (unless she can in Install or something and I am unaware of).

- Learn how to deal with (and make) wakeup pressure as Painwheel. For this I just charge C.Mp and hope they don't use a multi hitting move.

- Practice Nail zoning. I understand the flow of it, but I cancel the nails too early and get punished for that a lot.

- Block Pressure with Painwheel.

I'm definitely down for anyone else who would be willing to help tutor me in the ways on Painwheel.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Watching over my matches, I discovered that I tend to IAD J.Lp a ton with Filia (I guess for IAD fast falling), and I forget to Unfly, which are really bad habits I have to work on.

Oh yeah I was meaning to ask about all the IAD j.LP but I never got around to it. For neutral I think IAD j.HP is better since it's a bigger hitbox that's harder to contest. j.LP is still useful since it's your fastest button, so you can use it to beat out slower buttons if you're close enough, but I don't think it should be Filia's go-to option.

I also tried to learn Cerebella, but I can't get the timing part on the Basic BnB which is the J.Mp > J.Hk (restand). It either knocks them down for me, or the timing is off so it doesn't combo. Video included.

Try delaying the jump cancel after the c.MK. You're jumping the instant it hits, but I find if you do it slower, the restand is easier to hit. I think in this game like 99.9% of the time when I'm like "I can't hit this combo and I don't know what I'm doing wrong", the answer is "do some part of the combo slower". You would honestly be surprised how often that's the trick to it.

- Learn how to deal with (and make) wakeup pressure as Painwheel. For this I just charge C.Mp and hope they don't use a multi hitting move.

Ok so worth noting, the armor on c.MP doesn't start up on frame 1. None of Painwheel's armor normals do. So if your opponent does a proper meaty (which is to say, they put an active hitbox out before you get up so that it's already on top of your character as you're getting up), you can't armor it, even if it's not multihitting. Waking up with armor is only going to work if your opponent is going for some kind of really gimmicky setup or if they mess up. Waking up with Death Crawl is a better option, although obviously this can be baited so don't do it all the time.

 

[Mike_Z]

* Do moves like Cerebella and Eliza's J.Hp always crossup? If so, why do they show the crossup sign?

It's not the crossup indicator, it's a regular hitspark - the crossup indicator is a bunch of those regular hitsparks at different sizes. It should in retrospect have at least been a different color, but we didn't have time or new art. :^\

 

[Lex]

Try delaying the jump cancel after the j.MK. You're jumping the instant it hits, but I find if you do it slower, the restand is easier to hit. I think in this game like 99.9% of the time when I'm like "I can't hit this combo and I don't know what I'm doing wrong", the answer is "do some part of the combo slower". You would honestly be surprised how often that's the trick to it.

I think Mcpeanuts means cr.MK, not j.MK here.

So yeah, as Mcpeanuts said, vs lights you want to delay the jump after the cr.MK. You need to do this vs Squigly for the combo to work and vs the other light weight characters you don't have to but it makes it easier. For mid/heavy weights you don't need to worry about delaying your jump (but keep in mind the cr.MK often whiffs on Big Band).

Also, for a combo that you can tag Filia in with and continue the combo, it'll probably involve using stagger. I don't use PW so I can't help much else but you'd probably need to use that (you may also need to be near a corner so if Filia hits the enemy on her tag, you can combo off of it).

For doing wake up pressure with PW, doing a charged cr.HP/cr.HK as a 50/50 is pretty good.

 

[Riah]

Wow it's been quite a while since I last posted. Family stuff and a lot of other things. Now that I am back in college, I can play a hell of a lot more.

I've been able to join two get gr8 sessions and I got some VALUABLE information on things to work on. Namely burst bait spacing (I blame online lag) and my assist calls. Watching some recent replays make me feel much better as there is a noticable difference between when I started to now. I'm actually comfortable opening lobbies whenever I feel up for matches (still terrified of random lobbys and quick match though). Will post a video up sometime soon.

I've also decided to use double to make a team for now of Painwheel/Filia/Double, but i'm not 100% set on using her yet as I want to improve my duo first. I know her Barrel loop and her Cilia slide combo, as well as her J.Lk > J.Hp burst bait for now, as well as her crossunder/double dash same side with J.Hp.

Gonna (hopefully) start categorizing things now.

Spoiler: Overall Goals

• TECHING THROWS: Someone could endlessly throw reset me into oblivion. I am hot garbage at teching them.

• Baiting Mashes: I definetly have a problem baiting mashes whenever I do non burst bait resets since opponents mash a super or a normal and quickly turn the momentum into to combo from there. I'm starting to get the hang of waiting a bit when they have low HP or in the corner, but other than that, all I just think PRESSURE, RESET THEM TO DEATH! YEAH!

• People in the air: I have a problem bringing double jump users down since they seem tmore content on zoning me out as I try and catch them up from the sky. Same goes for people who just stay at that spot right above you and I get confused deciding if they are gonna crossup or same side.

• Assist Calls: Thanks to TheCrankMachine for pointing this out. When I play Filia/Painwheel, I toss out my assist a lot hoping to use it as a sort of hitconfirm when it's a lockdown assist. Lockdown assists are used to keep them blocking, not aid in neutral. This is why I enter with a badly bruised Painwheel so much.

• Match-Up Experiences: I had a set with Kasparous, and he told me I definetly need some MU experience. Granted since I just play lobby players and my friends (who are mostly Fukua players). I'm a little scared to ask Discord, but I would love some MU experience against characters I don't face often like Fortune, Big Band, Painwheel, or Peacock.

• Combo Stages/Undizzy/IPS: When I get a hitconfirm with an assist, I'm never aware of the stages at the time and still assume I am in stage 2 of the combo system, so IPS triggers early, or other times when I do a combo when the opponent has undizzy, I assume the next chain after an airdash or flight cancel will trigger it, so I make a burst bait safe hit, not triggering the IPS, and I lose a good potential chunk of damage/reset oppurtunities.

• Painwheel -> Filia things: I have to hard lab some ways to tag Filia in with the OTG in place, and keep a combo going to keep the offense going. I know how to do Filia -> Painwheel, which is great if I don't want to spend meter but keep pressure going. I've seen Duckator also use her tag as a burst in the corner on sliding knockdowns, but it seems I NEED to be in the corner to use her tag for offense. Even then, there is a ton of inconsistencies with it. Big Band and Double on the top of my head can be comboed only if they are near the corner, but without the corner actually on screen, while everyone else needs the corner on screen for the wallbounce. Oh well, heavy problems.

Spoiler: Painwheel (wow so much)

• Wake up pressure: I'm only charging C.Mp as a mean of wakeup pressure I guess as an attempt to beat wakeup mashing? I don't know what's efficient. I saw Chuck's Meaty stinger that I really would like to practice (don't know how to do this in training mode).

• Nails: My mind kinda goes blank when I zone with nails, and I don't really think about the opponents options when I nail zone. Sometimes I charge a nail, and it's a little too late or too close to be firing nails in the first place.

• Armor Mixups: Another thing I learned from Kasparous. Once I charge armor with Painwheel, it's like my mind is set. I'm also charging C/S.Hp and leaving C.Hk alone, which can catch the people who expect the C.Hp and keep them guessing.

• Blockstrings: I really need to do a better blockstring than C.lk > C.mk > S.Hp > L Buer. That's bad muscle memory, and I assume just leaving it a S.Hp and going for a Flight J.Lp/Lk would be safer.

• DEFENSE:Ugh, Painwheel in the corner is almost as good of a GG for me as I helplessly try and block correctly or try and armor through. I'm really trying to make a habit to not mash with her since I don't want to spend meter to get back in the corner, and relying on updo will get me double snapped on good players.

Spoiler: Filia

• Ringlet Spike: I have to be more confident in whenever I hit a stray Ringlet into Gregor. It just takes me a while to process when it hits, and by the time Gregor comes out, i've missed the OTG and now I get blocked and punished. Spacing Ringlet spike is also a tricky thing since i'm left vulnerable for quite a while.

Spoiler: Help/Questions

• Air Normal -> Throw?: I've seen a lot of people do things like Double J.Mk > Throw or Filia J.Lp > J.Lk > Throw, and I've tried it out, but the timing is so inconsistent for me. Sometimes it comes out almost right after the hitstun ends, but other times it has the obvious long pause before the throw comes out. Anyone have any advice for connecting this?

• Double assist: Which Bomber assist on Double is better if I have Painwheel with Updo? Should I just have M/H for the lockdown? Or L for an extra reversal when i'm pressured?

• Double J.Lk > J.Mk > M Item Drop: How do people connect this consistently? My J.Lk pops the opponent too high for them to come down with the barrel, and leads to a free punish. Do I delay the jump?

Holding these later for an edit so I don't double post with my own notes regarding my team combo wise

Spoiler: Painwheel/Filia/Double Team

Spoiler: Filia + Painwheel

Painwheel's C.Mp holds the opponent in place for a while similar to ringlet spike. Assist can be used whenever you would normally use a ringlet. You can also use it to setup after an OTG for M Hairball > ADC J.Light/Medium and fastfall for crossunder/Air throw.

Spoiler: Tag-in Combos

Filia -> Painwheel

• OTG C.Lk > C.Hp > Tag
• Throw > Ringet (H) > Tag (everyone except Filia/Fukua)
• (Corner Only): OTG C.Lk > C.Hp > Ringlet > S.Hk > Tag

Painwheel -> Filia

• (Corner only): C.Hp > L Needles > Tag