A Diary Of "When I Get Around To It"

[Meow-Professor]

Frankly I'm suprised I never made one of these, and I suppose now would be a perfect time for one.
I used to be fairly good at Skullgirls. Not tournament-level, but decently okay. When I got a ps3 I really stopped playing over Arcsys games.
I've tried getting into the game again but I'm barely at an intermediate level now. I've forgotten basically everything, not to mention I'm having trouble adjusting to fightstick over keyboard since I switched to Fightstick in that time gap.
I've made multiple attempts to get back into the game, but they have all failed due to me being busy. Here's hoping this will help me.
Thankfully I remember the technical stuff, but actually doing it is my problem. I keep putting off getting better at this game, which needs to stop.
Let's start by the things I want to work on, in order from least important to most.

1. Resets.
My reset game is decently strong as Squigly and okay for Filia. I don't remember any of my resets for Cerebella, so I'm going to be starting over completely with her.
I need to work on advanced resets for Filia, along with just basic beginner ones for Cerebella.

2. Better, optimized combos.
My combos for everyone need some work, specifically Filia.

3. Execution.
This is a huge problem I've been noticing in my very limited recent playtime; my execution of specials outside of combos is terrible. I'm assuming this has to do with me not being adjusted to my fightstick, but I really am struggling doing inputs to react to things.
For example, if someone is jumping towards me form a half-screen away, I don't even have time to anti-air grab. I just kind of sit there and not know what to do, which leads me to my biggest problem of

4. Having no confidence in my matches/not being to react.
I straight-up simply have no idea what to do anymore, and it's frustrating. Instead of reacting to opponent and acting accordingly, I just sit there. I know this is just going to take only a few matches to fix, but it makes it hard to enjoy playing.

I'm hoping to update this as soon as I can and as often, but I'm usually in a situation away from my fightstick/laptop for SG.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I just played around 25-35 matches, and I went into training a little bit.
I haven't fixed my combos yet, although I worked on some more Filia resets and started with the Cerebella ones.
Cerebella's basic combo is giving me trouble, embarrassingly. The j.MP > Restand > j.HK chain is really unreliable to me right now, which makes things difficult. I'm going to need to go practice that when I can.
I've adjusted much better to the fightstick, thankfully, although I'm still having a bit of trouble with my execution. I'll need to go into training and just practice doing the specials over and over.
I'm having trouble pulling off my Filia resets, so that I'm going to need to practice too. Squigly should be fine, I'll worry about advancing with her once I get the basic stuff out of the way.

Cerebella feels really foreign to me, in that I don't really enjoy her playstyle anymore. I'm thinking of either 1. just dealing with it and hoping she'll be fun again once I know some more resets 2. dropping her off the team completely or 3. switching her for either Valentine, Parasoul, or maybe even Beowulf.
Parasoul I'm leaning towards because I used to use her before I picked Cerebella. The only thing I dislike about her is her charge inputs, which is one of the reasons I don't want to play Cerebella anymore.
Valentine has an interesting-looking neutral/reset game, but I'm not a fan of how her combos go. I also really hate her design.
I like Beowulf because 1. his design is fantastic, 2. he looks really interesting, and 3. I'd like to have a grappler.
I'll need to try those three again and see who I prefer more. It seems like a tie to me between Beowulf and Parasoul, if I do decide to switch from Cerebella.

Some things I noticed in my matches I need to work on:

1. I need to start using assists more wisely. I noticed I throw out Updo especially often, usually ending in my assist getting hit.

2. My defense is a little off, specifically my pushblocking, as I don't know when to use it anymore.

3. My neutral as Cerebella and Filia is pretty poor. With Filia, I abuse jump-ins way too much, and most of the time I just get punished. With Cerebella, I don't use my command grabs often enough and I don't really know how to get in.

4. I'm really bad with blocking and predicting resets. Especially grab resets, as I'm not very good at teching grabs, which I need to work on.
I need to start noting what my opponent does reset-wise in a match so I know what to expect from them when they go to combo me again.

5. Getting out of pressure. Once I'm in pressure, I'm not quite sure how to get out. This is a big problem for me in basically every fighting game and I'm not surprised it carried over here.
I need to start using my reversals more, specifically Updo with Filia and Draugen Punch with Squigly once I get a charge. I hardly ever use either of these and I need to start utilizing them more instead of my meter options.

 

[Pickles]

Get OBS and record matches. Recording sets with people is better than just random people on quick match but if you don't have friends around your level to do sets with then QM is better than nothing of course. Not only will it be easier for people to give you advice because they'll have concrete examples to point to, but even if you don't share them having recordings to analyze is REALLY helpful for improving your play. A lot of times you will make mistakes that you don't notice at all while you're playing but watching it after you think "wow I did this same thing a lot and I kept getting punished for it" or something of the sort.

Reversals are great but I'm always wary when people say "I need to start using reversals more" because doing a reversal is a very high commitment and should only be done if you don't think your opponent is respecting you at all. Doing a reversal means you're making a hard read, and while it's always good to be confident in your reads don't get too trigger happy with reversaling under pressure. It's infinitely better to learn neutral so you don't end UP in that position of being under pressure. That said, pushblocking is a really good thing to use (although there are definitely situations where you shouldn't pushblock, such as if you chicken block something with a long recovery, so learning when and when not to pushblock is very good), and PBGC can make quite a few blockstrings unsafe.

I don't play bella but learning to play Filia's ground game is something I'm still trying to do and it's definitely a hard habit to get into because her airdash is so good. Basically get used to ground dashing/wavedashing at people and Ringlet is a better tool than a lot of people think. Against someone like parasoul who it's hard to approach in the air, you can hitconfirm ringlet into gregor (gregor will hit OTG so you will lose that however) for combo. Even when using jump-ins however, learn which normals are best for jump-ins in which situation (for example, IAD j.lk j.hk is safe if they block high but VERY unsafe if they chicken block, so that's why you see a lot of high level filias do j.lp j.lk and then confirm THAT into j.hk combo if they see the j.lk connected). You sound like you're above beginner level enough that you probably don't go around doing airdash j.hp constantly but if you do then don't do it, j.mp is better for opponents below you and is easier to convert off of if it hits. j.hp certainly has its place however (for example if the opponent is above you, or if you're trying to contest in the air).

 

[Meow-Professor]

I appreciate such a big reply!

Get OBS and record matches. Recording sets with people is better than just random people on quick match but if you don't have friends around your level to do sets with then QM is better than nothing of course. Not only will it be easier for people to give you advice because they'll have concrete examples to point to, but even if you don't share them having recordings to analyze is REALLY helpful for improving your play. A lot of times you will make mistakes that you don't notice at all while you're playing but watching it after you think "wow I did this same thing a lot and I kept getting punished for it" or something of the sort.

Yep, I've been recording them but I don't plan on posting them since it's just with random people. It's been really helpful so far, because yeah, I get to see things I don't notice in the heat of a match.

Sadly, since I don't have any friends who play Skullgirls at my level, I've been stuck with QM and I feel like I'm not improving anything outside of execution, since most of them are not on my level. I need to find a really good player to play with.

Reversals are great but I'm always wary when people say "I need to start using reversals more" because doing a reversal is a very high commitment and should only be done if you don't think your opponent is respecting you at all. Doing a reversal means you're making a hard read, and while it's always good to be confident in your reads don't get too trigger happy with reversaling under pressure. It's infinitely better to learn neutral so you don't end UP in that position of being under pressure. That said, pushblocking is a really good thing to use (although there are definitely situations where you shouldn't pushblock, such as if you chicken block something with a long recovery, so learning when and when not to pushblock is very good), and PBGC can make quite a few blockstrings unsafe.
.

Yeah, my problem is I'm either not using them at all or spamming them too much. I've got to hit that sweetspot where they're just occasional when I feel confident in them.
I do intend on learning my neutral better, but I'd really like to be happy with every aspect of my play, which is why I want to work on my defense.

Excuse me, could you explain to me what "chicken blocking" is? Thanks, I've never heard that term before.
Looking at my matches, I abuse pushblocking much more then I should, so it's definitely something I need to focus on.

Basically get used to ground dashing/wavedashing at people and Ringlet is a better tool than a lot of people think. Against someone like parasoul who it's hard to approach in the air, you can hitconfirm ringlet into gregor (gregor will hit OTG so you will lose that however) for combo. Even when using jump-ins however, learn which normals are best for jump-ins in which situation (for example, IAD j.lk j.hk is safe if they block high but VERY unsafe if they chicken block, so that's why you see a lot of high level filias do j.lp j.lk and then confirm THAT into j.hk combo if they see the j.lk connected). You sound like you're above beginner level enough that you probably don't go around doing airdash j.hp constantly but if you do then don't do it, j.mp is better for opponents below you and is easier to convert off of if it hits. j.hp certainly has its place however (for example if the opponent is above you, or if you're trying to contest in the air).

Thanks for the tips for ground approach, I appreciate it.
While I don't abuse j.HP, I use it much more then I should, which is a bad habit left from when I started playing Filia that I never got out of.
I've got to start using j.MP in pressure more and my other jump-in options.

 

[Pickles]

chicken blocking is basically when people jump back and block to remove the possibility of high/low. "Upback" means mostly the same thing but I tend to use "chicken block" when they actually block in the air as opposed to "upback" as a decision made when you're on the ground. Because you lose all blockstun when you land, a move that would be safe when blocked on the ground can be unsafe if the opponent blocks it in the air because if they are close to the ground they will get out of blockstun earlier than usual. (Landing to remove blockstun is called "ground canceling" if you've heard that term used before)

 

[Meow-Professor]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Nevins]

Interesting read so far.
I can relate to splitting time between SG & Arcsys games, since I've been doing that (Xrd & P4AU, I don't have BBCP & am waiting on Extend)
You mentioned not having any friends at your level & wanting a really good player to play vs. I might not be good enough, but I'm willing if the region works: w.coast NA.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I'd appreciate that, if I get a chance to play later. No worries at not being the best player in the world, I just need some practice against someone at my level or better.
I'm near that timezone, but I've got a really flexible amount of time to play when I get a chance, so it won't be too big of a problem.
Yeah, though, it took everything I had to rip myself away from P4AU especially to get back into SG.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I played a few lobby matches tonight because I figured everything counts, if I have time.
I can pull off that Cerebella chain I was having trouble with pretty reliably now, so that's another of the little things out of the way.
What I was trying to do most importantly was getting out of my j.HP habit with Filia.
I forced myself to use my different options no matter how odd it felt, and while I can definitely see how using them would improve my game, I still can't help but always default to j.HP. That's going to take a little while, so I might as well direct myself to other things.
Going over my other options for characters, I can't really settle on anything but Cerebella. I like Parasoul, but her combos/resets are not very fun to pull off, and I don't like what Beowulf has very much. I think I might just stay with Cerebella, because I really like the Lock N' Load assist to help with my ground approach with Filia until I start improving that.

I noticed that once I get a successful grab reset with Filia, and I put it into Gregor Samson, I don't know what to do after that, since I don't have an OTG left. I'm going to need to find a solution to that that does decent damage.

 

[Pickles]

With filia after doing grab -> hairball/ringlet -> gregor, your best option is dash up into s.hp or s.mk -> s.hp, it's kind of character specific and nearly impossible on double, play around with it. However, most filias nowadays dont do gregor off of throw since the ringlet spike change that lets you convert off throw meterlessly. You can do throw -> H Ringlet Spike, short ground dash, IAD j.mp, j.hk and then combo from there.

Hopefully this helps, I just threw this together and it shows converting off both throw -> spike -> gregor and the throw -> spike -> dash stuff. I've seen better filias than me do 2x ground dash after the throw -> spike and then do s.mk into full combo but I can't quite get the hang of that yet and I think that's more situational, the spike -> j.mp j.hk is universal.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I played a little bit today and yesterday, although there isn't much to add.
I worked on executing my Cerebella resets a little bit in training, and learned a few new ones, but I only know, like, five.
Need to find more, specifically ones that hit high since I only have one.
My pressure isn't very good, as in I don't know how to deal with pushblocking. I'd like to start using assists, specifically Squigly's c.HP, to make pushblocking harder.
Another thing; I throw out Filia's c.MK way too much, fishing for hitconfirms. That needs to stop. I've also got to work on using Ringlet Spike more, considering I can combo off it for meter.
Squigly is aggravating me because I dropped about 20 combos today going from c.HP/sf.HP into The Silver Chord, which is...Aggravating. Don't feel like going into training and just repeating that link, so I'm not touching that.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I've played a bit recently, so I thought I might as well update this since I have time.

So, going into matches with my list of things to improve, I feel like I've succeeded in improving some of them.
While my assist-use to help my pressure isn't much better, I've gotten better using them to approach, while being less careless with them, specifically.

I played a bit more with the characters I was considering over Cerebella.
For now, I think I'll just stay with her. Playing as Beowulf, I don't think he's for me, because I really dislike the hop dash. Parasoul is definitely who I'm going for if I do decide to not play Cerebella anymore, but with her it's just a problem of me disliking charge inputs so much.

I've got to start expecting people to reset me.
The problem is, is that most of the time I'm fighting other people, they're not using resets. I'm not usually fighting people who are a high enough level for resets, so I don't really know how to react when someone has them.
I'm fine with grab teching, surprisingly, but I have the most problems with mix-ups, even ones that don't cross-up. Cross-ups alone are kind of hit-or-miss, but those I usually expect once I see my opponent actually has them.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I've played a lot with Parasoul, and I really like her playstyle.
I've got her combos down, and quite a few resets, along with a decent grasp of her neutral, although that definitely has room for improvement.
Some things I need to work on with her:

Spacing. I am not very good with my Napalm Shot zoning (I'd like to play her as much of a zoner I can)
My approach. I abuse jump-in j.LP/j.HP a lot, and I don't know how to get in on zoners (specifically Robo-Fortune, as the lasers beat out my Napalm Shots).
I don't think I'll drop Cerebella, since she is really fun, though.

I'd like to focus on Filia now. I have almost no resets for larger weights and my neutral/pressure is really lacking.
I don't have a decent blockstring and I'm not very confident with her kit.
I've started using Ringlet Spike in neutral and it's pretty useful, and I've stopped being so air-reliant, at least, but I still don't know what to do against characters that have longer-range air normals.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

For your parasoul, You are too air reliant. Use sf.lp or b.hk more when you're trying to open me up. Great tools. This is next thing I'm going to say is more for both of us. Both of us did it. When one of our resets failed, for you it was crossunder low, you did a grab instead and that caught me, but you never did it again. Which was surprising since you pretty much went crossunder into low everytime. I don't play Parasoul although I do think shes awesome. May I suggest experimenting with (in air) qcb+k during pressure an any other scenarios that don't look like you can get hit from there?

For your Filia, use more low air dash when trying to open up. You kept doing your low blockstring ending in ringlet spike consecutively. Maybe you were hoping that I was going to up backing eventually since I do it so much? Anyways its punishable by PBGC grab. I did it once. I'll do it again if you use that string on me again :) If you need a blockstring, just use cr.mk to confirm. I think everyone does that along with an assist to make it safer.

My AAs don't seem to discourage you. Also I feel the same way when Parasoul's j.hp beats nearly my everything. How did I get around it? I tried to predict your jumps and go straight for an air grab or I tried j.lk with my Robo-Neko. Though I keep forgetting to continue the string.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I actually did that cross-under grab by accident, and I was never able to replicate it again for some reason, the grab kept whiffing (you might have noticed that happened a lot). I've got to go into training and see how I did that.
I'm also not confident enough to use my mix-ups in pressure, which I need to start doing.
Thanks for the tips, I'm terrible at picking apart what I did wrong/right.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I haven't updated this in a while because, while I've been playing quite a bit lately, I've not really noticed any major improvements or anything I need to work on in my games.
Some basic stuff out of the way, first:
I worked on my Filia/Parasoul reset game. Filia is who I'm trying to improve on right now, mostly, because my ground approach/neutral/defense are all terrible.
I noticed that I don't really know what to do when I'm on the ground with Parasoul and Filia. With Parasoul it isn't too bad because I'll do some zoning/poking, but with Filia I'm just kind of clueless.

If anyone wants to play some matches, I'd appreciate that. QM isn't really giving me the challenge I need to improve.
Just send me a PM and I'll open a lobby.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

Dang teleporations into resets >.<. Anyways.
So from our matches today here are some things you could work on.

Cerebella: In neutral it felt like you only did two things. DJ j.hk and kanchou. I predicted your jumps just far too often because you kept jumping over and over though I never really punished you properly because my Big Band combos are just terrible. I liked when you did a jumping move into command grab. Those always get me. Only saw you do it like twice though.

Filia: Damn iad are annoying for me. Between the first and later half of the set, you went from fast fall into ground grab to fastfall into lows. One time I think you did IAD high. Your blockstring is much better now. It's not always ending in hairball, but I can still punish L drill. I kept doing cr.lk thinking it would punish properly, but drill has got that crazy hitstun on it.

Squigly: One thing you are missing is air pressure and I don't mean j.hp. Maybe you didn't need it against me but it works great on Big Band is forward jump j.lp, m dive for pressure. Your mixing up between overheads and low flames got me good. Oh and I know you saw me avoid it a few times and you avoided doing the reset again. L gravedigger into grab I mean. Just like when you think I'm going to neutral jump your low or command grab with ur cerebella you could. L digger->jump->j.hk->dive kick

Parasoul: I had trouble punishing you, but I knew that after every blockstring you jumped and it proved correct nearly everytime. Then I finally punished you with M Brass.


EDIT:I should mention all the things you did good. Workin on it. Aight.
EDIT:I don't know if your reset reactions got better mostly because I forgot to incorporate resets into my Big Band, but you do seem to understand one of beowulf's.
That said try working on punishing my blockstring->command grab. I really shouldn't be allowed to do that freely.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I feel kind of bad I can't pick apart matches to save my life to give you advice in return, but I appreciate you writing this down.
I swear I've just stopped getting alerts completely. Sorry this is so late.

Your blockstring is much better now. It's not always ending in hairball, but I can still punish L drill. I kept doing cr.lk thinking it would punish properly, but drill has got that crazy hitstun on it.

I always used to go into hairball trying to catch you off guard. I'm happy I'm out of that habit now.
You can punish this if you grab me between the c.MK and he Ringlet Spike, actually. I never noticed until my friend started doing it consistently.
I need to stop going into the c.MK, because once I do, I put myself in a corner that ends in me being punished, or not continuing pressure. C.LK is +6 on block and I want to start doing IAD j.LK > j.HK off of it, but I keep reflexively going into c.MK thinking I got a combo.

One thing you are missing is air pressure and I don't mean j.hp. Maybe you didn't need it against me but it works great on Big Band is forward jump j.lp, m dive for pressure. Your mixing up between overheads and low flames got me good. Oh and I know you saw me avoid it a few times and you avoided doing the reset again. L gravedigger into grab I mean. Just like when you think I'm going to neutral jump your low or command grab with ur cerebella you could. L digger->jump->j.hk->dive kick

I kept thinking you were going to use Big Band's anti-air grab, which was why I was terrified to go into the air. I'll try to start doing it sparingly enough where you'll have trouble predicting me.

Character-specific notes before I move on to general non-specific things:

With Filia, I'm having a ton of trouble dealing with my neutral/ground approach. If I get a combo, I can reset them and bring their health down a lot, but I'm having trouble getting a hitconfirm. I've started abusing Ringlet Spike a little too much, but my big problem is I just don't feel like I can do much on the ground. I've got to start forcing myself to stay on the ground just to get better with that.
I don't really know how to handle people who can defeat me in the air. Beowulf's j.HP gives me a ton of trouble, but I've been able to counter it if I backdash > M Ringlet Spike, just not reliably and at close range.

With Cerebella, I need to work on using her anti-air grab on jump-ins. I usually can't react and do the input fast enough before I get hit, but I'd really like to be able to do that. I've also got to start using my command grabs more as Kyugetsuki mentioned. I've also got to work on feinting my Kanchou resets, because runstopping is difficult for me (I don't know why, but my fingers just fumble around on the keys).

I go into the air way too much with Parasoul. I'd like to start zoning more with her, as that is how I wanted to play her when I first picked her up.

I started looking at Fukua somehow, even though 5 characters is really, really pushing it. She's fun, but I don't think I'll ever really bother to make an effort to get better with her.

I also noticed something; unless this is someone I fight regularly, I can't react or predict to resets. I can block mix-ups fine, and cross-ups, but with cross-ups I always block low instead of high, even when they're obviously going to hit me high, which I need to get out of the habit of. Grabs give me a lot of trouble (on the topic of grabs, that's another thing; I'd like to start grabbing out of resets more, specifically air grabs), recently, even though I could tech them fine a little while ago.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

I feel kind of bad I can't pick apart matches to save my life to give you advice in return, but I appreciate you writing this down.
I swear I've just stopped getting alerts completely. Sorry this is so late.

I also noticed something; unless this is someone I fight regularly, I can't react or predict to resets. I can block mix-ups fine, and cross-ups, but with cross-ups I always block low instead of high, even when they're obviously going to hit me high, which I need to get out of the habit of. Grabs give me a lot of trouble (on the topic of grabs, that's another thing; I'd like to start grabbing out of resets more, specifically air grabs), recently, even though I could tech them fine a little while ago.

You don't need to pick apart matches to give me advice in return. I'm content with trying to help others as I see it as helping myself in the process...to get my ass kicked harder :) What you are doing now, reading my advice and what I say and verifying/explaining thought your own processes/agreeing/disagreeing, is very helpful for me.

I would have to agree that your ability to react or predict resets during the first or second time we played before this one was kind of poor unless I did it twice in a row like my air grabs. You did get my hop reset after air string after awhile and during this set of matches I noticed you blocked it once(don't know whether it was on purpose or not) then I immediately changed it up the next time.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I've been playing a few matches lately, almost exclusively with Filia. There isn't really much to mention.
I've worked on my ground game a bit. I'm not going into the air as much, but I'm still not very confident on the ground.
I've gotten quite a few hitconfirms with Ringlet Spike, but I have had trouble converting off them. I can't react to the hit fast enough. I've also started using s.HP for anti-airs and it is working pretty well.

I worked on my Cerebella resets, but I still don't feel like my reset game is any good.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

I worked on my Cerebella resets, but I still don't feel like my reset game is any good.

The thing about your reset game with cerebella judging from the recent matches we had is that you focused too heavily on command grabs, rarely did you use kanchou(just at the beginning). There are many more reset tools than command grabs like J.hp, 2j.mp, run stop cr.lk, cr.mk, tick throws(try other buttons besides cr.mp->cmd grab), grab bag. You faked kanchou a lot, but you never followed up with it. Most of the time you just stood there after faking it.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I've really spent most of my time trying to improve with Cerebella.
I've worked on my resets, and I have a good amount now, but I have trouble actually doing them in matches. I've started mixing up more and I'm pretty confident with my neutral.
I'm still having trouble with some of my inputs; sometimes a projectile will be coming towards me at what could be a leisurely pace and I just sit there fumbling with my fightstick trying to get the Diamond Deflector input. Sometimes they'll jump towards me and give me plenty of time to Excellabella, but I just can't do it reliably. I've got to practice dragon punches in training mode when I get the chance.

I can't tech grabs, even when I predict the grab. I guess all around my reaction times have been a little poor.

With Squigly, my offense has been struggling a little lately. I don't feel like my pressure is very tight and I struggle against pushblocks. I'd like to work on her after I feel confident with Cerebella.
With Parasoul, I've worked on my zoning/ground game and I feel pretty confident, although I still think I'm worst with her. My resets are a bit lackluster, but I feel like my pressure is pretty good. I need to start using mix-ups more, though. I don't prioritize improving with her very much, but I do want to get better with her eventually.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I haven't updated this in ages, since I don't feel like I've done much.
My Parasoul is a lot better than it used to be, although I still don't think I'm very good with her. I'm having trouble with charge down > up commands, so I need to work on that; I can't PBGC into Napalm Pillar or detonate my projectiles reliably.

I'm also having trouble deciding on what assists to use for different teams. I don't really have teams set up, I just play whoever in whatever order when I feel like playing that way, so usually my assists vary. I can't settle on a few; most specifically, over Napalm Shot or Pillar for Filia, and Cerecopter or Lock N' Load for Parasoul.

My neutral with Cerebella is pretty bad. I go into the air way too much and I never use my command grabs outside of resets. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but right now getting better with Cerebella is my top priority.
I feel like I'm having trouble blocking mix-ups. Normally I can react pretty well, but I've been feeling sluggish lately, which I need to work on.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

And here's my take for you on our matches.

I think I did at least two things that worked EXTREMELY well against you. First is cross-up j.hk/helicopter kick. I nearly hit you every time with it when I crossed up. Nearing our last few matches you started upbacking(I mean blocking in the air. I don't remember if you actually upbacked) which avoided the cross up part. It did allow my to pressure you thought(not a bad thing), you just need to deal with that pressure some how.
Second is cr.mk it breaks armor and easily counters tumbling run. So be careful about approaching Robo full screen with tumbling run. cr.mk moves her forward so even halving the distance between us/them can be dangerous.

I'd say like 90% of the time you used Cerebella's lvl 3 I blocked it. I remember the two times it hit. One was when I forgot to block low and the other time it was hitting me and my assist(I think). About 50% of the time it was used full screen. And it never it hit me fullscreen. I would like to flat out say don't use lvl 3 full screen to try to catch Robo lasering or using some move. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating the numbers, but lvl 3 full screen is like trying to punish peacock with it. She'd probably notice, probably.

Against my Big Band. "Watch what happens!" I'm kidding. I mentioned this too to i think it was joshb about Filia rushdown on Big Band. Big Band pretty much wants you to run in pressing a button so he can punch you in the face and SSJ which is what all my Big Band is good for cuz I'm terrible at him. And all you do with your Filia against Big Band in neutral is IAD j.hp->j.hk. At least thats what I remember. I punished it a few times with PBGC. But I think I can punish it with an upback into landcancel.

Oh and another very good neutral tool for cerebella is kara grab, just don't do it often because people love to jump. I've never seen you do it and I think its an option that should be used sometimes.

Oh yeah I want to ask. When you say you feinted command grab, do you mean run canceled into it? I don't quite remember what happened. I think you just did the setup where you normally would command grab and just went for cr.lk instead.

Oh man I've done so much typing and there's more things I wanted to say in the other post, but I'll leave it for now. After reading what I've typed I feel like I'm being a bit arrogant. If I am and I'm not going crazy, please correct me.

EDIT/P.S- We had a slight minigame of reflect the Robo lazer which was a terrible mess for you(You didn't reflect a single one). Here's the thing if you want to reflect Robo's lazer you need to either hard read it for the light/medium/heavy versions or react to the heavy versions. Heavy version have a re-actable startup I think. So if you want to reflect here are some easy cues. I jumped, am full screen or something close to that and haven't lazered yet. The ground one you can definitely react too. All you got to do walk forward(yes walk forward, not jump, not tumbling run, not dash) in expectation of a lazer and quartercircle for the rest of the dp motion. And if your reflect whiffs the first time, I will notice and be more careful. So try to get it first shot or just go in afterwards with it on ur belt.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I'd say like 90% of the time you used Cerebella's lvl 3 I blocked it. I remember the two times it hit. One was when I forgot to block low and the other time it was hitting me and my assist(I think). About 50% of the time it was used full screen. And it never it hit me fullscreen. I would like to flat out say don't use lvl 3 full screen to try to catch Robo lasering or using some move. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating the numbers, but lvl 3 full screen is like trying to punish peacock with it. She'd probably notice, probably.

I have a really bad habit of throwing out supers that are safe on hit way too much. A few times I was trying to see if I could catch you on a laser, but it isn't fast enough for it to actually be useful against them.

Oh yeah I want to ask. When you say you feinted command grab, do you mean run canceled into it? I don't quite remember what happened. I think you just did the setup where you normally would command grab and just went for cr.lk instead.

I just did c.LK instead. Usually I'll need to runstop if it is from a reset that cancels into the command grabs (c.MP > MGR) but otherwise I can just go straight into c.LK.

Oh and another very good neutral tool for cerebella is kara grab, just don't do it often because people love to jump. I've never seen you do it and I think its an option that should be used sometimes.

I used it a few times but I just really hate how it feels... I've got to get more used to it.

EDIT/P.S- We had a slight minigame of reflect the Robo lazer which was a terrible mess for you(You didn't reflect a single one).

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I'm having trouble with dragon punch inputs for some reason, which is mostly to blame for that.. Exchange
I do need to work on my reads of when you're going to laser, though.

Thanks for writing this.

 

[Meow-Professor]

A bit of an update, I could've sworn it has been much longer since I last posted here.
I'm spending all of my time working on Cerebella after feeling okay with my Filia neutral. My resets are okay, but my neutral is really bad. I let my opponent get a lot of hits on me and I'm not really sure how to go about with things.
Most importantly, I feel like I'm kind of getting... Worse, if possible? I make a lot of stupid moves I know are stupid but I can't really get out of the habit. I let people bully me around too much and a lot of times I just fall flat in game. I'm just at the top of my game lately and it is really frustrating.

I need to get my teams sorted out. Right now I just pick whoever I want to play but that doesn't always work out.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

Man my internet RIPed and now I forgot what I wrote about...well I'll just get onto the main points. I'm sure you noticed that your Filia had a hard time approaching my Beowulf. I stuffed your IAD with j.hp and your ground approach with command grab. I caught you very often with wulf blitzer.

Here's what you should try doing. Drill does stuff j.hp and blitzer, but it can be unsafe. Try using s.hp to anti air and position yourself with a dash forward. When you tried to approach on the ground it was too obvious. It's like jumping three times in a row and not getting air grabbed the fourth time. Meaning you stayed on the ground far too long and you were even walking. Your main ways to approach seem to be IAD, since you like dashing so much try learning to wave dash? Well for the wulf blitzer part...just block it and continue your approach. Wulf Blitzer is minus.

 

[Meow-Professor]

Here's what you should try doing. Drill does stuff j.hp and blitzer, but it can be unsafe. Try using s.hp to anti air and position yourself with a dash forward. When you tried to approach on the ground it was too obvious. It's like jumping three times in a row and not getting air grabbed the fourth time. Meaning you stayed on the ground far too long and you were even walking. Your main ways to approach seem to be IAD, since you like dashing so much try learning to wave dash?

Beowulf is probably one of my least favorite matchups with Filia, I really need to learn how to deal with it.
I'm very predictable but I'm scared to throw out anything against him, I've got to work on my ground approach still (this is going to take me ages, which is why I am focusing on Cerebella). I was actually wavedashing quite a bit, but you most likely didn't see because of the lag which is fine.
I've been really busy the past few days because of some stuff so I'm not putting as much time into the game as I'd like to, though. I haven't really had a drive to play (or, well, to do anything) but hopefully I will start playing daily again soon.
Also, quick question to whoever might be reading this, what is the best way to convert off of Cerebella's c.MK > runstop > s.MP reset? C.HP doesn't work and s.HP doesn't either. I've been using this reset for ages but I never really cared to check what is best to do after it.

 

[Meow-Professor]

So I haven't updated this in ages simply because I haven't really sit down and played in just as long. I played a few matches today and I really am genuinely worse. It is frustrating because if something comes up like something did, if I don't play for a week I feel like I start doing terrible again.
By the way, if someone advanced wouldn't mind adding me on Steam and throwing me across the room a little bit, I'd really appreciate that. I feel like I won't improve if I just keep playing quick match.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I'm still extremely rusty, but I'm getting back into the swing of things okay. I'm still having execution troubles but my neutral is getting better. I'm not back to where I was before I took this break yet, though.

 

[Meow-Professor]

I suppose it's good to update this now.

I've got my teams set out:
Filia (H Updo)/Parasoul (L Napalm Shot)
L Shot is really good with Filia and it allows for all the reset opportunities and stuff. Not going into this one

Squigly (c.HP)/Cerebella (Cerecopter)
Really like Cerecopter for pressure, and it creates a big hazard to help me get a charge. C.HP is nice for Cerebella as well, really helpful for mix-ups.

Filia (H Updo)/Cerebella (Cerecopter)/Squigly (c.HP).
The team of all the characters I use. I'm considering putting Squigly in the middle as I want the DHC options right away, but otherwise this is the team I enjoy most.
Not really in any order, but I suppose I play the top ones less.


I played a huge set with @gllt a few moments ago. We ended neutral (22/22 IIRC). He's helped me a lot, mainly getting my teams in order and just general advice, so thanks. My play was sloppy and I did a lot of things leaving me questioning why I would do that, so that wasn't fun. I've got to play more, honestly. At the moment I'm only playing around once per week, which doesn't really allow me much room to improve.

I also really need to improve my assist calls, they're really bad. I'll call them in situations where it is just a free double snap, damage, etc.

 

[gllt]

 

[Meow-Professor]

Haha wow skimming over this again I did really bad. Thanks for posting these, it helps.