Let me hustle

[CaioLugon]

@keninblack?

 

[keninblack]

I don't really play much anymore.

PME, Adeveis, uhh Shaky, plenty of PSN cats still exist that are worth playing. Just hit up that PSN skullbats thread and they'll link you to the discord or something.

 

[Zidiane]

Zid are you still stuck on console? If you are you should probably be playing @Adeveis @ShakyFingers and @PME as much as possible since they're the best players on console atm (if there's someone obvious I'm missing there don't shoot me, I'm kind of out of the loop as far as console players go). If you're on PC hit me up, I'm not a fan of sets but I'd be willing to bite the bullet on that to get you back up to full power. I know you don't talk a lot but I could give you all sorts of unsolicited advice.

I'm primarily on console, but recently I've been playing here and there on PC. I don't get access all the time, but when I'm on most US players aren't on. If I get the chance to hop on when you're on, I'd be down for some unsolicited advice :)

I'll also probably go check out Skullbats too, I guess. I have most of the players mentioned on my friends list, but when I get on usually there either aren't too many people on, or they don't want to play. Connecting with the Discord I guess will probably help find matches, though, so I'll try that. I remember Snerd and BandoNamcai mentioning doing that at NEC, and I'm only just now remembering that suggestion.

 

[keninblack]

Nah you don't need to play IN the skullbats, but those dudes are usually available just for sets. Entering helps too though I suppose

 

[Zidiane]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Zidiane]

I guess I know what happens when I play Bella/Fukua against Peacock now. At least, @mcpeanuts peacock.

This set was super difficult. Partly because I probably rely on Bella's tools too much to beat Peacock's zoning, so I don't really know how to deal with her otherwise. The whole match boiled down to Bella vs Double: if Double got meter and got far enough away from me, she could Monster, then tag. I didn't think of it at the time, but I'm fairly certain I can punish that setup by jumping in and blocking the monster, then landcancelling to punish Peacock. Anyway, as soon as Peacock was out, I couldn't call assist without getting tagged, and if Fukua came out I couldn't move or call assist. I don't know what I was supposed to be doing in that matchup, but I certainly wasn't doing it.

 

[joshb911]

Ok so just a few notes ok so just a few things I saw.
This is only for game one but I think what you were talking about can be summed up in that game

Spoiler

Ok so First thing is that when you did Dynamo at full screen I'm assuming you wanted to DHC to BFF. BFF is only a threat at about the same range that m item drop is a threat

When you got fukua in you did what I do you tried to run down peacock. YOU CAN NOT DO THAT! I have tried that for a year and half and it got me no where. Usually what I look for is assist call (in this case double). When assist comes out you wait then you counter call the assist. Your assist is going to get hit most likely but that doesn't matter because now you have an opening. You need to wait for h George then run and jump forward. There is nothing peacock can do unless m item is on the screen if that is the case then do the exact same thing and wait for it to fall and block it which moves you closer.

You had the right idea for using c.hk to go under peacocks projectiles but most times that won't work on her try c.hk into BFF just to get you closer.

Also do not EVER raw shinku on peacock I repeat don't EVER raw shinku on peacock. I'm probably the worst offender of doing this but the bottom line is you will get hit if you do that and on top of that you gain nothing if you hit peacock so you just threw away a bar to basically say I'm out of options so here is a fireball fuck it.

So to summarize you need to play patiently (yes I know I'm the worst person to be saying this), you need to wait for an opening and not make your own, and lastly you need to use BFF at the right time and range. This is just how I've been playing this match up recently and it has helped me quite a bit.

 

[mcpeanuts]

I haven't rewatched the set yet but there are two things that jumped out at me while we were playing.

1. You don't throw enough. There was one point where you did two MGRs in a row where I was like "oh shit he remembered he has throws" or something like that. I feel like you go low way too often, not so much in reset situations but more in like, you forced me to block a jump in or your assist or something. In those kinds of situations I feel like you always go low. (Maybe a bad habit from playing me so much, since I had a bad habit of always upbacking, heh).

2. You never punished me for alpha countering. The first one I did I realized as I was doing it that it was a mistake, like "oops I forgot, you can't do this to Bella". But after you didn't Dynamo that one, I figured, well I'll just keep doing it until he Dynamos me. Gotta Dynamo those alpha counters.

I didn't think of it at the time, but I'm fairly certain I can punish that setup by jumping in and blocking the monster, then landcancelling to punish Peacock.

You can, as long as you're close enough. That's why I don't really use that setup to bring Peacock in that much anymore. I prefer to land a hit as Double then combo into s.HP and tag cancel to Peacock. I think I only used it against you like once and only because I was getting desperate.

 

[Zidiane]

1. You don't throw enough.

2. You never punished me for alpha countering.

I've been trying to throw more in neutral. It's in one of the above posts, how I need to use it more, but I keep forgetting. I have been doing it more, but I still need to really work on it.

I always forget Alpha Countering is a thing. Always. It's never on my mind that it's an option, then I'm always confused for a second as I'm like "how is Big Band here" then get hit. I have the same problem punishing Squigly's Daisy Pusher and Beowulf's Airgrab super.

 

[Zidiane]

I participated in Sharpie's place against Yaya in a kumite promoting the SendTheWorldToComboBreaker thing.

I haven't updated my journal in quite a bit, but there's a reason. At NEC I talked to Sage, and he said I should play Under Night because I could learn fundamentals in that game that could transfer to SG. I didn't play that game cause I don't have a PS3, so I didn't really know what to do. Around the middle of January I decided to go back and play older games to do the same thing, learn fundamentals. I played through Old School JoJo's (and wrote an article on it here if you're interested) and Super Turbo (a review is going up to that site eventually) non-stop since then, learning all I could. As a result, my game has actually improved, I believe.

Now, the kumite with Yaya is sloppy no matter how you look at it. Peanuts, Kai, and Yaya all noticed and commented on it, and were even a bit frustrated or confused by it. However, and this was something I noticed at the time and was the reason during the FT5 I felt I did well for, my neutral was so much better. My spacing, the number of buttons I press randomly (I barely glided at all!), how I deal with assists, how often I tech grabs (play ST and come back not being aware of if they can grab ._.), how quickly I realize I can grab my opponent, how I look at my own assist, I've noticed an improvement in all these areas since I've come back to SG. I also am looking to more abusable tactics to incorporate into my game, where before I did whatever I thought would be the funnest.

I don't have time right now, but I'll go through the set and pick out examples of all of the things I mentioned happening in match. I'm really happy with the amount of improvement my fundamentals got. I think it'll make a big improvement when I get myself used to this game again.

 

[Zidiane]

Above match analysis:

Spoiler

Round start: I didn't notice which assist Yaya picked, but I assumed Beat Extend. I jump in and block, expecting some kind of oppening assist shennanigans, but he jumps back. I jump in again, calling assist, preparing to block the assist I thought he picked and punish him for it. Instead he has Brass and I eat dirt.

00:48: I expected him to jump and grab me, since I had jumped so often already, but he hit buttons instead.

00:53: I wait for an assist call, then delay my own assist call to catch him jumping in with buttons. I then get hit by divekick because I don't have a plan for when they're knocked that high up.

01:05: I hold the right directions, but get hit because I tried to pushblock early. A lot of my timings on things like this were off.

01:15: I don't remember why I got hit, but I usually hit either grab or j.lp on incoming as Fukua. I don't really know what else to do here.

The rest of that match can be boiled down to me not having the muscle memory with Fukua to come back after not practicing and do well.

The next round I'm a little shaken, so I mess up the round start. I then get a hit and pull out one of the new pressure strings, but everything else is a flop.

@03:05: I keep forgetting that doing j.mp, j.hp is bad. It catches people who downback, but at that point I may as well just land and grab. It's a lot safer. I stopped gliding, but I still have this habit.

@03:15: I make the first really bad assist call. Not simply a "I misread and got hit" bad, but "there was no instance I should have been calling that assist from that range" bad. Because of it I take major damage.

@03:22: I miss a chance to MGR. That into a reset would have killed Big Band.

@03:27: tried to PBGC, but missed.

@03:30: I'm still mad about this. But on my end, I should have either let Dynamo go for a sec, or did BFF. Fireball super wouldn't have really gotten me anything anyway.

After that I sorta give up trying to win. I also thought it was a best of 3, so I sorta was like "oh well". I didn't know it was a FT5 until we hit 5, so I was playing every match like it was the last one.

Round start 3: I mess up a lot. I know what I want, but I got impatient. I also miss tagging his assist with Titan Knuckle by trying to sweep instead.

@04:44: He was in range so I grabbed. He's not hitting grab at all, so I make mental note of that and grab him two more times. I should have done so earlier. At the end I expect him after getting grabbed 3 times to hold up, but he doesn't so he gets out. After that I cancel into Devil Horns to get out of his DHC, but miss the Dynamo input.

@05:18: I tried to push Cymbals but hit the button too early and get counterhit.

@05:28: I miscalculated how much damage the DHC was gonna do. I thought it was going to kill Squigly.

@05:48: I kept trying to bait him into hitting buttons and getting caught by copter assist. I predicted he would hit his jumping buttons, but I got hit anyway. Maybe Copter isn't supposed to be used like I was trying to use it.

@05:58: I think he's going to jump and grab me, despite not grabbing me once all set, so I get counter hit. I need to be a little less predictive.

The rest of that match ends with Fukua flailing about. I don't know how to approach with her by herself. At the end of that match I realized he was going to continue not grabbing, so I tried and succeeded at grabbing him. I forgot if Fukua turned when throwing someone behind her, so I thought I accidentally threw her to the wall. After that, the point blank lp fireball was supposed to be a tiger knee fireball, but I messed up.

There was nothing really important to note in the next match. More of the same, but with Bella dying sooner. I tried to hk drill a few times and miss. I lose the round because I forget which input fireball super is.

The next Round Start I pulled off exactly how I wanted. I was expecting Brass so I swept, then knew he wasn't grabbing and hitting buttons so I battle butted. I probably should have DDropped instead. After that, I predict he's going to jump with buttons, but I mistime my assist and lose momentum.

@10:55: I was trying to Devil Horns.

@11:02: perfect assist punish. He was in kick stance so he couldn't sing to get me, so I push into j.hp to avoid the snake and punish big band.

I try to grab again, but I'm still not the best at spacing air grab scoops.

@11:37: I keep trying to get him to jump at me so I can grab. I jump behind SBO and he jumps to grab me, so I tech and get out of pressure.

More of me being bad at Fukua and calling m shadow at bad times. Finally get my drill, though. Get hit by a giant step I saw coming.

@12:40: I get hit by a daisy pusher I was able to avoid. I can never seem to react to this super. Devil Horns keeps me safe, so even if I'm pressing buttons I can avoid it and punish.

A bunch of flailing and misspacing. But I take a game.

Next round start: I keep trying to predict things he hasn't shown me he's doing. I expect him to stop calling Brass at the round start after I swept it last game.

There's more of me dropping stuff. I tag the assist a couple times with safe heavy moves. Miss out on a couple game-deciding combos cause out of practice. I make a lot of bad assist calls, but get momentum going by grabbing, but panic and make a bad reset. Mistime a Devil Horns in reaction to full screen SSJ. Keep trying to mash reversals, but miss most of them.

I get steamrolled next game.

I only glide once all set, and it's because he's jumping away from me.

So, yeah. I'm actually a lot more confident in myself through this training regimen that I've picked up. We'll see if this actually pays off during Winter Brawl. There's also GU monthly this Saturday, so I'm getting back in shape so I don't drop everything in matches any more.

 

[Zidiane]

Me vs @gllt 20 matches

 

[Zidiane]

Played sets against TJ and Cloud. They both said the team is strong, but Fukua needs a lot more work. I knew that already, so I guess I just gotta keep grinding it out with her until I do better. Here's some advice Cloud gave me:

Spoiler

Z-Groove: what do you think of the new team?
cloudKing: I think it will be great, but you still dont seem to know alot of fukua stuff, and you arent reacting to what I do as val when you play bella
cloudKing: when I jump out of your m shadow shit, you can grab with excella
cloudKing: so keep that in mind bc in corner excella confirm is meterless in the corner
cloudKing: so its just another tool rather than just there like it is midscreen
cloudKing: I like that team alot, bc dynamo dhc is crazy good if you can convert off of it, and you have a safeish dhc if they fail to pb dynamo, or PB too early
Z-Groove: thanks for the tips
Z-Groove: I always have a hard time against VAl
Z-Groove: I never really know what to do against her
Z-Groove: and I can never block her stuff
cloudKing: well you dont have a wall assist
cloudKing: Sage will play Brass Knuckles, Drill, M beat extend, bc it helps cope with val by putting things val has to block
cloudKing: its the same principle with m shadow
cloudKing: you want to do stuff like call m shadow j .mp
cloudKing: to force them to block the shadow after
cloudKing: and get your mixup
cloudKing: You know runstop pressure, just after they block m shadow do runstop pressure until the assist cooldown ends and repeat
cloudKing: and the more the opponent has to block
cloudKing: the easier it is to get command throws in
cloudKing: keep im jumping in when I dont see m shadow, or I think you arent going to just wall with http://s.lk/excella
cloudKing: so mix that up, m shadow probably makes those safe if I block them
cloudKing: s.lk is pretty safe by itself lol

After those words in the spoiler, he tells me to learn a Fukua combo and do resets. I'm working on that. The thing is, though, I still have no clue what to do with Fukua before then. Everyone I ask says to get a better combo, but my combo, resets, and tech will never matter if I can't get a hit.

When I was playing JoJo and SF2, I was worried that it'd take me way too long to learn them if I was trying to learn actual combos with all the characters. That's when I realized that the core of the game, the most important part to learn, was in the neutral. Everything that happens after getting a hit is like watching a video. It doesn't change, as long as you hit the right buttons the same thing happens every time. So when I played those games, I just focused on little 2-3 hit combos and focused on learning the approaches, pressure, utility, and movement options.

However, coming back to Skullgirls and Fukua, I don't know if maybe it's because I already learned the game so it's hard to relearn it, but I'm having a really hard time figuring anyone else out any faster. I'm better at the base game, but learning other characters is still hard. It's kinda funny too, Being bad at Fukua neutral but needing combos reminds me of my Peacock. I can do neutral as Peacock well enough, but can't combo. If I learn a combo with Fukua, my Fukua and Peacock will be exact opposites.

 

[Pickles]

I actually happened to have a discussion similar to this today with someone talking about what someone picking up a new character should try to learn. People tend to put a very high value on neutral > combos; after all, like you said, all the fancy combos and resets in the world won't mean a thing if you can't hit the other guy. That said, if you get 1000 damage every time you hit your opponent and he gets 6000 every time he hits you then obviously even if your neutral is better than his you probably will not win. I haven't played or watched any high level jojo's or ST but from watching what street fighter I have, the series seems to have a decent stray hit to combo damage ratio (no idea about the numbers of course but say if a hit with a heavy poke does 1000 then a full combo will probably only deal 2000-3000 damage); I would expect 2-3 hit combos wouldn't necessarily be losing you a significant amount of damage compared to more optimal combos. In skullgirls it's not uncommon for a character to die after being hit once if the defending player guesses wrong on a few resets, and even just the string leading into a reset will do 3-4x as much damage as a stray hit.

tl;dr in my opinion Skullgirls is a game where your damage output is punished much more heavily for not knowing good combos/resets than in street fighter games.

Additionally, a character's neutral game is usually improved through trial and error; by playing matches you begin to see what works and what doesn't. Even if you know what buttons you should be pressing, the correct spacing and timing is just something you pick up over time. Combos and resets, however, are something you can learn on your own time in the lab (relatively) easily. Even if you think your Fukua neutral is still very lacking, no one would be telling you to learn combos/resets if you never got the hit with her so you must be doing something right and hitting your opponent sometimes, you just have to make the most of your hits.

 

[Zidiane]

I haven't played or watched any high level jojo's or ST

Most combos in ST end up being a couple hits long, even with multi hitting specials and supers. Like, I think Boxer's combo is like c.lp, c.lp, s.lp, rush punch, super (5 hits), so it's like a 9 hit combo. The main important bits of ST (from what I gathered) are like the setups and OS's. One for boxer is landing a grab, which after the opponent gets out of you can walk forward and throw out a meaty lp and then loop back into the grab. It's I think a 0 frame grab with like a 1 or 2 frame tech window, and you can throw off the timing by doing two c.lp's instead. Do that like 3 or 4 times and they're dead.

With Jojo, the high level play seemed more to revolve around mastering the character's movement options. There were big damage combos, but they usually leaned towards getting a hit and then going into your Tandem combo (sorta like doing a Genei Jin with your Stand while you can still attack), meaning characters without a Tandem/active Stand didn't do nearly as much damage. Manuevering to a position where you get the hit or make them block seemed really important, even more so with characters that didn't have access to the big damage stuff.

Here's a couple vids, if you're interested: Super Turbo at EVO 2012 (Watch Claw and T.Hawk for obvious examples of powerful setups), Jojo's at some tournament idk (check any match with Hol Horse or Vanilla Ice, those are the two good players), Jojo's at a Japanese Tournament (The Alessi match is really interesting, and Jojo has Tandem combos)

I would expect 2-3 hit combos wouldn't necessarily be losing you a significant amount of damage compared to more optimal combos.

I actually wasn't running around with an ABC combo with Fukua, I just kept dropping my combo. It's weird timing that I have a hard time getting used to, same reason I give up learning Peacock combos. I am actively practicing the combo, but it's just... hard for me. I don't know why it's so hard.

Even if you know what buttons you should be pressing, the correct spacing and timing is just something you pick up over time.

I don't know what buttons to really be pressing, though. I've been trying to play her for a few months now. I just don't want it to take this long to get better, I want to be able to pick up characters faster than this. I just have to figure out how to learn faster. It's what top players do, when they have a game for like an hour and then win a tournament with that character. Maybe playing more games is the key, but for now I want my Fukua ready for Combo Breaker.

Even if you think your Fukua neutral is still very lacking, no one would be telling you to learn combos/resets if you never got the hit with her so you must be doing something right and hitting your opponent sometimes, you just have to make the most of your hits.

... I didn't think about it like that. You're right. I'm getting the hit often enough. I still feel really lost when in neutral, but maybe the confidence of a reliable combo would help alleviate that.

 

[Zidiane]

Went and looked around some match footage with Fukua. Things that looked good that I should remember:

on block: c.lk, c.mk, assist, lk drill
on block: c.lk, c.mk, lk shadow
on knockdown: assist, jf tk fireball (crossup)
on knockdown: shadow
above opponent: lp fireball, j.hk
aerial opponent on block: j.lp, j.hk, assist, lp fireball

as bella: do battle butt backed by assist (I keep forgetting this is an option)

I should also not be scared to use common resets. Despite how widespread it is, c.mk, c.hk shennanigens are something I should be doing. I feel like it can be reacted to if people watch for c.mp then switch blocking, but idk.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Went and looked around some match footage with Fukua. Things that looked good that I should remember:

on block: c.lk, c.mk, assist, lk drill
on block: c.lk, c.mk, lk shadow

Do c.LKx2. It's hit confirmable and +4 on block.

 

[Cadenza]

To add on to what peanuts just said.

doing c.lk c.mk <--- at this point you will prolly get clipped by PBGC, the assist might save you.....might not. Against big band you WILL die.


c.lk c.mk, L shadow is not a real blockstring, never was. If you decide to do it and the opponent is mindful you will get hit by the following:

Eliza: neutral jump j.hp into combo, upperkhat
Filia: neutral jump j.hk. gregor
parasoul: neutral jump j.hk, pillar,
Peacock: m bang
Fortune: fiber
Bella, 360
Double: L bomber
the list goes on.

also for the knockdown:

you got many options.
L shadow does not cause pre-block so it has to be meaty. H shadow is too slow to be reactable.
you can run up low, you empty jump low, you can run up grab. or do crossup j.mk, or call assist and uncrossup with fireball. or crossup with j.mk + assist

 

[Zidiane]

To add on to what peanuts just said.

doing c.lk c.mk <--- at this point you will prolly get clipped by PBGC, the assist might save you.....might not. Against big band you WILL die.


c.lk c.mk, L shadow is not a real blockstring, never was.

My assist is copter if that makes any difference.

 

[Cadenza]

c.mk is the point where PBGC's are gonna happen, usually.

Once copter is active the person just does absolute guard and nullifies any sort of mixup you want to do.
if anything c.lk c.lk, s.mk would be safer than a potential 6 hit blockstring waiting to get ssj'd, Fenrir'd dp.

 

[Zidiane]

Here's my review on ST. I detail what I learned from the game there. That's all stuff I'm trying to apply to SG now, and it's actually really helping.

http://www.k-p-b.com/2016/02/zrr0216-2/

I did one for old school capcom jojo too, but I linked that one last page.

 

[Zidiane]

Just got home from Winter Brawl. It's not up on youtube yet. Maybe I'll link it. For those that weren't there/didn't see me in top 8, I performed horribly. It's frustrating, because I think I played really strongly the day before. I didn't have any incredibly tough matches, but my play in and of itself was on point. My play the following day was not. I think it in part has to do with me not being able to get any practice games in before Top 8. No one was around with setups, unfortunately (not that I could find). I may still have lost, but I would have been able to perform normally at least. The stream deserved to see me playing like I deserved to be in Top 8.

As far as the Sonic Match: He mirrored me. He played Solo bella. He told me he was going to mirror me. I should have went Peacock/Bella first game (daring him to mirror me). If he did, and he probably would have, I would have had an easier time I think. If he won, I could have switched to solobella had some of the best matchup experience for the job.

That's all assuming I was playing correctly, though. I messed up several times. From memory, there was one time he was in front of me and I tried to Diamond Drop, but got c.lp cancelled into DDrop, which whiffed and killed me. After I lost the first game I switched to Bella/Fukua. Honestly should have probably switched to Peacock/Bella instead, but I think I was panicking a bit and not feeling confident in myself. Afterwards he beats me two more times and wins the set. I switched in the first place because I didn't want him beating my Bella with his and doing any more psychological damage than normal, but I think I psyched myself out. I ran away from the challenge because I assumed he'd win. Playing a match and assuming the opponent will win is basically letting them win for free. I should have fought him for Bella.

The next set was against Peanuts. My head was still stuck in the SonicFox set. I knew I was beat before even sitting down. After the first game with Sonic, I spiral down in a defeatist mentality. I'm unable to pull myself out of this for a single one of my 6 Top 8 match. I really wanted footage to bring back to this thread to get dissected, but I couldn't even get that.

One really cool thing @mcpeanuts did was, at one point I was starting to build some momentum (which I desperately needed), and his Big Band was coming in. I knew he knew I wanted to press my advantage, so he did drum super on incoming. I blocked it and kept him in the corner, and he DHC'd to Lenny. Like he thought, I really wanted to press my momentum, so I landed with j.hk, and he read it with MP Bang into super and basically won that game. That was super cool. Good shit, peanuts. He also grabbed me a bunch.

Edit: I went back through the footage. I didn't play as badly as I felt. Maybe if I had a better outlook it would have turned out different. I'm visibly defeated from the start. Maybe I'll see if I can have someone help me look at it and see what I can try to remember next time I'm in a situation like that, where I just feel defeated, to help me get my momentum back.

 

[Broseidon Rex]

From memory, there was one time he was in front of me and I tried to Diamond Drop, but got c.lp cancelled into DDrop, which whiffed and killed me.

I saw this and cried with you. I figured it was an accident, but it was still sad to watch.

One really cool thing @mcpeanuts did was, at one point I was starting to build some momentum (which I desperately needed), and his Big Band was coming in. I knew he knew I wanted to press my advantage, so he did drum super on incoming. I blocked it and kept him in the corner, and he DHC'd to Lenny. Like he thought, I really wanted to press my momentum, so I landed with j.hk, and he read it with MP Bang into super and basically won that game. That was super cool. Good shit, peanuts. He also grabbed me a bunch.

That was legitimately cool to watch that exchange.

Maybe I'll see if I can have someone help me look at it and see what I can try to remember next time I'm in a situation like that, where I just feel defeated, to help me get my momentum back.

Mentally, do you do anything to prepare yourself for the match? I have a small routine that used to center me and make sure I was engrossed in the match and not on any negative or overconfident feelings. I do it inbetween every game. Maybe start doing something like that to center yourself?
Also, before matches, you could ask someone to stay nearby to give some advice or encouragement. They might just say that one thing that'll help you out, and there's no shortage of people in the SGC willing to give encouragement.

But in any case, you still made a showing at Top 8, so don't knock yourself too hard.

 

[Zidiane]

Mentally, do you do anything to prepare yourself for the match?

No, not really. I didn't know people did that. I usually just jump right in. What kind of routine do you do? I don't even know where I would start something like that.

Edit: Well... actually, I have been playing Megalovania during matches. Just hearing it pumps me up for the match. I didn't have it ready, though, I was just using game sound. It's sorta like a routine though, kinda.

Also, before matches, you could ask someone to stay nearby to give some advice or encouragement.

I usually have a hard time asking for this type of thing. I had someone who was cheering me on, but they weren't there for the start of the match. I don't know if that would have made a difference, but it may have.

But in any case, you still made a showing at Top 8, so don't knock yourself too hard.

That's true. I don't feel like I deserved to be there with how I played, but I was there. I placed for the first time since... oh, god, how long has it been... I think the last time was the NEC before last, when I played Wing in Top 8. This tourney was actually the first time in a long time that I felt I played any part of it at my best.

 

[Deer]

No, not really. I didn't know people did that. I usually just jump right in. What kind of routine do you do? I don't even know where I would start something like that.

Edit: Well... actually, I have been playing Megalovania during matches. Just hearing it pumps me up for the match. I didn't have it ready, though, I was just using game sound. It's sorta like a routine though, kinda.

.

Piggybacking off of what Broseidon said about a sort of pre-match preparation:
If I know I'm going to a thing where I have to compete I usually listen to the same thing whenever practicing or playing sets for the week before. This helps me out since it's a mix of music that I don't normally listen to, so it's only really associated with me prepping for something or playing in an actual match. It's also nice for blocking out background noise.

I guess another minor thing to add on is that its a 6 hour mix so I just leave it running between matches and stuff and don't have to worry about pulling up a song.

Another small thing that I do is remind myself to take things one confirm at a time or one reset at a time etc etc and not to think a million steps ahead, or about the outcome of a set while I'm still in it. I do this kind of like a mantra beforehand I guess.

 

[mcpeanuts]

I switched in the first place because I didn't want him beating my Bella with his and doing any more psychological damage than normal, but I think I psyched myself out. I ran away from the challenge because I assumed he'd win. Playing a match and assuming the opponent will win is basically letting them win for free. I should have fought him for Bella.

tbh I don't think there should have been psychological damage here. Sonic doesn't like to play trio or even duo against teams, especially not against Bella where your assist can die in a hit. His advice to me before I played you was to play solo actually, and when I picked trio anyways he told me "you do realize if you get touched you're going to die, right?" Bella is also one of the characters he's put the most time into and one of the character's he's strongest with. I wouldn't interpret his solobella pick as "I'm better than you with this solo character without even maining her", it's specifically something he did because he didn't feel confident in the matchup with his Filia team.

Another thing I want to mention, which isn't so much advice as much as an anecdote, but maybe you could get something out of my thought process for my pool matches. I knew from playing Twerk in casuals that there was a good chance he would beat me in pools, so when I went down to play my first match against mr foo, I was like, "okay, I probably have to play this guy twice to get out of this pool, so I should play conservatively at first to try to get information, and I can't show him all my tricks right away." Like, I think if you go into things like "I have to win this game" or "I have to win this set" you're putting yourself at a disadvantage, because it's 2/3 double elim. If you go into it thinking "I have to win" and then you don't, it fucks you up for the next game or the next set. I know cause I've been there.

One really cool thing @mcpeanuts did was, at one point I was starting to build some momentum (which I desperately needed), and his Big Band was coming in. I knew he knew I wanted to press my advantage, so he did drum super on incoming. I blocked it and kept him in the corner, and he DHC'd to Lenny. Like he thought, I really wanted to press my momentum, so I landed with j.hk, and he read it with MP Bang into super and basically won that game. That was super cool. Good shit, peanuts. He also grabbed me a bunch.

Thanks. You gave me a lot of trouble the last time we played online prior to this tournament, so I put a lot of thought into what I would do if I ran into you in tournament.

 

[Cadenza]

Zid, if it might help you this is really what i do at tournament.

Before pools:

For me, I play casuals against anyone. Unless you're in my pool due to some people being uncomfortable about being downloaded which is understandable. I at the very least go into training mode and get my muscle memory going and i think its important to get your warm ups. If you have a laptop just bring to you at a tournament even though the setup will be PS4 so that you can always warm up at anytime. This is before you actually play in pools though so let me get to the important bit about playing in pools and frankly i haven't really gotten the grasp of it from what you guys saw during some of my matches.

During Tournament:
Now this is the IMPORTANT bit I think people should do if they get stressed. Anytime after a match or round is completed, if you saw me play vs @mcpeanuts (sorry about that btw if it slightly angered you) I took some seconds before hitting play again. This is because I get really really really really tense if i legit do not take a deep breath and think about "what the fuck" happened in that match and it just keeps me calm. One thing that i think everyone here could do better on is going into the match thinking "hm, how do I win this round?" which was similar to my joke "how do i body this scrub this time?" point is not to go in there thinking you will get your ass whooped. its hard at times but having a confidence morale is REALLY REALLY important. it will show in your play, whether it'd be neutral or resets or combos, etc.

TL;DR: Before pools, Warm up. Treat it like you would a sport, touch the game atleast once to say that you know the game if you get what i'm saying.

During pools and matches, take a bit before hitting play again when things get stressful so that you can cool down and re-center yourself for you next plan of attack.

I never really had someone sit right beside me or anything so i don't know if it works for me or not but this is honestly all i do from my transition from NEC 15 to now

 

[Zidiane]

tbh I don't think there should have been psychological damage here. Sonic doesn't like to play trio or even duo against teams, especially not against Bella where your assist can die in a hit. His advice to me before I played you was to play solo actually, and when I picked trio anyways he told me "you do realize if you get touched you're going to die, right?" Bella is also one of the characters he's put the most time into and one of the character's he's strongest with. I wouldn't interpret his solobella pick as "I'm better than you with this solo character without even maining her", it's specifically something he did because he didn't feel confident in the matchup with his Filia team.

I didnt know any of that. I will keep that in mind next time. I thought he was doing it to fuck with me, which fucked me up. That would explain our pregame exchange. I asked him if he was gonna get more points, and he said he wouldn't go for them. It's because he was taking me seriously, not just trolling.

 

[Zidiane]

Played a set with TJ again. This time, I went Fukua/Bella. I think I like this setup against Peacock. With LNL, I can call it and then run up or dash jump forward or throw a fireball. It gives me a lot more freedom than Bella/Fukua, where I can't call Fukua at all or she gets bopped. I need to learn the range of LNL a little better and get a little better with Fukua before I can do it well, but I can see where and how it works.

 

[Zidiane]

Oh yeah. Learned a Peacock combo. Sorta. Working on it. But I can do the airdash part, which was always the hardest part for me. I don't know why I can suddenly do it, but I can. If I can get it consistently, I'll start using her for tournament as a not-gimmick.

 

[Broseidon Rex]

Everyone else's routine sounds pretty solid. I would try those if you can.
My routine is drink a bit of water before each match, tell myself that anyone and everyone can be an unknown killer and don't underestimate them, think about what I did wrong/right inbetween matches, and take my time before going to the next match.

It's also why I have to go to the bathroom so often. SO MUCH WATER

 

[Zidiane]

Ok. So, for about two months I haven't posted here. I've been busy and stressed, but I've been keeping up practice. I actually also have something to show for it! My Fukua isn't COMPLETELY useless!

I mean. She still needs work. But I can feel my progress! Results!

Anyway, here's footage of Xeno. I fight @Killjoy, @ShadeMoneh, and lazy diablos whose tag here I don't know. There are some unfortunate drops, but it's a lot cleaner than it was at NEC.

When I get the chance, I'm going to run through this footage. If anyone else wants to look at it and point out something they see, please, be my guest.

Also, outside of these matches I played Sage and Cloud. I was told: 1) to grab more, I always start with c.lk or the first reset is c.lk (I don't remember exactly what was said, actually... @cloudKing211?), 2) to use Fukua's lp fireball above a bella, 3) use j.hk when above Fukua, and 4) stop hitting lp+lk+mp on defense

 

[Pickles]

You seem to be in mostly the same state where either bella mops or bella dies and you lose. That said I do think you're playing with the M shadow assist better, but I did notice a couple of big areas to improve.

-You trigger IPS with fukua ALL the time. So many combos you dropped because you used a move you shouldn't have. I understand in some situations if you gotta improvise something can come up but I would definitely lab out combos off of the more common confirms (l fireball into falling normal into ground string, combo off of level 3/bff, etc) so you don't lose your pressure because you didn't know what string you could do next. Sort of going off this, when you had to reset with fukua (because of high undizzy) at a point you hadn't obviously practiced you kinda just stopped hitting them. Remember you can turn any ground chain into a MK shadow reset as long as you're close enough for c.mp c.hp. Basically, practice your fukua combos and resets, you should be in a comfortable position if you have the hit and I don't think you always were with fukua.

-Watch assist calls. M shadow is not an assist you call if you are planning to be blocking shortly. You got happy birthdayed a couple times, even if you didn't lose the char your fukua pretty frequently ate huge chunks of damage because of bad calls. You should only be calling that assist if you are trying to get in or if you are already on the offensive.

I'll leave watching the matches for more specific/minor stuff to you, but the above 2 things happened frequently enough that I really wanted to point them out.

 

[Zidiane]

You seem to be in mostly the same state where either bella mops or bella dies and you lose.

Huh? I take two out of the three games I win against Shade after Bella dies and it's Fukua alone vs two characters, and the only game I won off of Diablos was after it's Fukua vs the whole team by herself. She's not amazing, I obviously need to lab out basic mistakes, but she did function on her own.

 

[Zidiane]

Alright. I have some extra time, so I want to go over my Xeno footage finally. Just very basic run throughs, don't want to get super in depth.

The main problem this set came down to me still being bad at calling assist. The first two games I won clean, so there's not much to cover there.
The third and fourth games I lost almost exclusively because of terrible assist calls. Round start I call assist and jump forward, which I think is a decent enough opener, but the second assist call @2:50 is bad. I call a slow assist while leaving it out there. All Killjoy has to do is call his assist as soon as he sees it to punish. Fukua doesn't take a lot of damage, but it's a good example of how I still need to be more careful with her. After that, I think I'm a little too cautious. I call assist and jump in, which I know is legit, but I double jump away and let the assist get hit for free. I think I remember panicking a little cause I couldn't figure out how to get back into the sweet spot I was in the last two games right away.

That's all basically the beginning of a problem that Killjoy starts punishing me for. There are points where I'm calling Fukua while Eliza is jumping at me, there are times when I call her while Eliza is right next to me.

@3:26, I make a huge mistake. This almost ensured I wasn't going to win, if not for the loss of Bella then for the abrupt shock of getting hit in a way I hadn't considered. I don't really know what I should have done here. Not call assist, obviously, but I didn't see this coming at all. It happens at least one more time later in the set. I don't really have any way in my gameplan of countering this. I guess if I switched to Fukua/Excellebella after this game to deal with Eliza, that could have worked, but I was a little shaky and wasn't that confident in my Fukua yet.

The rest of the set is more of the same. Me fumbling, and making bad calls.

The last match against Killjoy, I lose because I wasn't able to build momentum. I was at one point earlier in the year practicing the transition between Bella/Fukua to Solo Bella. I realized then that I need to change the way my mind set is, otherwise I play a really lame, not at all scary Solo Bella. For example, at the start of the round I guess he'll jump at me. I know that when I play Solo, people almost always upback, especially when they don't have DP assist. If I had jumped in with j.mp or j.mk like I usually do, I could have at least got the opening hit, if not an early happy birthday which would have snowballed to me potentially taking the game.

@6:15 I assume he'll attack me, so I jump in like I normally would with Fukua assist. If I had jumped in with j.mp, it would have hit Eliza and she would be dead in a reset and change. Shortly after that I empty jump forward again and finally get grabbed.

The only other thing that happened of note is that, unfortunately, against Sekhmet @6:43 I get c.lp instead of Diamond Drop. I was so upset I missed the input, cause I feel like I read his trajectory. Waited to see if he was doing air axe, and when I saw he wasn't I went for it.

I'll go over the other two later today.

 

[Zidiane]

Next match, vs Shade

Overall, I think I played this match well. I did all the things I wanted to do, and I did them right. That isn't to say I was without mistakes, obviously.

@0:32 I get a Happy birthday and feel like I won, but I dropped the otg after it ended. Is it because I used the otg? Was there any way I could have killed Filia? I'm gonna go in training room and find out.

@0:49 I make the biggest mistake this set, I think. I don't snap in filia. I don't remember why I didn't. I think maybe I was confident I could beat his Fukua with it being able to call assist, but it was stupid to risk.

@2:13 I do something really dumb here. I don't get punished for it. I have a super bad habit of hitting lp+lk+mp on defense, from I guess when that used to be both pushblock and grab (though I don't think it does that anymore?). So, here I'm scared of him jumping in, so I jump back and call assist. I don't regret it this match, but I definitely do against Lazy.

Most of the other big mistakes I make this match involve me realizing that I hadn't practiced any confirm combos off of shadow, fireball, or grab. Those have been practiced since the event, so that's fixed.

Lazy matches were really quick. When I make a mistake, I don't get too many more chances to play. It should also be noted that this is my first time playing him. I'm also a really bad study, so I usually don't put effort into researching players. I knew his name was up there, but I didn't even know which characters he played before that day.

@0:08 I do the thing I mentioned in the Shade analysis. It's a super bad thing to do.

@0:27 I wanted PBGC Dynamo. I realized he felt super safe when Eliza was out, so I tried punishing. Got a punish, but not the one I wanted. After this I get a little twitchy. I'm hitting buttons while he's crossing me up. He realizes that and goes for a burst bait immediately.

@1:00 I try to clap. I shouldn't be doing that anymore, a lot of people are doing standing lights instead of crouching ones in this situation now. They didn't used to, so that would almost always work. Gotta break the habbit.

Since I guess I took long periods after losses to process, I'll discuss what was going through my mind. I assessed that the reason I lost was because I ran away from him. His assist works best when it has room to breathe, so I decided to press him quickly. I was also thinking through the resets he avoided and which way he held, and realized he did a lot of patient downbacking so I would go for grabs as often as I could in neutral. Then I started the game.

@1:43 is round start. I'm impressed by the way I executed the game plan, looking back on it. I honestly haven't done something like that before the start of the next round before. I guess I'm playing smarter, or more consciously? Anyway, my pre-game plan pays off in the first reset.

@2:05 I remember being pretty disappointed right here. I had accurately saw that he was downbacking earlier and got the MGR. After that, I thought he wasn't hitting buttons so I tried to grab, but he teched. Then here, assumin he was trying to tech, I went for the s.lk but got blocked. I felt like I was making the correct decisions, but it just didn't pan out for me.

Immediately after this I get myself and Fukua caught by Sekhmet. I was trying to tech a grab he didn't do. But, more importantly, I was calling Fukua without thinking about the range of Butcher's Blade and get punished for it.

After this I do the lp+lk+mp thing again.

@2:18 I do the setup right, there's not too much Fortune can do about this if I do it right, but I do the wrong super. If I had done US, he'd have been scooped no contest, Fortune would have died there too. Gotta make sure that next time I'm in this situation I do US. It'll prevent any nonsense.

@2:37 I decide to go for a grab reset, then remember he's holding up and try to switch to doing c.lk. Doesn't work. Could have done Excellebella, but I don't like getting too comfortable using that move as a reset.

@3:23 He's been calling assist and holding downback often, then afterwards jumping at me. He's hit a button or jumped at me every single time, so I gamble on the lvl3. If I waited too long he would have been able to jump forward and block, so I did it as soon as I could move. I didn't have a lvl3 confirm (I do now, though) so I give him another chance. I didn't have a fireball confirm either.

He adapted to my opening strategy immediately next game. I can't do the same opener too many times. I also keep jumping back and calling assist. I don't know why I was doing that. All around this match, I make bad assist choices. I loose this game definitively when I do that lp+lk+mp thing and call in Fukua to get happy birthday'd. It's a really quick game.

Next "hand on chin" moment after a loss. I realize that he's adapted to how I'm calling assist, as well as the fact that I couldn't adequately change the way I was calling it before the next match. I then thought for a bit (when I look down) that Bella/Band would do much better in this matchup. That team could Alpha Counter punish some of his blockstring shenanigans, could help me reach more places quicker, would help deal with Fortune and Eliza if either was on point, and Big Band himself could keep him out of the range he kept calling assist. However, I knew if Big Band came in at any point it was over, so I had a better chance with this team. He would have kept me at a specific range if I went solo. So, I hit play again knowing I was going to lose the next round.

I did try my best, though. I didn't give up. I just understood I was at a disadvantage.

Honestly, I had one chance to win the next round definitively, but I dropped the input. @5:29 I try to PBGC Dynamo. It would have been a double snap, leaving his half health Fortune against my very much healthy team.

I also had one chance to not lose the game entirely. At @6:22 I know he's going to downback so I go for lvl 5. But at the very last second I remember @Cadenza and @joshb911 yelling at me for doing lvl5 before and telling me I should never do it, so I stop and don't. You can even see me moving around before I crouchblock, that's me churning butter into nothing. It would have hit and killed, then I would have had to work Magic against Eliza, but still. I wish I trusted my instincts.

 

[mcpeanuts]

The main problem this set came down to me still being bad at calling assist. The first two games I won clean, so there's not much to cover there.

There is one thing I want to ask from those first two games. In game 1 you get a chance at a midscreen assist kill and you go for run stop loops and drop the combo. Is that the best midscreen assist kill option for Bella? Thought there was something she could do with c.MK that was more consistent. I can't remember. Sage still has all of them on his Youtube channel I think.

@3:26, I make a huge mistake. This almost ensured I wasn't going to win, if not for the loss of Bella then for the abrupt shock of getting hit in a way I hadn't considered. I don't really know what I should have done here. Not call assist, obviously, but I didn't see this coming at all. It happens at least one more time later in the set. I don't really have any way in my gameplan of countering this. I guess if I switched to Fukua/Excellebella after this game to deal with Eliza, that could have worked, but I was a little shaky and wasn't that confident in my Fukua yet.

You don't have any way to beat j.MK xx Sekhmet j.L j.M? What about... block? Sekhmet j.M isn't safe on block. Granted, this opens up the option of the Eliza player just doing j.MK at you uncontested, but you need to appreciate that it's a big risk on the Eliza player's part. I'm sure Killjoy was only willing to take this risk because after 2 games he saw that you always tried to do something after blocking and pushblocking a jump in.

Speaking of punishing Sekhmet, you never got a punish on the skeleton this whole set. You try Diamond Drop a few times but it's always a bit too slow. Although it costs meter, snapback is a much more consistent punish.

The last match against Killjoy, I lose because I wasn't able to build momentum. I was at one point earlier in the year practicing the transition between Bella/Fukua to Solo Bella. I realized then that I need to change the way my mind set is, otherwise I play a really lame, not at all scary Solo Bella. For example, at the start of the round I guess he'll jump at me. I know that when I play Solo, people almost always upback, especially when they don't have DP assist. If I had jumped in with j.mp or j.mk like I usually do, I could have at least got the opening hit, if not an early happy birthday which would have snowballed to me potentially taking the game.

tbh I think you're overthinking it. You played the matchup fine. The way solo works is, you're losing, then you hit them once, then you win. You got the one hit you needed at the end, it just didn't turn into the series that you needed. I mention it in the commentary but I really think you should have snapped. You were at about 25% health and had about that much red health on top, so you could have healed for quite a bit.

The only other thing that happened of note is that, unfortunately, against Sekhmet @6:43 I get c.lp instead of Diamond Drop. I was so upset I missed the input, cause I feel like I read his trajectory. Waited to see if he was doing air axe, and when I saw he wasn't I went for it.

It's tough but you really need to not get upset when you make mistakes like this. You need to have the ability to be like "oh well" and focus on what's happening now and what's likely to happen next. If you haven't already I'd recommend watching Dekillsage's breakdown of his match with LazyDiablos from XenoEncore. It's tough to tell watching it live because it's such a dominant set from Sage, but he actually makes a fair number of mistakes that he comments on in his match analysis. The difference is when he makes those mistakes he doesn't let it rattle him.

One other thing I want to mention that you didn't talk about. At the end of game 3 you got a hit with Fukua and had a chance at a comeback, but you do s.HP > j.LK j.MK wait j.LK c.LK. However the second j.LK hits him while he's in the air and the c.LK whiffs. I'm just curious, what was this supposed to be? Just like a fast high/low? It seems like all they have to do is upback block the j.LK and pushblock and then you get no mixup. I feel like if you tried empty jump c.LK they would be able to jump away before c.LK caught their prejump frames.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Don't really have time to watch the remaining sets right this moment but I do have a few things I wanted to mention from your last post.

I'm also a really bad study, so I usually don't put effort into researching players. I knew his name was up there, but I didn't even know which characters he played before that day.

It sounds like you know what you did wrong here, as well as how to fix it :) Personally I watch a ton of match footage for this game. This is in part so I can learn the players so I have something to say about them when I'm on commentary (I never like to have to say "I have straight up never heard of this dude"), but it's also helpful to learn what to watch out for if I have to play against that person. There's also parts where I'm watching a game and I'm like "huh, if I was the one in that situation, what could I have done?" Then I lab it and figure that out. You learn the answers to questions you wouldn't have thought to ask otherwise.

@1:00 I try to clap. I shouldn't be doing that anymore, a lot of people are doing standing lights instead of crouching ones in this situation now. They didn't used to, so that would almost always work. Gotta break the habbit.

That's wild, I've never actually considered this. I'll have to give that a shot.

Since I guess I took long periods after losses to process, I'll discuss what was going through my mind. I assessed that the reason I lost was because I ran away from him. His assist works best when it has room to breathe, so I decided to press him quickly.

Dunno if this is the best way to approach it. I feel bad saying that since you're all excited that it worked, but hear me out. Lazy likes to start rounds with DP + assist call, it's a common thing he does. He didn't go for it here but if he did you would have gotten bbbbbbopped. I like Sage's strategy that he goes over in his match analysis video (which, again, I would recommend watching). The short version is he plays patient and tries to bait the assist out, then when it's out Sage goes in. It's an assist with a long animation as well as a lot of recovery since Eliza has to run back to the anchor at the end, so for Lazy's team it seems like a sound strategy. Plus he's burning meter every time he calls it.

I also had one chance to not lose the game entirely. At @6:22 I know he's going to downback so I go for lvl 5. But at the very last second I remember @Cadenza and @joshb911 yelling at me for doing lvl5 before and telling me I should never do it, so I stop and don't. You can even see me moving around before I crouchblock, that's me churning butter into nothing. It would have hit and killed, then I would have had to work Magic against Eliza, but still. I wish I trusted my instincts.

I'm not either of those people but I don't think the reason they told you not to go for it was because grabs are bad. If your read is downback, go for command grab xx BFF. You can spend the rest of your meter into a level 3 into another super or something (test this; I have spent time figuring out what all my characters can do with 5 bars in case I need to make the clutch comeback someday). The advantage of doing a normal command grab instead of your level 5 is that if you're wrong you don't blow all of your resources and get nothing.

 

[Cadenza]

@Zidiane Basically what peanuts said.

Only time if EVER and i do mean if EVER you use level 5 is for when you are down to solo fukua facing a 1v2 situation and you are absolutely sure of them going to downback then try it. but also know that you will be using up all your resources in the high risk high reward situation. reward being that you most likely will kill off of that grab reset. worst case, you're back to 0 and now your mixups from your cmd grabs won't net conversions.

Edit: just saw the timestamp, Hell no i would've just cmd grab dat ass and just put him in the corner where i can choose how to reset and making regular viable for a reset that doesn't eat up a bar.

 

[Zidiane]

In game 1 you get a chance at a midscreen assist kill and you go for run stop loops and drop the combo.

I have a hard time with the c.mk variant, so I always do this one. I actually could probably stand to learn it.

You don't have any way to beat j.MK xx Sekhmet j.L j.M? What about... block?

I meant, like, in that situation, as soon as I called assist I didn't have any options. Even if I blocked, Bella was gonna die. So other than never calling assist, I don't know what to do against Eliza in the air. I guess I can just block forever, that'll probably work. At least, work better than dying.

Speaking of punishing Sekhmet

I always forget I can do that. I don't play an Eliza consistently enough that uses Skeleton, and I always panic when I see it.

I mention it in the commentary but I really think you should have snapped. You were at about 25% health and had about that much red health on top, so you could have healed for quite a bit.

The only time I snap for health is when I'm low enough to get chipped out or the assist has a lot of red health. At low health any combo is going to kill me, so I feel better off trying to reset instead. The health from a snapback is good, but I rarely find it makes enough of a difference, especially against a duo.

Assuming I snapped, it would have been Eliza incoming. I'd have one chance to get the incoming, which honestly is as much a guess as a reset. If I missed it, like I missed the Parasoul reset, it would be a scramble and then it would be Eliza with a healthy assist. I tend to prefer trying to kill a character, especially vs Duo. Snapback does get that assist lockout, but killing the character is essentially a permanent version of that anyway.

It's tough but you really need to not get upset when you make mistakes like this.

It's so hard. The more I try to not let things get to me, the more I focus on them, which ends up getting me more upset. It's a vicious loop. Actually... when I played at NEC, I never felt like this. When I lost or missed something it sucked, but I didn't dwell on them. It was the only time I used headphones at a tournament, maybe that's something that really worked better than I realized. I actually just got some new headphones that work well, so I'll try that at upcoming events.

One other thing I want to mention that you didn't talk about. At the end of game 3 you got a hit with Fukua and had a chance at a comeback, but you do s.HP > j.LK j.MK wait j.LK c.LK. However the second j.LK hits him while he's in the air and the c.LK whiffs. I'm just curious, what was this supposed to be? Just like a fast high/low? It seems like all they have to do is upback block the j.LK and pushblock and then you get no mixup. I feel like if you tried empty jump c.LK they would be able to jump away before c.LK caught their prejump frames.

Oh. That was a Bella reset I did on accident. It hasn't a practiced reset, it just felt like it should have worked, like Bella's does, so I did it. I know now that it doesn't work, so that's good to know.

Personally I watch a ton of match footage for this game.

This is probably one of the reasons you place better than me at just about every tournament we go to. I may have to start doing this. I get bored super easy, I learn best by being in the moment, but I should probably attempt to learn this way again.

That's wild, I've never actually considered this. I'll have to give that a shot.

Yeah. j.hp is really good against people who go for the low after I'm in the air. So, especially since I'm dangling at that angle, you should probably s.lp me to make sure I can't hit any buttons or air grab. Be careful using s.lp, though, I could probably landcancel into Dynamo or some bullshit.

I feel bad saying that since you're all excited that it worked, but hear me out. Lazy likes to start rounds with DP + assist call, it's a common thing he does. He didn't go for it here but if he did you would have gotten bbbbbbopped.

Oh... yeah... you're right...

Well, going into training mode, it seems like there's a very small chance I would have hit hk fiber and caused Eliza to stop. But I probably would have gotten hit. It seems like Titan Knuckle round start, or c.mp, MGR would have worked instead. I'll have to try it out next time I play him.

But yeah, I'll definitely watch that Sage breakdown.

If your read is downback, go for command grab xx BFF. You can spend the rest of your meter into a level 3 into another super or something (test this; I have spent time figuring out what all my characters can do with 5 bars in case I need to make the clutch comeback someday). The advantage of doing a normal command grab instead of your level 5 is that if you're wrong you don't blow all of your resources and get nothing.

command grab into BFF into stuff into fireball super into lvl three nets around 8k. grab into lvl 3 into stuff into bff into stuff into drill nets 9.2k. lvl 5 nets 12k easy. I'm almost positive that it's the most damage Fukua can get by herself, and I'm not even optimizing it probably.

I get what you're saying, but it's her most damaging option.