My Journey to Learn the Entire Cast

[panik100]

Hello everyone! I am new to Skullgirls but not to fighting games. I have played all the Marvel games and some of the SF and MK series. The fighters that I really put a lot of time into were the Naruto GNT series on GameCube and Wii. I get bored easily so I played with every character and eventually got good with the large majority of the roster (some better than others but mostly sufficient with everyone). With that background in mind let us fast forward to now.

I started with Filia and became pretty adept at using her. Her rushdown ability seemed to fit my playstyle perfectly. She is my best character.

Then I moved on to Squigly. The problem with Filia is that I can only seem to combo in the corner and Squigly can combo from midscreen which is good. I am still trying to learn her.

Then I moved on to Peacock.

Now you might be saying "wait what?" Well like I said I get bored easily and the training room is not my idea of fun. I want to get good immediately and do not have the patience to put in work. When I pick up a character, I tend to learn one long combo and then just wing it from there. I will try to work on forcing myself to train more going forward, hence the purpose of this diary.

What makes this game better than Marvel is it allows you to learn characters one at a time instead of forcing you to know three characters really well from the get go. However, after perusing many streams and tournaments, it seems that teams have more success than solos. So the idea in the short-term was to ultimately work towards putting a team together: Team Madoka! (Peacock/Filia/Squigly all palette 18)

My long-term goal is to play the entire cast at a competent level. This is where I am at now:

Currently play: Filia, Squigly
On the back burner: Peacock, Fukua
Tried but unable to grasp: Parasoul, Big Band, Ms. Fortune

I am only 26 hours in so I am truly a beginner. I have also spent countless hours scouring the forums and watching streams/videos just taking everything in. I love this game. It seems easier for me to pick up than Marvel (which I initially loved but found impossible to get good at) so I think I found my calling as far as fighters go.

If anyone actually reads this, I would love your constructive criticism and help. I have a thirst for knowledge that is unmatched by anyone else I know, so please know that any information you are willing to share would go a long way. For now I really just need to practice as I make a lot of mistakes (even though my training partner thinks I am way ahead of him).

Here is our recent set:

Spoiler

Around the 23:00-24:00 mark is when I start to play better. For some reason it takes me a little bit to get warmed up. I guess that stems from lack of practice and not playing anybody else online besides my friend.


Ideas in the pipeline:

Squigly (Cremation cr.HP)/Filia (H Updo)


Team Madoka: Peacock (George at the Air Show)/Filia (H Updo)/Squigly (Drag N' Bite)
Abandoned due to low health and weak damage! Peacock just dies right away and the other two don't stand a chance!


Long-term goal(s):

Play in a tournament!
Win a tournament!
Learn everybody! Yay for big picture!


Things to work on:

-Not call assists so damn much so they don't get mauled
-Learn more combos for mix-ups
-Learn a Peacock combo that actually works (seriously I have tried every beginner combo in the Peacock section and nothing works for me)
-Practice against more human opponents

 

[skull person]

-Learn a Peacock combo that actually works (seriously I have tried every beginner combo in the Peacock section and nothing works for me)

Beginner mode:

5LP 5MP 2HP 5HK 214HP
Dash LP MP 2HP MP-Bang! Argus

Also just try and learn the

5LP 5MP 5MK /\
JMP JHP ADC JLP JMP \/
2LK 5MP [Other garbage here]

Restand air string.
Very reliable works on all characters.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Beginner mode:

5LP 5MP 2HP 5HK 214HK
Dash LP MP 2HP MP-Bang! Argus

I'm gonna add this one to the Peacock compendium. Thanks.

 

[panik100]

Thanks a lot. I will try it. I looked at the Peacock compendium and I cannot seem to do the air dash to continue the combo unless I have them in the corner. Is there something I'm missing? Do I need to do it late?

Also peanuts I'm a big fan of your Friday streams. Really cool stuff and I get to see all the characters in action.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Thanks a lot. I will try it. I looked at the Peacock compendium and I cannot seem to do the air dash to continue the combo unless I have them in the corner. Is there something I'm missing? Do I need to do it late?

Also peanuts I'm a big fan of your Friday streams. Really cool stuff and I get to see all the characters in action.

It's because of how cancelling air dashes into normals works with Peacock. When she air dashes, she spins her legs in place before she starts moving forward. If you cancel into a normal while her legs are spinning, she'll drop straight down; if you cancel after she starts moving forward, she retains her forward momentum. You have to wait until she starts moving forward to press a normal (unless, as you say, they're in the corner. In that case it's much easier).

Glad you enjoy the streams :D

 

[IsaVulpes]

I'm gonna add this one to the Peacock compendium. Thanks.

Imo omit the first cHP; while it's notable damage, it makes the possible range much much shorter
He also means HP, not HK; I guess you figured that by yourself but who knows :p
MP.SoID might just be better than HP since I think it hits the same, and you aren't guaranteed to be screwed if they blocked stuff

 

[panik100]

I didn't expect so much help right off the bat. You guys are awesome! I'm off to practice Peacock.

 

[IsaVulpes]

When I pick up a character, I tend to learn one long combo and then just wing it from there.

I would recommend learning a shorter combo which ends in a mixup situation.
For example my beginner Filia combo would be
[cLK cMK sHP - jMP jMK(2) ad jLP jLK], or beginner Peacock
[sLP sMP sMK - jLK jMP jHK]
after those moves you are on the ground, with the opponent in the air, and then you can do stuff like walk under, or jump air throw, or instand air dash high, or wait-for-them-to-land and throw, etc

IMO that is 1) a lot more fun to play and 2) a lot closer to how the game is actually played

However, after perusing many streams and tournaments, it seems that teams have more success than solos.

While it is true that teams probably have a better shot at winning on the highest level, that is only true for said highest level (and the strength difference is by no means so large that you are unable to win with a Solo);
At lower levels I'd say Solos actually have the better shot at winning.

I'd recommend every beginner to start out Solo so they can
1) focus on one character (eg if you learn a new combo for char X, you actually want to be able to hit it regularly, rather than having X die and then you are forced to play through your other two characters and your practice went out the window)
2) more importantly, focus on learning the overall game rather than team mechanics (you have to learn how to pushblock, absolute guard would be neat, learn common mixup points for characters so you have a shot at blocking ever, know what every character does so you have an idea how to fight them, etc .. if on top of that you also have to learn teambuilding, DHCs, assist calls, countercalls, etc - it is easy to get overwhelmed)

Team Madoka! (Peacock/Filia/Squigly all palette 18)

I might be shooting into thin air here, but this reads like you picked your team composition based on their palettes.. ?

My long-term goal is to play the entire cast at a competent level.

That is quite the goal! I can hardly play 3 characters at a competent level. Good luck in the undertaking!

Generally people start learning new characters when they're either bored, want to figure out what to do against them (eg someone with issues fighting v Peacock sometimes learns Pea to get a better grasp on her abilities and weaknesses), or actively try to find counterpick teams.

To attempt this from the get-go is a curious choice, may I ask why?

Team Madoka: Peacock (George at the Air Show)/Filia (H Updo)/Squigly (Drag N' Bite)
Any opinions on better assists? My thinking was to have projectile, anti-air, pushback, even though Peacock hardly tags out.

Assists are fine. Really, the only thing I would consider doing different would be Squigly's cHP instead of DnB, as it's a low - so it may help with some mixup trickeries.
I would consider switching the order to Pea/Sqg/Filia though, as Squigly really doesn't enjoy fighting without a defensive assist.

 

[Sparties]

I'd totally love to play a set against you sometime; you've got quite the goal.

 

[panik100]

I would recommend learning a shorter combo which ends in a mixup situation.
For example my beginner Filia combo would be
[cLK cMK sHP - jMP jMK(2) ad jLP jLK], or beginner Peacock
[sLP sMP sMK - jLK jMP jHK]
after those moves you are on the ground, with the opponent in the air, and then you can do stuff like walk under, or jump air throw, or instand air dash high, or wait-for-them-to-land and throw, etc

IMO that is 1) a lot more fun to play and 2) a lot closer to how the game is actually played

You're right I do need to learn to do that. My initial idea was learn a long combo for most damage and just repeat it, but that strategy is too predictable.

Against Bella I find that Filia doing cLK cMK sHP - jMP jMK(2) ad jMP jHK results in a "restand/reset" (don't know which) that allows me to punish with a new combo. Any idea why it results that way?

While it is true that teams probably have a better shot at winning on the highest level, that is only true for said highest level (and the strength difference is by no means so large that you are unable to win with a Solo);
At lower levels I'd say Solos actually have the better shot at winning.

I'd recommend every beginner to start out Solo so they can
1) focus on one character (eg if you learn a new combo for char X, you actually want to be able to hit it regularly, rather than having X die and then you are forced to play through your other two characters and your practice went out the window)
2) more importantly, focus on learning the overall game rather than team mechanics (you have to learn how to pushblock, absolute guard would be neat, learn common mixup points for characters so you have a shot at blocking ever, know what every character does so you have an idea how to fight them, etc .. if on top of that you also have to learn teambuilding, DHCs, assist calls, countercalls, etc - it is easy to get overwhelmed)

Yup that's why I'm so encouraged by this game because I can play solos against 1, 2, or 3 characters. I felt that my solo Filia was too difficult for my friend to deal with so I moved on to teams when we play. But against other randoms I will certainly throw her out there alone.

It's a lot to absorb so that's why I watch a lot of streams. The matches may not be of direct help to me but I can at least start to understand how things work.

I might be shooting into thin air here, but this reads like you picked your team composition based on their palettes.. ?

It sort of ended up that way. I learned Filia and was satisfied with my progress so I moved on to Squigly. Then Peacock just became a third choice. I think they can work well together. Obviously in the future colors won't matter to me but for now I have fun with it.

That is quite the goal! I can hardly play 3 characters at a competent level. Good luck in the undertaking!

Generally people start learning new characters when they're either bored, want to figure out what to do against them (eg someone with issues fighting v Peacock sometimes learns Pea to get a better grasp on her abilities and weaknesses), or actively try to find counterpick teams.

To attempt this from the get-go is a curious choice, may I ask why?

I get bored so easily! I'm also anxious to learn everything! As I mentioned I play the Naruto games a lot and being a fan and all I wanted to play with everybody. It took a lot of work studying input strings but I managed to do it. So I have the same goal for this game since I intend to put a lot of time into it. As I mention above, there are some characters I cannot grasp at this point. Charge moves are too difficult for me so Parasoul is immediately out for the time being.

Assists are fine. Really, the only thing I would consider doing different would be Squigly's cHP instead of DnB, as it's a low - so it may help with some mixup trickeries.
I would consider switching the order to Pea/Sqg/Filia though, as Squigly really doesn't enjoy fighting without a defensive assist.

Yeah I do like her c.HP. You're right about switching the order. I was going to do that anyway since Filia is my best character and as the anchor she can clean up the mess if the other two die. Plus Squigly could probably use the Updo help (so good!).

 

[panik100]

I'd totally love to play a set against you sometime; you've got quite the goal.

The thing is that I know I am so new to the game that I am paralyzed with fear from going online against random people. Maybe some people will be on my level but most are far above it. Also, a lot of people stream around here and I would die of embarrassment from playing like crap in front of an audience. But I'll take you up on that invite sometime soon.

 

[Sparties]

The thing is that I know I am so new to the game that I am paralyzed with fear from going online against random people. Maybe some people will be on my level but most are far above it. Also, a lot of people stream around here and I would die of embarrassment from playing like crap in front of an audience. But I'll take you up on that invite sometime soon.

I never stream serious sets, so if we fight, it definitely won't be for a public audience to see.

 

[skull person]

I'm gonna add this one to the Peacock compendium. Thanks.

Imo omit the first cHP; while it's notable damage, it makes the possible range much much shorter
He also means HP, not HK; I guess you figured that by yourself but who knows :p
MP.SoID might just be better than HP since I think it hits the same, and you aren't guaranteed to be screwed if they blocked stuff

Whoops he missed it.
's.LP s.MP s.HP s.HK xx H Teleport,'
McPeanuts sorry I meant 214HP [OTG].

Only time I play Peacock now is when I rage pick her and want to win the round.

Unrelated for McPeanuts

Spoiler

I think in the Peacock section for Painwheel you should add that jLK or jLP jLK breaks PW's armor easily too (Since those two attacks lead into full combos)

For the Valentine section you might want to add that a pre-charged MSoiD is the only way Peacock can get a guaranteed punish on Valentines Bypass x Scalpels from any height.

 

[IsaVulpes]

Also, a lot of people stream around here and I would die of embarrassment from playing like crap in front of an audience.

Everyone knows you're new and you even posted some Video of yourself playing in the OP. Where's the problem?

Imagine you become good sometime and people actually know who you are, will you just quit then since it might happen that you have a bad game and someone posts it here? :O

 

[panik100]

It took a lot of balls for me to even make this thread. I prefer lurking on forums. I only did this so that it would force me to start training seriously by keeping a record of my progress and writing down clear-cut goals for myself. I can only imagine the amount of lurkers that feel the same way I do. But you guys seem to be a great community that wants to help newer players like me so I am grateful for that.

And no if I do become good I'll be playing even more because my confidence will be through the roof. :p

 

[Snackysnacks]

The thing is that I know I am so new to the game that I am paralyzed with fear from going online against random people.

Na don't go into fighting games with a fear of playing other players. If you want to take that journey to improve, you are going to get beat up a lot, you are gonna lose 100 matches, then 200 matches, then hundreds more until you finally can notice slight improvements. I had the same fear too, I went my local arcade tournament afraid i was gonna lose every match and that i would get kicked out for being so bad. That wasn't the case, people are friendly and after the weeks and months of being beaten over and over I noticed a big improvement.

I watched a bit of the training video you posted and im really digging it. You have the core idea of combo's down, i see attempts at resets and successful blocks against tricky setups. I look at your profile and you have 27 hours in this game? Dude it took me about 150 hours to get where you are!

Regardless, ill watch more videos from you when i get the chance, and we can play some sets. But what you can do in the meantime is sign up for Skullgirls newbie nights at http://challonge.com/MonthlyNow and im really confident you can beat a couple of players while making friends and training partners. It should be this sunday (the 14th) but it looks like the date was written wrong, ill message doubledark and reply the confirmed date as soon as i can get it.

Also

Also, a lot of people stream around here and I would die of embarrassment from playing like crap in front of an audience.

Man, i had to play on stream for a tournament match and i got totally destroyed. Didn't die from it but proud that i could live through such a beating and have the will to continue playing this game.

But enough about me, lets get you on the road to get gud, you shown the drive by starting this thread.

 

[panik100]

Thanks for the encouragement. Yeah I see a lot of people struggling with more hours in the game than me. My beginner habits tend to come out when I get trapped in the mindset of trying to start my combo instead of just creating an opening and see where it goes. I play very robotic in that regard.

Not sure if I can commit 2-4 hours to a tournament but I will see what I can do. I work on Sundays so I will have to ask to leave early in order to make it in time. Let me know the date and start time.

 

[mcpeanuts]

Whoops he missed it.
's.LP s.MP s.HP s.HK xx H Teleport,'
McPeanuts sorry I meant 214HP [OTG].

Only time I play Peacock now is when I rage pick her and want to win the round.

Unrelated for McPeanuts

Spoiler

I think in the Peacock section for Painwheel you should add that jLK or jLP jLK breaks PW's armor easily too (Since those two attacks lead into full combos)

For the Valentine section you might want to add that a pre-charged MSoiD is the only way Peacock can get a guaranteed punish on Valentines Bypass x Scalpels from any height.

Thanks, changed as suggested.

 

[panik100]

First update!

Team Madoka has been scrapped. Three-girl teams are too weak for me to do any significant damage. I realize that's the trade-off for having multiple assists and playstyles, but when you cannot use one of said playstyles effectively you might as well not even bother. Peacock is out of the team but I will still work on her for other possibilities.

Video time!

Spoiler

I edited the hour-plus footage into a more manageable half-hour with only the best matches from both players. Bottom line is I really need to work on setting up a stream so that I don't have to painstakingly record, edit, encode, and upload this stuff.

So right now the focus is Squigly/Filia. With Squigly I am learning some mix-ups and starting to diversify my aerial and ground attacks. Filia is still a one-track approach. Get in there, do the combo, get out of there. If they get pushed into the corner, do the long ass combo until it can't be done any more. I need to figure out some mix-ups for her as nonstop IAD j.HP gets really predictable.


Things to work on:

-Learn more combos
-Practice against more human opponents
-Learn to deal with being cornered (I swear my character is as good as dead when cornered. I panic, I try to block, I try to jump, whatever it is I try it is not working.)

 

[panik100]

Well cross off playing against more human opponents! I participated in newbie night!

I was a complete mess leading up to my first match. My hands were freezing, my heart was racing, and I had to take deep breaths. But I survived! I did it!

Didn't get far but learned a ton of stuff from watching other people.

Played Sqigs/Filia.
Won round 1.
Lost round 2. Should have went solo Filia when he went solo Parasoul but didn't think of it.
Won round 2 loser's.
Lost round 3 loser's. I am completely unfamiliar with how to deal with Big Band and it showed when I played like crap here.

Oh well, I'm really glad I did it and look forward to getting back in there next month. The whole experience really put into perspective how far I have to climb. I need to really practice like hell and get way better to have any hope of advancing. At least I impressed the commentators...or it seemed that way when I listened to the broadcast after.

Let's go to the video tape:

Spoiler

 

[panik100]

Figured out a burst bait with Squigly (simple Cremation after full combo) and trying to incorporate more j.HK with Filia. Not sure how Filia's j.LP can be used effectively. I think my combo is more straightforward, but I would love to find a way to extend it.

 

[panik100]

Finally started messing with stance cancels as a way to mix things up with Squigly. Finding it hard to remember what strings I've used so I don't trigger IPS. Doing only basic stuff for now but I admit it's pretty nice to have and I shouldn't have ignored it this long.

Picked up Double. Trying to nail the BnB Barrel loop combo but it only seems to work 1/4 of the time. I can time everything right but after the first barrel I can't seem to continue it. It's like I'm too slow transforming from barrel back into Double and they are able to recover and block the follow-up. Really frustrating. Supposedly it's the most basic of combos and the fact that it constantly whiffs is not very encouraging.

Currently playing: Squigly, Double
On the back burner: Filia, Peacock
In the queue: Big Band (I like the idea of Squigly/Big Band)

So next I need to work on more Squigly combos with stance cancels and figure out what I am doing wrong with Double.

 

[Arcana]

ooh Squigly/Big Band is good

Stance Cancel combos will get easier as you build the muscle memory for it, they also let you go for some really ambiguous mixups

 

[panik100]

Thank you for your support Nicki Minaj.

 

[panik100]

Introducing Seria cancels into my Squigly game and the difference is incredible. I still cannot believe how I ignored charges for so long. There are more mixups, resets, and burst baits than you can shake a stick at! Anyone want to practice?

 

[panik100]

Cannot get Double's Barrel loop to work for the life of me. It just does not work on Eliza. I get it maybe 1 out of every 10 tries. Even when I do get it I am so surprised by the fact I got it that I drop the combo. So I get the full combo off 1 out of maybe every 50 tries. Another character put on the back burner...

I want to learn everybody but there are some characters that are too advanced for me. And then I watch @SecretlyEngarde stream and she seems to be able to use all the characters REALLY well. If she can do it then surely I can do it? Apparently not. I'm so overwhelmed by the big picture right now that I'm not sure where to go from here. Continue working on improving Squigly and Filia? But I know I'll get bored and get the urge to learn another character. Ugh this is frustrating.

 

[Sparties]

snip

If you would like, I will shoot you a request and show you some things in a training lobby.
But I don't use ALL of them really well; I use them to an adequate extent, if anything.

 

[panik100]

Don't be so humble. I saw what you were doing. The fact that you could switch characters on the fly and still dominate was scary impressive. Kept me from joining the lobby...

But yeah I appreciate your offer to help. Let me know when you're available.

 

[Sparties]

I'm available right now. I'll send you a friend request right quick.

 

[panik100]

Thanks for hosting the lobby and kicking my butt. I don't know how you do that Squigly infinite. It doesn't seem humanly possible to press buttons that fast.

 

[Hidgerknight]

It is indeed possible, It just needs timing and a little bit of muscle memory to get the moves correct and having a sense that the IPS can and will kick in when you do a single move repeatedly in a combo, so variations of moves that can chain together have to be used.

May the Trinity be with you on your journey to winning Skullgirls tournaments.

 

[Stuff]

There are no infinites in this game. You were probably reset a bunch.

 

[Hidgerknight]

There are no infinites in this game. You were probably reset a bunch.

Or probably because the number of combos that SecretlyEngarde pulled off is so high that OP thought Squigly can pull infinite combos.
though this isn't the right place to discuss this, so let's just support OP on his way to learn about Skullgirls and be better at the game.

 

[Stuff]

How is this not supporting? I'm simply informing him that he can do something about them as they are not infinite.

Here's an example video Skarmand made once:

 

[Hidgerknight]

How is this not supporting? I'm simply informing him that he can do something about them as they are not infinite.

I think I did something wrong with my words there, by not the right place to discus this, I simply mean about SimplyEngarde beating OP.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Sparties]

Or probably because the number of combos that SecretlyEngarde pulled off is so high that OP thought Squigly can pull infinite combos.
though this isn't the right place to discuss this, so let's just support OP on his way to learn about Skullgirls and be better at the game.

It's not that the combo was high. It's because I did maybe two BnBs per match with Squigly, but most of the time, I was doing a stancle reset that went from a low into a high almost immediately. You just have to have fast fingers.

 

[panik100]

It was literally Ashes to Ashes cancel hit low cancel repeat. I think I pushblocked out of it once. There was nothing I could do, which pretty much summed up every game. I just sat there and watched you go off. I don't mash, I just try to block my way out. A beginner's strategy.

 

[Sparties]

It was literally Ashes to Ashes cancel hit low cancel repeat. I think I pushblocked out of it once. There was nothing I could do, which pretty much summed up every game. I just sat there and watched you go off. I don't mash, I just try to block my way out. A beginner's strategy.

The way to get out of it would have probably been a pushblock into SBO before going into a combo.

 

[panik100]

Thanks everybody for your support. Played some more online and got the idea that people are either beginner or expert with no inbetween. I was either destroying people or getting destroyed. More research is required on the matter.

 

[Flotilla]

Thanks everybody for your support. Played some more online and got the idea that people are either beginner or expert with no inbetween. I was either destroying people or getting destroyed. More research is required on the matter.

There was recently a Steam sale and there are some 800 new people playing alongside the experts that have been playing since launch.

Just keep at it, you'll learn fastest by continuing to play people better than you.