Remember To Spay and Neutral Your Cat (questions on Ms. Fortune neutral game)

[Patchwork]

So I'm really new to skullgirls (and fighting games in general) but I've been checking out the forums and there is some good stuff on here.
So from what I learned, footsies and the neutral game are very important for set ups but I'm terrible at it right now.
Even if I know MF's best normals I still get stuffed or poked out. On top of that I still have a tough time getting in on some opponents.
Without going into specifics, what do you guys and gals do to train for the neutral game? and how do you test your reaction for when a random hit does connect?

Thanks in advance

 

[Fumako]

Without going into specifics, what do you guys and gals do to train for the neutral game?

I think the best course of action is to practice your normals and specials in training mode, know how much space they occupy and what's safe and what's not.
Then just barge into matches with that in mind, you now have a feel of your normals so use whatever you deem necessary, if it doesn't work take note and keep trying. It also helps to fight against someone who could actively give you feedback.

and how do you test your reaction for when a random hit does connect?

What do you mean?
Like, I'm guessing how you practice hit-confirming off-of stray hits?
Again, go into training mode and do several approaches that you're most likely to do and try to find a way to go from that to your BnB or to any part of it.
Then just grind that for a bit and ingrain it into your muscle memory, it also helps to practice confirming off visual or audio-cues so you know if you should go for something safe or if you should convert.
Once you feel you've got what it takes go and grind on the AI for a while and once you feel confident enough with confirming against moving opponents you move on to actual matches.
Just take note of any situation you couldn't convert from and try to see if you could find some way through the forums or a bit of time in the lab.

 

[Mike_Z]

I'm just here to say this thread name is amazing. Nice work! :^)

 

[Patchwork]

thanks man. really like the silliness MF brings to the game. btw great work on this game. really enjoy it overall. hope to get out of that scrub status.

 

[Patchwork]

I think the best course of action is to practice your normals and specials in training mode, know how much space they occupy and what's safe and what's not.
Then just barge into matches with that in mind, you now have a feel of your normals so use whatever you deem necessary, if it doesn't work take note and keep trying. It also helps to fight against someone who could actively give you feedback.

What do you mean?
Like, I'm guessing how you practice hit-confirming off-of stray hits?
Again, go into training mode and do several approaches that you're most likely to do and try to find a way to go from that to your BnB or to any part of it.
Then just grind that for a bit and ingrain it into your muscle memory, it also helps to practice confirming off visual or audio-cues so you know if you should go for something safe or if you should convert.
Once you feel you've got what it takes go and grind on the AI for a while and once you feel confident enough with confirming against moving opponents you move on to actual matches.
Just take note of any situation you couldn't convert from and try to see if you could find some way through the forums or a bit of time in the lab.

Will do man. thanks for the advice. like how quick this community responds.

 

[Fizzxwizz]

neutral is a thing that is kind of difficult to tell someone how to improve in. The easiest answer is to learn your tools and just think while you play, being conscious of the decisions you make in a fight.

Two of fortune's normals that have good range and decent hitboxes are her standing heavy punch and her crouching light kick, so use those occasionally. In addition, as fortune you wanna make sure that you are either on the same level or above the other player at all times, because although you have decent anti-air abilities, most of your normals and specials are most effective when the opponent is in those two zones.

being able to react to hits for confirms is more or less muscle memory or predictions I think. Just do your best to not get into the habit of autopiloting or else you're going to run into issues later.

Headless neutral is something different, you mostly just need to remember which side of the screen you left your head on, and use that to punish things and hit your opponent when they're off their guard. Always make sure to use the head often, especially when you want to make yourself safe.

 

[Axxl]

An equally important part of fighting games are the mind games. When you are in the neutral and can't seem to get in, its probably due to 1: You aren't predicting where your opponent is going to be on their next move or what they are going to do, and 2: You are getting read by your opponent.

Try to mix up your game (mixups) and be as unpredictable as possible with your pokes while at the same time trying to predict what your opponent is going to do. Your eye should always be trained on your opponent and it helps to put yourself in their mind, what would you do next if you were them?

I'm not an expert on SG as I'm from the Sm4sh community and that game is all about punishing baited whiffs, but all fighting games share this type of rock-paper-scissors exchanges.

 

[Natezer]

jab is great for stopping low air approaches. cr.LK is great for stopping ground approaches. I'd say these two buttons are integral to her ground game and learning how to use them is very important.