Any tips on building up defense ?

[Zain X13]

Hi all i am really trying to work on my weakness in fighters my weakness has always been defense . like i can hold my own fighting most people but if i play a tsubaki , or a ragna someone with good mix ups i preform badly either barely winning or losing . really want to work on this to become better so any advice:?:

[Locke]

It comes from experience.

After a while, you'll learn what to look out for.

With Tsubaki, her charge cancels make you guess and reset her pressure, so it gets tricky.

And Ragna's mixup sucks. Almost never catches me unless I'm not even looking at the screen.

[huey253]

keep trying is the best answer.

try ibing predictable things

try poking out at good times.

[Justice7541]

Alternately pick Bang and mash 5A.

[kona]

Figure out common blockstring with characters you commonly play against. Then go to training mode and have the dummy character do that blockstring and practice instant blocking. Use as many options as you can. Instant blocking is your friend.

[Mindgam3]

Try poking out at good times.

Learning the best time to use pokes to negate an opponent's offense will not help with defense. A poke in this case is more of an offensive option used to reverse momentum, and should only be used after a solid defense has been established.

I will second what Kona stated. Learning how to block and how to use Instant Block and Barrier Guard effectively will put you leagues above the 5A mashing Bangs that would rather die than block

Also, I would recommend finding out what moves are good for zoning (Hakumen definitely has a few) and preemptively covering the space that otherwise would have been used by your opponent to approach you. An example is Arakune's Bellbug. When used defensively, it forces the opponent to reconsider their positioning in the air and work around it. This allows Arakune to more easily predict how they are going to move and thusly he can punish accordingly.

[Zain X13]

Thank you all for the feed back

[Zain X13]

And @ justice eweww bang lol srry that's not my style that's why I dropped Ragna

[4r5]

Play people better than you.

[OmegaBankai]

The best defense is a good offense.

[Translation- Why Block?]

[ProudDisciple]

Figure out common blockstring with characters you commonly play against. Then go to training mode and have the dummy character do that blockstring and practice instant blocking. Use as many options as you can. Instant blocking is your friend.

Im a Tager player and what has been said right here you should take to HEART! You have to put time into recognizing what options your opponent has to better predict how to react! Whether its just blocking or waiting for an opening to throw out a counter. Its trial and error put make an effort to learn from your habits and improve.

[Mr. Mamation]

Most of the time you get hit when you are trying to attack. Learn to focus on blocking and try not to mash jab inbetween everything.

[bbq sauce]

Just playing a lot, and being patient, tbh.

In pressure, it'd be knowing when you can and can't move/press buttons.

In mix up, it's mostly about either A) reacting to it where applicable, B) if it's something that's too fast to react to - just taking the educated guess based on circumstances.

[shtkn]

analyze your fights and try to find out WHY you're getting hit.

are you getting counter hit a lot? stop mashing and learn when it's your 'turn' to hit buttons

getting mixed up? learn to block or learn how to avoid that situation

i highly recommend recording your fights somehow so you can analyze yourself with the added advantage of hindsight

[ProudDisciple]

Training mode record and playback options!

ProudDisciple on XBL and PSN

www.youtube.com/user/ProudDisciple

[kirbster]

Learning the best time to use pokes to negate an opponent's offense will not help with defense. A poke in this case is more of an offensive option used to reverse momentum, and should only be used after a solid defense has been established.

It's true that your defense shouldn't be based on mashing but overly respecting the opponent will lead to you getting walked all over. Defense is not just blocking/not getting hit, it's also getting out of that situation where you're being pressured.

[Kuuhaku]

It's true that your defense shouldn't be based on mashing but overly respecting the opponent will lead to you getting walked all over. Defense is not just blocking/not getting hit, it's also getting out of that situation where you're being pressured.

Yes. This is actually an important point for new people to learn. One example would be learning when someone has to reset their pressure. You can typically either attack and gain offensive momentum or use a movement option to get out. And both of these are better for your defensive game rather than letting someone run blockstrings on you all day. Sometimes people won't do something that's obviously punishable, but they will always put themselves into a situation where they have to reset pressure. Spacing can also help you here as it'll teach you when it's okay to press buttons and when it's not okay.

Also keep in mind that sometimes these opportunities are only open for you if you instant block. Which you can either figure out by learning the other character's block strings and practicing in training mode or through experience.