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Agni

How can I prevent myself from "blanking out"?

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Hi, I'm a avid follower of FGs and especially ones like BB/GG.

I say "follower" and not "player" because for a long while, I merely followed the FG scene. I didn't play--I was in it for the metagame and watching matches by other players. I did this because I am, for lack of a better term, god-awful at fighting games, and I had kinda just "given up" for lack of a better term on actually playing them.

...Of course, I couldn't just do that, so I've decided to try my hand at it again. Now for now, of course. I need to get CSE (Only fighting game I have right now is AH3). Anyway, I've been able to pinpoint my main difficulty with FGs, and it's mainly inputs. Not putting them in--I can do pretty every except 360s (seriously, how the hell are you supposed to do those without accidently making yourself jump?) well on pad, and they're probably easier on stick anyway, so that's not the problem.

My problem is that whenever I try to do even the simplest combos, my mind just sorta "blanks out". What I mean is, I all of a sudden basically forget how to do the simplest things, and then I sorta panic and whiff horribly. This happens to me everytime I try to do a combo in an FG. I can memorize the inputs as much as I want, but I become the dexterical equivalent of a drunken hobo who's spent the past six hours downing 210 proof* moonshine as soon as that first hit lands. Maybe playing on pad excerbates this, but I don't think it comes down to my choice in controller (and I'm thinking of getting a stick anyway). I'm just a scrub. Actually, I'm probably worse than a scrub. I'm that guy that scrubs point at and laugh at and say "thank god I'm not that guy".

It also doesn't help that getting better is hard for me because my town (San Antonio) doesn't seem to have a very big scene for FGs (or gaming in general) AND I generally tend to be too embarassed of my skills, or lack thereof, to actually challenge somebody (I remember that I once went online in MVC3--in the first match I got into, I got triple perfected by some other guy using Tron. That was the first and last time I ever did netplay on that game, and was so embarassing that I just gave up FGs--until now, that is)

...But I'm rambling here, so I guess I'm just going to cut this short right here. Any advice?

*I'm well aware that that's logically impossible

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Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition

The more you do it. The easier it is to remember, that is a solid fact that cannot be argued. If you start of with the basics with a character you like. Find a solid combo that works in a lot of situations. And write it down / keep a note. And try to do it, if you can't do it. Chunk it down. So for example let's use Ragna as an example

5B > 5C > 214A > 214D

Firstly I would simply do 5B > 5C about 10 times. Get the feel for the timing, nail it and put it in the muscle memory archives. When you feel comfortable with that, add this first part of hells fang. Repeat, then add the final repeat ect.

If you chunk it down and let your muscles think for you, it eliminates a lot of the problems you face in tough situations. Trust me. When you panic, you're muscles do not forget.

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Yeah, what he said is correct. You should break down a combo and practice it one step at a time over and over until you can do it like 10 times in a row.

If you can just do it once, that doesn't mean anything. You have to do it consistently.

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Split combo parts. Every character has a starter, launcher, filler, ender part.

Fillers can change or not exist depending on how prorated a combo is.

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AND I generally tend to be too embarassed of my skills, or lack thereof, to actually challenge somebody (I remember that I once went online in MVC3--in the first match I got into, I got triple perfected by some other guy using Tron. That was the first and last time I ever did netplay on that game, and was so embarassing that I just gave up FGs--until now, that is)

Don't be afraid or embarrassed. No one really cares if you suck or not. Many people are just happy to have people to play against.

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Don't be afraid or embarrassed. No one really cares if you suck or not. Many people are just happy to have people to play against.
QFT.

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Really? Even if they can easily perfect me consistently?

(Granted, I did have fun maining Hakumen in CT netplay)

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Any self respecting FG player will understand, any true lover of FG's will offer you advice on how to get better. Don't hesitate to ask on DL either. Everyone here is of varying skill levels, yet like 50% of us are Weeaboo FG players who do this in our spare time, nobody will take offence to any beginner problems. Play the game, have fun and ask a lot of questions. It's how it's done. :yaaay:

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Really? Even if they can easily perfect me consistently?

(Granted, I did have fun maining Hakumen in CT netplay)

It's the same path everybody else had to walk, so it's nothing new.

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The fastest way to learn is to play either offline with people or online with friends so that you can get advice on what you're doing wrong. Eventually you'll notice your own mistakes without any help and after doing something dumb in a match you'll say "I should stop doing that" to yourself. Or at least that's how it went for me!

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I used to do that "blanking out" thing, too. I still do it in AH3. Honestly it comes down to just not truly knowing the combos. Memorization is only part of it - you really do need to just practice, practice, practice. Muscle memory is as important as regular memory. Stay calm, and break down combos into sizable chunks when possible.

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Woah.

I tried your suggestions of "break it down into parts" on AH3, and I actually managed to consistently pull off a Weiß combo. Now, granted, it was an extremely simple 2A 5B 5C 236A, but still.

I also see what you mean by muscle memory--as I practiced it, I noticed that I was starting to commit it to muscle memory.

Thanks. I actually feel motivated to continue now.

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Some more practice and the most complex thing I was able to do somewhat consistently was JA JB JC [HC] JA JB JC JE, which isn't really all that complex--it's a basic gatling with a cancel--but it's a hell of a lot better than anything I did before.

The most difficult part was timing the homing cancel--you have to wait for JC to hit twice and send the oponent flying, then cancel into homing. I kept mashing Homing as soon as I hit JC. Some practice fixed that, though.

This practice also showed me how important gatlings are to these kinds of FGs. I spent a lot of time figuring out what moves could easily combo into each other. It's surprising--these combos aren't as complex as they first seem; they're just built off of gatling chains.

Damn, now I want to get CSE as soon as possible so I can start maining Platinum (don't you dare look at me like that)

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Repetition and putting the combos into muscle memory is important, but you should also have it down to the point where you're comfortable with executing them in actual matches. When you're worrying about blocking and mixups it's much harder to stay calm and execute. I feel like repetition in training mode is important, but actual match experience is just as, if not more important.

As for practicing combos in training mode, I tend to break them down into parts like many people have already said in the thread. It's less frustrating than trying to nail it in one go.

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It's amazing how I've gotten better in one day than I had in 2 years.

Thanks to me actually understanding gatlings now, I found myself expermienting with combos in AH3. I remember hearing someone say that FGs aren't about memorizing long combos by rote, but more like knowing which moves can lead into each other, when you can do a cancel for more damage, etc. I finally got what he meant by that.

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It's amazing how I've gotten better in one day than I had in 2 years.

Thanks to me actually understanding gatlings now, I found myself expermienting with combos in AH3. I remember hearing someone say that FGs aren't about memorizing long combos by rote, but more like knowing which moves can lead into each other, when you can do a cancel for more damage, etc. I finally got what he meant by that.

Ah you've hit the breakthrough. Soon, with enough practice in real matches, you'll stop thinking of combos as a list at all, and will just be able to make up optimal (or near optimal) combos on the fly.

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Hah hah, I'm just starting to do that. While practicing in AH3, I quite often try to see how many combos I can come up with without checking the wiki.

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Okay, I practiced against some COMs in AH3 today. Heah, it's not as good as fighting real humans but the shame of losing is less (at least a COM can't laugh at you after bodying you to pieces) and my mom's probably watching Netflix so I'd be painfully laggy online anyway. So, I noticed these few things:

-I suck at this still.

-I still have this aggravating tendency to "Panic Mash"; I cannot even begin to number the amount of times I hit 214A/B/C when I wasn't even intending to jump in the first place. on the opposite hand, I find myself flubbing anything that isn't 623 still

-I'm still not familiar with gatlinging and my character's links enough to come up with combos on the fly. Most of my "combos" were simple A-B-C shif except for this one time where I did something like j.A j.B j.C [HC] j.A j.B j.C j.E j.A out of nowhere. I dunnk even how the hell I did it, I just hit j.A and somehow I just managed to connect the rest.

-Me against zoning characters: hilarious stupidity. It basically boils down to me going "WELL I GUESS ILL JUST RUN ACROSS TO MY OPPONENT HALFWAY ACROSS THE SCREEN THERE NEVER MIND THAT THERE'S A PROJECTILE THAT'S GONNA HIT ME IF I DO"

My god I ran into Maori's sisters so goddamn much

It's like

I'm running across the screen and Maori summons her sister

And I know that I'm gonna get hit across the screen unless I block or jump

AND YET I RUN INTO HER EVERY. GOD. DAMN. TIME

WHY AM I SO STUPID

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it's ok to lose to a MU you've played for your first time. Plus it's not easy to learn maori anyways, so it's not a very common MU so rejoice to that.

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Hi Agni!

I haven't got much to add, especially when people far more knowledgeable than me gave advice but I'd like to chime in and say that we are somewhat on the same boat. I'm also a keen follower of fighting games, watch a lot of footage, read some articles, etc but in practice, I'm a complete stain. No local competition and too many years playing solo (it was either that or skip them altogether) with a loooong break during the PS2 era. I've recently got into Skullgirls and decided to give it a shot. Bar absolute beginners, I pretty much get bodied every match.

Like you, I have the tendency of blanking out. I can pull some fancy nancy combos in training but when I get to a actual match, not only because my illustrious opponents have the annoying habit of moving but when I do get a combo starting, I just derp basic chains.

Like many said already - practice, practice, practice. Fighters are all about perseverance, discipline and tough love.

My only piece of advice is if you are making a honest effort at learning your game of choice, don't be afraid of looking up people to play with. I can tell you from personal experience that spending too much time fighting the AI will leave you with lots of nasty habits, which aren't easy to quit. It's good to practice execution on moving targets and get acquainted with some tactics though.

IMHO the ideal opponent would be someone who's better but not so better that they body you for free. The later tend to leave me frustrated but the former, I can learn a few things from and, ideally, get some combo practice.

Looking up combos can also be a bit tricky as most combo videos entitled 'Day 1 BnBs' (which you would think are the absolute basic) have stuff I wouldn't pull in a 100 years, but you can always "dissect" them for little chains or cancels that you can put to use.

And no need to feel embarrassed - everyone spams and plays whack-a-mole with jumping HP at the start. Scrub? That's nonsense. Being a scrub and being a beginner are two very different things.

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Okay...I now have CSE, and I've been having an abnormal amount of trouble with inputs. It can't be that I'm bad at them--similar inputs don't give me the same problem in Arcana Heart 3.

One good example is Platinum's Astral (236236C). For some reason, I have an annoying amount of trouble doing this, as I accidentlly input 2369236C, causing me to jump up in the air and do Swallow Moon.

I guess this is just another case of nerves making me mess up.

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Platinums astral is both air and ground so even you get a jump in there it should still come out. You sure you have all the requirements for the astral? 100 heat, active burst icon, opponent less than 35% health, winning round.

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Yes, I have all the requirements. It's the input--that 9 in there is what's messing me up. I think I'm mashing the stick too hard.

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What can I say, I just tested inputting her astral as 2369236C and it came out fine. At mid height of course so it would miss anyone on the ground but it did come out.

Go to training and turn on input display and check what else your are putting in there. A guess would be that you are pushing the button to early and getting just 2369C which would be TK swallow moon.

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