GGACR/I-No/Starting The Round

Starting the Round

When you're figuring out what moves beat your opponent's moves, round start offers several constants.

Same distance every time.
Neither character has meter (don't have to worry about supers, forcebreaks, or FRCs).
Both characters able to act at the exact same time once "Let's Rock" fades.

When your opponent decides to press a button, there are many ways to work around the problem they have given you:

You can try to beat it clean by pushing a button at the same time.
- You can delay the button your press slightly.
- You can gatling from whiff with specific normals, which further adds utility to those normals.
You can choose to move instead of attacking.
- You can move and then attack substantially later, like after reaching the full height of your jump arc.
You can choose to block.
You can choose to do nothing (similar to blocking, but not the same since your blocking hurtbox is bigger than your idle hurtbox).

If you wanted to chart out everything you could possibly do against everything your opponent could do, it would take forever. You need to get started playing the game, so keep things simple to start.

Start by looking at a handful of I-No's moves and whatever moves you see other people open rounds with against I-No. (Look up matchup footage)
- I suggest experimenting with: 5P, 6P, 2S, 5H, jump > Sdive, block, and IAD backwards j.H.
  - Block, IAD backwards j.H, and 5P are typically defensive actions. Even if the j.H or 5P hit someone, you're typically not confirming into any sort of combo.
  - 6P, 2S, 5H, and jump > Sdive are typically offensive actions. 6P and Sdive should lead to a moderate combo on hit, 5H leads to a big combo, and 2S typically nets HCL for knockdown.
Think about "I can beat X clean, so my opponent does Y to beat that, so I do Z to beat that."
- Example: At round start, Sol's 5H beats several of I-No's options and leads to a beefy counter-hit confirm (you're going to lose 50% of your health bar). I-No 5K beats Sol's 5H, so you can open with 5K to get him to stop using 5H. Sol's 2H beats I-No's 5K and also leads to a big reward, so he might start using it to counter your counter. I-No's 5H beats Sol's 2H, and the counter hit combo is probably the best round-start reward you can get (roughly 45% damage and corner knockdown).
Think about risk vs reward for your options and your opponent's options. Breakdown of the above example:
1. Sol players want to throw out 5H because it reaches at that range and scares you into blocking because the reward for him on CH is huge.
2. I-No's 5K beats Sol's 5H if you both attack as soon as possible, but gives you no reward at round start even on CH. You do it to get Sol to stop using 5H.
3. Sol throws out 2H instead. It also leads to a big reward on CH at this range and specifically beats the 5K.
4. I-No can now throw out her 5H, which would lose to Sol's 5H, because she's doing it to blow up his 2H. The reward is about as big as the reward Sol gets for CH 5H or 2H.
5. If you don't factor other actions I-No can use, the extra layer required to get Sol to do something that leads I-No to a reward as big as Sol's puts I-No at a disadvantage.

As you keep experimenting with different actions, you might find that even skilled players use unnecessarily risky round start options. Now it's time to experiment on your own and surpass those players by making better decisions, even if it involves some difficult tech (mcHCL) or seemingly silly moves (round start j.D). Never count on your opponent playing optimally. They might round start a certain way just because it works in their local scene, or because they feel like it that day. Doing your own research is what it takes to be the best.

Reach for the top!

Expanding your training

Now that you've tested some key moves at round start position, start testing move interactions slightly closer or further apart.
Start testing options that both players have access to when they have meter, and consider what their ability to convert from stray hits looks like.
Expanding on good round start practice will help your neutral game.