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Street Fighter V: Why You're Stuck in Bronze (Brian_F)

Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,370
SFV is a PS Plus game for September so we're going to have an influx of new players. This may be useful to some of those as well as current players who can't quite seem to get out of Bronze league.



It's a short video (under 6 minutes) that covers the following:

Bad Habit #1: Inability to perform moves on command
Bad Habit #2: Jumping too much
Bad Habit #3: Not anti-airing
Steps to Improve #1: Execution drills
Steps to Improve #2: Anti-air drills
Steps to Improve #3: Sweep punish drills
Overall Strategy: Getting out of Bronze
 
QisTopTier

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
Does it cover the most important fighting game fuck up of all time?

Trying to play a character you think is cool but doesn't mesh with how you play.

Literally the biggest hurdle people don't realize they have.
 
Launchpad

Launchpad

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,157
Good idea to share this video. I can't stress enough how important it is to learn how to Anti-Air effectively. I think a lot of players could get to Gold rank easy if they just learn to AA.
 
Pyro

Pyro

God help us the mods are making weekend threads
Member
Jul 30, 2018
14,505
United States
Good video! Unfortunately I'm stuck in Super Bronze, already know all this, and just gotta practice more.
 
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Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,370
Potterson

Potterson

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,414
My main problem is that I can't figure out combo timing. SF5 is the only game that's hard for me for that reason. Like, figuring out when exactly to press another button. It's weird. I'm quite good at Tekken, KI and MK, but SF keeps kicking my butt... I'm still trying from time to time though with a hope I'll get better.

Edit: It's way easier with the stick, of course. Dualshock's dpad sucks ass and sometimes when I'm doing the exact same DF motion it works and the next time it doesn't.
 
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Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,370
Potterson said:
My main problem is that I can't figure out combo timing. SF5 is the only game that's hard for me for that reason. Like, figuring out when exactly to press another button. It's weird. I'm quite good at Tekken, KI and MK, but SF keeps kicking my butt... I'm still trying from time to time though with a hope I'll get better.
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You don't really need much in the way of combos at Bronze level to be honest with you.

Though in games like Tekken and MK, you're doing strings by pressing buttons in advance (for the most part). In SF, you're basically looking to hit the next button after the previous one hits. Can you give an example of a combo you're having trouble with?
Sou Da said:
This is Bad Habit number 1 tbh
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Agreed.
 
Sou Da

Sou Da

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
16,738
Folks I'm gonna be honest with you, you don't deserve to make it out of Silver if you can't beat Chun-Li_Forever
 
TitlePending

TitlePending

The Fallen
Dec 26, 2018
5,340
QisTopTier

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,717
Potterson said:
My main problem is that I can't figure out combo timing. SF5 is the only game that's hard for me for that reason. Like, figuring out when exactly to press another button. It's weird. I'm quite good at Tekken, KI and MK, but SF keeps kicking my butt... I'm still trying from time to time though with a hope I'll get better.

Edit: It's way easier with the stick, of course. Dualshock's dpad sucks ass and sometimes when I'm doing the exact same DF motion it works and the next time it doesn't.
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Tekken MK and KI let you buffer a string together in advance.

For SF the action you are going to cancel a special into needs to be out and hitting before you press the button, you can buffer the motions in advance though.


Edit: If you need a deeper explanation I can dig something up or slap something together.
 
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Deleted member 1627

User requested account closure
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TitlePending

TitlePending

The Fallen
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pillowtalk

pillowtalk

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Oct 10, 2018
2,562
QisTopTier said:
Does it cover the most important fighting game fuck up of all time?

Trying to play a character you think is cool but doesn't mesh with how you play.

Literally the biggest hurdle people don't realize they have.
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This is so true for me. And why I don't like it when fighting games lock some characters behind game progress or RMT.
 

Deleted member 6056

Oct 25, 2017
7,240
QisTopTier said:
Does it cover the most important fighting game fuck up of all time?

Trying to play a character you think is cool but doesn't mesh with how you play.

Literally the biggest hurdle people don't realize they have.
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Click to shrink...
if_1acc44b8-9ef1-45d9-a098-e5774c537aa5_large.jpg


Should rocked Spencer/Haggar/Sentinel or Hulk/Haggar/Sentinel. I like armor, and big boy damage with big hitboxes and grabs a lot. I only figured out my pattern of playstyle after leaving marvel and playing around in every other fighting game I could find.

I love Ironfist like crazy as a concept. A martial artist who uses kung fu to channel the power of an elder god with no clearly defined limitations in how that can be interpretted? Love it. However trying to play footsies in Marvel with no air dash, bad AA, your only overhead crippling your ability to launcher or use crumples for damage and having your counter be a DP input? It was hell. I built my entire team around forcing him to work in a game he clearly was not designed properly to function in. He'd work in Infinite with the pushblock reflection of projectiles and with the stones lending him better options to get in and stay in but of course he wasn't in it.

I shouldn't have played my favorite dude. He was my dream inclusion for MVC titles and I was hellbent to play him. I ended up running Arthur for gold armored dagger assist to keep Ironfist able to wavedash inside through any projectile and Taskmaster parabolic shot assist to AA and lockdown folks to keep em in the corner. It worked and honestly it made for a monster Arthur or Taskmaster zoning game more than anything special for Ironfist but at that point I'd had to learn 3 guys that didn't fit my style and I was seeing the rise of Dr Doom and Vergil which I didn't jive with so I left for KOF 13 to get better fundamentals and timing as a player. Years later I think I might've made Ironfist with Spencer's diagonal grapple assist work since it'd restand them for Ironfist and since I actually DO jive well with Spencer but its over. If I ever picked it up again it'd be to let go of Ironfist and start over. At this point I'd rather play something else like BFTG.

Lesson Learned.
 
Ferrio

Ferrio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,064
Dark Ninja said:
Then you have the grandmasters in bronze by choice to beat up anyone still there.
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Losing a couple games to smurfs isn't going to keep you in bronze forever ( same with any competitive online game). Likewise they'll have to lose eventually too, so maybe you'll get lucky when they decide to throw the match the other way.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,628
Biggest issues for me are smurfs, wi-fi players, and the fact that you're not really learning anything at low ranks. You can practice on improving bad habits, but you're not getting any experience fighting people who are doing the same.
Losing to players who know how to play is way more valuable than winning scrappy bronze Kens, and I feel like they should make it easier for players of different skill levels to play together without arranging matches outside of the game.
 

Just Great

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,990
Who are these supposed grandmaster smurfs. You really think that's what you're running into?

I've seen top players make new accounts when a new character comes out to grind the ladder, but I really can't imagine it's this prevalent of a problem in between characters.
 
Bob White

Bob White

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,931
Jimnymebob said:
and the fact that you're not really learning anything at low ranks
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Gotta disagree. While you can't learn footies because of the spastic nature of lower ranked, you can learn how to tighten your offensive. That's why I always tell people stuck in Gold or whatever to pick up Cammy. Through Cammy you can learn

-why having a 3 frame button is important
-how to use the 3 framer
-buffered buttons
-Oki (why it's important, how to abuse it)
-and the holy grail (IMO) of beating low level play, Delay Tech on their wake up

Properly punishing and pressuring people can straight up be a 1 player game at times. So it's way easy to learn and get solid at a low level.
 
-Tetsuo-

-Tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,575
He might as well put excuses in there. A lot and I mean a LOT of players refuse to believe they did anything wrong and some uncontrollable and unfair disadvantage was set against them. You can see it in this thread already.
 
Shang

Shang

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,660
I honestly didn't learn how to really anti-air until Platinum. Those jab anti-airs were way too strong in the early seasons and taught really bad habits. Similarly, trying to punish sweeps with sweeps will probably get you out of Bronze, but around Silver and Gold people will know how to space sweeps properly. I used to get murdered by Karin sweeps until I watched a YouTube video on how to deal with them.

Potterson said:
My main problem is that I can't figure out combo timing. SF5 is the only game that's hard for me for that reason. Like, figuring out when exactly to press another button. It's weird. I'm quite good at Tekken, KI and MK, but SF keeps kicking my butt... I'm still trying from time to time though with a hope I'll get better.
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Do the Trials, particularly the ones from Season 2 on. The Season 1 ones didn't really teach anything too viable, but S2 had some great BnBs that'll help teach you the timing for combos.

Jimnymebob said:
Losing to players who know how to play is way more valuable than winning scrappy bronze Kens, and I feel like they should make it easier for players of different skill levels to play together without arranging matches outside of the game.
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Fighting EX Layer had a neat option where you could choose to fight Same Rank, +/- 5 Ranks, or even No Limit. I wish other fighting games would implement something similar. SFV does have Battle Lounges where you can display what ranks you want to fight, though.
 
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Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,370
Jimnymebob said:
and I feel like they should make it easier for players of different skill levels to play together without arranging matches outside of the game.
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Battle Lounge is exactly this. There's no restriction on rank there. Make a lobby, let people enter. I think you can even specify that you're looking for a certain rank.
Teknopathetic said:
Who are these supposed grandmaster smurfs. You really think that's what you're running into?

I've seen top players make new accounts when a new character comes out to grind the ladder, but I really can't imagine it's this prevalent of a problem in between characters.
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Yeh and they typically climb out of those lower ranks in no time so it's not like they're lingering around.

So many people claim they are getting destroyed by smurfs when it's just a similar rank who has more experience or is just better.

(Reminds me of the people in Rogue Company complaining about being matched up with PC players on mouse and keyboard when that's impossible unless you have a PC player in your party.)
 
RecRoulette

RecRoulette

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Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,044
QisTopTier said:
Does it cover the most important fighting game fuck up of all time?

Trying to play a character you think is cool but doesn't mesh with how you play.

Literally the biggest hurdle people don't realize they have.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I didn't get into Tekken for years because of this lmao, just couldn't make it work with Heihachi
 

Deleted member 6056

Oct 25, 2017
7,240
panama chief said:
my weapon of choice. i make Zangiefs SPD flow like water

hoxbo013u.jpg
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I love that thing. I got sticks. Made a custom hitbox ...but that thing feels sooooooo good and cozy. Most fighting games that are new are doin simple input stuff like DBZ and BFTG and because of that this thing sees a lotta play from me. Can't recommend it enough.
 
TokenBlackDude

TokenBlackDude

Member
Nov 2, 2017
168
I created a new account and started playing from scratch recently.

The biggest thing I saw was that until I got into Silver, no one really did combos.

It's going to be hard to beat anyone if the only thing you ever do is special moves.
 
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Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,370
Shang said:
Fighting EX Layer had a neat option where you could choose to fight Same Rank, +/- 5 Ranks, or even No Limit. I wish other fighting games would implement something similar.
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Plenty do. All ArcSys games I think allow you to match by similar or better rank. Tekken has a similar same rank or + x or no limit thing.
 
McNum

McNum

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Oct 26, 2017
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Denmark
QisTopTier said:
Does it cover the most important fighting game fuck up of all time?

Trying to play a character you think is cool but doesn't mesh with how you play.

Literally the biggest hurdle people don't realize they have.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Honestly this is probably what gets me in most fighting games.

If I had to play someone in Street Fighter V who plays to all my strengths and masks my many weaknesses, I should pick Zangief. I can do the 360 motion fairly easily. I like long normals. I can even mask a 720 without needing to jump by using one of said normals. If the opponent is blocking said normal at close range, let it rip. It's not a great plan, but it is a plan. Unless I spent all my meter on EX SPDs. Which I usually would. I mean if I'm getting an SPD on my opponent, I might as well get the best one, no?

I am awful at timing combos, even short ones. And my fireball game is hilariously predictable. And yet I played Karin. Who I love the aesthetics of, but couldn't even do her basic 2-hit starting combo for. I loved her fast walk speed and her leap attack, but that's really not enough to win with. And you only get leap into Super once on someone. Or Ryu, and made an embarrassment of his fireball game while going for the Shoryuken anti-air half a second late. You have met that kind of Ryu, I'm sure.

But I never did this and now I don't really feel like picking up SFV again.

It does make me wonder, should fighting games be better at communicating what a character is meant for? I know the next Guilty Gear is trying something like that.
 
Dark Ninja

Dark Ninja

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Oct 27, 2017
8,070
Teknopathetic said:
Who are these supposed grandmaster smurfs. You really think that's what you're running into?

I've seen top players make new accounts when a new character comes out to grind the ladder, but I really can't imagine it's this prevalent of a problem in between characters.
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You can tell by their character levels. They are insanely high and still in bronze they are smurf accounts. SFV matchmakes based on rank only so you can play casual and never rank up or purposely lose to lower your levels. SFV doesn't lock saves to one console either so you can just make different profiles on your console and start a new bronze account pretty much.
 
Douche McBaggins The 4th

Douche McBaggins The 4th

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,555
You're stuck in bronze because you like Smash Bros. Smash Bros kills execution. I do pretzel motions every day on KOF to keep my execution game on lock.
 

Just Great

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,990
Dark Ninja said:
You can tell by their character levels. They are insanely high and still in bronze they are smurf accounts. SFV matchmakes based on rank only so you can play casual and never rank up or purposely lose to lower your levels. SFV doesn't lock saves to one console either so you can just make different profiles on your console and start a new bronze account pretty much.
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How are they grandmasters smurfing then? These are just people who play in casual and only occasionally play in ranked? Make no mistake, I agree this is a problem. But, this is a flaw in SF's matchmaking because it starts *everyone* from the same baseline rank when fighting games are such a legacy genre that even in a brand new game with brand new mechanics, people experienced in the genre already have a huge leg up over others. This particular issue would be solved by placement matches sorting players into appropriate ranks from the start.

A new account won't have those character levels. Those could be "real" smurfs, but it could also be someone who is just better than you, just not quite good enough to ascend through the ranks faster. It doesn't mean they're a smurf.
 
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MrNewVegas

MrNewVegas

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Oct 27, 2017
10,718
As an Super/Ultra forever bronze idk where you guys are finding all these smurfs to keep you down.
 
DJwest

DJwest

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Oct 26, 2017
7,149
I'm stuck in super silver and my main problem is execution. Ultra silver players also seem to master damaging combos but I'm unable to optimise damage when I get an opening. I suck
 
jett

jett

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Oct 25, 2017
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Stopping jumping so damn much and learning how to anti-air are the two things you need to learn to get out of the lower ranks indeed.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

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Oct 26, 2017
19,628
Jaded Alyx said:
Battle Lounge is exactly this. There's no restriction on rank there. Make a lobby, let people enter. I think you can even specify that you're looking for a certain rank.
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The problem with Battle Lounge is that better players are usually hesitant to fight noticeably worse players unless they want to feel good about themselves, and they're definitely not gonna play long sets.
 
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Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

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Oct 25, 2017
35,370
DJwest said:
I'm stuck in super silver and my main problem is execution. Ultra silver players also seem to master damaging combos but I'm unable to optimise damage when I get an opening. I suck
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If someone whiffs a DP in front of your face, what do you do?
Jimnymebob said:
The problem with Battle Lounge is that better players are usually hesitant to fight noticeably worse players unless they want to feel good about themselves, and they're definitely not gonna play long sets.
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I'm not so sure about that tbh. Most likely they'll use the opportunity to play another character besides their main.
 
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