12/04/07 Session

[Duragar]

I'm not going to work OT on Tuesday, so I was wondering if people were interested in coming to my place for this Tuesday session? We wouldn't start until 7:30 or so due to my work hours, but I haven't hosted in a while, so unless someone REALLY wants to host... I'm game.

That said, though... Think you guys could rustle up some grub for us? Otherwise, I have to stop at a store or a take-out place on my way home, and further increase our start time.

Discuss.

[Pikachu]

Not to speak for anyone, but I think Alvin was gonna host when we last spoke during the weekend. I'll let him finalize that, however.

[feedback]

So, who's house are we using this week, Chip or Alvin?

[Duragar]

Well, I guess that's really up to Alvin. Someone call him and get him to post whether he wants to host. I'll host if he doesn't want to. Until I see something up here, I'll assume I'm hosting and call people after I get off work.

[feedback]

Talked to Alvin, he wants to host so we're going over to his place

[Duragar]

It's that time again...
Once again, I shall attempt to break down what I did yesterday that was good, and what I did that I really need to iron out/improve upon. Please add your input to help me help myself. Kthx here we go.

Pros:
- THROWING. Think I'm finally starting to get the hang of positioning and stick control for throws, even though I only got one off last night. I'm also starting to see when people are setting up to throw me... I just need to nail down my own recovery times on moves and teching so that I can try and mitigate other people's throws better.
- DUST COMBOS. I'm doing decently at capitalizing whenever my dusts hit... just need to get the timings down so I can finish it for lol Ky damage.
- PATIENCE. I'm finally starting to show a little patience... not eating quite as many counter hits and lol combos.
- GATTLING: While I'm throwing out a lot more stand-alone Dust moves than I should be (see below), I'm starting to get better about gatling moves that will work together and keep pressure up.
- SWEEP-CSE. Finally getting that to be second nature on hits, most of the time.

Cons:
- TOO MUCH RELIANCE ON DUST MOVES. I may have stopped throwing out as many random CSE's, but I'm throwing out too many stand-alone dust moves in general. Too many Sweeps, too many Dusts.... I was just lucky you guys were getting hit by them.
- MASHING. I've gotten better in this category... but I'm mashing at really bad places. Mashing on the 2nd part of the dust combo (S, P, S, P turns into S, P, P, P, Whiff), and Mashing when I try to Burst/air recover (don't remember the term off the top of my head). I really need to calm down on those parts, as they are essential to my damage output and damage mitigation, respectively. If I'm panicking there, I'm going to drop combos and eat more damage at the drop of a hat. Also... I need to stop twiching in my opponents pressure strings... I keep hitting an attack without even thinking about it while I'm under pressure. If I keep buckling like that, I'm gonna get lolpwned as long as people can keep up the pressure on me (read: Chipp, Eddie and ABA). Also need to stop mashing 2P on wake-up against characters who have moves that can stuff it.
- JUMP-AIRDASH. I'm eating a lot of shit when I jump and airdash. I need to nail down IAD'ing post-haste, and get used to using the right air moves for the right situation. Also need to stop using air SE when my opponent's to horizontally close to me. Setting myself up to get assrammed.
- WAKE-UP GAME. This category is up-and-down, really... I just need to get positioning right on some wake-ups, and learn when to just block while my opponent is down.
- RUN INS. Need to not run in so deep all the time. Ky has decent range on his normals... I really should be using it.

Okay... think that's the major stuff I caught myself doing right/wrong. Thoughts? Criticism? Self-Criticism?

Discuss.

[Pikachu]

Pretty dead on self-criticism to me. Here's what I'll add:

1. Be more deliberate about the button presses. This will help your Dust combo completion. I see you have the 3 slashes at the chase jump and the transition into the air gatling down. Where you start to mess up is with the j.p, j.s repetitions.

To remedy that, I hope this breakdown of the combo will prove helpful. This isn't the optimal version, actually, but it's universal and slightly easier. I'll break it down into a few sections so show where I see your execution start to wane.

1. 5D, hold up, j.s, j.s, j.s (This is the initial part where you have right)

2. tap j.p, j.s, j.p, j.s (This is where I see you rattling off between the punch and slash buttons and/or mashing punches to fill the combo. Do exactly what I'm outlining. Tap punch, slash, punch, slash. One tap for one input. Establish a rhythm, and do not rattle between the buttons. When you do this, the game must make a decision what attack to give you based on mashtastic amounts of input, and if it sees punches mixed in with the slash inputs in this scenario, it'll prioritize the punches.)

3. tap up for jump cancel, j.s, j.hs, VT, LJ (The jump cancel must be hit quickly, but not too soon. Establishing a rhythm during section two will help your muscle memory, because the jump cancel will feel like a stutter-step, but your button input in general will keep the same rhythm going. Good pace of inputs = more discipline for muscle memory.)

I'm gonna really push for you to get this combo down, less so for damage purposes at this point, but more so for you to be able to get a potential knockdown and maintain your momentum. Alvin, you should prolly pay attention to this section too.

2. All characters will have a move to stuff your 2p when you're the one waking up. Sometimes a player will get lazy and drop the hit box on you a little late, and you'll get a lucky punch in. However, the risk vs. reward is not in your favor. You'll have a small chance of getting maybe 50 damage and a knockdown off your 2p, whereas your opponent will have a big chance of stuffing you for some counterhit pain, and smack you back with 160+ damage without even thinking about it.

3. Learn to read opponent's movements. This will help you know when you need to twitch, and when you just shouldn't. It'll also help you know what Air-SE to throw out.

4. FRC your air stun edges. It's integral to Ky's zoning and rushdown. And, if you throw out a stun edge that your opponent runs under or avoids, you're not vulnerable. And you look cool doing it.