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Question Why aren't you a top player/what is your skill level with your main?

AK Vip3r

Ghost of Vip3r
Freddy 9:
Quan chi: 7
Noob: 5

I am the embodiment of a balanced freddy and only a 10 belongs to someone who can play him more thoroughly than me. There is still a few things left undiscovered. I am certain of that.

My biggest flaw, as pig says, is getting fancy. I like to do things that are flashy and gimmicky that may cost me 40%+ of my life if I mess it up. I also have a huge problem always trying to do something off my back(wake-up). However, with that said. I got the ex ground claw on lock and i'm gonna nail for a big chunk of your life if you try something on my wake-up. I also suck at throw breaks and eat 12%'s all day. =/
 

EGP Wonder_Chef

Official Quan Chi Nerf Demander™
Freddy 9:
Quan chi: 7
Noob: 5

I am the embodiment of a balanced freddy and only a 10 belongs to someone who can play him more thoroughly than me. There is still a few things left undiscovered. I am certain of that.

My biggest flaw, as pig says, is getting fancy. I like to do things that are flashy and gimmicky that may cost me 40%+ of my life if I mess it up. I also have a huge problem always trying to do something off my back(wake-up). However, with that said. I got the ex ground claw on lock and i'm gonna nail for a big chunk of your life if you try something on my wake-up. I also suck at throw breaks and eat 12%'s all day. =/
Wouldn't a 9 kind of imply that you are a top player already...?
 

AK Vip3r

Ghost of Vip3r
Wouldn't a 9 kind of imply that you are a top player already...?
Im by no means a Top player. I do see myself as someone who can compete with the best, but I still can get blown up by the pro's.

But then again, the only pro's Ive played are Pig, Clint, and Tom Brady. Pig blows me up every time I play him. Until I beat him in a tournament, I will never be a top player.
 

EGP Wonder_Chef

Official Quan Chi Nerf Demander™
Im by no means a Top player. I do see myself as someone who can compete with the best, but I still can get blown up by the pro's.

But then again, the only pro's Ive played are Pig, Clint, and Tom Brady. Pig blows me up every time I play him. Until I beat him in a tournament, I will never be a top player.
Then maybe you should rate yourself a bit lower than 9?
 

Mikemetroid

Who hired this guy, WTF?
Lead Moderator
Johnny Cage: 9
Stryker: 9

I'm not successful because I do not practice matchups enough. I know almost everything there is to know about my characters though.
 

rev0lver

Come On Die Young
Kitana - 11
Cyber Sub Zero - 9.5

Why I'm not winning every tournament: I only play when I'm on meth


Really though I wish my hands didn't look like I have Parkinsons when I'm playing ;_;
 

Konqrr

MK11 Kabal = MK9 Kitana
Kitana - 8 (matchup experience and lack of tournaments and experience vs top players hold me down)
Noob - 6 (only use him for specific matchups)
Ermac - 6 (I don't know the intricacies of the character like character specialists do)
Kabal - 5 (I got all the combos and pressure down, but limited matchup experience. I also need lots of warmup time.)
 

WayoftheFist

Cold day in hell...
Ok I'm pretty much going to grill myself here.

1. Footsies. My poking and counterpoking game is very weak. I didn't realize this until I played against Pig of the Hut at Raleigh but my understanding of spacing and controlling a match is limited. If you watch his first match from MLG Raleigh (I am GNG JJ btw) you will see him control my Kung Lao's movement on the screen as well as make me take risks on spins to stop his pressure and poking game. I should have noticed this way back at Final Round when I played against GGA Wafflez but I was such a novice that I didn't understand why he beat me and assumed it was Smoke vs Sub Zero. This was not the case.

2. I jump. I've almost eliminated this problem but I occasionally still take jump baits.

3. I rely on tactics built to blow up people who don't know how to stop them like random Lao teleports.

4. I used to not make reads. I've fixed this problem, but in every tournament I have played in up till now I didn't take chances or calculated risks on a read. I just tried to play 100% safe, and you can't do that at a high level. I played REO online for the KN charity stream and that's when I realized this.

5. My mental state. I don't just mean nerves (though they do play a part, my hands were literally shaking at one point on stage for Raleigh vs Pig and I was just sweating sitting there in a building that was actually rather cold. BTW I am in no way blaming nerves for that loss, they just made it worse, Pig would beat me on my best day because he is a superior player.) I tend to go into a match assuming I'm going to lose it, or nervous that I will. I had so much anxiety during a match at RESE in Charlotte (my first, vs. SSJ4Crisis) that the screen literally appeared blurry to me and I have little to no recollection of the match. This occured later, but to a lesser extent, vs Vip3r in Grand Finals of that same tournament simply because we were playing on stream (again I am not discrediting his win at all, simply talking about my own issues as a player, that is no excuse. A tournament players mindset is part of their skillset.) Not just in tournament but in "serious casuals" I have dropped combos that would win the match when I haven't dropped one all set. I get excited thinking "I've got it" and then all of a sudden I ruin it. That's just how it goes, and hopefully that will pass with time.

6. Not taking what I do seriously because I'm "Playing video games." This will never happen again but it has contributed to failure in every tournament I have attended. MLG Raleigh stands out the biggest in my mind. I had the opportunity to play casuals in Pig of the Hut's room, and I showed up too drunk to recall the things I learned there. That's unprofessional and at the time I didn't understand how much it showed that I treated this all like a big party and not a serious event. It is also disrespectful in my mind looking back. If someone is willing to train with you, you owe it to them to show up and give them your best, not your drunken mess. At Civil War I had a bottle of soda... that was half Jack Daniels, and I used the excuse that I was just passing the time. I should have been taking the time to play casuals, learn, and adapt to playing on the CRT's that I had never played on before. That will never happen again at any tournament, all partying/drinking will be reserved for after the event.

Now for the answer to the mains part of this.
Sub Zero (though I kinda dropped him) - 6
Kung Lao - 4
Kabal - 3
Kenshi -2
Mileena - 2
Cyrax - 1

I say mains but that's everyone I currently play at all. I only take Lao and Kabal seriously, but that is prone to change since I must say I like Mileena/Cyrax a lot.
 
Reactions: Jim

R0bot1cColumbus

Cybernetic Conquistador
Sub Zero - 6
Scorpion - 6
Liu Kang - 6
Kung Lao - 3

I didn't even understand the concept of footsies until like a month ago. I still duck for no reason when someone is JIP'ing. I'm very sloppy and still drop combos despite playing my top 3 characters since release. I don't adapt at all. If someone is repeatedly NJP'ing my JIP attempts, I'll just keep trying to time my JIP better. I don't try hard enough. This is a pretty universal character trait for me. I've probably spent 2 hours in practice mode total. I don't really care about losing. I generally play to the level of my opposition. Random scrub w/ 32/60 record in ranked? Pick sub zero and lay back on the couch w/ my stick on my lap ice clone spamming and naked sliding. BigD, Konqrr or Rev0lver? Sit up, tell myself I'm going to play as well as possible, get bodied and lament my lack of dedication to practice. Oh and lastly, I don't think. I play this game all the time, and I'm usually listening to a podcast or some music. During matches I very rarely think about my opponent or try to analyze his play style and patterns. I just ice clone instead.
 

RYX

BIG PUSHER
Noob - 6(I think I'm pretty good)
Reptile - 5
Sektor - 3
Scorpion - vortex

My biggest weakness is footsies. When it comes to my main (Noob) I'm kind of good at basic spacing. I make shitty choices a lot and I get impatient with zoning(Whether it's me zoning or the other). I'll more often than not try to get a rush game going, which always leads me to getting punished hard with no comeback potential. Noob has good footsies, but no margin for error can make you pretty frustrated. I don't poke as nearly as much as I should, and there are a few match-ups like Sonya that.. I just pick Reptile. I'm free to jump-ins as well; I can pretty much only AA when I'm expecting a jump, which is only after I've made a simple set-up with the Slide to make them jump at me. Instead of playing defense footsies or just keepaway, I tend to go all-out which isn't good.

Reptile, I elbow dash into everything and I will eat EVERYTHING. Can I have armor now?

My Sektor sucks.

Scorpion, I have no footsies but that's kind of justifiable(?) I think I do a lot more with vortex situations than a few others but I have terrible pressure, so I rely on his reset pretty much.

Also my fucked up D-pad is a cunt.
 

XBlades

To Achieve, You must Believe
Wonder_Chef
reptile 8
Kenshi 6
Sonya 6
Noob 3

fundamentals are good, however you get excited, overthink the situation, sometimes don't play textbook style, not consistent with mind games and spacing....but this is my opinion.. other than that reptile is waay better out of your roster of characters...
 

Compbros

Man of Tomorrow
Because I'm simply not good enough, but I will be. Also, even knowing "matchups" and "strategies" I have no experience against characters. My most consistent offline partner is a Kabal player and I haven't played him in a couple months. So when I go to tourneys I get blown up by Freddys, Ermacs, Kitanas, etc....as I have no idea how to deal with them as Sonya.


Sonya: 6.5


I know all the basics, what to do in certain situations, etc...but I have poor decision making with her. I jump too much when close to the opponent instead of controlling the ground and forcing them to jump. I have habits that, if read, will get me eaten up and I try to address these things but the second my mental state slips a bit in a match I go right back to my crutches. I don't use uppercut enough when opponents jump and I still can't hit d1 ms consistently. When pressured I tend to just go for ex kartwheel without any rhyme or reason; I'm not reading my opponent, I'm just throwing it out there because I can't deal. My spacing is TERRIBLE, I learned this last night.
 

xInfra Deadx

Gimmick stolen by Jordan Peele
So here's where I stand:

Freddy: 6.5 (Now a 7.5)
Kung Lao: 7.5 (same)
Cyrax: 6 (now an 8)
Cage: 5.5 (now a 7)
Kabal: 4 (my rushdown sucks)(Still a 4)
Just to reiterate myself, my biggest issues:
Crossovers: I try and njp on reaction a lot and don't try d1's more often than I should, but then again, online.
Up close pressure/counter poking: I have no idea, but under extreme pressure I tend to fit in moves that I KNOW cannot execute. I freeze up on others pokes and can't capitalize on them like I normally would.
Overall I feel like my footsies are getting better in time, it's when I feel like I should make a move at the wrong time, I get blown up for it.
 

STB Sgt Reed

Online Warrior
Hmm, let me think...

Sub-Zero: 4
Raiden: 3

My problems: (Or what I think are my problems)

1. Footsies/Jumping: My biggest problem has to be my lack of footsies/jumping way too much. I'm still not entirely sure how to play footsies in this game... I'm not too good at making things whiff and I'm terrible at poking/knowing when to poke. I generally just D4 everything b/c I know Sub's D4 is good. Add to that the fact that I jump way too much b/c I want that jail from the jip for a free blockstring/combo. I need to figure out how to approach someone without jumping at them like a madman going for a jip.

2. Patience: I have to be one of the world's worst at playing with a life lead. I have this idea in my head that I MUST end the round if I'm winning. This leads to trying retarded rushdown tactics and gimmicks to take out the remaining life my opponent has. I get really antsy when I'm just chilling at the other side of the screen b/c I'm like, "omg, he's going to catch me in something... I'm sitting here doing nothing! slide! clone!! THROW AN ICE BLAST!!!!" ... That gets me blown up more times than I can count.

3. Travel: My lack of ability to travel due to my financial situation and the times tourneys are held I believe is a HUGE detriment to my skill at this game. There are about 5-6 amazing players in the ATL scene that I'm very sure could really help me level up my game. I just don't get to play them often enough b/c I have to ask off days of work to go to the get togethers.

I think that pretty much sums it up. Then again, I'm not playing vs me... so I don't reeeally know.

EDIT: I thought of another one...

4. Dealing with Pressure: Whenever someone gets in on me, I crumble. This goes along with the lack of poking skill. I can't get out of the pressure and end up just eating tons of chip and giving them meter or trying to jump out or poke at the wrong times and get punished for it. It's part of the reason I use Sub, b/c he has the clone to keep people away.
 

BlaqandMild15

Apprentice
The main reason why Im not a top player is that MK is a really small percentage of my daily life.
Full-time job
Student
3D Art Portfolio
MK

Knowledge-Somone asked me how many frames my d1 was,my reply was I don't know.lol.I don't familiarize myself with frame data because I've played enough matches to where I have a feel for when I can poke out of strings or know what my opponent can follow up with.And I know that this is a downfall at times.

Randomness-Believe it or not,I will more likely have more trouble with a scrub than someone who is very seasoned with their character.For example sonyas who just button mash or laos or raidens who just do random shit all over the place is more of an issue than people with fundamentals.My fundamentals are at best when Im faced with an opponent with great fundamentals.

Risks-I take hugs risks.Alot of them.Sometimes they pay off.I know that my opponent can AA me if I jump at him but it won't hurt to jump on him after a few matches of not jumping because he won't expect it.I do this and I will still get AA'd.

Scene-Ever since people found out that there was much more to this game than simple combos,it died out.And when I tried to get people together to play,they would reply with''You still play that shit?''But they say stuff like''I can't wait till MK10 comes out.''that's annoying.

Attitude-I just don't have that ''I must win attitude''I play this game for fun.I just don't get frustrated enough to say''Screw it,Im going to use a top 5 character because Im tired of losing to x characters.''


Reaction-Some people have extremely good reactions,some don't.My reactions aren't that great.And when I do react well,I'm not consistent with it.Sometime I input the commands wrong when I try them so fast.

The Game Itself-Every character have that ''Best move in the Game''.In other words,every character have a move that make's him or her great.Some have more than others.But there is some things that are in the game that's straight up unfair and obviously wasn't intended to be there and we continue to cover it up by saying things like ''Just level up.''If that was the case then we wouldn't see top level players get locked down in rune traps,NDC's,F3's,Net's,etc.Not saying the game keeps me from being a top player but the mechanics and overpowered things that wasn't intended to be there make me not want to put enough devotion in it to be able to travel the nation and compete.
 

sub_on_dubs

Online Scrub Lord
There's a few reasons why I think I'm not a top player. I don't really have a main because I get easily bored with a character after a week or so and start learning another character thus never knowing all the match ups inside and out. I think my footsies and spacing are lacking. I don't think I put nearly as much time into this game to become a top player. I know very little frame data, and lastly, I think my reactions are pretty mediocre.

Sub Zero 6
Kung Lao 5
Rain 5
Kitana 4
Kabal 3

Currently working on other characters as those characters don't interest me as much.
 

EGP Wonder_Chef

Official Quan Chi Nerf Demander™
Wonder_Chef
reptile 8
Kenshi 6
Sonya 6
Noob 3

fundamentals are good, however you get excited, overthink the situation, sometimes don't play textbook style, not consistent with mind games and spacing....but this is my opinion.. other than that reptile is waay better out of your roster of characters...
all right, I appreciate that.

I don't remember the last time someone actually gave me advice
 

Krayzie

Co-founder
Administrator
Founder
Jax: 8
Kenshi: 8 (if i had the patience) actually i'd say 7
Shang: 8 i think, Currently leveling up hard with him
Kitana: 7
Cage: 6
Sektor: 9
Reptile: 6
Baraka: 8
Liu Kang: 6
Stryker: 9
Sonya: 6 or 7, can't tell with such a scrub friendly character
Kabal: 6
Sub Zero: 6
Scorpion: 7

Not including characters at 5 or below since i can play everyone

I'm not a top player atm because:
1) i don't travel outside my region
2) Make bad character choices in tournament
3) have been fighting against the character instead of the player, relying on MU advantages with all my characters instead of actually learning how to deal with a bad MU
4) Cyrax. . . Seriously at least half of all my losses come from that fucker
5) lack of confidence, don't commit to my reads
You should come to my house sometime. I'll run the match all day if you need me to.

We need to get everyone on point.
 
Reactions: Jim

Illmatix

Remember, representing ermac is illmatic.
ermac 8
scorpion 3
kung lao 4
sub zero 2

the reason im not pro is because sometimes i get bad reads, and i love taking risks... if i learned to keep risk taking under control i could definitely rock some kids...