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Am I in Purgatory?

Hey guys, this is my first thread concerning my progress in the game.

For the past week, I've either gone against people who were so bad I could easily beat them or people who were so good that I couldn't even begin to understand what I kept doing wrong. I don't think I can progress much in this state. I'm still not very good at the game; I still lack all the fundamentals and haven't thoroughly studied my main (Smoke), but I just can't seem to get better since the only people I play that are better than me can completely destroy me in the blink of an eye. Has this happened to anyone before? Is it normal to go through this phase? Any help or matches where we can discuss my gameplay afterwards would really help guys. I think it would really help if someone who could destroy me could talk to me after our matches to tell me what I was doing wrong and what he/she thinks I need to work on.

Thanks for being such a helpful community, guys :)
 

miloPKL

soundcloud.com/pukelization
find people to play locally. use the member map. forget online behaviour. attend fgc events and tournaments. welcome loss with happiness. you will improve.
 
find people to play locally. use the member map. forget online behaviour. attend fgc events and tournaments. welcome loss with happiness. you will improve.
There aren't that many people around here locally. It's possible to learn things online and then apply them offline, and I don't have much of a choice. I really want to attend tournaments, but there just aren't *any* around here :(. I welcome loss with happiness when I gain something from it or if an opponent just destroys me in the most amazing way. If not, I don't like losing that much. Sorry if my typing is weird; I'm really exhausted.
 

miloPKL

soundcloud.com/pukelization
the game is banned in australia so i went to the philippines to compete. theres 10 people out of the million in sydney that play mk, and we live hours apart. some of our fgc members travel thousands of km to sydney just to play offline casuals. might i mention the game is unreleased in australia and was banned since the beginning until january 2013. im certain that if you try hard enough and stop making weak excuses like "theres none near me", tournaments will not come to you, you must go to them. its about determination. if you want to be better, you know what to do, but you must do it.
 
Lol, that's awesome; but it's no excuse. I've created a thread here to try and make a headcount of the people nearby.
http://testyourmight.com/threads/bay-area-california-roll-call.27033/

Right now I don't have *any* resources to travel too far. No car (for a few more weeks only, hopefully), no bike. I was planning on visiting an awesome guy who lets us use his tattoo shop in a major city near(ish) by for a few games, but I'm still waiting for the opportunity. He's pretty much the closest to me, and he's still pretty far :\.
 

miloPKL

soundcloud.com/pukelization
well that sucks bro, just become very familiar with your character, just read and play, practice execution, experiment and have fun with your character in training, you might be in a situation where your only option is practice.
 
Hmmm.........how much have you been playing? Every day, several days a week, a few days a week? If you've been playing a lot, perhaps your mind has become "worn-out" and requires some rest; I know taking a break helps out if that's the case. Take five days or so for your mind to return to MK9 feeling refreshed! =)
 

Limelights

"The smart stuff"
I'll add you, we'll play some matches today at some point.

I picked up the game during release and had the same rough start you did, I remember being like 2-40 at some point. I've consistently put hours into the game for about 4 months out of the time i've had it. I have about 2000 games under my belt, probably 1400 as Quan-Chi, and just now I am starting to understand some of the underlying mechanics of the game.

I don't know when you started, how long you've been playing or how many matches you've played but realize that, if MK9 is your first fighter like it was mine, it's a long and frustrating learning process. Fighting games are really hard to learn and i'm sure every top player has had similar experiences.
 
Hmmm.........how much have you been playing? Every day, several days a week, a few days a week? If you've been playing a lot, perhaps your mind has become "worn-out" and requires some rest; I know taking a break helps out if that's the case. Take five days or so for your mind to return to MK9 feeling refreshed! =)
I've been playing pretty much every day since December... I guess I'll take a week or so off, but then I won't have anything to do in my free time :p. Maybe I'll practice my Street Fighter for a week :)

I'll add you, we'll play some matches today at some point.
I don't know when you started, how long you've been playing or how many matches you've played but realize that, if MK9 is your first fighter like it was mine, it's a long and frustrating learning process. Fighting games are really hard to learn and i'm sure every top player has had similar experiences.
I've been playing for a few years and playing for the purpose of improving myself since December. It's not my first fighter, but it is the first fighter I want to master. I'm gonna do what Alien Substance suggested and take a week off. Though at any time you want to play a match, feel free to contact me and I can prematurely stop my break to go over some things with you. I really appreciate the offer, Limelights. Seriously, I'm so glad there are so many in this community who are so helpful :)

You can contact me at:
[email protected]
Or on twitter @DropsCombos
 

Justice

Noob
One thing that I'm surprised noone has mentioned is when you get bodied by those better players, ask them if they would be willing to explain how they beat you or if they would be willing to run a few sets with you to show you what you did wrong. Most players will help you but be ready for a quick barb or two in case they're douchebags ;)
 

Limelights

"The smart stuff"
One thing that I'm surprised noone has mentioned is when you get bodied by those better players, ask them if they would be willing to explain how they beat you or if they would be willing to run a few sets with you to show you what you did wrong. Most players will help you but be ready for a quick barb or two in case they're douchebags ;)

In my experience when I ask for help they say something so broad like "work on your footsie game" or "keep practicing".
 
In my experience when I ask for help they say something so broad like "work on your footsie game" or "keep practicing".
It depends on the question being asked.
If they ask a general question, they will get a general answer. (I.E: What/How can I get better? What am I doing wrong?)

If they ask specific questions (What can I do in response to Kabal's pressure, Sonya's pressure, how can I work on my footsie game) then they get specific answers.

I love helping people :)
 

187x

Noob
the game is banned in australia so i went to the philippines to compete. theres 10 people out of the million in sydney that play mk, and we live hours apart. some of our fgc members travel thousands of km to sydney just to play offline casuals. might i mention the game is unreleased in australia and was banned since the beginning until january 2013. im certain that if you try hard enough and stop making weak excuses like "theres none near me", tournaments will not come to you, you must go to them. its about determination. if you want to be better, you know what to do, but you must do it.
wow you sure can travel
 

Limelights

"The smart stuff"
Good games. I don't know if you're done for now or not but here's what I noticed: the Sub-Zero matchup is in Smoke's favor and you need to play the match-up and just run away and throw smoke-bombs more. Also, if you're caught in my d4 pressure you can always jump over.

A big thing is blocking low against Sub. If i'm not right next to you, block low. You'll catch a few slides a match and that's a full combo punish.

I'm not a Smoke player but it seems like he doesn't have many options when it comes to strings, and I believe he's more of a footsie character so try focusing on milking those smoke bombs and just staying 1/2 screen away and adapting to the opponent.

Your execution is excellent, though. I swear you dropped maybe one combo the entire time we were playing. Every time you smoke-bombed me I got full combo'd.

Oh here's something big: when you have me in block pressure try grabbing and crossing over randomly after your strings. Also don't always finish every string. I knew when you were going to finish the string so I knew exactly when to poke out.
 
Oh, man. Thank you so much. That advice is so refreshing; it feels like a pure river of gold rushing through my brain... Okay enough with the weird exaggerated similes.

I've had a small feeling for a long time that those are some problems I've had; thanks so much for specifically telling me what they are. I'll be practicing stuff like that until I get it down.

Keep the advice and games coming, guys :D
 

Limelights

"The smart stuff"
Don't stop playing the game for a week either, haha. I think you're just caught in some bad habits is all.
 

miloPKL

soundcloud.com/pukelization
NO. not everyone has the money, time, transportation
one must make time. assuming one of the best ways to improve is attend tournies, and one has no tournies near them, AND one is not willing or simply can not make time to do that, you will not improve as fast. of course tournaments are not the only way to improve, but offline solo and online casuals will only get you so far.
 

187x

Noob
one must make time. assuming one of the best ways to improve is attend tournies, and one has no tournies near them, AND one is not willing or simply can not make time to do that, you will not improve as fast. of course tournaments are not the only way to improve, but offline solo and online casuals will only get you so far.
what are you talking about? did you mean to reply to some1 else???