Avoiding the Pressure

[SuperMnC]

Ok, so something I noticed with MK9 here is that it seems that who ever is more aggressive is the one who usually ends up winning. I know thats not always the case but it just seems like it. I'm not talking about moves like Raiden's Superman move, cuz I can punish stuff like that easy. I mean like safe blockstrings or even safe specials. What if they spam something safe over and over again? My biggest problem with MK9 is that I can't seem to beat anyone pressuring me to the point of extreme, and a lot of time I end up blocking for most match. Everytime I try to counter with like a d1, it only works for so long until they do something to beat out anything else I throw out.

Basically, does anyone have any tips for me on what I should work on when it comes to defense or even being more aggresive?

For instance, I've been having trouble with some Sindels...Haha, I know what youre thinking, but she has this normal and special move that I cant seem beat. What the person does is usually: 44, d1. And they spam that until I either get hit and combo into it, or do the Step Up move which is that little cartwheel forward that hits mid. If they're just mindlessly spamming this, what do I do to get out of it?

Sorry for being so scrubby, but I need help. Any comments or thought would be greatly appreciated.

 

[salvificblood]

After you block a low poke, you can usually do one yourself to interrupt your opponent's pressure. It helps if your character has a 6 frame d1....

 

[HurlingDervish]

if you're going to play defensive you should probably play a defensive character with keep away moves until you pick up on the momentum in mk. You should let us know who you're playing as vs sindel anyway.

 

[SuperMnC]

Blood: Interesting, i'll try it out and see how I fair. What do you think i should do after I interrupt their pressure and they go right back into a quick and safe string? Should I just jump and get the hell out of there if they're just spamming, maybe try to reset the situation?

Hurling: I usually have a little bit more success when I play Lui Kang, but I'm having a lot of fun with Shang Tsung. So I guess vs sindel, it would be Shang.

 

[salvificblood]

Blood: Interesting, i'll try it out and see how I fair. What do you think i should do after I interrupt their pressure and they go right back into a quick and safe string? Should I just jump and get the hell out of there if they're just spamming, maybe try to reset the situation?

It depends on the character but, if you know they're going to spam the same string over and over, even after you poke yourself into a more favourable position frame wise, you should go ahead and jump over them into a full combo.

 

[Shadowclaimer]

Coming from Street Fighter this was my biggest issue with MK and its the biggest block to friends that are playing in, in SF if you throw out anything and it whiffs/gets blocked you basically can be punished at close range.

It took a lot of getting used to, but usually neutral jump air bounces or such are good ways if you know one is coming and you have the time to get out of it.

 

[SilverKeyMan]

So I guess vs sindel, it would be Shang.

Shang Tsung is a fun character, but he is S.L.O.W., and has a VERY hard time avoiding pressure.

My recommendation would be to do a quick low poke, and follow up with a f4,3,4 string variation.

 

[SuperMnC]

salvificblood: Thanks for the advice, I'll try to apply this in my gameplay and see what I can get out of it. =)

Shadowclaimer: Yeah see StreetFighter 4 was the first fighting game I started taking seriously and like you said, after some moves you can just punish and apply your own pressure, but with MK its totally different. I'll just have to adjust myself a little bit better and learn the match ups. Thanks

SilverKeyMan: I'm actually more driven towards rush down type characters in any fighter, that just seems to be my style and its really hard for Shang since, like you said, he's slow haha. I see DetroitBallin doing that d3 into the f4,3,4 a lot so I'm going to have to try and practice that more.

Thanks for the input so far guys, its been really helpful! If anyone else has any tips, not just for me but for anyone who has the same problem as me, please, post more. Like what do YOU do when people are rushing you down.

 

[Shadowclaimer]

salvificblood: Thanks for the advice, I'll try to apply this in my gameplay and see what I can get out of it. =)

Shadowclaimer: Yeah see StreetFighter 4 was the first fighting game I started taking seriously and like you said, after some moves you can just punish and apply your own pressure, but with MK its totally different. I'll just have to adjust myself a little bit better and learn the match ups. Thanks

SilverKeyMan: I'm actually more driven towards rush down type characters in any fighter, that just seems to be my style and its really hard for Shang since, like you said, he's slow haha. I see DetroitBallin doing that d3 into the f4,3,4 a lot so I'm going to have to try and practice that more.

Thanks for the input so far guys, its been really helpful! If anyone else has any tips, not just for me but for anyone who has the same problem as me, please, post more. Like what do YOU do when people are rushing you down.

I've played the game extensively and I still have issues with it you're not alone.

This is actually the main reason a large group of my friends refuse to play MK =(

 

[Kuai Liang]

I'm coming from Marvel vs. Capcom 3 mainly and it does take some getting used to this game. I played against one dude the other day that used footsies to basically stop me from doing anything while he dashed in real quick and he was all over me, jumping over, using footsies, I was at a complete lost. One guy was using Smoke and kept trying for the 3 d1 2, and I would block, then he would tap d1 real quick and knocked me out of what I was going to do and went back to 3 d1 2 and he kept doing that. I had no idea what to do. There also seems to be a lot of Johhny Cage's that know how to just trap you and there seems to be no way of getting out. There are still some things in this game that confuse me but I'm trying to get better. I've gotten the basic and the intermediate parts but I think I need to start using D4 and D1 more often, in combination with footsies to make a safe jump. This guy used Shang Tsung and completely locked me down. He had a skull set on me everytime he finished his combo so I coudln't do crap. My main problem is what are you supposed to do when people are jumping all over the place? I feel like I get stuck standing there, while they do whatever they want. I try to nj, I get hit, I try a air punch, I get hit. I just can't deal with people that play like that. It's annoying. I don't know how people have time to practice all those footsies and links, and get in the habit of when to jump in on people. My jump ins suck, I need to work on jumping in the right time.

 

[randomdps]

I love this game, but this is a major issue.

I am one of the more aggressive players out there, and I typically tend to just bulldog my opponents into the ground with safe b.s.

One of the problems with the system is that there are no "reversal" attacks with rigidly designed invincibility. Sure, there is the Wake-Up Attack, but there is no reversal; you either have a character with a fast, high-priority move or you don't. Consider Ermac for a second: His Teleport Punch should be invincible on start-up, similar to an old-school Dragon Punch. It's unsafe, and only leads to combos if they're airborne. You could also use it to escape tick throws, frame traps, etc.

It opens up the mind games a bit when you are given the incentive to actively bait out your opponents' mega-unsafe tools. That's the whole point of pressure: to bully them into making a mistake. Doing a jumpback kick to escape stupid cross-over shit is not a mistake, because it is literally the only option for some characters; which obviously means that it can be baited and punished quite easily. Refusing to anti-air in such situations is not a mistake, because uppercuts suck in those spots. Too many characters are forced to sit there, blocking or making a high-risk/no-reward decision, because they are not adequately equipped to be considered a threat against non-stop rushdown.

 

[SuperMnC]

Haha, I'm glad i'm not the only one out there having problems. Like I said I come from street fighter and other fighting games, and I understand footsies...maybe not well, but I know how to get into position and be where I want to inflict damage. But it just seems different for MK. I know they apply, but its different haha. I love this game too randomdps, but I feel this is a major issue for me. Some people dont really have issues with this, but I struggle when people are pressuring me. I asked one of my friends what he does when people are rushing him and how he deals with pressure and he gave a pretty solid answer:

"Basic knowledge of every characters strings really. If you know which strings hit High, Medium, and Low, you should have no trouble blocking. Poke out of High hitting strings with D+3 or D+1 or uppercut if it's fast enough. Some strings you can also use EX moves that have armor to get out of the situation."

Although this is kinda easier said than done, learning strings is one way to stop the pressure. Try to find out whats safe and whats not.

 

[CitizenSnips]

The only character's who's pressure really is hard for me to escape is Kung Lao, Cage and Kabal. Everyone else I have figured out when I can poke out of or elbow dash out of.

It might just be a case of finding out when exactly you can punish. I do agree that the game is lopsided towards the guy on offense, but because of breakers it isn't the worst thing ever. Honestly with Shang Tsung I can't help you because I never tried using him yet. But with Liu Kang I just try to get out of pressure strings with D3 and then proceed with my own string.