Hey Kasuals! Share your progress on becoming a better player!

[Edmund]

I am currently learning how to open opponents up without 50/50’s

I still use lows and overheads sometimes, mainly with jacqui, but i have been abusing the power of throws especially with skarlet who has a KB on BOTH her throws

 

[Owerbart]

Good thread

 

[Jowabunga]

I can vouch for how much playing "low-tier" characters helps level you up. This is my third "serious" NRS game (after MKX and IJ2) so I'm not super "kasual" as that goes but I've learned more playing MK11 than I did in MKX and IJ2 combined.

I still have a bitch of a time hit confirming though, even with characters with strings slow enough to make that easier. Anyone have tips for getting better at it?

 

[CorneliusBrutus]

I can vouch for how much playing "low-tier" characters helps level you up. This is my third "serious" NRS game (after MKX and IJ2) so I'm not super "kasual" as that goes but I've learned more playing MK11 than I did in MKX and IJ2 combined.

I still have a bitch of a time hit confirming though, even with characters with strings slow enough to make that easier. Anyone have tips for getting better at it?

Sounds like I really need to dabble outside of Erron...been wanting to try Dvorah for a while now, just haven't done it yet.

Honestly one of the things that's been holding me back has been Towers of Time ! Clearing towers is so addictive I so rarely have the motivation to switch up and go back online. Obviously I try to improve my execution with characters while playing through the towers, but it's tough to tell how much I'm truly improving without being in a live-fire environment.

 

[MK9]

I can vouch for how much playing "low-tier" characters helps level you up. This is my third "serious" NRS game (after MKX and IJ2) so I'm not super "kasual" as that goes but I've learned more playing MK11 than I did in MKX and IJ2 combined.

I still have a bitch of a time hit confirming though, even with characters with strings slow enough to make that easier. Anyone have tips for getting better at it?

Also what works offline , don’t always work online. Plus the timing is diff offline and online.

 

[Marlow]

I still have a bitch of a time hit confirming though, even with characters with strings slow enough to make that easier. Anyone have tips for getting better at it?

Practice makes perfect. Just go into practice mode, pick the string you want to hit confirm, set the CPU to Reversal and random block, and start hit confirming.

 

[Jowabunga]

good call, thanks. I'm a lab rat but I haven't explored as much of the functionality as I should have by now.

 

[Marlow]

One thing that I find helps me is to make my own word document or guide for a character I'm trying to learn. I like to look at the characters moves and come up with my own flow chart of what to do in certain situations, such as what my options are after a D1 hits, D4 hits, stuff like that. Even writing down all of the strings, and taking notes on which string works in different situations can really help me to know a character. A lot of the info might already be available on this site in the character forums, but sometimes doing it yourself, even if it's just a beginner guide or pretty simple, helps it stick and helps make that connection in match.

 

[Marlow]

good call, thanks. I'm a lab rat but I haven't explored as much of the functionality as I should have by now.

There's a book/reddit series by Joe Munday called Gief's Gym. It's a bunch of exercises you can do in practice mode to get better at Street Fighter. Even though it's from a Street Fighter perspective, a lot of the drills are for basic fighting game fundamentals like anti-airs, practicing ranges of moves, coming up with a neutral game plan, stuff like that. It can easily be adapted for any game, like Mortal Kombat.

 

[MarceaR234]

I am currently learning how to open opponents up without 50/50’s

I still use lows and overheads sometimes, mainly with jacqui, but i have been abusing the power of throws especially with skarlet who has a KB on BOTH her throws

What are the requirements for skarlet's KB on throws? I can never hit them

 

[ProudDisciple]

I consider myself a “competitive” casual that has learned really quick how important spacing and whiff punishing is because Im so bad at it. I take great joy in the little things that happen during matches far more than ever before. Seeing how Im learning to better out space, throw tech and flawless block makes me happy.

 

[GoonerJoe88]

I'm definitely trying to get better. I played online a couple of days ago after owning the game for a few weeks and was surprised I even won a game. I think my record is 6-9 on kasual matches but with opponents with about the same amount of fights played. I tried ranked and lost every game. What seems like rocket science to me is the frame data and learning to block the right amount of times when getting hit with combos especially Scorpion's teleport.

 

[Methysan]

I'm slowly overcoming my NRS style input demons and getting better at the combos in this game. At least I can grind towers while I do it.

 

[lionheart21]

I had started the game playing as Johnny and while I still find him to be a good character, I've found that in his current state, his flaws are just too glaring to get anything going with him online. As a result, my record is currently at 3-11 online.

Afterwards, I decided for the time being to stop going online until I was either able to get Johnny down, or just to find someone else for the time being, and this led me to Cassie. She reminds me a lot of how I initially viewed MK9 Johnny, where I seemed to gel with her almost immediately after getting some of her moves down (her F4 basically is similar to his F3 from the game in that it seems to be her go-to neutral tool). I took her for a few games against some players like @Vslayer and @STB Sgt Reed, and even though I still left with a losing record (10-13), it actually came from having close matches and just not having the match-ups down yet (as well as the occasional dropped combo and inadvertently ending blocked combos with Nutkick when I meant for an AMPed Up Glow Kick since Nutkick is my go-to combo ender), instead of just straight-up getting bodied.

 

[Shanedawg1995]

Other than being salty player.I considered myself a good MK9 player Jax and Nightwolf were my mains.I played hella good beause Jax was all about rush down in MK9.I faulter on MK11 because my neutral game sucks.I am not a patient player.I could Dash Block in do damage with Jax and stay in ham mode,but not in MK11.

MK9 whiff punshing seemed easier block punishing and all of the above.It also seemed combos were not a percise as they are in MK11.
I miss one input in 11 and I am screwed.I main baraka and love him,but I throw out the flag so often not sure if its because the design of the PS 4 controller or the smaller PS3 controller is better.
Im getting better I need to do better with my footies and punish string and make sure I hit the correct botton it seemed in 9 you could be off a button and buffer inputs more but you cant in MK11.Just my thought my game seems to be getting better.Thanks all!!

 

[Jowabunga]

dewd, you're not the only salty one. I'm like the most chill, easygoing person you'd probably ever meet, but after long sets playing against a friend who tends to play the same character for months on end, usually someone with something incredibly annoying about their kit, I get to the point where I'm seeing red and have to put the controller down.

 

[Corruption100]

I'm definitely trying to get better. I played online a couple of days ago after owning the game for a few weeks and was surprised I even won a game. I think my record is 6-9 on kasual matches but with opponents with about the same amount of fights played. I tried ranked and lost every game. What seems like rocket science to me is the frame data and learning to block the right amount of times when getting hit with combos especially Scorpion's teleport.

if you're on ps4 we can work on that.

 

[HulkHodn]

Doing combos in practice mode is easy but in online matches i always go into panicmode forgetting everything and mashing buttons. My w/l ration ist 57/59 atm but only coz i play erron black and sometimes a win feels rly cheap

 

[lionheart21]

Yeah, this game is based more around patience and making reads. Which is something I wish that I could tell the game's AI while I'm grinding in the towers, since apparently they think its still MKX. Really tough to play a patience-based footsies game when the computer is trying to continuously rush you down.

 

[Phr4nk]

In MKX and IJ2 I really focused on 50/50s. My gameplan was to get close and wait for the opportunity to drop my damage. In MK11 I main Jade, so I don't have the tools I am used to. This means I've adjusted my playstyle to focus on more neutral and finally (finally) trying to wrap my head around footsies.

My plan for improvement goes like this:
1) Always rematch. Let the same dude beat the hell out of me over and over. This shifts my focus from winning the match to winning individual exchanges and winning rounds. It also gives me time to learn my opponent's strategies. It takes me a while to see the patterns, but sticking around helps.

2) After a long set, watch the replays and take the opponent's character into the lab. Look for situations that constantly beat me and then lab them to find ways to counter or avoid them.

3) Practice combos every day. Even if I can't play I'll try to get max damage off of a corner KB for a few minutes. It gives me the confidence to try that stuff in real matches.

 

[GoonerJoe88]

if you're on ps4 we can work on that.

Unfortunately, I'm on Xbox.

 

[Shibui]

on what? LoL
His throw? people say it is easy to do over and over again. I have yet to lab this against ACTUAL people

Oh i thought it was like a broken mechanic or something smh

 

[Ck AeroVoid]

Oh i thought it was like a broken mechanic or something smh

It is not that bad If you do want too loop it, You have to set it up, wich is very predictable