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MorDrop KickBat X, progress diary cont. Part 3.

EntropicByDesign

It's all so very confusing.
Where to go from here? For those that read part 2, I had picked up MK X after a.. oh, 20 year hiatus from fighting games and after some tinkering and kerfuddeling around, had settled on Erron Black as my main/intro character.

What to do though? I have a main now, he has a bitching hat, a cool voice and he's kinda a cowboy ninja with a leather face mask thing. Those things alone should guarantee a win every time. His smudgy eyeliner though.. not real sure about that. Lets assume he wears it to reduce glare.

Now it's time to plot a course. First things first, I'm going to Staples. I need a notebook and some other odds and ends.

I'm of the mindset that when trying to learn anything, one of the best possible options is to find someone who knows more than you, ideally someone who knows more than most anyone else, and beg them to help you. I found Kroaken, a member here on TYM who has been INVALUABLE in helping me out. I also made a simple list of things to work on from the get-go. The first item after "Acquire coach" was "Figure out WTF terms mean".

Footsies, Vortex, 50/50, Mixups, BnB, etc. Reading a lot of the posts here and elsewhere was complete gibberish.

The rest of the list was simpler stuff, learn a couple BnB combos (SEE I KNOW WHAT LETTERS MEAN NOW) etc.

So, pretty much a day after Kroaken answering my plea for help on the EB forums, he and I jumped in to Skype and a practice game together. He spent the better part of two hours answering my questions and explaining various concepts to me, and basically helping me build a skill floor, from which, fingers and arthritis willing, I will gradually rise until I'm something like a functionally solid player.

It became evident about 19 seconds in that I had a long ass way to go.

I also came to understand that Kroaken loves being dropkicked in the face by Erron Black. He loves it so much, that something like 2 out of 3 get through. I then decided to specialize primarily in EB's slide and and dropkick.. To the exclusion of all else. This made matches SUPER fun, as Kroaken tried to guess what I was going to do next. The technique has some weaknesses, namely that it never actually wins, unless you count his deep sigh over Skype every time I successfully mindgame a slide or dropkick.. and I DO count it, because if I dont, then I have never beat him, ever. Whats the protocol when you cant beat someone ever?> Oh yeah, YOU"RE A HACKER WITH YOUR DDOS LAGG AND STUPID SCORPION TRICKS.. and just to be thorough, I should probably scream about his character being OP.. so "LERN2WIN SCRUB SCORPION OP". There. Much better.

Stay tuned for part 4, at some point, where I'll talk about how Im learning that EB doesnt quite fit me and that using only Slide and Dropkick is not a viable strategy.. and on a serious note, how I begin to piece together a lot fo the bits and bobs that I'm learning as I go.